Comics Briefly: American Vampire #17, Secret Avengers #15, X-Men: Legacy #252

Favorite Issue This Week: American Vampire #17

All Issues were new in store on 7/27/11

American Vampire #17 (Ghost War Part 5)
Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Rafael Albuqueque, Colors: Dave McCaig

There's a strong ramp up in tension in this issue, piling violent twist onto violent twist. I wish we'd gotten a hair more from some of the soldiers, especially after one interchange that seemed to be hinting at a reveal yet to come. The final splash page was expected, but welcome and satisfying. I am getting a bit tired of this arc, though.


Secret Avengers #15 
Writer: Nick Spencer, Penciler: Scot Eaton, Inker: Jaime Mendoza, Colorist: Frank D'Armata

I have mixed feelings about this issue. It had quite a bit more of a metatexual vibe than I generally prefer, although I think it was fairly well done. The premise: Black Widow debates the merits of comic book style death with a bunch of civilians. It flirted with the edge between intriguing commentary on the genre from inside the world and facile pretention, and I honestly can't decide which side I think it ends up falling on.


X-Men: Legacy #252
Writer: Mike Carey, Pencils: Khoi Pham, Inks: Tom Palmer, Colors: Marte Gracia

I had been liking this book, but I'm getting tired of just threads and bits of plot. The art is nice, but most of this issue was boring. This one might be next to fall off my pull list. X-Men: Schism, which I read in the store, had better writing, although it had inferior art.