The Longbox Short-List - Week of May 13, 2015

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

Convergence Week 6 –  I love that Deimos has basically become the big bad of Convergence.  I was a little bummed out that he took out Warlord, Machiste, and Tara, but it was a good story, so that has to count for something. I thought last week’s tie in titles were weak for the most part, but there are still quite a few I am interested in this week.  Shadow of the Bat, Green Arrow, Suicide Squad, Superboy, and Man of Steel.  I am a huge fan of that era of mid 90’s DC comics, and these books really captured that spirit perfectly.

Secret Wars #2 – I really hated the first issue, but I do feel compelled to keep going with this because it seems key to understanding what the Marvel universe will look like moving forward.  This issue will probably introduce Battleworld. 

Magneto #18 – I think this is the first official Secret Wars crossover title.  Magneto under Cullen Bunn has been an excellent series, and I hope that Secret Wars helps brings some attention to it.

Thor #8 – This issue is finally supposed to tell us who the new Thor is.  Honestly, I love this book anyway, so even if they don’t, I am still excited for this issue.

G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes Agent Of Cobra #5 – With this issue, IDW is once more NOT publishing “new” GI Joe stories (their only GI Joe series at the moment, Real American Hero, is a continuation from the old Marvel series).  Kind of a shame, as I really like a lot of what IDW has been able to do with these characters.  That said, I like Real American Hero too.

Injection #1 -  Ellis and Shalvey did the impossible and made me care about Moon Knight, so I am really looking forward to this series.  The solicit sounded pretty crazy “Once upon a time, there were five crazy people, and they poisoned the 21st Century. Now they have to deal with the corrosion to try and save us all from a world becoming too weird to support human life. INJECTION is the new ongoing series created by the acclaimed creative team of Moon Knight. It is science fiction, tales of horror, strange crime fiction, techno-thriller, and ghost story all at the same time. A serialized sequence of graphic novels about how loud and strange the world is getting, about the wild future and the haunted past all crashing into the present day at once, and about five eccentric geniuses dealing with the paranormal and numinous as well as the growing weight of what they did to the planet with the Injection.”

Uncle Scrooge #2 – It is pretty lame that IDW’s Uncle Scrooge series didn’t get a digital release.  That is pretty much the only way I read comics, so as much as I am interested in IDW’s Disney books, there is a good chance I won’t be reading them.  Seems like a huge mistake to release them that way, in my opinion.

Howard The Duck #3, Ms Marvel #15,  Silk #4 – Probably strange to group these three books together, but they are some of my favorite Marvel books (along with Rocket Raccoon, Spider-Woman, and Ant-Man).   I am really hoping Secret Wars doesn’t change these books all that dramatically. They are all VERY different from your normal superhero fare.  I hope these books are the model for what Marvel will look like moving forward.

Uncanny Avengers #4 – I actually enjoy Reminder’s work, but this book has been a bit of a mess since it came back.  Not sure why they even bothered to relaunch it with Secret Wars going at the same time.  Hopefully, they will get it back on track.