Penciled by: Michael Ryan

Inkers: Rick Ketcham, Victor Olazaba, Roland Paris and Craig Yeung

Colorist: Christina Strain

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: Jo Chen

Company: Marvel

Let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat: you would struggle to find a bigger Joss Whedon fan than me. I own the DVDs for every season of Buffy and Angel, along with Firefly and Serenity. If I see his name on a comic, I buy it – and I am rarely disappointed. But there is a part of me that wishes I had the luck to be born, say, 40 years in the future – because then I could just buy all of his works whenever I felt like it, since they would have been published many, many years in the past, and I could be unconcerned with how well he stuck to a schedule. Because it’s a simple fact that when dealing with a product that has an expected delivery date, the appreciation of that product is rather easily affected by how well it meets that expectation.

Runaways #30 is the end of Whedon’s run on Brian K. Vaughn’s tale of super-powered teenagers. To give you some perspective, Runaways #29 came out in February. So… yeah. And as with any Whedonesque product, you take the good with the bad.

Okay, the bad. First off: there are simply too many characters, most of which have been introduced just in the past 3 issues. Now, it’s one thing to ask your audience to keep track of 20 or 30 characters when you publish a book on a regular monthly schedule. But when you take over four months between issues? That’s ridiculous. (For the record: I don’t know if the delay is specifically due to Whedon, but considering how long it took for “Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men #1″ to hit the shelves, he appears to be suspect numero uno.)

And I’m still trying to figure out what all of these characters actually added to the book: we learned absolutely nothing about practically any of them outside of their code names and (sometimes) their powers. And what exactly what the deal with The Adjudicator? We just had to have a Punisher-esque character throughout the run?

The good: we get a new character, and someone who fills a gap in one of the main characters lives (oh, the lengths I will go to give you info and not spoil the issue). Two characters who have been around since the beginning go through a MAJOR character upheaval, and in a very, very good way. The artwork is beautiful, and incredibly detailed (though again, not “three month delay” detailed). And I still love the 1907-speak.

As I said: I love Joss. And I love BKV, and I love this title (in fact, it’s the only Marvel title I collect that my wife actually reads). If this had stuck to a monthly schedule, I would probably give the entire run a rating of 8 or 9 out of 10, because I did love Joss’ interpretations of the Kingpin (“Mmmm, chocolate”), the Punisher (“Punisher’s war journal: Hhhhhhhh…”), Molly and Xavin (and the reaction of Klara to Xavin and Karolina’s relationship). And the cover to issue 26 is possibly my favorite comic cover of all time. But seriously, next time – free up your time before making this kind of a commitment, ok?

Rating: 6 out of 10
http://media.insidepulse.com/zones/comicsnexus/uploads/2008/06/runaways_30_cover2.jpg

Okay, we’ll back up a bit: Peter Parker was dating Kitty Pryde (of the “world famous X-Men”), but is now dating Mary Jane Parker. But now Kitty goes to the same high school as them (and everyone knows she’s a mutant). (And everyone knows Spidey goes to this high school, but not who he is.) Peter is friends with Johnny Storm, who has a thing for Liz Allen, a supposed “mutantphobic”, who recently burst into flames during a party during the evening at the beach. (Yes, she’s Firestar – duh, genius.)

Well, yes, of course everybody I mentioned above was at the beach – what would be the point otherwise? So, Liz “flames up”, and then freaks out – unfortunately, Johnny then gets called away by the special FF signal, which means “something bigger than any of this is going on and I have to report in.” (Wow – arrogant much, Johnny?)

So Liz, who has hated mutants all her life, now bursts into flames – a pretty sure sign that she’s a mutant too. (Gosh, irony is so… ironic, sometimes.) How does she deal with this? Well, yes, of course she flips right the hell out, and goes speeding around the city, spewing a trail of flame behind her. All while Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, follows her and tries to calm her down — while leaving a huge trail of ice slides behind him. Gee, think anyone might possibly notice?

Oh, yeah – that guy might.

And like the rest of us, Liz/Firestar is pretty impressed. And curious…

Well, no – duh, folks. You have been paying attention, right?

The one thing that stands out to me from this entire run is the dialogue – both internal and external. Ultimate Spidey #118 has a great run at the beginning of the book where every major character does a series of internal expository dialogue, each and every one of which starts with “ARGGGHHHH!!!” Not since the heyday of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has a piece of pop culture so clearly captured the angst of being an American teenager in this modern world.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Penciler: Khoi Pham

Colorist 112-114: Stephane Peru (RIP)

Colorist 115: Dennis Calero

Inker: Paul Neary

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Covers: Arthur Adams

Company: Marvel

So, there was this thing in the Marvel Universe recently. No, not that Civil War thing or The Initiative. No, not House of M (too old) or Messiah CompleX (too recent). Yes – the World War Hulk deal. Ya know: the Hulk gets kicked into space, takes over a planet, is happy for about five minutes, watches his pregnant wife die in an explosion, comes back to Earth and kicks the ever-loving hell out of every major hero in the Marvel Universe.

Well, there was some fallout from that. (Honestly, I’m still getting used to this whole concept: back in the 80’s when I started collecting, we got maybe one huge storyline a year, and you could go five years afterwards without watching a single other book mention it. Now, try and find a Marvel title that wasn’t affected by the Civil War: hell, even The Runaways get pulled in, for crying out loud.)

One bit of fallout involved The Renegades, the little group that Amadeus Cho put together to assist the Hulk while he tore NYC apart: the X-Men’s Angel, Namora, and Hercules. Well, World War Hulk ended, and heh — funny story: you remember when Herc tore a SHIELD helicarrier to shreds back in Incredible Hulk #107? Well, they haven’t forgotten about that. So, while Angel and Namora were offered amnesty if they surrendered, Herc and Cho were herded off to a holding area (the same holding area where the Hulk’s troops were being held apparently). Of course, Hercules could have caused a lot of damage if he decided to resist, but instead he got a sudden streak of repentance, and decided to try the “pay for my sins” route.

Well, that last about as long as it takes for Herc’s older brother, and recent Mighty Avenger, Ares to show up and muck up the works. After recounting the story of Hercules’ sixth labor (yes, we do reference Herc’s actual mythology – which I also appreciate), where Herc killed a whole bunch of birds that Ares treasured — well, there’s some smack talk, somebody insulted somebody’s Mama.. and yeah, of course it turned into a brawl. I mean – duh. So anyway: they escape, and Cho manages to steal a SHIELD laptop in the process.

Of course, we can’t talk about Incredible Herc #112 without noting Arthur Adam’s tribute to the famous cover of Hulk Annual #1, by Jim Steranko. And hey, Cho even gives a shout out to Ender’s Game, which is pretty damn cool in and of itself.

Issue 113 sees a couple more Avengers pulled in: the rather random choices of Simon Williams and The Black Widow (though we barely see the Widow in this issue). Even more mythology is thrown around, pleasing my geek heart to no end, and Hercules and Ares get down to business. Long story short: Ares uses bullets filled with Hydra blood to bring about a beserker rage in Hercules – which, in retrospect – probably not the wisest strategy ever.

Cho, in a desperate bid to keep reminding us that he is supposedly the seventh smartest person on the planet (so, anyway – when are we going to meet number 4, eh?), takes advantage of the situation, and points Herc towards the gathering forces of SHIELD. Much ass-kicky-ness ensues.

114 sees its most significant development happen early on, when Black Widow knocks out Cho while he’s trying to sneak onboard the Hulk’s alien ship. Unfortunately, Widow hits with with a kick to the back of the head, causing Cho to fall forward… and crush his little puppy, which he’s been carring in his jacket for… well, forever, as far as I can tell (this thing doesn’t grow much, does it?).

Meanwhile, after Herc knocks Simon and Ares into the next county, Widow is left alone to deal with a completely drug-fueled enraged Hercules. Thankfully, the writers of this storyline are MONSTROUS comic geeks, and actually throw references back to The Champions of LA, which last appeared in 1978. That’s some sweet nerd lovin’ right there. Widow is able to calm Herc down considerably, and he and Cho take off in The Behemoth, an old SHIELD helicarrier.

Issue 115 continues the rather amusing faux-epic Intro, with lines like “Cho deems S.H.I.E.L.D. responsible for wounding his pup, and so a furious can of gangsta-style whup-@$$ descends upon the mortal enforcement agency…” And here, we find out that Cho has succeeded in, basically, bringing SHIELD to its knees with his combination of alien tech and a couple nasty viruses. However, he’s leaning way too far into the “potential super villian” category for Hercules’ comfort.

Of course, there’s a failsafe – SHIELD just launches every missile it has against what it sees as the main threat: the Behemoth. Then Ares show up – so of course he and his brother continue their sibling rivalry in a very physical manner (including the amusing spectacle of catching missiles and tossing them into each other). But they manage to throw a rather revealing bit of expository dialogue in the middle, where Ares notes (accurately, based upon mythology) that Herc is “a murderer, a thief, an adulterer, a drunkard, a fool!”, and demands to know: “Why do they love you?” Ahhh, the complicated emotions of a spurned wanna-be super hero.

Hercules truly opens himself up, and forces Cho to face what he’s doing: he’s not taking down SHIELD for the betterment of the world, but because he’s just angry, and vengeful. And those are two emotions that Hercules is intimately familiar with. But Herc also does a good job of giving Cho some perspective, though it veers a bit too close to “that way lies madness” for me. But at the very least, the MAJOR mythology references, some with a serious tweak from the usual versions, more than makes up for it.

You’d have to be somewhat dense (or, possibly, 12 years old) to not see all of the analogies and metaphors in this storyline — of course, if you weren’t picking up on them back in the Civil War and World War Hulk, you’ll probably never get them. But it does take a deft hand to combine that level of storytelling while relating it to real-life events in a non-heavy-handed manner, while also keeping the action level intense, and throwing in more mythology references than Bullfinch. It’s a delicate balancing act, but very, very well executed through this first arc. Hopefully, they keep it up.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Colors by: Michelle Madsen

Letters by: Michael Heisler

Cover by: Adam Hughes

Company: Dark Horse

You know what kills me? If I hadn’t started reviewing comics for The Nexus, I would probably have no idea that Joss Whedon is now involved in no less than five different comics, including three from the Buffyverse.

Man, that would’ve sucked.

However, “Serenity” always struck me as a bit of an anamoly in Joss’s world: even I, one of the larger Buffy fans on the planet, heard “cowboys in space” and decided “Umm – maybe not for me.” Now, of course, I know I was being an idiot: but thankfully, that’s what they make TV on DVD for.

This storyline, “Better Days”, takes place sometime after the pilot, but before the events in the movie (I won’t spoil the movie for anyone by saying why it’s rather obvious as soon as you see the book). There isn’t anything about the plotline that jumps off the page immediately, though you probably will find yourself asking yourself, “Art? Since when is there a market for that out where Mal and crew float around?” (In fact, Simon asks much the same question above.) But, of course… well, just keep reading.

However, I did feel somewhat disappointed over the issue, though that’s entirely possibly because my expectations for this were so freakin’ high. Plus, this is just the first issue, so the entire plotline has to get introduced. This can be especially frustrating to those fans that tend to think of each issue as equivalent to an “episode” — which obviously they can’t be, since most of them are going to be cliffhangers. But even then, I felt too much time was being given to action sequences, including a chase sequence that makes up most of the first half of the book. But there are certainly enough individual scenes and one-liners (the food and water of the true Whedon fan) to make the book memorable.

The cover art is rather stunning, also: Wash and Zoe look like photographs, rather than pencils and ink. And, in a bit of twist on the multiple Buffy covers, the three covers on this run actually make up one large portrait of the entire Firefly crew (something I didn’t realize until reading the letters page).

Rating: 7 out of 10

Pencils: Georges Jeanty

Inks: Andy Owens

Colors: Michelle Madsen

Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy

Executive Producer: Joss Whedon

Cover by: Jun Foster

Company: Dark Horse

Yup – this issue did, in fact, come out last week. But, it was a biggie – and after reading it on Thursday, I basically begged Manolis to let me write up something on it. Unfortunately, my weekend got all shot to hell, so I’m finally getting around to this now. Since it’s been out a while, I’ll be forgoing my usual review style, and just concentrating on the two rather huge storyline developments, including the last page reveal. (As well as the stuff in the middle that quite literally had me laughing out loud.)

WARNING WARNING: Spoilers abound here, mateys. Avast.

So, we start off innocently enough, with some wolves and cute banter between Renee and Xander, who happens to mention that it’s a full moon. So of course, we’re thinking “werewolves”.

Then Willow gets jumped by a female. (And not in a good way, either.)

Then we get THIS::

Yowza. I have almost too many reactions to this one.

Firstly: holy crap, I can’t believe Joss went there. I mean, it was one thing when Willow came out: we had some clues about that (especially from the evil vamp Willow). But this? I’m sorry, but even after the speech between Satsu and Buffy in the last issue, I still did not expect it.

Secondly, and it’s entirely possible I only feel this way because I tore through 6 “Y The Last Man” graphic novels in the past month or two, but my GOODNESS there are lots of hot lesbians in comics nowadays. I’m almost glad this stuff didn’t come out when I went to college: it could have seriously screwed up my perspective on the entire female genre.

Thirdly, I was incredibly relieved by the “post-coital talk” between these two, covering the whole “what happens next?” issue. It felt real, the tone rang perfectly, and I was just so happy that we could finally move away from the self-loathing crap Buffy was weighed down with in Season 7.

And lastly, the sequence with Xander, Renee, Andrew, Dawn and Willow was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a comic book in years. Andrew’s “Hi, nude Asian girl” was especially side-splitting.

I am not exaggerating even a bit when I say that there was at least one thing on practically every single page that made me say “Wow”, or laugh out loud. That is a heckuva batting average for Mr. Goddard.

And we recover from all that just in time for.. the man, the myth, the legend:

Yup – Big D. So long as Xander can keep up his “no more buttmonkey!” promise, I’m going to be loving this. (And yes, it certainly does help that there was a perfectly logical, storyline-related reason for the big last-page reveal.)

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Reality Art: Scott Eaton & John Dell

Colors: Christina Strain and Frank D’Armata

Company: Marvel

Okay, let’s the get the obvious questions out of the way first:

Q: Legacy? Huh? A: Well, remember – Xavier got shot in the head at the end of X-Men 207. According to no less an authority than Cyclops himself, “There are no X-Men”.

Q: What in the heck are “mindscape” and “reality” art? A: Flashbacks, baby – nuthin’ but flashbacks.

Well, okay – there’s a lot more than flashbacks here. But honestly, these are some truly cool flashbacks: Mike Carey sets out filling in some of the most vital missing and “behind the scenes” moments in X-Men history:

• Xavier meeting with Moira to discuss the idea of gathering a group of young mutants in his “school”
• Xavier’s first talk with the original X-Men (personally, I’m very amused comparing the dialogue here versus what we would have seen from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in September 1963 — I’m guessing this issue had a lot less exclamations of “Golly!”)
• Xavier and Moira talking about the Danger Room (including several revealing glimpses from Moira into Xavier’s psychology; but please don’t ask me to explain why this respected non-superhuman scientist is wearing a full-body spandex costume)
• Xavier informing Cyclops that he’s taking a leave from the X-Men, and that Scott is now in charge (which includes one of the most outstanding dialogues about Xavier’s power that I’ve ever seen in an X-book)

  All in all, this is some truly outstanding material here: it performs the difficult trick of filling in plenty of past material that we’ve never seen, as well as giving us new insights into characters that we have, literally, known for decades. That ain’t easy.

  

  The rest of the storyline concerns Exodus and the remaining Acolytes, who were able to escape (with Xavier’s body, no less) after the battle in X-Men 207. (How? Time-twisting – duh. Seems kinda obvious now, doesn’t it?) This is, by and large, expository dialogue that catches us up to the present time, and lets us know why Exodus is attempting to pull this off in the first place, in a completely realistic and believeable manner.

  

  Plus, even the expository dialogue throws in a few new insights: can you imagine being the world’s strongest telepath, not yet in control of your powers, while surrounded by the mayhem, death, and suffering of the Korean War?

  And, of course, there’s the last page reveal. I like to think of myself as jaded and cynical, but I will fully admit: I never saw this one coming. Enjoy.

  Rating: 9 out of 10

Art by: Ariel Olivetti

Company: Marvel

The first installment of virtually any episodic form of popular culture (comics, TV, etc.), especially when the series has some hype behind it, is almost guaranteed to be a disappointment. First, it’s always almost impossible to live up to your own hype, especially when that hype has been generated before you come into existence. Secondly, there are rules concerning what must be done in the first installment: the cast of characters has to be established, recent developments have to be rehashed, the setting has to be clearly laid out — and oh yeah, eventually we have to get around to actually moving the main storyline forward.

But even with that caveat, this issue was disappointing. The “cast of characters” here is exactly two: one of which is a newborn. So, do I really need Nathan Dayspring Askani’Son Summers Cable Soldier X to spend half of this book making sure I know that he’s “a soldier”?

So, the story: Cable arrives in New Jersey in 2043, carrying the new mutant baby (the focus of the recent “Messiah Complex” storyline in the x-books), who’s been crying a lot recently, in a special carrier on the front of his outfit. He has some trouble with a few locals, stops in to get a bite to eat and some milk for the baby, and runs into someone from his past, with a reveal on the last page.

And… that’s it. No, I’m not kidding.

There is literally an entire world of material here available, so it’s entirely possible that this title will find it’s groove soon. While I appreciate a good dramatic full-page painted scene as much as anyone, this book better seriously pick up the pace pronto.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Art by: John Romita Jr.

Cover Artist: John Romita Jr.

Company: Marvel Comics, Icon

“Jesus, man. Why do people want to be Paris Hilton and nobody wants to be Spider-Man?”

That’s a good question, I suppose. (Although the simple answer might be “Paris Hilton is rich, and Peter Parker spends half of his time, in his own book, miserable beyond all belief.” But, let’s run with this for a moment.) Why haven’t we seen a “real” superhero show up? Now, granted – Spider Man is a pretty bad example, because if a normal person gets bit by a radioactive spider, they end up looking like John Cusack at the end of Fat Man and Little Boy.

However, I would conservatively guess that somewhere around 99% of serious comic readers have, at some point in time, fantasized about being a super hero themselves. And of course, the most dangerous source of inspiration is Batman, who has no powers whatsoever. Bruce Wayne is the embodiment of what we all could be, with a combination of proper training, nutrition, discipline and serious psychological trauma.

Now, with “Kick Ass”, the writer of Marvel’s Civil War, and the penciler for World War Hulk bring you just that story. And wow – it ain’t pretty.

Of course, this is hardly the first time the idea of a “super hero without super powers” has been broached: the entire cast of “Watchmen”, with the obvious exception of Dr. Manhattan, was exactly that. But our hero here, Dave Lizewski, does not have the benefit of being a powerfully-built weightlifter, or ex-military, and is certainly nowhere close to the smartest man on the planet. In fact, he’s pretty much a loser.

But it does take some guts to make your protagonist an actual loser (as opposed to the quasi-lower Peter Parker was supposed to be – exactly how many losers out there score girlfriends like Gwen Stacy or Mary-Jane Watson?). I also appreciate the random shout out to Joss Whedon’s work on “Astonishing X-Men”. It goes a long way towards establishing that, yes, these kids really are intense comic fans.

There’s obviously a lot of story here to be told, and I’m curious to see if Millar and Romita eventually move from having the character getting his ass kicked, to actually kicking ass. While that will certainly make for a more “fun” read (especially for all those aforementioned readers with their own fantasies), I have to admit to being seriously nervous about the possiblity of this book actually inspiring some mentally unbalanced teenager out there to get his own costume and start fighting crime, if Kick Ass turns into an actual “hero”. But, I guess time will tell on that front.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Pencilled by: Michael Ryan

Inkers: Rick Ketcham with Andrew Hennessy

Colorist: Christina Strain

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover Artist: Jo Chen

Company: Marvel

I went through an honest, semi-serious bout of depression when “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, and “Firefly” all disappeared from my television screen. I had felt rather “close” to many of the characters on these shows, and it saddened me that I wouldn’t be able to follow them any longer. But wow – if I had known what the cancellation of his TV shows would do to Joss Whedon in terms of comics production, I would’ve started my own write-in campaign years ago.

“Buffy Season 8″ by itself would have been enough for me, let alone the enjoyment I’ve gotten from his run on “Astonishing X-Men”. But his recent “switch-off” with Brian K. Vaughn on the “Runaways” title has opened my eyes to yet another excellent read.

In the current storyline, the group of Runaways (a group of children and adolescents with random super-powers) has jumped back in time 1907. But, this isn’t any early 20th century that you’re familiar with: yes, there is a fight in the last issue with some strike busters, but the number of super-powered folks almost seems to outnumber the normal humans in this neighborhood. Meanwhile, the kids are trying to figure out how to get home, various personal relationships are in flux, they try to convince a young girl to join them, a couple of villians from their past show up, and no less than three other super groups of the time are preparing for a turf war.

So basically, Joss is really packing a lot into each page.

In fact, that’s probably my only real (small) complaint (besides the rampant anachronisms): the sheer size of this storyline. It’s honestly difficult to keep up with the ever-expanding number of sub-groups, let alone the cast of individual characters. There’s no less than 25 named characters in this 28 page book – that’s a lot to keep straight at one time.

However, even I will admit that’s somewhat minor nit-picking: especially in a comic book format, where it’s easy enough to flip back and forth between pages. It also helps greatly that the art team of Michael Ryan, Rick Ketcham, Andrew Hennessy and Christina Strain are able to give each character such a distinct style. Nonetheless, I would advise picking up at least the last three back issues, as well as a good read-through of their Wikipedia page, for your own sanity if nothing else.

Rating: 8 / 10

 Read the first five pages of the issue here

Company: Marvel MAX

The Marvel MAX line is certainly an interesting idea, and if ever there as a character made for it, it’s Frank Castle. In fact, I’m amazed the original Punisher comic was able to sell at all under the Comics Code Authority. How do you center a comic book around a character getting revenge against the criminal underworld after the brutal murder of his wife and kids, and avoid “scenes of excessive violence”? And how it is possible that Castle didn’t let loose with just one “f–k” in all those years?

Well, in any case, we seem to be experiencing deja vu all over again. Frank discovers that his baby daughter has been kidnapped by the Barracuda (a very, very bad guy he left for dead some time back). This is an especially big surprise, since Frank wasn’t aware that he had a daughter, as of three days ago.

It feels somewhat wrong to complain about the lack of violence in an issue, but c’mon – this is the Punisher, in an Adult rated comic. This is a level of expectation here. And I guess the real complaint is that nothing happens of note: it feels like 5 pages of storyline stretched out to a thirty-two page book. It’s all set-up and exposition, with a token flashback to Frank’s time in Vietnam, thrown in for no good reason that I can discern.

Certainly, the image on the last page of the book is rather shocking at first glance (which, of course, is exactly the intention). But, even that effect is lost, if you pay attention to the pages before it. (I won’t give it totally away, but I trust you can follow along yourselves.)

Rating: 4 out of 10

Company: Marvel

And today, kids, we learn the lesson of how difficult it is to attempt an existential, psychologically-inquisitive storyline on a character that is completely and totally over-exposed, and has been for nearly 15 years. Namely: it’s tough to find new ground to cover in a character who has been nothing but rage and introspection, in equal amounts, during most of his existence.

So, last issue, we found out that Wolverine defeated the Angel of Death in battle back during World War I, and hence is now practically immortal. (No, I’m not kidding.) The Angel makes a somewhat cryptic statement about how Logan might eventually not consider that much of a “gift”, and disappears. Logan then spends the rest of the issue feeling sorry for himself, and battling his soul – literally. It gives the artist, Howard Chaykin, the opportunity to have some fun with various forms and costumes of Wolverine throughout the years (I had gotten about that yellow/orange thing he used to wear in Japan, and it was nice to see Weapon X again). Too bad the dialogue is trite, and tells us nothing that we didn’t already know.

Inbetween, we get a bit of banter with Dr. Strange, who is apparently going to appear in every single Marvel title this year. DC has John Constantine, the Stranger, Mister E, Dr. Occult, Zatanna and the rest: why can’t the Marvel Universe have just one more competent magician that can hang out on the astral plane?

Plus, the lack of exposition here is almost inexcusable, considering the storytelling. I suppose that Guggenheim thinks he’s saying something profound here, but it would have been helpful to have a bit more information on the Gorgon, and the other characters surrounding Logan’s previous resurrection(s), instead of wasting entire pages on dialogue like “But this whole time, really, you’ve only been fightin’ yourself.”

Rating: 4 out of 10

Company: Marvel

Whether you realize it or not, it’s rare that someone can actually stand in the middle of an event that is going to be truly world-changing, and think to themselves: “Wow, that is going to change the entire world.” Oh sure, everyone loves to throw around the “9/11 changed everything” rhetoric — but honestly, has your day-to-day life changed in any significant manner since then (besides the fact that you can’t bring a bottle of breast milk onto a cross-country flight now)? But conversely, how many people do you think that were eyewitnesses to the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 thought to themselves, “Yes, this is definitely the kind of act that will cause the deaths of 20 million people by the time this all plays out”? (20 million. Try wrapping your mind around that number sometime.)

So, to witness the beginning of something big, and realize just how big it’s going to be: it should be considered a rare treat. And here, in this issue, you will get just that. Of course, due to Marvel’s “No Spoilers” decree, I can’t share with you what it’ll actually be. You’ll just have to trust me. (Hey, you all trust me by now, right?)

The concept is fairly simple: The Illuminati, in the Marvel Universe, is an unofficial group made up of Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, and Namor. They represent almost all of the major players in one way or another, and.. well, let’s be honest: they’re a real handy story telling device. Their most significant action so far has been shooting the Hulk into outer space. And gosh, didn’t that work out just SO well?

They’ve gathered here in this issue because Iron Man/Tony Stark has called them together – despite the blatant and public conflicts between him and Dr. Strange, and all of the other myriad catastropheses going on n the Marvel Universe. (In fact, that is my biggest problem with getting back into comics now – what the hell is going on RIGHT NOW? How does Black Bolt show up, when he looked like a bag of Jell-O in World War Hulk 1? Where does the Civil War stand? Has the X-Men Messiah Complex played out yet? Can someone just SET a timeline and stick with it?)

Nonetheless, I do appreciate the efforts of the Creative team here to make this group of super Super Humans appear… well, human. They each have their own agenda, there are varying levels of mistrust between each member, and no one acts like an automaton just because it would make the storyline “simpler”. The two big “reveals” in this issue feel just like that: BIG. As in, history altering. Pick up this one now, because you’re going to need to know about it when next year’s storylines start rolling.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Company: Marvel

Floating out into the vacuum of space: that really can’t be a good way to die. Oh sure, I can think of worse ways (say, eaten alive by Reavers), but nonetheless I can’t imagine it’s pleasant. And it’s a real shame: someone (writer and Buffy/Angel/Firefly deity Joss Whedon) finally gives Cyclops an actual personality other than “brooding, moping sour puss” – and then shoots him out into nothingness? Damn, Joss – that’s cold.

No, I’m not going to spoil anything in this issue for you, so stop asking (or conversely, stop reading the review with one hand over your face, peeking out between your fingers – you look silly). But I won’t insult your intelligence either, by pretending there isn’t some kind of “twist” here. And the Creative team won’t insult your intelligence either: it’s totally logical and should have been fairly obvious to anyone paying attention so far. And, it comes nice and early in the book – which is always appreciated.

I have a bigger issue with the second “twist” in the book: it’s smart, and I’m surprised something like it hasn’t been used before with a team like this. However, it also involves a series of events that have to go perfectly for the plan to succeed. This “series of necessary coincidences” is probably my only real criticism of Whedon’s writing, going back to the Buffy and Angel days (well, that – and the pattern of having The Big Bad be overwhelmingly powerful in his first appearance, and then get his ass kicked left and right every other time). Of course, I can’t actually give any examples without spoiling the book: but I have faith in you, Good Reader, to find them yourselves after you buy the book.

Joss is obviously having a lot of fun with these characters, though I am sure it’s driving him crazy that he can’t turn Kitty into the most powerful member of the group (not that he didn’t try with that whole “phase a pistol through Agent Brand’s head” thing a couple issues back). But it is a relief to see complex female characters actually talking and acting like real human beings in an “action” comic book.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Company: Marvel

Oh, c’mon – who doesn’t love a good origins story? That was always my favorite episode of every Saturday morning super hero cartoon, like – ever. And you know what’s really cool? When the writer takes an origin story that every single freaking comic reader on the planet has heard a million times before, and actually throws something in that A) fits perfectly into the mythos, and B) explains why four people that went through the same cosmic event ended up with four different powers, and C) makes a grumpy old reviewer think to himself, “Wow, I’ve never seen anyone use anything like that before.”

The book is, of course, hamstrung by the fact that you know 98% of the storyline: Reed Richards, Sue Storm, her brother Johnny, and Ben Grimm go up in an experimental spacecraft, run into an unexpected cosmic storm, and came back to earth significantly different than when they left. Then, they go on to become the longest running super hero team in Marvel history, battle every significant bad guy you’ve ever heard of (and plenty you haven’t), travel into outer space like most people run to the corner store, blah blah blah.

The fully painted artwork by Paolo Rivera also lends a feeling of an extra-special effort to the book – the reveal of Johnny in full Human Torch flame-up on page 26, and the villian’s galley on page 28 are especially nice touches. The creative team obviously spent quite a bit of time on something that could have turned out to just be a re-hash of what we’ve seen before. And honestly, if you don’t appreciate the twist provided by Paul Jenkins on page 14, then I’m just not sure what to do with you.

And just so we’re all clear on this: no real woman as hot as Sue Storm/Richards has ever said the above line. I just don’t want anyone getting their hopes up.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Company: Marvel

Well, this was a heckuva time to decide “Hey, I really should catch up on this whole ‘Tony Stark: Agent of SHIELD’ thing going on that all the kids are talking about.” And can someone point out to me exactly when Marvel decided that maintaining a minimum “one death per issue” average was a good idea?

Here’s the ironic part: I started collecting comics back in 1987, when I was 17. It is possible – nay, almost a certainty, that some of you reading this were not born then. But, I’ve had a long layoff for the past 10+ years. I had to raise a family and all that, as well as being burned out from the over-saturation of the market back in the early-to-mid 90’s. Once “The Sandman” finished its run, I pretty much fell off the radar. So, I’ve been getting caught back up – and if you think reading up on M-Day and The Civil War in the span of a couple of days, as well as keeping up with the new heroes that seemingly pop up out of nowhere everytime I turn out, you are sorely mistaken.

Even with the detailed “Previously…” intro on the first page, I was still somewhat confused by this issue – partly because of the confusing background (the Mandarin did what? who’s dead? Tony is seeing visions, seriously?), and partly because of the frustrating lack of actual info handed out in the issue itself: honestly, it felt like the middle 30 minutes of a particularly frustrating issue of The X-Files. We’re obvously building to something big, but I’ve got about 20 distinct pieces of information here, and absolutely nothing to tie them together. (Significant events do befall two characters, but they were characters I could feel absolutely no empathy for whatsoever.)

The writers here definitely cannot be accused of insulting the reader’s intelligence: this is a multi-layered, complex storyline with a large cast, and more behind-the-scenes manipulation and set-up than one can shake a helicarrier-sized stick at. But, if you do decide to pick up this issue, be prepared to pick up as many back issues with it as you can find.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Company: Boom Studios

It’s actually a bit unnerving to read the second issue of a comic after you’ve reviewed the first issue, and discover that the creator seems to have addressed every single criticism you had. (No, I don’t think my review in any way affected what went into this issue – even if it was chronologically possible, I’m just an internet peon.) Make the protagonist less invincible? Check. Address the fact that we know next to nothing about the protagonist? Check. Move the focus from the dead to the living? Double check.

Said protagonist, the previously unflappable Mr. John Doe, gets pretty heavily flapped in this issue, when someone interrupts his life’s quest to bring a name and a story to the anonymous dead found in the Potter’s Field. He gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity (replete with identical twins) and a turf war between rival crime families (all of which he finds awfully distracting, I’m sure).

This issue has a bit less of a noir feeling than the previous, but gives up a lot more juice storyline-wise. We learn more about the city sounding JD, and about the supporting players that feed him info, stitch him up when he gets hurt, get him into places that most can’t, etc. There’s a scene towards the end between two of these said players that very neatly sets up the whole “Who is this guy?” motif in two tightly written pages.

The fact that John’s choice of weapon is decidedly non-lethal is yet another character-setting point: this seems like the last guy on the planet who would hesitate to carry a “Dirty Harry”-esque firearm. The teaser blurb for issue 3 on the Boom Studios web site promises even more hints to John Doe’s origins. If the creative team delivers on that in this consistent method, this could be an enjoyable read for a long time.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Company: Marvel

When one sees the word “Epilogue” attached to an issue, one tends to think: “Oh, just some clean-up, and talky stuff.” Well, there is quite a bit of that here (especially from Iceman – I think he gets more dialogue here than he did in his first 40 issues). But, there’s also a definite “something really big is coming” vibe through the whole book. Plus, Beast’s sub-plot storyline “Endangered Species” wraps up in an extremely satisfactory manner. What else can one ask for?

One of the problems with the X-books is that these characters have been around for so long, and seen so much, that it becomes difficult to believe that they are capable of any more strong emotional reactions. So, the fact that Sam is “near-death”, again (hey, wasn’t this guy immortal about fifteen years ago?), has less of an impact for a long-time reader than one might hope. And seeing Bobby start to flip out because Scott is hiding his true emotional state — again — also has less visceral feelings to it, simply because of the “Yup, this again” feeling.

But that’s hardly the fault of this creative team – they work with what they have. And, considering the events of the past year or two (from the Decimation on), it’s not difficult to believe that even the X-Men that have been around since the beginning have now found themselves near the end of their emotional rope.

It took my eye a few minutes to get used to the pencil style of Mike Choi, but now I am very much digging the almost “painted” feel of his panels. This is a strong ending to two stressful storylines (just don’t be looking for a ton of action here), and the appearance of the character I’ve been wanting to see since Beast started on his “Endangered Species” quest is a definite bonus.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Company: Marvel MAX

My usual style of comics reviews involves reading through the book once quickly as soon as it arrives; then, sitting on it for about a day, and reading it once more, taking notes as I go. Then, come Sunday/Monday, I start working on my the most important part: the intro paragraph. The narrative of my review usually changes pretty significantly from that first read until I actually write it up, but not with this book. Here, I keep coming back to my very first thoughts while speed-reading on Friday:

This is f–ked up, man.

Apparently, somebody decided that Vertigo just pussied out by being too “tame” with Preacher, and they were going to take the game to a whole new level. Unfortunately, I can’t show you most of the panels that prove my point, due to IP’s new “no cursing/no nudity” policy. But believe me, this book well earns the Mature rating one now expects from the Marvel MAX line.

A lot gets established in this first issue (of five, in a limited series). First off, this Foolkiller is decidedly different than the earlier incarnations, including the costumed version of the 70’s (though there is a nice shout-out thrown in randomly), or the early 90’s limited series from Kurt Gerhardt. The deaths are grisly, though it seems safe to assume from the first few scenes that they are well deserved (if you’re into the whole vigilante “eye for an eye” thing, that is). And using one of the tarot as the calling card of our main character is an appreciated touch.

What doesn’t get even touched upon, however, is who the Foolkiller actually is. You won’t be gettting an origin story here (I assume that’s coming in issue 2). You’ll learn almost everything you need to know about our narrator in the first 3 pages, and everything after that is story establishment: what the Foolkiller does, and how people feel about him. The Foolkiller does make an early appearance, though you won’t catch it the first time through. But the final reveal is well worth the wait.

The artwork, especially for such a grisly storyline, is incredibly effective. The camera angles are often inspired, such as the third “screen shot” above: the use of the shadows makes the bad guys seem even that much more menacing.

So, if you’re over 18, and have ever wished you could get a truly intelligent Punisher story where Frank Castle never held back: this is your book.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Company: Marvel

The concept of The Avengers is, of course, an almost guaranteed money-maker: take the world’s biggest heroes, put them into one group, and have them battle the world’s greatest threats. However, there are times when this concept can become its own detriment, because the creative team feels the need/want/pressure to take advantage of all of this firepower, and have pages where the only words are Batman-esque (the campy TV-Batman, not the baddass comics Batman) sound effects: CROOM! CRISH! CRASH! KRANG! Sure, it’s alliterative – but is it entertaining?

So, Ultron’s back, and doing lots of bad stuff. He.. uhh, make that she (Ultron now looks like Janet Pym) is, of course, damn near indestructible, so lots of things hit lots of other things a whole bunch (hey, you can’t that kind of descriptive plot summary just anywhere, folks – that’s why they pay me the big bucks). Ares gets an idea on how to defeat he/she/it (Marvel’s first transgendered character? How progressive of them), and yells his idea at Hank Pym. Meanwhile, some nuclear missles get involved (hmm, seems to be a theme this week).

Now, I realize that Frank Cho seems to have quite a following, and I did enjoy Liberty Meadows quite a bit. But this style of artwork just does not seem to fit The Avengers well at all: it’s just too… cartoony. Close-up shots like the one above work well, but the big fighting scenes with tons of characters just don’t have the serious vibe this book needs.

And… well, he really, really needs to do something about this boob fetish:

Umm… yeah.

As for the story: there was really nothing offensive here, but it felt like 8 pages of plot stretched out of 32 pages of artwork and battle scenes. Plus, the climax is somehow going to involve a virus and Commodore 64 (I kid you not). Maybe they have a clever twist planned: but I am getting a serious bad Independence Day flashback (not to mention an even worse, though much fainter, Wargames flashback).

Rating: 4 out of 10

Company: Marvel

Well, it was bound to happen eventually: someone was going to take one of those smart-assed, “I know everything there is to know” teenagers with 437 pierced body-parts and a seriously inflated sense of themselves, and they were going to create a comic book character out of him. (But even I will admit, the fact that they actually based his powers around the concept of “cutting” is inspired, and something I just never saw coming.) But, seriously — Robby Baldwin? Speedball? That’s our emo poster-boy? Wow.

And here’s the most surprising part: I actually like the book.

If you have a passing familiarity with the Civil War, you know most of the background already: the New Warriors were involved in the Stamford tragedy; Baldwin was one of the few to survive; in a fit of depression/guilt/serious mental imbalance, has re-christened himself “Penance”; and now wears a full-body outfit lined with spikes that cause enough pain every time he moves to activate his powers. (The powers themselves aren’t terribly well-defined, but then, they never have been, dating back to his introduction to the New Warriors in the early 90’s and even before.) He’s joined the Thunderbolts, a group of ex-super-villains currently doing the government’s bidding (and considered completely expendable by said government, of course). And if you don’t think it’s a good idea to put a mentally unstable super-powered teenager with raging paranoid delusions around guys like Venom and Radioactive Man — well, then you obviously aren’t Tony Stark (or, for that matter, a Marvel editor).

Apparently, he’s thought better of the situation too, since he’s gone AWOL. (Well technically, he’s a “free citizen”, though he’s on 24 hour suveillence, and wears an ankle bracelet, and lives in the Thunderbolts compound. But other than that – yup, free as a bird!) We find out he’s headed for the new “Witness Protection” provided home of Mendel Stromm, aka The Robot Master (who is such a minor character, I have no recollection of him whatsoever). Why this guy? Hey, buy the book and find out – I don’t do spoilers. (It’s in my contract.)

The book so far through these first two issues has been somewhat even-keeled so far, with just enough mysteries to keep me anxious for the next book. Paul Jenkins, the writer, is having a lot of fun dealing with the post-Civil War situation, especially in interactions between Tony Stark and Norman Osborn, the Thunderbolts Director. The dialogue is crisp and in-character (Baldwin himself says very little in these first two outside of spouting off a series of random numbers (one of the mysteries), but what he does say is effective), and does an excellent job balancing between exposition and story progression. I don’t want to use “they’re not insulting my intelligence” as a back-handed compliment, but the creative team is handling a very complex and sensitive situation in a medium that isn’t always known for doing so in an adult manner. Kudos to them.

Rating: 7 out of 10