Tangent : Superman's Reign #1 - DC

The first thing this book has to do is catch us up on what's going on in the Tangent Universe. Actually . . . that's the second thing. The first thing is the Flash of that Universe meeting ours. She's actually been here for a little while. Apparently she came by accident, but she can't return home unless the finds the Green Lantern. Not the hero, but the actual Lantern. It also came here a few months ago. It appeared in some kids tree-house. Anyways, long story short, the Justice League didn't know what it was or if it was a weapon or not, so they took it to the vault in the Justice League headquarters for safe-keeping. Wally relays this accounting to the other Flash and then they go to retrieve it. While trying to figure out how it works, Wally, John Stewart and the other Flash are all transported back to her Earth. Apparently the Green Lantern of the Tangent Universe is without energy or purpose without her Lantern. She's on the brink of dying when they're standing in the Hall of Justice trying to figure out what to do with the Lantern. She senses it, and summons it back. Apparently the other 3 were caught in it's wake. But a lot has changed in the Tangent Universe in the 10 years since we've seen it last. The Joker, who was arrested when we last saw her, is getting just getting out, having served her 10 year sentence. A lot of other little things have happened also, but the biggest is that Superman has gone from hero to dictator. The back-up story is literally a history of the Tangent Universe. Not just the last ten years, but right from the beginning. The Atom was their first hero, and that's where they start. I'm not sure what the purpose of this series is going to be, other than to reintroduce us to these heroes. But I think it's either going to tie in to the Countdown series or the Final Crisis series. I could be wrong, but that's my guess. Anyways, this is the first of 12 issues, and it's going to be brought to us by Dan Jurgens and Matthew Clark. I thought the first appearance was a pretty neat idea. I'm glad that they're incorporating these characters in to the 52 universes. Maybe that means we'll see them on a more regular basis. Either way it was a good start to what looks to be an exciting series.

Birds of Prey #116 - DC

First of all, I love this book. I have right from the beginning. And that love, really has been 2 fold. First of all this book, from it's conception, has had a terrific cast of characters. In my eyes, one of the best in the industry. Secondly, since it's inception, this book has has some fantastic talent on both the scripting and artistic chores. To that end, I have an apology to make. Nicola Scott brought it to my attention that I had made a mistake in assuming her gender. She is . . a she. My bad! When I perused my previous blogs, I noticed that I started out assuming that she was a . . she. That was back around issue #100. Then somewhere along the way, I started calling her "he" instead of "she". Don't know why, and don't know what I was thinking. But, I apologize, and regardless of her gender, I think that she's an incredible talent. Her style caught my eye right from the very beginning, but now I actually think that she's improved from issue to issue. Not to mention that she draws some fantastic feminine characters. Zindy's never looked sexier than she does in her Queen Killer Shark costume. Another great artist on this title as well is Stephane Roux who does the cover art. I was sad when Gail Simone left this title, but overall I think that Sean McKeever is doing a pretty fantastic job with the stories. He and Nicola seem to be working together very well. Anyways, long story short, this issue, Killer Shark is actually the originals grand-son. He was told his grandfather's stories, by his father, as he was growing up and came to idolize him. Eventually he found him and got everything that was left of the old man's Killer Shark identity. Well . . . everything except for his treasure. He never got a chance to tell him about that. So, he figures that Zindy remembers where it's at. Or, at least she will when she's drugged and in her Queen Killer Shark roll. This proves to be true, but his plans change because he decides he likes having these 2 women he can control. Unfortunately, for him, that also proves to be his undoing. But now Zindy and Huntress have this huge treasure so maybe . . . they can use it to help out Barbara. We'll have to wait and see. Also, Black Alice's reasons for joining the group don't seem as altruistic as she first presented. At the end of last issue she stole Misfits powers, which showed Babs that they were actually magic based. This issue it seems as if some of Misfits lessons took hold because when Alice really pisses her off she basically goes in to "kick-ass" mode. But Babs is still concerned about the machine that recently tore-up downtown Metropolis. When Alice, for a brief second, latched on to the perpetrators powers, she had a Platinum Flats Hard Drives jersey on. That's a recent expansion hockey team. So that's where they're headed next. I really like the Manhunter character, but I'm glad that she's not a permanent fixture. I like the idea of having "on-call" agents to help when necessary. Like I said, I've been a fan of this book since it's inception, and right now . . . I think it's in a really good place.

Shadowpact #23 - DC

I'm afraid that this may just be the last story-arc for our intrepid magical heroes. That's really a shame too. We've already lost Jim to his quests in Myrra. Now the rest of the team may be dissipating also. Danny, Blue Devil, however does comes back this issue. He's done 13 labors for the church in trying to regain his soul. But now the church has decided that it can't officially involve itself with legalities in hell. "It would be inappropriate." So he has to leave to matter to his lawyer. But they discover a loop-hole. His soul can only be given back by the person who got him into this mess in the first place . . his brother. So while in court, Danny, who is a fourth-level rhyming demon, orders his first-level brother to relinquish him from his contract. If not, he would have to surrender all his titles and holding to Danny. But, "Be careful what you wish for!", now that he has his soul back, he has to return everything else . . . the trident, the skin of the demon . . everything. Danny is completely mortal now. All of this happens just as Dr Gotham is trying to further the power of his lord . . the Sun King. He's been going around the globe capturing souls . . with threshing boxes . . to feed him. He's now powerful enough to make his presence known. But the Phantom Stranger can't let something of this magnitude happen so he's brought together the Shadowpacts of past, present and future. "I give you . . . Shadowpact United!" This should be an interesting development. Matthew Sturges has taken over the full scripting chores. So while the stories are good, they aren't quite as outlandish as Bill Willingham's. But that's ok. And it appears that Phil Winslade will be the artist for the final arc. It's really to bad. This is a unique book in the DC Universe right now. It'll be a shame to see it go. Anyone out there with me? Let your voices be heard.

100 Bullets #89 - Vertigo

This issue is the first chapter of this new storyline, so it's a bit difficult to get a handle on everything that's going on. All the players are being moved in to place for . . . something . . but we don't know what that is yet, so we don't know how everything fits. But, this is how I perceive it. Agent Graves is working on taking down the Trust. At the same time, he's thinking back to the 60's, of when he had a hand in assembling it. Actually, he's not trying to take it down entirely, just how it currently stands. But this issue, one of his agents . . Burns . . has decided to flip sides. Which could be a bad thing for Graves. But, I'm guessing, that this old guy ain't no dummy. I'm willing to bet he saw this coming, and handled Burns in a way lately that he won't be able to hurt him. He may think he can, but I'm betting that whatever he thinks he has on Graves is just so much smoke & mirrors. But it's still enough to piss off Agent Graves. Meanwhile, we see another story unfolding about a teenage boy who's trying to become a man by taking a larger roll in the drug operation that he's currently a part of. Right now he's just a corner soldier, but he has bigger aspirations. But you know that old saying, "Be careful what you wish for." He's definitely in for more than he bargained for. He's young and cocky, so he thinks he knows everything. But he's also to young to know what he don't know. Somehow this story-line is a parallel for what's going on with Agent Graves, but I haven't figured all of that out yet. Anyways, it's official, this is the start of the final storyline. Issue #100 will be the final issue of this book. To me, that's incredibly sad. I've really enjoyed this book right from issue #1. To me, Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are genius', and masters of their craft. But I don't want to start lamenting to soon, because we're still going to get another 11 issues out of them. I'd prefer to just enjoy it while I can. Also, if this doesn't end up in a movie in the next 5 years, I'd be really surprised. It would be perfect for it. We'll just have to wait and see.

Fantastic Four #555 - Marvel

This is really turning out to be a pretty Fantastic story-line. A little unbelievable, but . . when were the Fantastic Four stories ever with-in the realm of possibility? Mark Millar is really taking this bull by the horns. We've jumped right in to this Nu-Earth story-line. Basically an old flame of Reed's, Alyssa Castle has come back in to his life. She's as brilliant as he is, and now she's married to a billionaire philanthropist. Anyways, they're recently discovered that all the news about what we're currently doing to our Earth has not been blown out of proportion. If anything it's been down-played a bit so as to not cause mass hysteria. They've discovered that, honestly, the Earth has about 10 years left to it. And about 8 years ago, they passed the point of being able to do anything about it. So, rather than sit on thier hands and wait for the end to come, they've decided to do something about it by creating a nu-world. Basically, in another universe, they're trying to recreate Earth piece by piece, but leaving out the negative influences such as, war, famine, poverty, crime, weapons, depleted rain-forests, etc.. A loft goal, but you just know that removing all of that stuff is going to create a vacuum . . which will have to be filled by something. The question is . . what? Anyways this issue the protector that they've built for this nu-world, has escaped from his incubation tank. Reed and Alyssa were talking about the positive things that they were trying to create for this nu-world, and apparently CAP overheard them talking and decided to be preemptive. This could be a big mistake. Meanwhile Johnny has joined a rock-band, and on the way to practice he comes across a diamond robbery. In trying to stop the villains he comes across a villainess that appears to have some kind of magnetic powers. They struggle and fight for a while, and then end up rolling around on the floor making out. Ben's also starting dating someone new recently. And Sue has decided to create an all new, women only, charity super-team. We haven't really seen any of the repercussions of those decisions yet. But, I'm sure we will. The one thing you can count on with Mark Millar's stories is that he's going to introduce a lot of radical new ideas. And he's got a bag full of them here. Oh . . and don't forget Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary's fantabulous artwork. It's . . to die for. This book is in a great place right now, and, as far as I know, these guys are signed on for the forseeable future. Fantastic!

X-Factor #29 - Marvel

First, a personal complaint about this book. Valentine De Landro does the pencils on this issue. While I don't really have a complaint about him, or his style, my complaint is that out of 29 issues so far, this is about the 10th or 11th artist on this series. I'm just having a hard time understanding that logic. It's really not that big of a deal . . but, it does bother me. And I just wanted to get that out of my system. This issue, I thought, was fantastic. I've criticized some of Peter David's work in the past, but either he really loves these characters, or he's just much more adept at team books, but . . I think his recent run here has been fantastic. The drama and turmoil that he's put this team through, has really been gripping. And I especially liked the scene in this issue where Theresa is trying to tell Jamie about her pregnancy. At the time they're both mentally coming from two different places, and they completely misunderstand each other. Monet's response to their actions is hilarious. "This seemed vaguely familiar to me. Hold on . . . the way you two were talking . . . it's so familiar . . . got it. Three's Company. It was like an episode of Three's Company. Most episodes centered around two people having a massive misunderstanding that could have been easily avoided." That's actually what's going on with the whole team right now. Rahne has just left, for personal reasons, to join X-Force. If you read that book, you know what those reasons are. But, the rest of the team doesn't. She tries to explain to Rictor, but he just throws her note away and says, "Whatever!" If they don't start getting on the same page, this team will fall apart. But all you have to do is insert a protagonist, put one of the team-members in jeopardy, and next thing you know . . ta da . . . we're back to a cohesive unit with a common goal. Essentially that's what happened this issue. Rictor, after feeling like he's lost Rahne, is ready to take off and quit hanging out with the mutants. But, unfortunately, every time he tries to leave, ". . . they keep pulling me back in . . ." Eventually he ends up strapped to an inverted cross with a razor sharp pendulum swinging at his manhood. The villain that's after the team-members? Arcade! I really didn't see that one coming. But now that he's captured Rictor, they have a common threat and they'll be back to the dysfunctional team we all know and love in no time. Valentine's art was actually . . ok. That's not really the problem. I was just trying to make a point. But overall I enjoyed this issue, and this is really one of the only X-teams still intact. I wonder how long they'll stay that way.

New Exiles #3 - Marvel

Right now, with what we've seen of these characters . . and this planet that our heroes have been transported to . . it's a little hard to get a grasp of what exactly is going on. That's not to say I don't understand what's going on. But, I think that everything is not as it appears. Right now Black Panther, and his gang, Blood-Force, appear to be the enemies of the state. Which may be true. But, Namor's little troupe . . which is actually more family than naught . . I just don't think we've got the complete picture of what their intentions or objectives are. Their family consists of Remy, Gambit, their eldest son, a middle daughter, and a pair of young twins. It also appears that Rogue's loyalties are being tested by Remy and his family. Actually, not so much tested, as she just seems to feel more at home with this group than with her own. And I just really think that Namor has more going on than he's letting on to Sue, or the rest of his family. I don't think his actions or motivation are as altruistic as they appear. Sabretooth and Psylocke appear to have been taken under the control of Bloodwitch. But when she uses them to get to the royal family, they show that their possession was actually just a feint. However, the feelings between Sabretooth and Psylocke, I don't think, are as unrequited as they believe. There's something stirring there, and it doesn't have anything to do with Bloodwitch. Also, we've seen little or nothing of Ororo or Wolverine. I think they're going to be playing a bigger part in this drama than they've so far shown. And finally, what of Mystiq? They were all together when they arrived at Ororo's. But, they haven't seen him since. Is he up to something? Or is he just being stealthy to try to ascertain the actual vibe of what's going on with the inhabitants of this planet? Well it should all work out next issue, as our first story-arc concludes. Chris Claremont, as expected, is doing a fantastic job with this series so far. But why shouldn't he have a better handle on these characters than . . . well . . . anybody? And of course I'm a huge fan of Tom Grummett's. He's giving this book a look that is just spectacular. Hopefully, this team will stick around for the long haul.

Superman Confidential #13 - DC

I kind of put off reading this issue, mainly because I wasn't to overly thrilled with the last one. This issue's creative talent includes B Clay Moore on scripts, and Phil Hester's pencils. I really think, what I don't like about this book is that it seems like one of those, much simpler, stories for the Superman books of the 70's. Which really is about the time that this story takes place because this is Supe's first meeting with the Toyman, Winslow Schott. We also have a take on "the boy who cried wolf" storyline here. Superman gave Jimmy his signal watch last issue, and since then, he's been really annoying the big blue boy-scout. And of course, after he's done that is when he gets himself in a real predicament. The Toyman has recently terrorized downtown Metropolis with some rather large toys. Nobody seems to know who or where they came from. But Jimmy's noticed that there's something familiar about them. He read a story recently where a bank was robbed by, what they thought, were 2 men dressed up in toy soldier outfits. So Jimmy starts contacting toy manufacturers trying to get information. This eventually leads him to the point where he's knocking, unknowingly, on Winslow Schott's door. As soon as Jimmy enters, he takes him captive, and being the meticulous craftsman that he is, notices that there's something different about the watch on the young man's arm. Now Jimmy really is in trouble, but he can't get to his watch because the Toyman is about to cut off his arm to obtain it for himself. Like I said, pretty simple story actually. I actually enjoyed Hester and Parks artwork when they did the beginning of the Green Arrow series. But for some reason . . . I'm just not that in to it on this book. Personal taste, I guess. Anyways, hopefully this story will be over next issue so we can move on to something else. I'm sorry. I just didn't' . . dig it.

Gotham Underground #6 - DC

Ok, the thing I get from this series, which I thought was just going to be kind of a showcase of Gotham's criminal element, is that there will always be a Gotham Underground. Suicide Squad has been gathering up the villains . . . in Gotham that number is a pretty large part of the population . . which effectively left a vacuum. Well, as with any vacuum, something has to fill the void. So, what we see here, two factions are actually coming to bear. Tobias whale has gathered up as many men as he can and is making a bid for the ruling class of the pits of Gotham. Meanwhile, Penguin, whom supposedly was on the straight and narrow, has been gathering up tokens and mementos from every "super" fight that has ever happened, it appears, in the streets of Gotham. In that endeavor, he has accumulated quite a storage bin of bits and pieces from various heroes and villains. He actually has a version of Lex Luthor's armor in here. Anyways, he's delved out all this bounty to his men and has them remaking themselves in the new image of Gotham . . or at least Penguin's image of it. To that end, he's the one that gave out Spoiler's costume to a new deserving . . in his eyes . . girl. However, her identity has been conveniently shielded from us. Also, at this point in the story, Batman hasn't learned yet what going on with all the missing criminals, or with the Suicide Squad's involvement. But, he's about to figure all of that out as, in his identity of Matches Malone who is incarcerated right now, he's finally gotten in to the infirmary and the room they're keeping the Great White in. Through what's he's told him, he's now able to piece most of it together. But it may be to late. Even as Alfred helps break him out of the prison, the Whale's and the Penguin's accumulated armies have started going to war against each other. And, in the process, Nightwing, who's also undercover in Penguin's gang, has been fatally shot by the Vigilante. Robin and Wildcat are on their way . . but, will they get there in time? This series actually opens up a lot of questions, and speculation. Foremost in my mind being, what's all the major players going to think about all of this when they return? It may be a while, but, eventually, they will. And that's when the craps really going to hit the fan. So far, in my eyes, this has been a fantastic series. Frank Tieri is doing a bang-up job with the stories, and J Calafiore is the perfect artist for this book. He's got the perfect feeling for all these villains and their motives. The problem is . . . we only have 3 issues to go. So enjoy it while you can.

Wonder Woman #18 - DC

This issue begins a new story-line. Gail Simone is writing it, and Bernard Chang is the artist. Fortunately Terry Dodson appears to still be doing the covers. So, at least for now he's involved somehow. Anyways, I love how Gail handles these characters. She really has a flair for these female icons. She did a fantastic job on Birds of Prey, and now we get to see her magic on this book. Like I said, it's the beginning of a new story-line and the Khunds have come to Diana for some help. But that's after she visits Tom in the hospital. He's still recovering from the giant magical bee stings. But she's decided to start courting him. I didn't see that one coming. Anyways, she goes outside and there a large Khund warship hovering overhead. Long story short, back on their home-world they have been invaded by some unknown alien race. The part that bothers them is that for some reason the alien's technology renders their own inert. So basically they're like flies buzzing at a horse's tail. They can annoy it, but there's not much they can do to stop it. Which really diminishes their warrior ego. However, it their plea for help, the Khunds have left out 2 important factors. First of all the caves where the alien crafts have landed are filled with a green gooey slime. To Diana, it appears to be Ichor. Which to her means, " . . the literal lifeblood of the gods. The juice of their veins and heart." Which is pretty ominous . . considering their position. The second thing they left out . . . the ship and it's inhabitants appear to be under the protection of one of the Green Lantern Corps. That would've been a useful piece of information. Next issue is simply billed as . . . "Lantern vs Amazon"! This should be an interesting story-line.

Salvation Run #5 - DC

I really don't understand what the purpose of this book is, or where it's going, but . . I'm actually starting to like it. I think, this issue, that was helped by Joe Bennett's pencils. I really like his style. He really draws some fantastic faces . . great expressions. And his framing and flow is near perfect. He did a great job with Birds of Prey for a little while there. Matthew Sturges is the author. The story, I think, is unfolding slowly, but, I have to say, it really feels like the natural progression of events. Assuming there were actually people like this, and a world like this, and they were put into a position like this. That's a lot of assumptions. But, assuming all of that were true, this is actually how I could see it all unfolding. Right? Anyways, lots of stuff going on this issue. Joker's camp attacks Luthor's camp. It looks like Joker's actually going to beat him, even with Luthor's superior intellect, but then . . Catwoman shows back up. One thing leads to another and, basically, they all turn on her. To save her own butt, she hands over Jonn. She accidentally found out a couple issues ago that he's been posing as Blockbuster. She feels bad doing it, but she appeases herself with the fact that he's got powers and she doesn't. But despite his formidable powers they actually do take him down, working together. So really, he's united the 2 camps. We also get a view of Savage's little paradise. The women find out this issue that they were actually brought along as breeding stock. He's nothing if not ambitious. And, at the end, we find out that this world they're on is actually under the flag of Apokolips. It turns out to be a world that Desaad had set up as a training ground for para-demons. Apparently this story takes place before the current events in Countdown. Because, I believe, Desaad has already been killed. But really, that's just semantics. I actually enjoyed this issue a lot more than the previous ones. With only 2 issues to go, it'll be interesting to see how this all gets resolved. If it gets resolved!

Green Lantern Corps #22 - DC

This issue is really to show us just how much Boodikka has lost . . er, I mean, changed since becoming an Alpha-Lantern. It's brought to us by Sterling Gates' script and Nelson's pencils. We start back when Hal Jordan was being influence by Parallax. That was when Boodikka was trying to arrest him and he ends up cutting off her hand to obtain her ring. Now she's in a similar position, because she's been sent to Bellatrix to reprimand a new recruit who seems to not be doing her job. The new Lantern is Zale, one of her Bomber sisters. But Zale is being used. When she got her ring, her sisters decided to take advantage of it by stealing ships from outer-space, and then selling off their cargo's or parts. She was told they were bounty hunters, and they were just acting to protect themselves. Boodikka tries to take her in by taking the power out of her ring, but in the heat of the moment, one of the sisters lets it slip that without her power, she's useless to them. They actually have a chance of taking Boodikka down, with an anti-Manhunter weapon, but then Zale, feeling betrayed, comes between them and stops them. Because of these courageous actions, the Guardians step in before Boodikka can "decommission" her. They decide instead that she's worth taking a chance on, and make Boodikka and Zale sector partners. Also, Boodikka is in charge of her training. Hopefully, this arrangement will also bring some of her humanity back to her. We also see Tomar and his partner, out looking for Hannu. He was supposed to be transporting Laira. He's barely alive, but he does let them know about the "Red Ring!". This has turned out to be a fantastic series. We've come to know so many more Lanterns than we did in the previous version. I really enjoy this book, but it leaves me wondering . . what's going to be the next Lantern title?

Green Arrow and Black Canary #6 - DC

This issue is just a further testament as to why Judd Winick is the perfect writer for this series. He has such a fantastic vision of these characters. He knows their subtleties, their quirks, and the "no holds barred" way that they communicate with each other. Plus . . he is terrific in this high-action, fast-paced drama. Simply incredible! Also, I don't know how they need to arrange it, but somehow they need to tie Cliff Chiang to a drawing board, or something, because he is also perfect for this series. We've had a fill-in or two already, but I would really like to see Cliff stay on board. The two of them together are just turning out magic. We do seem to have a lead into what happened to Connor, this issue. Our dynamic duo are in Prague, posing as arms dealers, when they confront their suppliers with the notion that they're interested in the ship that they recently sold. "An airship not so much for speed, but for hiding. It cloaks. It becomes invisible. No radar. No satellite." But, they may have over played their hand because the suppliers get fidgety and guns are drawn. The reason they think there's a ship is because when the JLA reviewed it satellite footage, they found an anomoly. "At the time Connor was shot, we believe there was a cloaked vessel four miles above you. The tests only show that in a forty-five-foot stretch of space, the air currents and temperatures were too constant. Almost impossibly so." Which is why they're chasing the lead now. But later, while trying to relax from the day, they are chased by an interesting looking vessel. Between the two of them, they end up bringing it down, but when they crack it open, they find . . . . aliens inside. Mia is with them while they're on their little fishing trip. Connor was, after-all, like a step-brother to her. I think it's great that they're doing something with her character. And Roy is their JLA contact. The gangs all here. This is one of my favorite books out there right now. It's a classic in the making.

Countdown to Mystery #6 - DC

Both of these stories could be in their own books. But, luckily, for us, they've been brought together here. Fantastic! The story of Eclipso is really coming to a head. Bruce Gordon is now inhabited by Eclipso, but, this time, he seems to be able to control him . . . a bit. He can access his powers, without him taking over. And he can remember the things that happen when he is Eclipso. To bad he can't just stop the transformation all together. But, he does learn a new trick this issue. Eclipso is up to something big, and he's gathered some heavy hitters to help him get it done. Currently he's got Plastic-man, the Creeper and Dove working on his side. When Oracle is curious about some dealings a supposed mafioso boss is making, she sends Huntress in to gather some intel. However, it's really the base of operations for Eclipso. So, basically, she's overpowered and outnumbered. And, in the end, Eclipso turns her also. But Bruce knows this, like a dream, so he figures out that he can reconfigure the diamond so that it can absorb someone's evil as well as dispense it. Huntress has gone to kill someone that she thinks deserves it, but Bruce shows up in time to stop her from making a mistake. Instead, Crispus Allen, who's been following Bruce, lets the Spectre take over and he delves out the justice. We then find out that what Eclipso has been doing is gathering up all the shards of the black diamond from all over the planet, and reunited them in to one big crystal . . . the Heart of Darkness. He may soon be unstoppable. In the second story our new Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson, is trying to figure out what to do about Inza, who was sucked down the shower drain by Negal when she was trying to help him. So he's gone back to Maddy to see if she can help him. She shows him some of the history of the Helmet, but doesn't have a lot of advice when it comes to Negal. Later on Negal plays with his head again, showing him the world that is his dominion. When he gets out of it, he's tired of being messed with, so he just gives the Helmet to Maddy. "Here. It's yours. I surrender my hat to your superior wisdom. Have a nice life . . . and kindly get the %$#@ our of mine." Both, are great stories. However I do prefer the Justiniano art to that of Jorge Segovia. But . . it was ok too. Again, I just wonder where they're going to go when this mini is done.

Legion of Super-heroes in the 31st Century #12 - DC

Ok. I made fun of myself in the last Johnny DC title I blogged, Batman Strikes. So I can't do that again. The problem I have is that the stories in these books are so simple that, really, if I try to explain them, I might as well just read you the story. In this issue, basically, Timber Wolf express' how he's just not comfortable in the group setting. That's not to say that he's not invaluable to the group. He just works better on his own. Hence . . Lone Wolf. This issue just goes to show that even though that's how he operates, he's just as much a part of the Legion as anyone. And, like the Lone Wolf, he's always protecting his own. That's really all I can say without giving to much away. And you've all read by now about how and why I love this imprint so much . . . so I don't want to go on about that again. I will say that I just saw the second half of the Legion cartoon, on the WB yesterday and it was great. Brainiac beat Imperillax. He also beat the original Brainiac program that was attempting to take over his processors. After that, the Superman clone from the future . . the way-future . . decided to go back home. So now there's only 1 on the team. And, for the time being, things are back to normal. No matter what format it comes in . . I love the Legion. I'm thrilled that it's in so many places right now, and . . it's going to be playing an integral part of the Final Crisis story-line. Yippee!

WildStorm - Revelations #5 - WildStorm

We don't get a whole lot more information this issue, but we do get to see a great fight between Zealot and Nemesis. They really don't like each other very well. They fight until they start to draw a crowd from the neighboring buildings. When they go inside, Nemesis and Zealot decide to have a little heart to heart. Nemesis tells Zealot, "I've been to the future, Zannah. And after what I've seen I know there's precious little time for any of us to right anything. Savant Deserves the truth. You're not her sister . . . you're her mother." Shortly after, their little hide-out is attacked by a squad of Savant's father soldiers. Quickly they 'port out, and end up at . . . Stonehenge. " . . the magnetic ley-lines make it a tad more difficult for them to pinpoint our teleport jump." Zealot and Grifter decide that while they appreciate the gravity of their situation, the fight is not one that they want to be part of. So they each go their separate ways. But according to the information they gathered from the Authority, and what Grifter told them, it appears that all roads lead to Gamorra. They end up making it to the island, but they aren't long undercover before the Minotaur and Kaizen Gamorra are on to their duplicity. They've gone from the frying pan, in to the fire. I thought it was a good book. I always think Scott Beatty does a fantastic job with his stories. Plus he got some help from Christos Gage. And I've said, through the first 5 issues of this series, that the artist, Wes Craig, is really doing a wonderful job. I think he's new, but he shows a lot of potential, and he's improving very rapidly. Only 1 more issue left in this one, and then we move in to the Number of the Beast mini-series.

Echo #1 - Abstract Studios

How exciting is this? A brand new character, and a brand new series. Starting from scratch, and by none other than Terry Moore . . doing the writing and the art. Fan-frikkin-tastic! Or as they say on Battlestar, "Frakkin-A!" It's been almost a year since Strangers ended. And I've really missed Terry's view of things. And as usual, he starts out by leaving us guessing as to just what's going on and why. We start out with this girl, Annie, doing a test flight for, what I assume, is the military. She's got some kind of high-tech suit on, with a jet pack strapped on the back. She's flying all over the sky, giving it a run-down, enjoying the view and generally having a fantastic time doing her job. Well, whoever's controlling this test decides to amp it up a bit and puts a jet in the air that fires missiles at her. "Foster! What the hell?". "I think the suit can take the hit, Annie.", is what she hears over her headset. "Yeah? How about testing that when I'm not in it?!" She actually does really good. She evades the missiles for a little while, and then tries to put some altitude between her and them. She reaches about 18,000 feet when she start to have a panic attack. She stops to see if she's far enough . . . and they're on top of her. "KABOOOM!", and the sky's lit up like there's a second sun. Well our lead character, whom we haven't met yet, Julie, happens to be underneath the test sight doing some nature photography. She sees the explosion, the smoke cloud and the jet flying off. But what she doesn't understand is the hail-like objects that are falling down on top of her. They're a little smaller than dime-sized, but the troubling part is that they're not bouncing. They're sticking to everything they hit . . Julie . . her truck. She jumps in her truck and speeds away, after trying to remove one of the pieces from her face. But in doing so . . it explodes like a fire-cracker. A General and a scientist show up to examine the debris. "Clearly the viscoelasticity of the suit is similar to an inorganic polymer. Hmm. I'm no rheologist but, I'd say we may have just created the thixotropic liquid of nuclear weaponry.", is the scientist observation. "In English, Foster.", replys the General. "Silly Putty, General Cade. It appears the supercritical conditions of the explosion turned the suit into Silly Putty. Our on bomb . . . is now many." Clearly our girl Julie has accidentally waded in to the deep end of the pool. But her troubles aren't over yet. She looks at her truck, and finds, in the back-end, a piece of what looks to be fabric. She takes it in the house to examine it, and while listening to her answering machine, the piece comes in contact with her shoulder. All the little pieces on her body start bursting and attaching themselves to the piece. Next thing she knows, her shoulder and half her chest is covered in what looks like a liquid uniform. This is just the beginning. I'm so glad Terry Moore is back on the scene. He did some work for Marvel in the interim. But I think he does his best stuff on characters that he creates. Also, it's a fantastic cover. You can't tell from the picture, but the logo, and all the pellets dropping down are foil embossed. It makes for a really nice effect. Welcome back Terry! I can't wait to see more.

the Mighty Avengers #10 - Marvel

If you remember, at the end of last issue, Doom was getting ready to use his time platform, when Iron Man and Sentry jumped on him. Some how it messed up the controls and they ended up . . supposedly . . in the past. To me, it looks more like one of the stories that the Sentry drew in his civilian identity, when he did the comics to cope with the stress of having the Void inside of him. But, they explain it as being in the past. So we'll just take it at that for now. Anyways, Tony and Doom are blasting away at each other when they both realize that there's no wi-fi, blue-tooth, or any other kind of satellite or radar transmission going through the air for their suits to utilize. That's their first clue that they're in the past. The second comes when the Sentry tells them that he's seen an earlier version of himself fighting the Void. They decide to put their differences aside and work on getting back to their right time before they do anything which may affect the time-continuum. To do so they decide to go to the Baxter Building and use Reed's time-platform. There they encounter Ben, but their theory is, in the past, everybody forgot about Bob, which is after the time that they are in. So, whatever they do will soon be forgotten. Meaning, that they won't change anything. They accomplish their mission, returning shortly after they left, but Doom has disappeared and Carol is warning them that they have to leave. Then there's a huge explosion that comes from the Latverian castle. I'm glad that Mark Bagley is on board now so we can get this book back on track. I thought he did a wonderful job with the pencils this issue. Brian Bendis also, as usual, did a fantastic job with the story. My only complaint is all this inner dialogue that everyone seems to be having. A little bit is ok, but generally there's so much that it's distracting. But that's just my opinion. Overall, I thought it was a great book.

Amazing Spider-man #553 - Marvel

Well, first and foremost, the main thing I like about this book is Phil Jimenez' art. I am such a huge fan. The title page, when he shows a close-up of this new villain . . Phire I think is his name . . . is just incredible. The only thing that's stayed consistent about his appearance . . he was a junkie who robbed the shelter May was working at last issue . . . is his eye problem. He has one brown eye, and one blue eye. But that's nothing compared to the changes that have happened to his body over the last 2 issues. While trying to elude Spider-man, he fell . . literally . . in to Curt Connors lab. He found some needles and, thinking they were drugs, shot himself up with them. They were actually parts of Curt's biological experiments. Most of this issue is spent dealing with this problem. Peter's still trying to get a steady check from the Bugle. He's commuting on the train back and forth to town, because Spider-man is a wanted criminal. It appears that someone is framing him for some killing that are occurring around town, by leaving his Spider-tracers on their bodies. And, we haven't seen it in the last couple of issues, but he's still dealing with the whole Registration Act thing. In his new reality, he hasn't registered, and no one is aware of who he is. So technically, at any time, they could come along and arrest him. All of this stuff is happening in the background, and on some of the in-between pages. But really, the whole book is about this new villain. Bob Gale seems to be doing a decent job with this story. He write's very similar in style to Brian Bendis. There was a couple times through the story that I was thinking that Brian had wrote it. Maybe that sounds silly to some people, but I could see a connection. So I guess this is how the book's going to be set-up . . in these 3 issue story arcs. I know the next one's drawn by Chris Bachalo. At least, with this new format, they're keeping the talent top-notch. I was worried about that going in to it. Overall, I have to say, I really like this book.

Wolverine #63 - Marvel

This issue picks up immediately where the last one left off. Wolverine has been asked, by Scott, to go after Raven. They're both really pissed off over the way that she betrayed the X-Men during the whole Mutant Messiah story-line. Not only that, but, they know that she was just trying to save Rogue, but she put the child's life at risk to do it. Anyways, as Logan is searching for her, he's thinking back to the first time they met. It was somewhere in the Mexican desert, almost 90 years ago. They ended up helping each other get out of a jam. Raven recognized the Logan had some talents she may have been able to put to good use, so she took him back to Kansas City with her. Basically she was running scams all over town and was looking for someone to be her muscle . . her enforcer. He's thinking about all of this as he's scouring the mountains of Afghanistan for her. But she's put him in a bad position, and most of the locals see him as " . . the American devil." So they're more than happy to shoot first and ask questions later. "Actually, I'm Canad . . . " He catches up to her once, but it's in a public place, so she eludes him. Then, to protect herself, she finds a whore whom an American politician frequents when he's in the area, and takes her place. When he comes to visit, she kills him, and takes his place. Her thinking is, that she's putting a platoon of Marines between herself and Logan. So, since he's in Iraq, he goes to one of the terrorist cells to ask for help. "I'm here to see Mordad. Tell him it's the infidel who saved his ass from the Russians in '86. Tell him I'm calling in the favor." Jason Aaron is the writer of this book, and Ron Garney is the artist. Ron's been around for quite a while. He's a guy that sometimes I love his stuff, and sometimes it's . . . ok. In this book, however, I do like his pictures. His style and mood is actually perfect for this storyline. He really captures the essence of the old west in Kansas City, and the bleakness of the area in Iraq in the present. I'm not sure what Jason's done, but I like the way he's rolling out this story. I don't quite see what the connection is with the past and present . . . other than the company of Raven . . but I'm sure there's more to it that we just haven't seen yet. Overall, I thought it was a nice book, and story-line, and I'll be interested to see how it all plays out.

Batman Confidential #14 - DC

Tony Bedard has done it again. He's weaving a tale here that's got lots of action, some intrigue, and a bit of mystery. A professional assassin that's bothered Batman in the past has come back, Wrath. The problem is . . this is a different one. The first one knew that he was Bruce Wayne. But it doesn't appear, so far, that the current one has that knowledge. Now the bad news . . this one is much better than the first. He's more athletic, better trained, and cooler under pressure. He really seems like the antithesis of Batman's role. He likes guns, and he likes to kill people. He also likes to play with his prey. . . which currently seems to be Commissioner Gordon. Jim's having a Policeman convention in town, but with Wrath showing up . . and his obvious pleasure in killing cops . . he's decided to send everyone packing. Batman poses as one of the international officers, and Wrath makes his move. During the following struggle, Nitewing shows up on the scene and inadvertantly helps the guy to escape Batman's pursuit. We don't really know who this guy is yet, but he is connected to the first one. I don't know if he's a son, or brother, or just best friend, but it seems like his goal is to make Jim pay for something he did to the first one. Also, when he uses Nitewing as a diversion, he's thinking . . "Thank you, boy wonder! Hell, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even exist . . ." Whatever that means. However, he did give Batman one clue. Whatever Jim did, it had to do with the night of June 26th . . 25 years ago . . . the night that Bruce's parents were murdered. At the end of the book, Wrath is talking to Grayle, the daughter of a local Mafioso who hired the original Wrath to take out some crooked cops. In the process, she fell in love with him. But he became obsessed with the Batman. "Even for a man who kills for a living, he's gone off the deep end . . . he was obsessed. If Batman had it, he wanted it . . the trick belt . . the car . . everything . ." To which Wrath replies, "Yes. Everything. And that's where my story began . . ." I'm thinking this was his sidekick. His boy wonder. Now we just have to find out where he came from, and how he came into being. This book has some fantastic artwork by Rags Morales and Mark Farmer. Rags does a great job with the action sequences, and he's draws some pretty amazing facial expressions. Anyways it seems like the stories rolling out pretty well. This is part 2 of 5. It definitely has my interest.

Superman #674 - DC

I really hate to admit this, but . . I really liked Renato Guedes' artwork in this issue. It's not that I have anything against the guy. It's just . . I've criticized his work so much in the last couple of series he's done . . that it's hard for me to admit that, this issue . . I was impressed. Maybe it has something to do with the inker, Jose' Wilson Magalhaes. I don't know. And it doesn't really matter, because . . I actually liked it. So, Renato, anything I said in the past wasn't personal. It was just that the previous style didn't suit my tastes. But maybe you're trying something new. Or maybe your just growing with your experience. Again, it doesn't matter, because . . I liked it. Anyways, between the art and the fantastic story by Kurt Busiek, this issue really blew me away. It also adds in the credits that Fabian Nicieza helped . . with something or other. There's actually a lot of stuff going on this issue. Clark is exploring some of the facets of his personal relationships. Specifically with Lois and Chris. He also spends some time working with, and talking to Mon-el. We haven't seen him in quite some time. Then we have to deal with Paragon, who's recently broken out of jail. Basically his powers are to leech the powers of others. I would think that with all the times Superman has had to deal with the Parasite, that this guy would be a walk in the park. I guess, though, not only does he steal the powers, but he amplifies them also. But Superman uses his wits, instead of his fists, and draws him down to the fortress. Unfortunately, at the same time, some elders from Daxam show up, demanding that Superman give them Mon-el, for punishment. Like I said, I really was blown away this issue. Everything really came together nicely. And next issue . . on top of all this . . we start getting Alex Ross covers. What a fantastic time to be a Superman fan. Yippee!

Batman Strikes #43 - DC

You all know, by now, how I feel about this Johnny DC line. And why. So I'll save you some of the usual dribble with some editing. I think blah blah blah blah blah . . kids . . blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah . . comics . . blah blah blah. Blah blah . . collecting . . blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah . . nephew . . blah blah blah. And that's why I love this line of books. This story was neat because it involved Harley Quinn. She's a kooky chick. Basically she captures Batman so someone will come to his rescue and arrest her. She misses her boyfriend, and she can't wait to get back to Arkham to see him. It's crazy but . . we're dealing with Harley here. That's her middle name. Also the young Dick Grayson get a lesson in detective skills and patience. I still think these titles are a lot of fun. They're a good escape.

Countdown to Final Crisis #7 - DC

Last issue the Monitor, Solomon, transported everyone back to Earth. The battle between he and Darkseid is raging on Apokolips. With Karate Kid coming back to Earth with the rest of the Challengers, Ray's going to have to do something to cure him, or the fate of the population of Earth is doomed. They try to go to the Justice League but it seems as if no one there remembers any of them. Holly and Harley have decided to head back to Gotham. Jason's gone off . . who knows where. Jimmy's decided that the Habitat is probably the safest place for him, since he has all these erratic powers popping up. Oh yeah, and Darkseid wants him because of something to do with his final plan. And Firestorm has gone to see his dad, since this is the first time he's been back on Earth in months. Well . . the best laid plans . . after everyone fails in their reunions, it finally dawns on them that they may not be on the right Earth. But, Val still needs medical attention. For his own good, and the fate of the Earth. Firestorm, and Jimmy, suggest that maybe this Earth has a Cadmus like their own, so they go there and get in pretty much unhindered. They do wrestle with some security, but they're a desperate force so they won't let anything stand in their way. That's when they come along Dubbilex. He's a little surprised that they know him, considering that this Dubbilex has never met any of them. But one the story's explained, and Dubbilex get's a little information from their minds confirming things, he seems pretty willing to help. The only problem is . . . Val is dead! First of all . . it's great to see Firestorm back in action. Secondly, Tom Derenick does the pencils for this issue, which looks fantastic. Finally, I love this series and these characters. With only 7 issues left, counting #0, I'm sure they're all going to be action packed. And then . . in a few months . . it's Final Crisis time! I can't wait.

Booster Gold #7 - DC

Another fantastic chapter of this great book, by Geoff Johns and Dan Jurgens. This book is one of those extravagant pleasures that you allow yourself, even though you know you shouldn't. Booster Gold has really become an interesting character with this series. I know. That sentence in an oxymoron. But seriously, I really like what they're doing with this series. Booster's been given a mission, and a purpose. And he's thriving in it. Well . . . except for the mistake he made in saving his best friends life, Ted Kord, which also saved Max Lord's life, because Wonder Woman didn't kill him, which left Max to complete his Brother Eye / OMAC plan, which upon returning to the present showed Michael and Ted that Max's OMAC's were now in charge of the world and had killed off almost every other hero. Except for that mistake . . . it seems like he's doing a good job. But, because of that, some other people are coming together. Rip Hunter has gathered up Daniel Carter, Rose Levins and Skeets. Daniel and Rose don't know it yet, but they're going to get together and consummate the ancestral line that will lead to Michael's existence. Even though Rip knows that . . he's still asking for their help. He wants Daniel to don the Supernova costume again. Also, somewhere outside of time . . . vanishing point . . . the villains are gathering. There they are coming together to form a new group. They consist of Per Degaton, the Ultimate Humanite, the fish headed guy . . I can't remember his name . . and from Michael's time the Black Beetle and Michael's father, who is now Supernova. They're calling themselves the Time Stealers, and their goal is to rule all time. "History will be ours." Well, if Michael wanted a challenge . . he's got it. He and Rip are going to have an awful lot of stuff to fix. I look forward, now, to this book every month. I think Geoff and Dan are doing a fantastic job. My only concern is wondering how long Geoff's going to be on this book, because Jeff Katz is also listed on the scripts. So I'm guessing, we'll see Geoff on the first 12 issues, at the most. But, rather than worry about that right now, I'm just going to enjoy the stories that we have. And the short time, I think, that Booster and Beetle have together.

Suicide Squad #7 - DC

This issue shows us what the fallout is of General Eilings plan. King Faraday and Amanda Waller were planning an assault on Haake-Bruton. They have some biological warfare that they developed with Oolong Island. General Eiling, however, saw this as an opportunity to use his considerable power to set himself up as the new CEO of Haake-Bruton, plus it would get him out from under the thumb of Amanda Waller. We found out last issue, his man on the inside was Cliff Carmichael. You remember. The ass-hole from the Firestorm series. Sorry! That's the best way to describe him. He also has a few of the Squad members already on his side. But, Plastique, whom he had confronted, decided at the last minute that she doesn't appreciate some of the assumptions he's made about her, so she's no longer willing to cooperate. In fact she'll do whatever she can to make sure that Eiling fails. Luckily the bullet that Cliff shot Faraday with wasn't fatal. He wakes up and kills Cliff, and snaps Amanda out of her stupor. When Cliff assumed control of Chemo, pushing Amanda out, it overloaded her system . . knocking her out. Now they're both hopping mad. And they know that Eiling is behind the whole thing. Meanwhile, Rick Flag is fighting Rustam . . not the one he already killed, but the father . . and the control that Eiling is trying to exert over him. Deadshot is now fighting blind, and he's in the board-room ready to take out it's members. This is a fantastic series by John Ostrander and Javier Pina. Although Jesus Saiz does help on a couple of pages this issue. All around, it's a great effort by everybody. I'm just hoping that they do something with this team . . or these characters after this book.

JLA Classified #54 - DC

Roger Stern and John Byrne basically took a 2-story approach to telling this fable. The one story is the past. And the other is the present. In the past we see how Titus brought the JLA to the moon to, as he said, " . . to be your tomb!" It was a young League at the time. They had some experience working together as a group, but never against this much power. Also, at the time, Superman and Batman were really not much more than reservists. Of course they did show up to help their comrades fight this evil power. When the battle ended, they thought they had defeated him. And they left him buried on the moon in their stead. But, as is common in this genre, the dead don't always stay dead. The present story is when he comes back. What I feel is the difference in these 2 stories is their basic approach to fighting Titus. In the past they just tried to defeat him with sheer strength. Yes they used some team-work. And they took advantage of their strengths in their plan to take him down. But really, it was just a knuckle-fest. In the present, however, they work much smarter . . and not harder. They know their strengths and weakness' and have had much more time to work together cohesively. They know who's good at standing on the battle-line, and who's good formulating the strategy to take Titus out of the picture. And they trust each other to do their jobs. Also, with the defeat of certain enemies, they've gathered memento's and souvenirs. Very powerful souvenirs, which they have studied and know how to use. Even if someone has studied them, as a group, and knows how they operate, they can still throw a twist in to it here and there. Also, in the past, Wonder Woman wasn't part of the group, as she is now. Anyways, long story short . . to late . . they end up defeating him by dispersing him across time and the cosmos. They feel it's the end of his threat, but, I'm wondering, now that we know who he is, if he might not come back in the future to cause further mayhem. It was a decent story, by Stern, Byrne and Farmer. The real sad part though, for me, is that this is the last issue of this series. I really like what they've done here, and how they've used this book as a way to install some retroactive continuity. I thought it was a neat idea. But apparently they've got other plans. It was nice having another League book out there. Hopefully, there will be another. Please!

Simon Dark #6 - DC

To me, it seems as if this story is unraveling very slowly. But, I would assume, to create a character from scratch, along with his supporting cast and background . . would take some meticulous planning . . if you want it to be coherent and believable. Right now I feel as if I'm in the point in the story where I'm starting to get the gist of the various characters . . even if I don't remember their names. We have this teenage girl, Rachel I believe, who has just moved to the area with her single father. She's come across Simon a couple of times. He seems to like her, and wants to protect her. But, in fairness, that does seem to be his predilection, to protect the people in the surrounding area of where he stays . . . his neighborhood. Then there's the ME who, after actually seeing Simon on her table, seems to be intrigued by the anomaly that he is. I believe her name is Beth. There's also a detective . . I don't remember his name . . who used to be associated with what I assume is a criminal organization, but now it seems as if he's trying to atone for his sins. He appears to be a "good" cop, and it looks like he's trying to use his knowledge of this organization against them. Beth also seems attracted to him. He has also come in contact with Simon, and seems to think of him more as a brother than an adversary. Something I've noticed about Simon, he seems to be able to "sense" who's good and who's not. People with good hearts, seem to have nothing to fear from him. Then there's this organization. We don't know much about it, other than seeing some faces. This issue, Simon finds the warehouse, or whatever, where he was "born". We see that this group uses science and magic to attain it's goals. We see the beginnings . . at least how Simon remembers it . . of how he was born. And we see him in action again. Apparently when he came looking for this place he set of some sensors or something. When he tries to leave, the group has sent some men to take care of him. Simon makes pretty short work of them, but leaves one standing. "I'm going to let you go. But tell your boss I've got the book now. I know what he's up to. Tell him . . . he'll see me soon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . well? What are you waiting for?" Also, with this issue, this group seems to be hatching some sort of plan. Don't ask me how this makes sense, yet, but they've hijacked a custom soap company's delivery truck, and have substituted the deliveries with their own. Later on we see a lady getting ready to use one of the bars, and there appears to be a little demon inside of it. But really . . that's all we know about the plan so far. I love the way Steve Niles is unfolding this story, and it's characters. The artwork of Scott Hampton's is incredible. He set's the perfect tone for this story, and the series. Since we're only on issue #6, I would definitely recommend going out and finding these books. Like I said, there seems to be a methodical roll-out of this storyline. So I'm expecting a big pay-off here, pretty soon. But, even if not, the book is worth the look just for Steve and Scott's talents.

Tiny Titans #2 - DC

This is a very silly book. But, that's ok. It is, afterall, made with kids in mind. What I do like about it though, is it kind of reminds me of the old Archie, or Bugs Bunny comics. Not so much with the content, but the way the stories are set up. There's 5 or 6, 2 or 3 page stories in every issue. Remember when the old "fun" comics used to be that way? At my grandmother's house, she had this bedroom that had a closet where she kept all the toys for the kids. Well, on one of the shelves in the closet she had this stack of comic books. I was always drawn to the Superman and Batman books, but she also had a large pile of Richie Rich, Archie, Bugs Bunny, Little Lulu, etc.. I bet I read those books a hundred times. Anyways, my point is, I loved the super-hero stuff because it was like grown-up stuff. I didn't always understand the stories, but I liked to look at them and see the characters. The other books were just fun reads. The Archie stuff seemed like teen-age stuff. But the rest of it was just funny. I liked having the variety to choose from. Sorry! I got a little nostalgic there. My point is that while the kids may like looking at all the cool super-hero stuff, it's probably a bit more difficult for them to get in to the story . . to understand all the themes. But books like this . . they can just have fun with. And if they miss an issue . . so what. While I may be embarrassed that I bought it and read it . . I love it for what it is.

Gen13 #18 - WildStorm

I have to say, I like, so far, how Simon Oliver is handling these characters. He's a bit on the serious side. They don't seem as fun-loving right now. But, that being said, they are in a pretty serious situation right now. As always, I think Carlo Barberi is doing a fantastic job with the art. It really is the perfect feel for this book. I think Drew Geraci's inks are aiding in that also. Things are really starting to come to a head for this who I/O, Dept. PSI, thing. They've been choreographing all the various stories up to this point, but I don't think they gave the kids enough credit. Especially Caitlin. Now that she has more of a clue as to what's going on . . with her self doubts over her observed suspicions gone, she really has a new clarity . . . she's decided to take a more pro-active position. It seems she wants to take the fight to them. But first, she has to get all of her friends back together. But the various story-lines are helping with that part. Everyone, in their own separate ways, have been betrayed by their supposed new friends. Now they've all worked their way back to the hotel their staying in and are comparing notes. Luckily, Caitlin is one step ahead of them so far. She covers their entrance in to the hotel, so they can disappear from the cameras, and then gives them a meeting location on Grunge's hot-dog wrapper. Ingenious! Now they just have to figure out what they're going to do about this assault on their lives, and privacy. Not to mention that they all feel betrayed by . . basically, all the people around them. You know what they say about the wrath of a woman scorned. I love this book. My only concern is that it seems like the landscape of the WildStorm Universe is getting ready to go through some major changes. I'm concerned about what's going to happen to this book. I guess only time will tell.