See! I told you guys I’d get back on the ball eventually.

This is sort of an off week for the world of comics, as its a lot of annuals, and not so many of the standard comics. That DOESN’T mean that there’s nothing worth reading though.  Here’s what I thought of this weeks books.

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #39 Written by Brian Reed, Art by Lee Garbett 

It’s a Wonderful Life for Webhead as we see what the world would be like if Spider-Man never existed. Peter’s messing around with new tech at Horizon when things go awry and he is removed from the timeline, and starts bouncing around others.  Sounds good, but it’s not quite what you want. Sure, some of the art is fun (when he falls back into being a teenager, the art is 60’s Ditko styled), but the writing was too flawed for me to totally get into it.  I mean, the book really does underline that EVERYTHING would be better if Spider-Man never existed…and how the hell did Uncle Ben learn how timelines work? Weird stuff. Glad it was just a little distraction of an annual.

America’s Got Powers #2 Written by Jonathan Ross, Art by Bryan Hitch

What looked like a simple spoof of reality shows by way of superpowers gets a little deeper, as we touch into the often treaded realm of superpowers as racial analogy (complete with stars on jackets?), but the story gets a bit deeper.  I have to admit, last month I was a little cold on this book, however with this issue I’m digging the series a bit more.  Maybe America’s Got Powers will turn out great. We’ll see.

Animal Man Annual #1 Written by Jeff Lemire, Art by Timothy Green II

Paralleling the current events in both Animal Man and Swamp Thing, we get a tale of the respective Animal Man and Swamp Thing of the 1800’s, as we see how the quiet war between humanity and the rot originally began. As with all of the Animal Man issues to date, the annual remains creepy while keeping you involved with solid storytelling and characterizations.  It seems the battle between the Rot, the Green and the Red will be something to take in when Swamp Thing and Animal Man team up later this summer, and I appreciate this appetizer. Great stuff!

Batman Annual #1 Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, Art by Jason Fabok

Mr. Freeze gets introduced to the New 52 in this double sized annual, and while I really like his new design and the way they’ve tied him to the Court of the Owls, I’m skeptical of one major change. Namely, they took a rather key element to the origin of Mr. Freeze and subverted it, and I’m really not comfortable with the change, as it removes one of the most sympathetic elements of the Freeze character.  That said, it still had me throughout every page, and is my pick of the week.

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #3 Written by David Lapham, Matt Wagner, & Kyle Baker, Art by Chris Sprouse & Karl Story, Eric Canete, & Kyle Baker 

I continue to read Rocketeer Adventures as a pallet cleanser to the other, more continuity heavy comics I read, and as always, it delivers appropriately.  Stellar art, fun writing, and one of the most under appreciate characters in comicdom come together for a truly enjoyable read. If you’ve ever liked the Rocketeer character and you haven’t been grabbing these issues, I recommend both Adventures trades, as they let all sorts of creators play in the sandbox.  Fun, breezy and always puts a smile on my face - if that isn’t what comics is about, I’m not sure what is.

Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #11 Written by  Jonathan Hickman & Sam Humphries, Art by Luke Ross

It’s been 11 issues of The Ultimates versus Reed Richards and the Children, and I think this is the longest that any Marvel comic has ever let the villains win. Washington DC doesn’t exist anymore, the Ultimates are fugitives, SHIELD is shut down, everything is looking worse and worse and worse. But, I think the bright side is coming in an unlikely source…the West Coast Ultimates. Really. And as lame as that sounds, this comic sure has me excited for its possibilities, but I hope the win won’t happen too soon. I really love the villainous version of Reed Richards in the Ultimate U, and hope that we learn more about this intensely fascinating version of this character before his inevitable (?) defeat.

The Walking Dead #98 Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Charlie Adlard

“Something to Fear” continues with a vengeance as a popular character is killed off, Rick and crew continue to deal with pissed off outsiders, and the action kicks back up.  I have to say that I’m surprised that Kirkman let such a big thing happen just BEFORE issue #100 (which they are hyping as a big change), and I really do like the new outsiders as antagonists. We’re seeing a very bloodthirsty change in Rick and company, and I think Kirkman’s finally starting to push that the biggest issue in a zombie apocalypse isn’t the zombie…it’s your fellow man.

Wolverine and the X-Men #11 Written by Jason Aaron, Art by Nick Bradshaw

Wolverine and the X-Men continues to show how to do a tie-in right, as not only do we get amazing perspective on Wolverine’s mindset in the Avengers vs. X-Men conflict and what he plans to do with Hope, but we get a kick ass battle between Iceman and Red Hulk, which underlines my thought from childhood age to today which is that Bobby Drake is one of the best characters in the X-Men roster.  Also, for us long time Wolverine and the X-Men readers, is there anything more enjoyable than seeing Kid Gladiator ready to throw himself into the mix? I just hope he doesn’t get killed off.

Welp, that wraps up May for comics. What will I be getting as my first comics for June? According to Diamond, next week I’ll be reviewing these comics for you:

• Action Comics #10
• Animal Man #10
• Avengers vs. X-Men #5
• Before Watchmen: Minutemen #1 (Maybe...)
• Invincible Iron Man #518
• Sweet Tooth #34
• Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #11