Now I just want someone to call him Shazadam in a comic lmao, like a Young Justice member or something
Speaking of Bendis & wants, any time I remember he exists, I remember how much I want him to announce the release of that dang André Lima Araújo Jinxworld series!
Read his 21-issue run on Ultimate X-Men this past week, written during the Runaways era. Around half of which was drawn by Stuart Immonen right before he did Nextwave. UXM is nostalgic but not the best version of X-Men, imo, but BKV & Immonen doing those characters? Wish there were more.
I for whatever reason fell off on Saga before the hiatus. I read the first 3 arcs in trades, then jumped on monthly, but after I think the 7th arc, I dropped it. I was into the character writing, & the art, but I just kinda got lost & wasn't enjoying the issues anymore. I'm not really a big plot person, so I don't think that was the problem? I don't know. I think I'll end up giving it a shot when it returns, though, & see if the time away, plus the creative shake up of that one death, bring me back in.
Reading through New Avengers and I adore it. If it weren't for Hickman's run it would be my favorite Avengers that I've read. Bendis is so goddamn good. Can't wait for his Justice League. EDIT: Ugh every time I read something Civil War related I hate Iron Man soooooo much
While all the X-Men books have been great recently, I think X-Factor has been my favorite. It’s the one that’s felt the most like a traditional X-Men book, while still finding its perfect lane in regards to the larger Krakoa story.
For me personally, New Mutants is the clear #1 right now, but X-Factor is the clear #2. I was catching up online recently, and everything with Daken & Aurora is so good. And, there was a one-page interaction between Emma Frost & Dani Moonstar that was absolutely fantastic; between that & the X-Men Black: Emma Frost one-shot that didn't get praised enough when it came out, Leah Williams just gets Emma better than any other writer, ever. (And, Eye Boy is really funny.) I just wish David Baldeon's art, which I mostly love, weren't being colored by someone who makes so many ugly, unflattering choices. Feel like a good 50% of the X-books right now are stumbling bad in the color department.
More Javier Rodriguez comics can only be a good thing. (I know it’s just a teaser image without any information, but current talk online is that this is probably by Rodriguez & Al Ewing.)
That feels right, given that it's got Masked Raider on the cover, and Ewing wrote his parts in Marvel Comics #1000.
It took me a week, but I really enjoyed Gene Luen Yang’s Shang-Chi mini series. It’s a great reintroduction of the character’s origin and has some other interesting characters that I’m sure will be in future comics rather soon. I’d love to see Yang continue with the character, but for now this temporarily fills the void. Not much action, though, if that’s what you’re looking for in a Shang-Chi series
I didn’t read it, but I heard the Alyssa Wong Shang-Chi one-shot that just came out had more action than the Yang miniseries.
Radiant Black #1 was fun. Good introduction to the main character & his situation. Definitely get some Spider-Man vibes, as far as the whole down-on-his-luck thing is concerned. I’m looking forward to where this ends up going. Eternals #2 was also good. Like how it’s building the story, the cast, & the world as it goes. I wonder how much the success of Hickman’s X-Men has helped give Kieron Gillen the space to do this kinda mythic, epic comic. Obviously having Esad Ribić & Matt Wilson on art doesn’t hurt! Also, ordered the Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Morbius’ first appearance) facsimile edition forever ago & kinda forgot about it ‘cause it was delayed a bunch, lol. Fun little surprise. I’ve read the story before via omnibus, but was fun ripping through those pages of classic Gil Kane art. Forgot this was the issue where Gwen suggests that Peter go see the classic Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow) with her, lol.
I just picked up the one-shot today. If we're going by individual issues, then yeah, the one-shot has more action than Yang's #1 - #5. I'm not knocking on it and I enjoy the flashbacks involved with Yang's run, but I'd recommend the one-shot for people who prefer cool-looking action (Tong's artwork is seriously good, imo). Just read it. If you enjoyed the mini-series then you'll enjoy the one-shot. The ending makes me think they'll have more come out, though.
If you're wanting more and into bronze age comics, I'd recommend the Master of Kung Fu run. It begins with Special Marvel Edition #15 and transitions into Master of Kung Fu #16 - #126. Doug Moench is the writer for all but 13 issues, so it's pretty consistent with some good stories throughout. It does have its issues with racial stereotypes of that time and characters throwing a few derogatory terms towards Shang-Chi. It is, however, the definite run for fully appreciating the character, imo.