Miles to go before I wake

So, I've been asleep for about 30 of the last 36 hours. Neat! I think I'm largely over my cold now, but I'm still moving at just a fraction of normal speed here, so take pity on the old man for missing a day of daily blogging. Let's do just a couple of comics before I have to go pick Ben up from school and go to work:

MIGHTY AVENGERS #1: Its big and goofy, filled with explosions and people hitting giant monsters. Its basically just fun. THAT'S pretty much what I've been wanting from an AVENGERS comic for a while, and this was the first time in (uh, like 3 years?) that I've thought that Bendis had the rythym of the "suepr team". I'm just a little less excited by the thought baloons (because they're mostly being used for shtick), but overall, I thought this was a fun little Marvel funny book, and a nice change from the sturm und drang of CIVIL WAR. Shockingly GOOD.

CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE: Every single copy we recieved has mis-printed -- the Tbolts story repeats, and the final story is only the final 4 pages. Still, I think I can judge the contents pretty well. Its basically "BRAVE NEW WORLD" for 5x the price. How well that sits with you is likely to come down to how much you like Mark Silvestri's artwork, and I think he's over-rendered, and a mediocre story-teller. The price tag would have been less insulting had the "previews in the back" not been stuff out THIS week (or, worse, LAST week), but man, $5, seriously? AWFUL.

FANTASTIC FOUR #543: Wow, there's something deeply creepy about that cover, isn't there? Probably the worst-timed 45th anniversary ever, given what's going on in the Marvel U right now, and sadly, filled with a big bunch of "I don't buy it"s. I don't buy that Reed and SUe "reconcile" that easially. I don't buy that Johnny & Ben are so wedded to the FF as a *concept* that they're looking for new members. I don't buy that Panther and Storm make ANY sense whatsoever. So, the lead story? Pretty meh. But the backups pretty make up for it -- Stan Lee and Mike Allred, both being pure-injections of themselves, on one story, PAUL-freakin'-POPE on the other. Wow. That pulls the wqhole thing up to a GOOD for me, man.

OK, back later with more....

what did YOU think?

-B