Various Single Issues

Shield #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver.
The best single issue I've read in a long time. For almost a month, I hadn't read anything that made me excited about comics, but then I read this issue and my faith in comicdom was back. The comic is just a blast of fun. We get to meet Imhotep 2000 years ago defending us from aliens, we get to see a Chinese warrior fight an eternal, we get to see Galileo saving us from Galactus, Leonardo Da Vinci in a jetpack.

The premise is that S.H.I.E.L.D is an organization that has existed for a long time and it has protected the planet from danger and this leads us to all sorts of fun snippets from the past. The story is set in 1953 where Leonid is brought to the Immortal city (a city under Rome). Not much is revealed about him, but I am sure more will come in future issues.
I highly recommend this issue and I am looking forward to more from this series.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #34 by Brad Meltzer and Georges Jeanty.
After a series of great Buffy issues we get this one which is above average. The issue is very sexualized and while Jeanty does a great job depicting sex and making the story flow nicely from panel to panel, the premise of this issue is not something I like too much. The story is becoming more and more magical, which has been a trend since Season 4 of Buffy, but what made Buffy great at first was the interpersonal relationships between the characters and I fear we are going to far away from that. In any case, I can't complain too much, because I love having Buffy and Angel together.

Solid issue. I think the issue will be controversial, given that Buffy is a popular brand and this issue is definitely in the border between pornographic and artistic. I think Jeanty did a fantastic job, but I could see parents complaining about their kids reading this.

Nemesis: The Impostors #2 by Ivan Brandon and Cliff Richards.
I really liked the first issue and all the questions it brought up, but I wasn't into this issue that much because I had forgot what questions were brought up earlier. I am starting to feel lost because I hadn't read the previous miniseries and it seems like I am losing out on the fun by not knowing much of the backstory.

Despite my lack of knowledge of this character, this particular issue works pretty great as a single issue. It has a cool fight against Batman, it has a nice escape and it makes one think about identities. Batman, is not Bruce Wayne anymore, he is Dick Grayson, so when Nemesis tells him "You're not Batman", he is actually right. I thought the artwork was great. I still don't know how this artist is the same artist that drew mediocre Buffy issues. Maybe this explains why inkers are important.

Chip #1 by Richard Moore.
This is a cute little story about a tiny gargoyle that wants to be scary. This is the first of two issues and I am looking forward to the next issue. A good read.