Blackest Night JSA #2 - DC

The last issue ended with the JSA being attacked outside their headquarters by various Black Lanterns . . both reborn 'heroes' and 'villains'. Meanwhile, Mr Terrific is on the inside trying to figure out how to fight these atrocities. 'By combining the power of Alan's ring, Jannie's lightning, Courtney's cosmic rod and Dr Fate's unique energy . . we can create a device with the right kind of light that can break our stalemate with the Black Lanterns.' However, it appears that the Black Lanterns are getting smarter in reaching their objectives. This issue focus' on the three that have the strongest emotional connection to members of the team . . Damage, Johnny Quick, and Lois Lane of Earth-2. They appeal to the emotional side of their former team-mates convincing them that they're being forced to act out of character, and against their own will. Lois goes straight for Power Girl, Johnny rekindles his connection with Jesse, and Grant appeals to the emotional side of Atom-Smasher and Judomaster. I'm not sure what happened to Johnny and Jesse, but Lois makes her way inside the headquarter, with Karen's help, and Damage convinces his former friends that he can prove that he's still on their side. He convinces them to let him get close enough to the mansion that he can attract the rest of the Black Lanterns to him, and blow them up. However, it's a much bigger blast than even Damage is capable of, and . . it opens up a hole in the side of the mansion. Michael is the first to put it all together. 'Dammit. I knew somehow they'd outfox us. A simple explosion can't kill them. Alan, shield my work-table. For all the good it'll do . . he meant to blast a path in here. Not to stop me, but to reach . .' Kal-L of Krypton . . arguably the most powerful Black Lantern out there. Apparently this was their plan the whole time. I'm just wondering why Johnny had to lure Jesse away? James Robinson and Tony Bedard both write this book, and they did an incredible job. The story was fantastic, and the characterization was perfect. Eddy Barrows and Marco Marz do the pencils. Both of these guys have come a tremendous way in a short period of time. The art in this book looked incredible. I can't wait to see how this one is wrapped up next issue. I think this is arguably one of the best spin-offs of this 'event' so far. A classic in the making.

Green Lantern #50 - DC

First of all . . what a fantastic variant cover by Jim Lee. I think that it would out-shadow the main cover, if it weren't for Parallax being the theme. Yowtch! Anyways, at the end of last issue we saw that the Guardians allowed each of the various spectrums to deputize someone to their aid. This ended up being, Wonder Woman, the Atom, the Flash, Mera, Lex Luthor and Jonathan Crane. Hal isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but . .'This isn't exactly what I pictured when I thought of backup, Ganthet.' And then we see what each of them are up to. Flash and Saint Walker are fighting the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm. Atrocitus and Mera are fighting Arthur, and her son. Wonder Woman and Star Sapphire are trying to save Donna. Sinestro is trying to keep Scarecrow in line. Larfleeze is fighting . . Lex Luthor. 'Share? Gimme that back, you thief!' But the main event here is that the Spectre is coming after Hal. Now, during Hal's previous encounter with Parallax, he had gotten inside of Hal, who then got inside of the Spectre. That's the short version. Anyways, the Spectre ended up helping separate Hal and Parallax, but . . as soon as he did, he took off. Which leads Hal to think that the Spectre is actually afraid of Parallax. So . . the obvious solution . . it's time to dig Parallax out of the closet, sort of. The Guardians separated Parallax into four parts and then hid the various pieces away in the Lanterns of Hal, Guy, John and Kyle. But that's not the hard part. The hard part is that once they release it . . Hal's going to have to let it take control of him again. He just has to hope that he's strong enough to keep it on his agenda. And that's how the issue ends . . 'Jordan's not here anymore, Sinestro. It's just me. So . . Spectre. Where were we?' Geoff Johns has done a tremendous job with this story, and this book. I can't wait to see how he pulls Hal out of this mess. This issues' story is titled Parallax: Rebirth. I'm just wondering what kind of twist Geoff is going to put on this tale. I miss Ivan Reis' art in these pages, but . . since he's doing Blackest Night he's still a huge part of the story. However, Doug Mahnke brings a certain type or 'eeriness' and 'darkness' to this story, and these characters, that I'm not sure Ivan could. On the final pages, Doug's interpretation of Parallax is downright creepy. It looked fantastic! I also liked that panels when Barry and Saint Walker were fighting Firestorm, and Jason was literally being ripped out of his body. The whole issue was incredible. I can't wait to read more.

HULK #19 - Marvel

Ok, apparently I missed Fall of the Hulks: Alpha. So this one brought me up to speed on the alliance with MODOK, the Leader and the group that's now called the Intelligencia. Basically, it's the Frightful Four . . the Leader, Claw, Lyra instead of Thundra, and the Trapster . . along with MODOK, Leonard Samson and the Red She-Hulk. Apparently, General Ross was in on this also until he was killed last issue. And, the Red-Hulk is the one who put this whole group together. Until he was betrayed and kicked out. So anyways . . the plan that they're executing right now is to take out the 8 smartest men in the world . . remove them from the playing board. That will allow them to launch their real plan without interference. Which is why they sent the Robot Hulk after Doom in Incredible Hulk #606. This issue . . they go after Reed Richards. Each member of the Frightful Four take out one of the members of the FF. Unfortunately, the Trapster goes after Ben Grimm. That fight doesn't last very long. But then Ben finds himself facing the door to the Negative Zone that the Leader opened up. He's handles this before, but never alone. Luckily . . and unluckily . . the Red-Hulk shows up. He doesn't tell Ben what's going on, but he does tell him that this has all been a distraction. When everything finally settles down they find out that Reed has been abducted. Again this book is narrated through the Red-Hulk's head. Where we find out that he's not actually trying to stop the Intelligencia. He wants their plan to succeed. But . . I think he knows where the weak point is . . the point where he'll step in and take over . . without having to do the work. So why did he save the rest of the FF? Ben asks him the same question. Before leaping out of the building the Red-Hulks tells him . . 'I have my reasons. There'll be a time, soon. Sooner than you'll like or be comfortable with . . when you're going to wish I didn't pull you out of the zone. That I let you die in there. That's how bad it's going to get . .' And then he goes back to the cave where he's been meeting up with Banner. I know Bruce is a lot smarter than this Red-Hulk so I have to imagine that he knows that Rulk's got alterior motives to their alliance. It'll be interesting to see how Bruce manipulates the whole thing. I imagine that the first 18 issues have lead up to all of this. That's why Jeph Loeb has been so enigmatic about giving us to much information. Which, to me, makes this one of the best issues in this series to date. I think we got more information out of this one issue than we have for the whole time leading up to this. That's not to say I didn't like the other issues. They just left me with a lot more questions than answers. Plus . . I absolutely love Ed McGuiness' art.

Incredible Hulk #606 - Marvel

Honestly . . I wasn't going to pick up this issue, but . . I'm afraid that if I only pick up the one Hulk title, I'll probably be lost. Plus, I noticed that Paul Pelletier does the art this issue. I love his style. Even way back in the old Ex-Mutants books I thought the guy had potential. But his art in this issue was leaps and bounds from those old books. This whole issue looked fantastic. Plus . . I'll probably pick up the Red-Hulk book, so . . if I'm going to pick up 2, I might as well get the third. Anyways, this book is all about Bruce's endeavor to teach his son, Skaar, to be a hero. The story starts out in Times Square as Skaar, and the Fantastic Four, are facing a hero's welcome. However, Bruce is ambiguous. He remembers when he got a hero's welcome as the Hulk for saving the world. He knows that the adulation is fleeting. Plus . . Betty always kept him grounded. And with her not around . . . but, then he thinks he sees her in the crowd. Shortly after a Watcher shows up. He's tries to dig into the mystery, but then he's transported to the Red Hulk. They talk and banter a bit, and then he's transported to Latervia. This is where we get to the real meat of the story. In Latervia, Doom is being attacked by a Hulk robot. It's been given the power cosmic and sent to test him by MODOK and the Leader. Skaar shows up and also attacks Doom because he doesn't know that this isn't his real father. Doom siphons off the power behind the robot, and then uses his magiks to change Skaar into his child-form. By that time Bruce shows up. But, as Doom begins to attack him, he finds out that the Leader also put a little virus in with the Cosmic power, knowing that Doom wouldn't be able to resist garnering it. Basically . . it gradually turns Doom dumb. As he's attacking Bruce . . he forgets the spell. Which leaves Bruce to talk to his real son. He finds out that as much as Bruce has been keeping an eye on him, so to has Skaar been watching his father. The boy hates Skaar for what he did back on that planet, but he hates his father even worse for luring him here. And he knows that he's only doing it to somehow try to save, or bring back, Betty. And then . . they're off to save the Avengers. I really like Greg Pak's story here. I didn't understand everything that was going on, but . . the meat of the story, the relationship between Bruce and Skaar, was there. And despite everything else, it seems like that's what this issue was all about. It was entertaining. I think that this will be an interesting story-line.

the Amazing Spider-man #618 - Marvel

The next story-arc through this book has something to do with Mysterio. Somehow it's all connected to the Maggia crime family. We see how over the last couple of years, this family has been taken apart, literally . . piece by piece. One by one, all of the key members of this family have been taken out. Silvermane, the boss, was one of the last. And anyone else that was left was taken out when there was a Maggia sit-down. We saw that in this book. It happened when Mr Negative came in and poisoned everybody. So anyways, Baby Bruno Karnelli becomes the head of the family. But ever since he took over, he's been driving the family business into the ground. That is until near the end of the issue when we see that most of these deceased family members never made it to the grave. They all had some kind of tricky way to get out of the hand that was dealt them. At least that's the way it appears . . for now. But we don't really see Mysterio this issue. Other than the one time he chimes in with the Karnelli's. So I'm thinking . . all of these people coming back from the dead is somehow Mysterios's doing. Most of the attention this issue is spent on the conflict between the Maggia and Mr Negative's Tong. However, a few other things of interest . . while Carlie is investigating the slaughterhouse that the Maggia own, her father comes back to talk to her. Obviously, that's impossible because he's dead. Also, May and Jay return from their honeymoon and May walks in on Mr Li doing some business in the backroom of the FEAST headquarters . . as Mr Negative. He does something to her. But we don't know what that is yet. We also find out that Jay is loaded. Oh yeah, and Hammerhead has switched sides from the Maggia to the Tong. Dan Slott and Marcos Martin are back with this story-arc. It's ok. I can't really tell how good it's gonna be until I see where it's heading. Mysterio has shown up a lot lately in the Spider-man book . . here and in the Ultimate Universe. I'm not sure why he's drawing so much attention lately, but . . it is making for an interesting book. Oh yeah . . and no Kraven's this issue either.

Dark Avengers #13 - Marvel

The purpose of this book, basically, was to give us the 'real' version of the Sentry's origin. Well . . that and comparing the Void's power to that of God smiting Egypt, back in the time of the Pharaohs. Basically, we find out that Bob's origins weren't what we were told in the comic-books. At the end of last issue Lindy had shot Sentry / Bob in the face with some kind of secret weapon. All she wants to do is to be free of her imprisonment . . I don't think she really wanted to hurt Bob. Anyways, as she's kneeling over the Sentry's body, she asks Cloc if he still recording. He is . . so she begins to tell him the true origins of the Sentry. It turns out Bob was just a drug addict, who busted into a lab, looking for a cheap high. Actually . . he was looking for any drugs he could get his hands on. He ended up taking some experimental serum that only worked on him, much in the way that the Super-Soldier formula only worked on Steve Rogers. 'But the real secret of the Sentry? He didn't just take that formula once. Once was an accident. Once was a stupid kid doing a stupid thing. His secret is: once he got a taste of it . . of the power . . he did what every junkie does. He did whatever he could to get whatever he needed. Does that sound like the origin of a golden super hero to you?' He then manifests at the Void. As the Void, he tries to show Bob how Lindy has betrayed them, and that she doesn't really love him. But Bob begins to struggle internally and he won't let the Void hurt Lindy. But the really kind of scary part is when the Sentry flies off to the sun to try to burn the Void out of him. As he leaves, Cloc, who's still recording all of this, says to Lindy . . 'Now you see . . how much he loves you.' But try as he might, Bob just can't get rid of the Void. It's as much a part of him as his lungs . . or his brain. The issue ends with the Void reasoning with the Sentry and deciding to take some action. That's when we see his darkness descending on NYC much in the way that God's plagues did on Egypt. This doesn't look like it's going to have a happy ending. I think Brian Bendis is doing an incredible job with this book. When this title first started, I thought it was just going to be another mini-series or something. But I have a feeling that it's going to be around for a while. Especially with Mike Deodato Jr doing the art. In the flashbacks this issue, Mike did the frames in a sketch-art. It looked amazing. This book is easily one of the best surprises of 2009. It sure surprised me.

the Mighty Avengers #33 - Marvel

This issue answers the question . . what would happen if Creel, the Absorbing Man, absorbed the power of the Cosmic Cube. Well . . apparently it's a question that's also perplexed the minds of the government scientists because they've been testing that conundrum at Project: Pegasus. I do have a question though. If they had the Cosmic Cube, or even just a portion of it, why did they test it this way? I mean . . holding the cube basically gives you power over all of reality . . why wouldn't one of the scientists just hold the cube and make the world the way he wanted it? Why would he take the chance of giving some psychopath the power? Does that make sense? Unless of course they aren't really testing the Cube, but instead are testing Creel. Anyways, the real action this issue happens between Norman and Hank. Both of them are trying to figure this out, and both of them would like access to the Cube. But again . . a little confusion here. After racing to find Creel's ball & chain, which is now a Cube, Hank does indeed get a hand on it first. But what does he do with it? He runs back to Creel and tries to hit him in the head with it. 'Godlike power meet Godlike weapon! Oldest game in the book . . fighting fire with fire!' And . . he accomplishes absolutely nothing. It doesn't look like anything is going to take this guy down. That is until Loki shows up and secretly gives Norman a special sword. 'A spellbreaker, Norman. Strong enough . . to undo any Asgardian charm.' Norman takes down Creel, and Loki manipulates the media to put all attention on Norman . . painting him to be the hero of the day. And with Creel beat . . everyone heads their own separate way. Well . . except for Captain Walker. Norman scolds him, strips him of his rank, and his office as USAgent because he colluded with the fugitives . . Hank's Avengers. However, Hank was astute enough to sense that there was some manipulation to the events. He has Cho scan the crowd, and indeed finds Loki in it. Oh yeah . . Ultron it back also. Somehow he infected one of Jacosta's replicants and is back in the mix of things. All in all, I thought it was an interesting book. There did seem to be a few leaps in logic in Dan Slott's story. But it was still entertaining. I enjoyed seeing Norman and Hank whip it out and measure it. And we got to see some interesting things happen to some of the characters because of Creel's use of the Cosmic power. And for the most part I'm enjoying Khoi Pham's pencils. I think the recent developments in this book have made it much more interesting than the New Avengers title. But . . that's just me.

Wolverine #82 - Marvel

This book is actually part of Siege crossover . . mega event . . whatever. But . . it's not . . not really. Well . . it is, but . . it's kind of on the periphery. Basically, HAMMER, as well as Norman's Avengers are getting ready for their assault on Asgard. Everybody is standing around in eager anticipation. The beginning of the book seems more like the Dark Avengers title. Everybody is kind of poking at each other to blow off a little steam, and tension. Daken is picking on the younger infantry men. While Mac is throwing a little play at Moonstone. But then Daken gets bored so he starts messing with Lester and Norman. However, before they know it . . they're right in the thick of things . . knee deep in dead bodies . . HAMMER agents and Asgardians alike. That's when Daken really starts playing head-games. I don't know if he was just trying to distract one of the Asgardians, or if he was serious, but he tells him that he'll deliver Norman's head to them on a platter . . as well as the Avengers. But before we can find out if he really means it or not . . Norman blows the Asgard's head off. That's why I'm not really sure if he was serious. But then . . Daken makes his move. With all of the confusion going on, he's sure that no one is really watching them. He talks to Norman for a little while, to distracts him. Then, with a little misdirection, he shoves his claw through his heart from behind. However, we see that Daken is indeed being watched. Some of the mischievous Norse gods are keeping an eye on him. They're looking for him to be the bringer of Ragnarok. It struck me as kind of funny . . not 'ha-ha' funny . . I think it's funny that with all the fighting going on, all the dead bodies piling up on both sides, and the adrenaline and testosterone that's probably flying around, Daken still finds time . . fighting through his boredom . . to play head-games and try to manipulate the waves of aggression on either side. Either he's a genius, or he has severe ADD. Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu wrote this book. I really like the dialogue that they write between Daken, and . . well . . everybody. I think it's hilarious the way that he manipulates everybody, even from the most innocent of dialogue. He's definitely not Wolverine. But . . he's a hell of an interesting character. Giuseppe Camuncoli does the art. I'm staying away from this Siege stuff, but . . I still thought it was an interesting book.

Wolverine Weapon X #9 - Marvel

Well it seems that this story was designed to introduce us to a new evil menace in Logan's life, Dr Rot. His actual name is Doctor Rotwell and he was the self-appointed administrator of Dunwich Sanatorium. He comes from a family of crazies and psychopaths. But this Dr Rot has a special kind of obsession. He likes to work with people's brains. In the Sanatorium he built a machine out of brains. He calls it the 'God Brain Machine'. And he used it to control all the people in this hospital. Including Logan. But Melita, the San Francisco Post reporter that Logan was working with, sensed that he was in trouble and called the X-Men. Nightcrawler and Psylocke show up to help. When they find the 'God Brain Machine', Psylocke discovers that it's also a bomb. 'If it were to blow, the resultant psychic blast-wave would likely drive everyone in a nine mile radius completely and irrevocably insane.' So she dismantles the bomb while Kurt goes off to help Logan. In the end they beat Dr Rot, but . . he uses another brain to escape. And later, when Logan is at Melita's apartment, we found out that Dr Rot gained some knowledge why he was routing around in Logan's brain. He calls the apartment and says a phrase that makes Logan do whatever he says. Obviously this story isn't over. And I really think this arc was all about introducing us to this psychopath. Jason Aaron did a fantastic job here. And I actually liked Yanick Paquette's pencils. Since I liked this story-arc so much . . I'll stick with this series for a little while longer. We'll see how the next one goes.

Uncanny X-Men #520 - Marvel

Well . . it seems that Magneto . . Erik, has saved the day. He hatched a plan, with the help of Namor and his people, to build a pillar under the island to help hold it up. They then plan on building a city around the pillar, New Atlantis, . . to protect the pillar, and give their people a new home. The result . . everybody wins. At least that's what you'd think. Until Erik decides to tell Scott what he's done . . afterwards. However, the pillar isn't done yet, so . . anything could happen. Anyways, Scott isn't mad about what he's done. Scott is mad because he hasn't followed the chain of command. Erik has come to the island spouting 'peace' and 'trust', but then he goes off and does something like this without telling anyone. So he's gone off to Mr. Tamalpais in Marin County, and is sitting Buddha style on it's peak. 'This will do nicely. A lot of blood on your hands, old man. A lot of mistakes in this life of yours. Time to do something good with it . .' More on that, next issue. Meanwhile, after the Predator X invasion, and then the nanite scourge, Scott has sent a team to NYC after the final Predator. He wants that one taken out, and then he wants to find the source of the nanite. However, by the time they find the Predator, Fantomex has already killed it. Also, in the process, his robot helper, Eva took care of all the nanites. Logan asks him to help with the source, but Fantomex replies, 'Not my problem, Logan. I'm 'mercenary' . . there's a difference.' But afterwards, Fantomex is talking to some kid about what he's done. I'm thinking this kid is going to talk him into helping. Anyways . . of course Wolverine finds the building where the Predator X's came from. And they enter with style. But the guy who did all this is prepared. 'I'm loading their vitals and fighting styles into your virtual cortex's now. Upgrade yourselves to Wolverine-class warriors and get ready to break their bloody necks.' I'm enjoying what Matt Fraction is doing with this book. He seems to be approaching this series much in the way that Chris Claremont did . . several story-lines going on simultaneously. It makes things very interesting. Greg Land is back this issue for the pencils. Next issue should be very interesting.

Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #6 - Dynamite Entertainment

This whole series is starting to seem a bit convoluted to me. There's just so many characters . . and so much stuff going on. The Supremacy has launched an attack on the heroes, through the Dynamic Family. They've sought out and gathered another group of heroes called the Mysterymen. They then send these heroes to the Pentagon to attack the Green Lama, Black Terror, and the rest of their group. Also, the Boy King and his group, gathered over in Swisslakia, have seen what's going on and have decided to enter the fray. They try to gather up the Mysterymen and take them back to Swisslakia. The Mysterymen don't really make much progress against the rest of the heroes, but they do accomplish their mission. When everybody appears back is Swisslakia, the Dynamic Family make their presence know. And they've got the President with them. That was really the whole point of this mission. Well . . that, and to hide the involvement of either the Supremacy or the Dynamic Family. Meanwhile, the Black Terror, the Ghost and others have found Truth strung up in New York City. The 'Devil is antagonized by someone claiming that he's a 'faker'. And in Greece, Mr Mask and his group are trying to assemble something that will help them beat Mr Future . . Zeus. This all centers around the Flame. It appears that his powers are actually the living flame that Zeus is supposed to control. And now he wants it back. The problem is . . they think the flame is alive . . and it wants revenge. I like this book . . and these characters. But . . my god is there a lot of stuff to keep track of in this series. Apparently Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger dug up all these characters from a line of comic books in the 40's. And now they're trying to fit them all into one book. Well . . except for the various mini-series. I like what they're trying to do. I'm just afraid that the scope is to big for this single title. But, I also understand that they don't want to expand until they see if there's a market for this. However, in the meantime . . this book is busting at the seems. I have to give it up to Edgar Salazar for the incredible artwork he's contributing, and . . the ability to differentiate between all of these various characters. It's gotta' be mind boggling. I'm trying to stay with it all. I'm just trying to decide if I think it's all worth the effort, or the expense. So far . . I'm in it. But we'll see how that goes.

the Authority - the Lost Year #5 - WildStorm

Well . . last issue, the Authority barely escaped from that low energy world. In fact, they needed the help of one of it's inhabitants . . Ken. However, now that they have escaped, they're back in the Bleed, aboard the Carrier, but . . it's operating on minimal power . . doors and life-support. Somehow the 'baby universe' that powers the ship has been lost, and Angie feels that the Carrier is in a hibernation kind of mode. Now, to make matters worse, the Carrier seems to be under attack. They don't know what it is, but it seems to be some kind of virus or something. Actually, Jack refers to it as Barnacle scraping. You know, that stuff that attaches itself to the sides of ships in the ocean. Except this one seems to be more aggressive. The point that's really driven home during all of this though, is that when it comes down to it . . they don't know jack about the Carrier, the Bleed, or how any of this stuff operates. That's why they're afraid to use the doors to escape. They have limited range, and without any knowledge . . they could end up anywhere. They're guessing that this attack is some form of 'survival of the fittest'. They're acting out of instinct. It's not an aggressive attack, and they're not fighting back. It's almost like a memory . . of doing this before. They contemplate that maybe the Carrier was part of a species . . a space-whale of sorts, that these 'barnacles' drove to near extinction. But if that's so, why doesn't the Carrier seem to have any natural defenses? Anyways, the issues ends with the team having to make a decision. Either they stay and go down with the ship, or . . they take their chances with a door and see where they end up. Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen provide the story for this series. There's a lot of neat ideas that they're throwing about here. Jonathan Wayshak steps in on the pencils this issue. They looked . . ok. It was a different kind of style for this book. But . . he shows some promise. When he gets some more experience under his belt, he could be pretty good. I'm enjoying this series. I can't wait to see where it ends up.

Joe the Barbarian #1 - Vertigo

Hey . . this is something completely different, and it's by Grant Morrison. So . . I had to give it a shot. Plus . . it was only $1. How could I resist. This particular issue doesn't really tell us much though. It fills us in on some of the main character's background, but . . it's really just the very beginning of the story. It seems Joe Manson is this pretty normal kid. However, he recently lost his father in the war. He misses him, but . . he also blames him for everything he and his mother are going through. Anyways, he spends most of his time alone in his attic bedroom. Until one day, after nodding off, he wakes to find that his room has been transformed into some type of fantasy environment. And the inhabitants are all of the various toys and action figures he has strewn about his room. And really . . that's all we've got. We don't know the 'hows' or 'whys' or really what's going on . . yet. But it looks like this is the beginning of Joe's fantastic adventure. Sean Murphy provides the art, and . . it is perfect. By the way, on the Vertigo information page, there's an article by Sean where he talks about his inspirations for this series. If you get a chance, you should read it. It's interesting. Anyways, as with everything that Grant touches . . there's a ton of potential here. I have no idea which way Grant is going with this, but . . I'm sure it'll be more than interesting. Also, this is going to be done as an 8 issue mini-series. I thought this was an interesting issue. But . . the proof is in the pudding. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

Hellblazer #263 - Vertigo

Peter Milligan only gives us bits and pieces of the puzzle this issue. John is in India right now. He's enlisted the aid of this mage to help him get Phoebe back, but . . the mage has asked for some help in return. It seems there's a demon hunting the streets of Mumbai, and he's taking the lives of wanna-be Bollywood starlets. Which is really no coincidence, because he has a casting director working for him. Anyways, this demon is the incarnation of an old reprobate who used to run in the circles of the rich and elite in India, Colonel George Burke of the White Hussars. It seems he had a sadistic appetite even when he was a live, but it's been made worse by his acclimation of power. Anyways, Epiphany ends up in India also. It appears that the mage sent a dream to her. He told her that she should come here looking for John. However, the casting director was in love with one of the victims that the demon has chosen. He tries to save her, to barter with the demon, but he ends up killed in the process. So that means, the demon is loose with no one to control, or guide it. Things are about to get ugly in the streets of Mumbai. As always, Peter is writing an interesting story here. And Giuseppe Camuncoli is interpreting it with his unique style of art. It's supposed to wrap up next issue, so . . I can't wait to see what happens. By the way . . beautiful cover by Simon Bisley.

Azrael #4 - DC

Well, Fabian Nicieza gives us some more of Michael Lane's background story this issue. It seems a couple of years ago Michael's brother and sister, Marion and Gwen, were killed in some type of satanic ritual . . a cult. Batman and Robin have come across this cult, and the find a cache of old weapons . . swords, knives and such. They examine them all for blood and DNA samples. With this information they find links to several unsolved murders. But the most important one is a link to the murders of Michael's brother and sister. It seems one of the blades has their blood on it, with some finger-prints on the hilt. They belong to Marion's wife, Jen . . Michael's sister-in-law. Despite Batman trying to stop him, he goes to her for answers. He enters the apartment as Azrael, but it isn't long before he removes the mask and asks her the questions as her brother-in-law, Michael. However, she has no idea. No memory of the event. Upon entering, Michael tells Jen the purpose of the swords. After they're knocked out of his hands by Batman, she decides that she needs to find out the truth. So . . she impales herself on them both. She sees a demon, or devil guiding her actions. But it doesn't really make sense. And when Michael removes the swords . . she doesn't have any wounds. It looks like we'll have to wait until the next issue to get to the bottom of this story. I thought it was brilliantly written by Fabian, and I really like Ramon Bachs art. He's got a gritty, 'dirty' style of art to him. And it fits this story, and character perfectly. I think this title has a ton of potential. And with Fabian guiding the ship . . I think it'll definitely reach it. By the way, that's a beautiful cover by Francesco Mattina.

the Phantom Stranger #42 - DC

Well . . as the Phantom Stranger says at the beginning and the end of this story . . 'I am the Phantom Stranger. And the Stranger comes . . when the Stranger is needed.' So . . apparently he's needed now to move a couple parts of this story forward. First he and Blue Devil come into contact with the Spectre. As with many of the heroes that have died and returned, he has been taken over by a black ring. But, as the Stranger and Danny soon find out, the Spectre is still in there. He's just drowning in the heart of blackness. They help him fight, and reveal himself . . for a little bit. But he's soon consumed once again by the darkness. And then he takes off . . looking for Hal Jordan. I assume he's headed towards Coast City. Anyways, all of this happens at the grave-site of Boston Brand. Apparently Boston's body, his physical form, is somehow important to the Black Ring's cause. But it's not here anymore. So the Stranger attempts to find Deadman. Wherever Boston's body is, Deadman won't be far away. They find them both at the gates of Nanda Parbat. Nanda Parbat is currently under siege by a bunch of Black Lanterns. They're trying to breach the invisible barrier that surrounds the city. And their ranks include Boston's deceased form. Boston has been trying to inhabit his body, but the psychic feedback is to intense. So he's been trying to take out the rest of the Lanterns one at a time. When the Stranger shows up, he explains to Boston that he must regain his body, and take it through the gates of the city. It's hard, but upon doing so the Black Ring's connection is severed. And Boston's mortal remains are put under the guard of one of Nanda Parbat's inhabitants. Since his bones are so important to what's going on right now, Danny decides that he'll stay behind and help guard them also. 'The body of Boston Brand is of singular importance, Gatekeeper. It is coveted by many who seek to do harm. Relinquish it at the world's peril.' That all sounds a bit ominous. But the Stranger always was a bit on the theatrical side. Anyways, I'm sure we'll find out more about this in Blackest Night #7. I thought it was a great story by Peter J Tomasi. I enjoy the mystical side of the DC Universe. I was hoping that we'd see Shadowpact. The art was done by Adrian Syaf. It looked fantastic. This guy is really coming along. I'm enjoying these 'Final Issue' things. I think they're a neat concept.

Superman / Batman #68 - DC

This was an interesting issue, but . . it goes all the way back to the Aftermath! of the Casualties of War! storyline. That came after the Our Worlds at War storyline, that . . really, was quite a while ago. I'm not sure why that would be pertinent now. Anyways, this story revolves around Anderson Gaines. He's a philanthropist that is STAR Labs silent partner. He's helping with a lot of the financing for the rebuilding after Our Worlds at War. He's on a solo climbing expedition in the Himalayas when he comes what looks like a piece of a space-ship, at the peak. He doesn't show up again until months later when Clark is doing an interview with Garrison Slate . . the guy at STAR Labs that's in charge of all the rebuilding. However, when Anderson crosses paths with Clark, you can tell that he's somehow physically affected. Later, back at the Planet, Clark finds out that someone has hired NRG-X to take him out. 'I'm just here to eliminate some reporter. Someone requested the scorched-Earth treatment . . the kind I specialize in.' But we all know that's not gonna' happen. Anyways, while this is going on, Bruce is back in his lab examining a sample of DNA that he and Clark took off of the Kryptonian war vessel that they found in space. Someone, or something, had apparently taken out the crew of the ship and then escaped in one of it's modules. So they think that someone, or something may be on Earth. Unfortunately, the DNA sample confirms Bruce's suspicions. This creature is a shape-shifter. I'm guessing right now . . he's posing as Anderson Gaines. I thought this was a pretty decent story. Even if it did seem a bit out of place . . chronologically, I mean. But I thought Joe Casey did a decent job with it. The art was done by Adrian Syaf. He also did the art on the Blackest Night Batman mini series. I think his work has progressed quite nicely. He definitely has an Image-comics type of style to him. It looked good. And the story flowed rather nicely. This guy definitely has a lot of potential.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #8 - DC

For some reason, our story about Zsasz and the child-abductions have been interrupted. At the end of last issue, it looked like Zsasz had some type of child 'fight-club' going on, but . . apparently we're switching channels this issue . . and next. This one appears to be a pretty straight-forward story. There's been a string of criminals getting killed lately across Gotham . . 6, so far. They all seem to be killed the same way, but . . there's no real connection between victims. Other than occupation. At first they consider a vigilante who's just taking things to far. But then the MO is broken. A plastic surgeon is killed. That's when Batman notices a connection between their women. It seems that they all frequent a club in Gotham that caters to it's elite, and privileged. Dick goes undercover to see what's going on inside, and requests the company of the woman he sees in a picture with the doctor. However, as they go back to her apartment, we have 2 suspects here. First they're confronted by an ex-boyfriend as they leave the club. Apparently he hasn't taken their break-up very well. Then, as she's entering her building, we see the door-man take an unusual interest in her. Plus, both men are about the right size . . the same size. Anyways, Dick goes up to her room with her. He figures this is someone who's trying to protect her. So . . now he just has to wait for them to make thier move. It was an interesting story by Mike Benson and Dustin Nguyen. I'm just wondering when we're going to get back to Zsasz' story. In the back-up, Kate Spencer is trying to take out Two-Face . . both as ManHunter and as the Gotham DA. But in order to do so, she's going to have to make a deal with Jane Doe. However, since they're in the same prison . . Harvey may be striking a deal of his own. I like this character. And I like the twist of putting her in the Gotham horizon. I think she makes a nice addition to the cast of vigilantes here. This story is brought to us by Marc Andreyko and Jeremy Haun. Overall I thought it was a good issue.

Outsiders #26 - DC

There's a few things going on this issue. We're thrown right into the mix, so . . I assume we'll find out next issue how everything went down. I guess, because of everything that's happening in Gotham right now, and because of Blackest Night, the Outsiders have ended up in Markovia. And, by de facto, since Prince Brion is it's King . . he is now the leader of the Outsiders. At one point, he even refers to them as 'my Outsiders'. Some of the members in the group seem as puzzled by this change in leadership as we do. Roy Raymond, Owlman, pisses off Brion twice this issue. Once when he asks him about the scar on his neck from the fight with Deathstroke . . 'I've studied all of Deathstroke's moves, and I've never seen him make a slashing motion that would leave a scar like that.' Brion tells him to . ' . leave your American manners at home.' Then later when Brion has sent out Black Lightning and Katana to intercept some pirates that have been attacking Markovian vessels . . 'I have sent out a team to remove the threat . . with extreme prejudice.' Roy asks . .'And Alfred okayed this?' Brion scolds, and punishes him. 'You have misspoken twice this evening. There will not be a third time. It's time for you to return to your room.' On the mission . . Katana is more than willing to use extreme measures, but . . Black Lightning still has a line that he refuses to cross. In the end, he ends up holding her back . . if only by the influence of his words, and she only end up wounding the would be 'pirate-king'. She doesn't kill him.We also see Rex and Jack Ryder talking over a cup of coffee. Rex seems ok with the status-quo. But Jack? Jack feels like he's a prisoner in his situation, and in Markovia. 'I thought you guys would help, but I was wrong. Now I'm stuck here.' Also, Jack seems to have an admirer. One that may be a little off her cookie. But the really big reveal is at the end when Brion announces their new team-mate. 'As the one true King of Markovia, I have entered into a non-aggression treaty with the world of New Krypton, providing a safe haven for all Kryptonians here on Earth. And I am proud to call their representative, the Eradicator, my friend.' Ok! I didn't see that one coming. Our creative team has changed this issue. Dan Didio in now on scripts. But to me, the biggest, and best change is that Phillip Tan is now doing the pencils. His artwork looks fantastic. I enjoyed every page of this issue. Anyways, it looks like things are about to get pretty interesting for this group, and Markovia. The next couple of issues should be pretty interesting.

Starman #81 - DC

I was excited when I saw this book listed in the previews. Especially when I saw that James Robinson would be returning to the fold, and writing it. Also . . the artwork was incredible . . and perfect for this story. Fernando Dagnino does the layouts, with Bill Sienkiewicz doing the finishes. David Knight does return this issue . . as a Black Lantern. But the story this issue is actually about Shade and Hope O'Dare's incestuous relationship. Plus, when faced with the horror of what David's image and body is turned into . . we see Shade's true character. He really is on the path to righteousness and redemption. What I really liked about his and Hope's relationship is that Shade ends up being the one to put his feelings on the line . . he risks exposure and hurt to tell Hope how he feels about her. And Hope? Hope is the reluctant, commitment-phobe. Although . . part of her denial is because of their unique relationship. 'Shade. I look at you and see the same face I first kissed back when this arrangement started. Your face. You. Unchanged. Immortal. I see a new line every time I look in the mirror. One day I'll be old.' I think she's afraid that he'll actually grow out of love with her. Didn't she ever see Highlander? The Highlander loved his first wife until the day she died . . of old age. While he was still in his mid to late 20's. Anyways, as always, James is a brilliant scribe of character. And with Shade and Hope he was definitely back on familiar ground. I thought that this was a fantastic issue. With the downside being . . it made me miss the original series all that much more. If ever there was a series in need of a re-launch . . this is it. 'The King is dead. Long live the King.'

the Brave and the Bold #31 - DC

All I can say is that J Michael Straczynski is brilliant. Who'd have ever thought that a team-up of the Joker and the Atom would ever work. The Atom is called to Arkham Asylum. The doctors need his help. It appears that the Joker has a condition where the synaptic process' in his brain are running at full throttle. 'The condition first produces seizures. Then the patient lapses into a coma. If left untreated, the patient dies.' But the Atom is finding a hard time actually caring. 'I'm not seeing the problem here. It's the Joker.' Anyways, long story short, the Atom agrees to the process. Basically, he has to insert himself into the brain, and release a chemical into the Joker's neural net. It sounds easy enough. However, while in there . . the Atom gets caught in some of the synaptic lightning. When that happens . . the Atom relives the Joker's memories as if they're his. The good news is . . we actually get some views of the world through the adolescent Joker's mind. Things we might not have ever seen, otherwise. The bad news . . the Atom viewed them as memories of his own. So . . they could change his view of the world. Or, at the very least, they could cause some serious nightmares. After he comes out the Joker laughs at him because he let him live. The Atom responds with the words of a young Joker on a playground . .'I'm not weird. It's the world . . it's the world that's weird.' That instinct and response is going to sit badly with him for quite a long time. Like I said, JMS did a brilliant job scripting this story. I really loved the subtle nuances that he gave both characters. And, Chad Hardin and Justiniano does the art. The whole issue was very entertaining. Unfortunately, we skip a month next month. But then we come back in March with Aquaman and Etrigan. I wonder if they throw these characters at him just to see what he'll do?

Power Girl #8 - DC

This issue wraps up the Vartox of Valeron story-line. Last issue he came to Earth to ask Power Girl for her help in repopulating his planet. He tries to woo her, and seduce her . . to no avail. And then he released a planet killing monster, the Ix Negaspike, in hope that battle would arouse her emotions. That didn't help either. She still found him repulsive. Anyways, the last issue ended with them fighting this indestructible beast. Power Girl tried to freeze it and shatter it, but . . it just ended up making more of the beasts. However, she did notice that with their increased number also came decreased intelligence. With Vartox's help, she freezes and shatters them once again. 'There's not enough brain matter to regenerate this many copies of itself. I think I turned them into indestructible space cows.' Anyways, she also finds out that the reproduction process on Valeron isn't the same as on Earth. Basically they both need to touch this 'Pregno-ray' and it sends their energy to the men and women of Valeron. This apparently helps them move their soul into younger versions of themselves. Thereby extending the life of their planet. So Power Girl gives in, and does end up helping. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, there appears to be a girl, Satanna, that has an agenda to take Power Girl down. She's looking for the Ultra-Humanite, and she appears to be in league with Dr Sivana. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray write this book. While Amanda Conner does the art. Honestly . . I really like it. First of all, the art is fantastic. It really has a 'fun', upbeat type feel to it. And Jimmy and Justin write just enough humor into the story to keep things interesting. I loved the dialogue between Karen and Vartox this issue. Especially after she started drinking the 'golden wine'. Actually . . I think I may like this one better than the regular Supergirl series.

Blackest Night - the Flash #2 - DC

In these last 3 spin-offs of the Blackest Night . . Flash, Wonder Woman and the JSA . . we seem to be getting the most insight into the characters involved. This issue operates on two fronts. First we have the Rogues breaking into Iron Heights to try to confront, and stop these Black Lantern Rogues. Then we see the effects of Barry being given a Blue ring by Saint Walker. Remember . . in issue #6 of Blackest Night, the 'New Guardians' were given the resource to temporarily deputize someone for their cause. Saint Walker . . or rather the Blue ring, ends up picking Barry. At the same time, Nekron has put a black ring on the hands of all of the heroes that have died and come back. So Barry is fighting and trying to save Bart. He's not like the other Black Lanterns. He's still alive. But he's alive . . wearing a Black ring. And Barry won't give up hope in saving him. He also saves Jason from the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm construct. Meanwhile, as the Rogues come up against their dark counterparts, there's a few things that come to light. The Black Top asks the Weather Wizard . . 'Do they know Mardon? Do they know how we planned to take out Snart and control the Rogues before I died?' I think that may be something that comes back later. Plus, as Capt Cold is about to take out Black Boomerang Owen comes rushing in. 'I can't let you hurt my father. I'm going to help you dad. I know how to bring you back.' I love the way Geoff Johns writes these characters. It's great to see the Rogues back together again. Even if it is under these circumstances. Plus, since Geoff is writing Flash Rebirth, I think it's only natural that he's handling this part of the story. It was said way up front that the Flash was going to play an important part in this overall story. But we still haven't seen what that is yet. And Scott Kolins returns to the character that put him back on the map. I loved his influence on the Flash book, and I'm glad to see that he's back doing this character again. Even if it is only for a few issues. I can't wait to see how this one wraps up next month.

Green Lantern Corps #44 - DC

Well, it looks like Mogo has stepped up and saved OA and the Central Power Battery. It seems, at some time, he was given a primacy directive by the Guardians. Basically, he pulls himself into close proximity of OA, and then increases his gravitational force exponentially. In order to do so though, he has to temporarily interrupt the power-rings of all the Green Lanterns that are trying to defend the planet. Every living thing is pulled off of OA and sent on a collision course with Mogo. It looks like everyone is in a hazardous descent towards the planet, but . . Mogo stops the Green Lanterns re-entry shortly before impact. The rest of the Black Lanterns? They're absorbed into Mogo's surface. 'All the Black Lanterns will be pulled through each stratum of my being. They will be torn asunder and diffused. Sifted into atoms. Until all that is left of them . . will be drawn to the center of my core . . where they will forever be superheated and prevented from re-forming. In other words, my fellow Lanterns . . they will burn for all eternity.' Well . . I guess that's one way of getting rid of the infection. However, while all of this was going on, Guy still has a Red Lantern Ring on his left hand. Kyle tries to talk to him . . let him know that he's not dead. But Guy appears to be to far gone. He won't believe what he's seeing. And he can't get past the rage that the Red ring is feeding him. But Kyle refuses to give up on him. Next issue the Green Lantern Corps needs to get to the task of rebuilding OA and the Central Power Battery. However, it looks like they're all going to have to take on Guy before that can happen. I think Peter J Tomasi is doing an incredible job with this series. I love his take on these characters, and this army. I also love Patrick Gleason's work as the penciller. I definitely don't think this guy gets enough credit. He draws some incredible visuals for this book. And . . we're getting near the end. Blackest Night is almost over. Only 2 more issues. And then? . . . Brightest Day! But I don't necessarily think that's the end. I think it's more like the beginning of the rebuilding. Plus . . we're going to get an awful lot of stuff in the next 2 months. Buckle up. I think the ride is about to get extremely bumpy.

Dark X-Men #3 - Marvel

Ok. This was an interesting issue. But . . I'm not sure what it all means. Nate Gray, who reappeared last issue, has come to Avengers tower to confront Norman Osborn. Which obviously puts him at odds with the Avengers. Norman's Dark X-Men come running also, but . . most of them decide to stick to the side-lines for a little while until they get a chance to see who's winning. Omega is afraid to get to close to Nate. He's not sure what absorbing his powers will do to him. As is Mimic. But, at the same time, Mimic is entranced by Nate's precognitive powers. He wants the opportunity to see what's going to happen. Anyways, Nate puts up a pretty good fight, but he really seems to have a problem defending himself against Ares. Ares ends up taking him down, but when Norman goes in to examine the body, it appears that Nate self-combusts. However, Mystique can see through the ruse. She exposes Nate, as he is now posing as Norman Osborn. So . . does that mean that Norman is dead? Or is Nate just trying to fix the world that he sees that Norman has corrupted? Which would put Norman . . where? I thought Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk did a pretty good job with this issue. But . . it left me with more questions than answers. And by the way . . Simone Bianchi drew an amazing cover.

X-Men Forever #15 - Marvel

This issue we find out just exactly what happened to Ororo after she killed Wolverine, and after she took off when they tried to capture her. Out of instinct, she headed straight for Wakanda, and T'Challa. I don't think she started out trying to manipulate the events of this country. I think she just wanted to be in the company of her old friend . . her former lover. But, when events arise with T'Challa's enemy, Killmonger, I think Ororo saw the chance to put the events of her past behind her. She was over it, but she felt that everybody was still judging her for what she had done. So with Killmonger's unwitting help . . most of the government, as well as T'Challa are eliminated. Ororo then brings the Royal Palace down, blaming it on Killmonger's savage attack. In the wreckage they find Ororo the sole survivor. And to the populace, it appears that she and their king had exchanged their vows in private. She was now the Queen of Wakanda, and the sole seat of power in it's government. And all of this happened while Fury, Charles and the rest of the world looked on . . helpless to interfere. Anyways, that fills in her story. I thought this issue was a nice change of pace to the hectic schedule of the stories in this series so far. It was kind of a breather issue. Plus Chris Claremont got to do a little character development with our now Queen of Wakanda. Peter Vale gives Tom Grummett some help with the art this issue. Overall, I thought it was an entertaining issue, and it filled us in on this aspect of the story. In the back of the book, Michael Hoskin gives us a little fill-in on the rest of the Marvel Universe. Basically, he tells us what was happening around the rest of this corner while the first 15 issues of this book were happening. It was interesting. I like this series so far. And I love Chris' writing. I just hope this series has the staying power it needs . . and deserves. I can't wait to see how far Chris goes with this.

Uncanny X-Men First Class #7 - Marvel

I'm still not thrilled with this book. This issue wraps up the Knights of Hykon story-line, so . . I think I'll call it quits after this one. I know this is basically just a rehashing of the stories from the original Uncanny X-Men title, but . . I guess I just don't see the reason, or need for the rehashing. Most of the major story-lines are out in TPB form now, so . . what's the point. I appreciate that Scott Gray is trying bring the story-lines up to date . . give them more of a 'current' feel, but . . it's all ancient history. I'm sorry. I don't want to just sit here and keep ragging on the book. I think that Scott is trying his best, as is Scott Koblish and Nelson DeCastro. But . . they can only have so much artistic license in interpreting these stories. They can put little nuances and things into it, but . . at the same time they have to stay pretty true to the original. So I imagine they don't have a lot of freedom. And that's got to be torture to a creator. Anyways, my freedom as a consumer is to pick the items I wish to spend my money on. I think I've given this title more than a fair shake, so . . it's time to cut my losses. I'd hate to overlook a book that I may enjoy simply because I'm spending my money on something I don't.

Nation X #2 - Marvel

I'm on a streak here. I'm sorry, but . . this book didn't thrill me all that much either. I understand what they're trying to do . . give us a little insight into some of the various characters that now inhabit the ranks of the X-Men. But . . it just all seemed a little boring, and meaningless. Our first story, probably the best, was about Jubilee catching up with some of the Young X-Men. I think she's kind of gone to them as an experienced ear to listen, but . . I think she's just as interested in hearing the stories of their adventures. I think she misses it. But she can't bring herself to actually step foot on the island. It's like she doesn't feel that she has the right . . or she's not deserving. However, I think she'll be back . . eventually. She's just working it all through right now. She knows that they're family, she just can't bring herself to face them. This chapter's story was by CB Cebulski and Jim McCann. With art by Mike Choi. In the next chapter we catch up with Quentin Quire and Martha Johansson. This story was interesting. I'm just not sure what the point was. Plus . . we're not sure about what happens to Martha. This chapter was by John Barber and David Lopez. Next we have a story about Northstar and his long distance relationship. My only comment here is . . can we please get Northstar past this self-absorbed, flighty character. He's been stuck in this role for quite a while, but . . I also remember him being a much better character. Why has he been relegated to being the joke of the team? Tim Fish does the story and the art for this part of the story. And finally we see Remy beating himself up for all the mistrust and doubt that he's brought with him back to the team. He definitely doesn't feel that he deserves a place here. He tries to make a break, but . . he's pulled back in by his compulsion to do good. He just can't help himself. Becky Cloonan does the story and art for this part. I'm sorry . . I just wasn't that thrilled with this issue. Yes it's good to see some of the characters that aren't normally featured in and of the main X-Titles, but . . Overall, it was all pretty boring. These could've just been back-up stories in any of the other titles. And $3.99? Yikes!!

the Amazing Spider-man #617 - Marvel

This one wasn't really at all what I was expecting. It seems like someone . . a Doctor Trauma . . seems to be making a new Rhino. But we don't know yet for who. This one seems more bestial. It takes most of the issue before we actually see it . . him . . in it's entirety. Until then, the best visual we have is when we see it coming through some smoke as he gets mad and impales a scientist that's trying to antagonize him. And . . the other Rhino, Aleksei, is still around also. My confusion is in that I expected the Kraven family to play more of a role in this story. Later on . . the final 2 pages, we learn that it seems to be the Kraven's that have commissioned this new Rhino. And all of this was a test. She showed the new Rhino, the old one . . and told him he had to beat him before he would ascend. But Aleksei . . Aleksei is in love with a woman named Oksana. We're given more of their details in the back-up story. In it Joe Kelly and Javier Pulido show us how Aleksei and Oksana met. And how he was set upon the path of redemption. It seems that all he wants to do now is live a normal life. Which he seems to have accomplished. That is until the new Rhino shows up at the Casino where Aleksei works . . he's a bouncer . . big leap there . . and starts tearing the place up. I'm still a little confused though. I thought the Kraven's were assembling some sort of villain-army here . . going around and gathering up Spider-man's rogues gallery and getting them all in concert. This whole issue is pretty much devoted to catching us up on these 2 Rhino characters. I thought the story was ok. Joe Kelly did a decent job. Like I said, it just wasn't really at all what I was expecting. I also wasn't overly thrilled with the art. Again, Max Fiumara did a decent job, but . . it just wasn't a style that really thrilled me. I'm sorry. I really don't mean for this to sound so negative. The book wasn't terrible . . not by a long shot. But it also didn't really stand out. It just was what it was.

the Invincible Iron Man #22 - Marvel

I think I may have been having a bad night when I was reading these 3 books. As with the Ghoul, I wasn't very happy with this book. Again, I think Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca are doing a great job. But . . overall . . it was a pretty boring issue. Last issue Cap, and Thor, and a few others tried to jump-start Tony's body . . well, mostly his brain. Overall, it seemed to have worked. All his vital signs seem to be pretty much back to normal. However. . the brain doesn't appear to be functioning. Or, at least, it's not cognitive. The hard-drive is spinning . . but, there's no response. So most of this issue is spent with everyone trying to figure out why it didn't work. As with the last couple of issues, we also see the story from Tony's perspective . . a dream like state. He seems to be stuck in some kind of story loop. In fact, he's gone through it so many times that he's starting to notice that it's a little more than deja-vu. And when that happens, he starts to make changes, to the story and the environment. But now he's in a new aspect of the story, so he hasn't realized yet that it's going to keep repeating. But he does know that things have changed. For example, the repulsor unit has shown up in his chest. He doesn't know what it is or why it's there, but every time he tries to put the armor on, that he dug up out of the sand, it hurts. So anyways, now that Dr Strange has entered the picture, that's where he is going to try to go to help Tony . . his subconscious. I guess, he has to get him to realize that he's still alive . . in a dream . . and it's time to come out of it. Also, that Ghost-assassin guy that Madame Masque hired . . you know, the one that's in the Thunderbolts . . well, he has shown up in the hotel. Maria comes across him by accident, so they take Tony down to the basement to try to keep him from harm. We'll have to wait until next issue to see how that works out. Overall, I guess I thought the book was ok. I just didn't feel like the story progressed very much. Then again . . maybe that's the point. Maybe Matt is trying to keep Tony out of the story a little bit . . to focus on his supporting cast, for a few issues. If so . . it worked. I mean, we know he's not just going to go from his vegetative state, straight to being a super-genius again. So Matt can stretch out his recovery and acclimation for at least 6 issues. But let's at least get him on the road to recovery. However . . having said all that . . I do like this book. So I'll stick with it . . shut up . . and move on to the next book.