the Amazing Spider-man #628 - Marvel

I'm sorry but I just haven't been overly thrilled with this book of late. This issue Spidey goes up against a new Captain Universe. Ok, granted the guy has been newly chosen for his position . . he doesn't have a lot of experience with his powers, but . . this guys got a whole different level of power that 'ol Petey. Plus, we've already seen that he's knocked out the Juggernaut. So what does our angst ridden hero do? He starts batting around with this guy like a horse-fly on a mare's ass. He knows he doesn't stand a chance against him in a 'one-on-one' fight, but . . I guess he's just hoping to keep him busy long enough that 'ol Juggy will come to and take care of him himself. Well that, and he's trying not to get his head taken off. Well . . Juggy does eventually show up, but . . Captain Universe has headed underground because he and Spidey felt some tremors and I guess he can fix the tectonic plates with his powers. But . . he does come back. The story end with Juggy palming both of their heads like over-ripe melons, but Captain Universe still insists that he has him right where he wants him. I don't know. The whole story seemed kind of contrived to me. I just had a hard time buying it. And yes I realize these are comic book stories so there is some artistic license due. But this seemed even more inconceivable than normal. I guess we'll have to wait until next issue to see how it all wraps up, and hopefully find out what it's all about. I struggled with this one. It's by Roger Stern and Lee Weeks. The back-up story seemed like a more normal Peter Parker story. He's broke, he has no job, and he's just about out of web-fluid. A typical Spider-man story. The only difference here is that now he's black-listed. But that's what Spidey always does. He always hits bottom before bouncing back. Mark Waid and Tom Peyer wrote it, with some fantastic art by Todd Nauck. I love Todd's stuff. So anyways, this story ended for me much better than it started. But . . that's the way it goes, sometimes.

Kato Origins #1 - Dynamite Entertainment

This book was ok. But as far as Kato's origin goes . . after reading this issue, I don't feel like we got a whole lot of information. Basically, this issue was set up like a crime drama. Kato runs across the murder of a Korean man. Since this story is set up in 1942, there's a lot of profiling being done towards Asian-Americans. Kato is Japanese. However, since Pearl Harbor happened only a year ago . . he's letting people believe that he's Korean. He's not happy about it, but . . it's a necessary evil right now. Anyways, he's witness to a lot of prejudicial feelings, and even more appalled that the murder of this man is being left on the street like a stray dog because of his skin color. But he knows that this is a message for him because this is a Korean man with Japanese Kanji scripted on the wall of the alley in his own blood. It says "Coward". And that's pretty much the gist of the book. As far as Kato's background goes, we learn that he was in the Japanese army, and . . we learn about Japanese card games. I'm not sure of the relevance, but . . maybe it'll become clearer in the second issue. Jai Nitz writes it, with Colton Worley doing the art. Of the three Green Hornet series that have been released so far, I'd have to say that this is my least favorite. It just didn't do anything for me. I don't know. I'll probably pick up the second issue, just to see if maybe I missed something, but . . I'm not holding to high of expectations for it. I'll be open-minded. We'll see.

Hellblazer #266 - Vertigo

I was a little lost on the purpose of this whole story . . I think it's a British thing, but it appears to me that it's a fight for power between the Conservative Party and the Tories. John uses his usual magiks and mysticism to win the day here . . the slight shift of hand and misdirection. But . . what I took out of the story was that he was trying to be something that he wasn't anymore. At one time he was like kin to Faeces McCartney and the whole punk revolution. They fought for the same thing, and were moved into action by the words and deeds of Margaret Thatcher. And their idol was Sid Vicious. So when Faeces comes to him saying that his effigy of Sid has been possessed by what he believes to be Sid's soul . . of course John has to go and help. He dresses and poses like one of the Punks, because the only lead they have is that the Conservatives are recruiting them out of a local pub. When he provokes a fight between him and Epiphany's new boyfriend, the person watching is intrigued by his handling of the situation. When he's taken to meet the Party, he realizes that this whole thing revolves around some old souls taking up residence in reanimated corpses . . in an attempt to try to gain some power. He introduces them to Faeces effigy, hoping that when the soul realizes he's not who he thinks he is . . he'll get mad and destroy all the other wayward souls. Which he does. But John tells Faeces that this is only the tip of the iceberg. There's a whole bunch more of these characters out there. And right now . . John's to tired to deal with them all. I think jumping back into this lifestyle, John got a taste of what he felt when he was young and lived it the first time, but . . he also realized that he's not young anymore. And he's already played that game once . . when it was relevant to him. But now . . now it's time for someone else to take up the charge and find their own reasons for retaliating against an oppressive regime. He's got other battles that he feels are important, and that's where he needs to focus his attention. I think he's finally decided to cut the strings between he and Epiphany also. It's flattering to have someone young, and attractive around who idolizes you. But . . since he can never do anything about it, and the temptation is driving him crazy . . it's best just to pull the plug and put 'er down. He's just going to hold Epiphany back from whatever she can be. And he's going to wear himself out trying to keep up with her. It's a no-win situation. Besides . . I think Epiphany just reminds him of what he already lost . . Phoebe. Anyways, I don't know if that's what Peter Milligan's story was actually about, but . . that's what I took out of it. So, to me . . something that prompts that much thought in this little cranium, can't be all bad. I'm just joking. I really enjoyed the story. Peter is brilliant. And of course it was even better because Simon Bisley did all of the art. I've been fan of this book for a long time. And this is a good example why.

Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 - DC

First of all . . I think Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen are doing a great job with this book. I love the look and feel that they're giving the 'streets of Gotham' with these stories. However, that being said . . I was a little let down by the wrap up of Zsasz' story-line this issue. But, to be honest, that wasn't really the most important part of the story. At least not in my eyes. To me what really came out of all of this was Colin's character and his desire to be a 'good guy'. What started out as a bad situation, when he was injected with Venom and sent after Batman, has turned out to have a kind of 'fairy-tale' ending. In that this orphan kid, who's been abused and manipulated, has used what he's been dealt to try to emulate his hero . . Batman. Well . . maybe 'emulate' isn't the right word. But he's trying to do something that he feels the Batman would be proud of. We also see that Damian has a human side when he refuses to let the circumstances of these kids . . both the ones still alive, and dead, proceed unabated without a champion to their cause. Maybe he's feeling how he's been pushed, and prodded, and manipulated through his young life . . stealing him of his childhood. But whatever the reason, he steps up and does the right thing. And when he under-estimates Zsasz . . Colin is there to help him catch his breath, regain his strength, and alter his attack. Which ultimately is the difference in Zsasz' defeat. But everything was kind of glossed over as far as what Zsasz was doing, and why. However, like I said, with the human element of Damian and Colin's story, I think it more than made up for the short-falls. In the back-up story, I like the way that Marc Andreyko is splitting up Kate's attention on 3 fronts. First she's got the 'streets of Gotham' thing to worry about, as one of it's 'champions'. Secondly, as the DA she has to try to swim through the murky waters of Gotham justice. And right now, it's about as polluted as it can get. Not to mention having to deal with Black Mask/Jeremiah Arkham and Jane Doe in both areas. Then on top of all of that, she has to deal with being a mother. Which right now isn't working out to well for her. First of all she's not keeping very good track of Ramsey. And then . . Ramsey's father, and apparently his grand-father also, Iron Munro, don't feel that Kate is acting in Ramsey's best interest and have come to Gotham to take him back to LA. All of this is happening as Ramsey is roaming the streets of Gotham and on the final page comes across one of it's unruly gangs. I don't know who I feel more sorry for . . the gang, or Ramsey. Anyways, I think Marc does a terrific job of weaving all of this together. Especially considering that he only has 8 pages in which to do so, and still progress the story . . on all fronts. And as always, Jeremy Haun's art is perfect. To me . . this book seems like what Detective used to be . . a vehicle for the 'other' stories in Batman's life, and city. I like it! A lot!

the Shield #8 - DC

I've been saying throughout this series that I think Eric Trautmann is doing a great job with the stories here. And this issue serves as yet another example of that. At the end of last issue we see that Lt Higgins is being sent out on a mission with . . the Brain Emperor. Remember, he's that guy with the snaky locks that we saw in the cave in Biayla when Shield and Magog went in to save all of those lost soldiers. Well . . apparently he's been re-purposed over to our side of the fence. They're going after the Black Seven, and the Brain Emperor has seen the inside of their operations. Apparently Grodd had a control implant in his brain, which the Shield inadvertantly destroyed. But the Shield Command has fixed it and slaved it into the systems in the Shield's suit. The Black Seven is ex-AIM, and ex-HIVE who have banded together to manufacture and sell extreme weapons of mass-destruction. Plus it appears that they have their hands in some genetics things too. Anyways, they've got a lead on one of the scientists, Viktor Burgos, and they want Shield to go retrieve him . . in Paris. The problem is . . the message they intercepted was and arrest order from French Intelligence. So, Shield and his team have to get to him before they do. Once on the ground, they've got about 30 minutes to pull off the operation. Most of it goes pretty smoothly, until they get to Burgos' lab. There he's got his own enforcer that they need to take down. It isn't much of a fight, but it does waste time. When they're finished Shield doesn't have enough time to properly interrogate Borges to get his information on the Seven. So . . he sets the Brain Emperor loose on him. The story ends with his snaky locks digging into Burgos' brain. Not a pretty sight. Although the art was tremendous. Cliff Richards does the art for this story, and I thought he did a great job. I also found the back-up story about the Fox, by Brandon Jerwa and Michael Avon Oeming kind of interesting. Overall I thought it was a decent issue, very intelligent, with a nice cover by Sami Basri. I don't know how long this series will last, but . . it's a nice distraction from the traditional 'super-hero' fare.

Billy Batson and the Magic of SHAZAM! #15 - DC

Last issue, Black Adam turned Freddy Freeman into Black Adam Junior. Freddy hates Captain Marvel because he feels that he's responsible for the loss of his legs. Black Adam decides to use that anger against Captain Marvel by giving him another enemy to fight. Really, Black Adam has one goal . . he want to retrieve the Scarab that holds his powers. Back in Egyptian times, when the Wizard took away his powers, he believes that they became engorged in the scarab that was buried with him in his royal tomb. So really, he just wants to delay the Marvels, while he goes back to get his Scarab. There's always been a problem with Captain Marvel and Black Adam though. When they fight, because their powers come from the same source, they can't hurt each other. As Mary Marvel and Black Adam Junior are fighting, they discover that they have the same problem. However, when Black Adam Junior gets mad and decides to hit Captain Marvel, he discovers that he can hurt him. Black Adam is confused by this, but has decided to use it to press the advantage. The issue ends looking like Captain Marvel is on the ropes. But they have to remember, if Black Adam Junior can indeed hurt Captain Marvel, then . . it stands to reason that he should be able to return the 'hurt' in kind. I enjoy this book. I think that Art Baltazar and Franco do a good job with the stories here. I think they keep them pretty true to the original series. And I'm really glad that Mike Norton is now the artist. I think he's done a great job since he's come on board. I know this is supposed to be a kid's book, but I've always enjoyed the SHAZAM! family of characters. So I'm just glad that we've got someplace to get that every month.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #15 - DC

Well . . Starro the Conqueror has been, well . . conquered. It happened last issue, when Vril Dox, with the help of Despero, finally took him down. Well . . there were more people involved, but . . of course Vril is going to take the credit. But the problem this issue is . . Despero has taken Starro to perform a public execution on his home planet of Maltus. Because of that, Starro is being hailed as the returning hero, and the savior of Maltus. While Vril . . Vril is lucky that somebody doesn't shoot him while he's standing on the sidewalk. Seriously . . even though this whole thing has been Starro's fault, Vril is taking the blame. Starro did strike here first. And he did use L.E.G.I.O.N.'s own robot army, and Silica to do it. So . . Vril, and L.E.G.I.O.N. take the blame. Which is too bad because Vril was looking to reestablish Maltus has the home-base of L.E.G.I.O.N. But with that planet being taken out of the equation, Adam Strange has another idea. He offers him Rann. Yes it was decimated by Synarr, but . . if Vril can bring it back to life, they'll both win. Vril believes that he can do so, but . . not where the planet is currently residing. He asks for Sardath's help . . building the biggest Zeta-beam he's ever attempted, and then he moves the planet to . . the space where Tamaran once stood. Which is kind of ironic because . . Starfire has just returned to space. She left Earth because she's tired of feeling so alone. But once she gets to this sector of space, she realizes that she has no place to return to. She doesn't know what's happened on Maltus, but . . it's to suburban for her. She thinks about Okaara, Euphorix and the Citadel. But it doesn't really sink in to her until she sees the empty space where Tamaran once stood. It was destroyed by the Psions. However, as she's floating there in space looking . . all of the sudden Rann comes Zeta-beamed into it's place. She doesn't know it yet, she thinks that Tamaran has returned. Oh, and back on Maltus, right before Despero is about to swing his blade and take Starro's head . . Storm Daughter and Smite come beaming in to take him away. So obviously, Starro is not quite as defeated as we thought he was. Tony Bedard is doing a great job with this book. I think it's great that all of our main characters are anti-heroes. Well . . some of them want to do good. But then they're lead astray by Vril. I also really enjoy Claude St Aubin's art. Not to mention the beautiful cover by Kalman Andrasofszky. I know that Starro has been defeated, but . . don't worry much. There's never really a dull moment for this band of characters.

Power Girl #11 - DC

This is another great 'Girl Power' book that I just love to read. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti put in just enough humor here to keep it interesting and poignant. And the meld between their writing and Amanda Connor's art is perfect. Last issue Atlee came to Karen for help, but Karen wasn't aware that Satanna had replaced her brain with that of the Ultra-Humanite. The Ultra-Humanite has made a play for Karen's body before, but she never thought he'd stoop to this. So there's a big drag out fight between the two women, until Karen finally uses some brains and takes her up into the atmosphere . . away from Atlee's power-base, the Earth . . until she passes out. She then makes a beeline to Satanna to find out what happened to Atlee's brain. It turns out that Satanna has put it in some type of gorilla, or monkey, or something. Anyways Karen takes her back to Strata, Atlee's home under the crust of the planet, to get Aurla to help them out. It turns out that she can clone Atlee's body to replace her brain in. She also does a little work for the Ultra-Humanite . . Gerard Shugel. She used the genetic sequences in Gerard's brain to clone him a body also. And while in there, she noticed the abnormal sequences that caused his degenerative disease and fixed that too. You'd think the guy would be grateful, but . . he kisses up to Karen to her face, however once she leaves . . 'It's not over, Power Girl. It's never going to be over between us . . I will have my . . revenge.' And we see that Satanna has also decided that it's time to quit playing around with Power Girl. When Karen came looking for Atlee's brain, she took off Satanna's arm to get her to talk. She knew it wasn't a problem because Satanna and her 'subjects' are excellent surgeons. But even with a Cheetah arm, she's not happy. She decides to get ahold of Doctor Sivana. 'Tell him I've decided to kill a Kryptonian. And I no longer care what he wants in return.' Well, I'm glad that Atlee is ok, but . . Karen's strengthened the resolve of 2 pretty powerful enemies in the process. This is a great book. Yeah sure it's a joke on the 'super-hero' level, but . . it's the tongue-in-cheek humor that to me makes it such an enjoyable read. Well . . that, and . . Amanda's art.

the Brave and the Bold #33 - DC

I thought this was a great issue. I just love J Michael Straczynski's writing. It took me about half way through to figure out what was going on, but when I did . . the story turned kind of somber for me. But . . that was the intention. Basically what happens is . . Zatanna has a dream and decides that she needs to arrange a 'Ladies' night. So she gathers up Diana and Barbara and forces them to take a night off and enjoy the town. Which they do. But it's after some clubbing, when they're winding down in a diner, that I started putting the pieces together. Diana is looking a little melancholy and she tells Babs that she's thinking about the Greek Oracles . . women who could tell the future. First of all, that's when I realized this story actually takes place before she became Oracle. I know . . I'm a little slow sometimes. But then I also realize that they were giving her a not to subtle hint. Sure there was the Oracle of Delphi. Probably the most famous one . . she could see the future, but her curse was that if she told anyone about it, or tried to change it, it would only make matters worse. But then there were other Oracles who provided information. 'They did more than just prophesy, they read the signs of the times. Listened to reports from distant lands. And were absolutely vital to kings and others who needed advice about the world around them.' Does that sound like a job that a certain 'so & so' does now? Anyways, it turns out that Zatanna had a vision, or dream, much like Delphi. It included the future of Barbara, but . . she didn't know when exactly it would happen. So she just wanted to give her a night out that she could remember having a good time and dancing. She also gave her some advice to cross the bridge between her and her father and spend as much time with him as possible. And she does. Soon afterwards he's at her house having dinner, and there's a knock at the door. It's the Joker. And we all know what happens next. I thought it was an interesting story before I put the pieces together. But after, it became a much more emotional one. It was a story as only JMS could've told. I thought it was a brilliant perspective, and excellently expressed. I also enjoyed Cliff Chiang's art. It made the whole thing seem a little more light-hearted. Even when you knew that she was ultimately doomed. It also sports a beautiful cover by Jesus Saiz. Now . . I have some bad news. There's only 2 more issues for this solicited. I already know that JMS is heading over to one of the Superman titles. So . . I'm not sure what the future of this series is after that. It doesn't say that it's the final issue, so . . I'm hoping that it's just taking a couple of months off, much in the way of the Titans book. Maybe it'll come back after Batman's return, and return itself to being a Batman team-up book. I'm just speculating. I have no idea. All I know is that this book has had a great run and I'd hate to see it go away. If I find out more information . . I'll let you know.

Supergirl #52 - DC

Well . . Zod and the Brainiac Revenge Squad have enlarged themselves and are now trying to find Brainiac himself. Meanwhile, Kara and Brainiac 5 are running around the ship, trying to fix the future that Brainiac has destroyed. Yes, he's Brainiac 5's . . um, Great-Grandfather? Anyways, he's brought Supergirl with him because he wants to destroy the central processor for the ship . . and she's got the best strength to do that with. Plus . . I think he wants to keep an eye on her because when she traveled to the future . . a few years ago, Brainy fell madly in love with her. Unfortunately, Saturn Girl wiped those memories clean before she came back in time. I think Brainy wants to make sure that nobody slips by giving her too much information. Plus . . I think he just wants to spend some time with her. It appears that Lex has made it into the bottled city of Kandor, and finds where Commander Gor is interrogating Reactron. We're under the impression that he's there to free him, but . . he just takes something from him. I think it's the device to help him enlarge and get out of the city. Which he does, and then . . he steals one of the bottle cities for himself. Anyways, we get our first image of Brainiac, in like 3 issues, when he pops up on the monitor to tell Brainiac 5 that he's been tracking him, and to watch out for the Visper Phages. So Brainiac 5 and Kara destroy the central processor, which allows Superman and Quislet to get aboard the ship. Whatever happens next, happens in Superman #699. I thought it was an ok story. I enjoyed the dialogue and interaction between Kara and Brainy. I thought that was easily the best part of the book. The rest of it just served to progress the story a little further. Sterling Gates writes it, with Ivan Rodriguez doing the art. I thought Ivan did a great job. I assume this is his first work, but . . it looked very polished and finished. Matt Camp does the cover. Overall, I thought the issue was ok. If you don't follow the book though, you might just want to wait for the TPB and get it all together. I'm sure it'll be out soon.

the Spirit #1 - DC

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this issue. I wasn't really expecting much. The previous series had started to bore me long before it was over. To me it seemed like the humor that they tried to infuse into the series just became stale. And the character, really just wasn't all that believable. However, it seems to me that Mark Shultz is taking a little bit of a different approach this time. First of all, Central City is corrupt as any city can get. Everyone is on the take. So while Dolan can try to help out Denny whenever possible, he has to do so on the sly. By maintaining his reputation as a corrupt city official, it helps him be privy to information that he wouldn't get by trying to beat them from the outside. Even his daughter doesn't realize that he's trying to do the right thing. Meanwhile, the Spirit walks a fine line. He doesn't really have any powers, or enhanced cognitive abilities, so he's just playing the game with what he's got. And what he's got is the rumor that he's come back from the dead. So criminals are afraid of him because they don't think he can be killed. And the people on the street see him as a 'spirit' of justice. He's got an intricate web of information sources built up throughout the streets of Central City. And he uses that to try to figure out the actions of the Octopus and the Eight Families. There's still an air of subtle adult humor strewn throughout the book, but . . it's very feint. Anyways, by the end of this issue, the Octopus is tired of the Spirit's actions. So he hires an assassin to take care of him. A beautiful European assassin that goes by the name Angel Smerti. He hasn't seen her yet, but . . I can just tell that this woman is going to be trouble. So overall, I thought it was an interesting first issue, which actually shows quite a bit of promise. Of course the art by Moritat didn't hurt either. It looked great. I think this one will be ok. As a back up we're presented black & white stories about the Spirit by a plethora of talent. This issue's story was by Denny O'Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz. It was a nice addition to the first issue. I wasn't very kind at the end of the last series, but . . after reading this issue, I'm kind of looking forward to this one. Hopefully they have some staying power.

Superman / Batman #71 - DC

Ok . . when we started on this storyline, a couple of months ago, I was wondering why we were going all the way back to the Our Worlds at War story-line. At the time that was an interesting story-line, but . . I didn't really see what the relevance was now. That is . . until this issue. There's a couple of clues presented this issue that may indicate it's relevance to current story-lines, especially with Superman and what's going on with New Krypton. First of all, this guy who was posing as Anderson Gaines is a Durlan. And eons ago, there was a brutal war between the Durlans and the Kryptonians. Somehow one of their old war vessels ended up on the dark-side of our moon. So, while not being able to take on Superman directly . . the last Kryptonian . . remember, this all happened before the Kandorians came to Earth . . the Durlan is settling for destroying Superman emotionally by crashing this warship into Metropolis . . Superman's adopted home. Now, first of all there's this Durlans hatred of all things Kryptonian. However, right now . . he thinks that Superman is the last of his species. What happens when he finds out about the Kandorians and New Krypton. Secondly, while fighting Superman, he makes the observation . .'War is a way of both our races. If there was ever again another world of Krypton, there is no doubt in my mind that they'd attack your adopted planet.' So, Superman beats the Durlan by freezing him. When he attempts to change shape, he shatters into a million pieces. However . . on the final page, we see one of his arms floating in the water of the Metropolis River, where Batman crash landed the ship. So I'm thinking . . somehow he's survived through that piece of his being, and he's directly related to this war with New Krypton. But in order to do so, he has to be in a position of power where he can influence events. I don't think that he'd assume a role of a Kryptonian, as that would go against everything that he believes. So . . I'm thinking . . maybe, General Lane? And if not the General, then maybe one of the people behind project 7734. I know it's a leap in logic, but . . there has to be a reason that this story was presented now. And I just have this curiosity to try to figure out what's going on next. Also, I'm wondering what the final fate of NRG-X is. Anyways, I enjoyed this story-line by Joe Casey and Joshua Williamson. And in this issue Jason Fabok does the pencils. I enjoy this series. But to me . . it's still . . World's Finest!

Azrael #7 - DC

To me, what really makes this series is Fabian Niceiza's stories. He has a fantastic way of sewing all of this information together, while at the same time still stirring in some character development. This issue Michael is obsessed with the abduction of a child. Apparently he's relating it back to when he was a child and witnessed an abduction. His brother . . maybe? Anyways, I think that he felt helpless at the time, even though he witnessed it . . and it's been eating at him ever since. So, when a new similar case opens up in his own backyard . . he dives in head first. And he's not coming up for air until he finds this kid. Almost to the point that his obsession is starting to make the other members of the Order of Purity question is sanity. I mean they all know that sooner or later the Suit of Sorrows is going to drive him crazy. They've just been waiting for him to step over the cliff. 'His eyes . . he has so much anger. Adrian was right . . it appears that Michael . . is starting to succumb to the madness of the suit.' However, I think that if he can reconcile with his family . . or at the very least use them as a sounding-board . . I think he can work through this anger and frustration. The problem is . . his sister has committed a horrendous act. Yes, she was under another's influence . . and Micheal knows that, but . . I'm sure when he sees it in his head, he still sees her doing it. And unfortunately, even after she's acquitted of her acts . . he still seems to be distancing himself from her. At the time, it might be because of this abducted kid, but . . if he doesn't watch it, the gap will never be crossed. In the end he ends up saving the kid, but he's still haunted by Willis. Also, I think the Order has given him a therapist. She doesn't tell him who she works for, and I could be wrong, but . .'Someone hired me . . to set you free. You might not understand right now, but you will . . very soon. Enjoy your freedom, Mr Lane.' I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. But . . the more I read it, the more I'm getting in to it. Also, I really like Ramon Bachs' pencils. As with the story itself, I think he gets better and better with every issue. By the way . . that's a fantastic cover by Francesco Mattina.

Justice League of America #44 - DC

The picture at the right isn't the actual cover of this issue, but . . it was the first one solicited, so . . I thought I'd keep it as it shows the progression of the cover between this one and the final one . . the one below, on the left. I like the final cover better, but obviously this one was set up to hide the identity of the person behind the white flame there. The final cover didn't change all that much, but . . it does give us more of a clue as to the woman's identity. And obviously, from the David Mack cover . . it's more than apparent who's returning this issue . . Jade. But, if you'd been reading Blackest Night, and the #0 issue of Brightest Day . . this shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you. To me the only thing that's really surprising about all of this is the question as to why she, or her arrival, seems to be having so much affect on her father, Alan. Obviously this story takes place after the Fourth Reich story, currently running through the JSA title. First of all Obsidian is back, and he makes reference to it as he, Dr Mid-Nite and Mr Terrific are discussing his father's condition. Also it appears that the JSA may be getting a new member, in the form of Sebastian Faust . . Felix Faust' son. He claims that he may be able to help Alan, but . . 'He's just the beginning. An omen of what's to come . . the End of the World.' I wonder why the new guys always show up with bad news. Anyways, I like the way that James Robinson is slowly building up this team. Rather than the usual recruitment drive, he's got Batman working with what he's got trying to build a solid foundation. A foundation built on teamwork. Right now that includes only Dick, Donna, Congorilla and Mik. But . . you have to start somewhere, and at least they're trying to make it work . . and get to know each other. But their training session is interrupted by a green meteor crashing through the satellite . . literally, on it's way towards Earth. Specifically, the Black Forest of Germany. When they get down to the crash site, they're surprised to find be met by the arrival of the Demon. I'm not exactly sure why he's there. He said he was drawn to it, as if it were calling out to him. But, the team comes together and they use their strengths to calm him down. Although Jason Blood doesn't offer much more information either. Anyways, Bill and Donna pry open the rock and find Jade resting inside . . as in a chrysalis. I'm going to make a comment here, but . . I want to say upfront that I'm not ragging on Mark Bagley. But it's this . . I enjoy his work. However, I think he's doing a much better job on this title than he did on Trinity. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy his work on Trinity, but . . he did a lot more of it there. Remember, it was a weekly series. So it seemed more rushed. Or not as 'finished'. Anyways, my point is . . being back to a monthly title, Mark's art once again has that 'finished' look to it. By that, I mean . . it's inked better, has better colors, and has more shading and perspective to it. Also it has more backgrounds. It seems to me that sometimes when they're trying to push out the work, like on a weekly series, sometimes the backgrounds are the first thing to suffer . . or become nonexistent. So basically, what I'm trying to say . . in a roundabout way, is that I think Mark is doing a fantastic job with this series. I was a little afraid at first that I'd compare it to his work on Trinity, but . . he's doing so much more with his craft on this title. And it definitely shows. I guess I just want to say that I appreciate his hard work. Whew! That was long winded. Sorry! So anyways, my suggestion is . . if you ever liked the JLA, or thought about picking up the title . . now is the time to get on board. The creative helm is very solid, and it looks like they're trying to build the team the right way. I think it'll be back to it's position of posture very soon.

Green Lantern #53 - DC

Blackest Night is over, but . . this book gives us a whole bunch of new questions. First of all . . who is that talking to Hector Hammond? Secondly . . in the 'Lost Sector', who is that talking of omen and portent? It appears to be a guardian who is forever shackled by the green light. Is it Scar? And if not . . what happened to Scar? We haven't seen anything of her in quite a while now. Whomever it is appears to have Parallax shackled to the icon of the Sinestro Corps. Did they just happen to get that beast, or are they trying to get all of them? There appears to be a relationship, of sorts, forming between Lex Luthor and Larfleeze. That's more than a little disconcerting. Larfleeze wants what Lex has . . even if he doesn't know or comprehend what that is. And Lex . . Lex wants a Black Ring. Also it appears that Ganthet and Atrocitus are on the same page . . they both want to bring down the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps. I know there's no love lost there, but what really surprised me is their inclusion of Guy Gardner in their plans. Why does he have such a beef? Because of Tora? It was a little somber, and I thought a unique gesture that the Flash and Saint Walker were trying to put to rest all of the desecrated souls. I know it's all part of the cleanup process, but . . I really didn't expect to see it. Anyways, most of this issue is spent with Hal and Carol exploring their relationship . . thier 'new' relationship. Apparently she's planning on hanging on to the Star Sapphire ring for a while. Even though she said it was temporary. They both love each other deeply, although Hal admits that he's still seeing Cowgirl. And . . their relationship has always been a work in progress. When it comes to the exciting stuff . . flying planes, adventure and danger, and sex . . they have no problems. But the day to day stuff, like communication . . that's what they need to work on. Maybe that's why Carol is hanging on to the ring. Maybe she thinks it puts them on the same level. I don't know. We'll have to see how all of that turns out. Anyways, Sinestro has found the White Lantern, but apparently nobody can touch it or move it except for it's intended recipient. And right now . . it's asking for Hal Jordan. I enjoyed Geoff Johns story here. I like the way things are wrapping up, and spinning out at the same time. To me . . this is where his strength lies. I enjoy his myopic story-lines, but . . I think his best talent lies in the subtleties of story telling . . the character development and interactions, the planning and congruence of events, and his imagination. With Brightest Day on the horizon . . I can't wait to see where we go with all of this. Especially with the 'how' and 'why' certain heroes were brought back to life. I have a feeling that things aren't as 'rosey' as they appear right now. I'd also like to say that while I miss Ivan Reis work on this series, Doug Mahnke is doing an incredible job. I love the way he can change the mood of his art. When we see the 'Lost Sector', it's all dark and gloomy. But then on the pages with Carol and Hal, things are brightly colored with crisp, clean lines. I think Doug is a great talent, and this is the book that he seems to shine the best on. Oh yeah . . also spinning out of all of this is going to be a new Green Lantern title . . Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors!. I don't really know anything about the book, other than this is apparently where Guy Gardner's story is going to end up. As I hear more . . I'll let you know.

Smallville - Upgrade - Season 9 Episode 17 - CW

John Corben is back this episode, and it appears that he's appreciative of having been given another lease on life. The episode starts out with Lois poking her nose into one of Tess' secret bases. Later in the show, Tess tells Chloe that she's created her own bodyguard. I guess that's what John is, but in the lab where Lois is Tess is having her scientists upgrade him. She putting a chip in him so she'll also be able to control him. Luckily, Lois disrupts things just before that can occur. And in the confusion John makes his escape. Unfortunately for Clark, the next day when he's trying to retrace Lois' steps, he stumbles across the same secret base. The problem is . . Tess was also experimenting with Red Kryptonite. So in his haste to go running into things . . he inhales some of the dust left behind. Which sends Clark on a bender . . and right into the waiting arms of Zod. Well that, and the fact that he finds out that Chloe and Ollie have been stockpiling Kryptonite, and Kryptonite based weapons all over the country. Zod doesn't know what's causing Clark's change of attitude, but he picks up on Clark's weakness almost immediately. Chloe weapons were mainly as a deterrent against the Kandorians getting their powers. If that were to happen, they'd have to have some way to stop them . . some line of defense. Anyways, John saves Lois from the fallout in the lab. And then Lois saves John when his Kryptonite heart is about to give out. Later on, when Clark and Zod are working together, Chloe and Tess have also joined forces. Chloe helps her finish the upgrade on John so that they can us him to help Clark. He uses the caves to transport to the fortress where he begins fighting them both. He seems to have the advantage because of his Kryptonite. But when they freeze him, and Clark drops a giant icicle on his head, it appears to have knocked the chip loose. But John remembers enough of what Chloe's intentions were to still help Clark. Of course that involves stabbing him with a piece of Kryptonite to burn the Red influence out of his body. 'A friend sent me here to save you. I owe you. The problem with being saved is . . we don't always know when we need it.' I'm not sure if he was talking about Clark or himself. Anyways, Zod and Tess go back to working together. She sows the seeds of mistrust by showing Zod pictures of Clark helping out some of the Kandorians with 'papers' and ids. She sells it as a 'silent revolt, and tells him that some of his flock are 'looking towards a new leader'. Which prompts him to step up his timetable. He decides that the Kandorians that he feels are worth should get what's due to them . . their powers. Since he got his from Clark's blood, he's going to use his for them. And of course Clark apologizes to Chloe. It wasn't an overly exciting episode. And like I said before . . I'm kind of getting tired of this whole Zod thing. But . . it did move the story along and sets us up for the finale in a few weeks. I'm sorry . . the season finale. Despite not being thrilled, it's still one of my favorite shows.

Smallville - Checkmate - Season 9 Episode 16 - CW

I thought this was one of the best episodes this year. Well . . Absolute Justice was the best, but this one is a close second. Pam Grier was perfect as Amanda Waller. She's had spot roles in a couple of episodes now, but in this one . . I thought she was perfect. Apparently she doesn't know about the Kryptonians . . yet. But . . she is sure that there's an alien presence out there. And, being an agent of the US Government, she's convinced that eventually they'll prove a threat to the United States' power and influence. So she's recruiting people with powers. Essentially she wants to put an army together so that once the threat arrives, they have sufficient force to deal with it. She starts out this episode by going after Green Arrow. Well . . not her exactly, but her agent, Tess Mercer. But after he breaks out, we find out that he wasn't their actual target. Just their opening move. We assume that she's after 'the Blur', Clark, but she's actually after so much more . . Watchtower. Amanda wants the hub of their communications, and the data-banks of all of their knowledge. She wants the names and address' of every one of their associates . . Black Canary, Impulse, Cyborg and everybody else. This episode serves to give Chloe, Clark and Ollie information about the organization that they never even knew existed. But Amanda's information is cut short. Clark comes to the Castle after Chloe is abducted. Amanda finds out who he is. But she's also got J'onn contained below. While Clark is trying to negotiate Chloe's release, J'onn gets out of his cell and destroys the blood-sample that they were basing all of these assumptions on. Plus Ollie, in an attempt to help out Clark, uses the Watchtower's computers to disable the Castle's power grid. In the confusion, Clark and Chloe get free, and J'onn uses his telepathic powers to erase Waller's memories. So . . the immediate threat is taken care of, but . . there's other players out there that they don't know about yet. J'onn seems to be working for somebody, but he won't tell Clark who. Just that . . 'Things aren't always as black & white as they appear.' And Amanda has to change tactics as somebody else has taken a move. When she returns to her office, she finds her chess board cleared with one Red King sitting square in the middle. That's a threat if I've ever seen one. Anyways, I thought it was a great episode, and . . no Zod. Well . . there was no Lois for that matter either. The rest of the year, I think, is just going to get more and more exciting, as we're down to the last 5 or 6 episodes of the season. I love this show. If you're interested, the best time to buy the DVD's is usually around Thanksgiving. That seems to be when Target or Best Buy puts all their seasons on sale. You can always find them on E-Bay, but . . they usually don't go for much cheaper than they do when they're on sale. And you get them brand 'spankin' new.

World War Hulk: Hulked Out Heroes #1 - Marvel

This is yet another one that I was planning on passing on. I try not to get drawn in to everything. But . . as fortune would have it, I again found another variant on E-bay for 99 cents. When that happens . . how can I say no? So . . here we are. But, I have to say, I was kind of disappointed in this one. I thought we'd see all the various Hulked Out Heroes in this issue . . banging heads, and taking names . . but his one revolves mostly around Deadpool . . er, sorry . . Hulkpool. He's got his AIM friend, Bob with him, and his plan is to use Thundra's time device . . you know, the one that the Red Hulk buried in that rock in the desert . . and use it to go back in time and kill himself. I know . . not a very well thought out plan. Anyways, Bob tries to help him out, but he's not familiar with the device . . so, things go awry. First Hulkpool ends up in 1717, where Dr Doom had sent the FF one time to retrieve Blackbeard's treasure. He ends up teaming up with Thingbeard for a short time, and they're the scourge of the seas. Until Bob attempts to retrieve them. From there they end up in prehistoric times with Dino and Moon Boy. Bob's next retrieval sends them into the Wild West, circa 1873, where Hawkeye has been sent back in time and is doing target practice with the Two-Gun Kid. But Bob's afraid that he's going to mess up the time-stream so he tries to send all of them back to their respective times. Which he appears to have accomplished, but . . Hulkpool ends up in 1945 and inadvertantly stops Captain America from rescuing Bucky from his fateful trip on the missle. Next issue is titles . . "Goodbye, History!" Anyways, it was an interesting issue. It was filled with the usual humor that surrounds Deadpool. But . . it wasn't at all what I expected. I thought the story by Jeff Parker was just a little bit . . scattered. I'm not sure what the purpose of all this is. And I don't understand why this wouldn't have been presented in a Deadpool mini. It's not like there isn't already 5 or 6 Deadpool titles coming out next month. So, it left me a little confused . . not just about the story, but also about it's motivations. Although I will say that Humberto Ramos' art was fantastic . . as usual. To me that was easily the best part of the story. I'll probably end up picking up #2 . . just because I'm a completest . . which is why I try not to even get started on things sometimes. So . . we'll see what happens. But I don't know what this has to do with the World War Hulks storyline. Other than that he was transformed through the Red Hulks energy. But I can't see what that has to do with the rest of the storyline. Oh well . . it is what it is.

Iron Man Legacy #1 - Marvel

I wasn't actually planning on buying this series, but . . I found this variant cover on line for 99 cents, so . . I picked it up. But . . I may regret that decision. I thought that this was going to be a mini-series, but . . it looks like it's Iron Man's second on-going series. Oh well. I'll give it a shot. This issue starts out with a disaster happening across the ocean in Transia. It appears that someone has gathered up some Stark technology, and has gone into that country to kill it's soldiers and able bodied men. Tony is appalled because he'd given up making the weapons that his father used to originally build this company. But now, someone has scraped up enough to make it looks like some earlier version Iron Mans are causing terrorism in a sovereign nation. The real problem is . . Tony's hands are kind of tied. The United States and the UN won't get involved because of how other countries in their alliance would look at it. Tony can't get directly involved because he has no diplomatic standing. And Iron Man is the face of Stark Industries. If things went 'south', it wouldn't be good for the company. Besides, as Rhodey comments, 'You may be able to start something, Tone. Hell, knowing you, you may even be able to end it. But take it from me, what you won't be able to do . . is control it. So you gotta ask yourself: Can I live with the unintended consequences?' Tony understands the logic, but he just can't sit around doing nothing. He's just not built that way. So he goes over in what kind of looks like Hulk-buster armor and lets them know that he's here to help. Whether they want it or not. But it appears that this whole thing has been manipulated by one man. And by acting, Tony is playing right into his hands . . Doctor Doom. I thought Fred Van Lente did a decent job with the story. When it started out, I thought it was going one way. But then it completely changed courses with the events in Transia. However I hope Fred follows up what he started in the beginning of this issue. It was kind of a unique perspective. I liked Steve Kurth's art, also. I've really enjoyed the Invincible series, so . . hopefully this one will turn out to be just as good a read.

Ultimate Comics Enemy #3 - Marvel

First of all . . fantastic cover by Ed McGuinness. Spider-man, Nick Fury and Carol Danvers never looked more menacing. Speaking of which . . I really like Carol's role in the Ultimate Universe. She's just as much a hard-ass as Nick . . if not more. I love her personality and conviction. Anyways, Carol is still trying to piece together why all these attacks are happening . . and how Roxxon is connected to all of this. So to are the people that are being attacked . . Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, Nick Fury and Spider-man and company. Remember . . Ultimate Spider-man is a team book right now. With Sue's powers, they end up capturing the being that seems to be causing all the trouble. But not before he tries to attack Spider-man in his home in Queens. But they may have a more pressing problem within their own ranks. Ben was one of the first to try to jump on this guy, and in the process took the full force of one of his blasts. He seemed to be okay, but . . now something seems to be happening with his rocky hide. It's almost like the guy turned Ben into his own 'dirty-bomb'. There seems to be some kind of energy build-up, under the epidermis. And then everything blows off him at the same time. Ben's worried about the people around him, but . . I'm sure it's not any great joy for him either. This is another great story by Brian Bendis. I can't wait to see what it's all about, but . . I'd bet it's about getting the Fantastic Four back together. Right now they think that Reed's dead, but . . we'll see. Maybe it'll be the Fantastic Four with a different member. I don't know if that's the case . . I'm just guessing. And if it is about the FF, what do Roxxon and Nick Fury have to do with the whole thing? Hopefully we'll get the answers next issue. By the way . . great art by Rafa Sandoval. The whole issue was a great piece of work.

New Mutants #12 - Marvel

In this third chapter of Second Coming, X-Force is still trying to help Cable and Hope make their way to Utopia. However, when they found them last issue, Bastion had already found them and Stryker and his Purifiers were on the scene trying to capture them. Meanwhile, Sam has been ordered to attack a manufacturing facility . . run by Bastion and Cameron Hodge, to try to prevent Bastion from getting any more ordinance. But it's a lucky thing they're there . . although I'm sure they don't feel so, they're outnumbered about 100 to 1 . . when X-Force starts applying the heat to the Purifiers, they call to Cameron Hodge for back-up. But, since the New Mutants have them otherwise involved . . there won't be any back-up coming. During the course of all this, the Purifiers fire something at Illyana that disrupts her abilities. Sensing her weakness . . something from the other side reaches out and pulls her in. I think there's definitely going to be a division between the X-Men when this is all over. We've been watching X-Force and their extreme methods for the last 2 years. But the rest of the X-Men haven't known what they've been up to. Seeing them in action, I think, is definitely going to cause a division in the rest of the team. They'll either agree with what X-Force is trying to accomplish, or . . they'll completely disagree with their methods. And right now Nate doesn't know who to trust. He's not sure how Bastion found him so quickly, and he thinks he may have a man on the inside of the X-Men. He hasn't figured out yet that they're tracking him through his techno-organic virus. Although there is someone inside the X-Men. Just not in the way we'd think. Damage and Rogue are watching over some of their captives, but . . I think Donald Pierce is only feigning capture. I think he's trying to manipulate things from within. The issue ends when Karma tries to take over Cameron Hodge and she then becomes his primary target. Things don't look good for her on the final page. I think Zeb Wells did a great job with this part of the story. And Ibraim Roberson's pencils looked spectacular. I know this issue wasn't entirely about the New Mutants, but . . I think this has been my favorite issue to date. Not to mention that Second Coming is getting really exciting.

X-Men Forever #21 - Marvel

Last issue the X-Men found out an important piece of information about the Consortium, from Fabian Cortez . . one of their board members is Tony Stark. That is major because Nick had always trusted Tony. Plus, not only is he a founder of the Avengers, but a member as well. We also know that Amelia Trask is one of it's members . . the wife of Bolivar Trask, who created the Sentinels. But this issue we find out that 'Ziggy', Amelia's daughter, has created some new type of Sentinel . . the Neo-Sentinels. We don't find out much about them this issue, but . . they do seem to look more menacing, and . . 'Ziggy' herself is in some type of suit. I assume because she's in control of them. All of this centers around the Consortium's project, Plague-X. Apparently that's why they had Fabian. They figured out a way to mimic his powers and create a ray that will reach out and touch all the mutants on the planet . . including the latent ones, and speed up the process that causes the 'burnout'. The problem they had though was how were they going to deal with the lashing out of the X-Men when they realize what is happening. They're a formidable force, easily on par with the Avengers. But now that they have 'Ziggy' and her Neo-Sentinels, Amelia feels that they have more than enough force to follow through with thier plan. I may be reading to much into everything, but . . I don't think that Tony is necessarily on board with the plan. It seems that the Starks got in bed with the Consortium through his father, Howard, and his friendship and relationship with Bolivar Trask. I'm betting that Tony is only involved because he feels that he can do more damage from within. Although if that's true, I'm sure Amelia has prepared for that possibility. She seems like someone with many contingency plans. Anyways, this title seems to be reaching a fever pitch. It's almost the end of this first run, and we also have an Annual and a Giant-Sized edition in the works. When Chris Claremont takes on a project he goes all-out. I can't wait to see how this first installment is wrapped up, and . . what plot-lines are left hanging to be carried over into the second chapter. This is definitely an interesting series. Rodney Buchemi is doing the art for this chapter. But Tom Grummett still did the cover.

X-Factor Forever #2 - Marvel

This series picks up back when X-Factor consisted of the original members of the X-Men. Much like X-Men Forever, it starts at a point in the team's history . . and goes in just a little different direction. This one starts when the team is living in Manhattan in Apocalypse's ship, 'Ship'. It's sentient, and, I guess, that's it's name. Anyways, we find out that before Apocalypse used it as a base, it was actually a product of the Celestials, and is in constant contact with them. Which is why Apocalypse has sent Cameron Hodge, in his new role as Master Meld, after the team . . to create a diversion. Apocalypse wants to find out just what information 'Ship' has been sending back to it's creators. In X-Men Forever they're dealing with the extinction of the mutant race through 'burnout'. In this series, it looks like it's going to be because of another reason. After reviewing 'Ships' information, Apocalypse starts putting a couple of things together. First of all, of all the mutants out there none of them are children of mutants. He also finds out from Caliban that of the hundreds of mutants living in the 'alley', there were never any children born. In fact, in all of Caliban's days as a 'hound', he's never seen a child born of 2 mutant parents. Which points to Scott and Madelyn's child, Christopher, as being unique in all of creation . . 'His birth . . may be the result of genetic manipulation by the villain who cloned his mother in the likeness of Jean Grey.' And at the end of this issue we see that the Celestial, Gammenon the Gatherer, has returned to Manhattan. I'm sure he's armed with the same knowledge that Apocalypse just gathered. Louise Simonson, who was writing the series at it's point of divergence here . . is also writing this series. I remember reading all those books. It was a great time to follow the X-Men. Although it seems that the common factor here . . between both of these series, is that eventually the mutant population is doomed . . in one way or another. The survival of thier species is definitely not in their own hands. Dan Panosian and Eric Nguyen are responsible for the art. Overall I enjoyed the book. I think it'll be interesting to see how Christopher's future changes in this time-line.

Green Hornet Year One #2 - Dynamite Entertainment

This series takes us through the original Britt's life . . the father . . the original Green Hornet. While the Kevin Smith series introduces us to the new Green Hornet . . Britt's son . . Britt. As much as people worry about being like their parents . . doesn't it seem a little odd that not only do they have the same name, but . . they also follow in each other's profession? I'd have to say that there's definitely cause for therapy there. Anyways, we get a couple different points of view. We see Britt's and Kato's attempts to knock off the local mob boss, Mr Caruso, in Chicago . . circa 1938. We also see Britt's life, a few years before that, when he's trotting around the globe. But it's not like the usual trust-fund kid's attempt at 'finding himself'. Britt is actually looking for trouble, and trying to find ways that he can make the world a better place. He genuinely wants to make a difference. Then we also get a view of Kato's life, also a few years before he comes to Chicago. He wants to be a samurai, it's what his father taught him. But with the ambitions of the Emperor, he's called into the service of his country. And as one of it's soldiers, he witness' many atrocities while pursuing their push into China. Obviously Matt Wagner is trying to show us the things that make up these characters . . not just their alter egos. And in the usual style of Matt's incredible writing, he's really showing us that these characters are much more than their flashy persona's. I'm enjoying the story, but honestly . . I think this one would be better read when the TPB comes out. Don't get me wrong . . I think Matt and Aaron Campbell are doing a great job here. But I think that it would be a much more enjoyable, and cohesive read, to be able to peruse it from start to finish. I am enjoying the story. But I'm much more interested in Kevin Smith's version. Although this series is a great source for anyone who's not really familiar with the character. Anyways, if you're on a budget . . wait for the TPB. I'm sure it'll only be a couple of more months. I'm sure it'll be a much more comprehensive read that way.

the Pilgrim #1 - IDW Publishing

There's really only one reason that I picked up this book . . Mike Grell. I love this guys work. But I hadn't heard anything about this series ahead of time, so I had no idea what to expect. Then before reading it, I noticed some of the ads for the book. Especially the part, 'This is a work of fiction. Although inspired by historical facts.' The first thing I thought was, 'Oh no, it's going to be a 'war' book.' I don't have anything against them, but . . they're definitely not my favorite genre. And that's what this is . . kind of. But not really in the way I was thinking. Basically . . the story starts out in WWII, in what looks like one of Hitler's command bunkers. It's not fully explained, yet, but it looks like it has to do with all that 'magic' and 'mysticism' stuff that Hitler was all obsessed with. It looks like they're dealing with the 'Spear of Destiny' . . maybe. But then we also see what I assume is some people in London doing some 'remote viewing' to see what the enemy is up to. The other people seem to have some kind of orb. Anyways, things go wrong when London is bombed. The orb is broken and we see that they've let some kind of demon, or something, loose. Then the story skips to the present, and a place called Psimex Research institute. It looks like a normal business, but it's actually a cover for military experiments in psychic powers . . specifically, 'remote viewing'. We see a General visiting the facility to check on their progress. There's some terrorist guy that he's out to get, but they have no 'actionable intelligence'. That's what he's counting on this group for. We see this General talking to the guy I assume runs the facility. They're both real ass-holes, but . . I'm not sure yet which one is bigger. We also see what's going on from the subjects point of view. They're trying to get the information that they want, but . . it's hard for them to ignore the guys in the hallway talking about them when their emotions are so raw and vagrant. They just have to be careful that they don't find out that they're watching them. They monitor them with encephalographs, and somehow they can use them to tell them what they're 'viewing'. It's the first issue, so . . not everything is explained yet. Right now we have to do a lot of filling-in between the lines. And the last part of the story is about a specific soldier who's still in the middle-east . . Tom. It's a flashback of this guy who seems to have the same power, and used it to save his squad from a bombing. But those things still result in somebody dying, so . . now he's having nightmares. I would imagine that this guy Tom is the Pilgrim. He's out there doing the same thing they're doing in the government projects, but . . he's doing it alone. Like I said . . it's only the first issue, so . . there's still an awful lot to fill in. But . . my curiosity has been piqued. Mark Ryan writes the story, and . . it's definitely interesting. Of course it doesn't hurt that Mike's art looked simply amazing. I'll definitely be looking forward to issue #2. Now I kind of want to see where this story goes.

Gen13 #35 - WildStorm

This was an interesting book . . with some of the Gen13 members now aboard the Carrier, the team has become kind of a hodgepodge with Gen13 and Gen14 members. So right now the team includes Fairchild, Burnout, Ditto, Runt, Hardbody and Windsprint. Ok . . there's more Gen14 character than Gen13, but . . I think it's still an interesting mix. We're also introduced to a new character this issue . . Pathcutter. We don't really know to much about him, other than his name, but . . I'm sure as this story unravels we'll be learning more. Basically, our team is on a trek across the wasteland right now. They might still be heading back towards Tranquility. I'm not sure. Anyways, they come across a wagon-train of sorts. They end up protecting them from this biker-gang that's been harassing them, but really . . all they want is some supplies. Pathcutter seems to be the leader of the caravan, and they're on their way to Pocatello. It's some small city in Idaho that seems to be relatively unscathed from the disasters. But before they get there they have to travel through the territory of some kind of robot-cyborg group. So Pathcutter hires our band of misfits as security. More like cannon-fodder if you ask me. He can send one group in to distract the cyborgs, while his group does an end-around. I'm not sure if he's that devious, but . . I guess we'll find out next issue as we seem to be in the thick of things by the end of this one. The thing I've always liked about this book . . and these characters, is that even when things are down . . they aren't all 'doom & gloom'. That's not necessarily true of the last year or so, but . . besides that time, this group usually stays upbeat. Or at the very least they use their sarcastic humor and wit to distract them from the realities of the world. Phil Hester seems to be getting us back towards that groove. So, to me . . this book has definitely made a positive turn. Even though the world they live in really hasn't. I'm also enjoying Cruddie Torian's art. In my book J Scott Campbell with always be the defining artist of this title, but . . I've long since given up hope that he'll ever, ever be back on this book. Cruddie is not a bad substitute. He's got a little bit of the same feel. I can definitely see some influence there. So, overall . . I enjoyed the book. I'd have to say that this is one of my top 5 books, as far as 'most potential', right now.

Magog #8 - DC

I have to say . . as much as I enjoy Howard Porter's work . . I'm glad that Tom Derenick took over on the pencils this issue. Tom's got a much darker, and grittier style to his work, that really fits this book, and character, quite nicely. Magog just looks much more like the hard-ass that he really is. He and his partner Axel are on two separate missions this issue. Magog has gone off to the Mediterranean Ocean to intercept a cruise ship that's been hijacked by pirates. It's a pretty open and shut case, until he finds out from interrogating one of the pirates that it's the people of Lesser Oceania that have done the hijacking. This is a very repressive country, but when Magog arrives he finds them in the midst of a civil war. Right there and then he should've backed off. But when he saw the military confronting the citizens . . he just had to get involved. 'China, Iraq, Kent State . . it never ends well. There's 3 ways I can take this. Bad timing on my part . . or right place, right time . . orrrr, both! I just know I'm going to regret this.' Famous last words. No matter what his intentions . . he's still an outsider. There's no way they're going to take his intervention well. But . . we'll have to wait until next issue to see what happens. Meanwhile, Axel has gone to a secret military base in Kansas because Mirage . . his personal computer, and apparently his best friend . . has lost all connectivity with the internet. That's where the Shield shows up. He's acting as security for this make-shift base. It appears that the only reason they don't put Axel in the brig is because he brings it to their attention about what's going on with the internet. And we also see that there's some kind of space-ship just outside of Jupiter's orbit also monitoring the situation. It's mostly aliens on the ship, but . . it appears that it's be commanded by an Earthling . . Colonel Tomorrow. It seems that they view the internet as more of a sentient being. They're actually surprised that we treat it as not much more than a novelty. It appears that they're actually trying to help us because the internet is getting ready to attack. They're just trying to figure out how to help us defend ourselves against it. But at the base where Axel is at, it may be to late. It appears that this has had some kind of affect on a couple of the soldiers, and . . with the Shield's suit being internet compatible . . it looks like he's been taken over . . posessed, maybe? This issue leaves a lot of open questions to be answered next issue. I think Keith Giffen is the perfect person to script this series. I think his mind skates on the edge of sanity, so . . he has the opportunity to present a lot of unique and cool ideas here. He's definitely a person that thinks outside of the box. And I think we need that originality to sell this character. I'm still not completely bought in. I mean, I guess they've given this guy a little leeway because he started out as a member of the JSA. But anybody else would've been in jail a long time ago. This guy is a serious loose cannon. And the part that I don't understand is . . I don't think he even realizes how far removed he is from where he started. It's either some serious denial, or . . insanity. I find this book entertaining, but . . frustrating at the same time. We'll see how long it lasts.

Adventure Comics #10 / #513 - DC

In the lead story this issue . . everybody seems to be having trouble with Brainiac. At the end of the last chapter, we saw that Superman had been hit with a Red-Sun ray and was hurtling towards New Krypton's surface. Obviously that's not going to happen. But, it was funny when Quislet, who's been jumping in and out of Brainiac's robots, uses one of them to save Superman. Meanwhile, Superboy and the Legion are still on board and they're trying to get to, and save, all the captured bottled cities. Afterall, the future of the universe rests on them being able to do this. But they aren't having any better luck than Superman. It seems that the walls of the ship themselves are holding the Legion at bay. Meanwhile Mon-El is enjoying his travels through space. This is all he's really wanted, ever since he was a kid . . to be able to fly among the stars and witness the miracles of the universe. The problem is . . this is all a dream. It seems that Brainiac has already captured him, and has him mounted in some kind of device that's feeding him these images. Superboy gets hit by a cheap-shot from Lex, and when he wakes up he's been shrunken and inserted into the miniaturized version of Kandor. He doesn't have his powers, but he does still have his Legion ring. But in Zod's eyes, that's not enough to qualify him as a soldier. Zod is taking a small force outside of the bottle . . the Brainiac Revenge Squad, but he won't let Connor help them out. He still considers Connor a clone, and not a true Kryptonian. Zod's forces are outside of the bottle and ready to fight Brainiac when the story ends. This story will be picked up next in Supergirl #52. Sterling Gates and James Robinson had a lot going on in this story, but . . there wasn't a lot of progress made. And for everything that's going on . . all the people attacking Brainiac from various fronts . . we don't even see him this issue. So . . is he off orchestrating everything, or . . is he just off taking a nap? I gotta ask, because apparently nobody attacking him is important enough to draw his personal attention. Travis Moore and Eduardo Pansica do the pencils for this part of the story. In the second one . . we see that Officer Romundi . . er, Car-Vex, is trying to settle into her undercover position within General Lane's ranks. She's devastated that she had to eliminate her friend, Quex-Ul, to prove her loyalty to the General, but . . she's confident that it'll all pay off in the end. That's a big mistake. It turns out that ever since she entered the General's base, he's known that she's Kryptonian. And . . she's fallen into her own trap . . the irradiated bacteria that adheres to the Kryptonians when they move at super-speed . . removing their powers. But before going down, she finds out that the General has also captured Nadira and Az-Rel. It seems that they're the ones that gave her up because the General was after Quex-Ul. They didn't know where he was, but they knew that she did. And they just wanted to stop the pain. I know these guys are the bad-guys, but . . I almost feel sorry for them. General Lane has no compassion or understand. He's single minded in the plan to reach his goal. Car-Vex learns that at the cost of her life. I really enjoyed Eric Trautmann's story here. You could almost feel Car-Vex's frustration and anger permeating off of the page. Especially at the moment when she realizes that she was never actually fooling them. Pier Gallo does the art, and . . it looks really good. Not that it matters much, but . . I guess with the next issue they're just going to stick with the original numbering of this series. So #514 will be the next issue. I don't know why it matters, but . . whatever. Overall I'm enjoying this story-line. It's a little frustrating, but . . I think that's the point.

Action Comics #888 - DC

Last issue we saw that Vohc the Destroyer was going after Flamebird with his newest creation . . Rao. Yes, he has attempted to create a god. Thara is going after the false god, but . . it's just to much for her to handle alone. It's a good thing the JSA shows up. But even they are hard pressed to slow the god down. And to make matters even worse, Jax-Ur has directed this abomination towards the Pakistan / India border. If either side sees this as a threat they're going to start launching nukes at each other. Putting Thara and the rest of the JSA at ground zero. But there's also something going on that none of them had counted on. Jax-Ur has sent Chris to the Phantom Zone. But I thought it was destroyed? Maybe Vohc rebuilt it . . I don't know. Anyways, Chris is sent there and he comes across the Nightwing creature of myth. I'm not sure how he found it . . or if it's really there . . maybe this is all just a fever dream in Chris' head. Anyways, they come to an agreement and they join forces to help them both escape. Which brings Chris back into the real world. And this time . . he really is Nightwing . . both in spirit and body. I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more interesting. This story is by Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann and Pere Perez. In the Captain Atom back-up, by James Robinson and Cafu . . the good Captain finally gets the upper hand on Mirabai. She comes after him with a hex, but . . apparently things don't work the same on him because of his science. Also, putting Mirabai down doesn't mean that he's out of trouble. In a world of magic and mysticism things aren't always what they seem. It appears that he's stepped out of one trap right into another. I enjoyed this issue. I thought it was interesting. Also, nice cover by Yildiray Cinar.

Batman #698 - DC

This story seems like a simple 'who-dun-it', but . . I think there's more to it than that. Basically, Batman and the Commissioner stumble across a murder spree. Edward Nigma turns them on to the idea that it's the work of a copy-cat serial killer. His notion seems a little far-fetched, but when Dick starts to do some digging he finds a few more bodies out there. What they have in common is that they're all financial people for the mob . . in one form or another. And they've all been recently released from Blackgate prison. Also, they've all been killed in ways that make it look like they were done by one of Batman's enemies. So far they look like the work of Zsasz, the Penguin, Mr Freeze, Two-Face, and finally at the end when someone goes after Edward . . he's made to look like the work of the Joker. And for some reason, all clues point towards Garfield Lynns, the Firefly. He's in Arkham now, but . . he was in Blackgate with each of the victims at one time or another. And was even room-mates with a few of them. But he's not talking. And then Batman gets some clues that point towards a shady looking character that goes by the name of Sebastian Rothschild. Or his stage name after he became a magician . . Sebastian Blackspell. When Batman goes to Sebastian's apartment, he finds another victim, and . . clues pointing towards the next . . Garfield Lynns and Edward Nigma. But those 2 don't really fit the pattern of the first victims. Anyways, the issue ends with Edward on the ground in an alley with a Joker-face, and cackling laughter in the background. Maybe the Joker is behind it all. But I have a feeling that something strange is going on with Edward. We'll have to wait until next issue to get it all sorted out. Tony Daniel writes this story, and does the cover, with Guillem March doing the interiors. I've really enjoyed Guillem's work on Gotham City Sirens, but . . I think his work in this issue is just a little bit better. Maybe it's the coloring, or the layouts, but I thought he did a great job. One more issue and then we're up to Batman #700 . . and the return of Grant Morrison.