-------
Age of Ultron #10AI by Mark Waid and Andre Lima Araujo
Finally, something good has come out of Age of Ultron. Of course it's by Mark Waid and not Bendis. It also takes place in the "normal" Earth-616 continuity, which is nice.
So Hank Pym finally defeated Ultron and saved the future in the last issue of Age of Ultron. He reflects on this, and we get some flashbacks to his childhood and early life (something I don't know if we've ever gotten before?). He then begins to reflect on the fact that if he was killed in the past, Morgan le Fay would have taken over the Earth, leading to Armageddon, which makes him feel important for the first time since he was a toddler, so he goes out to do some superheroing. And he finds that being a superhero has a new sense of fun to it.
This was a really enjoyable comic, and felt like a genuine turning-point for Hank Pym's character. If nothing else good comes from this big dumb crossover event, we at least got this one great issue.
If you only buy one Age of Ultron comic, make it this one. In fact, fuck it... ONLY buy this one.
All-New X-Men #13 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
Lady Mastermind tries to wreck young Marvel Girl's brain and Mystique is trying to buy the entire island of Madripoor, while all the other characters (especially Shadowcat) take the piss out of Havok's dumbass "M-Word" speech.
Avengers Arena #11 by Dennis Hopeless and Riccardo Burchielli
Hazmat and Reptil have been living on a beach safe-zone for a while, and are starting to lose their minds a little, so when another group of survivors show up they need to try to convince the two traumatized teen heroes to help them look for Nico Minoru (who totally died hard last issue, much to my disappointment).
Batman Superman #1 by Greg Pak and Jae Lee
This one is the Nü52's first meeting between Batman and Superman, and though we're still at the "two heroes have a misunderstanding and end up fighting eachother" stage, with this creative team it seems like this (mini?)series is going to be very solid.
Captain America #8 by Rick Remender and John Romita Junior
Captain America is making his final stand against Arnim Zola's extra-dimensional mutant army while Zola's daughter Jet Black makes her final stand against her father, and the issue ends with a way more intense plot twist than the cover would indicate.
FF #8 by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred
Bentley-23 has returned to Four Freedoms Plaza, She-Hulk is challenging Medusa's role on the team, Doctor Doom is working with Kid Immortus to seemingly infiltrate the FF via Alex Power, Evil Future Human Torch came out of his coma, Darla Deering now has rings that turn her into Ms. Thing when she touches them together, and if none of these things make sense to you, you ought to get off your ass and start reading this comic already, because it is awesome.
Guardians of the Galaxy #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli
Between Drax the Destroyer acting like a carefree goofball, and Gamora - the deadliest woman in the universe - needing to be RESCUED from some random bounty hunter, I am firmly convinced that Bendis doesn't understand these characters AT ALL and should really hand writing duties back to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning so things will be less dumb.
Hawkeye #11 by Matt Fraction and David Aja
This entire issue is told from the perspective of Lucky the Dog, and David Aja proves once and for all that he is a completely fucking brilliant artist.
Journey Into Mystery #653 by Kathryn Immonen and Valerio Schiti
Beta Ray Bill has revealed that he doesn't totally love his wife, since she was created by Galactus as a thank-you-gift for Bill not killing him, and now he's macking on Sif on the space station she took Gaea to, and yeah, this comic continues to be amazing in all ways.
Justice League of America #5 by Geoff Johns and Brett Booth
Oh, word, you're not even gonna' PRETEND that Catwoman is dead for ONE PAGE before you reveal that it was actually Martian Manhunter, but you're still gonna' put a coffin on the cover?
Larfleeze #1 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Scott Kolins
I feel like Giffen and DeMatteis aren't as fun as they were in the '80s, but I also feel like that's a REALLY high bar to set.
Nova #5 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness
Nova learns more about his father, and uses an Ultimate Nullifier on a Chitauri fleet, and I'm feeling very positive about this comic again.
Scarlet Spider #18 by Chris Yost, Carlo Barberi, and Ale Garza
Kaine and Wolverine team up to stab the shit out of an entire league of super-powered assassins and oh my god I love this comic so much you guys.
Secret Avengers #5 by Nick Spencer and Luke Ross
So apparently Hawkguy is starting to have second thoughts about volunteering for an elite S.H.I.E.L.D. murder-squad who get their memories completely wiped after every mission.
Superman #21 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort
I thought the cover was fun so I tried to read this, but the lousy writing, the lousy art, and the truly bizarre layout made the thing absolutely BAFFLING.
Uncanny X-Force #7 by Sam Humphries, Adrian Alphona, and Dalibor Talajić
This whole comic follows Psylocke in Fantomex's crazy little world, and while it's a fun issue, I feel like Grant Morrison should be the only one handling Fantomex's crazy little world.
Uncanny X-Men #7 by Brian Michael Bendis and Frazer Irving
Illyana does exactly what I would do if I had to fight Dormammu: Call up Doctor Strange to come and kick him back to the Dark Dimension like he has a zillion times before (and I view this as a very solid plot move, personally).
Wolverine and the X-Men #32 by Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw
This is absolutely the best X-Men book right now - possibly one of the best Marvel books right now - and that's all I have to say about that.
Wolverine #5 by Paul Cornell and Mirco Pierfederici
Wolverine versus an entire Helicarrier full of mind-controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents you say?
X-Men #2 by Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel
While I'm enjoying the story, and like to see more appearances of Karima (even if she's being controlled by a disembodied technopathic entity), I'd rather use this moment to point out that Olivier Coipel makes really beautiful-looking comics.
Young Avengers #6 by Kieron Gillen and Kate Brown
Yup, I still am completely in love with this comic.
