Deadpool #49.1- I think I’ve already mentioned a few times how much I hate the Point One specials as a retailer, but as a reader and someone who actually likes Deadpool when he is done right I have to say this was a piece of crap and a major waste of money. First of all it’s just a recap of this entire current volume of Deadpool, so there is no benefit to people who have already been following the series. The next problem is that it’s actually a musical, which if there’ anything I hate is a comic trying to actually focus on musical lyrics. It just doesn’t translate to me and it’s very counterintuitive to the medium.  The art is fine because I actually like McCrea, but considering nothing useful happens in the issue I consider it a waste of talent. The Point One gimmick needs to die a horrible death as soon as possible because while I can almost applaud the desire to have a reader friendly jump on point the sheer amount of reader friendly jump on points being published pretty much makes me think Marvel considers its potential future fan base to be a bunch of idiots. Which if people keep buying these gimmick issues….D

Justice League #5- It depresses me that Darkseid is basically Doomsday. I always preferred him sitting back and setting up numerous plots against his enemies as a thinking villain, not a brute force generic threat. Then when someone would actually make a physical move at him he’d smack them down because hey, he does happen to be a big boy with a rock for a face. Otherwise it would be beneath him and we would have an interesting character with unique motivations and layers of plotting and…..ok now I’m more depressed. The 52 relaunch is really coming up short as a hole, kids.  Seven months to tell a basic story when the Justice League animated series was able to bring the team together within twenty minutes is not a good comparison. C+

Winter Soldier #1- Considering it’s Brubaker there will always be a base level of quality to the scripting which will make this an enjoyable read. I’m also interested with actually utilizing the Red Ghost in a darker espionage focused storyline, plus hey talking Russian gorillas. However, I will say the moment Brubaker introduces a long lost person from the Winter Soldier’s past who is coming back to wreak havoc with the present, I’m going to have talk some major shit about Brubaker because that seems to be his go-to formula now. The thing that really needs praise about this comic is the Butch Guice artwork. I’ve always enjoyed his work since Resurrection Man but he has been improving himself over the years and trying new things, and this issue really shines. Looking forward to more pretty pictures. B+