Secret Invasion #8 [Dec 2008]

The Skrulls’ entire career basically consist of them appearing as someone else in order to enact some great scheme to conquer the earth only to eventually be beaten down by one or more of Earth’s heroes. Now, however, they’ve found religion and gone two steps further, planning for this years in advance, and infiltrating every sector of the Marvel Universe — a true “Secret Invasion” (insert evil, maniacal laughter here).

Pull List for 4 Dec 2008

1. The Astounding Wolf-Man #10
2. Batman #682
3. Criminal #7
4. Hack/Slash #18
5. Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #1 (of 8 )
6. Kull #2
7. The Living Corpse #6
8. The New Avengers #47
9. Secret Invasion #8 (of 8 )
10. Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #2 (of 4)
11. Wonder Woman #26

Pull List for 22 Oct 2008

1. Captain America #43
2. Criminal #6
3. Cyblade #1
4. DCU Halloween Special 2008 #1 (one-shot)
5. Final Crisis #4 (of 7)
6. Final Crisis: Submit #1 (one-shot)
7. Ms. Marvel #32 *
8. The New Avengers #46
9. Secret Invasion #7 (of 8 )
10. She-Hulk #34 *
11. Thor: The Truth of History #1 (one-shot)
12. Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1 (of 4)
13. X-Factor #36

* — Denotes those wavering at the edge of the Culling List.
§ — Denotes my last issue of this misbegotten series.

Most anticipated: Well, if you exclude Cap and Criminal, which are givens, Thor: TToH is a) Thor and b) by Alan Davis, so it should be good.

Secret Invasion and Final Crisis continue this week.  Both have been good to excellent so far.

Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk have been faltering a bit lately, so they’re on the short list right now.

Wolverine: MD is my attempt at giving Jason Aaron a second chance since Ghost Rider’s been hit and miss, plus Segovia draws pretty pictures.

The Pilot Season Cyblade issue from last year was pretty good, so we’ll give the first issue of the new series a try.

Pull List for 24 Sep 2008

1. Ambush Bug: Year None #3 (of 6)
2. Captain America #42
3. Deadpool #2 *
4. Fantastic Four #560 *
5. Hellboy: The Crooked Man #3 (of 3)
6. Ms. Marvel #31 *
7. The New Avengers #45
8. Northlanders #10
9. Project Superpowers #6
10. She-Hulk #33
11. Wolverine: Origins #28
12. X-Force #7 *

* — Denotes those wavering at the edge of the Culling List.
§ — Denotes my last issue of this misbegotten series.

Cap is the obvious pick of the week, as this concludes the “Death of Captain America” storyline, which has been a wild ride thus far.

Several wavering near the Culling List this week: Deadpool #1 didn’t really impress.  We’ll see if Way comes up with a real story this issue. I haven’t been especially impressed with FF, either.  While there seems to be some good ideas at work, I’m not happy with the execution.  Ms. Marvel is finally out of “Secret Invasion” tie-ins, so hopefully the story will improve. The first X-Force arc was pretty so-so as a whole.  There were some good ideas, but the series seems like it’s confused on what kind of tone it wants to set.

Quick Reviews for 4-10 Sep 2008

1. Criminal #5 — Still awesome. A
2. Dead, She Said #3 — This was a fun little miniseries.  It’s worth getting in TPB if you don’t feel like looking for back issues.  A
3. Deadpool #1 — Not sure about this one yet.  Way’s trying something that I think is going to exceed his ability.  B
4. Detective Comics #848 — “Heart of Hush” finally reveals what the title is about.  Interesting… A
5. The Living Corpse #5 — I’m starting to lose my interest in this series.  It just seems to be floundering and not really going anywhere. B
6. Ms. Marvel #30 — Please get Ms. Marvel out of the “Secret Invasion” tie-ins.  None of these have been any good. D
7. Ms. Marvel Annual #1 — Well, at least it occurs before “Secret Invasion”.  Unfortunately, like most annuals, aside from a few humorous bits, it’s a completely throwaway story. C
8. Necronomicon #1 — Mostly just set-up in this issue.  We’ll have to see where it goes next issue.  B
9. Neozoic #6 — Loving it.  Seriously, track down the back issues of this series. A
10. Red Sonja #37 — Oh geez… now it’s the freakin’ training sequence.  Next month it’s the acquisition of her “armor”.  Get to the beheadings already!  C
11. Savage Tales #9 — Again, kind of a mixed bag.  “Valaka” looks to have a nice twist, “Battle for Atlantis” has beautiful art and an okay story, “Quartermain” was trite and predictable, and “Osin” was good fun.  B
12. Secret Invasion #6 — Nick Fury: “Yeah? Well my god has a hammer!”  Bendis is really impressing me with this miniseries.  I had doubts at the beginning, but he’s really made it work. A
13. Secret Six #1 — Gail Simone shows her strength is character pieces.  A
14. Simon Dark #12 — Again… I just don’t care for this series, so I’m done with it. B
15. Ultimate Origins #4 — We re-tell the Hulk’s origin from Ultimates and advance the story with the obelisks.  I think I see where this is going, but I’m not 100% sure it really does anything for the Ultimate Universe. B
16. Wonder Woman #24 — As I stated in Secret Six, Simone’s strength is character pieces and this is one.  A