Madame Xanadu #1 - Vertigo

I 'get' the story that's presented here. I'm just not sure I understand how it's all related to Madame Xanadu. If I'm correct, I think that this wood nymph, Nimue, is the Madame. I guess this is how she appeared around the time of Camelot . . as a 16 year old wood nymph. And, if I'm correct, her one sister, Morgana, is actually Morgan Le Fey. And the magician that she sleeps with, for him to do favors for her, is actually Merlin. That's if I'm understanding what I'm reading here correctly. But, since were dealing with magic . . things are always left a little open to interpretation. Therefore, I think what we're getting here is actually some of Madame Xanadu's history. Which means that she's very old. The magician makes reference to her being at least 160 years old, if not older, at the time of Camelot. So . . . that makes her positively ancient now. From what we see this issue, I think I like the way the story is progressing. It'll be interesting to see what her powers are now . . in modern times. And how many of her old 'relatives' are still around. So far . . as if I had any doubt . . I'm enjoying the story that Matt Wagner is constructing here. But what really surprised me is the artwork of Amy Reeder Hadley. I don't know who she is, or where she came from, but I'm really liking the style that she's using here. I like the soft, crisp lines and the kind of wispy background. It really has a good feel to it. But, it's only the first issue, so it's a little hard for me to determine the quality of the book. I don't have anything to compare it to. All I know is that I enjoyed it. I thought it was a light pleasant read. We'll see if I still feel that way after a couple more issues.

House of Mystery #3 - Vertigo

This issue starts out with this beautiful Sam Weber cover. I've never heard of him before, but I love this cover. This issue was, really . . all about Fig. Somehow she has a connection to this house, but we haven't been able to figure it out yet. We know that before she came here, she thought she had built the house because she had drawn up the plans for it. Last issue we found out that most of the inhabitants, except a select few, are confined to the house. If the others try to go out the front door, all they see is vast emptiness. But for the select few, they can find some solace from all the visitors within, out in the front yard . . or, the yard around the house. But, they can't go any farther than that. This issue we find out that Fig actually talks to the house . . . and it talks back. But, since no one else can do it, and no one else hears it . . I don't know if she actually believes that it's happening. All this overwhelming evidence has been heaped upon her, but she hasn't accepted her fate . . . this is where she'll be spending the rest of her existence. And that's what most of this issue is about . . her futile attempts at escape. She can see past the gates and the walls . . she just can't physically get there. The last couple pages show the eternal prisons that others are trapped in, and believe me . . she definitely doesn't have the worst deal. There also was a quick little 5 page story in the middle, as relayed by one of the house guests. It was by Matthew Sturges and Zachary Baldus. The story was ok, but Zachary's art was incredible. The main part of the book is by Matthew and Luca Rossi on art. I really like Luca's style. I think it fits this book well. I know we're only on issue #3, but, so far, I like the book. I like the direction that it appears that the books going in, however, after this story-arc is done, it'll be interesting to see how they progress further. I assume this part is to introduce us to Fig, so, I assume, she'll be playing a major part in the future of the house . . and the book. I'm sure we'll see Cain and Abel around here at some time or another, but I'm kind of glad that they aren't in every issue. I may have just spoken to soon though. We'll see.

infinity inc. #11 - DC

Well it appears that my worst fears have been realized . . . next issue will be the final issue of this book. I'm sure the sales weren't very good . . it didn't start out very well. The story was good, but we've gone through about 4 or 5 artists in it's short run. Plus there was a few short delays here and there. However, it looks like after next issue . . they're pulling the plug. That's really to bad. These are some great characters. There's a lot of fresh, new ideas in this book. But, probably for marketing reasons . . that's that. In fact they're killing a couple of them off next issue also. So there probably won't be much of a team left. We've seen this Professor Fogel character pop up in the last couple of issues, and in this one we find out that he's somehow connected to the Dark-Side Club. Now, we know that the Dark-Side Club is actually Darkseid's group from Apokolips. Fogel tells one of Gerome's dupes, "I am a child of Apokolips. I am partner to the mighty Darkseid. His inquisitor supreme. And when I have to be . . . I'm a complete bastard." I'm guessing . . he's Desaad in human form. But I'm just guessing. However, if that's the case, we may see the surviving members in the books with the Dark-Side Club in them. Maybe they'll be some of Granny's children, or . . who knows. Also, we finally got a decent artist for this issue . . and the next. Javier Aranda does the art for these 2 issues. You can tell he's a new-comer, but . . he actually shows a lot of potential. I think he would've been an excellent addition to this book. Unfortunately, all of this contemplation is for naught. Next issue will be the last . . and they'll tell us to keep an eye out for them in the future . . but, they'll just fade away. It's kind of sad really.

Supergirl #31 - DC

I liked this issue . . both the story and the art, but overall . . . it just felt like a lesson in futility. I like what Kelley Puckett is trying to do here. The lesson, for Supergirl, is that even with her incredible powers . . she's not a god. There are some things she just can't do. And there comes a time when you just have to throw in the towel. You can try over and over to fix something, but . . some things are unfix-able. In the case of this little boy, Tommy, Kara's come up short over and over. She's tried to tackle the problem from every angle she can think of . . . and some she shouldn't have even thought of. But . . she's making no head-way. I think part of the problem . . the reason she won't give up, is because Kal-el keeps telling her she should. I think she just wants to prove him wrong. Or at least wrong about her. But she's acting like the spoiled teen-ager who thinks she has all the answers, when she doesn't even know all of the questions. She doesn't know what she doesn't know. And even after this issue . . the torment to Tommy's parents . . she still refuses to give up, and the story's going to be continued in the next issue. But hey, if the story can get me to think about something this much . . it must've made an impact. Right? Brad Walker does the art. He first showed up in . . I think it was, Action Comics . . a year or so ago. For the short time he's been on the job . . the guy has some huge talent. He's not quite there yet, but . . he's very, very close. He show's some moments of brilliance. But really . . . I think Supergirl just needs to let it go.

Joker's Asylum: Joker #1 - DC

I thought this would be an awesome book. It's the Joker. He has his own book. He's telling a story about himself. The sky's the limit . . . right? Well . . that's what I thought. What we got . . was a different matter. First of all I have a problem with the artwork of Alex Sanchez. It was the same problem I had when he did the art in the JSA Classified books. I will say, the guy shows incredible potential. He's on the verge of being really good. But . . he does his own inks, and I think . . that can be a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because you don't loose the feel of your work because of somebody else's influence. It think it's bad because I think sometimes you need that other person's influence to let you know when something isn't working, or, sometimes, to cover up minor mistakes. To me, it just feels like the guys trying to do to much here. You can definitely see it in his faces. The third panel on page 6, he didn't put as much detail into the faces, and they look a lot better than Joker's face in the first panel . . because he tried to do to much there. Anyways, I don't want to just rag on Alex because the story wasn't very good either. Every time there was a moment of anticipation . . and you thought the Joker was going to do something outrageous . . it fizzled out. After the third time . . it was just a big let down. Now, I understand what Arvid Nelson was trying to get across. He was saying that there's just as many 'evil' people out there, but they don't appear 'evil', or they're not out-right 'evil' because . . . they're just doing their job . . . they're just going with the flow . . . nobody else did anything . . . I'm just doing what I'm told . . . yada, yada yada! He's trying to say that it's easy to judge the person that does the out-right act of violence . . the Joker . . but what about the people that went along with it? They didn't try to stop it . . when they could have. Aren't they just as much accountable for the results as the actual perpetrator? Anyways . . I think, that's what he was trying to get across. But . . . it came up short . . and I think, a little lame. To me, this issue was a waste of $3. Even with the awesome Andy Kubert cover. We'll see what happens next issue when the Joker talks about the Penguin. Jason Aaron's writing it, and Jason Pearson is on the art. I have high hopes just because of Jason Pearson. But . . I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Trinity #5 - DC

Well, our Trinity finally takes down Konvikt this issue. Of course they had a little help from his space-ship. It seems they were put into cryogenic sleep on their way here, so all Superman had to do was rig up a gun that dispensed the gas they used to put him to sleep. Doesn't sound that hard, does it? However, Graak eludes them. They also get their first him that there's other forces involved when they find one of Morgan La Fey's minions hiding out in the woods . . he's the one that burned Wonder Woman last issue. He doesn't give up his mistress but, he does mention the Trinity, that he works for his mistress, and I think that our group knows that there's magic involved. Now they just have to figure out how all of that fits together. Plus Tarot, our new magic wielder, Marguerita Covas, gets her first glimpse of what her true mission may be. As she's looking at the cards, she's reading the Devil, Strength and Justice . . but soon she sees the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. Apparently she's tapped in to a lot more magic than she thought. She's also in the backup story. It turns out that her protector, Jose . . is actually Gangbuster. That's how he appears to know so much about the MVG's and the Culver 68's. He's not to much out of practice though. He takes on Blindside, Throttle and Whiteout all by himself when they come after Tarot. But as they're fleeing the scene, it appears that there's more things in the shadows waiting to get her. Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley are doing a fantastic job with this book so far. I'm just surprised that Mark can keep up this pace. Fabian Nicieza is also helping and I thought Mike Norton did a good job with the back-up, with Mark Farmer on inks. It's been non-stop action so far, and really . . we're just getting started.

Legion of Super-heroes #43 - DC

Boy . . the Legion's just getting attacked from all sides right now. We have one team on Rimbor. They're trying to get home, but the Science Police won't let them leave because Ultra Boy has a warrant for his arrest there. Then, on Velmar V another team has to get in the middle of a conflict between the Peril Men, the Ikonns and the Science Police. That's also where, I believe, Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl are picked up for their adventures in the Countdown series. The new Legion of Substitute-heroes, the United Planets Young Heroes, are also there. And back on the home-front, Deputy Popoff has set up the Legion. When they have their guard down, he sends in Colonel Pismo, and a squad of Science Police, with a warrant to search the Legion headquarters. They aren't very happy with what they find. Right now, on all fronts, it looks like the whole team is somewhere between a rock and a hard place. Jim Shooter has really got alot going on in this book right now. But, to tell the truth, it's only going to get more hectic because we have that Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds coming up soon. What a fantastic franchise to be heading up as the writer right now. Jim's gotta be in heaven. Or something similar to that . . . where you have to work all the time and constantly be pressed against deadlines. But other than that . . heaven. I think Francis Manapul is doing a fantastic job with the art chores also. This book is in a great place right now, and I think it's only going to get better. Fasten your seat-belts . . we may be in for a bumpy ride.

Nightwing #146 - DC

I'm really enjoying this series. I wish Rags Morales could illustrate every issue, but, in his absence, Don Kramer is a more than adequate replacement. This issue wraps up the story with Creighton and Talia. Well . . not so much with Talia, but at least the Creighton part of it. He gets a little full of himself and when Talia comes to spot-check his new base, in the Hudson river, he takes her as a hostage. She had hired him to create an army for her . . for her defense, and Damian's, against her father. But, he was also serving his own purpose . . trying to create an army of winged warriors. Nightwing, of course, comes in and spoils everyone's plans and ends up taking Creighton down. With a little help from mother nature . . which is ironic because in reality she was his biggest adversary. Dick is definitely his own person. I feel, he no longer has to feel that he's working in the shadows of Batman. I think he's accomplished enough, and faced enough trials and tribulations to be the master of his own destiny. And now we get a double dose of him every month because he's back with the Titans in their new series. Also, sometimes, with the Outsiders. Peter J Tomasi is doing a fantastic job with this book. Right now, I don't feel that it could be in more capable hands.

Rann-Thanagar Holy War #3 - DC

Again, I'm feeling a little let down by the artist this issue. I enjoy Ron Lim's pencils. I've followed his career all the way back to Ex-Mutants. But in this issue, it feels like he wasn't entirely there. A lot of the panels look like he just did some rough sketches and the inker, Rob Hunter, finished things. Ron's usual style doesn't come through . . on a lot of it. But, that being said, I still enjoyed the issue. I think it's fantastic that all of these cosmic heroes are coming together in the same place. Besides what you see on the cover, we've also got Starman, Bizarro, Hawkman and LEGION. I assume, eventually, we'll see more of the Omega Men, but right now Tigorr is thier only representative. Also, it's starting to seem that this whole confrontation is evolving around religious fervor . . from all sides. We got the Lady Styx movement on Rann. The Thanagarians are now enlisted in the Eternal Light Corporation Church. And this issue Deacon Dark brings back a religious icon . . or rather tyrant . . from the past, Synnar. Why does it seem like everything always comes down to politics or religion . . or both? Jim Starlin is constructing his usual grandiose space-opera here. Now, it seems, he has all the characters in place. Pretty soon everyone will start picking sides and fighting for what they believe to be the truth. It appears our group of star-bound heroes hear are going to be the only voices of reason. I hope they'll be able to be heard.

the War that Time Forgot #3 - DC

First of all I want to say that I'm a big fan of Al Barrionuevo's artwork. However, on this series . . . I don't feel that it's up to the standard we've received from him lately. There's some pages, and panels, of brilliance in here. But, overall . . it's kind of choppy, and not consistent. I think maybe he needs a new inker. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything negative about Jimmy Palmiotti. I just think that sometimes pencillers and inkers have their own styles and they don't always mesh well together. I think that's the case here. Sure Jimmy's talented, I just think that they aren't necessarily complimenting each other. But that's just my observation. We do get a brilliant Mark Shultz cover this issue. It's fantastic looking. I also enjoy Bruce Jones writing skills. Last issue we saw the arrival of a soldier from the future. At least that's what we think she is. Anyways, this issue we find out that she may be part of the people that set this whole thing up. I'm beginning to think it's just some grand social experiment, set up by our own off-spring . . several generations removed. But, we don't really find out what it is they're looking for, or why this experiment was concocted. I feel like she's just here to observe the rats in the cage. She doesn't seem to want to influence anything . . just take it all in. Our soldiers haven't noticed yet, but she asks a lot of question. However, when our rescue party returns with Colonel Jape, the commanding officer, I think he may be able to get to the bottom of things. In the meantime, on their way back, they've found all of their missing planes. I'm enjoying this series so far, and I like all the unique, distinctive, personalities of all the various soldiers. Now . . lets find out what's really going on.

Huntress - Year One #4 - DC

This issue Helena kills the boss of bosses . . Signore Mandragora. He's the one that had her family killed when she was 8, and also the one that stole all of her inheritance. Well . . most of it. He left her enough to be insulted by. But now, not only does she feel guilty for crossing the line, but . . she's left . . unsatisfied, because the person who actually pulled the trigger is still out there. However, the Pope helps her by pointing him out to her. You have to ask yourself, what does he have to gain by this manipulation? Anyways, she follows him through Venice and eventually to Gotham. And when she arrives? She finds that Tony, her one chance at a normal life, is getting married to Nino's daughter. The unholy alliance has been consummated. She also finds herself in the company, purely by chance, of Batman and his operatives . . Alfred, Babs and Selina. Although, she hasn't actually met any of them yet. Right now . . she's just a face in the crowd. But I have a feeling all of that's going to change next issue. I really like the story that Ivory Madison is putting together here. It's very thorough . . and compelling. You can really feel the hurt and anguish that Helena is going through. I also have to give a 'hats off' to Cliff Richards for his amazing pencils. I've enjoyed this series since issue #1, but . . I really think it's getting better as it works it's way towards it's conclusion. By the way, I don't know who the cover artist is, but . . the covers have been amazing. Any help out there? Oops . . sorry. I found it on the web-site . . it's Matthew Clark. He's done a fantastic job. By the way, you should check out the DC web-site. They've made some pretty interesting changes there. I think you'll like it.

DC Special: Raven #5 - DC

This issue wraps up the series here for Raven. Although I'm sure we'll see plenty of her in the new Titans title. It appears as if Raven has taken the problem of the Medusa mask away from the world entirely . . when she destroys it, but . . Shay's father, who was trying to use it to cure his daughter through emotions, detailed scanned it into the University's computer. For the mask, it appears that's enough for it to retain some of it's power. In the epilogue, it looks like it still has some influence. But the real heart of this story was Raven herself. Now that she's a teenager, it seems as if she'll finally be able to enjoy her life a bit. It was nice to see her in the normal teen-age scenes with her high-school friends. I enjoyed the normal teen-age banter, conversations and concerns. "Shoes? Tell me you've got more than 1 pair. You can't be that much of a freak." I thought Marv Wolfman did a fantastic job with this book. The setting, and the mood, were both perfect for the character. But I feel the real star of the book, creatively, was Damion Scott. I assume that this is his return to the DC Universe, and I couldn't be more happy. I really enjoy his style. I especially liked the way he infused it with a little psychedelic and 'street' in this series. It really came across well. I hope we see him in another series soon. This was a thoroughly enjoyable mini-series. All I can say is . . . keep it up!

Billy Batson and the Magic of SHAZAM! #1 - DC

We have a new addition here to the kids line of comics. However, this issue, there was so much information in it . . . I don't think any kid younger than a teenager would've been able to keep up. We pretty much got the whole story about Billy and Mary's origin. We also see that Seth Adam is back, but he's a kid here also. Maybe a few years older, but still a kid. Mike Hunkel writes and draws it. Overall . . I thoroughly enjoyed it. With the style of art he uses, it really came across like an animated feature. I could totally see the whole thing on the TV screen. He writes in a lot of humor, for the kids, too. I really thought it helped to make it that much more enjoyable. I'm a big SHAZAM! fan . . so it immediately drew my attention. And after reading it . . I thought it was a good addition to my SHAZAM! collection. Plus, I figure, it'll get some kids into him that maybe have never heard of him before. Where Super Friends and Tiny Titans are definitely aimed at the kids in the single digits . . this one, conversely, I feel, is aimed at a little older crowd . . teens or pre-teens. But the marketing not withstanding . . . I liked it. I enjoyed the story . . it had the right amount of humor and sarcasm, and I really liked the art. I think it's a great addition to the Johnny DC line.

Manhunter #32 - DC

I liked this issue, but . . not a lot was accomplished as far as the women in Ciudad, Juarez. Kate did meet up with Jamie Reyes though. Apparently, her costume is an old Darkstar costume, so the Scarab on Jamie's back really hates it. Even more that it does the Green Lanterns. I wonder what that's all about. But, we probably won't address that issue in this book. Kate does need to find out about her costume though. During the fight with Blue Beetle, her staff takes her in the air as if she's flying. The best weapon she has, she hasn't even utilized yet because she didn't know it's potential. That's food for future thought. She also met, through Jamie, La Dama. She seems sympathetic towards her plight, but . . she doesn't want to get involved. "I know my place in the food chain. I leave Juarez alone. They leave my operations alone." And Bones, the head of the DEO, all but orders her to stay away from it. But there's something going on there, because after a rather heated conversation, he gets right on the phone with Amanda Waller. She also learns that somehow this local company, Vesetech, is involved. An anonymous source tells her . . "You're on to something. Vesetech has blood on it's hands. Lots of it. But not in the way you're thinking. It's worse . . what happens here. Suffice it to say, stuff happens here . . stuff that's not very nice."And, we find out this issue, it appears that the Joker and the Crime Doctor are involved. I thought it was a pretty decent story by Marc Andreyko. Michael Gaydos' art is pretty decent. It shows a lot of promise. And we're still getting some great Liam Sharp covers. All in all . . I thought it was a pretty decent book.

Hulk #4 - Marvel

Ok, this issue is a nice little lesson in mindless violence. Basically we watch the Red Hulk beat up on the Hulk for the whole issue. But . . we do get a little information. First we find out a few names of who the Red Hulk isn't. He isn't Commander Hill or General Ross, because the Red Hulk talks about both of them. Also he's not Clay Quartermain because he's dead. But SHIELD's field agents found an article of clothing that's drenched in Gamma Radiation. It appears that the coat belonged to . . . Leonard Samson. So now, it appears, we know who the Red Hulk is. But . . we don't have all the cards yet. There could still be more involved in all of this than we even know yet. By the way, the Hulk's fight? It ended with the Red Hulk putting a choke hold on him and then carting him up to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. At least I think that's where we're at. Anyways, the Red Hulk tells him that he wants the whole world to see, and know, that it was he that killed the Hulk. But then . . there's a new player in this contest. One that may be even more powerful . . . Thor! "This night, you will fall before my hammer! So swears the mighty THOR!" I like the way Jeph Loeb is handling these characters. The dialogue between the 2 Hulks is priceless. And this Red Hulk seems to have just the right amount of anger, and sarcasm . . and he's a bit psychotic. Ed McGuinness turns in another fantastic issue. He seems to be the perfect artist for the Hulk. Both of them. It's a great cover also. I like the Red/Green theme.

X-Men - Legacy #213 - Marvel

This is turning out to be a pretty interesting story. In Charles' search to find himself . . he may have found more than he bargained for. Last issue Remy came to his rescue. It appears that he found a 'hitlist' with 4 names on it . . Charles, Cain Marko, Sebastian Shaw and Carter Ryking. Well with Carter dead, that only leaves 3 left. Charles also just found out about Carter's death last issue. When they leave the hospital to head for the research facility, where his father worked when he was a child, they pick up an unexpected stray . . Sebastian. Basically the story is . . Nathaniel Essex, Sinister, is dead. However, a long time ago, he planned for such an eventuality. The four names on the 'list' were also the children of the Geneticists that were helping him when they were doing research here. Somehow, when they weren't looking, he, basically, reprogrammed their DNA. In the eventuality of his death, the device he had buried under the base, the Cronus device, would turn itself on and trigger the transformation in one of the 4 recipients. Which, right now, it seems like Charles is going to be the choice. But Cain hasn't shown up yet, and I'm fairly certain that he'll be involved somehow in the next issue. This whole 'hitlist' plan was put in to effect by a Doctor Meuller. Apparently she was the first mutant that Nathaniel ever met. She feels that she gave him the inspiration because she was already immortal. Anyways, she's found the Cronus device and a way, with the 4 triggers dead, for her to absorb Nathaniel's essence without his personality. Now, with the story laid out before us . . we just have to wait until next issue to see how this is all going to take shape. This is a pretty interesting chain of events, actually. And now I see where the surname . . 'Legacy' comes in. This story is going all the way back to the beginning of the mutant 'outbreak' on Earth. A very interesting piece of work by Mike Carey. It'll be interesting to see where he takes our characters from here, and how it's going to affect the future of the mutant species. I'm also thoroughly enjoying Scot Eaton's pencils. He's really been doing an outstanding job on this series. And issues . . from a creative stand-point, just keep getting better and better. Thanks!

Uncanny X-Men #499 - Marvel

This issue wraps up both of our story-lines . . . kind of. As far as San Francisco goes . . the 'Goddess' behind this whole transformation of the city was actually Martinique Wyngarde, Jason's daughter, and a Mastermind herself. Scott and Emma showed up last issue and got into a scuffle with some of their own transformed team-mates. The violence was enough to distract Martinique, and then Emma was able to break her way past her psychic barriers. After that it was pretty much over. Except, Martinique has disappeared. At the end of the book we see that someone is helping her, and she's doing it so they can be ready for the X-Men when they arrive. Oh yeah, through this whole process, Warren saved the Mayor's life and so now she is welcoming them to the city with open arms. This is going to be the X-Men's new hometown. But more on that in the next issue . . . issue #500. Can you believe it? Anyways, the second storyline . . the one about Kurt, Logan and Peter in Russia . . also comes to a conclusion. They're ended is a little more wrapped up than the first, but . . it seems like it happened awful fast. At the end of last issue, they were standing face to face with Arkady, Omega Red. There's a bit of a scuffle here with him and Logan and Peter . . they seem like Arkady is about to beat them. Finally Kurt, who's been watching from the side-lines comes in . . . bamf's him up into the atmosphere, and then drops him back down on the facility. Next thing we know . . SHIELD's cleaning up . . and the boys are heading to their new digs in San Francisco. It just all seemed a little to quick and clean for me. But they did have to wrap it up so they could get on to issue #500. This appears to be Ed Brubaker's last story here. Matt Fraction is taking over next issue. Also this issues art was by Mike Choi and Ben Oliver. Ben did the San Fransisco part of the story. It was ok. Mike however did the Russian part of the story, and it was incredible. I think that's why I was kind of put off by Ben's work, because Mike's was so good. But they're also moving on after this issue. They have next issue's artists listed as Greg Land and Terry Dodson. Wow! That should be a heck of an issue. I just want to say to Ed, Mike and Ben, that I really enjoyed their run here and I'll be looking for where they'll be popping up next. Thanks for the great issues. Now . . . #500!

Wolverine First Class #4 - Marvel

Ok, so I guess the various story-arcs in this book will be like chapters in Wolverine's life. Except . . you know . . from a long time ago . . ' . in the beginning .' type stuff. Anyways, this first chapter is about one of Wolverine's first outings with Kitty. She had really just joined the X-Men and she and Logan have gone off to investigate the High Evolutionary and his New-men. I thought the story was . . ok . . if not a bit predictable. I enjoyed seeing this younger Kitty, and of course Wolverine is one of my favorite characters. But, really, this story was more about the New-men and their struggles. Like I said, it was interesting, but not my favorite batch of characters. So I feel like I was just reading it to read it. I wasn't really getting in to it, and I didn't really care what the outcome was, as long as Kitty and Logan got out unscathed. Which they did. So as far as Fred Van Lente's story . . I'd have to give it, probably, a B-. Now the artwork of Salva Espin, I thought was great. He draws some great animal characters. And I thought, he almost had a Mike Wieringo style to him. Mike was always one of my favorite artists, so . . it was nice to see the style again. The opening spread page reminded me a lot of Mike's work on Tellos. Anyways, the next story-arc is about Wolverine's day in Alpha-Flight, so . . it should be a bit more action packed.

Wolverine Origins #26 - Marvel

This was a fantastic book. We're finally going to learn the origin of Daken. Well, actually his name is Akhiro. Daken is sort of his . . um, playground name. But, when he was disowned by his adopted father, the only parents he ever really knew . . he decided to keep it. In Japan, circa 1946, Akhiro was left on the doorstep . . or the equivalent . . of Akhira and Natsumi. They took the boy in lovingly, but the local children were not as accepting. We all know how cruel kids can be . . especially to each other. They took to calling him Daken . . . a person of unknown origin, mongrel, bastard. Which is when his anger and hatred seemed to start . . and flourish. Eventually he ends up killing one of the boys, and shortly after Natsumi starting talking of how she felt he was cursed and a blight on their home. Also she and Akhira were about to have a child of their own. However, about a year later, Akhiro, Daken, kills it also. That was when he was disowned by his family. In their final moments Natsumi comes at him with a gun. Daken tries to defend himself, and that is when his claws pop out. The result . . isn't pretty. Akhira wants to kill him, but having loved him once . . cannot. Instead . . he kills himself for being weak. Shortly after is supposedly when he runs in to Romulus. Around the same time . . 1943 actually. Logan is also dealing with some Japanese people. It's in the United States and it's around the end of WWII when the Government had started gathering up people of Asian origin and putting them in internment camps. Logan was in charge of about a dozen that were being taken to the caves in the lava beds near Newell California. There, they were experimented on for 118 days. Logan was basically their guard. He made sure no-one got in, and no-one got out. At the end of the experiment, is was also tasked with making sure no one ever found out about it. He had to silence the experimenters, the victims . . even the lab. The remnants of which is where he takes Daken to keep him while he searches for Romulus. He also says he wants to bring his mother back to him, Itsu. But, before he can leave, he's attacked by . . he thinks . . Romulus. Actually, it's what looks to be some of the survivors from the experiments. As always, Daniel Way has constructed an incredible story here. I really enjoyed all the details he put in to this issue. As you can see, it has an incredible Greg Land cover. And the interior art is by Stephen Segovia. I was a bit apprehensive about the art at first glance, but, by the end of the issue . . I was completely bought in. This is another story-arc that's going to end up being a classic.

X-Men First Class #13 - Marvel

This story actually carries over from the last issue. Warren is still in the City of Mists and Hank is eager to rebuild the skeleton of the Sloth that they sent back with him. His scientific curiosity is peaked because this animal has been extinct for over 8000 years. But really, that's just life in the X-Men's backyard. The actual story is about Dr. Stack and his robot creation. I think we're witnessing the birth of Machine Man here. Shortly after arriving at the X-Mansion, Charles discovers a mystery, out by Mt. St. Helens, that may be right up the kids alley. Plus it'll be a good study in Aaron's social building skills. Apparently all the steam rising from the volcano is also ushering the arrival of some Lava-men. Before this time, Thor was really the only one to come into contact with them. But agent Baker is interested in seeing what the X-Men find out here. I think this agent Baker is as important a part of this story as anything else. But right now . . he's a bit of an enigma. All we really know is that Charles seems to trust him. Anyways, the issue ends with our group of teens surrounded by Lava-men. I enjoy this book. As I've said I like the way Jeff Parker writes these stories. He's got a young group of kids, who, really, are all pretty new to each other. They're young, ambitious, reckless . . and a whole other range of teen-age emotion. Jeff writes the stories with all of that involved. I think it makes the characters more accessible for the reader. I also enjoy Roger Cruz's art. It's young, hip and vibrant . . just what you would expect from a book about teen-agers. Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable read.

the Ultimates 3 - #4 - Marvel

This whole story . . actually the rebirth of this series . . started with the killing of Wanda. At least as far as we know . . . she's dead . . or as dead as anyone is in the comic book world. Anyways, somehow she was killed by a 'magic bullet'. And I don't mean the one fired from the grassy knoll. So Magneto, and his Brotherhood, attack the Mansion to retrieve her body, and in the process convinces Quicksilver to come along with him. They then retreat to the Savage Land. The Ultimates do what they do . . and decide to send a team after him. They also decide to leave a team in New York to investigate Wanda's shooting. In the Savage Land, the team is in for a heck of a fight because they also have to deal with Ka-zar, Shanna, and their tribe. Oh yeah . . Sabretooth is there also . . for some reason. But I think the group left in Manhattan may be the bigger problem. Janet and Hank discover that most of the ones that stayed behind at Tony's tower . . including Tony . . are actually robots. I think these may be the Ultimate Universe version of Ultron. Actually that's just a guess, but . . . Hank tells Janet that they whole situation may be his fault because the leader, the one posing as Giant Man . . "He's our son." Anytime Jeph Loeb is at the writing helm you just know it's going to be a good story. He really works all angles of the characters and their stories. He does a great job of pulling the reader in. Also . . the artwork of Joe Madureira . . is incredible. I know he won't be on this book forever. He's just to big of a talent. So enjoy his art on this title while you can. I especially love his women. Shanna and Valkrie look sexy as hell. Anyways next issue is supposedly the conclusion of this story, so it'll also probably be Joe's last issue. That's sad. But . . since he hasn't done anything lately, I'm just happy for the issues that we did get. This is easily one of the best books out there right now. Hands down!

the New Avengers #42 - Marvel

And in the next chapter of the Avengers . . . we learn how Jessica Drew was replaced. I have to say, the part that surprised me the most is how long this plan has been going on. The episode that happened at Ryker's Island . . where they had the huge prisoner escape that all started with Electro? That was all planned by the Skrulls. What they didn't plan is that event would be the catalyst that would reform the Avengers. So, this has been going on since the beginning of this book. And know that you know it, and look back . . it really all kind of makes sense. But they were also there for the whole M-Day thing. In fact Jessica was in regular contact with Hank who was in Genosha with the Avengers and the X-Men. So, when Wanda uttered her words, and the mutants disappeared . . were left with the question at the end of this book . . what happened to Jessica, since . . she is a mutant? That question's gonna hang until next month. First let me say that Brian Bendis and Jim Cheung, have done a fantastic job with this book. But I want to make an observation. There's been alot of upheavals in the Marvel Universe in the last couple of years. The thing that I'm afraid of, is that all of this has been done to create a 'do over', when this whole Invasion thing is over. What I mean is . . if there's a situation that didn't work out as well as expected . . all they have to do is say that, whomever it is, has been a Skrull this whole time, so whatever they did, and whatever the result, wasn't the real heroes fault. They bring back the old one, things go back to normal, and they get a free 'do over'. They could do it with Captain America, obviously they're going to do something with Hank Pym, they could do it with Hawkeye . . . hell, the list is endless. They could even do it to rescind the whole registration act . . . it could be Tony, or any number of government officials that were a Skrull, or influenced by them. On one hand, I have to admit, it's kind of a brilliant plan. On the other . . . it falls in to the same old comic book stereotype that things never really change. Just like people never really die. Yes it's a pretty elaborate thing to do, if that's the plan, but hey . . . what was the Secret War all about . . or the whole fiasco with the Beyonder . . . or 3 or 4 other 'big events' that never really changed anything? I'm not trying to sound jaded, but . . . I really think people want change. Yes people want to read about their favorite characters, and have them in familiar surroundings, but the best stories . . the ones that we really remember . . are the ones that dare to be different . . that try to bring something new or unexplored to the table. That's part of the reason that I think the Ultimate Universe books are so incredible. Anyways, I'm gonna get off my soap-box. I really did enjoy this issue. I'm just worried . . I feel like I can see the writing on the wall . . that we're just going to fall back in to the same old routine. However . . . I hope I'm wrong.

Avengers: the Initiative #14 - Marvel

It seems we're sticking with a theme this month . . . well . . duh! We're getting in to the thick of the Secret Invasion story-lines, so . . . yeah, they're probably gonna be the theme of all of these Avenger books this month. Especially since Hank Pym is in all of them. But that's the beauty of his position, since everybody sees him as the 'fallen hero', and they all dump on him . . what would a Skrull see as the advantage of taking his position? Well let's see . . . he's on every team. He consults regularly with the biggest brains on the planet. And . . no one suspects him. No one even questioned how he survived that ship exploding in Texas, or how he escaped the Tactigon weapon. But the biggest part of this story, I think, is Crusader's realization about Hank. He's misses Skrullian T'manja Berries. But, the closest thing to them is pickles and strawberries. When he sees Hank with a plate of the same thing, he then knows. But he doesn't want Hank to know about him. I'm not sure what that's about. Anyways, 3-D Man realizes that the goggles that his mentor gave him, from the original costume, allows him to see Skrulls. When he gets to his assigned state, Hawaii . . the lucky bastard, it allows him to see that Magnitude is a Skrull. And of course there's a fight. But, what he really wants is to get back to Camp Hammond and let his superiors know . . 1, that they've been infiltrated, and 2, that he has the means to find the spies. But when he arrives at Camp, he already raving. The Crusader overhears him and is worried about being found out. So, he uses the Freedom Ring to muck with 3-D Man's head, and when he opens his eyes . . all he can see are Skrulls . . . every single person in camp. The question I have is this, obviously everyone can't be a Skrull so he's gonna know that someone messed with him. So, if he gives the goggle to someone else . . will they be able to see the enemy? And how long do you think it'll take him to figure that out? Anyways, I like the story that Dan Slott and Christos Gage are constructing here. The thing I really like about this book is the sheer abundance of characters. It's really hard to say who's my favorite, because there's just so many good ones here. And I really think Stefano Caselli is doing a great job with the art. I honestly didn't think that this book would last this long, but . . I'm glad it did.

the Mighty Avengers #15 - Marvel

Obviously, the whole Secret Invasion thing is still going on. But, the theme for this month seems to be . . taking us back to the initial replacements. The theme through all the Avengers book, this month, seems to be to show us just how long the Skrulls have been in place, and where and when they took over certain people. This issue of the Avengers, is pretty much a Hank Pym solo book. We find out from here that Hank was taken over when he was overseas doing a guest lecture. It was back before the New Avengers got together. The part I liked about it was seeing the falling apart of his and Janet's marriage again. After she left him, he falls into the arms of an adoring student. A young, pretty student . . but hey, who can blame him? Well, you see this coming from a mile away, but of course the student is a Skrull. She waits to catch him in a vulnerable position . . and then she knocks him out and takes over. We then see how he's endeared himself to the super-hero community, since then, and with SHIELD. He's been there for everyone, every time they needed him, and has been an incredible rock. He's also the one who gave Janet the improvement in her powers. He gave her a new growth formula that he's been working on. Which leaves us with a couple of questions. First of all, how, or what, did Hank do to this formula? I'm sure there's something planned for Janet, but how was Hank attacking her from the inside with this formula? I'm sure we're going to find out the repercussions of that soon. Secondly, when the Skrulls take over these people, the only thing we know for sure is that they don't kill them. They consider them valuable assets. But, we don't find out what they do with them, or where they take them. Do we have an empty warehouse someplace with all these heroes sitting in it, or is there some underground bunker someplace with 100's of solitary cells? To me, after showing how and when they're taken, that's the next part of the story. Again, we have the brilliant writing of Brian Bendis on this book. John Romita Jr. does the artwork this issue. I thought it was a fantastic issue. Keep up the good work, guys.

Ultimate Spider-man #123 - Marvel

This whole issue is dedicated to . . . Eddie Brock. Honestly, this whole issue takes place from a park bench. Eddie's sitting on it, contemplating his life . . where he's been . . where he's going. Basically he's talking to whomever sits by him, or whoever shows up. In his civilian identity he looks pretty unassuming so . . nobody should suspect anything . . right? Ever since this costume took him over, it seems like he's been from one bad situation to the next. But he can resign himself with the fact that he doesn't remember everything that's happened when he's Venom. Well . . at least not most of it. And, although he feels as if things are out of his control, at the very least there's kind of someone always there to protect him. Sure it's selfish. It's for the symbiotes own well-being, but . . deep down he knows that no-one can mess with him. But then . . he came in to close contact with Peter again. When that happens . . he feels better than he ever has. He can feel the effect that Peter's presence has on the symbiont. He knows that the symbiotes happy, and he knows that the symbiont wants him . . maybe more than he wants Eddie. Which is really causing some conflicting feeling in Eddie's head. And, I guess, is where the root of his soul-searching is coming from. And to that, even as villainous as Venom is . . Peter wants to do nothing but help Eddie. When Venom confronts him in the museum, even as Peter's trying to protect the museum and it's visitors, he's trying to appeal to Eddie. "I don't know how you got here or where you've been . . . but I'll help you. Eddie, I swear I'll do anything to help you." And that's when the Wild Bunch comes after him. As were progressing through this book, you notice that the face of the person listening to Eddie's story keeps changing. I assumed that was to reflect the amount of time he was sitting here contemplating. Plus, I'm sure he told the story over and over again. But at the end we find out that as he's talking to them, eventually they piece together what he's conveying to them, and realize that he's the monster that attacked the museum. When that epiphany comes to them . . he has no choice but to eat them. Which is why the faces keep changing, he's gone through a small crowd of people during the course of this story. I absolutely love this book. I love the approach that Brian Bendis takes with these stories. Even this story, about Eddie, you find yourself appealing to the human side of his nature. At least until the end when you see that he's eating people. I also think that Stuart Immonen is doing an incredible job. Keep up the good work. After 123 issues you haven't let us down yet.

Fantastic Four #558 - Marvel

I have a lot of Fantastic Four issues in my collection. In fact, I think I have close to 4 long boxes full of them. I'm not saying I'm an FF expert. I just happen to have a lot of books. But, what I will say, is that from my reading experience, and from what I like about the Fantastic Four . . I think that this run by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch is close to, if not, the best run on this book that I've ever read. The only reason I'm not sure of that, is because I really liked that mini series that Grant Morrison did a couple of years ago. I think it was called Fantastic Four 1234. Although, I could be wrong. I thought that was an incredible mini-series. However, I also really enjoyed that last story-arc about Nu-world. But, with some of the stuff we see in this issue . . some of the original ideas that are expressed in this story . . I think this story-arc could be even better than the last one. By the way, I love the new cover logo and graphics. Anyways, this books starts out fast . . and doesn't slow down the whole way through. Dr. Doom shows up in the Baxter Building, but not to attack . . he's asking for their help. Right on his heels is some new group that's basically trying to hog-tie him and take him back to wherever they came from. Ben happens to be the only one there, but the group of three . . basically treat him like their 'whipping boy'. They literally mopped the floor with him. It's pretty tragic, actually. Also tragic is the way Johnny breaks up with his newest girlfriend, Cindy. She's the one that's the larcenist. During one of her bank robberies . . in the heat of the battle . . her and Johnny 'got it on'. Remember? Anyways, he says there's a conflict of interest and eventually he'd have to take her in. Well unbeknownst to him, or us . . she's also a part of this new group. Apparently she was robbing banks to help them build their new headquarters. Which is shocking enough, but then we also find out that the leader of this group is none other than . . . Dr. Bruce Banner. But not the mild-mannered one. He's in his intelligent Hulk form. I certainly didn't see that one coming. And . . they're calling themselves the Defenders. Oh yeah, also this issue, we learn a couple of secrets about . . . Valeria. I love the FF because of the family dynamics. Yes they're all great characters, and have great powers, but . . it's the family . . the team . . that always functions better as a whole. And I love all their interactions. I also like the book because it's always fresh and original. But I gotta' tell you, there were more fresh, or original, ideas expressed in this issue than some books have in their whole run. It really was that good. This is a book, I feel, should be on everybody's reading list right now. It's gonna' be a classic!

Number of the Beast #6 - WildStorm

With this issue, all the heroes, and villains, that have been kept in these containment containers have been set free. Mostly that to the work and determination of the High. He's the one that really spear-headed everything, and got the others behind him. We find out that the technology to do this was given to the government by an alien . . Slyxx. He's been in league with the American government since this whole thing started back at the end of WWII. Unfortunately it wasn't really made for as many people as the government had put in it, and it wasn't supposed to last nearly this long . . 63 years. Presently, it looks as if all the heroes and villains have put their differences aside . . all except for Dr. Sin, that is . . . to try to work together to figure out what's going on here, and . . where on Earth they are. The High has gone up into space to confront Stormwatch where they reside. And the Authority has come down to the installation where they were all being kept, I guess as kind of a janitor . . to clean up the mess. Meanwhile the government is ready to just nuke the whole place . . wipe it from the face of the Earth and start over. You just know that things are going to escalate dramatically. Scott Beatty and Chris Sprouse are doing a great job with this series. But we only have 2 issue to go. 2 issues until . . . the fall of the Wildstorm Universe? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Project Superpowers #4 - Dynamite Entertainment

This series gets better and better with every issue. I'm becoming more and more impressed with Carlos Paul's artwork. At first . . . issue #1 . . I was a little skeptical. The main thing I was worried about, was . . . how was this newcomer going to keep up with Jim Krueger and Alex Ross. Those are some pretty heavy hitters there. This series had an awful lot of hype. How is this relative newcomer going to adequately illuminate the genius scripts that they would be giving him. Would he be up to the challenge? Well . . after 4 issues, I'd have to give that a resounding 'Hell Ya!'. The artworks not perfect. But . . it is very good. And I can see it improving with every issue. This issue, we're finally getting some of these heroes, that were trapped in the urn for all these years, back together. Now that the Green Lama has taken over Manhattan, from the Dynamic Family, and has made it the new Shangri-la, he's asked the Black Terror, the first out of the urn, to go around the world and start gathering up all the heroes and bring them back to their nirvana. "I sense a new impulse to your presence in this world. It's no longer natural, or fully human. I think having been in the urn has changed you. Changed you all. I want you to go to where the others are. I can locate them by targeting our former allies' vibrations. Find them, one by one, and bring them here." It seems all of the heroes were affected by their situation. Even the Fighting Yank and the American Spirit are changing. I'm really impressed by Jim and Alex's work here. The sheer number of characters they've created is just staggering. And then to build this whole world around them . . it's really amazing. I'm thrilled by every issue of this book.

Batman - Gotham After Midnight #2 - DC

I like this book so far. But, being issue #2 of 12 . . . it's a little early for us to have any kind of picture of what's going on here. All we really know so far is that there's a new villain in town . . supposedly. We don't really know if it may be an villain with a new style. It's possible. Anyways, whoever this is seems to be drugging Batman's usual nemesis' so they're acting erratically. They seem to be sticking to what they know best, but the also seem to have different MO's for obtaining their goals. So far we really have no idea who the new culprit may be. We've met someone called the Axe-man, but . . I don't think he's the real antagonist here. It's nice to see that the Batman has a friendly face on the inside of GCPD now. He's been talking a lot to a Detective Carson. There's plenty of action though, so far. And the artwork by Kelley Jones is incredible. I don't know why no one thought of teaming up Steve Niles with Kelley Jones before. They're perfect for each other. The artwork and story meld together as if they were one. I'm sure this is going to be a fantastic series, but, we need a couple of more issues to get the pulse of the story. Everything else about it, though . . is perfect.

Final Crisis #2 - DC

Man . . this issue was intense. If your not reading it . . you have to pick it up. Seriously . . it'll blow your mind. As you're reading through it, you're thinking that there's a lot going on, and you know that somehow, underneath it all, it's all connected, but . . right now . . it just doesn't feel that way. And that really doesn't change as you read through the book, but . . then as you get towards the end . . it really all starts to make sense. I mean . . you don't know everything yet. But, you can start to see how things are coming together. I'm gonna his the highlights for ya, but . . I can't tell you everything. I don't want to spoil it. First of all, this all comes down to the gods of Apokolips being here on Earth. They've fallen from their lofty perch, but they've still got enough moxy to do, and get, what they want. And that really is the biggest threat to the planet right now. However, we also have Libra who is trying to consolidate all of the villains together. He's promising to grant them their hearts desire. Which is how the Martian Manhunter ended up dead. However, Lex says he won't buy in to the whole plan unless he can hurt Superman. So . . he's thinking about it. But that's just the basic story-line. Here's the highlights - John Stewart is almost taken out by . . . Hal Jordan? We don't really know if it's him or not. It was someone dressed in a Green Lantern outfit. However, Alpha Lantern Kraken this he's guilty, so she's placed him in custody. Batman is abducted by . . . Kraken, whom appears to be in league with the gods of Apokolips. She takes him to their underground bunker hidden under the radioactive waste of . . . Bludhaven. It also looks like they're operating on either the Bronze Tiger, or Mister Tawny from SHAZAM! It's hard to tell which. Clark goes back to the Planet to submit his story on J'onn, but someone, or something, posing as Jimmy sets off a bomb and takes out pretty much the whole top of the building. After the explosion, Clark see Lois' arm sticking out of the wreckage. Is this how Libra thought to hurt Superman? We don't really know yet. And finally, Wally and Jay go so search for the bullet that killed Orion and where it originated from. On an idea from Batman, Wally thinks that the bullet may have been fired through time. It originated from this bar, traveled back and through Orion, and then planted itself in the concrete 50 years earlier. I know it's a stretch, but at the same time a worm-hole opens up in the bar, and coming out of it is . . . Barry? He seems to be chasing a bullet. WOW! I really don't know how Grant Morrison does it. As brilliant as this guy is . . he continues to throw unexpected curve-balls at us, and can surprise us at every turn. He's amazing. And right now he's doing, at least, 2 or 3 books a month. And don't even get me started on JGJones artwork. It is incredible. This series is going to change the DC Universe. Hell, it's doing it with every issue. If your not reading this . . your crazy. Get out there and pick it up . . . while you can. You are not going to regret it!