If you haven't tried American Vampire before then this issue would be a good toedipping exercise. It's got the basics of the series, though not everything, and it should win you over. The villain of the piece, or at least the man capable of the most violence though not necessarily the most terrible character, is shown to be a man who can remember, and possibly forgive. Or at least overlook. He's also a man who is getting comfortable with his immortality and is ready to walk away because he understands everything he knows will eventually fade away while his fidelity remains strong. It's a great concept that will surely inform the character as time travels in this title.

spending money on this book won't leave you with much buyer's regret. Morrison has set forward a mission statement of global fun and he's delivering. This issue is another great set up and next month (if the comic is ready by then) we'll get the next step. The best thing about this series is that it does leave you wanting more.

This book is good fun but it's not essential. There's a noir story waiting to break through but the formula beats seem to slow it down from being anything you haven't seen before. The art is well worth the price of admission but by now it's sad to say you could probably leave. The villain is good, the story is good, but it needs to take that next step above good.

This is a solid series, and there are so many reasons to buy it (the long and slowburning plot, the amazing pencil and colour work of Epting and Stewart, the definitive history of the Marvel U) but I don't feel that's the rating coming out of me. I enjoyed the title, and think many of you would as well, but it wasn't all that I exactly hoped it would be. I really hope in the end you'll go out and check it out for yourself and make up your mind. It might be just what you're after, and I'm pretty sure you won't walk away disappointed. This is far too grand to leave anyone thinking they didn't get some value for the price of admission.

Not because it's bad, but because you can avoid this and I don't think you'll be missing anything. One great question is raised to Cap, and a HYDRA! lantern is lit to great effect, but otherwise you'll wonder what the point was.

Perhaps I've been spoiled for Conan comics, but I usually set the bar high for his four colour adaptation. This one is good but it lacks that great feeling. Conan is his usual assertive self, with the men and the women, and the art from Hawthorne is very fine but overall I get a thin feeling from this tale. It's getting there, sure, but it's not blowing my socks completely off. I'll stick with it but there's better Conan books out there.

This issue was alright, but if you cast your eyes across the sea beast fight then you'll have seen the best part. Conan might be smart in all he does but as long as he stays with this princess fool then his characterisation is a little off, as far as I'm concerned.

You can pick up this issue to keep abreast of where Daredevil is right now, or you can read this article. Whichever tickles your fancy really, but in the end Shadowland starts next month and it seems like this event should be pretty interesting and relatively reader friendly for just about anyone to come and all they need to know is that Daredevil now leads the Hand. Other than that, you'll be able to sit back and enjoy the show.

I have some gripes, sure, but in the end this issue makes me really want to buy the next one, and I guess that's the job for the first issue of this arc. I felt like the story got pushed ahead but the delivery just left me a little flat in far too many places. For every great moment I can point to another that fell pretty flat with a muffled thud. I like the ensemble direction this title seems to be taking, and am definitely willing to follow it, but I want to get deeper into the characters. I am hoping the next issue will really explore these avenues as the story will be completely kicking along by then and not needing such set up. This issue has some great elements, its just a shame that I felt they could have been created in just a bit more of an awesome way. But maybe I'm just a longtime DD fan who's putting a little too much thought into it? I'd still say go buy the issue and enjoy it.

It's a simple issue and an enjoyable one. It stands alone and I know I'll reread it plenty of times in the future. It's almost a guilty pleasure and with the constant sadness that Matt Murdock gets put through it's kind of nice just to step to the side and have one nice moment where the weight of the world wasn't on his shoulders. We get to have some fun with our scarlet swashbuckler and I think it's nice that a character get treated with some diversity from time to time. Pick this one up; if you like the idea that comic characters can still sometimes be used for fun then this oneshot is right up an alley in your own Hell's Kitchen.

I don't profess to say that this comic is perfect, by no means does it reach that feat, but I don't think a Deadpool comic would ever be perfect in my eyes. It's a hangover comic, the equivalent of watching bad action movies when you're too lazy or too young to appreciate something better. Swierczynski and Pearson ensure that Deadpool, and friends, hit all the right buttons to give you an old school explodapalooza blockbuster just like you want. Have a look, see if I'm wrong.

This is a good and smart comic and the world always needs more of these. My major issues are with pacing. It feels a little rushed in parts and Guiborg would have benefitted from a bit more fleshing out before he hulked out. I finally dig on Jock's art in this issue, his work represents that stark 70s vibe I'm feeling from the tone on the Gotham night air. This is a good start to Snyder's run, almost like a mission statement and I am hooked to see what comes next.

What I read was decent but it's hard to judge an issue by the opening act. I'm sure it all comes together but what I have so far is fun but doesn't feel like I can't miss it. Francavilla does a very pretty doublepage splash that uses some design to bring the Bat into the fight, but the overall tale is fun yet not exemplary. But, again, perhaps the last half of the issue capitalises on it all and wraps it together...

This one also just scrapes into this category. The Reed aspect is the weakest but I am digging Sue and while Johnny and Ben have left me a little flat lately this send off is quite well put together and shouldn't be ignored. I think the next issue, as they all soak in the mourning of this hero lost, will be interesting but then the relaunch of

That rating sounds so harsh but there's really nothing to see here. Posturing politics and small moments that won't make you want to come back.

Either way that you take this issue in I think it's pretty good value. It's 3 issue's worth of content for the price of one and a half issues, roughly. That's pretty good and not only is it quantity but it is also a pretty high standard of quality. I hope Di Giandomenico continues to get plenty of work as I always seem to love his style. And I hope people enjoy the redefinition of the Mandarin for this new age. This one time of a floppy can be your one stop shop for the definitive history of the man with the rings. And much like a good movie, I think this'll work for repeated viewings.

If this is the sort of comic you are after, a summer blockbuster with fun, laughs, action, and intrigue then it has to be a purchase. If you're not into that style of comic then buy something else. I already pull down other stuff like

It's not perfection but if you kick back and sip on a brew with this issue you'll probably be happy with a massive fight that leads our heroes into a situation that does not look completely promising. I'll wait this arc out but then I'll just say Iron Fist will be getting his own ongoing/mini from

This issue packs a lot in, words and moments, and it's a smart comic. It's maybe plodding a little slow through the middle as we wind towards a real end but it's still a thrilling ride.

This might not be as good as the first issue but it still packs plenty in. I was let down this issue wasn't as funny as the last one, this feels more like Van Lente setting things up, but there's still plenty on offer to enjoy. However, understand this comic isn't trying to be inherently a serious and adult comic. It's certainly aiming to be good, don't mistake my words, but it's having fun at the same time. And it is succeeding in most areas.

Hickman has built this comic more on science, and the shoulders of the titans of science, rather than actual character development. As we close on this first volume, there are far more questions to be asked than have been answered, and not in a grand LOST way. For the few moments where Stark and Richards have shown great depth, we are then served a very thin lead in Leonid and the aforementioned titans are more often used as bookmarks instead of deep studies. I like this comic, it has plenty going for it, but it's not capitalising on the promise it showed in that first issue.

I don't hand this verdict down much so I am in all seriousness when I dictate it here. People always complain about being given the same old thing with comics, well here's just one of your prescriptions for that particular malady. Scarlet is almost working to define itself by the barriers it can cross but it also serves up an interesting origin to a story that I am definitely on board for. One woman against the world, except it seems that she won't be alone for long and I think that will make for some interesting conflict. It might be overly talky but it still delivers a portrait of a person in full that you don't often get in one issue. I can't guarantee that this story will be for everyone but I do get the feeling this collaboration is going to prove to be important before it is finished, mark my words on that, it might just be one of Bendis' most important works and one of the many defining additions to Icon.

I'm just tipping this issue into this category purely because I like it. It's not a perfect issue, or series, but this arc is fun and this issue pushes our action closer to the point of the train wreck that is surely coming and it's just fun. Fun with fists and feet and elbows and lots of muscle.

Just flipping these pages will give you the overall idea of what happens here. Everything was set up and here we get it knocked down. Overall, the Secret Avengers mythos is changed but it doesn't feel like five issues worth of movement. The next oneshot will be

This is the sort of comic you will get your money's worth from. It's intriguing and interesting and there's more than enough on offer for one month's worth. It might not all be perfect but this is a large moment in the history of S.H.I.E.L.D. and you'll want to be there for it. This whole title is going to read as epic when collected in its finality but I am interested to see how the pacing feels on the last ten issues.

I haven't been completely won over by Skullkickers to be honest but this issue works purely because it is small doses. The characters work well as icons of themselves here and each creator brings some level of creation or pomp that works on this landscape perfectly.

There's enough happening here that it's not an issue you want to miss but overall this issue ultimately comes off as yet more setting up of people, places, and events. For an arc called "Proper Preparation and Planning' that's about all we got. I suppose we haven't been lied to.

A poor issue of The Boys is usually better than a good issue of most titles but in the end the two main conversations aren't anything new and the whole flashback is all lead in. Tune in next month for what will surely be something epic, though.

A poor issue of The Boys is usually better than a good issue of most titles but in the end the two main conversations aren't anything new and the whole flashback is all lead in. Tune in next month for what will surely be something epic, though.

This is a simple and fun comic. It doesn't warrant further study, I don't think there's any hidden subtext, but you won't walk away feeling ripped off. This is an issue where you can switch your 'thinking brain' off and just turn on your 'hell yeah brain'. You will enjoy the ride.

This comic isn't getting up because it's a perfect rendition of sequential art, or that it propels the medium forward in artistic leaps and bounds, no, Thunderbolts is a comic you should buy because you will enjoy yourself on every page. There's no slow time for you to wonder if you should drop the book. That's good comics.

Its an issue that sets up a great little story idea which I would have loved as a little lad, and if I had a 12 year old son I would buy this for him, absolutely. There are not enough fun books for our kids but this one does its best to lift the game for our next generation of readers. In fact, if you do buy this for a little one please let us know what they thought in the comments below.

Cap's own

This issue is brutal fun and the intensity is palpable. The aspect of truth of purpose and purity of focus is well played in this issue but in the end it's just still feeling too thin. This trade will end up an interesting little read and this issue will be the part where it really picks up.

This comic is good, but it's a tease. There's a few good concepts dropped, and it's definitely leading into more, and the fights all satisfy on their own, but it doesn't quite feel like an issue to stand alone something I feel every issue should be able to do to some degree. This is inventive fun that feels more subversive, even with just a straight up fight issue, than most Xbooks.

You just don't get much like this on the stands anymore; stupid, puerile, hilarious. Remender makes every page work and you'll be stuck to the page because there's plenty to soak up. If you can't laugh at this then you're probably taking the Big Two too seriously. In the immortal words of Eddie Murphy, "have a Coke and a smile, and shut the #*%# up."

It might feel generic at times but overall this comic has been fun. It didn't need to be more expensive, and probably didn't need to be its own mini, but it's still been fun all the same. The problem is, if you missed it you wouldn't be missing much. It has that problem that it doesn't affect much else so it doesn't 'count' so many will pass over the trade and they'll be missing some fun spy fu.