Buy Pile Report

So, what was the biggest book of the week, as far as I am concerned?

Ultimate Fantastic Four #50.

Yes, you heard me correctly. I may be the biggest fan in the world of Joss Whedon's work on Astonishing X-Men, but Ultimate Fantastic Four was just too good this week.

The issue is the first part of a three-part Ultimate Thanos storyline, continuing an idea planted in an arc months ago. But don't let that detract you from picking this book up, everything you need to know is explained in the first couple of pages, so this is a story EVERYONE should read.

I think the reason why I liked this book so much was, because bitching over the decompressed "Messiah CompleX" story in my last post, this first issue of the arc didn't just set the table for a good story, it also took the bird out of the oven and called everyone for dinner. The art is sharp, and enough happens in the story (Thanos is coming to claim the cosmic cube he mentally coerced Reed into creating) to make you drool over waiting for next month.

I'm not endorsing Ultimate Fantastic Four as a great book at all times, and I am not even saying you should be reading it past issue #53, but for now, this is a quality Fantastic Four story Mike Carey is weaving.

Oh, and yeah, Astonishing X-Men #24 came out this week. The downside in this book was, nothing was really resolved. Whedon is saving a whole lot for April's Finale (yes, we have to wait THAT Long). But, the pieces are all set for a killer final issue, with an enormous bullet -- yes, a bullet -- careening toward Earth, and the Breakworld in a state of upheaval. Colossus is near the planet's core, Cyclops is being mysterious about his powers, and oh, did I mention Kittty Pryde is stuck inside the bullet???

My prediction -- and this is a bit of a spoiler if you believe me -- my prediction is that Kitty phases the WHOLE BULLET, stopping it from hitting Earth, but also rendering herself caught on a runaway bullet. It is kind of reminding me of the old 1980's cartoon "Pryde of the X-Men," only instead of Nightcrawler making a sacrifice, it's Kitty.

Last but not least (for a change) was Countdown #14. Once again, we saw inconsistent characterisation and shoddy storytelling in this book. But, since I am coming to expect that of the book, it didn't detract too much for me from a decent storyline of the war on Earth 51.

Red Robin makes his debut. Donna Troy over throws Belthra and uses the word "skank" (comic code, anyone?). Superman Prime goes straight at Monarch. We actually have a lot of good stuff brewing here. I've said it before, I'll say it again, this is far from the best book out there, and really isn't even a good book. But, it's telling a story big enough and important enough that, at this point, if you are a fan of DC, you SHOULD BE READING THIS.