1)Ultimate Spider-Man #1 - Written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Marco Checchetto, ink by Matthew Wilson
Well it was a LONG time coming, but we finally got a Spider-Man comic to look forward to. The first issue was an absolute success, showing us Peter living the life he SHOULD have gotten before Marvel ruined it with One More Day. He is with MJ, he has two kids, and he has an incredible older mentor. The art from Checchetto, as usual, is astounding. And Matt Wilson is easily one of the best colorists they could have put on the book, his work has been featured on my website constantly for a reason. The Ultimate Invasion event itself was a bit lackluster, but it seriously was the perfect set up for all these Ultimate stories. The Ultimate Universe story that came out a month ago was excellent, and all these new Ultimate stories seem to be shaping up well. I look forward to seeing how deep of a run this series can get!
2) Spider-Man 2099 #2 - Written by Steve Orlando, art by Michael Dowling, colors by Jim Campbell, edited by Mikey J. Basso
I said it for issue #1 and I'll say it again, whoever thought to have Miguel fight a bunch of monsters (The Miguel Mash if you will) is a genius. It's out of left field completely, but it just works for some reason. This issue greatly improves upon the first, delivering an emotional story with twists and turns. Most of the issue is a straight up brawl between Miguel and Dracula, and it's beautifully drawn and colored by Dowling and Campbell. As good as the creative team was for issue #1, the art team for this one really delivered. The full page pieces of Dracula superimposed over Spider-Man are poster worthy. I'm not sure how long this series will actually go for, but I'm hoping we can get a bunch of these one off Spider-Man 2099 stories, much like North is doing for Fantastic Four right now.
3) Thunderbolts #2 - Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, art by Geraldo Borges, colors by Arthur Hesli, edited by Alanna Smith
The premise of this comic is what makes it work: Bucky wants to kill the Red Skull. So far each issue has dealt with a different way to beat the Skull for good, and this issue is no different. Issue #2 has Bucky, Yelena, and Natasha (who I'm clearly not well read up on) pull a heist on the Kingpin. It definitely has all the tropes of a heist, but the story is told well, the "vault" is clever, and the action is well done. I can really get around the team of the week idea, with Bucky hand picking people he needs for each mission, rather than just going with the whole team each issue. It's still not quote the Daniel Way Thunderbolts, but this is by far the best Thunderbolts series we have had since then, so I am very excited to see where it goes. Borges and Hesli do well on the art, even if they make Bucky look like a discount Gaston when he is in a suit, which I guess is the point. But man oh man can they draw Black and White Widow. I really do hope this comic ends with the FINAL death of the Red Skull, that's a character we really don't need in modern comics anymore. And Bucky is just the man for the job.