In the wake of the Christmas and New Years break, a number of comics have come and gone without a review of any kind. To solve this dilemma, let’s run through a bunch of them in one shot. Strap yourselves in, we’re switching from burst fire to full auto.

Marvel’s Giant-Sized Avengers One Shot:

Originally intended to be one big story with many little ones piled into it, this issue of Avengers is not only fairly misleading but also not a very good read. The cover shows a number of characters that do not appear in the comic. While it might seem, after looking at the front of the comic, that is revolves around the New and Mighty Avengers, most stories are about the original team before Disassembled took place. With so many writers, the stories seem too short, pointless and uninteresting to read. The art seems to work the same way with the only exception being Jim Cheung’s Wasp, Ms. Marvel and Black Widow who appear in between the stories that make up the comic.

Batman #672

A man posing at Batman barges into the police station and begins killing officers. Batman arrives and battles with the pseudo-Batman and, after taking a shot in the chest from the fake Batman’s high impact weapon, Batman appears to go into cardiac arrest. Batmite makes a cameo at the end of the issue but does nothing relevant. Tony Daniel’s art is really what earns this issue it’s points. I’ve always been a big fan and after seeing a couple of the shots from this issue, you probably will be too. Morrison’s writing is mediocre but we’ll have to wait and see how this whole story pans out in the long run.

Captain Marvel #2

So, Mar-vell is back. Stark has him basically confined to an apartment within Stark tower. Ms. Marvel chats with him about their past including Captain Marvel expressing his love for her. She then offers him membership into the Mighty Avengers which he declines. The two are then attacked by Cobalt Man, who is easily taken down by the duo. The issue then ends with Iron Man and Captain Marvel’s meeting on the roof of Stark Tower which is interrupted by a Kree invasion. The only real problem I have with this issue is that they seem to be trying to really drive the point home that Cap is alive again. We get it. Enough already. Half of the issue is mostly just people talking about weather or not he’s actually alive. This issue isn’t quite as good as the first but it’ll be interesting to see where the title goes from here leading into Secret Invasion.

Thor #5

We finally see Thor battle someone worth fighting! The Destroyer appears as Thor tries to free a group of hostages he finds hidden away in an underground prison. The two battle to a near stalemate until Balder, one of Thor’s fellow Asgardians, takes down the Destroyer while it’s preoccupied with Thor. In a twist ending, Loki appears in the form of a female and tells Thor that since Ragnarok was his ultimate goal, which has already taken place, all he wants now is to live a peaceful life. We then see him making deals with Dr. Doom in the final panels. Straczynski seems, like with the issues before this, right at home with the mythology of this title. He appears to be more focused with his Spider-Man run out of the way. Oliver Coipel’s artwork is, as always, top notch. Thor has been one of the best comics I’ve read in 2007 and I can tell things will probably stay the same in 2008.

More delays mean that I probably won’t be getting my comics until somewhere closer to mid-January. In the meantime, I’ll be catching up on some of my back issues sitting in my pile. Any thoughts about the comics reviewed today? Leave me a comment and let me hear it!