Titans #26, #27 and #28 - DC

Issues #26 and #27 deals with Roy's reacquainting with Jade. She's trying to deal with the loss of Lian . . as is Roy, so they've kind of reached out to each other. Roy is also dealing with the loss of his arm, and because of all that has gone back to using. I have to say, I'm glad that Eric Wallace is focusing more on these two dealing with their loss than necessarily Roy's addictions. I know that it is an issue that Eric's going to have to deal with eventually, but . . I think if he focused on it right now it would take away from other parts of the storyline. Plus, when Eric does finally deal with it, I think he should do so in another mini-series. Obviously Roy's actions and frame of mind have an effect on the people he's around, and working with, but . . I think the heart of that story should be explored in it's own format. Anyways, it seems like Jade wants Roy to suffer a little bit. She hasn't come right out and said so, but . . I think, and it seems only natural, that she would hold him accountable for her loss. That is as well as herself. But, the person that she's really mad at right now is Slade. Which is the reason that she's asked Roy to join up with these new 'Titans'. She wants to kill Slade, but she knows that she's probably not going to be able to do that by herself. These two issues show us the beginning of their plan . . getting Roy into the mix. And in doing so, Slade has accepted a job of retrieving a rich man's son who was taken. What they find is that there's this guy named Elijah . . he kind of looks like Brick from Star City, who's got this new drug on the street called Bliss. When they go to his facility they find that the main ingredient of this drug is some kind of hormone that occurs naturally in children. Which is why this kid was really taken . . not for the ransom. And Elijah has his own group of 'metas' . . the Dominators. Of course there's a big fight, and in the end the 'Titans' win, but . . what have they really won? Roy ends up being the one that actually sets all these kids free. Which is good for him. I guess. But Jade is disillusioned even more about Slade because she thinks that their assignment was to come here, shut down this operation, and liberate all of these captured children. However, in the end, she finds out that Slade was only ever really after the one kid . . the rich kid . . the $10 million payday. And he looks like he couldn't care less what happens to anything, or anyone else. But this also had something to do with one of Elijah's men . . DJ Molecule. But I'm not sure what. Earlier Slade is thinking about the Deftech schematics that Jade and Richards had gotten him. He's thinking about how he's 'one step closer to achieving his true objective. Cheating death itself.' So I'm not sure if DJ Molecule is another component of that plan or not. Anyways, we got a little glimpse into Cinder's mind. And Amon Tomaz, Osiris, is contacted by the White Light. He's told . .'Your sister is needed. Help Isis break free.' Which then leads later on, during the fight with Elijah, where he's accidentally given a dose of Bliss. While he's hallucinating, he thinks he sees his sister. It's through this vision that he makes the connection that the cracks in her statue . . he assumes the rock trying to break free . . occurs whenever he kills someone. So now, his justification for killing is that he's trying to save his sister. Anyways, issue #28 starts out a new storyline where the 'Titans' have been hired to break someone out of Arkham Asylum. But there's lots of reasons for this plan to go bad. First of all, they use a corrupt, greedy guard to get into the facility. That plan always works out. Then, during the course of their infiltration, Jade discovers that Roy is high. Amon is wresting with what he's discovered during his recent 'vision'. And because of that decides that he's going to kill this guard, since he's already a 'bad-guy'. And when the alarm is sounded . . a product of the guards death, Batman is entered into the mix and the issue ends with him face to face with Slade. We also find out that this was all apparently to break out the Mad Hatter. And also for a girl . . Allegra Garcia. Although I'm not really sure who she is. In the beginning of the story we get a glimpse of Ivy Town, where Ray Palmer is starting to look into Ryan Choi's disappearance. I'm not sure what that has to do with this storyline, but it's titled . . 'Family Reunions'. I'm not sure if it's going to be connected to the back-up story in Adventure Comics or not. But I have to say . . so far, I like the way that Eric is handling this team, and these characters. The focus for the most part right now is on Jade and Roy. But we are getting glimpses of Amon, Cinder and Richards. As well as whatever this plan is that Slade is trying to put together. I think he's got a good mix here, and there's a lot of potential. But that's the way this book has always been . . lots of potential, but short on the payoff. I guess we'll have to wait and see if Eric can get a different result. So far . . I think he's on the right path. I'm also enjoying Fabrizio Fiorentino and Cliff Richards' art. I think they give the book a good feel that's similar, but different . . from what we've seen before. Of course, I'm also thrilled to death that this book wasn't cancelled like I thought it was going to be. 'Long Live the Titans!' Or Legion. Whatever!

Smallville - Homecoming - Season 10 - Episode 4 - CW

This was a great episode. As you can see from the picture . . Brainiac is back. But . . not in the way that you might've expected. This episode kind of reminded me of A Christmas Carol. Or rather . . A Smallville Christmas Carol. It seems that Brainiac has come back to help Clark get past this 'dark' part of his soul that everybody keeps talking about. The story is framed around Clark and Lois' return to Smallville. It seems it's time for a class reunion, and Lois thinks that the return to Smallville will help Clark get past whatever this funk is that he's been in lately. That's when Brainiac attacks. Or rather . . he shows up to help guide Clark along his destined path. What? Wait . . I thought Clark and Legion had destroyed Brainiac. Well . . except for that little black puddle that we saw oozing along after he was vanquished. It seems that what they really did was to cure Brainiac. Like Clark, he was created by Jor-El. And like Clark, Jor-El hoped that he would help to aid this alien race and prepare the world for Clark's ascension. But, somewhere along the way, he became corrupted. It seems whatever Clark and the Legion did to him, helped to cure him of that corruption. So now Brainiac is in the future and has joined up with the Legion. He even tells Clark that he's now known as Brainiac 5. Anyways, he's decided to help Clark, but in order to do so he has to get him to let go of his past. It seems that it's his 'second-guessing' and 'guilt' that's creating this dark cloud over Clark's head. And as Brainiac shows him, it all started when his father, Jonathan, died. Since then Clark has been questioning his 'path' and his 'destiny'. He then shows him that in the present he's become a pillar of strength to many people. Not just because of his abilities, but because of the way that he inspires them. Lois and Ollie are just two of the many to be affected by Clark. There's even one of the 'meteor-freaks' that Clark put away that shows up at the reunion. While viewing the world with Brainiac, Clark sees this guy approach Lois. He fears for her, and in his haste grabs ahold of Brainiac's Legion ring. That's when he's hurled into the future. In it he realizes that not only are he and Lois a couple . . there's hints of them being married, but we don't know that for sure . . but also Clark has confided his secret to Lois. And he now sees that she's become his staunchest supporter, and protector. Well . . protector of his secret. It seems that in the present, Clark's silence and distance that he's been putting between himself and those around him . . thinking that he's protecting them, is actually hurting them. Not physically, of course, but rather as far as potential. Without Clark's strength and friendship, neither Lois or Ollie are realizing their true potential. When they finally return to the present, Clark sees that this guy from his past is approaching Lois' because he wants to thank Clark. He wants to thank Clark for showing him that he didn't have to live the way he was. And for helping him get out of, and away from his destructive behavior. It seems that despite all of his powers, Clark's greatest strength lies in the way that he inspires and motivates others. He truly is a beacon that's only now beginning to shine on the world. He's a pebble, in a stream, who's ripples are only just beginning to reach out to others. He then goes on to inspire Ollie, a bit more. Ollie is holding a press conference on his latest revelation. Unfortunately he's feeling melancholy and distressed about Chloe . . as well as Clark, whom he hasn't heard from. But when Clark shows up . . Ollie instead express' his hopes for the future and what he wants his 'heroism' to inspire. He also tells the world . .'I'm not doing it alone.' Clark then goes to Lois to tell, and show her how he really feels about her. He hasn't revealed his secret . . yet. But . . I think it's only a matter of time. And in their embrace . . Clark begins to 'float' under his own power. It seems that this 'enlightenment' is fueling the emergence of the rest of Clark's powers. All in all I thought it was a very moving episode. I really liked the roles that Lois and Ollie played in this unfolding drama. And we even get a peak . . the slightest glimpse really, that Chloe is still out there. I can't wait to see what the rest of this season has in store for us.

Chuck vs the Coup d'Etat - Season 4 - Episode 4 - NBC

In this episode Costa Gravas, and General Alejandro Goya come back in to Elle and Devon's life. The General's chief of security, Turinni, shows up at Elle's house inviting them to come back to Costa Gravas. Since she and Awesome are having a hard time dealing with her pregnancy right now . . she's about 4 months along and Awesome pays more attention to her belly, and the baby, that he does to her, they decided to take him up on his offer. Besides, this will give them a chance to have a 'Baby-moon'. A honeymoon of sorts before the baby is born. Sarah and Chuck are also having relationship problems, because of the faux-proposal that accidentally occurred at the end of the last episode, so they decide to go along a get a little vacation to. Also Grimes is having some relationship problems, as he really likes Alex, Casey's daughter. But he's more afraid of him, than of missing out with Alex. Which is how he comes across the book, '101 Conversations Before 'I Do''. And, in trying to help Chuck, he also gives it to him. So anyways, of course in Costa Gravas things don't go as planned. The General's wife decides to have a Coup. And the Bartowski's are left having to shuttle him out of the country to safety. But the only person he feels safe with is the man's whose blood runs through his veins . . Col. John Casey. During the course of this Casey reveals to Goya that it's actually Turinni that's behind this. Turinni takes him back home, and Chuck, Sarah and Casey have to try to rescue him because of the nuclear control panel that they find in the castle. Anyways, Chuck ends up using the stuff he'd learned from the book and talks the General and his wife into finding and re-exploring their old feelings of love. Chuck finds out from Goya that the control panel also came from Volkoff. At the end Chuck tells Elle that he's looking for their mom. Grimes decides to make a move on Alex . . and kisses her. It looks like things are going to work out. But right now Casey's out of town, so . . they don't have to face that yet. And while Chuck's sleeping . . because of something that Chuck had told her earlier, Sarah decides to talk to him. She tells him that if he had actually been proposing, she would've said yes. It's hard to tell if Chuck is really sleeping, or if he's just faking it. Anyways, it looks like all the relationships on this show are going to be moving forward. Now they just need to find someone for Casey to become romantically involved with. I don't know though. That might take away his edge. I think this is a great show. It's got a cool comedic twist to everything. And it's kind of a spy / soap-opera rolled up into one.

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.

Birds of Prey #4 and #5 - DC

Ok . . I was completely wrong about this one. I thought maybe this White Canary was associated, or even was, Sin or Cassandra. Somehow! But this actually goes back a few years to another one of Gail Simone's storylines. In issue #81, of the first series, these fighters appeared . . Twelve Brothers in Silk. There was a legendary fighter, Huang, who realized that he would eventually die . . or be killed. So he birthed 12 perfect sons and began training them with his mastery. We find out this issue that during the course of the creation of this tribe, one of the children was born a girl. Huang wanted 12 perfect sons, for the 12 signs of the Zodiac, so any that didn't fit his strict criteria, or were born female, were killed. However, on the way to the lake with this child, the mid-wife was struck down by lightning. Seeing this as a sign that someone, or something, very angry wanted her alive, Huang chose one of his sons to begin training her. Thus was born . . Sister in Silk. Anyways, Dinah and some of her friends had beaten the Brothers in Silk . . actually, more like they fought them to a stand-still. But this was outside of the Sister in Silks code of honor. So . . she hunted them down . . her brothers . . and, one by one she killed them. Now that she's the only one left . . her honor dictates that she take down Siu Jerk Jai . . Dinah. Which is why she's called her out. While this is going on, Babs is also dealing with Savant and Creote. They're the ones that are threatening to expose the 'super-hero' club with all of the information that they gathered while working for Barbara. Anyways, what happened is . . 2 years ago Savant was taken captive by the Calculator's henchmen and tortured for 2 days while trying to get information about Oracle. The problem is . . besides getting tortured . . Savant is so brilliant that the concept of time escapes him. What happened to him only lasted for 2 days . . 2 years ago. But because, in his mind, he relives it every day . . he thinks that he was tortured for 2 years. Anyways, Babs ends up talking him down . . he really wanted to kill her, and Creote finally admits that he loves Savant. Babs vows to try to get him the help he needs to get past this. And, Zindy and Helena are fighting with the Penguin. It seems that he was in on this whole thing with the Sister in Silk. He was promised the information for his involvment. So he's very eager to take down these members of the 'Birds'. With Zindy hurt, Dove is the one that ends up getting pissed off enough to punch him in the nose. Anyways, issue #5 is spent basically cleaning up the mess. Huntress wants to kill Penguin, but . . Oracle talks her down. Babs, Savant and Creote have tried to begin the next chapter of their lives. And it appears that Dinah has also beaten this Sibling in Silk. That or . . she may have just let her win. Dinah finds out from her that it was Shiva who set her up back in Finland. And she agrees to go to Bangkok with Sister in Silk to take care of her. The problem is . . in order to do so . . Dinah has to leave the 'Birds', and leave Gotham. Because of what she's agreeing to do . . she realizes that she'll probably never return. So she says goodbye to Babs and Helena. But Helena and Zindy decide that they aren't just going to let Dinah quit, so . . they head off to Bangkok after her. However once reaching there, they're told in no uncertain terms that they're not wanted in this city. And the enforcer kicking them out is . . Dinah, dressed in the White Canary outfit. We also get a little glimpse of the stuff that Hawk and Dove are dealing with. There should be a storyline revolving around them coming up pretty soon. Gail Simone, I think, does a fantastic job with this series . . and these characters. I love the group that she's got together right now. And it looks like they aren't going to go down . . or split up, without a fight. Ed Benes and Adriana Melo do the art for issue #4. With Adriana probably doing most of it. But . . it still looked good. However, Alvin Ledd takes on a more active role in #5. The pages that I see were Adriana's looked pretty good. However Alvin's stuff seemed a little to cartoonish for me. It's a shame Ed Benes can't stick on a book for more than a few issues. Art wise . . this book started out really great. But now . . I'm still holding out hope. Alvin will be around for the next issue. But after that . . Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes will be taking on the next chapter. Plus . . there may be a shake-up in this book with Batman returning. We'll have to wait and see what happens with that. Anyways . . I love this book. I love these characters. And I can't wait to see more.

Superman #702 and #703 - DC

While I enjoyed these 2 issues . . unfortunately, I

didn't think they were as good as #701. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love J Michael Straczynski's work. And I think Eddy Barrows gets better and better with every issue of work that he does. These 2 issues were just a little more . . oblique. I guess that's the best word to describe it. There were parts that I really enjoyed, and I think served to further enhance the story. But then other parts? Come on . . Superman stopping to play a game of pick-up ball? Yes he ended up helping one of the kids that was being bullied. But . . it just didn't' seem that believable to me. But then some would argue that it's a comic and believability isn't really the point. But that's part of what I like about JMS's work. He puts ideas out there that maybe aren't mind-bending, but . . a lot of times it's stuff that seems like the natural course of events. We, as readers, just never thought about it that way. Then when he presents it, we think . . 'Oh yeah! I could see that happening.' Anyways, in #702 Superman is in Detroit. The point of the issue, mainly, is that he comes across a 'hive' of aliens living as human. They're just trying to blend in. And, of course, when Superman arrives to see what's going on, he's attacked. But that doesn't last very long. I thought the interesting part of the whole confrontation was when Superman is talking to them, and trying to reason. They just want to live in peace, and they're totally self-sufficient. But then Superman argues . . 'The point is, what are you giving back to your community? Every culture that's come through this country has added something to it. You have scientific advances here that could be helping people. If you don't let anyone know, then what are you giving back? What good are you doing here?' Later Superman comes across an old man in need of medical attention. He's got something or other that he knows that Earth science can't treat. So he takes him back to the aliens. They end up treating him, and then with Superman's encouragement, they decide to 'give back'. They buy up some of the abandoned factories and set up some medical facilities plants. Working some of their own technology into the designs. Yes it's a little far-fetched, but . . it's interesting. And in the end, Superman talks some aliens that were just trying to survive into 'giving back'. In #703, Superman ends up in Cincinnati. This issue ends up being about a debate between Superman and Batman. Batman has been watching Superman's progress. And while he doesn't believe in his overall methods, he is trying to give him his space. Batman's argument though is . . first of all he doesn't think that Superman is actually dealing with what's really bothering him . . the loss of his adopted planet. Secondly, by walking amongst the 'common-folk', he's actually putting the people he's trying to reach in danger. Superman is a magnet, as is anyone in their profession. If he puts himself out in the open like this . . trouble will follow. And while Superman can deal with pretty much anything, can the people he's putting in such close proximity? Of course something happens, and ironically it's caused by his recently lost adoptive planet. More specifically some kind of crystal's that reached Earth from it. Anyways, in his zeal to 'fix the problem', a large part of the city is destroyed. Superman immediately afterwards sets to fixing it, but . . the damage has already been done. While the physical damage can be fixed, the doubts among the people have been sowed. They have seen that while he walks amongst them, in truth . . he's not really one of them. And of course they, and the media turn against him immediately. Basically proving Batman's point. This has got to be hard on Dick. While he's been proven right, at the same time he probably hates to see Superman have to learn the hard truth this way. I think he may have been on to something when he warned Superman that he may be going through a mental breakdown . . or could be, if he doesn't deal with what's really bothering him. It's a side of Superman I don't think we've ever seen before. Anyways, I thought they were good issues. I like #701 better, but . . I still thought they were good. And I think JMS and Eddy are doing a fantastic job. If you've even only been marginally interested in Superman before . . this is a story-arc that I think can touch a lot of people. If you give it a chance. Believe me, you won't be sorry.

Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #1, #2 and #3 - DC

You knew it was only going to be a matter of time before there was another Green Lantern title . . right? I love the Green Lantern Corps book, but . . there's just to many characters involved for all of this to be contained within 2 volumes. So now we get a third title. And with these 3 issues, the title is off with a bang. The series is going to be brought to us by Peter J Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. But we're also getting many beautiful covers by Rodolfo Migliari and Lee Bermejo. Unfortunately, with doing multiple issues on these posts, I'm not going to be able to include all the variant covers as well. There's just not enough space. Plus . . I really am trying to get caught back up. Which, it appears, is not going to be an easy feat . . either with time or motivation. But that's a subject for another time. Anyways, this title starts out with Guy trying to live up to the promise that he made Ganthet and Atrocitus. They're getting ready to head out into the unknown sectors. But before he can leave, Kilowog and Arisia join up with him. They each also have their own reasons for wanting to tag along. Kilowog, I think, just needs a change of scenery. He's just as devoted as he's ever been to the Corps, but . . I think he's starting to get a little bit tired of having to bury friends and teammates. Especially after the whole thing that they've all just been through with the Black Lanterns. Arisia wants to ask Guy and Kilowog to go to Daxam with her to try and help her save Sodam. In the meantime, while all of these plans are being made, it appears that there's forces gathering in many different places with the intentions of taking down the Corps. Atrocitus is currently helping Ganthet and Guy, by feeding them information. But his ultimate goal, the death and destruction of the entire Green Lantern Corps, is what he's really working towards. We also see at the end of issue #1, and going in to #2, that there's a long lost enemy of the Guardians hiding and seeking his revenge also . . Zardor of Kralok. Zardor, it appears, is adept at bending people to his will. I believe he has some kind of limited telepathic abilities. But he's got a plan to amp things up. He's apparently been gathering telepaths from around the universe and making them his prisoners. Somehow he's using their power to amp up his own. And with this increased power, he's been tampering with some of the new recruits to the Green Lantern Corps. 'I've reached out to the ones I feel are more malleable, and in subtle ways I've also given them higher moral and ethical standards. I've molded them to be natural leaders, willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I've made them beacons of willpower so the odds of being a candidate for the corps rise exponentially as I moderate the fear they feel. They do what I want them to do. They think what I want them to think. They are completely unaware that they dance to the strings I pull . . . Control the Corps . . Control the Universe!!' And also . . there's something else going on. Guy agrees to Arisia about going to Daxam, but first he wants to stop off at Odym. It appears that he's still having some affects from the Red Lantern ring that he was wearing. Munk had told him that the Blue Lanterns would be able to purge the hold the ring had on him from his system. However, once arriving, Bleez is not far behind. She's one of Atrocitus' Red Lanterns. He sent her to help Guy, but in doing so she's also trying to stop Guy from getting purged. It appears that she thinks that he'll need the energy from both rings to face the challenges that he'll see in the uncharted sectors. But that's not the real problem. While on Odym, Brother Warth discovers that the Green Lantern rings are not reacting the way they're supposed to be around a Blue Lantern. Which is when Guy reveals to everyone that part of the reason they've heading into the uncharted sectors is because Atrocitus has revealed to him that someone is stealing bits of powers from Green Lantern rings everywhere. Meanwhile, back on Daxam . . the tour-group's next stop . . Sodam Yat has fallen from the sun back to the planet. There's a contingency of Daxamites that are trying, and willing to do whatever's necessary to help him. Actually . . they worship him. But other's are hunting him down. When he fell from the sun it turned back to yellow. In so doing . . the Daxamites all lost their powers. Mongul is no longer around. But most of them are not willing to give up their powers this easily. Including Sodam's own parents. And, after the group gets back on track on Odym, they resume their tour with Daxam being the next stop. As they're leaving, Guy and Bleez contemplate whether Sodam is the one that's been stealing the power. 'If Sodam's not dead and he's the drain . . then I'm gonna have to kill him.' I thought this was a great beginning to this series. Of course with Peter working so long with Geoff Johns on the Green Lantern books, as well as Blackest Night . . he's more than familiar with all of these characters. My only question is . . will we see the Green Lantern Quarterly book again? Sometime? I thought that was a great series also, but it only lasted for about 2 years. It would be a great outlet to see some of the lesser known characters.

Smallville - Supergirl - Season 10 - Episode 3 - CW

This episode seemed to revolve mostly around the theme of whether a 'hero' should show his face . . or hide in the shadows. It's an argument that has been bounced around in the comics since their inception. But on this particular series, the consensus to date has been to keep your identity a secret, and operate from the shadows. However, back when Clark opened the portal with the book or Rao to send the Kandorians away . . apparently a darkness came through that Jor-El, and now Kara, are worried will get a foothold on Clark. If so, 'In control of your powers, you could become the greatest threat, and weapon, the world has ever seen.' So Kara has come back to give it a different target to go after. Which is why she's gone public. Apparently this is a presence that feeds on the doubt, and darkness in a person's soul. The only people immune to it are those that are pure of heart. Anyways, it's taken possession of Gordon Godfrey's body and is using his media presence, and savvy . . as well as his publicist, to put his face out in front of the entire world and use his words to plant the seed of doubt. He's also about to expose Ollie's identity as the Green Arrow. Lois takes exception to this guys anti-hero rhetoric, so she makes it her mission to take him down. However, apparently he knows of Lois' connection to the Blur and is manipulating her into drawing him out. During all of this, Ollie is feeling especially guilty because of Chloe's sacrifice to save him. He's tired of his crusade and identity bringing harm and heartbreak to those around him. So, at the end of the episode, much to Lois' chagrin, he decides to go public and holds a press conference to release his secret. Anyways, Kara and Clark hold back the shadows . . somehow repelling them with her bracelets. The only way to get rid of them for sure is to send them back through the portal. But they haven't done that yet . . nor do they know how. So for now . . the shadows are just out there in possession of someone else. And although Lois knows Clark's secret, it seems like it gets harder and harder every episode for her to keep that from him. She's constantly stopping herself from slipping up. So . . while the story progress' as far as Lois and Clark is concerned . . and with the looming threat that Jor-El tried to warn him of, it seems like the crux of this story was the question of how Clark should proceed with his secret. Is his penchant for operating in the shadows helping his ultimate destiny . . or hindering it? Clark truly wants to be the best 'hero' he can be. He doesn't want to let anyone down. But it seems as if he's at a crossroads. Does he keep operating the way he is . . fighting the symptoms, without really addressing the problems? Or does he come out of the shadows and become an icon that the rest of the world can rally behind? Of course he doesn't know that's what he'll ultimately become, so . . to him, that's the greatest risk. Plus, he doesn't want to put those around him . . friends or family, at risk. This is the final season of Smallville, and I have a feeling there's going to be some big changes before this is all over with.

Secret Warriors #18 and #19 - Marvel

This is another fantastic book, and series, by Jonathan Hickman. I don't know how the guy does it. Not only are the stories here, and over in SHIELD, fantastic and well thought out but . . there are also incredibly intricate and detailed. I don't know if he has this all drawn out on some board somewhere, but it seems to me that it would be hard for one person to put the amount of effort into one of these incredible series . . let alone two. And for that I have to give him some huge props. In these 2 issues, Dum Dum and Sitwell are sitting in front of a UN Security Council being questioned for the actions that have occur ed in Chinese airspace . . in which Nick Fury and Dum Dum led two helicarriers into battle with a HYDRA base. It seems to me that basically they're upset because they don't know what's going on. Eventually Dum Dum and Sitwell spell it out for them . . 'See, you are all going to have to get with the program if you have any chance of dealing with this in a reasonable fashion . . there is a shadow war going on between organizations that have no allegiance to anything but themselves. They have no nation to defend, so they don't worry about sanctions or retribution. They have no borders, so they can't be boxed in or contained. Your rules . . your laws . . mean nothing to them.' It all comes down to 2 things. First they want to know if Nick is going to take care of the problem for them. And then they want to know if he's the kind of man they can work with. I take back what I said earlier. Maybe they did know what the problem was, they just didn't know how to deal with it. And now that they know that someone is willing to . . they probably want to make sure that strategic alliances aren't disrupted, embarrassed or pushed to the breaking point. Everybody has an agenda. And even though they knew this was a problem that was eventually going to have to be addressed . . it's being done by someone without the same goals or ambitions as their own. Something like that can make people like these very nervous. Anyways, as were going through this story, we're also being shown the reunion between the various members of the Howling Commandos. Nick got them together a few weeks ago because of the events on the horizon. But, I think, also because of Steve's return. It's interesting how the battles and drama that they're going through now is so closely associated to what they dealt with back during the second world war. And the one constant, no matter what era they're fighting in is the loss of friends and associates that they've worked with. It's getting so that I think Nick has as many friends dead as he does alive. Possibly more. Anyways, were dealing mostly with the Howling Commandos for these 2 issues, so I imagine that we'll see what the Secret Warriors are up to in the next story-arc. As I said, I think Jonathan is doing a terrific job with this series. And Alessandro Vitti uses his art to give the book a feel that is perfect for it's theme. I'm glad I gave this book a chance.

the Amazing Spider-man #639, #640 and #641 - Marvel

I enjoyed this story-arc, but . . really the whole thing could've been told in one issue . . issue #641. Basically, we're finally getting the whole story on what actually happened the day that Peter and Mj thought that they were going to lose Aunt May. And how those events precipitated MJ walking out on Peter and leaving him . . for good. However, since we saw before how all of this was due to the machinations of Mephisto, I'm guessing that this is Joe Quesada's way of rewriting those events. We saw in issue #638 MJ's encounter with power from down under . . and I don't mean Australia. However, with this story-arc, it seems that have been unfolded in a different way. We start out with their wedding . . a wedding which never happened, and eventually led to MJ deciding that Peter's secret is just to much of a responsibility for her. We also find out that the Kingpin not only sent someone after Peter, but because of Peter humiliating him in front of the entire prison, Wilson's hitter now had a list of Peter's and MJ's entire family. MJ, and Peter, stop the guy from taking out Anna. But during the course of the interlude, MJ finds out that after these 2 he's moving on to her entire family . . immediate and extended. That's when she realizes that it's not Peter putting her family in danger, but rather herself . . because, she's 'Spider-man's girlfriend'. But they both come to a conclusion because of this. Peter decides that it's to risky for the entire world to know his secret. Somehow he has to stop it. So he enlists the aid of Doctor Strange. And with the help of Reed and Tony, Stephen erases the memory of Peter's association with Spider-man from the entire world. However, at the time, Peter decides that the memory of everything that's happened is to much for him to live with alone. At the last second he pulls MJ into his protective circle, enabling her to share those memories with him. But the conclusion that she had reached was that all of this was just to much to bear. It was bad enough that she was always worried about Peter when he was out crusading. But she was also, really, his second choice. In her heart, as well as his, she knew that his first choice would always be to save the world. Then on top of that, because of his secret, there would always be the chance that something would happen that would put her, as well as her entire family in jeopardy because of their relationship and association. For that . . she would be solely responsible. If she chose to be with him. Which is why she didn't. But that's not really what this story is all about. Well it is . . to an extent. To the extent that this is the first time we had heard it. But to Peter and MJ, this was all history. Tragic and heartbreaking, but . . history. No the point of this whole story . . the point of MJ coming back and begging Peter to talk about everything that they've been through, was first of all to make sure that Peter understood all of her actions and choices. Because of his love he accepted them, but . . she knew that he didn't really understand. And with that understanding, she chose to set him free. 'I wish I was strong enough to be with you, but I'm not. And I don't know if I ever will be. And you . . you need to fin that someone who is. And you need to move on. You've been sitting here, wondering . . waiting for something that isn't going to happen. You need to get on with your life. There's someone wonderful out there for you. But, if you don't let go of 'this', you may never find her . . even if she's standing right in front of you.' Which leads Peter to a realization. 'Today, my best friend, the best person I've ever known . . set me free. Today, for the first time in a long time, I feel like my destiny's my own. Like I can take on anything life has to throw at me. Today? Today feels like a brand new day!'. Hmmm. Where have we heard that before. Anyways, I thought it was a good story. And very moving in parts. It just seems to me that this whole thing with Mephisto was just kind of swept under the rug. It happened. But it didn't'. You know what I mean? This story, to me, seems like the natural occurrence of events. But that's not the way it happened. At least not the first time. So now . . it's different? I guess that's all I'm going to say about that. I don't want to get stuck up on some soapbox. Let's just say that I think Joe Quesada, and Paolo Rivera are extremely talented. If I could do it I would. But I can't, so . . I just have to read it . . and accept what's published. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the next story-arc. And I'm trying really hard not to say something snide to end all of this. I'm just going to say that I think Peter is one of the best characters out there.

SHIELD #3 and #4 - Marvel

First of all, I have to say that I think Jonathan Hickman is writing a masterpiece here. He's doing nothing short of tying together all of history, and then weaving the creation, tenents and aspirations of SHIELD throughout all of it. It's hard for me to even explain what Jonathan has going on here, because . . well . . everything is tied together. It's hard to know one thing, without another. And for knowledge to progress further, the past has to be better understood. Suffice it to say, the characters in this book consist of some of the richest in history . . Imhotep, Galileo, Da Vinci, Newton and, apparently the most important . . or dangerous, I'm not sure which . . Nostradamus. Through their secret elixir . . the Forever Compound, Nostradamus has been the thread that has existed through all of the most recent history . . the past 500, plus years. While Da Vinci seems to be the errant explorer that bounces around through history, to where he sees fit. Although he seems to have an agenda and purpose, it's hard to see exactly what that is right now. But we do see however that things seem to revolve around a boy . . Leonid. When Da Vinci comes to him it's in the year 1956. And Leonid is a young man . . probably in his early 20's. He's called by some, 'the boy with the stars beneath his skin'. Whatever that means. Like I said, we see a lot of interesting stuff going on here, but . . we aren't privy, yet, to how it's all connected. We know that it is, we just aren't being shown the threads . . yet. We see stuff from Galactus outside of Rome, in 1582, to Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan Al Azdi's destruction in 750 AD. We see Newton's discovery of the Devian City in 1625, to Nostradamus' abduction in 1652. We see Da Vinci's return to the brotherhood, and the Immortal City, in 1956, to a pregnant Celestial in 114 AD. And Nostradamus has been witness and privy to most of this knowledge. At the end of issue #4 when Leonid, after discovering his incarceration, asks him who he is . . he replies, 'I am Nostradamus. The Catalyst. And the Architect of Revelation.' It really is a lot to take in. But Jonathan is definitely the architect of this story . . this masterpiece in the making. And he's doing a tremendous job. As well as Dustin Weaver who visually interprets it all for our unworthy eyes. I know. A little dramatic there, but . . I had to give it a shot. Anyways, it's a great story and apparently the foundation for the entirety of the Marvel Universe. Not to much pressure on Jonathan's shoulders there. Right? It's a great story. But if you haven't picked it up yet . . do so from the very beginning. I'm not just being dramatic when I say . . everything is connected.

the New Avengers #2 and #3 - Marvel

I thought these were some interesting issues. My only concern is that things always seem a bit vague when it comes to all this mysticism . . Doctor Voodoo, Stephen Strange and Daimon Hellstrom. The story starts out with someone, or something, possessing Stephen and Daimon. They've attacked Doctor Voodoo . . apparently they're after the Eye of Agamotto . . and they haven't been exactly subtle about their intentions. They want the Eye, even if they have to kill him. But apparently it has to be willingly handed over . . it can't just be taken. See . . that's the part about the magical stories that always seems to bother me. There seems to always be all these unwritten 'rules' about who can do what to who, or what they need to do it. I don't necessarily think that Stephen Strange was ever any better of a sorcerer that say Doctor Voodoo. I think he just had a better understanding and grasp of all the 'rules'. But, that's just my opinion. Anyways, to protect the Eye Voodoo sends it to Luke Cage. I assume . . I hope, he thought it would be safer because he guessed that he would be in the company of his fellow Avengers. Either that, or . . he just drew a straw out of a hat. Anyways, shortly after getting it Luke becomes the one that's possessed. Logan brings Stephen and Daimon back to the fold after he stabs them. Somehow the physical trauma releases the hold of whatever demon is possessing them. See . . another one of those 'rules'. Anyways, there's a bunch of pushing and shoving and eventually Iron Fist ends up with the Eye. This time whoever possesses him takes off for their home dimension shortly after. I'm not sure why they didn't do that when Luke had it. And shortly after Danny disappears. And then . . the skies open up. It appears that there's been a rift opened between our dimension and wherever these demons are coming from. The story doesn't progress a whole lot further in issue #3. Victoria Hand is brought back into the mix. And she actually saves Jessica and her baby from being attacked. Oh yeah, the demons seem to be running rampant around New York City now. We also see that wherever Danny has been whisked off to . . they can't seem to touch him. We don't actually see who's there . . just a whole lot of bright light, but we, and Danny, hear their voices. Apparently they can't touch Danny because he's enlightened. They expected him to be destroyed by the time he arrived. Also Voodoo, Strange and Hellstrom have begun trying to work on locating the Eye, hopefully returning it and Danny, and also stopping the destruction of their dimension by whomever is attacking it from wherever they're coming from. And finally, at the end of the issue, we see that whomever is behind this was at one time Doctor Strange's teacher. I'm not that familiar with Doctor Strange, or his history, so I don't know who this guy is. But he appears to be a much older version of Doctor Strange, or perhaps his predecessor. I thought the issues were entertaining. I love the way the Brian Bendis writes the dialogue between all these characters. I'm suspecting that's why he's got Spider-man attached to this group. Nobody chatters during a fight more than Peter. And actually I'm glad that Brian is still attached to the Avengers. But I'm also pleased that he's not doing all the books, as he was a few years ago. This is a vast group with all it's appendages splitting off into various titles. Personally, I think the more writers that are involved . . the better ideas that we're going to get. And through that . . better stories. Also, as usual, Stuart Immonen is doing a great job with the art. I was planning on just sticking with one of the Avengers titles. But now? Now I'm not so sure. I'm enjoying all these books . . in their own unique way.

Avengers Academy #1, #2 and #3 - Marvel

I know I said I wasn't going to do this, but . . I wanted to give this book a shot. So I waited until the first 3 issues came out . . decided to pick them up . . and then read all 3 of them together. I wanted to see if they could do anything interesting here, plus . . I like these characters. As it turns out . . I thought it was pretty good. The setting is the Infinite Avengers Mansion. So we have Hank Pym, Tigra, Justice, Speedball and Quicksilver as the 'mentors in residence' Not to mention Jocasta. The only person I didn't see was Jarvis. He must of went back with the 'real' Avengers. Anyways, we also have a new class of recruits. Looking at the cover for issue #1, and going from left to right, we have Striker, Hazmat, Finesse, Reptil, Mettle and Veil. Reptil was the kid who appeared in the Avengers Initiative special. If you didn't read it, it's in my blog here . . somewhere. And the theme of this book, and both sides of this team, seems to be 'misfits', or 'damaged goods'. We all know that the Avengers here are all team-members with a checkered past. Well, that is to say, they've done things that are questionable and . . they've all been given a second chance. Third or fourth chances in some cases. Well, the team of recruits seems to be in the same position. It starts out all 'candy and roses', with the mentors telling the recruits that they're the 'brightest and the best'. And after reading all three issues I will say that they all have tremendous initiative. There's that word again. But we later find out that the reason they're actually here is because . . 'We're the ones Osborn tortured the worst. The ones whose psych tests set off alarms. The ones who could take out a city block. We're not here 'cause they think we have what it takes to be the next Captain America. We're here 'cause they're worried we'll be the next Red Skull.' In issues #2 and #3 Christos Gage starts focusing on the kids training, and on the individual team members. In issue #2 we get some background on Finesse. We also see the team, and their training, through her eyes. Because of her abilities, she, and Hank, wonder if she might be the Taskmaster's daughter. But because all of his information was wiped out of the records by Osborn . . the don't have anything to compare her to. Hank shows her a documentary on Quicksilver to try to inspire her, but instead . . she stumbles across something of her own. Because of the way she picks up knowledge she also has an incredible memory. And she's already reviewed most of the Avengers files. So after watching the show, she confronts Piotr with the fact that there never was a Skrull version of him. It was an excuse for what he did. He gets seriously pissed because he thinks that she's blackmailing him. But that's not what she wants at all. 'I'd like to learn. I want you to give me private lessons. Unless you want the world to know your secrets, you'll teach me . . what Magneto taught you . . in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.' Then in issue #3, we get another perspective of this team . . from Hazmat's point of view. Her story is probably the most tragic. As she almost killed her parents and boyfriend when her powers triggered. Of course what Osborn did to her was no 'piece of cake' either. We also start the substitute-teacher process this issue. Any number of Avengers have agreed to step in and help teach these students. So far we see Iron Fist and Valkrie. And Hank decides to take the team on a field trip, and give Luke a chance to address the kids. Of course they have to go to where he's working now, and that's . . the Raft. Which in and of itself probably wouldn't be that big of a deal . . it's a 'Scared Straight' type of thing. The problem is . . Osborn is also currently at the Raft. And Hazmat, Finesse and Mettle have more than a few bones to pick with him. The issue ends with Hazmat setting off a localized EMP . . which shuts down the prison and with it all security measures. And then the 3 of them track down to Osborn's cell. Of course he's calm and analytical. He let's them know that it'll only be a matter of minutes before they have EMP-shielded back-up systems on line. Which is when Hazmat tells him . . 'That's ok . . you'll be dead by then.' I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this series. I don't know what I was expecting . . another version of Avengers Initiative, or Young Avengers. And . . it kind of is. But I also think that Christos has kind of taken the best of both of those series and brought them together. Christos has also come a long way as a writer. I think he does a great job with the character development. And he has a way of getting the reader bought in to the story. I'll probably stay with this one for at least a few more issues to check it out. Another selling point, at least to me, of this series is Mike McKone's art. It's not flashy or groundbreaking, like some other artists, but . . it's got a really warm feel to it. It just feels comfortable . . or nostalgic, kind of. I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but . . I like it. Like I said, I'll probably pick up at least the next few issues to see how it goes. My curiosity has been piqued.

Chuck vs Cubic Z - Season 4 - Episode 3 - NBC

I like that Chuck and Sarah are delving into their relationship more, but . . I'm also glad to see that the Buy-More, and it's misfit cast of characters, is getting more attention now. As usual this episode revolves around two separate, but interactive, storylines. One involving Chuck and Sarah . . the awkward advancement of their relationship . . and how their jobs as spys get in the way of them figuring it all out. At least in a timely fashion. They always seem to get there eventually, but. . they also take a long time jumping the many hurdles in their way. This time, as their looking forward to a romantic trip, and mission, to Morocco, things are put on hold as they have to hold and detain Hugo Panzer and Heather Chandler . . Steve Austin and Nicole Richie. It's been this sense of danger and adventure, I think, that's brought them together. And I'm sure it keeps everything exciting. But it also seems to make them realize how important their time together is. Eventually, with Heather/Nicole's reluctant help, they decide to take it slowly. That is until a series of events leads Chuck into looking like he's proposing to her. They're both stymied as Chuck doesn't know if he should or shouldn't. Even though it wasn't what he had planned. Plus he doesn't know what Sarah's reaction will or won't be. Does he make her mad by pursuing the issue, or does he make her mad by acting like it's all a big joke? And Sarah seems to be just as mystified. Is Chuck serious or not? Should she act like she's answering, or act like it's all a big joke? So again the episode ends with them awkwardly stumbling through another relationship obstacle. Anyways, on the Buy-More side . . with the release of a new, highly anticipated game, Grimes is finding out just how hard it is to run this ship all by himself. And, of course, just then . . Big Mike comes walking back into the picture. He shows up because he's decided to ask Grimes' mother to marry him, but . . he wants Grimes' blessing. He ends up sticking around because he can see how much Grimes is in over his head, and offers to help. Through the course of this drama Grimes realizes just what an asset Mike is . . both to the store and to his mother. So he gives him his blessing, and asks him to be the Asst. Manager. And with that . . everyone is back in place. Things are a little different and shaken up, but . . the central cast of characters are still there. Jeff and Lester also play a hilarious role in traumatic launch of this game . . Spy-Attack. During this operation Casey gets hurt, and is assigned to desk duty for the interim. And Chuck gets another little piece of information from Heather/Nicole about his mom . . Frost. Heather was involved in an 'operation Beacon', back in Europe. And she saw that Frost was very close to Alexei Volkov. She doesn't know what their relationship was, or her reasons for being there, just that they were always together. You know what this series kind of puts me in mind of? The old 'Get Smart' series. You know, with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon . . Agent 86, and Agent 99? Except Chuck isn't as slapstick. And I think it also focus' more on the actual mission at hand. But Chuck and Agent 86 are similar in that they are the inept spy, who really wants to be at the top of their respective games, but tend to do so more out of luck or chance than actual ability. Anyways, for the most part I like the storylines, but what keeps me coming back is the humor and the ridiculous situations. Other than Smallville . . and Big Bang Theory . . this is my favorite show on TV, right now.

Shadowland #2 and #3 - Marvel

I picked up issue #1 of this series mostly because I was interested in what was happening to Daredevil. I know I don't follow his book right now, but at one time I was a huge fan. Anyways, this story looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a shot. And when issue #1 ended with him killing Bullseye, well . . my curiosity was definitely peaked. But I'm not going to be picking up any of the addendum's. I'm not going to be dragged into all of that again. Anyways, in issue #2, Luke and Danny are trying to figure out what to do. I think their resolve is strengthened when Wilson Fisk shows up trying to prompt them into action. I don't think they were swayed so much by what the Kingpin said, but rather that the situation had deteriorated so much that he was now involved. I think it kind of opened their eyes. But Wilson doesn't put all of his eggs in one basket. Lady Bullseye has found the Hand's Black Scroll for Wilson. With it he can bend one of the Hand's most ancient enemies to his will . . the Zugaikotsu. Or in other words . . the Ghost Rider. And, while this is going on, Jake Lockley . . the Moon Knight . . has gotten himself captured by Daredevil's ninja's because he wants to find out what exactly is going on with all of these prisoners that have been taken. As he arrives in the dungeons, almost simultaneously Luke has gathered a group of Matt's friends to confront him in the main hall. Matt has put out a call for warriors. He wants to strengthen his ranks. So when they come knocking on the door saying that they want to help . . he believes them. At first. But tensions quickly rise. And when the Ghost Rider attacks in the dungeons, Daredevil thinks that everything is connected. There's a big battle and most of Daredevil's prisoners escape. Jake stays behind. Even though his plan has been shot to hell . . he still wants to know what's going on. And, when the Punisher gets involved, Luke and his cadre also make their escape . . relatively unscathed. However, in the process, they see that Daredevil is more than Matt ever was on his own. They think that something from the Hand may be possessing him. Specifically he's become a puppet of the Snakeroot, and a vessel for . . the Beast of the Hand. However, by the end of issue #3 we see that Daredevil has Typhoid Mary by his side, and is recently joined by Elektra. Not to mention, in his quest for better soldiers, he's decided to resurrect Bullseye. And Moon Knight is still hiding in the shadows . . biding his time. Andy Diggle has put together a pretty interesting story here. As with the heroes, I'm starting to believe that Matt is no longer in control of his actions. I'm interested to see how this is all going to turn out . . and where Matt, or Daredevil's character will be left in the aftermath. Billy Tan is also doing a great job with the art here. I'm intrigued, but not so much that I'm going to buy the other issues. I think I'll just stick with this one and see what happens.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #6 - Marvel

I enjoyed this issue, and this series. I thought Mark Millar did a great job with the story. They've got some great characters to work with here. We've got Tyrone Cash, the first Hulk, and we were introduced to the Ultimate Universe's version of the Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, and the Punisher. The setup for this story is pretty simple. There were some men who killed Johnny as a sacrifice to Satan. Their goal was to gain power. Which they did. Now, several years later, Johnny has been given the power of the Ghost Rider, by Satan, and has begun to exact his revenge against those that killed him. The problem is, one of the . . Blackthorne, is now the Vice President of the United States. So when Nick Fury is called up and asked to stop this Ghost Rider, he puts together a very powerful black-ops team which he calls the Avengers. And they take on the task of protecting the VP. Well . . they do that after they try miserably to stop the Ghost Rider on one of his other targets. When they put the list together, of how the victims are connected, Blackthorne is the only one left. Which is again when they run into another problem. By the time Johnny gets to Blackthorne, Satan has given the VP the same powers as the Ghost Rider. I guess it was just his way of making sure that he actually gets his soul when things are all said and done. That, or . . he just has one sick, twisted sense of humor. Anyways, there's a big fight, and for some reason Johnny and Blackthorne switch back to their human identities to carry it on. This is when Frank Castle comes along and shoots Blackthorne in the head. Like I said, I think the whole purpose of this story-line was to introduce us to this Universe's version of these two . . sorry, make that three characters . . Ghost Rider, Punisher and the first Hulk. At the end, Satan agrees to let Johnny keep his powers, and Roxanne her new life, as long as Johnny keeps sending him new souls. Meanwhile, Hawkeye helps Frank escape from the government program and he goes to Russia to hunt down mobsters there. He believes that he's been sent a message from somebody on the other side . . 'Keep up the good work.' And we'll obviously see another on of these mini-series as Black Widow and Red Wasp are hardly featured at all in this story-line. I thought Mark did a good job with the story, and I enjoyed Leinil Francis Yu's version of these characters. He does a great job with the action sequences. If you missed this one I'm sure it'll be out in TPB soon. You should check it out. You won't be disappointed.

the New Mutants Forever #1 , #2 and #3 - Marvel

The story in this series begins back when Magneto was the Headmaster of the school. It starts shortly after he's been chosen, and asked, to become the White King of the Hellfire Club. And, to his surprise, urged to take the position by Ororo. He and the New Mutants are at the Hellfire club's mansion. I assume for protection . . body-guards, of a sort. That's when, from their room, the New Mutants hear gunfire in Central Park. Of course, being the heroes that they are, they go rushing to the unknown victim's aid. And they find it to be Amama's dad . . the Senator. He and his bodyguards are being attacked by a para-military type group. Anyways, they end up saving the Senator. He's still armed, but not captured. But it appears that pretty much everyone else, on both sides, is gone. This of course quickly brings Selene into the mix, as the Senator is not only her son, but from Nova Roma . . as well as herself and Amara. Her resolve is even furthered when the para-military group attacks again, but this time they hit the mansion. Their attack seems better organized this time as they attack on several different fronts. The result of which is . . they abscond with Amara and Doug. After which, all attackers have been killed, or taken their own life when Emma tries to probe them. Well, all except the one that Illyana sent to Limbo. Through him, Selene learns where her granddaughter has been taken, as well as who is behind all of this. It turns out, which we discover at the end of issue #1, Amara has been returned to Nova Roma, and . . this is all the plan of the Red Skull. In issue #2, Roberto and Warlock are dragged into the mix. They were separate from the group, and vacationing in Rio de Janeiro, Roberto's home. It appears that his mother . . archaeologist Nina de Costa . . was in Nova Roma when it became enslaved by the Red Skull. When the Senator took off for New York, to ask the X-Men for help, she decided to return home and use their family's influence to garner some support. But she, as well as the Senator, were quickly set upon the the Skull's forces. Which is where Bobby and Warlock come in, when she calls for help. We then find Doug and Amara locked in a cell in Nova Roma. As well as a boy called Tiberius. We don't know what his story is exactly, but . . there's something different about him. I guess we'll learn his story later. For now he seems to be part of the Red Skull's entourage, when he uses some sort of drug to enable their allegiance. After the painful injection, they all seem to follow the Skull without question. But Doug's formula seems to be different as it also transforms him into the Skull's image . . Jr Skull, or Son of Skull . . as it were. Anyways, Selene and her group have join up with Bobby and Warlock when they all make seem to make their way to Nova Roma simultaneously. It isn't long before they're beset by the Skull's forces. And by the end of issue #2, they come face to face with their transformed team-mates. Although I think Amara is the only one they really seem to recognize. Issue #3 starts out with them fighting their friends. But they don't make much headway. Doug and Amara take down Warlock, burning him with lava and encasing him in molten rock. And, when it appears that they don't have the fortitude to stand up to the Skull's forces, Selene is also injected with the drug that transformed Doug. She seems to be fighting it, but due to their defeat, and Selene's fate, Illyana transports them all to Limbo before the full effects can take place. Since Illyana's magic can't do anything against science, it seems that Selene is fighting this drug's affect on sheer willpower. That is until they return to Nova Roma and she takes the life-force of one of her loyal followers. We also see that Doug seems to be fully embracing his transformation, and we finally get a bit of emotion from Tiberius when the Red Skull makes an advance on Amara and kisses her. He seems jealous. We also find out that somehow Warlock has not perished, and is instead keeping an eye on his friends while remaining hidden. By the end of issue #3 there seems to be a turn in the tide. Selene has successfully fought her transformation. And somehow Doug's mind has returned to him. The physical transformation is irreversible, but . . at least he's thinking on his own again. The problem is . . he can't let anyone know. He fears that the skull may be watching him. And on the final page of the issue, Warlock comes to confront him. He's mad about the termination of his friend Doug. He doesn't know yet that this is him. So far . . I think this is an ok story. I'm not overly thrilled with it, but . . it is great to see another story with all of these great characters. My problem is . . for the theme of this book, it doesn't seem like all that much is different. Yes Selene is working in concert with the New Mutants, but . . I don't think it's that big of a leap. Plus, I'm not real big on the Red Skull's character. The guy is pretty single minded in his mission and endeavors, so . . to me, it seems kind of obvious as to the way this story will go. I'm sure we'll see some things changed . . as is the theme of these 'Forever' titles. But I don't see that it'll be that dramatic. Of course we've seen more changes in the X-Men Forever books . . it's gone 30 or so issues by now. I don't know how much can change in a 5 issues series. But, having said that . . I do find the book and story entertaining. Chris Claremont is writing it, with Al Rio and Bob McLeod doing the art. I like Al and Bob's art because it's kind of nostalgic. It kind of feels like we've gone right back to this book . . back then. They also seem to be using former New Mutant artists on the covers . . Bill Sienkiewicz, Art Adams and Bob McLeod. Overall . . I think it's ok. But if you haven't picked it up yet . . I'd wait for the TPB. Then you can read it all together.

Smallville - Shield - Season 10 - Episode 2 - CW

As episodes go . . this one was kind of boring. Well . . that is to say, if you weren't a Smallville follower, and this was one of the first episodes you ever watched . . you'd have been kind of bored through this one. But that's only because this is kind of one of those 'in-between' episodes. A lot of information is introduced to us in this episode, but . . the payoff isn't going to be until further down the line. Lois is in Africa, where she's looking into an archaeological expedition. They've found some tombs which appear to be Isis'. And, Carter Hall just happens to be there. We later find out that Clark asked him to keep an eye on Lois. They have a pretty lengthy conversation about 'heroes' and the roles that their loved ones play in their lives. As an antithesis to this meaningful dialogue, Cat Grant is also introduced as a new reporter at the Planet. Tess has teamed her up with Clark. I think because she knows that Cat will get under his skin. Cat is really against all the 'vigilantes'. She feels that if they were real 'heroes', then they should come out of the shadows and let the world see them for who they are. This seems to be a recurring theme throughout this episode. We find out that Checkmate is still after Clark's group of 'heroes', and is using the Suicide Squad to tag and track them. We get to see Deadshot, Plastique, and . . I think, Rick Flag. It turns out that Rick Flag was actually the one that had captured and was interrogating Ollie. Which means that when Chloe traded herself for him . . she was actually trading herself to the Squad, and thereby . . Checkmate. Which is something that also has Ollie concerned because before leaving . . she completely erased any electronic trace of herself. Ollie's search at Watchtower basically tells him that Chloe Sullivan never existed. Later, when Ollie catches up with Rick Flag, Rick tells him that they did indeed have her, but rather than give any information up during her interrogation . . she swallowed a cyanide capsule. According to Rick Flag . . she's dead. But Ollie finds a bottle in her apartment that contained a cyanide antidote. So he's thinking that she faked her death. But he doesn't know why. And he doesn't know what she's up to. And, as it turns out, something that Cat Grant says to Clark has him thinking. After saving her from one of Deadshot's schemes . . although it was actually set up to 'tag' Clark . . she says that he's a real hero. And then she goes on to tell him that the kind of 'heroes' that the world really needs should be shining beacons of light. Not tucked away . . obscure, and faceless. So at the end of the episode we see that Clark has traded in his black trenchcoat . . the motif of the 'blur', for a bright colored red leather coat, and blue pants. I think he's trying to go for the 'red, white & blue' theme here, but . . I don't think he's quite ready for the Superman costume. There was some good actions and moments this episode, but . . like I said, I think this one's purpose was really to introduce us to some new characters and some new plot-lines. Overall, I liked it. But it wasn't really over exciting. But I still thought it was a good chapter in the life of Clark Kent.