The Longbox Short-List - Week of March 18, 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

Guardians Team-Up #3 - Okay Marvel.  I defended you when you did two issues of Guardians Team-up in back to back weeks...but three in a row is getting a little excessive.  Thankfully this is a fairly small week of comics for me, and I really enjoyed the first issue (have not read the second when I am typing this).  But still, this is just brutal on my wallet.  Don't make me drop books I enjoy because of bad editoral policy.  Secret Wars will probably cause enough of that...

Chrononauts #1 - Loved MPH and Starlight last year, so this is one of the Image titles I am most excited about.  Millar has really been on his game lately and I love time travel stories.  I am sure I will probably end up reviewing this one.

Divinity #2 - I read the first issue of this like 4 times since it came out a month ago, and I still can't figure out the last page.  I really enjoyed the issue until that point, so I will deginitely be back for another issue.  

Princess Leia #2 - Honestly, Princess Leia's first issue was a slight disappointment, but I still mostly enjoyed it.  I hope it has a huge upswing in quality, this is too good a creative team to disappoint.

Groo Friends And Foes #3 - Loved the first two issues!  I really hope that Dark Horse keeps Groo on our comic shelves again for a long time!  12 issues is not enough!!

Ivar Timewalker #3 - Last issue's scenes with all the time travellers trying to kill Hitler was just about the greatest scene I've read this year.  I was always a fan of Ivar, and this series has been the perfect showcase for the character.  I just hope that Archer and Armstrong stop in soon.  I miss those guys!

All-New Captain America #5 - This series has been insane!!!  So many BIG things have happened.  I can't help but think there has to be a reset button waiting somewhere in this arc...but so far it's been high octane and a great way to launch Falcon as Captain America.

I also just realized that we only have 3 issues left of Batman Eternal, Earth 2: World's End, and New 52 Future's End.  I have been enjoying all three books, but I will admit they have felt like they were dragging some lately just to make it to April.  I think DC should have made them a little more organic.  The hard stop deadline has made several of the last few issues of all three series feel very padded just to get to the finish line.

Captain America And The Mighty Avengers #6 - This book did stumble a little during it's relaunch in Axis, but the last few issues have been much more on track.  I had called this my favorite Marvel book towards the end of volume 1, and it's definitely swinging back in that direction!  

Silk #2 - The first issue of Silk was a real pleasant surprise.  It ended up being far better than I expected, and they set up some intriguing threads.  I am really looking forward to seeing where this series goes from here.

Amazing Spider-Man #16.1 - At first I wasn't sure I was going to pick this up, but in the last few Open Mike Nights we've been reviewing some Gerry Conway Spider-Man stories, and that really hyped me up for this.  I still don't like Marvel's policy of sneaking one-shots and minis into ongoing series, but I will still likely check this one out.

Superman #39 - It's been a while since I've read any Superman book regularly, but I've been enjoying Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman.  Superman is about to go through ANOTHER major creative team shift, but I will probably hang on for a while.  Superman was one of my favorite characters when I started reading comics (around the Dan Jurgens "Death of Superman" era), and I still try to give the character as much love as I can.