Streets of Glory #5 - Avatar

This book is a conundrum. Overall, it's a Western. It has all the brutality, language and attitude of a down and dirty Western. However, there's also this soap-opera type aspect to it. This whole thing with Ben Dunn. His lost love, from 20 years ago . . the child he didn't know about, and the guy who's recently lost his brother and he's taken under his wing. But then there's this whole drama about this town that Ben's been stuck in for a little while now, Gladback. There's a lot of human interest here, and the town seems to be in transition. It seems that it could be on the brink of destruction, or the dawn of something new. It all depends on the forces working within it, both from inside and out. I really like the feel that Garth Ennis has given this book. Really, I picked up the first issue on a lark. Garth Ennis has been putting out a lot of independent stuff, so I'm not really sure why I decided to pick up this one. I think, at the time, I was really enjoying Loveless and Jonah Hex, so I thought "Hey! Another western. Why not?" I don't really know. But I'm glad I did. I've thoroughly enjoyed every issue of this series so far. Also, I think Mike Wolfer's art has improved tremendously since the first issue. It's not perfect. There's some things he could improve upon, but . . the style and overall feel it's brought to this book is absolutely flawless. Garth couldn't have asked for anything more when he had the vision of this book. However, on a sad note, we may be down to the last issue. At first, I didn't realize that this was going to be a mini-series. But . . it is . . and apparently #6 is the finale. That's sad. But . . I have the feeling we may see these characters again in the near future. I don't have anything specific, but it just seems that the creators had a really good time with this book, and, really . . this story-arc was just the tip of the iceberg. I think these characters have a lot more stories in them to tell. Personally, I can't wait to read them.

Ghost Rider #24 - Marvel

Tan Eng Haut is not one of my favorite artists, but . . in the time since he did the Doom Patrol, I think he's grown tremendously. However, from that previous viewing, I was a bit hesitant as to his contribution on this title. I mean, after-all, this is the Ghost Rider. And there is a certain . . style, to him. I wasn't sure that Tan's . . . vision . . would necessarily adapt to this character. I'll admit . . I was wrong. Any misgivings I may have been harboring were completely erased after seeing the first 2 issues. Apparently Tan's doing his own inks also. This issue we finally see Tan's vision of Johnny in full blaze . . and it's . . brilliant. The way he draws the Ghost Rider's face and flames is actually kind of eiree looking. As much as I love Mark and Salvador's work on this title, I'm really getting in to this new look. Plus . . it's different. It's unique and very stylized. This issue Johnny's quest to get to Zadkiel has taken him to a prison. There's a minister here who murdered his whole congregation because of the 'angels' that were talking to him. It appears that's who Johnny has come here to find. But then, there's also this guy called the Deacon, who is like this 8-foot Nazi monster. At the end of this issue, we really don't know how this is going to play out. We also saw the face of Danny Ketch last issue, but he doesn't make an appearance in this one. So he's still lurking around out there somewhere. I really like the direction that Jason Aaron is taking with this book right now. He seems to be infusing a lot of new ideas, and this whole 'avenging angel' thing is a completely new direction. Something, I think, this character sorely needed. I have to say, as much as I've enjoyed this book in the past, I really like it now . . better than ever.

Ultimate X-Men #95 - Marvel

First of all, this issue has an absolutely stunning cover by Dell'otto. It's fabulous! This issue keeps us into the story on Alpha-Flight. And as usual in the Ultimate Universe, things are the same, and yet . . different. In this issue, Alpha Flight still consists of the Vindicator, Sasquatch, Shaman, Aurora . . but there's also Jubilee and Sunfire. Oh yeah, and Sasquatch . . is really Rahne Sinclair. Anyways, Peter and Jean-Paul are lovers, but Northstar is still a member of Alpha Flight, so last issue they decided to reclaim him. To the X-Men's surprise, Alpha Flight greatly overpowered them, because they're taking the mutant performance enhancer called Banshee. Which they find out last issue that Peter is also taking. Therefore in order to take on Alpha Flight, they're also going to have to . . step up to their level. The Professor sees this as an opportunity to find out where this drug is coming from, who's making it and selling it, and maybe rid the world of it's existence. A noble idea, but . . the people behind this haven't stayed hidden this long without the means to do so. Anyways, after a trip to Siberia to secure the drug, the team finally makes it back to Canada to confront Alpha Flight. They're all powered up . . except for Scott, he was faking it . . and they make a pretty good assault on their headquarters. Eventually the tides turn, though. And Scott's lack of enhancement may threaten the teams survival. So he has no other choice. He powers up, the balance is shifted back and Peter does get to Northstar. However, Jean-Paul is overdosing, and their effort appears to be to late. Also the drug has taken Scott to a place he may not be able to return from . . or want to. This is easily the best story-line this book has had in quite a while. I think Aron E Coleite is doing an excellent job with this arc. Also for some reason this book is drawn by a trio of artists. Their pages aren't in any specific order, but Mark Brooks, Jaime Mendoze and Brandon Peterson all contribute to the overall look of this issue. The part I'm really happy about though, is that this book seems to finally be back on track. Let's hope it can stay there.

X-Factor #32 - Marvel

This issue is one of those in-between issues. You know . . where it's the end of the team, but also the beginning . . . of something new. My first impression? I'm a bit iffy. But . . we'll see. Anyways, after the recent fiasco in Mutanttown, with Arcade, Valerie Cooper has been sent in to either get the team under control . . or split them up. They have the option of either being split up, sent in different directions under new identities, or . . work for the ONE, and do whatever Val or the government asks of them. Neither option is particularly appealing to the team. So after some soul searching . . and bonding, they decide on a third option. They're going to leave town, and leave everything behind. They decide to try to hide from Val, and live their lives as they choose. Yeah . . . that's gonna happen. They decide to make camp in Detroit of all places . . god knows why . . but it's only about 6 months before Val catches up to them. Jaime is in a diner, when Theresa calls him to let him know they have a new client. They're calling themselves XF Investigations now. Anyways, as they're talking Val comes up behind him. "Let me put this in a way that your film noir mind will understand: This is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship." So in the end . . they're going to end up working for the government anyways. I wonder how long Jaime will be able to keep this from the rest of the team? I don't know if I necessarily like this new direction. I haven't seen enough of it yet to form an opinion, but . . at the very least . . it'll keep things interesting. Plus, with the de-compartmentalizing of the X-Men, and it's various teams, eventually X-Factor was going to have to have some kind of upheaval. So the question is, where are they going to go from here? Well . . only Peter David and Valentine DeLandro have that answer. I guess we'll have to wait and see if they're up to the challenge.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #55 - Marvel

I enjoyed this book. We kind of slowed down on the action a tad, so we could see into the teams personalities a little bit. Really, that's what I love about the FF. They are such a personality driven group. As with their powers, there personalities are very distinctive. Whether they admit it or not, as powerful, and smart, as each of them are individually they operate and accomplish so much more as a team than they do singularly. Anyways, we got a couple of things going on right now. First there's this team that's trying to set themselves up as the new team in town . . the Seven. But, Johnny finds out later that they used to operate out of Oregon. They called themselves the Salem Seven. For some reason or another, it seems that they followed Sue back from her recent trip there. Speaking of which, the entity . . or something . . that also followed her back, and has been lurking around the Baxter Building . . seems to be trying to figure out how not to let it's presence be known. I'm not sure what it wants to do, but because of the Buildings advanced security measures it hasn't figured out yet how to make a move without alerting everyone of it's existence. Also, while all of this is going on, Agatha Harkness, SHIELD's psychologist, has come in to the mix to evaluate the team and it's possible effectiveness in future SHIELD ops. But to me, it seems that she's determined to stir up the pot a bit. But that's ok, because as she goes through her little psychological escapades with each person, we learn more and more about them as individuals and a group. But right now it seems the most pressing matter is the Seven, and what Agatha knows about them. At the end of the issue Agatha whisks Sue off, saying that Carol Danvers wants her to see something. But it seems as if she's delivered her right to the Seven. There's a battle, but hey, it's still seven to one. Eventually the odds just overwhelm her. In the end, they drop her in the river, supposedly to die in the water, but really, they've just dropped her straight into the arms of . . . Namor! This could be an interesting twist. I enjoyed the previous story-line, but I liked this issue so much better. I'm not sure why. Mike Carey wrote all of them. I think it was the personalization of the characters. But I'm much more interested as to where this story-line is going. Also Tyler Kirkham does the art.

Secret Invasion - Fantastic Four #2 - Marvel

I really enjoyed this book. It's not really the whole team . . Sue and Reed are . . elsewhere. So when Layla took the top half of the Baxter Building in to the Negative Zone, all she really got was Johnny, Ben and the kids. But still, it's enough to make a statement to the Skrull empire. She posed as Sue, to infiltrate the building, but it wasn't until she tried to convince Ben or Johnny that the other was the impostor . . the Skrull . . that they saw through her ruse. But by then . . . it was to late. So this issue, after a brief history of Johnny's dating life . . just to fill in the people who didn't realize that she was an ex-girlfriend . . Johnny and Layla just start going at it. The only problem with two people fighting this hard, expending so much energy on each other . . it only leads to one thing . . an arousal of the senses, which leads to . . passionate feelings. They're flying around in the Negative Zone, basically trying to cook each other, and the next thing you know they're all over each other. That's not to say that Johnny trusts her any more, but . . hey! . . you got a hot chick busting her ass to get your attention . . you better give her some of that attention. Anyways, they get back in to the Baxter Building, but she gets knocked out. So now, the gang has to try to figure out how to get Reed's equipment to work, so they can get back home. Franklin's the one that has the best idea though. He suggests that since his daddy's jail is in the Negative Zone, maybe there's somebody there that can help them. I really like Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa's story. I like the way he's handling the characters, and keeping them . . well . . true to character. Johnny and Ben have limitations. There's only so much they can do. And when it comes to Reed's equipment . . that knowledge is nill. And they'll be the first to admit it. I also thought it was great to see Barry Kitson on the pencils this issues. He's one of my favorite artists. And I really like the look that he gives these character. I know. I said I wasn't going to get sucked in to this whole Invasion thing. But hey . . it's the Fantastic Four. What am I gonna' do?

the Amazing Spider-man #563 - Marvel

I have to say . . this one . . I thought . . kind of let me down. I thought the story was kind of boring and predictable, and the only thing accomplished the whole issue is that Peter found out that, as far as the Spider-tracer killings . . someone is trying to set him up. Duhh! Do ya' think? However, it is interesting that a couple of the killings weren't even murders. They were just people that died of natural causes, but then they were made to look like killings and the tracers were planted. So my only question is . . is someone in the Police Dept. involved in this? You would think it would have to be someone in an authority position, to set him up this bad. But . . it's all just speculation, because we don't really know. Bob Gale did the story. Mike McKone was back on art chores this issue. Overall, I thought he did a decent job . . for what he had to work with. I know we're on a 3 issue a month schedule, but please . . don't let the content suffer because of the goal. Like I said, I thought the artwork was pretty good, but it still wasn't enough to hold my interest with this lame story. Don't hate me. I love Spider-man, and this book. I just thought this particular issue came up a bit short. It's just my opinion.

Wolverine #66 - Marvel

What an awesome issue this was. The set-up for the story is . . it's 50 years in the future, and somewhere along the line there was a really bad day. "The day the heroes fell." Obviously Wolverine survived . . healing factor and all that . . but he decided he was going to leave the dangerous world behind him. Right now he's settled down on a ranch in California . . with a wife and 2 kids . . and has decided to be a pacifist. First of all, somebody like Wolverine isn't just going to be able to crawl off into the woodwork without someone noticing or taking exception to it. Second of all, being who he is, anyone who feels they have to prove themselves are just going to see him as a target. So I don't think he's going to have the luxury of a peaceful existence. Which is the case with his landlords . . the Hulk Gang . . Bruce Banner's kids. They operate pretty much the whole west-coast of America. The whole United States is divided up in to provinces . . if you will. Starting on the west-coast and working east . . Hulkland (formerly the Abomination's Territory), the Kingdom of the Kingpin (formerly the Domain of Magneto), a no-man's land in the middle of the country, Doom's Lair, an open space around Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia (formerly the Big-Ten Territory, and finally the President's Quarter along the whole East Coast. That area runs from Maine down to Florida. Anyways, Hawkeye shows up near the end of the issue and he wants Wolverine to ride a long with him on a run to the east-coast. He's pulling him back in to the life of adventure. Like I said, I thought it was a fantastic book with a lot of really cool ideas in it. But, being written by Mark Millar . . what more would you expect? It really was a terrific story. I would imagine this one will probably be, at least, a four part series. Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, Steve McNiven does the art. This one is truly destined to be a classic. Get it while you can. By the way, I put the variant cover here . . on the left, so you can see it, but I didn't get it myself . . $75! $75? That's insane! I'm sure somebody thinks it's worth that, but still . . . YIKES!

Catwoman #80 - DC

I liked this side of Catwoman this issue. This issue just kind of showed us that even though she's not the crazy cat-thief that she used to be . . I think she actually helps people more than she hurts them now . . but, she can still be ruthless. The wrath of a woman scorned. Last issue this Repro . . or whatever he calls himself . . b-list at best . . got on the bad side of Selina when he beat the crap out of her, and then tried to kill her. He wouldn't have stood a chance but he's kind of like Jamie Maddrox, over in X-Factor. You know, he can make duplicates of himself. Well, Repro is pretty much the same except he's a young kid with no manners, and even less character. Basically, he's a wanna-be. Obviously, he's not the brains behind the operation. That would be the Thief, which Repro has now lead Catwoman to, after she faked her casualty last issue. As Selina's scoping out the operations, Thief knocks off Repro. He's just tired of his attitude and whining. Selina waits for her moment, and the she messes up the Thief. Big time! And she does it while he's on an op, so she leaves him helpless for the cops to find him. And then, just for the coup d'grat . . she blows up his apartment. "He tried to steal from Catwoman. And nobody . . Nobody . . gets away with that." I thought it was a pretty decent issue from Will Pfiefer and David Lopez. Unfortunately, next issue will be the last. I don't know if she'll come back later, or in one of the team-books . . Outsiders would be awesome . . but it's the final issue for this title. The good news is . . . she finally decides to put the Calculator in his place. It should be great.

Trinity #3 - DC

Mark Bagley's got to be in heaven. He just got done doing that fantastic run over on Ultimate Spider-man, and now he's here . . doing a weekly series . . with none other than Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in every issue. This is every comic geeks fantasy . . including mine. And Mark? Mark's living it. Congrats dude! You deserve it. And then, to up the ante a little bit . . this issue he gets to draw the Justice League. Fan-frikkin-tastic! This issue, everyone's still fighting Konvikt and Graak. Graak's the little monkey looking dude that's riding on Konvikt's shoulder. He claims he's not a pet, as Red Arrow called him, but rather " . . official mediary and speaker-advocate for designate, Konvikt." A little long on the description there . . for mouth-piece. Doesn't he know we have those on our world too? They're called lawyers. Anyways, it doesn't look good for our heroes though, Superman jumps into the fight . . Konvikt plants on right on the kisser, and . . Superman's " . . knocked the f#$% out!" I really like this book so far. Personally I think Kurt Busiek and Mark are doing a fantastic job. Every issue we're left hangin'. In the back-up series, I think we see a future participant. She's a tarot card reader, Nina, who seems to be tapped in a lot more than she should be. She gets a couple of cryptic clues this issue . . " . . accept my potential. Prove I can be part of a team. Part of an order . ." is what the cards tell her. And then when the MVG's are threatening to hurt her, and a mysterious benefactor comes to her rescue, she hears him muttering . . "She is not for you . . . she is meant for the three who are to rise." But that little incident may have scared her out of ever reading her cards again. I thought the story was an interesting little tease. As always, the back-up story is loaded with talent . . Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza writing, and Mike Norton on pencils with the illustrious Jerry Ordway doing the finished art. It really is a nice little piece . . and it looks like it's the beginning . . of something.

the Spirit #18 - DC

This one . . . was a snoozer!! Yawn!! I got my hopes up after reading last issue. It seemed like maybe we were making a turn towards a little more adult humor. This issue . . . what little humor there was . . was weak and witless. By the time I got to the end of the book I didn't care who stole the damn mummies or why. I just wanted it to be done so I could read something else. They tried to throw a little intrigue into the book with the Octopus. They always just show his hands. They won't show who he actually is. But after reading this issue . . I don't really care who he is because whomever it is . . . is only mildly less lame than the Spirit. And Dolan's daughter? She needs to get a clue. How many times are you going to let a man dog you out, but yet you keep coming back for more. Hello!! Now I'm just trying to find something to talk about. I'm sorry! I don't like it! It's dull and boring and as a reader I don't really care about the characters or the story. I try! But it hasn't gotten any better. Snoozer!

the Brave and the Bold #14 - DC

There's trouble in paradise. Literally! There's a demon priest currently residing in Nanda Parbat. He was once a mortal that worshipped the gods of death. He prayed his humanity away. He goes by Siva Anuttara. But that's not the worst part. When he went to Nanda Parbat he capture Rama Kushna in his amulet. Now her powers are intertwined with his. Basically, he can control the souls of the inhabitants of the Himalayan village. He's turning them in to ghost assassins. They can possess bodies like Boston Brand, Deadman, but the bodies they inhabit die instantly. Anyways, what Siva wants is to send these spectral assassins out into the world to spread chaos and wipe out the human race. They're starting with the cities that are majorly devastated already. Which is how they've come to be in Star City. However, without Boston's intervention, Ollie probably wouldn't have known what was going on until it was far to late. They know that it would be a never-ending battle if they just tried to keep fighting the soldiers. So . . they're taking the fight to the general. They're going straight to the horse's mouth . . as it were . . and try confronting Siva in Nanda Parbat. But then, once they enter the city and Boston separates from Ollie . . . Ollie shoots him and throws him over the cliff. This looks to be an interesting story by Mark Waid. Next issue, Nightwing and Hawkman join the fray. I also am a fan of Scott Kolins artwork. He was a pretty decent artist before, but then when he went on the Flash series he tweaked his style a little bit. At first I wasn't sure, but . . I really grew to like it. That's also the style that he's using here. This is only the first issue of the story-arc, so where it goes from here is anyone's guess. But I think this should be a pretty interesting series of events. Plus . . . Deadman, Boston Brand, is one of my favorite characters of all time. So any story with him involved . . shoots up my list of 'must haves'. I'm really diggin' the relaunch of this series.

Superman/Batman #49 - DC

Well, this issue wraps up our Kryptonite story-line. You remember, where Superman wants to gather up every piece of Kryptonite on the planet and get rid of it so that no one can ever threaten him with it. Kind of a grandiose plan. But, essentially, he and Batman succeed. Until they find out the the only remaining cache belongs to LexCorp. Which doesn't put them in the sights of Lex Luthor, but rather Lana Lang, who is running the company right now. Now the problem they run in to is that LexCorp has the Kryptonite split into a 1000 cache's around the globe. Should Superman attempt to extract any of them, they will all explode sending a fine dust of Kryptonite over the entire planet. Long story short, they push her, she pushes the button and the new home of all the Kryptonians on the planet is the JLA watchtower. However, unexpectedly, Toyman, Hiro, comes to the rescue with his nanobots which can extract micro-organisms from the air. All he asks for in return is a date with Power-girl. But, he also gets an official JLA membership. But Clark can't completely take away humanities right to protect itself. So he give a rather sizable chunk to Bruce for safe-keeping. "Kryptonite is what makes me most human. And to be human means to have vulnerabilities. To know there's always . . always an end. If I don't allow for this . . some possibility . . for death . . it's only a mask. Playing at humanity." However, we see at he end that Batman actualy has quite a reserve of Kryptonite himself. I'm sure a lot more than Superman would ever suspect him of. This was a fantastic story-line by Michael Green and Mike Johnson. I thought they did a great job with this story-arc. And, as you all know, I'm a huge fan of Shane Davis'. I think the guy has incredible talent, and really . . he's just starting out. He's relatively new to the industry. He has an incredible future ahead of him. This is easily one of the top 10 books out right now.

100 Bullets #92 - Vertigo

Last issue ended with Jack, Cole and Loop at the diner. Loop had just gotten a call from Graves who told him to take out Cole before he could get to him. Well, the way this issue starts, obviously Loop wasn't fast enough. Why? Because Jack and Cole are driving up through the countryside, and Loop is lying in the trunk beaten up. At the same time there appears to be some tension between Augustus, Graves and Javier . . . the three originators. It seems that just because you rise to power together, doesn't mean that you'll remain friends once you get there. And in our little street story, Leon has asked Keen to take out his best friend Pip. Anyways, it ends up that Jack takes out Loop . . and then he takes out Cole. I kind of thought something might be up when he said it was a nice day out . . but, I wasn't sure. To me it seems like this story is showing that there's the same stress and tension and mistrust at all three levels of the organization . . . at the street level, with the soldiers and with the bosses. Basically they're all dealing with the same thing, even though they're all coming at it from different perspectives. Which reinforces many axioms, including . . ' Cream rises to the top' and 'Only the strong survive'. Oh, and we can't forget . . 'What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger' . . which is quite literal in this book.

Number of the Beast #5 - WildStorm

There's only one issue left in this series so everything is about to hit the fan. Not quite yet, but . . . next issue for sure. Last issue the High and Dr. Sin both got out of their containment chambers. The High is just trying to figure out what's going on, but Dr. Sin wants to deliver some serious retribution for all that they've had to endure. However, neither may get their wish as the government, even as they speak, is in the process off doing a complete scorch & burn to the bunker and all of it's frozen inhabitants. Dr. Sin, before he begins his murderous rampage, wants to take out a little aggression on the High first. He knocks him out, and puts him back in his chamber, so he can reintegrate him within the virtual-sim. However, this time, as the High is trying to convince everyone that they're trapped and need to find a way out, Dr. Sin has already spread the rumor that he is actually . . the Antichrist. He can't make him much more hated than that. With the recent appearance of the Four Horsemen, they already think their on the throws of Armageddon. So the appearance of the Antichrist isn't that much of a stretch. So instead, the High starts killing the heroes in the Sim, hoping that they'll wake up and then be able to do something on the outside. However . . . we won't find out what that is until next issue. A very compelling story by Scott Beatty, and I think Chris Sprouse is doing a good job with the artwork. Only 1 issue to go.

Booster Gold #10 - DC

I really, really enjoy this book . . . I know . . I'm as surprised as you are. But, I hope they wrap up this current story-line pretty soon. Next there's a Booster Gold 1,000,000,000, and then I'm thinking they're going to be tying all the threads up on this one. I love the story by Geoff Johns and John Katz. Also I'm really digging the art of Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund. For me though, the problem is, this current story-line is so divergent from what's going on in the regular DC Universe that . . it's kind of distracting. Ultimately, we can see what's coming. Ted's going to have to sacrifice himself for the good of the Universe. He already knows that. He and Booster just haven't accepted it yet. The nice thing about these stories is that when they're done . . . they pretty much have to be done. If they leave to many loose threads hanging around, it could eventually unravel all of time and history in the DC Universe. This issue we also find out that Booster's dad, who's been working with Per Degaton and the Ultra Humanite is actually being controlled by Mr Mind. You know that little wormy thing from SHAZAM!. We also find out that the Blue Beetle from the future . . the one that started out as an ally, but turned out to be the enemy . . is actually involved in all of this more because of Jamie Reyes' Blue Beetle than Ted Kord's. However, we haven't quite figured out what that's all about yet. This issue ends with Ted starting to do what he must to put things right, because . . Michael's about to be erased completely from the time-stream. I'm really surprised at how much I'm enjoying this book. It's actually probably in my top 10 almost every month. If not . . it's real close. And to be honest, I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. As Ted ominously says . . "Bwah-ha-ha-ha!"

Tiny Titans #5 - DC

Ok . . this one was just . . silly. I'm starting to view this one the way I see the Super-friends book. They're cute, they're aimed at the kids, but . . they're aimed at a much younger audience than I personally can relate to. I pick them up to look through . . and to give a copy to my nephew . . but, I'm starting to wonder why I bother buying one for myself. There's so much sugar here it gives me a tooth-ache. Seriously! So I guess we'll just have to wait and see how long I continue picking these 2 up. Somethings got to give . . either my patience, or my budget. Which is a shame because I really want to like them.

Wonder Woman #21 - DC

Last issue Diana came to this world of scorcery in search of Lord Beowulf. Although for the life of me . . I can't remember why. I'm sure it'll come to me though. But you know what? Right now . . I really don't care. Between Gail Simone's stories and Aaron Lopresti's art . . I really can't find a reason to not like this book right now. But now it seems as if they've taken up the Stalker's mission . . . to destroy the devil, Dgrth. Apparently, now, they're on a quest for the 3 swords necessary to kill him on the stone alter at the end of the world. The 3 of them also come across the Claw, but it seems they can't call him that here. I think his name is being used by another company right now. But after their fight, Diana absorbs the deformity of the man they've just bested. Hence . . the cover. Meanwhile, back in the regular DC Universe, Director Steel, of the DMA, has come to suspect Diana and Etta of being undercover agents. He thinks that they're trying to subvert his organization under the direction of the Amazons. He doesn't want there to be an Amazon's Attack: the return. So he tasks Agent Tresser with their surveillance. Which leads Agent Tresser to discover the Apes living in Diana's apartment. And on Paradise Island, Diana's mother has come to suspect that her daughter is on a mission which may be perilous to her well-being. You know . . mother's intuition and all. Who ever thought that Wonder Woman would be a Sword & Sorcery book? Or that Gail Simone would be writing it? But, it's these things that Diana goes through that keeps this book interesting.

Green Lantern Corps #25 - DC

This issue deals mostly with the Lanterns that have gone to the Mother Mercy planet in search of Arisia and Sodom Yat. We learn a little bit about the history of the plants, and the Lanterns find out that Mongul regularly visits here. In trying to help Arisia and Yat, the Lanterns end up killing some of the plants which are all actually the children of Mother Mercy. This pains here greatly, to the point that she uses her telepathy to reach out to the Lanterns for a temporary truce. In order for them to know what she feels, she recounts her history, and the birth of her children, to them. Mother Mercy, or her plants, the Black Mercys, are really not bad or evil. However, with Mongul's intervention and adaptations they have been brought to bear for the side of evil . . Mongul's side. Actually, all Mother Mercy wants to do is offer solace and help to the disparaged races across the universe. All of which she can feel . . at all times. In retelling her tale she also makes note of Mongul's plans to send the Black Mercy's to various planets to seed their rage and fear, and corrupt it's peoples. Kyle is looking for information when Mongul shows up. We also get a glimpse this issue of the Guardians. It appears that they've noticed the surge of Violet power . . specifically on Zamaron. To them it is a herald, or prelude, to the war of light. It's funny how they've never told any of the Lanterns about that though. I think Peter J Tomasi is doing a fantastic job with this book. I love his stories. And Patrick Gleason's art is perfect for this book. It's brilliant how he draws all the various races. I have a feeling that this book is going to be around for quite a long time.

X-Force - Ain't no Dog #1 - Marvel

I'm a big fan of X-Force and a huge fan of Wolverine's. However, this book seems more like a special Wolverine story than necessarily one of X-Force's. They add a story in the back about James, which completes the X-Force theme, but really . . without it, we would've just had a Wolverine one-shot. That's not really a bad thing, I just think about the marketing decisions sometimes. Anyways, the first story was by Charlie Huston with art by Jafte Palo. I like the way Charlie has crafted this story. Apparently this was a Purifier trap set up for Wolverine. But the story starts after he has come in to it and captured somebody. Later we find out that's really just the beginning of the set-up. The guy he's captured has a chip in his head that fakes that he's a mutant. Not the powers or anything, but as far as Cerebro is concerned, a scan will show a new mutant signature on the screen. Logan's been sent to retrieve the chip. However, some of the Purifiers have also been implanted, but their chips hone in on this guys and send them into a berserker rage. The Purifiers that are lying about on the floor in the beginning were really just cannon-fodder to get Logan in to place. The 100 more that come in afterwards are what's really supposed to kill him. But we all know that Logan doesn't go down that easy. I especially like Jefte's artwork. Some of the panels looked kind of crude and rushed, but then . . there were also some panels that really had a kind of Frank Miller look to them. It appears that Jefte inked his own work, but I'm thinking that with the right inker this would've seemed a lot more like a book of Frank's. The pages with the black & white, with gray washed tones and splashes of vibrant crimson blood, really had that feel to it. Overall I thought it was a nicely crafted tales with just the right amount of ironic humor spread throughout it. I also enjoyed James' story. It was by Jason Aaron with art by Werther Dell'Edera. It was a little more predictable than the lead, but . . it gave us a little insight into James' character.

Genext #2 - Marvel

What am I going to say here? I mean . . Chris Claremont has given us a vision of what the X-Men may be if time had flowed . . . real time . . the way it does in the real world. The X-Men have really been around for about 45 years, and now some of the students are the original members descendants . . . children, grand-children, etc.. We got new kids, new powers . . and adversaries that we haven't seen before, but have been around for years. It's fantastic!! Only Chris could write a story about new characters, in a new situation, that upon reading it we feel like we've been along for the ride the whole time. This series . . or rather the story . . feels like Chris has really put a lot of thought and planning in to it. This is supposed to be a 5 issue mini, but . . I have a feeling he's going to have a hard time putting this one down. I wouldn't doubt if we see another mini, further on down the line, or maybe even an explanation about how this is just one of the 1000's of various universe's in the Omniverse. Remember, he is writing the Exiles also. But I'm just speculating. Anyways, so far I love it. It's nice to see some fresh faces and characters. And the artwork of Patrick Scherberger really helps to draw the reader in to the story. It's really a perfect mesh of story and art. I'm not thrilled with some of the x-tra stuff, but . . that's just me. I have a pretty extensive collection so I have all of that and I really don't like paying x-tra for it here. But really, that's a very minor complaint. We're only on issue #2, and I've fallen in love with these characters already. It's a great concept, and a fantastic series. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

New Exiles #7 - Marvel

This remains to be one of my favorite X-Men titles. But right now we're in the process of the story where Chris Claremont is building up a lot of hanging story-lines that won't come in to play until much later. That's how he builds his stories, and keeps things interconnected across dozens of issues. The end result is fabulous. But, sometimes in the middle it leaves you with a lot more questions than answers. However, the story keeps moving, so you just kind of forget about them until they pop up later on . . a few issue down the road. Or sometimes, years down the road. Like I said, it's effective. It definitely works for Chris. I'm thrilled to see Tom Grummett back on the art chores this issue. Thinking back, from some of Tom's previous series, he is the kind of artist that he'll take and issue off every 8 to 10 issues or so. That's his usual MO. My guess is we'll have another fill-in issue after this story-arc, or maybe the one after. But it's nothing to get alarmed about. I'm sure Tom will be on this series for the long-run. I think, somehow, we got a couple of pages out of order on this issue. We see Rogue and Mystiq rescuing the King of England, an 8 to 10 year old child, but then the story goes back to the set-up for this mission. I understand the set-up, but, by doing it this way we see that they do actually rescue him, and we find out who one of the villains are, or rather the mole inside the King's court, ahead of time. It kind of makes the story a bit anti-climactic. Sure they probably wanted to start out the issue with a little action, but I think they tipped their hand a little to early on this one. We also see that Betsy's nemesis, the Slaymaster, is somehow involved in all of this. And, Kat is somehow hooked in to the systems of the Crystal Palace a lot more than she should be. Enough so that she's putting a pattern together. " . . the Omniverse is dying! The stars are blinking out. It's happening in real time . . right before my eyes! Entire dimensions are ceasing to exist. All of creation . . is coming to an end!?" My guess is . . all the knowledge that Sage absorbed from Saturyn is going to have to come in to play. Which means she's going to have to deal with the identity issues that she's been having. It looks like the next storyline's going to be focused on Betsy, Kat and Sage. By the way . . . I love this series.

Moon Knight #19 - Marvel

This issue kind of wraps up the previous story-line about one of Marc's old nemesis', Carson Knowles. It also answered the question about what he would do about the Registration Act. The answer? . . . get registered. Of course the real question is how will that sit with Director Tony Stark? After all, Marc's reputation more than precedes him. Anyways, Carson has been going around killing people and then carving Marc's signature crescent moon into their foreheads. Which lead to Tony putting the clamp down on him. Marc's told him that he's being framed, but the evidence is just to overwhelming. Plus . . Tony's in a position now that he has to answer to public opinion. However, just before Marc pushes Carson off the top of a building, Carson has let loose a nanobot virus, basically, onto the unsuspecting population below. So, even though he's dead, they're still all infected. So we don't really know what kind of ramifications that will have on the future, yet. But I'm sure it's going to come back to bite him in the ass sometime. Also it looks as if he make have to make a fresh start. Crawley helped him get away from the scene, after the . . . landing. But he can't go back home because SHIELD is there clearing everything out. Which is all perfect timing for next issue's shift. Mike Benson, and I assume Charlie Huston, will be staying on board as the writers, but next issue art will be done by Mike Deodato Jr. Also it'll feature a story about Werewolf by Night. After that, Mark Texeira will be back on the art chores for the next story-arc involving . . . Venom. That should be different. I like that this book still plays outside the normal rules of comics. Sure it has to follow the format, but story wise . . it always seems to go in it's own direction. Which to me, is what makes it one of my favorite books.

the Amazing Spider-man #562 - Marvel

This issue to me . . was kind of a let-down. From the cover we see that there's going to be another Spider-man popping up in this issue. But, really, the whole thing is just a set-up, by a bookie, to try to make some quick money. The issue starts out with some unknown villain, the Basher, calling out Spider-man. We see in on a screen in a bar for Super-villains. So, as soon as it happens, the local bookie starts calling out odds for the outcome of the event. Will Spider-man show? Will Spider-man take him out in one punch? Will Spider-man use his webs? But it's really all moot, because the bookie knows what's going to happen. Peter on the other hand doesn't. He's a little down-trodden right now because Bennett seems to be black-balling him from working anywhere else in publishing. He's had 18 interviews . . and no takers. So he doesn't want to get involved in another mess, but . . he does go, as himself, just to make sure that no pedestrians are put in danger. To his surprise Spider-man does show up . . does some bouncing around . . and takes out the Basher in one punch. With the rash of 'Spider-killings' going on around town, this is just to coincidental for Spidey, so he gives chase. Who knows, he might be able to clear his name. Come to find out it's actually Screwball . . that girl from a few issues ago, whom the bookie had made bail for, in exchange for her services. Which only leaves Peter at the bookie for a lead. At the end of the issue Peter arrives at the bar and stands face to face . . or, mask to mask . . with a bar full of Super-villains. "Ummmm . . . I'm here for the costumed karaoke. Anybody know any good showtunes?" Anyways, with the set-up it just seemed like we might be making some progress here, but we really didn't. Bob Gale wrote it, and . . it was a decent story. It just didn't live up to the hype. Also I'm a huge fan of Mike McKones. But, to be honest, I really liked his work on the Teen Titans better than this issue. I don't know why, it just didn't feel as good. I don't know how else to explain it. But, obviously, this is the first of 3 issues, so . . maybe something actually will come out of it in the next 2. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Legion of Super-heroes in the 31st Century #15 - DC

This is a cute book for the kids. This issue they're introduced to the impish speedster . . Impulse, or . . Bart Allen. I knew he came from the future but I never really thought about his 'time-line' overlapping with that of the Legion. Also, I knew he played a lot of video-games but I hadn't realized that they actually had him living in one. It makes sense, since his powers were so out of his control, but . . I guess I just never really thought about it. Anyways, this issue will have the kids interest because it shows the possible future of games . . . virtual-sims. Anyways, Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl get caught in one . . the one that Bart lives in, and Brainiac has to come to their rescue. No real villains in this issue. Just capricious hardware and erratic code.

Noble Causes #34 - Image

Man! This book goes away for about 8 months, but when it comes back . . . it really comes back. Now we've had 3 issue in the last 8 weeks. I guess they were just saving them up to release them all at once. But that's ok . . at least we're getting some new stuff now. I'm not overly thrilled with the new artwork of Yildiray Cinar, but . . you know what? This series has never had a superstar on the art chores. But the artists they have had have all risen to the challenge. I'm sure after a couple of issue, Yildiray will have impressed his style onto this book, and we'll feel like he's truly a part of it. At least I hope so. I told you, I'm a 'glass half-full' kind of guy. Anyways, I don't understand the whole Egyptian god thing, in the beginning of this book, but, as per the norm, the action is only a couple of pages long, and the rest of the book is spent on character and story development. Personally, I like it better that way. I like the stories that seem like a soap-opera, and this book definitely falls into that category. This book really is a soap-opera, whose characters just happen to belong to a super-powered family. And right now that family's concerned because Surge's new girlfriend Amy, almost took out Frost last issue. I'm not sure who she's working for, but she does have an agenda. However, it appears that no one suspects her of anything yet. In the meantime, Doc, Surge and Olympia have gone to collect Bonechill, another temperature based meta, to try to do a blood-transfusion with Frost. They're hoping that the similarities will help to stabilize his condition. But the way they go about it . . isn't exactly above board. Personally I think they're crossing a line they won't be able to uncross. But . . we'll see. There's also a hint that Olympia's marriage to Doc may have been . . . arranged. By . . . Gaia?! As Arte Johnson used to say, "Very interesting". I'm glad this books back, and I'm glad it's got a full head of steam on it. I want to get back in to these character's lives.

Simon Dark #9 - DC

The cover to this is a bit deceiving. It says "Simon Dark . . . on the Rampage!" He's a little pissed off in this issue, but . . on the rampage? That's a bit of a stretch. But, I'm just playing with the writer. It was still a great book. Steve Niles is doing a great job at building up the tension in this gradually. We're starting to see some of the full effect of the Mendo Soap debacle this issue. Remember? . . that group dispensed them with little demons inside? By the way, Mendo is an anagram for Demon. Well apparently, and I really don't understand the signifigance of this . . . the Senator they have in their pocket is being used to destroy the hand-written first manuscript of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Unless it's just the power of the magic associated with something of that signifigance, I really don't get the point. However, we do find out that the soap thing is a test. They're packed with a bunch of imp demons, and somehow their influence is going to enable to group to bring over a larger demon. None of this really explains Simon's existence, or the Detective with the replaced body-parts, but . . . that part of the story seems to be on hold until this issue with the demons is resolved. Or, they're just connected in a way that we can't see yet. Also in this issue, we find out that Rachel has been fully infected by the soap. She almost disembowels her father when they're trying to subdue her. However, Simon doesn't know about this yet. The issue ends with the group tying up some loose ends, and then preparing for the summoning ceremony. While upstairs . . . Simon and the Detective are putting their plan into action. Like I said, I think it's a great story by Steve Niles. And I absolutely love Scott Hampton's artwork on this series. It's easily his best to date.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #9 - DC

I'm sad to see Cliff Chiang off of this book, but I am glad that Mike's doing his own thing now. Mike Norton's been doing the art for about 3 issues now, but on the first 2 he really tried to make his style as close to Cliff's as possible. I understand, maybe they wanted it to be a subtle change, but hey . . books change artists all the time. Who cares? Just go for it. So anyways, with this issue, he's finally looking like his old self. Not that he's old . . I'm just sayin'. But Cliff's still doing the covers, and Judd Winick is still doing the stories. So we're still golden. Last issue, while looking for Connor, and following up on leads to the League of Assassins, Ollie and Dinah stumbled across Plastic Man. Apparently he was on a rooftop, spying on some women sun-bathing, when he bumped his head on their invisible ship. That's when they froze him. "Whoever did it knew that freezing my malleable butt is one of the only ways to, well, 'put me on ice'. Thanks for the rescue. How long have I been MIA?" Ollie and Dinah look at each other kind of stupid like. They don't know what to tell him. "Awww, man! You didn't even know I was missing? You just stumbled upon me?! You guys were fishing around for your car keys and just happened to find a cryogenic chamber?!" That's the part I like about Judd's stories. The interaction between the characters is fantastic. But while they're filling in Plas', Mia has actually come face to face with the League. It's not a leap to say that she's in over her head. But Ollie knows that somethings up because she hasn't checked in at her scheduled time. They're about to go after her when . . . Batman shows up. He wants to be in on the attack. I know this is the Green Arrow and Black Canary title, but really . . it's a team book. There's GA and BC, but there's also Mia, Conner, occasionally Roy, right now Plas' and Mia's new friend Dodger. But it's hard telling how long he'll be around. I really enjoy this book.

Titans #3 - DC

I have to say I was disappointed when Ian Churchill didn't return to this book after issue #1. However, after reading this issue, I have to say that I like the take that Joe Benitez is showing with these stories. We've had the definitive version of these kids done before . . by the great George Perez. So, with this series, it's nice to see a little creative license being taken with their appearances. It's rather refreshing. The only one I really didn't like was Roy. He just got revamped with the JLA, and the whole Red Arrow thing. Plus I thought he was portrayed a little to . . cheesy, this issue. He's not that kid anymore. He's grown up and taken responsibility for his life, so please . . don't take him back there again. I also think that Joe's style is especially effective on the women characters. Donna, Kory and Rachel all never looked as beautiful or sexy as they appear in this issue. As with most Titans stories, this one served to further develop their characters, but the real issue in this story-line is Trigon's hatred of the Titans, and his utilization of other offspring to affect the means of his retribution on the physical plane . . . since he's sitting on his thrown in his diminished capacity. Thus we're introduced to the Sons of Trigon this issue. Rage, Hate and Envy are their monikers, but I'm not sure if that's their actual names or just a description of their powers. They seem to have emotional based powers, much in the nature of Ravens. But we really don't find out much about them, other than seeing them on the last page of this issue. I'm glad that DC has seen fit to reunite this team. I'm sure it'll be a complicated reunion, and most likely an emotional roller-coaster. But, that's what we've come to expect from this team. I'm also thrilled to death at having Judd Winick as the scribe here. He really seems adept at these team-based books. We'll miss you Ian, but . . I don't think the book could be in better hands.

Batman Strikes #46 - DC

This one was a nice love story for the kids. What? From the cover, you thought that Killer Croc and Batman were going to be fighting all issue? Actually Croc, or Waylon Jones, is in love with a certain cute news reporter. It seems that while watching Meredith do the news, and report on him, he fell in love with her because of the way she still treated him like a human being. "You're not like the others. You never call me a monster. You never call me a freak. You don't make jokes about how my hide would look good with a matching purse or shoes." So he goes on a crime spree to gather the armaments for a proper courtship. But in the end it's not Batman that brings Waylon's spree to an end, but rather the soft smile and flowing hair of a certain blond reporter. "The man's in love, Batman . . . and nothing in your utility belt can overcome that." It was a nice book and had a sweet story.