Currently Reading: TPB Haul

There was a buy-one-get-one-free sale on used comics at V-Stock over 4th of July weekend, so I took advantage to stack 'em up! I dove into these, having read most all of them by now.  Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin (2008) was a great book! The art by Eric Canete wasn't as art deco as the cover, but did feature a classic, horn-masked hero that was right up my alley. The Armored Avenger really has to work hard to beat Mandarin, losing the first battle, and nearly his life. We get a classic Tony Stark as well- the business suits, women, ego, and bravado are all part of it. A fun romp, indeed!

Since reading the new Marvel NOW! Thor: God of Thunder title, I can't seem to get enough of the this classic character, a founding member of the Avengers along with Iron Man- another Marvel NOW! title that I've been faithful to since last year. The Mighty Thor: Gods On Earth (2002) takes place after Odin's death, his son now Lord of Asgard. The Thunder God has transported his beloved city in the sky over New York City, where the mankind he came to protect and guide struggles against their unwanted savior. Really interesting! 

I've picked up a number of Secret Invasion titles since reading the main book, as I'm really into any book featuring the shape-shifting Skrulls, so I'd been curious about Secret Invasion: Thor (2009). Beta Ray Bill comes to warn his brother in arms of the coming invasion, to whom Thor must relinquish his enchanted hammer Mjolnir, and take the mortal form of Dr. Blake to protect the citizens of Earth. Good read and great art by Doug Braithewaite. 

This third volume of the Romita & Jurgens run on The Mighty Thor wasn't my favorite of the four, featuring a lot of crossover titles and different artists, but Spider-Man & Iron Man were involved so it wasn't all bad. You could skip it, and I'd intended to after reading a review online, but I'd never get such a good price again. There was enough of John Romita Jr.'s art in it to appease me.

World's Finest: Worlds Apart (1990) couples two of my favorite DC Heroes together, switching cities to battle their respective arch nemesis who have taken up crime in each other's neighborhoods! Penciller Steve Rude has a retro style akin to Darwyn Cooke, which evokes the feel of Golden Age comics- again, a stylistic direction I gravitate toward. You can buy this limited series in one TPB now, but I lucked out on the price of the original issues, averaging a price of  two dollars a book with the BOGO sale. Good read!

I'm only into my second book of an assortment of Amazing Spider-Man TPBs from Straczynski & Romita's run on the now concluded title. While I bought these for John Romita's art, author J. Michael Straczynski has not disappointed me so far, starting on issue #36 in Revelations, Aunt May having discovered Perter Parker's secret identity as New York's wall-crawling hero. I love Romita's cartoony style as much on Spider-Man as I did Thor! I see a great deal of similarities between the work of JRJ and his contemporary, Frank Miller, artist and author of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. I hadn't intended to pick these up, but at an average of $4.60 a book, it was time to catch up on this chunk of Spidey from the early 2000s.

 More Later- Keep Reading COMICS!