Comic Reviews

Chuck vs the Push Mix - Season 4 - Episode 13- NBC

2011-01-31T23:10:00.010-05:00

Most of this episode revolves around the hospital. Elle goes into labor, and Casey is there, hopefully, recovering from his recent injuries in his mission with Sarah. I'm sure this isn't the first time, in the course of his career, that he's been hurt this bad . . or this close to death's door. I'd imagine that it's just part of the reality of the job. Anyways, of course Awesome is freaking about about the baby's arrival. He's had everything so carefully planned, but . . now that the actual day has arrived . . he feels like he's not ready at all. One of the things he's asked Chuck with for help was the 'push-mix' . . the music that Elle would listen to as she's delivering the baby. He wants it to be perfect. However, Jeff and Lester overhear this conversation and intercept the CD before Chuck can fill it with 'hippy-crap'. Hence the name of this episode's title. Suffice it to say that Jeffster screws it up, and somehow they end up in the hospital performing 'Push It' over all the loud-speakers. It really is hilarious. Especially when they get arrested. Anyways, in this episode Chuck's goal is to get Sarah back home from Volkoff. He's tired of just sitting on his hands while Sarah does all the work. He feels like he should be helping her. Plus, while visiting Casey, he had become conscious enough to get the half of the eye Sarah gave him during their scuffle to Chuck. With it Chuck tries to find out who made it, linking it back to Volkoff, and hopefully finding out where Sarah and his mom were being held. Right now the only information they have is something about the Contessa. As it turns out . . the Contessa isn't a woman, but rather a boat . . Volkoff's base of operations. So . . long story short . . Chuck tricks Volkoff and his men into coming to his father's cabin. There he informs him that he'd planted a virus in Volkoff's computer transferring all of his data-base to the computer in the cabin. And by also tricking him into saying his password, he can also access it all. So in the end . . Volkoff and his men are arrested by Beckman, and everyone else is saved. Also, later, while sitting outside of the delivery room . . Chuck finally proposes to Sarah. As the episode ends we see them embrace and kiss. I'm glad we got some of these story-lines wrapped up. Now they can approach the second half of the season trying to wrap up the rest. Plus I'm sure we'll have some more of the usual screw-ball hi-jinks that we get with this series. But . . that's why I like it.

Chuck vs the Gobbler - Season 4 Episode 12 - NBC

2011-01-31T23:06:00.010-05:00

This episode has a few storylines going, but . . for this episode, at least . . the put the proposal on hold. Well, mostly because Sarah is with Volkoff. The episode starts out with Morgan asking Casey for his help. With Sarah out of town, and undercover, he's worried about Chuck . . his 'frame-of-mind' . . his spirits. Morgan's afraid that Chuck will get depressed, worrying about Sarah. However, Chuck seems to be all smiles. He's trying to look on the bright side of things. Sarah is trying to finally bring down Volkoff, and . . in doing so, he'll also get his mom back. Anyways, with Sarah's mission . . she tries to explain to Volkoff that she and Chuck got caught up in the CIA life. A life that was never really their own. So now . . she wants to cash out and run away with Chuck. And she convinces Volkoff that he can help her do that. Of course Volkoff is suspicious, but . . he's intrigued as well. And of course Frost warns Volkoff that Sarah will betray them. So as a test, he gives Sarah a suicide. It's a prison break for one of his top men . . Yuri the Gobbler. Shortly afterwards, while Casey, Chuck, and Morgan are inside Castle waiting for word from Sarah, something happens that makes them think that they're under attack. But . . it's actually Sarah. She's snuck back so that she can ask for her team's help with this mission. Plus I think she wanted an excuse to see Chuck. They decide to have Chuck enter the prison posing as a criminal, and Casey and Morgan as guards. Immediately Chuck announces that he wants to be 'top-dog', and picks a fight with Yuri . . arguably one of the biggest, meanest looking guys here. Of course, using the intersect, he beats him pretty easily. With Sarah as the 'get-away' driver, they quickly return him to Volkoff. Volkoff seems happy for his return . . at first. But it isn't long before he draws a pistol and shoots him in the head. It appears that Yuri's left eye is false, and . . it contains Volkoff's secret database. After killing him, Volkoff plucks it out of his head and plugs it into his computer. Soon Sarah gets another mission from Volkoff . . she's to kill John Casey. Casey gets a text from Sarah to meet up. Of course Chuck wants to go along, but Casey won't let him. And of course . . Chuck follows him. Casey and Sarah meet up on the ninth floor of a building, while Chuck tries to follow him up to help. So while Casey and Sarah are fake fighting, and exchanging information up high . . Chuck is busy fighting Volkoff's men down low. Casey gives Sarah an idea for a plan. He wants her to throw him through a window, and he'll land on some scaffolding about 40 feet below. They do so but, when he lands on the scaffolding, it breaks, and he falls the rest of the way to the ground. As far as Sarah knows . . she's actually killed Casey. When Chuck sees this, Volkoff's men knock him out and they quickly take off with Sarah and Frost. But . . Casey is tougher than he looks. At the end of the episode we see him lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. As well as Alex, Chuck, and Morgan all standing around watching. Chuck tries to tell Sarah what's happened, but . . she can't answer her phone. Meanwhile, it appears that Morgan and Alex's relationship is progressing. At one point Chuck sees her coming out of Morgan's room wearing one of his vintage tee-shirts. Something that he won't even let people touch . . let alone wear. And there's a little brew-ha-ha about Elle and Awesome's baby. Elle's frustrated because Awesome doesn't seem to be participating in the planning process as much as she'd like. So she tells Chuck that without his help, she's decided to name the baby Grunka. Of course it's all a ploy to get Awesome to freak out and contribute some kind of idea. When he does, they decided on the name Clara. Anyways, Mike, Jeff and Lester are all involved in this part of the story, and it provides some of the comic relief. This was another interesting episode. I'm glad that they got off of the proposal thing for a little while. Who knew a soap-opera would look like this?

Chuck vs the Balcony - Season 4 Episode 11 - NBC

2011-01-23T17:43:00.008-05:00

Of course there's the usual spy and intrigue to this story, but . . the real crux of the episode is Chuck's attempt to propose to Sarah. It seems like whenever his plans seem to be coming together . . something happens to derail everything. When it comes down to it . . he just wants it to be perfect. His latest attempt involves a romantic dinner. But after Sarah tells him about one of her own parents botched attempts . . he decides that it's to cliche . . and has to stop all the wheels from turning. While this is going on . . in the French wine country . . Loire Valley, to be specific, there's recently been an agent killed. He hid a secret nanochip in a wine cork there, which he stole from a French terrorist, Pierre Melville. Shortly before his dying breath he had injected it into a cork and now the CIA wants Chuck and Casey to recover it before Pierre gets his hands back on it. Casey has to pose as Mr Carmichael's manservant. Meanwhile, Sarah is volunteering to do whatever is necessary to bring down Volkoff and bring in Chuck's mother. When Chuck tells Morgan about the mission, they decided that this Chateau will be the perfect place for Chuck to 'redo' his proposal. Once there, it's Casey who really figures out what's going on. While hiding in the wine-cellar, he overhears the terrorists talking. They've found the injection gun, and through it have determined exactly which type of wine that the cork is maintaining. From there it's pretty cut and dry. Chuck recovers the chip, and Sarah saves Casey and takes out the French terrorists. But after returning, General Beckman wants Sarah to return and to sell the chip back to Pierre. What Chuck doesn't know that is that Morgan has gotten everybody in on the proposal plan. Sarah and Casey are both trying to help Chuck finally make this thing happen. Of course Chuck doesn't know that. The problem is, according to the Generals plan, after the buy goes down . . Sarah going to be arrested as a traitor so that she can later escape and join Volkoff's crew. Of course this completely wrecks the proposal. And at the end of the episode Chuck is once again left teary eyed holding the ring-box in his pocket. At Buy More, there's another misunderstanding brewing around Lester. His "Hinjew" parents have decided that he should partake in an arranged marriage. The bride will be visiting soon from Lester's ancestral homeland . . . Saskatchewan, Canada. Of course he doesn't want any part of this. And of course the woman ends up being a knock-out. It's hilarious when he tries to 'woo' her with his Indian heritage by transforming the Theatre Room into his own Indian 'man-cave' . . with Lester playing the Sitar. This freaks her out, but after explaining his attempt to impress her she decides to give him another chance. His back-up plan? Well . . Jeffster, of course. And, of course . . this freaks her out even more. Lester has messed it up again. This was another funny, and moving episode. I like the way that they're trying to balance the stories of all these characters here. My only concern is that they're going to decide they have to many storylines going and get rid of some of them. There is an awful lot going on. But . . I still love it.

Justice Society of America Special #1 - DC

2010-12-30T21:38:00.017-05:00

With the ending of his own series . . Magog, this issue serves to wrap up the whole Gog / Magog storyline. Well . . sort of. At the end of his own series, Magog and N.I.L.8 were kind of running around all over the place smiting those in defiance of Magog . . non-believers. Which, I would think, would be most of the world. Anyways, they've come across this 'wonder-tech', and it seems to be controlling Magog. His friend, who took over the N.I.L.8 armor, seems to be doing this of his own volition. I guess he succumbed to the cult. He drank the cherry Kool-Aid. And of course the JSA gets involved because . . well . . Magog used to be one of their own . . David Reid. So they feel kind of responsible for him. Even though he's burned them numerous times. Anyways, long story short, David ends up gaining control. It seems his consciousness was fighting the 'wonder-tech' the whole time. Or it could have been the intervention of his one-time friends. Whatever happens . . David regains control and ends up having to take out his childhood friend in order to stop N.I.L.8. But even with it's host dead, the armor still keeps attacking. Apparently it wants a host, but doesn't necessarily need one. And in the end . . there's a big explosion with the 'wonder-tech', and David has to contain it as Magog. Which seemingly leads to his demise. At least that's what the JSA thinks. We see, however, that he's simply been transported back to Albion. Where his 'sister' and 'mother' still seem to be set on getting Magog to reassert his control over this union. But David is still refusing to give in to him. Anyways, in the end . . as far as the JSA and the rest of the world is concerned . . Magog goes out a hero. Also Axel files on Magog, the Gog tech, and the revolution have all disappeared. As well as the JSA's files on their one-time team-mate. However, David does goes a bit of a cryptic message to Axel. And there seems to still be a spark of life in the bunker where the N.I.L.8 armor came from. Obviously . . the story is far from over. But for now . . David has set out on a new path in Albion. Actually . . he's probably relieved to be away from all the stress and turmoil that he's had to face for every waking moment since becoming Magog. At first, Albion probably seems like a bit of a vacation spot for him. However, I don't think that will last for long. Scott Kolins did everything for this book. The guy has really become quite a 'catch' for DC. My only complaint about this whole book would probably be . . while there's some beautiful pages in her . . the problem I see is that when Scott does everything . . there's also some pages that look kind of rushed. But I'm sure it's hard to take on this whole book like that. Don't get me wrong. The guy is definitely talented. Personally, I just prefer substance over quantity. But that's just my own opinion. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. And it was nice to see this story-line wrapped up . . sort of.

Green Lantern #57, #58, #59, #60, #61 and #62 - DC

2010-12-30T21:37:00.031-05:00

We start out in issue #57 shortly after Hector Hammond has stole Larfleeze's Orange Lantern from him. We catch the end of the battle, but . . Hector decides that he's more interested in obtaining Carol, so . . he heads out. Leaving Hal to console, or argue with Larfleeze. For a being of Avarice, he seems to have a hard time holding onto those items he covets the most. Anyways, while this is going on, back on Zamaron they're dealing with a crisis of their own. They've rebuilt the Star Sapphires central power battery, but . . without the entity . . whom appears to be running loose on Earth with all the rest of them . . without him, it (?), to power the battery, the Queen is left using her own strength to try and keep things going. Which is why they've got Carol, back on Earth, hunting down the Predator. I'm not sure if I've got this correct, but . . it appears that their entity has taken the Predator as it's host. So I guess Carol is trying to wrangle him and get him back to Zamaron. She doesn't accomplish that, but . . in the process of the Queen trying to help her people, she comes to the realization that Love, or power, isn't what her people are missing. What they're missing is Hope and Faith. If she can restore their Faith and Hope in their mission to find and spread Love throughout the universe, they may be able to continue without the entity's help. After Carol separates the entity from the Predator, and takes it back to Zamaron . . the Queen realizes that Carol can best encourage the Hope and Faith that her people seem to be missing. Carol comes to the realization that it's not the entity that is corrupting it's chosen hosts . . it's the other way around. The entity sought out people devoid of love . . it's opposite. And in doing so, it itself becomes corrupted. Watching Carol discover this, and confront it . . the Queen comes to a decision. 'The Lantern does not need totems. It needs our absolute faith in the power we wield.' So in her dying breath, she appoints Carol as the new Queen of the Star Sapphires. But the real revelation in this story, I think, is that if all of this is true . . this could change the whole dynamic of how the various Corps wield and harness their powers. Plus, think about it . . could it be that Hal corrupted Parallax? And not the other way around? This could change everything. But . . we'll see how Geoff Johns expounds on this interesting paradigm as this story progresses. In issue #58 we see Sinestro and Atrocitus as they begin scouring the Earth for the being that is also in search of all the various entities . . Scar. Or is it Krona? I'm not sure which, but . . either way, these two unwitting allies don't have any clue as to who it might be. We also see that Carol has decided to sink herself into her new role. Despite Hal's objections. And Larfleeze is holding somebody for Hal, who seems to know a little bit about his background. He taunts him by telling him that he knows that he was ripped away from his family, and that Larfleeze isn't his real name. And while this is going on, there's some speculation on OA as to why no one has heard from Hal since they defeated Nekron. 'I'm beginning to suspect Hal Jordan's ring is either malfunctioning . . or he doesn't want the Guardians to know what he's up to. But the truly important part of this issue is about a little girl from Michigan . . Nicole Morrison. She's been abducted, and apparently through her compassion and forgiveness for the man holding her . . the Blue entity, Adara has chosen her to be her new host. Which brings Saint Walker to Earth. She seems to want to fill everyone with Hope. She also eludes to Larfleeze's past. 'I am here to give you Hope. Your parents are still alive. And they still miss you.' And then she goes to work on Hal. But before anything can really happen . . Barry Allen, the Flash, shows up. 'We need to talk about you and your new friends, Green Lantern. Right . . NOW!' It seems Atrocitus' demolition, or murder, of the inmates in the buses in issue #58 has caught the attention of the Justice League. Flash, as well as Superman and Batman, are concerned about the people that Hal seems to be working with lately . . Sinestro, Atrocitus, Larfleeze, and in issue #59 . . the Indigo Tribe. Whom now seem to be in control of the Black Hand. The tribe has come to Earth with their entity, Proselyte, who chooses a man, Shane Thompson, to be it's new host. Everyone's immediate concern is . . 'Black Hand?' The Tribe has shown up before, when they needed them. But it surprises them to see Black Hand amongst their entourage. It turns out that their Indigo rings give their bearer 'Compassion'. But when it's explained to them, it sounds more like 'brainwashing'. And it opens up another question, 'So if the rings are forcing you to feel compassion, Indigo-1 . . what are you like without them? To which she describes, 'We are all born again.' Forcing Hal to ask another question, 'But were you all like Black Hand? Maniacs and murderers?' But rather than wait for the answer, Adara tries to help them find it. Between Saint Walker and Adara they figure out . . 'I can't sense any Hope inside of them. It appears as if Black Hand's emotions are being controlled by the ring. Perhaps that applies to all of them. The Indigo Rings are capable of channeling other light from the spectrum. I did not realize it was a necessity.' And then . . Scar shows up with Parallax. But it seems he's not interesting in re-inhabiting Hal. Instead . . he takes over Barry. So in issue #60 . . it's pretty much just a knock-down-drag-out fight between Hal and Barry. And much in the way of the Black Lanterns, Parallax taunts Hal by rehashing the failings of their friendship. But Scar shows his face, and we find out that either he's controlling the emotional spectrum's entities, or . . he seems to be trying to goad them all into coming to one place . . Earth, so that he can work out his plan. Pretty much all of the big players of each Corps, including the entities and their hosts, have shown up to try and fight this guy. Well . . all except for Sinestro . . who gets a call from his Corps-members, and races off to Qward. You can follow that story in the Green Lantern Corps title. And Atrocitus seems more interested in finding his own spectrum's entity, the Butcher, rather than following through on his agreement to help Hal. But when Scar pulls out the Blue, Yellow and Indigo entities from their hosts . . we find out his real identity . . Krona. I mean . . if you've been following this book, and the Corps' book . . we kind of knew who this was going to be. It wasn't a huge surprise, but . . it was a nice reveal. In issue #61, Atrocitus finally catches up with the Butcher, and we see it pick it's host. But it's not who we think it's going to be. We see convict getting ready to be executed for his crimes against humanity, and with his final words he taunts the father of the girl whom he killed. So when he comes busting in, I expected him to choose the convict as his host. But instead . . he chooses the father of the victim. 'James Kim of Earth. You have great rage in your heart. And I am hungry.' But that's when the Spectre becomes involved. It seems that the Spectre and the Butcher have a bit of a history. But before the Spectre can strike him down . . Atrocitus claims him as his own. But of course the Spectre has something to say about that. And while they argue . . the Butcher takes Mr Kim as a host, and then proceeds to strike down the convict. Something we find out from this exchange . . and the few previous possessions that have occurred with the other spectrum's entities . . it seems that the emotion that each of these spectrums embody isn't it's driving force. The Butcher's rage, Parallax's fear, Adara's hope . . the emotion attached to them isn't what drives them . . it's what feeds them. So as Carol discovered back on Zamaron . . it's not the entity that corrupts the host . . but the other way around. Or rather it's the raw emotion that the entities consume that seem to send them into their blind emotional rages. And when Mr Kim's rage is abated . . the Butcher can no longer get what it needs from him. And it chooses another host . . Atrocitus. However, in it's transition . . Atrocitus' willpower, along with the Spectre's help, stops the Butcher from doing so. And instead it becomes a prisoner of Atrocitus' Lantern. It seems that Atrocitus has gotten what he came for. But what about the Spectre? There's usually always some fallen soul in his wake. Well . . he begins by holding Mr Kim in judgement . . for the death that he was responsible for while inhabited by the Butcher. But Atrocitus stands up for him . . questioning the validity and function of the 'eye for an eye' principle. To which the Spectre replies . .'You dare to question scripture?' Atrocitus tells him, 'You may be objective and calm in your judgements, Spectre, but once you pass the you are no longer haunted by their victims. But the victims are our families and the hauntings never stop. No matter what blood has spilled. There will never be enough to balance the scales. So if you wish to judge James Kim, you must first judge me.' And the Spectre tries, but . .'You cannot be judged. Not now. Your mission against Krona is a holy one. But know that it will not last forever.' And finally, in issue #62, we begin the prelude to the War of the Green Lanterns storyline. We start out by learning a little about Krona's history. Including something I didn't know before . .'He was responsible for the accidental creation of the anti-matter universe and all that it gave birth to: Qward and the Weaponers, the Anti-Monitor, and ultimately, Sinestro's Yellow Ring.' We also find out that Krona discovered the pocket dimensions where a lot of the various Corps members keep their Lanterns. So most of the issue is spent in a big fight between Hal, his colleagues and Krona. But, there were a couple of 'key' moments. Having been a scientist for the Guardians . . way back when, we find out that most of the things that the various Corps now use, where actually created or designed by Krona. So there's very little they can throw at him that he hasn't already thought of, or created. Also, Krona has an 'ace' in his pocket in the form of Hector Hammond. He's still possessed by Ophidian, so . . Krona can control the entity, and thereby ,through association, Hammond's powers. Which seems to be enough to turn the tide of battle, and allow Krona to obtain the rest of the spectrum's entities. Well . . I would assume . . all except for the Star Sapphire's. But I'm not sure about that. Next thing we know, Hal's waking up in the Justice League's infirmary, and Krona has retreated into space . . the Lost Sector, maybe? I assume to plan and begin his war. But before heading off to give chase . . with the rest of his colleagues from the various Corps . . he gets a stern scolding by the 'big-guns' . . Superman, Batman and the Flash. They're trying to get him to accept their help. But, as friends . . I don't think he wants to involve them unless he absolutely has to. But there's something left hanging between Hal and his JLA peers that's going to have to be resolved sooner or later. But right now . . we're heading off into the War of the Green Lanterns. And it looks to be a doozy. Oh yeah . . there's a little preview at the end where we get to see some of the original interaction between the Guardians and Krona . . as well as a hint at some of what led to his expulsion. As well as a peak at Hal's future. Or rather, I guess, what the Guardians perceive it to be. It's also by Geoff Johns and Ed Benes. Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke have done a fantastic job of bringing us this story. And in expanding upon, and explaining aspects of the Green Lantern mythos. There's lots of little 'ah-ha' moments throughout this storyline. Doug has lots of help with the art throughout this series. It all looks great. But he also has some nice help with the variant covers. They include covers by Adrian Syaf, Alex Garner, Frank Quitely, Gene Ha, and Ryan Sook. This continues to be one of my favorite series out there. And what I believe to be one of the best written. I cant' wait to see where we go from here.

Green Lantern Corps #51, #52, #53, #54, #55, #56 and #57 - DC

2010-12-30T21:37:00.026-05:00

We start out this batch of issues with the Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns storyline. In it, Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg-Superman has captured Ganthet. He looks like he's using him to torture the Alpha-Lanterns, one by one, but actually . . he's trying to get him to covert them back to their original state of being . . their human being. Or . . being human. Somehow someone has convinced him that Ganthet can change them back. And if that is so . . he would also be able to, somehow, change him back. No matter what Henshaw's done throughout the years, it seems that it always comes back to him wanting to be human again. He even orders Lantern Glibberquip to blow his head off in front of Ganthet, and Lantern Stel, to show them how serious he is. Plus I think it was a way to demonstrate to Ganthet just how complete his control is over these Alpha-Lanterns. He then has Ganthet experiment on Lantern Hraalkar . . unsuccessfully. And next is Lantern Horroq Nnot. Anyways, Kyle, John and Sora are still hiding in the bowels of the planet, so . . they work there way down to where Henshaw has sent the rest of the robot population. They try to use the planets resident's respect for Stel to rally them against Henshaw. But they are completely under Hank's command. So, with not many options being left open to them . . Kyle decides to call in Hannu . . one of the Lost Lanterns. He shows up about the same time as Boodikka. Whom Henshsaw has sent to check in on the 'servants'. Even though these two were captured together, for years, with Henshaw . . Hannu is unrelenting with Boodikka. His initial attack breaks her battery, which loosens Henshaw's control over her. And before she passes, she uses her own energy to recharge the Lantern's rings. But . . then we find out . . she doesn't pass. Somehow Sora and John save her. And while this is going on . . Ganthet actually figures out how to remove the power battery from Horroq Nnot's chest . . essentially returning her to her original form . . with a few pieces added, and exchanged . . of course. And that's when John and Kyle's plan to attack, with the support of all of Grenda's robot population, occurs. In the battle Hank's body is destroyed. His essence tries to take residence in the newly revitalized Boodikka. But her willpower is just to strong for him, and she ends up destroying him. Well . . at least as far as we know. For now. When they all go back to OA, Ganthet uses what he's learned to give the rest of the Alpha-Lanterns . . if nothing else, at least the return of their human emotions. Physically they're still Alpha-Lanterns, but . . at least now their decision making process will be a little clearer. They're no longer more machine than man. And for their sacrifice in battle, the Guardians grant Ganthet, Boodikka, John, Kyle, Sora, Hannu and Stel Honor Guard status. Basically allowing them to operate in any sector they choose. The Guardians want them to be an inspiration to the rest of the Corps. Meanwhile, back on Qward, the Weaponer has come across a net of some sort that's been left behind. It's made out of the energy of the White Lantern. So he's decided to try to use it to make a weapon to fight Sinestro. And in issue #53 his plan finally comes together, and . . he strikes. But not in the way you'd expect. He goes to Korugar and starts some trouble to attract Sora's attention . . Sinestro's daughter. But she's not there right now . . Kyle is instead. Somehow the Weaponer has configured the net from the White Lantern into his shield, and now at his request it creates the perfect weapon that he needs for any situation. Kyle calls out for her, and when Sora finally does show up . . the Weaponer makes short work of both of them and then captures her and takes her back to Qward. He tells Kyle to warn Sinestro that he has his daughter, because he wants to kill him. The reason he hasn't drawn him directly into battle is because . . for what he's done to him, Qward, and the entire anti-matter universe . . the Weaponer wants him to die on Qward. Kyle goes back to Earth to warn him, but . . Sinestro doesn't seem very eager to help, or to try to save his daughter. Which brings Kyle and Sinestro to odds. Kyle just wants Thaal to come back with him to Qward and help him save his daughter . . Kyle's girlfriend. But for some reason . . Sinestro wants nothing to do with this mission. We also find out that the truce between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps is not violated so long as they don't use their rings. So instead, Kyle returns to OA and enlists the aid of his fellow honor guards. In the meantime, back on Qward, the Weaponer tells his story to Sora. We find out how, and why, the Weaponers decided to make the yellow rings in the first place, and then what Sinestro . . and later his Sinestro Corps, did to enslave and disparage the entire Qwardian race. It actually all revolves around the being that they looked to as their god . . the Anti-Monitor. Anyways, Kyle and the rest of the Honor Guard show up on Qward. With every intention of rescuing Sora, but . . they aren't prepared to deal with the Weaponer's new weapon . . the net made of White Light. Therefore, he makes pretty short work of all of them. Well . . all except Kyle. He's managed to stay out of the battle in lieu of searching for Sora. By the time he does find her . . and they abscond with some of the Weaponer's own weapons to fight him with . . their fellow Lanterns have all been subdued. However, the Weaponer's own fellow Qwardians consider him an outcast. Since he's the one that forged the original ring for Sinestro, the entire planet blames him for everything bad that's happened to them. And honestly . . they've been through a lot. But the point is . . they don't really care if the Green Lanterns kill him or not. However, I'm sure they're more than a little dismayed when next . . the entire Sinestro Corps shows up at their doorstep. Well . . everyone except for Sinestro, that is. However, it isn't long before he joins the fray as well. As he explains it to the Weaponer . . 'I sent my troops ahead, as any wise General would. I arrive on my terms . . not yours.' And we learn that Kyle and Thaal's little tussle back on Earth was kind of a prelude to what happens here. Apparently the 'no rings' policy, as far as the truce between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps, also applies here. The Sinestro Corps want to wipe out Qward. Or at least it's population. And obviously the Green Lantern Corps can't let that happen. But . . they have to figure out how to stop them without breaking the truce. As we learned from Ganthet in issue #55, Attrocitus is on Earth trying to find out who is behind the abduction of all of the entities . . and where they're taking them. Apparently Ganthet knows that it's Scar, but . . he doesn't know where Scar is at. However, he does know that the only way they'll be able to stand up to Scar . . especially with the power of the various entities, is with Sinestro's help. But he won't do that if the truce is broken. Hannu is the first to jump in. He doesn't like to use his ring anyways. And Kyle and Sora gather up a bunch of weapons from the Weaponer's arsenal. Issue #56 ends with the Corps . . or rather the Honor Guard, standing side-by-side with the Qwardians, ready to face off against Sinestro and his Corps. In the final chapter, Firestorm is also drawn to this planet . . apparently by the use of the White Light. He's actually in search of the Black Lantern version of himself, Deathstorm. So this is kind of a cross-over with Brightest Day. And it will probably serve to explain, in that book, how Firestorm ended up being in the anti-matter universe. And more specifically on the planet Qward. Anyways, Ronnie and Jason are hell-bent on finding him because the evil guy has absorbed Professor Stein and Jason's own father into his own matrix. And since Firestorm doesn't have any kind of truce with the Sinestro Corps, he's more than willing to help out in this battle. But even with his help, things are pretty much a stalemate. However, we do get a bit of a twist at the end. Sinestro seems to have beaten the Weaponer, but instead of killing him . . he offers him a position on his Corps. The Weaponer is now a Yellow Lantern. And . . there's another question I have about the end of this story. When Sinestro and the rest of his Corps head back to Earth . . including the Weaponer . . it appears that the White Lantern net is no longer attached to his shield. So . . where is it? He may have it. It's never really explained that he doesn't. But when we see him last, it doesn't appear to still be attached to his shield. So . . where is it? Hopefully that will all be explained in the Firestorm part of this story. But, we also find out at the end, from Ganthet, that not only do they face Scar when they return to Earth, but also . . Krona. Remember when, way back when, the JLA were tricked into believing that he was still in his other dimensional prison? Firestorm appeared to be the only one that suspected things to be different. Anyways, this is all leading into the next big storyline . . War of the Green Lanterns. The first part of this group of books . . the Revolt of the Alpha-Lanterns, is brought to us by Tony Bedard, with Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes doing the art. And it really does look fantastic. The Weaponer storyline is also brought to us by Tony, but with Tyler Kirkman and Batt doing the art. It looks just as good. The thing I like about this book is the diversity of characters. There are so many great, and interesting characters here. And it appears that Tony is going to introduce us to as many of them as possible. And now that Hal and Guy each have their own books, we get to see more of Kyle, John and the rest in this one. This book is a great read . . and an action-packed thrill-ride through each of it's pages. I look forward to it every month.

Smallville - Luthor - Season 10 - Episode 10 - CW

2010-12-27T00:17:00.007-05:00

This episode introduces Clark to alternate universes. In this one, Clark is transported to the world where he's been raised by Lionel Luthor . . rather than the Kent's, and he's taken on the persona of Ultra-man. He's a very evil and power hungry man on this world. Anyways, Tess is bequeathed a Kryptonian relic . . the mirror-box, by her estranged father, Lionel. Clark finds it, while at Cadmus looking into the Lex clone that's on the loose. When he activates it the two Clarks switch places. On the other Earth he finds out about Tess being Luthor's daughter, and that this other Clark had held this world in a grip of fear. Fearing for his own world, he tries to find the way back. Of course he does, and all is put right. But I think the real purpose of this story was to work Lionel back into the mix of things. When Clark does finally find the other world's mirror-box, with Ollie's help, he comes back but . . Lionel is close by. Somehow Clark doesn't know it, but Lionel has also come back to his Earth with him . . on his heels, or coat-tails. And it looks like he's decided to lay low and get the feel for this Earth before he makes any big moves. This also resolves all the secrets that Tess has been hiding. Her and Clark talk about Alexander, and her being the bastard child of Lionel. So far it seems like Clark trusts her. But it's probably tenuous at best. And . . they haven't told everybody else yet. I'm sure there will be some dissenting opinion. I think this is shaping up to be a great season. I can't wait to see how it all shakes out.

Chuck vs the Leftovers - Season 4 - Episode 10 - NBC

2010-12-27T00:16:00.006-05:00

In their Thanksgiving episode, we get even more revelations about Volkoff and his relationship with Chuck's mom. It appears that in the many years that she's been working for him . . deep undercover for the CIA . . he's actually developed some pretty deep feelings for her. That, apparently, is why he always seems so protective of her. We thought it was because he knew that she was a double-agent . . or maybe suspected so. But actually . . he's in love. Well . . as in love as a guy like this can get. In usual Chuck fashion, he and Elle don't really celebrate anything traditionally. Instead, they have an after Thanksgiving left-over dinner. Anyways, first Sarah and Chuck are attacked by some of Volkoff's assassins. They seem to be holding their own, but . . they're still outnumbered. Until Chuck's mom comes along and saves the day. Actually, she was ordered by Volkoff to take out Chuck, when he learned that he was still alive, so technically . . these guys are working for her. They take her into custody and try to interrogate her. During which Volkoff captures Jeff and Lester, and places a bomb inside the Buy More. He's threatening to take them all out unless Frost is returned to him. They end up in a confrontation outside of Castle, where Volkoff learns that Chuck is actually Frost's son. Which also occurs just as Elle calls to invite everyone over for dinner. So . . long story short . . Volkoff meets everybody, after which . . he still wants to kill them all. But Frost won't let him. But she also won't leave him. Sarah realizes, and tells Chuck that she's doing so to ensure that they all stay alive. Because of Awesome and Elle's involvement in all of this . . plus Awesome's revelation that Chuck is still in the spy-business . . Awesome gives Chuck his father's computer back to him. Of course he solves the riddle that Elle couldn't, and . . ta-da . . the Intersect is back in Chuck's head. All of this is interwoven with hilarious scenes of the Buy More, as well as Morgan and the rest of the 'Nerds'. I especially thought the scene with Chuck and Morgan, deciding that they need to get some training in, attend a kick/strip class. That's what I think I like so much about this show. There's the scenes of action and adventure, but then . . there's also the scenes of sheer stupidity. I love it. I think it's great. But now I have another show to watch . . the Cape.

Brightest Day #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15 and #16 - DC

2010-12-21T10:14:00.015-05:00

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to go about this, but . . I've got a whole lot of issues here, so . . I guess it's best just to get started. As we go through these 8 or 9 issues, a lot of the story revolves around Boston Brand and Dove. They're on a mission, by the White Lantern Ring . . the one on Boston's finger, that keeps talking to him . . they're on a mission to find 'the new Protector'. The problem is, they have no idea who or what they're looking for. The White Ring can be pretty vague when it's talking to it's 12 disciples here. Well . . maybe disciple isn't the best word. It's not like they're serving the White Ring . . or even understand it. It's more like . . they all know that the White Ring brought them back, and . . they're all just trying to figure out why. And, even though the White Ring is pretty vague . . it still speaks up and creates havoc for them all whenever they get off in a direction that the White Ring doesn't approve of. They've been given life, and power, and free-will . . as long as they continue along the path of the goals of the White Ring. It doesn't sound very benevolent to me, but . . I'm thinking at this point . . it's more like it's just misunderstood. Anyways, Boston and Dove are off on their mission, after separating rather quickly from Hawk. Apparently whatever his purpose . . it's divergent from the other two. Although . . I thought his mission was to protect Dove. Anyways, their search is pretty futile until Batman returns. Boston is convinced that he's the only person smart enough to be the 'new Protector'. But . . his assumption turns out to be erroneous. But he does learn another lesson. 'Quit Searching. Live Life. The Chosen One Will Come To You!' And during the course of this . . a spark ignites between Boston and Dove. There may be a bit of a romance brewing here. Or is it just a connection between their individual connections to this White Light? Also during the course of these issues, a whole lot of stuff happens to J'onn. It starts out we he and M'gann searching for this other Green Martian that attacked her. He's been told by the White Ring that he needs to 'Burn Down The Forest', so . . when he finds the psychic dead zone in what is now Ollie's forest in Star City . . he thinks that's what the ring is talking about. Of course it doesn't help that his powers run amok as soon as he enters the forest. It appears that his psychic and physical selves are at war with each other. Also, since his return, his proximity to plant life acts much the same way as Arthur's to sea life . . they suck the life out of everything within close proximity to them. Anyways, it's not long before Ollie gets involved and helps him get out of the forest. Once he gets a chance to clear his head he realizes that the ring is talking about the forest that he's brought back to life on Mars. So he heads there, where he finds D'kay D'razz trying to corrupt everything that he's tried to recreate. Apparently she was a very powerfully psychic Green Martian that was imprisoned for her erratic beliefs. In that prison, deep under the surface of Mars, she also survived the extinction of it's people. When Professor Erdel brought J'onn to Earth . . all those years ago, he apparently also pulled her along for the ride. However, she wasn't ready for the psychic assault of all the minds on Earth, so she retreated and hid in human form for all these years . . forgetting the memories of her Martian heritage. That is until J'onn died, and his telepathic burst awakened her. But she still thought that she was alone until she saw on TV that J'onn had returned. So now, I guess, she wants to be part of Mars' return. She tricks J'onn into thinking that in a burst of White Ring power, he brings everything, and everyone on Mars back to life. He also apparently lives out this fantasy for what he believes to be the next 25 years. That is until events in this fantasy convince him that he's dreaming and that he needs to awaken. What D'kann has neglected to tell him is that he's brought the plant life on Mars back to life by siphoning from the plant life of Earth. In order to bring one back, he'd have to destroy the other. Which obviously D'kann doesn't really care about. But obviously J'onn is going to have to decide between bringing Mars back, or . . giving up on the whole idea. On Hawkworld, Carter and Shiera find out that this world is ruled over by Queen Shrike. Who is actually Shiera's original mother . . from way back in Egypt . . Queen Khea. Apparently her, and Hath Set's mission is to activate the gate that he's created out of the bones of all of Carter's and Shiera's resurrected lives. They need Carter and Shiera to be in contact with it to activate it. They capture Shiera, and through that lure Carter into their trap. In the process, Shiera kills Hath Set . . which Queen Shrike would've done eventually, anyways. And now it appears that she's got her doorway and sights set on Earth. But actually . . she and her army head to Zamaron. Although, I'm not really sure why . . yet. Aquaman and Mera are on a mission of their own. Aquaman has recently found out that Mera is actually one of the Atlanteans that was banished to Xebel. She originally came here to kill Arthur . . because of her people's hatred towards him and the Atlanteans. But she fell in love with him instead. Now her sister, Siren has shown up and is trying to finish what Mera started. Anyways, there's another person from Xebel here also . . Jackson . . Black Manta's son, and the future Aqualad. The reason he's so important to everyone is because in his powers he holds the key to open the portal between Xebel and Earth . . which lies in the Bermuda triangle. Siren and her people want him so that he can open the gate and they can exact their revenge upon the Atlanteans, as well as the land-dwellers. I'm not sure how Black Manta plays into that whole plan . . other than the fact that he's Jackson's biological father, but . . apparently Siren wants to use him for some reason. Anyways, Aquaman and Mera want to stop all of this because . . well, who really wants an all out war between the denizens of the deep and the rest of Earth? Anyways, during the course of all this, Jackson finds out his true origins from Arthur. His mother was a surface dweller, and when Jackson was born . . she died. His powers came about because of experiments they did on him when he was an infant. And at first he lashes out at Arthur, until . . he realizes just how much alike the two of them are. Although their two circumstances are quite different . . their way of looking at the world . . and their place in it . . is quite similar. And then . . we have Firestorm. First of all . . this is a character that's near and dear to my heart. I've been following Ronnie and the Professor ever since their very first mini-series back in 1978. I've read every appearance of his since. I'm thrilled the Geoff Johns has taken an interest in him and is trying to once again adapt him to the current times, and state of affairs within the DC Universe. This is a great character, and I was really upset when the first series was cancelled. In fact, at the time, I even submitted a few story ideas of my own, to try to keep the character alive . . a way to explain some of the things that had happened at the end there. Anyways, I'm just happy that he's been given some new life, and a new purpose. Even if, right now, it appears that fate may be the end of the entire DC Universe. Anyways, what's happened is that now Ronnie and Jason inhabit the Firestorm matrix. Each providing their own unique wisdom and guidance. And either can be in the driver's seat. But, there's also someone else in there. Apparently, because of their respective guilt or regrets, neither of them have been able to let go of the negative, or dark side of their egos. Thus creating a third ego inside of the matrix, and . . he calls himself Deathstorm. He looks like the Black Lantern version of Firestorm. Probably because that's the way that both of the boys see him. And that's part of what they both feel most guilty about . . the things they did as a Black Lantern. Anyways, this entity has released itself from the matrix, and has assimilated the Professor and Jason's father, Alvin, into it's own being. We also find out that this version of Firestorm can transmute organics. Which is how he appears to bring the Black Lanterns back to life, when he transmutes the fallen heroes out of the dirt around him. But the Ronnie/Jason version of Firestorm isn't without a set of it's own improvements. First of all, they're much more powerful together than either of them were separately. But, in that power comes a price. They have to stay calm and focused because . . they appear to be the living embodiment of the 'Big Bang'. The Professor theorizes that the accident that originally created Firestorm . . bonding his and Ronnie's lives together, forever . . was actually him not only recreating the 'Big Bang', but . . also capturing it. Thus creating the Firestorm matrix. So . . if they should become agitated or upset . . the resultant release of energy could be a spark for the next 'Big Bang'. In the end, the boys decide to go to the JLA to try to seek some help. But, while being examined by Dr Mid-Nite and Ray Palmer, the boys become upset and it appears that they explode, literally, in a cacophony of rage. The issue ends with them appearing to be the only living thing within an overwhelming vastness of darkness. Obviously they didn't destroy the DC Universe, but . . what did happen? And what about the good Doctor and Ray? I think this is a fantastic series and I've loved every issue in it. I think Geoff Johns and Peter J Tomasi are doing a great job with the story. Obviously all these individual stories are connected, but . . we don't get to see the picture as to how . . yet. I also think it's a good idea to leave Max Lord out of this series, as he's the chief protagonist in the Generation Lost series. His story is being explored and expanded upon there. But, he is brought up every once in a while here. Really the only one of these resurrected 'heroes' that I'm a bit confused about is the Reverse Flash. But, I still have to catch up on the Flash book, so . . hopefully I'll know some more then. Anyways, this series has also brought together a fantastic pool of talent. The art chores on these books have been shared by Ivan Reis, Patrick Gleason, Adrian Syaf, Joe Prado and Scott Clark. Not to mention some beautiful covers by David Finch. Anyways . . I've really been thrilled with this book so far. I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this posted . . personal problems and issues, and all. I guess I was just a little overwhelmed by what I was trying to bite off here, plus . . this is post #5000. I wanted to make it a good one, and about a book that I really enjoyed. I think I put a little bit to much pressure on myself. Oh well. Such is life. Anyways . . it feels good to get that one out of the way and to move on to whatever the future may hold. I'll try to post as much as I can, but . . with my personal life it's been getting harder and harder. But I promise . . I'll do what I can.

Justice Society of America #42, #43, #44, #45 and #46 - as well as Justice League #48 - DC

2010-12-21T10:12:00.013-05:00

I had to include Justice League #48 here because it's all part of the Dark Things story-line. This is the cross-over event between the JSA and the JLA this year. James Robinson does a great job with the story, and I'm really enjoying Mark Bagley's work on the JLA . . and by association, this entire storyline. Well . . except for issue #43 which is the epilogue to this series, and sets the groundwork for the future of the JSA. Well . . kind of. It actually sets the stage for Alan Scott's next evolution and role within the JSA. As well as Jade and Obsidian. Anyways, that issue is by Jesus Merino. Also Mark Bagley not only did the covers, but . . if you take all 5 chapters of this story-line, it provides a nice panoramic view of both teams. My only concern is that Mark does some work on the 150th issue of Ultimate Spider-man, and . . there's reports of him going back to Marvel to do some more work. I'm afraid this may be his swan-song as a DC artist. I don't know that for sure, but . . if so . . that would definitely be a loss for DC. As well as the readers. I think he's brought a great energy to the titles that he's done over the last year or two here. But . . such is the way of the comic book creator. Right? Anyways, Issue #42 shows us the amalgamation of Jenni-Lynn and Todd . . Jade and Obsidian. Apparently their respective powers exemplify the light and dark natures of the Star-Heart. With this new more powerful Star-Heart on the scene . . and their already seeming lack of control of their powers over the years . . especially Todd . . it seems as if they've been drawn together to form a physical manifestation of the Star-Heart persona. But, part of it is also because, for some reason, the Star-Heart is afraid of Jenni. Or at least uncomfortable with her. I think it all has to do with her being dead . . then a Black Lantern . . then resurrected . . and in this issue, for a short period of time, a White Lantern. Anyways, it's that power that she's tapped into that she eventually uses to break free of her brother. Although it breaks both their hearts as they can now never be within about a half mile of each other, as the temptation for this amalgamation will be to strong for either of them. Anyways, Faust figures out that the Star-Heart isn't actually there because Alan is really only a construct. He figures this out because the Star-Heart is using Fate to bind the heroes. Therefore, the real Alan/Star-Heart must be someplace else, and consequently . . they can attack without fear of consequence. Unfortunately . . for the Star-Heart, after this revelation Fate regains his composure, and after dissipating the Alan construct . . they force Alan and the real Star-Heart to return to the moon to face this army on it's own. And that's the beginning of the end. Alan shortly regains control, and the war is over. However, for Alan . . it's a tenuous relationship at best. Because of the Star-Heart's increased power he has to remain in control at all times. The slightest misstep and everything starts all over . . again. Finally in issue #43 . . the epilogue . . we find that Alan has decided to keep the Star-Heart's city on the dark side of the moon in tact. In fact it's become a safe-zone, of sorts, for all types of magical creatures from Earth. He's also become their leader . . for lack of a better term. Maybe administrator is better. And he's formed alliances with many other magical worlds. This includes Sorcerer's world, the 5th dimension, and Gemworld . . to name a few. Most of this issue is spent with Alan explaining all of this to Todd, as well as the dangers of him and his sister falling into the trap of the Star-Heart again. It's nice to see Alan and Todd talking like this again, but . . I don't think Todd fully accepts his father's reasoning. I have a feeling this is going to be something that's going to come back and bite them all in the butt again . . sooner or later. Also, between parts 5 and the epilogue . . JLA #48 and JSA #43 . . it seems like there's something missing. Almost like there's a part of the story in there that we didn't get to see, or something. I don't know . . maybe it's just me. Overall I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was a good run. Then in issues #44, #45 and #46 we start off in a new direction, under the tutelage of Marc Guggenheim and Scott Kolins. It starts out that there's this guy (?) that's been locked in this Afghanistan prison for the last 5 years. Two months ago he breaks out, and a couple of weeks later ends up in Monument Point wreaking havoc. It appears to me that all of this happens before the Dark Things story-line. The story actually starts out in the present, with Jay being asked to become the new Mayor of Monument Point, and . . then we flash back 2 months to what I assume are the events leading up to this. The reason I'm pretty sure this occurs before the Dark Things is because Alan is seriously hurt . . paralyzed actually, and taken to a hospital in Florida. So, in the course of stopping this obviously super-powered terrorist, the JSA pretty much lay waste to this little town. After they beat him, the stop to survey the damage and Wildcat asks . . ' . . what have we done?' In issue #45 we find out that this new 'super-villain' is actually connected to a mission Jay and Alan had during WWII. Since they were being kept out of Germany by the Spear of Destiny, they decided to do what they could in Japan. They were ordered to destroy a secret project called 'Drachen'. What they found was a baby. So obviously they couldn't bring themselves to destroy it. Fast forward to the present and 'Drachen' is this new 'super-villain' that they're calling Scythe. So ultimately Jay and Alan are responsible for everything that's happened here. Which forces Jay to decide that he's going to stick around and help them rebuild. Then in issue #46 we find out, for sure, that this is actually happening after the Dark Things. Alan talks to Dr Mid-Nite about how he's pure energy, but . . he's taken physical form. And with all the concentration he has to wield to keep the Star-Heart in check . . he doesn't have enough energy to heal himself. They've got Scythe locked up in a local back vault . . which Michael converted into a prison cell, but . . he still appears to be pulling some strings. The Mayor's aide, Mr Hogan, has hired a Dr Chaos for some reason or another. All we know is that at the end of the issue Lightning loses her powers, and appears to be dead, as does the new Mayor . . Mayor Voytek. Of course it doesn't help that Todd decides he wants to enact some revenge on Scythe for what he did to his father. He ends up distracting Jay right when he's needed most. The blurb at the end of all of this . . for next issue is . . 'Things get worse!' That doesn't bode well for . . anyone. I like the story-line so far. I'm just a little confused about the timeline. In the beginning of all this Jay was being asked to be Mayor . . after Voytek's death. Then we see that Scythe broke out of his cell 2 months before that. He attacked this city 3 weeks after that. The initial attack is when Alan was paralyzed. So I'm not sure how this all fits in with the previous story-line. Or, maybe . . I'm just reading to much into all of this and I just need to accept the story for what it is, and not get all caught up in the continuity of the situation. Right? It certainly sounds like a plan to me. Anyways . . great covers by Shane Davis. And on issue #46, Mike Norton steps in to help out Scott on the pencils. Oh yeah, and the title of this story-line is 'Supertown' . . for whatever reason.

Steve Rogers - Super Soldier #2, #3 and #4 - Marvel

2010-12-04T22:04:00.006-05:00

Captain America is somebody that I've always held a passing interest in. However . . I can't afford everything. So . . I don't usually follow this book, or character on a regular basis. I do however know enough about the character that I'm not usually lost if I decide to pick up a few issues . . or follow a mini-series. I really liked the story about Cap's return, so . . when I saw this mini-series coming out, I decided to give it a shot. Of course it didn't hurt that Dale Eaglesham was doing the art. I think he's a great talent. I love his work. Anyways, in the first issue we saw that Doctor Erskine . . the original doctor that created the Super-Soldier formula . . apparently he had a grandson. And, as evil genius' progeny are apt to do, he's also decided to follow in his grand-father's footsteps and is trying to recreate, or refine, the formula. However, he doesn't appear as altruistic as his grand-father, as he's attempting to mass produce it and sell it on the open market. However, when Steve goes to Mandipoor to confront him, the professor is as shocked as he, as he claims that he was developing it as a cure for cancer. But he doesn't tell him much else as a sniper bullet then ends his life. Steve's also surprised to see the the professor's wife bears a striking resemblance to his first love, Lieutenant Cynthia Glass. But she died back in WW II, so . . this can't be her. It isn't long though before we find out that the actual person behind all of this madness is the Machinesmith. He's an enemy that Steve has faced before. But in his previous demise, his soul, or personality, was captured within an electronic device. He can now apparently move from one electrical device to another at a whim. So he's infiltrated the professor's company, Nextin Pharmaceuticals. He built a construct to pose as his head of security, and then he built a woman to be his wife, Anita . . who also resembled Cynthia, to lure Steve into the picture. Anyways, by the end of issue #2 the Machinesmith has deactivated the serum in Steve's body, and has reverted him back to his 98 pound weakling self. I assume that the reason he doesn't also age is because the serum is actually still in his bloodstream. It's just dormant. I guess. Anyways, Anita helps him get back to normal, and then . . they're off to stop the sale of the formula. In issue #3 we learn a lot about what made Steve the man he is. And it doesn't really have a lot to do with the formula. Sure it helped him achieve physical perfection, but . . the drive, the stamina, the desire for truth and justice . . those things all came from Steve's adolescence and his personal experience. And then all the fighting and strategy and such was taught to him when he joined the armed forces. So . . keep that in mind, because next Steve takes down the Machinesmith. With Anita's help of course. She sacrifices herself. During the course of the fight Steve gets the Machinesmith to destroy everything else in the bunker. So when they shut down the satellite and cell transmissions, he has nowhere else to go but into his creation . . Anita. However, with the Beast's help, they've rigged her so that signals can get in . . but nothing can get out. And then Steve shuts him off. Unfortunately you know the Machinesmith will be back. He's not going to be taken out that easily. But in the epilogue we find out the he's not the real villain here. At least . . he's not the brains behind the whole thing. We find out that Dr Erskine faked his death. And then, with what looks to be a government type, they massaged the circumstances so that it looked like the Machinesmith had manipulated this whole series of events. When actually they were the ones putting all the pieces into place. Since Steve took out the Machinesmith he has no reason to suspect, or look in their direction. And they are proceeding with the Super-Soldier program. But they're focusing on Steve's social/economical background as well as his body type. They've got a dozen or so young men around Steve's original age . . with similar life experiences that they're keeping an eye on. So, nothing will be happening soon . . probably. But . . it's still in the works. This is all going to come back to bite Steve sooner or later. I thought Ed Brubaker constructed a great story here. The Machinesmith part of it all was a bit predictable, but . . I liked the little twist at the end. And of course Dale's art looked fantastic. Overall this storyline probably wasn't to important to the character, other than putting into motion a series of events that will affect Steve in the future. But . . it was interesting. And . . I liked it.

Smallville - Patriot - Season 10 - Episode 9 - CW

2010-11-22T23:27:00.007-05:00

This episode introduces us to one of my favorite characters from Battlestar Galactica . . Colonel Ty. However, on this show, he's General Slade Wilson. Yes . . the same Slade Wilson that becomes Deathstroke. But we don't get a hint of that until the final scene of the show. Anyways, General Wilson is in charge of enforcing the Vigilante Registration Act, VRA, now that it's been passed. And he's willing to do so passionately. AC, Aquaman, also shows up this episode with his new wife . . Mera. The General uses AC's acts as a soapbox for the VRA. But what Clark later finds out is that the 'oil rigs' that AC and Mera have been destroying around the globe, are actually covers for the deep-sea prisons that the General is building to hold the opponents of the VRA. Which coincidentally look surprisingly similar to the various facilities that Lex had built when he was trying to capture and study the meteor freaks. Anyways, Ollie decides to be the first person to sign up. Clark actually wants to do it, but Ollie tells him that he's to important to the cause. He agrees to do it, and if anything goes wrong . . which you just know it does, Clark and AC will have to come to his rescue. As it turns out . . this is exactly what the General is counting on. While he's got Ollie sequestered, he easily captures AC when he shows up to his rescue. Then, with Lois' help, Clark finds out that the only platform that's actually operational is in Alaska. When Clark shows up, the General captures him with Kryptonite bars, and then activates the auto-destruct sequence. 'I'd rather die taking you down than to let you continue to fighting against the freedoms of the American people.' Well . . that might not be exactly what he said, but . . you get the idea. Anyways, during the course of this, Clark looks at Slade with his X-ray vision and finds the Omega symbol branded on his skull. He thinks that's the mark of the beast that he let through the opening when he sent the Kandorians off . . the 'Darkness' that he's been worried about. He's already seen it in Granny Goodness and Gottfried. So he knows it's still out there. So . . the facility is destroyed. Of course Clark survives. And on the final scene of the show we see Slade coming out of an operation with a metal plate over his left eye. Anyways, while that was the main action . . the back story is Lois' induction into Clark and Ollie's club. She actually does quite a bit to help them this episode, and . . Clark realizes that he's a better person because of her. Their strength comes in their unity, cooperation and trust. They can accomplish much more together, and as part of 'the team', than either of them can if they tried to attack the problems solo. There's also a nice little moment in there between Lois and Mera. I thought it was a nice episode, and it really moved the story-lines along. Not only the one about the VRA and Clark and Ollie's team, but . . Lois and Clark's as well. We're only about half way through the season, so . . there's still plenty of time for just about anything to happen.

Chuck vs Phase Three - Season 4 - Episode 9 - NBC

2010-11-22T23:26:00.004-05:00

Most of this episode is spent with Sarah busting heads as she works her way through Thailand. She's found out that the Belgian has Chuck hidden in a secret base there, and she goes all 'Batman' on the locals trying to get information. There's even rumors, or urban legends, started about her as 'the giant white she-male'. Not exactly how I'd describe her, but . . whatever. Anyways, it isn't long before Casey and Morgan join the search. Basically, the Belgian is trying to use psychological torture to get Chuck to activate the Intersect. At which point . . he can access it, and sell all the information. But . . nothing seems to be working. When his gang of rescuers arrive, the Belgian is beginning phase three. That's where he erases everything else out of Chuck's head . . leaving only the Intersect. When they arrive, the Belgian tells them that the process is almost done . . and it takes a while for Chuck to recover when Sarah disconnects the machine, but . . after a short period of time, Chuck seems to be back to normal. Minus the Intersect of course. It's still not working. Meanwhile . . back in Burbank. Elle has found the computer that we all saw stashed away under the seat of her father's old Mustang. After a hilarious series of swapping electronic favors for medical procedures, Awesome gets the Nerd Herd to work on it and at least get it operational. It wasn't doing anything when they first found it. But they have to figure out the password. Which of course Elle knows because it was something between her and her father. At the end of the episode they see something on the computer, but . . we don't know what it is. At least not yet. It isn't to hard to figure out that this all has something to do with Chuck getting the Intersect operational. But all we can do is let it play out until the next episode. By the way, I forgot to mention it the last episode, but . . the Belgian is Richard Chamberlain. I didn't actually recognize him last time, but . . we see more of him this time. Overall, I liked the episode. I think, basically, it showed Chuck, and of course Sarah, that there isn't really any way to get the Intersect back up and running without some form of technology. They've tried fear, anxiety, emotional turmoil, but . . nothing seems to be working. Until they find some piece of his father's technology, there's not really anything they can do. Luckily, and coincidentally . . Elle has found just that piece in her father's old car. Unfortunately . . nobody else knows it . . yet. Hopefully all of that will unfold in the next episode when everybody spends Thanksgiving at Elle's. Anyways . . another cool episode from a very fun series.

Smallville - Abandon - Season 10 - Episode 8 - CW

2010-11-20T23:08:00.004-05:00

This episode focus' on two of Clark's supporting characters . . Lois . . and Tess. Lois, while moving in with Clark . . kind of reluctantly, kind of overtly . . comes across a box of her mother's things that she had forgotten about. When her mother died of cancer, she left some things for Lois in a box that ended up in the back of her closet for all these years. What she learns through this experience, and the video tapes that her mom leaves her, is that the guilt and confusion that a child feels as they're growing up . . especially when they have to deal with situations, such as losing a parent . . most of the time, those feelings are magnified by the child's lack of knowledge or insight into what's really going on. When parents don't sit down to thoroughly explain things to their children . . they formulate answers with the limited knowledge that they have. And whether they're right or wrong . . those answers become their beliefs. Anyways . . Lois is feeling the guilt over not having visited her mom during the final weeks when she was in the hospital. But as she soon learns from the tapes . . that was her mom's choice. This leads her to the revelation that before she can move on with her life . . and her life with Clark, she first had to resolve the issues she had over her mother's lose. From there . . she deduces that in order for Clark to move on he's also going to have to heal this rift between he and his father, Jor-El. So . . she heads down to the fortress. When Clark realizes what she's done, and comes to get her, he views a recording of his parents saying goodbye to him, shortly before he left Krypton. It was an image, and side of his parents that he hadn't seen before. The long and short of it is . . Lois and Clark are moving on with their relationship, and . . there may be a wedding in the near future. Also, during all of this, Tess comes across a few revelations of her own. She discovers that she'd grown up in an orphanage . . which she had completely forgot about. And she found a new menace for Clark in the visage of Granny Goodness. Along with Desaad and Gottfried, they plan on becoming Darkseid's new trinity. She also discovers that she was actually the daughter of Lionel Luthor. I'm not sure what those revelations will mean for her future, but . . I don't think she's revealed them all to Clark yet. Anyways . . I thought it was a great episode. Considering that it's the final season, it seems like a lot of new plot-threads are being introduced. I can't help but think about what that means for the future. On a side note . . I think the new season of the Human Target is a definite improvement over last years. I didn't think last year's was terrible. But . . this season seems a lot more exciting. They've introduced a couple of new female characters. And Baptiste has recently come back. Anyways, this series shows a lot of promise. If you're a follower of Smallville, you'll definitely like the Human Target. Give it a shot. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Chuck vs the Fear of Death - Season 4 - Episode 8 - NBC

2010-11-20T23:06:00.006-05:00

At the end of the last episode Chuck's mom used something to suppress the Intersect in Chuck's head. This episode, Chuck, with some help from the CIA, try everything they can think of to get it back up and running again. After several failures, they determine that the only way to get it operational is to put Chuck in a situation where he fears his own death. The problem is . . anytime Chuck gets in trouble, if he can't handle it himself . . Sarah usually pulls him out of it. As long as he feels he's got that safety net, he's never going to break the psychological rock that's been placed in his mind. However, by the end of the episode Chuck is in exactly that position as he's been captured by the Belgian. This is a guy who's selling fake diamonds that are actually a cover for micro-chips that are loaded with CIA, and US Government information. However, when he finds out that Chuck is trying to steal the diamonds, he somehow learns that Chuck is actually the intersect. So by the end of the episode he captures Chuck and decides that he's going to use the information in Chuck's head to make his money. Since they have no idea where they're at, or what the Belgian is doing to Chuck . . Sarah, Casey and Morgan decide to go after him. Sarah, especially, is feeling guilty because she feels that Chuck has done all of this to prove to her that he's a spy. Anyways, in a side story . . Jeff and Lester are getting suspicious of all the hot girls that have come to work at the Buy More lately. 'And why are they all named Greta?' This episode the new girl is actually Summer Glau . . you know, from the Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's a hilarious side story which Casey and Morgan end up having to diffuse. Now I have to go watch the next episode to see how they're going to find and save Chuck. This is a great show.

Incredible Hulk #611 - Marvel

2010-11-20T22:59:00.005-05:00

This is a fitting conclusion to this title . . at least from my point of view, because it'll be the last one I pick up. I still have Hulk issues #24 and #25 coming up, but . . when I'm done with that . . I'm done with the Hulk. This was kind of a stretch for me anyways . . as far as following the characters. But I had picked up the new Hulk series from the beginning. And with this whole Hulk-War thing . . and the cross-over with this series . . I thought I'd follow it for a while and see what happens. But, I'm getting bored, and . . I need to cut back on some titles. So . . that's how I made the decision. However, that's not to say that I haven't enjoyed Greg Pak's stories. And I love Paul Pelletier's work. I think he's hugely underrated. It's been interesting watching them put together a 'Hulk-family' here. It also looks like Greg is going to be taking the Hulk in some new directions. After Bruce absorbs all of the Gamma-Radiation, to save the 'Hulked-Out' heroes, we find out that he's even stronger than before. So they bring in Skaar to take him out. After all, that's what Bruce has been training him for this whole time. But . . there's a complication. The Hulk is truly a monster, but . . he's also a very smart monster. He still has a lot of Bruce's intellect. He appears to no longer be the 'rampaging Hulk' of yesteryear. Like I said, it should be an interesting story, but . . I can no longer justify picking up these titles every month. I've enjoyed the ride, and I might be looking in on it every now and then. But it won't be consistently. But if I do pick it up . . I'll let you know what I think.

X-Men Forever 2 #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 and #10 - Marvel

2010-11-20T19:01:00.020-05:00

I know this is taking on a lot, but . . since I'm behind, I decided to go ahead and do all of these issues. We'll see how it goes. In issue #5, the X-Men have gone into the Morlock tunnels in search of Sabretooth and Moira. We ended the last issue with Masque deforming the faces of Remy and Scott. And of course there's a struggle between the X-Men and the Morlocks. But eventually calmer heads prevail. However, shortly after that happens, and Masque fixes his tampering . . a squad a SHIELD agents shows up. So now everybody has to clear out. The SHIELD agent's comms aren't working down here, but they all know as soon as the do Ziggy Trask will have a squad of neo-Sentinels down here. The X-Men head back to the mansion, but the Morlocks allow themselves to be captured . . knowing that their other members will ambush this little party long before they leave the tunnels. However, they find Calisto has some Morlocks of their own waiting for them. And she seems to be working for the Ghost Panther, back in Genosha. Anyways, we also saw last issue the Mystique has asked the X-Men for asylum. She claims that she's tired of seeing loved ones dying. And since Kurt and Rogue are all that she has left . . she apparently wants to spend some time with them . . or protect them. You know she's up to something else, but . . we don't know what yet. But while she's there, Moira wants to examine Mystique's and Rogue's blood to find out what makes them immune to Burnout. And since Kurt's immunity transferred to Rogue when they switched powers . . she also has a base reading to work off of. And in Alaska . . Dr Hanover is worming her way into the Summers family . . and closer to Scott's son. But . . who exactly is Robyn Hanover? I think she's . . Mr Sinister. Obviously Chris Claremont is writing all these stories. But issue #5's art is brought to us by Rodney Buchemi. In issue #6, Chris touches on several different storylines, but most of the book is about Robyn's attempt to abscond with Nathan. Corsair tries to protect him, but the Marauders are there also. Even as tough as the Starjammers are . . the Marauders are a hard nut to crack. Anyways, Moira has been able to use what she's found in Mystique's blood to help boost up Creed's healing factor. It's not strong enough to regenerate his hand or eyes, but . . she's working on it. And in the meantime Kitty has fashioned a cybernetic hand for him. Calisto has taken the Morlocks to Genosha, and the Ghost Panther. He claims that the island is on the brink of war, and that the Morlocks can help him stop it. And Scott who sensed something was wrong in Alaska, when Corsair's communications broke up . . is trying to get either the X-Men or SHIELD on alert to help him . . if need be. Obviously it needs be because the Starjammers, as well as Alex and Lorna, are fighting the Marauders, but they're not making much headway. The issue ends with Corsair teleporting to the school to warn Scott. However when he gets there he mistakes Creed for the Sabretooth that's attacking him in Alaska. He's ready to blow his head off. The art in this one is by Tom Grummett. Issues #7 & #8 wrap up this Mr Sinister storyline. And as with the first 30+ issues of this series, Chris has it loaded up with twists and turns. First of all . . Mr Sinister, is actually a 10 year old boy. Yes he's immortal and has lived forever, but . . somehow he got stuck at this age. The 'Sinisters' that end up out in the real world are simply his constructs. Plus he's found that the Marauders, and anyone else really, takes him more serious if appears as a full-grown adult. So even though Scott thought he killed him . . obviously he didn't. Also the X-Men have finally gleaned that these Marauders are simply more constructs, clones, of Mr Sinister's. But that's ok for Sabretooth. When he gets to Alaska he takes on the Clone of himself. And after he takes him down . . he takes his hand and eye for himself. He wants to see if Moira can use them to fix him. For a little while Malice takes over Hepzibah, but Lockheed is the one that finally ferrets her out. However, when Alex cuts off the broach around her neck, he leaves it laying on the ground. A little while later Mystique picks it up. But I don't know why. Sinister also throws a little psychological attack at the X-Men when he attacks them with a clone of Logan. Remy ends up taking him down, by blowing his head off, but we all know he's not that easy to kill. And before he does so, Logan has a little fight with Kitty. She's got the Adamantium claw on her right hand, but it appears that she's got some bone talons that are popping out of her fingers on her left hand. Nobody knew about those. And in the end, after the Marauders are beat, her and Remy decide to stay behind. They say to help watch over the Summers family. But Kitty is staying behind because of her injuries . . and also, I think, because she knows that the Logan clone might not really be dead. And Remy is staying behind to keep an eye on Kitty. Which is probably a good thing because Dr Hanover has come out of this whole thing without revealing that she's actually an agent of Sinister's. So who knows what she might stir up. And we see that Sinister has decided to stay hidden for now . . to continue his games. We also get a couple hints at some other story-lines. In Japan, Mariko is upset because she wants some kind of vengeance on Logan. But now that he's gone, she feels that she's been cheated of her revenge. It appears to have something to do with Jean because she vows to make her suffer. And in Wakanda, Ororo has made the first strides in what will probably be the war that the Ghost Panther warned Calisto about. She wants Wakanda to annex the island of Genosha. The art in issues #7 and #8 is brought to us by Ron Lim. In issues #9 and #10 we're dealing with the aftermath of the Marauder's attack in Alaska. I'm thinking of them as one story because this is the beginning of a new story-arc. Or, because it's Chris writing this . . and his story-arc's never really end, it's probably more like an extension of the previous one. Anyways, Kitty has stayed behind to rest while her wounds heal. But I think there's 2 things going on. First I think she was pretty freaked by seeing Logan again. Even if it was just a clone. And I don't think she's even told Jean what happened, yet. Secondly, Kitty is having nightmares about this encounter . . and the possible repercussions. But mostly, I think, she's worried about the noticeable changes that have been happening to her lately. She thought that she just have Logan's claw, but . . she's starting to think that she may have absorbed a portion of his psyche . . and it seems to be exerting more and more control. Anyways, Sinister seems to be out of the picture right now. But, Dr Hanover has stayed behind. And since she seems to be the kind of professional that the X-Men need right now . . she's kind of entrenched herself within their ranks. She's also gotten very close to Nathan. We do see a passing thought with Scott, though. He remembers someone vaguely like Robyn, back when he was in the orphanage. She was also a psychiatrist. And he seems to remember that they kind of resemble each other. Sooner or later he'll put those pieces together. Also, we see that Sinister is still interested in Nathan as he's convinced that he is the key to Burnout. Anyways, Kitty knows that it's not that easy to put Logan down . . even if he is a clone. So she goes back out in search of the body. It's gone. But she uses some Shi'ar technology to track his mutant signature, and she finds that he's gone back to Japan. Which is also connected to her, as she's been dreaming in Japanese lately. She heads off to Japan, not only to find Logan but also to warn Mariko. But she finds that things are a lot worse than she had anticipated. Even without Logan involved . . Clan Yashida has made a pact with the Hand and are now working in concert with them. And Mariko has exerted her power and influence to become the head of the Consortium. All of this is being done because of the anger and betrayal that she feels over the X-Men. But when Kitty steals one of the Starjammer's skimmers to head to Japan, unbeknownst to her 'Lil 'Ro and Lockheed were on board. So now not only does she have to find Logan . . while dealing with all these revelations about someone who used to be one of the X-Men's allies, but she also has to try to keep these 2 safe. But that's going to be easier said than done, because . . now that Mariko is the head of the Consortium, she also has control over SHIELD. And since Ziggy Trask also hates the X-Men, it's not to hard for Mariko to get SHIELD to do her bidding. So while Kitty is fighting Logan, and trying to escape from his murderous impulses . . she then comes face to face with Mariko . . and her new-found SHIELD friends. But it's not long before Remy and Jean show up in search of their friends. But in the confusion, Mariko makes off with 'Lil 'Ro. We'd gotten a glimpse of how Wakanda's annexation of Genosha is starting to progress . . with Orora and the Ghost Panther being the leader of the respective sides of that impending war. But what I didn't expect was at the end when Mariko offers 'Lil 'Ro up to Orora for trade in trying to acquire Wakanda as an allie. And the only witness to this little transaction is Lockheed. As expected, Chris is the driving force behind this series. With Tom Grummett being his accomplice. He seems to be Chris' go-to guy for the art on this series. Because even when he doesn't do the interiors, he still does all the covers. But the interiors on these 2 issues are done by Mike Grell. Which was a pleasant surprise, for me. I really like this series. I know it falls outside of the accepted continuity of the current X-Men story-lines, but . . I like that we're getting familiar story-lines and characters, but with a little bit of a twist by Chris. It's not the Ultimate Universe, but rather another way the X-Men could've gone had Chris not taken his sabbatical from the series. I like it's because it's a bit nostalgic, and fresh . . all at the same time. Plus these twists that Chris throws in here keep surprising me. He's a fantastic writer, and was born to write this series.

Curse of the Mutants: Storm and Gambit #1 - Marvel

2010-11-20T10:31:00.005-05:00

Ok . . this is one of those periphery books that I was talking about. This one I decided to pick up . . for the most part, because Chris Bachalo does the art. He's easily one of my favorites. So any chance to see some more of his work . . is ok by me. I've already read the first 4 issues of the new X-Men title, with it's Curse of the Mutants story-line. And this one, I think, fit's in somewhere during issue #2 . . or maybe between #2 and #3. Anyways, with Scott's plan to bring Dracula back . . hoping to thwart Xarus, they need someone to go after Dracula's body, and his head. So in this issue, Storm and Gambit are the ones elected to head to the Vampire island to recover the body. As a note, I understand that the first couple issues of Namor are spent with him recovering the head. I haven't decided if I'm going to pick those up yet, or not. Anyways, this is an action packed issue, with Storm and Gambit up to their necks in Vampires and Vampire blood. Along the way they come across Janus, first son of Dracula. I think he's helping them because he's not necessarily happy with the way that the Vampire-nation has progressed since his father's demise. He should be in power, but . . he's not. There's other factions at work here. And I know I'm jumping ahead, but . . I have to wonder . . what's Janus going to do when he discovers Xarus' plans? He's seems to be more than willing to help the X-Men with the return of his father. But . . he's got to have some ulterior motives. Anyways, Storm and Gambit are victorious on both fronts here . . they recover the body, plus . . Storm finds and deactivates the source of the shield covering the island. Unfortunately, in order to do so . . Storm has to sacrifice some innocents. The Vampires in control of the shield are hooked up to children through feeding tubes. But there's not really any way to shut down the device, or disconnect the tubes, without massive blood loss and death. So, it's either continue with the plan, helping the X-Men in their ultimate goal, or . . not do it and watch as she and Gambit suffer an evil fate. Storm does the right thing . . the only thing, really . . but . . in the process, it may have changed her forever. 'When I joined the X-Men I was a different woman. I swore never to take a life. But that changed. I made an exception. And exceptions became justifications. Taking a life became less horrifying. And today I crossed a line. I took another life. Not a monster or a Vampire. An innocent. I'm worried now. Because I wonder, the next time I cross that line . . will it be too much to bear?' Because of Storms conflict, I thought it was an interesting . . and relevant, story. I think Chuck Kim did a great job with it. And of course I wasn't disappointed with the fantastic art of Chris Bachalo. There were some really cool panels in this book. As an overview, I kind of have to wonder what they're setting Storm up for here. She obviously spending more and more time with the X-Men. Which leaves less and less time with her husband. But the more time she spends with the X-Men, I think she's questioning their motives, their actions and their agenda. I think eventually she's going to reach the point where she's either 'all in, or all out'. And if she decides that she's 'all out' . . what happens then? Anyways . . it's just something to think about. I thought it was a good book, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Ultimates Avengers 3 #1, #2, #3 and #4 - Marvel

2010-11-18T00:21:00.010-05:00

I love the Ultimate Universe . . I think there is a great cast of characters here. I also love the 'break from conformity' that we get with these stories. I just have to keep remembering that the Avengers here are the 'covert' team. And that the Ultimates are the 'main-attraction'. I guess I'm just not used to that paradigm, so I get surprised every time I start reading a new one of these mini-series. Anyways, in this story we find out that there's someone out there who is trying to consolidate all the various factions of the vampire underworld. Plus . . he has aspirations of adding the 'super-hero' element to his consolidated army. In the first few issues it's kind of inferred that the culprit is none other than Tony Stark. He's wearing an older Iron Man shell, and . . his name is Anthony. We also find out that he's only been recently bitten, and is already using his intellect to try to do what the various vampire leaders have been talking about doing for years. In the first few issues things start to look bad for the 'super-heroes' already. First we see a new 'hero' develop, Ray Connor. He's the new Daredevil, and he's already being trained by Stick. However, he's barely on the scene when he and Stick are taken out by a vampire attack. And specifically . . the Nerd Hulk. It appears that Bruce was also recently 'converted', and is eager to prove that he can be more of an asset to this team than he was to his previous one. It isn't long before Anthony uses the Hulk, and his internal tracking device, to lure Nick Fury and his hastily assembled Avengers into a trap. They're lured into the sewers of Manhattan where Cap, Steve Rogers, is the next one bitten. Anyways, while all of this is going on, Blade is also working himself into this story . . from the outside in. He's just going about his normal routine . . killing vampires, when he also gets propositioned by Anthony to join his new Vampire nation. That's when he learns about Anthony trying to 'recruit' some super-hero vampires. He gets involved with the Avengers when they take Cap back to the Triskellion, after he's bitten. I have a feeling that Cap's Super-Soldier-Serum, that's coursing through his veins, will be able to counteract the viral assault. But . . as of these issues we don't see that happening, yet. In fact Cap tries to take a bite out of Blade . . when Blade tries to 'Stake' him. But he's got to know that won't have any affect on him . . seeing as he's already half Vampire. But he uses the distraction to break free, and join up with the rest of the Vampires. That's when Tony, and Gregory Stark get involved. It turns out the Anthony that's running around in Tony's old armor is actually Anthony, 'the greatest Vampire hunter of all time'. He's the one that trained Blade, as well as Stick and Stone and Shaft, and personally recruited Matt Murdock as the original Daredevil. Apparently, about a month ago, one of the Vampires got the drop on him. Anyways, by the end of issue #4, Nerd Hulk decides that he wants to make a play for the leadership role. After antagonizing and challenging Anthony . . he swiftly takes him out. 'Gamma Radiation mixed with Vampire blood? I won this fight before I even showed up, dumbass.' So now the question is, how will this change in leadership alter the Vampire's plans? And . . when will Cap get back to being himself, and go postal on these creatures of the night? Mark Millar is doing a great job with this story. But . . I expected nothing less. I'm also thrilled with Steve Dillon's art. His art is so crisp and clean, it's the perfect antithesis for the dark nature of this story. Plus it looks really good. The covers are by Leinel Yu, Ed McGuinness, Olivier Coipel and Greg Land respectfully. They all look stunning. My only question is . . why are there Vampires everywhere nowadays? They're plaguing the X-Men right now, as well as the Avengers, the small and big screen, and a variety of other places. All of the sudden they've become the chic anti-hero? It's interesting, but . . it's all getting to be a bit to much for me. Vampire stories, for me, are ok every now and again. But right now . . everywhere you turn they're popping up. Kind of like the Marvel Zombies a year or so ago. Anyways, I like this title, as well as this group. I think the Ultimate Universe is putting out some great material. It's interesting, full of fresh ideas, and . . they aren't afraid to shake things up a bit. I've enjoyed every one of their titles.

Ultimate Spider-man #13, #14 and #15 - Marvel

2010-11-18T00:20:00.006-05:00

I know . . I always go on and on about how good this series is . . and really, the entire Ultimate Universe line. But . . I really, really like these books. Spider-man is one of my favorite characters anyways. And the opportunity to see him in his teens, I think, creates some of the best Spider-man stories I've ever read. Add to that the fantastic writing of Brian Bendis, and David LaFuente's incredible interpretation of this character . . I've been hooked since the very beginning. Now . . there's even more good news on the horizon. The issue after #15, with normal numbering, would've been #150. So they're switching back. One, because of the milestone with this title. But also because it's the 10th anniversary of the Ultimate Universe. There's a variant J Scott Campbell cover. And also . . in future issues . . we're going to be seeing the Ultimate Universe version of . . the Black Cat. I can't wait. Anyways, with the current issues, we get parts 5 & 6 of Tainted Love. In issue #13 we see this Chameleon type character trying to slip into Peter's life. He'd already gone to live with Aunt May. And has things entirely f'd up with the whole love triangle of Peter / Gwen and MJ. But at the end of issue #12 he discovered that Peter was actually Spider-man. So with the help of some MGH (mutant growth hormone), he's out trying out Spider-man's powers . . and costume. It would actually be pretty funny, if Peter wasn't stuck in such dire circumstances, and . . the guy has decided to use Spider-man's powers to make him and his sister rich. Oh yeah . . there's 2 of these guys. Apparently brother and sister. While the brother is out mucking about with his new found abilities, the sister is holding Peter and JJ hostage. Their original plan was to make some money off of JJ's identity. You know, being rich, and a publisher and everything. But then they stumbled across Peter. Anyways, in the process of all this . . without to much of a leap of logic, JJ figures out that Peter is actually Spider-man. Not to mention that both of these creeps also know his identity. And once they decide that Spider-man can do so much more for them than JJ ever could . . they shoot him. But the problem with their plan is . . once the news hits of Spider-man's apparent crime-spree around town . . May gets upset, so she asks Bobby and Johnny to go out and find him. Which doesn't take them to long. Spider-man as a bank-robber isn't to hard to find. And even though this guy is getting more used to Peter's powers . . and he seems to have some kind of power of his own, he's still no match for these kids who have seen more action than him, and have actually been trained in the use of their powers. After Bobby and Johnny follow him back to where they've got Peter stashed . . they make pretty short work of him. But then the problem becomes . . what do they do with them? Not only do they know Peter's identity, but also Bobby and Johnny's. So it probably wouldn't be to much of a stretch for them to piece other things together. So they end up turning them over to Carol Danvers at SHIELD. What else could they do? Oh yeah . . JJ isn't dead. Apparently the bullet just grazed his head. He's in bad condition, but they save him when Johnny rushes him to the hospital. Anyways, both of these issues were brought to us by Brian and David. However, Sara Pichelli does the art for issue #15. This issue is kind of the aftermath of the previous storyline. Peter is trying to put his life back together, but he finds out that some people just aren't willing to forgive him . . Gwen. MJ is trying to be understanding . . she knows this wasn't really Peter's fault. But Gwen isn't so forgiving. By the end of the issue she ends up leaving. He also gets a lecture from Aunt May and Carol Danvers. Although May's was probably more upsetting to him . . Carol's is the one that's on his mind, and that he has to worry about. It isn't really so much about what she said, as how she ended the conversation. 'I can't order you to stop . . civil liberties and all that. But the next time something like this happens, you're going to force me to have to make a decision on your behalf. And I really don't think you'll like it. Go home, Peter Parker.' It sounded more like an ultimatum, than necessarily a threat. But the one shining point . . as Peter's trying to sort out this whole mess, is that JJ puts out a story telling the world exactly what has happened to them. But in it . . he does not reveal Peter's identity. It turns out, after everything he's been through . . JJ has become one of Peter's, and Spider-man's staunchest supporters. 'God gave me the power to help Spider-man. I know this now. I will fight this entire world for him.' Whodathunkit? Oh yeah . . and that girl . . the one from the mother and daughter crime team, the Bombshells . . she started going to Peter's school. That can't be good. So now that everything has been tossed into the hamper, and stirred about like a salad . . now that Peter's life is in complete shambles . . Brian can start putting together the pieces and figure out where this character goes from here in the 104 page 150th issue extravaganza. Of course, 52 of those pages are reprints, but . . it's still an oversized issue. And with Skottie Young and David doing the art . . it should be fantastic. I really can't overstate how good this book is . . and has been . . continually. If you're a Spider-man fan at all . . and the least bit interested in this book . . you should definitely pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

the Invicible Iron Man #29, #30, #31 and #32 - Marvel

2010-11-18T00:19:00.008-05:00

Matt Fraction adds a really cool element to the story in issue #29. Justin and Sasha Hammer are working on getting their company off the ground . . as Tony pulls himself away from the defense contracts that made him who he is, and tries to get his new company Stark Resilient off the ground . . the Hammer's want to fill Tony's vacant shoes. That's how they came up with their own super-soldier suit . . Detroit Steel. But they've come on the scene like a bull in a china shop. They seem to be trying to bully themselves onto the scene. And I don't think the US Government is any happier about the arrangement than is Tony, but . . with him not filling their contracts, they have to turn to somebody. Plus Sasha has an 'in' with the Government since she's now the Director of SHIELD. Anyways, the cool idea is that the Hammer's introduce a new ap for kid's phones. It's a game. They get to be the back-up for Detroit Steel, and take down targets as well as bad-guys. What they don't know is that they're actually controlling the drones that accompany Detroit Steel. Their idea is that the drones will be harder to fight, because they'll be 'wild-cards'. And, should a player lose the game and get killed, they can simply transfer the uplink to another willing participant. They have an endless supply of drone-pilots. While all of this is going on, Pepper is also fitted with a new repulsor, and has the opportunity to become Rescue again. However a problem arises when, at a gala, Tony and Pepper realize that their respective repulsors are . . well, they repel each other . . kind of like two opposite magnets. So while they can be in the same room, it looks like they won't be able to be intimate again . . or even hug or kiss . . at least until Tony figures out how to fix things. In the interim . . he approaches Justine Hammer and decides to take her out on the town. Or at least for one hell of a ride. He starts showing off his new armor and ideas to Justine, and baits her into activating the enhanciles that Zeke Stane implanted within her. It turns out that's what this whole trip was really all about . . Tony wanted to see what her capabilities were . . he wanted to know what he was up against. He destroys a car in the process, but . . with Pepper's help, he sends Justine running in retreat. Unfortunately, the woman's scorn is felt shortly after when Tony debuts his new car on the test track. They're immediately besieged by the Hammer drones. Not only do they get their first prototype destroyed, but . . Tony is convinced that they have someone working within their new company that is spying on them for the Hammers. He then starts trying to pinpoint the people he can trust. Unfortunately they have a public demonstration of the car scheduled, and Tony can't get it all figured out in time without affecting their publicity negatively. The good news is that when the Hammer's decide to attack . . they show their hand when the phone ap activates and the field of conflict is recognized as Tony's test track. That's when they realize how these drones are being used. But it may be to little to late as Detroit Steel also shows up for the attack and Iron Man has to fight him, while trying to keep the civilian audience safe. Luckily, he's got War-Machine and Rescue to help him. But they come up with a plan. First they have to shut down Seattle's cell-towers so that they can cut off the connection between the operators and the drones. Secondly, Tony figures out that they're actually targeting they repulsor tech. So if War-Machine and Rescue power down . . they'll effectively be invisible to their tracking systems. The problem with that is . . if Pepper powers down she'll go into cardiac arrest. They'll have 14 minutes to revive her, until . . they can't. And Tony's part in all of this is to take off with the car and try to save what little they have left of their company. So it's a race . . all the way around. And all of this is leading up to Iron Man #500, which will immediately follow issue #33. Which will be where this current story-line wraps up. I think Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca have done an incredible job with this book. The stories have been at break-neck speed . . with lots of cool ideas from Matt. And they've been visually attractive as well. I've always had a passing interest in Iron Man, which is why I decided to pick up this title when it first came out. I haven't been able to put it down since. I can't wait to see how this storyline wraps up . . as well as where things go after issue #500. The best is yet to come.

Smallville - Ambush - Season 10 - Episode 7 - CW

2010-11-15T10:53:00.009-05:00

In this episode, the General and Lucy come to visit Lois and Clark. The premise of the story is that, basically . . he's coming to test Clark. Obviously, being a father, he knows when his daughter is getting serious about someone. So he wants to make sure that her beau is of the quality of standard that he believes that his daughter deserves. Apparently Lucy is in on the 'master-plan' also, although I'm not sure if her intervention was intentional or just adolescent. Anyways . . while all of this drama is unfolding at the Kent farm, there's also another story-line in the works. The US Government is getting prepared to pass the 'Meta-human Registration Act', and apparently the General is one of it's biggest proponents. So Rick Flag, and his Suicide Squad, feels that if they can get the General out of the way, they'll be able to kill the bill before it passes. In a way, they're really trying to protect people like Clark and Ollie. They're just using extreme measures to go about it. And their acts actually help to sway the Generals feelings towards one of a kind of 'honor' towards the Blur. You see, Rick tried to take out the General with some missiles, but they accidentally blew up Lois' apartment . . while she was in it. The General and Lucy had just left, after having a fight about Clark, and he left the homing device the Rick gave Lucy setting on her counter. Shortly after leaving he sees her apartment explode, and assumes that she's been killed. But seconds later the Blur delivers her right to his side. And that was the instance that changes the Generals feeling. Not that that's what Rick had intended. But . . it's to little to late, as the bill passes anyways. It was kind of touching though, at the end, when the General talks to Clark. It seems that these 'tests' that he's always put Lois' boyfriends through was as much to test her commitment as that of her suitors. When Lois stands up to her father, about her feeling for Clark and their future . . that's when he knew that she was finally with the man she needed to be with. So it ends up being kind of a father and son moment between Clark and the General. Clark also kind of hints that he wants to ask the General permission for something else. Is Clark going to ask Lois to marry him? Well . . we don't know that for sure. But that's what it seems like. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. So far I've been thrilled with this final season, but it kind of seems obvious that they're going to have to go in some kind of direction with these characters in the future. It's just that it's hard to tell, and I haven't heard anything, as to what those plans may be. In the meantime, there's about a dozen episodes left, so . . enjoy them while you can.

Chuck vs the First Fight - Season 4 - Episode 7 - NBC

2010-11-14T15:39:00.005-05:00

In this episode . . Chuck and Sarah have their first fight. Which, to me, seems kind of hard to believe because, I guess, the nature of their relationship seems to be one of conflict. Or maybe it's just Chuck's whining all the time. Chuck's the type of person that seems to always . . and I mean always, second guesses himself. While Sarah is much more confident and sure of herself. They seem, on the surface, to be polar opposites . . really. But . . maybe they aren't so different. Maybe Chuck is just more open, and vocal about his concerns or inadequacies. Either way . . Sarah must really love him because, anybody else . . he'd just annoy the piss out or. Like he does Casey. Anyways, their fight . . this time, is about Casey and Sarah abducting 'Frost' at the end of the last episode without them telling Chuck what they were up to. In both of their defenses, 'Frost' really does seem to go back and forth quite a bit. In this episode she gives Chuck some information that will help clear her name, putting him in contact with her MI6 handler, but . . that handler ends up being Volkoff himself. So when Chuck, and Sarah show 'Frost' the elaborate setup that Chuck's father created under their old house . . 'Frost' reverts to form and shows Chuck something that disconnects him from the intersect. She then reveals that this guy is actually Volkoff, and the blow everything up. Including Chuck and Sarah. Well . . that is, if she hadn't of slipped a razor-blade to Sarah shortly before she and Volkoff took off. But still, all of her father's information, and everything to do with the intersect has been destroyed. So if Chuck really is disconnected . . how does he get it back? Well, as this story is going along, before this ultimate climax, Sarah takes 'Frost' to see Elle. Elle is very emotional, but the one thing she gets out of it is that she, and her father and mother, used to go for rides in their '68 Mustang. It was red, with blue leather seats. Anyways, she's been searching the personals since her father died . . he used to leave her coded messages there all the time, and she notices that there's an ad for a '68 Mustang, with blue leather seats, that's been in there every day since he died. At the end of the episode she decided to go an get it. And inside the car, of course, is a letter to her from her father. But I think the real reason he left this car behind is because underneath it, as it's driving away . . we see a green flashing light. Much like the one that was on her father's intersect device. So I'm thinking there's another one hidden here on this car. Anyways, the whole bickering thing between Chuck and Sarah, I thought, provided a good hook for the episode. It was pretty funny watching them bicker as they're fighting their way through these life or death situations. It was also funny the way the people around them looked at them, while this was going on, as if they were nuts. Which, in a way . . they are. We don't see much of the Buy More this episode. I think the whole purpose of this one was to progress the 'Frost' storyline. And, of course, again . . I really liked it. Yes it's immature, childish, and a bit predictable, but . . I think that's a lot of what makes it so fun. The light-heartedness of all this is what makes it so interesting. If they played it straight, I don't think it would be nearly as good.

Wolverine #89 and #90 - Marvel

2010-11-14T15:30:00.004-05:00

Issue #89, I didn't like at all. Well . . except for the beautiful cover by Simone Bianchi and Simone Peruzzi. Of course, part of that was because I'm not following this whole Franken-Castle storyline. But even so, had I been reading it . . I don't think that I would've missed much without this issue. The entire issue is spent with Frank and Logan going back and forth. Frank is trying to get to Daken . . to kill him. Logan doesn't want to let him. So they spend the whole issue taking pieces off of each other. And really this issue just serves to set up the story-line for the conclusion in Franken-Castle #20. I used to follow the Punisher . . a long time ago. But to me . . this whole thing just seemed kind of silly. But it doesn't matter, because I'm not following it now. This issue was brought to us by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu. With Stephen Segovia and Paco Diaz on the art. And then, in issue #90 . . it seems like this issue kind of serves as the prelude to the new Wolverine title coming soon, and Daken's own book. Most of this issue is spent with Daken trying to decide what he wants to do with his life. He's going through and contemplating on how he compares to his father . . in motivation, action, and what he wants out of his life. 'The wolf is at the door. And I am hungry. But . . it's just to easy . . my father's life is so small. So caught up in it's own gravity. There's no scope. No vision. That's why I don't even want it. I want something else . . something more.' Which is apparently what he'll go after in his own title. I know Daken has pretty much been the main character of this title for a while now, but . . I still don't feel like we know him all that much. Sure he comes across as an ego-maniacal blow-hard . . who's elevated his own importance to an almost god-like level. But . . I think there's more to this character that we haven't seen or experienced . . yet. The question is, when we start digging in to him a little more . . seeing the human side of his facade, will we be just as interested? Which, I guess, is what Marvel is betting on with the new series. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. So overall . . I liked both issues . . I guess. But I don't feel like I really would've have missed anything important if I hadn't picked them up. Neither of them really moved the story-line along all that much. But . . they were what they were . . epilogue and prologue all wrapped in to one. Daniel and Marjorie again write #90. But it featured some beautiful art by Mirco Pierfederici.

X-Men #2, #3 and #4 - Marvel

2010-11-14T15:28:00.005-05:00

So we all saw, in the prologue for this storyline, how the Vampires have engineered a new 'virus' that can infect the human population through the air. Basically, they sent out suicide bombers, infected with the virus. But one of these guys ended up in Union Square, with a specific target in mind . . Jubilee. But we find out that Jubilee wasn't actually their primary target. Their primary target was that man they knew that the X-Men would send after her . . Wolverine. All of this is being orchestrated by Dracula's son, Xarus. He wants to join the Vampire and Mutant races to create an army powerful enough to take over the world. So it's kind of the 'evil guy with plans of world domination' story-line . . with a twist. Anyways, this virus is designed to create 'the hunger' in it's recipients. Bringing the Vampires food-source, and fodder for their ranks . . straight to their doorstep. All they have to do is sit back and wait. It's ingenious . . really. Through this process, before they know it, the X-Men have come to realize that Xarus' ranks are swelling by the thousands . . daily. Add to this the amulet that they've designed . . it allows them to go out during the day, as it protects it's wearer from ultraviolet light . . and they're starting to seem pretty much unstoppable. But the X-Men aren't ones to give up hope so easily . . especially Scott. So he's come up with a plan. It's not a good one, but . . it's about the only option that they have. Scott wants to reunite Dracula's body, with his head . . and hope that he'll seek out his throne, now occupied by his son. His hope is that in the battle that ensues, the father will take out the son, and thereby eliminate his plans for world conquest. However, my concern is . . as with most of these hail-mary plays . . things are going to get worse before they get better. After Scott implements the plan . . and Dracula is resurrected, the X-Men fill him in on what's going on. He doesn't seem to happy about it, but . . he's also convinced that the X-Men are trying to back the lesser of two evils . . literally. Or . .'the devil they know'. To him, the X-Men seem desperate and without options. So before he leaves, he doesn't really say or do anything to convince them that he'll do anything that will bring their plan to fruition. During all of this, Blade is also playing a big part in this story-line . . as he is the foremost Vampire expert. Anyways, we eventually get to the point where Logan has gone after Jubilee and descends right into the devil's lair . . as it were. Logan's a pretty tough guy, but even he isn't a match for the sheer numbers he's up against here. He's quickly captured and converted . . with Jubilee as the bait. I don't even think that he was surprised when he found out that she was turned. Anyways, by the end of issue #4, the X-Men have found out that Logan and Jubilee are both working with Xarus. And as a Vampire army begins to descend upon Utopia, I'm sure they're starting to wonder . .'What happened to Dracula?'. I think it's an interesting story-line. And I like the whole 'world-domination' thing, with the vampire twist . . we all know that Vampires are all the rage right now. I just hope that there's some actual change that comes out of all of this. Wolverine appears to be transformed, but . . I can't imagine that he's going to stay that way. I'm sure he'll work out of that . . somehow. But Jubilee's character seems to be diminished, of late. So maybe this is a way to bolster her character a bit. A way to give her . . something. And of course we have to begin wondering what the aftermath of all of this will be. The Vampires seem to be making a pretty big impact on San Francisco. Since everything that this city has been through since the X-Men's arrival . . I can't imagine that they haven't crossed the 'point of no return' yet. When do the citizen's of this city proclaim . . 'Enough is enough!'? So I think there's a lot of potential here. And I'm sure it'll be a roller-coaster ride along the way. My only problem is . . I'm sure there will be oodles of peripheral books. I don't want to get them all, so . . I have to pick and choose which ones I think will be the most interesting, or best serve to progress the story-line. Anyways, this story-line is being created by Victor Gischler. I've never heard of this guy before, but . . he's seems to be pretty adept at creating an interesting storyline here. The interior art is by Paco Medina. With Adi Granov contributing some pretty amazing covers. All in all I think this is a great start to this new title. I can't wait to see where things go from here.

X-Force - Sex and Violence #2 and #3 - Marvel

2010-11-11T10:13:00.004-05:00

Don't get me wrong . . I loved this book. But . . it really was not much more than one big fight scene. The premise is . . basically, Domino had taken on a job for the Assassins Guild. Well . . to her credit, when she initially took the job . . she didn't know it was for the Guild. Anyways, as is usual for these types of missions . . she wasn't given all of the information. So when she goes to steal a shipment that belongs to the Hand . . thinking that it's guns, or drugs, or something . . she's surprised to find out that it's actually a shipment of young Asian girls. Well this crosses the line for even Domino's sensibilities, so . . she takes the truck, leaving her goons behind, and returns the girls to the nearest Japanese embassy. So now the Guild feels that she's betrayed them. And the Hand thinks that she's stolen from them. Also, along the way, she discovers another secret in the truck that she uses to spirit away the girls. She finds it loaded with money. About $240 million worth. Apparently this money belongs to the Guild. Although, I can't really imagine somebody leaving a truckload of money sitting around someplace. So . . knowing that she's got the Guild and the Hand after her . . she goes straight to the man that she thinks can best help her . . Wolverine. Needless to say, they work their way through the Hand and the Guild . . leaving many corpses in their wake. But it isn't until they actually get to the Bayou . . and confront Belladonna . . knowing that the Hand is right behind them . . that the rest of X-Force eventually gets involved. To Wolverine's credit though . . he tried to give Belladonna a choice. 'Here's the deal . . you leave us alone, and we let you live! And the money? It goes to charity . . all of it!' After watching them take on her own warriors, as well as the Hand's, Belladonna notices . . 'Wait a minute. You're not the X-Men. The X-Men don't kill.' Anyways, I thought it was all a bit predictable. I didn't feel like Craig Kyle or Christopher Yost introduced anything really new here. Basically, I felt, it was a story to keep X-Force busy until their new series starts. However, if you're an action and violence junkie . . this is the book for you. And there are a couple rather intimate scenes with Logan and Neena. Hence the name . . 'Sex & Violence'. You didn't think they put it there just to draw your attention? Did you? Anyways, to me it would've been just another average book except the artwork of Gabriele Dell'Otto was amazing. The covers are beautiful. So imagine another 24 pages of the same stuff in each issue. It was actually pretty sweet lookin'. So overall . . I liked it. This is a great bunch of characters. But I can't wait until the new series so we can see what Fantomex and Deadpool bring to this group. Not to mention Psylocke. I'm looking forward to it.

Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #11 and #12 - Dynamite Entertainment

2010-11-11T10:11:00.006-05:00

There's a lot of revelations in the final 2 issues of this series. But don't worry . . it's not the end. They've already announced that there's going to be a Project Superpowers: Chapter 3 coming out in 2011. And it is credited as being the final chapter. So, we find out in these issue that this whole thing was actually a very elaborate plan by the living flame . . Prometheus. Apparently it knew that Captain Future was actually Zeus, and that eventually he was going to go off the deep-end, as he has done recently in this series. So, he tasked the Fighting Yank to lure all of his team-mates and associates in to the urn. Knowing that when they emerged, they would be changed. That is the other thing that we've learned in the last few issues. The side-affect of their imprisonment . . the shifting and changing of their powers, is all because the side-effect of their captivity is that they are now immortal. Which is something that they would need when it came time to fight Zeus. So, as I said, this whole thing was a big elaborate plan by Prometheus to prepare the heroes for their inevitable battle. I guess it would've been nice though if someone had told them what was going on. Anyways, we also learn that the 'Devil's power doesn't lie in the suit, but rather in it's wearer. Which is why when the Fighting Yank lured the 'Devil to the urn . . it didn't want Bart. It only wanted the costume. The costume is sentient. And now that it's been changed, also with it's immersion into the urn, it's apparently now alive. So, the guy from the village that's been chasing the 'Devil around, claiming that he's a fake . . finds out that there's not actually anyone in there. Although at the end of all this, when the 'Devil uses some ancient language to speak a spell that sends the Claw's horrendous construct back to the depths of Hades . . Dare calls him Sheitan. Apparently she thinks that the suit is now inhabited by the Devil himself . . Satan. Anyways, the Green Lama, and most of the other heroes, go back to Shangri-la, to try to transform is back into their home . . their worldwide base of operations. While the President not only pardons the heroes . . he's been directly involved in this whole conflict, and has witnessed the lengths that they've gone to save the world . . but he also takes some of them straight to the Supremacy to put them on notice. Of course they escape, but . . 'It's called a coup. We were here to alert them. To put them on notice. This moment will have resonance, Terror. We just declared that we're trademarking the name for ourselves. Welcome, my friends, to the new Supremacy. And now we must discuss how to truly save this world.' So . . the overall 'big picture' seems to have reached it's conclusion. However, the individual stories . . the effects and ramifications of this whole debacle on each of the individual heroes, has yet to be told. Which, I'm sure, is where the solo-books and mini-series are going to come in to play. This franchise has already built up a pretty decent sized library of books. But I think we've only really seen the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more to be told. And with Alex Ross and Jim Krueger at the helm . . I'm sure it's all going to be told in great detail. So far . . I'm still interested. However, I do still feel that there's entirely to many characters, as well as stories, for one individual book. I think we're going to see a larger expansion of titles in 2011. If you've been following this, you're either bought in to it as a reader, or . . you've already given up. I don't think there's going to be a whole lot of middle ground. But regardless of where you fall, you still have to give Alex and Jim credit for the amazing job and effort that they've put into this project. They've basically taken characters, and 'heroes' from the 40's . . that were really all but forgotten, and given them new life. I think it was a 'heroic' effort of their part. And now they just have to wait and see if people stay tuned in next year. By the way, Edgar Salazar is also a big part of this project . . doing the art on this entire series. I think he's grown a lot since the beginning, and continues to get better and better with every issue. I'm sure this will all be out in TPB before the new series start. So, if you're interested in getting caught up, that's probably the best way to do it. Overall I think it's a great series. But like I said, you're either bought in to it . . or not. But at the very least . . you could give it a chance. Who knows? You might not be disappointed.

Welcome to Tranquility - One Foot in the Grave #2, #3, #4 and #5 - WildStorm

2010-11-11T09:20:00.005-05:00

When issue #1 ended, and Mayor Fury was taken from the custody of Sheriff Lindo and Deputy Presley, it looked as if they perished in the car when it blew up shortly afterwards. But, if we've learned nothing else from comics . . nothing is ever as it appears. We find out that luckily Thomasina recovered in time and pulled Presley out of the vehicle before it exploded. But that's not the real problem. The real problem is the person that came after Mayor Fury. It turns out that it's his son . . Derek. It seems that the Mayor and the Pink Bunny had a child . . somewhere along the line, but never let anyone know about him because . . well, they were scared to death of him. It seems that even from an early age he was more powerful than both of them combined. Add that to the typical teenage rebellion and . . they pretty much had a monster on their hands. As the story progress' we learn more about Derek, as well as seeing the frustration and fear from his parents. And we know that eventually they sent him away. At least that the gist of what I get out of it. They talk about how they had to make a decision between Derek and Thomasina . . whom we know the Fury's basically adopted after her father was killed, but we don't know yet what exactly that decision was. And if they're child truly was as powerful as they thought . . what could they do to get rid of him? Or how? There's a scene where he looks to be about 8 years old and the Mayor is mad at him because he's scared his mom . . once again. It had something to do with his horse, Paint. Anyways, the mayor asks him where he is, and Derek replies 'He made me mad, so I had to put him in the bucket.' The Mayor looks around and literally sees a bucket filled with blood behind the boy. 'It wouldn't eat the apple I brought. So I shoved him in the bucket. It was hard. It took forever. Bet he wishes he ate the apple now.' But then when he sees that his dad is outraged he tells him, 'What are you mad about? It's just a stupid horse. I can bring it back.' His dad didn't realize he had powers like that. He asks him, and asks him if it would be the same? 'No. Not like it used to be. No. Want me to do it? It's kind of funny in a sad way. For a while.' For me . . that was probably the most disturbing scene of the whole book. Anyways, after leaving his father broken and battered, Derek then goes after Minxy Millions. 'I was thinking what would happen if the most beloved citizen of this crappy town had something horrible happen to her? I mean, really, something to shake the rafters. Give the good folks some sleepless nights. And then I thought . . what if they blamed my dad? They couldn't blame me, now. Could they? I don't even exist.' In the process of this attack, he ends up hurting Venus, Thomasina's sister, when he shoves a fork in her neck. When the Sheriff learns that her sister has been hurt . . and she can't get ahold of any of the towns heavy-hitters, she calls in the Coyote Kid. To me . . he seems like a Ghost Rider type of character . . on a horse. But he also has a posse of other ghosts, or cowboys, or something. Anyways, when they see that Venus is close to death, they do what they can to stave it off . . for awhile, but before she's about to go they offer her a spot on their posse. They basically tell her she can be their spirit of vengeance. Sound familiar? And that may be an option for her, somewhere down the line, because they save her life at the hospital, but . . she's also paralyzed. So, while all of this is going on, we also have to deal with the return of Mr Articulate. The guy was murdered by Colonel Cragg . . there was a whole storyline about it and everything. And he also came back as in between this as a zombie, of sorts. So everyone is more that a little confused when he comes walking through the door of the diner . . once again. I'm not sure how this all connects to the Fury storyline . . or if it even does. But it seems like there's something there. Although I don't have any idea what it is. Anyways, at the end of issue #5, Tranquility is holding a little concert . . with their local band, the Liberty Snots. And the Sheriff is hoping that this gathering of people will draw Derek out once again. She's trying to gather up all of Tranquility's finest to stand against him. But she doesn't know if even that will be enough. I like this series. I liked it the first time. We don't get Neil Googe's art on the interiors this time, but . . he is doing the covers. The interiors are being done by Horacio Domingues. When I first started reading this series, Horacio's work seemed kind of like a cheap knock-off of Neil's. But, as the series goes along, Horacio's work has been growing on me. It's not perfect. And it's not as unique as Neil's, but . . his style does fit the book. And Gail Simone has done a great job of capturing the feeling and style of the book as it was presented to us the first time. I'm not sure how this all fits into the current state of the WildStorm Universe. Did it happen before Armageddon? Or is it all somehow separate? And yes I have a bad habit thinking about stuff like that. But after reading this series, I find . . I don't really care. The rest of the WildStorm Universe is so doomy and gloomy . . I think it's nice to see some of it's characters acting semi-normal. Well, at least . . normal for this town. I think it's a decent series. Unfortunately there's only 1 issue left. And if you haven't followed it . . I'm sure it'll be out in TPB before Christmas. If you get a chance, peruse it that way.

Doc Savage #5, #6 and #7 - DC

2010-11-07T07:53:00.007-05:00

As with the last few issues of this series, I thought issue #5 was kind of boring. Sure it had that pulp/crime drama kind of feel to it. But I guess I expected much more from such an iconic character. Doc and his team are still on the run. With the lightning strikes on them and their assets by Tom Shaw, back in New York City, plus he's being blamed for a politician's murder and the bomb that went off in the Empire State building . . Doc and his team have decided to skip the country and try to regroup. Although to me, that doesn't seem like the best course of action. Especially for a man who's not guilty. But, I'm not the writer, so . . whatever. Anyways, they end up in Greece and Clark decides to call in a few favors. He gets ahold of an old friend . . Nikos Eurystheus. He's a 'businessman' in Greece, with enough holdings and pull that he should be able afford Clark and his men a brief respite. The problem is, his is an organization that is also in disarray. Mostly from internal strife, but . . Tom and his team get mixed up right in the middle of it. Long story short, these are some problems that they don't really have the time or inclination to deal with right now. So they move on. This issues was brought to us by B Clay Moore and Howard Porter. It was an 'ok' issues. But like I said, I think I just expected more. Anyways, with issues #6 and #7 we get a new creative team. Ivan Brandon and Brian Azzarello do the story, while Nic Klein does the art. Right off the bat we really get sucked into this story. Being on the lamb in this part of the world, Clark is pulled into all the political drama that engulfs this region. Right from the very first page, with the image of the war-torn orphans, Siamese twins, that are pleading for the release, and freedom of their country, you can just tell that this is going to be a haunting tale. Basically this is a story about a very small country that has been built on the rubble of the past, literally . . with pieces and parts of whatever they could find, this city has been literally scrapped together from refuse of the past. It really is a disturbing image. But, in the process, they've also accumulated all the weapons of mass destruction that have littered the secret hiding holes and burrows of this land. Growing up on a farm, as a kid I saw every day as a discovery. Our farm had many buildings, so as a child it seemed like every day I discovered a new place, or cubbyhole, that I hadn't seen before. Growing up in the mid-west there weren't any caves or anything, but . . with the size and amount of the buildings, especially to a young child, I always approached the farm as an explorer. Plus there were woods to go through. Anyways, my point is . . I couldn't imagine growing up in a place where that exploration and discovery would be impeded by the threat and climate of it's political and social-economic influence. There . . kids can't be kids. They're utilized in the schemes of men at such an early age, they don't get the opportunity to see the world with a child's imagination. To me . . that's the saddest part of this story. And for Ivan and Brian to construct such a tale . . making the reader feel the torment and frustration of the people just trying to make a place in the world . . it really is a testament of their ability and brilliance. The other thing I liked about their story was the way they described Clark's abilities, and perception of his foreboding presence from those around him. Most of this world knows Clark to be a hero. But to those in his immediate vicinity, especially to those that may have to come into conflict with him . . his presence is just as large but equally scary. Also, I'd never even heard of Nic Klein before, but . . his style of art, along with the haunting influence he portrays with the colors and shadow, really serves to enhance the feeling of this story. Issue #7 ends with a disturbing image of this country, from Clark's and the twin's eyes, as the horizon of this country literally burns. 'Our god made a river of oil that flows beneath us. But now our god is angry.' I thought issues #6 & #7 were fantastic. I can't wait to see where they go from here. As a side note . . I haven't been paying that much attention to the Justice Inc story in the back. It's by Jason Starr and Scott Hampton. I'm just not that interested in it. Sorry!

Smallville - Harvest - Season 10 - Episode 6 - CW

2010-11-02T09:47:00.018-04:00

This episode is basically done in two parts. Lois and Clark are on a trip in the county . . covering the Cherry Festival, because Clark wants to keep Lois away from Cat's anti-hero demonstration. But instead he ends up landing her in the middle of a 'Children of the Corn' scenario. As they're driving down the road their tires get flattened. Clark fixes one, but has to rush off to the nearest filling station to fix the other. While he's gone, an unassuming little country girl takes Lois in her horse and buggy, promising to take her to the train station. However, she soon finds herself captive in this little community. It appears that some 20 years ago, the meteors rained down on this town, and killed the town leader's daughter. However, because their water has been infused with blue meteor rock, their crops have been plentiful, and no one gets sick. So naturally they assume that it was because of their daughter's sacrifice. So, they've been sacrificing someone every year, at their 'Harvest Festival', to appease the gods. This year . . it's Lois' turn. Clark eventually finds her, but the problem he's having is that . . since the townsfolk have been consuming this blue meteor water for so many years, it's abundant in their system. And anytime a few of them get near Clark . . he loses his powers. But they make the mistake of burying him outside of town, while they all head back for the sacrifice. This gives Clark enough power to get out of the predicament, and go back and save Lois. The other part of the story is about Tess and Lex. Lex has aged some more and is now a teenager. He's also starting to show more signs that he's becoming more and more like the real Lex. He becomes obsessed with Clark, and the 'S' emblem, because he's convinced that he's trying to kill him. He even escapes from the castle and goes to Clark's barn because he has memories of him and Clark there. Then, once he gets back home, he shaves his head so he even starts to look like Lex. I have a feeling that Tess is going to be putting this kid in lock-down real soon. To me though, the best part of the story is all the questions that Lois is asking Clark. It's not like reporter questions. It's more like questions anyone would ask their spouse if they had just found out that they're from another planet. Lois is hilarious. Eventually Clark gives her his journal from the barn so that she can get caught up on everything. I thought it was an ok episode. I didn't really buy the whole 'Stepford Wives' thing, but . . it was interesting. And I'm intrigued about what's going to happen with Lex. We're almost half way through the final season, so . . we don't have much to go. I have to enjoy them while I can.

Chuck vs the Aisle of Terror - Season 4 - Episode 6 - NBC

2010-11-02T09:47:00.016-04:00

In typical Halloween fashion, this episode guest stars Robert Englund as the evil scientist working for Volkoff, that has developed a terror spray. It also guest stars Linda Hamilton as Chuck's mom, and Morgan Fairchild as Awesome's mom. At the end of the last episode Chuck's mom had called him and wanted to meet. Apparently this mad-scientist had developed this fear-agent, but 'Frost' felt that it was to dangerous to fall into just anyone's hands. So she wants to turn it over to the CIA. At first she sets it up as a sale, with Charles Carmichael being Chuck's cover. But when 'Frost' shows up and ends up shooting him, they know that somethings wrong. Apparently Chuck's digging had set off some alarms in the Volkoff organization, so she had to show Volkoff that Carmichael was dead, and that she had taken care of it. This would also take Chuck and Elle out of harms way, as Volkoff would think that he was dead. Anyways, she ends up turning this scientist and his weapon over to Chuck, with this story about how she had gotten involved in project Isis, some 20 years ago. She says that when that happened her files were expunged from the CIA files. Of course Casey has someone that can look into that, and . . what he gets shows that she's lying. About everything. So, at the end of the episode, when she agrees to meet with Elle, Sarah and Casey abduct her. Leaving Elle heartbroken, and Chuck left to try and explain things. 'Frost' decided to meet up with her, partly because she found out she was going to becoming a grandmother. But also, I think, because when she watches Elle from a distance, she sees how Lovely, Awesome's mom, is interacting with her. She picks up a teddy-bear to give to her, which she doesn't . . because she drops it when she's abducted, but . . I think there's something in there for Elle. But right now . . it looks like the bear is lost. Anyways, back at the Buy More, Grimes is caught up in decorating for Halloween, but he's overwhelmed. He's trying to balance his work with being there for Chuck. Plus, with the events of the last episode, he and Casey seem to be getting closer. At least Casey seems to be trying to involve him more in what's going on. Anyways, since he can't do everything he delegates the transformation of the store to Jeff and Lester. What they do is hilarious, and part of the events that lead up to the demise of the mad-scientist. Anyways, I think these 2 are a great comic-relief option for this show. True, sometimes they are more than a little creepy, but . . I still think they're funny. And why does Jeff end up shirtless in at least one scene of every episode? Anyways . . I think this show is great. And it's great fun. It also has a great cast of characters.

the Mighty Crusaders #2, #3 and #4 - DC

2010-11-02T09:46:00.014-04:00

Theoretically, this should be a great story. The teams have just been put together, and they're thrown into the middle of something that could end up having a huge affect on the DC Universe. The Durlans have brought their conflict to Earth. Generations ago there was a war . . a kind of civil-war, I guess, that was fought on between the Durlans. It's called 'the Six-Minute War'. Anyways, that war reduced their planet, and civilization, to a near-barbaric state. Since then, they've divided into 2 factions . . the Futurist Durlans, and the Purist Durlans. 'The Futurists and Purists are fighting to gain control of the nanotech core. It carries within it the baseline genome of our race. From before we were forever altered by our 'Six-Minute War'. Sheba and her Purist followers are a cult of lunatics. They envision a new golden age, built on ancestral worship. We call ourselves Futurists because we believe in progress. The purists seek to reset the genetic makeup of our people. They want to force us to devolve! If the core is activated here, it will read every genome on the planet and adjust accordingly. There is a genetic time bomb hidden on the planet Earth, and it is ticking away.' This 'nanotech core' apparently was hidden somewhere on Earth ages ago by their ancestors. Anyways, this really is the crux of the story. However, along the way, we're getting lots of references and cross-overs into the DC Universe. Which, I think, is the real purpose of this story . . to immerse these characters in with the existing throng on 'heroes'. I think it also serves to define them as a team. They aren't the typical 'save the Earth, and avoid collateral damage' type of heroes . . like the Justice League. These guys are basically a government run group of 'heroes'. Actually, calling them 'heroes' would probably be a bit of a stretch. They're more like government agents, who happen to have powers. And while they are out to save the world, they're still operating on the government's agenda. Which translates . . 'the results outweigh the means'. Or . . 'do whatever is necessary to complete the mission'. They've even got this group divided up into 2 teams. The Web, the Shield, Fly-Girl, War Eagle and Inferno are the 'road-team'. They're the face of the Crusaders . . who the public sees when they're fighting crime. While the Hangman, Black Hood and Jaguar are they're shadow-team. They're the team that does the dirty work . . the stuff the public doesn't want to see. And of course we still have the Comet and the Fox running around out there. Currently they're in Japan. And they're being folded into the story, gradually, from the outside. But they're working their way in . . whether they want to or not. Along the way, there's been a ton of references and glimpse of the DC Universe. As I said, I think this is to show how immersed these characters have actually become. They overlap with the DMA, King Farraday and Wayne-Tech . . to name a few. They even overlap with the Super Young Team, from Crisis Aftermath, when someone sees the Comet in Japan and thinks that he looks like Most Excellent Super-bat. There also have been other occurrences of this Durlan threat in the DC Universe. In the recent Great Ten storyline it's hinted that some of their powers come from Durlan technology, or genetics. And there was a Durlan threat seen in Superman/Batman #68 and #69. As I said in the very beginning . . this should be a great story. I mean . . Eric S Trautmann is writing it. And as we've seen from the recent Shield series, the guy writes a great story and seems to have the whole government / tactical mission part down to a 't'. His stories are very intricate and involved, but flow and make a kind of sense that someone without his obvious knowledge couldn't achieve. My problem, I think, comes on 2 fronts. First of all . . I don't really have an investment in these characters. I know that's what the individual series were about . . getting the reader to know the characters. But I don't think that they achieved that. So, to me, the best part of this book is the story, and not necessarily the characters involved in said story. Does that make sense? Anyways, I'm approaching it from an interest in what happens in the DC Universe, more than from an interest in what actually happens to these characters. Secondly, the artwork doesn't really thrill me. And it's not consistent. Julian Lopez and Carlos Rodriguez does issue #2. While #3 is done by Carlos and Sergio Arino. And finally in #4 Carlos takes on the work himself. But none of them really thrill me. Now the covers . . the covers are by Stanley Lau, and they look incredible. As you can see. Anyways, we still have 2 issues to go. So it could end up having a thrilling ending. I don't know. But if you're only marginally interested in this book . . I'd wait for the TPB. Read it all in one sitting . . and don't spend as much money.

Gen13 #37 and #38 - WildStorm

2010-11-02T09:46:00.008-04:00

In this issue Pathcutter and the rest of the Gen13/Gen14 find their hidden oasis . . Pocatello. Or, I guess I should say, rather . . the city finds them. They're traveling through the wasteland, when all of the sudden . . they're in the city. Well . . it wasn't exactly that fast. They thought they had found a sheltered area and set up camp for the night. When they woke up . . they were in the middle of the city . . surrounded by armed citizens. And seeing as how the 'post-humans' were responsible for the fate of the rest of the world . . these townsfolk don't really extend the hand of friendship. Anyways, as it turns out . . Pathcutter's whole motive for coming here was that he was looking for his sister. Before the world ended, they were a super-hero team by the name of Hide & Seek. Apparently his sister's powers are cloaking in nature. When she gets hurt, or passes out, she goes into defensive mode and her body cloaks everything within a few mile radius. Which is how Pocatello has stayed off of everyone's radar. They've been keeping her in a medical coma, forcing her powers to work. So while Caitlan and the rest of the team are trying to sort things out with the Mayor and Sheriff . . they're the 2 people that seem to be the most in charge, Pathcutter heads off to find his sister. They end up offering the team a home here, but in exchange they need their help protecting them and their citizens from a nuclear testing facility in the nearby town of Idaho Falls. One of it's scientists have made it to Pocatello, and he's very mutated from the radiation he's had to absorb. He's been trying to contain the facility and prevent meltdown, but . . it got to be more than he could handle. So when the team takes off to go take care of this problem, Pathcutter steals his sister and tries to bring her back to consciousness. Of course in doing so he opens up the town to outside threats. The Mad-Max group of characters that Kaizen-X was leading is there ready and waiting. Apparently Pathcutter was working with them. We don't really know that yet, but . . there's not really any other explanation. So Bobby ends up looking like a flaming skeleton, when the reactor blows. And the rest of the team, after coming across Pathcutter . . or rather, Hide & Seek trying to make a getaway with his sister, ends up heading back to Pocatello and right into the fight with Kaizen-X. I thought this story was ok. Phil Hester did a decent job with it. I don't suppose there's much he could do, as he doesn't really have much to work with here. With Bobby probably out of the picture now, Caitlan is really the only one of the original Gen13's left. And while these other characters are interesting, there hasn't really been a whole lot of development on their part. And we kind of know right up front that some of them are just cannon fodder. To me it's just sad because these were a bunch of characters that I really liked in the beginning . . back in the day. But now they seem miles away from there. Anyways, Cruddie Torian does the art. His style of art fits this book perfectly. To bad it's probably too little . . too late!

Booster Gold #35, #36 and #37 - DC

2010-11-02T09:41:00.009-04:00

In this story-line, Michael has gone back in time to help out his buddy Ted, as well as Mister Miracle and Barda. They're on a mystical planet trying to recover a book . . the almost-but-not-quite Book of Destiny. We were first introduce to it in the new Brave and the Bold series a few years ago. But apparently it's made it's way here. Anyways, on this little trip, things just seem to keep going from bad to worse. They end up on this mystical planet because one of the Queen's stalkers . . Hieronymous the Underachiever . . is the person who has the book. He has enough knowledge, and foresight, to use it to take over this planet. But not enough to actually change reality. Lucky for us . . and the planet, of course. Anyways, long story short, they end up with the book, but . . before getting it, Hieronymous had swiped a Planet-Pounder from the Darkstars and was planning on using it to black-mail the Queen. With this new threat to his recently acquired kingdom, he activates it and teleports away. Which leaves our group of heroes left to try to stop it. Of course when they try to do so the Darkstars arrive and assume that they're the ones that stole it. And believe me, issue #36 isn't any less complicated. Ted ends up sleeping with the Queen . . rejects her, and then is turned into a chipmunk. Michael . . who had gone back to Earth when he escaped from the Darkstars . . remember, he's still trying to get information to prove Max's existence . . he comes back for his buddy and is immediately arrested once again. They take him to the Starlag . . an intergalactic prison. There he finds Vril Dox, before he founded LEGION, and he realizes that the Dominators, the Khunds and Okaarans are all working together. That's when he realizes that he's in the days shortly before 'Invasion!' If you don't remember, that was a storyline in the early 90's. Anyways, he's stuck in here with his best buddy, Ted the chipmunk, when they come across a woman trying to break out . . Estrogina. She's Zamaron and commands a group of female Zamaron pirates. In issue #37, they're the ones that are going to help her make her final escape. Basically this issue is a stream of mayhem has Estrogina works he way top-side, where her friends are scheduled to pick her up. And of course she takes Booster along for the ride because she's decided that he's to be her man-toy. They indeed make it out, and back onto her ship. Michael is just stalling for time because he'd gone back to Earth to ask Ted how they got out of this situation. Basically he has to wait for the spell to wear off. When he goes back to being normal, Estrogina will regurgitate him. Not the best plan, but . . I guess it works. They go back to Earth to clean up. Michael wants to give up and head home, but Ted reminds him that they still need to retrieve the book because now it's in the hands of the Darkstars. Which sets us up for the next issue . . 'Assault on (Darkstar) Precinct 2460!' Like I said . . it just keeps going from bad to worse. I really like this book. I find it very entertaining. Much improved from it's first incarnation, back in the 80's. However, having said that . . I do think that it's lost a little something with Dan Jurgens departure. I thought he really put a lot into this book, and now . . a little bit of the 'heart' is missing. Don't get me wrong. I think Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis are doing a good job. I guess I'm just not a big fan of all this wacky humor. And when those two get together . . it definitely gets piled on. Like I said, I still like it. It just seems like there's a lot of minutia right now. Maybe once Michael gets back to the present, and away from Ted, some of this will quiet down. We'll see. Anyways, I think Chris Batista is doing a good job with the art. And I think Michael is a great character. If he's going to turn in to Rip's father . . and turn him into the man he is today, then I guess there's still a lot of stories ahead of him. Plus, he still has a lot of growing up to do. That's what I think I liked so much about Dan's re-imagining. It really gave Booster a lot more potential than he ever had before. I guess I just can't wait to see that realized. Anyways, overall I think it's a good book. I'm not thrilled with this story-line, but . . I love this character.

Smallville - Isis - Season 10 - Episode 5 - CW

2010-10-25T20:09:00.016-04:00

In this episode Lois is put at risk because . . when she was in Africa, and was looking through the stuff at Carter's dig, she somehow ended up with the Amulet of Isis in her purse. Now the rest of that expedition has been brought to Metropolis because Ollie is throwing a big gala at the museum. Anyways, one things leads to another and . . a beam of sunlight flows through the gem in the amulet and . . ta-da . . Lois is inhabited by the spirit of Isis. From there it's a bit predictable. Clark and Ollie have to save her. But in the process Clark realizes how much he loves her. Obviously they pull it off, and Lois is returned to Clark's loving arms. But there were lots of other little tidbits that served to move the other various story-threads along. First . . Cat Grant is back. And she's still on the hero-bashing crusade. In fact when she sees Lois/Isis perform some superhuman feats . . she's convinced that Lois is the Blur. During all of this, Clark and Ollie end up soliciting Tess' help in figuring out how to beat the amulet. Because of that, they end up asking her to join their team and take Chloe's place at the helm of the Watchtower. I'm not sure how that's going to work out though, because . . she's still keeping a secret from them. They don't know that she's in possession of Alexander . . Lex's 6 year old clone. We also find out that Alexander's IQ has increased dramatically. And . . he's growing at an accelerated rate. He's grow about 4 inches in as many weeks. But, because of the recent events, Tess has decided to take a more nurturing, and loving role with Alexander. Although I'm sure it's . . too little, too late. Also Ollie is changed by these events, and the support from Clark and Tess. He's gone public now with his identity, but . . he's still trying to sort out how to balance it all. He was starting to head off into the 'glam and showbiz' aspect of it all, but . . these recent events have convinced him to get back to basics . . being the 'hero' that he wants to be for the city and it's people. And finally . . with much hesitation, Clark confides his secret to Lois. Her response? 'What took you so long?' I thought it was a great ending. This season definitely seems more upbeat than the last. Like I've said before, that whole Zod thing was really a downer. I know it was a necessary storyline for these characters to go through. But personally, I thought it played out way to long. Anyways, I haven't heard any news as to a new series after the completion of this one, but . . there's just so many different ways they could go. I hope they have something in the works.

Chuck vs the Couch Lock - Season 4 - Episode 5 - NBC

2010-10-25T20:09:00.014-04:00

This episode actually seemed to be more about Casey and Grimes, rather than Chuck and Sarah. The back story is . . in 1999, John Casey and his troop were in Iraq. There they found a bunker that housed the gold bullion that they were using to back their government . . or terrorists . . or whatever. Anyways, his comrades in arms got a little greedy and decided that it wouldn't be necessary to hide something that nobody even knew existed. Basically . . they wanted to keep it for themselves. Well Casey couldn't let that happen, so he takes out his own guys, buries the bunker, and then takes his former teammates to be court-martialed. Anyways, now that Chuck and Sarah are looking for his mother, and they know that she's being held by Volkoff . . they decided that the only way to find her, after a fruitless search through all of the files that they got from Coasta Gravos on Volkoff, was to search his worldwide network of prisons. Which leads them to Casey's old team, whom apparently went to work for Volkoff after they escaped federal custody. So, in order to draw them out of hiding, they decide to fake Casey's death. But, of course, things don't go as planned. They take off with Casey's body, but . . the drugs that he took to fake his death finally wear off. He makes his escape, but in their haste to rescue their fallen partner, Chuck and Sarah are captured instead. Anyways, the other subplot of this story is . . now that Grimes and Alex have decided to advance their relationship, Grimes knows that eventually he's going to have to tell her father, John Casey. But he keeps chickening out. However, in John's escape his old partners stab him with his back-up vial of the poison. After Jeff and Lester rescue him he's got couch-lock from over-medicating. So, in order to get his pulse racing and pull him out of this . . Grimes goes ahead and gives him all the sordid details. Needless to say it works, and . . it's hilarious. And then, in the end, when they all seem to be captured in Iraq, Grimes performs a selfless act and takes down the bad-guys, with a jolt of electricity. Even though its at a risk to his own personal safety. Which finally endears him to John . . and he gives their relationship his blessing. During all of this, Elle decides that she wants to know what has happened to their mother. And Chuck finds out from John's old team that Frost isn't a prisoner of Volkoff, but rather . . a partner. She's this mercenaries teams boss. And she's also Volkoff's right hand. Chuck admits to Sarah that he's starting to think that his mom may be one of the 'bad-guys'. I like the spy-theme of this show. But it's the humor that's mixed in that really sells it for me. I also like the music.

Zatanna #4, #5 and #6 - DC

2010-10-25T20:08:00.011-04:00

Stephane Roux is still doing the covers for these books. But apparently she's given it a rest at doing the interior art. Issue #4 and #5 are done by Chad Hardin and Wayne Faucher. But they still have pretty much the same feel as Stephane's stuff. Overall I like the feel of these books. I'm just not sold on Zatanna being a lead character. Yes she's a of the normal super-hero genre. She's got the whole magical/mystical thing going for her. But . . to me, she's just nowhere close to being in the company of somebody like Dr Fate, or Doctor Strange. I mean, sure she can pretty much do whatever she wants just by saying things backwards, but . . that just seems kind of limited to me. Can she do spells and incantations? Or has she just never really thought about it because of the way her powers work? I guess, to me, the fault of this character lies in that she's never really been fully explored. To my knowledge, no writer has really dug in to what exactly it is that Zee can and can't do. What are her limits? Sure she's a pretty face, and apparently someone who can think pretty fast on their feet. But it just seems like there could be so much more to her. Anyways, in these issues, Mammon is after Zee's soul. There's this guy who pretty much runs Vegas . . Sonny Raymond. Apparently he made a deal with Mammon, many years ago . . 1947, specifically . . where if he keeps feeding Mammon souls, his life, power, and wealth will be extended. So he's been giving him wives, business partners, co-workers, employees . . pretty much anybody he can get his hands on, and feeds them to Mammon. So, apparently, Mammon has seen Zee . . and seen what a pure soul she has, and tries to up his deal with Sonny. He offers him immortality, and release from his contract, for her soul. Of course Zee has other plans for her soul. And she's not going down without a fight. We also get the reintroduction of Zee's cousin in these issues, Zachary. We haven't really seen much of his character, since he made his brief stint in Teen Titans. Well . . I take that back. I think he's one of the characters in the 'Coven of Three' back-up story that's been running in Teen Titans. Anyways . . he's probably the least explored character of this family. And given the least attention. Which he's more than willing to point out to Zee. So, to make a long story short, of course Zee beats Mammon, and Sonny ends up losing his soul. But not in the way we expect. He'd rather be a soulless object than to be tortured for eternity in hell, so he convinces Zee to give him just that. She turns him in to a giant brick of gold. Mammon loses his soul. But Zee convinces him that this is even better, because . . being a demon-lord of Avarice, displaying this large hunk of metal in Vegas is only going to appeal to the masses sense of greed and lust. Which feeds right into the emotions that Mammon desires. So he gives up on Zee. For now. But I'm sure she hasn't seen the last of him. Anyways, I thought Paul Dini introduced a couple of neat ideas during this story. First we see the Royal Flush Gang re-imagined. Seeing that they're in Vegas, they take on the persona's of the Rat Pack, rather than their usual motif. Also, when Zee's voice is disabled, we see that she can use her powers by writing down her words, rather than saying them. If that's true then she should also be able to cast her spells by thinking them. Right? I think that's something that Paul could explore. Then, I think I like the introduction of Zachary to this series. Face it, solo books aren't really solo books anymore. Batman has his bat-family. Superman has his family and loved ones. Heck, even Wonder Woman has a huge supporting cast now. So let's give Zee one. All she really has is her father, Zatarra, and Zachary. But neither of them are around very much. I think Paul should explore those family ties a little more. And overall I think we should explore Zatanna's character much more. What makes her tick? What are her limits? How do her powers really work, and is the backwards thing just for show, or is that really the only way she can make her spells work? There's just so much more we can explore here, and so much more possibility. To me, this would be an exciting character to write. Nothings ever really been done with her. Her story is pretty much an open book. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how far Paul takes that. By the way, Jesus Saiz does the art for issue #6. And Brian Bolland does the variant covers.

Batgirl #13 and #14 - DC

2010-10-25T20:08:00.005-04:00

Unfortunately #15 didn't come out yet, or I'd have included that here also. The Batman cross-over did . . for the Return of Batman, but . . I want to try to do those books together, so I'm not going to include it here. But since that book ties into the overall theme of the Bat-books that month, these stories are both one shots. In issue #13 Bryan Q Miller and Pere Perez bring us a story of Batgirl and Clayface. Obviously, from the cover. This is a typical Clayface story, so I think the important part of this issue is Bryan's character development of Stephanie. We get a glimpse of her life as a college student, but I think the most important insight we get is into that of the relationship between her, as Batgirl, and Det. Gage, of the GCPD. They've come into contact more than once, so there's a report that's starting to develop between them. In the end, they actually kind of help each other take Clayface down. Plus we get a little interaction between Steph and Proxy, Wendy Harris. She fills in for Babs when she's out doing 'Birds' stuff. And since she and Steph are similar in age, they also seem to have a report. Not to mention her mom, with whom she's trying to rebuild their relationship. All in all, it was kind of an upbeat fun issue. Bryan also writes issue #14, with Lee Garbett doing the art. In that issue there's an experiment that goes awry at the University and while Steph and Kara are watching an old vampire movie . . it's main character is turned into a hard light projection. Actually, there's 24 of them because the energy burst lasts for about a second, and in the old films, the frame rate is 24 per second. So, obviously, Batgirl and Supergirl have to scour the campus and find the 24 black & white vampire menaces. Again, I think the important part of this issue is the character development between Steph and Kara. They're both kind of going at life from opposite directions, and it becomes obvious this issue that they both want what the other has. As well as Kara gets along with Stephanie, I'm surprised that they haven't gotten together with Cassie, Wonder Girl. They seem like their characters would play off of each other well. Anyways, it was another fun story, and a quick read before we get into the whole Return of Batman thing. After that . . who knows how Batgirl's role in Gotham will be changed. Both beautiful covers are by Stanley Lau. I really like this series, and Stephanie's character. I'm really glad she's found her own home.

Adventure Comics #517, 518 and #519 - DC

2010-10-25T20:07:00.004-04:00

I think Paul Levitz is trying to reintroduce a new generation, and perhaps some of the old, to the Legion again. Obviously, in order to tell current stories of the Legion, he's going to have to show things from the past as a sort of prologue. And I assume, since the Legion of 3 Worlds combined a lot of the most recent story-lines, and teams, that Paul has a bit of artistic license when it comes to showing us the past. The Legion's past. Our future. You know what I mean. Anyways, my point is, in issue #517 we're shown a story from the very early days of the Legion. Irma, Garth and Rokk have just barely gotten together, and they're still trying to figure out not only their own relationships, but the Legion's with other entities, such as the Science Police. Irma is still at the point where she feels like she has to prove herself . . constantly. We're also introduced to a new threat . . a techno-pirate named Zaryan, who's going around and stealing robot parts from many different manufacturing plants, and various planets. Although, after looking it up, Zaryan's first appearance was back in Jan. of 1963. In a battle with the Legion . . he was then called Zaryan the Conqueror . . he ended up killing Lightning Lad. Which kind of shows how Paul is tweaking things, just a bit. Anyways, this is one of their very first missions, and they're doing it in tandem with the Science Police. Specifically a Sgt. Esquivel. Whom, although she doesn't like the access that's been given to Brande, simply because of his money, is still a believer in the Legion and what it hopes to stand for. Through the course of the mission, and Irma's training, she and the Sgt becomes friends. So on one of the raids when one of Zaryan's men take out the Sgt, Irma is especially vulnerable. Which leads her to sleeping with Rokk. Luckily, for her, it follows a night of drinking, so she can make him forget and blame it on the booze. We also see in this part of the story how these first 3 Legionnaires come to the conclusion that they need to expand their ranks. The issue ends with their new friend Brainy planning a trip back to the past so that they can meet their idol . . Superboy. RJ Brands actually wants them to meet Superman, but . . Brainy has other plans. The next issue goes into the present of the Legion and we see Superboy in the future visiting his friends. This issue is kind of told from Clark's perspective, in that he doesn't always like what he finds in the future, especially when he starts to see glimpses of his own. There's lots of things that happen to him, as Superman, that he's in no way prepared to face yet. Which is part of the reason why Irma insists on mind-sweeping him before he returns to his own time. The information, and feelings, that he experiences while in the future can't be carried back into the past with him. He can't face the threats he destined to face with any prior knowledge. In order to now affect the future, he has to handle them in the way that he originally did . . good or bad. But while in the future . . it's a heavy burden for him to bear. There's also a mystery going on, in that the Legion Headquarters seems to be haunted. Phantom girl tries to give Superboy the tour, but she's kind of distracted by the other things going on. And Clark actually hears the supposed phantom's voice while in the Superman museum. The next issue takes place about a year after the Legion's formation, and . . the Legion has grown tremendously. But something that is constant is that they're still chasing after this Zaryan guy. Irma is especially hell-bent on capturing him because of what happened to her friend. But she's temporarily pulled off the mission so that she, Rokk and Garth can go back to meet Superboy. Brainy supposedly has a list of the things he wants the team to do with the young Clark Kent, but the real point of their mission is to intercept a Brainiac droid that is sent to Earth to scout out their technology. We also see the first glimpse of the Legion Espionage Squad this issue . . Chameleon Boy, Shrinking Violet and Invisible Kid. Anyways, the Legionnaires have fun in the past up until they realize why they're really there. And why Brainy brought them to Smallville in the first place, instead of Metropolis to meet Superman like RJ wanted. He knows that Superboy isn't prepared to face Brainiac, and if they could defeat the droid and make it disappear . . it would be consistent with what the future records show. Of the three, I especially liked this issue because it came the closest to giving me the feeling that I used to get when I read those old Legion stories . . the ones from Superboy and Adventure, back in the 60's and 70's. Overall, I think Paul is doing a great job and, I think, is trying to bring the Legion into the future, without rewriting to much of the past. But like I said, there are some subtle tweaks here and there. Kevin Sharpe and Marlo Alquiza provide the art for the first 2 issues, with Eduardo Pansica filling in on #519. I thought they all did a good job, and gave their books a really good feel. I'm also enjoying the Atom back-up story by Jeff Lemire and Mahmud Asrar. Someone is after Ray's technology. And it appears to be the Colony. We find out later, from Ray's uncle, that the Colony started out as a government think tank . . Project Colony. But when their governmental funding was pulled, they decided to carry on under their own direction. They felt that the work they were doing was to important to the future of the nation and the world. Anyways, for some reason they're after Ray's White Dwarf Star. They've been able to copy his technology, but . . without the star, it's unstable . . at best. And somehow Ray's uncle Dave is involved in all of this. Dave shows Ray his life's work . . the Ant-Farm. It's a microscopic world that he's created should the need arise for humankind to vacate the planet . . 'pandemics, nuclear or biological war, natural disasters, overpopulation, famine, even meteorites that may collide with Earth one day. We need a backup plan . . this . . this is a microscopic panic room for humankind.' But even though Dave created it, he's never been inside of it, because . . he doesn't have the technology. Only Ray does. So I think, for some reason, Dave's tricked him into coming here. Anyways, through the course of these stories, I thought Jeff Lemire did a fantastic job of reintroducing us to Ray's character, and that of the Atom's. He does a little bit to update him . . without changing him, and does a good job of explaining why he's always had such a hard time of fitting in with the Justice League. He's always wanted to help, but . . he approaches things . . problems, a different way than is usually their method. I thought it was good insight into the character and made us really think about who he is. This is another book that I'm glad is back on the shelf. I'm thrilled to read every issue of it.

Titans #26, #27 and #28 - DC

2010-10-25T20:06:00.006-04:00

Issues #26 and #27 deals with Roy's reacquainting with Jade. She's trying to deal with the loss of Lian . . as is Roy, so they've kind of reached out to each other. Roy is also dealing with the loss of his arm, and because of all that has gone back to using. I have to say, I'm glad that Eric Wallace is focusing more on these two dealing with their loss than necessarily Roy's addictions. I know that it is an issue that Eric's going to have to deal with eventually, but . . I think if he focused on it right now it would take away from other parts of the storyline. Plus, when Eric does finally deal with it, I think he should do so in another mini-series. Obviously Roy's actions and frame of mind have an effect on the people he's around, and working with, but . . I think the heart of that story should be explored in it's own format. Anyways, it seems like Jade wants Roy to suffer a little bit. She hasn't come right out and said so, but . . I think, and it seems only natural, that she would hold him accountable for her loss. That is as well as herself. But, the person that she's really mad at right now is Slade. Which is the reason that she's asked Roy to join up with these new 'Titans'. She wants to kill Slade, but she knows that she's probably not going to be able to do that by herself. These two issues show us the beginning of their plan . . getting Roy into the mix. And in doing so, Slade has accepted a job of retrieving a rich man's son who was taken. What they find is that there's this guy named Elijah . . he kind of looks like Brick from Star City, who's got this new drug on the street called Bliss. When they go to his facility they find that the main ingredient of this drug is some kind of hormone that occurs naturally in children. Which is why this kid was really taken . . not for the ransom. And Elijah has his own group of 'metas' . . the Dominators. Of course there's a big fight, and in the end the 'Titans' win, but . . what have they really won? Roy ends up being the one that actually sets all these kids free. Which is good for him. I guess. But Jade is disillusioned even more about Slade because she thinks that their assignment was to come here, shut down this operation, and liberate all of these captured children. However, in the end, she finds out that Slade was only ever really after the one kid . . the rich kid . . the $10 million payday. And he looks like he couldn't care less what happens to anything, or anyone else. But this also had something to do with one of Elijah's men . . DJ Molecule. But I'm not sure what. Earlier Slade is thinking about the Deftech schematics that Jade and Richards had gotten him. He's thinking about how he's 'one step closer to achieving his true objective. Cheating death itself.' So I'm not sure if DJ Molecule is another component of that plan or not. Anyways, we got a little glimpse into Cinder's mind. And Amon Tomaz, Osiris, is contacted by the White Light. He's told . .'Your sister is needed. Help Isis break free.' Which then leads later on, during the fight with Elijah, where he's accidentally given a dose of Bliss. While he's hallucinating, he thinks he sees his sister. It's through this vision that he makes the connection that the cracks in her statue . . he assumes the rock trying to break free . . occurs whenever he kills someone. So now, his justification for killing is that he's trying to save his sister. Anyways, issue #28 starts out a new storyline where the 'Titans' have been hired to break someone out of Arkham Asylum. But there's lots of reasons for this plan to go bad. First of all, they use a corrupt, greedy guard to get into the facility. That plan always works out. Then, during the course of their infiltration, Jade discovers that Roy is high. Amon is wresting with what he's discovered during his recent 'vision'. And because of that decides that he's going to kill this guard, since he's already a 'bad-guy'. And when the alarm is sounded . . a product of the guards death, Batman is entered into the mix and the issue ends with him face to face with Slade. We also find out that this was all apparently to break out the Mad Hatter. And also for a girl . . Allegra Garcia. Although I'm not really sure who she is. In the beginning of the story we get a glimpse of Ivy Town, where Ray Palmer is starting to look into Ryan Choi's disappearance. I'm not sure what that has to do with this storyline, but it's titled . . 'Family Reunions'. I'm not sure if it's going to be connected to the back-up story in Adventure Comics or not. But I have to say . . so far, I like the way that Eric is handling this team, and these characters. The focus for the most part right now is on Jade and Roy. But we are getting glimpses of Amon, Cinder and Richards. As well as whatever this plan is that Slade is trying to put together. I think he's got a good mix here, and there's a lot of potential. But that's the way this book has always been . . lots of potential, but short on the payoff. I guess we'll have to wait and see if Eric can get a different result. So far . . I think he's on the right path. I'm also enjoying Fabrizio Fiorentino and Cliff Richards' art. I think they give the book a good feel that's similar, but different . . from what we've seen before. Of course, I'm also thrilled to death that this book wasn't cancelled like I thought it was going to be. 'Long Live the Titans!' Or Legion. Whatever!

Smallville - Homecoming - Season 10 - Episode 4 - CW

2010-10-19T23:10:00.007-04:00

This was a great episode. As you can see from the picture . . Brainiac is back. But . . not in the way that you might've expected. This episode kind of reminded me of A Christmas Carol. Or rather . . A Smallville Christmas Carol. It seems that Brainiac has come back to help Clark get past this 'dark' part of his soul that everybody keeps talking about. The story is framed around Clark and Lois' return to Smallville. It seems it's time for a class reunion, and Lois thinks that the return to Smallville will help Clark get past whatever this funk is that he's been in lately. That's when Brainiac attacks. Or rather . . he shows up to help guide Clark along his destined path. What? Wait . . I thought Clark and Legion had destroyed Brainiac. Well . . except for that little black puddle that we saw oozing along after he was vanquished. It seems that what they really did was to cure Brainiac. Like Clark, he was created by Jor-El. And like Clark, Jor-El hoped that he would help to aid this alien race and prepare the world for Clark's ascension. But, somewhere along the way, he became corrupted. It seems whatever Clark and the Legion did to him, helped to cure him of that corruption. So now Brainiac is in the future and has joined up with the Legion. He even tells Clark that he's now known as Brainiac 5. Anyways, he's decided to help Clark, but in order to do so he has to get him to let go of his past. It seems that it's his 'second-guessing' and 'guilt' that's creating this dark cloud over Clark's head. And as Brainiac shows him, it all started when his father, Jonathan, died. Since then Clark has been questioning his 'path' and his 'destiny'. He then shows him that in the present he's become a pillar of strength to many people. Not just because of his abilities, but because of the way that he inspires them. Lois and Ollie are just two of the many to be affected by Clark. There's even one of the 'meteor-freaks' that Clark put away that shows up at the reunion. While viewing the world with Brainiac, Clark sees this guy approach Lois. He fears for her, and in his haste grabs ahold of Brainiac's Legion ring. That's when he's hurled into the future. In it he realizes that not only are he and Lois a couple . . there's hints of them being married, but we don't know that for sure . . but also Clark has confided his secret to Lois. And he now sees that she's become his staunchest supporter, and protector. Well . . protector of his secret. It seems that in the present, Clark's silence and distance that he's been putting between himself and those around him . . thinking that he's protecting them, is actually hurting them. Not physically, of course, but rather as far as potential. Without Clark's strength and friendship, neither Lois or Ollie are realizing their true potential. When they finally return to the present, Clark sees that this guy from his past is approaching Lois' because he wants to thank Clark. He wants to thank Clark for showing him that he didn't have to live the way he was. And for helping him get out of, and away from his destructive behavior. It seems that despite all of his powers, Clark's greatest strength lies in the way that he inspires and motivates others. He truly is a beacon that's only now beginning to shine on the world. He's a pebble, in a stream, who's ripples are only just beginning to reach out to others. He then goes on to inspire Ollie, a bit more. Ollie is holding a press conference on his latest revelation. Unfortunately he's feeling melancholy and distressed about Chloe . . as well as Clark, whom he hasn't heard from. But when Clark shows up . . Ollie instead express' his hopes for the future and what he wants his 'heroism' to inspire. He also tells the world . .'I'm not doing it alone.' Clark then goes to Lois to tell, and show her how he really feels about her. He hasn't revealed his secret . . yet. But . . I think it's only a matter of time. And in their embrace . . Clark begins to 'float' under his own power. It seems that this 'enlightenment' is fueling the emergence of the rest of Clark's powers. All in all I thought it was a very moving episode. I really liked the roles that Lois and Ollie played in this unfolding drama. And we even get a peak . . the slightest glimpse really, that Chloe is still out there. I can't wait to see what the rest of this season has in store for us.

Chuck vs the Coup d'Etat - Season 4 - Episode 4 - NBC

2010-10-12T09:59:00.005-04:00

In this episode Costa Gravas, and General Alejandro Goya come back in to Elle and Devon's life. The General's chief of security, Turinni, shows up at Elle's house inviting them to come back to Costa Gravas. Since she and Awesome are having a hard time dealing with her pregnancy right now . . she's about 4 months along and Awesome pays more attention to her belly, and the baby, that he does to her, they decided to take him up on his offer. Besides, this will give them a chance to have a 'Baby-moon'. A honeymoon of sorts before the baby is born. Sarah and Chuck are also having relationship problems, because of the faux-proposal that accidentally occurred at the end of the last episode, so they decide to go along a get a little vacation to. Also Grimes is having some relationship problems, as he really likes Alex, Casey's daughter. But he's more afraid of him, than of missing out with Alex. Which is how he comes across the book, '101 Conversations Before 'I Do''. And, in trying to help Chuck, he also gives it to him. So anyways, of course in Costa Gravas things don't go as planned. The General's wife decides to have a Coup. And the Bartowski's are left having to shuttle him out of the country to safety. But the only person he feels safe with is the man's whose blood runs through his veins . . Col. John Casey. During the course of this Casey reveals to Goya that it's actually Turinni that's behind this. Turinni takes him back home, and Chuck, Sarah and Casey have to try to rescue him because of the nuclear control panel that they find in the castle. Anyways, Chuck ends up using the stuff he'd learned from the book and talks the General and his wife into finding and re-exploring their old feelings of love. Chuck finds out from Goya that the control panel also came from Volkoff. At the end Chuck tells Elle that he's looking for their mom. Grimes decides to make a move on Alex . . and kisses her. It looks like things are going to work out. But right now Casey's out of town, so . . they don't have to face that yet. And while Chuck's sleeping . . because of something that Chuck had told her earlier, Sarah decides to talk to him. She tells him that if he had actually been proposing, she would've said yes. It's hard to tell if Chuck is really sleeping, or if he's just faking it. Anyways, it looks like all the relationships on this show are going to be moving forward. Now they just need to find someone for Casey to become romantically involved with. I don't know though. That might take away his edge. I think this is a great show. It's got a cool comedic twist to everything. And it's kind of a spy / soap-opera rolled up into one.

Justice League: Generation Lost #7, #8 and #9 - DC

2010-10-12T09:58:00.009-04:00

I get the distinct feeling that there's a plan going on here. Well . . with Judd Winick taking the helm of this book . . obviously there's a plan. What I mean is . . I think that the White Light, or White Entity . . what do we call this thing? . . I think that things are happening for a reason and that . . shudder the thought . . Max isn't as bad as he's being portrayed to be. Yes he's most likely working on his own agenda, but . . I'm thinking that the White Light, while giving it's operatives a certain latitude, is trying to keep things going in a distinct direction. Max seems to be using the JLA teleporters to hope all over the planet. He's going from base to base, and safe-house to safe-house. Which is why it seems like it's so hard for this group to catch up to him. They're literally chasing their own tail. So I'm thinking that they're going to have to stop chasing the man, and start chasing the plan. Max is trying to put something into place, but our team doesn't know what that is yet. However, if they keep wasting time chasing Max . . they never will find out. Because they'll never stop long enough to try to put the pieces together. Most of issues #7 and #8 are spent with our team trying to break in to Checkmate headquarters because Bea is convinced that Max is there. Which he is, but . . apparently he's disguising his appearance in some way. We see him as who he is . . as does the rest of the team, but . . I'm thinking that as far as the rest of the world is concerned . . and basically any monitoring technology such as Checkmate's 'nest' . . he's either cloaked, or appearing as another person entirely. And right now my guess is Alton Janus . . the new White King of Checkmate. I don't really have anything to support that supposition, but . . that's my guess. However, no matter who he is, our rag-tag group here isn't going to get anywhere until they know what he actually looks like. At least to the rest of the world. Which, to me, seems like Jaime might be the team's best bet. Jaime doesn't actually know Max, or believe that he's alive. But . . since he's still showing up in the Scarab's data-banks, he's siding with this group, I think, out of hope and faith. But that would also mean that he's someone who would be included with the masses of the rest of the world . . the people that Max has under his spell . . for lack of a better term. When he does come across him . . or the team has him in his sights, he may appear different than what everybody else sees. Anyways . . it's a thought. But as I was saying, the team poses as a rogue group of Rocket Reds and breaks in to Checkmate. Of course things go to hell pretty quickly, they don't find Max, and . . Bea, Jamie and Captain Atom are exposed. So at the very least Checkmate knows that this rogue group are still on some type of mission . . self imposed, but just as diligent. Also while in Checkmate, Max gets a flash from the White Light . . with a message. 'Maxwell Lord of Earth. Stop the war before it starts.' And he's shown a vision of him taking out Magog. Which is what lead me to the thought that while being misunderstood, Max may not necessarily be as bad as everyone thinks. That or he truly does think that he's doing the best things he can to make the world a better place. I don't know. Max is a tough one to figure out. I just don't think things are as 'black & white' as they appear. Anyways, after the cluster, they make it out of Checkmate, and it appears that for now they aren't going to be pursued. At least by Checkmate. But when they return to their decommissioned embassy in Germany, Bea is confronted by Max himself. Max tries to use Bea to take out the rest of the team, but . . Captain Atom saves the day. Not necessarily the building, but at least the rest of the team-members. Booster also comes across him, and Max temporarily takes control of him. However, Max knows that he needs to get out of here, and he quickly takes his leave via one of the teleporters. At the end we see him back at Checkmate recruiting Magog. Supposedly it's for that organization. But his enticement is . . he'll get to take out Captain Atom. Apparently Max wasn't listening to the warning from the White Light. Personally, I love this book. I think this is a great group of underutilized characters. With this pursuit of Max really drawing them all together. I think Judd is doing a fantastic job with the story and the overall plan being developed here. Also the art has been great. Joe Bennett does the art for issue #7, with Aaron Lopresti stepping in for #8. And #9 is done by Fernando Dagnino. And they all look great. I was under the assumption that this was going to be a 12 issue series, but . . so far the listings have it going up to #17. And it doesn't look like there's an end in sight. So now I'm guessing that it's going for a year, which would mean 24 issues. That's sad because I think that this could definitely blossom into an ongoing series. Why not? There's numerous Avengers books. Why not do the same thing with the Justice League? Anyways, in the meantime . . I'm diggin' this series, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Birds of Prey #4 and #5 - DC

2010-10-12T09:57:00.012-04:00

Ok . . I was completely wrong about this one. I thought maybe this White Canary was associated, or even was, Sin or Cassandra. Somehow! But this actually goes back a few years to another one of Gail Simone's storylines. In issue #81, of the first series, these fighters appeared . . Twelve Brothers in Silk. There was a legendary fighter, Huang, who realized that he would eventually die . . or be killed. So he birthed 12 perfect sons and began training them with his mastery. We find out this issue that during the course of the creation of this tribe, one of the children was born a girl. Huang wanted 12 perfect sons, for the 12 signs of the Zodiac, so any that didn't fit his strict criteria, or were born female, were killed. However, on the way to the lake with this child, the mid-wife was struck down by lightning. Seeing this as a sign that someone, or something, very angry wanted her alive, Huang chose one of his sons to begin training her. Thus was born . . Sister in Silk. Anyways, Dinah and some of her friends had beaten the Brothers in Silk . . actually, more like they fought them to a stand-still. But this was outside of the Sister in Silks code of honor. So . . she hunted them down . . her brothers . . and, one by one she killed them. Now that she's the only one left . . her honor dictates that she take down Siu Jerk Jai . . Dinah. Which is why she's called her out. While this is going on, Babs is also dealing with Savant and Creote. They're the ones that are threatening to expose the 'super-hero' club with all of the information that they gathered while working for Barbara. Anyways, what happened is . . 2 years ago Savant was taken captive by the Calculator's henchmen and tortured for 2 days while trying to get information about Oracle. The problem is . . besides getting tortured . . Savant is so brilliant that the concept of time escapes him. What happened to him only lasted for 2 days . . 2 years ago. But because, in his mind, he relives it every day . . he thinks that he was tortured for 2 years. Anyways, Babs ends up talking him down . . he really wanted to kill her, and Creote finally admits that he loves Savant. Babs vows to try to get him the help he needs to get past this. And, Zindy and Helena are fighting with the Penguin. It seems that he was in on this whole thing with the Sister in Silk. He was promised the information for his involvment. So he's very eager to take down these members of the 'Birds'. With Zindy hurt, Dove is the one that ends up getting pissed off enough to punch him in the nose. Anyways, issue #5 is spent basically cleaning up the mess. Huntress wants to kill Penguin, but . . Oracle talks her down. Babs, Savant and Creote have tried to begin the next chapter of their lives. And it appears that Dinah has also beaten this Sibling in Silk. That or . . she may have just let her win. Dinah finds out from her that it was Shiva who set her up back in Finland. And she agrees to go to Bangkok with Sister in Silk to take care of her. The problem is . . in order to do so . . Dinah has to leave the 'Birds', and leave Gotham. Because of what she's agreeing to do . . she realizes that she'll probably never return. So she says goodbye to Babs and Helena. But Helena and Zindy decide that they aren't just going to let Dinah quit, so . . they head off to Bangkok after her. However once reaching there, they're told in no uncertain terms that they're not wanted in this city. And the enforcer kicking them out is . . Dinah, dressed in the White Canary outfit. We also get a little glimpse of the stuff that Hawk and Dove are dealing with. There should be a storyline revolving around them coming up pretty soon. Gail Simone, I think, does a fantastic job with this series . . and these characters. I love the group that she's got together right now. And it looks like they aren't going to go down . . or split up, without a fight. Ed Benes and Adriana Melo do the art for issue #4. With Adriana probably doing most of it. But . . it still looked good. However, Alvin Ledd takes on a more active role in #5. The pages that I see were Adriana's looked pretty good. However Alvin's stuff seemed a little to cartoonish for me. It's a shame Ed Benes can't stick on a book for more than a few issues. Art wise . . this book started out really great. But now . . I'm still holding out hope. Alvin will be around for the next issue. But after that . . Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes will be taking on the next chapter. Plus . . there may be a shake-up in this book with Batman returning. We'll have to wait and see what happens with that. Anyways . . I love this book. I love these characters. And I can't wait to see more.

Superman #702 and #703 - DC

2010-10-12T09:57:00.007-04:00

While I enjoyed these 2 issues . . unfortunately, I

didn't think they were as good as #701. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love J Michael Straczynski's work. And I think Eddy Barrows gets better and better with every issue of work that he does. These 2 issues were just a little more . . oblique. I guess that's the best word to describe it. There were parts that I really enjoyed, and I think served to further enhance the story. But then other parts? Come on . . Superman stopping to play a game of pick-up ball? Yes he ended up helping one of the kids that was being bullied. But . . it just didn't' seem that believable to me. But then some would argue that it's a comic and believability isn't really the point. But that's part of what I like about JMS's work. He puts ideas out there that maybe aren't mind-bending, but . . a lot of times it's stuff that seems like the natural course of events. We, as readers, just never thought about it that way. Then when he presents it, we think . . 'Oh yeah! I could see that happening.' Anyways, in #702 Superman is in Detroit. The point of the issue, mainly, is that he comes across a 'hive' of aliens living as human. They're just trying to blend in. And, of course, when Superman arrives to see what's going on, he's attacked. But that doesn't last very long. I thought the interesting part of the whole confrontation was when Superman is talking to them, and trying to reason. They just want to live in peace, and they're totally self-sufficient. But then Superman argues . . 'The point is, what are you giving back to your community? Every culture that's come through this country has added something to it. You have scientific advances here that could be helping people. If you don't let anyone know, then what are you giving back? What good are you doing here?' Later Superman comes across an old man in need of medical attention. He's got something or other that he knows that Earth science can't treat. So he takes him back to the aliens. They end up treating him, and then with Superman's encouragement, they decide to 'give back'. They buy up some of the abandoned factories and set up some medical facilities plants. Working some of their own technology into the designs. Yes it's a little far-fetched, but . . it's interesting. And in the end, Superman talks some aliens that were just trying to survive into 'giving back'. In #703, Superman ends up in Cincinnati. This issue ends up being about a debate between Superman and Batman. Batman has been watching Superman's progress. And while he doesn't believe in his overall methods, he is trying to give him his space. Batman's argument though is . . first of all he doesn't think that Superman is actually dealing with what's really bothering him . . the loss of his adopted planet. Secondly, by walking amongst the 'common-folk', he's actually putting the people he's trying to reach in danger. Superman is a magnet, as is anyone in their profession. If he puts himself out in the open like this . . trouble will follow. And while Superman can deal with pretty much anything, can the people he's putting in such close proximity? Of course something happens, and ironically it's caused by his recently lost adoptive planet. More specifically some kind of crystal's that reached Earth from it. Anyways, in his zeal to 'fix the problem', a large part of the city is destroyed. Superman immediately afterwards sets to fixing it, but . . the damage has already been done. While the physical damage can be fixed, the doubts among the people have been sowed. They have seen that while he walks amongst them, in truth . . he's not really one of them. And of course they, and the media turn against him immediately. Basically proving Batman's point. This has got to be hard on Dick. While he's been proven right, at the same time he probably hates to see Superman have to learn the hard truth this way. I think he may have been on to something when he warned Superman that he may be going through a mental breakdown . . or could be, if he doesn't deal with what's really bothering him. It's a side of Superman I don't think we've ever seen before. Anyways, I thought they were good issues. I like #701 better, but . . I still thought they were good. And I think JMS and Eddy are doing a fantastic job. If you've even only been marginally interested in Superman before . . this is a story-arc that I think can touch a lot of people. If you give it a chance. Believe me, you won't be sorry.

Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #1, #2 and #3 - DC

2010-10-12T09:56:00.007-04:00

You knew it was only going to be a matter of time before there was another Green Lantern title . . right? I love the Green Lantern Corps book, but . . there's just to many characters involved for all of this to be contained within 2 volumes. So now we get a third title. And with these 3 issues, the title is off with a bang. The series is going to be brought to us by Peter J Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. But we're also getting many beautiful covers by Rodolfo Migliari and Lee Bermejo. Unfortunately, with doing multiple issues on these posts, I'm not going to be able to include all the variant covers as well. There's just not enough space. Plus . . I really am trying to get caught back up. Which, it appears, is not going to be an easy feat . . either with time or motivation. But that's a subject for another time. Anyways, this title starts out with Guy trying to live up to the promise that he made Ganthet and Atrocitus. They're getting ready to head out into the unknown sectors. But before he can leave, Kilowog and Arisia join up with him. They each also have their own reasons for wanting to tag along. Kilowog, I think, just needs a change of scenery. He's just as devoted as he's ever been to the Corps, but . . I think he's starting to get a little bit tired of having to bury friends and teammates. Especially after the whole thing that they've all just been through with the Black Lanterns. Arisia wants to ask Guy and Kilowog to go to Daxam with her to try and help her save Sodam. In the meantime, while all of these plans are being made, it appears that there's forces gathering in many different places with the intentions of taking down the Corps. Atrocitus is currently helping Ganthet and Guy, by feeding them information. But his ultimate goal, the death and destruction of the entire Green Lantern Corps, is what he's really working towards. We also see at the end of issue #1, and going in to #2, that there's a long lost enemy of the Guardians hiding and seeking his revenge also . . Zardor of Kralok. Zardor, it appears, is adept at bending people to his will. I believe he has some kind of limited telepathic abilities. But he's got a plan to amp things up. He's apparently been gathering telepaths from around the universe and making them his prisoners. Somehow he's using their power to amp up his own. And with this increased power, he's been tampering with some of the new recruits to the Green Lantern Corps. 'I've reached out to the ones I feel are more malleable, and in subtle ways I've also given them higher moral and ethical standards. I've molded them to be natural leaders, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I've made them beacons of willpower so the odds of being a candidate for the corps rise exponentially as I moderate the fear they feel. They do what I want them to do. They think what I want them to think. They are completely unaware that they dance to the strings I pull . . . Control the Corps . . Control the Universe!!' And also . . there's something else going on. Guy agrees to Arisia about going to Daxam, but first he wants to stop off at Odym. It appears that he's still having some affects from the Red Lantern ring that he was wearing. Munk had told him that the Blue Lanterns would be able to purge the hold the ring had on him from his system. However, once arriving, Bleez is not far behind. She's one of Atrocitus' Red Lanterns. He sent her to help Guy, but in doing so she's also trying to stop Guy from getting purged. It appears that she thinks that he'll need the energy from both rings to face the challenges that he'll see in the uncharted sectors. But that's not the real problem. While on Odym, Brother Warth discovers that the Green Lantern rings are not reacting the way they're supposed to be around a Blue Lantern. Which is when Guy reveals to everyone that part of the reason they've heading into the uncharted sectors is because Atrocitus has revealed to him that someone is stealing bits of powers from Green Lantern rings everywhere. Meanwhile, back on Daxam . . the tour-group's next stop . . Sodam Yat has fallen from the sun back to the planet. There's a contingency of Daxamites that are trying, and willing to do whatever's necessary to help him. Actually . . they worship him. But other's are hunting him down. When he fell from the sun it turned back to yellow. In so doing . . the Daxamites all lost their powers. Mongul is no longer around. But most of them are not willing to give up their powers this easily. Including Sodam's own parents. And, after the group gets back on track on Odym, they resume their tour with Daxam being the next stop. As they're leaving, Guy and Bleez contemplate whether Sodam is the one that's been stealing the power. 'If Sodam's not dead and he's the drain . . then I'm gonna have to kill him.' I thought this was a great beginning to this series. Of course with Peter working so long with Geoff Johns on the Green Lantern books, as well as Blackest Night . . he's more than familiar with all of these characters. My only question is . . will we see the Green Lantern Quarterly book again? Sometime? I thought that was a great series also, but it only lasted for about 2 years. It would be a great outlet to see some of the lesser known characters.

Smallville - Supergirl - Season 10 - Episode 3 - CW

2010-10-10T11:05:00.005-04:00

This episode seemed to revolve mostly around the theme of whether a 'hero' should show his face . . or hide in the shadows. It's an argument that has been bounced around in the comics since their inception. But on this particular series, the consensus to date has been to keep your identity a secret, and operate from the shadows. However, back when Clark opened the portal with the book or Rao to send the Kandorians away . . apparently a darkness came through that Jor-El, and now Kara, are worried will get a foothold on Clark. If so, 'In control of your powers, you could become the greatest threat, and weapon, the world has ever seen.' So Kara has come back to give it a different target to go after. Which is why she's gone public. Apparently this is a presence that feeds on the doubt, and darkness in a person's soul. The only people immune to it are those that are pure of heart. Anyways, it's taken possession of Gordon Godfrey's body and is using his media presence, and savvy . . as well as his publicist, to put his face out in front of the entire world and use his words to plant the seed of doubt. He's also about to expose Ollie's identity as the Green Arrow. Lois takes exception to this guys anti-hero rhetoric, so she makes it her mission to take him down. However, apparently he knows of Lois' connection to the Blur and is manipulating her into drawing him out. During all of this, Ollie is feeling especially guilty because of Chloe's sacrifice to save him. He's tired of his crusade and identity bringing harm and heartbreak to those around him. So, at the end of the episode, much to Lois' chagrin, he decides to go public and holds a press conference to release his secret. Anyways, Kara and Clark hold back the shadows . . somehow repelling them with her bracelets. The only way to get rid of them for sure is to send them back through the portal. But they haven't done that yet . . nor do they know how. So for now . . the shadows are just out there in possession of someone else. And although Lois knows Clark's secret, it seems like it gets harder and harder every episode for her to keep that from him. She's constantly stopping herself from slipping up. So . . while the story progress' as far as Lois and Clark is concerned . . and with the looming threat that Jor-El tried to warn him of, it seems like the crux of this story was the question of how Clark should proceed with his secret. Is his penchant for operating in the shadows helping his ultimate destiny . . or hindering it? Clark truly wants to be the best 'hero' he can be. He doesn't want to let anyone down. But it seems as if he's at a crossroads. Does he keep operating the way he is . . fighting the symptoms, without really addressing the problems? Or does he come out of the shadows and become an icon that the rest of the world can rally behind? Of course he doesn't know that's what he'll ultimately become, so . . to him, that's the greatest risk. Plus, he doesn't want to put those around him . . friends or family, at risk. This is the final season of Smallville, and I have a feeling there's going to be some big changes before this is all over with.

Secret Warriors #18 and #19 - Marvel

2010-10-10T10:59:00.003-04:00

This is another fantastic book, and series, by Jonathan Hickman. I don't know how the guy does it. Not only are the stories here, and over in SHIELD, fantastic and well thought out but . . there are also incredibly intricate and detailed. I don't know if he has this all drawn out on some board somewhere, but it seems to me that it would be hard for one person to put the amount of effort into one of these incredible series . . let alone two. And for that I have to give him some huge props. In these 2 issues, Dum Dum and Sitwell are sitting in front of a UN Security Council being questioned for the actions that have occur ed in Chinese airspace . . in which Nick Fury and Dum Dum led two helicarriers into battle with a HYDRA base. It seems to me that basically they're upset because they don't know what's going on. Eventually Dum Dum and Sitwell spell it out for them . . 'See, you are all going to have to get with the program if you have any chance of dealing with this in a reasonable fashion . . there is a shadow war going on between organizations that have no allegiance to anything but themselves. They have no nation to defend, so they don't worry about sanctions or retribution. They have no borders, so they can't be boxed in or contained. Your rules . . your laws . . mean nothing to them.' It all comes down to 2 things. First they want to know if Nick is going to take care of the problem for them. And then they want to know if he's the kind of man they can work with. I take back what I said earlier. Maybe they did know what the problem was, they just didn't know how to deal with it. And now that they know that someone is willing to . . they probably want to make sure that strategic alliances aren't disrupted, embarrassed or pushed to the breaking point. Everybody has an agenda. And even though they knew this was a problem that was eventually going to have to be addressed . . it's being done by someone without the same goals or ambitions as their own. Something like that can make people like these very nervous. Anyways, as were going through this story, we're also being shown the reunion between the various members of the Howling Commandos. Nick got them together a few weeks ago because of the events on the horizon. But, I think, also because of Steve's return. It's interesting how the battles and drama that they're going through now is so closely associated to what they dealt with back during the second world war. And the one constant, no matter what era they're fighting in is the loss of friends and associates that they've worked with. It's getting so that I think Nick has as many friends dead as he does alive. Possibly more. Anyways, were dealing mostly with the Howling Commandos for these 2 issues, so I imagine that we'll see what the Secret Warriors are up to in the next story-arc. As I said, I think Jonathan is doing a terrific job with this series. And Alessandro Vitti uses his art to give the book a feel that is perfect for it's theme. I'm glad I gave this book a chance.

the Amazing Spider-man #639, #640 and #641 - Marvel

2010-10-10T10:56:00.006-04:00

I enjoyed this story-arc, but . . really the whole thing could've been told in one issue . . issue #641. Basically, we're finally getting the whole story on what actually happened the day that Peter and Mj thought that they were going to lose Aunt May. And how those events precipitated MJ walking out on Peter and leaving him . . for good. However, since we saw before how all of this was due to the machinations of Mephisto, I'm guessing that this is Joe Quesada's way of rewriting those events. We saw in issue #638 MJ's encounter with power from down under . . and I don't mean Australia. However, with this story-arc, it seems that have been unfolded in a different way. We start out with their wedding . . a wedding which never happened, and eventually led to MJ deciding that Peter's secret is just to much of a responsibility for her. We also find out that the Kingpin not only sent someone after Peter, but because of Peter humiliating him in front of the entire prison, Wilson's hitter now had a list of Peter's and MJ's entire family. MJ, and Peter, stop the guy from taking out Anna. But during the course of the interlude, MJ finds out that after these 2 he's moving on to her entire family . . immediate and extended. That's when she realizes that it's not Peter putting her family in danger, but rather herself . . because, she's 'Spider-man's girlfriend'. But they both come to a conclusion because of this. Peter decides that it's to risky for the entire world to know his secret. Somehow he has to stop it. So he enlists the aid of Doctor Strange. And with the help of Reed and Tony, Stephen erases the memory of Peter's association with Spider-man from the entire world. However, at the time, Peter decides that the memory of everything that's happened is to much for him to live with alone. At the last second he pulls MJ into his protective circle, enabling her to share those memories with him. But the conclusion that she had reached was that all of this was just to much to bear. It was bad enough that she was always worried about Peter when he was out crusading. But she was also, really, his second choice. In her heart, as well as his, she knew that his first choice would always be to save the world. Then on top of that, because of his secret, there would always be the chance that something would happen that would put her, as well as her entire family in jeopardy because of their relationship and association. For that . . she would be solely responsible. If she chose to be with him. Which is why she didn't. But that's not really what this story is all about. Well it is . . to an extent. To the extent that this is the first time we had heard it. But to Peter and MJ, this was all history. Tragic and heartbreaking, but . . history. No the point of this whole story . . the point of MJ coming back and begging Peter to talk about everything that they've been through, was first of all to make sure that Peter understood all of her actions and choices. Because of his love he accepted them, but . . she knew that he didn't really understand. And with that understanding, she chose to set him free. 'I wish I was strong enough to be with you, but I'm not. And I don't know if I ever will be. And you . . you need to fin that someone who is. And you need to move on. You've been sitting here, wondering . . waiting for something that isn't going to happen. You need to get on with your life. There's someone wonderful out there for you. But, if you don't let go of 'this', you may never find her . . even if she's standing right in front of you.' Which leads Peter to a realization. 'Today, my best friend, the best person I've ever known . . set me free. Today, for the first time in a long time, I feel like my destiny's my own. Like I can take on anything life has to throw at me. Today? Today feels like a brand new day!'. Hmmm. Where have we heard that before. Anyways, I thought it was a good story. And very moving in parts. It just seems to me that this whole thing with Mephisto was just kind of swept under the rug. It happened. But it didn't'. You know what I mean? This story, to me, seems like the natural occurrence of events. But that's not the way it happened. At least not the first time. So now . . it's different? I guess that's all I'm going to say about that. I don't want to get stuck up on some soapbox. Let's just say that I think Joe Quesada, and Paolo Rivera are extremely talented. If I could do it I would. But I can't, so . . I just have to read it . . and accept what's published. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the next story-arc. And I'm trying really hard not to say something snide to end all of this. I'm just going to say that I think Peter is one of the best characters out there.

SHIELD #3 and #4 - Marvel

2010-10-10T10:50:00.004-04:00

First of all, I have to say that I think Jonathan Hickman is writing a masterpiece here. He's doing nothing short of tying together all of history, and then weaving the creation, tenents and aspirations of SHIELD throughout all of it. It's hard for me to even explain what Jonathan has going on here, because . . well . . everything is tied together. It's hard to know one thing, without another. And for knowledge to progress further, the past has to be better understood. Suffice it to say, the characters in this book consist of some of the richest in history . . Imhotep, Galileo, Da Vinci, Newton and, apparently the most important . . or dangerous, I'm not sure which . . Nostradamus. Through their secret elixir . . the Forever Compound, Nostradamus has been the thread that has existed through all of the most recent history . . the past 500, plus years. While Da Vinci seems to be the errant explorer that bounces around through history, to where he sees fit. Although he seems to have an agenda and purpose, it's hard to see exactly what that is right now. But we do see however that things seem to revolve around a boy . . Leonid. When Da Vinci comes to him it's in the year 1956. And Leonid is a young man . . probably in his early 20's. He's called by some, 'the boy with the stars beneath his skin'. Whatever that means. Like I said, we see a lot of interesting stuff going on here, but . . we aren't privy, yet, to how it's all connected. We know that it is, we just aren't being shown the threads . . yet. We see stuff from Galactus outside of Rome, in 1582, to Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan Al Azdi's destruction in 750 AD. We see Newton's discovery of the Devian City in 1625, to Nostradamus' abduction in 1652. We see Da Vinci's return to the brotherhood, and the Immortal City, in 1956, to a pregnant Celestial in 114 AD. And Nostradamus has been witness and privy to most of this knowledge. At the end of issue #4 when Leonid, after discovering his incarceration, asks him who he is . . he replies, 'I am Nostradamus. The Catalyst. And the Architect of Revelation.' It really is a lot to take in. But Jonathan is definitely the architect of this story . . this masterpiece in the making. And he's doing a tremendous job. As well as Dustin Weaver who visually interprets it all for our unworthy eyes. I know. A little dramatic there, but . . I had to give it a shot. Anyways, it's a great story and apparently the foundation for the entirety of the Marvel Universe. Not to much pressure on Jonathan's shoulders there. Right? It's a great story. But if you haven't picked it up yet . . do so from the very beginning. I'm not just being dramatic when I say . . everything is connected.

the New Avengers #2 and #3 - Marvel

2010-10-10T10:30:00.006-04:00

I thought these were some interesting issues. My only concern is that things always seem a bit vague when it comes to all this mysticism . . Doctor Voodoo, Stephen Strange and Daimon Hellstrom. The story starts out with someone, or something, possessing Stephen and Daimon. They've attacked Doctor Voodoo . . apparently they're after the Eye of Agamotto . . and they haven't been exactly subtle about their intentions. They want the Eye, even if they have to kill him. But apparently it has to be willingly handed over . . it can't just be taken. See . . that's the part about the magical stories that always seems to bother me. There seems to always be all these unwritten 'rules' about who can do what to who, or what they need to do it. I don't necessarily think that Stephen Strange was ever any better of a sorcerer that say Doctor Voodoo. I think he just had a better understanding and grasp of all the 'rules'. But, that's just my opinion. Anyways, to protect the Eye Voodoo sends it to Luke Cage. I assume . . I hope, he thought it would be safer because he guessed that he would be in the company of his fellow Avengers. Either that, or . . he just drew a straw out of a hat. Anyways, shortly after getting it Luke becomes the one that's possessed. Logan brings Stephen and Daimon back to the fold after he stabs them. Somehow the physical trauma releases the hold of whatever demon is possessing them. See . . another one of those 'rules'. Anyways, there's a bunch of pushing and shoving and eventually Iron Fist ends up with the Eye. This time whoever possesses him takes off for their home dimension shortly after. I'm not sure why they didn't do that when Luke had it. And shortly after Danny disappears. And then . . the skies open up. It appears that there's been a rift opened between our dimension and wherever these demons are coming from. The story doesn't progress a whole lot further in issue #3. Victoria Hand is brought back into the mix. And she actually saves Jessica and her baby from being attacked. Oh yeah, the demons seem to be running rampant around New York City now. We also see that wherever Danny has been whisked off to . . they can't seem to touch him. We don't actually see who's there . . just a whole lot of bright light, but we, and Danny, hear their voices. Apparently they can't touch Danny because he's enlightened. They expected him to be destroyed by the time he arrived. Also Voodoo, Strange and Hellstrom have begun trying to work on locating the Eye, hopefully returning it and Danny, and also stopping the destruction of their dimension by whomever is attacking it from wherever they're coming from. And finally, at the end of the issue, we see that whomever is behind this was at one time Doctor Strange's teacher. I'm not that familiar with Doctor Strange, or his history, so I don't know who this guy is. But he appears to be a much older version of Doctor Strange, or perhaps his predecessor. I thought the issues were entertaining. I love the way the Brian Bendis writes the dialogue between all these characters. I'm suspecting that's why he's got Spider-man attached to this group. Nobody chatters during a fight more than Peter. And actually I'm glad that Brian is still attached to the Avengers. But I'm also pleased that he's not doing all the books, as he was a few years ago. This is a vast group with all it's appendages splitting off into various titles. Personally, I think the more writers that are involved . . the better ideas that we're going to get. And through that . . better stories. Also, as usual, Stuart Immonen is doing a great job with the art. I was planning on just sticking with one of the Avengers titles. But now? Now I'm not so sure. I'm enjoying all these books . . in their own unique way.

Avengers Academy #1, #2 and #3 - Marvel

2010-10-10T10:25:00.005-04:00

I know I said I wasn't going to do this, but . . I wanted to give this book a shot. So I waited until the first 3 issues came out . . decided to pick them up . . and then read all 3 of them together. I wanted to see if they could do anything interesting here, plus . . I like these characters. As it turns out . . I thought it was pretty good. The setting is the Infinite Avengers Mansion. So we have Hank Pym, Tigra, Justice, Speedball and Quicksilver as the 'mentors in residence' Not to mention Jocasta. The only person I didn't see was Jarvis. He must of went back with the 'real' Avengers. Anyways, we also have a new class of recruits. Looking at the cover for issue #1, and going from left to right, we have Striker, Hazmat, Finesse, Reptil, Mettle and Veil. Reptil was the kid who appeared in the Avengers Initiative special. If you didn't read it, it's in my blog here . . somewhere. And the theme of this book, and both sides of this team, seems to be 'misfits', or 'damaged goods'. We all know that the Avengers here are all team-members with a checkered past. Well, that is to say, they've done things that are questionable and . . they've all been given a second chance. Third or fourth chances in some cases. Well, the team of recruits seems to be in the same position. It starts out all 'candy and roses', with the mentors telling the recruits that they're the 'brightest and the best'. And after reading all three issues I will say that they all have tremendous initiative. There's that word again. But we later find out that the reason they're actually here is because . . 'We're the ones Osborn tortured the worst. The ones whose psych tests set off alarms. The ones who could take out a city block. We're not here 'cause they think we have what it takes to be the next Captain America. We're here 'cause they're worried we'll be the next Red Skull.' In issues #2 and #3 Christos Gage starts focusing on the kids training, and on the individual team members. In issue #2 we get some background on Finesse. We also see the team, and their training, through her eyes. Because of her abilities, she, and Hank, wonder if she might be the Taskmaster's daughter. But because all of his information was wiped out of the records by Osborn . . the don't have anything to compare her to. Hank shows her a documentary on Quicksilver to try to inspire her, but instead . . she stumbles across something of her own. Because of the way she picks up knowledge she also has an incredible memory. And she's already reviewed most of the Avengers files. So after watching the show, she confronts Piotr with the fact that there never was a Skrull version of him. It was an excuse for what he did. He gets seriously pissed because he thinks that she's blackmailing him. But that's not what she wants at all. 'I'd like to learn. I want you to give me private lessons. Unless you want the world to know your secrets, you'll teach me . . what Magneto taught you . . in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.' Then in issue #3, we get another perspective of this team . . from Hazmat's point of view. Her story is probably the most tragic. As she almost killed her parents and boyfriend when her powers triggered. Of course what Osborn did to her was no 'piece of cake' either. We also start the substitute-teacher process this issue. Any number of Avengers have agreed to step in and help teach these students. So far we see Iron Fist and Valkrie. And Hank decides to take the team on a field trip, and give Luke a chance to address the kids. Of course they have to go to where he's working now, and that's . . the Raft. Which in and of itself probably wouldn't be that big of a deal . . it's a 'Scared Straight' type of thing. The problem is . . Osborn is also currently at the Raft. And Hazmat, Finesse and Mettle have more than a few bones to pick with him. The issue ends with Hazmat setting off a localized EMP . . which shuts down the prison and with it all security measures. And then the 3 of them track down to Osborn's cell. Of course he's calm and analytical. He let's them know that it'll only be a matter of minutes before they have EMP-shielded back-up systems on line. Which is when Hazmat tells him . . 'That's ok . . you'll be dead by then.' I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this series. I don't know what I was expecting . . another version of Avengers Initiative, or Young Avengers. And . . it kind of is. But I also think that Christos has kind of taken the best of both of those series and brought them together. Christos has also come a long way as a writer. I think he does a great job with the character development. And he has a way of getting the reader bought in to the story. I'll probably stay with this one for at least a few more issues to check it out. Another selling point, at least to me, of this series is Mike McKone's art. It's not flashy or groundbreaking, like some other artists, but . . it's got a really warm feel to it. It just feels comfortable . . or nostalgic, kind of. I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but . . I like it. Like I said, I'll probably pick up at least the next few issues to see how it goes. My curiosity has been piqued.

Chuck vs Cubic Z - Season 4 - Episode 3 - NBC

2010-10-04T22:03:00.003-04:00

I like that Chuck and Sarah are delving into their relationship more, but . . I'm also glad to see that the Buy-More, and it's misfit cast of characters, is getting more attention now. As usual this episode revolves around two separate, but interactive, storylines. One involving Chuck and Sarah . . the awkward advancement of their relationship . . and how their jobs as spys get in the way of them figuring it all out. At least in a timely fashion. They always seem to get there eventually, but. . they also take a long time jumping the many hurdles in their way. This time, as their looking forward to a romantic trip, and mission, to Morocco, things are put on hold as they have to hold and detain Hugo Panzer and Heather Chandler . . Steve Austin and Nicole Richie. It's been this sense of danger and adventure, I think, that's brought them together. And I'm sure it keeps everything exciting. But it also seems to make them realize how important their time together is. Eventually, with Heather/Nicole's reluctant help, they decide to take it slowly. That is until a series of events leads Chuck into looking like he's proposing to her. They're both stymied as Chuck doesn't know if he should or shouldn't. Even though it wasn't what he had planned. Plus he doesn't know what Sarah's reaction will or won't be. Does he make her mad by pursuing the issue, or does he make her mad by acting like it's all a big joke? And Sarah seems to be just as mystified. Is Chuck serious or not? Should she act like she's answering, or act like it's all a big joke? So again the episode ends with them awkwardly stumbling through another relationship obstacle. Anyways, on the Buy-More side . . with the release of a new, highly anticipated game, Grimes is finding out just how hard it is to run this ship all by himself. And, of course, just then . . Big Mike comes walking back into the picture. He shows up because he's decided to ask Grimes' mother to marry him, but . . he wants Grimes' blessing. He ends up sticking around because he can see how much Grimes is in over his head, and offers to help. Through the course of this drama Grimes realizes just what an asset Mike is . . both to the store and to his mother. So he gives him his blessing, and asks him to be the Asst. Manager. And with that . . everyone is back in place. Things are a little different and shaken up, but . . the central cast of characters are still there. Jeff and Lester also play a hilarious role in traumatic launch of this game . . Spy-Attack. During this operation Casey gets hurt, and is assigned to desk duty for the interim. And Chuck gets another little piece of information from Heather/Nicole about his mom . . Frost. Heather was involved in an 'operation Beacon', back in Europe. And she saw that Frost was very close to Alexei Volkov. She doesn't know what their relationship was, or her reasons for being there, just that they were always together. You know what this series kind of puts me in mind of? The old 'Get Smart' series. You know, with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon . . Agent 86, and Agent 99? Except Chuck isn't as slapstick. And I think it also focus' more on the actual mission at hand. But Chuck and Agent 86 are similar in that they are the inept spy, who really wants to be at the top of their respective games, but tend to do so more out of luck or chance than actual ability. Anyways, for the most part I like the storylines, but what keeps me coming back is the humor and the ridiculous situations. Other than Smallville . . and Big Bang Theory . . this is my favorite show on TV, right now.

Shadowland #2 and #3 - Marvel

2010-10-04T22:01:00.003-04:00

I picked up issue #1 of this series mostly because I was interested in what was happening to Daredevil. I know I don't follow his book right now, but at one time I was a huge fan. Anyways, this story looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a shot. And when issue #1 ended with him killing Bullseye, well . . my curiosity was definitely peaked. But I'm not going to be picking up any of the addendum's. I'm not going to be dragged into all of that again. Anyways, in issue #2, Luke and Danny are trying to figure out what to do. I think their resolve is strengthened when Wilson Fisk shows up trying to prompt them into action. I don't think they were swayed so much by what the Kingpin said, but rather that the situation had deteriorated so much that he was now involved. I think it kind of opened their eyes. But Wilson doesn't put all of his eggs in one basket. Lady Bullseye has found the Hand's Black Scroll for Wilson. With it he can bend one of the Hand's most ancient enemies to his will . . the Zugaikotsu. Or in other words . . the Ghost Rider. And, while this is going on, Jake Lockley . . the Moon Knight . . has gotten himself captured by Daredevil's ninja's because he wants to find out what exactly is going on with all of these prisoners that have been taken. As he arrives in the dungeons, almost simultaneously Luke has gathered a group of Matt's friends to confront him in the main hall. Matt has put out a call for warriors. He wants to strengthen his ranks. So when they come knocking on the door saying that they want to help . . he believes them. At first. But tensions quickly rise. And when the Ghost Rider attacks in the dungeons, Daredevil thinks that everything is connected. There's a big battle and most of Daredevil's prisoners escape. Jake stays behind. Even though his plan has been shot to hell . . he still wants to know what's going on. And, when the Punisher gets involved, Luke and his cadre also make their escape . . relatively unscathed. However, in the process, they see that Daredevil is more than Matt ever was on his own. They think that something from the Hand may be possessing him. Specifically he's become a puppet of the Snakeroot, and a vessel for . . the Beast of the Hand. However, by the end of issue #3 we see that Daredevil has Typhoid Mary by his side, and is recently joined by Elektra. Not to mention, in his quest for better soldiers, he's decided to resurrect Bullseye. And Moon Knight is still hiding in the shadows . . biding his time. Andy Diggle has put together a pretty interesting story here. As with the heroes, I'm starting to believe that Matt is no longer in control of his actions. I'm interested to see how this is all going to turn out . . and where Matt, or Daredevil's character will be left in the aftermath. Billy Tan is also doing a great job with the art here. I'm intrigued, but not so much that I'm going to buy the other issues. I think I'll just stick with this one and see what happens.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #6 - Marvel

2010-10-04T21:58:00.005-04:00

I enjoyed this issue, and this series. I thought Mark Millar did a great job with the story. They've got some great characters to work with here. We've got Tyrone Cash, the first Hulk, and we were introduced to the Ultimate Universe's version of the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and the Punisher. The setup for this story is pretty simple. There were some men who killed Johnny as a sacrifice to Satan. Their goal was to gain power. Which they did. Now, several years later, Johnny has been given the power of the Ghost Rider, by Satan, and has begun to exact his revenge against those that killed him. The problem is, one of the . . Blackthorne, is now the Vice President of the United States. So when Nick Fury is called up and asked to stop this Ghost Rider, he puts together a very powerful black-ops team which he calls the Avengers. And they take on the task of protecting the VP. Well . . they do that after they try miserably to stop the Ghost Rider on one of his other targets. When they put the list together, of how the victims are connected, Blackthorne is the only one left. Which is again when they run into another problem. By the time Johnny gets to Blackthorne, Satan has given the VP the same powers as the Ghost Rider. I guess it was just his way of making sure that he actually gets his soul when things are all said and done. That, or . . he just has one sick, twisted sense of humor. Anyways, there's a big fight, and for some reason Johnny and Blackthorne switch back to their human identities to carry it on. This is when Frank Castle comes along and shoots Blackthorne in the head. Like I said, I think the whole purpose of this story-line was to introduce us to this Universe's version of these two . . sorry, make that three characters . . Ghost Rider, Punisher and the first Hulk. At the end, Satan agrees to let Johnny keep his powers, and Roxanne her new life, as long as Johnny keeps sending him new souls. Meanwhile, Hawkeye helps Frank escape from the government program and he goes to Russia to hunt down mobsters there. He believes that he's been sent a message from somebody on the other side . . 'Keep up the good work.' And we'll obviously see another on of these mini-series as Black Widow and Red Wasp are hardly featured at all in this story-line. I thought Mark did a good job with the story, and I enjoyed Leinil Francis Yu's version of these characters. He does a great job with the action sequences. If you missed this one I'm sure it'll be out in TPB soon. You should check it out. You won't be disappointed.

the New Mutants Forever #1 , #2 and #3 - Marvel

2010-10-02T23:09:00.006-04:00

The story in this series begins back when Magneto was the Headmaster of the school. It starts shortly after he's been chosen, and asked, to become the White King of the Hellfire Club. And, to his surprise, urged to take the position by Ororo. He and the New Mutants are at the Hellfire club's mansion. I assume for protection . . body-guards, of a sort. That's when, from their room, the New Mutants hear gunfire in Central Park. Of course, being the heroes that they are, they go rushing to the unknown victim's aid. And they find it to be Amama's dad . . the Senator. He and his bodyguards are being attacked by a para-military type group. Anyways, they end up saving the Senator. He's still armed, but not captured. But it appears that pretty much everyone else, on both sides, is gone. This of course quickly brings Selene into the mix, as the Senator is not only her son, but from Nova Roma . . as well as herself and Amara. Her resolve is even furthered when the para-military group attacks again, but this time they hit the mansion. Their attack seems better organized this time as they attack on several different fronts. The result of which is . . they abscond with Amara and Doug. After which, all attackers have been killed, or taken their own life when Emma tries to probe them. Well, all except the one that Illyana sent to Limbo. Through him, Selene learns where her granddaughter has been taken, as well as who is behind all of this. It turns out, which we discover at the end of issue #1, Amara has been returned to Nova Roma, and . . this is all the plan of the Red Skull. In issue #2, Roberto and Warlock are dragged into the mix. They were separate from the group, and vacationing in Rio de Janeiro, Roberto's home. It appears that his mother . . archaeologist Nina de Costa . . was in Nova Roma when it became enslaved by the Red Skull. When the Senator took off for New York, to ask the X-Men for help, she decided to return home and use their family's influence to garner some support. But she, as well as the Senator, were quickly set upon the the Skull's forces. Which is where Bobby and Warlock come in, when she calls for help. We then find Doug and Amara locked in a cell in Nova Roma. As well as a boy called Tiberius. We don't know what his story is exactly, but . . there's something different about him. I guess we'll learn his story later. For now he seems to be part of the Red Skull's entourage, when he uses some sort of drug to enable their allegiance. After the painful injection, they all seem to follow the Skull without question. But Doug's formula seems to be different as it also transforms him into the Skull's image . . Jr Skull, or Son of Skull . . as it were. Anyways, Selene and her group have join up with Bobby and Warlock when they all make seem to make their way to Nova Roma simultaneously. It isn't long before they're beset by the Skull's forces. And by the end of issue #2, they come face to face with their transformed team-mates. Although I think Amara is the only one they really seem to recognize. Issue #3 starts out with them fighting their friends. But they don't make much headway. Doug and Amara take down Warlock, burning him with lava and encasing him in molten rock. And, when it appears that they don't have the fortitude to stand up to the Skull's forces, Selene is also injected with the drug that transformed Doug. She seems to be fighting it, but due to their defeat, and Selene's fate, Illyana transports them all to Limbo before the full effects can take place. Since Illyana's magic can't do anything against science, it seems that Selene is fighting this drug's affect on sheer willpower. That is until they return to Nova Roma and she takes the life-force of one of her loyal followers. We also see that Doug seems to be fully embracing his transformation, and we finally get a bit of emotion from Tiberius when the Red Skull makes an advance on Amara and kisses her. He seems jealous. We also find out that somehow Warlock has not perished, and is instead keeping an eye on his friends while remaining hidden. By the end of issue #3 there seems to be a turn in the tide. Selene has successfully fought her transformation. And somehow Doug's mind has returned to him. The physical transformation is irreversible, but . . at least he's thinking on his own again. The problem is . . he can't let anyone know. He fears that the skull may be watching him. And on the final page of the issue, Warlock comes to confront him. He's mad about the termination of his friend Doug. He doesn't know yet that this is him. So far . . I think this is an ok story. I'm not overly thrilled with it, but . . it is great to see another story with all of these great characters. My problem is . . for the theme of this book, it doesn't seem like all that much is different. Yes Selene is working in concert with the New Mutants, but . . I don't think it's that big of a leap. Plus, I'm not real big on the Red Skull's character. The guy is pretty single minded in his mission and endeavors, so . . to me, it seems kind of obvious as to the way this story will go. I'm sure we'll see some things changed . . as is the theme of these 'Forever' titles. But I don't see that it'll be that dramatic. Of course we've seen more changes in the X-Men Forever books . . it's gone 30 or so issues by now. I don't know how much can change in a 5 issues series. But, having said that . . I do find the book and story entertaining. Chris Claremont is writing it, with Al Rio and Bob McLeod doing the art. I like Al and Bob's art because it's kind of nostalgic. It kind of feels like we've gone right back to this book . . back then. They also seem to be using former New Mutant artists on the covers . . Bill Sienkiewicz, Art Adams and Bob McLeod. Overall . . I think it's ok. But if you haven't picked it up yet . . I'd wait for the TPB. Then you can read it all together.

Smallville - Shield - Season 10 - Episode 2 - CW

2010-10-02T23:08:00.004-04:00

As episodes go . . this one was kind of boring. Well . . that is to say, if you weren't a Smallville follower, and this was one of the first episodes you ever watched . . you'd have been kind of bored through this one. But that's only because this is kind of one of those 'in-between' episodes. A lot of information is introduced to us in this episode, but . . the payoff isn't going to be until further down the line. Lois is in Africa, where she's looking into an archaeological expedition. They've found some tombs which appear to be Isis'. And, Carter Hall just happens to be there. We later find out that Clark asked him to keep an eye on Lois. They have a pretty lengthy conversation about 'heroes' and the roles that their loved ones play in their lives. As an antithesis to this meaningful dialogue, Cat Grant is also introduced as a new reporter at the Planet. Tess has teamed her up with Clark. I think because she knows that Cat will get under his skin. Cat is really against all the 'vigilantes'. She feels that if they were real 'heroes', then they should come out of the shadows and let the world see them for who they are. This seems to be a recurring theme throughout this episode. We find out that Checkmate is still after Clark's group of 'heroes', and is using the Suicide Squad to tag and track them. We get to see Deadshot, Plastique, and . . I think, Rick Flag. It turns out that Rick Flag was actually the one that had captured and was interrogating Ollie. Which means that when Chloe traded herself for him . . she was actually trading herself to the Squad, and thereby . . Checkmate. Which is something that also has Ollie concerned because before leaving . . she completely erased any electronic trace of herself. Ollie's search at Watchtower basically tells him that Chloe Sullivan never existed. Later, when Ollie catches up with Rick Flag, Rick tells him that they did indeed have her, but rather than give any information up during her interrogation . . she swallowed a cyanide capsule. According to Rick Flag . . she's dead. But Ollie finds a bottle in her apartment that contained a cyanide antidote. So he's thinking that she faked her death. But he doesn't know why. And he doesn't know what she's up to. And, as it turns out, something that Cat Grant says to Clark has him thinking. After saving her from one of Deadshot's schemes . . although it was actually set up to 'tag' Clark . . she says that he's a real hero. And then she goes on to tell him that the kind of 'heroes' that the world really needs should be shining beacons of light. Not tucked away . . obscure, and faceless. So at the end of the episode we see that Clark has traded in his black trenchcoat . . the motif of the 'blur', for a bright colored red leather coat, and blue pants. I think he's trying to go for the 'red, white & blue' theme here, but . . I don't think he's quite ready for the Superman costume. There was some good actions and moments this episode, but . . like I said, I think this one's purpose was really to introduce us to some new characters and some new plot-lines. Overall, I liked it. But it wasn't really over exciting. But I still thought it was a good chapter in the life of Clark Kent.

Chuck vs the Suitcase - Season 4 - Episode 2 - NBC

2010-09-30T00:23:00.005-04:00

In this episode Chuck is trying to figure out why Sarah won't hang anything up in the closet. They've been living together, and I assume involved in pre-marital relations, but . . she doesn't feel comfortable enough yet to unpack her suitcases and start using the closet and some of the drawers. Although, if you remember her background . . she hasn't had a very stable upbringing through the years. Coupled with how long she's been a spy . . this actually is kind of the norm for her. Anyways, it's kind of funny to see how this elephant in the room carries over into their mission. They go to Paris to try to stop a fashion model from passing along some 'smart-bullets' to some terrorists, and there's a lot of sarcastic and stabbing humor between them during different situations. Especially when Chuck ends up with the model while she's naked. Chuck's concerned with Sarah's ability to move to the next level. And I think Sarah is just a little jealous of Chuck when he starts looking at and watching the models. Anyways, back at the BuyMore, Grimes is trying to convince the General that things are running too smoothly. He starts showing her how they're going to blow their cover because things are actually operating to efficiently. Awesome even makes a comment to Chuck, 'These guys all look like models, or . . like me.' So anyways, that's how they work bringing all the misfits back into the show. I especially missed Jeff and Lester during the first episode. So now everybody is back except for Big Mike. We still have to see how that's going to happen. But it should happen soon because the General made Grimes the Store Manager. That's a disaster waiting to happen. Also, Awesome already suspects that Chuck is actually back to being a spy, but Elle is still in the dark. And Chuck, with the help of Sarah and Casey, are still looking for his mother. But they have to do so without letting the General know what they're up to. Oh yeah, and in a touching moment, Casey actually reaches out to his daughter. Although I think it's because he's concerned that Grimes knows more about her than he does. And we find out Elle is actually missing her mother more than she lets on. And, I think Chuck may have put a glimmer of doubt into Sarah's head when he tells her that he thinks that Elle may have it right . . 'Marriage, and then a baby. Maybe we'll be next.' Chuck doesn't see her reaction, but . . it looks like he just put a nail in her eye. Anyways, I think it's a great show. One thing I love about these McG productions, as with Fastlane and the OC, is that they have fantastic music. The scene where they bring all the BuyMore freaks back, they do it to Alice Cooper's Feed My Frankenstein. It's hilarious.

Black Terror #11 - Dynamite Entertainment

2010-09-30T00:22:00.006-04:00

It seems that the focus of this next chapter of the Black Terror is for constructed for him to find out who he is . . where he's come from . . and how exactly did his time in the urn change him. Carried over from the last issue is his battle with . . well, himself. Actually an earlier younger version of himself. Apparently this is another orchestrated attack by a member of the Supremacy. Somehow this energy that they've harnessed . . actually directed at the Black Terror by the Magi, is some sort of magical tapestry that presents it's opponent with an idealized version of itself. It gives it's opponent a target at which to direct and express unresolved issues. Eventually the Black Terror realizes that it's not really him, but rather something that's trying to break his resolve . . get him to doubt himself. But it isn't until the Green Lama enters the fray . . unaffected by the energies, because he wasn't in the urn . . that he instruct the Terror that it's actually feeding off of his rage, and anger. 'This trap is more finely tuned than I had imagined. Regret is not your handicap, but aggression. You seem to take great relish in punishing yourself. You have to let go Terror . . of your anger. Do not strike back. He is only as strong as you make him. You are connected to your fellow heroes, Black Terror. They will feel your resolve. Share it with them.' And from there they beat the trap pretty easily. Unfortunately, they don't know that this was an attack by the Supremacy. And . . it's only their opening salvo. They still have lots of different avenues they can take to get at these 'heroes'. But in the meantime, it looks like they may have planted the seed of doubt, as they had hoped, in the Black Terror. Besides the main title of this franchise, this is easily my favorite book in it. Over the course of the mini-series, and then this series, I feel like we've really gotten to know this character. And through his stories, we're being connected to some of the others. Alex Ross and Phil Hester are doing a great job here. Wagner Reis does the art. If you haven't looked into the Superheroes Project yet . . the Black Terror is a good place to start. I'm sure there's some TPB out there.

Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #3 and #4 - America's Best Comics

2010-09-30T00:21:00.005-04:00

This is a pretty straightforward story, really. Tom . . well, Tom from our time . . the future . . Tom has gone back to the 1930's to try to stop Albrecht from activating the Dero, turning them into his allies, and then winning the war for the Third Reich. A Third Reich that he would eventually become the leader of, and thereby . . leader of the world. So Tom has gone to his younger past self for help. The problem is, Albrecht has arrived at the mountain where the Dero are being held before he does. He already begun talking to them and convincing them that he's their friend and ally. Tom, and the other Tom, have arrived to late, but . . the older Tom believes he knows where they may be able to find some allies in this crusade. Unfortunately leaving the younger Tom behind to be captured by the Dero. Anyways, Tom goes to the guy with probably the best brain of this time . . except his own, of course . . Parulian. And, he's also one of his greatest enemies. I think it's also funny that this guy looks remarkably like Clark Kent. But maybe that's just me. Anyways, he breaks Pluto out of jail, and they're off on their adventure. However, before returning to the Dero, Tom wants to try to gather some allies in this fight. So he uses Pluto's drilling machine to go down to the place where the lava-men live. You know, where that guy came from that his daughter married? Tom tells them what's going on, hoping to get there help. But instead discovers . . these people are actually the ones that created the Dero. 'The Dero were lost to us, since ancient times. Many thought them only legend . . but if they are real, then they are our problem. Lead us to them and you shall have all the help you need.' Meanwhile, back in the future, Tom's wife is getting restless and is starting to wonder what's taking her husband so long. So . . she's about to take a trip of her own. Like I said, overall . . a pretty straightforward story. It's 'good-guys' versus 'bad-guys' for the fate of the world. But, I think that's a pretty good plan for Peter Hogan to follow. Back in this time period it was a lot easier to tell the 'good-guys' from the 'bad-guys'. People wore their intentions, like their hearts, on their sleeves. So I think to make the story to complicated would only serve to distract from the time period in which it's set. But that's not to say that I don't think there's a twist coming up here, somewhere. Overall I'm really glad to see this character back on the shelves again. And with Chris Sprouse doing the art, it fits in perfectly with the look and feel of the original series. Anyways, it's a fun read, and I look forward to the rest of the series.

the Boys #45 and #46 - Dynamite Entertainment

2010-09-27T18:41:00.007-04:00

The revelations are coming fast and furious now. Annie not only tells Hughie her secret . . she shows him. Because at first he doesn't believe her. I think he loves Annie . . at least he thinks he does, but he has a hard time getting past all the things that he's seen the 'supers' do, and . . all the things that Butcher and his group has done. I just don't think that this is a situation that he ever saw himself being in. Later on . . thinking it all through, Hughie realizes Annie is a 'super'. And the Boys . . they hunt 'supers'. Which means eventually Annie will be on Butcher's radar. So he goes to talk to him. And surprisingly . . Butcher is very cordial. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, the Frenchman and the Female are doing a little undercover work at the 'Believe' festival, in the park. Basically, they're following the Homelander around and trying to get any information that they can. Which actually end up being quite a bit. The Homelander has a little heart to heart with Oh Father . . kind of piggybacking on his little revelation that he almost exposed at the end of Herogasm. It kind of sounds like he wants to get out from under the thumb of Vought-American. So Hughie and Butcher have this big old talk, putting everything out there on the table. Once they do that, Butcher tells Hughie how they get all their information on the Seven . . and how they keep getting those cameras in their base . . Queen Maeve. Seems she's mad at the Homelander for some reason, so she went to talk to the Legend some time ago. They worked out an agreement, and Queen Maeve's been helping them ever since. Butcher also lets him look through the tapes. He says that there's so much of it that they haven't had the time to look at it all. So he lets Hughie take a crack at it. And of course he going to see the footage for when Annie first came to the Seven. I'm not sure if Butcher is doing it to break them up, or if he's just trying to get Hughie nice and pissed at the Homelander. But whatever the case, Hughie's about to see some stuff he'll wish he hadn't. And after talking to Annie, I think the Homelander is starting to realize that Annie really is as innocent and naive as she acts. Plus this Christianity stuff that she's tauting for 'Believe' isn't just rhetoric to her. I think the Homelander kind of envy's her perspective of the world. It turns out he's got something planned and I think he's trying to keep Annie out of it. Garth Ennis has everything kind of slowing down right now . . there's a whole lot of character and story development going on, but I think he's building up to something really big. This story-arc really has a different feel to it than the previous ones. But, I think that's all about to change. It's kind of like he's moving all the players around, getting them ready for whatever big gambit he's got in store for us. Russ Braun is doing the art for this story-arc. With Darrick Robertson doing the covers . . as usual. I know some people aren't thrilled with this series, but . . I like it. I think it's a lot of fun. And I like the way it pokes at the traditional super-hero genre. Basically, it's making fun of itself.

the Authority #25 and #26 - WildStorm

2010-09-27T18:40:00.007-04:00

Well, after the debacle with Mondragon . . and the extensive damage that the Aegean did to the inside of the Carrier . . the Authority really only has one course of action . . it's time to do some spring cleaning. Actually, I don't mean for that to sound as 'light' as I do. They actually have quite a bit to take care of. The Carrier is damaged. They've got an extensive amount of wounded civilians. And John, the High, has just sacrificed himself for the safety and lives of the masses. Not to mention that during the course of this, Jack revealed the doomsday device that he brought on board with him. When Jack took over Gamorra City, he learned of a WMD that they had created. It was so powerful that it could take down the Carrier. But there was a problem activating it, because when Kaizen Gamorra created it, there wasn't the technology available that could channel it. But Kaizen fixed that. He hardwired it into on of the lab assistant's brains, Mayumi Kana. So when Jack took the weapon, he did it partly to find a humane way to free Mayumi's mind. 'But, when the Carrier came back online and it was clear we weren't in control of it. I felt we needed an insurance policy.' Needless to say the rest of the Authority isn't very happy about this. Anyways, just as things are starting to get back together, the Carrier comes upon a planet. Well . . what's left of it. In it's atmosphere is some kind of base hovering overhead. And it has dozens of other 'shift-ships' attached to it. As the Carrier approaches, it hovers over a spike. I think they assume that it's some kind of docking bay. But really . . it essentially impales the Carrier. And Ange loses all connection with it. They then have dozens of doors open up all over the ship. They're immediately beset by aliens. One of which is kind of a amped up version of Cryb, from the Sinestro Corps. It seems to be alive, but . . it's also large enough to have an area to contain all the people that it's capturing. But so far it doesn't look like it's actually hurt anybody. Most of their damage comes from fighting their captors. A small group of them remain behind though . . Roxy, Sarah, Christine, River and Deathblow, also Shen. Apparently River has the ability to alter their perception of things. So basically . . he hides them. As well as Shen, who's still unconscious, laying in the infirmary. But everyone else, I assume, has been taken to the main 'loading-bay' . . as it were, and are trying to figure out what's going on. One of the aliens takes over one of the bodies of the civilians. Through this, and Jack's attempt to use his powers to interface with this moon-sized city, they learn that they're actually inside of some kind of very large alien. Apparently the Carrier serves as a 'harvester' of sorts. It goes out to collect biological material . . people, aliens, whatever . . which the larger alien uses as cogs in it's machine. To put it simply. 'When last a harvester returned from your planet, your species hadn't developed language. You could only grunt . . and scream. Now you speak but you will also scream. We will use you. You will be Karibna.' Ever since they left Earth, this group has gone from one bad situation to the next. But, it appears that they've finally reached their destination. So now, maybe, instead of reacting to everything that's been happening to them . . maybe now they can pool their resources and take the offensive. I sure hope so. Otherwise . . all these people are done. I think this has been an interesting chapter of this groups journey. Tom Taylor and Adam Warren have put together and interesting story here. Even if it does seem to edge on apocalyptic. I'm also very impressed by Al Barrionuevo's art. I've always appreciated Al's work. But in this story he changes up his style just a little bit. He's added a kind of painted style, or influence to his work. It comes across really well. Anyways, both issues end with big cliffhangers, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Doom Patrol #13 and #14 - DC

2010-09-26T11:04:00.007-04:00

Issue #13 gives us a rundown on everything that has happened to Rita. All the way back to when the group died . . in Codsville. It seems, for the Chief, bringing back Cliff and Larry didn't prove to be to difficult of a problem. Rita, however . . for her he needed some special considerations. Some of this story is a bit subjective, so I'm kind of putting it together from what I read. Apparently . . according to the Chief, he found a piece of Rita's skull and from that cloned her a new body. However, he couldn't get a good enough reading on her DNA to recreate her abilities. Niles theorized that because of everything that happened to these people, especially with the fragile ego that Rita posessed, her identity was now defined by her teammates and her abilities. So if he was to bring her back without those abilities, it would be like bringing back an imperfect version. Both to Rita, and along with Cliff and Larry. Oh sure, they'd try their best to get things back to normal, but . . it just wouldn't be the same. Anyways, in order for her to have the same abilities he had to bring her back made out of sentient protoplasm . . 'silly putty with a purpose'. Which is why she's been so secretive. If she sleeps to deeply, she loses all sense of self. And she'll awaken as nothing more than a pile of goo. Every day she has to remake herself in her own self image. All of this came to light during the incident with Jost and his Front Men. Anyways, the point of all this is now that Cliff and Larry know, Rita is worried that it's going to change the dynamic of thier team, as well as friendship. So, out of frustration, she decides that it's time to confront Steve. They talk for a while, but the issue ends with Rita growing to gigantic heights, destroying Steve's house, and tossing him about like a rag-doll in her humongous hands. In the next issue Rita basically tries to kill him when she tosses him out into the ocean. Luckily Cliff stops him from being damaged to much. From this adversity the group seems to be coming even closer together. And moving further away from Niles. He's kind of like the evil step-father. They all hate him. Well . . maybe 'hate' is a strong word, but they definitely don't trust him. He's had some devious agenda's in the past, but even this group realizes that they've probably only seen the tip of the iceberg. Anyways, while all of this is going on . . Niles has been experimenting on a Kryptonian. He's been trying to figure out where their powers come from, and how their bodies convert the solar energy. And, from the cover here, it looks like he's made some progress. Somehow he converts his body to accept the alien energy. 'If one duplicates the essence by which matter is defined, then one duplicates the properties of matter as defined by that essence. In theory.' The problem is . . it appears that the power is also driving him mad. He now feels that he no longer needs his Doom Patrol. And he begins to take them apart. Nothing to serious. Just enough to make it traumatic. He then flies off the island to do what he feels he needs to do. 'I'm saving the world from itself. For mine is the power and the glory.' Don't think he's getting to much of a god-complex, do you? Anyways, these were some great issues. I loved the story by Keith Giffen. I really think that he's got a great handle on these guys and has brought a great feel to this book. He's exploring a lot of different themes here, but . . that's ok. The Doom Patrol are some complicated people. Also I think Matthew Clark and Ron Randall are doing a fantastic job with the art. I think this book right now is as strong as it's ever been. And I look forward to it every month. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Magog #12 - DC

2010-09-26T10:18:00.003-04:00

This book is interesting, and everything, but . . I'm just not sure where we're going with this. This appears to be the final issue of this series, but . . I think the story is far from over. The story in this particular issue carries over into JSA Special #1 next month. But then I see from the previews that Magog is going to be playing a role in Generation Lost, or was it Brightest Day (?), in the coming months. Anyways, we saw at the end of last issue that this soldier appeared to be popping into Opal City and was taking sight at a bus-load of kids. We find out this issue that he's actually looking at some extra-dimensional characters. Magog doesn't see them until he adjusts his vision a little bit. Also this soldier has the Eye of Providence on his helmet. That's the symbol that David Reid has on his arm. You see it on the cover, there. Anyways, it appears that whatever this organization that this guy is associated with is trying to stop the takeover of the world by, I'm guessing, the same place that Magog is from. Although I don't know if they necessarily have made that connection yet. But this group, I'm thinking unbeknownst to them, is also lead by aliens. As soon as they see Magog they recognize him, and are fearful. Anyways, they show Magog their greatest weapon . . NIL8. And by the end of the issue seem to have used some kind of mental persuasion to convince David to join them. Anyways, like I said, I'm not really sure how this is all going to play out. I don't really know who these guys are . . either side of this confrontation. And we don't have a clear picture of what it is they're really fighting for. Hopefully in the JSA Special things clear up a little bit. Scott Kolins does the story, art and cover for this issue. I don't want to be to negative . . until I get a clearer picture. Hopefully the JSA Special will help with that. And then I'll tell you what I really think of all this. Something to look forward to. Huh?

Jonah Hex #58 and #59 - DC

2010-09-26T09:46:00.004-04:00

Most of these issues of Jonah Hex have been single issue stories. But I've noticed something happening over the last year or so. Not all of these western tales have a clean, or happy ending. Some of them don't have much of an ending at all . . things just kind of work out the way they do. Kind of like real life, in that way. But we've begun to see characters and situations creep in to current story-lines from previous ones. That's normal for any other comic book, but for this one . . that doesn't usually happen. Especially considering what a loner Jonah is. He doesn't want, or need much from anyone . . usually. But, he seems to be hedging his bets lately. Maybe it's age, but I think he's starting to realize that having an ace in the hole for a future date isn't a bad thing. It doesn't necessarily mean you're looking for help, or even asking for it. But it could mean the difference in the outcome of a situation simply because there's another option open. Anyways, in issue #58 we see some motions set into affect because of a rich man's greedy wife. He's scooping up land claims once he finds out that there's been gold discovered. Being several years younger than her husband, the wife wants the money, and property, for herself. So she manipulates one of the disgruntled land owners into killing him. Anyways, long story short . . there's an innocent woman hurt in the process. When all's said and done, everyone ends up dead except for Jonah and this woman. When she asks why he brought her along, and why he gave her the deed to the property, he replies . . ''Y're rich, ain't ya? Might be some day ah need a favor . .' It seems more and more of these stories are ending that way. The other interesting thing about this particular issue is that most of the story was told from the perspective of the bullet. I thought that was an interesting twist on things. Issue #59 is a bit more complicated. Jonah comes riding into this dust-ball town in search of a bounty. He finds out that there's a kind of feud between him and his younger brother because of a stolen love. It's not much of a town, but it seems that everyone has picked sides. When the older brother comes into town with his gang, Jonah meets them and pretty much takes them out single-handed. But then there's also someone after Jonah . . the Grey Ghost. It's a guy who feels that it's his duty to take out the southerners that betrayed the Confederacy, leading to it's downfall. To him, the war's over but the retribution isn't. Anyways, in the cross-fire, everyone else in this town ends up dead . . including the younger brother and lover, but Jonah tells him that he'll find his brother and make him pay for what he brought down on the woman. Another story-line thread left hanging out there at the end of the story. Like I said, it's becoming pretty commonplace in these issues lately. Anyways, I think Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti do a fantastic job with this series. The look and feel of it is near perfect. And the stories are fantastic. Giancarlo Canzcuzzo is the artist for #58, with Jordi Bernet doing the art for #59. Both their styles fit this book very well.

Secret Six #24 and #25 - DC

2010-09-26T08:55:00.004-04:00

There was something about these 2 issues that just seemed a little off to me. Don't get me wrong, they were both good stories . . very entertaining, but . . it just felt like I was missing something. And I'm not sure what that was. In issue #24 we find the members of our cast in the old west. But they don't seem to know each other. There's the whole 'six degrees of separation' thing, but . . one on one . . they're just acquaintances. So they live in this little town called Separation Flats. Ragdoll, Peter, is like the local jester. But he comes from a rich family. He and his sister, Alexandria, had a father who was very rich and owned a silver mine here. It was supposedly dried up, but the town went together and bought it. It ended up paying off. Now, apparently, Alexandria wants that family mine back. And she's willing to kill the whole town to get it . . if she has to. Maybe even if she doesn't. She seems to enjoy killing. Anyways, she's hired Slade Wilson as her enforcer. There's a big gun-fight and everyone ends up dead. Well . . everyone except for Alexandria. As Blake lay dying in the street, Alexandria asks him what he was thinking. How could he possibly think that their ragtag misfits could possibly defeat this woman's resolve. 'Thought . . we might be heroes.', was his reply. To which Alexandria replies . .'Not in this lifetime, Mr Blake. Not in this lifetime.' And that's it. So I don't know if Gail Simone was giving us an imaginary tale here, or maybe just a dream. Or it could have been an Elseworlds tale, but . . that part is never fully explained. Me? I'm just going to chalk it up as a footnote in this teams history. J Caliafiore does the art. Like I said, it was entertaining. I just didn't understand the purpose, or the chronology. Anyways, in issue #25 we move on to a new storyline. In it, Bane and Jeanette have put together a new team, which consists of Gigantia, Lady Vic, Dwarfstar and Killer Shark. And they've taken on a job for a mob bosses' soon to be ex-wife. Apparently she's not happy with the terms of their divorce . . monetary or custody, and has sent Bane and his team to renegotiate. This all happens as the mob-boss is out to sea on his yacht. But shortly after arriving Spy-Smasher shows up. She's as surprised about the new team as anybody, but she's not here to stop them . . she's here to hire them. Next we see the rest of the team . . who are in a bit of disarray right now . . especially Blake, gathered up by Tremor. And she was sent by Mockingbird. It seems that this all has to do with what's been going on in the last few issues of the Warlord. You know, the whole alien invasion thing . . or whatever that is. Anyways, we see the team at one of the portals to Skartaris. She's about to send the team in, but . . Bane's team is already there. We don't know how they got there, just that we see them standing in a Griffin's nest. And then they have to fight for their lives. Plus I'm not sure how either team is supposed to cross the portal. I thought the Warlord characters on the other side closed them off. That's how issue #16 of that series ended . . with them containing the threat to the world inside thier own. But apparently the government wants to make sure that they succeed, and are sending in back-up. I'm guessing that through the course of this storyline, half these characters are going to end up dead. And by the time these 4 issues are done . . we'll probably have a new line-up . . and only 6 characters left. But I'm just guessing. However, I was just looking through the previews and it looks like somebody is setting up both these teams. It sounds like someone has sent them both in so that they'll go at each other. But we don't know who or why. And, even though they're in Skartaris, it looks like we won't see the Warlord until issue #28. Anyways, it's an entertaining storyline by Gail and J Caliafiore. And there's some beautiful covers by Daniel Luvisi.

Smallville - Season 10 - Episode 1 - Lazarus - CW

2010-09-25T10:10:00.004-04:00

The title of this episode could have many different meanings. Last season ended with Clark falling backward off a building, seemingly dying, with a blue Kryptonite dagger sticking out of his chest. This episode starts out with Lois finding him. She kind of deduced that the 'Blur' was Clark, last season, when he laid that big sloppy kiss on her. And I think she saw the fireworks that were happening on top of the building. So she's concerned when she finds him. She pulls out the dagger, and when Clark starts to revive . . she goes and hides. Apparently now . . she doesn't want Clark to know that she knows. Anyways, the Lazarus theme could also be because Jor-El comes back this episode also . . at least his voice does, and he's back to give Clark advice. Although he's not very supportive right now. He also believes that Clark is going to be this world's greatest hero, but . . right now he feels that he has a darkness in his heart that could stop him from being so. He feels that if Clark doesn't do something about this, he could also be the Earth's greatest threat. And Jonathan comes back this episode also. His advice is much more supportive. He also sees the 'darkness' in Clark, but . . he believes in him and has faith that he'll overcome it. It was really nice to see Jonathan again after all this time. And another person is seemingly back from the dead . . Tess. She finds herself on a bed in Cadmus Labs. Her face is covered with some type of goo. When she pulls it off . . she's completely healed. But she also finds, what I think is the real reason for the Lazarus theme . . Cadmus Labs seems to have been working on a series of Lex clones. Apparently they were originally created as a means to heal Lex should something happen to him. I guess it's also how Tess was healed. But now there's only 2 versions of Lex left. One is Alexander, a 10 year old version of Lex. The other is a clone that is about 20 years his elder. It's this clone that burns down Cadmus and then captures Lois to test Clark. He puts Lois on that stake in the field where Clark once hung, and then sets the field afire. At the same time he explodes a bomb at the base of the Daily Planet statue, forcing Clark to choose who he's going to save. As he's racing off to do both, this Lex clone dies. Clark pushes himself and accomplishes both, but . . I think it's his dealing with Lex, and his feelings for that whole situation, that bring forth the darkness in his heart. Anyways, Chloe is also looking for Ollie because he was captured at the end of the last episode. We see that he's tucked away somewhere being beaten for information. I'm not sure who's behind it. But later on, after Chloe goes through an ordeal by putting on the Helmet of Fate, she negotiates his release. At least that's what I think. It's a dark image, and a trade is made. But I'm not sure if Chloe got Ollie released, or if she traded up herself in his stead. I'm sure we'll find out more next time. Oh yeah, and in the end . . Lois decides to accept the assignment in Africa. Probably because she knows how hard it'll be to keep her secret from Clark. This is billed as 'the Final Season of Smallville'. And I'm sure it will be. But . . we don't know yet if there may be something spinning off of it. I sure hope so. But so far . . I really think they started out this one with a bang. It was a great episode and I can't wait to see more.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #19 and #20 - DC

2010-09-25T09:42:00.003-04:00

After defeating Brainiac, during the storyline in the Superman titles, Vril Dox, Brainiac 2, brought him to Colu. Vril is a clone of his 'father'. And as such, he has the usual resentment and inadequacy issues. Although I'm sure he'll be the last to admit it. Anyways, Vril saw this action as more than just incarcerating a 'bad-guy'. Vril saw this as a way to show his father that he was superior . . that he could best him. And I'm sure it's a relief to have him out of the way . . considering all the grand schemes and machinations that Vril is continually concocting. However, even though he considers himself an intellect, Vril couldn't resist gloating a little bit in front of him before leaving the planet. Not a good idea. Especially when it comes to Brainiac. So, at the same time all of this is going on, Vril's son Lyrl, Brainiac 3, has constructed the ultimate weapon of destruction . . an artificial intelligence star called Pulsar Stargrave. Well while Vril is gloating to his 'father', Lyrl is attacking Colu. Which accidentally sets Brainiac free. When Lyrl attacks Colu he wants 2 things. He wants the ruling council to surrender to him. And he wants access to the data-core . . all the compiled knowledge or the Coluans . . the Universe's smartest race. But while he's trying to argue with the council, Brainiac has taken control of the data-core himself. Which leaves Vril and Lyrl having to combine forces, and . . while Lyrl is attacking Brainiac directly with Pusar Stargrave, Vril goes off to get a secret weapon . . Lobo! After returning to Colu, Vril is at first concerned that he may have made a mistake. But after Brainiac hijacks the controls of Pulsar Stargrave, he realizes that Lobo is the only one capable of slowing him down. During all of this, Lobo has a Red Lantern ring around his neck, but . . he never uses it. I'm not sure why. Anyways, Vril and Lyrl attack Brainiac, knowing that they don't stand much of a chance, but . . Vril also knows that Brainiac would never give up the chance to acquire more knowledge. In thier defeat Brainiac will try to siphon all the knowledge out of their heads. But Vril has a secret weapon. Because of his issues with his 'father', Vril has a lot of emotions that have built up over the years, as well as baggage. But he knows that this is a weakness so he's set up mental blocks to lock all of this stuff away . . to hide it. Brainiac will see this as a challenge and will assimilate it before he has a chance to realize what it is. In the end, Vril wins. Not only because he weakens Brainiac, but also because he leaves him with the emotions and resentments that he's built up. 'Now you know what it feels like to be your 'son'.' But Brainiac does escape, with Pulsar Stargrave and the Data-core. And with the ruling council dead, Vril and Lyrl are going to have to figure out how to rebuild Colu. As well as dealing with Lobo . . now that the job that he's been hired to do is done. But first they're going to have to deal with the Green Lanterns that have come to arrest them. I think Tony Bedard does a fantastic job with this book. It's very structured and precise, as you would expect from Vril. There's also a couple of different themes floating around here. It's a Police story, as well as one of Outlaws. But there's also a kind of 'spy' and 'espionage' type of theme to it. And I've really enjoyed this Brainiac story-line. Also Claude St Aubin continues to improve every issue with his pencils. This book has a great look and feel to it. Our 2 covers here are by Kalman Andrasofszky and David Finch. David draws a pretty mean looking Lobo. I may have to rethink my belief that Simon Bisley is the definitive Lobo artist. Anyways, this is a great series. It's worth picking up . . if you're not.