Yeah, I'm way late but I've been busy. Anyway, these were the books I read from December. I ended up ignoring Inhuman because my interest just isn't there, especially since it's clearly being tied in with Axis and Medusa is a acting like a super-bitch. Also not going to continue with Superior Iron Man anymore. I've never been a huge Iron Man fan, I historically don't like his solo books and he's such an insufferable prick right now that reading him doesn't entertain me. For the record, moving forward, I avoid events like the plague. I hate them how they screw with other books and the stories they tell are rarely any good. I haven't enjoyed an even since about 2006. Anyway, here we go.

Marvel

-All-New Captain America #2:This was a solid issue, but not for the reasons it should be. Good but not great. Captain Falcon is trapped in a literal city of villains and spends a good chunk of the issue fighting for his life against Crossbones. It's a good fight and Immonen's art is always a feast for the eyes. The reason it's not great is largely because everybody in this issue is better characterized and more interesting than Sam. Outside of the opening flashback, nearly all of Sam's dialogue is internal monologue, describing what we can see happening to him and how he assesses it.that's already pretty bad but what makes it work is a refusal to use proper sentences, opting instead disjointed lines like "Muzzle flash...bad memory...should in pain...hold". It gets really old really fast. I kept thinking back to a line said in MST3K: "Sentence fragments...just phrases!".

Zemo is better characterized and offers the highlight of the issue at the end. Crossbones is better characterized and manages to remind us that for a "mercenary" that he's a tough bastard. Hell, even Misty Knight makes an awesome appearance and upstages Sam in his own damn book. This title could be good but Remender needs to get a handle on Sam's personality and start better defining it fast.

-Avengers #39: Finally something happens! This issue is basically a big smack-down between Captain America's SHIELD and the Illuminati. That's not to say the story is bad though. The fight is laced with past narrative courtesy of Reed Richards talking to his daughter about planning and strategy. Hickman is always on the ball when writing just about anything with strong connections to the Fantastic Four so it's fun to peek into the thought processes of Reed. That aside the fight itself is just a lot of fun and ends on a nice cliffhanger. Rhodes pilots an army of War Machines by himself, which is rad, and there's a phenomenal sequence between Hulk and Captain Marvel. If there's one problem I have it's the art. I'm not a fan of Deodato, be he's not bad. But the colorist in this issue makes it look like it's trying to emulate the appearance of Leinil Yu. It's odd. Still, this seems to mark the point where the two Hickman Avengers titles become inexorably tied together. Good thing. Maybe the some of the high Quality that's been permeating New Avengers will bleed over to this book so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

-Moon Knight #10: It was hard for me to get all that invested into this issue since Moon Knight is hardly even in it. Marc's current enemy is planning a major assassination trough a third party they coerce through emotional manipulation and just a dash of supernatural hullabaloo. It's honestly pretty dry. The best Moon Knight stories always revolve either the plurality of his identity and/or his alleged status as an avatar for the god of vengeance and how they pertain to his social life and overall existence in the world. This story is starting to lean more on the side of political thriller which feels like a poor fit for this character. It's okay, but I'm definitely looking forward to the next creative team by this point. Ellis was telling perfectly competent, well rounded stories in one issue. This one by comparison feels a bit slow in comparison.

-New Avengers #28: This is the direct followup to Avengers #39 which I already talked about up there. There's little to say about it other than it's part 2 of this tremendous brawl between SHIELD and the Illuminati, only now AIM is in the mix and a operation of the Avengers who are still on Earth. The big, bombastic fight just gets bigger and more bombastic with little in the way of plot. It's fun popcorn action. That aside, my feelings on the art are the same as before.

-Thanos vs. Hulk #1: You know, I'm really a Jim Starlin fan in spite of myself. He may be responsible for some of my all time favorite comics but I think he's kind of a hack nowadays and hasn't written anything stellar for quite a while, but dammit, he's one of the few guys who can write Thanos worth a damn. That's the main reason for anybody to read this book far as I'm concerned. The first issue of this mini is nothing to write home about. People talk, Thanos schemes as he's wont to do and there's a great cosmic mystery afoot. Instrumentation, actualities, etc. This issue is basically nothing but set up for things to come. A good chunk of it is exposition and in the beginning you have to wade through some truly horrid dialogue between Iron Man and Maria Hill. This is followed in short order by a scene with Pip the troll. I hate Pip and would be happy to never see him again, but this is Starlin. If Starlin writes Marvel, Pip is sure to show up.

Thankfully Starlin's art fares much better. His style looks dated by today's standard but it has a classic feel to it and is, regardless very good work. The whole body of work has a very retro vibe to it which I'd say is true for just about any Starlin story after the year 2000. The novelty of that feel is part of the appeal and what makes this book worth checking out even it is a little mediocre for a first issue. Well, the novelty and Thanos by Starlin.

-Thor #3: Welcome one and all to another issue of "Everybody acts like an idiot". Well, it's not all bad. We get a halfway decent scene of Malekith scheming with frost giants. I liked this scheme because it reminded me of the mythical, epic tone of the God of Thunder ongoing before it got derailed by this nonsense. The action is also well illustrated enough. Dauterman's art is warming to me a little though I'm still pretty lukewarm to it. Other than hating the "grimace face" he does, there's just something about his sense of aesthetics which I'm not too big on. Regardless, the writing still fails to deliver and I'm still dumbfounded by the fact this is the same guy who wrote God of Thunder.

There's still no good reason to care about She-Thor. Malekith still has his personality altered so he can be shoe-horned into the role of token snarky sorcerer, a Loki-Lite if you will. Agger is still so comically over the top evil I'd think he was satire if he wasn't being played so painfully straight. And Thor makes a brief appearance at the end, alluding to a Thor vs. She-Thor next issue. I swear, if Thor is in AXIS, douche-nozzle mode then I'm done. Just what the hell happened?

DC

-Multiversity: Thunderworld: I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Thunderworld is, in no uncertain terms, the best comic book I read in December. Goddamn you Morrison you frustrating, often pretentious, sometimes brilliant genius. Despite my feelings about his writing, the fact he can go from writing something as dense as Pax Americana and immediately turn around something like this is testament to his range and talent. Thunderworld was simply a joy to read. It was Morrison giving the All-Star Superman treatment to Captain Marvel/Shazam. It's a loving tribute to a bygone era of comics in tone and look. It's bright, colorful and whimsical. The heroes act heroic without any sense of irony or cynicism. The plot isn't terribly concerned with being deep or analytical. It's a straightforward tale of a heroes saving the day from evil. That may seem simple but that's exactly the point and it's tremendously fun.

Even so, there's enough cleverness between the lines. The central plot of Sivana, using magic mined from the Rock of Eternity to make and eighth day where he defeats Captain Marvel manages the be something that sounds dated and cheesy while also sounding like something completely in line with Morrison's mental shenanigans. And I can't heap enough praise on the art team. Stewart's line work is evokes simpler, older designs without being too cartoony and the colors are bright and vibrant. Simply put, if you miss a time when comics were lighthearted and fun, this is a must read. Hell, I'd argue it's a must read anyway. Makes me wish to high heaven that the Big Red Cheese would get a proper ongoing not mired in the New 52 continuity. I'll take a maxi series even.

-Red Lanterns #37: The last issue of Red Lantern was nice because Guy was dealing with the aftermath of Atrocitus' invasion of earth and he had some nice interaction with Baz who I wouldn't mind seeing more of. It was part of the whole New Gods event but it didn't feel like the story was hamstrung by being part of the crossover. That, sadly, isn't the case here. While Guy continues to shine and there was some stellar action involving one of the New Gods, this issue felt very much a part of a crossover. There's a little characterization through Guy and Baz's chatter but it's nothing that hasn't already been covered or we didn't already know. A harmless issue, but forgettable and it really doesn't advance the story of the Red Lanterns at all.

Other

-Annihilator #4: Frazier Irving's art continues to make my eyes orgasm. A particular scene in which Max is trying to make a galaxy is particularly gorgeous. It's like he's making a Jackson Pollock painting in mid air with cream. Irving's art is really the selling point of this run and it feels like it's getting better with each issue as he makes moments of beauty, horror, mystery and all sorts of tones in between. The story continues to get closer to a resolution of the great mystery and I'm still invested. A mystery tale can wear thin if too little is shown until too late, but Morrison is drip feeding just the right amount. Only two issues left and I can't wait to see what's next.

-Ragnarok #3: Walt Simonson's Norse epic continues to be a delightful alternative to the mundane idiocy Marvel is offering at the moment. The dead god is Thor. There's no question about it, and this issue shows that even though he's been dead for a very very long time, he's still a force to be reckoned with. It's great to see him trying to come to terms with the world without gods he's awakened to and even better when a horde or undead presume to push him around. Simonson's art as always is a feast or the eyes and while the tale may be coming out infrequently, I always get the sense I've gotten my money's worth. This has all the trappings of telling a legendary tale in the making. It aims for epic and in that regards it succeeds brilliantly, as Simonson often does.

-Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #36: Time travel shenanigans are fully underway in the search for Brainstorm. The issue is fairly light on plot but full of great character moments. Two in particular that stood out to me were Rodimus trying to set the ground rules of not changing the past and messing with the time stream only for that to be the first possibly thing he does when he gets back. Also, and exchange between present Megatron and an Optimus of the past is brilliant. Roberts has given G1 it's very first Megatron that has genuine depth and is all the more interesting for it. The fact he's leading Autobots and it actually works is testament to the skillful writing of this entire run. Alex Milne's art continues to be great on this title. I used to hate his work but after taking a few notes from Nick Roche's style I think it's safe to call him one of the best Transformers artists in recent history. The bright, vibrant colors only serve to set this apart from "dark and brooding" stories which seem to saturate so much of the medium nowadays. The book is just pure fun.