Books: Assorted Marvel Comics

[woodwardiocom]

Asgardians Of The Galaxy by Bunn, Buffagni, Landini, Lolli

An oddball team of Asgard-related heroes (Angela, Valkyrie, Throg, Loki, Skurge) get out into the universe to deal with Asgard-related threats. Fun, but requires some knowledge of Thor lore.

Champions: Beat The Devil by Zub, Cummings, Ramírez, Menyz

Our favorite team of young social justice warriors deal with the trials of teenager-hood, and the fallout when Mephisto makes a deal with two of them... and you should never, ever, deal with the devil. Recommended.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Taylor, Cabal, Cinar, Franchin

A "back to basics" Spider-Man title, except that it deals with a major geographic addition to Spidey's New York-based mythos. It nevertheless captures the "everyday" nature of Spider-Man. Recommended.

The Immortal Hulk: Abomination by Ewing, Bennett, José, Mounts

This horror title continues to be scary, deconstructing how gamma-based transformations are both body-horror and mind-horror, and how the impermanence of comic-book death is not all skittles and puppies. Creepy, but recommended.

Infinity Warps: Two-In-One by Divers Hands

A collection of stories set in the "warps" universe, where everyone has been combined, giving us the Soldier Supreme, Iron Hammer, Ghost Panther, and more. These are mostly a bunch of fun non-canon stories with weird heroes, and they occasionally even illuminate aspects of the original characters. I found the Weapon Hex story, however, to be too fetishistically interested in pretty women in tight costumes getting dismembered. Otherwise mildly recommended.

Marvel Comics #1000 by Divers Hands

One thousand months have passed since Marvel Comics #1. This is an 80+-page collection of one-page stories telling tales from throughout Marvel's history, often with hints of plots yet to come. There's bound to be something in there that pleases you. Recommended.

Ms. Marvel: Destined by Ahmed, Jung, Vlasco, Herring

Ms. Marvel gets a new writer, who takes her into space, where an alien race insists she's the Chosen One. Unfortunately, her parents came along for the ride, and they think Chosen-One-ing is far too dangerous. Recommended.

Vision: The Complete Collection by King, Walta, Bellaire

I'm late coming to this series, a 12-issue deconstruction of, well, many things. The Vision has built himself a nuclear family, and bought a house in the suburbs, where they try very hard to be normal. Alas, when your family tree includes several mass-murderers, that's not easy, and their barbecue pit begins to acquire a body count. I suspect this series worked better as monthly issues, when your brain had time to fill in blanks between issues. In one volume, you notice how single incidents are meant to stand in for status quos. It is, nevertheless, entirely worth reading. Highly recommended.