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It is a normal part of my weekly comic reading habits to arrange my weekly purchases in order of what I guess to be least-to-most good. This way, my reading will be progressively enjoyable. I do this rather arbitrarily based on previous reading enjoyment, currently plots, and covers. This week, my order of comics was: Thunderbolts #133, Wolverine: Weapon X #3, Runaways #11, Viking #2, Uncanny X-Men #512, Detective Comics #854, Nova #26, Guardians of the Galaxy #15, Green Lantern #42, and Thor #602. In retrospect, I would have placed Runaways first on this list, as I haven’t read any of the previous run, and was excited too see that a new creative team was involved, especially one spearheaded by a woman, as I’ve enjoyed Immonen’s previous work on the Hellcat mini. I however, was eating a burrito for lunch, and thought it might be weird for people to see me reading quite seriously a comic full of scantily clad jailbait. So, I saved it until I returned home and read it on the toilet. Thunderbolts I have been enjoying, but was slightly turned off by the Deadpool story arc, as I don’t really care for Daniel Way’s writing of Deadpool – I do, however enjoy how he is popping up throughout the Marvel universe, and bothering people from series to series (It is my new opinion that while the Marvel universe becomes a darker, grittier, more politically cynical environment, with villains in the role of previous Heroic Power, Deadpool is becoming more and more a Traditional comic book superhero). Moreover, Detective Comics is new to my purchases, since I was pretty excited about the new creative turn, curious about how they’d handle a female lead character, particularly a lesbian, and was blown away by the art while glancing at previews. Rucka is nothing to sneeze at, either. Nova and Guardians used to be in the opposite order, but Cosmo is currently the greatest character in all of Marvel. Thor has been at the end (most enjoyed) of the reading order spectrum for a long time now. Even though people complain that Thor, like Superman is over powered, the joy in the story-telling is in its subtlety, and Straczynski does a masterful job.

So, I guess I should start rambling about the actual comics now.

Thunderbolts #133:
This comic was beautifully done. What I enjoyed most about this issues were the individual scenes of conversation between the unique characters. Ghost and Black Widow, Ant-Man and Paladin, Osborn and Scourge…Each had interesting things to say, the stand out for the issue, for me at least was Ant-Man. He waxes poetic about the nature of superheroics, in an attempt to find a sense of security among the brutal warriors of the Thunderbolts with the help of a six-pack. His drunken nostalgia is an interesting reflection of the entire Marvel universe. No longer are we in the word of yesteryear, things are backwards and make little sense to those who have struggled to become the ideal that we, the reader, have idealized for so long. The scene with Moonstone is eerily reminiscent of the protests in Iran, as well. I really enjoy the art of this book. Though the tone is dark and violent, the faces are always beautifully expressive.

Wolverine: Weapon X #3:
Another surprise here. I’ve enjoyed Aaron’s series, but not loved it. I loved his issue of the main Wolverine series, “The Man in the Pit.” So, I was excited for this series. What I liked most about this issue was how successful the scenes were WITHOUT Wolverine. I was generally intrigued by the sub-plot of Ms. Garner’s corporate investigation, the introduction of the CEO, and the testimony before Congress. Wolverine is a very violent character, and Aaron gives him no mercy, or allowance for his popularity with the youth.

Runaways #11
I wasn’t a huge fan of the previous story arc, mostly for its art. So, as stated before, I was excited for the new team. This issue was solid, but not amazing in any regards. It had a bit of a build upclass=” that SOMEONE was going to die, but the end was a bit of a cop-out. As usual, Molly’s hats and dialog is the best part of the issue. The mystery behind the issue and its awesomely described, “vintage Cold War pop from our comrades in Kablamastan. Post-Party, pre-glasnost. Right on the blini-edgeski.” I want to find this music online somewhere. Also, it is the greatest fake name for a country in opposition to America since the original Transformers’ “Carbombia.”

Viking #2
If this book doesn’t win some sort of award for its art, I’ll be seriously disappointed. Every page is beautiful, and I love the large format (especially since it is still $2.99). Though I liked the first issue, I was still rather confused by it, what with all the names and characters and little back story to help explain any of it. However, this entire issue is saved by the last scene of the grandfather – the most epic thing I’ve read in a long, long time.

Uncanny X-Men #512:
I haven’t been reading this for awhile. I started on #500 and stopped after 6 or so, but the cover drew me in on this one. Inside is a wonderful little steam-punk adventure of time-travel and biological investigation. What is neat is that Fraction uses all second and third string characters for this, and keeps it exciting and engaging nonetheless. The story is a neat little one-shot adventure, and is extra long to contain it all. See, Marvel? A comic for $3.99 that is actually extra long, and not full of useless backmatter. I don’t mind spending extra in that situation. The neat little twist at the end also made me smile.

Detective Comics #854:
Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Ever preview cover of this series has made my jaw drop, and the inside art is just as good. But, I’ve been really interested in this comic after reading the article about it on Advocate.com. I was really interested on how DC would handle a serious lead female, and one who is a lesbian. Luckily they invested their top guns in the book. What fascinated me about this comic is that Batwoman is actually as scary as Batman. Her black, white and red appearance, and the panel on the opening splash page where we see a close-up on her teeth…ooo, shivers. There was a delicate scene of a breakup, and her sexuality isn’t heavy-handed. Alice is genuinely creepy, and we see Batwoman steadily holding a gun and firing it, something we would never see Batman do. And, again, a neat little short story at the end.

Nova #26:
First of all, the cover is very misleading. But, I’ve been partial to Nova since the first issue of this volume. Gottta admit, this issue is a LITTLE boring. Lots of word bubbles. This usually isn’t a complaint from me, but you expect a little bit more action when there is a war going on in outer space. There are some very emotional moments, and a lot of promise for the next issue.

Guardians of the Galaxy #15
It took awhile for this book to pick up. But, within the last 3-4 issues it has become one of my favorites. Yes, Cosmo the dog is my favorite character in Marvel, but the series is good enough without him. Lots of drama, and punching and plenty of steam to keep this series going, particularly with the last page. This book, much like the team in it, seems under-powered on appearance, but again and again proves its might.

Green Lantern #42:
Another misleading cover. A LOT of this issue in particular was very bothersome to me. Hal Jordan’s dialog was just plain irksome. “Did the same thing to my partner. Gave you a taste of what you hoped for. It was a…a mirage?! BAH!” What the hell is that trying to convey? The ellipses, the ?!. Ugh. It literally made my skin crawl. That, and Jordan’s comparing Larfleeze to Gonzo. Fuck you, Gonzo is awesome. Another thing that bothered me was the art. John Stewart looks different in every panel, including like a 14 year old in one panel. And there are random panels that look painted, where the rest is traditional art. These seem to serve no purpose in the book, because they aren’t standout in anyway, other than their contrast to the rest of the book. The fighting stops seemingly for no reason at all. The Oans are frustrating douchebags, and the epilogue was my favorite part of this book. Except for the fact that the Black Lantern corps’ lantern is in Space Sector 666. Fucking trite. Some of the inking and registration is inconsistent too. The logo on Hal’s chest is sometimes surrounded by black, and sometimes white. I don’t expect to see registration problems, fuzzy mis-layered inking, in one of DC’s top books. Usually this one is a favorite of mine, but not this week.

Thor #602:
This is pretty much my favorite Marvel title. Period. And it took a very interesting turn in plot with the last few issues. Thor banished from the kingdom, the Mjölnir broken, Thor killing his kin, Loki and his puppet Balder…This are amiss in the kingdom of Asgard. It was delightful seeing Dr. Strange in the book, and the human character William is an interesting inclusion to the story, as well as a voice of reason. Thor’s been taken down a notch in power to his previous Walter Simonson level of “still pretty fucking powerful.” Thor has some love back in his life, (one thing I really love about Simonson’s Thor is that everyone is trying to get laid), and the last three panels are unsettling. Not the BEST issue of Thor, but it is introducing a lot of events to come.

So, my list is pretty inverted, as far as my favorites are concerned, though I don’t have a clear book of the week. I think it’d have to go down to a battle between Thunderbolts, and Detective Comics. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome this week, and it really excited me that some of my “lower level” books trumped the big dogs.

All images blatently stolen from DC, Marvel and Image.