Amazing Spider-Man #602

This book is just so-so. Not bad or good…it just….was. Fans of the Chameleon will enjoy this issue. I didn’t. A couple things I noticed though, in regards to the Spider-Man series in general. The first is that in this issue I found out that J. Jonah Jameson is the mayor of New York City. While readers of this book probably already know that, it was a bit of a shock to me. Second, is that Peter Parker also no longer works for the Daily Bugle and is trying to get a job… at City Hall…working for Jameson.

Come on, really!?

This is a false sense of change, since the players will stay the same and only the job has changed.

Overall: Not very “Amazing”. That’s all I have to say.

Uncanny X-men #514

This is part four of the Utopia storyline. There’s a ton going on here, with a lot of players: X-Force, The Dark Avengers, and The Dark X-Men. The basic info that I got here was, D. Avengers hate D. X-Men, D. X-Men hate X-Force, X-Force hates everybody. Cyclops has assembled a team (pretty much X-Force plus Illyana Rasputin from New Mutants) to take out the Dark X-Men, and this issue is the setup for their eventual confrontation. Cyclops also hints that he has another team to take on the Dark Avengers (I’m assuming the current Uncanny lineup). Again, this is a setup issue, but if nothing else, it did leave me anxious for the conclusion of this arc.

Overall: If you’re not reading any of the three titles involved in this crossover, why start now? Part five takes place in Dark Avengers #8 and concludes in Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Exodus (a one-shot, I guess?). I’d wait for this arc to finish and pick up Uncanny X-Men #515 for a jumping on point.

The Invincible Ironman #14-16

A great story here! This is part 7-9 of the World’s Most Wanted storyline. It basically involves Tony Stark traveling the world to various bases he’s setup throughout the years, destroying his research, and wiping his mind so that Norman Osborn can’t get his hands on it. The character moments in this book have been spectacular. The slow death of this brilliant character’s mind is a Must-Not-Miss for Marvel fans, so pick this up, don’t worry about missing the first 6 parts, and enjoy.

Overall: I suspect that the events taking place in this book will echo through the Marvel Universe more than any other story could hope for, right now. It’s no surprise that Matt Fraction is writing this book. Cut him some slack with Uncanny X-Men, he shows his talent here.