In Passing...Blue Beetle to X-Factor

Another week with plenty of floppies...

New Avengers #21 - This issue kicks off the "New Avengers: Disassembled" arc, a Civil War tie-in. Howard Chaykin takes over pencil duties as Captain America attempts to put together a team to resist the government's Superhero Registration Act. The team as we know it is obviously at odds with one another, with Iron Man and Spidey conforming, and Cap not. Perhaps we'll see a new team altogether at the end of this arc, led by Captain America? The renegade superheros? Well, we'll have to wait and see. This issue was awesome though, focusing pretty exclusively on Cap. In the next issue, Luke Cage is the star attraction. I think it's kind of a fun idea to go through all of the characters in this book... A

X-Factor #8 - The other Civil War tie-in I got this week guest-starred Quicksilver as well as Spider-Man, both of whom had pretty small roles. The next issue seems to be pretty Quicksilver-heavy, if the end of this issue is any indicator, but this particular issue was kind of dull, mostly having each character discuss their stance on Civil War. C+

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #6 - This issue was pretty much just a series of wacky events and villains - plenty of action, but little of those cool moments and flashbacks that make the series a stand-out. C-

Blue Beetle #4 - Jaime continues to adjust to coming back to his life after a year absence, rebonding with his friends as some new villains make a first move. As the cover indicates, Oracle makes contact with Jaime in a very short, but amusing, scene. B-

Ultimate Spider-Man #96 - I don't know if it was just me, but this issue seemed a little rushed and sloppy. As Patrick indicated, it was a lot of running around, screaming about vampires. Not much really happens to move the story forward, but it's a pretty action-packed issue. C

Runaways #17 - On the opposite side of the spectrum from Ultimate Spider-Man, the new issue of Runaways had a helluvalot going on. One more issue to go in the "Parental Guidance" arc, and...wait...did one of the runaways die at the end of this issue? Why does the next issue's cover say "One of these Runaways is about to die"? Was this a psyche-out? It looked like a death to me. It was who I thought would die...I guess we'll have to see if this runaway can dodge a bullet or not... B+