Checkmate #22 - DC

Well, this issue wraps up the story about the Black Queen's Knight . . Josephine Tautin . . ."Mademoiselle Marie". She's kind of like another Joan of Arc for France. Except that her legacy and beliefs are passed down generation after generation. Josephine has been "Mademoiselle Marie" for about nine years now. At that time, she took the name from Sabine. Which makes her about the eighth in the line, which goes back to the French Revolution. Her storyline intertwines with her current mission. The man whom she had to forsake for her higher calling, Thierry Desmarais, has had his daughter recently kidnapped by a terrorist group that is hiding out in the Bialyan mountains. She's taken on the mission of retrieving her because of her connection to Thierry, but also because of all of their connection to France. Which, ultimately, is whom she serves. It was a very touching story. It was moving and disturbing at the same time. But now that we've accomplished it, we can move on to some regular Checkmate stories. Maybe we'll find out what their plans are about this whole Amanda Waller, and the Suicide Squad. Maybe not. But whatever the case, with Greg Rucka at the helm, you can be assured that it's going to be a heck of a ride. This was a great story, and the whole series overall has been superb. The structure and characters of this incarnation are much improved over the last. But . . that was about 12 to 15 years ago . . . so . . . .

Countdown to Final Crisis #15 - DC

Now that we're getting closer to the end, we're starting to take some interesting turns with these characters. Mary Marvel has landed on Themyscira. But luckily, she was found by Hippolyta and not the Female Furies. She takes Mary under her wing, sensing that she's been depowered, and gives her the lowdown on what's been going on on the island. Meanwhile, back on Earth 51, our group of Challengers are doing the best they can to protect Ray Palmer. It turns out that the Ray Palmer from this Earth was not the Atom, but he was a genius, and he had a genetic anomaly that made him super-immune. Anyways, the JLA of this Earth had a case involving the ultimate bioweapon. A doomsday germ called Morticoccus. The strange part was when they found out the germ's DNA structure mirrored Ray's. They never did figure out why, and simply isolated it. Shortly afterward, their JLA was visited by another from a different dimension. This gave Ray an idea. He figured if there were multiple versions of himself, then it could only be concluded that there were multiple versions of this Morticoccus. So his plan was to go to each of these different dimensions and "seed" someone with his own genetic immunity, giving each world a fighting chance should the bioweapon appear. Unfortunately he died before he could accomplish that. So Ray has been carrying on his work. Also unfortunately his inoculations left a mark on the recipients skin . . . like his Atom symbol. Which, of course, left a trail for Bob to follow. He's relating this whole story to Kyle. Meanwhile Donna is off fighting this world's Wonder Girl, Jason is having a heart to heart with this world's Batman, and Bob is back in the multiversal nexus watching his "family", but Superman-Prime has shown up, demanding that he be taken back to his own Earth. And . . Forerunner has also shown up. And finally we see that Brother Eye is in Bludhaven assimilating the material that it needs to become a fully self-functioning entity. That includes the Atomic Knights, Firestorm, and our band of hapless travelers, Buddy Blank, Una and Karate Kid. Basically, it looks like it's creating a "Death-Star". The issue ends with them concerned that it may have assimilated some Apokolyptian technology also. Not a pretty picture. Fantastic book. Like I said, since we're nearing the end, the surprises are going to be coming fast and furious. Are you ready?

the Flash #236 - DC

Well, this issue wraps up the water alien story-line. Finally! To me, it was a bit predictable. Especially after reading the back-up story. This issue, in the back-up, we finally get to Wally and Linda's arrival to Savoth. It was either that, or Wally disappearing entirely in to the Speed Force. We also find out why, and how, Linda needed their technology for the kids, and how she talked them in to giving it up to her. But, in the first chapter of this story, when Jay first came there, he had helped them to rid themselves of an alien threat. It turns out, as I suspected, that by doing so with the Speed Force it accelerated their metabolisms and the evolved much faster than normal in to the race of aliens that is now attacking Keystone City. After reading the first installment of that story, I kind of suspected that's what was going on. Anyways, this issue, the family performs as a team. Iris and Jai help their dad out be going to the aliens world and distracting the JLA enough so that they can save them . . . from themselves. The water they were breathing was causing them to hallucinate the attack that they thought they were fighting. So he needed the kids to distract them. Meanwhile Linda, who has such a good knowledge of the alien tech, and how it's related to that of Savoth's, gives Wally the idea about how to take them down. Then, when he finds out they were actually tuning in to his key to Savoth . . and it's connection to the Speed Force . . . it's all over, because Wally simply has to give his goodbye's to Gorflack, and break the connection. Basically, what we've learned this issue, is that Wally no longer operates solo. He has a team . . or family . . that backs him up now. And he couldn't be happier. Now that we've got all that wrapped up . . and we know what's been going on for the last year or so . . we can progress in to the future. And it appears that's what he's going to be doing next issue . . with the help of Superman. Mark Waid wrote it, and Freddie E Williams II did the art.

Birds of Prey #114 - DC

Okay. Sean McKeever is on board as the new scripter now . . . Nicola Scott is still very adeptly doing the pencils . . . and Sean's got the beginnings of a couple of different storylines here. First of all, Babs is obsessed with trying to figure out what happened to Tabby when that robot thing blew up last issue. Charlie's thinking about it also, but more from the point of wondering if there was some way she could have gotten her out of there. Babs is upset thought because of the tongue-lashing that Superman gave her. So she's got 2 things on her mind right now, figuring out what happened to Tabby, and training Charlie. And she's unrelenting in both tasks. Meanwhile Zindy has her own mystery going on when someone shows up in the Killer Shark costume. It can't be the original, because he'd be to old. But then again she's been misplace in the century also, so . . who knows? And, at the end of the book, Black Alice shows up at Babs doorstep. "Hey, Oracle. I've decided . . . I'm in!" But what does that mean for Charlie? Babs can't possibly have 2 teenage sidekicks going on at the same time. Can she? Babs world just seems to get more and more complicated all the time. It seems like we still have the core birds here . . but she's been reaching out more and more to various deputies also. Including, Cameron Chase, Doctor Light, Lois Lane, the Question, Onyx and Infinity. Which still leaves her with the Huntress, ManHunter and Zindy. Besides the 2 teenagers that is. I have to say that so far, I like the feel that Sean's given this book. It's a little different than before . . . but that's ok. It's still one of my favorites.

Robin #170 - DC

Robin seems more than a little distracted. There's a new Vigilante in town that calls herself Violet. She's really a thief, but she's low on Batman's priority list because she's robbing from thieves. After some investigating, Tim realizes that she seems to be operating out of this bowling alley, Pin Heads. It's know for it's bookie making, and numbers rackets. She seems to be watching it also, and then hitting the couriers when they leave to make their drops. So, to Batman, it's kind of a victimless crime. But the reason Tim becomes so obsessed with it, is because, for some reason, this girl just reminds him of Stephanie. As the Spoiler she also wore a purple outfit, and Tim thinks it a little to convenient to be coincidental. Plus he keeps thinking that he sees Stephanie from behind. He's seeing her everywhere. School, the streets, everywhere he goes. So he stakes out the bowling alley. But Violet is pretty good to. She finds Robin lurking about and jumps him causing a huge scene. So now, there little ballet has been noticed by the Penguin . . who's actually running the book there . . and he's hired one of his couriers, that's been robbed, to take them both out as payment on his debt. Chuck Dixon wrote it, and Chris Batista and Jamal Igle did the pencils. I like this little mystery that's going on now, about Stephanie. I never really thought the whole thing was wrapped up all that neatly anyway. Hopefully between this, and Gotham Underground, we'll finally put the issue to rest. One way or another.

Justice League of America #17 - DC

Ok . . . I like the book. Ed Benes never looked better . . . art wise that is. And look at that awesome Ethan Van Sciver cover. But . . . you could probably see that coming, huh? . . . I really think . . and I hate to criticize a new creative team . . but I really think that it's lost something with the feel of the stories. I know. All writers are different. And different writers bring different things to the table. But, seriously . . . I'm not sure if this is going to make sense . . . but now, the book reads like a comic. By that I mean . . the conversation is kind of forced, and the book relies on action to keep the interest going. Before, under Brad Meltzer, the character interaction was just as interesting, if not more, than the story. It also seemed like the character interaction and development was actually the basis of the story. Yes, there was usually some action going on too, but that seemed more like a by-product of the situation, or setting they were in. But, the interaction between characters never stopped. Like in real life. It seems more like comic book conversation now. Does that make sense? I mean, I'll give Alan Burnett and Dwayne McDuffie props. They're both good writers. But, following up Brad . . . it's a hard road to hoe. Maybe they're just trying to get a feel for the characters. I mean, they've only been on the book for about 4 issues now. So . . I should give it a little more of a chance before I start criticizing. But . . I thought this book was one of the best books on the rack last year. I'd just really like to see the momentum continue forward. Rather than taking a step backward. I do like the way they're doing the backup stories though. It gives them to focus on a different character that maybe didn't make an appearance in the main story. I also like Jon Boy Meyers style. It's fresh and fun. It kind of reminds me of early J Scott Campbell. Anyways, with this story, the JLA finally starts to get some information on what's going on with all the villains . . . and Suicide Squad. Well . . . at least what Amanda Waller will reveal. I still like the book. I just hope the writers start getting their groove on.

New Exiles #1 - Marvel

The king is dead! Long live the king! My book is back! The hiatus turned out to be not really all that long. Thank god! Or, I guess I should say, thank Chris Claremont. And Tom Grummett of course. What a fantastic book. I don't know how Chris managed it, but he's got some of the best X-Men characters on this book. Some of the all-time best. Sabretooth, Psylocke, Rogue, Sage, Morph, Kitty Pryde and Mystiq. A nother world version of Mystique. A guy whom Creed saved his life, and then he asked him to join the Exiles. But really, that's all we know about him so far. But the team

is far from perfect. Everyone is a bit flawed. Which I think is what's going to make this book so interesting. I just told you about the mystery with Mystiq. Sage, upon besting Roma's father, was downloaded by Roma with all the information and memories about the omniverse that were in her head. And she was a god. So Sage is . . to say the least . . having a hard time processing everything. And, her alter-ego, Diana Fox, is showing up in there also. Now we know that Morph still has locked in side of him. We haven't seen any personality quirks lately. But you just know something's going to pop up sooner or later. Betsy is also a bit flawed. She's got some issues she left behind on her Earth . . Slaymaster . . so she's a bit skittish. Plus Creed isn't comfortable that she's invisible to technology. But he'll fix that this issue. Rogue is a bit untrusting. But she may have a reason. For some reason Creed doesn't want her to know that he's checking up on, and keeping an eye on . . everyone! And Kitty . . well, we're really not sure what's wrong with her. She seems normal . . but she also seems a bit . . anal . . or maybe obsessive compulsive. I'm not sure how to explain it. But she may be the smartest . . and most devious one of the bunch. Anyways, our story . . on the Earth in trouble . . starts out with the FF origin. Only this time it's not cosmic rays, but a meteor shower that hits their ship. They all perish except for Sue, who is saved by Namor. So now the team is going there, some 50 years later, because " . . palace projections state humanity faces something worse." But as soon as they arrive, it looks like Rogue may have been taken out. This book is going to be fantastic. Chris and Tom already seem to have a great connection. And they really seem to be having fun with what they're doing. I can't wait to see what future issues hold.

Wolverine Origins #21 - Marvel

This issue was just . . fun. Well . . as much fun as you can have with a hired killer on your ass! Recently, a "shadowy figure" has decided to hire someone to take out Wolverine. And for some reason . . . Deadpool, decides to accept the offer. So this whole issue, basically, is just the two of them volleying back and forth like two girls playing summer volleyball. But to me, it seems like Deadpool may have the upper hand, just because he's so unpredictable. This guy is seriously bent. He's always been . . out there. But he seems even more so now. To the point that he's hallucinating. He's fighting Logan, but he's seeing a completely different scene in his head. When Logan snaps him back to consciousness, by cutting his face, he says "How . . ? Oh. I, ah . . . drifted. Didn't I?" But the best scene of the book, is on the final page when a beaten and hurt Wolverine is crawling along the sidewalk and doesn't notice that he's crawling over a big red X. There's 2 guys up in the building, that Wade has hired to drop a piano on him. Literally. When Logan looks up and notices it, he says, "You gotta be kidding me . ." And Wade, looking on, says "Boo-Yah! Top that. You stupid Coyote!" Fantastic stuff. After all the multi-issue story-lines that have run through this book so far . . and all of them dealing with all these serious issues that are popping up from Logan's past . . now that he can remember them . . . it's nice to have this "Brawl at the Mall" issue with Wade and Logan just going at it all issue. I don't know if Logan even realizes that Wade's been hired to kill him. I think, he thinks, he's just whacked out more than usual. Some great stuff from Daniel Way and Steve Dillon. Keep up the good work guys.

New X-Men #46 - Marvel

Ok, lets see if I have this straight. Rogue is on Muir Island now. Mystique wants to help her. She thinks she knows what to do from reading Destiny's Diaries. She supposed to take the Messiah child and touch her to Rogue's lips. However, Remy can't stand idly by because he feels like Raven is sacrificing the baby for Rogue's welfare. He doesn't feel that is something that she would be ok with. But now Raven's confused because things didn't work out the way they were supposed to. Rouge was supposed to wake up out of her coma. Oh yeah, and during all of this . . . Raven snapped Sinister's neck. I didn't see that one coming. Meanwhile, the newly reformed X-Force is fighting for it's life against the Marauders. Predator X has finally made it to the school, and the kids are terrified. Well, except for Nori. She's taking the lead as usual. Also Cable and Charles are working together also, because they both feel that the best bet for the child is for Cable to take responsibility for her, and take her in to the future to raise. But during the New X-Men's fight with Predator X, Pixie tries to save her teammates by porting them away from the school. She makes a mistake though. She brings the Predator along with them. And she takes them all straight to Muir Island. So when Cable finally does get the baby, he ends up standing face to face with the monster. A fantastic book by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost. Of course it's all the better because of Humberto Ramos' art. Simply amazing! So we're on Chapter 12. I wonder how many more we have to go? It's a great story-line though.

Amazing Spider-man #547 - Marvel

Ok, we're only in to the 2nd issue of the new direction for our arachnid hero, and already he's turning in to a pile of angst ridden goo. Poor guy. He's got this new lease on life, and, other than losing the love of his life, and regaining his Aunt . . . nothing's really change. Well . . . on a personal level . . I mean. Mephisto could've at least given him a job. He never finished college . . or actually, I guess he has, he's just never done anything with it. He hasn't had a job in . . who knows how long. He's still living with Aunt May. And occasionally Harry. He's given up being Spider-man, because he refused to partake in the Registration Act. But, the good news is that nobody knows who he is. Well . . . except for one person. The guy who mugged him recently. When he took his wallet, he also took one of his web-shooters. So, seeing as how he's been donning the Spider-man mask when he does his larceny, when he finds out what it really does, he gets pretty excited. It isn't until after he pawns Peter's wallet that he makes the connection as to who he really is. But, now it may be to late for him to get the wallet back. But if he does, then he knows who Spider-man really is. Meanwhile, because of his guilt over what he's done to J Jonah Jameson recently . . feeling responsible for his heart-attack . . . he's decided to don his costume again to try to make up for his failings. But, as usual, he gets sidetracked from his real goals, and ends up mixing it up with the Negative Man. He's opting to be the new crime-lord of Manhattan so he's getting ready to take out the rest of his competition. Which puts Peter in the spot of trying to save every mob boss and goon Manhattan as they all set down to a big meeting. Unfortunately the Negative Man has already set up for a biological spore to be released in the air of the meeting place, and all Spider-man does, by showing up, is put himself in the same danger as the others. The issue ends with him lying on the floor gasping for his life. Is this the end of Spider-man? Obviously not. But it is an interesting story. Apparently we're going back to the more angst ridden Peter . . as opposed to the married, well adjusted, and working one. Which is . . . ok. I guess. As long as they don't drag it out for to long. And now, we're on our 3 times a month schedule. I'll give it a month or 2, and then I'll weigh in on how I think that is going. But, overall, I liked the book. I like Dan Slott's stories, and, I think, Steve McNiven has become an incredibly talented artist. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

Spawn #174 - Image

I really only had 1 problem with this book . . . I feel like I just read the same story . . a couple of months ago in Ghost Rider. Seriously! It was the same kind of premise. A little different . . but . . a lot the same. Which is sad, because I think David Hine is really doing well with these stories. I'm just confused about why we had to go back to the Wild Wild West, when there's such an interesting story-line going on with Al and his family. Maybe it's a filler book . . but, I'd rather just read about Al. I will say though that the art team of Bing Cansino and Geirrod Van Dyke really have something special going on. The interior work is like a piece of art. Seriously! This book . . or rather this story-line, just seems a little predictable. But maybe that's just me. Overall I enjoyed the book . . it's just . . like I said . . I felt like I just got done reading a very similar story. If it wasn't for that . . it would be awesome. But to me . . it felt like a copy. Sorry!

Booster Gold #6 - DC

I'm really not complaining about this book . . . because I really do enjoy it. It's fresh and original . . and the way the stories are set up it's not as predictable as a regular book. My questions come in on how they're going to handle the explanations of things. I'll admit, I do peak ahead some times, so I know that the way they're going to hide Ted is to keep him in the time-stream with Booster. But . . . what about Max? Max was supposed to die also . . at the hands of Wonder Woman. So is he still dead . . or not? And if Wonder Woman didn't kill him, than the whole last 2 years of her story-lines are pretty much moot . . . including the Amazon war. And my only question about the 3 Blue Beetle's that help Booster out is . . why would the one from the 27th century need to hide his identity? I mean, it is about 500 years in the future . . . how would it have any relevance in today's world? It's just a question. But, overall, I'm really diggin' this book. Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz are doing a fantastic job with the stories. With Geoff's help, the dialogue and interaction between characters is fantastic. Jamie keeps telling his Scarab that it's suggestions are to lethal, and Dan is amazed at how easily he communicates with it. And Dan Jurgens artwork is some of his best I've ever seen. Which I also think is due in part to his inker, Norm Rapmund. They appear to work very well together. Like I said, the thing I really like about this book . . is that, with the timeline theme, things aren't as predictable as they are in normal stories. And, even if they do deal with something that we know how it's going to turn out, the steps to getting there may not be what we expected. I'm really looking forward to this book every month. Great job, guys!

Ghost Rider #19 - Marvel

Another fantastic book by Daniel Way and Javier Saltares. I say that because . . sadly . . next issue, our creative team is changing. Jason Aaron will be writing, and Roland Boschi will be doing the art. Neither of them are familiar to me. So, I really don't know what to expect. This issue pretty much wraps up the story-line that has been running through this title since issue #1. It turns out, the body that Johnny was having Dixie hold on to in the motel was one of the avatars that was brain-dead, but not dead dead. Does that make sense? There's something protruding from his head, and, I guess, his spinal cord is severed. Anyways, the reason he didn't just finish him off is because that way his power wouldn't be transferred to the one remaining one. Basically it's a divide and conquer thing. He's just going to have Dixie kill it at the same time he kills the last one. That way he doesn't have to take on all of the power. My only confusion is . . is this last avatar the one that was chained up under the bridge? And if not . . where's that one? So now, with that behind him, Johnny can focus on the story that Zadkiel has told him . . . last issue. He claims that the Ghost Rider is actually angelic in nature, and, since Johnny didn't know that, he has been manipulating him this whole time. So that's a perfect jumping on point for the new creative team. Johnny and Ghost Rider will be going in a new direction while they try to figure out how much of Zadkiel's story is true. And . . what they're going to do about it. He is afterall . . . the Spirit of Vengeance!

Onslaught Reborn #5 - Marvel

Ok, apparently this whole book gets summed up in two events. First of all, Onslaught is back. He came back in the Reborn Universe, so our world currently has no awareness of his condition. Obviously he's going to have to be taken out. He just can't be allowed to exist . . anywhere . . for the sake of the human and mutant race's survival. Well, at the end of this book Franklin does indeed take him out. But, at the very end, we find out that out does not mean gone. He's alive. However, now, he's in the Negative Zone. But he is coherent. So it's only going to be a matter of time until he finds sentient life to help him reestablish his footing. But wait. Isn't the prison for the non-registered heroes also in the Negative Zone? What happens if he comes across that? So, his part of the story is definitely not over. The second event, for the purpose of this book? Bucky. You know how the Bucky of the Reborn Universe is the teenage-girl side-kick of Captain America? Well, at the end of this issue, she's been brought across over in to our universe. Or, I guess I should say, the Marvel Universe. She lands right in Philadelphia, and immediately, from the newstands, finds out that this world's Cap is dead. This book was a little bit behind schedule. To say the least. Anyways, all the fighting in the Reborn Universe, with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, all came down to these two events. Well . . . actually 3, because at the end of the story, we now know that the Reborn Universe still exists. And it's heroes are alive and well. Overall, I thought it was a good book, and series. Although I'm definitely not Rob Liefeld's biggest fan, I bought it anyways, and . . I actually liked it. Although I'm sure most of that was because of the brilliant story that Jeph Loeb put together. My real only problem with the whole thing was the timeliness of it's printing. Here we are 13 months after the first issue came out, and we're finally wrapping up a 5 issue mini. I don't know about you, but, to me, "That does not compute!". But, I will admit, overall, I enjoyed it. It'll be interesting to see what happens to Bucky now. But, I'm also glad it's over.

Wolverine #61 - Marvel

Well, it looks like this is going to wrap up the Soul Survivor story-line. Which, unfortunately, probably also means that this is Howard's last issue as artist. Which really is the saddest part. But this story-line did go a ways to explain Logan's brushes with death . . . or I guess I should say, their lack of stick-to-itiveness. This Lazaer had made a deal with Logan, during WWI when Logan bested him in combat, that every time he died they would combat and, if he won, he would be allowed to go back. But recently, when Logan died, before that agreement could be honored, a member of the Hand, Phaedra brought him back to life. She did so, so she could capture a piece of his soul and use it to animate her Shogun. Which is why Logan has had such a hard time beating him. Basically, he's fighting himself. But, this Phaedra has also brought back Lord Shingen Yashida. Mariko's father. Who happens to be very mad at Logan for killing him the first time around. However, during Logan's fight with Shogun it dawns on him that if his killing people ticks off Lazaer so much, than Phaedra's bringing them back to life really has to piss him off. Especially since he's the angel of Death. So, he figures, that if Lazaer hasn't remover her yet, it's probably because he can't. So, he offers him a deal, he'll take care of Phaedra, if Lazaer will put his soul back together. "For the magnitude of such a thing to happen . . our other arrangement would have to be made moot. And, I can't promise your healing factor will remain as strong." Which, in and of itself , is good for future Wolverine story-lines, because that means he won't be able to be decimated all the way to his skeletal form and be able to revive from it. That was pushing things a little to far anyways. However, on the final page, we find out that Lord Yashida isn't actually dead, as he gets up and picks up the Shogun armor. So he'll definitely be back to give Logan a little grief. A fantastic issue by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin. But Howard, it'll be sad to see you go.

X-Factor #27 - Marvel

This issue starts out with Layla and Jamie, in the future, in the concentration camp where Bishop grew up. But at this age, Lucas seems a lot more down-trodden and sullen than he does, as an adult, in the past. It takes some coercion, but they finally get him to tell them how this whole thing happened. In that story, they find out what the Messiah baby had to do with the whole thing. That's when we find out, during their recent scuffle with a guard, Layla had grabbed a grenade from him. Now that they have the information, it's time to send Jamie back, and in order to do that . . . she has to kill him. The X-Men have landed in Dallas, at Forge's. But, as usual, they're about 2 steps behind. Bishop had taken out Forge and Cable, and was about to kill the baby, when the Marauder's . . specifically Gambit and Mystique . . showed up and knocked out Bishop. Now they have the baby, and they've taken off for Muir Island. As the team is trying to figure out what's going on with Jamie, he pops awake, tattooed face and all, asking for Bishop. Meanwhile, Cable and Charles have also formed an alliance. Cable needs help, and he knows that Charles is the only one that can give it to him. We find out, back on Muir Island, that Mystique has taken out Sinister. Back at the school, the Predator X has finally made it's way there. But by now, it may be to strong for them to take down. And our newly formed X-Force, is about to go face to face with the rest of the Marauders. Which , will lead us directly in to the new X-Force #1 coming out in a couple of weeks. I can't wait. This was a fantastic book by Peter David and Scot Eaton. But, I think we're nearing the end of our Messiah Complex story-line. So things are going to be coming at us fast and hard over the next couple of issues.

Superman #672 - DC

As I've said before, apparently Superman, and sometimes Action, is a place to showcase new artistic talent. Peter Vale is this artist for this issue, and last. And his stuff really looks sharp. But, you can tell that he's a new talent because of his consistency. Most of the book looks really good, but, there's a few pages in the middle that just look . . . rushed . . . I guess is the best word for it. Granted they are some rather large scenes . . it shows Superman flying through this Queen's hive on the moon, and I think it's purpose is to show the size or intensity of it. But the panels come across a little weak. But really, other than that, this guy really shows a lot of promise. He does character drawing . . faces, poses, etc., very well. Of course we still have Kurt Busiek on the scripts, so you know the stories are going to be well thought out. This one is about an alien insect Queen that has come from god knows where, to find our planet and deem that the inhabitants would make good drones. She started out working with Lex, because when she first got here she was weak. And actually it was a win-win situation for both of them. I'm sure Lex saw a chance to study an alien race and maybe get some ideas . . . military applications . . from it. Anyways, she became stronger, and realizing that she wouldn't be able to set up her base of operations . . hive . . anywhere on Earth without detection, she opted for the moon. And, since Lex already had a base there, it presented the perfect vantage point for her to create her army for her assault. Apparently Lex had been supplying her with proteins and other things he needed to grow his army. But, since he's away right now . . . see Salvation Run . . . he wasn't around to help. So things, again, fell upon the shoulders of the new CEO, Lana Lang. But the Queen saw this as rescinding on their agreement, so she took Lana as a hostage for an afront on her trust. Then, for some reason, once on the moon, she decided to use Lana's appearance as her own, and started incorporating her looks and genes. That part's not really clear, but I assume it's to assimilate in to the human race better. Well, with this issue, Superman finally goes to the moon and gets to the bottom of what's going on. Unfortunately even he seems susceptible to this alien Queen's powers. The issue ends with him apparantly falling under her control, and Lana, who has broke free of her bonds, finding a resistance movement hiding itself deep within the bowels of the complex. Oh yeah, also, Chris seems to be changing, or morphing, or something. Lois thought he was down with a bug, but apparently it's affecting him much more than she thought. Overall, I thought it was a very good issue. Other than the complaint about those few panels of art . . it really was quite good.

Nightwing #140 - DC

This is really turning out to be a great book. Peter J Tomasi is turning in some interesting scripts. This one looks to have a fair amount of intrigue and espionage to it. But, what I also like is that he's giving Dick a more upbeat, "glass half full", kind of attitude. It good to see him get out of that depressing slump he's been in lately. It really comes across as if he's grabbing life by the horns. He's on his own in Manhattan now. And he's about to get his very own base of operations. There's a museum up in Washington Heights, called the Cloisters, that also has an abandoned Monastery. Well, as it turns out, the building and land is owned by Wayne Enterprises. And they're in need of a new Curator, as their current one is retiring. This is where Nightwing is going to set up shop. Ironically, since it's the highest point in Manhattan . . altitude wise . . it'll almost be as if he's overlooking the city. And he's about to get his first adventure. There's a string of robberies that have been occurring on the East coast, in museums, that Dick has decided to try to go after. But he's thrown right in when he stops at the Cloisters right as one is occurring. But with all the antiquities around them, all they're after is the body of a dead Knight. Also . . Dick's not aware of it yet . . . but there's a series of body snatching going on at the same time. They're stealing cadavers out of cemetaries, but nobody knows it yet because they're tunnelling in from underneath. In the beginning of the book, it doesn't seem like this is connected to the Museums, but, by the end I'm almost convinced it is. Oh . . did I mention that Rags Morales and Michael Bair are on the art chores now? If not, I am remiss, because it is a fantastic looking book. These two artists styles compliment each other very well. If this is a look at the future . . then this book is in great hands.

52 Aftermath: the Four Horsemen #6 - DC

First of all . . . look at that awesome Ethan Van Sciver cover. This guy is really becoming an incredible talent. And speaking of talent, Keith Giffen and Pat Olliffe are really outdoing themselves on this book. It's been a fantastic mini-series. But . . . it all wraps up with this issue. The Horsemen are finally defeated. But, it's not our trio of heroes that does it. It's actually . . . Veronica Cale. It seems she has some piece of their original technology . . . you know, from Apokolips . . . and it has the power to absorb their essences. You know, the part of them that keeps hopping from body to body. Well, in order to do it, it has to be in proximity of them. Well, she's not going to be able to just walk up and hold it out to them like a piece of Kryptonite or something. So to hide it . . . she swallows it. In the meantime, the Horsemen, one by one, have been taking over our heroes. The first one Cale gets is War, that took over Wonder Woman. She then gets Plague, that had ahold of Superman. Death is standing over Oolong island, watching what is going on, but doesn't believe that a mortal woman has within her, the power to defeat them. But, with a little help from Superman and Wonder Woman . . . she does indeed. But wait. There was 4. What happened to Famine? Well . . . he's been in Batman this whole time. Why wasn't he affected? Well . . . he was. But . . . " . . my hunger . . . greater than Yurrd's . . . almost funny. There's more than one kind of hunger. How soon can she get this nattering thing out of me?" Now . . . the down side. All of these essences are trapped within this tech . . or crystal, or whatever . . and that item is still in the possession of our Miss Cale. Or, on Oolong island, President Cale. So . . is it really the end? It's a fantastic book, and a great series. It also reintroduced us to Snapper Carr, whom it appears is working for CheckMate. Whodathunkit?

Suicide Squad #5 - DC

This time around, the Suicide Squad, looks like it may be in trouble. Amanda Waller is the leader de facto, but, there's a lot of rumblings and grumblings going on in the background. Now, I have a hard time believing that she doesn't know what's going on. So, there has to be a reason why she's letting things play out the way they are. But, as with the Wall, you never really know what she's up to, until it hits you in the face. But let me back up . . . . last issue, she told Rick that his whole Rick Flag persona was scripted by General Eiling. That's not his true identity. Never was. He was a soldier named Anthony Miller, whom Eiling decided to experiment on to see if he could create the perfect soldier through psychological means. Which he did. So now Rick's hopping mad and he goes to confront the General. The problem is, when he programmed him, he also put in a key word that puts him completely under his control. So, he's done that, and now he's holding Rick in reserves until he decides that he needs him. Also going on is a corporation, hooked up with Oolong island, that is trying to mass produce some biological warfare so it can sell it on the open market. Well the Squad's been contacted to bring them down. But before they can be sent in, Eiling contacts one of their board, whom he's familiar with, to tell them what's going to happen. He wants to get out from under Waller's thumb, and asks for a seat on the board for his information. Meanwhile, it seems as if the Squad is going full bore in to this operation. We still got 3 issues to see how it all plays out. Fantastic series, with a great cast of characters. John Ostrander is really outdoing himself with this one. It's a great story. I am also really impressed by Javier Pina's pencils on this book. I first noticed them in the ManHunter series, but I think they're even better here. I really think this book is going to end up getting a regular series, after this mini. If it doesn't . . . it should. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Wonder Girl #5 - DC

I like this story. It's just that there's so much going on in the DC universe right now, that this particular story is connected to a lot of things. Which is fine. In and of itself. But, some of those connections, or explanations, seem weak . . at best. Ok, first of all, we know that the Furies are on Themyscira posing as Amazons. So apparently they're taking a break to come here and gather up Cassie? The Titans have come to aid Wonder Girl, but they've added Arrowette and Empress back in to the mix. Plus they've picked up the Global Guardian . . Olympian. Actually, it's kind of an all female squad, except for Robin. Supergirl is with them too. Now the Furies make mention that they want to take Cassie back to the island. But we don't really know what for. But the real shock comes at the end when, apparently, the god-killer has been watched the proceedings, and has decided to start taking shots at the Furies. He takes down Mary, but, when everybody looks up to try and see where the shot came from . . . Wonder Woman is there ready to take him down. So does this mean that next issue, we're finally going to find out who it is that is systematically destroying the Fourth World? I don't think this is the actual god-killer, because I'm betting that we're going to find out his identity over in the Death of the New Gods mini. So who is taking shots, and why? Since next issue is the last . . . that'll be our best bet to find out. It's an interesting series, but I think J Torres is focusing more on the action than on the story-telling. And although Sanford Greene's pencils are ok . . . they just aren't my style. I bought this book mainly for it's connection to the Teen Titans.

infinity inc. #5 - DC

This is a very strange book. I kind of get the gist of what Peter Milligan is trying to do here. But it's all kind of . . . awkward. Our little band of misfits has been chasing this Kid Empty around for a couple of issues, with no progress. Then, all of a sudden, out of the blue they get a call telling them right where he is. He happens to be at the house of this girl who also seems to have powers, Lucia, and Kitty is out front standing watch. Bing, bang, boom . . they take him down. And it's over. Well . . . there's a little more character development in there, but really . . . that's the gist of the story. But that doesn't seem to be the most important part of the story. The most important part seems to be the social circles. They are constantly changing. Some good. Some bad. After the thing at Lucia's house, Gerome gave her his number, and now she's moving in for a little while . . while her father's out of town. Meanwhile, obviously, the whole thing with Dale and Kitty has fallen apart. Especially since he's been taken in to custody. But, as it turns out, it was Persona, Lars, that tipped of the team to Dale's whereabouts, because he wants to join the team. But after the whole scuffle at Lucia's house, Kitty and Lars get in to it, and when she finds out what his powers are, and that he is also an outlaw, she immediately hooks up with him. Meanwhile Mercy is still hanging around the Steel Works with John Henry, but Natasha doesn't know about it yet. And Natasha is having some abandonment issues of her own. Does all that make sense to you? That's what I mean. That's how I felt after I read the story. And I even read it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything. And actually the worst part about the book . . . is the art. I don't want to get in to it again, but if you read last month's blog . . you know how I feel about it. They seriously need to get a new artist on this book. Quick! I like the team. I like the concept. I just think they need to . . . reorganize a little bit.

the Spirit #12 - DC

I'll give Darwyn Cooke credit . . the guy has talent. He write's a good story. And, I don't know if it's his pencils, or J Bone's inks, but a lot of the panels look really good. My problem is . . . I just can't get in to this book. I'm picking it up because, personally, I missed the whole Spirit thing. Obviously I wasn't around for the original Eisner stories, but when they re-did it in the 80's, I think, over at Kitchen Sink . . . I just wasn't interested, so I never picked it up. Well . . even after 12 issues . . I just don't find it all that interesting. Maybe it's just the genre that doesn't appeal to me . . . or maybe . . . . I don't know. I really don't want to be negative. Obviously Eisner was brilliant. And it appears as if Darwyn is following in his footsteps. Like I said, the guy has talent. It's just . . . not my cup of tea. If you're in to this kind of stuff, I'd have to say these guys do a great job. But to me . . it's just all kind of . . boring. Sorry!

Gen13 #16 - WildStorm

Well . . now that our team has gotten the whole "riding across America" thing out of their systems . . they've decided to settle down in Manhattan. Nothing like jumping in to the deep end of the pool when you just learned to swim. And to top things off, now it looks like they're going to have to start dealing with IO. They've all kind of gotten involved in their own things, but Caitlin, last issue, started noticing that she's being followed . . .everywhere. And not just being followed . . she's being filmed . . . from several different angles . . at all times. She hasn't told the rest of the team yet, though, because she's afraid that she's going to come across as paranoid. But, now that she's noticed it, she's really seeing it everywhere. She tries to confront it head-on, this issue, by knocking over a surveillance truck that's parked outside of their apartment. She's hoping that she'll get some kind of reaction, and she'll find out who's behind it. But . . they have cooler heads than that. Plus, things are a lot worse than she knows. We find out this issue, that all of the activities, and people, that the rest of the team is associating with . . . . are also all under the direction of IO. So the whole thing is like a big reality TV thing, with IO doing the scripts, and our hap-ward teenagers being the unknowing participants. The thing we don't know yet, is what IO is actually up to, and why they aren't just bringing the kids in. They have all these Rat-catchers standing-by, ready to jump in whenever the word is given. I just don't understand what this whole thing is all about. But I guess we'll find out next issue. Simon Oliver is the new scripter on the book. And Sunny Lee is doing the pencils. Sunny has the perfect feel for the book. But his skills aren't 100% yet. You can see progress in every issue, but he still has a ways to go. Overall, though, I think the book is just how I like it.

Hulk #1 - Marvel

Finally, I've been waiting for this book, ever since I read the announcement for it. A brand new Hulk book . . . and by creators Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. What more could a person ask for. From what I understand from this first issue . . the cover . . is literal. There is a new Red Hulk. I don't know if it's coincidental or not, but he first strikes in Russia. You know . . irony . . Russia . . Red . . . . anyways, Doc Samson, She-Hulk and General Ross, are the first on the scene to investigate the sighting. Apparently the Hulk . . although at the time, they don't know it's a different one . . chased the Abomination here. After beating it up thoroughly . . and wiping out a nearby village in their wake . . the Hulk then pulled out a gun and shot it to death. Not really the MO of the Hulk we know. But shortly after their arrival, the Winter Guard shows up with serious reservations about the American, and SHIELD, involvement. Now, I may be wrong, but, to me, it appears as if all of this has something to do with Rick Jones. I'm not sure if he's the Red Hulk or not. But, he is, somehow, connected. But then again . . . isn't he always. After they're forced to leave Russia, the General, and Doc Samson, go to a military bunker to enlist the help of someone they both know. After going through several security checks, and down several levels into an underground bunker, they finally come upon the holding cell of one Doctor Bruce Banner. Which begets the question in the title . . . Who is the Hulk? It's a great first issue, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.

Amazing Spider-man #546 - Marvel

Ok, we're finally in to the Brand New Day storyline. It's kind of a What if? come to life. In this case, it's a What if? - Peter and Mary Jane had never gotten married? But this one's for real. Peter, and Mary Jane, made a deal with Mephisto in order to keep Aunt May alive. Basically, they got a restart, but without them ever having gotten married. So now, Peter is an unemployed photographer. An unemployed teacher. And, currently, an unemployed Spider-man. Apparently he decided during the Civil War, that rather than register, he would just hang up his webs and disappear. No one's the wiser, because, no one, not even Aunt May or Mary Jane, know that he's the Spider-man. So now, we're picking up the story months later when he's trying to figure out what to do with his life. I'm just wondering what this is going to do to the New Avengers story-line, since he's been such an active part of that team. Will he just disappear, and they'll forget that he was ever a member? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The creative talent on this issue was fantastic. Dan Slott does the story, and Steve McNiven does the pencils. You know. From Civil War fame. It really is a fantastic looking book. Plus this issue we get 3 back up stories. They're only 2 pagers, but . . so what. The first is about Jackpot . . whom I think is Mary Jane . . . and it's by Greg Land. The next is about Aunt May, and it's by Phil Winslade. And finally the third is about Harry Osborn, and it's by Mike Deodato Jr. All in all, I thought it was a fantastic issue. Even if it did cost $4. But from now on it's going to be coming out 3 times a month. Cool stuff. We'll see how long they can hang on to that schedule though. Like the title says, it's a Brand New Day!

the Mighty Avengers #7 - Marvel

I love my Marvel books . . . well . . . as much as I love any of my books. But the things that really gets in to my craw is when they fall so far behind schedule. Now you can say, there comes a time in all books that they fall behind schedule to some degree. But, as is the case with this book, when they fall behind, they put the rest of the books in their family behind. Or, as in the New Avengers, we start getting filler stories to try to give the other book a chance to get caught up. I mean . . . really? This issue . . . . they're really just going to introduce the Symbiote invasion that took place months ago. That happened at the end of the New Avengers issue in October. It was in June of last year that the New Avengers, on their mission in Japan, killed Elektra and discovered that she was a Skrull. It took until this issue for Jessica to finally make it to Tony to show him what they had discovered. That's 7 months ago. They're just going to have to skip forward. I don't see how they have any other choice. Mark Bagley has taken over on pencils this issue, so maybe that'll help. I love Frank Cho's stuff . . but he's not the most "on-time" artist out there. Which is fine for his own books. But when it starts to impact this many titles . . . I think it's time to make a change. Which it looks like, that's what they've done. I mean, the purpose of this book, and the new launch, is to bring in new readers. Right? But how would you feel, being newly initiated to the Marvel Universe, only to find out that you're about half a year behind the stories in the rest of the books. We have to do something to get this back on track. The Symbiote Invasion literally just breaks out on the last page of this book. It happens when some kind of nodule falls from on of Stark's satellites that's being repaired. So, essentially, it happened because of Tony Stark. That gives us something to think about . . . huh? Please, just try to get these titles synchronized again.

Batman Strikes #41 - DC

Another shot at the kids here. And we all know how much they love the Batman. Throw in the wise-cracking Robin, and 2 teenage girls, and you have the perfect mix for the teenage crowd out there. Sure the girls are Harley and Ivy, but when you're a pre-pubescent boy . . a girl is a girl. Am I right? These books are just fun to read. Sure they're simple, and have 1 issue plots, but . . so what. Simple is good sometimes. And with that mixture, these books end up being a lot of fun to read. Harley and Ivy are hilarious. They're the perfect match for each other. Only they would be able to pull mayhem all over Gotham, and still have a good time while doing it. All because Harley decided she wanted to get out of Arkham for the night. Sure these books aren't everybody's cup of tea. They aren't meant to be. They're specifically aimed at the younger audience. But I still think they're a nice change of pace from the multi-issue epics going on out there all of the time. If you haven't . . . try them. I think you'll like 'em.

Teen Titans - Lost Annual #1 - DC

I wanted to like this book. I really did. But I found it all to be a bit . . . academic. It was nice to see some of Nick Cardy's pencils again. And I noticed that the story was written by Bob Haney. And I understand why this book is titled as the Lost Annual. In the original run of this team . . back in the late 60's to early 70's . . . this book would've fit right in to the series, without a blink. Unfortunately, this type of story, just doesn't hold up anymore. Not in this day and age. Yeah it was a nice bit of fake nostalgia. They even had Jay Stephens and Mike Allred do the artwork with the old 60's style. But honestly it just wasn't that interesting. And I thought it a bit predictable. I knew how it was going to end as I was reading through it. I didn't think they'd go there . . . but they did. It's a story that revolves around President Kennedy. Overall, I'd have to say, if you're a huge Titan fan . . as am I . . you'll probably have to fork over the $5 and pick it up. But if you're not . . then I probably wouldn't waste the money. Like I said, it was interesting, and nostalgic, but . . . that's about all it was. I'm not sure if this is going to be a new theme for DC this year, but, if so . . . I'd rethink the approach. This era was 40 years ago. And while we look on it fondly . . . it doesn't translate all that well. To me, the best part about the book was the Nick Cardy cover, and the sketches he does in the back of the book. But in the end . . . it's really up to you.

JLA Classified #50 - DC

This issue starts what's deemed as "An All-New Epic!", but as you read it, you find out that it's rooted in the past. Somehow. It's by Roger Stern, John Byrne and Mark Farmer on inks. Basically, what happens is a meteor crash lands on the moon. Not to far from the Watch-tower. J'onn is on monitor duty, and thinks nothing of it. As it turns out, the meteor was actually a vessel for a being who has nothing but contempt for the League. He makes his way to the tower, and after breaking in, makes pretty short work of J'onn, John Stewart, and Wally. That's when Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Atom are called in. Batman sends in the big two to face off first. He wants to see what he's up against. And again he takes them down with relative ease. Leaving Batman and the Atom to contemplate just how they're going to approach such a powerful being. The whole time, during this battle, he keeps going on about how he knows the League. They're changed, but, he's faced them before. It's been a while though because he knew Superman as being much younger, and the newer member, he didn't know at all. He also doesn't seem to be of this Earth, because when he's looking at the monitors, he's talking about the planet like some-place he's come to on vacation before. He know it, and he knows it's people, but, he doesn't think of it as home. I also think he doesn't realize the extent of the technology. At the end of the issue, J'onn is in the infirmary . . in a coma . . and he's trying to call out to the rest of the team. "I . . I know our enemy. He nearly destroyed the League before. We thought him vanquished . . . with his return, the Earth itself is in jeopardy! John . . can't you hear me? Can't anyone hear me? Listen to me! You must! Or all is lost!" Interesting! We'll have to see where it goes from here.