Best

Flash #3: Francis Manapul is a layout genius! Not just his opening credits ((which a quire stellar)), but the entire book is just fantastically arranged. It's artistic, creative, and a fresh take on the standard comic panel. The Flash is starting to use his powers to his utmost potential, saving a plane from impending doom and the story with his friend is developing even more. The last page left me almost speechless with the simplicity of what happened. This books is fantastic in writing and artwork and I highly recommend everyone give it a read. I was always a fan of the Flash, but I never quite liked his stories until now.

Good

Teen Titans #3: With so many characters to keep track of, this book could have spiraled out of focus a long time ago, but luckily, it has kept it together and by the end of the issue, all the members of the team are nearly ready to join forces, or the very least start working together. Not sure how I feel about this new character that idolizes Red Robin, but his power set looks interesting at least. While this is the Teen Titans, I hope that once the team does get established that they stray away from writing the characters like stereotypical teenagers. It never appealed to me to read about adolescents acting like adolescents. Making mistakes is a given, but I would hope that the conscious decision to make the world a safer place in the constant face of imminent death would require a certain level of maturity.

Avengers #18: I think it has honestly been a while since I was jazzed about the main Avengers line. This book has brought it all back. With witty writing and a compelling story, I think the future of this book is set. The relationship between characters is really why a lot of people stick around and continue reading a book in my opinion. Sure a big story will draw you in, but if the writer doesn't understand the characters and write them for all they're worth, it doesn't leave many reasons to stick around. This is an instance in which the writer knows what he's doing. More thoughts on this issue can be found in my review here.

Batman - The Dark Knight #3: Converse to what I was saying up there about compelling writing, I'm pretty sure the main draw of this book to me was the fact that David Finch was pencilling it. So far, he's knocked it out of the park with his gritty style. I've always been a fan of of his style, but is it just me are his proportions/perspectives on characters a little wonky sometimes? Maybe it's just me. To be honest, I was a little fuzzy about the plot of this story, even though it really isn't quite much of a puzzle as I remember it being. There's a drug out there that is removing the feeling of fear from its victim and simultaneously ‘roiding them up for a short period of time. Then their entire body shuts down and they bleed out of their eyes. Not sure if it is fatal or not because Two-Face would have had a short introduction into the New 52. The cover of this issue features the White Rabbit quite prominently, but she remains more of a mystery than ever while the ending puts another question in your mind after you think some answers would see the day of light.

Invincible Iron Man #510: If I'm not mistaken, Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca have been a team for a long time and it really shows with this issue. I love when a creative team gels a brings an awesome story to the table. This story is as big as they come and they're bringing the A-Team of baddies in Zeke Stane, Mandarin, and perhaps his worst "enemy" of all: The Demon in the Bottle. This time it seems that the drinking is for the most part under lock and key, but that won't stop public opinion from working against him. Our Iron Avenger seems to have a lot in store for him and the story looks to be just heating up. My review goes a little more into the story itself and can be found here.

Wolverine and The X-Men #2: I want to punch the kids that now run the Hellfire Club in the face. Much like Zeke Stane from Invincible Iron Man, their calculated schemes get on my nerves because as the reader, you can clearly see who is behind everything ((in these cases at least)) while the main characters run around chasing their tails for a bit before they formulate a plan. With the assault on the school in full swing, this issue is jam packed with action, but don't be mistaken that that's all there is to be had. Iceman in particular shows even more mastery over his seemingly ubiquitous powers and he also shows a little affection for a certain lady too. This issue is fantastic and fun and brings me back to when X-Men comics were more than just being the outcast, death, destruction, and everything in between.

Did Not Care For

Superman #3: It's quite odd that I like Action Comics, but not Superman. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I don't like Superman in the first place. I'm just not a fan of the character and the story through the first three books have not been all that and a bag of potato chips for me. I think the most compelling reason for me to continue reading this series is to learn more about the relationship dynamic between Clark and Lois. They aren't together in any way and the hopeless romantic inside me is really bummed out about that. That being said, the writing in this book is not great. I might be able to find something I like about it, but it just does not flow well with me. There's a lot of inner monologue that just sounds like background noise to me and statements of facts that aren't real clever. Sometimes I think writers forget that readers are actually reading their book and not just staring at advertisements between the pages.

Stray Thoughts

Huntress #2: Like most ladies, I like Huntress. She seems like a cool cat with her tragic past and vow to make the world a better place. Every character in the Bat-Family is interesting to me and Huntress is no exception, although this limited series leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a fairly pedestrian story and with human and weapons trafficking, but I hope that there is more to it in the remaining four issues. I hate when a character I like is featured in a subpar story. Why write a feature if what it featues is nothing more than a forgettable story?