This week brings the return of one of the best comics to be published by multiple companies, the penultimate issue of THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!!!, the new direction for Green Lantern and more.

AGE OF ULTRON #9

Wolverine has second thoughts about just how smart it was to go back in time and kill Hank Pym after seeing that the future he inadvertently created is almost as crappy as the one he is working so hard to prevent. So it’s back to the time machine, folks.
Final Verdict: This issue yet another overly decompressed bit of fluff with a few interesting bits thrown in like multiple Wolverine’s having a truly awkward conversation with Hank Pym in the past, and Wolverine having to make a major sacrifice that I didn’t see coming. But this mini-series is still lacking in any real punch and just seems to be limping along to whatever likely unsatisfying conclusion bends comes up with. And I have no clue who Roger Bonet is but his inks did what I thought was a nigh impossible task by making Carlos Pacheco’s artwork look like ass.
Grade: C-

ASTRO CITY #1

ASTRO CITY is back and it’s a VERTIGO book now!!! After a far too long absence (due mainly to writer Kurt Busiek dealing with a major illness) this awesome book is back with a tale that invokes the major cosmic events from the Big Two but with a decidedly Astro City vibe to it. We get introduced to a new character that serves as a guide of sorts while also getting peaks at some of the major denizens of Astro City while they deal with a mysterious alien incursion.
Final Verdict: When a book takes as long a hiatus as this one did it is reasonable to expect a little bit of a letdown in quality with the comeback book but this is not the case for ASTRO CITY. There is no sign of rust from Busiek or artist Brent Anderson and the same sense of wonder and discovery I felt lo those many years ago when i read the first issue of the initial run of this series is all here in this relaunch. As a reader i was instantly immersed in the world that Busiek and Anderson created and, as has been a hallmark of the book from day one, I was just as interested in the normal everyday citizen as I was in the spandex and cape crowd.
Plus we get treated to what is, in my opinion, the best looking new character of 2013: American Chibi.
Grade: A-

AVENGERS #13

The High Evolutionary has kidnapped those creepy alien kids and is hiding them somewhere in the Savage Land so he can use them for all sorts of scientific (but nefarious) experiments. Bad move on his part since Hyperion has decided to become those aliens own version of Mr. Drummond from DIFF’RENT STROKES. Lucky for The High Evolutionary he has an army of Ani-Men and a stray Terminus lying around to keep the Avengers busy.
Final Verdict: This issue had a lot of cool and fun moments from Thor giving his version of Wolverine’s “best I am at what I do” speech, Spider-Man/Doc Ock being a condescending dick to everyone, and Hyperion cutting loose. It is the Hyperion stuff that is the highlight of this issue and serves to give the reader a bit more insight as to what makes the character tick and giving the character a primary motivation moving forward. plus the budding friendship between Hyperion and Thor is one of the better character interactions in this series.
Grade: B+

GREEN LANTERN #21

After being shepherded by Geoff Johns for so many years, Green Lantern is now in the hands of new writer, Robert Venditti and Mr. Venditti wastes no time in piling on the already downtrodden Green Lantern Corps. The GLC is in disarray, half the membership is dead, the old Guardians are gone, the new Guardians are in desperate need of some life experience as far as this new universe they are in is concerned and their one major move before going on walkabout is to name Hal Jordan as the new leader of the Corps. And Hal is not in the best place personally himself with his professional and personal lives being a total mess. So of course it is the perfect time for Larfleeze and his Orange Lanterns to attack.
Final Verdict: Venditti hits the ground running in this issue and sets up some pretty intriguing situations that are rife with storyline potential (Hal in charge with Kilowog as his 2nd in command; a bunch of uninspiring and unwilling new recruits) plus the little glimpses into the future of the GLC makes it look like things are just gong to get worse. So I am in for this next phase of the title and really hope that the promise of this issue holds up moving forward.
Grade: B

THANOS RISING #3

“Thanos was a rolling stone
Wherever he lay his hat was his home”

So in this issue of the ongoing re-working of Thanos the Mad Titan’s origin we are treated to Thanos in his wandering days where he is searching for his place in the universe after murdering his mom and fleeing Titan. In this phase of his ice Thanos is zooming around the galaxy becoming the baby daddy to every tentacle headed alien chick with low self-esteem and a fondness for the color purple while also finding work as the head tech guy on a space pirate ship. He also continues mooning over the girl that got away.
Final Verdict:
The book still looks gorgeous but I am just not feeling the way Jason Aaron is deciding to flesh out the character of Thanos. I have yet to see anything in this opening up of Thanos’ origin story that does anything but diminish the character as far as I am concerned. And with the cat being out of the bag as to Thanos’ mysterious gal pal (it has been obvious that she is Lady Death but this issue and the cover pretty much confirms it) I am feeling that yet another character is being diminished as part of this story. One of the best things about Than os’ obsession with lady Death was the way she tended to not give a flying fig about him yet now she is being revealed as being just as obsessed with him as he has been with her and she has gone from detached embodiment of a universal constant to a manipulative bitchy cock tease. That is a downgrade if ever i saw one.
Grade: C+