Echo #15 - Abstract Studio

Ivy and Julie finally have a face to face chat this issue. She and Dillon had gone back to her own home . . the place where this all started, to try to figure out what's really going on. They were hoping that they could reason with HenRi and finally get some answers. But all HenRi really wants is the alloy from the suit. Anyways, Julie agrees to talk to Ivy, as long as she gives them some answers. She pretty much brings them up to date, giving them everything she knows. Her motivation to switch sides here? Well . . first of all she was fired by HenRi when she decided that the concerns of her own family where more important than her job. Secondly? Her daughter, Lulu, is very sick and she's hoping that Julie can help her. However, shortly after she gets most of the information . . HenRi shows up . . guns ready to blaze. Ivy stalls them while Julie, Dillon and Pam make their get-away. But HenRi just blows everything up anyways. We do find out though that there's more to this suit than any of them seem to know . . well, except for John Foster, who works for HenRi. 'You think this is about the Beta-suit? Do you really think I'm interested in a human freak show? You don't know, do you? You have no idea what the Phi project is really about.' On the final panel though . . we get a little hint. We see Julie, Dillon and Pam speeding away in the car. But the narration we see, I think, is that of Annie's. 'I wake from the dead in a car racing down the highway. Dillon is driving and a strange woman is crying in the backseat. The sun is setting and the woods are on fire. We pass a man changing a flat, families at a baseball field, houses with the lights on. It's so sad, because I've seen tomorrow . . and none of this was there.' I'm thinking that the future changed when Julie came into possession of the suit. But how did Annie 'see' it? Another fantastic issue by Terry Moore. I really enjoy the work that he's put into this title. I think he's got another winner here.

Project Superpowers: Chapter Two #3 - Dynamite Entertainment

I like this book. I find it very interesting. The problem I see is . . there's just to many damn characters here to keep track of. The Inheritors are sitting in Europe. They're looking for more heroes from the urn. Heroes that haven't hooked up with the Green Lama's group yet. The problem they're having is . . the subtle changes that the heroes released from the urn have been experiencing . . the changes don't seem so subtle anymore. The heroes they've been tracking aren't the heroes they've been expecting. Also we find out that the Black Terror's sidekick, Tim, is actually Dynamic Boy. A couple of months ago he killed him and took his place. Meanwhile, Green Lama's team have taken over the Pentagon and are trying to figure out what their next step is. The Lama thinks they need to turn the building back over to the people that work there. They've already been branded as terrorists. Any further show of power would just serve to support the Supremacy's allegations. But the Black Terror doesn't follow that way of thinking. He and the Lama get into a heated discussion and the Lama almost kills him when he seems to fall into a trance. 'I don't know what came over me. It was like I was in a dream.' And some more of the heroes are in NYC fighting the Claw organization. It appears that they've killed Truth, but . . we'll have to wait and see what the results are there. Oh yeah, also Captain Future has allied himself, or entered into some type of agreement, with the Supremacy. And in the back-up, we get the origin of Man-Cat. Like I said . . I like this book. I enjoy Jim Krueger and Alex Ross' stories. I also think Edgar Salazar's art gets better and better all the time. But without any real buy-in to these characters . . this may be one of the story-lines that I drop. That would cut out 3 or 4 books a month by itself. I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to decide what to do. But every month when I read these books . . I'm just not as entrenched in the history and continuity of the characters as I am with others. I'm reading the stories . . and while admittedly good and interesting . . I just don't really care. I'm just reading them to read them. I have a tough decision to make. I'll let you know.

WildCATS #15 - WildStorm

This issue the WildCATS finally hook up with Max Farraday. Unfortunately . . it looks like they may have brought Tao along with them. Last issue they found Max's island where he's reliving his honeymoon . . day after day after day after day . . and then he brings them to St Louis where he's created a kind of pocket dimension. He wants to show them that in it he's placed millions of people that he's gathered from around the globe after the recent conflagration. They ask him why he didn't use his powers to stop Armageddon . . or try to rebuild the world. It's basically because of all the 'supers'. He was hoping that if he left the outside world as it was that the 'supers' would have nothing to do but fight amongst themselves and eventually wipe themselves out. All he had to do was sit and wait. But now the WildCATS have inadvertantly brought him into the mix, because even as they speak Tao is attacking his island. Max has no recourse but to intercede as that's where his entire family is. Although, because of that distraction, it doesn't seem that all of his power, combined with the backing of the WildCATS, is going to be enough to defeat Tao. At best they just seem to be delaying the inevitable. So Spartan decides to send Savant and Zealot to Hawaii to recruit Majestros help. 'That may be our salvation. Or our death.' I think it's great that Max is back. But I have a feeling that his family is going to die and he's going to go over the edge again. I don't know which is worse . . Tao, or a whacked out Max. Plus, we don't know what Kaizen Gamorra has been up to during all of this. He may be just sitting back and waiting to pick up all the pieces. Anyways, I thought it was a good story by Christos Gage and Shawn Moll. And I love that Ryan Sook cover. This has been one of my favorite WildStorm books for a long time now. I'm glad that it's as strong as it is currently. This is a great cast of characters.

Hellblazer #259 - DC

Oh my gosh! What a fantastic book. Simon Bisley provides the art for Peter Milligans story this issue, and . . it looks frikkin' fantastic. The art from the cover here is basically what we get through the whole issue . . with a little darker edge to it. John has gone to Chaz's wife's summer-house to try to be alone. Well . . that and he's trying to lay low because of Phoebe's recent death. He's shown in all the papers as her murderer. He tried to bring her back last issue, but instead ended up resurrecting her whole family in all the graves around her. They didn't seem like a very pleasant bunch. Anyways, he crosses over this issue in another attempt to find her. Instead he winds up in one of the circles of hell. He's not sure how he got there, or why, but he feels like he's being called. He finds what he thinks is Phoebe . .the unpleasant looking thing on the cover with needles and scalpels for fingers . . but he's confused as to why she's being presented this way. He wants to get out, to try to go back and try something different. Unfortunately he's in such a hurry that in the process he leaves the door open . . this creature follows him. He ends up sending it back, but in the process destroys much of Renee's family cottage. Chaz is going to catch hell for that. I thought it was a great issue. I really enjoy this book. I know John is a bit of as ass, but . . he's a likable ass. And I'm really enjoying the way that Peter is interpreting him. Also, luckily for us . . Simon Bisley will be returning next issue. What more could we ask for?

Madame Xanadu #15 - DC

This issue wraps up Michael Wm. Kaluta's run on this book. And . . it finishes the story-line with Nimue chasing this killer around New York City. It's set in the 40's, and I believe it's main importance is that it shows Madame Xanadu's presence in the beginning of the Age of Heroes . . the Golden Age. Basically, she's been chasing this guy around that has been murdering men of importance. She's trying to figure out the connection, but it seems to be in the past . . not the present. It seems that these men's forefathers all came to America together. They all took different paths, but they started out on the same track . . running from the inquisitions that were plaguing Europe. So now this guy is basically punishing these men for the sins of their fathers. Which is where Nimue's recollections of the past come in to play. She was also in Spain during the time of the Inquisitions, and had someone very important to her fall victim of their blind subjugation of all that didn't follow their strict, and unwavering code. Although it seemed that each inquisitor interpreted that code to his own benefit, and desire. All the while, supposedly doing the bidding of the Catholic Church. Anyways, it turns out that this isn't a man at all, but rather 'An infernal Djinn, a fire demon of the netherworld . . an Infrit!' With the help of the Sandman, she ends up defeating it . . well, actually capturing it and rendering it harmless. For now. And she also learns that the Sandman is Wesley Dodds. I assume we'll jump forward a little bit in time with the next story-arc. And in that . . Amy Reeder Hadley will be back to interpret the stories of Matt Wagner with her fantastic art. This series has really been a pleasant surprise for me. I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do. I'm looking forward to what the future holds.

the Web #1 - DC

I have to admit . . I really liked this book. I think I liked this one better than the Shield book. The Web, in my opinion, is more along the lines of the traditional super-hero. Anyways, I thought that Angela Robinson, and Roger Robinson did a great job with this book. The story was good, and the art, inked by Hilary Barta, I thought looked great. This one picks up right after JMS's minis . . the introduction to all of these characters. In the Web's book, his brother was killed by someone trying to extort their family. Since David was in trouble, and he is the Web . . he used his powers to try to fix the situation. However the guys doing the extorting saw this as John alerting the authorities, and promptly gassed David. That's what ended up killing him. So now John Raymond, or rather the Web, has a pair of bad guys in his sights . . a Dr Archer, and his muscle Deadly Force. I think this character has a ton of potential. On the civilian side, he's kind of a Bruce Wayne type of character. He doesn't play up the playboy role, but he does use his money to buy him information and to help him get through situations. On the hero side . . we don't exactly know what his powers are yet, but he seems to try to muscle his way through most situations. But that may also be because he's dealing with the recent death of his brother right now. He just seems more emotion than intellect right now. I think he just needs to focus more. However, and the end of the story we find out that David's love, April is also somehow involved. It definitely has potential. We'll just have to see where it goes. In the back-up, we get some more of the Hangman character. He kind of reminds me of the Spectre. He spends his nights dealing out justice, and warnings to people that do wrong. But before just killing them, he tries to warn them. He tries to give them the chance to choose the right path on their own. As his alter-ego, Dr Robert Dickering, he tries to save everyone. Good and bad alike. Again, I think this character has potential, it just seems like a pretty simple set-up right now. This story was written by John Rozum. But the best part of it was Bill Sienkiewicz's inks over Tom Derenick's pencils. These two make a fantastic creative team on the art. I'll stick with these titles as long as they interest me. But we'll have to wait and see how long that lasts.

Billy Batson and the Magic of SHAZAM! #8 - DC

This issue finally connects this series to the Monster Society of Evil story-line. Not that that's all that important, but . . I was just wondering where it all fit in with this book, and these characters . . or if it did at all. Apparently it happens before this current story, and it's part of what gives Sivana the means to build this current robot, and give it the power to take on Billy and his sister. Of course, eventually . . with the unwitting help of King Kull, they do defeat Sivana. However since he's using Tawny as a means to tap into the magical field . . in the end, they have to save their friend thereby giving up on pursuit of Sivana. He slips away yet once again. I like this book. I liked it better in the beginning when Mike Hunkle was handling the creative end, but . . I still like it. It's a bit more 'childish' now. But . . that's kind of always been the essence of this character. Yes this particular title is aimed at a younger audience, but . . Captain Marvel has always come across, at least to me, as a not as serious character. Even back when CC Beck was doing the book, it was always a 'tongue in cheek' type character, and stories. Anyways, I'm just glad that he's showing up on a regular monthly basis now. I thought that Captain Marvel would be a little more prominent after the Trials of SHAZAM! mini-series, but . . we haven't seen that come to fruition, yet. Maybe the Cry for Justice mini will help with that. We'll see.

Justice League of America #37 - DC

First of all . . that's a cool cover by Joe Prado. But the big news is . . next month James Robinson and Mark Bagley take over this series. They should prove an interesting creative team. Mark has been on fire lately. So this story-arc . . this contest between Roulette and Amos Fortune is really all just some filler. There are a few interesting things that happen at the end . . some points of import. But for the most part . . it's a typical Royal Flush Gang story. In fact by the time the whole things over, you really kind of forget just what it was the Roulette and Amos were betting on. Over the course of the story . . it's just the typical fights between the various suits of the gang vs the current members of the JLA. In fact, in a few spots, it looks like Amos' good-fortune technology may be just enough of an edge for these losers to beat the JLA. Luckily though, with a little team-work they come through in the end. As if there was really any doubt. This story does raise an interesting point though. With the right motivation, maybe a little revamping and a change in management . . this new RFG, with it's expanded membership through the lower cards of the deck, could be an Intergang or Kobra level of threat on the super-hero landscape. Now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised that they were revamped a bit during the Faces of Evil books. I mean, this is a group that been around pretty much since the beginning of the JLA. Yet they've always been pretty much a joke. They raise there heads every now and again, and look like they may be a legitimate threat, but then . . it seems like the JLA ends up taking them down pretty easily. So, I think they might be on the right track with some of the new ideas presented in this story-line, but . . it really all depends on if anybody bothers doing anything with it . . expanding on what's been introduced. The potential is there. I just don't know if anybody has the desire, or wherewithal to do anything with it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Anyways, the 2 important points show up in the prologue at the end. First of all, it appears that Roulette was doing all of this to gather info on the League, and it's members. Somehow she owes somebody, and this is her payment. She delivers that to the Key . . whom we haven't seen in a while, but . . it also appears that he's working for someone much bigger. But right now . . no hints or clues. Also one of Amos' foot-soldiers . . a 2 of Clubs that was killed during the diamond heist . . his wife confronts Amos about his death, and she shoots him. Maybe that's the spark of change in management that this team needs. We'll see. This story was brought to us by Len Wein and Tom Derenick. Overall I thought it was ok. It's just these RFG stories tend to bore me a bit.

Supergirl #45 - DC

This issue picks up where the last part of this story ended . . with Kara, Thara and Chris coming face to face with Squad K in Paris. Also, with the whole world thinking that the three of them killed Mon El, and then bombed the water supply under Metropolis . . Morgan Edge and Cat Grant are stirring things up even more with they're extremely biased coverage, and opinion of these events. So Kara's taken them to the only place she can think of that may be safe enough for them . . Lana's apartment. Thara thinks that there may be something up with Lana. She doesn't trust her. But they have come up with a plan to get in contact with Lois, and try to find Reactron. If they can get Lois to berate some kind of confession out of him, and then have Lois record, or print it . . they may be able to clear their names. Of course their names will be cleared anyways when the world finds out that Mon El isn't actually dead. But the question is . . where is he? Meanwhile, General Lane has called Squad K back to base. And he's assigning Reactron to their team. Thara may be on to something because the General seems to be concerned about Reactron giving anybody any information. It almost seems like he knows their plans. And he's given Reactron separate orders. He's to clear up all looses ends. That means eliminating Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird. Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka are doing a great job with this story-line. The tension and frustration felt by these characters is palpable. Right now it seems like he's got General Lane holding all the cards. Something has to happen soon to change that balance. I'm also impressed with Jamal Igle's pencils. This guy has been a solid artist for a little while now. And he continues to impress me. Unfortunately we have to wait 3 weeks for the next part in Action Comics #882.

Final Crisis Aftermath Dance #5 - DC

For some reason . . I just haven't quite got a handle on this series yet. It's got some interesting characters. And a compelling story-line. I'm just not sure where it's going. Basically, we got this Super-Young Team. They're a team of Japanese super-heroes that are teenagers. But, they really haven't done anything. Yes they provided some assistance during Final Crisis, but . . they're mostly media famous. They have a PR guy, whose been pushing their images, action figures, and sometimes just the overall drama wrapped up in their teen-aged minds. But . . he appears to be working for someone else. Back in Japan there's something going on. Something that they don't want the rest of the world to know. So they've got the whole country blocked off from outside influence. So much so, that Super-Young Team can't even return home . . if they even wanted to. So the PR guy is manipulating the team to keep them in the spotlight and the focus off of the Japanese mainland. But he's doing so at someone else's direction. Now, during all of this, one of the older Japanese super-heroes keeps popping up, Rising Sun. At first he was also trying to figure out what was happening in his home. But now? Now it seems like he's antagonized the Super-Young Team . . calling them out. But this issue they find out that he's actually being controlled. Living inside of his head is none other than . . Mr Mind. You know, the little worm guy from Captain Marvel, SHAZAM! I'm not sure what he has to do with all of this . .or why? But . . he's been thrown into the mix right before the final issue. Anyways, Joe Casey writes it. I really do think he's doing a good job. I'm just not sure I understand the motivation or ultimate goal of this series. But since next issue is the last . . hopefully it'll all become clear. This issue was drawn by Eduardo Pansica. I've never heard of him before, but I thought the art in this issue looked pretty good. So, moving on to next month, we'll be wrapping up all of these Final Crisis Aftermath series. Which begs the question . . where we'll go from there.

Power Girl #5 - DC

Boy, you can really tell that Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have a hand in this one. It definitely has the feel of their handiwork. And . . I like it. Plus, I gotta say . . I was never a really big fan of Amanda Conner's art. However, in the last year or so, with her work on Power Girl and Terra . . I've really come to like her stuff. It's got a great feel to it, and . . it's fun. Also, Justin, Jimmy and Amanda seem to be working very well together on this title. Each of their work seems to compliment and enhance the rest. Anyways, Karen is working in her office building when a space-ship crash lands in the park nearby. It appears that someone is taking her picture when she goes to the top of the building to change. But we don't really know what that's all about yet. In the meantime, 3 lovely ladies have come out of the ship. They claim to mean no harm, but when Power Girl arrives . . landing on top of the ship, oblivious to what's going on down below . . she tears apart the hull to get inside. When she does so, a piece of the ship falls to the ground below. But in doing so it accidentally lands on one of the women's trigger fingers . . and she shoots a drug-dealer's head off. Accidentally. Also when she arrived, she thought the ship was shooting at her, but it was actually shooting at an approaching ship in the atmosphere. That one had a guy in it that's looking for these 3 women. Anyways, long story short, the women's ship explodes. They disappear into the congregation of New York City. And this guy makes his way to the city tracking these women. Next thing we know, outside of Karen's office building . . again . . there seems to be a war going on between these 2 sides. And Power Girl has to try to figure out what to do about it. Like I said . . I really, really like the feel of this book. I'm glad that we're exploring Power Girl's character again. I think she's got a ton of potential. And with Justin and Jimmy writing it . . the humor and irony that they intertwine with the story are hilarious. This one is probably in my top 10 now. Maybe 12. But it's up there.

Superman / Batman #64 - DC

This is kind of a bummer, kind of, because . . this issue is actually a prelude to the main story. The problem is . . that story, the Big Noise, won't appear in this book for 3 months. I'm guessing this story was already done and scheduled, and then the cross-overs for Blackest Night were put into place. So now . . next issue is the Halloween story, followed by a 2 issue cross-over with the Blackest Night story-line. And then . . then we'll be back for the continuation of this story. You got all that? It could be interesting. We'll just have to wait and see. Basically, we start out with a battle millennium ago, when Kryptonians were in there space conquest phase. There was a battle, but little known to the other Kryptonians involved, a ship had been boarded and taken over by aliens . . other aliens. They weren't interesting in fighting and instead activated a experimental engine that shoved them across time. Now, in the present, but . . 'some time ago', Superman and Batman find this ship floating in space. Actually, they're concerned because it appeared out of nowhere. Anyways, they find out the history of what happened, and find the ship loaded with dead Kryptonians and aliens alike. However, there is one escape pod that has been dispatched. And from the computer logs, it looks like it happened after it's arrival here. So now . . Supes and Bats just have to figure out what this alien wants, what it looks like, and where it's headed. Piece of cake. Right? Well obviously it's headed towards Earth. Right? Isn't that where they all go? Anyways, this prelude is brought to us by Joe Casey and Scott Kolins. It was an interesting book. But . . I won't know how interesting for 3 months. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

Vigilante #10 - DC

Now that I know that this series is going to end in 2 more issues . . issue #12 is the last . . unfortunately, I find myself with a 'who cares' type of attitude. I'm not discounting Marv Wolfman's, or Rick Leonardi's talent. And I am interested to see how this all plays out in the end. But . . I know that it's not going to affect the overall paradigm of the DC Universe, so . . basically, I'm just reading it to read it. I started it . . so now I have to finish it. I'm weird like that, sometimes. Anyways, we find out this issue that the Vigilante is actually Adrian's brother, Dorian. Not a big surprise there. But we also find out that he's after Bennett because Bennett had him framed, which was why he was put in jail. But it all happened because Dorian's wife, Bennett's daughter was killed. And Bennett thinks Dorian did it. He crosses paths with Batman this issue because he's in Gotham trying to stop the merger between the Gotham mobs, and the New York mobs. But he really didn't have to much to worry about. The Penguin, and certainly the Black Mask aren't willing to give up any of their share of the pie. Dick is ready to arrest him, but . . he comes around. As long as he stays out of Gotham . . he'll stay out of his business. And next issue . . we finally get the origin of Dorian. Overall I thought it was a pretty decent issue. I think the problem with this character is that everyone thinks of him as a Punisher rip-off. Or at least DC's answer to the Punisher. I guess we'll just have to see how the last 2 issues go, and what the ultimate fate of this character is. I did like the Walt Simonson cover.

Detective Comics #857 - DC

This book has really become incredible. That's what happens when you get someone like JH Williams to do the art. Greg Rucka is already a talented writer, but . . I think maybe Mr Williams' pictures are motivating him to be a little better. When he first started doing the art on this title, it appeared that he was going to use 2 separate styles. One style for when the story was about Kate, and one for when Batwoman was in action. The previous of which is very similar to the style that he used on Promethea. Anyways, this issue, since Kate's in costume pretty much the whole thing . . just looks incredible. When he gets going . . his art is a piece of work. What an incredible talent. Anyways, the High Madame has abducted Kate's father because she wants to use his military connection to get some cyanide gas from the Army, plus a plane to deliver it . . all over Gotham. Luckily Kate is a very motivated individual and puts a big crimp in her plans. But the big piece of information that came out of this issue was that the High Madame, Alice . . she's actually Kate's sister, Beth. But that may all be moot because at the end of the issue Kate drops her off the wing of the plane. That may . . or may not, have been the end of her. I guess we'll have to wait until next issue to find out. I wasn't completely sold on this character when Kate first came on the scene. But now . . with the help of Greg and Mr Williams . . I'm quickly becoming a fan. I can't wait for more. In the back-up, Renee is getting closer to finding out who's behind this slavery ring. The problem is, like the previous Question, she keeps finding herself in these no-win situations. Renee's character brings an interesting approach to the Question. I'm just not sure that she'll ever be much more than a back-up character. Not unless someone does a fantastic job of rewriting her. Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner bring us this look into her life.

Blackest Night Superman #2 - DC

Ok . . I've cut out all the $25 variants of this series, and it's subsidiaries. I just can't afford them all. Plus, after Batman, Superman and the Titans are done, then there's going to be a JSA, Wonder Woman and Flash mini series. If I bought all the $25 covers for those books, that would be $450 I would've spent. That's insane. I love these things, but holey-moley! I have to draw the line someplace. I am going to stick with the Green Lantern and Blackest Night covers though. I just can't do the ones from all of this extra stuff. Not without cutting back somewhere else. I like to do the variants, but . . I think I prefer the quantity of books that I read. I have to make some hard choices just out of pure economics . . I don't want to have to cut out a couple of titles just so I can buy a $25 cover. Plus . . I can always wait a year of so and look for them on E-Bay. Anyways . . most of this issue is spent with Superman and Connor fighting Kal-L from Earth-2, over the skies of Smallville. Kal-L's wife, Lois, has gotten Martha, and the Psycho Pirate has made mayhem out of the rest of the town. Although, I'm not exactly sure why the Psycho Pirate came along for the ride. And back on New Krypton, Kara is being terrorized by her dead father. He's talking about destroying her, his wife Alura and the rest of New Krypton. But to me, there's 2 things that are starting to show from these stories. First of all . . although they look like these people's expired friends and loved ones . . the people being attacked have to make the leap in logic that they are not them. Basically, to me . . it seems like they've taken these images to arouse a flood of emotion. Which they appear to feed off of. Secondly, from the Black Lantern Corp member's point of view . . they don't seem to see the living, that they're attacking, as constructs of matter or energy. It seems like all they see are the emotions and the various colors of the spectrum that each represent. Somewhere in here is the means and know-how to defeat these beings. We just can't see all the pieces yet. And the people being attacked . . can't see anything outside of their emotions. Which is right where the Black Lanterns want them. James Robinson and Eddy Barrows bring us this issue. I hate to say this, but . . James' talent is wasted on this book. Anyone could've written a 21 page fight scene. And this is another one of those instances where, so far, I haven't seen anything of importance from any of these minis that would take away from the readers understanding of the overall conflict if they chose not to read them. Basically . . they're fluff. And I'm telling you . . I really hate to say that because I really like the stories coming out of Green Lantern, the Corps and the Blackest Night mini. I just feel like these books are here to support the main story, but I don't feel that they really enhance it. Sorry! That's just how I feel. Which helped me make the decision to stop buying the variants. However, I will say that I think Eddy Barrows talent grows with every issue that he does. I thought he was ok at first . . when he first came on the scene. But now? Now I think he's bordering on incredible. This guys got a very bright future ahead of him.

Superman: Secret Origin #1 - DC

Ok . . $3.99 for an issue of a mini-series . . I'm hearing echoes of Marvel here. But . . this particular issue has 40 pages of art. So . . I guess I can't complain to much about the price. Plus . . the creative team consists of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. So I'm expecting good things here. My only real concern going into it . . once I read a few pages and realized that it was starting in Clark's teenage years . . is that is was going to feel like an episode of Smallville. But, to me . . it really didn't. Geoff writes fantastic dialogue between his characters, and the whole relationship between Clark, Martha and Jonathan was fantastic. We're introduced to some of Clark's supporting cast this issue, but . . the story is really all about Clark. So far he's had a pretty normal childhood. Well . . except for those few instances where his powers have kind of flared up out of nowhere. But now . . now that he's getting close to puberty . . and he's getting to that age where he's starting to question things . . Jonathan decides that it's probably time to tell him about the rocket-ship. He doesn't expect much of it. He just wants to give him a little hint as to why he's different . . why he's special. But when Clark comes into close proximity of the ship . . the teaching and training protocols put in by Jor-El activate. First everyone is scared, and then Clark is pissed. Now he's decided that he doesn't want to be different. He doesn't want to be special. He just wants to be Clark Kent. And really who can blame him? Like I said . . he's had a pretty decent childhood so far. So right now, he's decided to pretty much ignore things. While Martha has decided to try to work with and listen to the crystal so that she can get a little more information about the world that Clark came from. But in the meantime, they've decided to take some precautions. Martha has made him some glasses made out of the lenses from the rocket. I don't think she's really thinking of them as camouflage . . or as a way to hide his secret. Right now she's just trying to make sure he doesn't light anything on fire with his heat-vision. However, after riding out the tornado, and saving Lana . . Clark's decided that he really likes helping people. So to help him with that, Martha has taken his blankets from the ship . . and some of the images from the crystals, and has made Clark a costume to where when he's helping people. I'm not exactly sure why she's made this leap, but . . it's the beginning of the Superman costume . . obviously. Except when Clark comes down the steps wearing it, to show Ma and Pa, he says . . 'You both better take a nice, long look . . because today is the last time I ever wear this.' Overall I thought the issue had a great feel to it. I really wasn't sure what to expect. I mean . . how many times has this story been retold? But it seems like Geoff and Gary have found some new ground to cover . . some of the in-between stuff. Plus . .I just love a good Superman story. What can I say?

Wednesday Comics #12 - DC

This being the final issue of this 'experiment', I assume all the stories will be wrapped up here. I guess Luna shot herself, and then jumped out the window. She tells Batman that she couldn't see herself locked up, and apologized for not finishing it the way he would've wanted. He just looks at her and says her name . . and has he touches her cheek . . she realizes . ."Bru . ." But then she's gone. Orora dies from her wounds, but before she does she gives Kamandi her compass. She points at the face and says "Humans". So as Tuftan, Caesar, the Lion and Tiger nation head off to finish off the Apes, Kamandi decides to go off alone. South. Maybe to find some more of his kind. Superman checks on Lois, but she's fine. As he's talking to her on the phone, she's looking at a heading about Batman stopping an alien attack on the Daily Planet. It's good to have friends to watch your back. Deadman makes it back to Earth, but he's still scolded by Rama Kushna. She's upset because he upset the balance between Neron and his dukes. So now she's got some extra work for Boston to do to try to balance things out. Hal watches as the rest of the alien armada leaves Earth's atmosphere, and then he goes back to his watering hole to check up on Dillon. Rex Mason and company make it out of the pyramid, and a CIA transport shows up to pick them up. End of story. The Titans beat Deathstroke easily, now that he knows who he really is. I guess he really does have some psychological barrier that stops him from defeating them. Now that Korgo has been sent to Earth, Rann's little uprising is all fading away. Now Adam just has to worry about how Alanna would feel about him if she knew that he was a withered up old man back on Earth. Supergirl has passed out from when she was shot by the sun. But the aliens feel bad for assuming that she was threatening. While she was passed out, it turns out that Krypto and Streaky explained it all to them. You know . . universal translators and all. But after they leave and the aliens remove their helmets, we find out that they're a race of intelligent dogs and cats. Who knew? Chemo explodes and apparently takes all the Metal Men with him. Well . . except for Mercury. Now Magnus is just going to have to rebuild them again. Wonder Woman beats Dr Poison and the Cheetah, but . . I'm not really sure what she gained out of the whole thing. It was all a bit confusing . . right up until the end. Sgt Rock says goodbye to the villagers, and Easy Co heads home. And in the Flash strip . . we find out that all that crazy stuff that was happening was actually a comic strip itself that Barry wrote and Iris was reading. After Morgaine is defeated, the Demon reverts to his Jason Blood form. And Selina does a little flirting. And finally, with Aquaman's help, Hawkman defeats the T Rex while the rest of the JLA stop in alien invasion. All in all . . this was probably the most boring issue. Everything wrapped up this time, but most of the action was last issue. However . . it was ok. Again . . hats off to all the amazing talent. There was a great cast of writers . . Brian Azzarello, Dave Gibbons, John Arcudi, Dave Bullock, Kurt Busiek, Jimmy Palmiotti, Neil Gaiman, Eddie Berganza, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, Dan Didio, Ben Caldwell, Adam Kubert, Karl Kerschl, and Walt Simonson. And then for the art we had . . Eduardo Risso, Ryan Sook, Lee Bermejo, Vinton Heuck, Amanda Conner, Joe Quinones, Mike Allred, Sean Galloway, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Kevin Nowlan, Ben Caldwell, Joe Kubert, Brenden Fletcher, and Brian Stelfreeze. Quite a cast of characters . . on the creative side as well as in the actual pages. I wonder if they'll ever try this again?

the Amazing Spider-man #605 - Marvel

I know. This one looks goofy as hell from the cover. It is different, though. As you might've guessed though this issue sorts through some of the problems and women in Peter's life. Actually . . they're one and the same, as they are in most men's lives. First we see the events that lead up to MJ showing up at Aunt May's wedding. She has a budding career in Hollywood, but she soon realizes that she's turned in one secret identity for another. And she just can't take it anymore. So she heads back to NYC, goes to Aunt Mays wedding, and is the new reality host for the show Sewn Up. It's kind of cross between Top Model and Project Runway. This chapter is brought to us by Fred Van Lente and Javier Pulido. Next we see that Peter has to deal with his budding relationship between him and Michelle. She's really latched on to him, especially after that little rumble on the kitchen floor. Yes it was the Chameleon, but . . she didn't know that. He tries to lay the truth on her, but she thinks it's just another guys stupid way of breaking up. Which really pisses her off. We also see in here that Harry is dating one of the Reillys, Amy. And that the Raptor is still on Peter's trail. After their run-in in Amazing Spider-man Annual #36, he still thinks that Peter is Ben Reilly, who killed his family. This one is brought to us by Fred and Luke Ross. And in the last chapter, Peter is trying his hand at the NYC dating scene . . with the encouragement of his best friend, Harry. But, as usual . . his luck is what it is . . dismal. Brian Reed and Yanick Paquette bring us this final story. Overall I thought it was an interesting book, but . . a little shallow. However, it does give us some insight into some of Peter's supporting cast, so . . that's always a good thing. But the best news comes from the previews showing us that the Black Cat is coming back. That should prove to be interesting . . and yet another bad decision in the list of many that Peter's committed.

the Invincible Iron Man #18 - Marvel

One more issue of this World's Most Wanted storyline, and we'll have this one all wrapped up. Well, I'm sure there will be some threads dangling around, but . . for the most part . . this'll be over. One way or another. Anyways, Tony has made it to Afghanistan. There's he's found his workshop in the hills . . the place where everything started . . where he and Ho Yinsen put together the first Iron Man. And now . . this is all he has left. He's hoping there's just enough repulsor energy in the old suit to wipe out the rest of the information in his brain. And then he can use the armor to get back to the real world. Unfortunately, the guy who intercepted Tony's e-mail to Maria has also spotted the repulsor energy signature from the mountains. Now Norman's ready to go after him . . and kill him. However, there's still plans and deception in motion. Maria and Natasha were captured by HAMMER and are now in custody. But we also find out, when they open up one of the old Crimson Dynamo suits that they found in Russia, that Pepper actually beat Madame Masque and placed her inside the armor. Pepper is now wearing her mask and posing in her place. Also JARVIS, the suit that she was wearing, having also been brought to the HAMMER base, has just come on-line and is downloading a virus into the rest of the HAMMER systems, including all the various Iron Man armor that is being contained there, putting it all under the control of JARVIS and thereby Pepper. All of this happens just as Norman is ready to take off after Tony in his Iron Patriot armor. First of all he's flying blind because of all the problems that are happening with the systems. All he knows is that he's going east towards Pakistan. And secondly . . who's to say that the Iron Patriot armor hasn't also been re-purposed. Matt Fraction is doing a fantastic job with this series. I love it. Of course Salvador Larroca's art doesn't hurt either. Next issue should be a great issue. Everything has been leading up to this one.

Ultimate Comics Armor Wars #1 - Marvel

I actually picked up this book for 2 reasons. First, I've been getting in to the Invincible Iron Man series more and more. Secondly . . I really do dig the Ultimate Universe. I think it's and awesome concept. And now that it's been relaunched, I can't wait to see where it goes. And this one didn't let me down a bit. First of all . . it's written by Warren Ellis, so it's going to have all kinds of neat ideas in it. Steve Kurth does the pencils. Anyways, we start out with Tony working his way through the city, heading back to his headquarters for something he wants. As he does so, he's recording his actions, with narrative, for his iTunes exclusive Tony Stark podcast. 'We must start filling those echoing coffers.' When he gets to the building, he informs the listeners, 'I had a small private den beneath the Stark Manhattan offices that ran on it's own buried generator.' Yeah . . that's a bit of an under-statement. It's actually a multi-leveled living quarters that extends at least 200 feet below ground. Yeah . . a closet. Anyways, once inside he finds a visitor. It's Justin Hammer's daughter, Justine. It appears that her father was trying to create his own superhuman initiative, and he experimented on his daughter. 'I'm dying of super-powers. I was told a Stark nanofleet could stabilize my cell structure. Kind of a last chance for me.' But before he can help her he's notified of an intrusion . . below. It appears that someone else is after his little trinket . . remnant 242. He battles someone in armor like his, but with some interesting modifications. He escapes with the remnant, but seeing as how Justine is dying Tony decides to help her. He takes her to his mansion . . a big floating building above the city, and fixes her up. She gives him a whole bunch of information . . 'Most of your secure systems were hacked months ago. The Ghost, or whoever's backing him, was probably the first non-governmental operation to repurpose Iron Man tech.' It appears there's many people out there with pirated Iron Man tech and now Tony has to try to get it all back. Justine has decided to help him. And with that . . we have the set-up for this mini-series. It should be interesting. Like I said, there's lots of interesting ideas here. By the way, Steve's art was fantastic. It really gave this book a good feel. I was afraid this was just going to be a rehashing of the other Ultimate Iron Man series. But this one's going to be unique unto itself. I can't wait.

Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1 - Marvel

Yes I ended up picking it up. I don't know . . when I was in the shop I looked through the art. I thought it looked good enough that I didn't want to pass it up. But I'm still on the fence whether I'll be sticking with it or not. We'll see. Anyways, it appears that Moon Knight is now existing in the form of Jake Lockley, and . . he's trying to change. No more alcohol, no more pills. Also he's tired of hiding on the West Coast or south of the border. He's decided that he wants to be back in New York City, the heart of it all, and . . he wants to go a-list all the way. Big image, big toys and no more killing or maiming. From now on he's just going turn in the bad guys like the rest of the 'big-guns'. He's starts out this issue by stopping a bank robbery, and apprehending all the culprits . . no killing, mutilation or maiming. 'They're just disgruntled, Captain.' He's also trying to put back his circle of friends. Marlene sees that he's back in town, and he's already got Ray and Samuels working for him. And he appears to be doing a pretty good job of ignoring the Bushman. You know, how he's always like his bad conscience. Then, at the end of this issue, as he's standing on a rooftop overlooking the city, he's confronted by . . the Sentry. 'Who do you think you are . . a super-hero?' A little bit of over-kill on Norman's part, I would think. Anyways, this issue is brought to us by Gregg Hurwitz and Jerome Opena. I enjoyed Gregg's story. I liked the last series, but . . it was a little dark. Which is fine for an arc or 2, but not for the whole series. And, as I said earlier, I loved Jerome's art. I thought he did a fantastic job. Now, that being said, there was something about this issue that pissed me off. I don't mind paying $3.99 for an issue, if they give us something special. But this issue? In the back they reprint Moon Knight #1 from 1980. Now despite the fact that I already have this issue, this story has been reprinted at least a half-dozen times. If somebody really wants it, I'm sure there's more than one TPB that contains it. But no . . we're forced to get it so they can jack the price up to $3.99, instead of $2.99. Because of that, I refuse to buy any of the alternate covers. As much as I enjoyed the book . . I felt like I was ripped-off. This also may affect my decision on picking up issue #2 . . or not. If there's another reprint, and another jacked-up price . . I may just have to skip it. Which is a shame because it looks like this title has some potential. But I can't afford to keep adding titles to my list every month. Especially when I feel cheated.

Captain America Reborn #3 - Marvel

As we started to find out last issue, it appears that Sharon Carter is the key to everything. All she knows is that it's somehow connected to when she destroyed the Red Skull's machine. The Red Skull knows what's going on, and it appears that Norman is starting to put the pieces together. But us . . the reader . . and Steve, who's soul seems to be bouncing around through time . . we're all at a loss. But Steve does make a ploy this issue. He comes to in his body during the Kree / Skrull war. He's there with the Avengers. So he gets the idea to use the Vision's memory. 'I need to tell you something, and then I need you to forget it. To bury it deep in your memory storage . . can you do that?' But we don't find out quite yet just what that was. Also Reed has gone to investigate Steve's remains, which were secretly laid to rest in the Arctic Ocean. Anyways, he and Namor bring up his glass coffin, but . . one minute his body is there, and the next it's not. And the Falcon has gone after the Thunderbolts to release Bucky. He does get a little help from Ant-man though. It appears that he's tired of working with these guys, and is beginning to think he picked the wrong side of this war. Other than that, we don't get a lot more information this issue. But . . this is the middle issue, so that's to be expected. I thought it was a great story by Ed Brubaker. The artwork is provided by Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice. With covers by Bryan, Butch and Paul Mounts, and John Cassaday and Laura Martin. I can't wait to see how this one plays itself out. It appears to be a classic in the making.

Dark Avengers #9 - Marvel

Ok . . I like the Mighty Avengers book, but . . I gotta say . . this one is probably my favorite. Probably because it's so irreverent. Well . . that and Mike Deodato's art. It's freakin' fantastic. As you can see on the cover, this issue Ares finally confronts Nick Fury on his son's involvement in his little venture. Really, it doesn't go down anything like I expected. Ares follows Alex and Daisy to their safe-house, and after busting in has a heart-to-heart with Nick. It was actually kind of touching . . Ares' concern about his son's welfare. 'I don't know how to raise him. I don't know how to talk to him. I don't know . . what to talk about. My father, and his father before him . . that is what I know. I want him . . I want him to see this world differently than I have been taught to see it. My father . . I had to flee his court to find my way. I don't want the boy to run from me so he can find his. But I can see . . if I take him from you now . . I know he will.' Ares gives Nick a little warning . . and then heads off. In the last couple pages we see the rest of the Dark Avengers, but the important thing is when the Sentry comes home. He immediately goes to see Lindy, who is mad because he keeps her prisoner. She's got a gun, that she got from 'the alien downstairs'. She then shoots Bob in the face. We see him lying on the ground with energy erupting from his head. Oh yeah, and Norman has locked himself in his workshop. I think he does that when he can't control his transformations into the Goblin. But this time it appears that something has happened and . . he's stuck. I'm sure we'll find out more about that next issue. Overall I thought it was a great issue. I think Brian Bendis is doing a fantastic job with these characters. And check out that incredible cover.

the Mighty Avengers #28 - Marvel

I'm enjoying this title a lot more of late. I can't really put my finger on what the reason is, but . . I've been looking forward to this one. Well . . most of it. I'm not overly thrilled with the story-line about the Unspoken, but . . it is a necessary plot development for the future of this series. So . . we'll see how it all plays out. Most of this issue we see his history, that of the slave-engine, and what he's currently doing to unearth it so he can utilize it's power. Meanwhile, everyone else is back at the virtual mansion fighting the Scarlet Witch / Loki. Even Clint Barton has joined the fight. Stature, who overheard her response to a help call from USAgent, has proven to herself that the Witch is evil, and apparently now who she says she is. But Loki has put a spell on her making it impossible to talk about what she's seen. So she can't tell anyone anything negative about the Witch. Therefore her next course of action was to bring in her team-mates, the Young Avengers. So now they're all fighting her, and with Clint's involvement has helped to turn the tide. They don't defeat her, but they do force her to retreat and cast a protective ward around herself. This cancels out her spell on Stature. But more important than telling them about the Witch, she wants to relay the message from USAgent. Which may be just in time as the Unspoken has released Xerogen gas on the 'heroes' that are opposing him. 'Terrigenesis makes my people into gods. But Xerogenesis . . makes yours into monsters. Into alpha primates!' Meanwhile, Hank is in his lab. With the help of Jocasta, Jarvis and Reed he's taking a trip to the macroverse for some reason. We don't know why yet, just that Jocasta is providing his tether. This series is now brought to us by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, with Khoi Pham as the artist. As I said, I really do enjoy it. I'd like to get past this Unspoken thing, but . . we'll see what happens.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #3 - Marvel

This book is enjoyable, but . . I may be dropping it. With all these variant covers coming out of late, I really need to cut back somewhere. Plus, some of the other titles that I've stopped posting, I still pick up to peruse. I know . . why? So I'll definitely be cutting those out. I really do like this title. I enjoy reading these stories of the X-Men's past . . their early years. But, since I already have such a large X-Men collection, these seem kind of redundant. Personally I can't see any important continuity issues coming out of this title. Nothing that's going to be some important footnote that we can say . . 'Oh yeah, I read that back there.' So I can't see them coming to any value. Which, besides the enjoyment factor, we all have to admit is why we collect them. We're all hoping that somewhere along the line . . years from now . . we might get some kind of monetary reward for our 'hobby'. Otherwise, why would we bother bagging and boarding them all and having all these boxes taking up space around the house. Right? Anyways, sorry! The price of these books keep creeping up and it's forcing me to make some decisions I don't want to have to make. So, in my head, I have to develop some sort of criteria, or reason, for the decision of what I'm going to have to cut. Which sucks because I've read a comic book every single day of my life since I was about 10 or 12. I know. I'm over-reacting. And . . I've gone on long enough about this. So let me get back to this title. We do get a little history of Sean Cassidy this issue. This takes place right around the beginning of his relationship with Moira. Patrick Rourke comes back into his life. That's Maeve's father, his late wife. He still blames Sean for her death and he's recently come into contact with a Haitian Priest who's also a mutant. He can take people's memories and emotions and give them shape. Anyways, long story short, Sean's loving memories of Maeve quickly overpower those of her fathers . . which are filled with anger and hatred. Patrick is defeated and the priest disappears into the ether. There's also a page this issue where the astronauts aboard Starcore One have found some beings floating around inside the sun. Overall it was an enjoyable issue. Scott Gray writes it, with Roger Cruz on the art. I like the book. I just have to figure out where I'm going to have to cut back.

Wolverine #78 - Marvel

Daken is really messing with Norman's head now. The recent video that was taken of him slaughtering some 'masked vigilantes', right in front of a child and his grandmother, has been anonymously released on the web. Which forces Norman into damage-control mode. First he goes after the girl who uploaded the file on a public computer. Through surveillance video it's pretty easy to find her. But before Norman's goons can do anything, Daken convinces her to run across the street to him . . right in front of a bus. I think Norman knows that he's behind it, but he can't prove it. Plus . . he doesn't know why he's doing it . . what he's trying to gain, or manipulate. So, he manipulates a 'closed-hearing' into suddenly becoming open to the press. He then hires some mercenaries to go in and kill the person being prosecuted . . Aryan. He also arranges their escape route and hide-out. It's clear that he's setting them up. Which becomes apparent when he sends Daken in to take them out. But he doesn't want him to kill them. He wants Daken to show the public that he can be 'noble and heroic'. However, I think the person he's actually setting up is Daken. He's got a firearms expert, an expert at hand-to-hand combat, and an enhanced interrogation specialist. And a couple others. Daken just thinks he's going after a couple of armed thugs. I have a feeling that he's going to seriously underestimate these guys. More than anything else that's gone on during this Dark Reign thing, I'm really enjoying the power-struggle and manipulations between Norman, Daken and Bullseye. They're all huge a-holes, and it's been interesting to see who's going to cut who's throat. Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu write this story, with Stephen Segovia on the art. We also got a nice Greg Land cover. I like seeing Daken in this title . . since we have 4 or 5 other Wolverine titles out there. This one's . . unique.

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 - Marvel

I'm not really sure where to start with this issue. There's a whole lot of stuff going on here. Which really . . is the point. This is an exciting time in the X-Men's lives, and there's a whole lot of change and transition going on. I guess I'll start with the island. Maybe it just slipped past me, but I never realized that this chunk of land that Scott has risen from the bottom of the ocean was actually what was left of Asteroid M. You know Magneto's base is space. I guess this is what was left of it after it crashed. That never even occurred to me. Scott is busy on the island trying to get everything up and running, and also trying to figure out the social dynamics. He asks Rogue to use her experience to help the new kids, 'A counselor. Maybe a therapist and a trouble-shooter. They need someone who's been there.' Also this issue . . Emplate is back. You remember, from Generation X . . the brother of Monet. It looks like he was unearthed during some construction going on at the previous site of the school in Westchester. However, it's not long before he makes his presence known on the island. Scott's guessing that he's after them because he's looking for food. He lives off the bone-marrow of mutants. He was feeding on Penance's diamond form until she escaped from his dimension. So Scott's guessing that he's after another food source. I'm thinking it's probably not a good time for Emma to be stuck in her diamond form . . she's got a trace of the Void stuck inside of her. By the end of this story, Emplate has brought his Light-house to the coast of the island and he's captured Roxy and taken her back to his dimension with him. It looks like she's going to be his first victim. This is chapter 1 of Devil at the Crossroads story-line. It was brought to us by Mike Carey and Daniel Acuna. In the second story, also by Mike and Mirco Pierfederici, another loose end of the previous Utopia story-line is wrapped up . . what's to become of the Omega Machine? At the end of the Utopia story-line Norman retreated and took with him his device for torturing mutants. So Scott sends Remy in to tie up the loose-end. But the important part of this story is this mutant that Remy fights . . he's protecting it. He's got telepathic powers, and as he's fighting Remy he senses . .'You've got something growing in your hind-brain. Doesn't look altogether . . human. A little cluster of retooled cells. Autonomous. Asleep and dreaming in the dark down there. About someone named . . Apocalypse? Wonder what it would take to wake it up.' Which he does, and Remy becomes the Horseman Death. With that power it's easy for him to take this guy out, and blow up the machine. This story is titled . . 'Something like an Afterward . . . Something like a Prologue'. It looks like there's a whole lot more coming down the pike for Remy. I thought this was a great Annual. We get 2 new story-lines, plus some wrap-up on the previous one. On top of that the painted art on both stories looked fantastic. This one was definitely worth the $3.99 cover price . . well . . maybe not completely. But more than most.

X-Factor #48 - Marvel

In the future, this Doctor Falcone is working with a Dumbledore kind of looking guy, Tryp. They're the one's responsible for trying to rid the world of the 'mutant menace'. And they appear to be on the precipice of reaching their goal. There's really only one thing that stands in their way . . 'Layla Miller. If anyone screws this up for us . . it's going to be her.' However, now that Jaime is there also, he and Scott, Ruby and Layla are trying to get ahold of Doom's doom-locks so that they might be able to undo the individual disappearing of their kind. With them they can also manipulate time. Anyways, the really big news last issue was at the end when Cortex was revealed to be one of Jamie's dupes. Or is he a dupe? As he's fighting Monet and Theresa he's thinking, 'I hate to admit it, but it was worth it for this. The pain of being abandoned in the future, forgotten and neglected . . the soul-ripping torment of being catapulted across realities by Tryp . . and oooh, what Falcone did to me under Tryp's guidance . . but it's all worth it just to see the looks on Terry and Monet's faces. They knew nothing. They know nothing. And I know everything.' He could be the dupe that originally went forward in time with Layla, but . . I thought he died. His knowledge did return to Jaime . . right? So, either somewhere along the line, during the Summers rebellion, Jaime makes some more 'dupes', or . . this is actually him . . farther along in time than where he is right now. I'm interested to see how Peter David is going to explain this one. Cortex / Jaime also appears to be changed. I don't think he's human anymore. But I'm not sure what he is. He's also still after Lenore. I'm not sure I understand why Hecat'e is so important, but Darwin is willing to give it everything he's got to protect her. However, by the end of the issue Monet, Theresa and Darwin are no longer fighting him alone. On the last page Rictor, Guido and Shatterstar are back in Detroit. Hopefully next issue we'll get a few more answers. I love the job Peter is doing with this book. I'm also enjoying Valentine De Landro's art more with each issue. As I've said before, this is probably my favorite X-book out there right now. Every issue leaves you wanting more.

Ex Machina #45 - WildStorm

It seems like Suzanne Padilla, the reporter that became infused with the technology of the 'white box' that Bradbury was trying to retrieve for the Mayor, is getting ready to make her move. As per her instructions . . she can control humans now, much in the same way that Mitchell controls technology, and that other guy controlled animals . . her instructions to Bradbury were to convince the Mayor that she had decided to drop the investigation because supposedly her 'source' had flaked out on her. Luckily though, the Mayor is smart enough to not just take things at face value. Plus, just because she says she's going to back off, doesn't mean that there still isn't a problem. 'She still had a 'source'. No matter how flaky. That means someone else out there wants to use my past against me. Someone on the inside.' I'm not sure why he hasn't put the pieces together and suspect Kremlin. The guys got perfect motive and opportunity. I know he used to be a friend. He was tight within the Mayor's circle, but . . they've had a falling out since. Why wouldn't he want to hurt the Mayor. Anyways, until he figures that out the machinations of Suzanne are going to continue unfettered. This issue she brings January into the fold. 'Ivan never gave you up as the one who got him that election day file the Governor's people put together on Hundred. I knew it had to be someone close enough to Hundred to get access to his most private records. But also someone with an axe to grind. Your sister was killed in the gas attacks . . you probably . . accepted an internship so you could take him down from within.' But this chick may be loony enough to get January to switch sides. After Suzanne beats her up a little bit, January asks 'You're . . you're gonna kill him, aren't you?' To which Suzanne replies, 'Don't be ridiculous. I'm going to kill everyone on the planet.' And the title of the last chapter of this title is . . Pro-Life ? How ironic is that? I only have one question that kind of nags at me . . if Suzanne, and Mitchell and that other guy got their powers from the same source, shouldn't they be able to sense or find each other also? I'm guessing they just never really tried. Anyways, another amazing job by Brian K Vaughan and Tony Harris. They continue to do an excellent job with this book. My only complaint is that it's almost finished. I can't believe that after 5 fantastic years it's almost over. Well . . at least it looks like they're going out with a bang!

R.E.B.E.L.S. #8 - DC

Vril Dox and company have come to Voorl in search of his son, Lyrl. Well . . actually, they're searching for his mother, Stealth. However, Lyrl is convinced that she's recently been killed by a group of LEGION robots. Lyrl doesn't know that Vril is no longer in control of them. Anyways, as she was fighting, trying to protect him, he saw blood . . and he ran off. So . . he's assuming she's dead . . he doesn't know for sure. I'm guessing we're going to see her again in another issue or two. Which is good because Stealth is a great character. While they're discussing all of this, Strata asks Wildstar to go off in search of her husband, Garv. He's on Voorl in a refugee settlement. Meanwhile, as shown on the cover, the Omega Men are back and they look more dangerous than ever. We find out that the reason for this is because of the Psions. They've captured a couple Starros and have been experimenting on them. It's what they do. 'We call them Dark Stars. They will help you infiltrate Starro's forces. Once attached, they do not control your mind, but other Starro-slaves will perceive you as one of their own. It needn't be on your face. There may be some initial discomfort . . it will . . augment you. The Dark Stars amplify natural abilities.' Upon receiving the upgrades, the Omega Men head off to the Xylon Expanse. It's a sub-space rift that connects the Milky Way to Starro's galaxy. The Omega Men are about to jump into the frying pan. I really like this book. So far I think Tony Bedard is doing a fantastic job. If you ever read any of the old LEGION or REBEL series, these characters have the same great feel to them. There's a fantastic cast of characters here. And, as always, nobody really knows what Vril's ultimate plan is. I'm also loving Andy Clarke's pencils. Very crisp and clean. They give the book a great feel. Between this book and Strange Adventures, it seems like DC is really trying to sink it's teeth back into these cosmic space dramas. We've seen a plethora of inter-stellar characters come back into the spotlight in the last year or so. And why not? That was a big part of the comic-book landscape back in the 50's and 60's. Plus there's some great stories here.