Well, another Wednesday is nigh, and with it comes more new comics. What tasty treats will follow me home from the store this week (if I may mix my metaphors)? And what about last week’s books? How were they? Great? Sucktacular? Some unsatisfying mixture of both? All those questions will be answered, and more! When? Right now, suckers! Avengers Assemble!

Damn it, that never works when I do it. At any rate, let’s take a look at last week’s leavings before we jump into the days ahead.

Booster Gold #6–Meh. I liked this series on the whole, but the reincarnated Blue Beetle direction is not one I’m backing. I like Geoff Johns, so I’m not saying it’ll never work, but on the other hand…I can’t think of a way to finish that sentence. DC seems to be taking a slide back into the Silver Age lately with all their zany universes and team-ups and multiple versions of characters and such…they need a few more Sinestro Corps Wars and a few less Amazons Attacks. And by the way…to all the well-meaning customers at the comic book store, it’s pronounced “core”, not “corpse”…no offense.

New Exiles #1–I thought this relaunch might be a good jumping-on point for a book that a lot of folks seem to like. I was wrong. WTF? I felt like I needed a guidebook to Exile-land…I guess that was supposed to be the first hundred issues. Oh, well. So, which Sabretooth is this? Not the dead one? Me am lost.

Amazing Spider-Man #547–Part 2 of Brand New Day was alright, same vein as the first. I don’t hate it…I can’t say I’m feeling this Negative-Guy villain (or whatever) with his horde of Inner Demons (seriously?!), but I’m still in it. You’re not off the list yet, Parker. But I still reserve the option to go back in time and double-kill Aunt May myself if this whole thing doesn’t pan out.

Which brings us to next week, as usual.

Amazing Spider-Man #548 will be the third chapter in the Brand New Day saga, and like I said, I’m there. I like Dan Slott’s writing. I just finished the trade of his first Avengers: The Initiative arc, which I dug despite its crossover with World War Hulk. It wasn’t the best book ever, but I like the dialogue and the characters. I feel the same way about Slott’s work thus far on Spidey. I think it might all be OK in the end.

Marvel Zombies 2 #4–This dumb book is one of the first things I read when it comes out because it’s fun. If you want more than that out of a book about zombies in capes and tights, well, I guess I can respect that. Aim high. And I bet when Alan Moore writes Marvel Zombies 3: The Re-Feedening, it’ll blow this piece of driftwood out of the water. But until then, Grip want brains. Suuuuuper braaaains.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #50–Another book I don’t read regularly, but I’ll try to jump on here. I’ve liked the random trades I’ve read for this title. I hear it hasn’t been great of late. I’m hoping this new arc defies the rumors.

Ultimate Iron Man II #2–Yeah, I like the old Shellhead. But I also like the new Shellhead. Although the OG-Universe costume clearly trumps the Ultimate Iron-suit. The first Arc of Ultimate Iron Man was too short…it ended just when it was getting good. So I’m glad this series is happening. I have to go back and re-read issue #1, because I honestly don’t remember where it left us. What can I say…I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately.

Ultimates 3 #2–After the first issue ended with a bang, where are we off to next? I still don’t know what to make of this third installment in the Ultimates line, but I have high hopes because this has been a quality franchise overall. I’m not yet accustomed to the new art, which kept pulling me out of the story during the first issue. I guess I got used to the more realistic approach favored in Ultimates 1 and 2. New artist Joe Madureira’s stylized, anime-influenced flavor is a stark contrast. It remains to be seen whether it’ll work for the story at hand. My fingers are crossed…toes, too.

Superman Confidential #11–Really, now. This is the final issue in an arc by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale that hasn’t seen the light of day since issue #5 (if I’m not mistaken). I don’t know how this happens, exactly, but this story took up the first five issues of Superman Confidential…and then the arc never finished. Instead two new arcs were introduced, neither of which I followed. Now finally, on issue #11, the original arc concludes. A story I enjoyed at first, but one I haven’t read or cared about in many months. I love Darwyn Cooke. I love Tim Sale. But I hate the schedule for this book, even if there’s a great reason for it. I’ll still buy it, though. Gotta complete the run, right? Right. Junkie.

That’s all for me. Other good stuff is dropping this week, but I’m not caught up enough to buy it (sorry, Astonishing X-Men). Guess I better cop some trades and get to work. Until next time, then, Avengers Disassemble.

Bagged and boarded,

Grip