May 2009 Reads Part III.

Agents of Atlas #5 - This series just keeps getting better. It also doesn't hurt to have The New Avengers guest star. This issue was just so much fun, lots of action and fighting and a lot of intrigue and setup for future story lines. I liked the reference to the backup story that I forgot where it appeared, but it featured a team-up with Wolverine and the Agents, and for some reason, M-11 (the super awesome robot team member) either still holds a grudge against him or has orders or programming to kill or capture him. I'm hoping this gets explained sometime soon. I look forward to this book coming out every month.

Fantasic Four #556 - This was a setup issue and I was kind of disappointed after I was done reading. It has an awesome cover and the first half was pretty good, I mean, when you feature a dead Watcher on a beach looking like a washed up whale and then have Reed Richards do an autopsy on said dead Watcher, it makes for an interesting story, but halfway through, it kind of just fell flat. The last panel was pretty cool, but of course the pages leading up to it were ambiguous at best and you have to wait until next month where they may or may not reveal more. I know the point is to keep your readers wanting more, but I thought this was a very uneven issue and I really haven't been too excited about this book for a couple of months. I'm contemplating dropping it.

Hulk #12 - Um, I have no idea what has been going on with this book for the last couple of issues. I think this is just a lot of filler until Hulk #600 comes out, which sucks, because they've bumped this book up to $3.99, and I hate spending even $2.99 on filler. I also don't understand why they bumped it up a buck, because it's been one of their best sellers and it's consistently in the top ten sales-wise each month. I think it's just a cheap way for Marvel to make an extra $100k a month. Lame. And Hulk #600 is going to be $4.99. Great. Thanks Marvel.

Invincible #62 - Yeah, I don't know how I feel about Invincible anymore. I was a little late to the party, and when I jumped on the bandwagon I still felt that the series was really good, but the last six issues or so have just been mediocre. I really wish I knew where this story was going. And that big event that Image was promoting really wasn't that great either. I am starting to consider dropping this title unless they turn it around and it gets better. I just don't enjoy it as much as I used to. I'm not saying it has to go back to what it was before, but it should have some entertainment value and I shouldn't be all "WTF, mate" after I'm done reading it.

Secret Six #9 - Oh my God, I loved this issue. For some reason, my store got it a week later than everyone else, so I was trying to avoid reading anything about it, and I'm glad I did. I was pretty much laughing 90% of my way through this book. The banter between Bane and Catman arguing over who is least qualified to replace Batman was awesome and Ragdoll dressed up as Robin was creepy and hilarious at the same time. This was just a really good book and I really think it's starting to hit it's stride, so I'm hoping the next couple of issues are as entertaining as this one. I am now looking forward to this book as much as I look forward to Guardians of the Galaxy, Incredible Hercules and Captain Britain and MI13. It's that good.

Thunderbolts #132 - You know, I really liked this issue. There wasn't much action going on, in fact I don't think there was any at all, but I liked it because it gave a little background on the current members of the Thunderbolts, who seemed to come out of nowhere after the events of Secret Invasion. The best part was seeing how they were reacting to being under Norman Osbourne's thumb, some of them are ok with it, some of them don't like it at all, some are super paranoid (for good reason) and some of them who were ok with it to begin with have some things to think about after they start talking to other team members. I liked the intricacies that this issue had and I hope it's an issue that the reader can look back to as being a pivotal piece in the current plot line. It also helps that there's a Songbird teaser at the end for the next issue. Can't wait for THAT to happen.

Uncanny X-Men #510 - This is going to sound like a broken record, I think I've already said it three times in this post, but this issue had the same problem that a couple of other issues had; I don't really know where the story is going and I've felt uninterested in the story and the characters for a couple of months. Seriously, I had to stop and try and remember what was going while I was reading it. And I couldn't really remember everything that had happened in the last couple of issues. That's not a good sign. I am hoping that this series is moving along to the next cross-over or what have you, because this story has been a little tiresome already.

Wolverine: Weapon X #2 - You know, I really don't remember what happened in the first issue of this series, and because I read like 900 Wolverine titles a month, it was kind of hard to remember. That didn't stop me from enjoying this book though. There are some really strange things going on in this book (like the sniper rifle that shoots a bullet that has 39 different forms of cancer in it), but it's fun and I'm actually looking forward to the next issue. I just need to dig up the first issue and reacquaint myself with the premise.

That's it for now, big week this week, I think I've got like 14 books to read on Thursday. Crazy.