The Longbox Short-List - Week of April 27, 2016

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

This actually is kind of a depressing week of comics for me. So many of my favorite DC books that aren't coming back after DC Rebirth came out this week. BLACK CANARY, GRAYSON, JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001, SINESTRO, SECRET SIX, and WE ARE ROBIN all come out this week. Not to mention CYBORG. I know Cyborg is still coming out after DC Rebirth, but without David F. Walker writing it, I am not sure I care all that much. 

X-FILES #1 - To be honest, I was never a huge X-Files fan. My sister is, and I would catch some episodes with her, but it was never must-see-TV for me. That said, I really did enjoy the six-episode mini-series Fox did this year (even if it ended on a real frustrating cliffhanger). I don’t know if I will be sticking with this series all that long, but I will give it a fair shot to win me over.

AVENGERS STANDOFF ASSAULT ON PLEASANT HILL OMEGA #1 - Anyone who has been following Matt, Grey, and my comments in our Front Lines column know that AVENGERS STANDOFF has been all over the map in terms of quality. I did think the issues written by Nick Spencer were all real good, so I have strong hopes that he will bring this all together in a satisfying manner. It really just feels like Marvel is biding time until Civil War II...and I am not particularly that hyped up about Civil War II either.

DOCTOR STRANGE #7 and DOCTOR STRANGE: LAST DAYS OF MAGIC - Jason Aaron's run on Doctor Strange has been really strong. There is a powerful enemy traveling across the various dimensions looking to wipe out magic once and for all. Doctor Strange has been pretty much hopeless against this new enemy, and I am really curious where this arc is going from here. 

UNCLE GRANDPA 2016 GOOD MORNING SPECIAL #1 - Uncle Grandpa is a pretty ridiculous show on Cartoon Network, and it's one of my kids' favorites. It's one of my guilty pleasure shows, and the comics pretty much always capture the insanity of the show, so I will likely pick this up. 

JUSTICE LEAGUE #49 - Darkseid War only has 2 issues to go now. I've enjoyed this story, but it feels like it's been going on forever. The delays in the main series, in addition to the tie-in specials that didn't really add much to the story have not helped. I also worry that everything will basically just be status quo at the end of this story, though I guess it is possible that this will tie in to DC Rebirth. I really hope so, because if I have been reading a story arc this long, I would hate if it had no lasting impact.

OLD MAN LOGAN #5 and ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #7 - I enjoyed the first story arcs for each of these series. I wasn't all that sure about either book, but both of them really impressed me. Can't wait to see where these series go from here. 

VELVET #14 - It's always exciting when we get a new issue of Velvet, Brubaker and Epting's terrific spy story. This series seem to always take forever to come out. But even with the delays, I still enjoy Velvet quite a bit. 

BATMAN #51 - I know DC has a strange attachment to the number 52 these days, but I actually think they should have ended their series with issue 50. Most of the issue 50's were double sized and seemed like great places to lead into DC Rebirth. At this point, I just feel like Batman 51 and 52 are just kind of placeholders waiting for the new creative teams to take over. Batman and Robin Eternal and Batman #50 seemed like far better places to wrap things up.