The Longbox Short-List - Week of February 25, 2015

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Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics Shipping This Week

Amazing Spider-Man #15 – Spider-Verse epilogue.  Spider-Verse was a great story, though I did think the end was a bit abrupt.  I’m curious how they are going to wrap up Spider-Ock’s story, so this is a huge issue for me.

Black Hood #1 – I have said this before, but I love how Archie comics has been doing everything possible to create press and reshape their image.  The Dark Circle books look really good with some great creative teams.  I do have some concern about all the failed attempts at giving these characters relevance, but I am willing to give them another try.

Spider-Gwen #1 – Like last week’s Silk, I wonder if this book needs to exist, but also like Silk, I am really looking forward to seeing this book.  Spider-Gwen quickly became an endearing character, and I think there is a huge potential to do some cool things with this title.

Quantum And Woody Must Die #2 – The first issue of this series was great.  No real surprise, Q+W has been one of Valiant’s best titles since it launched.   2015 is the year of the goat, and I hope that means a lot more Quantum and Woody!

S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 – It feels like it’s been forever since issue 2 came out.  I like that they are getting some big guest stars in these books.  Last month it was Ms Marvel…this month we get Spider-Man!  You aren’t a real Marvel comic until Spider-Man shows up!

All-New X-Men #38 – HEY!  What happened to issue 37?  This is a Black Vortex tie in, and All-New X-men was running so far behind Marvel had to skip an issue to prevent delaying the crossover.  I’ve been really enjoying Black Vortex, so this is probably a good decision…but it’s still kind of weird.

Batman #39 – Is Joker an eternal force of nature on the lines of Ras Al Ghul or Vandal Savage?  That is what the last issue was teasing, and it has created a huge shakeup in the DC universe.  I have no idea where this story is going, but it’s been damn awesome.

Fantastic Four #643 – It’s been a while since I’ve read Fantastic Four, but I have had some major morbid curiosity about how they are bringing this series to an end.  I don’t buy into the conspiracy theories that Marvel is trying to kill interest in FF and X-Men because they don’t have the movie rights…in fact, the hype has made me MORE interesting in FF than I have been in a long time (which I am sure was the intention).

Thor Annual #1 – Annuals are real hit or miss for me.  I will admit freely, I am basically only buying this because I’m curious about CM Punk’s Thor story.