New Avengers #47

Written by Brian Bendis
Pencils by Billy Tan and Michael Gaydos

If there is one thing that Brian Bendis does better then almost anybody in the business, it’s character pieces. Few people can tell a great moment these days without resorting to action, especially in super hero stories. And if there is another thing that he does better then almost anybody, it’s write Luke Cage. He turned a guy who was the Shaft of Marvel comics into someone fit to lead the Avengers in the wake of Captain America’s death. Under Bendis’s time with him, Luke has become an Avenger, a father, a husband, a leader, and all in all, a better man. And it all traces back to Alias, one of the finest books that Bendis has ever written, which means that this issue is made that much more special as it sees a return by Michael Gaydos to pencil the flashback scene.

The story of how Luke fell in love with Jessica.

The pretense, penciled by Billy Tan, is that it’s before Civil War when Danielle had just been born and Luke was still in the process of adjusting to being a father. Crying babies, changing diapers, Sweet Christmas! What is this thing and is it doing? Taking a suggestion from Jessica, he chooses to tell the baby a story, and after going through a list that felt very organic given their relationship, he chooses to tell the one of how he fell in love.

This is where Gaydos comes in as Luke Cage hires Jessica Jones to find his dad for him, who he hasn’t spoken to in years. We watch time move along as she searches, and when she finally finds out where he is it’s at a continuity setting moment during a somewhat infamous (if you read Bendis’s Daredevil) team up between Daredevil, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage. We’re treated to a several fine character moments, and an understanding of how Cage’s father views him, and at the end of the story there’s this feeling of love and hope around the family.

Alas, it’s not to last as all who read Secret Invasion #8 know, and this issue extends on the scene of them discovering their missing child. The look of fear and loss on Luke’s face on the last page makes this book alone. It’s one of the few fantastic issues of this book, and it is entirely because of Bendis finally getting to do something he’s actually good at it. We’ve received promises that this thread is going to be wrapped up quickly, rather then drawn out to an ungodly length like most Marvel stories wind up, which is a good thing, because the fate of Danielle Cage is actually really wearing on my mind. More so then the real question Marvel wants me to ask “Who are the Dark Avengers?”…..don’t care, give me Luke and Jessica!

Mighty Avengers #20

Written by Brian Bendis
Pencils by Khoi Pham

People, the impossible has come to be. I have enjoyed Khoi Pham’s art in an issue of Mighty Avengers, and actually find myself looking forward to his art next issue. It was quite astonishing, and I wont complain. His style finally let go of some of the Yu-isms that had been driving me insane, and while it’s still sketchy, it’s much more solid then it was several months ago.

This issue is the funeral of the Wasp, as well as Hank Pym’s being reintroduced into society after the Skrull issue. Unfortunately for Hank, he has to come back and immediately face that the love of his life is dead, and that there is no good bye. There is answering questions, planning a funeral, thinking of a eulogy….and being filled in on the time that he missed. House of M, Civil War, just what the Skrulls did…..the death of Steve Rogers. The death of Jan. Hank got off the ship with hope in his eyes, thankful to be alive and have another chance. But in this issue the despair in his eyes is clear as day, and you can tell that there is no hope left in him. That without Jan, he doesn’t want to be alive.

The funeral features a lot of familiar faces, so many mourners you can’t count. Jan touched the lives of so many, but unfortunately, politics rear their ugly head. Norman Osborn appearing causes a small commotion between him and the unregistered heroes that are there, and Hank causes a scene when he goes off on Tony Stark and blaming him for all of this. For the Invasion, for the War, for Jan. Thor makes a timely intervention and takes Hank away, but the message is the same. Hank will not forgive Tony for this, never. And the world will never be the same.

Invincible Iron Man #8

Written by Matt Fraction
Pencils by Salvador Larocca

Tony Stark remains the most brilliant man alive after what he did in this issue. The new status quo hits us in full swing as we dive right into Tony’s life now that the Invasion is over, and beyond that we’re immediately treated to the exit of her former office by new supporting cast member Maria Hill. Maria and Tony have their last days together, both clearing out their offices and facing the shame and anger that come from not only the embarassing exits, but from the disdain their colleagues have for them (Maria faces leaving a place where everyone hated her, but where she was great her job, while Tony leaves as the man who everyone thinks sold out the Earth).

Norman makes some demands of Tony, namely access to the Superhuman Registration Database which houses the full information of every registered hero. Tony warns him that he wouldn’t even be able to access it anyway, as it’s highly classified and he would need countless warrants among other things just to access single ones. Needless to say, the conversation doesn’t really end well and Stark leaves to go and persue the next juncture of his life while Norman continues to seek the files. Upon finding them, however, we finally become aware of just what lengths Tony went to protect the identities of his friends and comrades, and the table is set for him to become the most wanted man in the world.

Larocca’s art was always hit or miss for me for a long, long time. And it’s nice to be able to say that he fits this book perfectly. And is it just me, or does his Tony channel some Robert Downey Jr.? Not complaining at all, but for once I’m reading an Iron Man book and all of the characters look the way I’ve always tried to envision. It’s nice.

All in all, this book is where the new status quo debuts, and it does so with a bang. Best issue of the series yet.

Avengers: The Initiative #19

Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage
Pencils by Harvey Tolibao

This was it! The epic conclusion to the Secret Invasion as the Initiative and Kill Krew did all that they could to hold off the final Skrull assault, one that would enter the entire world into the Negative Zone. The last ditch effort in case all else fails. The new Kill Krew is branching off, and every group has one person that can see Skrulls. This leads to the usage of three severed heads of three former members, in what amounts to a humorous moment. Slott gets a half of a page to devote to the Great Lakes Initiative as well, complete with Tippey-Toe making a joke about Squirrel Girl and nudism.

The entirety of the issue was rushed in execution, and while I can see why it was, it could have stood for a few extra pages so that the story would have a chance to breathe. As it stands the issue is non-stop from beginning to end, and it takes a little while to absorb everything that happens over the course of it. Not really a complaint, but one of my few problems with the issue. That and the art, as I would have hoped that Casseli could have been the one to finish this off. His art has made the Initiative stand out since the beginning, and while I can understand he has new work on Secret Warriors, he was very missed in this issue. No offense to Tolibao, but it’s hard to replace someone that did the job so well.

The best part of this issue, in my eyes, was Crusader being the one to finally stop Skrullowjacket and save the Earth. I doubt many books will mention it, but despite the battle in New York, it was this issue that secured the safety of the Earth more then any other. And it was all stopped, in the end, by one Skrull standing up for Earth. Not to take away from the rest of the Initiative, however, as we got to see various teams fighting their invader with help from members of the new Kill Krew. While rushed, these scenes were fun and gave us a chance to see more of the landscape of the overall Initiative instead of the usual firm view of just the Camp Hammond team.

Thor #11

Written by J. Michael Strcyznski
Pencils by Oliver Coipel

Captain America has been dead for one year in the Marvel universe, and the world is still unsure what to say or even do about it. People are still arguing and debating, using his name and legacy to try and define their actions, but nobody seems to have it straight. What would Captain America do? Would he support this? Would he condemn that? Would he like the direction his country is taking? Would he support the new president? How would he feel about the Invasion? There is so much talk going on from all sides, but how do you reach a decision when the person you’re talking about is resting peacefully in his coffin somewhere in the arctic? And most importantly, isn’t this a Thor review?

This issue proved to us that God’s can die on Earth, as two get into a drunken brawl and one actually slays the other. Baldar casts his judgement as the new Prince of Asgard, and Loki continues her machinations as they come to terms with their vulnerabilities and lay a comrade to rest, preparing his journey to Valhalla. It’s a very interesting side story that has a good matching tone with the true highlight of the issue.

And by highlight, I don’t mean the art of Oliver Coipel which is gorgeous as usual. I’ve been a huge fan of his work since I first saw him on Legion with Abnett and Lanning, and I’ve followed him as well as I can since. He was the best part about House of M, and with this book? He’s not the best part, he’s just another fantastic cog in the machine that is Thor.

The true highlight of this issue? Thor finally decides to say goodbye to his most important comrade, the one warrior who he’s grown to respect more then all others. A warrior cut down doing what he thought was best at a time when Thor was unable to stand at his side. That’s right, Thor visits the public memorial grave of Steven Grant Rogers. The grave of Captain America. It’s not just your standard talking to the memorial though, no, that would be too normal…too human for a God like him. No, Thor actually raises the spirit of Steve Rogers from heaven and speaks to him for several pages, having his final conversation with his most respected comrade in one of the most moving moments I’ve seen in a Marvel comic in years.

Secret Invasion: Dark Reign

Written by Brian Bendis
Pencils by Alex Maleev

You have got to be fucking kidding me. This is the big deal? This?! Yes, and evil Illuminati is a cool idea. Yes, Norman Osborn is made out of awesome right now. And yes, no group of evil can be missing Doom. But at the same time, no. No, the Hood is not a whiny little bitch who pulls his guns out at someone the caliber of Dr. Doom, Parker isn’t that stupid. No, the White Queen is not some sympathetic point of view character that we can feel sorry for, she’s a cold hearted bitch who has lost a lot, but even beyond that there’s one key thing…..SHE’S A GOOD GUY! And beyond that, no, Namor is NOT a fat old balding man! Just like he’s not about to be trying to pick up a broad at a super secret meeting!

The premise is fine, but the story telling is contrived. Emma and Parker feel completely forced into their roles, while Doom comes across as much more submissive then the despot should ever be allowed to. Yes, it’s the Norman show, and yes, Norman is the most powerful man in the Marvel Universe right now, but Doom is fucking Doom! He’s killed people for touching his cape! He’s not going to stand by and let Norman order him around and do him favors.

The best part of the issue comes near the end when we see Namor and Doom share a moment of solitude after the meeting, as they discuss what two men of their stature, who know each other as well as they do, would do in this situation. They form their own cabal within the cabal, and is by far the most natural feeling part of the issue.

The art is downright hideous. There, I said it. I love Alex Maleev, but I have to believe that this was someone else mimicking his style, or that he broke his hand or something. This is just horrible. Only Doom comes across consistently on target, with Norman doing pretty well even if I couldn’t recognize him at first. His Loki, at times, came across as a man with a pair of double D’s. I wish I was making that up. Emma was nice, but for some reason just kept seeming too innocent for the situation, and at times her looks even seemed childish.

Namor, however, was absolutely horrible. If there was any sort of research done for this character, it must have been to some time he drew Bendis. No offense to Bendis, but this image, at closer inspection, looks like a fat, old version of the writer. This would have been a funny little easter egg if A) it was intentional or B) it wasn’t done for such a main character. It was as if at no point in his life had Maleev ever seen Namor before, which is hard to believe as just a few years ago in the original Illuminati one shot he did a rather good job. So what the hell happened?

This issue just felt like a waste of time and money, as while it did set up the new status quo, there was no need to devote an entire issue to this worthless conversation. And worse yet, it felt like at least the third of the book was just preview for upcoming books, which brings me to my next review.

Dark Reign: New Nation

I got this book thinking “Cool, previews so I can see which books I’m picking up based on actual content”. Then I pickled it up and found three of the nine page stories that I had already read the first three pages of in the previous weeks Dark Reign one shot. That’s right, to pad out a horrible book they actually spoiled this book. Good job!

That said, it’s not a bad book by any means. It’s just everywhere, and that hurts it. With so many books being launched with previews from here, it becomes hard to get a firm grasp on any of the stories before they just seem to end with a buy the book credit. A few of the stories just give you a brief lead in, without really doing too much so as to not take away from the first issue (Secret Warriors and Ronin and Mockingbird), while the others each just try to push a story out.

The best of these stories, in other words, the ones I’m actually going to buy, are: Secret Warriors, Ronin and Mockingbird, and Skrull Kill Krew. Yeah, that’s; right, Ryder is back! And he kills himself some Skrulls in cow form! It’s a new writer taking the reigns, and he does a pretty damn good job. It’s only nine pages, but damn is it fun! Secret Warriors is exactly what I was expecting, and if you read what Bendis did with them in Avengers it seems like it’s going to be more of the same. But hey, monthly Nick Fury, FTW. Finally, Ronin and Mockingbird. I actually thought this was pretty fun, and it provided exactly what I wanted for this book. A preview of the writing and art that I actually enjoyed. Awesome.

So what about War Machine and Agents of Atlas? Well, no offense to War Machine because from what I read it seemed pretty cool, and I actually do really like the premise. It’s just not my kind of book. While I think a proactive super hero who goes after all the people that most just ignore is a brilliant idea, I just can’t really feel reading something like that at this current moment. Agents of Atlas, however, completely fucking lost me. Apparently if you’ve never read the lead in mini, you’re not going to have a God damn clue what’s going on in this series because there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to the actions to someone like me who never read it.

So the end verdict on it? It’s not bad by any means, as the good outweighs the bad, but it does suffer from the fact that three of the better stories have already been partially (one third) spoiled in other books. While others (Agents of Atlas) just don’t feel complete or even accessible. If you get it, you’ll probably find something you like, but if you don’t, you wont miss a damn thing.

New Avengers #47: 10/10
Mighty Avengers #20: 7/10
Avengers: The Initiative #19: 8/10
Invincible Iron Man #8: 9/10
Captain America # : 9/10
Thor #11: 10/10
Thunderbolts #1 : 8/10
Secret Invasion: Dark Reign: 4/10
Dark Reign: New Nation: 5/10
A few long hand review were omitted, but rest assured, next time there wont be any slips or misses.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v614/Grey420/logo_AvengersWebring.gif

Art: Steve Dillon

Colours: Matt Hollingsworth

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Garth Ennis should be the perfect writer for The Punisher. I say ‘should’ as, surprising as it seems given how important Frank Castle was to my early comic book education (and also knowing what a great fit Ennis is with this type of violent story), Punisher: War Zone #1 is the first Punisher book I have actually sat down to read with Ennis at the helm. Given his ability to write gritty and violent characters but with enough nous to keep them unique and interesting has most likely enabled Ennis to provide longevity to a character that can easily become one-dimensional in the hands and pen of other scribes.

In another attempt to tie in to a recent movie release (The Punisher: War Zone was released recently to pretty poor reviews and sales), Marvel has reunited the acclaimed Marvel Max: Punisher team of Ennis and artist Steve Dillon to produce this six-issue weekly mini-series.

Not having read this team’s long-running previous take on this character, I can’t compare the work they are producing here to their earlier incarnation. But I can tell you that as a stand-alone Punisher story, this is already shaping up pretty darn nicely.

In essence this is a mob story, which fits well with Castle’s regular targets when dealing with threats outside the super-powered realms of the Marvel Universe. It also appears to tie in to a previous storyline, presumably from an earlier Ennis / Dillon run, so long-time readers have another reason for picking this title up.

But mob stories, like Punisher adventures, can easily become flat and one-dimensional. What Ennis does so well is to instil some elements of wicked dark humour throughout to lighten the tone, but doing so only in carefully selected sequences so that the significance and edginess of the book’s violent themes is not compromised. Ennis also works hard to build some sort of supporting cast around the central protagonist - which is not always so easy for a character who is intrinsically a loner, but is all the more important because of it. I particularly like the way these more ‘human’ characters are already being rounded out into believable counterpoints for the conflict that is surely ready to ensue in the following issues.

What, so far at least, is shaping up to be a reasonably standard Punisher-destroys-the-mob storyline is therefore infused with intriguing characters and a classy storytelling style to ensure that this book is going to be a compelling read, rather than a throw-away mini-series for fans of the movie.

A key part of the storytelling angle is the work of artist Steve Dillon, who, like Ennis, has a style that just works within this genre. It is great to see Dillon’s work being showcased in exactly the right way, after a quite horrible mis-casting over on the Wolverine: Origins title with Daniel Way. Each panel is crafted with meaning and each character is portrayed with just the right level and type of emotion, which again serves as an excellent counterpoint for when the bullets start to fly (only one does in the entire first issue!) The tone is one grounded in reality, which meshes perfectly with the type of story that Ennis is telling.

Admittedly this is based only on one issue, but it certainly seems like Ennis is a perfect writer for the Punisher. And I really can’t imagine anyone doing a better job with this kind of story than Steve Dillon either. In the vast majority of cases, when the creative team is right, then the comic book is excellent, and that is certainly proved here. From the looks of this one book I don’t think fans of the Ennis / Dillon Punisher will be disappointed; and for readers intrigued as to what makes The Punisher a meaningful comic book character, then this is a great place to start.

Rating: 8/10

Avengers: The Initiative #19 - There was an awful lot of build-up in this book for a wildly confused, poorly choreographed fight scene, during which we get an anti-climactic finish to a great character arc. I get the feeling that this book ran long in set up and when the Invasion ended they were left clearing the decks. It’s a shame, this setup deserved much more. 3/10 – Bad

Deadpool #5 - This is a total throwaway arc before Deadpool goes to make a mess of the Marvel Universe’s big event again, this time Dark Reign. Before this, he’s broke and invaded a town filled with artificial zombies to kidnap back a bastard’s wife for money, only to betray everyone and cause shit to explode a lot. It’s fun and some clever cutting sequences distract from that this is totally throwaway while playing into ‘Pool’s general insanity. I don’t like all of the different personalities in Deadpool’s head still, but at least they aren’t taking over scenes anymore and instead we get good, exploding wackiness. 7/10 – Good

Doktor Sleepless #10 - We finally get the authority figures’ plans to deal with Sleepless and, well, they’re actually fairly well-reasoned. On the fence is a good cop, one who could be Richard Fell (the protagonist of the phenomenal Fell which needs to come back now) before his fall. This finally adds someone relatable to the series and can only help, since the constant big weird ideas with no grounding left this book without a heart. Still, it’s just a start and I don’t care about the characters yet, so it’s a ways to go. Warren knows what he’s doing; we’ll very likely get there, but it hasn’t happened yet. 6/10 – Solid

Ex Machina #40 - This book is, for those who don’t know, the story of Mitchell Hundred, a superhero in the “real world” who became mayor of New York. It can get slow, but the book usually has something good to say, so it’s worth sticking out. This month, the mayor decides to have a comic commissioned about his life. The book’s real creative team come to interview. These segments are filled with great personality and in jokes. You can tell Vaughan is having a great time writing this, but it really pays off when BKV the character talks about his experiences on 9/11. As a native New Yorker, this just rings perfectly true and comes delivered with an amazingly accurate tone, leading to a great character moment for BKV and Hundred that you wouldn’t think possible for a character just introduced, regardless of him being the writer. I’d be shocked if this wasn’t Vaughan being autobiographical about his own experiences. The ring of authenticity is rare and seems to be here. 10/10 – Classic

Fables #79 - The new big bad guy is wreaking general havoc and making Fabletown unlivable. The heroes are just finding out that there’s a threat, so this is absolutely a painfully slow build. We already care about the protagonists and most of this could have been accomplished in one month, since we’re just now getting to how dangerous the threat is. Once the Fables take action, this will pick up, but until then, it’s just another of the book’s frequent slow periods before the awesome starts. 4/10 – Below Average

The Mighty Avengers #20 - I bought this by accident and it’s simply the best Bendis Avengers book I’ve ever read. Most of the issue follows around Hank Pym, dealing with the Wasp’s death and finding out how much of a huge, useless prick Tony has been. It’s going to be quite awhile before I’m sick of him being yelled at by everyone and possibly beaten to crap, as well. From here we segue to Clint Barton confronting Norman, who smugly goes into the Avengers Tower and stands in front of an Avengers portrait. Screw the Dark Reign stupidity, this created a greater sense of foreboding than all of that combined. What we get is someone important died, all the heroes are still fragmented, and the wrong people have the reigns. 8/10 – Great

Robin #181 - First, the narration goes out of its way to let us in Stephanie and Anarky’s heads here. Anarky’s bomb scarred Robin and we get his near breakdown, as well. Sadly, this isn’t the original Anarky. This character is far shallower. Worse, they made the original a near vegetable. Since he’s one of my favorite characters, that’s really annoying. Worse, Robin knows this. How? Unrevealed. Why is the new Anarky doing this? For reasons of gaining control- the opposite of Anarky. This isn’t working as a plot or thematically. 2/10 – Terrible Comic

Thunderbolts #157 - In which every single character escapes from certain death with all of the most ridiculous premises around. The last team left new writer Andy Diggle with a cliffhanger and a lot to clean up, so given that, I’ll stay on, but, really, several of these guys should be dead numerous times. This cast deserved a better wrap up. 2/10 – Terrible Comic

The Walking Dead #56 - The big, out of nowhere end to last issue turns out to be a bait and switch to get us to our new interpersonal issues. Rick is struggling not to blame himself, while making enemies with his new companions accidentally. Everyone left alive is pretty broken at this point except maybe Dale, and he’s clearly in over his depth. Rick is so relatable that him getting it together while in danger in and inside his camp will carry nearly anything and, for my money, this is still the best book in comics. 8/10 – Great

Batman #682 - After R.I.P. wrapped up, Grant kicked in with Last Rites, which is apparently meant to be a bit of a mind-fuck. The Lump, a mental mole thing that was messing with Batman was hidden in his memories of Alfred, is implanted by Apokolips in order to steal Batman’s mental and biological material, allowing the minions of Darkseid to make a “Batmen” clone army. One hell of a plan, if I do say so myself. This is all interspersed with classic pre-Crisis Batman scenes, which are now back to mattering, including the unfailingly awesome Batman as Hamlet. If you dig Bat-continuity or want to know his role in Final Crisis, this is must read. If not, then skip and wait for the reset button to be properly pressed. 8/10 – Great

Cable #9 - Cable’s future utopian, hidden home is destroyed by militant bug people, while Bishop, back in the present, destroys every livable bit of the future to ensure that Cable’s baby doesn’t live. This book is well put-together, but Bishop is still hiding why it’s apparently now okay to kill billions upon billions of people and wreck the future in order to kill one child. It all feels rather manufactured, but at least the pace is quickening so it’s not as noticeable. 6/10 – Solid

Criminal #7 - The second volume of Brubaker and Phillips crime-noir series goes on hiatus (again) with the conclusion of the Bad Night arc in which a writer, wrongly accused of murder previously in life, is driven mad by a cop who won’t quit and a femme fatale who just wants to feel. There’s a great character in our protagonist and his journey to madness is well played, if the plot to get him there is convoluted, it’s worth it for the great character work. This is absolutely the series weakest storyline, but given that the previous efforts were at a near classic level, that’s not a huge insult. It’s difficult not to come away with the feeling that Brubaker wanted to do his hardcore ending, but leave the option of a character he enjoyed to play with open, so he took a bit of a cop out. Either way, this is quite solid, if not up to the standards Brubaker himself previously established. 6/10 – Solid

Detective Comics #851 - Inarguably one of the best Batman writers ever, Denny O’Neil takes the helm here. He introduces the Face of Gotham, a new vigilante driven to this by a Two Face imposter. That has involved Nightwing in this, as he has unfinished business with Two Face from his own book. The new character feels forced, but Alfred subtly pushing Nightwing to be Batman is well-handled and Dick’s growth into a cornerstone character has really taken shape. 7/10 – Good

Echo #8 - We have a shootout between our heroine and the hobo who has similar powers. Terry Moore, for all of his excellence at body language, isn’t as dynamic with action, particularly during this rather confused scene. The rest of the issue as fallout as our dynamic government agent tasked with finding said heroine, puts the pieces of the puzzle together. The reactions to the shootout are great and if you are an artist looking to learn to draw emotion in people, you should really check this out. It almost overcomes the anti-climactic shootout. 5/10 – Average

Final Crisis #5 of 7 - Now this is event comics. Darkseid has finally arrived and will use his sheer badassery to rule all wills. The heroes are struggling to survive and slowly failing to the overwhelming numbers against them. The stronghold of Alan Scott is a distraction while a strikeforce attacks Darkseid’s stronghold… but there’s seemingly no way either succeeds. This has created an amazing aura of hopelessness… until the “new idea” at the end that’s more than a superhero. 8/10 – Great

Final Crisis: Revelations #4 of 5 - The Spectre is hostless (again) and the bitch of Vandal Savage who turned out to be the biblical Cain. The spirit of Mercy, along with Renee Montoya and Huntress try to come up with a plan to get Spectre to his host. There’s a lot of, well, bullshit philosophizing here that should only really interest those who like to know the nature of the DC Universe. This could have been shortened and an issue cut out of this book, since this is surely lacking drama. The build is fine, but this doesn’t have a pressing reason to exist other than that Rucka generally takes too long with his stories in the serial format. 4/10 – Below Average

Green Lantern Corps #31 - The Love Lanterns continue to be formed, but the bulk of the issue is the confrontation with Krib. Krib controls the heroes as he tries to force a new child born for him to kidnap… after he kills the parents of course. This is just a sick, sick villain handled really well. There is simply no better way to inspire fear than to kidnap children, leaving this Yellow Lantern the sickest of all. 8/10 – Great

Invincible #56 - I just love this book. We used to get semi-regular issues where our heroes would deal with real world issues, like drug or physical abuse. This is one of those issues where Invincible’s ex is hit by her new boyfriend and Mark wants to kill him. To keep things in context, these issues push forward Mark’s characterization with both Atom Eve and his brother, Invinci-boy. I’m not sure how you do this kind of comic better. 9/10 – Excellent

Justice League of America #27 - The Shadow Cabinet just showed up and I have no idea why I’m supposed to care. They’re a Milestone team and apparently quite powerful. I’ll rate this once I see how it develops. As is, I trust McDuffie to go somewhere with his old characters, but since I don’t know them, this issue falls totally flat. No Rating

Justice Society of America #21 - Sometimes, a great comic really is this simple. Gog, the god-like alien who’s fixing Earth’s problems, turns out to be parasitic and needs to be worshiped or cataclysm will follow. Naturally, the heroes doesn’t like that and after being summarily tortured, begin to fight a mad god. There are some great character moments interspersed that really pay off these men’s hopes and fears, as well as Kingdom Come versions of Green Lantern Alan Scott and Flash Jay Garrick showing up in continuity. All that … and Kingdom Come Superman casually punches a bolt of lightening. Everything I want from superhero comics is here. 9/10 – Excellent

Marvel Zombies 3 #3 - I never really liked Marvel Zombies, but, and this is a big but, you know what I really dig? Action Philosophers. That book takes a great, fast introduction to history’s foremost philosophers in a fun, easily digested manner. That’s written by Fred Van Lente, who takes up this series of Marvel Zombies. Know what’s even better? Warren Ellis’s balls-to-the-wall, hilarious superhero comedy, Nextwave. This comic stars Machine Man, Aaron Stack (Mr. Stack if you’re nasty) in full Nextwave mode. Here, he goes to war with the zombified heroes of an alternate Marvel Universe, kicking enviable amounts of ass in possibly the best fight scene in comics this year. If you like big crazy shit in your comics, check this out! 9/10 – Excellent

Nightwing #151 - Peter Tomasi might be the best writer in comics over the past year, with his Green Lantern Corps and run on this book both as must reads, but this issue he is wrapping up his long running Nightwing threads due to the book’s RIP mandated cancellation (disappointing to say the least) and with everything jammed in, the book feels rushed. Nightwing visits a friend who was thought dead, breaks up with his girlfriend, gets a new costume, breaks a skydiving record, and confronts new archrival Two Face all in this issue. I’d understand that, but apparently there are two more Tomasi penned issues forthcoming, so, really, what’s the deal? 5/10 – Average

Secret Six #4 - The Six here react to their get-out-of-hell-free card and really, essentially decide that they deserve what they get and try to fulfill their mission. Of course, the rest of the DCU villains don’t agree and we have a giant brouhaha. The better parts of the story though aren’t the plot, but the subtle manipulations of Bane to Scandal, the slow breakdown of Catman and the utter arrogance of Deadshot are a pure joy. Even these are nothing compared to Junior, the warped, evil villain who simply handles Bane is on his way to being an A-list villain if he’s continually handled with this level of vile humor. 8/10 – Great

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Leinel Francis Yu, Billy Tan, Khoi Pham and others

Publisher: Marvel Comics

The invasion is over.

Following years of planning, a genius concept, and one of the finest opening issues I have ever read (see my review of Secret Invasion #1), this year’s Marvel summer (as summer as you can get ending in December!) blockbuster event has reached its conclusion with #8 of the Secret Invasion mini-series. Given the monumental initial successes of this storyline (in my opinion at least), does the reflection on the whole live up to its incredible promise?

Given the expectations generated by the above, it is probably not unsurprising that the answer is no. But even putting the hype to one side, the series failed on so many levels that I am finding it hard to formulate the words to explain this rationally.

This review of the entire SI event is based upon all eight issues of the main mini-series, as well as the accompanying issues of New & Mighty Avengers (I have managed to steer clear of the additional tie-ins, and don’t feel that much has been lost because of this).

I really feel like I need to provide some wider context first. I am a big believer in the quality of Bendis’ writing, and I never thought I would have been an Avengers fan until he took charge of the book. I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything he’s done for Marvel prior to SI, and I am so excited about the Spider-Woman series he is creating alongside Alex Maleev which finally looks set to see the light of day in early 2009.

I am also a fan of long range story plotting, something that made me such a devotee of Claremont’s original X-Men run. Seeing the threads for the Skrull invasion planted as early as New Avengers #1 brought me back to excitement of those days spent re-reading and re-analysing the various plot threads and interludes winding through dozens of seemingly unconnected events.

So, before Secret Invasion was even officially announced, it had a lot going for it. And in the course of the event’s span, there were some real highlights: an opening issue that provided the perfect blend of widescreen disaster movie blockbuster with character exposition, and some in-general excellent tie-ins in the Avengers titles that explored the emotional resonance of the developments if the series, including the impact of betrayal and distrust, as well as filling in some of the more interesting blanks of the long-term Skrull plot.

Not only did the series start well, it also ended on some incredibly exciting developments that should play very positively into the Marvel Universe as part of the Dark Reign era. Most of these themes and plot threads should create some really dynamic storytelling opportunities for at least the rest of 2009. To this extent, it can be argued that SI achieved its goal with flying colours.

But – and there is a hell of a but looming. Because the eight issues that comprised the Secret Invasion mini had to be more than just a segue from one regime into another; it should be a coherent, worthwhile, and relevant story in its own right. And here, even including the Avengers tie-ins as a wider whole, the storyline almost degenerated into a meandering and overlong battle report, rather than the sort of innovative narrative that I have come to expect from Mr. Bendis.

After the success of the first issue, #’s 2 & 3 kept a pretty reasonable pace, Returning to the Savage Land (the scene of the early threads of wrongdoing in the MU back in New Avengers #1) was inevitable, and the initial confusion caused by the arrival of Skrull imposter heroes made sense within the larger paranoia of the Invasion. Moreover, the implication that Tony Stark may have been a Skrull plant all along was an intriguing idea. But the Savage Land battle was needlessly expanded over a couple of SI issues as well as two installments of New Avengers, without any resolutions worthy of the page time, while the Stark-as-Skrull possibility was unrealised potential, never resolved to any satisfactory proportion.

And from there, the rest of the mini-series just descended into one big military movement as Earth’s saviours and the Skrull army moved monotonously towards the final confrontation. Yes, there were some minor twists and turns along the way, and eventually the obligatory death of a relatively major character, But as a compelling and dynamic adventure, the series had pretty much burned out by the half way point.

All these weaknesses could still have been mitigated by a killer final chapter, but unfortunately #8 just served to heighten the disappointment with a series of very damp and uninspiring events. Topping this list was Iron Man’s discovery of all the original heroes kidnapped and replicated by the Skrulls on one of the ships in the invading armada, which just seemed so convenient and simplistic in a way that I would never have expected from Bendis. Ok, so there are still intriguing stories to be told regarding re-integrating these heroes back into the their original lives, dealing with continued levels of mistrust and the unknown, but I was certainly expecting a more satisfying reveal.

There were a couple of nice moments in the final installment, most notably the political and social allegory in the serendipity of Osborn’s rise to power and prominence as the man who makes the final kill of the Skrull Queen / Spider-Woman within milliseconds of Wolverine striking his own final blow – the whole Marvel landscape would be different had Osborn not been in the right place to become the hero of the hour.

A word must also go to the artwork of Leinel Yu. His fluid but gritty style, which had been gracing the pages of New Avengers prior to this point, was generally top notch throughout, and really fitted nicely with the tone and style of the Invasion. There were times when some of the panels did look a little rushed, but considering the range and depth of characters that Yu had to squeeze into most panels let alone every issue, then I think he can hold his head up high, producing exactly the quality expected in such a major Marvel epic.

While the Avengers tie-in issues could be viewed as the event’s biggest success in terms of dynamism and narrative impact, they can also be seen as a microcosm of the wider failings of the overall structure and storytelling of the event as a whole. In order to understand the emotional implications of the Invasion, and therefore to really become invested in the roller-coaster journey that the mistrust and paranoia of the Skrull plot created for the heroes involved, the Avengers books were essential and required reading. I cannot imagine having read SI #1-8 in isolation and had any sort of satisfying character-driven experience. Because I did, I can see the great potential that Secret Invasion had as a really powerful and stimulating story – and perhaps this has only served to heighten my disappointment further.

As a means to achieve a transition from the Civil War era to Dark Reign, opening up a range of new story opportunities, then Secret Invasion can be judged a success, and I certainly am excited by the potential possibilities for 2009. But as a fulfilling narrative adventure in its own right, I can only view Secret Invasion as a disappointing failure.

Rating: 5/10

Writer(s): Matt Fraction (& Ed Brubaker)

Artist(s): Terry Dodson (& Greg Land)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

#504 marks the first solo writing duties for Matt Fraction on Uncanny X-Men, having worked in tandem with Immortal Iron Fist collaborator Ed Brubaker since #500. It also sees the first full issue drawn by Terry Dodson, who is sharing the art duties with Greg Land between arcs. Given that Ed Brubaker’s run has received some mixed reviews (my personal opinion – some definite ups and downs, with ‘The Extremists’ storyline the highlight), perhaps this is a good time to take an early look at how the ‘Uncanny Matt Fraction’ era is panning out.

While I don’t wish to put too fine a point on Fraction’s influence, given that this does seem like a truly collaborative effort with Brubaker – at least in terms of plotting; the plan is for each writer to pen alternate arcs – the most striking element of the post-500 era is not the move to San Francisco, the survival of the species, or Cyclops’ evolving role within this, although these all do play a central part.

No, it is the focus on Uncanny as the X-Men soap-opera that really seems to be defining where the book is lining up to stand under this creative team. This focus on family and relationships pervades the entire book, influencing the tone and style as much as the plotlines – which have seen the integration of Pixie into the X-family, the ongoing relationship between Scott and Emma as Cyclops comes to terms with the decisions he has to make, and now the mourning of Colossus as he attempts to come to terms with the loss of his girlfriend.

Now, this soap opera element is nothing new when it comes to the X-Men – indeed, the real golden age of these mutants under the direction of the legendary Chris Claremont was always hailed as a great success in fostering exactly this sort of atmosphere. But times have changed drastically in the comics industry since those days, and I haven’t read a comic book that his expressed itself in this way for quite some time.

Not only have storytelling techniques and fashions changed since Claremont’s day; there were also not a plethora of other X-books on the market to ‘compete’ with back then. And here I think is where the real pay-off for this re-visioning of Uncanny really comes into play. Admittedly in simplistic terms, if you want a rather more dark and violent action adventure, read X-Force. If you want the most creatively challenging (and I mean challenging in the most positive terms!) version of the X-Men, read Astonishing. But if you want to know how this all affects the wider family of mutants, and how they integrate with the wider world, then Uncanny is the central hub for every X-Men fan. And as far as I am concerned, that’s exactly the way it should be.

Ok, so far, so good. The book seems to be heading in exactly the right direction, driven by a clear mission and mandate. What I love most about what Fraction brings to the table is a contemporary twist on the traditional, which nicely mirrors not only the modern era but also the San Franciscan setting (which by the way is also a masterstroke) - take for example the tongue-in-cheek captions to introduce each of the X-Men to ‘enlighten’ new readers.

However, if the over-arching elements are all bang in place, then the actual execution of the individual arcs have just lacked something, though perhaps this is just a new creative team finding its feet. The previous storyline introduced some exciting new developments while delivering on a nice balance of action and character interaction and exposition, but the conclusion wasn’t quite as fulfilling as I had expected. Having said that, this may be intentional, providing a segue from the past into the potential future adventures of mutant-kind.

The latest issue attempts to deal with two of the as-yet answered questions that have emerged from the current status quo, namely: how has Scott managed to keep secrets like the black-ops squad X-Force from his telepathic girlfriend, and how has the ‘death’ of Kitty Pryde affected her lover, Pater Rasputin, a.k.a. Colossus? In this sense, Fraction’s story is essential to the X-Men dynamic, and it is pleasing to see these issues being dealt with centrally and sensitively. However, Fraction’s take on Scott’s mind and its defences as being filled with various incarnations of X-women just seems a little odd, and as such the impact of these important scenes is unfortunately somewhat reduced. In many ways, it comes across as an excuse for Terry Dodson to showcase his supposed skill at depicting powerful female comic book characters.

Which brings us to the art. Previous penciller Greg Land is a divisive artist, who produces some stunning and visceral action sequences while at the same time going overboard on the photo referencing to the extent that many of his characters beam maniacally like porn stars, or permanent extras from the Mojoverse. But putting this to one side, on the whole I’ve actually enjoyed Land’s work on this title.

Terry Dodson is a very different artist, with a more ‘cartoony’ feel than Land’s airbrushed, photo-like quality, and this shift in style is a little jarring. One way round the problem is to craft stories that play to the strengths of each particular artist, which seems to have been achieved successfully so far, but long term this could prove quite restrictive. Don’t get me wrong, Dodson is a very capable artist, and the great thing about any artistic medium is its subjectivity, but I’m afraid it’s just not really my thing.

As long as Fraction and Brubaker stay on top of their game though, then I’ll keep on buying, and at least both sets of artists appear to be developing a strong grip on the characters they are portraying, within their own particular styles.

All in all, I am confident that Fraction and Brubaker are crafting the go-to book for anything X-Men; Uncanny is now beginning to earn this right on its own merits, not simply as the longest-running flagship title, but because it is capturing the heart and soul of Marvel’s mutant hero population.

Issue 504 Rating: 7/10

Uncanny X-Men Rating: 8.5/10

Hello Mighty New Initiative…..like Lightning!

That’s right, loyal readers, starting this month the APR will be covering Thunderbolts as well! This is, of course, my attempt at expanding my operations slowly at first, as I take the slow and methodical path to completely overloading your minds with my rantings. Soon I’ll cover everything! And there’s nothing you can do to stop me! Bwahahahahaha!

Wait, did I just type all of that? Nut bunnies.

The Mighty

Mighty Avengers #19

Written by Brian Bendis

Art by Khoi Pham

Let’s just open up with me reminding everyone that Khoi Pham’s art does nothing for me, still. He’s not a bad artist, and he’s getting a bit better, but he’s by no means the artist I would have doing a regular gig on a top tier title. I try not to judge this book

The New

New Avengers #46

Written by Brian Bendis

Art by Billy Tan

I love The Hood. I have since I read his debut, though that’s not fair, as I love everything that Brian Vaughan does. But the thing is, after reading the mini I honestly never expected to see him used again, let alone to be made such a major character in the Avengers line. Bendis has done an incredible job with Hood and his group that has yet to be named “The Masters of Evil”, and he continued it in this issue. We’re given a glimpse into how the villains discovered the invasion, as the Skrulls tried to replace Madame Masque, and Z grader named The Slug was revealed as a Skrull when a bullet passed between his eyes. It was an incredibly solid issue that set up the villains for their appearance during the big fight of Secret Invasion, but you know what the real highlight was?

Finding out that the Hood is channeling Dormannu! Now that was fucking awesome! That one page made the words “Dr. Strange’s new arch enemy” ring through my mind, and had me wondering how long until the Sorcerror Supreme returns.

Billy Tan continued to do an amazing job on art, and despite my recent rant on consistency, I REALLY REALLY hope that Marvel does the right move and leaves him on the title for the forseeable future. His style fits it perfectly, and every issue is a pleasure to look at. It’s like he was born to draw this book.

Bad guys do it best

Of course, knowing my luck, just having said this should be enough to have him off the book by March. Let’s hope not! Billy Tan is the best artist I’ve seen handling this book since Steve McNiven left (for those keeping count, he was also the ongoing regular artist for about four issues).

The Initiative

Avengers: The Initiative #18

Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage

Art by Stefano Caselli

What happened to my beloved Cloud 9?! Abby was such a sweet girl before, I hardly recognized her. Hardcore super sniper with a chip on her shoulder. Oh the horror, is this really what the Initiative does? I’m sad, she was totally awesome and now….alright, fine, you got me. She’s still totally awesome, and I saw this coming, it’s just sad that she couldn’t keep her smile. It’s a sad state of affairs even if it makes perfect sense given the evolution of her character; as she has been faced with death and hard choices since her very first appearance, it only makes sense that her Initiative training would leave her cold and battle hardened. A soldier more then a superhero, as was made painfully apparent when she sat in a cloud with a sniper rifle and waited for her chance to make the head shot.

Hardcore, Abby. Hardcore.

This book has been great with juggling multiple ongoing plots at a time, and not forgetting it’s main cast. We have the Kill Krew growing in size as it picks up more and more members of the first year team, there’s Crusader acting like a grizzled war veteran with Nick Fury, and who can forget Ant Man as he tries to save the world? Slott covers all of the bases to the best of his ability, and does a miraculous job with such a large and expansive cast. Nobody feels like they’re getting the short end of the stick, and even though it’s only issue eighteen I’m already feeling nostalgic with it.

Stefano Caselli, as I’ve said before, is the only artist truly suited for this book. It is HIS bookat the end of the day, and nobody draws any of these characters quite like he does. News that he was leaving this book upset me, but just made Secret Warriors a must buy as that’s where he’s heading.

The Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts #125

Written by Christos Gage

Art by Fernando Blanco

I love Norman Osborn. In fact, the only reason I’m hanging around on this book is because of Norman. Sure, I love the concept of the team, and have been a huge fan in the past, but this isn’t my Thunderbolts. Sure, Songbird and Moonstone are there, but where’s Atlas? Where’s Fixer? Where is ZEMO?!?! And beyond that, I absolutely despise Venom in all of his variations. So Norman is carrying this book for me, and under Ellis it was a masterwork as his Norman was definitive at times. Now I like Gage quite a bit, but this arc on Thunderbolts justifies him not being an ongoing writer for the title.

‘Stormin’ Norman Osborn

That isn’t to say that it’s a bad issue by any means, just hardly the same strength we’ve come to expect from him on most books (and yet the same weakness we see on several others, which forces me to mention that he might just be stretching himself too thin). This issue did a fine job of filling in the blanks for the Thunderbolts appearance during the Invasion, and hopefully is a true hint for what’s in store for Norman Osborn, as I would love to see him become even more prominent in the Marvel Universe, and would have no problems with him somehow replacing Tony in SHIELD.

As for the art….the art isn’t bad, and Blanco is a quality artist, I’m just not going to call it a good fit for this book. Though I do like what Marvel has been doing with the art on this book, having an art style that is consistently darker and sketchier. It creates a nice feel for the book, and helps it to stand out from the pack. A team of bad guys and former bad guys with a darker shade of art is just too perfect.

The Special?!

Avengers The Initiative Special

Written by Christos Gage and Dan Slott

Art by Steve Uy

One thing I love about this book is that it’s the only book Marvel puts out that consistently fleshes out the Fifty State Initiative…which makes sense given the name. It’s made obvious more often then not that Dan Slott is probably coming up with the vast majority of these teams and characters, and that makes times like this a complete treat as the Special opens up with a team up between the Arizona Desert Stars and the Nevada Heavy Hitters (love those cheesy names!). Each of the teams he’s debuted feature one or two characters that are easy to recognize, while the rest of the roster is filled out by new or obscure characters (I’m leaning towards new since I’m not familiar with them, but saying obscure on the chance that I’m completely wrong), and I could easily imagine another spin off focusing on some of these groups (and I’d buy it AND add it to the reviews!).

Vegas Baby!

One of my favorite parts of the Initiative during it’s first year was the ongoing romance between Hardball and Komodo, as the two came across as two perfectly flawed characters that truly belonged together. I was interested in the secrets of Melati’s origin, and the reason for not having her legs, just as much as I wanted to know how indebted Roger truly was to Hydra. So this issue managed to take three of my favorite things from the book and wrap them all up, which I’ll have to say is unfortunate. See, when the book was announced I said that I hoped that it didn’t end with them breaking up, and, well, that’s how it happened. And it sucks. The story was amazing for me, but the ending was just depressing and heart breaking.

Steve Uy has been the go-to guy for fill ins on Initiative, as the only times I can ever remember seeing his name are in the book, and he’s a pretty damn good artist. Competing against the nigh perfect Stefano Caselli is a challenge, but he does a pretty good job here. Vegas is depicted as too colorful for it’s own good, and I could feel my eyes burning from the overlit city through the pages (which, trust me, is a good thing). No real complaints on that end at all.

Then we have a Slott written back up story featuring the secret origin of Trauma, which was a lot of fun and provided a head-smack-worthy revelation. See, I’m not the best at shot-calling the origins of powers, but I wish I had done so here. I never would have managed it. I’ve spent the past year thinking he had some actual relation to Dani Moonstar, and now we find out he’s the bastard son of one of Marvel’s better hell residents? Freakin sweet!

The Overall:

Mighty: 5/10

New: 9/10

Initiative: 9/10

Thunderbolts: 7/10

Initiative Special: 8/10
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Blue Beetle #33 - Beetle tries to take out the chaos that’s infecting El Paso, which turns out to be a giant diversion for another giant diversion. Luckily, he called in the Titans for help and they, Robin specifically, with Peacemaker get the best scenes of the book, but Beetle gets the emotional depth, particularly with the cliffhanger closing that’s just viable enough with the book getting the axe. 7/10 – Good

Captain America #44 - Damn, Brubaker’s Cap is nearly perfect. As Cap here tries to figure out his mysterious enemies plans, he fails to realize he’s being set up. Add in how Batroc can completely hold up in a fist fight and we have an intriguingly human character adjusting to his role in the face of yet another conspiracy. 9/10 – Excellent

Guardians of the Galaxy #7 - Damn, this book is awesome. With the core team breaking up last issue, Rocket Raccoon gathers his crew from the Starlord Annihilation Conquest series to pick up the slack. Meanwhile, Starlord himself is occupied by Blastaar who has taken over the Negative Zone with Annihilus out of commission, while Warlock decides to take over the Universal Church of Truth with Gamora, and Drax and Quasar search for Cammi. Everyone has an awesome subplot going and with so many, the slow reveal, along with the purpose of the original Guardians showing up, has made this a truly incredible book. Don’t jump on at random, but with the first trade just out, get on board. 9/10 – Excellent

The Incredible Hercules #123 - This book is simply too much fun. Herc and Namor finding out the plan is hilarious as they talk a great constant stream of crap, as is calling Athena when advice is needed, because, I mean, when the goddess of Wisdom is your sister, why not? And finally, most importantly, Amadeus Cho gets some. 7/10 – Good

The Kingdom 1 Shot - The cracks have finally shown in Gog’s omnipotent facade. All of his gifts have, as noted in the book, a monkey’s paw quality and his very presence is destabilizing Earth. Of course, the young generation doesn’t believe this, while the older must unite and figure things out as time runs out. The build to this has been perfect, with both sides being well-thought out at first, but the gifts slowly turning against those who received them was actually handled subtly until now, making the pay off that much more viable, though no less obvious. It’s also great to see Sand back in a lead role again, since he was so effective in earlier issues of JSA. 8/10 – Great

Nova #19 - Nova spends this issue adjusting to the Nova Corps return. The Worldmind has lost trust in Nova alone and a well-trained Nova Corps are extremely efficient. Of course, Nova himself isn’t thrilled about his lack of involvement in the process, but the Worldmind has done this long before Nova was alive, so Nova’s point is rather difficult to see. I get a feeling we’re headed towards a switch where Nova proves himself worthy and many of these Corps go away, but either way, this is intriguing stuff from Abnett and Lanning, as always. 7/10 – Good

Runaways #4 - I’m not sure why I read this. I love Terry Moore, but the entire issue was spent proving that these characters bickering was caused by a spell… and still that’s not remotely proven. It remains that the issues with the characters are far more interesting if organic and this dues ex takes away from the drawing point of the series. 3/10 – Bad

Teen Titans #65 - Wonder Girl here has her battle with Ares champion, while the rest of the Titans face a giant fire breathing dog. The dog is naturally impossible to hurt, except for a convenient power of new member Bombshell. Somehow, in a terrible bit of characterization, Robin and Blue Beetle do nothing useful, but Red Devil comes up with the plan to save the day. The Beetle is also characterized as a juvenile fool, pissing me right off. If this is what Beetle has to look forward to when his title is cancelled, leave him in limbo. Wonder Girl unsurprisingly eventually wins as somehow, for no discernable reason, her natural powers are incredible and turn the tide. What a poorly written comic. 2/10 – Terrible

The Walking Dead #55 - It’s our life on the road/new status quo book… but this being Walking Dead, this semi-quiet existence has a zombie fight, Rick’s decent into madness, and someone dying. The characterization is what keeps this running, but we’re now left with a book of badly, and justifiably damaged characters that barely hold on. There is no catching your breathe here, so get into the best comic out today. It’s great even in a tone setting issue. 8/10 – Great

Deadpool #4 - I’m not sure why I get this. I really greatly enjoy Deadpool as a character and really greatly opposite of enjoy Daniel Way as a writer. He does a decent Deadpool, though apparently ‘Pool has two personalities inside his head he talks to for no reason, this is at least amusing. The plot? Straight comedy with Deadpool taking on a random Eastern European Zombie making scientist. If you like pure comedy, this is fine. For anything like character depth, great plot, and so on, look elsewhere. 6/10 – Solid

Detective Comics #850 - Dini is the best Batman writer ever. Hush’s plan to destroy Batman through Catwoman is masterfully conceived and adds hush to the top of the list of villains who are like Batman, with a twist. The themeatic differences based on Bruce’s compassionate and Hush’s greedy motivations make for an excellent character study that’s present in all of the best Batman books. When you add in Catwoman’s deviously clever revenge, you have what is at least one of the best Batman arcs of the past several years, possible a defining storyline. 10/10 – Classic

Ex Machina #39 - Mayor Hundred finally confronts the silly terrorist who’s been plaguing him and it turns out she’s merely after a kiss. Aww. Hundred is also offered a spot at the UN and remains undecided. Not a ton happens, but the promise of secrets revealed and the blowoff to this low-key storyline keep it interesting. This isn’t the best book on the market and it moves rather slowly, but it remains an interesting character/political study mixed with some fun allegory. If you don’t need explosions to enjoy your comics, check this out. 7/10 – Good

Fables #78 - With the Emperor deposed, a great, evil old power has returned. His power is in the witching cloak. He wants that and death to any who take it. Our friendly fables remain unaware of this and continue to adjust to life after war. This is not the book’s strongest arc, though with the demonic thing coming, it has potential to pick up soon. 4/10 – Below Average

Green Lantern Corps #30 - Krib, among the creepiest villains around, finally is confronted. Meanwhile, the Guardians continue their collective mental breakdown by abolishing relationships between Lanterns, while they are undone from within by the Sinestro traitor. All around, this is high class space opera and while it brings the awesome, the promise of more to come and the sense of a controlled spiral down to an epic fall make this a truly great book. 8/10 – Great

Invincible #55 - While Invincible gets some with Atom Eve, we join Allen the Alien as he befriends and then frees Invincible’s father Omni-Man from the evil Vitrulimites. With this we have the Vitrulimites secret revealed and the arch leading to their invasion of Earth kicks off. It’s an old-style issue with “Dear Readers” style narration and thought bubbles, but the tone works, since Allen always seems in inherently silly, silver-age character. The tone will need to shift as Earth enters a battle for existence, but until then, we have an interesting bit of set up. 5/10 – Average

Kingdom Come Special: Superman - In which Superman looks for the prophet from Kingdom Come, patterned after writer/artist Alex Ross’s father. I think this issue was just an excuse for Alex to draw him again, because besides the minor plot point of revealing how the Joker kills Lois Lane to set up Kingdom Come, there’s nothing here that advances the plot. 4/10 – Below Average

Kingdom Come Special: Magog - This is more like it. In this issue we have Magog visiting the soldiers he formed a unit with in his former life, watching them suffer and die as he grows colder and becomes the Magog of Kingdom Come. The book is all first person narration, which really helps in making Magog seem justified, even while his methodology is a bit extreme. If you haven’t read a Peter Tomasi book, pick this and Green Lantern Corps up, they’re great. 7/10 – Good

Robin #180 - With Batman gone, Gotham is falling apart. There’s a giant conspiracy to throw everything into Chaos and Robin fights a few assassins and a Red Robin, who turns out to be the General. While Robin is up to this task, he ends up finding out, in the cliffhanger that Anarchy is behind all the trouble in Gotham. This is fairly fitting with Anarchy’s original portrayal, but it ignores Anarchy’s 2 mini-series which developed him into more of an Ayn Rand themed protagonist. Still, a tiny fraction read that compared to the huge fanbase that knows him from Batman, so I suppose it’s forgivable, even if he was greatly preferable the previous way. Anarchy has always seemed themed after V from Vendetta, so ideally, assuming he’s the protagonist, he’ll wax rhapsodic about his plans before revealing he won before he started. Well, ideally, this is a red herring and Anarchy joins the side of angels in a more prominent role, but still, I’m thrilled to see one of my favorite characters back and really looking forward to more of this book… until the upcoming cancellation. 7/10 – Good

Thunderbolts #126 - A new creative team comes with an alteration in direction. Andy Diggle has the psychos fully in control. Norman Osborn is a national hero who wants a witch hunt for Skrull collaborators and “disbands” the Thunderbolts, while those who are on the team turn on each other. Particularly effective is the dismantling of the pathetic Penance, but either way it’s good to see this dark book stay the course and go on to some uncomfortable places. It’s only fitting for a tea of psychos. 7/10 – Good

Uncanny X-Men #504 - What the hell was that? We start with examining how freaked Colossus is…. though for the life of me, I have no idea why. (Grey informs me this is due to Kitty leaving in Astonishing; glad he got to his self loathing in a timely manner then). Scott asks him to leave the team, then freaks about it… again, I have no idea why. Then he randomly has some guy he runs into in a diner be the “devil” from his childhood who is then inserted into Mr. Rasputin’s origin with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. We then go into Cyclops brain with Emma, and apparently all he has is a lot of women, but no redheads. She finds his “hidden stuff” brainbox and claims its all strategies. She believes him for no reason, since obviously Jean Grey and Madelyn Prior are in there. Of course, Scott saw Madelyn last month and he’s keeping that a secret for no readily apparent reason. Finally we have Hank recruit Dr. Nemesis, a Nazi-scientist hunter. This is the only scene that actually works, and it does so because it’s so brazenly ballsy and insane. He joins the X-Men. That’s all that’s keeping me from dropping this. 3/10 – Poor

Walking Dead #54 - For my money, the best book on the market. I won’t be spoiling a damn thing about it ever. Make sure you read from the first trade. We finally get the mystery of the talking sword and another transition here. The cause of zombies isn’t revealed and I smell a disaster brewing, but still, great build, great book 9/10 – Excellent