My comics for this week in 3 lines or less 06-Feb-2012

£40 on comics today! Ouch! Maybe because it's a shorter month...maybe because of a couple of impulse buys. I've been trying to cut my weekly budget, but the opposite seems to have happened haha.

I'd like to start by saying this is my first time, in a long time, that I've not picked up Iron Man...I enjoyed The Invincible Iron Man, for the most part, and did my best to enjoy it's Marvel NOW! counterpart...but the combination of regressing the character, flanderizing (look it up)Tony Starks personality and commissioning Greg Land's shamelessly poor artwork have driven me away from this title. I finished the first arc, just out of sheer stubborn-ness, but have to leave it at that, even if it means missing out on what's happening with one of my favourite characters. The Iron Man 3 Prelude and Ultimate stories will have to keep me going for now...anyway! onto comics!

All-New X-Men #7 This book always has an awesome last couple page. Not only does this series feature the original 5...it feel's like it was written like the original too. This issue feature lots of young Cyclops contemplation, and some great lines. Since it's on the cover, I'm sure it's no spoiler to say Mystique is in this book, doing what she does best, to the point that even I as the reader fell for her tricks at one point. Filler episode, but good. 4/5

Avengers #5 Marvel NOW! Avengers have gone from one, universe expanding storyline to another. I really like how they're pushing boundaries in this series, but this episode just seemed a little rushed, and the back and forths weren't very smooth. Looking forward to seeing more of this though, and hopefully seeing more on how "the old man" ties in to it. 3/5

Daredevil: End of Days #5 This book just keeps on giving. It always feels like I'm waiting forever for this book, but every time I pick it up I'm rewarded with a well drawn, well thought out story with ANOTHER cliffhanger! not sure I like the direction it's heading in, but with what they've done so far, I have full faith in it. 4/5

Detective Comics #17 Pretty slow. Featured very little...very little anything really. A whole lot of narrative; I can only assume it's a set-up-issue. News 52 at the end was really good though! 2/5

Dia de los Muertos #1 Ever since Grim Fandango, I've loved the Dia de los Muertos theme. This is a great first issue and shows an awesome world on the other side, with vibrant colourful artwork. No idea where this is going to go, but it looks really promising. Also, I don't know the name for the printing style...but it's beautiful...and smells great? Style and colours reminiscent of Supermarket.. 4/5

Great Pacific #4 One of my favourites this week. Discusses some really interesting topics, and fights from both sides of the argument really well. I first picked up this series because I liked the idea of a book based on somebody alone (like Kabuki: The Alchemy). Every issue, you find out that he's less and less alone, and it's a brilliant theme. Keeps on getting better. 4/5

Hellboy in Hell #3 There's so many revelations in this book, it's hard to believe how much Mignola has managed to keep secret. I love how extra mini panels are places around the page with features of whatever environment Hellboy is in; it really adds to the eerie atmosphere. This is going to make a great trade, for anyone waiting. 4/5

Iron Man 3 Prelude #2 Mostly, this series has been less and Iron Man Prelude and more an Avengers epi-lude. It's ties in perfectly though and the tiny hints it leaves for Iron Man 3 are appetizing. It also confirms a rumour that I'm pretty excited for! I could really do with a #3 for this but I guess I'll just have to wait for the movie now!

Mr Toast Comics #4 "Ninja School" Bought for my girlfriend, couldn't help but read...freaking adorable. Love little titles like this. 4/5

Superior Spider-Man #3 These are really well written by an obvious Spider-fan. So many tiny references, with each character, that verify's how well Dan Slott knows the characters. It was interesting to see a couple of new directions for the "phantom-parker" mechanics...I just hope it doesn't become over complicated. Although the issue is tiring, it's still fun to read the The Amazing Spider-Man #700 hate-mail in the back. 4/5

Young Romance: A New 52 Valentine's Day Special #1 Yeah...I bought it. Surprisingly good for something I thought would be just a gimmick. They manage to balance it nicely between serious and light-hearted. The Aquaman and Nightwing stories were my two favorites...Catwoman was a little corny, and maybe shouldn't have been the opening story. I'd have given it a 5/5 if it wasn't for the price! Wasn't quite justified. 4/5

Lastly...

Marvel Now Previews #3: Features pages from Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1, Uncanny X-Men #1, Nova #1, Wolverine #1, Uncanny X-force #1, The Fearless Defenders #1 and Secret Avengers #1. Think I'll be picking up Uncanny X-Force, Maybe Nova, but nothing here that really got me keen on picking up a new title.

I dropped Iron Man after the first issue. Greg Land can't draw for toffee and the book itself was just utter trash. Congrats for making it through the first arc! I certainly couldn't.

Dia de los Muertos sounds great but I had to choose between that or Snapshot, and I went with the latter. I'll see if I can pick it up at a later date though. (+1 for mentioning Grim Fandango also, I'm a huge fan!)

Also looks like I finally need to bite the bullet on All New X-Men. Just too many books, not enough money.

@skooks: oh man, how is Snapshot? I made a similar gamble (Dia/Snapshot/Deathmatch #1) I might just have to pick it up for Jock's artwork. I'm trying to cut back on titles at the moment, but they bring them out as fast as I drop them haha.

Iron Man had been a brutal read of late; there's really no care going into it, and so long as people keep buying it, they won't see the errs of their ways, so all I could do was vote with my wallet. I can only hope that a reduction in readers deters Land and Gillen, and not the Iron Man franchise as a whole.

ANX is currently my ONLY X-men title (guessing A+X doesn't count) and it's really refreshing to follow a straightforward, uncomplicated X-Men run. The characters rosters is much more limited than, say, Astonishing too, which lets them really focus on them individually. Last year there was so many stories and so many characters going in so many directions!

I'd fully recommend it; It's always at, or near, the top of my pile, and always features some big talking points. I often find it hard to talk about without mentioning spoilers.