Wow, ever since building Red Skull legends I've really wanted to read some of the more recent issues involving him, and after looking at your review for Cap 38, I think I found my series to start on.

What do you think? Should I start reading the new Cap run from the TPB that revolves around the death of Cap, or should I start from the beginning?

seriously, if you don't start from the beginning, you are doing yourself a tremendous disservice. when it's all said and done, this will be THE definitive Captain America run. trust me. it's worth it to start fresh. :)

Yeah, I agree with TBZ. I haven't fully read the series, but I think it would probably be better if I did. Plus, Red Skull is pretty awesome in the series.

by Foilball

New writer, Aron Coleite! New Artist, Mark Brooks! JUMPING ON POINT!!! I don’t know what it is, but all of a sudden, Ultimate X-Men is fun again. Maybe it’s because, for the most part, Kirkman ended his atrocious run on a high note… and then this new creative team comes around and pitches a story I can really sink my teeth into. I think what I like best about this new “status quo” is that all the classic Ultimate X-Men are back in book as main characters. Cool guys like Nightcrawler and Beast. Anyway, this issue opens with a look at Colossus’s childhood: All he ever wanted was to be a Super Hero.

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2008/0...mate-x-men-94/

Currently, the Omnibus (Issues 1-25) is on sale at Amazon for $47. That's a pretty damned good price for 25 oversized issues and all kinds of extra goodies.

Linky.

by Desiato

Ok. I’ll admit it. I liked issue 31. Definitely the best of the Secret Origin issues thus far (and oddly enough, the only one that doesn’t have direct ties to Blackest Night, outside of the sector 666 business). And of course, the writing is good. And Ivan Reis has always done good work penciling all those crazy aliens. That’s all well and good. Some nice moments, and it was a pretty light, breezy issue. Does this change my mind about the choice Johns made in writing this arc when he did? Nope. Did it at least make me order the last few issues of this arc? Nope. The edict in consumerism has always been simple: vote with your wallet. And that’s what I’m doing. I think though, that I need to be a little more specific about why this particular six issues of a superhero comic is rubbing me the wrong way, even though the individual issues so far have been pretty good...

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2008/0...secret-origin/

Mighty Avengers #14 (***)
New Avengers #41 (***)
The Incredible Hercules #117 (*****)
Ms. Marvel #27 (**)

Oh, and this really pissed me off. Carol, you suck. All things considered, we readers have to think that Simon might actually be in love with you. How dare you use him like that? UGH. I want to be done with this book, but I love Carol and every month I give it another chance to impress me. Sigh.

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2008/0...ret-invasions/

Marvel Visionaries Jack Kirby Vol 2

So that’s a brief summary of what you’ve got in this collection. Now, for my review, I can’t really critique Kirby’s art because let’s face it, even if you don’t dig his art, he is arguably the most influential figure within this medium. So, all I can really comment on is the format. This costs 34.99 and for that you get 344 pages of old comic goodness. This is presented in pretty much the same style as the masterworks I believe which is oversized and printed on great paper. This stuff looks great considering its age. My main problem with it is that we just get a Kirby sampler for the most part...

Thor Visionaries Walt Simonson

If you are any kind of a Thor fan, the name Walt Simonson should be at least a little familiar to you. His run, along with Stan Lee’s and Jack Kirby’s, is considered the definitive Thor run by many Thor fans. So I finally tracked down the out of print first trade. This collection contains issues 337-348...

by Desiato

Sky Doll #’s 1 and 2 (****1/2)
Booster Gold #10 (**)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #15 (*****)
Nova #14 (*****)

Yep. This arc still kicks ###. And Wellington Alves is a pretty big reason for that. I love the way that he frames the Nova/Surfer fight from the scale perspective of Galactus, so they look like insignificant flies buzzing around his massive head. And I love the way that Galactus doesn’t say a damned word to anyone because he’s GODDAMNED GALACTUS and an eternal and essential cosmic being that has no time or concern to listen to the pleas of a flea like Richard Rider...

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2008/0...-mini-reviews/

Foilball & Gingerkid

EDITOR’S NOTE: Unfortunately, Mandy couldn’t be with us today. She decided to be self-involved all last week with school, work, lame TV shows, boys… but, that doesn’t mean I’ll be flying solo. Joining me for this week’s episode is the fabulously fantastical MANDEE-BOT 2800. What the hell is a MANDEE-BOT 2800? The latest in science fiction made fact, is what the hell it is!

http://readrant.wordpress.com/2008/0...w-planetary-7/

Review: Invincible #50

It’s finally here! If you are any kind of a Robert Kirkman fan, you’ll know that he isn’t the most punctual guy around. The oversized five dollar Invincible #50 is finally at your local store.

Review: Iron Man Legacy of Doom #3

I loved the first two Doomquest installments and I’m having a lot of fun with this one too. This is old school comics with some continuity, some new armors, some Arthurian mythology, and of course some awesome moments from two of my favorite characters, Iron Man and Dr. Doom. This is the best Iron Man title out right now.

Bruce Castle Archives: Batman Under the Hood Vol 1

It’s been about two years since I last read this. I was much less impressed with it than I was the last time I read it. I’m not a Judd Winick fan at all and most of what he writes is bad, this is probably his best story though. What I did like is that this is a Batman we don’t usually see, he is very old. He is obsessed with mortality and he constantly reminisces. As I stated earlier, I loved the fight with Amazo, that was a lot of fun. On the down side, a lot of this is very silly.

Invincible #50 was one of the best reads of the week. Its great when people can apply a lot more to a character they love.

I dunno, I was a little disappointed with it. From the cliffhanger of 49 and the cover of 50, you basically knew everything that would happen in this issue. The background story for Cecil was interesting, but they neglected to cover an important item: WHY did Cecil change his mind on the ethics of using bad guys? We're shown that yes, he does change his mind, but there's no inner turmoil, no debate. It just seems a little too convenient, and I wish they'd used the Science Dog pages to flesh out the Cecil segment more.

my shipment was delayed till this afternoon, so i haven't read it yet... but i get the feeling i'll sure be annoyed when i do. :ermm: