The new year will be bringing some new changes to Monday Comic Mania. We can rebuilt it, make it better, stronger, faster! Well, maybe. Stay tuned for details about that. For now: comics!

DarkSakura’s Picks
It’s that time again! Jumping right into it!

• Deadpool Team-up #898 – What’s this about bandits? Actually, the most encouraging thing about this is that the team that did Deadpool: Suicide Kings is in on it, meaning the writing should be amazing (and funny)!
• What If? Secret Invasion #1 – So what if the Skrulls won? What if things went differently? What if… Okay, so we know the point of the What If? books, so let’s sit back and see if the world would have fared any better if the Secret Invasion went a little differently.
• Uncanny X-Men #518 – A look in the mind of Emma Frost! What could possibly be going on in her brain? Honestly, the thought is a little frightening. And why is the island sinking?

That’s it from me!

Marron’s Picks
Another great week for comics. DarkSakura chose to highlight some really great things this week that I can’t argue with–so let me give you three choices of my own to add to that great list!

• Iron Man: Requiem – A one-shot comic that’s actually a remastering of a few old Iron Man comics, we have a fantastic mini-collection retelling the origins of Tony Stark’s transformation into Iron Man. Definitely worth collecting for any Iron Man fan!
• Nation X #1 – Off the coast of California, a mutant nation has been created on what they’re calling Utopia. What does this mean for the X-Men? You know Wovlerine will be there (he’s in everything), but what about Nightcrawler, Colossus, and the others? What does Nation X mean for them?
• Blackest Night: The Flash #1 – Oh, my. After the end of Blackest Night #5 last week, I’m definitely pumped for comics this week. You can’t outrun that Black Lantern ring forever, Barry! With two Flashes and a Reverse Flash, this promises to be a fast paced book!

That’s it for this week. So, my comic review and novel reviews turned instead into a video game review last week, but at least you got something out of it, right? If not valuable information, then at least a bit of entertainment, I should hope. For now, head on over to Eat.Sleep.Geek. and check out the rest of my picks for the week. Finals are right around the corner for this college gal, so I need comics to maintain my sanity!

Until next week!

I actually had more than one person ask me how this game is; apparently, I wasn’t the only person out there in the vast land of the interwebs that was reluctant to play Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 because of my hatred for Civil War. When I heard that they were making a sequel to Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I went through a range of emotions.

At first, I was elated. MUA is one of my favorite games, though it admittedly has a few problems as far as gameplay and dynamics go. However, when they released info about the plot of MUA2, I was angry. Civil War?! Again?! I understand that there were actually people out there that liked that particular (with a poorly written, poorly executed, and convoluted plot, people acting completely out of character, and no real resolution except to make people hate each other for the most stupid of reasons) part of the Marvel storyline, but why did it need to be stretched out? We’re still being inundated with Civil War throughout the Marvel Universe, even nearly three years later, do we really need a video game that takes the story line and turns it into video game format?

Apparently, as far as Marvel is concerned, the answer is yes.

For me, the answer was no, however, and so I put off playing this game despite my love and great enjoyment of the first title. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 laid dormant in my GameFly game queue for nearly two months after its release as the game’s popularity apparently soared and I received other fun games to preoccupy myself with. Finally, after returning the latest rented game to GameFly, I received MUA 2 last weekend. I’d come face to face with my greatest fear: would I be unable to enjoy this game because of my utter and complete dislike of Civil War?

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After a week hiatus, we’re back! What does the world of comics have in store for us this week?

DarkSakura’s Picks
It’s that time again, so I’m just going to hop right into my list.

• Ms Marvel #47 – Ms Marvel made a little promise to Spider-man. Will she live through the experience? Will a date be more frightening than dealing with Osborn’s impostor?
• New Avengers #59 – This must be the month of Spider-man joy. A teamup between the two Spider-prefixed New Avengers should be fun! Who has the better banter?
• New Mutants #7 – Okay, undead mind-controlled former mutants? What’s up with that? Is this some clever way of bringing old characters back to life afterwards? I’m trying to be hopeful for this title, so here goes crossing my fingers.

That’s it for now!

Marron’s Picks
Another great week for comics! Very exciting!

• Blackest Night #5 – Finally! Finally the Green Lantern ring is coming out! Okay, okay. I’m excited about the comic itself, too, but I’ve been waiting for the green ring for what feels like ages! The Big Bad finally reveals himself in this issue!
• Ultimate Comics Avengers #4 – The Avengers VS Captain America–in Paris, no less! And here I thought Steve hated the French. There’s only one thing to do in this situation: hold on tight, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
• Star Trek: Nero #4 – The series that shows us the back-story of Nero and the events leading up to the reboot J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie finally comes to an end. The story and the art for this have both been amazing so far, and I’m looking forward to the conclusion!

Well, that’s it for this week! Hope everyone in the U.S. will enjoy Thanksgiving this week. Hopefully I’ll have a review of the latest Star Trek: Voyager novel soon, along with a review of last week’s War Machine! Until next time!

I know, I said I was going to do the review when the book came out, but better late than never, yeah?

Of course, I’ve made it no secret what a fan I am of the very concept of this book, of reuniting a pair of characters that I love together, as we all bringing back a character I’ve missed since her demise years ago. I’m talking about Clint Barton (Ronin) and Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird).

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It’s our favorite time of the week once again! Wednesday is approaching, do you know what’s on your pull list this week?

DarkSakura’s Picks
Is it time again? You bet it is! Let’s see what’ll be in my pull box this week.

• Deadpool #17 - More fun with Deadpool and the X-Men! What trouble will he cause for the team, and can they actually manage to keep an eye on him? Will he make Domino more pancakes?
• S.W.O.R.D. #1 - When she appeared in Astonishing X-Men, I made up my mind that I did not like Agent Brand. She did grow on me, however, and I enjoyed her inclusion in the Spider-woman motion comic. This has potential to be pretty good!
• X-Force #21 – More undead mutants! Of course, the toughest team in the history of the X-Men should be able to handle it, right? Wolfsbane, however, seems to have her own problems going on in this issue.

Exciting, isn’t it? I can hardly wait for Wednesday!

Marron’s Picks
Another great week. It was definitely hard to decide what I’m looking forward to the most this Wednesday!

• Amazing Spider-Man #611 – Deadpool-Man, Deadpool-Man, does whatever a Deadpool can! I’m pretty excited to see what on earth could possibly force Pete to team up with good ol’ Deadpool.
• Dark X-Men #1 - Not really following Dark Reign too much right now, but this looks like it has potential. I mean, come on! Mystique, Mimic, Weapon Omega, and Dark Beast? Sounds like a pretty badass group to me!
• Green Arrow/Black Canary #26 – Ever since last month, I’ve been waiting for this next issue of GA/BC. There are TWO Green Arrows?! Which one is the real one — and is he with Black Canary or Cupid?! I really would like some answers, and I bet Dinah would, too!

And that’s it for this week! I’m talking to DarkSakura right now and she pinkie-swears that she’s going to put a comic review up sometime this week — maybe even later today! Until then, we’ll see you next time!