the Invincible Iron Man #12 - Marvel

I know that Tony is the bad-guy of the Marvel Universe right now, but . . I'm having a hard time feeling that much animosity towards the guy. I'm actually kind of feeling sorry for him. Right now it just seems like he can't turn any direction without being covered in a pile of sh$%! It just seems like Norman has backed up the truck and is shoveling it out faster that Tony can get out of the way. But, what I do like about all of this conflict is that Tony has to learn to get back to basics. I think he was coming to rely to much on the Iron Man armor. It took care of everything for him. Now? Now he has to try to figure out some stuff on his own. He's in one of his undersea labs, in the Red Sea, when Namor comes busting in and attacks him. Namor puts a pretty good beating on him. Tony escapes, but it's just barely. Unfortunately, those that are helping him, Maria Hill and Pepper Potts, aren't quite so lucky. Pepper is really just getting used to the armor. She doesn't even know everything that she's capable of. Norman finds out that she out there and puts her through the paces. He shoots down a passenger jet . . just to see if she can catch it. Maria isn't fairing any better. She's at Futurepharm, in Texas. She's trying to free some of the people that are being held there. It's all about mind control. The Controller is running things here. " He takes people, bends their wills to his own and when they're no longer of use to him he simply feeds on them. On their energy. This isn't a throne room . . it's a kitchen in a charnel house. And there's fresh meat to be had." Needless to say, she's overwhelmed by sheer numbers and falls under his control. And with that . . Tony stands alone. There's nobody else out there to help him. On yeah, did I mention that Pepper was arrested? And Norman has set the criminals on Tony's trail. He's offering a billion Euros gold as the bounty. He tells the Hood and Madame Masque, "First one of your guys that puts Tony Stark's head on this desk gets the gold and the thanks of a grateful nation." Like I said, I kind of feel sorry for the guy. It just seems like the hole is getting deeper and deeper. Right now this title is one of my favorites. I think Matt Fraction is doing a tremendous job with the story-lines. He really puts some interesting ideas and concepts into his stories. Plus, with Salvador Larroca on pencils . . it's just like the icing on the cake. Who do you think he'll try to save first . . Pepper or Maria? I'm thinking he's going after Pepper first. But . . we'll see.

Noble Causes #40 - Image

Boy I'm batting a 1000 here. This is yet another book in my stack in which we've reached the final issue. What's up with that? I guess it doesn't say to much for my choice in books that so many of them have been cancelled of late. But this one? To me, I think Jay Faerber does a fantastic job with these character. But, as he states on the letters page, "Noble Causes was never a sales juggernaut, and spin-offs always sell less than the 'parent' book." However, despite that . . I always liked it. Jay has a way of writing his stories with just the right amount of super-hero glitz, and just the right amount of soap-opera drama. And the Noble family, was the perfect choice for this type of story. We start out this book knowing that it's the last issue. Jay says on the letters page, "That's it. I can't state it any more plainly." But yet he still leaves us with a fantastic cliffhanger. Last issue Gaia got out of jail. The first thing she did was go over to greet Doc, and plant a full lip-lock on him. All of this happened as Doc's current wife, Olympia, and the press corps look on. So, not only does Olympia have to see what happens, but then . . then she has to look at it over and over again as it shows up on the front page of every newspaper and magazine that she picks up. Gaia makes a play to get Doc back, but he tells her that he's not interested. However, when he goes home Olympia is packing her bags. She says she's going to give Doc some space until he can figure out who he loves more. On the final panel of the final page he makes a phone call . . "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and . . . . you're the one I want." The problem is . . . we don't know who he's talking to. It's almost laughable. Anyways, I really like this series. I thought Jay did a fantastic job with the story-lines. Also I thought Yildiray Cinar was improving every issue as an artist. It's really going to be a shame to see this one go. I guess I'll just have to follow Jay's work someplace else. Plus . . it looks like I'm going to need another Image book to pick up. Does anyone out there have any suggestion? Really . . I'm open to anything. Just let me know what you think I'd like. I'm willing to give almost anything a shot. Otherwise . . I'm down to Spawn as my last Image book. I'm all ears.

the Boys #29 - Dynamite Entertainment

We've been following this story with the G-Men now for the last couple of issues. But I gotta say, this issue didn't go at all where I expected it to. I mean we know who these G-Men symbolize . . who they're a synonym for. But other than that similarity . . everything else . . everything is pretty whacked. Butcher and the Boys went to get Hughie out last issue and they ended up chasing a couple of the G-Men down through the woods. Jamal is the weak link, so they save him for questioning. Basically, he confirms all of their suspicions. Godolkin abducts these kids when their 6 or 7, promising them fame and fortune. I mean, when you were a kid what if someone stopped you on the street and told you that they'd make you a super-hero? Anyways, he lures them in, but he never lets them go. They start injecting them with compound-V, you know from Voight-American, and when their powers manifest they start training them. By this time they're all pretty much bought in because all of the other kids are their friends now. And besides that, the G-Men is the most profitable franchise ever, so . . they have everything they need, or could want . . video games, toys, comics, porn, drugs, alcohol . . pretty much anything. But as you know, people with this much power usually go astray somewhere. Godolkin is secretly molesting all of these kids. Well . . not so secret . . they all know about it. If somebody makes a fuss . . they're taken care of. If somebody doesn't want to stay . . their taken care of. If somebodies powers turn out to be something crappy . . they're taken care of. "See, they raise you . . they train you to protect the G-Men, that's like the number one priority no matter what . . . you know what bein' in the G-Men's all about. You know you ain't gonna be a superhero . . or maybe it's just you know what bein' one really means . . but you sure know what you got. An' you know what you'll do to protect it." But before he can go any further, someone pops in and shoves their fist through Jamal's head. "Siiiilence is golden!" This really pisses Hughie off, so he's ready to take them on all alone . . just for the principal of the thing. Eventually all the Boys join in, but in front of the mansion is every single G-Man waiting . . every single member, from every single group . . all standing there ready to face down the Boys. Butcher knows it's a hopelessly lopsided battle, but . . "Worse ways to go than slaughterin' twats like these." However, before they can do anything they hear choppers coming in. The representative from Voight-American is in the lead chopper so it appears that they've come to stop them. They get out of the choppers and immediately open fire . . on every single one of the G-Men. They shoot stingers after all the fliers. And then . . then they napalm everything that's left. The Voight-American guy comes over to Butcher and says . . "Just so you know . . . we can clean up our own shit!" That's definitely not how I expected all of this to end. Obviously it's not what the Boys expected either because the issue ends with them standing there with their jaws dropped. This is the kind of stuff I've been expecting to happen throughout this whole series, but . . you just never thought it would. You know? Wow! A pretty powerful ending. I love this book. I think Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson are doing a terrific job. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Masquerade #2 - Dynamite Entertainment

This is an interesting book. It seems to me that Masquerade isn't really a super-hero in the normal sense of the word. Yes she is a hero, but . . she doesn't really have any powers of her own. Except . . she seems to have a mind for analyzing things. Basically what happens, whenever she gets into a stressful situation she slips off into this trance like state. From there she can think through all the data, and clues, and ideas to find a pattern and a solution to whatever the problem happens to be that they're dealing with. In that way, she's kind of a catalyst for whatever heroes she's working with. She can help to point them in the right direction. She even knew ahead of time that the Fighting Yank was up to something. She didn't really know what it was, but . . she knew it was big. Next issue she's going to talk to him. This book is written by Phil Hester. Carlos Paul does the art. Carlos is really the star of this book. His artwork is really pretty damn good. And he seems to be getting better all the time. Why did a Beatles song just pop into my head? Sorry. I got distracted there. Anyways, as I've said, I think Alex Ross and Jim Krueger have a heck of a franchise going here. It's got a ton of potential. And, really . . it's just getting started.

the Authority #9 - WildStorm

This issue the team wraps up their little soiree into this little hamlet control by someone who is manipulating time. It turns out that he's an agent of the government . . an ex-agent, who's been fighting for Queen and country since the late 50's. His weapon of choice? He's found a way to weaponize time. But with everything that's happened in this world . . he's gone off his rocker. He can't accept reality, so . . he's created his own. The problem is, his altered reality is starting to affect the normal reality around it. So the British government needs to take him out. Eventually they do just that, with the Authority's help, and things go back to normal. Now whether that's better or worse . . who can say? They eventually make it back to the Carrier and find out that Jack's got a little pep back in his step. But more on that in the future. This book really is ok. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are doing a decent job with the story, and it seems like they're trying out some new ideas here. And why not? They're basically starting from scratch like the rest of the world here. I also think that Simon Coleby is getting a little better every issue. His style, to me, really didn't fit the book at first. But it seems like he's making it more and more his own every issue. Now if we could just get all the characters back to 100% . . then this would seem like an Authority book again. They're kind of a shadow of themselves right now. But I don't think that'll last forever. Eventually they'll be back to kicking ass and taking names. Actually . . the sooner the better. Please!

Jonah Hex #42 - DC

I don't always like Jordi Bernet's art. The art itself is ok. It's just not my style. It doesn't really do anything for me. And sometimes I think Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti's stories here are a little . . simple. But, that being said . . I like this book. I like this character. And I like this genre. Actually . . I guess it would be more appropriate to say that I like this genre because it's a distraction from the regular super-hero fare that I read in about 95% of my books. It's a nice change of pace. This issue we learn a little bit about Jonah when he was a kid. We learn that he had a dad a little more than just a mean son of a bitch. This guy was an ornery cuss. And he made Jonah's life hell as a child, under the guise of trying to toughen him up. Well, apparently it worked, and apparently the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. Because now . . Jonah and ornery cuss. Just like his pa. When Jonah was a child some boys in town beat him up. For which Jonah's father beat them up. Now her it is some 30 odd years later, and the 'boys' set up a ruse to draw the great bounty-hunter Jonah Hex back in to town. This time they aim to take him down. With Jonah though . . that's easier said than done. They chain him up with irons, and then expect him to draw on them. He does . . and he still takes them out. And than, he beats them to a pulp with the irons. As he's walking out of town, and old cuss with a bottle of whiskey sums it up best . . "That boy is a bean son of a bitch." Like I said, it's a nice distraction from what I normally read.

the Mighty #3 - DC

This is an interesting book. It's actually kind of refreshing to read a book about a brand new character, because there's no preconceived notions going

in to it. So far, I think Peter J Tomasi and Keith Champagne are doing a pretty decent job here. We aren't into it far enough to know everything that's going on yet. I think there's still some motivations that we haven't seen yet. Basically, there's this hero . . Alpha One. Then there's this agency that points him in the right direction, and cleans up after him when they have to. The Captain of this Agency, who is basically Alpha One's right hand man, recently died. Gabriel Cole was promoted to Captain in his place. This issue is mostly about these two guys getting to know each other better. They're going to be working together, side-by-side, day in and day out. They have to be able to trust each other, and anticipate the others thoughts and needs. Right now Gabe is still kind of in awe. He still remembers Alpha One pulling him out of the car wreck, in which his parents were killed, when he was a kid. This is somebody he's looked up to his whole life. And maybe it's just me, but it seems like Alpha One is going a bit overboard in trying to help Gabe acclimate to his new position. It's almost like there's a man-crush going on or something. I'm probably wrong, but . . it's seems to be getting close to that. A little bro-mance maybe? I'm just playin'. I'm sure it's nothing like that, but like I said . . we don't know all the motivations to these characters yet. We're on issue #3, but . . I feel like we're really just starting to get into it. So far . . I like the way it's being handled. So . . we'll wait and see. If nothing else, it's interesting.

Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #4 - DC

To me, this is probably the best Johnny DC book that come down the pike so far. Well . . with the exception of Teen Titans Go!. I loved that book. But Mike Kunkel does a fantastic job with this book. I think his art is great. And he also does a good job with the story. Last issue Mary accidentally gave Theo the magic word he needed to turn into Black Adam. This issue Billy is fighting him, and the Seven Deadly Sins. But, with Mary's help, the Wizard comes up with a plan to trick Theo into changing back, and bringing all the Sins back to the Rock of Eternity in the process. It's a cute book, and I love Mike's dialogue. To me, this is a fantastic introduction to these character for readers who may not be familiar with them. I really have to give props to Mike for turning out such a great book. I'm not sure how long it's going to be around, but . . I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can.

Superman / Batman #57 - DC

This issue was different. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning write it. Whilce Portacio does some fabulous art. Basically, Superman goes up against the Prankster. Superman knows that there's really nothing the Prankster can throw at him that he can't stand-up to. As does the Prankster. But this time . . he's got a different idea. It seems that the Prankster has been playing around with nanotechnology. It's infested in everything in his lair, including himself. But so far . . that's not really overly relevant to the story. The only reason I can think that it was even brought up was to give a reason why he's so much smarter now. Anyways, his plan is to lure Superman underneath a shrinking ray. Which he does, and he shrinks Supes down to sub-atomic size. As this is happening, Supes sets off his JLA emergency beacon. When Batman gets there and finds out what's going on, he call in John Henry to help. With a nanoscope he finds Superman in a piece of wood on the desk. He uses his unique energy signature to pinpoint him. There's a couple of problems though. First of all, they have to get Superman out before all of his energy is depleted. Time feels different at sub-atomic size. This whole thing is only about 15 minutes into it, but to Superman he feels like he's been there for over 2 months. Also, with all of this nanotech running rampant in the Pranksters hideout, they need to emp it before it can move on to infest the city. And, they can't just un-shrink Supes. Batman has to go in to retrieve him. I thought it was an interesting issue. I think Dan and Andy do a great job with their stories. And of course, I love Whilce's work . . anywhere I can get it. We'll see how it rolls out next issue before I make my final decision. There's some interesting ideas in here, but it just depends on the story space for their interpretation. It could end up being a great story, or . . it could be lame. We'll see how they play it out.

Teen Titans Annual #1 - DC

This issue is actually the opening salvo of the cross-over story . . Deathtrap. It's the story-line that's going to be crossing over between Titans, Teen Titans and Vigilante. The only question I really have is . . this whole issue I thought the attack on the Teen Titans was being carried out by a Jericho controlled Cyborg. We found out in the last issue of Titans, that's where he's been hiding out recently. However, at the end of the issue, Gar comes into the control room where Cyborg has just fallen because of the massive feedback caused by Static's discharge. But when he comes up on Vic, Gar says . . "There we go. Thank the robogod. I thought you were . . thought you were . . I thought you were Vic." So I'm wondering, is it actually Jericho, or is Ron, from the Cyborg mini-series back? Anyways, this story continues in Titans #12, then Vigilante #5, and then Teen Titans #70. It carries on that way through it's 6 parts. I thought this was a decent issue. Sean McKeever writes it and Fernando Dagnino does the art. Fernando is another artist to keep an eye on. That guy shows a whole lot of potential. I think he's just going to keep getting better and better. We see a little more of Sean's character development this issue. We don't get to see them operating as a team, but . .we get various members teaming up and interacting with one another. We know most of them already, so . . I think he needs to focus on Kid Eternity and Static to bring them up to speed. I love the Teen Titans and I'm hoping that this story-line brings them all together as a whole. We need to see them as a team, not a bunch of individual characters. But, like I said, I have a feeling that this upcoming story-line will fix all of that. At least I hope so.

Teen Titans #69 - DC

This is basically a rebuilding issue. It picks up immediately after the Terror Titans mini-series. M'Gann shows up at the Titans Tower with all of the refugees she's rescued from the Dark Side Club. But, as is the usual with the Teen Titans . . not everyone appreciates Cassie's offer for shelter, and maybe joining the team. Zatara is the first to spout off, "Are you out of your mind? Miss Martian offered us s place to recuperate from what the Dark Side Club did to us. And you just offered the same . . only with the stipulation you might recruit us? What a joke. I'm safer on tour." A bunch of the other people leave also. In the end we're left with our core group of Cassie, Jamie, Eddie, M'Gann and Bombshell. But the new members include Kid Eternity, Static and Aquagirl. The issue ends with the Face, who was recently kicked out, being killed by tech around the tower. He's snooping on the other team-member, but . . somebodies watching and takes him out. Which leads us right into the Annual, which is actually my next blog. Now that Sean McKeever has his team, I'm hoping that he can get things moving in the right direction. Not that things aren't now, but . . the team has seemed a bit aimless in the last few months. It seems like it's been more about deconstruction lately. It'll be good to see them growing from here. This issue Allan Goldman does the pencils. They look pretty decent actually. But next issue Joe Bennett comes on board as the regular artist. Now . . let's move on to the Annual.

Strange Adventures #2 - DC

Here we go again. Off on another Strange Adventure with Adam Strange and Captain Comet. I love the way Jim Starlin constructs these stories. There's always like 6 different things going on. You know that they're all connected, somehow . . but you can never see the big picture until later on in the series. First, from the end of last issue, we find out that Synnar is back and he's firmly entrenched in the Weird's body. We don't know why yet, but he's trying to gather up his Aberrant Six. Meanwhile, Adam is stymied because there are stars that seem to be disappearing right out of the sky. The problem is . . he's the only one that seems to be aware of their absence. And no one is believing him. Prince Gavyn is still trying to find the rest of his race. He's be testing DNA samples from around the site of their recent incident with Synnar. That's where Lady Styx was killed, and at the time his people were part of here. He just can't accept that they're really gone. Even though every piece of evidence points in that direction. Captain Comet is thinking about leaving Hardcore Station with Tyrone and Eye. He may have to take a vacation because the Mortician and his goons are after him. However, we find out that the Weird, now Synnar, shows up as they're trashing his apartment. Synnar ends up killing them all. We find out that Bizarro has replaced Hawkman as a member of the Aberrant Six. Apparently though Synnar isn't aware of that yet. However, Bizarro does appear to me using more reason with his madness. We learn of Bizarro's affiliation through Maya Glaxar. She's a rich celebrity that lives on Hardcore. The problem is . . she's been taken over by Lady Styx. She's trying to get Bizarro killed before Synnar learns of his involvement. Is that enough various story-lines for ya? Weirdly though . . they all seem to work together to form this fantastic issue. I don't know how Jim does it, but . . I'm glad he does. Manuel Garcia provides the art for the main story, and Jim himself does the art for the back-up. I love that Jim is associated with this title and these characters. He's been handling them now, off and on, for about 2 years. I hope he keeps it up. He's doing a tremendous job.

Battle for the Cowl - Manbat #1 - DC

I thought Joe Harris and Jim Calafiore did a fantastic job with this issue. Jim's art was perfect for this character. He has kind of a hectic, and frantic look to his stuff, and it was perfect for this story. Basically, Kurt is afraid of losing his wife, Francine. He has a bad dream that he's killed her from which he wakes up to find her missing. Oracle has sent out the call to arms, with Batman missing, for all of the operatives that might assist with the chaos in Gotham. Kurt sees this and assumes that's where Francine has gone. In his search for her he comes across Doctor Phosphorus. I'm not sure what the Doctor's motivations are, but he seems to want to talk to Kurt one on one . . Doctor to Doctor. It appears he has a theorem about Kurt. He thinks that the serum is just a crutch. That he should be able to change at will. So he destroys the bottle that he brought with him. Kurt tries to escape, crashing through the floor, only to find that his wife is indeed being held hostage. They try to escape but Phosphorus quickly catches up to them. Francine tries to help her husband, but when he sees her put in danger . . he finally reaches the point where he can change at will . . without the serum. I thought this was a great issue. It was a major development in the future of this character. But whether it's good or bad . . that has yet to be determined. At any rate, the Manbat seems to be firmly back in the Batman mythos. I have a feeling we'll be seeing him a lot around Gotham in the coming months.

Justice Society of America #25 - DC

The Shazam family is no more? The Black Adam family is no more? Say it isn't so. This story-line is far from over, but it appears this issue that everyone has been de-powered. Basically Isis is out of control. Also Mary has transformed Billy into a Black Adam version of herself. When Black Adam and Isis return to Kahndaq, Isis immediately began killing all of it's population. Black Adam tries to stand up to her, but his retaliation is tempered by his love. No matter what atrocities she commits. It takes Atom Smasher to get through to him. "Do you see what you've done Adam? Stop threatening someone for once and look at them. Look at what your power has done to Billy and Mary. Look at Isis. Your power has corrupted her . . like it's corrupted Mary and Billy. Don't you see, Adam? Your anger is so strong it's stained your powers. You need to call them back." But he's afraid to. He's afraid that if he pulls his powers back into himself that his beautiful wife will once again be a corpse. But the spirit of Billy's father, and Jay Garrick have another idea. They traveled to the Rock of Finality and retrieved the Wizard's body. It's been transformed to stone. "The Wizard knew he could never take back the power he bestowed upon you. But you can return the power to him. And then he will save Adrianna from your corruption and from death." Reluctantly, he does as he's asked. Everyone is returned to their human form. But the Wizard? The Wizard seems extraordinarily angry. He refuses to give anyone their powers back, and he turns Teth and Adrianna into statues. Afterwards, Billy and Mary seem lost. And after everyone's gone . . someone shows up with some evil intentions for Teth and Adrianna. "At last. I have my own champion to play with." The only good news this issue? The JSA has decided to keep everyone on board. There were rumors that they were thinking about downsizing, but . . " . we want you to stay. Every single one of you. We were the ones who made a mistake. We were the ones who forgot . . . you don't give up on family. And that's what the Justice Society is. What it's always been to me, family." This was another fantastic issue by Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway. So now what? So what happens now . . to the Wizard, Billy, Mary, Teth, Adrianna and even Freddie? Only time will tell, so . . I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

the Flash Rebirth #1 - DC

What a fantastic issue. I couldn't wait to read this one. But what's not to look forward to? We got Barry Allen back from the dead . . well, not from the dead . . he was actually trapped within the speed-force all of this time. Technically, he never really died. Also . . Bart's back. And he's a kid again. But for some reason he's not to thrilled about Barry's return. "He's back. So what did he sacrifice exactly? Look, this just . . it feels wrong. It's not fair. Whys Barry the only one that escaped the Speed Force?" Then, on top of all of that . . this series is written by Geoff Johns and beautifully illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. I mean seriously . . what's not to like about this book. It's a piece of history in the making. My only question is, who was the psycho in the beginning wielding the Flash-sword? He kills a couple of cops and then recreates the accident that turned Barry into the Flash in the first place. But, therein lies the mystery. We get a glimpse at most of the Rogues this issue. Each one of them is dealing with the Flash's return in their own way. And some, such as the new Trickster, never really knew him in the first place. Everybody else is also affected by this piece of news in a different way. The Justice League is celebrating. The Justice Society is reminiscing about how Barry pretty much single handedly saved the group. And even the Titans are excited that one of their original mentors has returned, and one of their team-mates with Kid Flash. The only one who doesn't really seemed overly excited about all of this is Barry himself. He's sulking over why he was spared and what he's going to do with the time, and the second chance he's been given. "I'm back at the starting line. I just don't know why. Coming back wasn't divine intervention, Hal. It was an accident. Like the lightning bolt that hit me. I can feel it. The Speed Force wants to draw me back in. I wasn't supposed to return. I've got to run. I might be back, but time hasn't stopped. The seconds are still ticking by. No matter what, one day, time will run out on me again. It'll run out on all of us. Every second does matter. As much as I want to stop, I can't. Tell everyone I'm sorry, but I'm not going to make it to the parties and parades. I can't be late. I can't be late for whatever the rest of the world needs me for." Actually the whole conversation, and interaction between Hal and Barry was handled perfectly. As was Tim and Bart's, and Wally and Roy's. But then again, that's what Geoff is best at . . character development and interaction. The issue ends with Barry discovering that somehow his connection with the Speed Force is having a negative affect on everyone else connected to it. Savitar uses Barry to escape the Speed Force himself. Barry tries to catch up to him to talk to him, but when he touches his shoulder . . he shrivels up like a prune and fades away into dust. Before he goes though, he says "You . . you were the beginning Allen . . and you're the end." As the Speed Force burns around Barry, we see the rest of the Flash-family writhing in agony and spasms as it seems to be having a negative affect on all of them at the same time. And we have to ask, how is all of this connected to the Flash corpse that's found in the Iowa corn field? 2 kids come across it, but all that's left is some bones, dust and the fragments of a black Flash costume. This was an incredible issue . . both story and art. If you didn't get it, you need to as fast as you can. Before it sells out. Like I said, this is history in the making. You'll be holding an instant classic in your hands. And forget about the $3.99 price tag. It's worth it. As are the 30 pages of Ethan's beautiful art. Get it while you can . . you won't be sorry.

Trinity #44 - DC

I have a feeling that these Dreambound characters are going to end up someplace after this is all over. They're a bunch of characters that are just to interesting to let them just fade away. Plus, they're not really a bad bunch of kids. I think they just got caught up in all the bad stuff that was happening around them. This issue they finally realize that they don't necessarily have to be a part of all of this madness. It's more than any of them really want to deal with. As they leave they're upset that they're abandoning Tarot and SPHERE, but . . they don't know what else to do. Also this issue, our band of intrepid do-gooders, who are trying to get through to the 'gods' that are trying to remake the world, finally get them to come down to their level and listen to their arguments. The problem is . . if they abandon these god-like abilities . . they may not be able to fix what Le Fey's done to the world. They think the greater-good trumps their individual needs to have their friends back. However, I think that the faith and trust of the rest of the world is going to be the final piece that they need to truly complete the task. In the process though, they decide to spare Tomorrow Woman any further anguish. They fix it so she's no longer fading from reality. On the bad guys side of things, Kanjar-ro's recent attack at the Castle Branek, with the aid of Despero and the Crime Syndicate, has been thwarted by . . Despero. He remembers the dreams of power that Le Fey tried to give him and he's come to an agreement with her. Also she appealed to the Crime Syndicate by offering them a crack at the Trinity. And Enigma finally confronts his tormentors . . the Crime Syndicate. "I'm going to break you. All of you. Break your power over our Earth. You killed my wife and son. Almost killed my daughter, and I'll make you pay." I like this series. I enjoy the story-line. But, what'll be really interesting is to see what the effect will be on some of these characters afterwards. Also, where they're all going to land. This was another terrific issue by Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Fabian Nicieza and Tom Derenick. We're almost at the end.

Spawn #190 - Image

I really like the way this 'new direction' on this book is rolling out. Todd McFarlane and Brian Holguin are writing it, and it seems like they're really taking their time to make sure that everything unfolds just the way it should. And of course, Whilce Portacio's art is incredible, as always. This issue seems to be mostly about giving us information. Someone has finally realized that Jim is in Sara's care, and have come looking for him. Luckily, Jim stepped out shortly before that happened. We also find out that there's a connection between Jim and Al. Maybe. At least there is between he and Wanda. It appears that he showed up on Wanda's doorstep about 5 years ago, then right when Terry shows up he passes out. Obviously he doesn't remember any of this. But, after looking into his eyes, Wanda realizes that he's messed up in all of this heaven and hell crap that she's been dealing with forever. "My god! You're one of them aren't you? I see it in your eyes. And if you don't even know you're a part of their madness, I . . I'm sorry, Jim, but I can't help you. I just can't do that anymore. Not again. But I know where you might find some answers . . or whatever you're looking for. That's the best I can do." She directs him to the alley where he finds Spawn's chair . . throne, if you will. When he sits down, the Spawn identity envelopes him, and . . he sees an angel. "Greetings, brother. It's good to see another of God's elite." I'm not quite sure what that's all about. Anyways, Sam & Twitch also seem to be playing a larger role in this series, the 'new direction'. They're also looking into what happened at St Anthony's and how it ties to the Nortega Cartel. They also have suspicions that Spawn is involved, but . . they think he may be different, or changed. This series is really getting exciting again. Every issue leaves you wanting more. I'm glad this book is at the top of my list again. That's where it should be.

the Amazing Spider-man #589 - Marvel

I actually thought that this issue was a bit lame. There appears to be a new villain in town . . a Russian mobster by the name of Mr Ivankov. He's trying to make a name for himself, but recently one of his groups accidentally shot a kid in a drive-by. Which, from what I can gather, is where the Spot comes in. He's been stuck in his 'spot-dimension' ever since he double crossed his last employer, MODOK, and the Mandarin enveloped him in his own spots. He felt like he was there for years, and the only thing left for him to focus on was his son Wyatt. As it turns out . . Wyatt was the boy accidentally shot by the Russians. Anyways, Spider-man more or less figures this out and delivers a copy of Treasure Island to Wyatt in the hospital. It's the book Spot used to read to him every night . . before his accident. Like I said . . kind of lame. There really wasn't that much to the story. Fred Van Lente wrote it and Paulo Siqueira does the pencils. Really, the best thing about the whole issue was the art. Paulo really did a nice job. He definitely seems to have been influence by Barry Kitson, and maybe Kevin Maquire. I can see both of 'em in there. Anyways, I guess it was an ok issue, it just really didn't do anything for me. Sorry.

Fantastic Four #565 - Marvel

This story had me more than a little confused last issue. It seemed like everything was gearing up for this Masters of Doom story-line when . . bam . . we're back at Christmas time and Reed, Sue and the rest of the family have gone to Scotland to visit Reed's cousin Hamish. It doesn't become clear until the end of the issue that this is basically an in-between story. In this issue we find out that the town is being protect by some ancient monster called Korgo. Basically he/it protected the town from crime, disease, strife, etc. for the last 2000 years. All he asked in return was a child of his choosing every 25 years. This time he asked for Hamish's son Angus. That's when Hamish invited the Richards to Scotland and offered Korgo Valeria instead. Once they found out what Korgo was, it was just a matter of them finding something big enough to hit him with. It's at the end of this story that we realize that this happened before the current events of the series. One of the women that Sue helped save writes her a few months later. Basically she wants to say thanks for everything that Sue, and the rest of the FF did for them back in Armailt. " . . I just wanted to show you what a difference you've made to one person's life . . and hopefully raise a little smile after everything that happened when you went back to New York. I'm sorry about what happened with Doctor Doom and those horrible teachers of his. So sorry for what happened to the Thing and that lovely fiancee he had." That all sounds a bit ominous. Anyways, I guess Mark Millar had to take a little break from all the danger and adventure for a little side story. That or he just needed a little time to get everything ready for this big Doctor Doom epic. Bryan Hitch's pencils were great . . as usual. It appears that next issue all the Doom and gloom will be hitting the fan . . literally. I can't wait.

Elektra - Dark Reign #1 - Marvel

Finally! At last! Elektra is back. I've been waiting for this for a very long time. I don't get to talk about it much, but I have everything that's ever had Elektra in it. All the way back to the early issues of Daredevil. I love this character. There's a few duds in there . . they weren't quite up to the standards of this characters remarkable potential, but overall . . there's been some amazing stuff done with her and her adventures. When this whole thing first happened with the Skrull invasion, I knew that she'd be back eventually . . I just had to be patient. Well . . it's been almost 2 years now . . ever since the end of New Avengers #31 where, after fighting the Hand the dead body of Elektra is revealed to be a Skrull. And now . . now she's back. Kind of. This story picks up right after the end of the battle in Central Park. The rest of the fugitives are getting off of the Skrull ship and Elektra is among them. She's in terrible shape. For some reason the rest of the fugitives were taken so that they could be replaced, but with Elektra . . Elektra was prodded and poked and experimented on. But we don't know why yet. She tries to make a break for it, but . . she's easily subdued. She's then taken to SHIELD for sanctuary and help with recovery. However . . shortly after SHIELD falls to Norman Osborne. When he finds out that they've inherited Elektra, he decides he wants to find out why the Skrulls were so interested in her. So she's been aboard the helicarrier now for about 4 months. For the last 3 months Norman has had his ace interrogator taking a crack at her. "I need to know why the Skrulls experimented on her." When asked how long she has, Norman replies . . "As long as the trauma of interrogation does not exceed her capacity to withstand it, I'd suppose. Carry on." But you knew eventually she'd find a way to get out. Paladin poses as a HAMMER agent and makes his way into the lab where she's being held. Of course then he has to gloat over what he's doing and why he's doing it. He punches Elektra in the mouth and knocks a tooth loose. When he gets close enough she shoots it down his throat and chokes him. She kills Paladin and then swipes a piece of her interrogators red shirt. She has to put a bandanna on her head before she goes out to face the rest of the HAMMER agents. This series is just starting, but . . it should be a heck of a ride. Zeb Wells writes it with Clay Mann doing the art. He also does the cover on the right. Lee Bermejo does the cover on the left. It's fantastic looking. Really, my only complaint is that this is only a 5 issue series. I hope she ends up someplace after that . . or maybe in her own series again. I can't wait to see how this one plays out.

Avengers: the Initiative featuring Reptil #1 - Marvel

I thought this was a pretty decent issue. It's a one-shot, for $3.99. And it actually falls between Initiative issues #19 and #20 . . the timing is a little off. But, other than that . . I actually liked the story. Christos Gage and Steve Uy handle the story. They also do the main title, so it felt like it was just a natural extension of that. Which is a good thing. I think they're doing a pretty decent job with this series. Especially considering the repercussions of the Skrull invasion and that there may not be a reason for this program anymore. Plus this issue is wrapped in a beautiful Humberto Ramos cover. This issue we're introduced to a new character, Humberto Lopez aka Reptil. His parents are paleontologists and he sometimes goes out on their digs with them. One time he found what looks like a piece of crystallized bone. His powers seem to come from the bone, but nobody else can access them. Anyways, he's brought in because Stegron is looking for Moon-boy. You know, from the Savage Land . . Moon-boy and Devil-Dinosaur? Anyways, SHIELD captured him when they were down there and brought him back for observation. The problem is . . Devil-Dinosaur is dying without his friend. So Stegron is searching SHIELD bases trying to save a fellow dinosaur. With the obvious connections, plus he seems to have an empathic connection with the dinosaurs, Humberto is picked for the team. He really wants to be a hero, and he loves that he's been picked as a new recruit, however . . in order to save Moon-boy, he has to give all of that up. However in his eyes he's the greater hero for making the personal sacrifice to save another. In the end it pays off because when Ka-zar comes to pick up Moon-boy, he offers Reptil a chance to visit the Savage Land and . . he says he'll help find his parents who are supposedly lost therein. I think this character has some future, and I'm sure the Savage Land story will be told someplace. That's a good thing. Plus . . I really like the Initiative title. I know it doesn't have much time left, but . . I'm gonna enjoy it while I can.

the Mighty Avengers #23 - Marvel

I actually didn't like this issue very much. The Mighty Avengers are in complete disarray right now . . because of the whole Norman Osborne / Thunderbolts / HAMMER thing, but we did have a team assembled last issue by Wanda. It consists of Hank Pym, the Vision, the Hulk, Stature, Hercules, US Agent, Jocasta Amadeus Cho and Jarvis. An eclectic team to say the least. And with their current troubles with Chthon and Quicksilver at Mount Wundagore . . Iron Man showed up last issue to try to help 'fix' things. But really his appearance only proved 2 things. First of all, most of the team question whether or not they still respect him or can follow him. Secondly, he's still making the wrong decisions. He asks for Hercules and US Agent to help him, and then his plan is to demolish Mount Wundagore to cut of Chthon from his source of power. However it's Hank that figures out the real solution and ends up being the one to save the day. My problem with this story is two-fold. First of all . . I don't really like Hank's character. I never really have. And it's not because of all the glaring reasons . . he's arrogant, he's moody, he's probably bi-polar or schizophrenic, he's the face of the Skrull invasion. No, I just don't really like the guy . . the character, the costume, the powers that seem to change every issue . . I just can't get into his character. Secondly, the team is still in disarray. They borrowed some Young Avengers this issue to help them out, so they'll be heading back there. The Hulk is not a stable character, so he won't be around. And, the team was put together by Wanda. Yes Hank will probably be taking over and running it from here, but . . we find out this issue that the whole thing was a ruse and was actually Loki posing as Wanda. We don't find out the motivations for his actions, but . . there's gotta be some reason he's doing all of this. Also, I just didn't like the resolution of this story-line. It was all to neat and clean. One minute they're fighting Chthon, and the next . . it's all over. It just seems to me that the whole future of the team is up in the air right now. Dan Slott wrote the story and Khoi Pham does the art. I'm sorry. This issue may serve as a piece in a much larger story, but . . as a stand alone issue . . I've seen better. It makes me question the future of this series. Sorry!

the New Avengers #51 - Marvel

Basically . . this issue was all about Doctor Strange's search to find the next Sorcerer Supreme. There's a natural progression, process, happening . . but Stephen is looking for the next candidate because he has some specific gifts for him/her. He wants to be their teacher/mentor, but he also is in possession of the Eye of Agamotto, the Wand of Watoomb and the Cloak of Levitation. And I'm sure that's just the short list. Plus . . there's some people out there with the desire, or abilities, that he would probably rather not see attain the position of power. Parker Robbins, the Hood, and Doctor Doom are a couple that we know about. I'm sure there's more. So far he's talked to Jennifer Kale and in this issue he bumps into Billy . . from the Young Avengers. It's funny how Stephen is trying to talk to Billy and help him, but at the same time he talks down to him. Billy tells him he's with the Young Avengers and Stephen says, "You don't have to apologize for your actions. 'Young' means you're apologizing. You're saying, we're 'young' so don't take us seriously." Billy looks at him and says, "I never thought of it like that . . . . but . . . we are young." I also enjoyed the meeting that the Avengers have at the end of the issue. Basically, they decide on naming Clint the leader, with Carol as his second in command. And Clint's first decision? He tells Spider-man he either has to take his mask off . . or leave. Peter makes the right decision, and then finds out that Jessica went to school with him. As she's talking about the crush she had on him in the 9th and 10th grades, Luke is getting seriously pissed. They also find out his connection to Norman . . "He's my best friends father." Now Clint's ready to use that to their advantage . . "So, wait. So you have an in. You can get to him." But before they can discuss that any further Doctor Strange comes crashing down on thier doorstep. All in all I thought it was a pretty decent issue. Not overly exciting or action packed, but . . we did learn some new information and we made progress with the story-line. Sometimes that's all we can ask for. Of course Brian Bendis wrote it, but . . there's a bevy of talent in the art department. Billy Tan and Chris Bachalo both contributed to the art this issue. Billy doing the Avengers part, with Chris handling Doctor Strange. Right now, it looks like we'll be focusing on Doctor Strange for a little while.

Wolverine: First Class #13 - Marvel

This title doesn't really excite me a whole lot . . other than it's another installment of Wolverine every month. But . . the interesting thing about this one is how it's set in the early days of his involvement with the X-Men. He's pretty new to the team . . at least as a permanent fixture, and it's right around the same time that Kitty came on board. So, as in the original stories, he and Kitty spend a lot of time together. Basically, he's her mentor. Of course most of his time is spent getting her out of some sticky situation or another. However the irony of it all is . . he's probably the reason she gets into these messes in the first place. 'Guilty by association', and all that. Anyways, this particular story deals with Logan's association to everything Japanese. Specifically Lady Makiro. This time it's a friend of her's, Keli Saga. She's recently taken over her dead husband's corporation and the Hand is after her because she no longer wants to do business the old way. Basically, she wants Logan to protect her. The interesting thing about this issue is . . we get to see Matt Murdock in action also. And, I hadn't really thought about it but . . since this takes place quite a while ago . . who was leading the Hand back then? None other than Elektra . . who shows up on the final page of the issue. All in all I thought it was an interesting story. I may be biased, but I thought it was better than the previous issues which I credit to Peter David's story-telling. The artist was Ronan Cliquet. I thought his stuff was ok. I think it was a little heavy on the inks, but . . I can definitely see a Mark Texiera influence. So basically I'm saying that this issue has me optimistic to the future of this series. Hopefully this book will live up to it's potential.

X-Force/Cable: Messiah War Prologue #1 - Marvel

I actually thought this was a pretty decent book. Really, it's just setting up the groundwork for the upcoming Messiah War story-line. But it looks like it's going to be one heck of an event. We find out this issue that the stranger that Bishop meets up with in the bar is actually . . . . wait for it . . . Stryfe. But, was that really a surprise to anybody? I didn't think so. I think we could all see that one coming from a mile away. However, from Bishop and Stryfe's talk, it looks like we may be seeing Apocalypse again. X-Force, Wolverine and his merry band, have gone to the future to help out Cable. The year 2973 to be exact. Cable tells them they've walked into a trap, and shows them a city. "Holy $#@&. HIM?!" The only question I have is, is it Stryfe's or Apocalypse's? I would guess Apocalypses, but we don't know for sure yet. The other interesting part of this story is Bishop's skewing of events when he's talking to Stryfe. Stryfe agrees to help Bishop, but not because of Nathan's involvement . . he says he doesn't care about Cable anymore . . he decides to help because Bishop is offering him Apocalypse. That's really the only thing that gets his interest. But the story that Bishop's told Stryfe is exactly the opposite of actual events. He portrays Cable as the one destroying the future. So I'm wondering what'll happen when Stryfe finds out that he's been lying to him. Another interesting twist is when X-Force finds out that Deadpool is still alive in this distant future. He seems a little crazier than normal, but . . I would imagine that would be expected from living alone for so long. Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost write this book. I'm not sure if they'll be doing the whole Messiah War story-line, but . . the did this chapter. Mike Choi and Sonia Oback do the interior art, and . . it's simply incredible. If you're a follower of Cable's, your definitely going to have to check out this story that will be bouncing back and forth between Cable's book, and X-Force. Personally, I think it's a natural match-up of characters. This should be a heck of a story-line. And maybe we can finally find out what the threat is that Hope actually poses. It's been implied for quite a while now, but we don't know the specifics. Keep your arms and legs inside of the car at all time . . the rides about to begin.

x-infernus #4 - Marvel

I liked this mini-series, and I definitely enjoyed the story by CB Cebulski. Also Giuseppe Camuncoli's art really fit this book perfectly. Not to mention the wrapping of the whole thing with the beautiful David Finch covers. However, this particular issue . . to me didn't really resolve a whole lot. But, I think that was the point. Really, this whole series serves as the prelude to the new New Mutants series coming out next month. Basically, from what I can see, this series has just kind of set up the ground-work for, probably, the first year of stories in that book. Witchfire has taken the 'bloodstones' from Illyana. But even Illyana was missing 1 or 2. So Witchfire got Pixies from her, and then somehow created the final one. This serves as the power-source to open some doorway for some 'elder-gods' to come through. Apparently this could mean the end of all creation. Anyways, of course the X-Men fight back . . Wolverine, Peter, Kurt, Mercury, Pixie and Illyana do all they can to stop the 'gods' incursion, and hold them back while Mercury and Illyana try to deal with Witchfire. Long story short . . they stop the immediate threat, putting a crimp in Witchfire's plans, however . . Witchfire escapes and has Illyana and Pixie's 'bloodstones' with her. Now neither of them feel complete or whole. And before they can really do anything about it, they're all transported back to the Mansion. There they find the X-Men, and a lot of their old team-members waiting for them. And this time, somehow, Pete and Scott end up talking Illyana into sticking around and letting the X-Men . . or maybe the New Mutants, help her deal with all of this craziness. I would imagine that the New Mutants book will pick up immediately thereafter. I'm glad that the New Mutants are coming back, but . . I hope this isn't the end of the road for the Young X-Men. Unless of course they all get incorporated into the various X-teams. Anyways, I'm also glad that Illyana is back. Hopefully with the new title they'll finally be able to wrap up this story-line that's been going on for . . what? . . about 20 or so years now?

the Death Defying 'Devil #4 - Dynamite Entertainment

I thought this was the best issue of this mini-series yet. We finally learn why this Dragon is after the 'Devil. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Last issue the Claw set off a bomb in some power source that ignited into an almost nuclear explosion in the middle of Hong Kong. This issue the Ghost, Silver Streak and the 'Devil are left to pick up the pieces. In a scene reminiscent to that of the 'anti-life equation', there seems to be some kind of mind control going on with the survivors. I would imagine the Claw is somehow responsible for this as it seems to be spreading like a wave over the city. It takes over Justine as she's trying to help one of the survivors, but . . later on she shows up with the group seemingly unaffected. Well, except for being disoriented and a bit foggy about what's going on. Anyways, the Ghost and Silver Streak pretty much take care of the immediate problems with the fires and the buildings, but then they come across the Dragon and the 'Devil going at it. Of course the 'Devil isn't talking, but the Dragon is willing to tell his story to anyone that's willing to listen. It seems that the Dragon is actually 'Curly', a kid who wanted to be the 'Devils side-kick way back when. Ever since the heroes emerged from the Urn Curly is convinced that the 'Devil is an impostor. His proof is his boomerangs. The 'Devil always operated with 2 boomerangs, but Curly insists the real 'Devil gave him one on his deathbed. And now he wants to know where this guy posing as the 'Devil got his from. The problem is, once Curly unloads this on to everyone . . the 'Devil seems just as much confused about events as he does. I thought it was kind of a weird way to end the mini, but . . I guess it does leave a lot of room open for more story in the future. Overall I'm enjoying this 'Project Superpowers' and it's many various off-shoots. In a way it kind of reminds me of Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's Earth-X and Planet-X series from Marvel a few years back. Not so much from the character point-of-view, but rather from the story-telling process. Alex and Jim seem to love these stories that have dozens of characters to keep track of. Although Joe Casey is helping Alex on this particular mini. Edgar Salazar, who provides the interior art, really seems to be coming into his own. He's definitely improving over the course of time, and seems to be defining his own unique style. The best part about all of this is that really . . this whole 'Project' is just getting started. There's still an awful lot of possibilities out there. With Alex and Jim at the helm you know it's going to be interesting.

Top 10: Season Two - Special #1 - America's Best Comics

This issue was billed as a special issue, but really . . it was just another issue of Top 10. It was a little different in that it didn't focus on the precinct or the officers therein. This one focused on Sung. She's an Android lawyer. She used to be a police officer. I can't remember if she was in precinct 10, but . . now she's a lawyer and she's dating Pete. This issue kind of seemed like an extension of the last issue of Top 10. Pete is still acting a little strange, and since his dismissal from the force, he seems to be doing security work now. But he's not having any better luck at that. It all comes down to attitude. Anyways, we see that Sung has all the edicts of the law downloaded into her, she knows all the rules and mandates and such, but . . she doesn't know the nuances of the courtroom or the judicial process. Which is why she keeps losing case after case after case. But since she's just a public defender they don't really care if she's just learning as she goes along. Most of the people she represents are scum anyways. At least that's the way the prosecuting attorneys see 'em. Anyways, I thought it was an interesting book. There really wasn't anything special about it. Like I said it was almost entirely about Sung and her court cases. However we did see some interesting individuals. Zander and Kevin Cannon wrote it. The art was done by someone I've never heard of . . Daxiong. It wasn't to bad. It was different. Anyways, this book just kind of left me feeling like . . so what? It was ok, but it wasn't anything special.

WildCATS #9 - WildStorm

Is that cover cool, or what? Majestros is truly the master of his domain. And this issue the WildCATs finally go out to Hawaii to see what's really going on. Plus, they got kind of a cryptic warning from Nemesis and Backlash. Anyways, they travel out there and find the island virtually unscathed by the recent global events. This really has Hadrian confused. "I don't understand. How is Hawaii so . . unaffected I mean, Earth was moved off it's axis." To which Majestros simply replies, "I know. I put it back." Then he goes on to say how he's dealt with all the tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, storms, etc that would've occurred because of that. But he can't worry about the rest of the world because he feels they have a precarious position here. As it is he just got done fighting Argos who wanted to take over his little paradise. "Imagine if I'd been in, say, Dubai when Argos showed up. In the minutes it would've taken me to return, he could have killed everyone. I can only do so much. My life is now an endless succession of hard choices." So Hadrian begins to push a little bit, "Tomorrow, you and I will head for Asia. See what we can do. The WildCATs will protect Hawaii. What are you afraid of?" Plus, he wants go give Zealot and Grifter a chance to talk to Nemesis and Backlash to see if they can find out what's going on. It turns out that they're hanging around because they're trying to protect someone that is Majestros' prisoner. Zealot goes to investigate and finds her daughter, Savant, in a cell in the basement of the Palace. Needless to say, this should be an interesting confrontation between Zealot and Majestros next issue. I like the work that Christos Gage and Neal Googe are doing on this book. I think that they've really set this book apart from the rest of the WildStorm Universe. My only complaint is that Christos tends to focus on the characters that are most important to the story. The rest of them are left just kind of hanging around. I think he could show more interaction and character development in his stories. Maybe that's just me . . I'm just sayin'. Other than that . . I like it.

Madame Xanadu #9 - Vertigo

Another fantastic issue by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley. Amy really creates a fantastic feel to this book. And I love the way Matt is intertwining pretty much all of the DC Universe into the Madame's course of existence. We find out this issue that she's very close friends with John Zatarra. By the way we've moved into the 20th century, and Nimue has emigrated to the United States as has so many other Europeans. However, after 50 or so years, she's still upset about the last meeting she had with the Stranger. She's concocted a binding spell with one of the hair of Merlin's beard that she keeps in her satchel. The world is on the brink of war, but to me the most interesting part or this story is the Strangers most recent encounter with Zatarra. John tells Nimue that the Stranger has contacted him with a warning . . "A new age is dawning . . an age of heroes, with capacities beyond the scope of normal men! He wants our help . . all or our help . . to guide and protect this precarious time. To help make this a truly golden age, sufficient to stave off the gathering clouds of darkness and war!" And with that, we see the beginning of the shift with a local police officer that is doing his best to keep the graft out of his end of town. All we know right now is that his name is Jim. But if I'm not mistaken I believe this is Jim Corrigan, who will eventually become the Spectre. Like I said, I like the way the Matt has had Nimue's path weave it's way through history, and now . . now she stands on the brink of the explosion of the DC Universe. It'll be interesting to see the effects she has on the various aspects of it as it begins to emerge. I really like this book.