A + X #6 !!!

A + X #6 Gambit + Thing and Wolverine + Captain Marvel with this month’s theme being Poker games and bluffing.  Wolverine and Captain Marvel were in a poker game showdown with each trying to get the upper hand in a battle of wills.  They argue and then the Avengers Tower is broken into by someone in a big suit of power armor calling itself the End.  Captain Marvel asks the End a “who would win” question and the next thing you see is Hawkeye and Spider-Woman running into the room to see the three not fighting but playing poker.  The second story of The Thing and Gambit starts with the Thing playing poker with the Yancy Street Gang (well three of them anyway) before the game starts the Gang brings in a ringer who turns out to be Gambit.  Gambit and the Thing have a history that the reader gets to see.  In the end it turns out The Thing and Gambit ran a scam and stole the pot from the Yancy Street Gang.  Both stories were well told and entertaining – I was entertained.

Age of Ultron #3!!

Age of Ultron #3 was good.  This issue moved the story along as the Heroes have finally set on a plan.  She-Hulk and Luke Cage are going to try and infiltrate Ultron’s Headquarters and try to learn something about what Ultron wants and why there are survivors.  That plan has Luke Cage “Selling” or trading She-Hulk to Ultron.  They got the idea from Hammerhead and the Owl who until killed claimed to have bought safety from Ultron by trading (selling) it Heroes.  We then cut to Chicago where we see the Red Hulk, the Taskmaster and Black Panther trying to capture part of an Ultron Unit to examine.  This gives us a chance to see the Red Hulk have a big fight trying to buy time for the others to escape, unfortunately the Black Panther dies; it appears that the Taskmaster does escape.  We then return to Luke Cage and She-Hulk whom are brought to see not Ultron but The Vision (dun dun dun… cue dramatic music).  This issue was a great improvement over issue two as something happened. 

Superior Spider-Man #6AU

The Superior Spider-Man #6AU (Age of Ultron) was interesting.  I am still not a fan of the Superior Spider-Man and could rant about how evil the people whom allowed Doctor Octopus to kill Peter Parker and replace Parker’s mind with his own.  This story starts right at the start of events in Age of Ultron #3 before the She-Hulk and Luke Cage plan can start.  Spider-Man is plotting a way to escape from his helpers and destroy Ultron on his own.  Tony Stark (Iron Man) tells Spider-Man that the Horizon Labs survived and Tony had a way to destroy Ultron if he could get a hold of some tech from the labs.  Spider-Man agreed to help but as soon as Quicksilver dropped him off Spider-Man betrayed the other survivors and tried to take down Ultron on his own using his own robot control powers.  Spider-Man almost succeeds but was tricked into a false fight and is almost killed.  He attempts to carry out Tony Stark’s plan but fails at that as well.  Spider-Man barely escapes and returns to give the bad news to the other remaining Heroes.  The story ends with Doctor Octopus realizing how good it is to have friends (queue the G.I. Joe “And knowing is half the Battle” music) just as the She-Hulk and Luke Cage are getting ready for their mission.

Fantastic Four #5AU (Age of Ultron)

Fantastic Four #5AU (Age of Ultron) or we get to kill off the Fantastic Four.  This is the story of how Sue Storm is one of the survivors hiding in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the main Age of Ultron comic book.  So the story starts sometime in the past or future and the Fantastic Four – The Thing, Human Torch, Reid Richards and Sue Storm leave their children behind to go help defend Earth.  They arrive too late and they are all killed off one by one in very dramatic fashion.  Sue somehow survives even though she was being hunted by a pack of Ultrons.  She was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building by the She-Hulk.  The story ends with the kids back on the ship wondering what are they going to do now.  Considering who they are and the powers they have shown in the past there is little they cannot do to fix the timeline.  The question is if the writers will allow them to be more than another sideshow in the Age of Ultron story arc.

I hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July!

Deadpool Killustrated #3

Deadpool Killustrated #3 was entertainingly good.  We the readers finally get to see a few more famous characters of literature finished off by Deadpool.   I liked the idea of stealing the Frankenstein Monster by transplanting a little of Deadpool’s brain.  Once activated the Frankenstein Deadpool and Deadpool continue their rampage followed closely by Sherlock Holms and company.  The writers are showing a bit more imagination and hopefully this story will improve.

This is my 200th update!!

FF #5

FF #5 was interesting but I am not really feeling the love with this book.  It is going for silly when it could be doing much better.  There are a number of interesting children and other characters hanging out at the Fantastic Foundation that could be used better.  Oh well.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 !!!!

The Guardians of the Galaxy #1 was entertaining.  I am a bit annoyed that they brought in Iron Man (Tony Stark) of all people when it would seem the original cast was wacky enough without adding Iron Man.  The story starts out well enough with Star-Lord (Peter Quill) hitting on a female Kree in a bar.  They are interrupted when Quill’s father the King of the Galaxy (has anyone told the Shi’ar?) arrives to tell Quill that Earth is by law now off limits.  I was amused when the king admitted that he was in fact jealous of his son’s adventures.  We then switch to following Iron Man as he encounters a Badoon space craft and combat ensues.  At the “last moment” the Guardians of the Galaxy (Gamora, Quill, Drax, Groot and Rocket Raccoon – yes Rocket Raccoon!) and help to save the day.  The bad guys blow up their ship knocking out Tony Stark and escape.  The comic ends with an attack on the Earth city of London.  The backstory for this group is not what I remember and I might have to track down some trade paperback collections to know what is going on in this comic.  I have to say I enjoyed the story so far and hope the quality continues at this level.