This Week's Comics - 15/02/12

This week's rather calm compared to the last few with only 3 comics, however I am quite excited about all three of them. The comics I'm getting are Batman #6, X-Factor #232 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #6. Out of these I'm most looking forward to X-Factor, which just manages to edge ahead because of how much I love the characters and David's writing. The current story-line is fun to read due to the fast-pace and complete free reign David had, by having Madrox hop through universes David can do whatever he want to any characters in the Marvel universe, and he has with Iron Man and Captain America having been used last issue. The new universe Madrox entered at the end of the last issue, where his other self was an apprentice of Doctor Strange, who had just been killed by his master, is definitely intriguing and the spoiler Marvel have given 'Startling twist ending that ties the entire story arc together!' really draws me in. Additionally, its almost ensured that it will be a 'startling twist ending' as David has never failed to shock and surprise readers and twist basic plots into truly fascinating creations. I am also really looking forward to this issue of Batman given how much the last issue stood out, fully showing Snyder's excellent writing through his presentation of Bruce's mental deterioration. Due to this I am excited to see what Snyder pulls out of the bag for this issue, especially if it has a similar tone to the last issue and with the shocking cliff hanger of Talon suddenly stabbing Batman. I'm not looking forward to Red Hood and the Outlaws quite as much as the other two I'm getting this week as so far it has been an iffy series, with some awesome highs but also some terrible lows. However this issue entices me enough to make me really look forward to it as its going to reveal how Red Hood and Starfire met in the new DC universe, which promises a showcase of Starfire's characters, which I have really been enjoying these last few issues with her liberal sexuality and apathy.

This Week's Comics - 18/01/12

Late for this post this week, due to me being completely snowed under with work lately, but its better late than never - I hope! This week I have only 4 comics, these being Batman #5, Red Hood and the Outlaws #5, Uncanny X-Force #20 and New Mutants #36. Out of these the one I'm most looking forward to is Batman due the continuous enjoyment I've had with the series so far and another great cliffhanger at the end of the last issue. Red Hood and the Outlaws has seriously dipped in quality, and logic, since its first issue, which really grabbed me, but I do really like all three members of the team so I am looking forward to reading them. New Mutants has so far been very good in my opinion, I originally thought it would be a series I could easily drop, bit that definitely hasn't been the case so I'm interested to see what happens next. Although, I wish there was a bit more character development as I'm still not too familiar with some of these characters and the character development in the other X titles I collect has been excellent lately. I don't have much to say about Uncanny X-Force, given that I've only read one issue so far, but I do like some of the characters and the secret nature of the team is intriguing. This is the comic I'm least looking forward to as I'm still unsure about this series and this issue has both Psylocke and Captain Britain, two characters I really don't like that much.

This Week's Comics - 21/12/11

Bit late this week, seen as it is now the end of the Wednesday, but here we go. This week I've got 6 comics - a fair amount - which are X-Factor #229, Red Hood and the Outlaws #4, Wolverine and the X-Men #3, New Mutants #35, Uncanny X-Force #19 and Batman #4. Out of these, I'm most looking forward to Wolverine and the X-Men because so far the series has been great with characters I really enjoy and wonderful, vibrant art that brings the story to life. With this being only the third issue, the series still has to find its feet a bit but I'm quite confident I'm going to be buying this comic for a long time. X-Factor is one of my favourite series and normally an issue from this comic would be the one I'm most looking forward to but I felt the last issue had a serious drop in quality compared to the rest of the series. The drop in quality I felt from the issue comes from the awkwardness of the situations and the lack of complete character development, the conversation flitted around the edges of something deeper but never really landed there, which I have come to expect from A comic by Peter David. I hope this issue returns to the good quality of the rest of the series but unfortunately I feel it may not. Batman so far has been quite enjoyable, not one of my favourite series but has good character presentation, a believable competent foe for Batman and very intense cliffhangers, especially the one at the end of last issue. As the series goes it appears to be getting more interesting and enjoyable so this comic could stand out this week. Having only picked up two issues so far of New Mutants, which I only decided to do after Regenesis, this series is still in the trial period. So far I'm really enjoying the characters, although since I don't know them yet I wish there was a bit more character development, and I am interested in seeing if they are show more of the characters this issue,  but right now I'm not attached enough to say whether I'll continue with this series after this story arc. This Uncanny X-Force issue will be my first, having decided to try the series after Regenesis and some positive suggestions from some friends, so I'm interested in seeing what this series is like, especially since its on Wolverine's side rather than Cyclops'. Red Hood and the Outlaws is the comic this week I'm least looking forward to. After a great start to the series with three characters I really like and a team dynamic I was getting drawn into, the last issue was a big step down in quality and enjoyment. Due to the characters and what I've seen Lobdell can do with them I'm willing to give this series a while to get the quality back but I'm not too hopeful for this issue.

Comic of the Week 6

This weeks comics isn't a new one from last week but it is fairly new, only having come out two months ago. This weeks Comic of the Week is Red Hood and the Outlaws #1:

As far as I can tell, not many people have taken to this series, but I am actually really enjoying it. Just the concept of having a much smaller team immediately grabbed me. I prefer team titles over individuals so I was partial to this title anyway but the fact that it is only three rather than the very much larger amount in other teams makes it much more interesting and allows a lot more character development. With the characters themselves, I only had any real previous reading experience with Starfire who I had always enjoyed, so I was open to the other two and found myself really enjoying these two as well. There's been a lot of stick against this title for the way it presented Starfire as being promiscuous and disassociated with humans but I just can't agree with it. I actually found these aspects her character more compelling that the rest of the issue, if males are allowed to be shown as promiscuous then why can't females? Similarly, what's wrong with being a bit promiscuous, naturally were not meant to monogamous its just society pressuring us to think that is the right thing to do, and she never lied, so as far as I'm concerned anything goes. Regarding the disassociation, she's an alien so what can you expect? After reading just this issue I was a bit lost over the story, and actually still am, but it did enough to interest me, although I didn't pay too much attention because the characters were interesting me a lot more. Overall, this issue was a very good first issue and I enjoyed reading it a lot more than I did some other DC first issues.

This Week's Comics - 16/11/11

This week I am getting a more acceptable amount of comics, 6; not too many that it's a big dip in my bank balance and enough to keep me more than satisfied until next week. The comics for this week are Red Hood and the Outlaws #3, New Mutants #34, Uncanny X-Men #2, X-Factor #227, Batman #3 and Incredible Hulk #2. The comic I'm most looking forward to this week is, without a doubt, X-Factor. This series is written by one of my favourite writers, Peter David, contains some of my favourite characters, Shatterstar, Layla, Monet and Longshot, and one of my favourite couples, Rictor and Shatterstar. However, there's even more as to why I'm so looking forward to this issue; it's in the middle of a very interesting storyline with a lot of questions still in the air, there is high tension between a lot of characters, especially Rictor and Shatterstar, and the one line of hint we've got for this issue, 'a member of X-Factor dies', is self explanatory as to why I'm looking forward to reading this comic. The one I'm least looking forward to is New Mutants #34 because although I've just began picking up the series, some of the characters I was looking forward to reading left in the last issue and the last issue didn't really impress me at all. However, a three issue story arc where they are tracking down Blink begins with this issue so I am willing to keep with this title at least for that until I make my decision whether to drop it or not. Uncanny X-Men and Incredible Hulk are in similar positions but the first issues did more to grab my attention and the two titles contain more character I like so I'm more looking forward to reading them but they are still on the edge. Red Hood and the Outlaws is one of the DC titles I'm really enjoying, mainly because of the characters and the team dynamics, so I'm looking forward to reading this next issue, specially as this appears to be the issue where the series properly establishes itself. Batman, I feel, properly established itself last issue so I'm looking forward to having another series not in an introduction stage even though this title is middle ground for me right now.