Miles Morales: Spider-Man

This is a superhero book, that doesn't focus on the special powers or saving people. Miles is a student at Brooklyn Vision Academy and he's got a lot on his plate; he doesn't have a ton of time for the whole superhero thing. He has to be on his best behavior after getting a suspension, but it's getting increasingly harder to do with his dreaded history professor, Mr. Chamberlain. Plus he's got some family issues at home, grades to worry about, a girl to crush on and so much more. He does get the spiderman suit on a few times, but this is more the day to day life of a teenage superhero (think Ms. Marvel - with less action). Racism, growing up poor, family issues, poetry, and making a stand for what you believe in are all prominent themes. The ending wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't awful by any stretch of the imagination. A great book for all teens, not just those who love Marvel Comics. The audiobook was wonderfully narrated as well if that's a selling point for some of you.

Ms. Marvel: Teenage Wasteland

I'm slowly becoming more disenchanted with this series. Am I too old? Am I just annoyed with her teenaged antics? Am I the person yelling at kids to get off my lawn? Whatever the case, this ninth installment wasn't for me. Ms. Marvel wasn't even in the firs half! She peaced out, because life was stressing her out too much and her friends tried picking up the slack by pretending to be her, but that's kind of hard to do when you don't have superpowers. Also included are some "complicated" teenaged love triangles. Overall, it was just ok.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again

I love Deadpool and this collection.... was very... shit. It was shit. In order to kill off all the Marvel characters, their IQs and powers suddenly shrink and they are no match for Deadpool... puhleaze. At least be inventive about it. I probably would have enjoyed this more had the deaths been more thought out and not so quick. I just can't buy that they would all fall like dominoes. They didn't even show the hulks death, just his body. Ugh. For true Deadpool fans only.

Spiderman/ Deadpool: Serious Business

I'm so glad this volume went back to being good because I was seriously disappointed with volumes 2 and 3. The shtick in this one is "no more jokes" they go old school slapstick (for a while) as they deal with the real life Slapstick who isn't so much as a bad guy, but someone in their way. There were some pretty good pop culture references in this one (Westworld and Dolph Lundgren) which perked me up as well. Spiderman is miraculously no longer antsy and the bromance is alive and well as this team partners up to get shit done.

Spiderman/ Deadpool: Itsy Bitsy

UGH! Officially my least favorite release!! How can you mess up Deadpool?!?!?! This "volume" is missing 11, 12, 15, and 16. I don't know if those issues were by guest writers (featured in volume 2) or what. This storyline is also a bit confusing? Why is Deadpool's face beautiful again? When did Spiderman get so angsty and ANGRY? I don't know. Too many questions. This volume has the dynamic duo trying to stop this spider girl from killing too many people and Spiderman is determined to KILL HER rather than stop her and it's tearing him apart and Deadpool has to save the day. Some witty banter but that is about it!

The Black Panther

Beautifully drawn, this collection shows T'Challa struggling to keep Wakanda together. Splinter factions, upheaval, and violence are breaking out all over the country and no matter what Black Panther does, it never seems to be enough; he's putting band aids on a gaping wounds. What can he do to bring peace to his Wakandan citizens? It jumps around quite a bit and can be hard to follow at moments, but the illustrations, dialogue, and coloring, make this an impressive comic.

Scarlet Witch

I didn't know what to expect with this comic so in that regard it's not much of a let down. It was very underwhelming. I guess I was still expecting more of a superhero vibe since it's Marvel but that assumption was very wrong. It's very... witchy, I mean she is a witch and all so I don't know why I was surprised by that. Instead of fighting monsters, and evil villains, the Scarlet Witch is fighting demons, trapped souls, and fellow witches. I may have read it a little too fast, but I wasn't 100% following the whole plot of this first installment. The illustrations were great, but other than that I wasn't in love with this. Oh well!

Deadpool

Besides the movie this was my first foray into the world of Deadpool and I was not disappointed. Some of the scenes in this collection were even part of the movie! While this collection was a little on the gory/violent side it wasn't too bad, I was expecting more language and sex jokes, but it wasn't too over the top. I wouldn't feel bad recommending this first volume to teenagers. This collection has Wolverine, Black Widow, Ant-Man and others in the Marvel universe so there is a little something for everyone. Deadpool is irreverent, sarcastic, belligerent, and hilarious. A great introduction and I look forward to reading more!

She-Hulk: Law and Disorder

I've never been huge on She-Hulk but when I saw this kick ass cover art I couldn't resist checking this comic out and I am SOO GLAD I did. It was awesome and gave me a whole new appreciation for the Jade Giantess. This comic doesn't focus on She-Hulk's work with the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, instead it centers on her work as a lawyer. After getting fired for not bringing in her famous friends as clientele, She-Hulk (aka Jennifer) opens up her own practice and starts cultivating clients. She gets to interacts with some characters we are familiar with (Doctor Doom, Tony Stark, Daredevil, Hell Cat and more) and finds out that lawyering own her own is going to be a lot more work than she initially thought. Totally awesome, humorous, and smart, this is a must read for Marvel fans.