C.M. Punk will try to break “the streak” at WrestleMania 29, adding his name to the impressive list of challengers to the Undertaker at the super bowl of sports entertainment.

Unfortunately, last Monday’s “Old School Raw” suffered the same kind of emptiness as the show’s recent 20th Anniversary episode. The retro graphics, ring aprons, and commentators jackets aside, it was really just another Raw. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the 20th Anniversary was a better show and that’s a bit of bad news with WrestleMania just around the corner. There was a lack of focus on feuds on deck for the biggest show of the year which was literally looming in the background. Another big match was announced, but was it enough to save the show?

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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.

Now it’s up to three straights week with eight new books on my list (one is a variant). This is a trend, although there are some books that are on the list now that might make it with me to the counter.

• A+X #5 – The novelty of this post-AvX title teaming up X-Men and Avengers has worn off for me at this point. The solicit for this issue promises a Beast/Iron Man story (which I like the prospects of), but it appears Iron Fist and Doop are taking center stage. What’s really putting this in the buy pile is the backup featuring Loki and Mister Sinister by Kieron Gillen. As much as I’m enjoying Brian Bendis’ X-Men, I do miss what Gillen was doing with the team.
• AGE OF APOCALYPSE #13 – I stopped reading this title back at issue #6, but the upcoming X-Termination crossover may pull me back in. This issue is a prequel to that story, so whether or not I pick up will largely be determined once I have a closer look at it in the store.
• AGE OF ULTRON #1 – I’m a sucker for Marvel events and even though this one seems like it should have shipped while Bendis was still writing the Avengers, I’ll give the first issue a look. It’s shipping at a rapid pace from what I can tell and the tie-in issues seem to have overlapping issue numbers with their regular series numbering (i.e. we’ll see both Uncanny Avengers #8 and Uncanny Avengers #8AU in the coming months) which is intriguing and suggests the story won’t interrupt the ongoing stories in those books.
• ALL NEW X-MEN #8 – I’m really enjoying this title and seeing the original X-Men meet the current Avengers should be wild. For the time-displaced X-Men, this is the first time they’re meeting the Avengers since they left their timeline sometime during X-Men #8 and didn’t encounter the Avengers until issue #9 during the original X-Men series. I’m also picking up the X-Men 50th Anniversary variant pictured above that features the original five by Stuart Immonen.
• AVENGERS #7 – After a series of issues focusing on some of the team’s new members, it looks like we’re getting to Jonathan Hickman‘s next story for the larger group and the mysterious “White Event.”
• CABLE AND X-FORCE #5 – I’m giving this title a long chance to grab me and the cover for this one suggests it might be exactly what I’m looking for. I want that exact scene to go down so Hope can get Cable to tell all of us what this book is about.
• IRON MAN #7 – I gave issue #6 a shot based on the cover, Kieron Gillen, and the promise of fall out for Tony Stark’s splintering of the Phoenix during AvX. Chapter one of Godkiller got a mixed reaction from me, in part due to the starkness of Greg Land’s interior art. I’ll give this book a look today, but I may be able to get my fill of Tony Stark in space in the new Guardians of the Galaxy.
  

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.

Last Monday’s short lived physical confrontation between Vince McMahon (purple suit) and Paul Heyman (track suit) laid the ground work for a rematch between Triple H and Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 29.

Last week’s episode of Raw saw a beast bloodied, TOUTs touted, the prodigal son return, the fighting Irishman take to a tux, moustaches twirled in a villainous manner, Antonio Cesaro and Dolph Ziggler each eat another loss in their respective matches, and the chairman make some questionable wardrobe choices.  The biggest news coming out of the show was the main event for WrestleMania being finalized, but the Rock’s rematch with John Cena may have been overshadowed by another match for the ages between Cena and C.M. Punk. This week’s Raw from Buffalo, NY goes “old-school” in what will surely be a fun legend-filled show.  While we may get some questionable ’80s styled outfits, none will top Vince McMahon’s purple suit from last week.

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