Review Time - Week of November 29th

Teen Titans #41 - Ok so Jericho is back. Good thing? Maybe, but thats another hero-gone-bad and brought back. I complained when Johns resurrected all of the Green Lanterns Hal Jordan killed, and I'm going to complain now that Jericho has been made a White Hat again. He killed, or tried to kill, the rest of the Titans; now apparently it wasn't Jericho's fault since the 'souls of Azerath' drove him mad and made him do it. It just seems like whitewashing to me. Other than that is was a meh issue. The art was mediocre on some pages and bad on others. I understand that Tony Daniel can't pencil 12 issues a year, but this 5 issue arc had 4 different pencillers. Not good planning on DC's part.

Ultimate Power #2 - I was wrong. I expected this issue to be a re-hash of #1 but from the Squadron Supreme's POV. Instead we get a full-on brawl between the Squadron and FF, with the X-Men, Spidey and the Ultimates jumping in later. The battle itself was a little too busy, with some of the players just there. But the parts of the fight that were fleshed out were a lot of fun. The art is typical Greg Land; pretty but kind of vapid. The Powers that Be at Marvel promise that this series will have a lasting impact on both universes so maybe the whole 'our world was destroyed' thing will actually stick. (Which would be a nice nod to the original Squadron Supreme series)

Review Time - Week of November 22st

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #5 - I still like this series but damn it's starting to get repetitive. How many times have the Freedom Fighters had their heads handed to them only to be saved at the last moment by a prospective new member. Acuna's are is also becoming really inconsistent. Some panels and pages look awesome, others look horribly rushed.

Runaways #22 - No I don't think BKV is really going to go there with Chase and Nico, but just for a moment I did, so that last panel did it's job. And how can you not love a book that contains this picture.

(Pirate Werewolves, although Molly calls them Werewoofs)

Punisher War Journal #1 - This may be a sign of the apocalypse. I read a Punisher book, and I liked it. When I was a comic readin' kid I was pretty much the only one of my peers that didn't love The Punisher. But some friends comvinced me to pick this one up more for Matt Fraction that Frank Castle. I'm glad I did, because for the first time ever The Punisher was fun. Yeah he's still a violent ass but now he has a humorous internal monologue and gets attacked by a swarm of tiny Iron Man robots. Punisher purists will probably hate the book, but that's why Marvel still publishes Punisher MAX.

Review Time - Week of November 1st

Superman: Confidential
Writer: Darwyn Cooke
Artist: Tim Sale

"Kryptonite"

The story of the infant Kal-El as he rockets towards Earth is once again retold, this time from the perspective of the kryptonite that accompanied him to this planet. The (sentient?) xeno-mineral crashes in the Himalayas and expresses feelings of loss and isolation before the locals drag it to a temple. Back in Metropolis Superman fights the Royal Flush gang just two months into his career as a superhero. At this point he doesn't yet know the limits of his powers, so every new experience, in this case being frozen by liquid nitrogen and falling from a great height, may be the one that can actually harm him. Straight from the fight Superman takes Lois Lane on a date at the top of Eiffel Tower, lamenting that with all of his other responsibilities he cannot give Lois the attention she really deserves. Back in Metropolis (again) Perry White has a job for Clark, Lois and Jimmy. They are to investigate Anthony Gallo, a rich industrialist who manages to convince the city council to let him open a huge casino on the waterfront. Perry is convinced that Gallo is crooked and used his wealth and power to buy enough influence on the council to get his way. He sends Clark, Lois and Jimmy to investigate because he knows that they cannot be bought. While Clark and Jimmy set up surveillance equipment Lois tries to worm her way into Gallo's confidence.

Every generation seems to have a definitive Superman artist. Curt Swan in the 60s. John Byrne in the 80s. This period of time will likely be known as Superman's Tim Sale era. His art is the epitome of elegant; simple, clean, but always striking. On a book that is tasked with telling stories of Superman's early days he is the perfect choice to provide the art. (Sale does all of the in-show drawings for NBC's Heroes) Darwyn Cooke does a very good job capturing a young Superman. I don't know if I've ever read another book where Superman was still scared that he could be hurt. Cooke also gets Perry White down better than any writer in a long time. While I like the manic Perry that most Superman writers portray this version of Perry a little more grounded and realistic; The classical American newsman rather than a nicer J. Jonah Jameson. While the art and characterizations are top notch, the story leaves a bit to be desired. Clark, Lois and Jimmy acting like real reporters is nice, but the story they were assigned to didn't grab me at all. I realize you can't use Luthor in every story, but the apparent villain of the piece, Anthony Gallo, is too much of a blank slate to really be interesting at this point. I also couldn't tell if the kryptonite meteor itself was sentient or there was something inside of it that was narrating the opening scene.

Bottom Line:
A tremendous character piece that unfortunately doesn't have a story to match
3 out of 5

Irredeemable Ant-Man #2

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Penciller: Phil Hester

"Shock & Awe"

Present day: Ant Man meets Beth, the woman whose life he just saved, for dinner, telling her he forgot his wallet so she is forced to pick up the bill for their date. She asks him how he became Ant Man and...Six months ago Eric O'Grady, the SHIELD agent that stole an experimental Ant-Man suit from Hank Pym last issue, is still wandering around the Helicarrier, stuck at 2 inches tall. He has no idea how to work the suit and even worse his best friend, Chris McCarthy, is trying to make time with his girlfriend, Veronica. After wandering around for days he stumbles upon a firefight inside of the carrier. A horde of mind-controlled supervillains have attacked in an attempt to secure the still mind controlled Wolverine (as seen in the Enemy of the State storyline from Wolverine last year). Eric uses the Ant Man suit to subdue a couple of the villains and finally figures out how to return to normal size just before he finds his friend Chris hunkered down in his room. They go to escape the carrier but Chris pushes ahead of Eric. At that moment Eric takes a shot to the head from another enthralled villain, killing him. A distraught Chris takes the suit and flees just as the carrier crashes. Back in the present Chris, after telling his date a much more interesting origin story involving Doctor Doom, is invited up to Beth's apartment. Back on the street Chris is being tracked by his former supervising officer Mitch Carson, who now blames Chris for the massive deformity he now sports over one side of his face.

As origins go this new Ant Man's is pretty good. He's a bit of a sleaze, but still feels a lot of guilt over what happened to his friend Eric. I really dig the redesign of the Ant Man suit, complete with an extra pair of arms and a jet pack. He hasn't actually communicated with any ants yet so I don't know if that's still part of the gimmick. I love how Kirkman (Walking Dead, Marvel Zombies, Invincible) tied the origin to the great Enemy of the State storyline in Wolverine last year. In the big picture it doesn't really change the character much, but it's refreshing to see a writer use continuity instead of changing it to fir his/her needs. Kirkman has also laid down some very neat little mysteries for the readers to ponder, the big one being: how did Chris's supervisor, Mitch, get half of his face burnt off and why does he blame Chris? Hester and Parks (Green Arrow, Nightwing) are one of my favorite art combos. Their style may be a bit cartoony for some, but for a book about a dude that shrinks and may or may not talk to ants it fits beautifully.

Bottom Line:
I'm still not certain that the character has enough legs (get it? Legs? Ants? Haha. I'm funny!) to make it as an ongoing series, but this is a promising start.
4 out of 5


Blue Beetle #8

Writers: Keith Giffen & John Rogers
Artists: Cully Hammer & Casey Jones

"Road Trip"

Jamie (the new Blue Beetle), his friend Brenda and the mysterious Peacemaker are taking a road trip to seek out one of the former possessors of the scarab, Dan Garrett. What they find is Danielle Garrett, granddaughter of the first Blue Beetle. She loved her grandfather and has been studying his life, but she never saw any indication that the scarab was alive. She tells Jamie the story of how he became the Blue Beetle and how Ted Kord took over the mantle, sans powers, when he died. Meanwhile a big zombie has been following them, looking for Jamie. He kills a priest and begins tearing through the nearby town. Just as Jamie, Brenda and Danielle are about to start questioning the Peacemaker on his connection to the scarab, it alerts them to the zombie's rampage. Jamie, armored up, fights the monster, but it regenerates so quickly that he can't damage it. The whole time it is rambling on about how Jamie is the angel of death and the harbinger of the apocalypse. Now that it is close to the scarab it knows the name of the danger. "I have dreams, of armies from the heavens. They call, The Reach is Coming, and they bring doomsday." The zombie is finally taken down when Peacemaker hits him with an anesthetic nerve gas that he formulated from household cleaners and rock salt. Danielle Garrett gives them the rest of her notes on the scarab and Jamie and Brenda head out of town, determined to hear the Peacemaker's story.

This book has a very pleasant learning vibe, much like the early issues of Spiderman. Jamie is an extremely likable character who suddenly has to deal with the burden of powers that he doesn't fully understand except that are potentially very dangerous. Giffen and Rogers have built up a wall of enigmas around the Scarab but instead of hoarding every nugget of information (*cough*Lost*cough*) they reward the reader by doling out tidbits regularly. It also seems like DC is positioning Blue Beetle as a possible player in the major events to come in the near future, by tying him into the chalkboard from 52 (references to the Reach and the Armageddon). This issue in particular has a little bit of everything that makes this book fun: a little more light is shed on the scarab and what it can do, we meet a link to the character's past and we cap it off with a big fight scene. Is it a revolutionary concept? No, but it executes everything well and in the process crafts an endearing story.

Bottom Line:
A book with mysteries, humor and action that is more than suitable for all ages.
4 out of 5

Quick Hits

Justice League of America #3 - Where we see a Canary kick major ass, a machine with pointy ears, and the most threatening piece of seafood ever.
Detective Comics #825 - This story sucked. Alfred read like a 9th grader trying to do Monty Python. At least Dini will be back next month.
She-Hulk #13 - Slott spends an entire issue explaining away a continuity gaffe. Unfortunately it was a gaffe he himself wrote...in the last issue. Weak.

Review Time - Week of October 25th

Seven Soldiers of Victory #1

"The Miser's Coat"

We open in The Tailor's Shop; seen previously in the Zatanna mini, as the Tailor entertains his client with a tale of The Seven Soldiers who are destined to save the world from an evil queen, yet never meet. We then move to the far distant future where The Shining Knight Sir Ystin, stepping out of the cauldron of rebirth, greets Gloriana Tenebrae, Queen of the Sheeda, in her throne room. We then move 40,000 years in our past, when the New Gods came to Earth and created Aurakles, the first superhero. Aurakles is given seven items of power and set to tame the Earth. Eons pass and Neanderthal super scientists create a time machine, which is sent into the future where Melmoth, scavenger King of the Sheeda, finds it. And so begins the first harrowing of Earth. The next harrowing occurs 30 millennia later, in the days of King Arthur and his knights, but the Sheeda and their Castle Revolving crush them as well. Back in present day New York The Guardian leads the defense against the Sheeda hordes, Bulleteer tries to get help for her nemesis and Zatanna & Misty fly to the rescue with a horde of flying horses. Misty, Zatanna's apprentice and daughter of Melmoth, knocks her teacher out so she can confront her stepmother, Gloriana Tenebrae. Before Misty can get far she is confronted by Klarion, who steals her magic die, (which he calls a Croatoan, the Sheeda word for Fatherbox) and escapes. Zatanna wakes up just as the Castle Revolving pops into existence over Manhattan. On the bridge of the Castle Frankenstein informs SHADE that the Sheeda are not aliens, or extra dimensional, but what humans will become in a billion years. Just as Frankenstein is about to finish the Sheeda Klarion, who still possesses power to control 'Grundy-Men', stops him. High over Manhattan Gloriana and Sir Ystin fight fiercely until Ystin is thrown off the Castle Revolving, only to be saved by his Flying Horse. At street level Mister Miracle confronts Darkseid in human guise. The Lord of Apokolips has struck a deal with the Sheeda, they get the Americas to ravage, and Darkseid gets Aurakles. Shilo offers to take Aurakles' place as Darkseid's captive, claiming that he will make his greatest escape. Darkseid agrees since Shilo, the New Gods spirit of Life and Freedom, is the one he actually wants. Darkseid then pulls out a pistol and shoots Shilo in the head, killing him. Back on the castle Gloriana is about to send her assassin, I, Spyder, to kill her step-daughter Misty when he turns on the Queen of the Sheeda, shooting her in the head with an arrow and dropping her to the street below. On the street below she is struck and killed by 'the spear thrown by mighty Aurakles 42,000 years ago' in the form of the car driven by Bulleteer as her nemesis, Sonic Sally, tries to kill her. We end with scenes showing Sir Ystin attending a girl's school (yes in this version Shining Knight is a girl), The Tailor sewing up Zor (from the Zatanna mini) into the Miser's Coat, Klarion as the new lord of the Sheeda and Mister Miracle's grave as he rises out of it.

The first thing that has to be said about this book is the art. J.H. Williams III produces some of the most amazing art ever seen in a comic book, and his work is even more extraordinary when you see the different art styles he uses for each of the Soldier's chapters. And the art isn't just pretty, it's creative and well thought out, traits you don't always get with other 'pretty' pencillers. There are about a dozen different panels and pages in this issue that should be hanging in a museum. The story Morrison tries to tell also deserves praise; its epic, audacious and has a lot of heart. Unfortunately the story is so epic and convoluted that it's often hard to understand. The story jumps from the distant past to the distant future and back to the present several times while (possibly) breaking the fourth wall at times as well. Several of the Soldiers, Frankenstein and Guardian, didn't seem to do too much in this issue at all. It took me a while to figure out that Bulleteer is apparently Aurakles' descendant, and hence the spear thrown 42,000 years ago that finally found its mark. Ultimately while I think the ideas behind the book were top notch, the presentation was so muddled and convoluted that it made it difficult to fully enjoy. The six-month delay definitely hurt as well. I just don't remember a lot of the details of the seven mini-series, details that may have shed some light on this book.

Bottom Line:
Great art and an epic story that collapsed under the weight of it's own high concept.
3 out of 5

Sensational Spider-Man #31

"The Deadly Foes of Peter Parker, part 3"

As Peter responds to his old flame Liz Allan's distress call The Chameleon, disguised as Peter, worms his way into Avenger's Tower and next to Aunt May. Peter and Liz hash our some lingering resentment before he is ambushed by The Molten Man, The Scarecrow and Will O' The Wisp. Spidey is taking a beating when Black Shows up and they make quick work of the 3 villains. Molten Man tells Peter that the real target is Aunt May and he goes swinging off to save her. Back in Avenger's Tower May is baking cookies for the man she thinks is her nephew. The Chameleon is fantasizing about strangling the elderly woman as the two engage in conversations about cookies, locked doors and yarn. Aunt May has the last laugh however. She knew immediately that it wasn't Peter, so she ground up some of Mary Jane's sleeping pills into the cookies she was baking and fed them to the fake Peter. The real Spidey crashes through the window only to find The Chameleon already unconscious on the floor.

I like the bad-ass, self sufficient Aunt May. For all too long she was portrayed as a doddering victim-in-waiting, so its nice to see her written as competent for once. The rest of the story was a nice exploration of the consequences of Peter's unmasking, but it just wasn't particularly gripping. Angel Medina's art looks a lot like Todd McFarland's Spiderman work from the early 90's. So much so that it distracts from his otherwise competent work. Both of the Spiderman satellite books (Spectacular and Friendly Neighborhood) have been good but both also feel like they're treading water while moving from crossover to crossover.

Bottom Line: A fun story but not a particularly memorable one
3 out of 5

Action Comics #844

"Last Son, part 1"

Superman, after visiting with a computer simulation of his father in his Fortress of Solitude, returns to Metropolis in time to catch a shell-shaped object as it rocketed to Earth. Inside the object is a child. Superman brings the child, who looks about 8, to the Department of Metahuman Affairs where is quickly becomes apparent that the child is Kryptonian. The DMA later learns that the rocket containing the child came not from outer space but from hyperspace. Clark doesn't know what to do with the child, all he knows is the feelings he already has towards the boy. The next day Superman goes to visit with the child but the lab has been stripped down. The child is gone. An enraged Superman forces his way into the Pentagon to get some answers from the DMA head, Sarge Steel. The military convoy transporting the child is ambushed and the child taken away. Finally, on the Kent's farm, Clark shows up with the child and asks his parents to help him raise the boy.

A good start. While the book seemed a little light at times the seeds of some very interesting storylines were planted, first and foremost: Is the boy really a Kryptonian? With almost any other creative team such a huge change for the character would be inconceivable, but the Johns-Donner combo is big enough that you really feel this change may stick. And there in also lies a problem. This run has been so hyped for so long that this first issue felt like a bit of a let down. It may be unfair, anything short of instant classic would have fallen short of the hype, but my initial reaction was: That's it? The lack of an overt villain, other than a one-page tease from Lex Luthor, brings the book down a notch, but not substantially. Adam Kubert's art seemed very sketchy at times. In some places it worked well, in others it looked rushed or incomplete.

Bottom Line: A good start to a storyline with a lot of potential
3 out of 5

Quick Hits

Civil War: Choosing Sides: A whole lot of nothing.
Nextwave #9: You think this 'E' stands for America?
Justice #8: For the first time on a long time, Aquaman is a badass.

Review Time

Birds of Prey #99

"Headhunter, part 4. Class Dismissed"

Black Canary and Huntress chase the Turkish gunrunner Yasemin into an abandoned tenement as Oracle faces the new Batgirl. The new Batgirl seems to know all about Barbara and her Birds and claims to have been in Oracle's base many times before. In keeping with superhero tradition Faux-Batgirl attacks Babs before getting dropped herself. Barbara realizes that the girl isn't really a threat, but she cannot let her fight crime under her cowl. Faux-Batgirl asks Barbara to train her "just like you trained Cassandra (the last Batgirl, who is now apparently evil)" and Babs gets angry slaps the girl, promising to show her "what it means to be Batgirl." Meanwhile Huntress is forced to pursue Yasemin after a henchman waylays Black Canary. Yasemin taunts Huntress, threatening to kill every child in the class Huntress' alter ego teaches. This pisses Huntress off and, after scaling the side of the building, beats Yasemin with an antenna before dangling her over the edge. Huntress threatens to drop her 10 stories to the pavement below unless she promises to stay away from her students. Yasemin, bruised and bloody, consents; much to the relief of Black Canary who thought her friend may once again cross a line. Back in Barbara's base she reluctantly shows the girl just what it means to be Batgirl, giving her the slug The Joker put into her spine, and showing her pictures of Spoiler lying dead on a mortuary slab. The girl is heartbroken by the images and agrees to give up her dreams of being Batgirl and leave, although she says she never promised she wouldn't become a superhero. Next we see Black Canary present Babs with a copy of her memoirs as she tells her best friend that she is leaving the team to spend more time with her adopted daughter, Sin. The two reminisce over past adventures before Dinah goes to break the news to Huntress. In a scene with a surprising amount of lesbian subtext Dinah says goodbye to Helena, with Helena thanking her for being such a good friend. At the end Huntress has, for the first time, taken over as narrator of the series.

...And so begins a new era for one of the best, most consistent books on the market. The dialogue between Canary and Huntress in the first few pages, Huntress teasing Canary about gaining weight, Canary speaking in Bizarro Black Canary voice was absolutely priceless and served as a great counterpoint to the Oracle/Faux-Batgirl scenes. Raiz did a great job capturing the combination grief and determination on Oracle's face as she showed the young girl exactly what being a Batgirl can do to you. Huntress also had a great scene with Yasemin on the roof; almost everything you need to know about her character was included on those few pages. Raiz' art was pretty good (complete with the new trend of drawing every seam, buckle and lace on the costumes) although his faces looked a little blocky and odd at times. The scene with Huntress and Canary at the end was odd. To call it lesbian subtext almost doesn't do it justice, I really expected the two characters to start making out for a moment. It didn't detract from the story, but it took a scene that was (in my opinion) supposed to be more about the big sister-little sister dynamic and turned it into something else completely.

Bottom Line: Humor, poignancy, action, character development and lesbian subtext, all in one neat package


The Authority #1

"Utopian"

A submarine in the Norwegian Sea goes down after members of the crew attack one another. A man named Ken wakes up in England to a cold, unhappy marriage. Ken is called in to investigate the submarine incident but his wife doesn't want him to go. Ken and his crew, Tor and Dex, take a small sub and investigate the site as his wife packs a bag to leave him. They reach the sub and find the crew had been killed, some with broken necks, others with their heads torn off. Tor is confronted by a familiar wall of shimmering orange light before disappearing suddenly without a trace. Ken is worried when he is informed that a large anomalous object has been detected right in front of them. They hit the lights and see an absolutely massive structure sitting on the bottom of the sea.

When I got to the last page of this book I almost thought there were pages missing from my copy. Why? BECAUSE ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED! It felt like the first five minutes of an episode of Law & Order. The Authority, you know the stars of the title, do not appear in one single panel in the entire book. Books that have rich, complex, likable supporting casts can survive an issue without the stars, but the cast of this issue has all the appeal of canker sore. Did I mention that in the first post-reboot issue of one of the flagship titles of the Wildstorm line the main characters are not even mentioned? The whole book just feels pretentious; like it's so mind-numbingly brilliant that they don't actually have to include anything approaching a story to make you but it. The only saving grace of this book is Gene Ha's art, which is impressive to say the least. Other than that there is nothing to this issue. Don't buy it. Avert your eyes lest its hippotamic feculence infects thine eyes.

Bottom Line: Quite possibly the worst comic I've ever read that didn't have the words 'Rob Leifeld' on the cover


John Woo's 7 Brothers #1

"Son of Heaven, Son of Hell"

A great Chinese Emperor sends four treasure fleets to the four corners of the Earth. These fleets circumnavigate the globe collecting wealth and knowledge before returning to the Middle Kingdom. Upon arriving home they are greeted not with honor but with scorn. The expedition cost so much money that the peasants revolted and the Empire was thrown into disarray. In the end China turned to isolationism and all records of the treasure fleets were stricken from history. Almost. In the present day Los Angels a pimp named Double-Double is letting some hos know what the score is when the ladies proceed to beat the crap out of Double-Double for their boss, a big pimp named Skull. We then see a very nice apartment where six men are meeting. All six men were given a plane ticket to LA and $50,000, with the promise of another $50,000 if they attend the meeting. All of the men are intelligent and speak English but hail from all over the globe. The story then cuts back to Double-Double, who is about to receive The Unkindest Cut from Skull when a slender Asian woman pulls up in a sports car. She proceed to beat the holy hell out of Skull and his crew, hitting them so quickly that they did not feel the blows until 30 seconds later. She takes Double-Double, real name Ronald, with her to the apartment. The Asian lady, Rachael, informs the men that she does not have the rest of their money at the moment and they begin to leave when she divulges their secrets. Each man has powers: speed, far-seeing, far-hearing, teleportation, sonic scream and flight. She does not know what Ronald's power is but she knows that all seven of them are needed to save the world. We then move to China where a team of spelunkers is in a cave under the Great Wall. They find a wall inscribed with characters but before they can breach it several members are killed in a freak cave in, an omen of things to come.

I really wasn't expecting much from this book but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Garth Ennis' trademark over the top dialogue mixed with John Woo's martial arts flair and just a hint of Eastern mysticism produced a fun book. Geevan Kang's art was a little rough and dark for my tastes but he did an adequate job on the book. Ennis' work is fun if not exactly original; its equal parts obscene and funny. The scenes with Double-Double, Skull and Rachael were fun, but the rest of the story seems a bit light in comparison.

Bottom Line: An interesting beginning that falls just short of compelling
3 out of 5

X-Factor #12

"X'D Out, part 3"

The Eldest Tryp calmly explains to Madrox, Rahne and Monet that he is also a kind of 'Multiple Man', capable of existing as past, present and future versions of himself at any point along his own timeline. In his future X-Factor was instrumental in undoing the effects of the Decimation and restoring the Mutant's powers. But the sudden re-powering of millions of mutants caused the balance of power to shift and soon there were 'No More Humans'. A pair of rampaging mutants destroyed Tryp's future body while his mind was in the present, so he now exists in a state of near incorporeality. His goal now is to either keep the mutants powerless or kill X-Factor; both actions would suit his goals. A scuffle ensues and the ghostly Tryp uses his powers to show them the future he is trying to prevent. Layla meanwhile does her Butterfly thing back at X-Factor HQ with a few calls to local pizzerias and a set of bolt cutters, the end result being Mrs. Buchanon getting sprung from her captor's van. While Madrox and the others are busy fighting with Eldest Tryp Rictor and Siryn discover Singularity's hidden files and their even more hidden armory. Rictor and Siryn are ambushed by the other two Tryps but the manage to escape. Madrox tells them to stand down as they go the leave Singularity alone. However a Dupe, created in the scuffle with Tryp, comes out of the armory strapped with C-4. This Dupe remembers when Tryp used his elemental powers to kill Madrox' family with a tornado when he was small. The Dupe blows himself up, ejecting X-Factor from the building and destroying The Tryps and their offices in the process. Back at X-Factor HQ Layla is confronted by the Eldest Tryp, who survived the blast. He realizes that Layla is actually the danger point of the group, and tells the stunned girl, "When chaos battles chaos, expect the unexpected"

Firstly, Tryp's power is a little hard for me to get a firm handle on. Whether this is an intentional obfuscation or just a poor explanation is still an open question. The story itself was Peter David near the top of his game. Deep philosophical questions layered over some breakneck plot twists and sprinkled with quirky humor. It was a very villain heavy piece so a lot of the cast faded into the background a bit, but not enough to weaken the story. The art, especially that of Roy Allan Martinez (Son of M) on the flashbacks, was good, although Renato Arlem tries a bit too hard at times to make the book feel noir-ish. I love the concept of Madrox's Dupes each having different personalities with slightly different lettering for each Dupe's speech bubbles.

Quick Hits
Runaways #21 - Chase does the right thing in the end, even if the reader may have been wishing for him to do otherwise. And Molly has too much caffeine.
Checkmate #7 - Only three members of the Suicide Squad died on a mission. That's like an all time low.
52 #24 - The Justice League is back (sort of), Skeets returns (better than ever), Black Adam makes peace (for now) and Amanda Waller makes Atom Smasher an offer that he can't refuse (although he may wish he had). Plus the debuts of POLEDANCER AND E.S.PETE!

Review Time - Week of October 11th

Fables #54 - Hansel arrives in Fabletown as the Emperor's ambassador and kicks the proverbial beehive. Prince Charming, absent from Fabletown for most of it's history, hears Hansel's story from Beauty and Frau Totenkinder, and it isn't pretty. After killing the Witch in the Gingerbread house (the afore mentioned Totenkinder) Hansel immediately begins to show a disturbing fascination with killing. When he and his sister reach Fabletown in the 1600s Hansel is horrified to find Frau Totenkinder living peacefully, safe from harm by force of the Fabletown compact. Hansel immedately leave to live in the Mundy world, becoming a world renowned Witch Hunter in the process. When he returns to Town a century later he finds his sister has become friendly with the old witch. In a fit of rage Hansel kills Gretel and tries to portray it as an accident. The Fables don't buy his story and exile him, stripping him of his amnesty under the Fabletown Compact. Soon after the business of Witch Hunting dried up and Hansel returned to the Homelands to work for the Emperor. This backstory is interwoven with Hansel's attempts to secure new digs and Beast's quandry of how to keep track of the Emperor's embassy.

Where is Gretel?

I know she was shown killed in the flashback, but shes a pretty famous Fable. Goldilocks survived multiple gunshots, a fall down a cliff and a axe to her head, so Gretel should be able to bounce back from a broken neck. So I fully expect Gretel to show up at some point soon. As for the issue, it was the normal excellence I expect from Willingham in this series. This issue really made me realize well he writes Prince Charming. Prince began the series as an almost irredemable louse, but ever since he became Mayor of Fabletown he has slowly become a very likeable character. He's still ruled by his libido, but he also seems to genuinely care about the fate of his people now.

New X-Men #31 - The New X-Men face Nimrod, a Sentinel from the future so advanced that even the X-Men, with one of their most powerful lineups ever, couldn't defeat it. They attack, but seem hopelessly outmatched, with Rockslide being blown to bits by Nimrod. Forge comes up with a plan to destroy the Super-Sentinel and the NXM attack en masse. Each teammember gets their licks in before Talon tears open its armor, allowing Mercury and Surge to overload the time device. Nimrod wakes up in the past, just before it's first encounter with the X-Men. The NXM however are devastated with Rockslide in pieces and Talon injured so badly her healing factor cannot compensate. Rockslide pulls himself together, albeit looking somewhat differently, and Hellion takes Talon and tries to fly her from Dallas to Westchester so Elixir can heal her. He makes it an collapses at Elixir's feet, but he manages to save Laura from death.

When Kyle and Yost first took over this book I disliked how many characters they killed off early on. It was a bit gratuitous, especially coming right on the heels of the Decimation. This issue those deaths really paid off. I really thought they killed off Rockslide for good this time. Santo Vaccaro isn't a great character, but I found myself feeling bad when I thought he was gone for good. The rest of the issue was equally great, with each team member getting a moment to shine. Its tough to take what is essentially a junior team and craft stories that are sufficently threatening while working within the bounds of the mother books, and in this case the writers did a bang up job. I tip my cap to Misters Yost and Kyle for making a worthy successor to the old New Mutants book without being slavishly bound to the past. This issue shows why Paco Medina is a rising star. Some fans think his work is too cartoony, but I think it fits the material here perfectly.

Quick Hits
Ultimate Power #1 - Bendis' take on Reed Richards may be his best work. Ultimate Reed may be the most sympathetic character in the Ultimate U.
52 Week 23 - The Island of Mad Scientists should get it's own series.

Review Time - Week of September 27th.

Ultimates vol. 2 #12

“Grand Theft America part 6“

The Ultimates fight back. In the middle of Washington, D.C. the two teams quickly pair off against their counterparts with Hulk taking on Abomination, Quicksilver obliterating Hurricane, and Captain America squaring off against The Colonel, Abdul al-Rahman. The fights are fierce and gory, with Abomination having his arms and head ripped off by Hulk and Hurricane dissolving after being taken for a ride by Quicksilver. The Crimson Dynamo, realizing that things are beginning to go south, sets out to kill as many civilians as possible but he and his drones are stopped by Iron Man 6, an arena-sized iteration of Tony Stark’s armor. Meanwhile in New York the X-Men, Fantastic Four, the Defenders and the other heroes are set free by the Captains Britain, France, Italy and Spain. The freed heroes then wipe the floor with the remaining Schizoid Men and Dynamo Drones. Back in D.C. Wasp uses a gift from her husband to become Giant Wasp and step on Swarm as Fury, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch get the President, the VP and their families to safety. Cap and The Colonel fight, with neither gaining the clear upper hand until some Schizoid men grab Cap. Al-Rahman is about to execute him when Hulk throws Cap’s shield, slicing off al-Rahman’s hands and freeing Cap. Just when The Ultimates think the fight is over Loki makes his presence known by setting the National Mall aflame as he hovers above. He gloats for a moment before a thunderbolt streaks across the sky, heralding the return of Thor.

The Ultimates is, bar none, the best yearly comic ever. Kidding aside this was a great issue. While the concept of having two super-teams square off against their opposite numbers is a bit overdone in regular comics it seems a bit fresher since The Ultimates is such an irregular comic. Each team member gets his or her moment to shine, but the story (at least in this issue) doesn’t feel stretched. Bryan Hitch’s art is spectacular as usual, with several pages that just take your breath away.

Secret Six #4 (of 6)

“Six Degrees of Separation, part 4”

Vandal Savage breaks bread with Cheshire and Dr. Psycho, praising them in their effort to break his daughter Scandal, but chastises them for trying to actually kill Catman, (the man Savage wants to father his granddaughter) by serving them Grundy Steaks. Cheshire is nauseated but Dr. Psycho just asks for some Worcestershire Sauce. Meanwhile The Six, damaged physically and emotionally and matched up with the vastly more powerful Doom Patrol, manage to win out through luck, guile and a peculiar little man with a hat fetish. Mad Hatter (somehow) mentally influences the Doom Patrol, forcing Elasti-Girl to bite Robotman’s head off (I promised you all another decapitation) and Negative Man to have a seizure. The Six escape and return to the House of Secrets to convalesce but her father soon contacts Scandal through her dreams, demanding that she get to work making an heir for him. She wakes up and investigates a noise only to discover her beloved Knockout bumping uglies with Deadshot on the kitchen table.

Gail Simone’s trademark wit and humor do a lot for this book (Ragdoll looking up Elasti-Girl’s giant-sized miniskirt and Mad Hatter apparently pleasuring himself with a vibrating Stetson are just some of the highlights) but they cannot completely paper over the convoluted plot and awful art. Pitting the Six against the equally off-kilter Doom Patrol was a nice touch, but like every other battle fought in this series it just felt random and meaningless to the plot. I don’t like to slam artists but Brad Walker flat out should not be doing a book with even this high of a profile. Character’s faces change not only page-to-page but also panel-to-panel.

X-Men #191

“Supernovas, part 4”

Serafina, using her powers to interface with the comatose Lady Mastermind’s illusion weaving abilities, forces Cannonball to live out the perfect suburban life with her as his wife. They meet, marry and have children all in the blink of an eye before Wolverine severs Serafina’s connection to Lady Mastermind. She takes Logan down and makes her escape. Meanwhile Sabretooth tells the X-Men how he got involved with the Children of the Vault. Several months earlier he and a partner had taken a job to assassinate several scientists and in the process had stumbled upon The Conquistador, a heavily modified tanker ship that had been sitting undisturbed in the south Atlantic for three decades. Inside of the ship were the Children. Sabretooth barely escaped from the ship and has been hunted ever since. The X-men, utilizing Cable’s connection to the Global Infonet, determine that the ship had been licensed to a group of scientists, biologists studying evolution and physicists studying time acceleration. Together they created a sealed system to study evolution by speeding up time within the ship. In the 30 years since the experiment began over 6,000 years have passed on the ship. On the ship Serafina reports to the leader of the Children that she was seen, but the leader, Sangre, tells hip people that it really doesn’t matter and a conflict was inevitable. We then see the exterior of the ship, as it is about to fly into New York Harbor.

The art in this book almost kills what is an otherwise good story. Now Clay Henry’s art isn’t bad, it’s clean and he has a good grasp of anatomy and kinesiology but it also looks nothing like Chris Bachalo’s art. Character designs that were interesting and dynamic with Bachalo’s art look hideous in Henry’s more naturalistic style. Serafina looks like a character from a Tim Burton film when drawn by Bachalo, but with Henry she looks like a fat girl wearing children’s clothing. The story itself is nice, although if I have to endure another version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in a comic this month I may scream. The problem is the X-Men, other than Cannonball, don’t get very much page time in this exposition heavy issue.

Batman #657

“Batman & Son, part 3”

Batman takes the blindfold off of his son and shows him the Batcave for the first time. The child, Damien, is an absolute terror, aggressive, demanding, imperious and rude to Batman Robin and Alfred. After receiving a call from the Commissioner that The Spook (who I’ve been informed is a real Bat-villain) has taken the Mayor hostage Batman confines the kid to his room. After a funny exchange between one of The Spook’s henchmen and an undercover cop Batman finds The Spook’s headless body. Back in the Cave Damien is shadowboxing when Robin swings in. He offers to spar with the child but he refuses, instead pulling The Spook’s head, complete with a grenade in it’s mouth, out of a sack and throwing the whole thing at Robin. Robin dodges and the two fight throughout the cave. Damien gets the upper hand after Robin saves him from the mechanical dinosaur and sucker punches his adopted brother. Damien then confronts Batman on a rooftop dressed in an old Robin costume.

Have you ever seen Problem Child? Well mix that with a dash of The Omen (Damien, get it?) and you have the son of Batman. The story itself, while not bad, just feels…I don’t know, flat? I kept expecting something else, some twist, some revelation that just never came. The issue is also fairly un-Morrison like, with none of the wacky goings-on and metatext he usually infuses into his work. Andy Kubert’s art is terrific, as usual. The action and fight scenes in particular jump off the page although his faces still, after all these years, seem a little off to me.

Quick Hits

Justice League of America #2: The team begins to take shape and the plot thickens.
Ultimate Spider-Man #100: I read it 3 times and I still don’t know what happened in this issue.
Teen Titans #39: This issue is all about the Titans from the missing year. Unfortunately none of the missing year Titans really interest me that much.
Daredevil #89: Daredevil versus El Matador!

TV Reviews - Week of September 17th

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Pilot - Aaron Sorkin's return to TV in this semi-autobiographical look at a fictional late-night TV sketch comedy show is classic Sorkin. The dialouge moves at light speed and the characters seem to be in constant motion. The characters are flawed and conflicted yet, after even one episode, they are also endearing. I'm not sure how long the novelty of seeing the inner workings of SNL-West will last, but for now this looks like a winner. 4/5

Smith - Pilot - I loves me some heist movies, but as I said in my Fall TV preview, that love doesn't necessarily translate to the small screen. Smith, while better than Thief or Heist, still didn't blow me away. The episode was presented in almost reverse chronological order, with the botched getaway shown at the start of the episode and the details leading up to that point filled in as the show progressed. While I usually like the Rashomon/Memento approach in this case it felt like time filler more than anything else. The performances are all top notch, and some of the characters seem likeable, but overall I felt 'meh'. 3/5

Jericho - Pilot - Of all the series concepts I read about this spring this was the one that excited me the most. The rural town of Jericho, Kansas suddenly loses all communications and when the residents look to the western sky they see a mushroom cloud where Denver should be. The townsfolk, convincingly rural without crossing over into hick territory, deal with the situation in a variety of ways, most of which feel realistic. I'm not sure what kind of legs this show has but the first episode was good enough to warrant another look. 3/5

My Name is Earl - Very Bad Things - I was originally worried when the producers said that Earl wouldn't revolve around the list as much this season. After this episode I'm not quite as worried anymore. Earl decides to take Joy's side in an argument for the first time ever, resulting in Joy stealing a truck fom the local furniture store. Earl and Joy spend a while trying to dispose of the truck before they discover that one of the store employees had been trapped in the truck the whole time. Earl was (maybe) the best new show of '05 and this episode continues the excellence. 4/5

Review Time - Week of September 20th.

Astonishing X-Men #17 - We begin with Kitty cradling the newborn she has just given birth to. She is surrounded by the baby's father, Colossus, and the other X-Men. We jump forward and the baby is now a toddler. The X-Men come to take the baby away since it has some 'terrible power' and Colossus is forced to stop Kitty from fleeing. We jump forward another 18 months and Kitty, having escaped from custody, holds an axe phased into Peter's head to make him tell her where her son is: In a box in the basement.

Of course what we saw wasn't real. It was a psychic episode broadcast into Kitty's mind by The White Queen to make her breach The Manger. What's inside of The Manger? The body of Stuff, a shapeshifting member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard inhabited by the mind of Cassandra Nova, Xavier's evil , unborn twin sister. As Kitty is trying to get into The Manger the scene shifts to S.W.O.R.D. as they recieve word from their 'mole' inside the X-Mansion that Ord and Danger are only a few miles away from the mansion. Who is the Mole? Lockheed! Ord and Danger hit the mansion, inadvertently snapping Wolverine out of his trance in the process. Just as Cassandra is about to inhabit her new body, that of the now unconscious Kitty, The White Queen is shot in the back by a now visor-less and pistol-packing Cyclops.

Maybe I'm just a little slow on the uptake this week, but this issue was just a little confusing at times. I couldn't tell if Cassandra Nova or the classic White Queen was running the show and both Shaw and Negasonic were acting very...odd. I'm fairly sure that the strangeness was intentional, but it was nonetheless annoying. Otherwise this was a great read. Cassaday's work is masterful as always and Whedon peppers the book with great lines and moments. The page where Wolverine comes to his senses, aided by a can of beer, is both funny and masterful. I'm a little annoyed that the whole 'Ernst is Cassandra Nova being taught humanity' thing from Morrison's run is being disregarded, but since the story has been so good I'll let it slide.

Walking Dead #31 - Rick and Michionne are still the Governor's captives, but things in the town of Woodbury are not going well and things get worse when one of the town's 'gladiators' is killed by the other. This forces the Governor to enlist Michionne in his efforts to give the people their bread and circuses. Instead of keeping to the WWE-like script she immediately decapitates her opponent and kills biters that surround them. Rick, still held in the infirmary and short a hand, begins to bond with the Doctor and his attractive female nurse. Meanwhile Martinez, a guard who has become disgusted with the goings on in town, moves to help Rick escape from Woodbury.

Ahh, thats the Walking Dead I know and love. There just haven't been enough decapitations the past few issues for my tastes. The book has fallen into something of a rut ever since the survivors settled into the prison, but this issue feels more like one of the earlier issues where danger seemed omnipresent.

Quick Hits
Civil War #4 - Well the death everyone predicted came to pass. Everyone except for me that is, since I thought it was the too obvious choice.
Checkmate #6 - The Suicide Squad is back and of course one of them dies during the mission. The reason for bringing the mback, while convoluted, makes a lot of sense.
Moon Knight #5 - BADASS!

Review Time

52 #19: As recently as one month ago I was complaining about the pacing and the 'even numbered curse' on this book. Oh boy have things changed. All of the storylines seem to moving ahead at breakneck speed (well except for the Steel and Giant Hawkgirl storylines) with enough twists and turns to keep the message boards humming. Skeets (Skeets!) has become more interesting than anyone could've ever expected, and Archbishop Lobo is just inspired. I had reservations about this book when it was announced, but so far it has surpassed all expectations.

Fables #53: Ah, The Snow Queen. Such a bright happy soul :). Its interesting to note how similar Lumi's description of the four plagues matches Al Gore's vision of the future in An Inconvinent Truth. Rodney and Pinnochio's reservations about the plan could be the foreshadowing of a betrayal or it could be a red herring. I'm actually hoping for the latter. Joshua Middleton's back-up story "Porky-Pine Pie" feels like a lost Merrie Melodies short and was the perfect complement to a fairly dark story

New X-Men #30: I was worried when Kyle & Yost took over this book; I thought it would morph into X-23 and her Amazing Friends. After almost a year I can safely say that the New X-Men are in good hands. It feels a lot like an old-school New Mutants story; the kids steal the Blackbird to fight an enemy they should have no business facing, and hijinx ensue. Paco Medina's art fits the tone of the book like a glove.

Quick Hits

Green Lantern #13 - A good story with great art and lots of underlying mysteries. I'm glad DC isn't completely whitewashing Hal's history.
Annihilation #2 - Giffen does a very good job of juggling a bunch of unfamiliar characters in big crowd scenes.

Review: Black Label Society - Shot to Hell

Black Label Society, fronted by the legendary Zakk Wylde, is the apex of modern Metal: melodic, haunting and heavy. Powerful, rhythmic and deep. BLS eschews the overproduced, pre-packaged trends in favor of three things most metal artists fear: depth, emotion and actual singing.

From the first whammy-barred chords of Concrete Jungle to the almost dirge-like Blood is Thicker than Water, Zakk shows why he is one of the few living souls to have earned the title Rock God. While Shot to Hell lacks the high intensity power ballads of previous BLS albums it more than makes up for it with haunting laments and musical range. Where 2003's Blessed Hellride felt like an album written for an arena tour, Shot to Hell fells like it was composed for an intimate club preformances. Like their namesake Scotch Black Label Society only gets better with age.

5 out of 5

Review Time

Astonishing X-Men #16 - About the only bad thing I can say about this book is the fact that it (for now) comes out bi-monthly. Rather than dragging the mysteries out, Whedon & Cassaday actually give us answers to two of the pressing mysteries of the book when we are told who will destroy the Breakworld and who Perfection is under the hood. Of course the answers bring up more questions, but the story never seems like it's on a treadmill. I won't spoil who Perfection is, but I will say that my two guesses, Magik & Phoenix, were of course dead wrong.

Justice League of America #1 - First, I like the new lineup. It's missing a few elements, but overall I think it's strong. Now, on to the story. Normally I would criticize a #1 issue like this for it's lack of action, but the whole Red Tornado storyline was so touching and well done that I didn't mind. One prediction on the villain of the book: Dr. Impossible. (inviso text on I think he's the Mr. Miracle of the new Earth 2. Father box, hush tube. It all fits. off)

Jack of Fables #2 - I'm surprised that Willingham, Sturges & Akins didn't make the enemy in this piece look like Walt Disney. If there was one person more responsible for the neutering and sanitization of our fables & fairy tales than Walt Disney I've never heard of them. The identity of the black janitor is tickling the back of my neck, but I just can't seem to grab it.

New Avengers #23 - The whole Spider-Woman double agent storyline, which has been a part of this book since it's start, is wrapped up in a single somewhat unsatisfying issue. Maybe I'm wrong; Jessica Drew sounds like a shoo-in for this book (the spy-stuff heavy New Avengers vs the widescreen Mighty Avengers) post Civil War, so this may not be the actual denoument, but it sure felt that way. Not a bad book, just disappointing.

Quick Hits
52 #16 - It just wouldn't be a wedding if someone didn't get shot!
Flash #3 - The art really improved in this issue. So did the story, but not as much.
Daredevil #88 - A breather from the breakneck pace of the past few issues that still manages to be better than 95% of the other titles on the shelf.

Review: Dead Rising

Dead Rising is the classic example of a game getting the macro right and the micro wrong. The overall concept and execution is good, maybe even great, but the overall experience is dragged down by a few frustrating design choices.

Firstly the concept of the game; you play a photojournalist who investigates a reported riot and ends up trapped in a mall full of zombies. Sound familiar? Yeah it's pretty much George Romero's Dawn of the Dead in game form. You spend the rest of the game wandering around the mall killing zombies with pretty much anything at hand while attempting to learn why the dead have risen.

The Good
The core gameplay itself is a lot of fun. The sheer quantity and variety of weapons at yur disposal is just staggering. After only a few hours with the game I've sent the dead back to hell with hockey sticks, soccer balls, lawn mowers, construction drills and potted plants. While you spend the wast majority of your time doing the same things over and over, it's got enough variety and difficulty to keep you occupied for a long time. The boss fights, mostly against psychopaths that are trapped in the mall with you, are okay, but they can be so frustratingly difficult at times that it detracts from the experience.

In a move that is either novel or stupid, Dead Rising has you playing against a time limit. After 72 hours in the game (although it comes out to 12-15 hours in actual time), regardless of whether or not you've solved the mystery, you get an ending. You're then expected to restart the game, this time with all of the skills, levels and experience you amassed the first time through the game. While it seems a bit like Capcom trying to artificially inflate how long it takes to beat the game, the system still works.

The graphics are generally spectacular. The cutscenes, rendered in real-time, look incredible, and there can be literally hundreds of enemies on screen at one time.

The Bad
As I said at the top, the big things are great, but the little things that are inexplicably screwed up really drag down the overall experience. First thing, the text in the game is so small and blurred on standard definition screens that it's almost indecipherable at times, and I sit only about 4 feet from my 25" set. The text is apparently fine on HD or widescreen TVs, but this is an inexcusable screw up on Capcom's part.

Secondly, the save system. Now I wasn't expecting Dead Rising to use Oblivion's save anywhere at anytime system, what they use is just plain stupid. You get only one save slot per profile, and the save points are few and far between. On at least 3 different occasions I accomplished something significant, but since at that point there were several hundred hungry zombies between me and the save point I died.

Third, the mission system. You recieve mission info, or 'scoops' as they are called in the game, from a janitor named Otis over a walkie talkie. What's wrong with that? Well for some reason while you're answering the damn radio you can't do anything! You can't fight, heal, open a door or even jump while listeing to Otis ramble on about getting a new ensemble in the style court. I thought the weapon-or-flashlight choice in Doom 3 was stupid, but the walkie talkie system in Dead Rising is even dumber.

The flaws in the game are small, but since those flaws so permeate every facet of the game they are magnified immesurably. Even worse these flaws could have, and should have, been identified and fixed during playtesting. A great game brought down by laziness is more of a tragedy than a mediocre game.

Overall - 3 out of 5

Review: Shin Chan

For a few minutes last night I thought I had actually lost my freaking mind. I was sure, certain beyond a reasonable doubt, that I'd broken my brain and had slipped into blissful insanity. Why would I think that?

Because I watched Shin Chan on [Adult Swim].

The show is almost indescribable. It was like a firehose of wierd blasting out of my television. Superheroes, schizophrenics, wierd little children and a cat car are just some of the elements of the show. Oh yeah, and it's pretty adult as well, with lots of sexual innuendo and humor. To be honest I'm not quite sure what happened in the episode; everything was just so random and strange and oh so Japanese, but it was still fun to watch.

Apparently the show, known as Crayon Shin-Chan in Japan, has been on the air since 1992 and is considered by some to be Japan's answer to The Simpsons. While I'm not yet ready to make that comparison, Shin Chan looks to be a great addition to the [as] family.

Review Time

Robin #153 - A fun trip through the booby trapped hideouts of Batman's rouges as Robin and Boomerang Jr. try to find the Joker's nuke. Boomerang offers to bury the hatchet, but Tim just isn't ready to be friends with the son of the man that murdered his father. One gripe: how does Owen know Robin's identity? Hawkgirl knowing Batman and Robin's IDs I can buy, she's been a hero for a while now, but who would tell Boomerang something like that? I know that he's been a white hat for at least some time, but he was still a member of The Rouges & The Society as little as year ago DCU time. Batman may be kinder and more trusting than he was pre-IC, but this is a bit of a stretch.

Nextwave #7 - This may have been the best single issue of the year. We get the secret and convoluted origin of The Captain's name. Monica and Else discussing whether or not Captain America is gay, and how much they wish he was. And what may be the best exchange ever.
Tabitha - "They shot their muck all over me!"
Aaron - "Like that's never happened before."
Tabitha - "Shut up and die, Robot face."

Ion #5 - Hal & Kyle try to interrogate Nero, but he's crazy and doesn't know squat about what's been happening, so Kyle goes to confront the Guardians. That's about it. Yeah there was a fight with Nero, and the mute girl from the artist's commune in #1 finds a Thanagarian ship, but nothing really happened here. Combine that with mediocre art, and I'm jumping ship.

Civil War: X-Men #2 - So the Sentinels are freaking Gundams now? After Evangelion-lite appeared in the Sentinel series, and another Sentinel in this issue looks like an old Decepticon? I know American comics are trying to attract manga readers, but this is assinine. Other than that, it was an okay issue that lays the groundwork for mutants re-entering society.

Quick Hits
Shadowpact #4 - It's too early in the series' run for a single character one shot.
Runaways #19 - Two Runaways deal with Gert's death by bumping uglies. While believable, it was still a little shocking to see, even in tame form.

Book Review: Sword of Truth 10 - Phantoms

Have you ever seen a link or video that you KNEW would be disturbing, yet you felt some compulsion to check it out anyway? That is basically how I feel about the Sword of Truth series of fantasy novels; I know at some point I'll be bothered by what happens in the book, but I'm still compelled to check it out. At least now I just go to the library instead of plopping down $24.95.

For the uninitiated, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is fairly standard Tolkien-esque high fantasy: magic swords, wizards, monsters, heroes and beautiful maidens; all set against an unimaginable evil that threatens to consume the entire world. The big difference between SoT & LoTR? Graphic, brutal and lurid scenes of sex, violence and sexual violence are prevalent throughout the entire series. In fact most of the last third of the first book, Wizard's First Rule, is really just one long S&M session. Now I'm not a prude, but this was a little offputting at first. That said, the first 2-3 books in the series were actually pretty good; the main characters were more fleshed out than in most genre novels and their motivations were fairly realistic; brutally so at times. There was still a lot of sex and brutality, and sometimes sex & brutality, but the world Goodkind crafted was engrossing with lots of new and interesting concepts. It wasn't as good as the great fantasy epics, but I looked forward to new iterations of the series.

Things began to go downhill from there. All the charm and innovation of the earlier books had been leeched away, replaced by flat characterizations and gore by the truckload. The two main characters, Richard and Kahlan, were great; the rest of the cast was mostly boring and one-dimensional. To make things even stranger, at some point the books morphed into polemics against Soviet-style communisism. Now I have no love of Stalinism, but the subtext and metaphor became about as subtle as a hammer and sickle over the head. Still I stuck around, mostly because at the end of every book there was a sense that the climax was just around the corner. That changed with book 7, The Pillars of Creation, a book in which the series' two main characters don't appear until the last 40 pages. In their place is a character that, by the middle of the next book, has been all but written out of the series.

It's with all of this in mind I headed out to pick up Goodkind's newest book: Phantoms. However I headed not the bookstore, but the library, because by now I don't even want to spring for the paperback. How was it? Pretty much exactly what I expected. Richard, Kahlan and a couple of other characters are well written and interesting, everyone else is flat, dull and irritating. Like every other book in the series it boils down to Richard knowing what to do, but all of his friends and allies spend most of the book disbelieving. He's proven right in the end, but not before the lack of faith makes matters worse. Having a formula while writing can be good, but this just comes off as repetitive.

According to several sources this was the penultimate book in the series, to which I say: thank God.

2 out of 5

technorati tags: Books, Fantasy, reviews,

Review Time

Fables #52 - In french this issue would be described as la merde est sur le point de frapper le ventilateur. A lot of talking, a few nice revelations (Hansel the badass inquisitor) and an overall sense of menace throughout the issue. As always Fables is a much more enjoyable read when you have Wikipedia open to look up the obsucre characters Willingham throws into the mix. (I had no idea there were other OZ books) The backup feature, starring Rapunzel, was a great addition.

Squadron Supreme #6 - The biggest real difference between Supreme Power and Squadron Supreme isn't content but perspective. Supreme Power was told almost exclusively from Hyperion's perspective; while Squadron's perspective tends to jump between Blur, Inertia and Emil Burbank. Especially Emil Burbank, who may be one of the breakout characters of the year.

Civil War: Frontline - A good main feature, a good backup feature, and 2 wastes of ink and paper. The main feature is still heavily slanted in favor of Cap's anti-registration side, but bias aside, Jenkins is telling an interesting story of how Civil War is playing out on the street level. The feature comparing MCW to real wars continues to piss me off immensely.

Quick Hits

Annihilation #1 - Giffen really makes this seem like a real war, not just another superhero battle. The ending was a bit of a shocker, but one that I just don't think will stand for long.

52 #14 - I like the narrower perspective of the more recent issues. It may be 3-4 weeks between appearances, but each appearance is tighter and more focused.

Green Arrow #65 - The return of Speedy, more on Deathstroke, and even a little news on Connor. What more can I ask for from this book?

technorati tags: comics, ReviewTime