WARNING - These previews may contain spoilers, proceed at your own risk
Avengers/JLA #4
I would be mightily surprised to find that Perez hasn't gone completely round the bend drawing all the battles and costumes in this issue.
Unsurprisingly, the heroes win...thanks to a well-placed arrow from Hawkeye...HOORAY!
Wolverine/Punisher #1
Not a bad start - a Napoleon of Crime (not the Penguin, although a nice allusion is made) goes on the run from the Punisher, holing up in the midst of nowhere for ten years...and then decides upon a plan...the best way to hide from the Punisher is to kill him.
The Pulse #2
Hugely disappointing. We find out who the dead woman is from the excellent cliffhanger at the end of #1, and it's not a member of the Avengers, it's not someone at all interesting, it's a person introduced in the first panel of this issue as we see her story up until the moment of her death. Marvel-continuity-wise this seems screwed; obviously Norman Osborn has got over PP:SM #47.
The issue itself is good, it's interesting, it's just the resolution of the cliffhanger is so damn disappointing.
Hawkeye #6
Trademark Hawkeye dialogue. Trademark Hawkeye arrow-work. Great intro to the story to setup the situation for new readers. Great final page. Slightly confusing resolution though, that the big secret is a column-mosaic of Christ is a little...underwhelming?
The Spectacular Spider-Man #12
God, the Lizard is such a crap character. At last it seems Marvel are prepared to get rid of him, as Paul Jenkins has created a situation whereby the only outcomes are his death, or permanent removal via a cure for Doc Connors. The concept here seems to be that the Lizard has actually taken over Doc Connors' human form, but Spidey doesn't know it...yet.
Human Torch #11
Reads like a fill-in issue (don't know if it is or not), but works quite well as a one-shot taken on Johnny Storm; nothing changes for the character from the first page to the last, although there's a nice resolution to his relationship with Namorita. Although the fact that the pair of them can't realise their ideal solution is a half-way house - they set up shop near to the Baxter Building but not actually in it - makes them feel a little dumb. Nice ideas behind the story, though, that not only the FF would eventually be able to tap into the Negative Zone.
Thor: Son of Asgard #2
Teen-Thor acts like an ass, as we know he was (and is), but his friends bring him up straight. After that, there's a prolonged fight with a dragon, and two problems with the storyline remain. Firstly, the fact that none of the three heroes are clever enough to work out that Loki is obviously behind this (especially as they sussed he was behind the spider attack in #1). Secondly, that their quest is far too reminiscent of so many bad fantasy stories - collect items A, B, C and D to make the ultimate weapon/defeat the ultimate baddie/whatever. Apart from that, lovely art, good action, nice dialogue.
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