Avengers #8 - After Avenger X takes down all of the Avengers save the Wasp, Doom shows up to help out. Story by Mark Waid, art by Jeremy Whitley.

The art's better. However, this story just screamed "let's make the heroes act like idiots to further the plot" to me. Spider-Man is particularly idiotic here. I feel like Waid is better than this.

Champions #9 - Viv meets a young hero in Los Angeles, and they have and adventure together. Story by Mark Waid, art by Humberto Ramos.

This is pretty fun. Red Locust does remind me of Gwenpool in some ways, but not quite so annoying. The adventure is pretty much straight up superheroics, which is almost a forgotten thing these days, and I loved seeing the two young heroes treated with respect by the police.

Daredevil #21 - Daredevil--with the help of Luke Cage and Echo--begins a plan to end crime in New York. Story by Charles Soule, art by Goran Sudzuka.

This is really more the sort of thing I was expecting when Charles Soule took over this title. There's a lot here about bringing in criminals legally so that the evidence stands, as well as the legal standing of super heroes. Pretty decent.

Doctor Strange #20 - Zelma becomes Strange's apprentice after a mishap retrieving a wand. Story by Jason Aaron, art by Chris Bachalo.

Some cute moments here, particularly the auction, and Zelma comes across quite nicely here. We'll see what happens, and how long the other plot point of this story lasts.

Hawkeye #7 - Kate thinks her mother has been kidnapped by Madame Masque. Story by Kelly Thompson, art by Leonardo Romero.

There's a very impressive scene here where Kate takes out about 30 armed goons, and sadly you don't see much of that any more. It's a perfect match for her skills. The story leading to that scene is also compelling as well.

Iceman #1 - Bobby creates his dating profile and visits his parents in the hospital. Story by Sina Grace, art by Allesandro Vitti.

I've never been the hugest Iceman fan--nothing wrong with him, just not very compelling--but I liked this. Bobby's relationship with his family (including his "kid brother") is interesting and compelling. One thing that would have been very helpful, however, would have been through bubbles, as we don't really understand why it takes him so long to deal with the threat at the hospital. An explanation that he was waiting for the hospital to be evacuated or something similar would have been nice.

The Unstoppable Wasp #6 - Nadia manages to stop Mother, and G.I.R.L. manage to extract the bomb from Ying's head. Story by Jeremy Whitley, art by Elsa Charretier.

This book is quite fun, although perhaps this issue isn't as light as some of the others. I imagine it will get canceled in the near future, but I'm enjoying it now.

X-Men Gold #5 - The X-Men fight a new type of Sentinel. Story by Mark Guggenheim, art R.B.Silva.

So, lots of fighting,some interesting ideas, but ultimately not terribly compelling.

Ben Reilly - Scarlet Spider #3 - Ben meets the Web Spinners, vigilante fans of Spider-Man and his friends. Story by Peter David, art by Mark Bagley.

There was really no point to 90 percent of this issue, so it's definitely trade filler. It's not terrible, but I would much rather the story had moved forward more.

Captain America - Sam Wilson #23 - The Avengers screw up Sam's underground railroad. Story by Nick Spencer, art by Joe Bennett.

I've frequently felt during this run that Sam is actually a guest star in his own book, and this issue didn't change that feeling. There are some fun moments with the Mole Man, but otherwise it's all a bit of tedium on a story that should have been over at least a year ago.

Defenders #1 - Diamondback (Luke Cage's Diamondback) attacks Luke, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Daredevil. Story by Brian Michael Bendis, art by David Marquez.

I knew I wasn't going to like this as soon as I saw Bendis' name on the cover, and I wasn't surprised that I didn't like it. He has a story to tell, and to hell with characterization or anything else that gets in the way like common sense. If this is your sort of thing, fine, but it's not for me.

Generation X #3 - The kids decide to investigate what happened to Face on their own. Story by Cristina Strain, art by Amilcar Pinna.

I keep asking myself why I'm reading this comic--in my opinion, the art is hideous, even worse than 90's art. But then I remember it's many of the same characters from Wolverine and the X-Men, which I really liked, so I guess that's the reason. The story itself isn't bad, but the art makes it hard to get through.

Ms. Marvel #19 - In the midst of a celebration, a new political force comes to light. Story by G. Willow Wilson, art by Marco Failla.

This is good. There are some parallels and slight commentary on current events, and it's pretty effective, as you hate the bad guys right away.

Secret Warriors #3 - The team goes to visit the X-Men searching for an Inhuman, and Ms. Marvel is unhappy with the direction things are going. Story by Matthew Rosenberg, art by Javier Garron.

I think this title is the only good thing to come out of Secret Empire, at least in my opinion. Kamala and Daisy have some good arguments about the direction they should be going in with both sides making good points, and the interactions with the X-Men are pretty amusing.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #21 - As Doreen and Nancy take a vacation, they leave Koi Boi, Chipmunk Hunk and Brain Drain to protect the city. Story by Ryan North, art by Erica Henderson.

Fun as always. Plus it was great to see a self-contained issue after the last overlong story arc.

X-Men Blue #5 - The X-Men fight off the Marauders and recruit Jimmy to the team while Jean faces off against Ms. Sinister. Story by Cullen Bunn, art by Julian Lopez.

This is why comics fans have a hard time with the X-Men--I didn't even know there was a 'Ms. Sinister'. Anyway, it's a fight-filled issue for the most part, and that's not bad.

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