MARVEL SPOTLIGHT - Summer Events - The Return Of The Human Torch.



UNCANNY X-MEN #514 - Utopia - The riots are quelled by Osborn's Dark X-men, but his Dark Avengers are beyond fed up with being benched and are about to get out in the trenches. Just in time because Trask is about to throw more gas on the San Francisco fire.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #602 - Red Headed Stranger - What does Mary Jane know and what does she do next?



CABLE #17 - Hope and Cable are separated in time and now the so-called mutant messiah must fend for herself.



DEADPOOL #13 - Deadpool decides that its going to be a pirate's life for him.



DOMINIC FORTUNE - Max #1 (OF 4) (Mature Reader) - The adventurer-for-hire Dominic Fortune takes a job guarding three drunken actors. :knockedou



INCREDIBLE HERCULES #132 - When a threat breaks of that only Thor can handle and Thor is not available, Hercules is happy to step in. Introducing the mighty Thorcules. No one will notice the difference, right?



MS MARVEL #43 - War Of The Marvels - The battle between the two Ms. Marvels has caused incredible destruction and Osborn is not going to let anyone ruin his sweet deal. Especially, not one of his own.



Ultimate Comics - AVENGERS #1 - Nick Fury is back, but doesn't get the hero's welcome. And Captain America has gone rogue now that he knows about his father, the Red Skull.



Ultimate Comics - SPIDER-MAN #1 - In the aftermath of Ultimatum, the series begins again with a new first issue, new villains and amazing new supporting cast.

.

Deadpool #13

and maybe the Ultimates like Spider-man and the Avengers.

Ms Marvel and Deadpool

Deadpool 13
X-Men Forever 5

maybe Avengers #1 and Spider-Man #1

will pick up Marvel Project and Marvel #1 party variants tonight

Definitely Deadpool, probably Ultimate Spider-Man, and maybe Ms. Marvel and Ultimate Avengers.

Also, I still don't get why you lock up the previous weeks release thread every time you post a new one of these things.

The Marvels Project # 1
Ultimate Comics Avengers # 1
Ultimate Comics Spider-man # 1
Uncanny X-men # 514

Ultimate Spider-Man Comics #1
Story: 5/5
Art: 4/5

Peter (narration): And now I have one question, and I want you to think about this very carefully. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me:
Peter: Do you want fries with that?

Six months after the Ultimatum Wave, New York has officially rebuilt itself. Peter is working at a local burger chain, Mary Jane inexplicably has glasses, and there's a new cloaked and masked figure beating up robbers. Spider-Man, after arriving on the scene of the aformentioned foiled robbery, is surprised to find himself seen as the hero and is still getting used to that notion.

Spider-Man then comes home to the arms of his loving girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. While home, a knock comes at the door. It's Johnny Storm, looking for a place to stay. He passes out in Peter's arms. Also, Mysterio kills Kingpin.

Really great kick-off. The new status quo is weird and strange (Pete and Gwen? WTF?!) and leaves the reader begging for more. Also, I loved LaFuente's artwork more than I expected. It's not the best, but it still looks really cool.

Ultimate Avengers #1
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5

"What the %@#&? I disappear for ten minutes and the whole place goes to hell."

Three weeks after Ultimatum, Nick Fury arrives at the remnants of the Triskelion with Hawkeye. Clint makes an offer: lead a black ops team to capture the rogue Captain America, who has found about the Red Skull.

Flashback to a week ago with Cap and Hawkeye taking out a pair of A.I.M. helicopters. Tony Stark is supposed to be on-hand, but is instead out drinking at a strip club. Cap runs into A.I.M.'s boss, the Red Skull, who beats the tar out of Cap and tells him that he's Cap's son. He then gets away.

I like the relaunch. The new design for Skull looks really cool and i'm interested in seeing what his deal is and his relationship with Cap. The future is finally bright for the Ultimate universe.

Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #4 of 4
Story: 4/5
Art: 3/5

Hairball: The fate of the universe is in our paws. What do we do?
Throg: Pet Avengers -- Assemble!

On the steps of the White House, Thanos confronts the Pet Avengers over the Infinity Gems. The team attacks him but are taken out quickly and easily. So Lockjaw steps up. He takes the remaining Infinity Gems from his fallen comrades (sans the red gem Thanos holds) and fights Thanos with them directly.

The pair teleport all over the world in heated combat. Finally, Lockjaw ports them into another dimension, takes the red gem from Thanos and comes back with all six gems in hand...er, collar. And the weird thing is he does all this off-panel. Lockjaw then establishes a telepathic link with the PA, then teleports away to Attilan to return the Infinity Gems.

This series was a fun ride and this issue was one of the best of the four. The team are still infinitely fun and i'm looking forward to the upcoming ongoing (yes, there will be an ongoing, in-continuity Pet Avengers series. Isn't that awesome?)

I will be including the three Marvel comics I bought this week and skipping the 4 that are technically new to me, but made it to the East Coast last week (Iron Man, War of Kings, Agents of Atlas, Zodiac).

Incredible Hercules #132 - rated 4.5/5
"Are the wickedest queens always the comeliest?"

The Replacement Thor - part 1. Hercules and the newly-revived, de-aged, amnesiac Zeus (seriously) are on the run from the forces of Hera, who now rule Olympus. A request for help provides them with an interesting place to hide - on an Asgardian quest to stop new aggressions from the Drow. Since the Drow have become emboldened by the absence of Thor, though, it becomes necessary to disguise Hercules as Thor to cow their assault. This title continues to dazzle, providing the high adventure, the humor, and the signature sound-effects that have made it the best Marvel ongoing bar none. There are so many reasons to love this comic: the perfectly fitting art, the affectionate nod to Hercules' old status as a recurring guest in the Thor comics, the bickering between Hercules and his grade-school age but Damian Wayne-arrogant father, or even the cool twist at the end, revealing there is more to his new quest than there first appears.

Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #1 - rated 4.5/5
"Angelic assassins, slaughtered Satanists, a junior Anti-Christ on the run....Why do I get the feeling I know exactly where this is headed?"

Jason Aaron continues to use all the things I ever liked about Ghost Rider and then weaves the things I didn't like into gold and then add them in, as well. While he's never had the quality artistic support he has deserved on his Ghost Rider run, Roland Boschi, his collaborator here, has his moments. Johnny Blaze and the new Caretaker seek out ways to stop Zadkiel, whose forces have recently won in their war to conquer Heaven. They stumble across one of Zadkiel's bizarre plots, but it appears that it may set them on a collision course with Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan (though hardly the only one of those in this comic). Treats abound for old-school Ghost Rider fans as appearances are made by Jaine Cutter, some old enemies, and even a reprint of 70s-era meeting between Ghost Rider and the Son of Satan. Danny Ketch fans will have to be patient, though. He won't show up until next issue.

The Marvels Project #1 - rated 4/5
"The Nazi war machine was a horror to behold, and even though we were an ocean away, it didn't feel like we were safe. It didn't feel like this war wouldn't touch us. It felt like we were just biding our time."

So far, so good. This story breaks down the earliest appearances and origins of Marvel's golden-aged heroes and with some minor tweaks that still feel very organic, are turning it into a single, connected narrative instead of 4 or 5 separate origin stories. I don't recall much about what's been established about Dr. Erskine's background, but what I see here certainly appears to be a new take. The creepiest part, though, involves a new origin for Namor's anti-Nazi enmity that perfectly fits into what we know about Namor and what we know about the Nazis. This comic went from something I was considering skipping, to something that is now on my pull-list.

Ultimate Spider-Man really surprised me. I was so on the fence about picking it up, somewhat happy I could drop a title I wasn't too excited with, but the first issue was really something. I initially bought if for LaFuente's art (which was top notch), but the story itself was really great. It was like reading the earlier Ultimate Spider-Man stuff, albeit with a bit more backstory. I'm looking forward to future issues.

So I skipped Ms. Marvel and Ultimate Avengers (I may go back and get it next week), but I did get the other two and MA: Superheroes (featuring Hawkeye and the Blond Phantom)

Ultimate Spider-Man was, as Dumas said, a good read. It's nice to see that it's avoided any negative impact from Ultimatum (Well, except maybe the loss of the Bugle). Also good to see right off the top (though it was pretty well known off the end of the second USMR issue) that Pete's still Spidey. Curious as to who the new red-cloaked character might be, and while I thought the Peter/Gwen hookup was a bit odd, I'm willing to wait to find out what happened.
Also nice was seeing that Torch appears to be being brought in as a supporting character. Personally, I'd kind of like to see Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Shadowcat, Human Torch, Iceman (assuming he's going to be brought in as a supporting character too based on his appearance on the cover), and possibly Redcloak (depending on who/what they are) form some sort of superteam (Young Ultimates? Ultimate Young Avengers? Ultimate Outlaws?).

Deadpool was great this week, probably the best its been this series. In it, Deadpool decides to be a pirate, buys a small boat to do it in (after we hear about how he previously bought a submarine and it sank, like it was supposed to, but unlike Deadpool expected), and hires Agent Bob to be his Parrot. Bob is dressed up in a parrot costume and taught by Deadpools teaching stick to talk like one too.
Six weeks later, they arrive at a private island used by rich people, which he plans to use as his looting grounds, but since Bob isn't feeling very good, they go aground so Deadpool can get him to a vet (because he's a parrot). There, they meet a blind guide and find out about other pirates, at which point Bob points out how much money Deadpool has, meaning that with his heavily-armed ship, he probably won't care about getting paid to help get rid of the other pirates. Deadpool agrees, but only on terms that the guide join his crew as navigator and she cover her ears for five minutes so that Deadpool can use his new bamboo teaching stick on Bob for that time.

MA: Superheroes - Hawkeye and BB are at an art gallery when some crooks come in with who they claim is Bruce Banner. They put a bag filled with laughing gas on his head, and threaten to make him Hulk out if anyone tries anything. BB calls the real Bruce to confirm that he's not being used as a weapon, and the two spring into action. However, the criminals get away.
Rest of the issue concerns them tracking down and catching the crooks, though there's also a sequence where they take some stabs at Civil War and the current state of the Marvel 616 U. Decent issue, but I feel like it could have been better somehow.

I picked up

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1
Ultimate Comics: Avengers #1
Amazing Spider-Man #602
Uncanny X-Men #514

Everything was actually pretty good this week.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 did a really good job in setting up for a new era in Ultimate Spider-Man. Mysterio starts playing a bigger role and there's a new mysterious vigilante figure. Spider-Man is actually adored by the public. I wonder what they're going to do with J. Jonah Jameson seeing as he currently admires Spider-Man. Kingpin appeared and Mysterio shot him out of a building. I'm assuming that they didn't just pull an Ultimatum on Kingpin, but we'll see. As previously stated, the Peter/Gwen relationship is a little weird. I really wonder what happened with MJ. In the Ultimate universe, Peter has never really strayed far from MJ aside from Kitty Pryde. I hope to find out more in the next issue.

Amazing Spider-Man was good. I like how they're writing in Chameleon. With the Chameleon replacing Peter and meeting with Mary Jane, the Spider-Man saving MJ situation will probably reveal more details as to exactly how much Mary Jane and Peter both know. I wish they weren't so wishy-washy with the Mephisto deal explanation.

Uncanny X-Men was pretty good. They try to make Cyclops look like a genius. He's my favorite X-Man, though, so it was cool.

Ultimate Comics: Avengers #1 brings me hope again to the Ultimates story. I like the new angle with the Red Skull.

You SAY "genius", but he comes off as something that rhymes with "genius".

I wont' say what tho, and thus let you figure it out as I close this thread down after this post of mine.