Wherein I Buy Some Stuff and Share With You My Opinions on Said "Stuff"

I bought an abnormally large stack of books this week, and surprisingly enjoyed a lot of my purchases. What follows is a short summation of my thoughts on the titles I plunked down my hard earned cash for. Some of these books have been out a few weeks or even longer but I usually only pick up my pulls once a month so I do get a bit behind.

Hulk VS. Hercules: When Titans Smash: I really enjoyed this. For some unknown reason I'm trade waiting the regular Hercules ongoing, but I had picked up an issue or two so my interest was piqued enough to give this a try. Not exactly brainy but worth a look particularly if the thought of Hercules and Hulk punching each other -and various throw away characters- appeals to you.

Justice Society of America #14: Finally. This title was a bit sluggish of late but finally stepped up its game with this issue. The fight between Magog and the JSA was worth the price alone.

Brave and the Bold #12: I was sad to see George Perez leave but Ordway did an awesome job on these two issues. This was just a fun series and despite the fact that it will still be around another four issues I just don't know how I feel about Scott Kolins work right now. I'll pick up his first issue but it's up in the air as to whether or not I'll stick with this series through the end. Still, excellent job on this issue.

Booster Gold #8: Another fun issue. Not much more to say. This title lacks something but I've never been able to put my finger on just what. It's funny, action filled and has a big heart so as usual I enjoyed it.

Fantastic Four 554-556: Not sure what I think of this. Hitch's art is good though maybe not as good as Ultimates. The writing is capable but I just can't seem to get into this story at all. It all just seems kinda bland. Oh and that whole thing where the giant Captain America robot takes out like half of Marvel's heaviest hitters? Lame... as... crap.

Invincible #49: Umm, yeah its good but this plot with Cecil and the zombie robots better not end up as predictable as it seems to be. Still, even at it's worst Invincible is better than 99% of the other super hero stuff out there.

Wonder Woman 18 and 19: Good stuff. I have no idea why this title wasn't on my pull list the second they announced Gail Simone was coming on board but it is now. This was a nice little story and seemingly a good jumping on point as well. Looking forward to this next arc with great anticipation.

Action Comics #863: I loved this issue, especially the end. I'm always impressed by the heart Johns can bring to a comic and its that mixture of action, character and emotion that makes him such a good writer. A great wrap up to this story.

Batman #675: Good issue. Not great, but probably necessary reading if you intend to get RIP. The art was a little "blah" though.

Justice League of America #20: I liked it. I still think McDuffie is having a hard time bringing any sort of substance to this title but thats probably more a case of crossoveritis than anything. Great work by Van Sciver here though, and McDuffie seems to be a natural at writing Wally West. Perhaps we have a candidate for our next Flash writer?

Green Lantern #29: It's funny, I really was dreading this story arc as it seemed to sound like filler till we start the lead in to Blackest Night. This ended up being my favorite read out of everything though. I love it. And man, is Ivan Reis awesome or what?

All Star Superman #10: Great issue. The ending nearly brought a tear to my eye.

Batman and the Outsiders #6: Meh. This series is doing well under Dixon's hand but this was a really dull issue. I'm sure it'll be better next month. Nice cover though!

Might Avengers #12: Love love love it. Not usually a Maleev fan but his work here is really good and the writing is top notch without any of the usual Bendisian trademarks that drive me crazy. And with that, Nick Fury is back...

Mighty Avengers #11: Not so great...

New Avengers #39: Not impressed. The art wasn't as badly traced as I thought it would be but how many times can an artist reuse the same panel. The story was kinda cool though. I like this Echo chick and I thought I would hate her. Mostly because I hated her in Daredevil. Still, the issue as a whole just didn't do it for me. And that is one butt ugly cover you got yourself there Mack.

Ms Marvel #26: I've only been picking this up since the Secret Invasion tag started appearing on the cover but I dig it. It's got an old school vibe to it that I kinda love. Between this and Captain Marvel it appears that Brian Reed is writing two of the tie-ins that are somewhat instrumental to the Secret Invasion story.

Well that does it. I do want to mention that Marvel is doing a fine job of late with their freebies. The Secret Invasion prologue thing was cool, and the Avengers/Invaders sketchbook actually has me interested in picking up that maxiseries.

That does it for me.