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 # 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 # 136: "The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 5"

With Walt Simonson's deep respect of Thor's mythological history, there really is only one way to conclude his time with the title: by adapting the prophecy of Thor's own destruction.

Review # 132: "X-Men: Mutant Massacre"

"Mutant Massacre" made X-Men history by being the first crossover between three X-family titles and is regarded by many as one of the greatest X-Men stories of all time. But while it has its share of memorable moments, I really can't say I agree.

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 # 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 # 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 # 115: "The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 4"

Why is Walt Simonson the greatest writer in the history of "Thor?" Easy: he took a story about turning Thor into a frog, and made it a compelling drama.

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?

Review # 95: "The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 3"

The incredible "Surtur Saga" had me wondering where the hell Thor could possibly go next. Turns out that was the answer.

Review # 75: "The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 2"

In my review of volume one, I noted that Walt Simonson had appeared to barely show his hand. I had no idea that his already solid run would get so good so fast.

Review # 53: "The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson Vol. 1"

Ever since "The Avengers" was released in theatres last year, I'd been wanting to sample a few offerings from the team's big three. Ed Brubaker's run up to and death of Captain America, Iron Man's "Demon in a Bottle" and "Extremis" (review)... though it's taken me a while to get to Thor. I was too late, unfortunately, to snatch up a copy of Walt Simonson's writer/artist run on the title in a recoloured omnibus before it went out of print. Instead, I've turned to a series of five trade paperbacks as a consolation prize, set for release on a schedule over the next few months.

Review # 52: "Avengers Assemble by Brian Michael Bendis"

Hoping to capitalize on the success of the film, "Avengers Assemble" was originally conceived as a series for younger readers but accessible to all. There's a greater emphasis on action, and less on character motivation. However, the result is a tale that is wonderfully old-school, and readers who enjoy classic material will likely find it to be the best Brian Michael Bendis Avengers story in years.

Review # 37: "X-Factor - 'Happenings in Vegas' and 'Scar Tissue'"

About half-way through Peter David's run on "X-Factor" and we are already building towards the finale. Now THAT is episodic writing.

Review # 18: "Avengers - The Complete Collection by Geoff Johns - Volume 1"

For a while I was fully convinced that Geoff Johns was gradually being moved from series to series at DC to resuscitate all of its characters. He had a great run on Superman, he had what's considered the best run of the last 10 years on Green Lantern and - by all accounts - he's made Aquaman cool. Seriously! AQUAMAN! As the reigning king of DC, it's almost hard to believe that he worked at Marvel at all.

Review # 11: "Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis - Volumes One and Two"

After his New Avengers dealt with new threats, his Mighty Avengers operated as a half-facade and his Dark Avengers operated as a FULL facade, Brian Michael Bendis' adjective-free "Avengers" relaunch is like a throwback to the time before he took over the title and made it Marvel's biggest-selling franchise. It's a sensible move as after the events of "Siege," the company launched the new "Heroic Age" with a back-to-basics line being drawn between heroes and villains. Political infighting ("Civil War,") espionage ("Secret Invasion") and hidden malice ("Dark Reign") had made everything blurry.

Review # 4: "Operation: Galactic Storm"

The early-to-mid 90s were a weird time for The Avengers. Thor was replaced with a human imbued with his power; Iron Man was possessed by a villain, died, and was replaced with a teenage version of himself; Wasp became half-woman, half-insect; then, in 1996, they were all "killed off" and handed over to the folks at Image Comics (Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld et al. who quit in order to theoretically make more money by having full control of their own characters) to rebuild their, well... image. The truth was the series just wasn't on the same level as the X-Men sales-wise and Marvel was pulling out all the stops to try to get people to buy in.