Comic Book Day!

Apparently this week I have a boner for Norman Osborn.


First up is Dark Reign: The List: Hulk. This installment in The List was written by Greg Pak with art by Ben Oliver in a sort of photorealistic style. If you haven't been following the Incredible Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner is unable to transform into his raging alter ego. His alien son from when The Illuminati shot Hulk into space is on earth to kill the Hulk, but he's protecting Banner until he can transform again and Banner is gunning for Osborn with science (read: magic). Osborn assigns Victoria Hand, his strangely sexy second in command/personal assistant, to neutralize Banner. She then launches a fairly ingenious bit of scheming.


If you've been paying any attention whatsoever to Dark Reign this year, I highly recommend picking up The List books. They help to tie together and wrap up several ongoing storylines from throughout the year, and this particular issue is no exception. It actually read better than a couple of the other List books-- I'm looking at you, X-Men and New Warriors.


Next up, Dark Avengers #10. It's a slower issue, as Dark Avengers is wont to do, but it's still good. It's strangely fascinating to watch a bunch of psychopaths sit around eating breakfast. Venom is kinda a bitch, Bullseye is becoming a decent team player, everyone teases Wolverine's son Daken, presumably for his terrible haircut... good times are had by all. Also, Ms. Marvel's "To-Do List" is touched on. Spoiler warnings,  she's gonna bone Bullseye.


Oh, also there are dinosaurs, weirdness, and Sentry effing explodes.


Last, Thunderbolts #137. Andy Diggle, who until quite recently was writing T-bolts, has moved on to Daredevil. Taking his place is Rick Remender, and #137 is Remender's first issue. Osborn has the T-bolts kidnap Iron Fist, programs him to be a killbot, and tries to use him to capture Luke Cage for the same process. The actual T-bolts themselves are kind of secondary to that plot, and a few things from Diggle's last issue aren't really touched on. For instance, I was pretty sure that Scourge had decided to go back to being Nuke. Also, I swear Osborn had said something about tracking down Yelena Belova for real and making her lead the team, but somehow Ghost got the job.


In the sequences where the T-bolts actually shined, Remender did a decent job. It was a little irritating that Ant-Man is suddenly a frat boy for some reason. Also, the recap of an episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 was... bizarrely out of place. However, I think that Remender has a decent enough grasp of the characters, and I look forward to seeing where he takes the book.