Uncanny Avengers - Rick Remender
- 1. The Red Shadow - Captain America taps Havoc to lead a group of X-Men and Avengers as a show of racial unity after Professor X's death. Fast-paced, with intriguing new characters (villains). Remender does a good job juggling all of the characters' motives and actions so everyone gets a time to shine. Unfortunately the book is marred by some over-the top exposition and narration, bringing to mind Stan Lee at his most hyperbolic. [3]
- #2 THE APOCALYPSE TWINS - even faster paced, with a story arc that sweeps across timelines and alternate realities. The narration is dampened down, thank goodness. In its place is some fairly strong dialogue about how each character sees the human-mutant issue. The scope and frenetic pace of the story, gods trying to avert the end of everything, is Gaiman-esque. [4]
- #3 RAGNAROK NOW - the team is still trying to stop Archangel's twin sons, raised by Kang to hate humans, and things do not go well. I was riveted, unable to guess what would happen next, and wanted to see how the heroes could possibly recover from a great deal of character death. [4]
The Unwritten (4 volumes) - Mike Carey
A love letter to the power of literature, wrapped in a mystery story
with horror elements. A bit abstruse at times; needs to be read in one
sitting, and I need to get further in to suss it all out. I'll give
Carey the benefit of the doubt that this will be brilliant, however.
[4]
Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai
- Book One: Ronin - A collection of mostly stand-alone stories about the wandering samurai rabbit (although some of them set up long-term plots to come). Yojimbo works with a rhino bounty hunter, an affable scoundrel; revisits his old village and his old love to fight a band of mole ninjas; encounters a blind swords-pig; and gets embroiled in some court intrigue. Exquisitely drawn, well researched and witty. [5]
