COMICS: Wed. 4/26/06

I haven't written about my weekly comics purchases in quite a while. Probably because it's less than riveting. But I've got nothin' else for today. Hey, at least it was a light week, so it'll be a short post.

Runaways: Still one of my favorite series, with fantastic art by Alphona. But this issue felt a little flat to me for some reason. I'm not sure exactly why. I think I'm just getting the impression that Brian Vaughan is stretching himself a little too thin. What is he writing now, four monthly books? Five? It's not a Bendis load of comics, but that's still a lot to juggle. But like I said, still one of my favorites. I'm not even sure why I brought it up. Never mind.

Invincible: Another of my favorites that feels like it's treading water. Talk about a lot to juggle, how many books does Kirkman write? Forty? Fifty? This comic often feels disjointed to me, like a jumble of puzzle pieces thrown randomly at the pages. It could use a smoother narrative flow from scene to scene and issue to issue. Still, nice art and good superhero fun.

X-Factor: Good issue, maybe my favorite so far. Even though I didn't care for the art -- too heavy a reliance on photo reference, leading to very stilted and non-dynamic character poses. Same problem I had with Maleev from Bendis' Daredevil run. But a good story, all about the mysterious newcomer Layla, who is a very intriguing character. Could've used more Strong Guy, but I feel that way about every issue.

The Thing: Also my favorite issue of the series so far. Also again, not my favorite artist. But I really liked the character moments between Ben, Spider-Man, and even the Sandman and the Trapster. I especially loved the Thing coming right out and calling Spidey's hideous new costume an eyesore, and paying him twenty bucks to change it back to the old one. If I paid someone at Marvel twenty bucks, could I get them to change it back permanently? Right now? This series started off a little shaky, but it's become nearly as good as Slott's other Marvel semi-humor book, She-Hulk. Good stuff.

And that was it for the week. Wasn't that exciting? Maybe that's why I haven't done this for so long.