Haunt #5 - Image

I've liked this book from the beginning. I thought that it had a unique feel to it. But now that we're up to issue #5? I think this is one of those books that pulls you in a little more every time you read it. Robert Kirkman, Greg Capullo, Ryan Ottley and Todd McFarlane are all doing a fantastic job here. My only complaint is that it seems like Spawn has been put on hold during the launch of this book. I hope that book gets back on track. Soon! Anyways, Daniel and Kurt seem to have recovered from their recent excursion as the Haunt. They assume that it was because Kurt was pushing them so hard that thier energy was so completely depleted. They were trying to save his wife after all. But now they've volunteered for a new mission. It turns out that Mirage had gotten Shillinger's notes and she was going to sell them to Hurg. He's that big guy that hired Cobra to come after them in the last couple of issues. Anyways, the agency that Kurt worked for wants to stop the sale, and to retrieve the notes. Which they do, when one of Hurg's female body-guards is seriously hurt and he chooses to save her over retrieving the notes. However, once in the Agency's hands . . Asst Director Rhodes shows her true colors and kills Director Stantz as she escapes from the facility. Which makes Asst Director Tosh, another one of Kurt's former love interests, the acting Director. Later she comes to Daniel with an offer. 'Your situation makes you a special case. Kurt was the best agent we ever had. To get him back we're willing to take you in . . train you to better work with him. To be honest. We're also the tiniest bit desperate. You've got 2 weeks to get your life in order while HQ is being rebuilt. I'll need you to report in then.' Daniel and Kurt have a heart to heart talk where Kurt express' how this job, this life basically destroyed his and Amanda's relationship. And although he's dead, I think he's glad to be out of it. I think the only reason he's still around is because he and Daniel are connected. Plus I think he's trying to protect him since he inadvertantly pulled him into this. He feels guilty. So when Tosh tells Daniel what's up . . Daniel actually looks happy. But Kurt doesn't. That's the opposite of what I would've expected coming into this issue. Anyways, I'm really enjoying this book. I'm trying not to get pulled into the variant covers, but . . I do find them on E-Bay pretty cheap now and then, so . . how can I not pass up a deal? Right? If any of you have even thought about giving this book a chance, I say . . go for it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Gen13 #34 - WildStorm

This issue we see the effects of what's going on in London from one of the foot-soldier's point-of-view. Runt has been left behind. He's one of the Gen14's that hooked up recently with their cousins the Gen 13s. And, having recently come to London, but having not made it aboard the Carrier . . he's left in the midst of the chaos ensuing around it's departure. He's essentially become a soldier in a war that he has no idea why he's fighting in. And the only thought that keeps running through his head is . . 'I don't want to die.' Then he happens to run into Diva, previously of StormWatch. They end up forming a friendship, out of necessity. And of course . . Runt thinks he's in love with her. Anyways, they're all sorted and sent to one of the icecaps. That's where the terraforming engines are, so they've been sent there to destroy them. But then they're brought into a mission together by Brass. He wants Runt to distract the Kherans while Brass and Diva destroy the building that's supplying the force field around the engines. I'm a little confused about what happened to Brass, but he does get off a shot that disables the force fields. However, it' repairable. So with Diva being heavily attacked, it's up to Runt to finish the job. Which he does, although he's hurt, but . . Diva is hurt more. She appears to be on the brink of death. So now Runt has a reason for fighting. 'I'm going out there and try and do a little more for you. And if I live, I'm going to tell everyone what you did . . you. Isabella. Not Diva. I'm going to do whatever I can.' I wasn't sure as I was reading this story, but . . I liked the progression of Runt's character through it. He was basically fighting out of necessity, in the beginning. But by the end he had found his reason for trying harder . . to be his best. He found his cause. Even if it wasn't why everyone else was fighting, it's what pushed and motivated him. Because of this transformation, I thought Adam Beechen did a great job of guiding him, and us, through it. I also liked Cruddie Torian's pencils. They kind of had an early J Scott Campbell type of feel to them. You can definitely tell that he was an influence. However . . I am wondering what the future holds for Gen13. I mean . . they're split up right now, all over the place. I'm not sure how this title can have a future. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Action Comics #886 - DC

This issue we learn the true origin, and story of Nightwing and Flamebird. It was entertaining. My only complaint was that while reading the book it seemed like we were being given a history lesson. Which we were . . kind of. However, Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann were giving us a whole lot of information this issue, so . . I'm not sure that there was any other way that they could've effective done it. Not in 22 pages of story and art. Although, I would've thought this type of story better fitting for an Annual, or Special or something. But . . we got it here, so . . it is what it is. Anyways, Chris is starting to doubt that he's the real Nightwing. He feels like it's just a name that Thara gave him. So she gives him a crystal that shows him the whole story. I won't go through the whole story, but basically . . he sees the creation of Rao. Maybe 'awareness' is more the right word. He was always there, he just decided to make himself manifest. Anyways, shortly after he created Krypton as well as Flamebird and Vohc, the builder. It seems that in Rao's quest to mold Krypton into the crown jewel of his creation, he tasked Vohc with building things, to which the chaos energy of Flamebird would destroy. It was a cycle so that every time Vohc built something it would be more magnificent than that which came before. Rao had also created Nightwing at the time, but it was quite a while before Vohc took notice of him. He lived in the shadows, and it took Vohc a while to figure it out. Nightwing was Rao's eyes in the night. His task was to . . ' . seek out evil and corruption that hides in the shadows, to pursue and destroy it.' Anyways, it was Vohc that introduce Nightwing to Flamebird. And sensing the loneliness within Nightwing, Flamebird immediately became enamored with him. So . . long story short, Vohc became jealous and when Flamebird destroyed his greatest creation he became filled with a new emotion . . boundless sorrow and the seeds of madness. That's when he created the Phantom Zone and trapped Nightwing in it. Even Flamebird couldn't destroy that. So they were separated forever. And Vohc the builder became Vohc the destroyer. And although the Phantom Zone is no more, it seems that Nightwing is still trapped . . somewhere. Which I think is what Jax-Ur offered Thara when he helped to cure Chris, as Dr Pillings. But I'm thinking that Jax-Ur is actually Vohc. And now he wants Flamebird to help him as he seems to be trying to reach out to God . . Rao. On the final page Jax-Ur has some type of machine that looks like it has the 'hand of God' reaching out through it. I'm not sure that this story has ever been told before. We've gotten bits and pieces of it over the years through various Superman stories. But I don't believe that it's ever been laid out like this. I thought it was interesting. A bit long-winded, but . . interesting. Greg and Eric did a good job with what they had to work with. And I think Pere Perez' art gets better and better with every issue. Now we just have to find out what Jax-Ur is up to, where Nightwing really is, and how this is all connected to the Earth/Krypton war that's looming. In Captain Atom's story, we see that he's enlisted the aid of Shadowact to try to help him get back to Mirabai's realm. We find out that it's actually Sorcerer's World. And that all of the DC Universe's magical realms are connected through it. Of course we've heard of Sorcerer's world in various Legion stories. But I think this is the first time that it's been connected to the regular DC Universe. Adam wants to get back there so that he can help the people that Mirabai used him to hurt. The problem is . . he's a man of science. He can't enter the realm through any of the normal magical portals because . . well, he just wouldn't fit. He'd be repelled . . like polar opposites. But there is a door that they know of. He just has to find, and enter . . Skartaris. To me . . this story just got a whole lot more interesting. I can't wait to see what Captain Atom does here. This story is brought to us by James Robinson and Cafu. I thought they both did a terrific job.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #29 - DC

This issue uses all 30 of it's pages of story and art to wrap up this Cupid storyline. Finally! Or do they? First of all, last issue in her rampage, she's created a whole new villain, I think, with Lt. Hilton. When Cupid came across him last issue, she tried to kill him by sticking a knife in the back of his head. But . . he survived. The doctor doesn't know how, but . . he did. But there's an even bigger problem. 'Brain injury like this can result in massive personality disorders . . memory loss . . cognitive dysfunction . . he may not still be the man you knew.' And . . by the end of the issue, he's really not. He may turn out to be an even bigger problem than Cupid was. Anyways, this doctor comes to town from the group that did this to Carrie Cutter. He was part of the group that trained her, and pharmaceutically enhanced her. But it was the trauma of her last mission that sent her over the edge and created the Cupid persona. It appears that he's brought some kind of serum with him that he thinks can cure her. Anyways, long story short, she tries to take out Dinah, but Ollie saves the day when he shoots Carrie with an arrow that's been soaked in this solution. She goes back to normal . . as far as we can tell, and Ollie and Dinah decide to have the honeymoon that they've never been able to slow down long enough to enjoy. The problem now? They're being heralded by Hal to teleport themselves to the JLA satellite. I assume that this story takes place immediately before Cry for Justice. At least that's how it seems chronologically to me. I thought it was a great issue. I had my reservations about Andrew Kreisberg when he took over the scripts on this book. But now that he's been here for little while . . I think he doing a tremendous job. All these issues that he's done have really been fun, and entertaining. Well . . maybe not to Ollie and Dinah, but . . certainly to us, the readers. Plus Mike Norton and Bill Sienkiewicz have made a fantastic art team. Each of their work seems to compliment the other's very well. I've been with Green Arrow a long time, but . . I think right now is probably my favorite in quite a while. And with everything coming down after Cry for Justice . . I think this is only going to get better.

the Shield #6 - DC

I think that I like this book more and more every month. First of all . . this month, Marco Rudy's pencils, to me, remind me a lot of JH William III's style when he did Promethea. Not exactly, but . . the way he laid out his pages kind of had the same feel to it. I liked it a lot. Then, I really like the approach that Eric S Trautmann is taking with this character. He's not really trying to make him out to be a 'super-hero'. He's a soldier, who happens to wear a very colorful outfit. And if people see him as a 'super-hero', well . . 'The warsuit's suite of combat programming, defensive technology, and comms gear aren't it's only advantages. One look at the suit, and everyone . . including my opponents . . thinks 'super-hero'. But they're wrong. It's not a costume. Or a uniform. It's a weapon. And there's nothing tougher to beat than an American soldier with a weapon.' This issue we're still wrapping up the Nazi attack in Brazil. The Great Ten are involved, and the Shield has been instructed to not only take out the Nazi soldiers, but also to not let their technology fall into the Chinese hero's hands. And . . he has to do all of this while trying not to piss off the August General. But with the help of the Jaguar, he does destroy the Nazi base, before the Great Ten can get there. But whomever was running this operation has gotten away. At least I assume so. This guy seems to be one of those villains that's going to be popping up over and over again. All in all, I thought it was a great story. I like that this is a war book, and not a 'super-hero' book. Even though that's what he looks like. And Eric seems to be doing a fantastic job with this genre. I'm interested to see some more of his interactions with established DC characters.

Titans #22 - DC

Well . . it looks like the Titans are down to just Vic and Kory. Now that Gar and Raven have taken off for San Francisco. Donna has decided to pursue her own life . . again. As has Wally. Although Wally's is a bit more complicated. He's just got so much going on. Even for the fastest man alive, his plate is well past being full. Dick is now under another cowl, and Roy . . well, Roy still hasn't recovered from what's happened to him during Cry for Justice. Prometheus has effectively taken everything away from Roy. It may be a while before he feels the 'team-spirit' again. So Vic and Kory are alone when Phobia attacks. I'm not even sure why she attacks. But we do get a little bit of her background in the process. However, it's not long before Kory and Vic recover and they return the favor. They end up on the West coast celebrating Heroes Day with the rest of the Titans. But Kory is still thinking about taking off to space. Right now, Donna appears to be the only thing holding her back. Which leaves Vic. Will he be able to rebuild the Titans? Does he even want to? Is there any future here at all? Well . . there's only 2 issues listed in the previews . . #23 and #24. So, after that . . I don't know. #24 isn't listed as the final issue, so . . I guess we'll have to wait and see what the future holds. This issue was brought to us by JT Krul and Angel Unzueta. I know it's depressing, but . . I thought it was a good issue. It appears that we're in the final stages of the Titan's deconstruction. So . . there's no place to go but up from here. Right?

R.E.B.E.L.S. #13 - DC

I'm not exactly sure what Lyrl is actually up to, but . . he appears to be playing both sides against the middle. We already see that he's setting up Smite and Starro. But, I'm guessing, he's also appears to be in the process of setting up his father, Vril. And . . I'm not really sure why he felt he had to warn Smite. I mean, when he transports Starro over to the Psion ship where his father and the rest of the REBELS are, Smite doesn't really help him and wouldn't have even know if Lyrl hadn't of told him. Smite does have a yearning though to take his master's place. So I'm guessing that he was feeding into that. Although I don't really know what for. 'Between rebuilding our central computer and pulling the fleets together, I ran half a billion threat scenarios. . specifically, the identify which individuals pose the greatest danger to the master. You name, Smite, came up more often than my father's. I'm trying to help you. I am psycho-mathematically certain that you plan to betray Starro and take his place. I just want you to know there's no need. Within the hour Starro will be dead.' With Despero's help, Vril has constructed a weapon capable of depowering Starro. Effectively making him human, at which time Despero can tear him limb from limb. He's constructed gun out of the shards of the Gamma-gong. 'The Gong's paralytic effects should shut down Starro, physically. The warhead contains Gene bomb tech that should cut Starro's psionic link with his slaves, and then . . .' Then Despero performs his part of the plan, which he is relishing after what Starro and his hordes have done to his planet. The final step is for Despero to use the Flame of Pytar to charge the psionic matrix of the weapon. They were planning on going after Starro, but . .within minutes Lyrl delivers him right to their doorstep. It doesn't come a moment to soon as Starro's next conquest is to be Earth. Also, the Omega Men have retrieved some agent that the original inhabitants of Starro's home galaxy used to drive him out. They died in the process, but . . a thousand years later, they were still able to figure out how they did it. I'm just not sure what use it's going to be, considering that Vril has constructed the weapon the take Starro down. Maybe it's a contingency plan. Next issue this concludes, so . . we'll see how all these plans and schemes come to fruition. I love the way Tony Bedard handles this book, and these characters. I'm just wondering, after this story-line . . what's he going to do with Lyrl? Vril won't be happy with him running around out there. First because he could disrupt his plans, but also because . . I don't think he wants someone smarter than him on the loose. Maybe he'll figure out a way to dampen his intelligence again. Who knows? I just really like this book. It's a team book, but . . it's not. Not really. It's actually more like Vril is playing a constant game of chess. And all the members of REBELS are his pawns. Including Despero. If they're successful, he'll have to find a way to take him down also. Schemes within schemes. I also think that Claude St Aubin is doing a terrific job with the art. I really like his details and style. And after this arc . . Starfire joins the merry band. And Vril begins rebuilding LEGION. Finally!

Secret Six #18 - DC

I think Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad are a fantastic set of characters. I just don't see why we can't have a Suicide Squad book on the shelves also. Although, these 2 titles are similar . . the circumstances of their situations and missions are quite different. Plus with the Secret Six, they can define their own morality rather than having it chosen, or shoved down their throats, by Amanda over on the Squad. But, having said that, we do find out at the end of this issue that Amanda . . she's actually Mockingbird. You know . . the mysterious person that brought this group together, and gives it it's missions. But I don't think that she exerts the type, or measure, of control here that she does with the Squad. Anyways, this whole crossover thing has been because she wanted Deadshot back in her group. It seems that she felt that the Squad had lost a little of it's edge with his departure. So she decided that she wanted to bring him back in. And that's why she's put the Secret Six through hell. Although . . it didn't help that all of this happened during Blackest Night and both groups were attacked by the Black Lanterns. We do learn a couple of secret though, this issue. Back at Belle Reve . . the reason there were so many Black Lanterns available, is because Amanda has a secret section where she experiments and dissects deceased villains and heroes. Plus we learn about her Mockingbird secret. The issue ends with Deadshot shooting Amanda, near the heart, when she asks him to come back with her group. 'Be honest. Plenty of you been wanting to do something like that yourselves. And I owed her a bullet for what she pulled with me. This is over. Waller comes at us again . . I shoot her in the head. I see any of you approaching any of us . . I shoot you in the head. No further warning. Just dead. Get the f#$% out of here and take your team of lapdogs with you.' I absolutely love the way Gail Simone handles these characters. Of course she had some help from John Ostrander with this story-arc. He is the Suicide Squad expert afterall. J Calafiore does the art. All in all I thought this was a thrilling story-line. I can't wait to get back to the Six . . or Seven, next issue. But . . I really liked this one. It was the perfect team-up. Both in terms of characters and creative talent.

Booster Gold #29 - DC

This is another book that I enjoy more than I care to admit. Whoever thought that not only would Booster Gold come back, but . . his book would become a pivotal part of the DC Universe? To me, this is mostly due to Dan Jurgens incredible job here. Yes he had some help from Geoff Johns in the beginning, but . . for the most part he's pretty much written and drawn this entire series. I'm guessing he has a special affection for him since he created him . . almost some 30 years ago now. Wow! Time sure does fly. Anyways, Rip and Michael are trying to stop this other group from taking out Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg-Superman. It turns out this Sondra Crain, whom Michael is trying to stop, is actually an operative of the US Government's Slipshift project . . some 80 years in the future. According to her, they're just trying to save the people of Coast City, and the future atrocities that the Cyborg-Superman commits. Which . . Michael has a hard time arguing with, but . . he also knows what he and Rip have encountered and seen. Any change to the time-stream, no matter how altruistic, can have unforeseen circumstances in the future. Generally . . not for the best, either. But still . . he doesn't like how this is going down either. But, it all may be moot because by the end of the issue we find out that they don't have days to save the citizens of this fair city, but only hours. The event has already begun. Also, I'm not sure how Michael's sister, Michelle fits into all of this, but . . she's also in Central City right now. Michael just doesn't know it yet. This book also has a huge nostalgic feel to it right now . . for me. Dan also did a lot of the work during the Death of Superman story-line, and this thing with Coast City happens right during all of that. So this book, to me, kind of feels like those old Superman or JLI issues. Speaking of which . . there's a Justice League mini-series coming out in May, Generation Lost, which contains a lot of those JLI members . . including Booster. That should be interesting. Anyways, Dan wraps up this story in the next 2 issues . . as well as putting Michelle onto whatever her future path is as Goldstar. Unfortunately though . . that will be his last. However, the good new is that Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis will be taking over the scripting chores, with Chris Batista doing the art. So the future of Booster . . or his past, whatever the case may be . . still looks bright. Also, in the final Blue Beetle back-up, Matthew Sturges and Mike Norton finally put to rest the possibility of Jamie turning evil, because of the Scarab's Reach influence. I was also starting to think that he may become the Black Beetle in the future. But it looks like Peacemaker has put a stop to all of that. This is all because of when Jamie rebooted during the Reach invasion. The Scarab had always been damaged, but when he did that he essentially fixed it. Although fixing it meant that it gained more control. However, after Peacemaker nukes him this issue . . I'm thinking it may be broken again. Anyways, things end on a good note . . Jamie's back home with his friends. So for now, his future is simply with the Teen Titans . . and Traci 13. I'm sure.

Batgirl #7 - DC

I have to say . . I'm really enjoying this book. I've always liked Stephanie's character. Yes, she's a bit impulsive. Yes, she's a bit reckless. And yes, for a while there she was a bit whiny. But she seems to be past the whiny stage, and for the most part the recklessness and impulsiveness generally work for her. Plus . . I absolutely love the report and dialogue between her and Damian. 'Robin and I are moving to intercept. 'Guess he didn't get the memo about the team-up . . . . 'guess I didn't get the memo that this is what happens when you work with a ten year-old.' Anyways, Batgirl and Robin are attempting to make it to Devil's Square where Roulette has set up a gauntlet of sorts for Batman to make his way through. After she helped him crash down there, of course. The ending is never really in question, just the means to getting there. This story-arc has basically been about Stephanie proving herself to Dick . . and Damian. Dick wasn't very happy when he found out what she was doing, and even less so when he figured out that Barbara was helping her. But now . . he's more comfortable with the way she handles herself. He may not be completely happy about it . . yet, but . . I think he is a little relieved that Barbara has become her mentor. 'She reminds me of you. You know. From before . . everything . . .' So I think that they've come to an understanding. Batman & Robin will work out of the Wayne-tech building, and Babs and Stephanie will continue to work out of the cave. I'm glad that we got this little 'proving-ground' out of the way. Now we can move on to Batgirl's own stories. My only concern is . . with the return of the Birds of Prey on the horizon . . how will that effect Babs time with Steph? Or will Steph become a Bird also? I guess we'll have to wait and see on that one. But if you read Red Robin, you know that next issue Tim & Steph are back together again. I can't wait to see what happens. Bryan Q Miller and Lee Garbett are doing fantastic job. Keep up the good work, guys!

JSA All-Stars #3 - DC

I thought Matthew Sturges did a good job of passing around the story to some of the other characters this issue. It seems like we've been focusing so much attention on Magog lately that the only other one we've really heard from is Power Girl. And that's only because she's been so vocal with Magog's actions and motives. Really, my only complaint is that this issue should've come out before JSA Annual #2. That's how the time-line fits together. But . . in this issue they only mention that they've received the distress call from Haven, and that they think Magog is trying to do a jailbreak. I'm glad they didn't play on that to much because it would've been awkward after having already read the story. Anyways, in the beginning we see that Johnny Sorrow seems to be more over the edge than usual. He actually cuts out Killer Moth's heart. He says that it's going to help him get whatever it is that he wants. And we still don't know why he put the hit on all the JSA members, or why he's professing his love for Stargirl. We get a little glimpse at Hourman & Liberty Belle's relationship. Since they're in separate groups now, it's kind of like they're commuting. They don't spend much of their days together. It was also nice to see Rick and his dad have a little heart to heart talk. We do get a little bit of Magog, but it's right before he takes off to head to Haven. He and Power Girl are trying to work with the kids to give them a little training and preparation for when they face Johnny Sorrow, and his minions. But of course Karen and David fight over tactics and desired results. I actually think that they both want the same thing, they just each have their own way, their own line in the sand, when it comes to reaching those results. The problem is, if they keep this up much longer it's going to tear the team apart also. We also catch up with Sandy. He's been in this dream-state for a long time now. But Wesley shows up to try to help bring him out of it. When he does, he desperately needs the help of his fellow team-mates, but . . they aren't answering. They're off at Haven. Oh yeah, and we get a glimpse of Atom Smasher. We don't really know where he is, or who's got him, but . . whomever it is seems to be majorly obsessed with him. He's got him trussed up like a greased pig. I'm sure we'll get more on that in the upcoming issues. The other thing I really like about this book is Freddie Williams II's artwork. The style that he's using, to me, is very reminiscent of Bart Sears. Which I like . . a lot. His story flows great. And he's putting a lot into these individual characters. I think it's got a fantastic feel to it. I'm also enjoying the Hourman & Liberty Belle back-up story. They're chasing around Icicle and Tigress for this book. The interactions and what happens when they cross paths is great. In the end they all end up in Venice, but . . it doesn't look good for any of them. I think Jan Van Meter is doing a good job with the story. And I enjoy Travis Moore's art immensely. Although these characters all belonged to the JSA, this isn't really a JSA book. Well . . it is, and it isn't. It has the characters, but it has a completely different feel to it. And that's ok. There's a lot of younger, less experienced characters here. They shouldn't act the same. They have to forge their own path and prove themselves. So far I'm enjoying the direction of this title.

Adventure Comics #7 / #510 - DC

Superboy / Connor, gets the entire issue to himself this time. 30 pages of art with him and Cassie slugging it out. In Blackest Night, Nekron recently assigned Black Lantern rings to the 'heroes' that he had spared by allowing them to come back again. Obviously, that included Connor. This issue picks up shortly after that as he and Cassie are fighting. Cassie's trying to get Connor to assert himself. After the time when Luthor used his 'trigger-word' to control Connor, he and Cassie went all over the globe to try and teach him how to resist any future mind control. He uses that training to slip a couple of things past the Black Lantern ring. First he slips out a whistle. A whistle that no one can hear, but Krypto. Who soon rushes to his aid. And then he uses his heat vision to send Cassie a message. He carves 'Fortress' into the ground. His plan? His original dead body is there in the Kryptonian chamber. If he can get close enough to it, while wearing the ring, maybe he can confuse it. Then he uses the tricks that Raven taught him to make his mind 'slippery'. With the ring already confused, it chooses the path of least resistance and goes after the corpse. But, the tricky part is . . Connor also has to keep the ring away from the corpse once it's off of him. This is the previous version of him . . his past self, if you will. But . . it's still him. So he if rings makes contact and Connor or Cassie has to destroy it to stop it . . they'd effectively be destroying Connor. His future self may no longer exist. Anyways, long story short . . I know, too late . . Connor freezes the ring, with his newly discovered 'freeze-breath', and Cassie casts it off into space. Obviously there's only a matter of time before the ring breaks out and comes back for it's target. But . . in the meantime, Connor and Cassie and Krypto are all heading towards Coast City to do anything they can to help the rest of the heroes beat this thing. Tony Bedard has taken over on the writing chores of this book. Bye-bye, Geoff Johns! But I thought Tony did a pretty good job. I really enjoyed all the dialogue and interaction between Connor and Cassie. And I liked that Connor used his head to get out of this. The boy is growing up. Plus I think Cassie is a good influence on him. Travis Moore does the art. The Legion returns next issue. Unfortunately . . so does Brainiac. I love this book, and I'm glad it's back. I don't really care how they number it.

Batman & Robin #8 - DC

I have to say, I'm really impressed by the style of art that Cameron Stewart is using for this book. He's always had this kind of retro-style to his work. Which set him apart. But, he's using a completely different style on this story-arc. It looks really good. I really don't mean for that to sound condescending. Obviously the guy has talent. It just amazes me that someone can draw this well in 2 completely different styles. Obviously this guy is more talented than I thought. Anyways, at the end of the last issue, Grant Morrison had Dick/Batman cooking Bruce/Batman's body in a Lazarus pit. Unfortunately they don't know that it's not really him. We get a bit of a flashback showing that Darksied had Simian cook up many duplicate Batman bodies. From this brief glimpse, it appears that Darksied wanted to fill him up with the memories, and emotions and scars of the original Batman so that he could have one of his own . . one that he could mold. The problem is none of the duplicates could take it. However, rather than destroying them all he instructed Simian to retain one. 'A perfect copy of Batman, Dead? I can use that.' And I'm guessing that's the body that Superman carried out of the warehouse. Anyways, Dick had stole the body from the crypt without telling anyone, including Alfred, what was going on. When it comes back to life, neither Dick/Batman nor Knight & Squire or even Batwoman can control or contain him. He's just to strong for all of them. Batwoman ends up showing up because she was on the trail of the Crime Coven, which intersected paths with Dick's because of the Lazarus pit. Anyways, the Batman copy makes it out but brings the cave down on top of them all in the ensuing fight. They all remain pretty much unscathed, except for Batwoman who is crushed under the debris. Dick tries to save her, but . . she wants to die. She says she has a plan. I assume it includes the Lazarus pit. But, wouldn't that be playing right into the Crime Coven's hands? Wouldn't this make the 'twice-named daughter', the 'twice-risen daughter'? Anyways, when the Batman clone escapes it heads straight towards Gotham. Damian has recently returned from his numerous surgery's at the hands of his mother's doctors, and Alfred has just recently figured out what Dick has done. The plane lands and he attacks Alfred. The issue ends as he's going after Damian. I like this book. Alot! I think Grant's doing a great job. And although Frank Quitely was only around for the first story-arc, there's been nothing but great art since. And Frank is doing covers. I also liked the team-up of Dick and Kate. Hopefully this'll be something that we see more of in the future. And with it coming out twice a month right now . . we're getting all the Batman & Robin we could ask for. Keep up the good work, guys!

Smallville - Absolute Justice - Season 9 Episode 11 - CW

Wow! This was a great episode. But I wouldn't have expected anything less from one written by Geoff Johns. This episode basically introduces the Justice Society, and it's members, to this series. Unfortunately, three of it's heroes had to die to do so. Basically they take the old history of the JSA . . you know, where they were banned from being heroes, and had to make the choice of being unmasked or retired . . and they adapted it a bit. In this version, the members refused to unmask, but they tried to secretly continue their adventures. The government wasn't happy about this so they hunted them down and created fake crimes to pin on them. If anyone looked into them they would just think that they were a bunch of criminals. Which is what Chloe and Clark think when they start investigating the murders of Sylvester Pemberton and Welsey Dodds. So they start looking up other members of their group. They start with Carter Hall. He's not very talkative, and the place he lives seems like a museum. Which just serves to make them even more suspicious. So while investigated Sylvester's murder they come across Courtney Whitmore. She's very upset about the whole thing, and later when Ollie is following her, he finds that she's dressed as Stargirl and wielding a power staff. It appears that she's trying to make herself a target to draw out Sylvester's killer . . the Icicle. Well . . not the original Icicle, but . . his son. Later they run into Dr Fate in the father's hospital room. He takes Clark back to Carter's house, which happens to be the JSA's brownstone. He talks to Clark about his fate and the hope that he will inspire. Clark looks around and starts to figure out that this was actually a band of 'heroes'. They end up teaming up, and together they take Icicle Jr. down. It's Hawkman, Dr Fate and Stargirl for the JSA. And Clark, Ollie, Chloe and John Jones for Clark's group. Although Chloe probably thinks it's her group. Anyways, long story short, together they beat Icicle. Hawkman decides to get the JSA back together . . the surviving members, their families and their protege's. He thinks that the next generation may be able to learn something from the previous one. But the real shocker of the story is that all of this was orchestrated by Checkmate, and their white queen . . Amanda Waller. I thought that was awesome. As a member of Suicide Squad, Amanda had Icicle convinced that he was supposed to take the team down and avenge what they did to his father. But what she really wanted was to wake up the team, dust them off and out of the closet and back into the public eye. Which she does through these events, plus the information she's fed Lois. Lois ends up with a front page story about these old heroes and their secret society. Also, big shocker . . we find out that Tess is actually an agent of Checkmate. I really didn't see that one coming. As with the last episode, there were a couple items of particular interest. First the dialogue between Carter and Ollie was awesome. Their banter and jibes throughout the whole episode were perfect. But in the end . . they found a respect for each other and could possibly be friends. Also interesting was the dialogue between Courtney and Chloe. When they're in the Watchtower they're talking about each other's groups. Courtney tells her that they would probably get together more if the place felt more like a home than a nuclear war-room. She also suggested that they get together for other things than just disasters. I thought it was some good advice. Especially from a young girl who doesn't look like she's old enough to drive a car. I was expecting a great episode here, and this one certainly didn't let me down. I just hope we see some more of these characters in the future of this series.

the Invincible Iron Man #23 - Marvel

As with Cable, this seems to be another story-line that's 25 issues in the making. The difference is . . in my opinion, each issue of this story-line provides us with some pertinent information, and serves to progress the story ever closer to it's conclusion. Or . . if not a conclusion, at least an acceptable resolution. The only thing I don't get is these funky covers by Salvador Larroca. I mean, really? What's the point? They're 50/50 covers, so there's not an extra cost, but really? If someone has a choice between these 2 covers, which one do you really think that they're going to buy? Duhh! And Patrick Zircher's looks so much better. Anyways, last issue Stephen Strange went into Tony's mind to see if he could help him get out. The trouble is . . Tony doesn't know who he is . . Tony, or Iron Man . . and Stephen has to convince him that all of this is happening in his head. By the end of the issue they seem to have made some progress, but they're just not quite there. Meanwhile, Pepper and Maria are in the Tornado shelter trying to protect Tony and Stephen as this is all sorted out. They don't really have much to talk about, so . . things come out. They end up telling each other that they've both slept with Tony. But really . . is it all that much of a surprise to either of them? I mean, they've got to know that there's others out there . . probably to numerous to count, that they don't even know about. At least this is 'the devil you know'. Anyways, they're trying to deal with that as the Ghost decides to make his move. He's figured out where they're hiding and he goes after them. He attacks Pepper first, but that's all just a diversion so he can then have Tony to himself. Unfortunately, Rhodey happens in about the same time and the Ghost shoots him. In Tony's mind, he and Stephen are trying to break through the final barrier. While in the 'real' world . . the Ghost is standing over both their bodies at the same time . . with no one there to stop him. It looks like this story may finally be concluded next issue. I think Matt Fraction is doing a terrific job here. Yes the story has taken forever, but . . most of what's happened has been important to the final event. Looking back now . . from here . . we can see how it all fits together. Plus we get important information and cool ideas presented to us every issue. It's been a great ride. On top of that, Salvador has continued to do a fantastic job with the art. I think it'll be interesting to see how things play out for Tony. I also noticed in the previews, it looks like Pepper may become a hero in her own right. I don't have all the details yet, but . . there appears to be a new hero by the name of Rescue on the horizon. Although we won't know more until May.

Wolverine Weapon X #10 - Marvel

This issue was a nice change of pace. We've just finished the Asylum story-line, and now Wolverine has decided to take a little bit of a breather. He does keep a rather hectic schedule. Anyways, over the course of the last few months Logan has begun working with a reporter, Melita Garner. And, apparently . . he's falling in love with here. The problem is . . most of the women that he's ever been involved with have ended up dead, or psychotic. Some are both. But I think he really wants this one to be different. It seems like he's actually going to make an effort here. He's already begun telling her about most of his past . . the things he can remember, and . . omitting the things that would give her nightmares. But . . she already knows most of that. She's a reporter . . remember? And I don't really think he has any unrealistic expectations. He tells her up front . .'You could get killed with me. We can't grow old together, even if we wanted to. You'll get old, but I'll stay pretty much the same. I keep crazy hours. Sometimes I even go into space. And don't ever ask me to introduce you to Spider-man.' She knows or meets almost every woman in his life . . even Emma. Whom she doesn't like. But the issue ends with her meeting the one person that could cause the most trouble, and that Logan probably least expects . . Mystique. It looks like we're going to be getting into another story-line next issue. So I don't think we'll be focusing to much attention on this. But . . I'm sure this'll be an underlying theme over the course of time. It should be an interesting foot-note to this plethora of Wolverine books that are out right now. I thought Jason Aaron did a great job with handling this part of Logan's life. And I loved CP Smith's art. I was thinking about dropping this book, but . . now I think I may stick around for a while. There's a whole lot of Wolverine stories out there right now, but . . I thought this issue was interesting . . and unique.

Cable #23 - Marvel

I'm sure it's not just ironic, but Cable and Hope have ended up back in New York City, 2044. Basically . . that's where this whole story started. When Cable and Hope went into the future they ended up here and Nate became involved with Sophie. He ended up helping here fight the Highway Men, or State Assembly . . whatever they were called. They were just a bunch of guys . . a gang, thieves and criminals, who were using their guns and numbers to hold dominion over the rest of the people living here. That is until Bishop showed up and, in thier fight, Nate and Sophie disappeared. Now it's 2 years later . . 16 or 17 for Nate and Hope, and Sophie feels like they've finally returned. The problem is . . if they've returned, so has Bishop. It isn't long before he gets the State Assembly to gather up arms and make a run at Nate by attacking Sophie's group. As they're driving into Central Park, their Jeep crashes and Nate feels the familiar 'ping' of a time-jump coming on. He wants to save Sophie, but he can't do both . . so he grabs Hope and they end up back in 1933. I'm enjoying this story, but . . I have to ask . . what really is the point of all of this jumping around? I mean . . if it progress' the story . . fine. But to me, it just seems to be delaying it. Eventually Hope's powers will manifest. There will be a show-down between Bishop and Nate & Hope. The questions are just . . where? . . when? . . and how long is it going to take for us to get there? And once her powers do manifest, will Nate see her as the threat that Bishop has been claiming? Maybe it's just me, but it just seems like we've been stalling for the last few issues. I've enjoyed Duane Swierczynski's story . . for the most part. But . . we just aren't getting to the point. I mean . . what was accomplished this issue? What was the point? To me . . absolutely nothing. Unless Duane is just trying to express to us the frustration that Nate is feeling in not being able to control the jumps. And the time that it's taking for him to zero in on the final destination. If that's his objective . . then he's accomplished his goal. Cause . . I'm feelin' the frustration. Anyways, Gabriel Guzman does the pencils, with Marko Djurdjevic on the cover. I think 25 issues of this is enough. Let's get past this and move Cable on to something else.

Ultimate X #1 - Marvel

Well, it turns out that this Ultimate X guy is actually Wolverine's son. Although, from the cover I don't think that's really a surprise to anyone. Apparently he was dropped off with James and Heather Hudson when he was an infant, and they've been raising him ever since. By the way . . James is the local Sheriff and Heather hosts a radio talk show. Anyways, James never told Jimmy of his true origins, because . . well, he didn't want to lose him. He'd come to think of him as his own son, and he didn't want him to pull away because he would try to find out, or be like, his real father. Although Jimmy does have some suspicions. In the beginning of the story, Jimmy is in a drag-race that ends with him crashing his car. He comes out all broken and bloodied, but by the time the law arrives . . his father, there's barely a scratch on him. So he knows that something is up, he's not like the rest of the High School kids. But since his parents aren't' talking . . at least not to him, he doesn't find out the full extent of his suspicions until Kitty comes to pay him a visit. After Wolverine died, she thought that he might want to know a little bit about his real father. But she didn't come right away. Mutants are outlaws right now, and she was hoping to spare him the persecution. But then, I think, she loved Wolverine so much that she probably thought that she could help him live on through his son. In the hologram where Wolverine introduces himself to his son, he mentions 'You need to start thinking about the future. That future . . ? Talk to Kitty about this idea I've got. But listen to your folks.' I'm guessing that he wants Jimmy to gather up some of the younger new mutants and re-establish the X-Men. I'm just guessing, but . . I don't think it's that much of a leap. Now, although he's Wolverine's son, there does appear to be some subtle differences. Kitty talks him into popping his claws. The first time out it's brutally painful. But that goes away pretty soon once he gets past the surprise. Obviously they're just bone. His skeleton was never treated with Adamantium. But then . . he knows enough about Wolverine to know that he had metal claws so, just by thinking about it, he wills his body to generate the metal and his claws become covered. I thought that was an interesting trick. I enjoyed this first issue. From the cover I expected it to be a little more ominous, but . . this was basically the introduction. I thought Jeph Loeb did a great job of keeping it fresh and interesting. It could've been really deep and depressing, but . . Jeph kept it upbeat . . for the most part. I also enjoyed Art Adams work. He's one of my favorite artists. But he hasn't done anything regular, lately. Hopefully he'll be sticking with this book for a while. In this particular issue I liked the way that he had Jimmy looking like a normal High School kid in the beginning, but . . as the issue progressed, he looked more and more like he could be Logan's son. And of course, with a story revolving around Wolverine, and I'm guessing eventually the new X-Men, there's a plethora of variant covers. I think there was like 6 all together. I wasn't going to get sucked in, but then I found 3 of them together on E-Bay for about $9. So . . I just had to do it. Anyways, I think this is going to be a great book. It's got huge potential. And since it's a part of the Ultimate Universe . . basically, anything goes. I just hope Jeph and Art use that freedom to help give this book a really original feel.

the Boys #39 - Dynamite Entertainment

There's a lot of character development for the various people in this title, but . . I think the point of this issue is to show the Butcher that he may not have things as together as he thinks. The issue starts out with him looking through files and surveillance. During which . . he's feeling pretty good about himself. He feels like he knows everything, and he can pretty much do what he wants. Ironically . . kind of the same thing that he doesn't like about the supes. But by the end of the issue he's going to feeling like his whole world has been turned upside down. We know that he's got cameras and such in the supes headquarters. So he's seen how they've initiated Starlight, Annie, into their group when she came on board. He's also keeping a close eye on Vought-American and it's various representatives. Anyways, his whole world falls apart as he goes out for some tea. He happens to run across Hughie and Annie while he's walking around the block. He doesn't recognize her at first, as they're in a passionate embrace, but . . when they pull apart . . and he looks at her face . . his jaw hits the ground and his world comes tumbling apart. That's when he realizes . . 'Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. That's what I fu#$%n know.' What I think the problem is . . the world that the Butcher works in there has to be a certain level of trust. That's why he's been having the other members of the Boys confide in Hughie about their own individual stories. I think that he was afraid that Hughie was going to leave and he wants him to be 'bought in' to the group. However, seeing him with Annie . . I don't think his first thought is that Hughie doesn't know who he's involved with. How can he not know? So if he knows . . and he's doin' her anyways . . what else is he keeping a secret from the Butcher? And is 'wee Hughie' even who he really is? I think this is really going to mess with the Butcher's head. I mean . . he lives and works in a tempest of paranoia. I think this may be the spark that's lit the fuse on the bomb. I have a feeling that things aren't going to be the same for this group for quite a while . . if ever. I think it's definitely going to send this book into a whole new direction. I know this book isn't on everyone's list. But . . I like it. I think Garth Ennis is doing a great job. Whatever the subtext and implications of his stories are . . it's still just entertainment. To me it's like a good movie . . you go and watch it . . get into it for a little while, as it provides a form of escapism, but then you come back to the 'real' world and deal with whatever you gotta deal with. John McCrea does the art for this issue. I'm not a huge fan . . I'd much rather have Darick Robertson on every book, but . . I thought John did a good job this issue. And I love the cover. Anyways, now we'll have to wait and see where we go from here. I have a feeling that the Butcher is going to react . . hastily. This should be interesting.

the Authority #19 - WildStorm

Everything is up in the air right now . . literally. And it's getting higher all the time. At the end of last issue, the Carrier, after receiving a beam of energy from outer-space, started powering up and preparing itself for transportation. The Authority got a little warning so they sent out a message to every meta on the planet, 'The Carrier is leaving. Stay behind, or leave with it' They gave the same option to all of those that had starting living on the Carrier. The homeless and forsaken that needed shelter. Some were quick to go, but some weren't. When it came down to it . . the ship left when it was ready. There wasn't anything anybody could do to stop it or speed it along. And whomever happened to be on board when the doors closed . . well, they didn't have the option anymore. There's a lot of upheaval during launch, and it's break from the Earth's atmosphere. But once in space, things start to calm down. Nobodies sure where they're headed, but . . they seem to be headed there in a hurry. Jack, Christine Trelane and Swift seem to have the best handle on things. But it isn't long before Christine starts assuming authority and barking orders. Once the trip starts, and things settle down, Jack calls all post-humans to the bridge to give them a sit-rep. 'StormWatch, WildCATS, Gen13. Not here. Look around you people . . you are the new Authority.' But . . I don't think anyone really cares about that as much as figuring out just what's going on, and where they're going. Between Jack and Christine they start trying to get things in order, but . . it's a pretty big ship, and there's an awful lot of people still on board. Plus . . not everyone is accounted for. Nobody has seen Angie, the Engineer. So they don't know if she made it on board or not. Unfortunately, she was really the only one that had any kind of report with the ship. Anyways, they go through all the motions, trying to establish order, but . . it may all be moot. Next thing they know they're coming up on the planet Daemon. 'I don't know how most of you are accustomed to working, but amateur hour is over. We will function as a team. If not, we die. Everyone dies. They say you don't truly know someone until you stand with them in battle. I think our first battle may be upon us.' Overall I really enjoyed this book. I think I'm going to like the shake-up. Plus, Jack has something up his sleeve. An 'ace in the hole', in case he needs it. I understood why they did the last shake-up, but . . things in London were starting to get depressing. And boring. Adam Freeman and Marc Bernardin are writing the book now. I can't really judge how they're doing because this was more of a reaction type issue. When they start working with the characters, and start developing dialogue and relationships, then we'll see how they handle things. I thought this issue was a good start, but . . like I said, it was mostly just a reaction to last issues events. Al Barrionuevo has taken over on the pencils. I think Al's work is fantastic. I've been a fan for a while, but he's never really had a book where he could strut his stuff and shine. I think this may be it. This could be . . correction, this should be a start to what will become a great story-line. I just hope they can follow through.

Jonah Hex #52 - DC

I enjoy this book. The stories, for the most part, are pretty simple, but . . these are different times than what we're used to. The stories that Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti script here are perfect for this book. In this issue Jonah runs across some low-life thieves. They live in this swamp, and basically they try to rob whoever happens to pass through it. They even have one of their kids doing it. Anyways, this kid tricks Jonah into stopping and getting off his horse, and when he does . . he shoots him. But Jonah is ornery. He doesn't go down that easily. And in order to save himself, he kills the kid. Well, even though these schmucks are thieves, they believe in an eye for an eye. So they come after him. Jonah evades them, and they head back home, and he finds a shack with a widow and baby in it. He talks to Maisy Rae and tells her his story, and she removes his bullet and stitches him up. But it turns out that she's kin to these murderers, and she knows that they'll come looking for her. Anyways, long story short . . Jonah ends up killing them all, and she ends up alone. Actually . . more alone than she was before. Like I said . . pretty simple story. But . . it was entertaining. And I have to admit . . although I'm not a huge fan of Jordi Bernet's art . . it is perfect for this book. Plus . . I think I like this series because it's a good escape from all the other stuff that I read.

the Warlord #11 - DC

Well . . Deimos is officially back. Last issue Kate used some kind of Atlantean technology to bring him back to life, and then this Mask of Life to restore his memories and emotions. Morgan is talking to Ewan . . remember, he's doing this video journal, or history of Skartaris while he's stuck down here . . and while they're talking Deimos sends a dragon of some sort to attack Jennifer. It's pretty clear to everyone involved that it's Deimos' calling card. And Morgan is quick to jump to arms. 'I had forgotten what life was like when he was around. I confess it's been occasionally dull without a real adversary. A Warlord without a was . . but no more.' Obviously it's a trap, but Morgan and Machiste, Shakira and Tara are all quick to follow him into battle. As well as Ewan who wants to record it all for posterity. However, Morgan and company is expecting a trap, but actually . . it's a diversion. When the get to Deimos' castle they find it deserted. Well . . except for some kind of groundskeeper or something. He says that Deimos and Kate have taken off in the direction of Shamballah. It turns out that rather than attack Morgan directly, Deimos has decided to start with the things that are important to him. They attack Shamballah with a dragon, but . . that too is a distraction. While everyone is out fighting it, Deimos and Kate have snuck into the city and are following the plans of some ancient Atlantean texts. It seems that this is not just a city, but a garrison. They've activated the weapons and turned them on the city itself. I have a feeling by the time Morgan returns, Shamballah will be pretty much destroyed. Mike Grell does both the story and the art this issue, and . . it couldn't look better. I still have to profess that I love this book. Maybe it's the nostalgia. Maybe it's because it's different than most of the other stuff I read. But I love Mike's work, and I think this is one of his best creations. The only problem right now? For Morgan . . I think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. But that's when this book is the best. I can't wait.

Doom Patrol #7 - DC

I'm not sure where this cover at the left came from, but . . it looks neat so I'll keep it in here. Anyways, this issue . . it kind of feels like an in-between issue. But . . Keith Giffen does seem to be setting up the ground work for a few new story-lines. First we see that Oolong Island may be selling of corporate sponsorship to the Doom Patrol. They seem to be brokering with at Mr Jost, Thayer, with some type of animal or something that they've developed that will attack humans. I'm not sure why they would develop it, or what the buyer would use it for, but . . it's out there. Meanwhile the President of Oolong Island is trying to maintain order by subjecting Niles Caulder to house arrest. Well . . he is in the hospital after the Black Lantern attack last issue . . in which he lost his legs. So I guess it would actually be hospital arrest. And after talking to Niles, rather unsuccessfully, Father Davis is taken to another of the Doom Patrol's rooms and asked to talk to Crazy Jane. We haven't seen her in a long time. Also occurring at the same time, Oberon is at Dayton Manor and he's working with a moving company. He's going around the house and packing up various items. They seem to be leaving the furniture alone and going for the more obscure pieces . . the weird stuff that the Doom Patrol has collected over the years. But I'm not sure why he's doing it or where he's taking it. We also see the Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Dr Larsen. He's antagonized and then collected by that same Mr Jost. However, this guy that's presented him self as Mr Jost doesn't appear to be the actual man. However . . he does have Mr Jost inside of him . . somewhere . . somehow. None of it is really explained this issue. And on the final page of the story we actually see Larry, Cliff and Rita. They're in some kind of military refugee camp in Coast City. I assume this part of the story takes place after Blackest Night. Like I said, there's a whole bunch of new plot lines being laid, but nothing really progressing very far. Matthew Clark and Cliff Richards do the pencils. But I have to say . . I'm not to impressed. Overall, it seemed like a rush issue. There's a few good pages and panels . . I assume it's Matthews work. Hopefully we'll get back on track next issue. The Metal Men story basically serves to wrap up the story with the Clique. Will has asked Dr Rumpus to be his assistant . . in lieu of going to jail. He agrees, but . . jail may have been a better option for him. We see the Metal Men fighting Giganta. It doesn't last long. Only until they rip off her blouse. And the guy who plays Douglas: Robot Hunter has come to Will's house to blow it up and take out Will and the Metal Men in the process. The problem is . . the automated defense mechanisms kick in and I think he only blows up himself . . well, the house to, but . . he's in it. And apparently this is going to be the last Metal Men story in this book. That's a shame. I hope they get another mini or something. This hilarious chapter was brought to us by Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire.

the Question #37 - DC

I was a huge fan of the original Question title. I thought it was a great book, and definitely ahead of it's time. With Dennis O'Neil and Denys Cowan doing this issue . . I felt like I was right back into it again. Greg Rucka helps Dennis out, and Bill Sienkiewicz' inks over Denys' pencils were absolutely incredible. This is a team that should get together again. Their individual styles definitely mesh well together. Anyways, the Black Ring has come to their little corner of the world and brought Charlie back. It also brings Shiva back. She says she's here to test Renee, but . . it turns out that she suspected that Charlie would return and she wanted to test her mettle against one of these Black Lanterns. Like Renee says . .'Girl, you are 10 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag.' I thought it was interesting that Charlie tries to appeal to their emotions, but all of them . . Shiva, Renee, Tot . . pretty much dismiss him right away. None of them are fooled into thinking this is actually Charlie. The problem is . . Tot sees this as an opportunity to get some of the questions about life & death answered. He sees it as an educational opportunity that he'll never ever get again. So while Shiva and Renee are trying to stop him . . Tot ends up shooting Shiva so that he can ask Charlie some questions. It isn't until they're up close and personal that he realizes that he's never going to get the answers he's looking for. It looks like they're all pretty well screwed until Shiva realizes that if they put Charlie out of their mind . . put everything out of their mind, and allow themselves to feel nothing . . they'll effectively make themselves invisible to Charlie emotional perception. Shiva does it pretty easily. It takes Renee a little bit longer. But Tot's the one that actually has to say goodbye to Charlie before he's able to do it. I thought that was a pretty touching moment. Anyways, in the end Renee decides that since that 'thing' is still out there . . she has to make it her mission to stop it. Personally . . I thought it was a great issue. Like I said, I loved the book and this issue seemed like a natural extension of it. I thought everyone did a great job and handled the characters perfectly. I really liked Charlie's character, but . . I'm thrilled that Renee is the Question now. She's got a lot of potential, and I think she can bring a lot to this character. The future is wide open.

Red Tornado #6 - DC

After just reading that JSA Annual, I think that some of my frustration from that book carried over into my interpretation of this one. At the end of last issue Red Volcano attacked the apartment building that Mari lives in because John's wife and kid were there for safety. And by attack, I mean that he focused a 6.1 earthquake on the building. After digging through the rubble, John finds that Mari had pulled out his wife and Red Inferno had actually pulled out Traya. But he didn't stick around with her, he took her back to the school where his powers first manifested. Anyways, long story short . . Red Tornado and Red Torpedo go after Red Volcano. Red Torpedo fills up Red Volcano's tunnels with water cutting off his source of power by removing him from the Ley lines. However, with him defeated his tunnels are also collapsing. He slithers off, but Red Tornado and Torpedo have to escape the rubble before they're crushed. Therefore . . they have to let him escape. After getting out themselves, Red Torpedo decides that she needs to go off on her own and explore the life that she's been denied for so many years. And when Red Tornado gets back to confront Red Inferno . . Red Inferno decides that he doesn't know what he wants. He thinks that Red Volcano might be able to show him how to use his powers. And, although he would appreciate Red Tornado's help . . he can't stick around with him because his family would remind him to much of what he's lost. So he also goes off on his own. First of all I can't believe that they just let Red Volcano escape. Especially after all the damage and destruction and deaths that he's caused. It seems that John could've found some way to reign him in. Especially at the much lower power level. And I can't believe that not one of them would want John to show them around . . show them the world. But like I said I think some of the frustration from the last book carried over into this one. All in all I thought it was a decent story. I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but . . it was what it was. I thought Kevin VanHook crafted a pretty decent tale here. And I actually really enjoyed Jose Luis' art. He's definitely an up an coming talent. Obviously this isn't the end of the story. So I'm sure we'll see another Red Tornado mini-series before to long. I would like to see them explore the 'elements' theme a little more. And why does Red Volcano have to be such a hot-head? They could accomplish so much more together than apart. But . . that's a question for the next book.

Justice Society of America Annual #2 - DC

At least in the Magog book you kind of get a feeling for what David's doing and why. With the internal dialogue, at least we get a little explanation as to why he does the things he does, or at least how he justifies it. Here however . . he doesn't explain anything. He just wants everyone to get the hell out of his way so he can finish doing what he's doing. Now, if you read this book, I'm guessing that you've been reading Magog also. If not . . that's ok. But if you have, then you know what's been going on with this Haven, and how it's a front for Flashpoint. But, just in case . . Flashpoint is a group that deals in exotic weapons. It's all rather futuristic and scientific, but . . basically, they're arms dealers. And they'll deal to anyone. They don't care which side of the fight it is. Anyways, the guy who runs Flashpoint is the warden of this jail, Haven. It's all a front. So Magog has been following the train and ended up here. He played the dumb jock until he could figure out what was going on. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the wardens second in command is actually his mother's sister. But that's a whole other story. You'll have to read Magog to catch up on that. Suffice it to say, the Warden tried to kill him . . Magog's 'aunt' saved him, by removing him from this reality, and then brought him back. That's when Magog went on a rampage and started tearing up everything that he could get his hands on. So the Warden uses his cover and sends out an alert that Magog is trying to incite a riot, or jailbreak. This goes straight to the JSA. The All-Stars are the first to arrive, but the JSA isn't very far behind. So . . now you know what Magog's doing here. However, the rest of his team-mates don't. All they know it that he's stirring up a whole lot of ruckus here. The frustrating part though is that he won't take the time to try to explain it to anyone. Instead he just attacks them with anger and animosity. Which really just pisses everyone off. So, rather than taking a few seconds to explain what's going on, or ask for help . . and maybe they could've caught the Warden with his hand in the cookie jar . . instead they just end up all fighting amongst themselves. So much so that they're fighting each other more than they are the inmates that are trying to kill them so that they can escape. Long story short, the Warden self-destructs the facility, and escapes before anyone is the wiser. Well . . except for Karen. Magog and Power Girl are going at it the whole issue and finally she asks Magog for some kind of tangible proof that something's going on here. He slams her through the ground and into the facility below. But that happens mere seconds before the whole thing blows up in their faces . . literally. Magog leaves, letting them know in no uncertain terms that he doesn't want to be a part of either team. Allan is ready to haul his butt to jail, but Karen asks that they leave him alone. 'God knows I can't stand him anymore. But he's still fighting the good fight. He doesn't belong in the JSA, but he doesn't belong behind bars either.' This Annual is actually more an extension of the story in Magog's book than it is of the JSA or All-Stars. But . . a JSA Annual would probably sell better than a Magog Annual. Keith Giffen writes this, as he does the Magog solo book. So . . he knows the story. Also Matthew Sturges helps him. This one is basically set up to remove Magog from the team atmosphere and officially place him as solo-status. I hope he's updated his face-book page. It was an interesting and action-packed story, but . . it was also very frustrating. A little communication could've solved a whole lot of grief here. Tom Derenick and Rodney Ramos provide the art.

Batman Confidential #41 - DC

Well . . Batman is seeing some kind of ghost, or hallucination. Something seems to be going after these homeless people, but the only lead that Batman has is the smell of sulfur, and this 'being' that seems to be haunting him. Although one could argue that it's only his subconscious trying to put the pieces together. Anyways, he runs into this girl Callie. She's a social-worker, blind, and obviously works with the people that are being targeted by this killer. The hallucination is telling Batman that he and Callie are somehow intertwined. And, that he won't be able to save her. I'm guessing that subconsciously he's jumping to that conclusion because Callie is probably the only one that can positively identify these victims. Even if she is blind. And . . since she knows them so well, she'll probably eventually start to sense a pattern. So, if the killer wants to proceed, he'll probably have to remove her as an obstacle. We do get one clue however, when a Mr Hopper comes to visit Callie. He's just there to apply for disability funds, but there's something about the odor to him that's freaking her out. I'm guessing that he's somehow connected. Anyways, this is another fantastic Batman murder mystery. But what really set's this one apart from the rest is that Sam Kieth is both writing and drawing it. Sam can already tell a fantastic story. But on this book . . his art is incredible. Probably some of the best I've seen from him. If you don't read this book regularly, you'll definitely want to pick up this chapter when it comes out in TPB. It's sure to be an instant classic.

Red Robin #9 - DC

Well . . Dick's back in Gotham. And despite all the negative stuff that people say about it . . he's happy to be home. However, he's not ready to run into any of the other 'costumes' running around Gotham right now. He and Tam seem to be developing a nice relationship. But technically . . they aren't in one . . yet. However, she does seem a little miffed when he takes off all of the time. But considering that she knows his secret, I'd think she'd be able to give him at least a little lead-way. My favorite scene of the book though is when Connor comes to visit Tim. He looks at him for a little bit, and then gives him a big hug. Connor says, 'Tim? Buddy? If you're trying to be all dark and grim now, this isn't going to help.' He's just happy that Connor is alive. He's known that Connor and Bart were back, but he's been very busy and he hasn't really had time to stop and soak it all in. However, he's got 2 concerns on his mind. First of all . . he's found proof that Bruce is still alive and he seems to be bouncing around through time. Secondly . . Ra's is still pissed about what Tim did to his organization so . . he's come to Gotham and thrown down the gauntlet. 'I am calling you to make sure you are ready for what is about to happen. Your punishment. The League of Assassins is my legacy. It seems only fair that I have everyone that Bruce Wayne ever loved, everything he ever built, destroyed. It has already begun. The first casualty has already been chosen.' So now Tim's' decided that he needs some help. He goes back to the Bat-cave hoping that he can get someone to help him start scouring Gotham. But . . the only one he can find is . . Stephanie. Batgirl. 'Hi! I'm not wearing the Spoiler costume anymore. Just like you asked.' This should be an interesting team-up. This story continues next into Batgirl #8. I like this book. No matter what costume he's wearing, I think Tim is a fantastic character. Probably one of the best characters to come out of the Bat-mythos since Dick. And Chris Yost seems to be doing a great job of chronicling his adventures. So far, I'm enjoying Marcus To's pencils also. He really has a great flow to his pages. If I have to pick one thing I don't like about the book . . I guess I'd have to say that it's Alfred's lack of involvement. But . . that could all change in an instant, so . . we'll see what happens.

Superman: World of New Krypton #12 - DC

Well . . this issue wraps up what was originally solicited as a 15 issue series. But that quickly changed after the 2nd or 3rd issue. However, this is nowhere near the end of the story. In this issue Kal-El and General Zod finally figure out who is behind these recent murders. It's kind of involved, but . . basically, Superwoman had come to New Krypton, shortly after being formed, and recruited people sympathetic to Earth's position. They included Council member Mar-Li, Alura's assistant Lyra Kam-Par, Tam-Or and Ral-Dar. And finally councilor Wri-Qin. All of which have now been killed except for Wri-Qui. Kal-El goes to confront him. With Wri-Qui holding Kal in a choke-hold, he spills his guts. 'You said it yourself, I'm privileged and greedy. Lane said there'd be positions of power for us within the government of a Krypton ruled by Earth. But then I got to thinking . . why share? My fellow conspirators had done what was asked of them. They'd served their purpose. I wanted their share of the spoils. Simple.' Lane convinced them that if Krypton got defeated quicker that he'd spare the planet. They'd still have their homes . . a place to live . . it would just be a Krypton ruled by Earth. We know that obviously General Lane had a lot more planned than that, but . . the Kryptonians believed him. They actually saw it as a chance to save their people, by diminishing casualties. With this wrapped up . . it appears that Krypton is now in a better position to defend itself, and . . General Zod is aware of Earth's subversive plans. But then . . on the final page of the issue . . Brainiac shows up. Past allegiances and squabbles may just have to be thrown out the window. New Krypton is now probably in for the fight of it's life. Like I said . . this is the final issue, but hardly the end of the story. We continue next into the Superman title, and then next month in the mini-series Superman: the Last Stand of New Krypton. And then in May comes the mini-series Superman: Battle of the Supermen. That's 7 more issues, so . . like I said, this story is far from over. I think James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Pete Woods have done an outstanding job with this series. The next series is by the same team, except Sterling Gates takes over for Greg. And on the third it's James and Sterling, with Aaron Lopresti doing the art. I have a feeling this is going to be a tumultuous year for the relations between Earth and New Krypton. And in the end . . Earth will have gone 2 years without a Superman.

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #3 - DC

Wonder Woman is such a fantastic character. And her beliefs of hope and love have made her the perfect addition to the Star Sapphire ranks. In fact, had she not already had another mission in life, she probably could have quite easily been their leader. As it is though . . she follows Carol's lead. She is her deputy after all. This issue kind of takes place between panels of Blackest Night #6. In it, Carol has deputized Diana, and then they're off with Hal and the rest of the Guardians to confront Nekron. However, in this issue, Diana first faces Max Lord . . the Black Ring version of him, and then Mera. There's really not much of a fight between her and Max. Basically she encases him in her Sapphire projection, and then kicks him to pieces. Several times actually. Mera on the other hand is another matter entirely. She's been deputized by the Atrocitus, so she's now a Red Lantern. And she appears to have embraced the anger and blood-lust completely. So much so that she appears to have lost herself. When Diana comes upon her she's fighting the Black Lanterns. However, upon seeing Diana . . all of her rage is transferred on to her. It takes everything Diana has to get through to her. In fact, she has to use a combination of the ring and her lasso to finally get her head and her heart clear from the cloud of rage. And she finds out that her and Mera are more alike than either of them ever knew. They're both very strong and passionate women. And they both have a love in their life that is unaware of the depth of their feelings. Arthur loves Mera, but . . he doesn't realize what she's done, or is willing to do for that love. I also enjoyed the conversation between Diana and Carol when they first get together. All in all, I thought it was a fantastic series. Greg Rucka did a great job with the story. And I was very impressed with Nicola Scott's pencils. She's come a long way since Birds of Prey. And I think she's just getting better and better. Not to mention the beautiful Greg Horn and Ryan Sook covers. Now we just have to wait a couple of weeks for Blackest Night #7 so we can see how all of these heroes fare against Nekron. It should be a doozie!