Needed a Hefty Cinch Sack for this lot, I’ll tell ya.

• Uncanny X-Men #8 (Read it!  They’ve left Limbo, right?  So what do we call this issue, then?  Goes nowhere fast: disappointingly nowhere, but mercifully fast.)
• Quantum and Woody #1 (I’m hearing good things.  Just haven’t goatten–that’s right: goatten–around to it yet.)

• The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #2 (I decided to give it another shot.  Really, what’s another book in the bag?)
• Astro City #2 (#1 was a pleasant surprise.  Hope this one speaks to me the same way.)
• Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem #2 (Loved #1.  Saving it so I may savor it.)
• Six-Gun Gorilla #2 (Highest expectations for this one!  I really hope it lives up to them.)
• East of West #4 (Read it!  Glad I stuck with it.  Hickman and Dragotta deliver a couple of real “Wow!” moments.)

• Sheltered #1 (Premise sounds promising.)
• Ghosted #1 (I have no idea what to expect from this one.)
• Dawn: The Swordmaster’s Daughter & Other Stories (Read it!  Thanks to Derek, I didn’t miss this.  I would’ve hated myself if I had.  Wasn’t great, though.  In fact, it was barely good.  But it’s JML; and any JML is better than no JML, as far as I’m concerned.  Oh, and how about that inside back cover?  To hell with the Bhagavad Gita: Linsner should’ve illustrated his rant about his former “art assistant”!)
  

• Daredevil #28 (Read it!  I was right!  So good.  It’s the kind of story Waid and Samnee are going to knock out of the park every time.)
• X-O Manowar #15 (Read it!  Aric reminds me of Guy Gardner.  It’s probably why I like him.)

• Helheim #5 (Read it!  Oh, yeah: we’re definitely in the groove now.)
• Indestructible Hulk #10 (Read it!  Solid enough.  Best of all, Waid’s caught the beat he established early on in the series.  Looking forward, question is: why dinosaurs?  I HATE dinosaurs!)
• X #3 (Read it!  I’m thinking that I should just drop it now.  Shame, really; but I was hoping for more–and I don’t think I’m going to be getting it any time soon.)

• Rachel Rising #18 (Read it!  Once again: wow.)
• Superman Unchained #2 (Read it!  There’s nothing distinctly Snyder here.  In fact, it reads like a Lobdell book.  Gosh, maybe even worse than that.  Ugh.  I can’t believe I’m saying this: through two issues, I think I liked George Perez’s Superman more.  Double ugh!)
• Batman #22 (Read it!  Disclosure: I really hated #21.  I will happily admit, however, that this is my favorite issue of Batman since before the finale of the Court of Owls.  Snyder’s never been short on shocking moments, but this time, the moments feel honest, like integral parts of what Snyder’s building here with Zero Year.  This time, it’s not about shock value; it’s not about pushing the envelope–it’s about pushing the narrative to where it belongs.  Once again, I’d like to make it clear: Scott Snyder’s done a terrific job with issue #22.  It actually feels good to type that.)

• Suicide Squad #22 (Read it!  Kind of wish I hadn’t.  Yeah, not good.  I can see in spots what Kot was trying to bring to the page; but it just didn’t pan out.  Not at all.  Damn.  It’s got me wondering about his abrupt dismissal from the book–wondering if this had anything to do with it.  Most disappointing of all, I thought he had it down, man; I really did.  Oh well.  On a more positive note, I can’t wait to see what Matt Kindt has planned for the Squad.)

I tried to feel really guilty about spending so much this week.  I really did.  It was working, too, kinda, mostly–until the shop guy told the shop gal, “I’ll get the DC’s, and you get one of everything else.”   He saw me raise my eyebrows.  “Yeah, I have a regular customer who gets one of everything.”  I couldn’t raise my eyebrows any more than they were already raised, so I lowered them; and the shop guy, he understood.

What did you pick up this week?

More important, what did you think of these books?

Turning pages,

Scott