The Pull List

It’s been a month since my last Pull List, so we’re playing catch-up this month with a double edition of The Pull List, featuring my purchases from Feb 15th – March 14th 2010.

My Pull List – 28/02/10
Avengers Initiative #33
Deadpool #19
Deapool #20
Deadpool: Merc WIth a Mouth #8

My Pull List – 14/03/10
A-Team: Shotgun Wedding #1
Deadpool Team-Up #895
Invincible Iron Man #24
Mighty Avengers #34
Prelude to Deadpool Corps #1
Prelude to Deadpool Corps #2
Ultimate Avengers #5

The Good

We kick things off this month mid-Siege with Avengers Initiative #33, the book takes place at the same time as last month’s Siege #2 and offers a different perspective on the action at Asgard through the eyes of Diamondback, Taskmaster and Constrictor. At the same time we see action at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R., with New Warriors’ Night Thrasher forced to make a difficult decision (one that ties in to the short-lived recent New Warriors run) that could cost the heroes dearly. Avengers Initiative #33 proves once again why Marvel are so good at “event” books, whilst many readers decry tie-ins, Marvel at least use them to tell the same story from a different perspective – sometimes in a more effective manner than in the main book, which is definitely true here… Movie tie-in A-Team: Shotgun Wedding #1 is the first look at the movie line-up of the A-Team, offering a preview of sorts as to the characterisations and motivations of the characters in the forthcoming movie; and judging by this book, the film is going make A-Team fans VERY happy. But why the hell did they feel the need to have Face bitch-slapped by Sarah Palin (I kid you not) in this issue?

Deadpool’s proliferation in the Marvel universe may just be getting beyond a joke, with no less than SIX new Deadpool comics in one month. There’s not much between all six books, with Deadpool #19-#20 featuring the wise-creacking hero team up with Spider-Man and face down an all-new villain – Hit Monkey! Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth #8 sees Deadpool and Zombie-head Deadpool venturing back to the zombie homeworld and discovering that there are still some human survivors; whilst Prelude to Deadpool Corps #1-#2 takes the idea of the parallel universe Deadpool’s from last month’s Merc With a Mouth to ridiculous extremes and introduces us to the characters of Lady Deadpool and Kid Deadpool in their own universes – Kid Deadpool’s is particularly outrageous, withhalf of the X-Men acting like bunch of douchebags and the other half being little kids (literally). Just how and why Deadpool is back jumping through the multiverse isn’t explained, only that his mission is to save the multiverse from ultimate destruction. The first two issues have me really psyched to see how the Deadpool Corps pans out, I’ve haven’t been this excited for a Deadpool comic since the last one!

Invincible Iron Man #24 concludes the “Stark: Disassembled” storyline in style, with the final battle (both mentally and physically) for Tony Stark seeing our hero returning to the land of the living. Without giving anything away, the final few panels of the book are most definitely of the “wow” variety. A revealtion awaits on the last page of the story that I didn’t see coming, but in hindsight HAD to happen for the character of Tony Stark to move forward into Marvel’s ‘Heroic Age’. Ultimate Avengers #5 rounds out the good comics for this month and continues the Captain America vs. the Avengers vs. The Red Skull storyline – this issue has a particularly nasty opening flashback scene that really pushes the envelope for a non MAX title, but it does work to convey just how viscious and unpredictable the Red Skull (aka Capt. America Jr) really is. WOrth buying for that alone…

The Bad

With six different issues out this month, odds were that Deadpool would disappoint – this month’s loser is Deadpool Team-Up #895. After a brilliant run of ridiculous and hilarious books, Deadpool’s team-up with The Living Colossus is just a shambolic mess: bad writing, bad artwork and terrible story combine to make this book positively unreadable. OK, so last month’s Mighty Avengers was so bad I refused to talk about it, but I did give book another chance (mainly because I’m a completist) so will Mighty Avenger #34 redeem this book? In a word, no… Another confusing mess, it starts off well, with a great ‘cliffhanger’ thats sees Thor facing off against the eponymous Avengers, but the story breaks down faster than you can turn the page until the terrible conclusion – Loki an Avenger? No, just no.