This Wednesday, as with every other Wednesday, I made my weekly pilgrimage to my local comic store to purchase what I hoped would be some awesome comics. I wasn’t disappointed. This week’s bounty consists of Amazing Spider-Man #623, First Wave #1, Invincible Iron Man #24, The Mighty Avengers #34, and Ultimate Avengers #5. This week’s books offered a refreshing break from giant crossovers, giving readers a chance to rest before diving back into the overwhelming sea of tie-ins.

Amazing Spider-Man #623, written by Mark Waid and drawn by Paul Azaceta continues the overarching “Gauntlet” storyline that’s been running for the last few months. So far, the story has been great, along with pretty much all of Spider-Man since the horror that was “One More Day” ended. The re-introduction of classic Spider-Man villains has been terrific, and the “Web-heads”, the writers behind the “Gauntlet” storyline (Bob Gale, Dan Slott, Fred Van Lente, Mark Waid, and Zeb Wells) have done a wonderful job of reinvigorating the characters and the book as a whole. Mad props to them. In this issue, Electro breaks the new Vulture free from Ryker’s Island Supermax Penitentiary. The Vulture proceeds to fly off and retrieve his costume. He then sets off to seek revenge on the men who turned him into an acid-spewing, flying freak. Somewhere along the line Spider-Man gets involved and a fight ensues. I don’t want to give away too much, not because there’s a lot to spoil, but just because I’m not really into that whole “typing up a panel-by-panel summary of an issue so you won’t have to read it” thing. Because really, this is a fun comic and definitely worth the money. The dialogue by Waid is engaging and witty, and his characterization of Electro as a grumpy “been-there-done-that” villain reads well. In my opinion, the new Vulture, this issue’s main villain is one of the most interesting new spider-villains to show up recently, both character and design-wise. His mysterious back story, unsettling appearance, and scavenger-like nature make for a seriously intriguing character whom I hope to see more of. And he spits acid and has creepy mandible things. What’s not to love? Paul Azaceta’s art has a sort of subtle, low-key look that I’ve been seeing more prominently in Spider-Man lately, and I have to say I’ve been liking it a lot. His use of shadows in the vulture scenes makes for some really creepy imagery. Overall, I’d give the issue a three-point-five out of five, missing those last one-point-five points simply because not all that much happened.

Over on the DC Comics side is First Wave #1, written by Brian Azzarello with art by the fantastic Rags Morales. Oh golly, what a comic. This is the highly-anticipated first issue of DC’s new pulp series, featuring such classic heroes as Doc Savage, The Spirit, Rima the Jungle Girl, The Blackhawks, and Batman (who, while appearing on the cover, does not in fact appear in this comic). After a month of teasers, this comic is finally here, and it certainly lives up to expectations. The issue throws you straight into the action, with a man being chased through the jungle by a huge, eye-gouging robot. Awesome. After this, we’re introduced to Clark “Doc” Savage Jr. and his band of merry men at Clark Savage Sr.’s funeral. Already, there is a definite sense of mystery in the story, which carries on as we meet The Spirit and his policeman friend Dolan. We’re given a great view of the series’ setting with a look at various scenes throughout New York, narrated by a newspaper piece aptly titled “Insight”. The mystery deepens with an exhumed “body”, a mysterious and ominous Russian, even more jungle action, and BLACKHAWKS! Seriously, this was downright spectacular. A great lead-in to what I’m sure will blow my expectations out of the water and then punch them in the face with justice. Of course, what really makes the comic work is the art of Rags Morales. This man is by far one of the most talented artists in the business these days, and I’ve included a splash page from the issue to show you. The amount of personality he brings to each character is absolutely mind-blowing. I think this is best evidenced in the scene featuring Dolan. Reading those pages, you can just feel Dolan’s smug attitude, conveyed through the little details of the art like the way his lips curve or the lines on his forehead, and the way his eyes wrinkle. The man is truly a master of the medium. Hands down, five out of five.

Back to Marvel now, for Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca’s Invincible Iron Man #24, the conclusion of “Stark: Disassembled”. Previously, in Invincible Iron Man: After escaping Norman “Green Goblin” Osborn’s corrupt government strike force H.A.M.M.E.R., Tony “Iron Man” Stark is brain-dead. Now hidden in Broxton, Oklahoma, his friends and allies are attempting to get him back in action. To this end, they have recruited former Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange to go into his mind and help him face his personal demons. Meanwhile, intangible assassin and scourge of corporate America, Ghost, has been hired to kill Stark. This brings us up to the current issue. Ghost has finally found Tony’s prone body and is prepared to put a bullet into his forehead. Before he can pull the trigger, Strange comes out of the astral plane and into the physical realm to lay a kung-fu beat-down on Ghost. Of course, martial arts aren’t much use against someone who can phase their hand through your chest. Down goes Strange. Left alone in his own mind-scape, Tony continues up a large blood-covered staircase, flanked by a number of expressionless men and women. Among them is Harold “Happy” Hogan, his best friend who was killed as a result of Tony’s mistakes, and Ho Yinsen, the man he was imprisoned with when he built the first Iron Man suit. These are all the people who have died because of him. The blood they stand in is the blood on his hands. He enters the citadel at the top of the stairs, and has a chilling encounter with two figures from his past which involves copious amounts of blood. Back on the physical plane, Tony’s friends are attempting to fend off Ghost, which doesn’t go as well as planned. But Stark overcomes, pulls through, wakes up, and, with some fancy tech tricks, takes down Ghost. Tony Stark is back. Woohoo! But there’s one problem: The backup copy of his mind he used to reboot himself is missing data. He doesn’t remember the superhero civil war, Captain America’s assassination, the Skrull invasion, or anything else since then. Uh-oh. The character of Tony Stark has been a bit mistreated in the last few years, and I am quite interested in seeing how this sort of soft reset will affect his treatment. Matt Fraction is one of the best writers at Marvel and the best to write Tony in years. His characterization has shown Tony how he should be; nothing short of a magnificent bastard. Salvador Larroca’s renderings fit wonderfully with the the writing, especially in the case of Stark’s mind-scape. Hightlights of this issue included the image of the massive citadel at the top of the winding staircase, the chilling march of the dead, and the blood-stained finale. Four out of five. A great end to a great story.

Oh gosh, The Mighty Avengers #34 by Dan Slott and Neil Edwards. What a conundrum. I want this to be amazing. I really do. And after reading the first volume of Slott’s run on the book, I was really excited for this issue. But it was just kind of lackluster. Not to say it was terrible or anything. I enjoyed it. I did. But it was just a little underwhelming, and there was something off about the issue. I say it was the art. Neil Edwards, the fill-in artist for the issue is not a bad artist by any means. His art just comes off a bit rushed and inconsistent. The events of the issue themselves are awesome, as they usually are. Scientist Supreme Hank “Wasp” Pym and his team of Mighty Avengers fight big blue trolls and capture Loki, the god of mischief in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of the Scarlet Witch, whom Loki has been impersonating. Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch’s brother, begins torturing Loki for the information. The trickster god calls for help from his big brother Thor. The thunder god arrives and tries to ask the avengers why they’re torturing his brother, but Quicksilver just ignores the god and continues the punishment. Thor doesn’t take kindly to this, and the two throw down, but are eventually separated by Pym. He negotiates with Thor, who allows him one question with Loki before they depart back to Asgard. Now instead of asking Loki where the Scarlet Witch was, like the plan was, Pym of course goes off and serves his own agenda by dropping a bombshell of a question. Hank offers the villain a spot on the team’s roster. Not only that, but he justifies his decision pretty darn well. Nevertheless, his teammates are appalled, and all quit the team on the spot. And Loki doesn’t even take the offer. To make matters worse, Ultron, Hank’s evil android creation, is preparing to strike again. So, yeah. Good story, not so good art. It’s a shame. Hopefully, the next few issues will be better. Wouldn’t want the series to end on a bad streak. Two-point-five out of five.

And lastly, we have Ultimate Avengers #5, written by the ever controversial Mark Millar and drawn by Carlos Pacheco. This is a good comic. For all the crap Mark Millar gets, the man can still write good comics. People usually go and write his comics off as being mindless, shock-driven action-fests. And they’re partly right. His comics are huge on action, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But mindless and shock-driven? Not quite. Sure, they tend to be shocking, but it’s not like it’s pointless shock. It usually works for the story, and for the most part, not completely unnecessary. Alan Moore could write the same scenes of brutal violence and people would say it’s genius. But when Millar does it, it’s distasteful and thoughtless. But whatever, haters gonna hate. On with the review! The issue starts off with a look at some of the heinous crimes of the Red Skull, Captain America’s illegitimate son. He’s evil. Really evil. So of course, Nick Fury’s Avengers (Hawkeye, War Machine, Red Wasp, Nerd Hulk, and the Black Widow) have been sent to stop him before he can build the ultimate weapon: the cosmic cube. When they arrive at Red Skull’s headquarters via teleporter, Nerd Hulk immediately blows chunks all over the snow. We get some insight into the Red Wasp’s backstory, and it turns out she has some history with the Skull. Entering the base, the Avengers find a legion of dismembered corpses of Red Skull’s soldiers, leading to the terrorist himself. They proceed to fire upon him, but the bullets have absolutely no effect. The Skull has already finished the cosmic cube, and used it not only make himself invincible, but also to force his men to eat each other. The Avengers continue the assault, but nothing they can do hurts him. In France, Captain America is being held captive after going rogue to hunt down his son. The Captain breaks free of his handcuffs, and the Frenchmen immediately surrender, but Cap still puts them through a wall. Mark Millar just loves making fun of the French. He continues fighting his way through the base, and steals a tele-plane to hunt down the Skull, while Gregory Stark prepares to set off the nuke in War Machine’s armor. I liked that comic. It was an action-packed thrill ride with some great characterization thrown in. And it was fun. I know, that’s why I read comics. Because they’re fun. And I haven’t even mentioned the art yet! Carlos Pacheco has really been doing a stellar job on this series. His style fits perfectly for the comic’s big-screen, action flick feeling. These guys rock. Five out of five. I eagerly await the final chapter of this story.