weekly loot: black dossier m.i.a.

So after the long wait, the excitement, the draaaaama, Amazon didn't send me my copy of Black Dossier! WHAT?! They must have ran out of their initial allocation. I suppose this is karma for not getting it through my local comic book store, but the big Consumerist Monster gives to good a discount on TPBs. Anyway, it is in the mail as we speak, and now I'll spend the upcoming holiday weekend in a turkey coma reading me some Dossier.

But a whole bunch of pamphlets came out to fill my time:

book of the week

DMZ #25
(w. Brian Wood, a. Danijel Zezelj)
Brian Wood continues his run of done-in-one stories, and out of the three so far, this is the best one. "Wilson" follows the title character, from before the war, to the start of the war and into the present where Matty only makes a cameo. A chinese man, who before the war was destined to never be anything more than a low-level Triad, has used his own brand of leadership to gain power in China Town with aspirations for even more. An excellent issue, drawn by guest artist Zezelj. He's bounced around doing some Loveless issues as well as the new "ongoing" artist for Desolation Jones (before THAT disappeared). His artwork can be hard to decipher at times with his heavy use of blacks, but it's unique and displays excellent storytelling.

runner up

100 BULLETS #86 - Another issue where our main characters play alongside characters we haven't met before, culminating in a dark crime, but Azzarello and Risso handle it beautifully. Victor is the one to shine here, as we get to see a little of his humanity, amongst a couple of his grizzlier acts of violence. The overall plot gets a little bump forward with the death of another Trust member, but more importantly is Victor and his wavering allegiance to both sides. Another really good issue.

other real good books

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #9 - Whaaat!?!? An issue of All Star Superman and it ISN'T book of the week?!?! How could this happen? Well, this is two in a row that this has happened, and it truly has nothing to do with the still excellent comic book, it has just set a really high bar for itself is all. Although was anyone else besides me a bit confused by the odd space-time glitch half way through? After getting his ass kicked (gorgeously by Quitely), the beaten Superman worries about the cracked moon the Kryptonians caused, and after the villains go off to fix it, we CUT TO: Clark Kent in the office? I felt like I missed a moment. I suppose he was hiding out, waiting for the Kryptonians to weaken? Otherwise, excellent stuff.

FABLES #67 - The Good Prince continues its epic journey, and the story of Flycatcher and his new Kingdom just gets better and better. Last issue promised much violence, and although all out war has been delayed an issue, Flycatcher's mind games and resolve continue to entertain. Who would have thought it 15 issues ago, but starting with the excellent origin story in 1,001 Nights and continuing into The Good Prince, Flycatcher has been elevated to one of THE characters in Fables and I couldn't be happier.

three-star comics

X-FACTOR #25 - Messiah Complex continues, and sue me for being a long-time X-Men fan, but I'm enjoying it. The whole Jamie Madrox dupes in the future thing worked pretty well, as did most scenes with Layla (no surprise). One stumbling block, was how quickly the infiltrating Rictor is shown the company secrets. I guess there isn't time to let Rictor be under cover for 12 issues, even though it would have been more effective.

PUNISHER #52 - This story is really clicking. Bullshit or not, the last page cliffhanger was awesome.

WONDER WOMAN #14 - Gail Simone finally arrives! And a pretty solid Wonder Woman comic it is. Admittedly, I do not have tons of experience with the character, but this was fun. First off, Simone's story looks amazing, as the Dodson's knock it out of the park every time and may just be the perfect artist for WW. A perfect balance of strength and beauty. The opening action sequence was good, and although the whole 'Clark Kent" aspect of Diana doesn't work for me, Simone makes the best of it. Good start.

THOR #4 - The change in locale was a bit shocking, but I'm still enjoying the slow moving Straczynski take. Copiel's art has been great as well, which begs the question, what happened to the design on The Warriors Three? After Heimdall looked bad-ass last issue, these three looked like douche bags.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #13 - So I kind of liked this ultra crazy Matt Fraction take that only he can bring. Besides Spider-Man being a little too jokey and nonchalant about "Punny" trying to kill again, this worked. The inclusion of Domino makes me smile, as I've always liked her potential and I'm glad someone is using her somewhere. Cory Walker does some nice mainstream work too.

NEW AVENGERS #36 - Even when you remove the sycophants and the haters, Brian Bendis' New Avengers continues to polarize people online. The pace of the story is slow, yes, but it is still working for me. Not many scenes here, but a lot happened. We got the recap of he Mighty Avengers story that is way behind, but this book needed to keep going so that is fine. I blame this on marvel, not the quality of this book. The lengthy talk between Cage and Jones seems to be leading to something, and it even made me miss the Jessica Jones of Alias a bit. The scene between Wolverine and Spider-Woman was good, and needed. Although apparently its not weird at all for the Black Widow, dressed only in her underwear, to walk into Jessica's shower looking for deodorant. Come on Bendis, that's just parody. Yu was great as always.
(Side Note: My girlfriend wondered why Jessica's tits were so huge all of the sudden. Am I being too kind in assuming that Yu is just being conscious of the fact that she just had a baby?)

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #2 - Another perfectly entertaining comic book. Not sure where this book is headed post rescue, but as long as the charming art of Cliff Chiang is here, I am too.

comics with problems

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 - I'm on the fence with this title. Although I am unsure of the point, it wasn't a bad read. I mean, they went through all the trouble to return him to the Marvel Universe, badly tacked on to a crossover that definitely didn't need it, but then we are being presented a story that ends with him eventually going back to die. Huh? Could this internal Marvel conversation be far from the truth:
"Lets bring him back during Civil War too! The fans will be shocked!"
"And then what?"
"We'll figure it out later. Waaaay later."
We are led to believe that this matters, and we SHOULD be reading this. I suppose once we get around to SECRET INVASION this will become clearer, but that shouldn't be the case.

MICE TEMPLAR #2 - A) I really want to like this title. B) I really don't want to compare it to Mouse Guard. C) FUCK, I'm gonna have too. This issues was sooooo boooooooogged dooooown in exposition, that it was tough to get through. Both mice comics have a lot of characters with a lot of history and that's fine, but Mouse Guard never makes me feel overwhelmed by it. Oeming and Glass have been so caught up in the detailed history they've come up with, that they feel we need to get it all right now. The history lessons would have been better over issues I would think. The second half of the issue, where we stay with our heroes and the assassin after them was decent. I'm still around for more.

THE SWORD #2 - I've read Ultra, I've read Girls, and now, I've read two issues of The Sword. This could be the worst single issue I've read in 34 comics from the Luna Brothers. The dialogue just went off the deep end here. The interrogation with the cops was excruciating. This conversation defied logic, as it would never have happened the way it did just after her family was massacred and she (a cripple!) miraculously survived. These were the dumbest cops ever. Then later, our (dumb) villains decide they need to send in a guy to take care of her. Um, aren't our villains these guys? At least, compared to the bumbling idiot that they did call? Confusing. They still have me at the sword though. What/who/where/when/why? So I'll read some more.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #48 - Not quite sure why this issue didn't work for me. It was a decent comic, but it felt very paint by numbers to me. It could be my apathy for the Ultimate Universe, as it is just hard to keep any enthusiasm up. I'm around for the Loeb ruckus, then some decisions are happening in regards to this title and Ultimate X-Men.

AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE #7 - This title is slowly slipping for me. There just isn't anyone I'm invested in. Seven issues in, the best I can do is Justice. I like Justice. But I've always liked Justice and what's annoying about that, is I feel like he is being made to look dumb while they yank him around. SO its kind of a win-lose that his storyline is moving forward. The Scarlet Spiders and the whole Parker thing at the end didn't work for me. And if Marvel wants this to be something that is important For future Spider books, why have it happen here? Odd choices. Still curious who the Ninja Mutant is.

NIGHTWING #138 - This crossover has not been very good so far, has it? Nightwing helps Robin and Damien fight off a shit load of ninjas. Where is Batman anyway? And where is Ra's al Ghul in this, his return for that matter? This crossover is feeling stretched.

WORLD WAR HULK #5 - I almost put this below with Wolverine, but for John Romita's art and the Sentry/Hulk battle it will go here. Now, for the most part I've enjoyed this series. Even though it came from the Planet Hulk storyline which I hated, the Hulk duking it out with the Marvel heroes has been mostly good times. The issue starts off fine, then escalates with a pretty cool (but bright) fight between the Super Giants and once that is over, it quickly goes wrong. First, the Hulk just stops. He was never going to do anything anyway, but slap some wrists. I mean, okaaaay, but I would have rather Sentry stopped him. And then, oh yeah, Lame-ass Miek goes nuts revealing that he was in fact responsible for the death of Hulk's wife and kills Rick Jones. Um, WHAT THE FUCK? I mean, Rick dying is a shoulder shrugger, because he'll be back, and its not like he has been featured anywhere but here anyway. But having the deaths taken away from the Illuminati pretty much sucks, and the Hulk being taken out by a lazer (?) pretty much sucks too. This got messy.

Oh wait. Back matter: Incredible Herc with Amadeus as sidekick? Could work for a few fun issues. Red Hulk? It will look good for sure (McGuinness), but with Loeb who knows what we'll get. Oh, and SKAAR SON OF HULK. Jesus Hector Christ. NO.

um, just no

WOLVERINE #59 - Three issues into this storyline and I'm just not interested. In fact, anyone that likes good comics should not be interested. Never a huge fan of Chaykin, not even the luxury of his art on a monthly basis is exciting. For those that are, great? For those with me: T-Minus TWO more issues until Jason Aaron's run starts.

*****

Now that I feel like I've finally caught up to my stack, a huge week looms with me traveling to Vegas for Thanksgiving. We'll see what I can even get read over the next four days.

catching up on some comics

So I'm finally caught up on my reading. But that means there is something like 60+ comic books to talk about over a three week period. Unfortunately, it isn't gonna happen in any detail or I'll be writing all week. So I'm going with the abbreviated takes like I did when I let 60+ books build up on me around Comic-Con.

Here we go.

Week 1, OCTOBER 24TH

book of the week
STREETS OF GLORY #2
(w. Garth Ennis, a. Mike Wolfer)
After a really average preview issue, and more of the same first issue, this book takes a big leap up. Garth Ennis expertly settles us and the main characters into the town and world we are going to be living in. More characters are introduced, including old war buddies and railroad barons, and the history that everyone has. The most surprising, being Joe Dunn's ex-wife and the daughter he has never met. There are some Western cliches happening here, but it doesn't matter because now there are a whole lot of real, detailed characters demanding some panel time. I almost feel like the book needs more than six issues to let all of them have space and a comfortable conclusion. The dark gory ending is classic Ennis (and classic Avatar) and it catapults the series even farther along.

runner up
VELOCITY PILOT SEASON #1 - This was real close. Like Ripclaw, for at least one issue, this was a superb comic experience. And Kevin Maguire is fucking brilliant.

other real good comics
THE KILLER #5/6 - We fly past the midway point and the delay in printing is really the only thing wrong with the book. (Which makes very little sense considering it's a reprint of a French book that finished publishing in 2003.)
POTTER'S FIELD #2 - Great concept. I kind of want this as a TV show.
GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #6 - This little jam by Diggle and Jock closes out as one of the better minis of the year.
LONE RANGER #9 - Pretty fast paced issue for this title. Lone Ranger shot and dying on the cliffhanger.
DAREDEVIL #101 - Brubaker + Lark + Daredevil = Still one of the best super hero comics on the stands.

three-star comics
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #115 - Another good issue in the re-energized Immonen era.
THUNDERBOLTS #117 - Pretty good issue. I really liked the scenes with Doc Sampson and Speedball.
X-MEN #204 - These quieter X-Men issues were always some of my favorites. I like that Carey is giving me that old feeling to be honest.
WALKING DEAD #43 - Good, but lets get to the WAR already!!
SHE-HULK 2 #22 - Solid start to Peter David's run with a lot of questions to be answered. Can't wait.
CASANOVA #10 - Some dirty sex scenes! Awesome.
FEAR AGENT: THE LAST GOODBYE #4 - So um, Heath has committed GENOCIDE? Shit. Wasn't expecting that.
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #3 - Not great, but I'm still interested enough in Warren's crazy mind to stick with this.
WETWORKS #14 - Lots of vampires and monsters yapping about thrones and plans and double crossing, but I thought it was better than that sounds.
TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #2 - Still no Six Shot whoopin' ass, but a solid issue.
ACTION COMICS #857 - This was probably my favorite issue of the Eric Powell/Bizzaro arc, but I'm kind of glad its over.

comics with problems
LOVELESS #20 - I'm sad that this book is here. Marcelo Frusin went MIA, Wes Cutter was killed and the book meandered through its teens, and now I'm just not sure what I think of the ghostly visions here. I will eventually give Azzarello the benefit of the doubt and read these again, together. It's no longer working for me as a monthly comic however.
SUPERMAN #669 - This was better than the first part, but I still feel its a bit dumb of DC to keep adding Kryptonians.
AUTHORITY: PRIME #1 - This wasn't really bad exactly, just not all that engaging. That's why its here.
CABLE/DEADPOOL #46 - This was probably my least favorite issue of the recent run. Was it the T'Challa/Storm Fantastic Four? I wonder. Hmm...
GEN 13 #13 - Gail Simone's up-and-down run with the Gen 13 kids concludes. Unfortunately, it was probably my least favorite issue in the run. I mean, they killed Kid Apollo! Seriously, I'm more curious to see what Simon "Exterminators" Oliver brings because they (read: Wildstorm) need a shot in the arm as they desperately try to find a good book.

bad
MEGATRON: ORIGIN #4 - This mini STARTED good, but by the end of the fourth issue I was just bored with it all, but more importantly, the hard to read, frustrating art has me desperate to reach the last page. Ugh.

***

Week 2, HALLOWEEN

book of the week
MOUSE GUARD: WINTER 1152 #2
(w/a. David Peterson)
The sequel to the break-out Mouse Guard chugs along into one of its better single issues. The cast of characters is pretty large now, and after being separated into two groups, the various mice have some nice character moments, especially the pairing of youngster Lieam and the aging Black Axe (my favorite). The plot slowed, but definitely hasn't stopped, as one set of mice make a big discovery. David Peterson's art continues to be amazing, as the look and feel of this book is gorgeous. Well done.

other real good comics
DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1 - One of the better Annuals of the year for sure, and as good as the main title has been, one of the better Daredevil stories period. The plot isn't crazy original, with a criminal trying to go straight, but it was extremely well written and the art by Leandro Fernandez was awesome. Even at the end when there isn't much that separates the Black Tarantula from the Punisher, I thought it worked. I really hope the character makes a return appearance in the regular title.
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #12 - Bedtime Stories comes to its conclusion, and it ends up being my favorite arc of the series. By far.
WASTELAND #13 - Johnston and Mitten rolling on all cylinders as the second major arc comes to a close.

three-star comics
X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX #1 - Part 1 of 13. Aside from the Marc Silvestri art, which feels dated, this was actually a pretty good start to the crossover.
NEW X-MEN #43 - Nice issue. I'm really going to miss Skottie Young on this title, as I he was making the characters his own.
JACK OF FABLES #16 - I'm starting to like this title, maybe even enough to come off of my "We don't need this book, Jack should be in Fables" stance.
BATMAN #670 - Ra's al Gul, A Prelude. Harmless enough, and I even don't mind Tony Daniel. But following the epic three-parter with J.H., this return to normal super heroics just feels like a step down, even though its competent.
ACTION COMICS #858 - As anyone knows that reads this blog, I don't know much about DC and the history of their universe, so this Legion means little to me as far as incarnations go. Jimmy seems to be a reset of sorts, but whatever, it was a fun issue with some nice debut art by Gary Frank.

comics with problems
IRON MAN #23 - So-so issue with Iron Man starting to go insane. The art was rough here.
MIDNIGHTER: ARMAGEDDON #1 - On its own, it was a been-there-done-that Days of Future Authority issue. Problem is, this is the start of an entire storyline. Maybe it gets better (see TRANQUILITY below).
ULTIMATE POWER #8 - So part 8 of 9 and we are suddenly starting the MARCH ON ULTIMATUM. This story long lost any energy it might have had, so based on the last page, lets hope that at least the last installment has a very cool fight and the outcome actually matters (as was promised).
SAVAGE DRAGON #133 - It has been 15 issues (2+ years) that I've picked up a Savage Dragon comic. A big fan for a long time (I have the first 118 in a box), it isn't because the comic got bad that I stopped, it was just because I missed a few when I was broke and I've been waiting for a chance to catch up. Since that hasn't happened, I thought I'd check in. What did I find? A comic that has gotten even more retro, with two "8-pagers" instead of one story and lots and lots of word balloons jammed full of exposition that really didn't help me. Um, the fun wasn't there that I used to have, but I'll get it again in case it was due to the gap.

bad
STORM SHADOW #5 - This wasn't very good. A silly storyline that REALLY missed the dynamic art that Mark Robinson brought to the first arc.

***

Week 3, NOVEMBER 7TH

book of the week
Y: THE LAST MAN #59
(w. Brian Vaughan, a. Pia Guerra)
After the end of the last issue and the sudden death of one of our main characters, I didn't know what to expect in the penultimate issue of the series. Turns out, even MORE good stuff as most of the remaining plot threads come to a head in good and surprising ways. By the last page I'm taking a big breath with Yorick. One more issue.

runner up
SCALPED #11 - This was awesome. Y got the tie-breaker since it is ending, but this was a great comic. Gina Bad Horse takes center stage and of course, I'm now bummed that she's dead because she would have been an interesting POV to have.

other real good comics
ASTONISHING X-MEN #23 - The long wait was worth it, as Whedon and Cassaday are spot on. The telepathic conversation reveal was cool, but nowhere near as cool as Cyclops kicking ass. Loved the last page splash with the glowing red eyes.
CRIMINAL #10 - Excellent end to "Lawless" the second arc. And at this point, I liked "Coward" more, but its close. Great series.
STRANGE EMBRACE #5 - The creepy cover leads to even more of the creepy flashbacks. What's in store for our young hero listening to the past? Can't wait.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #10 - No Danny Rand, but that's not enough to hurt this title. The Tourney continues in another great installment.

three-star comics
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #5 - SPOILER: I had a lot of fun with this. The reveal of Blackbolt being a Skrull wasn't too much of a surprise, as he was the likeliest candidate. I hope the actual crossover is as fun.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8 - Season 8 continues, and issues between Buffy and Faith rear their ugly head again.
THE ORDER #4 - The best issue in this series so far. Its Fraction's wacky Casanova ideas filtered through mainstream super hero Marvel editorial. So far its working.
UNCANNY X-MEN #492 - Messiah Complex Part 2. We're still in the setting up phase, but with a 13-part storyline, we are only 15 minutes in to the movie, so that's okay with me. Cyclops smacking Xavier around was awesome. I love that he is getting some love. I'm having fun so far, which is good.
EXTERMINATORS #23 - Lots of crazy fun, with the roach vs. human battle reaching a climax.
MS. MARVEL #21 - A) Agent Sum is turning into a really cool character. B) Aaron Lopresti has cemented himself as a really solid comic book artist. C) Machine Man is still funny. With a female Life Model Decoy body that he got as a signing bonus? Even funnier.
OMEGA: THE UNKNOWN #2 - This comic is getting even weirder, but I'm still with it.
FANTASTIC FOUR #551 - The best issue in the McDuffie/Pelletier run, bar none. It had some moments that made me cringe, but for the most part it was a fun comic book adventure, with a neat twist on Reed's 100 fix-the-world things. Turns out he is a villain in the future, and super heroes (including Doom) have to come back in time to stop him. The cliffhanger, where Reed blows Namor's head off was genuinely cool, too. What more can you ask for?
FALLEN ANGEL #21 - This series spends another issue with Jude as the main character, which is fine. As he accepts his role as Magistrate, he and the book are getting better.
ROBIN #168 - Not bad, but just not all that good. It seemed like we stretched a beat out into an entire issue so that they can stretch the crossover.

comics with problems
SUPERMAN #670 - A so-so end to a so-so plot. The worst part was that I spent the whole issue just waiting for it to end the way it did with the "old lady" Kryponian returning to save the day because she DOES have a conscious. Ugh. Best part of this Kryptonian arc? Batman. Nuff said.
MIDNIGHTER #13 - This was a bit of a mess, story and art wise. The start of this storyline showed more promise, but at this point its stretching out a little long.
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: RAMJET - They tried to make Ramjet interesting, but he came across as an idiot. This wasn't necessary at all.
SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME #1 - I was really excited for this title. Tan Eng Huat's art, one of the main reasons I bought the book was just too much to handle and ruined the story for me. I don't even know if he was the primary culprit, as it is the colors that made it hard to decipher. I think I'm done with the mini, and that's too bad.

bad
TRANQUILITY: ARMAGEDDON #1 - So ARMAGEDDON doesn't get better. It gets worse. Besides the switch to an inferior artist in the middle, this just didn't work for me at all. Poor Wildstorm.

weekly loot: october 17

So this is a bit late this week. But better late than ever! Good week too, as I enjoyed most of what I read.

book of the week:

POWERS #26
(w. Brian Bendis, A. Michael Oeming)
New format! More pages! New Story! Well, that's what the cover says, even though the story is a continuation of pretty much everything since this volume's inception. But nonetheless, Walker and Deena finally have their confrontation and it didn't go quite as smooth as Walker probably wanted because Deena has a virus and she is fucking crazy. Basically. The scenes with the Enki the new partner were all pretty good, as she really starts to nicely settle in to the cast. And I mean every scene. From the opening with I.A., to the Deena scene, to the genuine scenes she has with Walker afterwards. Allllll good stuff. The sequence with the high school kids was creepy enough on its own, then got downright scary with the cliffhanger. Best Powers issue in a while. [First time this has won this since February 1, 2006]

runner up:

DMZ #24: This was damn close to BotW. A few issues ago Matty saved this girl called Amina, and boy am I glad he did. This issue focuses on her current life, what she does to survive and how by doing just that she has been placed between a rock and a hard place. Basically, two motherfuckers that care more about killing each other than her nothing life. "Welcome to the shit Amina." Indeed. Really good issue with fantastic Burchielli art.


other real good books:

EX-MACHINA #31: This title had a bit of a hiatus not too long ago, and it has always been over shadowed by Vaughan's more popular books (Y: The Last Man, Runaways), but now that Brian and the always awesome Tony Harris are back on track the book is as good as it has ever been.

UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #2: After being completely surprised by how much I liked the first issue, this issue fires back with more plot this time, like why it is named Apocalypse Suite. And although it didn't get my Book of the Week, it still maintains the same quirky, clever flavor that the first issue had. Gabriel Ba is awesome AGAIN.

FABLES #66: Have I mentioned how much I'm adoring Flycatcher as a mastermind and bad ass? Well, I am. The Good Prince rolls on, with a cliffhanger that promises a battle.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #31: When Brubaker said that this book would still be interesting without Steve Rogers, I'm sure everyone had a little bit of doubt. But seven issues into the storyline and it turns out he is STILL right. Winter Soldier being the shit helps, and being that this is in many ways HIS arc, is there any way he ISN'T the next Captain America when all is said and done?

three-star books:

THE PROGRAMME #4: Sales are apparently shitty, but no matter, I'm enjoying this. This series about Cold War Russian and American super heroes is getting better and better. C.P. Smith's art is pretty perfect for this title.

ELEPHANTMEN #11: Elephantmen returns after a bit of a gap thanks to Moritat having a bout with carpal tunnel syndrome. One of my favorite encounters at San Diego was with Moritat, so I don't mind waiting for this title if it means waiting for him. Oh yeah, good issue too.

BOYS #11: Fresh off of a character fucking an asteroid with a vagina like orifice, comes a little more down to Earth storyline for Da Boyz. This time off to Russia to solve a murder. Some good character stuff, I still love Hughie, and this arc looks promising.

SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #1: A teenager has an odd day where amidst normal teenage hijinks, her imaginary friends from childhood start popping up (!). There was a lot of scenes of "getting to know the characters" with little plot movement, but in a first issue that is welcome. This is definitely more accessible than Phonogram was, and the McKelvie art is really quite good.

SWORD #1: The Luna Brothers are back! I really liked Ultra and most of Girls, before Ithe second half meandered, but these guys are still young and making some really fun comics. As far as first issues go, the other two titles have it beat, but this was still pretty good and its all about how it finishes rather then opens. The violent attack in the latter half of the issue was pretty gnarly, and what you would come to expect as far as violence goes from the Lunas. Good start.

PENANCE: RELENTLESS #2: This mini is turning out to be pretty entertaining. Norman has been good, Robbie is interesting and I like the idea of Latveria as a villain. Doom cometh.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #3: Well this stepped up a notch. We get some of the answers we wanted here, and for an Elseworlds story, I dig 'em. Good job Morrell.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #5: Well this is running a bit late isn't it? Some cool Cho art with some fun fight sequences. Who knew that Ares was so damn resourceful? Great cliffhanger with Ares entering the mouth of Ultron thanks to some Pym particles.

G.I. JOE: AMERICA'S ELITE #28: WW3 continues... Mike Bear is back with some nice art, and we get some young Duke flashbacks. Perfectly good Joe entertainment, but this is the second time that Mark Powers has written another MADDENING SCENE where a trained GI Joe can somehow miss someone with a MACHINE GUN at point blank range! Stupidest fucking thing in the world. Seriously: STUPIDEST FUCKING THING IN THE WORLD.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14: I'm having a lot of fun with McDuffie's JLA. Why is it so much easier for me to enjoy this than it is his Fantastic Four run?

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #18: This has been the best storyline in Origins thus far, highlighted by another bad ass Bucky appearance. The "Shield" joke was horrible.

PRIMORDIA #1: Archaia's three-issue fantasy mini about a Wood Nymph that finds two human babies that grow up to be opposites (Sun and Moon). The story so far reads like pieces of other fantasy series, but the real strength of the book was in the artwork. Both the pencils and colors were excellent.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #57: Being the last issue, it felt like Tad Williams tried to fit in as much as he could, and you can feel it. Regardless, what was making the series fun before, is still here regardless if not all the sub-plots were finished. In the next issue box, it says to follow the new Aquaman to Outsiders, but with the change in creative team over there, I wonder if that is still the plan.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #47: Just barely makes it in the three-star section, but it was perfectly good start to a FF story. Too bad Pasqual Ferry isn't here. Unfortunately, Brooks doesn't compare.

comics with problems:

TERROR, INC #3: The super violent action scenes are the best part of the title, but the rest of the storyline is still kind of ho-hum.

ULTIMATE X-MEN #87: So this was all some master plan between Cablerine and Bishop to get the X-Men into fight shape? Its not a hoooorrible idea, but I'm still bored with the title. After 87 issues, I'm around to see what Loeb is planning, then we'll see.

X-MEN: EMPEROR VULCAN #2: Scy'Ar Tal huh? As I said last time, this storyline didn't really need a third party villain. Especially not a badly designed one.

just bad:

WOLVERINE #58: Um, wow. I don't even know where to start hating on this. Never mind, I do. How about this storyline hinging on the fact that he fell in love with some girl off-panel and her death takes away his will. To do what you ask? His soul's will fight Azreal in Purgatory so that he can come back to life. You know, like he has been doing every time he dies!? Granted, I've only been reading Wolverine since about 1991, but this, coupled with Loeb's "cat people" arc could be the two worst things ever written for the character. Seriously, it's that bad.

quick takes: october 10

Over the course of the last 4-6 weeks, I have been slowly trying to increase the amount of writing I do when discussing the weekly loot, but after a long weekend in Vegas for a wedding, shuffling between friends and family, and coming back to work on a Tuesday to play catch-up basically meeeaaaans... that these will be on the briefer side of what they've been.

book of the week:

X-FACTOR #24
(w. Peter David, a. Pablo Ramiondi)
Not a great book this week, but a pretty good one gets the top spot. The final part in the latest X-Factor storyline ends with our heroes barely escaping (the crazy!) Isolationist and his slightly far-fetched plan to kill the Earth's remaining mutants. From here the series moves into the big Mutant Crossover: Messiah Complex. Then somewhere down the line will hopefully return to the character as series villain. Also, even though we got some teases over the course of the first 24 issues, I'm excited to see these X-Factor characters interact with the main teams again. Some nice Raimondi art once again.

other real good comics:

BLACK SUMMER #3: This is really going into old-school Authority territory here (although not as ground breaking), with basically, even better powers on the heroes. Some crazy action, with just enough character bits with politics and science thrown in to make it entertaining. Good issue, even if we spent a lot of time talking at the beginning.

PUNISHER #51: I really liked this issue, but I really can't help myself when Frank goes completely over-the-top bad ass. You know, biting people's faces, all the while, still wanting to protect the puny humans from the big bad Barracuda. Looking forward to their showdown, but I will be sad if the Garth Ennis rumors are true. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE GARTH! PLEEEEAAAASE!

three-star comics:

NEW AVENGERS #35: The cover was awesome! Too bad it had absolutely NOTHING to do with the issue! Why not put the Hood on the cover, and save this thing for next issue when it, you know, actually has Wolverine in it. I enjoyed the issue, but I can't help but feel that the Hood s being pushed too hard, too fast. I buy him as someone that is up-and-coming. Hell, I even buy him as someone that WILL be a future bad-ass. What I don't buy, is the Hood sa an A-level Super Villain. And NO, killing The Owl and beating the shit out of Tigra isn't going to change my mind.

STORMWATCH PHD #12: A good, if a bit of a ho-hum ending to a rather confusing series. For one, without a doubt, Gage is a talented writer. He has a good knack for character, and juggles a large team book (basically two teams) with great ease, letting most of the characters get their moment to shine. Its just too bad that I feel like this series slowly fell downhill, bottoming at the horrible Synergy murder attempt on her husband, and then meandered back up to pretty good in the final issues. If I can find time, I've really wanted to post something about Wildstorm as a whole because I have much more to say about this one.

NEW WARRIORS #5: I like the idea of this comic, the story and even the art, as I think Medina has "big star" in his future. And this was another perfectly good issue. My problem at this point, is that I don't feel like I know the New Warriors much at all besides for Sofia and what I already knew of Jubilee as a long time X-Fan. It looks like some of the characters are starting to get a little detail with this issue, but it took a meaningless death to kind of start that.

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #1: So I liked this. In fairness, Cliff Chiang is a big part of the reason, as the art is pretty much amazing. The rest of it was good fun, and a pretty good comic book. Nice moments with Green Lantern and Batman (the autopsy was hilarious) and a decent cliffhanger that wasn't really too much of a surprise. But yeah, Chiang is the shit.

RUNAWAYS #28: Another chapter in the Whedon Runaways. Still not reaching Vaughan levels, but I'm still having fun with the arc.

EXTERMINATORS #22: God damn this comic is crazy. No, seriously, its fucking crazy.

STORM SHADOW #4: So this book did continue with the goofy formula: bad, good, bad, good! The story was so-so, the art and that action were all pretty awesome. Zartan showing up was a nice surprise, and his confrontation with Storm Shadow was good times.

WONDER WOMAN #13: A pretty good filler issue, helping to set up and lead in to the much anticipated Simone run.

comics with problems:

SUPERMAN #668: Thought I'd check out this little three parter, but unfortunately it didn't do much for me. The villains seem lame and Busiek's writing was surprisingly eh. I'm not that big on Rick Leonardi's art, so that was just okay for me. The best part was definitely the exchanges between the young Kent and Robin.

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12: The main World War Hulk title has been a mostly entertaining slug fest, but the side books just continue to be ugh for me. The art was good though, and I could seriously get into the Punisher symbiote outfit as necessary gear every once in a while.

FANTASTIC FOUR #550: The return of Gravity already? Blah. And it looks like we've already reached the end of the Black Panther/Storm era. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that we are, but it still is odd to me the progression that Sue/Reed go through from Civil War to here. I guess it really wasn't supposed to affect things for years to come.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24: I'm obviously not the only one thinking this, but really? Two issues into the four parter that changes everything and nothing has really happened? The last page was at least promising. And I dug Quesada's art more.

WORLD WAR HULK FRONTLINE #5: This still isn't working for me. The best part of the issue was probably the Top Ten reasons to hate Sally Floyd.

um, no:

NONE

a really average week: october 3

It was a small week, and unfortunately, that translated into a lot of three-star comics (books that were perfectly entertaining), but not too many that rose above that. You know, books that make me freak out with ape-like grunting in anticipation for the next issue. THOSE kind. Still here were my reactions:

book of the week:

SCALPED #10
(w. Jason Aaron, a. R.M. Guera)
No other book really had a chance this week. It was not the best issue of the series (as the book has been on fire), but it was still pretty good, and in a week like this one, it was plenty. This issue concentrates on the youngest character to date, Dino Poor Bear. In fact, I'm having trouble placing exactly how old he is. Still, this father to a baby wants off the reservation pretty badly, as he dreams of women and cars. Although the issue's climactic scene is a conversation between Red Crow and Dino, this issue appears to be the least connected to the overall storyline. Still, the character is well done and interesting (as is every other character in the book) and he is a welcomed addition to the brilliant ensemble.

other real good comics:

OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #1: So I should apparently know who Jonathan Lethem is, eh? And I should also know who Farel Dalrymple is as well, right? Well guess what, I don't. None of that means anything to me. Hell, even the title character means little. I've heard of the character (Gerber and all), but know nothing of the previous incarnation so this book basically stands on its own. And it works. The art was definitely "indie" and normally I wouldn't want that in a super hero book, but for this quirky and odd story, it fits. My favorite part is the main character Alexander. He talks weird and acts weird, and his demeanor and delivery is hilarious. I found the scenes after he woke up with the Doctor and Nurse to be pretty awesome. I don't know what's up with the protector hero, but I'm curious. Good stuff.

three-star comics:

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #7: Faith vs. Gargoyle monsters! Do that with a TV budget! Ha. How perfectly has Brian Vaughan fit in, eh? The conversation between Willow and Dawn was classic Buffy.

FAKER #4: The answers come fast and furious in this issue, and although this series has gone so far in a direction I couldn't fathom when it started, I'm still very entertained and looking forward to the end. To think, I almost didn't get #2.

JLA/HITMAN #2: A really fun conclusion to this little two-parter where Hitman improbably gets to finish saving the world alongside the JLA. Well, not really alongside them at all, and more like in spite of them. Good comic, which I'm sure is enhanced for longtime fans of Hitman. DC, trade these damn things already so I can read em!

UNCANNY X-MEN #491: Probably the best issue in the arc, as this has been slow moving. It appears to be setting more up for the future than anything, but that's okay considering that the BIG X-OVER (!) is coming. Hepzibah and Warpath got right to it, and aside from the light speed romance, I'm really happy with her addition to the cast.

JACK OF FABLES #15: I completely bought the reasoning behind Jack and John and why John thinks Jack is a copy. This was a good comic, now that we finally got our answers. But the jury is DEFINITELY still OUT on the addition of other immortal POWERS OF THE STORYVERSE. This could lead to some interesting stories though, and will definitely gave this book its own focus separating itself from the concerns of the Fables book. Though the question exists, will Revise et al eventually get involved in that storyline too?

WOLVERINE ANNUAL #1: CALL OFF THE SEARCH!! CALL OF THE SEARCH!! MARCELO FRUSIN HAS BEEN FOUND !!! Now, can someone please ask him why the fuck he isn't drawing Loveless? DAMN! In all seriousness, Frusin draws the hell out of Gregg Hurwitz's first comic book, with a plot that mirrors the Punisher Annual from a week ago. I felt Wolverine went a little far out of character on this vengeance though, flat out torturing people with his claws (through their eyes, etc.) but for the most part this was good. Hurwitz does some good character building with the Red Shirt though, and he definitely shows promise. As a crime fan, I thought both Benson and Hurwitz had solid debuts.

MS. MARVEL #20: Well, this got reeeallly serious after the previous two issues, didn't it? Don't get me wrong, I still had fun with the issue, but it took me off-guard. Part 1 and 2 had tons of Machine Man antics, with tongue and cheek Puppet Master doing villainous things with his mind-controlled super heroines. But here, no Machine Man jokes and Ms. Marvel being filed with rage, and basically killing the Puppet Master (she let him commit suicide) before having an internal power hungry rant. It was definitely far from bad, I just felt like the comic tricked me a bit.

MIDNIGHTER #12: This was nowhere near as cool as last issue and that BAD ASS Chris Cross drawn fight, but it was entertaining enough. It has been the best Wildstorm title over the last few months for me.

TRANSFORMERS: DEVASTATION #1: First part back after a spell, and we got a bunch of talking robots and set-up. Where is my robot-on-robot destruction? Dag! Coming next issue I guess with Sixshot on full attack, after he warned Megatron that he might just break the entire planet if he does it his way.

WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #11: The zombie story continues. Although I'm having fun with the comic, and I really enjoy the flashbacks with older art styles, sometimes it comes across as disjointed. Still, this has been fun.

PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #2: I'm not sure what I think of this book. Some people have been saying they thought the art wasn't right for the content, but I disagree. Still, I thought the problems were with the story, and I thought the first part worked a lot better than this one did. Part 2 is basically a big downer where our main character Paolo, ultimately goes to jail before a last page "life goes on" moment. It was an odd point to stop the story for me, as I thought the Epilogue they ran in the back would have been a better Part 2 than what we got. Dunno. Still, I enjoyed the attempt, the book looked pretty and I'm glad Image published it.

comics with problems:

THE VINYL UNDERGROUND #1: The problem with Vinyl Underground isn't that it is badly written, or even badly drawn, because it isn't. This is a perfectly competent comic book. Thing is, there is nothing original in this story idea at all. The book came across as some weird caricature of what a Vertigo comic should be. Ultra hip lead that does drugs (in this case did), with every character trying to out hip the other one. In London. While investigating the Occult. While smoking. It made me want to laugh a bit that this somehow got through as an original idea.

um, no:

ACTION COMICS #856: I'm fully aware that this will be a minority opinion, but Bizarro bugs the hell out of me. Morrison's take in All-Star has been good, but even that title, as good as it is, pushed the limits with the issue entirely in Bizarro Earth. But that has nothing to do with this series. I mean, besides the fact that DC is over exposing a one note character that really isn't all that interesting. So basically we get a ton of Bizarro speak here via various bizarro counterparts to Superman's supporting cast. This was just bad.

weekly loot: september 26

Another week, another fun jaunt into the world of comics. Here's how it went.

book of the week:

BATMAN #669
(w. Grant Morrison, a. J.H. Williams III)
What a lovely three parter this was. Of course, this is no secret as from Part 1 it has been getting rave reviews all over the internet. So I will be surprising no one by giving it my Book of the Week. In fact, all three parts ended up getting Book of the Week for me. (I don't know what that means, but it makes me happy.) Morrison finishes off his island mystery with The Club of Heroes and the only shitty part in the whole deal is the fact that this is J.H. Williams' last issue. As fun as the script was, (and it was definitely Morrison's best thus far), what REALLY elevated this storyline was the art. J.H. shined from panel-to-panel, page-to-page, drawing the hell out of Morrison's story. Tony Daniel is the next artist, and although I don't hate him or anything, it returns the title to more standard superhero dare, and I just feel bad that he has to follow this. Bravo J.H.

other real good comics:

CRIMINAL #9: Shit really starts to hit the fan, as the "bad guys" get closer to Tracy while the woman (in his crew!) he is sleeping with finds out who he really is: The brother of her dead ex-boyfriend. Really good issue, with some nice flashbacks to the Lawless way of upbringing. All this is setting up the end game where we should finally get the answer to "What happened to Ricky Lawless?"

USAGI YOJIMBO #106: Sakai rarely does multi-part storylines, usually trying to keep it to done-in-ones or two-parters. So when he does, it's always a treat. The latest storyline cruises into its second part with a lot of characters coming together to hunt down fugitive Inazuma, who of course is currently being possessed by the demon Jei. I have no doubt that all this setup will eventually payoff big time. Good issue.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #9 & IMMORTAL IRON FIST ANNUAL #1: So glad that I jumped back on this title! Flat out one of the hippest, entertaining titles out there today. Definitely one of Marvel's gems. The current storyline, with Iron Fist fighting in a tournament (with K'un Lun in the balance), has been gloriously unpredictable. And a story that leads right into an Annual that actually means something, is more than I can ask for. Okay, its not, but its usually more than I get.

CROSSING MIDNIGHT #11: Another solid Crossing Midnight story. I still find this to be the best and most coherent arc of the series.

GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE #5: Cool, cool, cool. Diggle and Jock are kicking ass. Bring on the finale.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #114: Dear Mr. Immonen, I'm sorry that I ever talked about you art in anyway but awesome. Best, Jaime. This title has been steady and consistent since the Clone War storyline, but Immonen has found a way to re-energized the series amidst yet another Green Goblin story. Awesome.

three-star comics:

X-MEN #203: OF COURSE neither Mystique or Gambit do anything truly evil when given the chance. I mean, it's not that I wanted to see Bobby or Sam die, it's just not surprising that these two "villains" did what they did. NOTHING.

PUNISHER MAX ANNUAL #1: Not written by Garth Ennis? NOT WRITTEN BY GARTH ENNIS!? Who the fuck is Mike Benson and why is he touching the Max Punisher? Ok, I'm over-reacting. Plus, it was pretty good. Nothing too original here, as Punisher is pushed to supporting character, or rather ghostly antagonist to our on-the-run criminal. But it worked, and was well worth my money. Nothing to shabby from Benson, but the real star here was Laurence Campbell on art. His use of wider panels, and wide "shots" worked really well, and the Firday the 13th-esque use of Frank Castle was pretty great.

THE ORDER #3: Our third issue in, and we get our third character focus. I enjoyed this one more than #2, as that one came across as a bad cliche, but Calamity Wa was actually a bit more interesting. I dig Anthem as the leader too, and with concepts like Zobo's from Fraction, I'm definitely around for a bit. But what was with Pepper Potts and the water bottle?

WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1: How long has it been since Part 4? Some 7 months or so, right? Regardless, just like Heinberg did a pretty good Wonder Woman in the first four issues, he does so again here. I would have liked to have seen the climax be kept to just Wonder Woman and the Wonder Sidekicks rather than the entire DC Universe, but that is definitely more of a personal quibble. The art was gorgeous as the Dodsons are perfect for Diana. They draw her so powerful and beautiful, that the usually good Gary Frank's version was made to look UGLY in the back-up. Too bad Heinberg couldn't do more, but at this point I'm more excited for Simone anyway.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #13: As much as I've despised McDuffie on the Fantastic Four, this was a treat. It definitely draws from the cartoon, with the Injustice League and what not, but it works for me. The Joker being subservient to anyone, even Lex Luthor has always bugged me (especially if this is supposed to be in the same world as the new Morrison Joker), but even that I can overlook based on the fun I had with this issue. I really enjoyed the Superman/Vixen interaction, as it always fun when they have small character moments, and it even keeps with the continuity of Meltzer's run which is nice. on art, I have no real love for Benitez, but I will say this: he didn't really distract to the point of removing me from the story. And that's important! This was fun, and mostly what I wanted from a JLA title. (Something tells me some die hard DC Universe fans are hating this.)

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #46: For the most part, Carey has been pretty good with his little Fantastic Four run. I would go so far as to say when Pasqual Ferry is on art, it has been pretty damn good, and not so good when it is someone else. Proof that a good script needs a good artist too? Or do I just love Pasqual Ferry? Maybe both.

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #7: Surprised to see this at three stars? Well, don't be. Because it has sinked so far into cartoon, that it being an over-the-top bad comic, has made this title entertaining. I still don't think that Miller is being bad on purpose, but it works for me on that level regardless. Jim Lee is still the first artist I fell in love with in comics, so I will never complain to get a book with his art in it.

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #6: This was borderline, but for the most part, I'm still enjoying the comic. The ending with Slapstick did nothing for me, and I find myself wanting the "Initiative: Black" team back.

IRON MAN #22: A decent issue from the Knaufs and De La Torre. I still feel, all the way back to #7 that there is a really good comic fighting to get out. The Knaufs must be so frustrated with the title constantly being derailed for two years because of Tony's importance in the "Summer Crossovers." Maybe Marvel will let them actually get a story out in the #20's.

comics with problems:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #2: Although I placed it here, I'm being pretty hard on this title early on. It isn't baaad really, its just not that interesting. YET. Hopefully.

THE SPIRIT #10: I was bit bored by this issue. Especially after the high I was left on with the last one which was excellent. The whole news anchor thing was just kind of dumb to me.

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #3: I'll still read a few more, or at least to an obvious jumping off point, but I don't know if the mix of horror and super hero is working for me here.

CABLE/DEADPOOL #45: Dammit, Bob finally hit a little bit of a funny wall for me here. I love that he's a supporting character, but this was a lot of Bob. And for as much as I thought the running into Cap in the past thing feels played, Bucky was pretty damn funny.

WETWORKS #13: Another lame duck Wildstorm title that just seems to be going through the motions until everything in the Wildstorm is eventually canceled. The greater Wetworks team has moved into their position in the new Vampire War. The art was uninspired. (They should totally give THIS title to Diggle and Jock.)

um, no:

DEATHBLOW #7: I'm sorry Brian Azzarello. I adore 100 Bullets, and I'm still fighting for Loveless. But this is a mess. Just a plain fucking mess. What is going on here any more? And why should I care? What was even more maddening than the issue, was seeing "to be continued" at the end.

weekly loot: september 19

So I didn't get this up yon Sunday as I wanted to, but here we go anyway.

My retailer did end up having Dr. Thirteen after all (his last copy), so I was able to give him my money rather than give it to Amazon. And I ended up leaving Zero Killer #2 behind. Even though I enjoyed the artist a great deal, it failed the flip-through test.

book of the week:

UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE #1
(w. Gerard Way, a. Gabriel Ba)
So I don't like Gerard Way's music much at all. And that, quite honestly, has NOTHING to do with the fact that this is a pretty kick ass comic book. I was won over after having read only the description of .01 on the inside cover. "My favorite." Everything else from then on, was pure comic book FUN. From the origin of the kids, to the could-be-a-bad-guy Monocle, as the kids' Dad. Villains? How about Zombie-Robot Gustave Eiffel as one of the most gloriously hilarious concepts in quite a while. After the kids have their first adventure, the book jumps forward in time (but that looks to be part of the storyline), to reveal half-apes and full-on chimps. And ANY TIME you can fit that into a comic book, most normal people will be happy. All of this is drawn by the talented Gabriel Ba. Who comes fresh off of the first arc of critical darling Casanova, bringing his quirky, stylized and highly competent art (this time in full color) and it is absolutely perfect for the material. So yeah, Gerard Way's music sucks ass, but his comic is fun as hell. (BONUS: Mass points to the crew for getting James Jean on covers. Awesome.)

runner-up:

GUTSVILLE #2: This was real close this week, but on pure comic entertainment, Umbrella Academy got the nod. Still, this comic was really good too. The story of Albert Oliphant the Ratcatcher continues, and with it, we go deeper into the plot, the world Spurrier is creating and yes, the belly of the leviathan. Frazer Irving's art is amazing. He makes individual pages just beautiful to look at. Oh, and he does the letters too!

other real good comics:

WASTELAND #12: This book is pretty much in "GEM" status: Good every month. All hell has broken loose in Newbegin, and as our main characters escape near death, it is only to have to face hundreds and hundreds of Sand-Eaters. Something tells me that after the next couple of issues, the status-quo of this book will be changing again. Good stuff.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #30: So Captain America is dead, but the quality of this title doesn't seem to give a shit. The Winter Soldier is a bad-ass, as shown again here in the opening scene where he eeasily takes out Crossbones and Sin. Iron Man and the others finding out about Sharon happened a little sooner than I expected, but that's fine with me. Moving things along! Nice cliffhanger too.

three-star comics:

PROGRAMME #3: Things are starting to happen here, with another Russian villain and the reveal of what appears to be secret American heroes. This book looks fantastic, with awesome covers, and I'm happy that its getting better with each issue. I'm in for the 12 issues for sure.

WORLD WAR HULK #4: Wall-to-wall ass kicking: Hulk ass-kicking Strange (after getting his own ass kicked), Super Heroes ass-kicking alien monsters and Mr. Fantastic ass-kicking Iron Man. All of course leading into next issue, where Sentry will get to ass-kick the Hulk. WWH is definitely everything it advertised itself as.

EX-MACHINA #30: Good, solid start to a new storyline. This title is not the comic legend that Y: The Last Man will be, but its a solid comic all the same.

JLA/HITMAN #1: I've read exactly ONE Hitman comic in my time. The reason I even picked it up, was because it was the "other book" that Garth Ennis had going while he was writing the legendary Preacher run (a series that is one of my favorite comics of all-time). Needless to say, I loved the Hitman comic. Problem was, I could not read anymore. I felt that I had to wait until I could read the series from the very beginning to read it at all. I'm still waiting. (Side note: FUCK YOU DC FOR NOT PUTTING THIS THING IN TRADES!) Aaaaanyway, that doesn't mean I can't get this, right? Right. And I'm glad I did. If the only for the look on Batman's face when Superman and Tommy reunite as old friends. Awesome. (Also funny: How everyone was a dick to newbie Kyle.)

NEW X-MEN #42: I really liked this "slower" issue. And I'm really starting to like the greater cast of kids here, and I'm curious how they will be handled in the upcoming crossover and beyond.

STREETS OF GLORY #1: Solid, if gory (hello Avatar!) start to this comic book western. With the arrival of our villain on the last page, I expect the story to really get going next issue.

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #17: This could be the most solid Wolverine: Origins comic I've read in the entire run. Maybe because its devoid of Wolverine's STUPID SON and STUPID ROMULUS, and instead is telling a neat little flashback story to Cap and Logan fighting during WW2. Nick Fury showing up was a nice surprise.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #56: As much as I've been (oddly) entertained by the short Williams/McManus run, I'm reaching my limits. Although I'm not necessarily ready for the book to be canceled, I am definitely ready for the inevitable return of the real Aquaman. Stat.

PENANCE: RELENTLESS #1: In Thunderbolts, there are too many villains to touch upon, so I guess its okay that they gave Penance's "creator" Paul Jenkins a mini-series to further explore the change in Robbie's character. So far, nothing out of this world good or bad has happened. Solid storytelling, with really good art by Paul Gulacy. Funny thing about Robbie Baldwin, is that I think once his character comes out the other side of all this Penance nonsense, he is going to be a really interesting character. Still not sold on the trip there however. We'll see I guess.

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4: Nothing earth-shattering happening, but I'm enjoying the trippy ride that Allred's unique art is taking us on. For a series on probation, I guess it was successful issue, since I will be getting #5.

TERROR, INC. #2: Some really cool sequences, especially the opening one as Terror "returns" from the dead. I'm just not sure I care too much about what is going on.

comics with problems:

GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY: WEDDING SPECIAL #1: EXTRA SPOILER WARNING. Since the release of this issue, it has been all over the Internet in various forms: A) People that hate the end where Oliver Queen (for now) appears to be dead again. B) People that think it is bad for Black Canary's character, and C) People that just hate the fact that Judd Winick is writing these characters since he is a "horrible writer." And all the ways in which A,B and C overlap. Basically, a lot of emotion flying around! I am familiar with the characters (Arrow more than Canary), but I am not invested in the same way as long term DC fans are. With all that said, this issue fails for me too. It was a cutesy wedding story with some good moments (the Superman/Wonder Woman conversation) peppered into too many bad ones (Canary's "dress," our greatest heroes being stupid to serve the plot, and the out-of-left field ending). I will say one thing, the Amanda Conner art is fucking awesome. Why the hell she doesn't do more regular work is beyond me (and I only have this and The Pro to go on). And if it wasn't for the A-level art, this book would be getting even more shit than it is.

WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #4: Since when has World War Hulk been happening long enough for aliens to be chilling at bars with humans? Did I miss 18 months of integration? For me, this series just appears to be happening in alternate universe where World War Hulk is happening. I still enjoy Sally, but just not this series.

um, just no:

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1: I almost feel bad putting this here, because I bought this issue for Mr. And Mrs. Immonen Hellcat story, and it wasn't that bad. But the rest of the issue, was a waste of space for me. Okay, more specifically: The "main" story, Vanguard didn't do anything to get me excited for more, and the Omega Flight story CERTAINLY didn't. Not for one more part, much less twelve. The Thing story was mostly pointless. Of all the Thing stories they could have done, they chose this one? A look back to when Alicia loved the Thing? The Spider-Man story was probably the only one I would have liked to see an actual plot develop from (even if it was out of continuity) and it ended in one. Sorry, maybe anthologies just aren't for me. I'm done with #1, and I would be surprised if the series isn't done in 12.

CYBLADE PILOT SEASON #1: As much love as I gave Ripclaw just some weeks ago, Top Cow fired back with this piece of nonsense, and I don't even know where to begin for fear that I will rant about this far longer than I really want to. What it is? A TOP COW book in all its glory, basically, a T & A chick book. What it isn't? Very good. Also, maybe I don't remember my old Cyblade history from Cyberforce (or maybe it doesn't matter here), but I don't remember her being 19 at all. Wasn't she kind of an heir to her father's business or something before Cyberdata got a hold of her? Whatever. I think being 19 with your tits out fits the TC style more accurately anyway.