Welcome to my weekly comic book oriented article here at Flipside Gaming. I am going to be reviewing the previous week’s best Marvel books and preview the coming week’s books that are the most intriguing in descending order. So, without any further delay, here we go! Excelsior!

Reviews

Captain America: Steve Rogers #14

This issue no doubt is setting the stage for a big piece of Secret Empire. Madame Hydra putting together her own inner circle featuring some of the most dangerous villains show how powerful she has become. The conflict between Captain Marvel and Captain America also shows what kind of villain Rogers has become by trying to undercut her shield to stop the Chitauri invasion of Earth. The art was also fantastic with all of the newly assembled villains really popping off the page.

Gamora #4

I decided to catch up on this series with the new Guardians movie coming out and I was pleasantly surprised. Although the first few issues explored more of Nebula’s experiences, this issue focuses more on Gamora and trying to find her real family and not the family Thanos had presented. The pacing was very intense but the big moments really pop off the page and present a great issue that I hope gives some great momentum going forward.

Invincible Iron Man #5

With a quick cleanup of the Tomoe/Cyber Ninja storyline we get to see Riri find her place in the greater Marvel Universe. Once that quick moment is over we get to see her interact with both Sharon Carter and Pepper Potts and some of the more powerful women that have come before her. Riri’s quick scoff at the thought of joining up with SHIELD was amusing and I think that will be a defining characteristic of her time in the armor. The moment at the end with the holo-Tony Stark adds some intrigue to the storyline as well.

Iron Fist #1

I understand what they are trying to do with Danny Rand here, giving him a chance to find himself and establish him in the new Marvel Universe. That being said, this was a bit disappointing that we just didn’t hit the ground running and give him a new adventure immediately. In the end, I just don’t think Iron Fist can stand on his own. If he is a 3 on his own, he goes to a 15 when he is with Luke Cage and I think that should just never change.

The Unworthy Thor #5

It’s been a long time since there has been a mystery that has not gone unanswered, but why Thor was deemed unworthy has been one of the better kept ones. That all changes with this issue. I am not going to spoil what the answer is, but it really ties back nicely to Thor’s arc for the past 5 plus years. This has been one of my favorite issues and I think that now we are going to see him go after Thanos means we get to see a heavy weight fight very soon.

Previews

All-New X-men #19

I am really hoping that now that IvX is over, we can get some more focused X-men stories. I know that they will get sucked into Secret Empire but maybe the books will stay outside the conflict. The big selling point is the reunion of the original 5 X-Men. I think this nostalgia will work as a soft reset and focus the books a bit more and present some really good story telling.

Deadpool and the Mercs for Money #9

This is a Til Death Do Us tie-in and this storyline has been pretty fantastic across the Deadpool books. This story has a lot of emotion behind with Deadpool’s marriage at the forefront. This should also finally bring Domino into the mix and with Spider-man already there, this has the promise to be a great story and have a lasting impact on Deadpool

Infamous Iron Man #6          

Doom now has to battle not just his mother, but also Ultimate Reed Richards. This could be a pivotal book in the redemption storyline of Dr. Doom now that he is going to have to go all out to stop two of his fiercest enemies. This has been a surprisingly great book, with this book, as well as Kingpin, showing new story space can be explored with these villains.

Thanos #5

We now have a wounded Thanos being hunted across the universe. He is going to get caged and at some point he is going to get out and his vengeance will be severe. He is still dying and I think that the end of this storyline is going to set the stage for something big for Thanos, especially with Infinity War on the horizon. It is almost possible to feel bad for Thanos but I think that will change soon.

X-Men Prime #1

As I said above, I think the X-men books are going for a soft reboot and get back to telling stories about the X-men defending the world that hate and fears them. The fact that Kitty Pryde is coming back to lead the X-men makes me very excited for this new direction. While I do think we will see a return of legacy characters with Generations on the horizon, this should be a great setup.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to stop in any Flipside Gaming in East Greenbush to pick up or reserve your copies of these titles today!

 -Stu Somers

Stu is a former M:TG Pro Tour competitor and avid comic book fan. He wants to know what you think about his article, so leave a comment below or hit him up on twitter @Ssomers55.