Blackest Night #4 - DC

Ok, again . . another book with a whole lot of pieces to this huge puzzle that's occurring throughout the DC Universe. With the absence of Superman and Wonder Woman, Barry is trying to be the leader and the motivator. And . . he's doing a really good job of it. Right now he's fighting off these Black Lanterns with Mera and Ray, the Atom. And he keeps having to push them to be their best. Mera's ready to give up more than once, but Barry's talked her back from the ledge. Ray also shows us a new trick this issue. You know how he uses the telephone to travel great distances? Well, apparently he's figured out a way to take passengers along with him. Also during their fight they come across Firestorm Remember last issue? Ronnie pulled Jason into his Firestorm matrix. It looks like he killed Gehenna also. So Jason is mad and he's trying to exert control. At one point he makes it to the front of the bus and tells the trio that they have to keep Barry away from the Black Lanterns because for some reason they want him specifically. In Gotham the Black Lantern of Azrael comes across the Scarecrow. But he can't affect it because the Scarecrow shows no fear . . or emotion. And in Metropolis, Luthor has effectively sealed himself off from the entire world. 'As far as I'm concerned . . it's every man for himself.' Next our trio goes to Manhattan where the JSA is also fighting the Black Lanterns. Atom Smasher and Damage are fighting and talking together. They're both surprised to see Ray Palmer. But then . . the Black Lantern of Al Pratt shows up. He's the original Atom, Atom Smasher's protege, and Damage's absentee father. Needless to say, he causes a whole lot of emotions to be stirred up. Ray's looking for Alan Scott. Since Indigo 1 took Hal off planet with her, he's hoping that Alan's ring will be just as effective. Unfortunately, his works differently. And none of them can stop Jean, Ray's dead wife, from taking Damage's heart. We get a glimpse of Scar and some other Black Lanterns on planet Ryut, in space sector 666. We don't really know what's going on, but this seems to be where all of this trouble is stemming from. And the whole issue we keep getting glimpses of the Black Hand in Coast City. We don't really know what he's doing but he seems to be hanging around the cemetaries. At the end of the issue it seems as if the Black central Power Battery is rising out of the ground in Coast City, as well as it's millions of dead residents. And the biggest threat of all . . Nekron. I don't think it's a coincidence, but Nekron rises when the Black rings say that their power levels are at 100%. We know from the past, way past, that Nekron rules over a region of hell. It's a region where the dead wait for passage to their final destination. He gets his power from the souls and spirits of all of those dead who travel through his region. He was created way back in 1981 by Mike Barr, Len Wein and Joe Staton. He's appeared a few times over the course of the Green Lantern Corps history, as well as Captain Atom, Fate and Power Company. Most notably was his bid to recreate the universe when Krona accidentally got sent to his dimension. It'll be interesting to see how Geoff has adapted this character from then till now. His visage on the final 2-page spread is completely different looking than the bony skeletal figure that Joe Staton drew for the GLC mini-series. And how does the heirarchy of this Black Lantern Corps go? I mean, we got Scar, Black Hand, the Anti-Monitor and now Nekron. Who's in charge and who holds the keys to the kingdom? Like I said . . lots of pieces. But we only have glimpses of what the puzzle is supposed to look like. Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are doing an incredible job. And really . . we're only half way through. I have a feeling the best is yet to come.

Green Lantern #47 - DC

This book brings up back to the cosmic epic of Blackest Night, as told by Geoff Johns. There's lots of stuff going on in this issue, but it's all just pieces of the puzzle. We find out that Atrocitus can't really be killed. Since the Red Lanterns have replaced their hearts with their power rings, it doesn't really do the Black Lanterns any good to remove them. Anyways, we get a little more information on the massacre of space sector 666. That's that thing that happened a long time ago that the Guardians are trying to hide. Atrocitus is attacked by 'Four of the five inversions. Once the last survivors of the planet Ryut. Sub-reference: massacre of space sector 666 classified.' They expect to easily defeat the Red Lanterns, but when they see that removing their heart has little affect on them . . I think they may realize they're in for a bigger fight than they thought. Meanwhile on Korugar, Hal is trying to bring together some of the various factions of the emotional spectrum. He's got Sinestro, Carol and Indigo 1 all there. After taking on some of their own personal demons, in the guise of Black Lanterns, Sinestro wants to get Atrocitus to join their little group. But Hal insists that they should get Saint Walker first. Luckily Hal wins out, because back on Odym Larfreeze and his Orange Lanterns are trying to obtain the Blue Power Battery. However, when Hal and company show up, their own Blue Rings are re-energized, and it quickly turns the tide of battle. But, back on Okaara we see that Larfreeze is having his own problems with the Black Lanterns, and on the final page Atrocitus has come to get the Orange ring. But I'm not really sure what that's all about. Also we get a little bit more information . . very little . . on Xanshi and John Stewart. I like the way that Geoff is stretching out this story. He's giving us bits and pieces of information . . enough to keep us interested, without it feeling like he's just dragging it out on purpose. We're starting to see the bigger picture. We just don't know what it all means yet. But since Blackest Night #4 is the next on my list . . hopefully I'll feel a little more knowledgeable after it. I also love the work that Doug Mahnke is doing on this book. His style is perfect for these characters. The full page spread of the four inversions on the second page is really rather creepy. Nobody could've pulled it off, but Doug. A fantastic book, and great covers by Ed Benes and Doug Mahnke. In the back of the book, on the DC nation page, Dan Didio tries to give us a little upcoming information, but hides it in French and Italian text. The first half of the post is in French, and about the return of Starman in a book by James Robinson. Secondly, in Italian, he talks about the return of Catwoman in a Batman mystery in which she teams up with 'an old enemy with a passion for unorthodox artifacts generally used for protection or ornament.' But . . I'm not sure who that is.

Smallville - Roulette - Season 9 Episode 5 - WB

This episode was almost entirely about Ollie. I was a little thrown off at the beginning because of what I know about the Roulette character from the DC Universe. I was expecting Ollie to become a part of some kind of 'fight-club' or something. But it ends up that she's got entirely different motivations for going after Ollie. Things just go from bad to worse for him . . right from the very beginning. First he loses all his money at craps. He's in the club, Roulette . . also the woman operators alias. Anyways, she slips him a roofie and he wakes up in a coffin. Luckily it wasn't underground, just in a warehouse next to another one that says 'Alexander Luthor' on top. He's attacked by rabid dogs, and when he tries to hide in an abandoned vehicle, it's almost immediately smashed into by a steam-rolling semi. From there he tries to go back to the club and find out what Roulette has put him in the middle of, but . . the people that are after him are also there. They end up running, getting shot at, and Roulette is killed. At least Ollie thinks she is. He's then arrested, and when the FBI takes over the case they tell him to check his accounts. He does, and obviously they learn his password. They immediately begin draining everything. Clark hears him yelling and breaks him out, but when he goes back to the club to shoot Roulette, he almost kills Lois. And, when Roulette escapes, she's trapped under some burning timbers. Ollie goes to save her, and that's when it's revealed that this was all just a test. It appears that Chloe set up the whole thing to help Ollie find himself. And, luckily, it worked. Of course she had the secret help of the rest of the League members. All except Clark that is. He wasn't in on it. Later when Lois confronts Ollie about all of this, she wonders why he never came to talk to her. He almost intentionally blew himself up with the Toy-Man. What was so bad that he couldn't come to her? She offers a great piece of advice, 'Was the mess so bad that cleaning it up seemed harder than throwing it all away?' A lot of people should think about that with their problems. In the end, Ollie ends up on a rooftop with Clark. He's dressed in his Green Arrow gear. Meanwhile, Clark's involvement in this episode was mostly about trying to sort out his relationship with Lois, and . . he sees the woman assassin that came after him and Lois in the video of Ollie's bomb scare. He thought she was dead. She has a Kryptonian tattoo on her shoulder. He finds out from Jor-El that it's from Kandor. Chloe does a visual satellite search of the entire planet for Clark, and she finds this woman's counterparts . . everywhere. Apparently there's dozens of these Kandorians running around the planet. The question now is . . what is Clark going to do about it. I really like how they've developed Ollie's character on this series. With this episode, taking him to the bottom of the barrel and back, we didn't have to do the whole ship-wrecked on the island thing. Something I was thinking about though . . it would be nice to see Bruce Wayne show up in Metropolis. I know they probably won't do the whole Batman thing, but . . I think it would be interesting to see Bruce show up. I wonder if they'll ever do it? Anyways, great episode, and fantastic series. I love it!

the Invincible Iron Man #19 - Marvel

This issue almost wraps up the World's Most Wanted storyline. Last issue we saw Tony climb into one of his very first models of the Iron Man armor and begin his trek for Dubai. Unfortunately, he no longer possess' the mental acuity to shield himself from radar. Basically . . he's making a mad dash. Luckily, there's still some HAMMER agents that are sympathetic to his cause. They liked their jobs better when they worked for SHIELD. It ends up, the one feeding Norman Osborn Tony's trajectory is one of them. When Pepper had to reveal herself to Maria Hill and Natasha, JARVIS, her Iron Man gear, also came on line. It sent a virus into all of the Stark-gear inside the HAMMER base, so for the time being the technician can honestly tell Norman that they're having system issues. Unfortunately he's soon found out by his boss. He did give Tony a little breathing room. So it takes Norman about a 1/2 hour to catch up to him in the Pakistan desert. By that time Tony's mind is almost completely gone, and JARVIS also took the luxury of sending the coordinates of the fight to every news-feed in the country. It isn't long before the people in the Dubai newsroom have choppers all over the scene and the have pictures of the Iron Patriot beating up the defenseless Tony Stark. So in Tony's eyes . . he's won. Meanwhile, Maria, Natasha and Pepper are trying to retrieve the hard-drive that Tony had Maria get for him. In the end, Tony is aboard the HAMMER helicarrier and he's basically in a vegetative state. However, the carrier acts as an embassy and therefore has to follow US laws. Tony has a living will that says that only his doctor is allowed to pull the plug on him. And his doctor? Doctor Donald Blake. When Norman makes the call, all the ladies and Cap are there to help Dr Blake with what he has to do. I'm guessing, this hard-drive is somehow Tony's means of returning to the land of the living. Or at least kick-starting his brain. I'm guessing it's his personal back-up. Matt Fraction has been doing a terrific job with this book. Although I'm glad that this story-line is nearing it's end. It's been going on for over a year now. It's been intriguing, but . . come on . . let's move on to something else. Let's get Tony back on-line, and get Iron Man acting like, well . . Iron Man. I hate to see Norman in his Iron Patriot outfit. It makes my skin crawl. Anyways, another fantastic work of art by Salvador Larocca. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up.

Amazing Spider-man #609 - Marvel

Well . . at the end of last issue . . Kaine showed up. In the Web of Spider-man, issue #1, we see where Kaine's been and a hint as to why he's showed up here. Peter does a whole lot of talking, as usual, while they're fighting. But he doesn't get a whole lot in response. However he does find out that Kaine thinks that Ryder is the only one that can stop his body from breaking down . . from dying on him. Meanwhile, we get more of the story of what went down between Ryder and Ben Reilly. It seems that Ben was working for Damon as a lab assistant. Things were going along smoothly until Damon started experimenting upon himself with altered dinosaur DNA. This whole thing started as Damon trying to find the link between dinosaur and man . . the evolutionary jump. But now it's turned into something else entirely. He blames Reilly for killing his wife and family . . his house burned down. But to me, it's starting to look like Reilly just happened to be there when everything went down. I think we're going to see that it was actually Damon that destroyed his own family. Meanwhile, while Peter has been fighting Kaine, Damon has been going after those close to Peter. He pays Michelle an eerie visit, and now, at the end of this book, he's at Aunt May's old house and is holding Harry and his Reilly cousins hostage. He gives Peter an ultimatum . . 'You killed my family and now I'm going to kill yours while you watch. "Peter?" While you're at it, why don't you tell him who you really are?' And it looks like . . Peter might just have to. The next issue is titled . . 'Secrets No More!' Marc Guggenheim does a great job with this story. He's another one that does a great job at handling Peter's character. The art for this issue is done by Marco Checchetto on some of the pages, and Luke Ross and Rick Magyar on the rest. It was an ok book. I wasn't thrilled with the art. And I don't think we really made a whole lot of progress in the story. But I'm starting to think I may have to pick up Spider-man's Clone War Saga mini-series to get the rest of this story. I think this book, and Web, is just providing some of the background pieces. I guess I'll have to give it a look and find out.

Dark Avengers #10 - Marvel

And this becomes post #4001. My new adventure begins . . the road to post #5000. Boy that seems a long way off from here. Guess I'll just have to dig in . . buckle up . . and keep stretching and flexing those typing fingers. Ready or not . . here we go . . . This is a book where I definitely feel that the creative team has control, and the book wouldn't be as strong with anybody else. I love the stories that Brian Bendis is creating around these characters. And I think it's fantastic that Mike Deodato Jr has stayed on this book as long as he as. His art can have kind of a dark feel to it, and I definitely think that it's created, and sustained the mood for this title. There's a double-page spread on pages 3 & 4 where it shows this girl entering the restroom at this diner . . the belly of the beast, as it were . . and the angle and lighting of the scene is fantastic. It's perfect. Anyways, we start a new adventure this issue when these 2 girls, who are running away from some over-dramatized problems, find themselves in Dinosaur Colorado. Whatever's going on there . . it isn't long before they're swallowed up by it. Norman's given a call to look into it because one of the girls happens to be a Senator's daughter. Norman's first response is to send in Bob. I know that's kind of overkill, but . . when Victoria Hand did some digging, she found that there were 44 other similar incidents in the area. When he gets there, he tries to talk to a local, but . . he ends up exploding with energy from the inside out. Next thing they know . . thier most powerful member has been taken out. So now Norman brings the full strength of the Avengers and HAMMER down on this little community. The funny thing is, between both groups and the Helicarrier . . there's probably more people and ordinance in this group than there is people and land in this little burb. They should be able to squash it like a bug. When they get there, Ms Marvel is the first to disappear. And then when Norman swoops in for a look . . he turns around and his entire back-up is gone. He then finds himself in a cabal of magical and mischievous characters. This may be a little more than he can handle. This entire issue, Norman spends it in the Iron Patriot outfit. He's recently come out of the lab that he's locked himself in for a couple of days, and apparently doesn't want anyone to see that he's having problems with his alter-ego. But I'm thinking, where he's at now . . his alter-ego may be the only thing that can save him. But we'll have to wait until next issue to find out. As much as Mike's work brings to this book, so to does Brian's writing. The interaction and dialogue between these characters is fantastic. You spend the whole issue either being creeped out by what they say, or laughing hysterically. Brian really brings a lot more to these characters than I think anyone else could. I'm surprised at how much I like this book. I didn't think I would.

the Mighty Avengers #30 - Marvel

Well . . through sheer luck of the draw, this issue ends up being post #4000 for my little hobby here. Well truthfully, buying and reading comics is my hobby. This . . this has turned out to be a way for me to extend my pleasure, or express my displeasure . . depending upon the issue at hand. That's a lot of books for a 3 1/2 year period. I have to say . . when I started this . . I really didn't know if it, or I was going to last this long or not. But so far . . I've had a good time. I've enjoyed the conversations and witty report with my 'friends' out there. And . . I'm not broke yet. So I guess I'll keep it going for a little while longer. What the 'hey? Anyways . . on to the reason that we're here. In this issue the Avengers finally all get together to go to China to fight the Unnamed. Remember, he's that guy from Attilan that's trying to start the Slave Engine and turn all of Earth's people into Alpha Primates . . slaves for the Inhumans. That's the important part of the story. But . . the most information we get comes from Hanks visit to a place he and Reed call Overspace. 'A hypothetical plane . . a point above and apart from all other realities.' Anyways, once there he meets . . Eternity. It's all a lot for Hank to grasp, but Eternity basically tries to explain the way Hank fits into everything. He tells him, 'You are Earth's Scientist Supreme.' Hank has a hard time swallowing that, but Eternity goes on to explain to him that, 'Richards is the Explorer. For him, science is about pure discovery. Stark is the Engineer. For him, science is a tool which he can use to shape his world and his destiny. But for you, Hank Pym . . you are the Mage. For you, science is about making the impossible possible. You are my champion, my Avenger! More than a founding Avenger of old, you are the founder of Avengers yet to come. A new age of heroes is upon us . . more than any being, I put my trust in you. To you I entrust more than myself. To you I entrust the future.' And then he tells Hank what he needs to do, back on Earth. When he arrives back at the lab, he's immediately ready to go into action in China. He says he's going . . ' . to save everything!' I have to say, since Dan Slott and Christos Gage took over this book . . which just happens to be the time when Hank became such a huge part of it . . that seems to have been the turning point for me on this book. I liked it. I appreciated what they were trying to do here. But . . it just seemed like the other Avengers book. Except . . you know . . a variation. Well . . that and the fact that one group of them were criminals, and one group of them weren't. Anyways, my point is . . that's when this book really seemed to kick into gear for me. I think Dan and Christos are doing a great job, and I love where we've gone so far. I can't wait to see what's in store. Sean Chen does the art this issue. All in all, I thought this was nice book to be blog #4000. 4001, anyone?

Dark Wolverine #79 - Marvel

First of all . . look at that Greg Land cover. Isn't it fantastic. Wait'll you see next months. Anyways, Norman Osborn has to try to clean up Daken's image. So that his image doesn't hurt his own, or that of his Avengers. So he arranges for some d-list criminals to be broken out of jail. He's then going to send Daken in, have him clean it all up, and look like a hero. The problem is . . these criminals aren't quite as dumb as they look. They start to figure out that they're being set up, and they decide to fight back. Surprisingly that get the better of Daken, knock him out, and then take off. Well . . that plans not going to work for Norman. And these guys are pretty sure that they're being set up so they decide to call Norman to try to get out of this mess. But they're also smart enough to try to get a little insurance. Emmy Doolan, whom Norman set all of this up through, goes back to the store where Norman approached her to get the video footage of him talking to her. Not surprisingly all of the store's footage has been erased. But . . it turns out the store-manager is a peeping tom, and he's got his own camera's set up. He also had a thing for Emmy, who was working there, so there's plenty of footage of her. Anyways, they send a feed of the video to Norman and insist that he get them out of this mess. His solution? 'Turn yourselves in. Turn yourselves in and I'll have you arrested. I'll expedite the court proceeding . . where you'll be convicted. Once inside the system, I can assign you new identities and release you free and clear. That's my offer. Take it or leave it.' They agree, but . . they gotta know that Norman's going to set them up again. He's going to take another stab at them. And it appears that he's going to send Daken to do it. Again! Overall I thought this was an interesting story. This seemed more like an Avenger book though, than necessarily a Wolverine one. But, besides that, I thought it was interesting. Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu are the writers, and Stephen Segovia does the art. I have to say, I think Stephen's art is getting better with every issue. I didn't really care for it at first, but . . it's definitely growing on me. I wonder what kind of shenanigans Daken will try to pull next issue. It's only a matter of time until he and Norman truly butt heads. I can't wait!

Wolverine Origins #41 - Marvel

Logan meets up with the Hulk this issue. But this time . . he's looking for him. Here's what we got . . Logan figured out Romulus' plan last issue. Romulus apparently wants someone to take over for him. He wants to give away the keys to the kingdom. So all of this fighting . . all of this bloodshed between the various participants of Weapon X, has all been orchestrated by Romulus. A contest . . survival of the fittest, if you will. However, the only 2 worth of the throne . . or left standing, are Logan and Daken. Logan doesn't want the throne. Daken does, but in order to get it he'll have to eliminate Logan. Daken doesn't have a problem with that. Logan does. Logan also knows that Romulus has manipulated and coerced so much of his life, that no matter what plan he comes up with . . Romulus will see it coming from a mile away. So, he has to think outside of the box. To do that, he goes to another source. This source tells him, if he can't destroy the kind . . destroy the throne. So that's what he's set off to do. His first stop? To catch up with Bruce Banner. But Bruce is trying to stay away from all things Hulk. Well . . everything except for his son, Skaar. Skaar gives him a beat-down, and then kicks him into the next state. Logan lands on top of a tree, and a father and son out in the woods see him. The father is willing to help, he doesn't care that he's a mutant. But the son? The son doesn't trust Logan, and he worries for his father's safety. So he calls the police. They contact the FBI. And they contact . . Romulus. Which at the end of this issue is all bearing down on him. But . . Bruce has also decided to help. It'll be interesting to see what Logan has in mind. What does he mean . . destroy the throne? Hmm! This should be interesting. Plus I'm wondering just what it is that Bruce can do for him. After all this time we finally saw Romulus last issue. Now we'll have to see just what he's capable of. Daniel Way again writes a thrilling story. I especially like the interaction between Logan and Bruce. Doug Braithwaite does the pencils. We're 41 issues into this book, and every issue still leaves me wanting more.

X-Men Legacy #228 - Marvel

This is another part of the Nation X storyline. But here, the X-Men are dealing with Emplate who showed up again last issue because he needs a new food source. Since Penance has died, he needs a new source of mutant bone-marrow. He doesn't really want to fight the X-Men. He's mad at them for exiling him into the dimension that he's forced to live in, but . . right now a food source is more important. So last issue he took on of the kids, Bling. This issue we find out that another of the kids, Trance, is able to see the dimensional portal that Emplate traveled through. She wants to go in and get her friend, but Scott won't see it because she's young and inexperienced. So . . Rogue volunteers. The problem with taking someone else's powers though is that she has no experience with them. She goes into the dimensional rift, and finds Emplate's house, but before she can do anything to help Bling DOA finds her snooping through Emplate's room. He sets some kind of dragons, or demons on her that feed off of ghosts. The issue ends with her being chased down by them. There's really not much else in this issue to speak of. Emplate does give us a few tidbits of information though. First he tells DOA, 'I can feel my tormentors hovering. I'll have to feed again if I'm to survive their touch.' Then later when he goes into Bling's cell to feed, he tells her 'I need you, Roxanne. To give me the strength to bear what must be borne.' Whatever that means. This is part 2 or a 4 part story-line, 'Devil at the Crossroads'. Mike Carey writes it, and Daniel Acuna provides the spectacular art. This guy has really improved his game over the last couple of years. This should be an interesting story-line. We'll just have to see where it goes.

Spawn #195 - Image

With this issue Marc Rosen, the reporter, has finally caught up with Sara and Jim Downing. He's trying to get the story on what went down in the hospital the day the explosion happened . . or at least that's what everybody thought it was. Meanwhile, Jim was in Benny Vicari's house at the end of the last issue, and it literally exploded on top of him. This issue he pulls himself out of the ashes. At the police precinct, Detective Rowland has finally caught up with Sam & Twitch. He's got a file on a lawyer who blew his head off for no apparent reason. His superiors want to close the case as a suicide. But the Det doesn't think that things add up right. He's also got a list of phone calls and contacts that the lawyer made and they're all in Manhattan. Which is why he wants Sam & Twitch's help. It turn out that Benny Vicari was one of the names on that list. So now, their 2 separate cases have become intertwined. Anyways, when Marc is talking to Sara she wants someone else to listen to the conversation, so she invites her friend Judy over. When she leaves she borrows Sara's coat. On her way out the door, some people that are looking for Sara recognize the coat and pick her up, not knowing that it's Judy. Jim switches to his Spawn form to go after them, and Marc and Sara go to the precinct a few blocks away. Ten bucks says that it ends up being Sam & Twitch's precinct. Spawn catches up with the car, and before dealing with the goons sends Judy to the same precinct. A couple things of note here at the end. First, while dangling over the edge of a building Spawn finally gets a name or who sent these guys after them . . 'Kingston! Doctor Kingston. Upper east side.' After which he drops him over the building. Secondly, the counter for Spawn's powers is back and it's almost down to '0' . . '0:0:0:9'. I wonder what that means? Next issue is the conclusion to this 'Endgame' story-line. And then we'll start the story-line that'll lead us up to issue #200. Yes . . it's almost here. I think Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo and Whilce Portacio are doing a tremendous job here. I really like the way the books been flowing, the last 10 issues or so. And really . . these guys are only just getting started. I have a feeling a lot more is gonna' happen before issue #200. I can't wait.

Ex Machina #46 - WildStorm

Well . . we're getting closer and closer to the end. And it looks like Suzanne Padilla, the reporter, is going to get what she wants . . to bring down Mayor Hundred, and to bring about the invasion of Earth. Very lofty and noble ideals. Right? Anyways, Suzanne was changed much in the way the Mayor was when she came across the white box that Bradbury was supposed to take care of. But not to fault him, Suzanne did follow him to Atlantic City. Anyways, with her . . it gave her the ability to control people, with her voice. Much in the way that the Mayor controls machines. In a flashback we see that while pursuing a child abductor back in 2001, the mayor built what he thought was a stun gun. It came to him in a dream. At the time . . 'Whatever I dream, I build.' It turned out to be a trigger to open a portal to another dimension. The Mayor never actually saw into that dimension, but the person he aimed it at did. And he was terrified. So now Suzanne is looking for that gun . . or 'opener', as she calls it. But the Mayor doesn't even remember it, let alone know where it's at. So she drops him in the East River. Meanwhile, Kremlin has come to warn Martha, the Mayor's mom, that she may be in danger. She says she feels safe though because he son gave her something to protect herself with. It turns out to be the 'opener'. Oh yeah, and there's a little bit in there also where the Mayor is arguing with his assistant about pro-life choices. He wants the city to fund a 'day-after' pill to curb the tidal-wave of abortions that happen here yearly. Brian K Vaughn is a brilliant writer. It's about time that we got down to what the purpose of the Mayors 'gift' actually was . . why it was given to him, and how it works and is related to that other guy who can control animals, and Suzanne's 'gift'. But I also like the way the Brian writes political commentary into his stories without them sounding all preachy, or party biased. It's really going to be a sad day when we reach the final issue of this book. This is one of those books that gets your head racing. There aren't to many of those left. Anyways, he and Tony Harris have just done a terrific job here . . right from issue #1. I'll have to keep an eye out for whatever new project they take on. I can't imagine that they'd be idle for to long. This was a good issue . . and a great cover.

Hellblazer #260 - Vertigo

Man . . it's to bad Simon Bisely can't stay on this book forever. Well, I know that would never happen. But a few more issues would be nice. First of all we get this fantastic cover by Simon. Then on the inside . . Simon does a bang-up job with the art. I kind of expected it to look like his stuff from the various Lobo books he's done. But . . this had a completely different feel to it. But cool, none the less. Anyways, Peter Milligan's story here is called the Long Crap Friday. John is already be chased by the police for Phoebe's death. Now he's being chased by a gangster too . . Terry Greaves. His daughter is/was Epiphany. So, since it looks like she's dead too . . Terry wants to rip his intestines out. Actually he want to turn him into meat-pie and sell him in the old east end, to tourists. John is ready to skip the country and go to India, where he thinks that Charles will be able to help him. But before he can get out, Terry gets John's mate Chas and is torturing him, with promises to kill if John doesn't return. John comes back and does a little voodoo that brings Phoebe out of her little trance . . or coma . . whatever. So now that Terry's happy . . as long as Epiphany's condition doesn't change . . John is once again trying to get off to India and see if his friend Charles can help him bring Phoebe back. And yes, by back I mean . . back to the land of the living. It's a long shot, but John still thinks he can do it. These last 2 issue have been fantastic. The next 4 issues are going to be the India storyline. Peter will again be writing, with Giuseppe Camuncoli doing the art. This is a great series. You should check it out . . if you aren't.

Superman / Batman #65 - DC

I've always considered this book to be like the new World's Finest book. However, next week . . we're getting a new World's Finest book. So . . I'm not sure where that leaves this one. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyways, this was one more Halloween story. Scarecrow has somehow abducted Superman, Batman, the Joker and Lex Luthor. This issue shows us what each of them has nightmares about. It was an interesting book, but . . there wasn't really much to it. The Scarecrow catches them. We see what each of them is thinking about during their nightmare. Batman, of course, is the first with the mental acuity to pull himself out of the dream. He subdues Scarecrow, and wakes up the rest of them. The funniest part of the whole book was after they capture Scarecrow, we get to see what his nightmare is. It's a Wizard of Oz theme. Dorothy and Toto have come upon him, but . . they aren't scared of him. Neither are the birds. And before they leave . . Toto decides to take a leak on him. Hilarious! It was an ok book, for what it was. Peter Johnson and Matt Cherniss wrote the story. The art was handled by a couple of different people . . Brian Stelfreeze, Brian Haberlin, Kelley Jones, Joe Quinones and Gederico Dallocchio. I liked it. But it seemed way to short. Well . . hopefully we'll get back into the regular stories next month.

Supergirl #46 - DC

Last issue ended with Kara, Thara and Chris being subdued by Reactron. He has them in Red-Sun chains. But Chris finds out that the Red-Sun doesn't have any affect on his tactile-kinesis. Isn't that kind of the same power that Connor has? I wonder what the connection is there? Anyways, he helps them break free, but . . with a gold Kryptonite heart, it isn't long before Reactron again overpowers them. He's beaten up Kara and Thara, and is about to take out Chris when Lois comes snooping around. This is just enough to distract Reactron for a second. But when he comes back to Chris, the trauma and stress seems to be having an effect on Thara, who's watching the whole scene unfold. It seems like she's basically trying to will her powers into working when, all of the sudden . . she transforms into the actual Flamebird. Reactron is no match for this power. Flamebird removes his Kryptonite heart, and when it looks like she's about to kill him, he spills his guts about everything. 'No please it wasn't me . . Mon El's alive! He's alive! It was the witch, Mirabai, she did it. She disguised me and Metallo. She used magic . . even the bomb, the water, it was all General Lane's idea! It was Lane!' Lois is still present when all of this comes out. Anyways, Kara talks Flamebird down, so she doesn't kill Reactron. And says that she'll return him to New Krypton for justice. Kara and Thara end up making up after that. And Thara tells her about the secret that Lana's been hiding. Unfortunately . . we don't actually hear what it is. Kara tells Lana that they'll talk about it when she returns from New Krypton. Overall I thought this was a pretty good storyline. This is the conclusion, but . . it's still really not over. What's Lois going to did with what she's learned? And it says that next issue we'll learn what the final fate of Reactron is. Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka provided the words. And Jamal Igle and Eduardo Pansica provide the pencils. I liked it. I thought it was a good story, with a believable conclusion. It also left several things open to future resolution. I just can't believe that we're almost up to issue #50. Wow! Where does the time go?

Batman Unseen #2 - DC

It's Halloween time, and time for another Kelley Jones Batman thriller. This one is about a scientist, Nigel Glass. Currently he's working for the Black Mask and he's being paid to develop a translux serum . . an invisibility potion. He started making success last issue, but it was slowly adapting to his body . . or, his body becoming used to it. It's like it was working in layers. First his skin. And then his soft tissue and muscle. Skeleton was next. And finally the organs and arteries . . kind of like what you see on the cover. Then, with this issue . . he finally obtains complete invisibility. He even goes out for a little test-ride . . to make sure that through the sunlight or to normal people, no one would be able to see him. It's a complete success. Well . . except for what it's doing to his psyche. First he's got delusions of grandeur . . he thinks he's all-powerful. Secondly, because of the way the serum is interacting with his body and blood, he's becoming very irritable and angry. Not to mention ravenously hungry. So when Black Mask's goons come to him with more money, as he demanded last issue when he started showing signs of success, he decides that it's not enough. He kills one of them, and makes the other take him straight to Black Mask so that he can renegotiate the terms of their agreement. He wants more. Maybe even Black Mask's position. Batman spends most of this issue pursuing one of Black Mask's gang members, believing him to be this 'Meat-man'. But when he finds him dead, shortly after Nigel Glass has killed him, he realizes he's pursuing the wrong lead. Luckily, this mini is only 5 issues, instead of the 12 issue maxi we got last year. So next issue will probably build the story a little more, with most of the action coming in issues 4 and 5. Those 12 issue series are just way to long. There ends up being to much filler in the middle. Not to mention that you start to lose interest. Doug Moench and Kelley are handling this one, as they did last year. Nothing about their talent is in question. Those 12 issue series can drag out no matter who is contributing the talent. This one has been ok, so far. I think all the characters are pretty much in place now. And, next issue Batman will come up to speed, I'm sure. Then we'll see some real action. I can't wait.

Vigilante #11 - DC

With only 1 more issue to go in this series . . now Walt Simonson steps in on pencils. Well . . actually it's Walt and John Paul Leon both doing the art. But Walt's been contributing covers the whole time . . why not use his talent on the inside? It might've made this series a little more appealing . . and marketable. Anyways, this issue was about an innocent by-stander, Gerry Gray, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was in Venice with his wife when he heard gun-shots. Being a journalist, his first instinct was to run towards the commotion and see if he could get pictures, or a story. Even though his wife told him not to. This was his first encounter with the Vigilante. His wife ends up getting shot in the shoulder, and while he's trying to console her, she gets shot in the head. Vigilante didn't do it, but Gerry still blames him. So he spends the next couple of years running around Europe, trying to get a lead on the Vigilante and figure out who he is. Then a year ago, after getting shot in Belgium, he ends up back in New York City. And . . he crosses paths with the Vigilante again. Only this time he's just got questions. Which Vigilante kind of gives him answers to. Long story short, Gerry was a hack-journalist when he left New York. Now, with this experience and the passion he's given to this pursuit, he decides to write everything down. He takes it to his old boss, who fired him as a reporter. He refuses to rehire him as a reporter, but tells him, 'This, this is what writing's all about. It's honest and it's filled with passion. And more important, it's something only you could have written. You learned. A damn hard way to learn, but you learned. And this, it's brilliant. Maybe Pulitzer Prize brilliant. So, if you're now asking me do I have a place where you can be yourself and tell you story the way you have to . . Hell yeah! Welcome home!' I liked this story about Gerry, and we got a little info on what Vigilante was up to while in Europe. The plug for next issue says, 'All your questions are answered!' Yeah! It's about time. I thought Marv Wolfman did a great job with this issue. And next issue will probably be even better. But . . it'll also be the last. Which is a shame. But, that doesn't mean this is the last we've seen of this character. I'm sure he's going to pop up somewhere. We'll just have to wait and see.

Final Crisis Aftermath Dance #6 - DC

Right up until the very end . . this final issue . . this series has continued to confuse me. I'm just not really sure what this was all about. Obviously it was set up to introduce us to these young, Japanese super-heroes, but . . I didn't really understand a whole lot about it. Other than that. Rising Sun, formerly of the Global Guardians has been coming after them. But we found out last issue that it was actually because Mister Mind had burrowed himself into his brain. The team performs a 'fantastic journey' of sorts this issue, when they shrink down to go in to Rising Sun's brain and find out what the problem is. But they don't expel Mr Mind as much as Rising Sun gains a moment of clarity and decides to burn himself up from the inside out . . 'There is . . great . . nobility . . b-better . . to burn out . . than fade away!' Hmmm! Who knew he was a Highlander fan. Or maybe he just liked Queen. Anyways, they've always marketed themselves as the Super-Young Team, but they always had individual contracts. However, through this adventure things become clearer. 'In that moment, we found a new marketing angle . . Super-Young teamwork.' Hmmm! I guess that never occurred to them before. And they also fix Japan this issue, by . . well, Most Excellent Superbat buys it. 'Made things much easier. Not to mention . . a lot more fun. Japan in my own image. No one has to know. With that bit of nonsense out of the way, we could once again concentrate on the business of being fabulous.' It occurs to me this issue just how much all of these characters resemble various JLA members. Sure they're all younger twisted versions of them . . but still. Anyways, did that make sense? Did that seem in the least bit coherent? If you were confused . . then you know how I felt reading this issue. I could see the various pieces. I just had no idea what puzzle they went to. Joe Casey writes it, with ChrisCross doing the art. Overall it looked good. And I liked it . . kind of. It just seemed . . confusing. Although there were some fantastic covers by Stanley Lau. I don't know if these characters will show up anywhere else. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

the Brave and the Bold #28 - DC

J Michael Straczynski did a great job of bringing this story together. I was wondering how the Flash was going to team-up with the Blackhawks. And it wasn't long before I got my answer. It ends up that the Flash, Barry Allen, has gone to Belgium to help out a scientist with a light experiment. He wants to test the theory that he can alter the speed of light through vibrations. But he needs the Flash to run along side to monitor the light and record the changes. The problem is, when the scientist changes the frequency of the light, it shorts out the recording device and pulls the Flash into it's stream. That, and the effects it has on the Speed Force, causes a rip in time and sends the Flash back to the past. He ends up in Belgium during WWII . . the Battle of the Bulge. It turns out the Blackhawks have recently come here for some r&r . . Belgium is supposed to be 'the safest place in Europe', but it's not long before the Germans show up. Barry's leg is broken so he can work up the speed to go back right away. For a few weeks he ends up helping the Blackhawks during the Battle of the Bulge. During which he has to come to terms with his vow not to kill. He wants to live up to that vow, but . . he is in the middle of a war. He starts asking himself, 'When is it right to kill? And when is it not right to kill? What makes it right?'. Tough questions. And ones I'm sure all the soldiers have asked themselves at one time or another. Anyways, long story short . . he heals, and after the battle is won heads back home. There, he's only been gone for seconds. The scientist is thrilled, but Barry is reeling in the knowledge and experience that he's just gone through. Also he's thinking of the new-found respect that he has for soldiers everywhere. 'What I do, what I've done, isn't extraordinary. They were the extraordinary ones.' JMS did a fantastic job with this book, and I really loved Jesus Saiz' art. The whole issue was incredible.

Batman Confidential #35 - DC

This issue wraps up Batman's trip to Moscow, and the Bat and the Beast story-line. Last issue the Tsar had ordered Fyodor, the Bear, to kill Lukzov's wife and daughter. Lukzov is the police commissioner, so he thought that if he got him back in line, he'd also show his strength to the rest of the police force . . and anyone else who may get the idea to stand against him. However, looking at the 2 girls, Fyodor decides that he just can't do it. And with that he decides to stop being the pawn of the Tsar. However, in the process . . he is shot. So he goes back to the Tsar for help. He doesn't agree with what he's doing, and he may think he's an animal, but . . in the end the Tsar is still his step-father. So he won't let the Batman or anybody else bring him down. At least until Batman confronts him with the information that it was the Tsar who made him an orphan in the first place. It was by his orders that the gangsters killed his father. So in the end the Tsar goes down. And Bruce arranges for Fyodor to get treatments for his condition. However, back in Gotham, Bruce learns that Fyodor broke out of the hospital before the treatments could begin. On his way out he tells a nurse that he didn't want to be cured. He had to stay the way he was . . to do what he had in mind. And on the final page we see he's beginning to terrorize some of the Kingpins. He wants them to have a message . .'Gotham City has the Bat . . and Moscow has the Bear.' All in all I thought it was an ok story-line. I wasn't sure at first. Batman really seemed to be out of his element. In fact, I think he might've gotten better results had he come to Moscow as Matches, or something. Anyways, as always, Peter Milligan's stories end up coming together and working out dramatically. Batman still seemed out of his element, but . . he was effective. It doesn't look like the Russians will be coming to Gotham any time soon. Also, some fantastic artwork by Andy Clarke. It looks like Batman's European tour will continue next issue as Royal McGraw and Marcos Marz takes him, and the Blackhawks to Poland to try to retrieve some stolen Wayne-tech. I like this book. I'm glad it didn't go the way of Superman Confidential.

Power Girl #6 - DC

This is a great book. It's got a great upbeat feel to it. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti put in just the right amount of humor, to make it interesting. Also Amanda Connor's art just makes this book fun, and light-hearted. Although, I do like this variant Guillem March cover. I don't know any hero out there that looks as sexy as Power Girl. Anyways, we find out that this attack last issue by the 3 girls was really all just a fluke. They're actually 3 rich girls from another planet who are used to doing pretty much whatever they like. They had gotten into some minor trouble, and their handler, Agent 7, ended up following them through a worm hole. Which is how they ended up on Earth. Yeah they shot his ship down, but . . they knew that he would eject before he was hurt. Anyways, long story short . . the girls have brought along bags of precious jewels. It's the currency of their home planet. So Karen helps them cash them in, and then get a place to live down in Rio de Janeiro. All she asks now is that they try to stay out of trouble. But, she's gotten something in return also. Agent 7 gave Karen some of the equipment he brought with him. So she's going to take it back to her firm and see if they can reverse engineer it and maybe be able to make something out of it. Something they can patent, or sell. It's not like, in the history of mankind, that's never been done before. And we also see the Karen is still hanging out with Terra. You know, the chick who's people live in the center of the planet? She's still around. Although she doesn't see any action this issue. Like I said, I like this book because it's fun. It's always upbeat. No matter what's going on, there's always some form of humor . . written or visual, in the story. It just makes for a fun read. I really didn't know whether I would like this book . . in the beginning, but . . now I think I like it more than the regular Supergirl title. I just hope we can keep the same creative team here for awhile. I think they're doing a fantastic job.

Justice League of America #38 - DC

Here we go again . . another re-invention of the Justice League. But . . that's ok. The people handling it, James Robinson and Mark Bagley, should bring us some remarkable stories in the future. Right now the team consists of Vixen, Doctor Light, Plastic-Man and Red Tornado. Actually, Vixen put out a call to all active members, but these are the only guys that showed up. They're meeting in the cave in Happy Harbor. She's hoping that something there, something from the League's past, will help to motivate them to continue on in the future. But then . . Despero arrives. And, for some reason, he brings Gypsy with him. We don't actually find out what his attack was all about. Zatanna shows up to help even out the battle, and she's about to zip him off to the center of the Earth when . . something else pulls him away. She's also come to enlist all of their help. She tells them about the attack of all the dead 'heroes' and 'villains' back at the Hall of Justice. Also, she left Firestorm alone there while she came for help. We see on the last page though that Doctor Light, the old Doctor Light . . the dead one . . seems to be waiting for them. That doesn't look good. Anyways, this issue when Mari is talking to the rest of them, it seems like she's trying to find every excuse in the book to not keep the team together. I thought she was trying to motivate them, not demoralize them. Also it seems that all of these members are currently hurt, or 'broken'. It's going to take a lot of teamwork and interaction to pull this group back together. Currently we have Vixen, Doctor Light, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Gypsy and Firestorm. It could be worse. But not much. I just hope they can rebuild from here. But with James and Mark at the helm . . I'm not to worried. It should be a great ride.

Azrael #1 - DC

I'm so thrilled that Fabian Nicieza is writing this book. He's written the stories leading up to the launch of this series, but I was a little afraid that they might bring in someone else to handle this book. I'm glad they didn't. I love Fabian's work. I think he's a fantastic writer. I'm also thrilled that they brought this character back. Yes he's different, but . . he's still kind of the same too. I think that's kind of the point. Sure he's a different guy, Michael Lane ex-cop. And, he's being backed by a different order, the Order of Purity. But, I think in the end . . the results . . what he'll turn into and what it'll do to him as a person, will probably be pretty similar. I mean, he's wearing the Suit of Sorrows, and he's brandishing 2 swords called the Sword of Salvation, and the Sword of Sin . . one given to him by the Order, the other by Talia . . I don't think it's to much of a stretch to see what kind of effects all of this is going to have on his psyche . . eventually. In this issue alone he questions going after a hired killer because the killer's cause is just. The killer's going after after a list of people, but it seems to be mostly about vengeance and payback. He's already asking the question, 'How could I punish him for what he's doing when I do the exact same thing?' So, while we see him on one of his first cases this issue, we also get a glimpse into the future. It's set 6 months, 6 days, and 9 hours in the future. In it, it seems that Michael has gone over the edge. Also Harvey seems to be going after fellow police officer Farelli. Officer Farelli has gotten wrapped up in Michael's dealings and has helped him on more than one occasion. Now, Harvey wants some answers. But they may be hard to come by as . . on the final page of the issue we see that Michael has taken off the armaments of the Order and has sacrificed himself upon the alter of their church. Where does this story go from here? I thought it was a fantastic opening chapter. I was sad to see Ramon Bachs leave the Red-Robin book, but . . I also really liked his work here. He's got kind of a gritty look to his stuff, and it fit the mood and style of this book perfectly. This should prove to be a very interesting series. By the way . . just for 'shits & giggles', does anyone remember that when this character originally appeared , in 1995, that Joe Quesada played a huge part in his creation? He and Denny O'Neil did that first mini-series . . Sword of Azrael. Man that was a great mini-series. You can still get it fairly cheap at Mile High Comics or on E-Bay. If you're interested. Anyways, this is a great character and, I thought, a good opening chapter. I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Outsiders #23 - DC

I really like this book. Although, I have to admit I'm not thrilled about these Tom Mandrake covers. Yeah the guys got talent, but . . I don't know, his stuff just doesn't thrill me. Anyways, the Outsiders seem to be bounty-hunters now. While the rest of the Bat-family are working on the various things that are affecting all of thier livers, the Outsiders have kind of been left to their own devices. Alfred still checks in on them now and again, and trys to offer a little guidance or focus. But, the only real mission they have right now is to try to round up the Arkham inmates that have been set free and scattered. However, through the course of this, they've discovered another purpose. It seems that the Black Mask set these villains free under the pretense that they would be working for him . . you know, to pay him back. But a lot of them didn't agree with that set-up, so . . they ran. But before that happened, the Black Mask stuck little bombs in them for the future anticipation that they would eventually turn on him. So now, not only do the Outsiders have to round these guys up, but . . they also have to try to stop their heads from exploding off of their shoulders. So far they've gathered up Mister Freeze and Clayface. Now they're in the Bayou trying to apprehend Killer Croc. Unfortunately, for some reason, Man-Bat is down there also. Killer Croc is bad enough, but with Man-Bat mixed in it almost looks like it's more than they can handle. Luckily they don't have to for long. Eventually Man-Bat takes off, when he realizes that this fight isn't his. Shortly after Halo takes Croc out. They all return back to base, but their problems are hardly over. They've still got other villains to go after, and . . on the final page Brion's sister Tara shows up. But isn't she dead? Exactly! It's the Blackest Night version. It looks like the Outsiders are now part of the Blackest Night saga. I think Peter J Tomasi is doing a great job with this book. I'm diggin' his stories. And, Fernando Pasarin is doing a fantastic job with the art. The only complaint I had was his interpretation of the Creeper. It just . . didn't look right. But, other than that . . the rest of the issue looked fantastic. This is one of my favorite teams, and really . . they're only just getting started.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #5 - DC

We have a couple of mysteries that are starting to brew through this story. Most of the issue we see Huntress running all over Gotham pursuing, and fighting Man-Bat. She's thinking that the recent report of his recovery, and improvement in his condition have been greatly exaggerated. Through the course of this book she sees nothing of the man, only the beast inside. Anyways, about half way through she realizes that he's after something. He's probably only attacking her because she pretty much instigated it, but . . he does seem to have a purpose, a mission. She doesn't know what that is yet, but . . he seems to calm and become focused when he sees a woman. But, he's going after her with the same fervor that he's fighting the Huntress, so . . Helena has to do something to stop him. On the final page of the issue they both come crashing through the ceiling of a church, landing unconscious on the floor. Meanwhile, in the background we get the story of this minister, Father Mark, and his journey and trials in Gotham. He came here several years ago, and his predecessor gave him a piece of advice . .'Your faith brought you here? Then hold on to it tight. This is Gotham. It's not a city . . it's a Leviathan. Your faith won't be tested here. Here, the beast himself will come out and rip it from you. It's not enough to have faith . . you have to fight to keep it in Gotham.' And, on his very first night in town he's stabbed by a vagrant in the alley of the church. From there it just seems to go downhill . . the Clench Virus, the earthquake, No Man's Land and the alien invasion during Crisis. Through all of this he's kept his faith, but he feels he may be at the breaking point. Of course he's in the same church, praying for a sign, when Huntress and Man-Bat come crashing down on him. Unfortunately, someone or something capitalizes on the situation. They speak to Father Mark and he believes he's hearing the voice of God. 'I am here, my child. Believe in me. As I believe in you. Your faith has been rewarded. Look upon them, my child. This beast . . this harlot. Kill them. Prove your devotion to me. Your God commands you. Kill them both.' Nice cliff-hanger ending. Huh? This was a great issue by Chris Yost and Dustin Nguyen. I also enjoyed the back-up story about Kate Spencer . . Gotham's newest DA. She's trying to take a vacation in LA with her son, but . . of course the trials of Gotham pull her back in. It appears that Dylan, the guy who's helped her out with her gear a few times, has fallen back in with the criminal element. Specifically, Two-Face. Although I think he's using Harvey as much as Harvey's using him. Personally, I think he's using Harvey for protection . . against the Joker. And now Kate's going to have to clean up the mess. I really like Kate in this role and what they're doing with her character now. But why is Two-Face on her case so much? Just because she's the DA? Or, does he see a little of himself in her? This one should be interesting. It's brought to us by Marc Andreyko and Jeremy Haun. This is turning out to be a pretty cool book.

Blackest Night Superman #3 - DC

In this book, Clark and Connor are being attacked by Kal-L and the Psycho Pirate, while Martha is being hunted by Kal-L's wife . . Lois. Actually, all of Smallville is under the sway of Psycho Pirate, but the most interesting part is the affect he has on Connor. As I've said before, despite all the dialogue that's happening between the Black Lanterns and their intended victims, I think some of the 'truths' and 'secrets' that they're exposing, will be more relevant in the future than these actual skirmishes. Connor spouts off a lot about trying to be like Superman, and the affects that his Lex Luthor heritage are having on his frame of mind. Clark knows that it's all been provoked by the Psycho Pirate, but . . there's still a lot that's said that he should probably think about. In the end, Connor overcomes the Pirate and steals his mask. He uses it to start to help Smallville, but . . the biggest revelation is when he learns that through it's use he can overcome the Black Lanterns. But it's not really like he's defeating them. It's more like the emotional conduit turns off their rings. They once again become empty shells. However, in defeating the Pirate, the mask is broken. But they did gain some useful information. Krypto ends up coming to Martha's aid. I don't know for sure that he defeated Lois, but . . I think he tossed her far enough away that she won't be a problem again . . for a while. And, on New Krypton, they put up a energy field to keep the Black Lanterns out. Unfortunately, nothing else can get in or out either. I wonder what affect that's going to have on the Superman story-line. Anyways, this was another great issue by James Robinson, with Eddy Barrows and Alan Goldman on art. Also some terrific covers by Eddy and Shane Davis. Well, we just have 1 more issue of the Titans mini, and then this round of stories is over. Next we get mini's from the Flash, Wonder Woman and the JSA. But that doesn't that we're anywhere near the end of Blackest Night. We still have quite a ways to go, and . . a lot of unanswered questions.

DC Universe Halloween Special '09 #1 - DC

As with most of the special editions lately, this one seems to have an influx of new talent. And, surprisingly, all of it looks good. Of course we all know Gene Ha's work. Does the cover. The story that frames the book is about Bizarro. It's written by Jake Black, with art by Ibraim Roberson. The art really looks fantastic. Next up is a Guy Gardner story by Adam Schlagman and Mark Bagley. In it Ice dresses up in a costume for Guy's party. I'll tell you what . . I don't think she's ever looked hotter. Next up is a Creeper story by Duncan Rouleau. It's a bit silly. The Outsiders show up in a vampire tale that includes Looker, and . . I Vampire! It's by Michael Siglain and Kelley Jones. Kelley has really been doing a lot of work lately. Next is a Batman tale . . Bruce Wayne . . in which Robin and Batgirl take down the Killer Moth . . again! It's by Art Baltazar, Franco Aureliani and Sergio Carrera. Next Damian takes on Sugar Tooth (??) in a tale by Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen. We also see the other Robin, Tim, as Red Robin. He's missing both his fathers, and he's still holding out hope for Bruce's return. It's by Ariel Thomas and Matt Triano. Ravager takes on the trick or treaters that live down her street. She scares them with . . her eye. It's by Amy Wolfram and Pow Rodrix. Kid Flash has to reign in the Mirror Master. But he seems more afraid of what's in the mirrors than he is of the Flash. Can you say 'Bloody Mary' three times? It's by Joe Harris and Andrei Bressan. Beast Boy acts silly, again, in front of Vic. Brought to us by Amy Wolfram and JonBoy Meyers. Wonder Woman is looking after her young protege's. She tries to stop them from being hurt, but . . they're really only having fun. It's by Mandy McMurray and Scott Clark. Billy Tucci brings us a unique twist to the Superman / Flash race. And finally, Lois & Clark decide to scare the crap out of a couple of teenagers on the Daily Planet tour. Or did they? It's by Joshua Williamson and Peter Nguyen. To me, this issue was much more enjoyable than the Treehouse of Horror book. The art was 100% better, and the stories actually made sense. Which is a shame because I love the Simpsons. Anyways . . all of the talent did a great job on this issue. It's nice getting these holiday specials, with these quick stories about our favorite characters. Although there's only a few things that I think will carry over into the rest of the DC Universe. First, it looks like I. . Vampire! will be showing up again . . somewhere. Who was that villain in the shadow of the Wonder Woman story? And, one of the apparitions at the Daily Planet was real. Could that be the beginning of some mystical story in Superman's future? Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was $6, but . . for the 13 stories that it contained, I guess that's not to bad.

Smallville - Echo - Season 9 Episode 4 - WB

Well . . as you can see . . Toyman is back this episode. That's the guy from Eureka that's playing him. You know . . the one who runs Cafe Diem? I think he's the perfect look and attitude for this character. Actually though, to me . . this episode was more about Ollie than Winslow's character. This one is connected to last years episode where Luthor supposedly dies in that STAR Labs transport. Shortly before that, Toyman had tried to blow up Ollie and his board at Queen industries. Or was it Luthorcorp? I think it was right after Ollie told Tess that he had gained controlling interest. Anyways, Ollie planted one of Winslow's stuffed bear bombs at the scene so it looked like he did it, and was consequently arrested. So now he's mad at Ollie for framing him. It's not like he didn't do anything else bad, he just didn't do 'that'. He blows up one of the Queen factories, to draw Ollie out, and then tries to kill him at a press-conference. Of course Clark stops it, we see a Toyman robot, and Winslow is arrested . . again! At the end of the episode it looks like maybe Ollie has learned a lesson . . he's certainly giving Clark all the right answers during their dialogue. We thought this was all because of his guilt about Jimmy, but . . I'm thinking this actually has more to do with Lex. After Clark leaves, Ollie sees his reflection in the glass. Because of the shadows and the light it almost looks like it's Lex standing on the other side of the glass. Anyways, Clark also gains another power this episode . . temporarily . . telepathy. Apparently Jor-El had programmed this to happen to teach Clark another lesson after something traumatic happens. I'm thinking it was the explosion in Ollie's factory. Well . . the explosion certainly affected his hearing, but Clark takes out the guy who he thinks is controlling the bomb. He knocks him pretty hard across the room. But when his mask falls off, we find out that he was just a hostage / victim also. Jor-El says he wants him to learn how to read humans better . . how to anticipate their actions. An instinct that once developed will help him out in many various situations. I don't know that it actually did that, but . . he does gain a whole lot of insight into how Lois actually feels about him. Which turned out to be an interesting part of the story. One time when Clark is holding Lois and she feels his biceps, we hear her say, 'Hello Sailor!'. A lot of the lines were pretty comical. Which is another part of what I like about this series. Sure it has it's drama, and action, and romance. But . . it's not always so heavy. The writers put a lot of subtle humor in it. It helps to keep things a little 'lighter'. Plus, remember . . Clark is supposed to be a person who inspires hope and a belief that people can be more than they are. That's kind of hard to do when the guy is running around town dressed all in black and leaving cryptic burning symbols everywhere. Anyways, I'm glad that they're putting a little more focus on Ollie's character this season. I think he's a great character. Another great episode. Next time it appears that Ollie is going to fall into the world of Roulette.

X-Men Forever #9 - Marvel

We have a few things going on this issue, and as I'm reading it . . I'm wondering how their connected. Obviously Zigfied Trask is trying to finish her father's creation here in the jungles of South America. But the Sentinels are different. Last issue ended with a squad of them, 10, attacking a small village. Apparently their programming has adapted and they consider all humans, human and mutant, to be flawed. At one point it says that they consider themselves to be superior, but an another it says that they think that all humans are mutants to some degree. Anyways, the point is, they're a little less picky on their targets now. The X-Men still rank at the top of their 'to-do' list, but . . after that, pretty much anything goes. So the X-Men come in to save the villagers, and after Jean takes them all down with a rather drastic TK burst, they also find out that they're different because this batch looks like their set up to be a construction unit. All of their operating systems are located in their appendages, and the torsos are pretty much empty. They're also each outfitted with a foundry. This way they can repurpose the scraps and pieces and stuff from their surroundings. You know, wood, metal, cars, ore . . whatever. Anyways, while this is going on, Zigfried and Nick are having a conversation back at the hidden facility. Through this conversation we get a history of the Trask family, and the Sentinels. And while all of this has been going on, we keep seeing this Consortium watching and keeping track of what's going on. We still don't know who they are or what their goals are, but at the end of this issue we find out that Zigfried's mother, whom through this story we thought was dead, is actually one of the Consortium's leaders. Zigfried escapes from Nick and SHIELD, and while in the jungle stumbles across some more of her creations. We don't get a look at them directly, but whatever they are . . she feels confident enough to plan to engage the X-Men once again. So far I think Chris has made some subtle changes in this world's history, but . . I think he could take some bigger chances. Yes this reads differently from the established history, but . . it still reads and feels like an X-Men book. Actually, one of many. So I'm just saying, if Chris wants this world to have a unique feel, I think he's going to have to make some less subtle changes . . not be afraid to shake things up. I know he's really only just begun, but . . this is the time when people get bought into the series. Steve Scott does the art for this story-arc. It appears that Paul Smith will be coming on board for the next, with Tom Grummett coming back after that. Don't get me wrong. So far I like what I'm reading. I would just like to see some chances being taken. Let's make some history!

GeNext United #5 - Marvel

Well . . this issue wraps up Chris Claremont's foray into a possible future of an alternate universe. Is that clear enough for ya? I wonder if this universe could be connected to the X-Men Forever universe? That would be interesting. That would give this possible future a little more credibility, and . . it would propose an eventual conclusion, or chain of events in the Forever title that would lead to this eventuality. However . . I don't think they're at all connected. That's just wishful thinking on my part. I like it when everything fits together . . nice and neat. However, I think that these are just two separate, distinct projects that Chris has undertaken. Anyways, this group of heroes has been in India fighting the goddess Kalima. Well, actually they're fighting Sophie Von Doom, but . . Kalima has taken possession of her body so that she could cross-over into the land of the living. In an interesting turn of events, Kalima's foes have hidden these new X-Men around the country by transforming them into Indians, in look and behavior. In fact, they're completely lost in their identities for a while. But then Remy and his daughter come to their rescue. The change does work out for the best though as Kalima's stronghold is in the city of Jaisalmar. It's heavily fortified, and in the middle of nowhere, so Kalima would be able to tell if the X-Men had approached from any vantage. However, as fellow Indians, they meld right in with the population and are in the city before she has any realization. All they have to do is not use their powers to stay off her radar. Anyways, long story short . . after much debate and consideration the kids decide they have to do what's right . . they have to save Hank and Remy. They battle Kalima, and through concentrated effort, and teamwork, in the end they end up beating her . . and sending her back to her own realm. They even save Sophie. With the help of some of the other gods . . specifically, Lakshmi and Ganesha . . the X-Men are given their real bodies back. Well . . all except No-Name. She's kept her new look because secretly she wished for a new beginning. But for some reason, after fighting by thier side, Rico introduces her as Anne-Marie, and supposedly he's the only one who knows who she really is. Did they lose their memory after they were switched back to their regular forms? I didn't quite understand that part of it. And, as with the first mini . . this one is left with an unresolved ending posing the possible return of these characters. It's an interesting variation of the theme, but . . like I said in the beginning, with no real connection to any current teams or characters . . remember, this is an alternate universe, and just a possible future there . . without the connections and ties, there's no real buy in from the readers except for these 10 issues that have come out. So far. They are interesting characters, and it's an intriguing story-line, but . . I think if they return, we need to develop the characters a bit, and get to know more about them personally. We need to find out about their past, their goals, their hopes and dreams. If anyone can make this work it's Chris. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for these kids. As with the first chapter, JonBoy Meyers also does the art for this one. That was probably a good choice because it kept the same feeling going as the first title. Overall I enjoyed the book. It's just hard to tell where it goes from here. Anything is possible. I guess.