Justice Society of America #42, #43, #44, #45 and #46 - as well as Justice League #48 - DC

I had to include Justice League #48 here because it's all part of the Dark Things story-line. This is the cross-over event between the JSA and the JLA this year. James Robinson does a great job with the story, and I'm really enjoying Mark Bagley's work on the JLA . . and by association, this entire storyline. Well . . except for issue #43 which is the epilogue to this series, and sets the groundwork for the future of the JSA. Well . . kind of. It actually sets the stage for Alan Scott's next evolution and role within the JSA. As well as Jade and Obsidian. Anyways, that issue is by Jesus Merino. Also Mark Bagley not only did the covers, but . . if you take all 5 chapters of this story-line, it provides a nice panoramic view of both teams. My only concern is that Mark does some work on the 150th issue of Ultimate Spider-man, and . . there's reports of him going back to Marvel to do some more work. I'm afraid this may be his swan-song as a DC artist. I don't know that for sure, but . . if so . . that would definitely be a loss for DC. As well as the readers. I think he's brought a great energy to the titles that he's done over the last year or two here. But . . such is the way of the comic book creator. Right? Anyways, Issue #42 shows us the amalgamation of Jenni-Lynn and Todd . . Jade and Obsidian. Apparently their respective powers exemplify the light and dark natures of the Star-Heart. With this new more powerful Star-Heart on the scene . . and their already seeming lack of control of their powers over the years . . especially Todd . . it seems as if they've been drawn together to form a physical manifestation of the Star-Heart persona. But, part of it is also because, for some reason, the Star-Heart is afraid of Jenni. Or at least uncomfortable with her. I think it all has to do with her being dead . . then a Black Lantern . . then resurrected . . and in this issue, for a short period of time, a White Lantern. Anyways, it's that power that she's tapped into that she eventually uses to break free of her brother. Although it breaks both their hearts as they can now never be within about a half mile of each other, as the temptation for this amalgamation will be to strong for either of them. Anyways, Faust figures out that the Star-Heart isn't actually there because Alan is really only a construct. He figures this out because the Star-Heart is using Fate to bind the heroes. Therefore, the real Alan/Star-Heart must be someplace else, and consequently . . they can attack without fear of consequence. Unfortunately . . for the Star-Heart, after this revelation Fate regains his composure, and after dissipating the Alan construct . . they force Alan and the real Star-Heart to return to the moon to face this army on it's own. And that's the beginning of the end. Alan shortly regains control, and the war is over. However, for Alan . . it's a tenuous relationship at best. Because of the Star-Heart's increased power he has to remain in control at all times. The slightest misstep and everything starts all over . . again. Finally in issue #43 . . the epilogue . . we find that Alan has decided to keep the Star-Heart's city on the dark side of the moon in tact. In fact it's become a safe-zone, of sorts, for all types of magical creatures from Earth. He's also become their leader . . for lack of a better term. Maybe administrator is better. And he's formed alliances with many other magical worlds. This includes Sorcerer's world, the 5th dimension, and Gemworld . . to name a few. Most of this issue is spent with Alan explaining all of this to Todd, as well as the dangers of him and his sister falling into the trap of the Star-Heart again. It's nice to see Alan and Todd talking like this again, but . . I don't think Todd fully accepts his father's reasoning. I have a feeling this is going to be something that's going to come back and bite them all in the butt again . . sooner or later. Also, between parts 5 and the epilogue . . JLA #48 and JSA #43 . . it seems like there's something missing. Almost like there's a part of the story in there that we didn't get to see, or something. I don't know . . maybe it's just me. Overall I really enjoyed the story. I thought it was a good run. Then in issues #44, #45 and #46 we start off in a new direction, under the tutelage of Marc Guggenheim and Scott Kolins. It starts out that there's this guy (?) that's been locked in this Afghanistan prison for the last 5 years. Two months ago he breaks out, and a couple of weeks later ends up in Monument Point wreaking havoc. It appears to me that all of this happens before the Dark Things story-line. The story actually starts out in the present, with Jay being asked to become the new Mayor of Monument Point, and . . then we flash back 2 months to what I assume are the events leading up to this. The reason I'm pretty sure this occurs before the Dark Things is because Alan is seriously hurt . . paralyzed actually, and taken to a hospital in Florida. So, in the course of stopping this obviously super-powered terrorist, the JSA pretty much lay waste to this little town. After they beat him, the stop to survey the damage and Wildcat asks . . ' . . what have we done?' In issue #45 we find out that this new 'super-villain' is actually connected to a mission Jay and Alan had during WWII. Since they were being kept out of Germany by the Spear of Destiny, they decided to do what they could in Japan. They were ordered to destroy a secret project called 'Drachen'. What they found was a baby. So obviously they couldn't bring themselves to destroy it. Fast forward to the present and 'Drachen' is this new 'super-villain' that they're calling Scythe. So ultimately Jay and Alan are responsible for everything that's happened here. Which forces Jay to decide that he's going to stick around and help them rebuild. Then in issue #46 we find out, for sure, that this is actually happening after the Dark Things. Alan talks to Dr Mid-Nite about how he's pure energy, but . . he's taken physical form. And with all the concentration he has to wield to keep the Star-Heart in check . . he doesn't have enough energy to heal himself. They've got Scythe locked up in a local back vault . . which Michael converted into a prison cell, but . . he still appears to be pulling some strings. The Mayor's aide, Mr Hogan, has hired a Dr Chaos for some reason or another. All we know is that at the end of the issue Lightning loses her powers, and appears to be dead, as does the new Mayor . . Mayor Voytek. Of course it doesn't help that Todd decides he wants to enact some revenge on Scythe for what he did to his father. He ends up distracting Jay right when he's needed most. The blurb at the end of all of this . . for next issue is . . 'Things get worse!' That doesn't bode well for . . anyone. I like the story-line so far. I'm just a little confused about the timeline. In the beginning of all this Jay was being asked to be Mayor . . after Voytek's death. Then we see that Scythe broke out of his cell 2 months before that. He attacked this city 3 weeks after that. The initial attack is when Alan was paralyzed. So I'm not sure how this all fits in with the previous story-line. Or, maybe . . I'm just reading to much into all of this and I just need to accept the story for what it is, and not get all caught up in the continuity of the situation. Right? It certainly sounds like a plan to me. Anyways . . great covers by Shane Davis. And on issue #46, Mike Norton steps in to help out Scott on the pencils. Oh yeah, and the title of this story-line is 'Supertown' . . for whatever reason.

Justice League: Generation Lost #7, #8 and #9 - DC

I get the distinct feeling that there's a plan going on here. Well . . with Judd Winick taking the helm of this book . . obviously there's a plan. What I mean is . . I think that the White Light, or White Entity . . what do we call this thing? . . I think that things are happening for a reason and that . . shudder the thought . . Max isn't as bad as he's being portrayed to be. Yes he's most likely working on his own agenda, but . . I'm thinking that the White Light, while giving it's operatives a certain latitude, is trying to keep things going in a distinct direction. Max seems to be using the JLA teleporters to hope all over the planet. He's going from base to base, and safe-house to safe-house. Which is why it seems like it's so hard for this group to catch up to him. They're literally chasing their own tail. So I'm thinking that they're going to have to stop chasing the man, and start chasing the plan. Max is trying to put something into place, but our team doesn't know what that is yet. However, if they keep wasting time chasing Max . . they never will find out. Because they'll never stop long enough to try to put the pieces together. Most of issues #7 and #8 are spent with our team trying to break in to Checkmate headquarters because Bea is convinced that Max is there. Which he is, but . . apparently he's disguising his appearance in some way. We see him as who he is . . as does the rest of the team, but . . I'm thinking that as far as the rest of the world is concerned . . and basically any monitoring technology such as Checkmate's 'nest' . . he's either cloaked, or appearing as another person entirely. And right now my guess is Alton Janus . . the new White King of Checkmate. I don't really have anything to support that supposition, but . . that's my guess. However, no matter who he is, our rag-tag group here isn't going to get anywhere until they know what he actually looks like. At least to the rest of the world. Which, to me, seems like Jaime might be the team's best bet. Jaime doesn't actually know Max, or believe that he's alive. But . . since he's still showing up in the Scarab's data-banks, he's siding with this group, I think, out of hope and faith. But that would also mean that he's someone who would be included with the masses of the rest of the world . . the people that Max has under his spell . . for lack of a better term. When he does come across him . . or the team has him in his sights, he may appear different than what everybody else sees. Anyways . . it's a thought. But as I was saying, the team poses as a rogue group of Rocket Reds and breaks in to Checkmate. Of course things go to hell pretty quickly, they don't find Max, and . . Bea, Jamie and Captain Atom are exposed. So at the very least Checkmate knows that this rogue group are still on some type of mission . . self imposed, but just as diligent. Also while in Checkmate, Max gets a flash from the White Light . . with a message. 'Maxwell Lord of Earth. Stop the war before it starts.' And he's shown a vision of him taking out Magog. Which is what lead me to the thought that while being misunderstood, Max may not necessarily be as bad as everyone thinks. That or he truly does think that he's doing the best things he can to make the world a better place. I don't know. Max is a tough one to figure out. I just don't think things are as 'black & white' as they appear. Anyways, after the cluster, they make it out of Checkmate, and it appears that for now they aren't going to be pursued. At least by Checkmate. But when they return to their decommissioned embassy in Germany, Bea is confronted by Max himself. Max tries to use Bea to take out the rest of the team, but . . Captain Atom saves the day. Not necessarily the building, but at least the rest of the team-members. Booster also comes across him, and Max temporarily takes control of him. However, Max knows that he needs to get out of here, and he quickly takes his leave via one of the teleporters. At the end we see him back at Checkmate recruiting Magog. Supposedly it's for that organization. But his enticement is . . he'll get to take out Captain Atom. Apparently Max wasn't listening to the warning from the White Light. Personally, I love this book. I think this is a great group of underutilized characters. With this pursuit of Max really drawing them all together. I think Judd is doing a fantastic job with the story and the overall plan being developed here. Also the art has been great. Joe Bennett does the art for issue #7, with Aaron Lopresti stepping in for #8. And #9 is done by Fernando Dagnino. And they all look great. I was under the assumption that this was going to be a 12 issue series, but . . so far the listings have it going up to #17. And it doesn't look like there's an end in sight. So now I'm guessing that it's going for a year, which would mean 24 issues. That's sad because I think that this could definitely blossom into an ongoing series. Why not? There's numerous Avengers books. Why not do the same thing with the Justice League? Anyways, in the meantime . . I'm diggin' this series, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Justice League of America #47 - DC

James Robinson and Mark Bagley are doing a fantastic job with this Dark Things storyline. We're starting to get some hints this issue that there may be a few flaws in the Starheart's plans. The Justice League, as well as the JSA have taken the fight to the Starhearts stronghold, on the dark side of the moon. Batman is leading a team, which Shilo Norman recently joined, to try to covertly enter this edifice that the Starheart has constructed. While the JSA All-Stars are leading a full-frontal assault on the city, to mask Batman's team's entrance. While the Starheart is holding Jay, Ted and Faust captive. During their entrance though, Batman's team notices that the constructs that their being deluged with are very mechanical and systematic in nature. Not at all what they'd expect from the Starheart . . a being of pure chaos. So that leads them to believe that Alan is exerting some kind of influence beneath the Starheart's possession. Meanwhile Faust has started questioning the tactics and sanity of the Starheart. Goading it, if you will. 'If you're all powerful, as you claim . . why is it Dr Fate who's keeping us captive and not you?' While Jay notices, as he asks other questions . .'I get it now. You're just a child.' While Dr Mid-nite has finally made it to Mikaal, to aid in his release. And the team gets some much needed help on the final page of this issue. Kyle Raynor has joined the fray. Jennie's greatly relieved . . somebody is finally here to help her father. 'Help Alan Scott? Sorry, Jennie. Not even close. The Guardians of OA have sent me here to kill him.' Well obviously he's not going to do that. But it'll be interesting to see just what help he does provide. Anyways, it seems that Batman's plans are working, and his various groups are chipping away at the edges of the Starheart's plans. Now, hopefully, it'll all come together next issue. I think this has been a great story-line. And probably one of the most exciting JLA/JSA team-ups I've ever read. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I'm also enjoying the Cyborg / Red Tornado back-up story. This story takes us through the process of Vic rebuilding his injured friend. He's made him better than ever. Unfortunately, the first test of his new systems is when the Starheart's influence takes control of him, and Vic has to figure out a way to bypass all of the improvements that he's made. It's an interesting story also by James and Pow Rodrix. But it ends on a rather ominous note. 'I know how to help him. Trouble is . . to give him what he needs to save himself, I risk releasing the JLA's worst foe!'

Justice League Generation Lost #6 - DC

This issue is mostly about Nathaniel Adam. With the recent bomb, that he saved the rest of his teammates from, he had to absorb the energy it expelled. As usual this sends him catapulting through time, until his body readjusts. He lands in a primitive time that he assumes is the 1800's, but . . the people's accents are strange. He later finds out that it's actually the year 2351. It appears that whatever Max Lord is doing in the present . . this version of Earth is a result of him machinations. He's also found a very old, very frail Kara . . Power Girl. Everyone else is dead. Nate finds out that there was a war, and lots and lots of Kryptonite. Kara's in agony. She doesn't eat of sleep, but . . she also can't die. Nate hears her story, and witness' the fate of this Earth, shortly before being pulled back to the time in which he left. We also get a little recap of his origin, for those not familiar with his character. He's actually one of the old Charlton characters that DC bought . . way back when. Anyways, all of this has served to further his resolve to help find and eliminate Max Lord. I've always liked Nate's character. He even had his own series for a short time back in the 80's. But from the previews I know that there's a big confrontation coming up between him and Magog. Supposedly . . somebody is not going to make it out of that. I really hope that it's not Nathan. I think he's a great character. He's just been completely underutilized his whole existence. I'm just speculating here, but a thought crossed my mind while reading this story. Nate goes on to explain that he's becoming less and less human. He feels like underneath his shell, all that's really left is energy. And we all know that energy can't be destroyed. So . . what if he catapults through time, one of these instances, and loses his memory? Couldn't it be conceivable that one day he could become Wildfire of the Legion? I know. It's a big jump there, but . . with the right creative juices behind it, I could see somebody possibly explaining it that way. Anyways . . it's just a thought. Back to the book though . . I think Judd Winick is doing a great job with these stories. I enjoyed the art of Keith Giffen, Fernando Dagnino and Raul Fernandez this issue. And the beautiful covers by Cliff Chiang and Kevin Maguire. I do have one more question though. I thought that this was a limited series . . 12 issues, or so. But right now in the previews it's listed up to issue #14. So for now . . there doesn't appear to be an end in sight. I'm not complaining . . I was just wondering.

Justice Society of America #41 - DC

This was a good issue, but most of it was spent with the various heroes reacting to the Starheart's control of either their fellow team-mates, or various villains. The Starheart seems to have a 'chaotic' effect on people with powers either magic, or elemental base. Or any deviation there of. It takes control of Power Girl because her powers are based on her absorption of solar energy. So while she's not directly an elemental . . her powers use that energy. Anyways, Batman has sent Mikaal to the dark-side of the moon where they've discovered that Alan and Todd have set up base. Well . . Alan and Todd as controlled by the Starheart. Also, those 2 seem to be the main targets of the Starheart. Like they're necessary for the entire plan. Anyways, the plan is to send Mikaal in . . he puts up a convincing fight, and then when he's captured he sends information back via telepathy and M'gann. The problem is, Alan ripped the gem out of his chest, so . . he may not be alive that much longer. But . . he's still holding out and sending information while he can. At least until the Starheart takes control of M'gann and flips her out. So now Batman is sending in a team. Hopefully it's a team as far away from the affected energies as he can find. It consists of Wonder Girl, Mr America, Batman, Hourman, Jesse Quick and Jade. My only question is . . if this thing has this much of an effect on Alan and Todd who's to say that it's not going to take over Jenny as well. But at the last second a surprise guest shows up. 'I'll be the seventh soldier who'll get you in there.' It's Shiloh Norman . . Mister Miracle. I wasn't expecting him to pop up. Anyways, I think James Robinson is doing a fantastic job with this story. But to me the real star is Mark Bagley. He's pencilling both sides of this story . . the Justice League chapters, as well as the Justice Society's. And he's doing a terrific job. It doesn't look rushed or hurried. I'm telling you, this guy is an artistic machine. And he really seems to be at home with these characters . . all of them. But this is only chapter 2 of the Dark Things, so . . we've still got a lot of story to go from here.

Justice League Generation Lost #5 - DC

At the end of last issue we saw that Max had made contact with our reluctant group of heroes here. Well . . actually, Booster was fed up with how they were all being led around by the nose and called Max out. He claims that he brought these guys together because the world needs them. I guess he's playing that altruism card again. Anyways, they don't necessarily want to play into Max's hand, but . . they also think that together the have the best chance of finding and confronting him. Plus between Max's shooting his best friend, and then beating him with a piece of rebar . . this has become extremely personal to Booster. Plus they've added a couple of new members with Rocket Red and Blue Beetle. I also like the way that Judd Winick seems to be bringing these characters closer and closer together with every issue. Captain Atom saves a life this issue, plus has a nice heart to heart conversation with Ice. And, through the events of this issue, Jaime, who was reluctant to come along, has decided to stick it out with this group. I think he realizes that they're trying to do the right thing, and could probably use all the help they can get. Also Booster has another of his epiphany moments this issue . . as I said in the previous post, where he had some mature moments. He realizes that despite all his power, and all his strength, he's always had one weakness . . a weakness that Max has continued to exploit . . 'Sometimes I have no clue when I'm getting screwed over.' But with this groups help . . he's trying to put that weakness behind him. Like I said, I think Judd is doing a great job here. There's some great character development. I'm also enjoying Aaron Lopresti's art . . with Keith Giffen's help. Not to mention 2 great covers by Tony Harris and Kevin Maguire. I think this is a great series. You should give it a shot . . if you're not.

JSA All-Stars #8 - DC

Now that we've moved past Magog . . at least for the time being, we can get on to some real stories here. This issue the All-Stars are helping out the police of Los Angeles with some violent gang activity. But what they find is that the Paradorans seem to be trying to take over all gang activity in LA. They're killing everybody in very ritualistic fashion. They're also spreading a drug out on the street that seems to convert everyone it comes into contact with into their way of thinking . . their religion. Supposedly, when they take the drug, it's the ultimate high . . because they see God. Although I'm sure it's the Paradorans God. Anyways, as the teams looking into it, Roxy, their AI computer, has put together some correlation's between this recent activity and what's been going on in the actual country of Paradoran. So . . part of the team heads off there to investigate. What I thought was the interesting part of this story is all the similarities and interest that has come up in the amount of these members that used to belong to Infinity Inc. Karen asks Al about how he feels about Jade's return. And this whole Paradoran gang thing is very similar to a case the Infinitors worked shortly before Eclipso to over the country . . way back when. Anyways, the real link comes when we find out what's actually going on in Paradora. Well . . actually, what's going on isn't as important as who's involved. They don't come right out and tell us but it seems that Henry King Jr, Hank . . also known as Brainwave Jr, another former member of Infinity Inc . . Hank is involved. But I don't get the feeling that it's by his own choosing. And he seems to be there more to keep a lid on things than anything else. The bad things seem to be stemming from a little boy. Now that I think about it, I wonder if Brainwave Jr doesn't have a Jr of his own. Maybe the power was passed down, much in the way his was from his father. But, we'll have to wait until next issue to find out more about that. There also seems to be a bit of a relationship forming between Cyclone and Chimera. As well as just the tiniest bit of information about him. He appears to have lost a love . . Namita. Also, Anna Fortune continues to be a bit of an enigma. The issue ends looking like Cyclone has had her guts torn out by one of these leopards. Overall, I thought it was a good book. I think Matthew Sturges is doing a good job with the stories. And I love the look and feel of Freddie Williams II's pencils. It really gives the book a good feel. I'm not thrilled with the Hourman / Liberty Belle story, but . . it is what it is. I'm sure it'll all be connected . . somehow . . sooner or later. It's by Jan Van Meter and Travis Moore. Personally, I think this book gets better with every issue.

Justice Society of America #40 - DC

Although I thought this was a good book . . it was really more information than story. We've been wading through this Fatherland story the last couple of issues, and that's the first thing that this issue tackles. But wrapping that up . . takes all of 4 pages. Michael sends a message back to himself . . his beat-up, almost dying self, shortly after Kid Karnevil's attack. And really it all comes down to getting Todd/Obsidian out of his 'egg' form. Which, to me, was the only real downfall with the story. Todd was stuck in this 'egg' form, pushing all of his energy down into this concentrated mass. Which is what the Fourth Reich used to power their machine that changed the world. So, if they could 'fix' Todd . . they'd never be able to tap into his powers, and the fight would be over before it even started. Well . . maybe not the fight, per se, but . . their overall master plan would have to change. Anyways, all of this was actually a couple of weeks before the Fourth Reich's attack. And apparently . . Michael remembers everything from this alternate time-line. So, even in his weakened state, he helps the team get ready to counter the attack when it finally does come. And like that . . things are back to normal. Anyways, all of this really just serves to get this book back on the same time-line, and schedule as it's companion titles . . Justice League JSA All-Stars. After all Justice League has already moved on to the Dark Things story-line. And everything that's happened in All-Stars, in it's first 8 issues, hasn't really been explained yet. How and why did the team split up? What happened with Mordru taking over Dr Fate? And we have the whole Black Lantern thing which hasn't really been addressed in this title. Well . . all of that is fixed with this issue. And all from Todd's dialogue and descriptions. Like I said . . much, much more information than substance this issue. But we do see Todd and Alan's relationship re-blossom . . shortly before the Star-Heart tears everything asunder . . once again. So now we're set up for the 2nd part of the Dark Things story-line in this title next month. Overall I thought it was an ok book. Bill Willingham did move things along rather rapidly. But . . he had to get things back on track. And Jesus Merino did a great job with the art. I think his style is going to fit well with these characters. But I don't feel like we have the 'New Beginnings' that we're promised on the cover. If fact, I don't really feel like we can get that until after the Dark Things storyline. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Justice League of America #46 - DC

I really like the look and feel of this book right now. I think James Robinson is doing a great job with the stories . . and the handling of the characters. Also, Mark Bagley's art is fantastic. I really fell in love with his style on Ultimate Spider-man, but . . I think he's doing an even more amazing job here. I don't know if it's just the variety of characters, or the sheer size of the cast but his panels seem even more epic here. In the middle of this book there's a 2 page spread where Jenny Lynn is powering up with her dad's Lantern . . it's really a fantastic sequence. And on the final page where we see Alan attack Mikaal, Starman . . he's wearing the same type of armor Hal did when he was posessed by Parallax. That could spell trouble. Anyways, what happened . . Jenny had to use her dad's Lantern to locate him and Todd. The Starheart is apparently using Todd's darkness to cloak it's presence, so not even Jenny can find them. But, with the Lantern's help, she figures out where they are . . the dark side of the moon. Which is how Mikaal ends up there, and face to face with Alan. Meanwhile, the rest of the JLA, and the Justice Society, are off trying to stop all the madness that seems to be occurring from magic-based, or elementally based heroes. The Starheart seems to be possessing them at random, just long enough to create enough chaos that all the heroes have to keep chasing their tails just to keep up with it all. Which leads me to believe that it's actually just trying to keep them all busy while it's accomplishing whatever it seems to be up to. Part of which seems to be building an emerald city in the darkness of the moon. Anyways, the team is split up into different factions. Batman, and a bunch of the heroes, are out firefighting . . all over the world. While Mr Terrific is trying to come up with a way to stop the possessions. Meanwhile, Jay has taken a team off to . . 'the one person who might be able to help us with Obsidian's darkness.' Hello! Who is that? I imagine it's someone with some kind of light-based powers. Dr Light, Black Lightning . . I don't know. But this is only the first part of this story, so . . we're not going to get all the answer to quickly. This story-arc will jump back and forth between Justice League and Justice Society for the next couple of books. The next part being in Justice Society #41. Overall I thought it was a great book. Like I said, it's really got a great feel to it right now. There's also a back-up story about Vic and Red Tornado. Obviously, Reddy is one of the hero's that goes nuts, thanks to the Starheart. The problem is . . Vic just got done rebuilding him, and right now . . he's virtually indestructible. Vic's definitely got his hands full. This part of the story is also by James, with art by Pow Rodrix. I can't wait to see the next part of this story.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #4 - DC

Well . . it looks like Roy is going to turn over to the dark side. I don't necessarily mean that he's going to be a 'bad-guy'. I don't think he has that in him. But . . he is definitely going to be more like Ollie . . or even more like Deathstoke, and use extreme violence in his vigilante activities. The loss of his arm, and his daughter, are just to much for him to bear. And he's turned back to drugs. In his fever dreams he hears his daughter, Lian, screaming for vengeance. Vengeance against the man who did this to her . . the Electrocutioner. So he breaks out of rehab and heads to Star City Penitentiary, where Lester is being held. The guards let Ollie out, hoping that he can help with this debacle. But . . all he can do is try to reason with Roy. And right now . . he's just not listening. In the end he ends up killing Lester in a cell, and then proceeds to destroy the rest of his life . . burning down the house that he and Lian called home. And this is just the beginning of his story. From here he decides to join the Titans. Not the Teen Titans. But Deathstroke's Titans . . Villains for Hire. It looks like he's headed down a pretty dark path. This story is by JT Krul, with art by Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe and Fabio Jansen. I thought it was a great series, showing Red Arrows fall from grace. But now he truly will be Arsenal. Using anything he can get his hands on as a weapon. I can't wait to see what happens next. This should be interesting.

Justice League: Generation Lost #4 - DC

As with the last title, this one also has a bit of a twist with it. Our little rag-tag group ending up in Russia at the end of last issue. They were following the OMAC's that attacked Jaime Reyes' family. They went through some kind of portal. When they landed they were in Russia, and almost immediately came face to face with the Rocket Reds. Well, this issue they find out that the Rocket Reds were actually in the process of fighting with one of their own . . a renegade, Gavril Ivanovich. 'He's a former captain of the Rocket Red Brigade, but resigned. He considers himself a true Communist, and thus is disgusted with the westernization of his country.' But honestly, none of that is really important. Our little group decides that they don't want to get involved . . mainly, to avoid an international incident. Which they seem so readily able to ignite. But when civilians and property start to get damaged in their scuffle, they decide that they can't just stand around and watch. So they help Gavril take out the Brigade. And Gavril is ecstatic because he thinks that the JLI has come to assist him in his endeavor. But they inform him that they are not a team. They're just a bunch of people that have come together to fight a common foe. 'How can you be saying to all this? Look to you . . around you here? Who is among? Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire, Ice, the Blue Beetle . . and here . . I . . the Rocket Red! This is Justice League International. All ve need is Green Lantern to fall from sky and ve will complete!' Which is when Booster realizes . . he's right. 'Chasing signals cross country, teleporting across the world . . and we're here!! All of us!! Someone's put the band back together again!! And who's done that before?! Maxwell Lord!!' And then Michael really starts going on and on . . shouting to the skies . . 'We're here Max! What do you want from us?!You're here! You're watching, you're listening . . aren't you, Max? The amazing puppet master pulling all the strings! Forcing thought . . forcing actions! Dragging us back together for some master plan? Answer me! ANSWER ME!!' And then a voice comes out of one of the fallen Rocket Red suits. 'What would you like to know? But keep in mind . . I'm having a pretty bad day too.' In the beginning of the book we see Max visit a Dr Tatum Ranch. He's an uninvited guest as he's after the doctor's research on 'nanobyte genetic enhancement'. However, when he tries to control his mind, the guy turns in to a Black Lantern. By the time Max talks to Booster it looks like he's turned several more of the people working there. Probably in the process of trying to figure out what's going on. I thought this was a great issue in this series, and finally starts to give us a little bit of the picture of what Max is up to. So, I'm guessing, he manipulated this group into being at the JLI headquarters, just as he was amping up, so that they would be free to work from behind the scenes. Plus, he's ostracized them from anyone they were affiliated with, so everyone thinks they've either gone rogue, or . . gone off their nut. But some people are starting to notice. Batman is having a conversation with the Black King when Taleb tells him, 'Look, she may have been one of ours, but in truth . . she's one of yours. Our of respect, we will leave it to your 'community' to deal with her.' Which is when Batman notices something's off. 'That's strange. You're letting her go. You're passing the buck. It's odd behaviour for you. And Checkmate. And what's equally odd . . is that I feel like . . I should let her go too. Why is that?' I think Judd Winick is finally starting to give us a little insight here. Or at least some hints. Keith Giffen and Joe Bennett do the art. We're almost half-way done with this series now. Things should really start heating up.

Justice League: Generation Lost #3 - DC

Whether you realize it or not, this book is a 'team-book'. And the team consists of Captain Atom, Fire, Ice and Booster Gold. Although right now they're all fighting for their lives as things are spiraling out of control. Basically, they're reacting to the events that Max Lord has put them into. So things are going to keep spiraling downward until they stop, come up with a plan, and take the initiative to strike back. I think that's kind of what this issue is about. Booster, Captain Atom and Ice have responded to an emergency signal from an old JLI device . . Ted Kord's JLI device. Which is confusing until they realize it's coming from Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle. They find him and his family being attacked by a host of OMACs. It isn't until he starts to use his head, and asks the Scarab how to beat these guys, that they gain any ground. It turns out magnetism is the key. Anyways, it causes them to retreat into some type of vortex . . which Booster convinces them that they need to follow. They do, and . . they end up in Russia. However, before being attacked by the Rocket Reds, on the final page, our group takes a little breather and tries to catch up on the events that lead them here. When they start telling Jaime about how Max is manipulating them, they find out that the Scarab also knows who he is. Max's mind wipe only worked on sentient humans, not on sentient machines . . such as Skeets, and the Scarab. But they also find out that they're still being set up. The signal they received didn't actually come from Jaime. 'Oh . . so that's what that was. Just before the OMAC's attacked, some transmission was trying to hack into my armor. The Scarab was trying to run a trace when, well, it bounced off of me. It used the suit as a hoping point. Like scrambling a signal over a few satellites. I'm sorry but I didn't signal you guys. Ya got hosed.' Which leads then into the confrontation with their former team-mate. 'Are all your former team-mates trying to kill you?', asks Jaime. To which Adam replies, ' I hope not. We had a pretty big team.' I think Judd Winick is doing a great job with this story. I still maintain that he does a terrific job with team books. He has a way of focusing on all of them, and not letting anyone get lost in the minutia of the story. As can often happen. Keith Giffen and Fernando Dagnino do the art. With great covers by Tony Harris and Kevin Maguire. I think this is going to turn out to be a great mini-series, without having the 'campiness' of the original JLI. While it was endearing to that series, it was also annoying . . at times. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to seeing where this all goes.

Justice Society of America #39 - Marvel

I like this story. I think it's an interesting premise. But . . I am concerned about a few things. We find out this issue that this whole 'darkness engine' thing . . the instrument that the Fatherland is using to negate the 'supers' powers, is actually Obsidian. They collapsed him until he had an unstable black hole at his core. I was an original follower of Infinity Inc, and I really enjoy these 2nd generation heroes. But, it seems like ever since Obsidian's first appearance somebody has been using him, or his powers, for some nefarious plan. But, it's never really been defined as to what is so special about him, or his powers, that he would be the target of so many schemes. He's just one of those characters that always seems to be dumped on. So anyways, in trying to stop this time-line from occurring, Michael figured that since black holes affect the time-space continuum, if he could calculate the right coordinates, he could send a message back to himself . . or some other JSA member. The problem there is . . as we find out at the end of this issue, the time he sends the message back is almost immediately after Kid Karnevil had killed him. Which is where my next concern lies. Remember a story-arc or 2 back when Bill Willingham took over this series? Well almost immediately they were bringing in new members, and that's when the whole debacle where the All-American Kid, or whatever, went rogue. Later they find out that he's actually Kid Karnevil. Well, in order to stop this whole Fatherland future from occurring, he really needs to go back and warn them about the shifty kid before he even sets foot in their ranks. Plus, they had that whole attack where they were locked in the Brownstone, only to find out later that they were actually after Obsidian. Anyways . . that's all going to have to be undone. I know that's a common plot trick that often used in comics, to undo some 'evil future' or character change, but . . to me, it's frustrating. I think it's a cheap way out. To me it just seems like a way, after changing a character or giving us some 'surprise' development . . they can go back to the way everything was before, and just say 'Oops! It never really happened!' We don't get that 'out' in life. Right? If we make a mistake we're stuck with it. And yes I know it's just a 'comic-book', but . . life is change. That's really the only constant. So if this medium is a reflection of life, then at it's very essence it should be all about change. Anyways . . I'm starting to get off on a tangent here. I actually did like this issue, and am enjoying the story-line. My concerns and problems go way deeper than this issue, or Bill Willingham's writing. So I guess I'll save that 'rant' for another day. On a positive note, I thought that Jesus Merino's art looked fantastic. And, for better or worse, this story-line will be wrapped up next issue.

JSA All-Stars #7 - DC

This issue the All-Stars deal with Grant's death . . Damage. But it's mostly told from Judomaster's point of view, because in the last few months Sonia and Grant had fallen in love. I thought it was a pretty touching story. Sonia has been driven for a while now to find her father's killer . . honor, justice, revenge . . all of that has been her motivation. But now . . now she seems to have amped up her search, because of her grief over Grant's passing. And with that anger, she can now punish her father's killer in a way she might not have been able to before. However, just before killing him . . with a rifle . . 'That's not very sporting. Is it?' . . King Chimera shows up with a message from Grant. Actually, she had already started viewing Grant's final message, but . . she didn't stick around until the end. Basically, Grant wanted to let Sonia know that if he should die in the coming battle with the Black Lanterns, as Sandy saw in one of his dreams, that she shouldn't waste her life being angry and bitter as he had. Finding her love made him realize just how much of his life he had wasted feeling sorry for himself. So she ends up taking down some villains who happen to have a briefcase full of cash. She then uses that money to go and help some of the victims of Grant's blast in Atlanta a few years ago. Something that Grant would've surely done, had he the opportunity. Like I said, it was a touching story. And it gave us a little more insight into both Grant's and Sonia's characters. At the end of the story, in one of the hospital's Sonia is visiting, we also see Arthur Pemberton talking to Professor Milo. His daughter Lorna is in a coma because of a fall she took as a result of their interaction with the All-Stars. Traditional doctors can treat her, but won't do surgery. And, of course, we all know that Milo is anything but traditional. It seems that Arthur wants to get her up and mobile so that they can exact their revenge against the young heroes. All in all I thought it was a pretty decent story by Matthew Sturges and Freddie Williams II. The back-up story should be wrapping up soon. In it Liberty Belle and Hourman have teamed up with Tigress and Icicle to search for an ancient staff. To me, the best part of the story is the interaction between characters because even though they're playing nice, they're still on opposite sides of the law. But the more the work together, they find out they're more alike than they car to admit. It's been an interesting story by Jen Van Meter and Travis Moore. I like this book, but I haven't been thrilled with it. I think it's because there really hasn't been a lot of character development in these first 7 issues. Until this one. And even though King Chimera wasn't a big part of it, I enjoyed his involvements. Hopefully this is a portent of things to come.

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #3 - DC

I really enjoy reading about the ups & downs that JT Krul is taking Roy through here. Last issue ended with him facing off against Cheshire . . Jade. Obviously she's a villain, but Roy's always had an odd relationship with her. They did have Lian together, afterall. Which is why she's here . . she wants to punish Roy. But after they trade jabs and banter, I think she realizes that Roy did everything he could for her. He was a good father. Lian was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, I think Jade realizes that she's probably just as much to blame. It's not like she was any kind of mother to Lian. And, as usual, they end up in the sack . . consoling one another. Afterwards, Roy hits the streets with a vengeance. But when he busts up a deal going down in an alley . . instead of taking the dealer in . . 'I'm looking to score. Got any China Cat? Heroin. I'll take it. I'll take it all.' We then see him going through the usual fever dreams, until Dick and Dinah show up to force him into rehab. Well . . sort of. They put him in Virgil House. They specialize in convicted villains with substance abuse. They figure it's the best place for him right now. The problem is . . before he was talking to Corey . . the ghost of an old user he used to hang with. Now? Now he seems to be talking to the ghost of Lian. They're only visions, but . . he could treat Corey bad and tell him to shut-up. How's he going to bring himself to do that with Lian? Next issue is the final of this series, so . . it should be an emotional roller-coaster. I really think JT is doing a good job here. The art is provided by Geraldo Borges, Kevin Sharpe and Sergio Arino. Also, beautiful cover by Greg Horn. This series is definitely a classic in the making. And, I think . . the redefining of Roy as a hero. He can't be in Ollie's shadow anymore. He needs to be his own person. For himself, and for those around him.

Justice League Generation Lost #2 - DC

Last issue Max Lord used a great portion of his talent to make the world forget him. Not only forget him, but . . basically he erased himself from existence. But I was concerned because there were a bunch of events, that he was an integral part of, that helped shape the world as we know it . . or at least the DC Universe. Those . . it appears, he has rewritten. All of this happened at the old JLI headquarters in NYC. And at the time, Booster had just taken a severe beating, thanks to Max. And Beatriz, Tora and Nathaniel Adam had just come to his aide.
Apparently being at the epicenter of the event caused the effects of the wave to pass over them. Now they have to convince Superman, whose recently arrived, and has no idea what they're talking about. On top of that, as the story progress', it appears that Max has decided to discredit our group of heroes, rather than just play with their heads, which he so obviously can do. I don't exactly know why he chose this path. But hopefully we'll find out in a future issue. Anyways, he has Beatriz dismissed from Checkmate. Nate goes to the military to talk, but apparently he's wanted for something. However, we don't find out what that is because while in the process . . he sees Max's face on the General's and attacks him. In the melee he escapes, but . . now he's facing a court martial. Guy Gardner has been led to believe that Tora savagely attacked him on their last 'date'. Which puts her at odds with the Green Lantern Corps. And surprisingly, it seems that Max has left Michael alone. Either that or he just figures that he's not worth the effort. I don't know which is the bigger insult. But that may also be the biggest mistake of his whole plan. That's not to say however that Max hasn't hurt him inadvertantly. Michael finds out that the world thinks that Ted Kord committed suicide. And knowing that's out there is really tearing Michael up. At the end of this issue the team responds to another of the old JLI signal beacon's activation. They find it to come from El Paso. It's Ted's old beacon, and it's being activated by Jamie Reyes, the new Blue Beetle. It appears that he's being attacked by some OMACs. I thought Judd Winick did a great job of expressing the frustration that this crew is feeling. Like I said, not only are they not believed, but they're also discredited. The problem is, Max is going to push them to the point that they feel they have nothing else to lose. Anyways, I thought Judd did a terrific job with the story. I also enjoyed the art of Keith Giffen and Joe Bennett. All in all, I think this is going to be an exciting series, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Justice League of America #45 - DC

I'm so glad that Mark Bagley is doing the Justice League now. First of all . . he's just an incredible talent. Secondly, now that he's not doing a weekly series, and is back to once a month . . you can tell by the quality of his work that he's putting so much more in to it. Not only that . . the guy works so fast that we get an extra 8 pages of story in each issue. DC's format for the $3.99 books is to put a back-up story in the extra 8 pages. Well in this book, those pages go straight into the main story, and . . it's all done by Mark. And it all looks fantastic. Not to mention, we get 5 full-page panes and 1 double-page spread . . of Power Girl. Anyways, this issue . . Jennie Lynn is back. Apparently when she first came back she appeared in outer space and decided to spend some time on OA before returning to Earth. Hence her appearances near the end of the Blackest Night story-line. But now she's come back, and she's brought the Star-heart with her. You know, that's the source of Alan's power. Well . . she didn't actually bring the Star-heart. It's more like the Star-heart brought her. I guess it found her on OA, captured her, and then made a bee-line for 'daddy'. The Justice Society has also shown up. With the Star-hearts return, Alan's power have gone all wonky. Faust has also joined them in the fun . . Sebastian, not his father Felix . . because he has sensed that all the stuff that is happening is going to bring about the end of the world. Our team also has to deal with Die Rakete-Auslese. Basically, it's the German version of the Russian's Rocket Red program. When Jennie, and the Star-heart, crash land they did so in the Black Forest of Germany. Then, add to all of this, the return of the Star-heart seems to be affecting people strongly influenced by magic, all over the globe. The most immediate threat is Power Girl when she shows up on a real tear. She is definitely not in control of her emotions or actions. She takes out the JSA's plane and then goes right after Jennie. Supergirl shows up shortly behind her, trying to stop her, and a battle of Kryptonian proportions ensues. However, when Batman has a second to think he quickly takes Karen down with a burst from Jennie . . also with powers magical in nature. However, by this time, not only is Alan under the Star-heart's influence, but so to is Obsidian. And the people most influenced by it's powers seem to be Shango, Zachary Zatara, Jason Woodrue and Firehawk. We also get a lot of background stuff . . Alan's origin . . the origin and powers of the Star-heart. We even get a little bit of the history between Sebastian and Felix. By the end of the issue, the Star-heart seems to have taken over Alan completely . . and he appears donned in green armor. Kind of like the stuff Hal wore when he was controlled by Parallax. I thought it was a great issue. I think James Robinson did a fantastic job with the dialogue and interaction between all of these characters. I especially liked the way that he showed the strongest willed members, Batman and Congorilla, butting heads. 'I don't recall when Bill got put in charge of our membership drive.' It did seem like Bill was awfully quick in stepping up to the plate and taking charge. But we all know that Batman calls the shots . . especially in these combat situations. I always thought that Brian Bendis and Mark made a good team. But now . . now I think James and Mark make a better one. The Justice League is coming back into it's own. And with these 2 at the helm . . it should be a hell of a ride. Oh yeah, I almost forgot . . we also get 2 great covers by Mark and David Mack. I don't know which one I liked better. This months Supergirl, or last month's Jade.

Justice League: Generation Lost #1 - DC

My only question about this book was Booster Gold's role in it. I know that he was a big part of the Justice League International, but . . I thought that he was pretty much working behind the scenes right now. You know, with Rip Hunter and all. However, other than that one minor question . . I really enjoyed this book. This book basically brings our main group of characters together and shows us what Max Lord does to deserve this attention. The way it's setup, it seems like the rest of the world is surprised that Max is back. However, at the end of Blackest Night we see that he's one of the 12 people brought back from beyond. We saw it. So . . nobody else did? Anyways, they catch Max's visage on a security camera someplace and the whole meta-human community is brought up to red-alert. Basically there's a world-wide manhunt for this guy. The Justice League is coordinating the effort, and have people running all over the glove following up on whatever lead they can find. But it ends up being Booster Gold that uses his deductive reasoning to figure out that Max is hiding in plain sight. Max had shows himself in New York City because that's the first place he wanted everyone to look. But when they clear it, and move on to other points of interest around the world . . he strolls back in and sets up his base of operations in the old JLI headquarters. Making Booster the first on the scene. Max goes through this big speech about how he's attempting to make the world a better place. He's so impassioned that I almost believe him. But then I remember what's really going on. First of all, shortly before this confrontation Max made 2 police officers, that had stumbled upon him, shoot and kill each other. Add to that, while he's giving Michael his speech, he's also beating the crap out of him with a cement block. So, while Max may have himself convinced, I think he's going to have a hard time getting anyone else to buy his supposed altruism. Anyways, we don't know what Max's plans are, but . . it appears that he's having a hard time getting things rolling with all of this attention. So he uses his influence powers to basically cast a spell over the whole world. He makes everybody in the world forget about him. There's only one problem . . it appears that he was casting such a wide web of influence that it didn't affect the people in his immediate vicinity. This includes Fire, Ice, Captain Atom and Booster Gold. The energy wave did knock them out. So Max had time to escape. However, once they come to, they're ready to continue hunting him down. Which I don't think Max will anticipate. The problem for our heroes is, when someone finally answers their alert . . in this case, Superman . . he doesn't know what they're talking about . . or even remember who Max Lord is. The other question I have is . . from the beginning of the story it appears that Power Girl will also be a part of this unencumbered group. But when everything comes down, she's not there. That's to bad. I think she would've made a good addition to this group. Anyways . . I thought Keith Giffen and Judd Winick did a great job with this story. I know this was only the opening chapter, but . . I can't wait to see where we go from here. I think we have a great cast of characters here. Also Aaron Lopresti is doing the art. This issue we get covers from Tony Harris and Kevin Maguire. The only problem I ever had with the JLI was that sometimes I thought they were just a little to corny. Luckily, it doesn't appear that this series is going in that direction. It's a bit more serious, this time.

JSA All-Stars #6 - DC

The problem I have with this book is . . I really want to like it. I really do. But I'm having a hard time getting in to it. But I'm not exactly sure why. I mean . . I like the characters. And theoretically this team should be fantastic. I guess I'm kind of thinking that there's just to much going on. Ever since issue #1 this team has been pretty much at full tilt. So while they're technically a team . . and Karen is trying to push them like crazy to be a team . . I guess I just haven't really seen that cohesiveness or teamwork. You know what I mean? And I don't even want to get started about the whole Magog thing. Magog is a solo character. Period! He can do team-ups every now and then . . I like him and the Shield together, but generally . . Magog does not play well with others. And he doesn't even try. I think it was a huge waste of time to have him in the first couple issues of this book. And then this issue Karen tells him, 'I'm willing to give you another chance, you know.' Is she crazy? How many times does she have to get whacked up side the head before she learns? However, having said all of that . . I am looking forward to the next story-arc. Apparently these first 6 issues all took place before Blackest Night. So Damage has been in all of them, including this one. But next issue we'll see what happened to Damage from their point of view, and we'll find out what happens to him after Blackest Night. Yes, I know . . it seems a little late for a Blackest Night cross-over, but . . Damage is a . . well, damaged character. And I think that makes him interesting. I don't know. Like I said . . I want this book to work. And I want to like it. But . . I'm just not there yet. Maybe it's Matthew Sturges stories. I don't know. But I am enjoying Freddie Williams II's art. I really like the style that he's using on this book. And the back-up story has me a little confused also. I like it. It's interesting. I think Jan Van Meter has taken a little bit of a different approach to the story. But it feels like Liberty Belle and Hourman are going to be Icicle and Tigress' BFFs. They get more comfortable with each other every issue. I just seems a little strange to me. Travis Moore does the art for this part. I really hope this book gets some steam going. Right now it's just kind of boring. And predictable. Sorry!

Justice League: the Rise of Arsenal #2 - DC

I really feel sorry for Roy. Not only did he have to live through the recent experiences and loses in his life, but now . . now he's dreaming about them on regular basis also. And he seems to be getting closer and closer to stepping over that precipice with the drugs again. I assume he's doing some pain-killers right now. Which is understandable, but . . he's starting to abuse them, also. I could totally see his point when he's going off on Ollie. 'Getting back at Prometheus was the only thing I had left anymore. He took my arm. He took Lian. But you took my revenge from me, Ollie.' Some might think he was a little rough on Ollie, but . . I think Ollie needed to hear it. I think somewhere along the line, someone needs to stop and ask Roy what he wants. Rather than everybody trying to 'fix' him and 'help' him, they need to take a step back . . talk to Roy, letting him vent, and just listen. Let him work through his emotions. Let him work through his feelings. And let him get to the core of what it is he wants, or where he wants to go from here. Everybody can prod him, and poke him, and push him all they want. But there's not going to be a change made . . or a course set in motion, unless Roy decides to do it. It has to be his idea, and his desire. Hell, he's trying out the new arm that Vic made for him and he's getting mad because he doesn't seem to have the same natural ability that he once had with it. But he doesn't even pay attention, when he throws a piece of the bow, after he breaks it, and it's a bulls-eye. I'm thinking that he needs to quit trying to follow in Ollie's footsteps and go back to being Arsenal again. A man that can use any sharp object as a deadly weapon. But first he has to stop wallowing in all of this self-pity and let somebody in. He's surrounded by about a hundred friends, family or team-mates, but . . he's never felt more alone in his whole life. Really, the only time I felt sorry for someone other than Roy was when he was going off on Mia. He also gets a visit from Cheshire this issue, who's pissed. She's mad at Roy because he was supposed to take care of their daughter. 'What're you going to do . . cry about your arm? Your going to lose much more than your arm. Much more!' I thought JT Krul wrote a very raw, emotional story here. And Geraldo Borges' art was great. If you aren't reading this one, you'll definitely want to check out the TPB when it comes out. This should be a great story.