Giant Size Review # 6: The Women of All-New Marvel NOW

Marvel has a great history of strong, popular and well-selling female characters. Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Kitty Pryde... Wait, hold on a second. Those are all X-Men.

Review # 177: "The Trial of Captain America Omnibus"

Nearly every great comic book creative run has its low points. They may not necessarily be bad, but for every peak there must be a valley.

Review # 176: "New Avengers Omnibus - Vol. 1"

After a mediocre run by Geoff Johns, the usual crap from Chuck Austen, and Mark Millar's "The Ultimates" showing off how cool the Avengers could be, it was time for a change. Cue Brian Michael Bendis, who had been kicking ass on "Ultimate Spider-Man," "Daredevil" and "Alias." But could he handle a team book?

The answer - at the time - was an emphatic "yes."

Review # 175: "Avengers - 'Red Zone' and 'The Search For She-Hulk'"

Goeff Johns didn't get off to the greatest start during his time on "Avengers," with a bland, slightly confused title with no confidence in its direction. That changed during the second half.

Review # 174: "The Ultimates"

With over a decade behind it, you have to make the argument that "The Ultimates" by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch is the most culturally significant comic book story so far this century. It reads like a movie blueprint, and - while its eventual adaptation for the big screen was not note-for-note - many of the Marvel heroes we see on the big screen today are influenced more by the incarnations seen here than the ones who had been around for decades previous.

Review # 173: "Avengers Assemble by Kurt Busiek Vol. 5"

"The Kang Dynasty" may be the most refreshing Kang story out there. After decades of complicated schemes where he tries to trap the Avengers in android bodies or marry Mantis or kill his counterparts from other universes, the Conquerer finally says "F*** it," blows up the United Nations building because he can, and sets all these armies he's always talking about on Earth in a global war.

Review # 163: "Avengers Assemble by Kurt Busiek Vol. 4"

Kurt Busiek's Avengers team has tackled a strong share of world crises. Some external, some internal, some mystical, some technological.

Now... it's time to get cosmic.

Giant Size Review # 3: "Civil War" Tie-Ins

I think "Civil War" is a great story on its own, despite a lot of its character motives requiring a level of explanation. Fortunately, some of that exists in its supplemental material. There is some truly great work outside of the main series, be it with added background, added drama or angles you hadn't thought of. Unfortunately, some of the tie-ins are pure rot. You're about to get examples of all.

Review # 158: "Civil War"

Loved by the casual audience and despised by many long-time readers, Marvel's "Civil War" is as polarizing to fans as the Superhuman Registration Act is to the characters.

Review # 154: "Uncanny Avengers - 'The Apocalypse Twins' and 'Ragnarok Now'"

The first volume of "Uncanny Avengers" played at having a mix between "Avengers" and Remender's previous "Uncanny X-Force." Now that mix is pretty much out the door: this is "Uncanny X-Force" with a new title.

And I am not complaining one bit.

Review # 143: "Captain America LIVES!"

As much as I like Bucky Barnes as Captain America, he truly is better as Winter Soldier. Still, he was a great Cap and kudos to Ed Brubaker for not screwing him over when Steve Rogers was brought back to life.

Review # 138: "The Death of Captain America"

When Marvel killed off Captain America in 2007, I thought they were nuts.

Giant Size Review # 1: "Avengers" by Roger Stern ("Under Siege," "Assault on Olympus" and more)

Trying something new here. I have a lot of Roger Stern "Avengers" work to go through and thought it would be simpler to bunch everything together instead of spreading it out over time.

Review # 124: "Captain America - Red Menace"

One of the more underrated performances in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" comes from Frank Grillo as he takes on the role of Brock Rumlow. But it wasn't a performance I noticed at first. Despite my knowledge of comics, I had no idea that Brock Rumlow is the real name of the assassin Crossbones. It was only after seeing the film that I put two and two together.

Review # 122: "Avengers Assemble by Kurt Busiek Vol. 3"

These days if a comic book writer wants to explore a character in a team book, it seems like most of the time they get added to a team without subtractions. It raises the question of what the point is of having some characters around if they're no longer serving any purpose.

Review # 117: "Avengers: Absolute Vision Book 2"

At its heart, "Absolute Vision" is a pretty darn good - if basic - story. It has a slow burn that keeps you guessing, and paints Vision - a major character - in a way that makes him difficult to figure out. One moment he's stoic and robotic, the next he's smiling and speaking like a first-class politician. The synthezoid is clearly up to something, and while it's pretty easy to figure out on your own, reading as the Avengers clue in is entertaining.

Review # 116: "New Avengers - Everything Dies" and "Uncanny Avengers - The Red Shadow"

It's interesting that the most highly-recommended Avengers series in the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch don't have the traditional feel of the title they represent. In one case, it feels like it's in name only.

Review # 113: "Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 - Revolution"

I was disappointed when Kieron Gillen's "Uncanny X-Men" got the axe. I felt that his version of the team - centered around Cyclops' new "mutant force" - was only just getting started. I was glad to learn that Brian Michael Bendis - in addition to writing to "All-New X-Men" - would be relaunching "Uncanny" with key proponents of Gillen's cast. Namely: Cyke, Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik.

Review # 112: "Infinity"

One of the great things about the first Avengers film is that there were only six of them: Cap, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor and Black Widow. Throughout most if its history, the core roster of Marvel's premier superteam was kept small, rotating as needed.

Times have changed.

Review # 108: "Avengers Assemble by Kurt Busiek Vol. 2"

Is it fair to call a robot crazy?