At the end of the day, "The Defenders"is weird and wonderful in a way that we may not see again for a long time. 9/10

Speaking of Fraction's writing, this issue is really quite an impressive tutorial on how to handle heavy exposition in the first issue. I'm not familiar with Hickman's run on FF but I didn't find myself confused or uncertain at any point and while I did read Fraction's Fantastic Four #1, which links in with FF, it's not necessary to do so. Fraction introduces the entire cast of Hickman's FF and the idea of the Future Foundation as the kids of the FF explain it to Scott Lang. The exposition is woven into entertaining character moments where we learn about the people, the place and the plot all at the same time. It's not easy to bring new readers up to speed without boring the regulars, and that's without even addressing the problem of introducing the new characters of the FF.

Within the pages of FF you won't find plugs for other comics, events that will change the Marvel Universe as we know it or dramatic, short-lived character deaths " but you will find people. Silly, sad, quirky, charming people and that's worth the read.

All in all, while The Flash probably isn't perfect by any means, it's never less than competent.

Issue 14 isn't the strongest issue but it's entertaining and an important issue to a series that is worth sticking around for. If you want to see a truly great villain then do what everyone else is doing and go read Scott Snyder's Batman " But for classic superhero fun I can't see how you could do any better than the Flash.

Either way, this is a solid issue on its own. If you need something to renew your faith that some good can come out of this series, pick up Teen Titans #14

All in all, Thor God of Thunder has an ideal issue 1. It establishes the character and plays with some interesting ideas hinting at future story lines. Considering Thor is one of my favourite superheroes, I loved seeing him get reinstated as a classic character " This book definitely earns my recommendation.

When looking for something to challenge the very identity and security of Thor's character, a God Butcher is about the best you can hope for. Speaking of which I enjoyed the scene in which Thor visited the various weird and wonderful murdered gods around the cosmos and I wish he had seen more of them.

In any case, I'd recommend this series whole-heartedly to anyone who either holds an interest in the character of Thor or in a series focusing on grandiose, magical and cosmic settings of high fantasy. In either of those categories, Thor: God of Thunder excels beyond anything else Marvel has to offer.

Of course, #97 is the exception. A lot of this issue is, of course, set up for Invincible #100 (which Kirkman's proxy sees fit to remind us" classy) such as Mark getting his powers back. Even so, don't come into this issue expecting a good character study " 97 hardly delivers.

This is just getting ridiculous. There are so many distractions and interruptions going on that nothing long term is being done. What this book needs, desperately, is to take an issue or two to slow down and establish the team and the world. We don't need another boring one-note villain another crossover or another heavy story arc to bog things down. We need a "Day in the life of". If Lobdell would take a page out of Marv Wolfman's book for just one issue, that would be spectacular.