Casey's Top and Bottom of the Pile: 8-22-07

TOP: Wolverine #56
This book gets top of the pile honors this week for simply being a breath of fresh air after writer Jeph Loeb's lackluster, continuity error laden, and often boring six-issue run. New writer Jason Aaron tells a decent story, but it doesn't really matter since he's only filling in on this one issue before Marc Guggenheim returns. Howard Chaykin's art is solid, though not as pretty as Simone Bianchi's. His style fits the tone of the book, so it's a good thing he'll be sticking around to work with Guggenheim. Here's hoping Wolverine can get back on track.



BOTTOM: The Sensational Spider-Man #40

This wasn't a bad issue, it just felt like filler until the big One More Day event kicks off next month. We get a flashback to Spidey's origin and some of the bigger moments in his life. He then has a chat with "god" who tells him that what he does makes a difference in the world. With this being the last issue before the final issue of the series it seems like a missed opportunity. Cover artist Clayton Crain does the interiors on this one and the whole thing is absolutely beautiful. I really hope Marvel keeps him around for more Spider-Man work on the new Amazing Spider-Man.


The Rest of the Pile: The Amazing Spider-Man #543, Countdown #36, Ultimate Fantastic Four #45, Invincible #45, The Walking Dead #40

Top and Bottom of the Pile: 8-22-07

It's been a couple weeks since I did this, so I guess I should get off my lazy duff and get to it! Back in the swing of things!

TOP: Immortal Iron Fist #8
Last issue of Iron Fist hit the bottom of the list not because of a lack of quality in the story, but because having a interlude issue featuring a former Iron Fist seemed to kill the momentum of the storyline. This picks it right back up and runs with it, reintroducing Danny to K'un-Lun and preparing him for the tournament between the champions of other fabled cities. Fight's ready to go and if this issue is an indication of things to come, it's going to be good.

BOTTOM: Cable & Deadpool #44
This book is in an odd spot where Cable has supposedly been killed over in the pages of X-Men, so this book is trying to push on without him. That the cover had Wolverine written over Cable's name is a joke on the frequency of Wolvie appearances. Nicieza worked to set up a base for Deadpool in Cable's absence, and he's got a neat cast of side characters with Agency X, Weasel, and Bob from HYDRA. Still, this book seems to be filling time while waiting for Cable's return, and if November's solicits ring true, then it'll be a while.

Rest of the Pile: Astonishing X-Men #22, The Order #2, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #33, Walking Dead #40, X-Men #202, X-Men: First Class #3

Top and Bottom of the Pile: 8-1-2007

TOP: Uncanny X-Men #489
Tough crowd to beat this week, but Uncanny managed to pull ahead with a mix of good storytelling, excellent art and a twist here and there. Keeping with Fantastic Four's story with cameos from Human Torch and Thing, the story keeps on task while not allowing the reader to question 'Well why didn't they just do that?' The story is also redefining Professor X's character after M-Day, the subsequent actions by the government, and the fallout from Vulcan's rampage, giving him a fresh feel for the first time in who knows how long. That, and it's got Salvador Larroca on art. 'Nuff said.

BOTTOM: Fantastic Four #548
Speaking of the FF, this book takes the bottom spot not because it's bad, but because it's just...it. This story, much like the one before it, has lacked excitement. Villains hatch plans, heroes fight plans, surprise villain shows up at the end of the issue, only to no doubt be defeated next issue. It's a straightforward story that feels out of place in post-Civil War Marvel. Plus, it seems that the Black Panther can do no wrong. Period. I do have to give it up to McDuffie for remembering that Klaw got sucked into his own device in New Avengers a while ago.

Rest of the Pile: Justice Society of America #8, New Avengers: Illuminati #4, Thor #2, World War Hulk #3

Top and Bottom of the Pile: 7-25-2007

TOP: Mighty Avengers #4
It's been a while since we last saw Mighty Avengers, and I can't really say that it's been worth the wait, but there's a few things that this issue does to make its way to the top of the pile. For one, this marks the first time since issue 1 that the team does something besides stare at Ultron. Seriously, you could skip from the end of the first issue to this point and you'd only be scratching your head about one, maybe two things. Also, the surprise ending leaves the next issue quite appealing, as well as wondering where World War Hulk fits into all this. Finally, Ares using the bottom half of Iron Man armor to replace his destroyed gun is priceless. Fun read.

BOTTOM: Immortal Iron Fist #7
EDIT: After going back and reading the story, I somehow completely missed out on the context of the story. This was completely fitting with a character introduced in the first story, but still remains in this section because it breaks the momentum of the story. Damn.

Rest of the Pile: Cable & Deadpool #43, Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes #32, Teen Titans #49, Walking Dead #39, X-Men #201, X-Men: First Class #2

Top and Bottom of the Pile: 7-18-2007

TOP: Justice League of America #11
The concept of an issue of nothing but dialog between Red Arrow and Vixen may not be appealing at first, but with the level of drama created by Brad Meltzer and guest artist Gene Ha, this issue is without a doubt the best comic I've read in months. It adds appreciation to two overlooked characters (the only one more so would probably be Black Lightning) and makes a fantastic read of a bridging issue between two story arcs. For more, check out my comments on the issue coming this weekend.


BOTTOM: New X-Men #40
New X-Men continues through the grisly motions that have become disturbingly common for this book. Only this time, they're in Limbo, so the kids and be killed multiple times, hopefully satisfying Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's bloodlust enough for them to possibly make it through the next arc without killing anybody! It's nice to see the other students getting the spotlight, but the ridiculously dark tone needs to lighten up and quick. Also, how many newer readers are going to remember Amanda Sefton, a character who really hasn't been in mainstream focus since she was a side-character in Uncanny X-Men back in the 80s? Yeah, she was in late Excalibur stories, but it wasn't canceled because a ton of people were reading it.


The Rest of the Pile: Ultimate Spider-Man #111, All Flash #1, World War Hulk #2, World War Hulk: X-Men #2

Top and Bottom of the Pile 7-11-2007

TOP: X-Factor #21
X-Factor continues to be one of the best books of my 20+ monthly titles, and this issue is a good reason why. Unlike other X-Books that are focused on missions and fights, this title is strictly about the characters, and it's a premise that allows Peter David's talents to shine. This issue sees the still-thick tension between Madrox, Siryn and Monet ever since Madrox accidentally slept with both of them in one night. It also rehashes the long-forgotten relationship between Wolfsbane and Rictor, and sets up a future storyline - looks like someone's pregnant! With three characters (that we know of) eligible for the spot, who's it going to be?

BOTTOM: Ultimate X-Men #84
This is an example of a decent book getting outweighed in an excellent week. Ultimate X-Men wasn't bad, but it just couldn't match up with X-Factor, New Avengers, and JSA. The problem this book has had since Mark Millar left has been a lack of identity. Brian Bendis didn't really get the characters and left a lot of them in the background. Brian Vaughan left as he was hitting his stride on the book. Robert Kirkman has been stepping it up and has even rebuilt the team to get his own direction set in stone. I'm not completely sold on the new lineup (Bishop, Storm, Pyro, Wolverine, Dazzler, Angel, Psylocke), but at least the book is moving away from the generic hole it's been sitting in for years now.

Top and Bottom of the Pile 6-27-07

TOP: X-Men First Class #1
Take the creators of an excellent mini series that they obviously loved creating and tell them that they can do it in an ongoing and you have the first issue of the ongoing X-Men First Class. Everything that was great about the mini series is still here, and the story remained self-contained, which nudges it over the cliffhanger endings of Cable/Deadpool #43 and X-Men #200. This was just a fun story, which I hope will remain the tradition of this title.



BOTTOM: Teen Titans #48
So I get that they want to debut the new creative team with issue 50, but that means three issues have to fill time with lame crossover events. Without any kind of synopsis of what Amazons Attack is about, it's hard to get into this story. It's also tough that the Titans play background characters, and several members of the team don't even show up. I have a feeling the follow up issue will end up on this side of the list as well.