Titans #21 - DC

We see a majority of the Titans this issue, but . . they aren't back together. They get together to fight some Dark Nemesis chumps . . even Wally comes running. But they're really just looking for an excuse. The Dark Nemesis goon were just minor leaguers. As soon as the fight is over, Wally and Donna take off. Wally wants to be there for Barry . . he feels like he's missed so much. And Donna is concerned about Roy. Remember . . he got his arm cut off in Cry for Justice. Raven and Gar have taken off for California, and the Teen Titans. And Kory? Kory has been offered membership in the JLA, from Vixen. So basically . . Vic is alone in holding down the fort. However, when Kory goes to Gotham to talk to Dick about her opportunity, and decision, he reminds her 'If you do decide to join the JLA, we'll still be a family. The Titans are always together . . when it really matters.' Which really helps her to make the final jump. Now all she has to do is go back and talk to Vic about it. Vic's problem is that when he tried to put together a team on his own . . Titans West . . his new recruits were all hurt, or killed. He'll never forgive himself for that. So, when trying to put together a new team . . he wants experience over raw power. There's plenty of new faces out there that he could choose from. But he's afraid to go down that road again. Which, at the end of the issue when Phobia shows up, she uses against him. And then she turns the table on Kory. She finally knows what Kory's darkest fear is . . she's afraid to be alone. One thing the Titans have never been short on is character development. JT Krul seems to be doing a great job of keeping that going. He really brings out a lot of emotions in these characters. Angel Unzueta and Chris Batista do the art. It looks ok, but Angel's solo work looks alot better . . like that on the cover. Anyways, it looks like things are really going to hit bottom for the Titans next issue. But . . it appears that in March, with their Annual and Titans #24 things will finally start to turn around. There may be a bright future for this team yet. Once they get past all of this . . crap.

Magog #5 - DC

This issue is adorned once again with another awesome Glenn Fabry cover. The one pictured here is actually more of a sketch. The original looks much better. Anyways, Keith Giffen sure has a lot going on here. I wonder where he comes up with all of these ideas? Last issue we see him and Miasma trying to escape from the facility in which they're being contained. It turns out, this DP Macklin, the Warden of Haven . . a maximum security prison, is also using the place as a cover for his own business. He deals in exotic stuff, but . . when it comes down to it, he's an arms dealer. Just not the kind that you would normally think of. Anyways, Magog was trying to break out and Macklin decided that he needed to contain the problem, so he plasma blasted the corridor in which he was in. As that happens, he's transported, as well as Miasma, to Albion. That's where his mother Alba lives. Magog just doesn't know it. It appears that although David has been given the Magog identity, it may not have been Gog's to give. So when he returns to Albion, Alba decides that he's incomplete. He appears to be 'wearing' Magog, like his armor or essence. But he hasn't become integrated into David . . his person and his psyche. So Alba transports him back to the 'real world', and he ends up right back in the middle of the installation where he was before he left. Luckily though, the guards don't seem to want to put up a fight, and the plasma blast that was meant for him has pretty much taken out security. Also Chelsea, Alba's sister, who has been working undercover for Macklin, decides that helping her sister's son is more important than her secret identity. That, or she just doesn't care anymore. Although I don't think David has made the connection between Alba and Chelsea. If he had, he may be a little more reluctant to accept her aid. So . . the issue ends with David and Chelsea coming after Macklin. So he decides to disable the security for the actual prison, Haven, that resides of his other pursuits, Flashpoint, and this alerts the JSA. The problem is . . it comes across to them as a prison break, with Magog being the primary rogue metahuman presence. I don't think this is going to be a friendly family reunion. I have to say, at first I was a bit skeptical about this series. I mean we know what Magog did over in that other universe. I'm not sure why he was brought to this one in the first place. But, this particular story seems to be more about David's character than necessarily that of Magog's. I think David is just trying to use the power that he's been given to try to make a difference in the world. And the reason he doesn't play well with the other heroes? He wasn't brought up to be a hero. He was brought up to be a soldier. And that's a whole different set of rules than the JSA or JLA were ever taught. I'd expect there to be difference and friction between them. However, sooner or later, he's probably going to have to deal with Magog's identity, as well as his power. I just hope that by that time he's learned enough about himself to be able to stand up to him, or to be able to tell the difference between Magog and himself. So far this series has kept me interested. Keith and Howard Porter are doing a pretty good job of keeping things exciting. There's a lot of potential here.

Batgirl #6 - DC

Last issue Stephanie got shot while she was trying to help her friend, Fernando Garcia . . son of real-estate mogul Stefano Garcia. There were some fires at some of his holding in Devil's Square, and Steph could tell that Fernando maybe had some idea of what was going on. So . . she was following him. When she sees him at a diner, she decides to go in and try to get some information. Unfortunately, that was at the same time that someone decided to abduct him. In the melee that ensued, Stephanie was grazed by a bullet. After escaping from the ambulance ride, Stephanie wants to figure out who took and friend and why. That's when she crosses paths with Batman & Robin. Long story short, Batman disciplines them both, and takes them both off the case. While they're cooling their heels, Stephanie comes up with a plan. She doesn't want Damian to try to stop her, so she invites him along. She decides to go and interrogate Fernando's girlfriend, Jordanna Spence. The problem is, Jordanna knows Stephanie, so she's afraid that she may unwittingly give away her identity. Anyways, they find out that Stefano is a serious gambler. And as with any gambler, sometimes he wins, and sometimes he losses. To cover a recent loss, he abducts his own son in order to bring Batman into Devil's Square. Once there . . Roulette has a gauntlet set up for him. In order to get out of this, Batman's going to have to get past Freddie 'Riot' Frankenstein, Roxanne 'Rocket' Sutton, and Dr Phosphorus. They've already caused his new Bat-Mobile to crash, and now they're coming after him personally. Jordanna shows Batgirl and Robin what's happening on the internet, just as Oracle discovers the same information. I think Bryan Q Miller is doing a pretty decent job with this series. I really like the way that he's got Stephanie and Barbara's characters working together. It's kind of a love/hate relationship. And he seems to be building on their teamwork with every issue. I also like Lee Garbett's style of art in this series. It's got kind of a raw kind of feel to it. Which I think fits perfectly. I know we're only on issue #6, but I really hope that this series lasts longer than the last. I really enjoy the Batgirl character. No matter who's under the cowl. I do hope though that we find out soon what's up with Cassandra. I miss her.

CatWoman #83 - DC

I want to say that I really enjoyed this book . . both the story and the art. And while it has nothing to do with this issue . . I really, really miss Jim Balent's Catwoman. Meooww!! In it's absence, I read Tarot, Witch of the Black Rose regularly. I just don't think it's appropriate for this blog. However, with this issue, I am happy that Adam Hughes did the cover. His version is equally as succulent as Jim's. Plus, it continues with the great covers of the last series. Adam is another guy that could put together a book of nothing but cover art. Anyways, this issue is all about CatWoman's greatest regret . . as if you didn't know . . killing the Black Mask, Roman Sionis. She was trying to protect her sister, Maggie. I don't think that she necessarily regrets killing him, just that she was pushed by him to that point. I don't think she ever wanted to take a life, but . . for family, she was willing to. And now that Black Mask has returned and is trying to make her come to that decision again. At first he comes directly at her and attacks her as she's leaving a burglary. But she doesn't give him what he wants. She becomes pure 'will'. He wants the more raw emotions . . fear, anger, hatred. But she refuses to give those to him. So he decides instead to go at her like he did last time . . through her sister Maggie. Which takes them all to the psychiatric hospital where she's been held since the Black Mask killed her husband, and forced her to eat his eyeballs. Yuckk!! Since then, she's been pretty much catatonic. But it's the Black Mask's voice that brings her out of it. And then, when she sees Selina . . it all comes pouring out. The whole Black Mask thing . . doesn't really matter. Selina gets the help of her cohorts, Harley and Ivy, and they defeat him by putting him in a man-eating plant. I guess they plan on keeping him there until the Black Ring crisis has passed. Anyways, none of that's really important. Other than setting up the story. The real important thing that happens this issue is that Maggie has found a new target for her hatred and rage. It's now being directed straight at CatWoman. During all the hoopla, Maggie mugs a nun and takes off in her uniform. We see her later, I assume, in the sewers. 'It's all so clear . . should've never left the order, never renounced my vows . . then I might've realized it sooner . . my mission in life . . to kill the demon that took away my sister and destroyed both our lives. The demon that calls itself CatWoman.' There was an old series called Areala Warrior Nun. I don't know if anybody remembers that. Anyways, my point is . . it appears that Maggie may be heading down that path. Or maybe she'll just hook up with Azrael. I don't know. But I do know . . we haven't seen the last of Magdalene Kyle. Tony Bedard did a great job with this issue. I really liked the story, and the way that it was all set up to affect, and change Maggie's character. She's been stuck away in the broom closet for far to long. It's about time she got out and started making a contribution. Even if it is to the determent of her sister, Selina. The art for this issue was done by a team of great artists that include Fabrizio Fiorentino, Ibraim Roberson, Marcos Marz, and Luciana Del Negro. Obviously each of them did different pages, so I'm not sure who's are was who's. But . . there were some really amazing panels in this book. It definitely lived up to it's preceding incarnations. So far, this has been my favorite 'Final Issue' yet. Which says alot, because I was really glad to see Suicide Squad.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #12 - DC

It's funny how Vril Dox plays all these different people in this group that he's assembled here. They're all doing something to perpetuate his plan, but . . none of them know what the others are up to. They know the overall plan, but they don't know the individual components. Now that he's moved on from the Black Lantern threat, Vril is once again ready to put together his 3 part plan. First he needs the shards of the Gamma Gong. Captain Comet, Kanjar Ro and Wildstar are tasked with retrieving it. Next, Admiral Xylon will be taking Adam Strange, Ciji and Bounder to Kaipei to retrieve a Dominator Gene-Bomb. And finally Vril himself, with Kreel and Tribulus will go to Kalanor for the third component. From the cover, you can tell what that is . . Despero's head. Meanwhile, Strata and her family have left the cause. Or have they? And the Omega Men, after infiltrating Starro's home galaxy, discover a secret that Starro doesn't want anyone else to know about. On a remote world, now long dead, there once lived a hunter race that Starro targeted. They fought back, but were eventually defeated. However, in the process they had also discovered the secret to defeating Starro. They knew how to keep from becoming mind-slaves and how to kill the Starros. But, while all of this is going on, Starro has finally defeated all the Black Lanterns that Vril left him in the midst of. Of course he needed Lyrl's help to do so. And . . they didn't so much defeat them as transport them. Lyrl opened up a transmatter portal and sent them all to the event horizon of a supermassive black-hole at the heart of the Milky Way. And with Starro's High Vanguard now decimated, he needs Lyrl's help to coordinate his army. However, he lets Lyrl know in no uncertain terms that he owns him. And Starro's next target? The planet Earth. 'It was Earth and her heroes that drew me to this galaxy. I think it's time to test their mettle.' So I hope Vril Dox's plans, and that of the Omega Men, come together soon. Because, otherwise . . I think the Earth may be in for more trouble than it can handle. Tony Bedard is doing a fantastic job with this book. I always thought Vril Dox was an interesting character, and the way Tony has him manipulating and planning is just phenomenal. There's a plethora of fantastic characters in this book now. And Tony has them all jumping through hoops. This issue Geraldo Borges fills in as the penciller. I thought he did a pretty decent job. It looked ok. But I miss Claude St Aubin's work. It looks like he'll be back next issue. It looks like this story will wrap up with issue #14, and then we'll be heading off in a new direction with issue #15. I think this is a great book. If you aren't reading it . . you should give it a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Secret Six #17 - DC

This is part 2 of the story that started in Suicide Squad #67 last week. First of all . . isn't that a beautiful cover by Daniel LuVisi? Last week we find that Amanda had recruited someone to replace Deadshot on her team, Yasemin Soze. The problem is . . she had the skills, but not the nerve. After she fails a mission, Amanda decides that she's tired of playing with generics, and wants the real deal. So, she sets up a trap for the Secret Six. She draws them all to Belle Reve, leaving Scandal and the House of Secrets alone and undefended. Well . . as far as she knew. But, it isn't called the House of Secrets for nothing. Anyways, the team is back at Belle Reve fighting the Suicide Squad when all of the sudden they're besieged by Black Rings. And this area has a lot of ugly death for them to chew on. Including Yasemin, whom Deadshot has only recently killed. This issue shows the various members of both teams going at each other with everything they've got. In fact, it looks like some of them may have killed each other. If they didn't . . it wasn't for lack of trying. However, soon King Farraday lets Amanda know about the situation here, with the Black Lanterns. I'm guessing . . next issue, they're all going to have to work together if they think they have any chance of beating this assault. Gail Simone and John Ostrander co-wrote this issue. I assume since he's intimately connected to the Suicide Squad. Overall . . I thought it was a great story. Everyone took on their antithesis in the opposing group, and . . other than almost killing one another, it was pretty much a draw. Personally, I think there's still a place in the DC Universe for the Suicide Squad. And I'd really like to see their adventures again. J Caliafore does the art, and I thought he was perfect for this book. Unfortunately . . this story doesn't conclude until issue #18, which we have to wait a month for. Bummer!

the Power of SHAZAM! #48 - DC

This is another issue for which I had no idea what to expect. I mean . . from the cover, it looks like we'll be delving into the story of Osiris and Isis, and maybe Black Adam. All of that happened shortly before WWIII, which was a direct result of thier deaths and Black Adam's jump over the ledge. But, I was a little worried about how connected it would be, since Jerry Ordway wasn't involved at all with this chapter. This chapter's creative reins are handled by Eric Wallace and Don Kramer. Unfortunately, I don't have the final issue of the Power of SHAZAM in this blog because it ended 5 or 6 years before I started this. But most of this story actually comes from the 52 series. Anyways, Osiris was killed when Sobek, his Alligator friend, ate him. Why? He said he was hungry. So this story actually revolves around the 2 of them. Osiris is brought back, but because of his magic . . I guess, he's resistant to the Black Ring's influence. After breaking out of his tomb, he just wants to know what has happened to his beloved country, Kahndaq, and where Black Adam and Isis have gone to. He doesn't remember anything of what happened at the end, other than his guilt over killing an innocent . . by accident. All he was trying to do was protect his sister. But that was his downfall. Then, while in this state of confusion, Sobek shows up. They fight, but in the end . . Osiris gives up his life to save the people he loves . . the people of Kahndaq. As Sobek is about to eat his heart, again, Osiris says Black Adams name and the lightning breaks their connection with the rings. This time . . they're both really dead. And this time Osiris dies a hero . . beloved by his people. Personally, I thought this story went a lot better than I expected it to. We really only see Billy and Mary for a couple of panels . . when Mary runs across some footage on the internet of what's happening in Kahndaq. But I think it all went down so fast that they really didn't have a chance to get involved. And this really wasn't their story anyways. It was Osiris'. And I thought Eric did a good job with that story. I also enjoyed Don's art. It was finished a little differently this issue, from his previous work, but . . I liked it. It had kind of a raw, gritty feel to it. It was perfect for this story. Also, I guess I misspoke. Jerry Ordway was involved. He did the cover. I didn't realize that at first. Anyways, overall I thought it was a good issue. Any chance to get another look at the SHAZAM! characters is a plus for me.

Booster Gold #28 - DC

This issue is really a good jumping on point for new readers. We get a background story on Michael, and his mission. And in the back-up, we're also filled in on what Jaime's up to, and what's brought him to this point. Anyways, in Booster's story, we finally catch up with Michelle. It seems that she was pretty fed-up with all the time-travel stuff, so she went a few years into the past to hide. The problem is . . she ended up in Coast City. Yes, that Coast City . . shortly before it was destroyed. However, her story is going to intersect with Booster's pretty soon. He's sent back into the past because someone from the future is trying to stop Hank Henshaw from becoming the Cyborg-Superman. Even though he's done tremendously evil things, the chaos that would ensue from his not having been created would be even worse. At least that's the way Rip tells it. Anyways, Michael accomplishes his mission, and then we see that Michelle is confronted by the Cyborg-Superman in Coast City. With such a specific connection, I can't imagine it'll be too long before their stories over-lap. In the meantime, I think Dan Jurgens has done a great job with this character, and book. I love his work. In the back-up, after getting Jaime's back-story to date, we find that the Scarab is pulling him to Biayla. Specifically, the site where Dan Garrett first found it. It appears that all of Jamie's troubles have been coming from when the Scarab got rebooted out in space . . during the Reach fight. Previously, he had been working with a broken Scarab. When it rebooted . . it got fixed. And now it wants to fulfill it's original mission . . to become an infiltrator of the Reach. This was a tool that the Reach had planted here millions of years ago to help them take over the planet once it evolved. It appears they're ready to fulfill that plan. But from the final panel, it looks like the Peacemaker may have something to say about that. This story was by Matthew Sturges and Mike Norton. It's called the Beginning of the End, and . . it's supposed to wrap up next issue. After that . . Blue Beetle is no longer listed as a back-up feature in this book. I guess we'll have to wait and find out what his future holds. I liked this issue. I think this is a very under-rated book. I think if more people would give it a shot, they'd find out that it's not what they'd expect.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #28 - DC

Last issue we learned a little about Cupid's back-story. But this issue, Ollie, Dinah and Mia hear it . . right from the horses mouth. First they have to get through their fight with Cupid and Dark Arrow. They've confronted them on top of a building at the same time as Cupid is targeted by her former life . . Cobalt. Meanwhile, downstairs, Lt Hilton has the building and the entire area surrounded by police, hopefully to prevent thier escape. Anyways, this Cobalt is some super-secret organization that's tasked with protecting the United States from enemies without and within. Cupid, Carrie, was an operative for this group. One of thier best, actually. But then on a mission in Georgia, Russia, she saw a lot of collateral damage from one of their missions. And in that damage was a whole lot of kids. This started her descent. Seeing what she was going through, her bosses decided to try an experimental drug on her. Basically, the drug was supposed to ' . . make the unpalatable palatable again.' Honestly, her superior, Ross, was trying to help. The problem came in the side effects. It increased adrenaline response and aggression . . it induced memory loss, 'She had no idea who she was anymore.' . . and it had an impact on the Ventral Tegmental Area of the brain. 'MRI studies done on people newly in love show their VTA's lit up like Christmas trees. The ATE compound heightened the effect. Big time!' She disappeared shortly after that. However, when she resurfaced, and seemed to have a deep obsession with Green Arrow . . they quickly resurrected Hannibal Bates, Everyman, and locked him into his last identity, Green Arrow. This was their way of drawing Carrie out into the open. Although, I don't know why they couldn't just follow the 'real' Green Arrow. That's when Ollie puts the rest of the pieces together and remembers that he had shot her husband through the apartment wall. That's when Carrie became so obsessed with him. Anyways, they learn all of this after Carrie and Bates escape again . . from one of the Cobalt agents. But on thier way out to find her, they discovered that she may have killed Lt Hilton in the process. The issue ends with them standing over his bloodied body. I think Andrew Kreisberg has been doing a fantastic job with this book. I love the way that he's been using the back-up story to enhance, or perpetuate the main story of the book. This time he uses it for the agent to tell the story about Carrie. I think it's brilliant. If you get the 8 extra pages, why not use them? I also think he's doing a great job at giving us the insight into what makes all of these characters tick. I also love the look of the art with Bill Sienkiewicz doing the finishes over Mike Norton's layouts. It looks fantastic. Renato Guedes does the art for the back-up story. Overall, I really love the look and feel of this book right now. The only bad news is, it looks like this story is going to get wrapped up next issue. Which will lead us into the Green Arrow Blackest Night story in issue #30. Right now . . it's 'Top Secret'. But then we get a new creative team, and direction, starting with issue #31. JT Krul will be taking over the scripts. With a couple of different artists on the first couple issues. It should be interesting.

Nation X: X-Factor #1 - Marvel

I enjoyed this book. Any chance to get another look at X-Factor . . one of my favorite X-Teams, is a plus for me. And with Peter David and Valentine DeLandro handling the creative chores, it really just seemed like an extension of their own book. I liked that all the characters got involved in this one. The premise of the book is that Scott extended an invitation to Jaime, and thereby X-Factor, his team, to visit Utopia. Scott really wants to gather all of the mutant family together in one place. He's hoping that Jamie, and thereby his team, will decide to stay and make this their new home. Well, we knew that wasn't going to happen, but . . it was nice to see the interaction of all of the X-Characters again. Jamie spends most of his time arguing with Scott about his plans. At one point Jamie even makes a dupe because he doesn't think that Scott is listening to him and he want to argue with someone that will. 'What the hell is he doing?', Scott asks. To which Layla replies, 'He's beside himself.' He tries not to tell Scott about their trip to the future, and what happens, but eventually they get to the point in the conversation that he has to. The funniest part though is the look on Jamie and Layla's face when they're walking around with Scott and coming down the steps is Eric, Emma and Namor. They already look larger than life, and just as foreboding. But then Eric says, 'Welcome to our Brotherhood.' I think Jamie didn't know whether to laugh or puke. Rictor is frustrated with Shatterstar the whole trip. He feels like he's flirting with everyone . . Jean-Paul, Bobby. I don't know what he thought when he kissed Tabitha. Guido plays football with Rockslide and Onyxx. Theresa spends most of her time contemplating. They have an interesting conversation with Dani and Allison. And speaking of Allison . . Longshot and her end up in bed . . twice! And Darwin has an interesting conversation with Charles. Also, the whole story is wrapped around the story of another mutant (?) . . an old lady that we first see in some scenes from WWII. She seems to be some kind of watcher, or scribe. She's always got a book that she's writing down events in. Anyways, she shows up on the island, and since nobody knows who she is they see her as a threat. Darwin is the first to act, when he takes her book. Which immediately makes her aggressive. Then Kurt, and Jean-Paul swoop in, trying to help Darwin, just as he was about to give it back to her. Jean-Paul takes off with Darwin and they end up dropping the book in the ocean. But, upon Layla's request, Namor goes in to help Darwin retrieve it. Eventually things get back to normal, and she gives Scott a warning. 'The book of the others, whence all knowledge comes. To know the past is to know the future. To learn from the past is to change the future. Would you change yours, Scott Summers. It is all here . . why this Utopia of yours will come crashing down all around you. How your enemies will bring you low. How destruction will come upon you, from without and from within. Would you like to see why Utopia cannot possibly work?' But Scott refuses to look because he doesn't want to see, or think about things that way. He wants there to be hope and promise. She also tells Jamie that he's a fool. In the end, X-Factor decides to head back home. But then Jamie extends an invitation to Scott . . to join them in Manhattan should the need ever arise. Like I said . . basically this was just an extension of their own book. But . . I liked it . . nonetheless. It'll be interesting if this ladies warning, or Jamie's arguments will have any type of impact on Scott's future decisions. Plus, the future of X-Factor is really up in the air right now also. I like this team because it has such a great cast of characters. Especially thier leader . . Jamie. He's an enigma. One I hope Peter explores further in the future.

Cable #22 - Marvel

This cover looks pretty foreboding, but . . it's really not. The reason Hope is standing over Cable like that is because he has a heart attack after all of their time jumps. No she's not the dangerous person that Bishop claims that she will become. Not yet, anyways. Actually, this issue, the story doesn't really progress all that much. We really only find out two things. Last issue Cable took Bishop's time device out of his arm and is using it to try to get Hope back to the X-Men. She's tired of running and wants to be reunited with her extended family. She barely remembers them. Anyways, Cable seems to be having some kind of trouble with it and he can't hit his intended target, 2010. However, he is gradually homing in on it. 1614 to 2493. 1776 to 2220. 1840 to sometime in the near future. It's all these time-jumps that seems to be having a negative affect on Cable's physiology. And that's when he has the heart attack. The other thing we learn is that there appears to be some kind of back-up device with Bishop and that's why he keeps tagging along for the ride. He's not getting any more enjoyment out of it all than they are. But it's the last just that seems to open up old wounds for Hope . . or maybe Bishop. I'm thinking that this is the time when Bishop was in the internment camp and Hope is supposedly the world ending threat. Maybe next issue we'll finally figure out what it is about her that pisses of Bishop so much. So . . that was pretty much the gist of the entire issue. There wasn't really much story progress this time around. However, we do see Hope's eyes glow when she's trying to revive Cable. So . . I guess, that's something. Duane Swierczynski seems to be on a definite time-table here, but . . it's just moving so slowly. This issue just basically seemed like a fill-in issue. I don't know if it's because of the events in the rest of the X-Universe or what, but . . we just don't seem to be moving towards the finish line very fast. I'm not blaming Duane. Maybe he's doing this for character development. And, like I said, maybe it's not even his fault. I just hope next issue is a little more exciting . . and progress' the story. Gabriel Guzman does the art, with Marko Djurdjevic on the cover. Overall I liked the book. Cable is one of my favorite characters. It just seemed like we were in slow-motion. Sorry!

New Mutants #9 - Marvel

The threat of Selene, and Necrosha, seems to be consuming the X-Universe right now. However, with this issue . . there may be a new threat looming on the horizon. I have to give you some background though, in order to put what's going on into perspective. Selene absorbed Doug Ramsey into her techno-organic virus assault. But in doing so she made a mistake. Doug had already been infected with Warlock's T/O, and between that and his powers over language he seems to have overwritten her code. Although he claims, he asked it to retreat . . 'nicely'. However, I don't think it was entirely his own effort. I think he was making progress, but it was the reemergence of Warlock and their connection that actually tipped the scales. During Doug's attack on Amara he cut off Warlock's head and sent it out deep into the ocean. But . . he adapted and found his way back. They're both in Jeffries and Dr Nemesis' lab now going through analysis. Both by machines and by Scott and Emma. Doug seems to have been drastically altered by his death and resurrection. He can now read all forms of language, including body language. 'I used to translate words . . but everything we touch, every movement we make creates information. Everything is a language, and I translate it all.' And Warlock? Warlock just says whatever crosses his mind. And he's got a few revelations. Most importantly are his observations of Illyana. Scott and Emma are talking when Warlock interrupts. 'Query. Are you referring to Illyana V2.0? Magik is not the original. In friendlanguage she is a pirated copy.' Which leads us to Illyana and Emma talking, and we get the real story of how she came back to be with this team. It seems she's actually Darkchilde from the future. In that future she saw everything destroyed by Legion. So she's come back to confront him. Basically, she's Illyana but without her soul. Which is why she's also looking for the blood-stones. Those are the stones that her soul has been fractured and put in to. During that time when the Young X-Men had gone into Limbo, they were actually being attacked by . .'The Elder Gods. The end of the world.' So while she's come back to try to save the world, these Elder Gods have also come back to end it. In the beginning of the issue we see some type of military installation that seems to have a portal to Hell in it. It becomes active and a General Ulysses and his troop come back through it. It seems that they've been in Hell for a few years. Their presence has been altered because of this ordeal, as I'm sure has been their souls. When Illyana is talking about the Elder Gods, at the end of the issue, it becomes clear to us that she's talking about General Ulysses and his men. There may be a threat worse than Selene on the horizon. I thought Zeb Wells did a great job with this issue. He's continuing the Necrosha story-line, but he's also planted the seed for this new one. I thought he did a great job of handling all of these characters. And I'm glad that the New Mutants are such an integral part of the X-Universe now. This issue we have a new artist on the scene . . Paul Davidson. At the beginning of the issue I wasn't sure about his style, but . . over the course of the book it really grew on me. These characters have always been one of my favorite parts of the X-Men mythos. I'm glad that they're back in the spotlight.

Ultimate Comics Spider-man #6 - Marvel

Ok . . a few months ago the Ultimate Universe gets destroyed . . pretty much, and then relaunched. The flagship of this project comes back and . . other than the things Peter went through during the attack . . like almost dying . . for the most part, it's pretty much the same. Which on one hand is ok. I loved this book, but . . things are different. There's been a major hemorrhage to this world, and . . for the most part, it's pretty much the same? Well . . I couldn't have been more wrong. First of all . . Ultimate Spider-man is now a team book. It started out with Gwen. Whom, Peter seems to have forgotten is actually Carnage. Anyways, she moves in with Peter and May. Next thing we know Johnny Storm shows up looking for shelter. And shortly after, Kitty shows up with an ostracized Bobby, Iceman . . or, I guess Ice-boy right now. Kitty isn't actually living with them, but she hangs out an awful lot. And that's not to forget that MJ is still a part of this group . . super-powers, or no. I guess this book should be called Spidey and Friends, or . . Spidey and his Amazing Friends. Or . . I'm sorry, Spidey and his Ultimate Friends. However, I will say this . . with this book . . it works. Brian Bendis has always done an amazing job with character development on this title. And not just with Peter . . everybody surrounding him also. Plus, why wouldn't the teen-aged hero have as much a supporting cast as the adult version? Anyways, that's just my analysis, but . . a lot of good stuff happened this issue. First of all, as we all know, May is an amazing woman. We get another confirmation of her strength, and strength of character this issue when she amazingly does everything she can for all these wayward teens. We also find out that this mysterious hero that's been running around and helping Peter is actually . . wait for it . . Kitty. Obviously she was a suspect, but . . where did she get these different powers from? And . . what exactly are her powers? And finally, Mysterio attacks again. Peter lost a drop of blood in their last fight and Mysterio used it to home in on his DNA. He then creates a Spider-Slayer to attack him at his school. But . . he doesn't have an exact identity. He's just narrowing down the kill-zone. Plus, I'm suspecting, when we see Kitty reveal herself after her fight this issue, she's got a nose-bleed. I'm betting the blood is actually hers. And, as Mysterio is narrowing in on Spider-man, so to is the police with him. They come knocking on his door near the end of the issue, and in order to avoid discovery he self-destructs the entire building. Obviously Mysterio will be back, but . . it may be a little while before he has the strength or resources to launch another attack. Like I said, I think Brian does an amazing job with this book. Also, I was a little concerned about the art when this book started, but . . David Lafuente seems to be rising to the challenge. Mark and Stuart both had a unique way of telling these stories . . panel organization and flow. It seems that David has incorporated some of that style into his own. Probably to give the book a familiar feel. Which seems to have worked because after 6 issues . . I'm no longer mourning the loss of the other 2 artists. This book definitely has a strength of it's own, and it appears to be growing with every issue. As you can tell . . I just can't say enough about it. Pick it up, if you aren't.

Echo #18 - Abstract Studio

Terry Moore has done a terrific job with this book. If you're not reading it . . you really should. This is about where I came into his Strangers in Paradise series. I think it was somewhere between issue's 15 and 18. But then of course I had to go back and buy all the earlier stuff. To Terry's credit, this series is nothing like his first. I say that because I think it's equally as good without being a rehashed adaptation of that work. This one stands completely on it's own. Last issue we got a little science lesson on what exactly this alloy is, how HenRi came to be into existence, and what Annie's role is in all of this. But in this issue we find out what all the other characters have been up to. Cain seems to be systematically eliminating all the participants of the Phi-Project at HenRi. And he's not being any to subtle about it. I'm not sure what this guys motivations are, but . . he seems to be making sacrifices to someone . . or something. So, I don't know if he's having some kind of religious experience, or what. My guess . . he's a former employee of HenRi . . or one of the scientists associated with the Phi-Project. I'm just guessing, but I think he's more intimately connected to all of this than we realize. We also get an update on Liu. He seems to be coherent, and . . despite having half his face blown off . . he wants to get out of this hospital for some reason. He looks and sounds like a mummy. But the big reveal this issue is that Ivy decides that she wants to talk to Annie. Julie has mentioned that the more alloy she gets on her, the more she can feel Annie's presence. And when she healed Ivy's daughter, the alloy was in her eyes, and . . she seemed to be 'out of body'. So Ivy tries choking Julie to get Annie to show herself. The issue ends with her eyes being glazed over, and Annie saying . . 'Stop. Stop or . . everybody dies.' I don't know if that's a threat, or a warning. Like I said, I think this has been a great series. This series has had some major character development, which I think is one of Terry's strong points. It's what he does best . . naturally. I'm not a huge fan of black & white art, but . . I didn't care on Strangers, and it certainly doesn't change my opinion of this book. There's already a TPB or two out of this series. Pick 'em up and peruse them. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

the Boys #38 - Dynamite Entertainment

As with the previous few issues, this issue was entirely devoted to giving us the origin story of one of it's characters. This time . . the Female is up. Since we're up to issue #38 and we've never seen her speak, this story is told to Hughie by the Frenchman. So, we don't know if he may have elaborated a bit, but . . he does seem to be the one closest to her. So if anyone knows her story I guess it would be him. Since the Female is Japanese everyone seems to assume that her powers come from some kind of fall-out from Hiroshima. Yes she was born there, and lived there, but . . neither her or her family suffer any ill effects from that tragic incident. No, her origin is much more mundane. It seems that her mother was a secretary for a Tokyo corporation the equivalent to Vought-American. There was nothing spectacular about her. She was just cheap and rather than pay for day-care kept her daughter hidden under her desk while she was working. So of course she wanders out and gets into trouble. Some scientist was doing some type of experiment with a compound similar to Compound-V. His residue from that project . . toxic-waste, if you will . . he kept in a bucket in the lab. Anyways, the Female crawls in there and eats everything out of the bucket. Somehow this raised her aggression level and now, basically, she's a killing machine. So she was basically a lab-rat of this corporation. They tried to keep her contained, but she would break out and they'd have to go and recapture her. I'm sure they went through a lot of men doing that. Finally, on one of her extracurricular excursions, Butcher and the Boys show up because Butcher decides that they need a killing machine in their group. The Frenchman takes to her immediately. I think he sees her as a daughter . . kind of. Anyways, this pretty much wraps up the origins of the group members . . except for Butcher. But, I don't think Hughie's going to get to much information about him. Butcher seems to like to keep things pretty close to the vest. I thought this was a decent issue by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Everything has been pretty much non-stop since the beginning of this series. So it was nice for things to slow down a bit the last couple of issues. But now the question is . . what Hughie has learned . . is it the truth? And more importantly . . what doesn't he know? By the way, that was a great cover. It reminded me of the movie poster for Aliens. I'm still enjoying this series, and it's still one of my favorites every month.

Haunt #4 - Image

This issue we finally put a face and a name to the bad guy . . Mr Hurg. Kurt had gone after this Dr Shillinger because of the genetic experiments that he was doing. Actually, that's the operation he was assigned by his organization. But the most important thing was Shillinger's notebook . . which nobody seems to be able to find. During the operation Kurt got mad at Shillinger because of what he saw that he had done to these people . . the people locked in his warehouse, or lab, or whatever . . and killed him. During that lapse of judgement, he took his eye off the notebook and we saw that somebody had snatched it. Later, after he was killed, and became the Haunt with his brother Daniel, we notice that the person that grabbed the satchel kind of looked like Haunt. But, it happened so fast, and in the shadows, so we really didn't get that great of a look. Anyways, now Kurt's organization is trying to keep his wife, Amanda, safe . . in case she knows something . . something she might not even know that she knows. Of course in the process of transporting her to safety she's abducted by the bad guys. Kurt/Daniel immediately jump into action, as the Haunt, and it appears that the more time they spend together, the acclimation of their transition and teamwork seems to be progressing. But, they find out something new about their situation also . . the longer they stay as the Haunt, the more their body is depleted of precious minerals and nutrients. They don't know why, yet, but when they take on the mercenary, Cobra again, while trying to rescue Amanda, they barely beat him before they collapse completely. So the issue ends with Amanda in safety, Kurt/Daniel finding out more about their powers and situation with every issue, and the organization still not knowing that Asst. Director Rhodes is the mole within their house. So far I've thought this title to pretty good. It's exciting and fast paced, but there are a few spots where the characters kind of go off on a tangent for no apparent reason. Cobra is in the hospital after Haunt almost takes his face off and Mr Hurg, his boss . . or at least the person that hired him . . starts going on about Cobra's diet and nutrition. I'm not sure what that whole conversation was about or what it showed us about Mr Hurg's character. It seemed kind of oddly placed to me. But . . having said that, I do like the pace of the rest of the book. The story is slowly unfolding. The only thing I felt was missing with this issue was any kind of character development as far as Kurt/Daniel. Yes we hear the conversation they're having while attempting to rescue Amanda, but we don't really learn anything about either one of them, personally, this issue. Or maybe something about Kurt's relationship with Director Stantz. I think this series shows a lot of potential. I'd just hate to see it lose some of it's audience because the readers don't get bought in. Overall, I thought it was a great effort by Robert Kirkman, Greg Capullo, Ryan Ottley and Todd McFarlane. It's got a ton of potential and I think it'll be around for a while. As long as the story keeps progressing.

the Authority #18 - WildStorm

The WildStorm Universe is in for another shake-up . . and it starts with this book. Basically, the Carrier has received some type of beam from space. They don't know what it is, or where it's from, but it seems to be bringing the Carrier back to life. It's recharging and rebuilding her systems and damage. The Authority doesn't really know what's going on, but they have to assume that whomever built this ship has decided to call it back. So, they decide to send out an invitation to every 'hero' and group in the WildStorm Universe, and give them the choice of coming along for the ride. It's not that they're assuming that everyone will agree with them . . hell, within their own ranks there's dissension . . it looks like Apollo and Midnighter will be staying on planet. They just want to give everyone a choice. And it looks like there's going to be some unexpected ones made. Grifter and Deathblow get stuck on board, and it looks like Christine, from StormWatch has decided to go along. The issue ends with the Carrier taking off, but we don't really know yet who's on board and who's not. Also, just as they're taking off, the Kheran Red Guard attacks. That's who StormWatch was fighting when they were called to UnLondon. And, from the previews, there's some other attack, from some other alien race, that's just on the horizon. So, everyone that's chosen to stay behind are definitely going to have their hands full . . and they're going to need all the help they can get. I'm guessing that no team is going to be unaffected by this series of events. This issue is brought to us by Adam Freeman, Marc Bernardin and Al Barrionuevo. I thought it was an excellent opening chapter. It looks to me like all of the WildStorm Universe has been tossed up in the air like so many dice. And in future issues . . we're going to see how they're all going to land. It looks to be an exciting time in the WildStorm Universe. Also, this issue gives us the first part of a gate-fold cover by George Perez. Apparently, we're going to be getting a lot of these in the near future.

the Mighty #12 - DC

The bad new is . . this is the final issue of this series. The good news? There may be life for this character somewhere in the future. The past 12 issues, Peter J Tomasi, Keith Champagne and Chris Samnee have shown us a glimpse into this character's life. A character created by Peter, Keith and Peter Snejbjerg. The whole time there's been a lot of deception, and secrets and misdirection. It seems that Alpha-One has been gathering humans in his sanctuary to experiment on them. He hasn't had a lot of success, but . . he has had some. Most notably is Cole and his wife Janet. Both of which now seem to have the same super-powers as Alpha-One. He claims to be attempting to advance the human race, but . . we still don't know what he was really up to. Anyways, there's a big battle this issue between Alpha-One and Cole. In the end Cole beats him with brains instead of brawn. And Alpha-One ends up locked up in one of his own testing tubes. Also Zachary, the other kid that passed the tests, broke out and is running around loose out there . . somewhere. And only Cole and his wife know what really happened. They're keeping their powers a secret, the final fate of Alpha-One a secret, and the sanctuary and the experiments performed there a secret. So basically . . all we've done is replace one 'hero' with another. One who seems happy, and altruistic . . at the moment. But I would imagine at some point they're going to have to explore the sanctuary and find out what Alpha-One was really up to. And there may be a whole new story after that. Or maybe a story with Cole and Janet . . or Zachary. The current series is over, but there's a lot of possibilities open to them. Hopefully one day they'll explore one of them. The series wasn't a huge success, but . . it did pick up steam as it went along. Overall, I thought it ended up on a good note . . and a lot of unanswered questions. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

Doom Patrol #6 - DC

This issue would be a great jumping on point for anyone. This entire issue is told from Larry's perspective.Well . . at least we think he's Larry. But you'll have to read the book to sort all of that out. Anyways, this introspective kind of serves 2 purposes. First of all, it helps to sort out all the various changes that Larry has gone through over the years. What we thought was a Negative Woman, was actually just Larry in another body that the Chief had prepared for him. And, through all of this, the real question is . . is the Negative Man actually Larry? Or vice-versa? As we know, various members of this team have died over the years. But . . they keep coming back . . like cockroaches. In Larry's case, since energy can't be destroyed . . it just had to be rehoused in a new container. Which the Chief seems more than happy to provide. So anyways, it sorts out everything that he's been through over the years. Secondly, this book actually puts together the pieces of all of the Doom Patrol's various incarnations. Every time, it seems like a new team with different players. When in actuality the whole time it's been the same basic core group. Sometimes they look different . . sometimes they act different . . hell, sometimes they even have different faces, but when it comes down to it, this group, in all forms has revolved around Larry, Cliff, Rita and the Chief. And now it looks like, with everything that Larry's been through, as well as Rita's mistreatment by Steve Dayton, Larry and Rita may be finally exploring the friendship, and maybe more, that they've always shared. I think they deserve a little happiness. You know it's not going to last. Anyways, I thought Keith Giffen and Matthew Clark did a terrific job with this issue. The good news is, it looks like Keith and Matthew will be staying on board for the foreseeable future. The bad news? Next issue is the last back-up of the Metal Men. I know the story has been kind of absurd, but . . I love these guys. And with Keith, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire doing the stories . . there's a certain kind of nostalgia to them. Maybe, hopefully (?) there will be a another mini-series in the near future? Next issue we're supposed to find out the fate of the Metal Men, but . . I'm guessing it's going to be pretty open-ended. Anyways, all in all I thought this was a pretty great issue. No matter what you've thought of this group in the past, now is the time to get on board and see what they're up to.

the Warlord #10 - DC

There's some plus' and minus' to this book. But . . to me, the negative parts weren't really all that bad. For instance, Chad Hardin does most of the art for this issue, instead of Mike Grell. Mike does do a couple of pages though . . and the cover. But, first of all, Chad's stuff looks pretty good. He definitely has a different style than Mike, but . . he still kind of gives the book a similar feel. And, as I've said in previous blogs, the trouble with the first series, I felt, occurred when Mike gave up the reigns on the story. As long as he remains the writer, I don't care who does the art . . well, that's not true, certain styles wouldn't fit . . but, if he stays at the helm of the book it'll stay on track and true to his vision. Anyways, this issue was mostly about Deimos. Or . . a clone of him. After Travis and company defeated Ned Hawkins' attempted takeover of Skartaris, Kate Archer stuck around to see if she might be able to do something with all of this Atlantean hardware and tech. Now that she's had a taste of power and adventure, I don't think she's ready to give it up. Plus, she's the one that figured out that Deimos' words were written on top of the pages of Atlantean binary-code. Which she can work with . . so she probably figures that she's the best person to bring all of this, the city and it's wonders, back to life. In that sense she's kind of like Mariah and Jennifer, in that she's starting to blur the lines between magic and science. She finds some cloning chambers of the Atlanteans, and a device that was used to capture the memories of the dying person so that they can be transferred to the new body. That's how she brought Deimos back. The problem is . . reawakening those memories. She fights with it all issue, until at the end, out of frustration, she swings her sword slashing across Deimos face. This gives him the trademark scar that he had, and the magics are reawakened. Meanwhile, Ewan McBane is continuing his photo journal of his time in Skartaris. Basically, he's interviewing everyone around Travis to try and figure out what makes him tick. Right now he's got him up on this pedestal . . he sees him as a hero, or saviour, but . . I'm wondering what's going to happen when he starts talking to people that aren't his closest confidants . . his extended family. Not everyone may be happy, or consider the progress of everything that the Warlord has done here. Afterall, this is the only place in history where 'the Warlord' has a positive connotation. It's mostly referred to despots and tyrants. I'm wondering if his little self-examination is going to end the way he expects it to. Anyways, I love this character, and series, and it looks like there's some exciting stuff planned for the future. Again, I find it amazing that it's 2010 and two of my favorite books are a western and a sword & sorcery title. Whodathunkit?

Jonah Hex #51 - DC

This story had a nice little twist to it, but . . to me . . the best part of the book was seeing Dick Giordano's artwork. We haven't seen his stuff in a long time and it was nice to see him doing a full book again. He's been in the business a long, long time. Seeing his art kind of gave me some fond memories of the 70's. You know . . some warm fuzzies. Plus you could always see the Neal Adams influence in his work. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, I think Dick did some work in the original Jonah Hex series. Anyways, the whole book had a great feel to it. As far as the story goes . . this preacher from this small town has hired Jonah to find the killers of thier town founder, and take them out. Jonah is a bounty hunter, but this guy saw him as a hired gun. However, right from the 'get-go' Jonah knows that something is not right. The town was founded where this guy had found a water table. He claimed to have done it with a divining rod. Later, he claimed that he could use the same rod to find iron ore, and then gold & silver. When he started making those claims, that's when he was murdered . . for the stick. But there was deceit all around on this one. The guy was actually a geologist, and that's how he found the water. The claim for the ore and minerals were so that he could drive up the price on the land surrounding the town, which he owned, when he created a gold-rush. Meanwhile, the preacher, who was in love with the man's wife, hired these guys to kill him and take the rod hoping that he could console the wife, which would hopefully transform into love. And then, to tie up loose ends, he hired Jonah to take out the first guys that he hired. It was all a bit convoluted, but . . I thought it kept well with the spirit and deception of the time. These seemed like things that people would actually do. Anyways, in the end . . it's this woman, who was loved by both these men, who ends up being alone when she kills the preacher out of rage. She knew what her husband was up to, but . . she loved him just the same. And now? Now she's left with no one and nothing . . completely alone. Everyone ends up dead except for her and Jonah. 'Th' only reason yore alive an' they're dead is that those men had bounties on 'em. You don't. Not yet.' I thought it was another good story by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. I really enjoy the work they're doing on this book. And like I said, with Dick's art . . it just made it all that much better for me.

Weird Western Tales #71 - DC

In the Six Gun War story-line that just ran through Jonah Hex, Jonah was chasing after a guy that was just a real SOB . . Quentin Turnbull. Well . . apparently his family has been cursed because even with Jonah dead . . and many years removed . . Quentin's great-great-grandson, Joshua just can't seem to get away from him. Joshua runs a facility for Simon Stagg that's supposed to be developing alternate fuels. Well . . Simon shows up one day with a Black Lantern ring that he found near Don Hall's grave . . Dove. Somehow he got connected with the Ray, and together they've brought the Black Ring to this facility for examination. The problem is, even though the ring appears to be dormant . . apparently it's still on the radar of the other Black Lanterns. And since this facility is located in the heart of the south, there ton's of graves nearby. Cowboys . . Soldiers . . Indians . . you name it, they all have come to retrieve their ring. But like Quentin, Joshua is just stubborn enough that all he can think about is the money and adulation that he'll obtain if he can just unlock the secrets of this ring. All the stars of Weird Western Tales show up also . . Scalphunter . . the Trigger Twins . . Super-Chief . . Bat-Lash, and Jonah Hex himself. Or rather a kind of pasty, ghoulish, 'Night of the Living Dead' version. In the end though . . it's Joshua own kin that ends up taking him out . . Quentin. Quentin argues with Jonah, but in the end . . he shoots Joshua himself. The Ray fights the Black Lanterns the best he can. He sends out this big beam that seems to knock most of them out. But . . we don't really know what happened. We're not sure if he made it out or not. Hopefully that question will be answered in a different part of this story-line . . one of the other cross-overs. I would think that the Ray would be brought into play sometime, seeing as how the nature of his abilities is light. Anyways, This book revived some of DC's western heroes. Dan Didio wrote the book, with Renato Arlem on the art. Overall, I thought it was ok. It was kind of a throw-away issue though. If you didn't read it, you didn't really miss anything. And it really didn't add that much to the overall story. Like I said, the main question is . . what happened to the Ray. But . . the answers not here. So I guess we'll just have to move on to the next chapter. It was an interesting concept though.

Superman: World of New Krypton #11 - DC

I'm just not sure what to make of all this double-dealing, and manipulation. I mean . . we all knew eventually Zod was going to show his hand. I thought it was all just a little to convenient how he was taken out of action right when the political climate of New Krypton started heating up. Plus, he gained the sympathy of it's citizens after someone attempted to assassinate him. Now, after Mar-Li, the council members death last issue . . someone takes a shot at Alura this issue . . literally. But instead they end up shooting her aide, Lyra. But it's still enough to warrant an investigation, and right now . . it appears that everything seems to be pointing to a member of the Labor Guild, Tam-Or. A little to conveniently, actually. With Adam Strange's help, and experience, Kal-El learns that it's probably not Tam-Or who committed this act. If for no other reason than that every single thing seems to be pointing at him. In the process of trying to clear Tam-Or's name, Kal-El learns about a secret military base commissioned by Zod himself. In it . . they seem to be collecting and experimenting on aliens. Kal-El, the current leader of the Military Guild, knew nothing of this. And he probably won't learn anything else. It appears that at Commandor Gor's advice, Kal-El was followed to this base. And, since only moments before, Zod has re-assumed command of the Military . . 'You've been demoted. And General Zod's policy towards traitors is very clear . . they're to be executed on sight. Red Sun off! Switch to kinetics! Ready . . Aim . . FIRE!'. Which leaves us with a very interesting turn of events for the final issue. James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Pete Woods have done a terrific job with this series. But don't fear. There's no way they could wrap up this story in only one more issue. Immediately following this series will be the Last Stand of New Krypton mini . . it'll be 3 issues. It's also by James and Pete with Sterling Gates. Brainiac has come to New Krypton, and . . he plans on destroying it. It also includes the Legion of Super-heroes. That should be fun!

Red Tornado #5 - DC

Well, Red Inferno didn't stay under Red Volcano's influence for all that long. After Red Torpedo hit him last issue . . the kid still thinks he's . . well . . a kid! So he went in to shock and his systems shut down. Luckily Red Tornado has had enough experience with TO Morrow's work that he knows how to fix it. They talk . . and Red Inferno's coming around. But . . I have no idea how they think they're possibly going to be able to stand up to Red Volcano. This guy seems to be in a whole other class than the rest of them. Right now he's worked his way to the tectonic plates under California. Los Angeles, to be specific. He's decided he's going to kill John's family . . Kathy and Traya. Luckily, Mari gets there just before the earthquake so they at least make it out alive. John's found Kathy, but . . Red Inferno has found Traya. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. He may still be under Red Volcano's influence. And Mari's lying unconscious under the rubble. It seems to me that the only way they're going to be able to stop Red Volcano is to separate him from the Earth. Which means they're going to have to launch him into space or something. I'm not sure how they plan on doing that. But . . they've only got 1 more issue to figure it out. I think Kevin VanHook is doing a pretty decent job with this story. This whole 'family' thing, I think is pretty interesting. It's got some potential. But they'll never be whole because it appears that Red Tornado will always have his own agenda. In order to be whole, they're either going to have to replace him . . or reprogram him. I'm interesting to see which direction they go. I also enjoy Jose Luis' art. But . . after 5 issues, this one seemed a little more rushed than the others. There just wasn't quite as much detail. Don't get me wrong . . the art still looked good. This guys got a ton of potential. I think he'll definitely be somebody to keep an eye on. So overall, I liked the book. We'll just have to wait and see how it all wraps up next issue.

JSA All-Stars #2 - DC

In the first issue of JSA All-Stars, we learned that the person that has been after Stargirl, Courtney, was actually Arthur Pemberton . . Sylvester Pemberton's Uncle. Sylvester was the original Star-Spangled Kid. The role that Courtney took until she received the Cosmic Rod from Jack Knight, Starman. That's when she changed her name to Stargirl. Then, at the end of the issue, we find out that he's working for Johnny Sorrow. Who has once again brought together the Injustice Society. Long story short . . this issue, Johnny and the Injustice Society come knocking on Arthur's door to collect Courtney. But, as usually happens when villains, or thief's, work with other villains, or thief's . . nobody can trust each other. So a big 'ol fight ensues. The JSA All-Stars figure out where all of this is happening and come in and bust things up. They end up getting Courtney back, but . . they still don't know what's going on, or why she's so important. Just before Johnny leaves Courtney asks him what he wants with her, and he replies . . 'Your love, Stargirl. I want you to love me.' I'm not sure if he was being serious or sarcastic. Anyways, she gets away from them, but . . now they have to look over their shoulders because they know it's only a matter of time until Johnny coordinates another attack. Meanwhile, we learn a lot of stuff about these All-Stars. First of all, their base of operation is a ranch in upstate New York. Rex Tyler, the original Hourman, seems to be running the place. And why not? With all the stuff from TylerCo at his disposal . . he's the perfect man for the job. And we also find out this issue that he's outfitted the ranch with it's own artificial intelligence . . Roxy. It's kind of like Vril Dox's Silica . . his living computer. But this one's more holographic in stature. Power Girl and Magog are still fighting over how the team should be run. And we get a glimpse of Sandman, who's now going on 22 days without sleep. He's starting to hallucinate. But I don't think it's a hallucination at the end of the issue when we find out that Johnny Sorrow has resurrected the King of Tears. I thought it was a pretty decent book. I enjoyed Matthew Sturges story. I think he's got a pretty good handle on the characters so far. It'll be interesting to see how he juggles the story with this many characters. He's going to have to get multiple story-lines going or some of them just aren't going to get much exposure. Freddie Williams II does the art. I really like it. I like the style that he's using. I think it has a little bit of a Bart Sears influence to it. There's a back-up story in this book about Hourman and Liberty Belle. It's by Jan Van Meter and Travis Moore. It was ok, but . . I just didn't think it was all that interesting. Maybe after we get into it a little more it'll open up. It just seemed kind of flat to me. Anyways, overall I really liked the book. I think it's got a lot of potential. Like I said, I just hope that all the characters are utilized to their maximum potential. But it's only issue #2 . . lets give them time.

Suicide Squad #67 - DC

The only question I have is . . where does this story continue after this? This is only a 1 issue series. Right? Ok . . I took a look, and I guess this story continues in Secret Six #17 . . out next week. I was just a little concerned there. The story comes to an abrupt end . . and a next issue blurb isn't supplied. I just wasn't sure where to go next. Anyways, this story picks up in the Hall of Justice when the Black Rings are reviving all the corpses there. Of main import is the Fiddler . . for some reason. All we know for sure is that he has a hard-on for Deadshot. Next we see the current set-up of the Suicide Squad. It's still operating out of Belle Reve, and Amanda Waller is still it's drill sergeant. We see an op that she's got going, and a new character, Yasemin. She's kind of a female Deadshot. But without his experience. Which . . in the current operation causes it to go south. They're trying to kill some South American dictator. So, Amanda realizes that without Deadshot, she's not going to be able to complete this mission. The problem is . . ever since she sent him off with the rest of the villains to that remote planet, he refuses to talk to her. But she has ways of making him cooperate. Next we see that the Secret Six get a mission. They're being paid to liberate a drug-dealer who's being incarcerated in Louisiana. It seems like all their missions end up breaking someone out of jail. Anyways, the prison is . . of course . . Belle Reve. Surprisingly though, they don't smell a trap. Amanda counts on Rick Flagg and the rest of her team to bring these guys in, and capture Deadshot. Meanwhile, she takes a team and goes to the House of Secrets to capture Scandal. She knows that she's alone, and she wants to hold her as leverage for Deadshot. The computer chip bomb in his head won't be enough. He's not afraid to die. Anyways, the issue ends with the team battling it out at Belle Reve . . Amanda is ready to torch the House of Secrets to get Scandal . . and the Fiddler and a whole mess of Black Rings is getting ready to descend on Belle Reve. Afterall . . that's where Deadshot is. And that's why I was so upset when I didn't know where the story was going next. This was a very action packed issue. I thought Gail Simone and John Ostrander did some amazing work together here. J Calafiore does the art. This was a great book. I really can't remember what happened in Suicide Squad #66, but . . I don't think it really matters. This book is actually an extension of Secret Six, but . . I guess they just did it this way for shits & giggles. Overall it was a great book. I can't wait to read Secret Six next week.

Batman Confidential #40 - DC

Sam Kieth is doing this next story-arc for Batman Confidential and it looks amazing. It's easy to be a fan of Sam's art, but it just as easy to forget how good of a writer he is. This story is about a kind of sulfur-ghost that seems to be preying on the homeless around Gotham. We don't know all the details yet, but . . I think it's somehow connected to a social worker that has an office nearby, Callie Sarah Dean. She's kind of a recluse, much like Batman. And it seems that she lost her mother when she was young, also much like Batman . . to a man with a bullet. After the second murder Batman finally gets a bead on the creature. And of course, as he's finally going to talk to Callie, he comes face to face with it. Somehow it seems to be feeding off the pain and panic that it incites in it's victims. The issue ends with Batman sprawled out on the street. He can't think straight and he's losing consciousness. And he begins to black out he hears a 'tap . . tap . . tap' coming down the street. It's a sound that Callie just described when she's talking about her homeless clients. 'I'm ashamed of how tired I secretly get of that smell on my clients in the streets . . that awful stench! It's not their fault, though, it's mine. Rescue anyone . . what a joke. Such a useless sound when my clients hear the tap tap tap of my cane as I approach.' But is Callie here to help Batman? Or is she somehow connected to this ghost? Maybe we'll find out some more next issue. This was a great issue all around. It was hard to read it the first time because I wanted to study every panel of Sam's art. But after looking at his unique style, I went back and tried to absorb the story. I thought it was fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Red Robin #8 - DC

I knew Tim could do it. He's finally incorporated everything he's learned from . . well, everyone . . Shiva, Ducard, Dick, Connor, Jason and especially Bruce. 'Use it all now. Win the next fight and the one after that before you get there. Remember everything your teachers gave you. Don't be any of them. Be all of them.' At the end of last issue, Tim was surrounded by 7 assassins of the Spider-Guild. And he was standing over the dead body of Ra's al Ghul. The spider-girl, the Wanderer had just killed him. Tim notices before she does that it's not actually Ra's, but a body double. However, in the few seconds he has before she gets seriously pissed that she hasn't killed her actual target, he studies the killers around him and decides how he's going to use them against one another to create a path out of here. 'I need to survive the fight. I don't need to win it. What I need is . . an opening.' He creates that and makes his way back to the control room with Pru and the White Ghost. He also takes on the Wanderer, one on one. Which was pretty amazing. Anyways, while in the computer a couple of days ago, Tim installed a self destruct device. 'Their computers control their self sufficient generators. I over loaded everything the League had, worldwide.' So . . not only has he saved Tam, and eluded the Spider-guild, but . . he's also put a serious hurt on the League of Assassins. But there's no rest for the weary. Ra's has decided that since Tim has hurt his business . . he will repay him in kind. His next target is Wayne Industries. And the Spider-guild? 'We have new prey my friends. A new game. Something more . . challenging . . than assassins . . heroes!' So . . Tim and Tam are on the first plane back to Gotham. And there's a serious storm right on their heels. I thought this was a great issue by Chris Yost and Marcus To. I think Chris is doing a great job with Tim's character. And Marcus seems to be settling in quite easily. This guy has some serious talent . . and potential. I can't wait to see what the future holds . . for all involved. Oh yeah . . Tim is also still convinced that Bruce is still alive. Although he hasn't told anyone how he knows that . . yet!

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2 - DC

Ok . . a couple of things happen here that have me asking some big questions. First of all . . in Blackest Night #6 we see Diana and Mera getting ready to square off. That fight takes place here. Obviously, we knew that Diana would kick her butt, but . . I think Mera actually put up one hell of a fight. Of course, Diana's heart wasn't really in it. We see, as she's fighting, that she's also fighting the Black Ring's influence. She doesn't want to do the things that the ring is forcing her to do, but I think it's like a dream where she's watching herself do them . . unable to control her own actions. She stops herself before killing Mera, but then when she's confronted by Donna, whom is already a Black Lantern, and Cassie . . she ends up killing them both. And then her next opponent is . . Hippolyta. And she's about to kill her also. It isn't until Bruce shows up and distracts her, that she's overwhelmed with a feeling of love. Which is strong enough for her to fight the rings influence. Then, as we saw in Blackest Night #6, the Star Sapphire ring comes to her for acceptance. However, what we didn't see in Blackest Night is that the ring is also accompanied by . . Aphrodite . . Goddess of Love. At first Diana can't accept the ring because of the things she's been forced to do . . she feels to guilty. That is until Aphrodite tells her that she's done nothing . .'Nothing. They, like this place, only a figment. A place I made where your possession could run free and without harm . . to save you from yourself. I would not see you destroyed by this evil, Diana.' That's a good thing. So Donna and Cassie are ok. But . . that also means that Batman didn't really show up. I first I thought this was the spot where he made his reappearance. But, Diana does have to admit now that she definitely has feelings for him. The issue ends with Diana flying off . . now a Wonder Woman and a Star Sapphire. She's definitely going to be a power to be reckoned with. Greg Rucka did a fantastic job with this story. I liked the way that the action started out in Blackest Night #6, but then we got to watch it unfold in it's entirety this issue. Also, Nicola Scott did a fantastic job with the art. Covers were by Greg Horn and Ryan Sook. I can't wait to see what happens next month. It should be a hell of an issue.

Blackest Night #6 - DC

I'm finally on to the 2010 books. Sorry! Over the last couple of weeks there's just been so much going on, and . . . the last couple of weeks of 2009 had a plethora of books published. Seriously! I had a huge stack here sitting on my desk. Anyways, now that the holidays are over, and work has calmed down a bit . . I'm hoping that I can get caught back up. Anyone who has been kind enough to read my blog . . I thank you for your patience. And with this book we start out 2010 with a bang. We saw at the end of last issue that apparently all the resurrections that have occurred with the heroes over the last couple of years have been Nekron's doing. It seems that he allowed them to come back so that later . . now . . he could claim them as is own. Which he's started to do. And all he had to do to get the whole thing started was . . to bring back Batman as a Black Lantern. His was the visage that stirred up the emotions in all of these heroes. However, Barry and Hal are trying to fight it with everything they've got . . without killing anyone. Since most of the heroes that have been recently transformed were alive when they were taken, Barry and Hal are unsure of what will happen if they try to take them out like the rest of the Black Lanterns. But Barry does outwit it by jumping 2 seconds into the future . . and severing the connection. Meanwhile, Ray and Mera, who were taken into a ring by Jean have been joined by Boston Brand. He tells them that through his traveling from body to body he's learned that every Black Lantern in the universe is heading straight towards Earth. And more specifically . . Coast City. This is bad, but . . we don't learn the reason why this is happening . . this issue. However, Ganthet decides to join the Green Lantern Corps, and in the process help them out. 'Although you each wield different light, your rings are all based on Oan technology. And thus, unknown to you, they contain the same safeguard: according to the book of OA, in the shadow of Blackest Night, the rings are capable of deputizing an individual for 24 hours.' And since he's also enabled them to replicate themselves . . they're about to get a whole lot of help. Whether they want it or not. Barry gets a Blue ring, Luthor an Orange, Jonathan Crane gets a Yellow one, while Ray gets Indigo and Mera gets Red. But the most revealing one is when the Star Sapphire ring goes after Wonder Woman. 'The ring can't take her. She needs to accept it of free-will. The light is bursting inside her, Hal. She's beyond anyone else. The is no one on this planet who loves it more than Wonder Woman.' It finally connects, and the connection is severed with the Black. The issue ends with all these new members of the various Corps coming to the New Guardians aid. Ray shouts, 'No more worries, Hal. All will be well.' What a fantastic issue. I love the work that Geoff Johns is doing here, and Ivan Reis is just flawless with his pencils. Now the bad news. Apparently there's a break for January, and Blackest Night #7 won't be out until Feb. 24th. That stinks. But . . I'm sure we'll get plenty of Blackest Night action in-between. Remember . . this is the month where they issue another 'Final Issue' of about 7 or 8 different titles. I'm not sure how that ties in to Blackest Night, but . . I'm sure it does somehow. So, even though there's no Blackest Night for 2 months . . it still looks like it's going to be a pretty exciting month. What a way to start out 2010!