Skrulls. You know what I’m sayin’? I think you do. Everyone’s a Skrull (including all those people who thought that the Dark Knight movie was better than Iron Man), and I can’t trust the lot of you. Therefore, I shouldn’t be revealing top-secret information like the contents of my pull-list, especially not in a forum as public as this one. I mean, everyone totally reads this blog…even the Skrulls. So I guess I’d better watch my back, and in the meantime I’ll be down at my local Kree watering-hole, trying to make some friends.

OK, I met this guy named Mar-Vell, he says he’ll take care of it. So I guess it’s safe enough to get this show on the road. Let’s start it off in style, shall we?

Secret Invasion #5 is alive! SI is great (love that swimsuit issue!…wait, not that SI), and it really pays off the long-time Marvel/Bendis reader (I have no idea what it does for the noobs). There are tie-ins here (and in the other Bendis books, both New and Mighty Avengers, which carry much of the SI subplot) all the way back to his Secret War saga. Good stuff. OK…Maybe a little confusing. But re-reading it all in a row will be a good thing. C’mon, next issue! Be here now.

Astonishing X-Men #26 continues Warren Ellis’ new arc on this well-loved book. I haven’t read #25 yet, since Marvel has yet to release the the previous two trades in hardcover (as they did with the sweet two-trade hardcover for that story’s earlier arcs), and if I buy the separate softcover versions they won’t match the other collection on my shelf. Joss Whedon’s Astonishing run should be on every X-fan’s list of stuff to buy right now, and I look forward to seeing what Ellis does with Whedon’s strong foundation.

Halo: Uprising #3. Really? How long has it been since we’ve seen you? Really. And you expect to just show up, months after we’ve forgotten whatever the hell you were all about, and have us pay not two but three ninety-nine for the privilege of confusing ourselves further? Really?!? Really. Sure. If you say so. Good plan. We’ll see how that works out for you…wait, you were written by who? Brian Michael Bendis? With art by Alex Maleev? The same Eisner Award-winning team who did the best run on Daredevil ever (yeah, I see you Frank Miller)? Oh, well then, uh…I guess I’ll see you Wednesday.

So, that’s it then. No more books for me. By the way, I’m told that the second installment of Thunderbolts should be out this week, hardcover or soft I don’t know. Check for it. And if you ever dug the Punisher, look for last week’s hardcover collection of Garth Ennis’ 12-issue miniseries Welcome Back, Frank. Good stuff, especially if you want to see the Frank Castle turn a guy’s head allllllllllllll the way around, or maybe feed people to fish. Yeah, it’s like that. Remorseless, but light-hearted. Not psychological, not a character study. Just 12 solid issues of shoot-em-up, bang-bang, dead mafia guys, and a world full of hurt. Thumbs up.

Alright, then. I’m out like Batwoman. Until next time…

Keep it bagged and boarded,

Grip

Posted by Grip Grand on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 4:51 pm.