Sometimes in life, a man's gotta' do, what a man's gotta' do. This week, it was me being bored and writing this article. Now if it were up to me, I'd read every comic released every week, but as of this moment in time I lack those funds, so until then, I figure'd I'd tell you about the comics that run my motor and keep me going and perhaps get some of you reading comics you may not have considered.


My first suggestion this week is Spider-Man #540, in which Peter Parker finds out who was behind the assasination attempt on his family. It's not your normal Spider-Man, it's got a bit of the old Batman detective work, but it works very much so, probably because the characters are so similar that they could be twins. Even though, if you've been reading, you know who the man behind it all is, it's still an amazingly thrilling read, Back In Black is an excellent jump on point for Spidey fans because while Peter's life is messed up, it's always entertaining and nothing is ever too complicated, it's always a testament to Spidey's longevity that you can always understand what's going on and his feelings.

My second essential for you fans is Punisher: War Journal #7. With the death of Captain America, some people were worried about the cover image of this issue. Now I don't want to give much away, but Captain America is a suit, Steve Rogers had the ideals, I believe that if they go with Punisher being Cap, they need to make it clear his methods are his own, but he believes in freedom and patriotism. I can't say much more without ruining the plot, but you'll understand when you read.

While not an essential, I'll point you towards Iron Fist #5. Now I've been reading Iron Fist for a while and I've never seen him as that interesting, he was just 'the friend of Luke Cage' to me. But with this story he becomes a genuinely interesting litte character. Don't expect to feel a great range of emotions, but Iron Fist is a good little modern kung-fu tale and it's art is very nice and suited to the story. It's been consistently entertaining and deserves a bit of props here.

Thunderbolts #114. Thunderbolts is a twisted and weird comic book. The new team is so unique it's worrying how well it's written. If you're not familiar with T-Bolts, they are a team of ex-villains turned 'hero', but... not... you see they're government controlled and these particular T-Bolts are out of control, let's face it, any team controlled by the Green Goblin and containing Venom and Bullseye will be. The brilliant thing is that they're STILL bad guys, each issue see's them trying to take down some good guys who are just victims of the superhuman registration act, and it takes the POV of the good guys. Well thought out, brutal, human and very clever.

Nova #2. I'm not much of a fan of heroes in space, but something about Nova made me interested. Maybe it was the fact he's the cliché of 'the last of [so-and-so]', but he's not alone because he's human and there's PLENTY of them left. Nova returns to earth to find it all very different, as he puts it, it's so different he's worried he's landed on a 'counter-earth'. Not much to say here, other than I will be regularly reading Nova for sure, the Superhuman Registration Act is being played out well, taking several views of the situation, and this is one that could be very important in my book.

Finally, just a couple of hints to you catch-up players. If you're interested in Nova or space stories, check out the one-shot Annihalation Saga, covers all the events of Annihalation (shockingly!). And for those Zombie-holics, read Marvel Zombies: Dead Days, which 'previews' the Marvel Zombies coming to the main-616 universe (albeit a bit late to do an intro considering the original story in their universe happened a while back).

So there you have it, it's not much, but a few tips for you lovely people this week. Feel free to leave feedback or tips in the comments and hopefully I'll be writing another next week!