Black Widow #9 - A quick and not particularly memorable read relative to earlier installments, but I enjoyed the "surprise" appearances and Phil Noto's artwork keeps me coming back.

It's encouraging to see these Dynamite titles start to… blow up. (I'm sorry. So sorry.) Something about their noir-y relaunches (Green Hornet, Miss Fury, etc.) didn't click for me, sad to say, but Flash Gordon has been aces and Captain Victory looks fantastic.

What did you think of the whole selfie image? (I guess there's a whole DC-wide selfie promotion coming, but the Batgirl one was the first one I saw, and it certainly seemed to be presented as something emblematic of the new direction.) I think I initially felt it seemed corny/hacky/late, but I suppose as a simple…

Mileage may vary, of course. What's been your favorite portrayal of the character?

Agree, All-New Ghost Rider feels like a missed opportunity. I'm planning to see through the first arc (which I think is just one more issue) just because, but that'll be it.

I would like to make a quick plug for Kaare Andrews' Iron Fist: The Living Weapon. For any number of reasons, I think it's been a bit unsung, or undersung, amid the most recent Marvel relaunches, but it's really worth a look. Issue #4, out last week, featured his best script and artwork yet, in my view (he's doing…

The newly remodeled one at Sunset and Vine has a lovely seating/working area. :)

I agree. I think the re-imagination of the character was an interesting idea, but in practice, several of Marvel's other reinventions (Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Silver Surfer) have grabbed me more. It sort of sounds (from the solicitations) like maybe they're not going to take this one much further.

No! I'll go hunt it down.

I thought the concept was great and really wanted to see it work in practice. Stuck with it through six issues before throwing in the towel.

I stuck with it until the Dimension Z bit ended and JRJR left, and since then I've actually been spending more time discovering or re-reading older Cap stories.

I mean, they're not Warren Ellis. At all. By any stretch. Exactly as you said, the art is the star and their writing serves that, it's sort of a package deal. But (I thought) they told some excellent stories in their Flash run, I think tonally they nailed it, and I think they're doing something distinctive in the Bat…

It is, but yes, I like their story so far, and that's not at all to diminish Snyder on Batman — his Detective run is what brought me back to comics after many years away, and he's done some fantastic work on the primary title. Thus far, at least, Manapul and Booch have done what every creator claims to want to do when…

This. This is what I'm saying.

I haven't, I have to admit. (I will, promise.) I just kind of view Brubaker's vision as definitive, and I'm freaked out by most late-period Miller stuff.

Can I respectfully recommend Detective, which is (as I think Oliver said the other day) THE Bat-book to read right now? I liked this week's issue very slightly less than the first two, but it's still really fresh.

His Thor really sold me too, and while I haven't loved everything Remender's done recently, I thought his first arc on Captain America was pretty clever, and I'm enjoying Black Science.

Did you see that he said in his Reddit AMA that the Marvel character he would "most want to do" is Captain America? For the record, I think I would probably hate that.

Thanks! Me too. I haven't read much of Jason Aaron's early stuff — I really just started following him when he started his fantastic Thor run — but this seems like a title he was born to do.

Obviously everyone's mileage may vary, but I stuck with it and I continue to really enjoy it. C.P. Smith's style is different, it's surrealistic but without quite so much of Templesmith's grotesquery. I feel like comics sometimes have a hard time telling stories about The Devil and/or Hell; this one's an exception.