New comics 5/18

Cable & Deadpool #15 (Fabian Nicieza/Patrick Zircher, Marvel)
Last issue felt a little rushed and light on the humor, but this one is back on track, with some great lines from Deadpool and some much-needed additions to the supporting cast. I'm not sure there's a great need for yet another alternate universe, but I trust that Nicieza will have it go somewhere interesting, and probably bring in more underused Marvel universe characters that I'll be happy to see.

Ex Machina #11 (Bryan K. Vaughan/Tony Harris, DC/Wildstorm)
I must not have realized that last issue was the end of a story arc, because I was completely surprised to discover that this was a stand-alone issue, with only a couple of panels addressing what happened in #10. It was okay on its own, but the stuff from "Tag" feels very unresolved, and this was a jarring shfit from last issue's bloodbath to a much more low-key tale.

Young Avengers #4 (Allan Heinberg/Jim Cheung, Marvel)
Now that the shock of how good this book really is has worn off, I didn't have quite the same glee reading this issue as I did the past few. Much of it is a big fight scene, although Heinberg does an excellent job of dropping little details here and there about the main characters, who were all such mysteries in the first issue. I like the slowly evolving team dynamic, and even if this issue didn't end with quite the wallop as the first ones, I still can't wait to find out what happens next. This remains one of the best examples of superhero writing at Marvel right now.

Also out this week: Livewires #4. I had planned on finishing this series out, but looking at it in the store I just had zero interest. I was so impressed with Adam Warren when I first read his Gen 13 mini-series, but after two of those, a Dirty Pair collection and half of Livewires, I've come to realize that his characters are all the same, his jokes are repetitive, and his stories have no plots. Some of Livewires was amusing, but not enough for it to be worth the time and money it would cost to finish it.