Sunday Reading 1-15-12

Welcome everyone to the first Sunday Reading for 2012! After my time off for vacation over the holiday season it feels good to be behind the keyboard again taking a long look at the week in comics.   Since this is the first Sunday Reading of the year I figured I would take a moment to remind everyone just what Sunday Reading is about.

Sunday Reading is a place to come and share everything that went right in the comic world last week. There are plenty of places to complain about what you don’t like and with the comic community that list always seems so long. Here we are going to offer a counter point to those arguments by looking at things that went right in the comic world. What series gave you that depth of story you’re always looking for? What comic had the artwork that just blew you away? Was that a great twist ending that you just didn’t seem coming? Whatever you found entertaining and just downright enjoyable in comics from the last week is what we want to hear about.

I will be sharing with you my favorite picks of the week and hopefully other members of the Comic Bloc staff will also stop by to share their thoughts. After all is said and done we hope you will jump over to the message boards and add your own great reads to the list or even just expand on what we have already mentioned.
Let’s get on with the show…

Legion Lost #5

I still think many people are over looking this little gem. The focus this is issue is squarely on Dawnstar as she works to delay Alastor until her teammates can arrive. What really makes this work is that while the focus is mostly on Dawnstar the narrative comes from Tellus, who gives us some nice insights into just who Dawnstar really is.

Wildfire gets a nice spot light in this issue as well, and finally gets to unleash a bit with his powers, even if the result is not what you would expect. All of the characters seemed to be handled really well, everything from Timber Wolf trying to help Chameleon Girl or Tyroc’s use of his powers. Beyond that there were two other “surprises” that happened this issue that really pushed it over the edge for me; one being the unexpected arrival of the Martian Manhunter and the return of a fan favorite character all within a couple pages.

The artwork by Pete woods seems to just get better and better each issue and really shines here.  It’s almost sad to think that this is Fabian Nicieza’s second to last issue, but he seems like he is going to make it a couple issues to remember.

Top Recommendation: X-Factor #230

While this issue may seem light on action it is often just those kinds of issues where Peter David seems to shine. There are a lot of different characters coming to play here and each one’s personality really comes to the forefront as they begin to argue and bicker over the recent events of X-Factor. While normally I don’t care for an impromptu Wolverine appearance, his presence here works really well to offset all the issues that have been happening to these characters.

Confidence issues, personality conflicts, differences in ideology, they’re all here and run head long into each other.  Surprisingly it all seems to be leading up to the last page appearance of old X-Factor members returning to the fold and establishing a new status quo for the team. Unfortunately for the team, but good for us, it seems that new status will be just as dysfunctional as ever.

That’s it from me this week oh Comic Blocers!  Hope the New Year is treating you all as well as it’s treating me. With this first Sunday Reading of 2012 why not start a new habit with the Comic Bloc, one that embraces the great and the good in this fine hobby of ours and share what you thought really rocked this week!

I’m your host Skip Scherer (lionknight) and I’ll be seeing you on the Bloc.