Justice Society of America Special #1 - DC

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Shadowland #2 and #3 - Marvel

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

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

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.

Black Terror #11 - Dynamite Entertainment

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

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.

Red Hood: the Lost Days #3 and #4 - DC

So far, I really like the story that Judd Winick is crafting here. Basically, he's filling in the questions as to how, and when, Jason came back. And what did he do to prepare himself for when he finally revealed his return to Batman. All of which . . Talia is playing a large part of. I think she originally brought Jason back, with one of the Lazarus pits, to try to ease some of the pain and burden of the man she loves. Obviously she didn't think this all the way through, but . . I think it was as simple as bringing him back, returning him to Bruce, and hoping that in return pledge his undying love. Yeah!! Like that was going to happen. She didn't listen to a word her father told her. He's been doing this a lot longer than her. He certainly knows the risks and side-effects, but . . I think she was blinded by love . . or romance. Well, you know . . the kind of romance where 2 people try to kill each other as foreplay. Anyways, once she realized that he was psychotic . . although I'm not sure if that was a side-effect of the Lazarus pit, or window into Jason's actual personality . . but when she realized that, she knew that she was going to have to stall him. So she sets him up with teachers of the 'Dark Killing Arts' all over the globe . . weapons, espionage, chemists, close combat experts, bomb makers . . etc, etc. She sells it as her concern over his facing his former mentor. The element of surprise will only carry him so far. If he wants to best him . . he's going to have to be better than him. I think she's also hoping that over the course of this, maybe . . just maybe, Jason will develop a conscience or a heart. And surprisingly . . he does. In a way. After about 10 or 12 'teachers', she finds that he's already killed about half of them. But the reasons he's giving himself seem legitimate . . pedophile, murder, sex-slaves, mercenaries . . he seems to be willing to siphon their information, but not let them continue to pursue their 'hobbies'. I believe he thinks he's actually saving people, or . . making the world a better place for the ones that are left. Anyways, by the end of issue #4, Jason is knee deep in the scheme of the Russian Mob, in London. They've got MI5, Interpol and Police so far up their ass that it's hurting their business. They haven't really been able to pin anything on them, but . . they've created enough of a wake that other gangs, and criminals, don't want to do business with them. So . . they've hired a bomb expert . . the one who's currently teaching Jason, to set off a series of explosions around London and make it look like it's the work of terrorists. Once everybody gets aboard that wagon, the crime files will become second shelf. The problem Jason has with all this? In order to sell this, they're going to have to kill about 700 people in one afternoon. So Jason's trying to mess with their plan, without exposing himself. But he's making a lot of rookie mistakes. The issue ends with him starring down the barrel of the Russian mob boss's gun. 'I don't care who he is! Just kill him!' Like I said, so far it's been a pretty cool story. But Judd always does a good job with this type of theme. Jeremy Haun is doing the art, and his style is fitting perfectly with this story. And don't forget the beautiful covers by Billy Tucci. If you aren't buying this one . . you're missing a good story.

Batman Odyssey #2 and #3 - DC

Once again, I can't over emphasis how thrilled I am that not only is Neal Adams back . . not only is he doing the character he's probably most famous for, besides Superman, but . . he's also doing the story and art here. What more could we ask for? I liked the first book, but . . I thought it was a little bit confusing. However, the second issue helped to clear that up immensely. Bruce was telling Dick the story of one of his very first outings. It's a time when he was experimenting and trying out . . well, pretty much everything. He was working on his image, his delivery, his impact, his methods and his choice of weapons. Which is really what I think that first story stemmed from . . I think he was trying to explain to Dick why he'd decided to go with the 'no-guns' policy. Also, in the present, the case they're working on is closely related because a lot of what he'd learned in the past has led to his preparedness in the present. In his current case, Batman has 2 fronts to choose from. The Riddler is going after something at the mint, while his clues . . his riddles, has lead Batman to believe that there's also something going down on the docks. And it may be more important. While any attempt at the mint is important, I think Batman believes that it's more of a diversion than anything. Which lead Batman and Robin into a fire-fight at the docks and trying to protect a Professor and his daughter, whom have come to see off his latest endeavor . . a hydrogen based car. The heist is made to look like they're after a shipment of antiquities, but actually I think they're here to destroy the car. Although, even they don't know why. And were never really given a full explanation on how to do it. The issue ends with Batman making a misstep and going down in a tornado of bullets. Obviously though, this can't be the end of the Batman as he's still telling the story. We find out later, in his conversation with Alfred, that everything is an act. Not only did he line his suit with Kevlar and try to limit the impact and damage from such a deluge. But he's also equipped the suit to spurt fake blood out through the bullet-holes. It's all for effect. He wants to give the criminals the illusion that they've taken him down, while amping the impact when he rises again to finish the job. We spend a lot of this issue learning about a lot of Batman's techniques for fighting and overcoming the less experienced criminals that he faces. It was actually really interesting. But I think the main focus of this issue was the Batman trying to figure out what's going on here at the docks. They know that they couldn't really have been after the antiquities. First of all, after Talia's arrival, they find out that they belong to Ra's al Ghul. And anybody who'd try to steal from him would have to be insane. Also, these are pretty large pieces. It would be difficult for them to fence them, let alone move them. So he's left believing that they're after the car. But he can't figure out why. The issue ends with Batman thinking that this all doesn't fit together. 'It doesn't fit. This is a puppet show and all our strings have been yanked . . and we're dangling like fools. This man . . or men behind all this haven't even made their first move. This is just the setup. The first question to which is WHO IS THIS MAN?!' I like the way that Neal is constructing this story. He's using past and prologue the emphasis the important connections to everything. We just have to figure out how the pieces all fit together. And the art? The artwork is amazing. But we knew that was going to be the case. Really, my only complaint about this issue is that the variant cover is simply an uncolored version of the main cover. It's tauted as being a sketch cover, but really . . it's just an uncolored version. It's an 'ok' concept. Really it is. And I think my complaint comes more out of greediness than anything. We have the opportunity for a variant cover here . . a chance to see some more great Neal Adams art. But instead we get the same picture in a different format. Don't get me wrong. I'll probably buy them all. But . . I just think it'd be a little more cool if we could get a different picture. I know. I'm just being greedy. Anyways, I think it's a great series and I can't wait to see more.