the Mighty Avengers #32 - Marvel

So . . like I said last issue, I think this title is becoming my favorite Avengers title. But, having said that . . I'm afraid that Hank Pym is slipping back into that arrogant bastard mode again. After that trip to over-space where Eternity called him Earth's scientist supreme . . that's all he's been calling himself. 'I even had business cards made.' So, somewhere along the line someone is going to have to bring him down a notch or two. Anyways, the team is all over the place and showing up on the news everywhere. During the midst of this, they even have time to jump over to the Kree Empire and watch Pietro receive a medal for his actions during the trouble with the Unspeakable, or Unnamed, or Devos the Devastator. Whatever! During the event, he lied and said that when he stole the Terrigan mist that it wasn't him. He claimed to have been replaced with a Skrull. However, his daughter knows the truth. Because that's her power. Anyways, Hank's team has caught the notice of Norman Osborne. They are stealing his spotlight afterall. And Loki, in his usual devilish fashion, is trying to orchestrate events to do in Norman Osborn. To that end he releases the Absorbing Man inside of one of Norman's facilities . . Project Pegasus. Which in and of itself is bad. But, it's made worse because he's found some remnants of the Cosmic Cube. Norman wants to use this as a publicity stunt to up his ratings. But he's being manipulated by Loki. Loki has also posed as Wanda and informed Hank's team of Avengers about the same situation. Norman isn't happy about this, but . . honestly, with the Cosmic Cube involved, they may need all the help they can get. Like I said, I really like this title. I think Dan Slott is doing a terrific job with this team, and he seems to have a good handle on all of the individual characters, and their personalities, as well. Now that he's been here for a few issues, he's also got some various plot-threads dangling about out there. I'm really just thrilled with everything about this one. Well . . except for Hank's personality. But . . that may actually be a strength he has now. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Khoi Pham does the art. I think this guy is also getting better and better with every issue. Anyways, next issue we'll see how they deal with the Absorbing Man. And . . we'll see what happens between Norman and Hank. There's to much personality and testosterone between those 2 for one room.

Cable #21 - Marvel

First of all . . you have to know how Cable and Hope get back to Earth. At the end of the last issue, they had crawled into some terraforming life-pods, and were headed back towards Earth. Last issue . . but 2 years ago. Bishop had to make a deal with the Brood Queen and traveled inside one of their space-whales . . the Acanti. Anyways, long story short . . they make it back to Earth, but . . shortly before doing so the Acanti catch up with them and swallow them. Cable hits Bishop with a psychic attack, which gets them spit out, but . . it also disrupts their landing trajectory. So they have to crash. But . . so does the Acanti and Bishop. Hope activates the terraforming pods, hoping for food, but . . 'Terraforming sequence to begin shortly. First wheat crop available in . . calculating . . approximately 7.9 years.' However, she did start the process so . . hopefully the future of the Earth is back on track. But the important events are when Hope and Bishop fight. Bishop takes out Cable first, and then goes after Hope. But in her adrenaline frenzy her powers begin to activate. She hits Bishop with a psychic blast, and then she's ready to kill him. But Cable, not completely down for the count, stops her. He uses the unconscious Bishop's own technology to fix his time traveling circuits. Hope wants to go back to see the X-Men. She wants to be part of the team. So Cable takes her back. But . . they land in New Amsterdam, circa 1614. And they don't know it, but . . Cable arrives shortly after them. I thought the story this issue made the most progress of probably the last 6 issues. They're finally back on Earth. They're close to being home. They just arrived about 400 years to early. I'm glad Duane Swierczynski moved the story forward. I was starting to get a little frustrated. Plus now, hopefully we'll see Hope in action. I do have a question though . . how come we've never seen, or even been concerned as to who Hope's parents are? We know she was born in Alaska, and . . there's a lot of Summers there, so . . maybe it's just a coincidence? I don't know if it's important or not. I'm just putting it out there. This issue is put together in 3 different chapters with as many artists. Humberto Ramos, Carlos Cuerva, Ian Medina, Robert Campanella and Paul Gulacy all provide art for this issue. Also . . that's a great cover by Marko Djurdjevic. Anyways . . hopefully the progress will continue.

Wolverine #81 - Marvel

This issue is a cautionary tale. It says so right at the end. Basically, we get a bit of a look at the relationship between Daken and Moonstone . . aka, Ms Marvel. She's intrigued by him, but not necessarily in a sexual way. It seems that she's slept with probably most of the other team-mates, but . . I really don't think that she's doing it for the sex. I mean, she's not a slut, and I doubt that she's a nympho. I think, for her . . sex is a way to see someone for who they really are. Like . . in that moment they drop their guard, or show their real face, and from there she can figure out the rest. And that's where the problem lies with Daken. She can't figure him out. They talk . . they interact, but she has the feeling that everything he tells her is either a lie, or he's just telling her what she wants to hear. Not only can't she figure him out, but . . strewn amidst all to the witty dialogue between them she assumes are some truths, or maybe half-truths. But since she doesn't have a frame of reference, or a starting point . . she can't figure out which is real and which is myth. Anyways, this issue she follows him to a shop where he says he likes to go for the tea. He tells her an interesting story from his childhood, but . . then he tells her what really happened . . every gruesome detail. At first she thought the story was cute. And then she was horrified. But the real thing that bothers her is . . she doesn't know which part of the story is real . . or even if either side is. 'He told me once that we all wear masks. That no one shows their real face. Masks hide reality. But I already knew that. I thought I knew that. I made a mistake. I forgot what happens when you look too deep. So look for daggers. Search for truth. But only if you can handle what you find.' I thought it was an interesting issue. Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu provide the story and words. Giuseppe Camuncoli does the pencils. My only problem with this issue is that it seemed more like an issue of Dark Avengers. But . . I tend to want to categorize things. In the end it doesn't really matter. That's just how my brain works.

X-Force #22 - Marvel

Selene's plan isn't going exactly as planned. When they got to Genosha, she thought that she's simply raise 17 million mutants from the dead, build her city, and then ascend to the status of a Goddess. Of course she's have to suck the souls out of all of them to do that. Anyways, after raising the deceased on this island, she soon discovers that only about 1 million of them still have their powers. For some reason the rest of them have been shut of . . Selene can feel them like a memory. Even though most of these people died before M-Day. So . . now she doesn't have as many mutants at her disposal, but . . she's still got 16 million slaves. I'm sure it's still enough souls for her ascension. She was just looking forward to the mutant ones. She likes the taste better. She also has another problem. In order to perform the ritual, and cast the spell, she needs her blade that she entrusted to Eli. However, when he raised the Apache tribe from the dead, their souls, or bodies, were protected by spirits. Long story short, he used the blade to fight them back, but before he could retrieve it, it had disappeared. When he went back for it, he found out that James had gotten it. So now . . it's in the possession of the X-Men. The X-Men are already fighting all kinds of resurrected mutants, friends and foes alike. And they don't seem to be making much progress. They're really put off when Selene's inner circle shows up, courtesy of Blink, to retrieve the sword. But Eli may have to find some sanctuary. He's the one that lost the sword, and Blink ratted him out to Selene. So if the X-Men no longer have the sword . . they're supposed to leave Eli among the dead. Anyways, some other developments . .Bobby's not doing very well . . Warren is having some problems with his wings . . and . . Rahne is pregnant. But . . it's not human or mutant. And whatever it is . . it's killing her. The wolf prince goes off and calls Hela to the island. But that may have been a mistake. She doesn't appear to be very happy about it all. It was an ok story. I know these guys have been resurrected through sorcery and the techno-organic virus. But . . to me . . it just seems like they're all fighting a bunch of zombies. I thought we already did the zombie-Marvel thing. I guess now we're doing it with a twist . . and maybe some lime and salt. Anyways, it's an interesting story if for no other reason than I'd like to see how it all comes out. Either this is going to drastically change the X-Men . . and all it's various franchises, or . . maybe this will all lead into whatever set of circumstances need to occur to reverse M-Day. We still have a few more chapters and a couple of months to go. By the way, this issue was brought to us by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost and Clayton Crain. The back-up story about Hope was brought to us by Duane Swiercyznski and Steve Dillon. We basically just see Hope and Cable interact, but . . she is probably in her early 20's now. And . . at one point we see a glimmer of the Phoenix force in her eyes. Hopefully this story will develop further in Cable's own book. Anyways, we don't see X-Force specifically this issue. But . . we do see a whole lot of X-Men.

X-Factor #200 - Marvel

Issue #200. Whodathunkit? I enjoyed the original series. And I've really been diggin' the current one. But, I guess I never realized how long it's been. If you don't believe them though . . there's a 2 page spread with all the covers. Just in case you need proof. Anyways, Jamie has decided to take the investigation business to New York City. Not for any reason, really. I think just to put some distance between him and Theresa. Anyways, Guido, Rictor, Shatterstar, Longshot and Darwin have come along for the ride. Their first day on the job, they get a gig with the Fantastic Four. It seems Valeria and Franklin think that something has happened to their mother. And for some reason . . Reed doesn't seem all that overly concerned. They try to go to the Baxter Building to talk to Reed, and Ben . . but that doesn't go all that well. While there, Monet decides to drop in on the boys. It seems that shortly after Jaime left Theresa decided to close up the business, and then she headed to Ireland . . to Cassidy Keep. Monet's worried about her and she's hoping Jaime can help. But before she can get much farther with that, Val Cooper shows up and she's got news for Monet. It seems that her father has been kidnapped by terrorists. Anyways, after Shatterstar slugs it out with Ben, the boys return to their office. Jaime lifted a hairpin off the Fantastic-car and wants Longshot to use his empathic abilities to see if he can figure out what happened. It seems she was heading into the woods somewhere when she lost consciousness. It's a surprise when he sees Layla there also. But he's even more surprised when she sees him. It seems they're somewhere in Latveria. I thought this was a great story by Peter David and Bing Casino. I thought it was a great way to start the next chapter of this book. One story into it and we already have 3 or 4 plot-threads going here. Plus . . I loved the fight between Shatterstar and Ben. In the second story, Theresa is in Ireland when John Maddrox, the reverend catches up to her. It seems he's in Ireland for some seminar and decided to do some sightseeing. At first Theresa is put off by his visage . . the wounds are to fresh. But eventually, he wins her over with his sympathetic ear. They have a nice conversation. It's touching actually. This chapter is by Peter and Karl Moline. Next we get some info pages on all of the characters. And finally . . we get a Madrox solo story. It's actually a reprint of issue #1 of his solo mini-series from 2004. In it we see part of the problem Jaime was having with all of his various 'dupes' running around gathering up information for him. And what he had to go through to absorb that information. I actually missed this 5 issue mini, so . . I think I'll go looking for it. It's by Peter David and Pable Raimondi. All in all I thought this was a great issue. The teams a little shaken up right now, but . . they're kind of like a dysfunctional family. Even when they fight, they still love each other. I still consider this to be one of my favorite x-books right now.

Astonishing X-Men #33 - Marvel

I've been a fan of this book ever since it's inception, but . . I really can't tell you how thrilled I am that Phil Jimenez is doing the art here now. I'm a huge fan. When he first came on the scene I thought he was just a George Perez imitation, but . . he's turned out to be so much more. Such as this amazing cover, and . . he's got some equally impressive pages on the inside. Anyways, enough fan gushing . . between Phil and Warren Ellis' story . . this is an amazing book. And it seems to get better and better every issue. Last issue, while trying to help out Abigail Brand, the X-Men were attacked. During the 'save' Emma saw one of her dead students on the pier. When she tried to make contact with her she attacked. Actually, her whole body turned into some kind of living Sentinel. They beat her, but they were left with more questions. That's when Abigail told the X-Men that someone had hacked into Henry's files and were using his theoretical work. It had to do with when he was trying to solve the M-Day dilemma. He had postulated that the whole 'No more mutants' thing might not apply to those already dead. He thought he might be able to harvest live x-genes from dead mutants. All Abigail knows it that the guys name is Kaga and apparently he's been able to take Henry's work from the theoretical to the practical. The Hellion/Sentinel was one example, as well as the Brood on the asteroid base that Abigail was trying to take out. Next they're attacked by what looks like a cross between a Brood and Krakoa. Remember? The living island. They thought it was attacking them, but actually it was trying to destroy the evidence that was left behind by the Sentinel. Again, the X-Men beat it, but this time before they can do anything, they track a rather large ship swooping down from the ionosphere to scoop up the defeated hybrid. Scott immediately puts a plan into action and they use their new rescue vehicle to chase after, and land on the ship. But again they're left with more questions than answers. The ship itself seems to be some kind of living entity. The only thing they can find even remotely alive is the head of Paradigm. 'I knew him. Part of a rogue group modelled on my own student teams. I never got to teach him. His mind could interface with information technology. They exposed him to the Phalanx, the cybernetic aliens . . and that'll be how they got into your computer systems.' But now Scott's mad. This Kaga has been planning, and waiting for the mutant's number to become dismal enough to attack. He obviously wants to eliminate them and he was just waiting for the most opportune time. Apparently . . that is now. So Scott wants to take the fight to him. 'I want direct control of this vessel. I would like to visit this person. And know his name. And kill him.' Admittedly, Warren isn't the best writer as far as character development goes, but . . he does bring some fantastic ideas to the table. That's not to say he doesn't do a good job with the characters, but . . his focus seems to be more on the situation they're involved in rather than necessarily on any individual team-member. He does give them some good 'attitude' though. Phil's art is amazing. On the pages where Scott is frustrated about the monster attacking and he decides to let loose . . the scene was great, but you could just see the frustration and anger on his face. And I love the way he draws Hank. Right now, the current story-line is scheduled to run through issue #35. I'm not sure how long Warren and Phil are scheduled to be on this book, but . . I say, the longer the better. These 2 make a great team.

X-Men Legacy #230 - Marvel

This was an ok story. I just have to ask myself . . why is Emplate showing up now? Yes, I know he needs a new food source . . that's why he swipes Bling. But . . I'm not really sure why he put so much at stake. He had to have known that the X-Men weren't just going to let him take off with one of their kids. At least, not without a fight. He could've just picked up a mutant anywhere on Earth, without drawing the attention of the X-Men. I don't know. It just doesn't seem very well thought out to me. Anyways, Rogue borrows Trance's powers and goes after her. She thought she'd just be in astral projection form in Emplate's dimension, but . . of course things don't always work out as planned. However when Emplate tries to take her down . . he has to make contact with her and now Rogue also has his powers. While she and Emplate are going at it, Rogue gave his compass creature a new headed when she came across it last issue. She has Emplate's house and little island headed right back towards Utopia. The problem is . . there's a glass moon in the way and Emplate is more concerned about what is living in there than having to deal with the X-Men. Anyways, Scott gets Nemesis to whip up a little containment field so that when Emplate does show up they can keep him and his island contained. For a little while at least. It turns out it uses an awful lot of power. It was kind of neat that Bling showed a little bit of her moxy. Some of the other mutants are ready for a crack at Emplate, but Rogue holds them back. 'What you owe him is nothing compared to what Roxy owes him. We don't move until she's done.' And she gives him a world of hurt . . right before they send him back, alone, to his own dimension. He lands right in the middle of the glass moon and all the snake, or demon-like creatures. Pretty much the whole issue was spent on this story. It's not until the Epilogues that we even get a hint at anything else happening on the island. First we find out a little more about Bling. She's got a mad crush on Rogue, and . . she didn't have a very normal child-hood. 'I was never so scared in my life. It was like some of my parents' parties back when I was a kid. You knew anything could happen, and not in a good way.' Oookay! Anyways, Rogue decides that she's going to stay on the island. He wants her to be a teacher / mentor to some of the new kids. And finally we see that Remy got something new to deal with. He holding one of his cards, concentrating on it and he switches to his Horseman identity. It turns out his card is a alive. And it starts talking to him. This issue was written by Mike Carey. With fantastic art by Daniel Acuna. He's another artist that just gets better and better all the time. In the back-up story about Hope, we see another lesson taught to her by Cable. She still doesn't have any powers yet, but I think he's just trying to make sure that when they do manifest that she doesn't rely on them. He really wants to make sure she has a good head on her shoulders before that happens. It's by Duane Swierczynski and Steve Dillon.

Project Superpowers Chapter Two #5 - Dynamite Entertainment

Well, we're moving right along with this series. Personally, I think Alex Ross and Jim Krueger are doing a much better job of explaining whats going on with this series, than the did with the first. I think the first series, and all it's various minis, really just introduced us to this huge cast of characters. This time, were getting more of the picture of what's actually going on in this world and the various sides. First we have this new group of heroes that have arisen out of the urn. The problem is, they been out of touch with the world for the last 50 years. So their view of it is kind of skewed by their ideas and notions. Those ideas and notions came from a completely different era . . the 1950's, so . . they are really out of place and trying to adapt to the world around them. Plus, now that they've been out a little while, they seem to be going through some secondary changes that are affecting their powers and abilities. Now, as far as the new world order goes, it appears that everything is being run by the Supremacy. They claim to be acting in the world's best interests, but . . they're really just lining the pockets of it's 8 or 10 members. On the opposite side, we have a terrorist organization called the Claw. So far we don't know what their purpose or origin is. And then the new threat on the landscape is Captain Future. He's recently made his presence known, but the problem here is . . Captain Future is actually Zeus. He's trying to re-exert his power . . show everybody who's really in charge. But none of the 3 sides are willing to lie down for him. So now we have the heroes putting together their own group to fight Zeus. While the Inheritors are gathering up some of the more broken heroes . . for some reason. And the Supremacy have put together their own super group, led by Dynamic Man. They're called the Super Mystery-men. And their target? The Superpowers group. Like I said, I think this series is a lot easier to understand that the previous one. There's not so much introductions, and more story-line. Not to say that they didn't have that in the first series, but . . at the same time we were just trying to get a handle on all of the characters. They've thrown an awful lot at us right from the very beginning. Edgar Salazar does the art for this book. And as I've said before . . I think his stuff is improving with every issue. He's turning in to quite the artist. I enjoy this book. I just don't know if I can keep up with a whole brand new universe. I'm not sure that my time or budget will allow for it. But . . we'll see what happens. So far . . it's kept my interest.

Ex Machina #47 - WildStorm

With only a couple of issues left to go in this series, Suzanne Padilla is trying to make her move against Mayor Hundred. But there's actually a few things going on here. First of all, now that she's gained her powers, Suzanne has decided that it's up to her to make the mayor pay for stealing the election. Not that she really has any proof of that, but . . that's just how she's put the pieces together. I mean, the person she's got backing her up is Kremlin. And we already know that he's not as together as he once was. Secondly, we've got the person who has given all of these people their powers. And it appears to be an alternative version of Mitchell from a different dimension. On thier Earth pollution, disease and war ravaged their Earth. So he sent out probes to other dimensions looking for habitable places to move the people. Now he's got his eyes set on this Earth. However, before Mitchell realizes who he is, he asks, 'How many worlds are out there? How many New Yorks have you people ruined?' Apparently he's looking for another piece of equipment that Mitchell built called 'the Opener'. I'm guessing that's how they access the various dimensions. Anyways, Kremlin and January have been helping Suzanne. They think she's doing the right thing. I'm just wondering how long it's going to take before they realize that she's just another nut-job. Kremlin is at Mitchell's mother's house. He talks to Suzanne to tell her where he's at, and that he's got the device Mitchell gave him, a long time ago, called the Nullifier. Suzanne is practically drooling in anticipation of this, so she comes rushing over. She knocks out Kremlin, but kills Mitchell's mother. And at the end of the issue, we see Mayor Hundred going into the subterranean vaults of the mansion. It looks like he's going to have to become the Great Machine once again. Most of this story takes place in 2005. So, I'm guessing, at the end of this series we'll finally get some current information, 2010, and find out what Mitchell's up to right now. Brian K Vaughan and Tony Harris have done a terrific job with this series right from day 1. And it looks like they're planning on heading out with a bang. We only have 3 issues to go, and personally . . I can't wait to see how this all plays out. If you don't read this book, you really need to go to the library and check out the TPBs. It really is a great book that'll suck you right in.

the Authority - the Lost Year #4 - WildStorm

This is the Authority before Armageddon hit the WildStorm Universe. This is the Authority that we all like to see. I enjoy the regular title, but . . I think it pales in comparison to the first and second series of this team. I'm not saying I don't like it, but . . it doesn't make near the impact that the first series did. Anyways, these are those characters, I assume, shortly before the WildStorm Universe was thrown into turmoil. By the way . . that's a fantastic Gene Ha cover. Anyways, during this year, it appears that the Carrier is hoping around the bleed, and the multi-verse. They've ended up in a low-energy universe. At least that's what they thought. Come to find out . . there's some kind of jelly-fish like creature that's wrapped itself around the Earth. Apparently it's feeding off the life-energy of those living on it. They don't know how long it's been there. It may have been there for eons. But . . they do know that their appearance . . their 'higher energy', seems to have caused some sort of disturbance. They don't think they've woken it, but . . they have caused it to stir in it's sleep a bit. And just that . . is causing a ripple affect among the inhabitants of Earth. Aggression has gone up, tempers have flared, tolerance has decreased and the suicide rate is through the roof. So the Authority knows that they need to hurry up and leave. But . . there's a problem. As soon as they arrived in this universe, the baby-universe that powers the carrier . . it disappeared. So . . they've gotten one of the citizens of Earth and their plan is to tap into the power of this creature, through him . . to jump-start the Carrier. The problem is . . it'll most likely leave him dead, and . . even then they don't know that it'll be enough to save this world. Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen are doing the story here, and they're doing an incredible job. Both are writers that can bring fantastic ideas to a story. And this is just the book to do it. Also Darick Robertson and Trevor Scott do the art. I assume this is probably going to be a 12 issue series . . 'The Lost Year', but I don't know that for sure. All I can say is . . enjoy it while it lasts.

Hellblazer #262 - Vertigo

Peter Milligan does a fantastic job with this character. I really like the feel that he gives to John. Not to mention the Simon Bisley cover, and the Giuseppe Camuncoli art. Anyways, last issue John arrived in Mumbai and was almost immediately attacked by some sort of demon. In the beginning of this issue, on of John's old associates comes to his aid, Sadhu. Well . . that is to say . . he showed up, and the demon left. We find out the the demon was actually once Colonel Burke of the White Hussars. 'He is an evil and callous old bugger, his head full of racism and sexual vileness.' Apparently he put him in a dark place, after the colonel did some unspeakable things to a Dalit many years ago. There he festered and grew terrible until a Bollywood producer got a Fakir to release him. Like the demon, the producer also lusts after young Indian women. Anyways, this issue is mostly about John and Sadhu trying to set a trap for him, and bringing us the story of the Bollywood producer. Sadhu promises to help John with Phoebe once they vanquish the demon. Like I said, I think Peter is doing a great job here. I really dig his stories. And I love the humor and ego that he writes into John's character. I hear there's talk of another Hellblazer movie. If so, I hope Peter at least consults on it, if he doesn't write it. This is a great series. You should really pick it up . . if you aren't.

Batman Confidential #39 - DC

This was an interesting story-arc. I assume it was to set-up Blackhawk Industries back on the world stage. And to put Janos Prohaska, the original Blackhawk, back as the leader of it. This story started out as Ted Gaynor, another of the original Blackhawks, reappearing having not aged a day. Apparently he wanted to put the world back at war so that his services would be needed. And to make the country great again . .'Franklin Delano Roosevelt . . he knew America needed to join the fight against Germany so he practically invited Japan to destroy a bunch of scrap boats he knew we didn't need. Because Roosevelt knew the truth . . Roosevelt knew America needs war.' In other words . . Ted's a nut-job. Anyways, of course Batman and Janos put a stop to Ted's plans, but . . they don't kill him, so he'll probably be back. Sooner or later. Also through the course of this book, Ted re-brainwashes Zindy. But . . the appearance of Janos is enough to knock her out of it. So now . . Zindy will be back with Janos. At least now she'll have more purpose in her life . . rather than just following the plans of others. So, will we see a new Blackhawk series, or mini-series? Who knows. But this story definitely sets it up as an option. As far as Blackhawk is concerned . . this chapter is really just the beginning of their story. Royal McGraw wrote it. I thought he did a great job. Once you knew Janos was around, it was a bit predictable. But . . it was still an interesting story. I thought Marcos Marz did a fantastic job with the art.

Power Girl #7 - DC

Vartox originally appeared in Superman #281, November 1974. That's a long time ago. Obviously, from the way he dresses and acts, he was a product of that 60's and 70's type character. It appears that he and his world have been stuck in that frame of mind for the last 35 years. Anyways, he comes to Earth because his planet is attacked by aliens. He's about to beat them when they set off a contraceptive bomb. Well, as you can guess, a contraceptive bomb makes all of the inhabitants of Valeron sterile. Now I have 2 questions about this. The first is . . I thought Valeron was destroyed quite a while ago in a story-arc that involved Superman and Vartox. Maybe it was a hoax or mistake, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened because Vartox came to live on Earth for a little while. Anyways, my second question is . . Vartox has come to Earth this time because he's chosen Kara as his potential mate. He wants to make sure his race doesn't die out. But, if a contraception bomb went off, wouldn't it sterilize the males as well as the females? So even if he meets someone who finds the handlebar mustache, and the Village People chest hair attractive . . he's still shooting blanks. Right? I don't know. I'm just askin'. Anyways, he brings some extremely dangerous animal to Earth, in case he has to fight and subdue it to attract Power Girls attention. The problem is . . the cosmic leash that he had it attached to has been destroyed. And when Kara tries to freeze it and bust it apart into several pieces . . it just makes more of them. Apparently, IX Negaspike is a self-replicating, asexual creature. Whatever the case . . Kara's now going to have to help Vartox subdue and return it. Except for the questions I had earlier, I think Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are doing a great job with this series. I love the humor and light-heartedness that they've written into the characters. But then Kara has always been a character who's not quite as full of herself as other 'heroes'. Also Amanda Conner's art gives this series a great feel. I enjoy this book much more than I thought I would. Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd include the original cover from Superman. Just so you can see what he looked like way back when. He actually kind of looks like Sean Connery. Not the older grey-haired one most of us know. But the young one that appeared in the 007 movies. Anyways, this is a great book and I look forward to it every month.

Supergirl #48 - DC

A few little points of interest this issue . . Inspector Henderson is back, and on the job. Kara finally learns that there's some kind of health issue going on with Lana. The problem is . . nobody has any idea what it is. All they know is that it's attacking her immune system. But most of this issue is spent on bringing us up to speed on the Silver Banshee. It appears that she's looking for the seven heirlooms of the McDougal clan. It's the only way to break the curse that's been put on her by souls of the clansmen and women before her. Inspector Henderson has come into possession of one of them. He was sent a letter by Captain Tanner saying that it would be in his hand if they found him dead. Which they did, and Inspector Henderson took it. However, he soon found out that the reason the heirlooms are hidden is because they hide themselves inside the people that have them. He soon found out that when he got near another of the heirlooms his arm glows. But now the Silver Banshee has also found a way to track them and he's afraid that she's closing in on him. Of course, next thing you know . . she attacks. Her scream takes away Kara's hearing, but the Inspector points to a box that he wants her to see. When she opens it, she's attacked by some kind of magical force, and the next thing we know Kara looks like a cross between Supergirl and the Silver Banshee. I guess you'd call her Super-Banshee. Personally, I've never really liked the Silver Banshee character. I don't know why. She just seemed kind of kooky to me. Anyways, I thought this was an interesting issue, despite that. Sterling Gates did a good job keeping the story interesting. But I have to say that I think Fernando Dagnino did a great job with the art. He's an artist that hasn't been around for a long time, but every time I see his work I think it gets better. Anyways, I hope they wrap up this Silver Banshee thing next issue because I'm much more interested in seeing what's going on with Lana.

Superman / Batman #67 - DC

This issue took a little different approach to the Black Lantern problem. You know . . now that I think about it. These guys are like cockroaches. You just can't seem to get rid of the damn things. Anyways, this issue maintains the Superman/Batman theme, but . . only peripherally. Actually it's an all monster issue. True . . all monsters that are connected to Superman and Batman, but . . all monsters none the less. It includes Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat, Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein. The last 2 are connected to SHADE, but . . you know . . still monsters. Anyways, last issue Bizarro and Man-Bat were tangling. When, all of the sudden . . the Black Ring went after Solomon Grundy . . who just happened to be dead in Gotham swamp. At the end of the mini-series, also by Scott Kolins . . who does the writing and the art on this book . . it looked like the legend of Solomon Grundy was finished. But now . . now they've got a way to bring him back. Maybe? It appears that SHADE got involved because they're trying to help Kirk's wife, Francine administer a cure for him. He can finally be rid of the Man-Bat curse. But of course Frankenstein and his wife get caught in the middle of the fight between these monsters. So . . long story short, Solomon Grundy rips out Frankenstein's heart. Bizarro see's how sad Francine is when Kirk refuses the treatment and goes off again as Man-Bat. It reminds him of Lois. And he can see that Solomon Grundy is the center of all of this drama. So Bizarro decides . . 'Grundy good. Bizarro save Grundy.' He's flies around the world to build up momentum, grabs up Grundy on the way past, and then flies off into space to drop him into the sun. So . . is Grundy back . . or not? It's kind of hard to tell. And what of Bizarro? He's somewhere out in space right now. Oh yeah, and Frankenstein? He has 2 hearts. So he's ok, for now. This was a bizarre issue. It was ok, but . . I'm not really sure what the point was. It was ok. But why tie it to Blackest Night if there's no real lasting effects? I don't know. Maybe it'll have something to do with some future story-line. Only time will tell. Meanwhile . . if you missed it . . don't beat yourself up.

Justice League of America #40 - DC

This issue and last . . Justice League Detroit gets back together. Well . . kind of. The group of Leaguers that came back to the Hall of Justice included Mari, Kimiyo, Cindy, Zatanna, Plastic Man and Red Tornado. So the Black Lanterns that came to attack them included Zatarra, last issue, and Vibe, Steel and Doctor Light. I'm starting to think that there's a reason why the Black Lanterns aren't just killing the 'heroes' right off. I mean, if they would just stop with all the rhetoric, and just go straight for the heart they'd probably take them out pretty fast. But they just seem to want to goad them. I mean, I know they seem to thrive on emotion . . that's what powers their rings, but . . all that pushing and prodding just serves to get the 'heroes' focused and then they come up with some sort of an attack to sever the Black ring's connection. For example, this issue they stretch Plastic Man's lenses, to magnify the light, and then Mari and Kimiyo focus their light powers through it to take out the Black Lanterns. The 'heroes' beat them, but . . they also take quite a beating in the process. In the end, the only one left standing is Cindy, Gypsy. Zatanna took out Zatarra, but it took everyone else combined to take out Vibe, Steel and Doctor Light. And now . . they're in shambles. But they say what doesn't kill you only serves to make you stronger. So . . these guys ought to be invincible by now. If they weren't broken like rag dolls. James Robinson is the perfect writer for this story because of the fantastic dialogue he scripts between these characters. He's got the perfect mind to bring the Black Lanterns to the level where they're basically driving a spike through the heart of these characters with their words. I've also enjoyed Mark Bagley's art on this series. These two make a great team. Next issue they're going to get the team going in a new direction . . a new era, if you will. And it looks like the roster is going to include Batman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Green Arrow, Donna Troy, the Guardian, Cyborg, Mon-El, Starfire, Dr. Light and Congorilla. So apparently this is what will happen to the League after Cry for Justice. I really like this book. This is a great book and team. And it looks like . . in the future . . it's only going to get better.

Batman 80 Page Giant #1 - DC

I'm definitely sensing a formula here. It seems that we're getting more and more of these 80 page Giants, as well as the Annuals, but this particular format seems to be conducive to granting a stage for new talent . . both writers and artists. However, in order to draw the eye of comic collectors, they're mixing in some seasoned talent as well. The cover is by Andy Kubert. Like the other Giants, this issue contains 7 or 8 short stories about various characters in the title's lead character's life . . both hero and villain. The theme for this specific issue is . . Gotham Freezes Over. Not necessarily about Mr Freeze, but rather Gotham in the winter. We start out with a story about Batman & Robin by Kevin Grevioux and Grey (?) as the penciller. It's an interesting story about how Gothamites are dealing with a blizzard that has pretty much shut down the town. And Batman & Robin are stuck having to stop normal citizens from doing things they might later regret. I actually really liked Grey's art. Next up is a story about Alfred. It's by David Tischman and Alex Konat. Alex's art seems to have a J Scott Campbell influence to it. It was also pretty catching. It's a story about Alfred's altruistic nature, and his need to live up to his mentors memory alive. Next we have a story about a group of kids that decide that they want to try to help Batman out by patrolling the streets of their own neighborhood . . Orphan Alley. Of course they learn the hard way that this is more than just a game. However . . 1 or 2 of them may just stick it out. We'll have to wait and see. It's by Mike Raicht and Clayton Henry. Next we have a story about Veil, Millicent Mayne. She's the actress that survived the quake and has been living in Gotham Theatre. Somehow she's become the ghost of Gotham, and is tuned in to the city. This story takes her on an adventure in which she decides to quit merely watching from the side-lines and start taking a more active role in the city around her. I'm sure we'll see more of her in Detective, or maybe Streets of Gotham. She really is an intriguing character. This story was by Peter Calloway and Marcus To. Next up is a story about Catwoman by Ivory Madison, and brilliantly painted by Kat Rocha and Josh Finney. This was definitely the jewel of the issue. The artwork is incredible. And the story shows us once again how Selina is ever treading that fence between hero and villain. The next story is about Poison Ivy. It's by Simon Spurrier and Chris Samnee. For some reason I didn't really like this story. It showed us how Pamela has pretty much given in to the flora part of her essence. In the winter she basically acts like any other plant. She dies, or hibernates, until the warmth of spring brings her back to life. Or . . she's fooled into it and then returned to Arkham. It just didn't grab me. Next is a story about Jim Gordan, and . . it does involve Mr Freeze. Victor is relishing in the arctic weather and just wants to get out for some fresh air. Jim has to decide whether to stick to his principles, and do his job, or . . give in to a murderer whom he happens to feel sorry for. You can guess which way he went. But it was still an interesting story. It was by Kevin Shinick and Rafa Garres. And finally we have a little 1 page story about a cartoon-like Batman by Steve Niles and Stephanie Buscema. Anyways, overall I thought it was an interesting issue. With the various characters it reminded me more of an issue of Streets of Gotham, or Legends of the Dark Knight, but . . there was an awful lot of aspiring talent presented here. Also, it really kept in the tradition of the old 80 page Giants from the 70's. All except the price that is. Remember when they used to be a buck?

the Brave and the Bold #30 - DC

Way back when . . actually, it was Justice League International #7 . . Kent Nelson, Doctor Fate, had taken the Gray Man to the dimension of the Lords of Order and watched while they stripped him not only of his power, but his very existence. Like a person spreading the ashes of a loved one, he was gone in the bright light and gentle breeze. Until . . he was no more. This gave Kent pause. He found himself contemplating his own worth . . questioning his own existence. I think this was a feeling, and emotion that Doctor Fate was unaccustomed to. Anyways, shortly after he came in contact with Hal Jordan, Green Lantern. Unknown to Hal, Kent hid a small piece of his essence inside of Hal's ring to come out at a later date. His thoughts were, he would see what the future held and determine his place in it, and the events leading to it. So . . many years later, Hal finds himself in an unfortunate situation. He took a chance that he shouldn't have, and found himself alone and backed into a corner. In searching for a nearby power source he finds one hidden in the ring. Next thing he knows, Doctor Fate appears. Now his original mission was to see what the future holds and then return to himself in the past imparting whatever knowledge or insight he had gained. The problem was . . he had 2 choices. Either he could use his power to save Hal, or . . he could use his power to return to himself in the past. But he couldn't do both. The dialogue between these 2 old friends was amazing. Basically they were weighing fate and destiny versus free-will. In the end, Doctor Fate chooses to save his friend, versus giving in to his own personal curiosity . . an exercise in ego, if you will. Although it leave Hal feeling guilty because he worries that maybe this is the little piece of his power that he needed to save himself and Inza in the past. Hal would rather have died in the future if he knew that he was saving his friend in the past. It was a tough decision on both sides of the coin. And, if you really pay attention to the words that J Michael Straczynski wrote here . . it really gave you a lot to think about as far as your own existence and future. In the end, I thought it was a very moving and touching story. It amazed me that JMS could take such as obscure piece of the JLA's past and use it to create this fantastic story. And by the way, Jesus Saiz' art was perfect. All I can say is . . if this is what we can expect month to month from these two . . keep them chained to their desks and cranking out this book because, to me . . this issue was near perfect. There's a new tag-line above the title of this book now . .'Lost stories of yesterday, today and tomorrow'. Actually, now that I think about it, that could be JMS' mission statement. This was an incredible book. I can't wait to read more.

Batman #694 - DC

I have to say, while I enjoyed this book, it actually had me more than a little befuddled. Not that there's anything wrong with the book, or the story, but . . Tony Daniel just has so much stuff going on here . . I don't know that I absorbed or comprehended it all. So, I'm just going to try to hit all the important points and see if that helps me, or you sort it all out. We start out with the Penguin, in Devil's Square. Batman comes after him because he want to know where the girl is . . the one that created the explosion. But Penguin isn't that scared of Batman right now because the Black Mask is making it apparent that he's also gunning for him. He's got people following him everywhere that he goes, and they can see the sniper perched outside of his apartment. Meanwhile, we see the Black Mask . . the new one . . talking to himself and his associate, Fright. It appears that whomever is currently the Black Mask has a split personality. Which is how he must have blended in with Gotham's elite at the recent fund-raiser. Anyways, he finds out that the girl that he's looking for, as well as Batman, is none other than Katrina Falcone. Niece of the Mario Falcone, the crime-boss that has recently returned to Gotham. But she doesn't appear to be working for him. Instead, her actions seem to be in direct conflict with her family's business. So, either she's out to hurt her uncle on purpose, or . . she just doesn't care. Later we see that Fright also appears to be in league with Hugo Strange. So I'm wondering what the connection is there. I don't really know what Hugo is up to, but . . he does seem able to control the Reaper who has also returned to Gotham. He's giving him some kind of drug that enhances his powers, but it has a time limit. That way he can still keep him on a leash. In the middle of all this . . it seems that Arkham, and more specifically Gene-Core . . a pharmaceutical company that's trying to help Dr Arkham with new experimental treatments for his patients . . is somehow connected to both sides of this. While all this other stuff is going on, Bruce Wayne/Hush is at Arkham and witness' an elevator accident that kills all of Gene-Core's founders except one Dr Singh. Mario gets fed up with Katrina's actions and dumps her into the river. And the boy that Batman tried to talk to in Devil's Square, and was shot for his cooperation . . has died in the hospital. Oh yeah, and in the end, Black Mask decides that he's had enough of the Penguin and is no longer satisfied to watch him from the distance. He launches a full frontal assault on his car and his person. Between all the bullets and the rocket-launcher, I'm not sure that the Penguin is going to be able to survive this one. I really thought that it was an amazing book. Between Tony's story and his incredible art, this was the perfect Batman book. I'm just not sure that I can see how all of this stuff is connected . . yet. I'm sure we'll get more of the pieces over the next couple of issues, and things will begin to focus. But . . like I said, right now . . I'm a little befuddled. But it's a good kind of confusion because I'm left wanting more . . I want to see more of the puzzle . . I want to figure out what the over-all picture is supposed to be. And I want to know . . who is the Black Mask?

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7 - DC

I like this book. It fills us in on the other characters in Gotham, and how they end up helping or hindering Batman's efforts. That's kind of how the Manhunter story goes, as the back-up. Kate tried to leave everybody behind that she knew in California. I think she enjoys the Manhunter gig, but she also realizes that it's almost impossible to do your job when you have so many 'friends' and family to worry about. However, Dylan, who got approached by the Joker, realized that that gig was going to lead to the death of him, so . . he also got out of Cali, but . . then he ended up working for Two-face. Anyways, Kate stopped him last issue as Manhunter, and the police ended up capturing Dylan. So now she wants some answers, and . . to protect him. She knows that when you work for people like Two-face, they don't like any loose ends lying around. So she's pretty nearby when Two-face does make his move. And as Manhunter she proceeds to beat the crap out of him. That is until Batman and Robin show up. I guess next issue we'll see how she handles them. I thought this was a great chapter by Marc Andreyko and Cliff Richards. I've been enjoying the Kate Spencer part of this book. I think she makes a great addition to the Gotham skyline. Anyways, in the man story, Batman and Robin are after Humpty because he seems to be abducting children. However, all of the children that he's taken to his shelter are . . well, dead. When he says he found them, he means . . he literally found them . . washed up on the shore of the Gotham River. The children that have been abducted by been done so by Zsasz. It seems that he's running an underground fight club where he's pitting children against children in a fight to the finish. And then . . whomever wins, has to fight him. By the bodies washing up on the river, we can see how that's turning out. Anyways, it appears that Batman and Robin have someone else on their side . . someone who's also looking into the missing children. We assume that it's some mysterious guy, but . . it appears to be one of the children in the orphanage with some type of special gift. I'm sure we'll see more about him in the future. Anyways, it was a good story by Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen. Dustin's art is really amazing. He can draw really moody, and I think his style fits a Batman book very nicely. I feel like this book is still experimenting with the format a bit . . trying to find a rhythm. But I also think it has a ton of potential. I guess we'll see what happens in the future.

Outsiders #25 - DC

This issue wraps up the Blackest Night cross-over. Last issue Tara showed back up and she's begging for Brion to kill her . . to end her undead resurrection. But come on . . you had to know that it was all an act. I mean . . of all the Black Lanterns that have showed up, Tara is the only one that seems able to shake the influence of Nekron? So as I'm reading this, as well as the last issue, I was just waiting for the moment when her true nature was revealed. And of course that happens this issue. I'm not exactly sure why, but it was almost as if she was choosing the emotional spectrum that she wanted to feed on . . love and hope. But then of course, once revealed, all she got was anger and rage. So anyways, while the guys are fighting Tara, Katana is facing her own demons with Creeper, Halo and Killer Croc. Her husband and children have come after her. A couple of interesting things happen here . . first, when Katana shoves her soul sword into her husband she sees the things that Nekron is doing and his plans or dreams. It affects her so much she almost passes out from the dark visions. Secondly, Halo seems to have her light powers amped up. She's not sure how or why it's happening but she ends up taking out all 3 family members pretty much single handed. She they flies back to the base to help the guys with Tara. She ends up needing a little help with her, from Brion, but in the end they end up beating her and turning her already cold heart to stone . . literally. But then Halo starts talking about how the light is calling to her. 'The light . . it's calling me . . pulling me in . . I have to go. It's beautiful, Jeff . . so beautiful.' And then . . she's gone in a flash of light. Just another mystery that they'll have to unravel at a later time. I've enjoyed Peter J Tomasi's run on this book. I thought he did a fantastic job with the team. But . . all good things must come to an end, and next issue things are about to be shaken up . . again. Dan Didio will be taking over the scripting chores, with Philip Tan on pencils. It looks like over the next couple of months they'll be getting some new members, and . . shaking up some of the old ones. I'm expecting good things. As I've said over and over again, I love this book and this team. These are some fantastic characters. I just hope they get the treatment they deserve.

Green Lantern Corps #43 - DC

What a great book. At the end of last issue we saw Kyle get killed in an explosion. He knew that it was gonna blow, but he wanted to take out as many of the Black Lanterns in the process as he could. So he sacrificed himself to give the rest of the Corps some breathing room. Now? Now Natu is trying to save him, and Guy has gone over the edge. Because of his rage for everything that's going on, not to mention losing his best friend . . a Red Lantern ring found Guy, and he accepted it gladly. So while Guy is trying to single handedly take out the Black Lanterns, pretty much everyone else is working by Natu's side to give her the time she needs to try to save Kyle. Even Munk, from the Indigo Tribe is right there to help. There is, after all, a whole bunch of severed Black Rings that are looking for a new host . . and with Kyle being recently deceased, they're attacking like piranhas. She needs all the help she can get to keep them off him. In the end though its a Star Sapphire that saves Kyle's life. She uses her power to share Natu's heart with Kyle, and Kyle's heart with Natu. They're even more connected now than they've ever been. Anyways, the Star Sapphire in on OA because she's brought Kryb to try to reunite him with his children. However, once they arrive they find out that they've already been killed and transformed into Black Lanterns. Although, my question is . . why is this so important? Kryb is all upset, but then the Star Sapphire can't stay to help him because she's called away on a mission of love . .'The heart is being attacked in sector zero. Death looks to extinguish eternal love.' Of course they're talking about Kyle and Natu. So then in all of his anger and rage Guy comes across Kryb and starts beating the crap out of him. Is he going to unwittingly turn Kryb into a Black Lantern? Maybe once Kryb does, because of the connection with the 'babies', the love for them will over power the Black Ring's influence. I don't know. I'm just guessing. But there has to be something important to the whole Kryb thing. I just don't know what it is. Anyways, after the Star Sapphires intervention Kyle does indeed rejoin the land of the living. But his first priority is to go save his buddy Guy and get that Red Ring off of him. But before they can do so . . Mogo shows up. 'I guess Mogo does socialize after all.' I thought this was a great issue of Green Lantern Corps. The Black Lanterns are still around . . still menacing, but . . at least we don't have to see much of them. Peter J Tomasi did a great job with the story and with handling the characters. And of course Patrick Gleason has made this book his own. I think this title is every bit as strong as the regular Green Lantern book.

Dark Reign - the List: Secret Warriors #1 - Marvel

I finally got a chance to pick up a copy of this book. I know . . I'm trying to stay away from all the 'side-bar' books connected with Dark Reign, but . . I really enjoy the Secret Warriors title, so . . I just didn't want to miss out on an important part of the story. I think this one helped to explain the part of the story-line with Nick and John Garrett where they've been investigating Treasury Agent Seth Waters. Since Nick is trying to work under the radar, he had to cooperate a bit with Norman Osborn to bring this guy in. HAMMER helps them obtain him, and then Norman and Bullseye go about questioning him. After looking through his office they find . .'He had over 20 billion dollars in various slush accounts . . there's no doubt he was funneling money to someone . . but his office was clean except for this. No idea what it is . . we've never seen anything like it. We found it attached to his computer, so we're guessing it's some kind of data retrieval device.' In the end, I think this was all 'smoke & mirrors' on Nick's part. He was just using Norman to get to Seth. He couldn't bring him in on his own without bringing a shit-storm down upon his head. So he had Norman do it for him. He asks Norman to see the device. While he's holding it, Seth finally decides to tell them who he's working for . . Leviathan. As soon as he does he radios for John . . 'Do it!' John uses a high-power rifle to shoot Seth through the building . . straight in the head. And then Nick, with the device in hand, makes his exit out the side of the building. Later when he get to one of his secret bases in Rome, he opens the device to find that it contains detailed descriptions of Leviathan . . maps, bases and 'the Great Wheel'. It shows how everything . . Leviathan, Hydra, SHIELD, and independent agents are all connected. I think Nick suspected who Seth was working for, and what he might find if he had any tech laying around. But while he used Norman . . he couldn't let him see the same information. This was something that Nick couldn't let get into his hands. Jonathan Hickman is doing a tremendous job with the Secret Warriors book, and in turn this issue also. I really like the spy-thriller that he's been scripting through this title. And I loved the way he had Nick use Norman this issue. He just bent Norman over and used him like his bitch. Norman didn't even get a dinner or cigarette afterwards. I bet he's pissed. Ed McGuinness did the art for this issue. This was a great book. I'm glad I picked it up.

Uncanny X-Men First Class #6 - Marvel

This book is frustrating me, but . . I'm not really sure why. It's actually just another version of the stories we've already read in Uncanny X-Men . . way back when. But most people . . I would assume the audience that this book is targeted at . . most people won't remember, or haven't read the original stories. And that's fine. It's a good outlet to show the younger, or newer, X-Men follower some of the history of this group. However, the title before this one, X-Men First Class, seemed to be a lot more upbeat and 'fun' than this title. And I know . . that's the point. The X-Men changed after Giant Sized #1, and X-Men #94. Everything became different. So this book reflects a similar change between X-Men First Class and Uncanny X-Men First Class. I think the problem I'm having is that I'm already buying so many X-Men titles that I can't see spending the money on another. Especially one that's really just retelling stories from the first series. Although there are some variances in this one. But I don't really want to get in to all of that. The book is ok. For what it is. Scott Gray is doing a decent job of keeping true to the X-Men continuity, while still using a bit of artistic license. I just think this title is a little to 'serious' to be aimed at a teen-aged audience. Also with the art . . I'm not sure if it's because there's 2 different artists on this book . . Scott Koblish and Nelson DeCastro, but . . some of the pages aren't very consistent. I think what it comes down to is . . I'm trying to talk myself into dropping this title off my monthly list. So I guess I'll just have to decide. It just frustrates me when I don't like a comic. I know it happens. But I don't like it.

X-Men Forever #13 - Marvel

In normal Chris Claremont fashion, now that he's settling into this book and has it up and running . . he's getting a few different story-lines going. Gambit, Kitty and Ro have gone to Russia to find out why Peter didn't come to Logan's funeral. They find out that he's now a protector of Mother Russia, and in a relationship with the Black Widow. As if that weren't enough, the Cossack has captured and transformed Illyana back into her Magik form. And we find out that when Kitty pulled her out of Limbo . . Illyana wasn't asking for Kitty's help, she was trying to pull her in. Which she does by the end of this issue and turns her into her hellish sister, Shadowcat. Meanwhile back at the mansion, Hank has taken a little break from trying to figure out a way to stop the mutants from burning themselves out as they get older, to spend some time with Jean. They almost have a romantic moment, but both of them know that it's not a good idea. And Charles, Nick and Moira have been discussing the future plans of the X-Men, as well as the school and it's students. Sabretooth has come across one of SHIELD agents that seems to be studying the underground levels of the school. He's doing it in a way that wouldn't have been approved by Nick. So he and another SHIELD Agent that happened to stumble across them, think that this has something to do with the Consortium. Sabretooth has a plan, but . . they're going to have to go black-ops. 'I got a plan. Won't be nice. Should be fun. Just the two of us. You in?' Not to mention that Scott is still up in Alaska visiting his parents. I think Chris is doing a fantastic job. I really like the way that he's approached this book and these characters. It really feels like he never left. It's different, but . . it's the same. You know what I mean? I also think that Tom Grummett is doing a great job with the art. I'm a huge fan and he's just blown me away with his work on this book. As long as we have the readers, I think this one will be around for a long time.

Ghost Rider - Heaven's on Fire #5 - Marvel

I like this story. There's a whole lot of stuff going on. But . . with only one issue to go . . I have no idea how this one is going to turn out. The whole thing with the Anti-Christ was a ruse. Caretaker failed to mention to Sister Sara that she herself is her own doorway to Heaven. So when he gets her by herself, he's got one of his own guys there who is a doorway to Hell. He does something to activate Sara's door, and now he's got a horde of demons, and who knows what else, pouring out of his guy and into Sara. I'm guessing that he wants to make his own play for Heaven. He probably figures that he can take Zadkiel out. Zadkiel, meanwhile, appears to have slain all the hosts of Heaven. Now, he's basically sitting around waiting for his power to build. The longer he has control of Heaven, the more powerful he gets. He's been playing around with what he can do with his powers now, but . . he can't wait to really muck about with things. And Johnny and Danny have finally started working together and have caught up with the gun-toting nuns. They've been protecting their doorway to Heaven, waiting for these two spirits of vengeance to show up so they can try to usurp Zadkiel. Upon arriving they make their presence known, but . . Zadkiel doesn't seem the least bit concerned. And Daimon Hellstorm and Jane Cutter, who have been held up in a carnival from hell, have finally caught up with Sister Sara. They're surprised by the scene that they walk in on. Hopefully they can get Sara out of the Anti-Christ's clutches. Jason Aaron is doing a great job with this story. Like I said, there's a whole lot going on, and I'm just not sure how we're going to reach a resolution next issue. Everybody is descending upon Heaven. Unfortunately, everyone also seems to be working form their own agenda. Together they might've been able to defeat Zadkiel . . together. I just don't know that they're going to be able to pull that off . . mutual cooperation and destruction in the face of annihilation. Jason's going to have to pull one out of his ass to wrap this up. Roland Boschi is the artist for this series, and in this book . . there's some amazing panels. Especially in the beginning. We've only got one issue to go, and it seems like Roland is really hitting his stride. Next issue should be pretty exciting and action packed. And then . . then we have to figure out where our characters go from there . . Johnny and Danny.

the Amazing Spider-man #614 - Marvel

This was an ok book. You know going into it that somehow Spider-man is going to defeat Electro. He always does. He just has to use his brains to do it. However, in the process of this issue, they're fighting in the DB Building . . where Jonah used to run the Daily Bugle. Spider-man does indeed beat Electro, but their fight is so erratic and destructive that they also bring the building down to the ground. So while Electro was building a ground-swell following . . once the New Yorkers realized that he was responsible for bringing down an historic building on the Manhattan skyline . . he was immediately ostracized. They followed him as long as he voiced their concerns and frustrations. But as soon as he took away something they held dear to them . . they turned on him like a pack of rabid dogs. Spider-man turns him over to the police . . he thinks. We later find out that it was actually the Chameleon working in league with Sasha Kravinoff, Kraven's daughter. She's got a master plan brewing that's going to culminate in Spider-man's destruction. All in all I thought it was a decent book. Mark Waid did ok on the story-line. Although to me, Electro isn't really a big draw. But what I really didn't like about the book was Paul Azaceta's art. It was ok. I mean the guy obviously has talent. But it's definitely not a style that does anything for me. It kind of reminded me of the kind of stuff you saw in the books in the 70's. Anyways, it looks like next time Spider-man's going to have to go up against the Sandman.

Necrosha - the Gathering #1 - Marvel

As the title suggests, this book tells the stories of how Selene gathered her inner circle together. It shows the methods that they used to coerce their cooperation. Well . . all except Senyaka. He came along most willingly. All of the stories are written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. There's just different artists for each one. The first story is about Wither, Kevin Ford. Basically, Selene seduces him. I think he's so taken with her because she's probably the first person he's been able to touch without having to worry about killing them. Then, once she has him under her thumb, she gets him to kill some innocents for her. He doesn't want to at first, but then he gives in to the anger and sees Josh Foley and Laurie instead of the people she's picked. He kills Josh willingly. He hesitates with Laurie, but then realizes it's not her and kills her anyways. Once he does that . . he's all Selene's. Ibraim Robertson provided the art for this chapter. Next came Blink. She wasn't to hard to convince. After she blinked out of existence trying to save the X-Men she was stuck in a place between life and death. Selene found her and pulled her out. All she had to tell her was that she was easy to find, but no one else was looking . . not the X-Men, or Emma Frost . . only her. She then willingly became part of her group. Gabriel Hernandez Walta provides the art for this chapter. Next, like I said, Senyaka required no subterfuge. 'If you wish me to kill for you, then I will. You need not trick me, or convince me . . I will kill for you. I have killed for Magneto, for Exodus, for Sinister. But you. You are different. I can smell the death on you. And I like it.' This story was by Leonardo Manco. Next comes Mortis. I thought this story was a little confusing, but eventually Selene wins Lois over by tricking her into killing her father. Also she fed on her resentment towards Allison. After that happens she just pulls her in. This art was by Kalman Andrasofszky. And finally Mateus Santolouco brings us the chapter on Eliphas, Eli Bard. We saw most of his story in the first chapter of this story-line . . back in X-Force when we were first introduced to him. But this one gives us a little more information. And it shows us that Eli isn't really serving Selene, but rather is in an uncontrollable love with her. That's not to say that his love won't change, but . . for now he serves her needs by raising the dead mutants to follow her. I thought that Blink would be the weak link in this chain, but . . I'm starting to think that it may be him. But that won't be for a while, so . . we'll see what happens. I thought that this was a very informative book. And I loved Clayton Crain's cover. To me, it almost looked like a poster for a movie. It just had that vibe to it.

the Invincible Iron Man #21 - Marvel

This issue we get to see how Tony's master plan all comes together. Also . . Captain America shows up. Now that he's back, he's going to be in a whole lot of books . . apparently. Anyways, the whole plan rests on the repulsor unit Tony installed in Pepper's chest. Donald Blake is going to remove it from her and install it in Tony. From there he's going to be hooked up to the hard drive that Maria retrieved for him. Back when he fought Extremis Tony had to make some upgrades, so, in his words . . 'I did what any good geek would do before installing it. I backed myself up.' Then he needs Donald and Steve's help. Or rather, he needs Donald to switch into Thor and use Steve's shield to work as a conduit for a jump start of sorts. And that's how this issue ends. We see from next issue's cover that somehow Steven Strange figures into the next step of the process. Anyways, part of this book, when Tony's giving all the guys their instructions and telling them what to do, was like reading some assembly instructions for some type of robot or something. Unfortunately, that part was just as dry. But, while all of this is going on, Madame Masque isn't happy about Norman's announcement that he's called off the hunt for Tony. So, she's hired the Ghost, from the Thunderbolts, to kill him. She knows he's in a persistent vegetative state, so . . all she wants him to do is pull the plug. But since they're in the little town of Broxton, Oklahoma . . 'Rooms I can sneak into. Buildings. I don't do towns. Especially towns adjacent to Asgard and half the Avengers.' So Madame Masque has whipped him up a phone. All he has to do is find the building with the power surge, get a phone to ring, and he can be in over the telephone lines. I don't know that this is a good weapon to put into his hands. But shortly after Thor strikes Tony with the electric bolt . . a phone rings at the front desk down stairs. I'm just wondering what the Ghost is going to do now. Now that Tony isn't actually hooked up to anything . . there's nothing to unplug. Except maybe the hard drive. Hmmm! So far I've enjoyed Matt Fraction's stories throughout this title. This one was a little dry, but . . it did progress what was going on. Next issue should be interesting. And as always, Salvador Larocca has done an incredible job with the art. I loved the wrap-around cover. I thought it looked great.

the New Avengers Annual #3 - Marvel

Clint Barton decided to go public with what he knew about Norman Osborn. So he went on TV. He thought that with this revelation the public opinion of him would falter. But, when nothing really came from his announcement, he decided to go meet him face to face . . and kill him. Now come on. You just knew that wasn't going to work out. So now? Now Clint is Norman's hostage. When Norman realizes that Normal interrogation, and intimidation techniques aren't going to work . . he brings in Mentallo to dig information out of his brain. He wants to know where the Avengers are hiding. Meanwhile, back at their hideout, Bobbi, Ms Marvel, Spider-Woman and Jessica Jones have decided that they're going to do something about this. And as you can see on the cover, Jessica has decided to reestablish her identity as Jewel. Her and Luke have an interesting conversation about that later on. Anyways, they can't attack them head on, so . . they know that sooner or later Norman will get the information he wants from Clint, so . . they wait for Norman, and his Avengers to make their move . . and then they go to release Clint. In the end . . everything works out. They get Clint out. Norman gets nothing . . other than destroying one of their 'safe-houses'. And the Avengers move on to Plan-B . . the 'safe-house' a block and a half away. But 2 big things come out of this story. First is Jessica's decision to rejoin the super-hero community. And the second occurs on the final page. Bucky is kicking himself for this turn of events, when from the shadows comes a voice . .'Well, I'm not thrilled . . but for now I'm just happy that you're all okay. You're right, Hawkeye, the world has gone to hell. But thank god the Avengers are here to do something about it. And we are. You ready?' On the final page we see that Steve Rogers is back. That's going to change their plan of attack a little bit. I thought it was a great book, and a fantastic Annual. Brian Bendis did a great job with the story. But the real star of the book was Mike Mayhew's fantastic art. The whole book was amazing. I've been enjoying the Mighty Avengers just a bit more than this team. But . . with this issue . . that excitement has been reignited. Fan-frikkin-tastic!!