Some Comics and Junk From Last Week

Posting about comics with something approaching regularity again?  Say it ain’t so!

Noble Causes #38: Noble Causes is always one of my favorite books on the week it comes out, and this week was no exception.  It was a solid, sometimes poignant one-off about Rusty Noble, the character on the team that’s been given the shortest shrift since the 5YL story began.  The revelation at the core of this story is satisfying but not shocking in the least, though it’s good to hear it out of the character’s mouth.  Yildiray Cinar’s clean, emotive art shines here, especially because he loves drawing Rusty.  With only two more issues left, I’m missing Noble Causes already.

X-Men Noir #1: What I’ve read of Fred Van Lente doesn’t make him my first choice to write a hard-boiled crime saga, but this first Marvel Noir title really kills.  The best alternate take on the X-Men since Age of Apocalypse 12 years ago.  Yeah, no powers, but there is a taut, moody, desperate story that nails what the X-Men have always been about.

X Infernus #1: Picking up where Kyle and Yost left off with New X-Men’s Childhood’s End V. 5, C.B. Cebulski writes a compelling first issue of the series that seems poised to bring Magik back into the Marvel U proper.  It’s competent and gives readers a few scenes that they’ve been wanting to see: Colossus confronting Cyclops about his sister’s fate, Nightcrawler coaching Pixie on teleportation.  Also, beheadings.

Secret Invasion #8: Unlike some other people, I read it.  While Bendis always gets me with his long-view plotting, the short-term stuff is unsatisfactory and honestly, though the set-up intrigues me, I think the execution of the finale (especially in the way the story abruptly changes from as-its-happening to after-the-fact narration for the final installment) loses some of the series’ energy.  The major death, in particular, does not play as emotionally as the narration says it does - which may be a function of Leinil Yu’s art.  Bendis does nice character work, as always, but I feel like Secret Invasion could have done more.

New Avengers #47: What a thoroughly solid issue of Alias.

BONUS: Ghost Rider: Hell Bent and Heaven Bound: Why did I not read this sooner? Jason Aaron delivers what is basically the perfect Ghost Rider comic book, even in light of the character’s drastically changed status quo.