This one, though, I was expecting to be the turning point. After all, I’m not a big fan of Marc Guggenheim, and to be honest, what I read of his run on Wolverine dropped right past not very good to land somewhere in the vicinity of downright horrendous. I’ve gotta say, though: I was pretty surprised.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as Slott’s issues, but the drop in quality wasn’t nearly as much as I expected, and–more importantly–the tone of the book seemed pretty consistent with what we’ve already gotten. This, I think, probably has a lot less to do with Guggenheim himself than the fact that all four writers are working pretty closely with each other and editor Stephen Wacker, who knows a little something about putting together a weekly comic. Or maybe, and this is a pretty remote possibility here, I’ve actually just been wrong about Guggenheim all this time and he’s finally living up to his potential. Even Salvador Larroca–who’s been relying way too much on photo reference–was a notch above what I was expecting, even underneath a coloring job that could’ve been a heck of a lot more vibrant.

In either case, it’s so far kept the book from becoming what I was afraid it would immediately turn into–a jumbled mess of jigsawed plots–and stayed pretty enjoyable. If it can keep that up for another two months, well, we might actually be onto something here.

Countdown Special: OMAC #1: I’ve sure that I’ve mentioned my desire to cut back on buying comics that I already own in a different format before, and considering that I own every OMAC appearance up to and including David Morris’s phenomenal bootleg last-issue mini-comic, a Countdown-themed reprint book is probably be last thing I oughtta be buying, especially when I’m going to be getting them all again in May when the hardcover collection comes out. Flawless logic, except for two things:

1. It’s nice to have a few of the Jim Starlin OMAC back-up stories from Warlord reprinted on nice bright paper in one convenient place (although having them all would be a little bit better), and…

2. It’s OMAC, and is therefore twenty to thirty times more awesome than any other comic book you will buy this week.

 

BELIEVE IT!

Fables #69: Given my well-established feelings about Fables, it should come as no surprise that I fell hook, line and sinker for the twist in this issue, and loved every panel of it.

Let’s be real here for a second, folks: this is probably the single best comic book on the market today, and with “The Good Prince,” Willingham, Buckingham, and Leialoha have not only given us the happiest ending that the series has seen so far, but what might just be the best story of the run. Admittedly, it’s tough to beat Homelands (my reigning favorite), but starting with the shift in last year’s Christmas issue–and 1001 Nights of Snowfall before it–they’ve given us an incredible character arc that wraps up every bit as beautifully as it looks. It’s phenomenal stuff.

Northlanders #3: Judging by the responses I’ve gotten in the comments section, there are at least a couple of you out there wondering why I hadn’t reviewed Northlanders yet, and I had a couple of reasons.

First, and most obviously, I skipped over the first issue because, unlike Wood’s last series launch with DMZ, he jumps right into a longform story rather than setting things up with a stand-alone issue. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that–and in fact, DMZ was more the exception than the rule–but for some reason, it just felt like it wasn’t quite complete, and I wanted to get a better handle on what was going on before I offered up my opinion.

Because, y’know, the things I say around here are always so well thought out.

Secondly, well, I didn’t feel like I had a lot to offer to the discussion, because this book is exactly like the joke that popped into everyone’s head when it was first solicited: It is, for all intents and purposes, Brian Wood’s Emo Vikings. But the crazy part is, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sven’s youthful arrogance, angst and disdain for just about everything else in the book would fit right in in the pages of Demo or DMZ, and if you swapped out his sword and longbow for a pair of Uzis, he could probably hack it in the world of The Couriers, too. But while there might not be that many surprses with the character, Wood and artist Davide Gianfelice are doing a darn fine job of pitting him against his uncle in a battle of guerilla viking warfare. And that’s pretty exciting.

Uncanny X-Men #495: You know what? I like the X-Men. I like ’em a lot, actually, but the constant state of crossover that exists in the titles–moving as they do from House of M to Decimation to Endangered Species to Messiah Complex to Divided We Stand to The Wrath of Khan to Professor X Is Back But Now He’s a Marmot and so on ad infinitum–makes ’em pretty hard to love.

After all, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and Jeff Parker’s X-Men: First Class, it’s that I enjoy the books the most when they’re not concerned with an interwoven “event” of a story arc that was written by committee, but are allowed instead to actually develop within themselves.

And that’s why I’m actually pretty excited about this issue. Sure, it’s got this month’s equivalent of the Triangle Number on the cover, but inside, it’s got Cyclops and Emma frost kicking it in the Savage Land until it’s time to go find out why the Sixties are making a literal comeback on the streets of San Francisco. It’s not the kind of story that we’ve seen the X-Men dealing with over the past couple of years, and it seems like–and this is a pretty radical concept here, so bear with me–Ed Brubaker might actually be trying to do something fun with the characters again.

Trades

Thor Visionaries: Walt Simonson v.5: You may now return from the edge of your seat: The fightin’est comic of the modern age has finally been collected in trade.

I refer, of course, to Thor #380, and to totally spoil it for you, that’s the one where Simonson returned to script and layouts (with Buscema on finishes) to tell the story of Thor’s battle with Jormungand the Midgard Serpent in an issue made entirely of splash pages that ends with Thor hitting the Serpent so hard that it breaks every bone in his own body. And yes, it is awesome.

But this is more than just that one issue, just like it’s more than the fight with the Wrecking Crew, or the Destroyer’s return to Hel, or the fantastic last few pages. No, this one achieves far more than that solely by the virtue of being the final volume of what is unquestionably my favorite run of comics ever. Sure, it lags in the middle for a few issues when Justice Peace shows up, but man, the war against Surtur alone makes up for that, and that’s not even getting into the issue where Skurge holds the bridge at Gjallerbru.

And this one, where Simonson finishes his run with some of his perfect blend of Norse mythology and the Marvel Universe, fits right up there with the best of them.

But before you think that this volume in particular got the nod for Best of the Week just because I like the rest of the run, allow me to disabuse you of that notion with one simple fact: Thor Visionaries v.5 contains the line “In truth, I did forget his deadly karate, advanced a million years beyond anything known on Earth today!”

So, you know. There’s that.

And that’s the week, and I’m off to re-read Balder the Brave to find out more about his ridiculously awesome hat. As always, though, if you’ve got questions, comments, delicious cake recipes or toasts to Skurge’s bravery that you feel like sharing, feel free to leave a comment below.