C.M. Punk’s latest turn as a heel was cemented last week with a brutal assault on Jerry “The King” Lawler. Punk’s reception tonight in his hometown of Chicago is expected to remain overwhelmingly positive regardless.

Last week’s Raw saw C.M. Punk showed definitively that he was no longer walking the line between good and evil as he goaded Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler into a fight and then proceeded to brutally beat him inside a steel cage to end the show. Regardless of the direction of this storyline, a large part of the audience still cheered Punk. With such headway made to show this new side to Punk’s demeanor, tonight’s Raw eminates from Chicago where Punk will absolutely be received as a babyface. Will he apologize for his actions or give his reasons for attempting to teach Lawler the meaning of “RESPECT!”

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Weekly comic books are a big part of my life and below is a list of what I’ll be picking up this Wednesday along with cover artwork and previews courtesy of Comixology’s Pull List app.

Seven new books to close out August. Six of them (sorry Captain Marvel) also happen to be among the ten most “pulled” books of the week according to Comixology’s metrics along with Jonathan Hickman‘s FF #21, Avenging Spider-Man #11 (which I’d picked up the past two months for the Captain (formerly Ms.) Marvel team-up), Ultimate Comics X-Men #15, and Before Watchmen: Minutemen (I’ve completely missed these books with the exception of Minutemen #1).

• AQUAMAN #12 – Fifth Wednesday’s haven’t seen much shipping from DC since the New 52 started but this week is an exception. I’m behind on Aquaman and I’m seriously considering dropping the title, but seeing Black Manta on the cover might be enough to get me caught up and keep me around.
• AVX: VS. #5 – This series has had its hits and misses but I’ll see it through to the end. It’s not enough to satisfy with a four week gap between AvX #10 and #11 after five months of biweekly shipping.
• CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 – So far so good for this new series. Looking at the preview for #3, I’m think I need to re-read #2. Also, I love the cover.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 – I caught up on the last few issues over the weekend as decision time is approaching for this book as well. A lot depends on Jim Lee’s future with the title (which I’m sure has been discussed and I’ve just missed it) as the second arc and the jump to the present hasn’t thrilled me. The references to the characters’ solo titles has been a nice touch.
• NEW MUTANTS #48 – Another book I really need to get caught up on. I’ve liked what Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have done with the title and as it nears its conclusion I’m sure they have more good things planned. At some point it just became a lower priority on my reading list and it’s piling up.
• UNCANNY X-FORCE #30 – There are so many good things going on in this book it’s hard to decide where to start lauding it each month. The thing I’m appreciating most right now is the multi-tiered nature of the Final Execution arc. It’s taken the team through time and back while bringing in plot points from the first issue if the series. Great stuff!
• WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #15 – This title continues to run a bit silly for my tastes, but there are enough good things happening that I’ll see it through to the end. What really has me sold here is the cover. Invoking the “original five” always strikes a chord with me even if Jean Grey has been replaced with Rachel Grey and Cyclops’ stand in is Wolverine. I almost can’t believe I typed that. 

Check back every week to see what’s on My Latest Pull List and please share your thoughts on these titles and everything you’re reading this week in the comments.

Even at his worst, C.M. Punk should be better than demanding respect and attacking Hall of Famers like Jerry “The King” Lawler. We’ll see how much lower he can stoop tonight in Oakland, CA.

Last week’s post-SummerSlam edition of Monday Night Raw exhibited some incredibly lazy storytelling as well as a near-interminable length clocking in at 3 hours and 14 minutes. (Apparently we need this. Who knew that this was a thing? Now it’s not just about the game and how you play it, but how much time you spend playing the game.) With this kind of time being put into the product, storylines need to have more direction. There’s too much focus on buzzwords (RESPECT!) and not enough consistency with characters and fleshing out the actual plots. It’s something that we can hope they either overcome, or find something shiny to distract us with.

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Weekly comic books are a big part of my life and below is a list of what I’ll be picking up this Wednesday along with cover artwork and previews courtesy of Comixology’s Pull List app.

Down to just five new books this time after a string of big weeks.

• AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #692 – This is the official over-sized 50th anniversary issue with an over-sized price tag of $5.99. There are also a great set of variant covers for this issue by Marcos Martin following Spidey through his five decades of publishing.
• ASTONISHING X-MEN #53 – I’m way behind on this series which is fitting for a title with a history of being way behind schedule (though in all fairness the current creative team has been right on time and I just can’t keep up).
• SECRET AVENGERS #30 – I’m really glad to see this series get back to the story Rick Remender started with before things got derailed for AvX. I liked the tie-ins but this story is so much better.
• UNCANNY X-MEN #17 – Sinister has been the focus of this series since the relaunch and this issue promises a resolution.
• X-MEN: LEGACY #272 – This book quickly transitioned out of AvX into something completely different and unexpected. Still starring Rogue.

Last night’s 25th Anniversary edition of WWE’s SummerSlam event was a decent entry in the history of the pay-per-view though there have certainly been stronger offerings. While last night did provide less comedy skits than we’ve become accustomed to with WWE’s recent PPV offerings, it felt like the show was lacking some spark (and the Kevin Rudolf musical performance didn’t help). Despite that, a strong focus on in-ring action is hopefully a sign of good things to come every week on Raw as the three hour format opens things up for more wrestling.

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