I'm finally nearing the end of 2014 in my Marvel NOW catch-up (been trying to read everything in as close to a chronological as possible). Finished both Infinity and Inhumanity, both of which were…underwhelming. However, I still really love what Hickman's doing with his Avengers books.

I wonder if they tried to get Jon Hamm but couldn't. And if that's the case, why not just change the character's name to Jean Stamos?

No kidding about the promos. It was clever the first time, but by the end of the hour I was really getting sick of that song.

Is that the volume with "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? It might come later, I'm not sure, but that's my favorite of the one-shot Sandman stories.

The third arc, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, was terrific, so it definitely gets better.

Finally started FABLES, something I've been meaning to do for a long time. It's already becoming one of my favorites. For those of you who've read it, should I do the spin-offs as well (Jack of Fables, Cinderella)?

It took me till the second arc of Posehn and Duggan's Deadpool for it to
click. The Dead Presidents arc just tried too damn hard to be
in-your-face funny, and fell flat.

Honestly, I think the prison arc was the high point of the series, and it's all been downhill from there.

I thought he said in the letter column of the last issue that it was cancelled, so my bad. I'm glad to hear that it's coming back!

The Walking Dead 115-126 - I don't even know why I'm reading this anymore. The visceral thrill is gone, and Kirkman's dialogue is reaching new levels of painful.

Awesome, that certainly helps. But my point was that ABC had spent two weeks pushing that episode was going to tie in to Thor 2, and then it was really lame. Whereas the Sif episode felt just as connected to Thor 2 as these last few episodes have been to Cap 2. They shot themselves in the foot giving that early…

I must have missed it, when did it show up?

If they would have pushed the Lady Sif episode as the Thor 2 tie in, there wouldn't have been a problem. But them just cleaning up the mess Thor left in London was bullshit.

That's a fair point. What a waste of Amy Acker that was.

It has absolutely been better since the Cap 2 tie-ins, I just hope that once the show is months away from that, it can continue the trend and not devolve back into what it was for the first half of the season. I have high hopes, though.

Watch the first ep BEFORE the movie, too. They bookend Winter Soldier.

Agent Pleasebe Betternextyear!

Sex Criminals 1-5 - Holy shit, this book is amazing. It's so refreshing to see sexuality presented this way, as fun and funny, but not as a joke. Sharp writing by Fraction, and Chip Zdarsky art is fantastic, especially his use of color when they're in The Quiet. Can't wait to see where this is going next.

I'm only two issues in, so I'm sure it'll get good, but right now I'm just not feeling it. The concept is terrific, though, no doubt.

I'm just now burning through the early Marvel NOW! back issues (late to the party, I know).