Secret Six #18

This was a great little arc. I'm surprised it hit so fast and so hard, but John Ostrander always did plot tightly back in the day and Gail Simone clearly writes in the same style. The two work really well together. The Squad and the Six are spot-on.

I really enjoyed seeing the Squad shocked at how much Deadshot fits in with his new crew. I really think Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller thought Deadshot would come strolling back to their ranks and leave the Six, but Deadshot put an end to that thought with his "no thank you" to Waller. And by "no thank you" I mean a shot to the chest. I did like that Waller still thinks there is a good chance she could get him to sign on later if she had to anyway, so if there is another Squad series, I'd say Deadshot could be a part of it.

The story fits in nicely with recent DC history too. There are numerous references to Ostrander's most recent Squad mini-series and we actually find out who Mockingbird is! It's an excellent choice. All the Blackest Night stuff was incidental, this was all about the two toughest teams of scum in the DCU.

Jim Caliafore isn't the hottest artist around, but he's solid. I do hope we get Nicola Scott back on the Six. Not many artists bring her clarity of emotion to these tough characters.

Good

Secret Invasion: X-Men TPB

Hmm. This is my second trade of the San Fran-era X-Men, and this is the second time I've been under whelmed. Mike Carey does a nice job with some of the individual scenes, but there are just so many characters it seems like no one gets a real starring role. The closest thing to a lead would be Cyclops, who as always makes tough decisions and keeps his troops moving like an army. I loved the way he sent the X-Men out on assignment and just didn't worry if any of them were disguised Skrulls. He tells the team it doesn't do any good to second-guess each other, so just do your jobs.

Nightcrawler gets some page time as he struggles with an alien orb that is some sort of space-Bible or something. I know now that the orb represents God, not some oddball space alien deity, so that is a bit of a let-down, since I think a weirder influence might have been more interesting for the character. Beast navigates yet another moral quagmire as he provides Cyclops with a retooled legacy virus to wipe out all the local Skrulls. Having Cyclops tell Beast that he relies on him as a moral compass was a great touch. Overall though, the threats never seemed that dangerous and the stakes never seemed that high. Maybe this is one instance where reading the trade a year after the event robs the story of any driving force. Carey obviously knows his X-history and has the characterization down, but the overall plot here was rather mundane.

Cary Nord's pencils are always a treat, although he has a tendency to soften everything up quite a bit. I'm not sure he's the best fit for a massive X-crossover book.

Fair

Spider-Woman #1

The problem here is that I'm sick of Skrulls. Totally tired of them. They were in every book for so long that I heard rumors that Marvel was trying to stay away from them for a bit because the whole comic line had become so over-saturated with wrinkly-chinned shapeshifters. So what is the new Spider-Woman comic about? She's an agent of SWORD. And her one job is to chase down Skrulls. So I'm probably not going to pick this up again.

Bendis seems to have some affection for Jessica Drew. She spends most of the identity rolling thoughts around in her head, repeating things, and talking to Abigail Brand. There is a bit of combat at the end to liven things up, but for the most part this is a talker. I like the idea that Jessica Drew is messed up by the things that have happened to her, but I'm not sure that watching her kill Skrulls on the D-L is how to make her character more interesting. There isn't any type of set up for a supporting cast in this premiere issue, unless Abigail Brand will be coming around regularly, but I don't see that happening. So this relaunch probably isn't for me, although it may stay street level enough to play to Bendis' strengths. I fear it will play more to his weaknesses, like the plotting in Secret War.

I chose the Ross variant cover because what draws me to Spider-Woman is her 70s camp look and her bright appearance, she's a neat looking hero. But this dark take doesn't seem like it will carry the mood I'm looking for from the character.

Alex Maleev draws beautiful pictures that fit the story pretty well, but there are a lot of cutaways and artistic shots too. This is not "classic" storytelling by any means, but it is moody and pretty to look at.

Average

Skrull Kill Krew #1

I'm very confused on how this comic got made. It actually has some neat concepts, but overall, I'm forced to ask why this was even made. Adam Felber's story follows Ryder, the Skrull-killer from the old series and The Initiative as he tracks down the last Skrulls lurking around the planet. The first confrontation is a pretty original one, where we see the Skrulls as party-people making themselves look like fabulous humans out clubbing. That's a great idea, and I almost wish that was the core concept, some Skrull trying to have fun. It turns out the Skrulls are into tying up human victims and slaughtering them There are clearly some lingering issues from the whole cow thing with the FF. After Ryder saves a human girl from the Skrulls, they head back to his place, where some other woman is waiting, but I'm afraid I missed who she was. The entire issue is interlaced with flashbacks to the Skrull-cows and how they "remembered" to start shapeshifting again. I had hoped 3-D Man would be in this, at the least. Without him, Ryder just isn't an interesting enough character to follow on an ongoing basis. Hell, I'm so tired of reading about Skrulls in general that this book had two strikes against it to start with.

Mark Robinson's art is servicable, but hardly strong enough to stick with the book for. I think I'll be sitting this one out.

Poor

Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion TPB

By switching to the trade on so many of my favorite comics, I'm always worried that I'm going to accidentally spoil thinks for myself. I've been really worried about that happening with Hercules, since I loved the first storyline so much. I did accidentally hear about Snowbird's involvement with the God Squad (Herc's team of anti-Skrull deities in this story) and I had also found out which member of the Squad was secretly a Skrull. But I actually had avoided finding out the full lineup of the squad, specifically that it included my favorite Eternal Ajak. The God Squad idea is a tremendous one, and Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente do a fantastic job developing the rival Skrull gods. I actually think the evil deities in this would have been a better reveal for Secret Invasion than the silly God statement that Queen Veranke dropped in the core series. The God Squad was neat too, I love Snowbird's look, so having her show up anywhere is fine with me. I'm not sure I entirely understand why the Demogorge made himself look like an Egyptian god though, I was never exactly clear on that. Amadeus Cho is growing on me too, he's seeming a lot more like a hero with flaws than a super-villain, in the first trade he was basically a bad guy. I like seeing him kind of deal with that in this trade. The use of the Eternals as guest stars was a neat idea and I'm really quite taken with Athena in this manipulator/ally role. She seems like a character that could get a lot more development and has quite a bit of potential.

This comic is trucking along nicely. I hope the sales hold up so we keep getting this fix of Herc for a good long while.

The JRJR covers were fantastic, and Rafa Sandoval does nice work throughout. He's not fantastic, and his use of the Ajak re-design is a little tame, but overall the book looks good.

Good

New Avengers: The Reunion #1

Jim McCann is doing a good thing for us here. Mockingbird and Hawkeye (I won't call him Ronin) are a fun couple. I enjoy the hound-dog tenacity Hawkshows through the issue when he just won't leave Mockingbird alone. It's a nice interaction, because clearly Mockingbird doesn't REALLY want to be alone, she keeps going through the motions of pushing him away, but I've got to think she likes having the help. I was impressed with the simple things that seemed to trigger Mockingbird's flashbacks. It would make sense that something like an alarm going off would be as likely to trigger a flashback as being mobbed by baddies. Hawkeye is portrayed well throughout too. I loved the interaction with Winter Cap, with Hawkeye respecting the suit, but being a little unsure on the guy wearing it. I loved Hawk mentioning that he could have been Cap if he chose to do it, which was a great dig on Winter Cap. I also liked how dismissive he was of Winter Cap's opinions since Cap was a sleeper agent for most of his life. The main thing I liked about the issue is that Hawkeye was as much an archer as anything else here. I HATE that Ronin suit, it makes 0 sense for the character, so the faster we get Clint back in purple, the better. This series could be setting up that kind of return to greatness for the character. I've always had a soft spot for this couple, I was so upset as they worked through their Phantom Rider problems back in the day. I'm pleased to see them headlining together again.

David Lopez draws people with such sad, tired eyes. I don't mind too much, since these heroes would be run down, but I hope he doesn't overdo it. I like Mockingbird's new costume ok, but I prefer her old one. That old mask was awesome and I loved her big sleeves. I was pleased to see her using the battle-staves again.

Good