What I Read This Week

Ugh, work has been crazy since getting back from Illinois, so sorry that these are a day late, and a few dollars short, as I left the Marvel Apes Speedball Special behind by accident.  Yikes.

Kull #5 --With the snake infestation revealed, Kull must meet with the their ambassador at court, and respond to the arrest of the Pictish leader Ka-Nu!  But who do you trust when seemingly half of your subjects are reptiles in disguise?  Great pre-Hyborean stuff, really showcasing what makes King Kull just as awesome as Conan

Black Lightning: Year One #6 -- The citizens of Southtown are taking it to the streets -- the good kind of taking it to the streets, not the preachy, sing-songy kind.  It's up to Black Lightning stop the evil influence over his hometown!  Van Meter and Hamner deliver the goods in the conclusion to what has been a fun and fast-moving retelling of Jefferson's origin story.

Outsiders #16 -- The team gets a new HQ of sorts -- the orbiting Bat-rocket known as Haven -- and a mission, as they investigate a bizarre earthquake in Germany.  Not all is as it seems, though, with a strange group of shadowy kingmakers plotting and planning from offstage.  The dynamic of this team is showcased here, with Metamorpho pontificating on why each member is present.  Really neat stuff, but I want action; I can't wait to see the fur start flying next issue.

Tiny Titans #14 -- It's Pet Club: Paradise Island!  Too bad the boys are not allowed to step foot on the island and have to stand on the picnic table.  Bonus: See Wonder Girl abuse her Jumprope of Truth to win at Hide and Seek.  Ha ha.

Batman Confidential #27 -- Is The Riddler dressing up in Egyptian vestments now?  It seems that way, with his cell empty at Arkham... but even Riddler can't be two places at once.  Very much the middle act, with the necessary background on King Tut, but it never feels expositionary.  Hopefully Tut will stick around after this story, which has been very cool.

Invincible Iron Man #11 -- Shellhead is still the Most Wanted, and he's gone underground to avoid H.A.M.M.E.R., including changing his apperance and running low tech spy tricks.  A run-in with War Machine leads to a firefight, and an investigation by Maria Hill uncovers strange goings-on at a former Stark facility!  Better than last issue by a good measure, but only above average all around; the fight with War Machine, Hill's discovery, and the cliffhanger are all good signs though.

Guardians Of The Galaxy #11 -- Quasar and Drax the Destroyer... dead?  It sure seems that way, doesn't it?  But Death, Limbo, The Afterlife, Oblivion... all these things are pretty interchangable when you get right down to it.  But a big ebony Dragon Of The Moon, however... Typical Guardians quality, but the focus on two characters I am less interested in (especially Drax, who was cool in Annihilation but lately has seemed really one-note) makes it less interesting than most of the other installments.  Still, very cool all around.

X-Men Manifest Destiny: Nightcrawler -- Nightcrawler heads back to Germany to think about his role as a hero and an X-Man, but this being the Elf, he ends up finding trouble instead!  There's a demon on the loose in Kurt's hometown, and the villagers would just as well see both of them dead if at all possible.  Nightcrawler has always been my favorite X-Man, and so this oversized one-shot was a no-brainer for me.  It really harkens back to Nightcrawler's solo series from the mid-00s, which was one of my favorites back then.  Between this, Kingbreaker, First Class, Cable, and last year's FCBD Special, I am almost tempted to check out the mainline X-books.

The Pick Of The Pile is Kull.  This book is everything I could ever want from a King Kull comic book, except that it is not an ongoing and is going to end next month!  Dark Horse, why do you torture me?!