Quickies 8/11/10

Hey guys! I hiked Mount Washington this weekend, and it was insane! That's the highest point in New England for you folks that are not from my neck of the woods. There came a point, when I realized that I had 3 hours to go before I reached the bottom, that I wished I was the Hulk. I would have just leaped right off that mountain and been done with it. I would have then smashed open the Coke machine, and saved myself $2.25. That's an outrageous price for a soda!

Anyways, here are this weeks reviews.

Ultimate Avengers 3 #1/ X-Men #2

These comics must have been separated at birth, because they're nearly identical! They both feature Blade on the cover, are about vampires groups joining together to infect super heroes, and have a super hero turning into a vampire before the issue is over! Do you guys not have phones at the Marvel office? It would be pretty crazy if two different writers had the exact same idea for a story arc, have both stories approved by the editorial staff, AND have them both ship in the same week. Craziness!

Out of the two Blades, one being the Ultimate version, the traditional Blade in the X-Men book is cooler to me. Now don't get me wrong, I like this Dolemite: Vampire Hunter version of Blade in the Ultimates. He just can't compete with the traditional Blade's handlebar mustache. It's one of the most diesel facial hair styles in existence!

When comparing the stories, I'm giving the nod to X-Men #2 as well. Ultimates 3 #1 felt choppy and full of holes. The vampire slaughter in the beginning was fun, but it went downhill pretty quickly when they introduced the new Daredevil. The X-Men story was paced well and made sense. It also featured Cyclops telling everyone how it was going to be. I love those moments, as Cyclops is the man.

I'm giving X-Men the art nod as well. I'm not a huge Steve Dillon fan, as I find his work stiff. It's not bad, I think he's a great artist in terms of technique. It's just not something I'm into. Paco Medina's art in X-Men is fluid and full of energy. It's something that I really enjoy. It's an art style that I feel has been missing from X-books as of late.

So, if you've been looking for a super hero book about vampires coming together in an attempt to infect super heroes to bolster their ranks while Blade fights them... I would go with X-Men #2 this week. The Ultimates books isn't terrible, I just felt that X-Men #2 was a better issue overall.

Morning Glories #1

Now this is how the school system should be. If you break the rules, you should be attacked by a purple, psychic, ghost man. I just think that's how it should be... I'm entitled to my opinion.

Nick Spencer does something that is always fun in this book. He takes high school students from various regions, social groups, and tax brackets and puts them under one roof. What will the rich boy say to the poor one? I bet something sassy and demeaning! Will the cheerleader and the goth girl get along? Haha! Nope! It's solid gold every time!

While mixing up groups like this is interesting, the school itself is the real story. Morning Glory Academy appears to be a prestigious prep school on the outside, but it quickly becomes evident that something sinister lurks within these halls. It's so evident, that it doesn't take our characters very long to realize that something is amiss.

This book is really interesting, and it does a great job of sucking you in at the very beginning. Joe Eisma's art is solid in this book. He does a great job of conveying the emotion of these characters, helping them come to life more. This was a great first issue.

This is another book that I would suggest you start reading, before it gets turned into a movie. I would like to note that there are no actual morning glories in this book. Fans of the flower will have to look elsewhere.

Here are other books that I thought were cool this week!

Birds of Prey #4, Daredevil #509, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1, Incredible Hulk #611 (touching father and son moment ..sniff..), JL: Generation Lost #7, Shadowland: Blood on the Streets, Ultimate Spider-Man #13, Thanos Imperative #3, Thor: The Mighty Avenger #3, Transformers #10, Walking Dead #76, Dark Wolverine #89, and Zatanna #4