It’s another lazy week for me and comic book reviews. Just a pair of comics to check out, both of them more than good and both showing off a lot of potential. So that’s fun!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Uncanny X-Men #2 because I liked it just a little bit more than Avengers Assemble #1.

Meanwhile, i’m still enjoying Star Wars: Outlaws. It’s a fun game. A solid 7/10 from me. It’s not as polished or as deep as I would love, but I’m enjoying the surface level open world and mission structure. The perfect sort of game to just play and enjoy to kill the time I dedicate to video games each week.

Comic Reviews: Avengers Assemble #1 and Uncanny X-Men #2.

Avengers Assemble #1
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Cory Smith
Inkers: Oren Junior with Elisabetta D’Amico
Colorist: Sonia Oback
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

So I didn’t really take to Jed MacKay’s Avengers comic, whereas I love Steve Orlando on Scarlet Witch (though i didn’t care for Orlando’s Marauders). But then I love the idea of team jackets, and some of the more unique character choices here, so I’m gonna try out Avengers Assembled.

While Captain America leads a squad to take down a super-powered Sin in Germany, Hawkeye stays back at the refurbished Avengers Mansion to welcome the remaining new team members with a card game. And beyond all of that, the Serpent Society makes moves.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I liked this comic well enough. It’s very well constructed, and is quite clear in its intentions. This is Classic Avengers in first issue form. There’s a classic bad guy with an upgrade threatening civilians, so a squad of superheroes team up to take her on and save the day. Meanwhile, we get some character building at the classic Avengers Mansion (complete with Jarvis), and then hints at future villainy. Sin spends the whole issue ranting like a super-villain, while the Avengers plan and plot among themselves, before combining their powers to take her down. It’s classic superhero storytelling to the point that it got a little annoying at how long it went on unchanged, if I’m being completely honest.

But I absolutely loved the stuff back at the Mansion, with Hawkeye welcoming all the new team members summoned by Cap. The scene does a great job acknowledging everybody’s history and current status quo, which is fun. Former Avengers are welcomed back, old friends reunite, new members get remarked upon; it’s the good character writing I expect from Orlando. So if he can balance the character interactions with the classic superheroics, this could be a really fun comic. It’s definitely got the art to match the quality writing, so we’re off to a good start.

Personally, I’m most looking forward to Lightspeed on the team, she’s the announced member that got me most interested — even though she’s written a little more childishly than I expected. I’m sure it’ll grow on me. I also look forward to what will be done with Lightning (formerly Living Lightning) because I love the idea of a former low key Avenger being invited back full time.

TL;DR: A good, solid, entertaining start to a more back-to-basics, classic superhero-style Avengers comic. The big roster should have plenty of appeal. And matching jackets are awesome.

Uncanny X-Men #2
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: David Marquez
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

This remains the most promising of the new mainline X-Men titles in From the Ashes, and while the second issue gets a little wobbly, it’s still strong.

Our squad of displaced X-Men fight the new mutant kids who showed up, then calm down when Jubilee joins the team and gets everyone to settle. The kids are on the run from the Hag…who works for the Warden running Graymalkin Prison. They think Xavier is being kept there, and we see that Siryn is definitely being kept there. We also get some flashbacks to when Professor X met his first girlfriend.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I don’t like that the X-Men immediately started fighting these kids. The X-Men have dealt with new, teenage mutants enough to understand what’s happening here. But instead, Simone comes up with some weird justification to start a fight. Granted, it’s a way to show off the new powers, but considering how many characters we’re suddenly juggling in this issue, it’s still not entirely clear what these newbies can do. But the character writing is still super strong, with some phenomenal art, so my gripes pale in comparison to the entertainment value.

Personally, my new favorite is Calico, a WASPy young lady who has some ingrained mutantphobia, denies being a mutant, and whose powers are tied into a horse (or maybe the horse is the mutant?).

Beyond that main story (which has a random Jubilee appear), there’s just a lot going on in this issue. Siryn is in some dire straits, but it’s fun that she’s being used, at least. And this new Hag villain is solid; I like that she’s working as a mutant bounty hunter for the Warden, because it marries her creepy/spooky vibe with something more logical. The only thing that didn’t work for me was the flashback to a young Charles Xavier meeting his first girlfriend and how she just throws herself at him over and over again. I’m sure it’s leading somewhere, but it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t tie into anything with this issue.

Also, artwork is astounding, so this comic maintains the lead for X-Men comics for me.

TL;DR: Second issue gets a little wobbly with how much new stuff is introduced at once, but the strong writing, art and cast maintain a quality hold on being a good comic.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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