Cover of the week!  One is iconic, the other is Dave Johnson, so no surprise I like it.  Superman 20 & Bullseye 3.  Enjoy!

eek eek!

Trying something new! Cover of the week - April 29, 2015

I feel like writing.  I know this will be a fleeting feeling, but this journey needs to begin with a first step, even if the journey is only to the mailbox and back.  Why a cover of the week feature?  Three reasons:

     1) It doesnt require a lot of writing or time on my part, but still encourages a regular effort.
     2) I feel like Ive lost touch with who the artist is on books I read, and I hope this helps me to discover who my favorite artists actually are.
     3) I get bent out of shape each year when the Eisner Award nominees for best cover artist are announced.  I have strong opinions about what makes a good cover, even if I can't always articulate what that criteria is.  It has to be unique, though.  Brian Bolland draws some pretty pictures, but one BB cover is the same as the next, so I cant get excited about them.  The Reverend Dave Johnson comes up with a new design every time he puts pen to paper.  What I like might not sell comics, and it might be on a crappy book, but I love me some covers.

And now, on with the show!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Hit 1957 #2, cover by
 Vanessa Del Rey

Moon Knight #14, cover by

Declan Shelvy

Fantastic Four #645, cover by
 Leonard Kirk

Silver Surfer #11, cover by
 Mike Allred

Wayward #7, cover by
Sie Nanahara

G.I. Joe #8, cover by
Jeffrey Veregge

COVER OF THE WEEK:

Secret Avengers #15, cover by
 Tradd Moore

Blow up the image to a larger size, and take a look at all the details Moore threw into this.  Usually my eye gravitates to a more minimalist style, but here the giant whale drew me in from afar initially, and then I saw the giant school of fish, and hints of some Lovecraftian monster.  The characters are enjoying being there - even Natasha is smiling!  Aw, who am I kidding, it's the little Avengers fish that won me over.  Disney could start selling stuffed Deadpool fish tomorrow and they'd run out by the next day.  Smiles!

X-Men Updates

File this under "Of interest to no one" if you must. Four issues into Carey and Brubaker's runs, what do I think, you ask? I like Uncanny; X-Men, not as much (remember when we used to call it adjectiveless?) . Brubaker's story, which I said before didn't hook me, is now of more interest to me than Carey's X-Men, which originally drew my interest more.

Why? Two reasons. 1)Familiarity. I know the players in Brubaker's story. Whereas the badguys (tm) in Carey's story are new to me, meaning I'm not as interested/attached. That and the art/coloring in X-Men doesn't appeal to me. 2) Pacing. Brubaker's issues seem more complete on an issue-by-issue base, even though it is a long-term story. Carey's issues each feel like a chapter in a multi-part story, and therefore not as satisfying on their own.

NOTE: I'm not saying Carey's story is bad, it's not. But in comparing the two, Ed is doing a better job of drawing this reader's interest at the part-way point than Mike is.

I'm tired. Comics are a visual medium and I'm too lazy to attach any pictures to this. I'm lazy.

New Creative Team: Mike Carey on X-Men

Like Ed Brubaker on Uncanny, Mike Carey is starting his run on X-Men with a multi-part story. The difference being that Brubaker is telling a 12-part story while Carey's "Supernovas" is a 6-parter. There's a whole lot of action in this issue. Carey hits the ground running, or rather Sabretooth is running, from 4 new characters. His healing factor on the fritz, he seeks sanctuary at the X-Mansion.

Meanwhile, Rogue's been given the leadership position for an X-strike team. She picks Cannonball, Iceman, and Mystique, the latter to keep an eye on herself. From the cover box, we know Cable and Sabretooth will join her team as well. Fitting that Cable will, since he founded the first X-strike team in X-Force. With Cannonball, no less, huh.

Interesting character dynamics in the future. Rogue is the leader, Cable is a messiah (and former leader), Cannonball has been a team leader, Mystique has lead the Brotherhood, Iceman's been around long enough to command respect, and Sabretooth doesn't follow anyone. Let's see if Carey even brings this dynamic into play at some point.

At first read, the story is enjoyable. It's fast-paced, things progress, and things go boom. It's the opening scene of a summer movie, in other words. Compare this to Uncanny, where Brubaker used alot of words, other or not, in a slower paced story. And I didn't like Uncanny. I said it didn't interest me enough to get the next issue because it was too much of a commitment.

Well, Carey's 6-issue arc is less of a commitment, more condensed and..... the more I think about it, it's just not a very good story. I took for granted what Brubaker did, setting up the characters and motivations of the team in Uncanny. But in X-Men, Carey has everyone acting impulsively, things happen a little too quickly for convenience.

Damn I'm hard to please. I complain nothing happens in Brubaker's first issue to interest me. Then I complain so much happens in Carey's first issue as to interest me... until I think twice about the rationale for what transpired.

It's hard out here to begin a run on an established series. Both X-writers start with a gathering of the team. Brubaker took 22 pages, Carey 3 panels. This kind of story just doesn't ensnare me, no matter how it's wrapped together.

I'm gonna go read Detective again. I want Paul Dini to take over every book. Who do you like?

Scott Supplement - Civil War

"You know, I’m really enjoying Civil War and all, but I have to say I think the logic behind the whole thing is just a wee bit faulty. So for decades there have been super powered maniacs running around, killing, stealing, and – oh – occasionally trying to take over/destroy the nation or planet and the response of the government and S.H.I.E.L.D has essentially been, “Ho hum, the Avengers (etc.) took care of it nothing to see here folks move along move along.”

But when a few essentially benign costumed vigilantes fail to freaking register they’re all like, “We are freaking MOBILIZED and ready to MESS YOUR SH!T UP, you masked scumbag!” And just in a matter of weeks, at that. You’d think they would have put at least half as much effort into protecting people from – say – the bastards tearing around the country causing mayhem and destruction and generally being antisocial dicks as they’ve expended in trying to take down Captain America. Maybe it’s an election year?"

New Creative Teams - A How To

Last week, new creative teams debuted on Detective Comics and Uncanny X-Men. Paul Dini began his run on the Dark Knight with a single-issue story. By way of comparison, Ed Brubaker began his run on Marvel's merry mutants with part 1 of the 12 part "Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire." These two approaches worked well for each creator, but in different ways. And not everything worked.

Based on his first issue, I now know what to expect from Dini on Detective. Solid stories with a beginning, a middle, and an end all between two covers. Brubaker, working on a team book with a rotating cast, has to first establish who his players are. Rather than rush through the process, he gives us deliberate motivation for each character, and an over-encompassing purpose for the team is established. Paul over at The X-Axis reviews Uncanny X-Men far better than I can.

Based on the first issue of each new writer, you can guess at the upcoming plots: Dini will have Batman solve a crime and defeat a rogue each issue; the X-Men will go into space, fight both with and against the Shi'Ar, and win in the end at a cost. So when I say "what to expect" I mean more qualitatively than plot-wise.

At the end of Dini's first issue, we're left with a complete story to evaluate on its own merits (for a review I agree with, go read Ray at SilverBullet ). Brubaker ends his issue as part 1 of a larger story, and therefore has two choices: end on a cliffhanger (a la Y: The Last Man and Ultimate Spider-Man) or end it at a good break in the plot. Brubaker chooses the latter, and in doing so fails to excite me for the next issue.

The purpose of a first issue, be it of a new series or of a new creative team's run on an established series, is to get new readers to come back for more. Regular fans of the series will continue to buy it, but how many of the new readers will stick? I'll be buying next month's Detective, I doubt I'll be picking up next month's Uncanny X-Men. Brubaker failed to interest me enough to find out what happens next, and it's because of the type of first issue story he chose to tell. Maybe I'll wait for the trade, or maybe my interest will have waned by then. But I know I'll be buying next month's Detective, cause Paul Dini done right by me.

I SUCK

To the few the proud and the geeky (no, not the junior woodchuck campers):

I'm out of the game. Some time in January, I'm sure I'll bust a "just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" but for now, happy trails. I just don't have the time in December to keep up with this. It's all I can do to READ all the books I enjoy right now, forget reviewing them all.

Walking Dead, Volume 4: Thumbs WAY up. Man this is good. Great. The best!

Anecdote: I walked into a comic shop in Arizona while visiting my parents over the weekend, as I like to check out new (to me) shops wherever I go. They had all their recent books on shelves alphabetically, with multiple months on top of each other. The week's new books were put on top of the title's previous issues, and a "New This Week" marker indicated the week's (you guessed it) new books. Well, having checked the NCRL, I knew to get new issues of She-Hulk, Ex Machina, and some others. They were sold out of She-Hulk (thumbs way up, by the way). Fine, sold out I understand. But when I got home and read my Ex Machina, it felt very familiar.... because it was last month's book! They had sold out of the new one, and not bothered to take down the "New This Week" marker. This is just a dumb way to run a store. New books should be put in their own shelf area, for one thing. And if you don't do that then you HAVE to take down the "New This Week" marker when you sell out! Argh. If I was in town longer, I'd have gone back to the store and gotten a refund (ok, an exchange). Instead, I'm just left to ponder how poorly run this store is. Sigh.

Gobble Gobble

Just quick post about some things I read on the plane ride to Arizona. Mostly I've been catching up on Smallville episodes, but I found time for a couple of tidbits:

Local #1: Thumbs up. But this isn't super heros, it may not be your cup of tea. It's slice of life, but it's got conflict and believability. This issue was told in a kinda Rashamon style, with the main character imagining how something will end multiple times in her head. It's good. It felt real. And I loved how the art changed with each re-imagining. Same artist, but slight tweaks to the characters that were felt prominently when we saw how events actually unfolded. Thanks, Brian Wood. Good stuff.

Hellblazer #213: Meh, but a good meh. If I followed the character more (I read the Azzarello run, but have sparcely read any other issues) I would find this issue really really fascinating. Still, even without being well versed in John Constantine's world, it was still a very interesting issue. Solid stuff, I just am not familiar enough with the character and his overall story to fully appreciate it.

That's it! Now back to the turkey!

Love to Eat Turkey then I take a Nap

Happy Thanksgiving kids, time for me to slink away to visit the retired people in Arizona. Woo hoo! They do have internet access there, but they also have sports on TV and some male bonding expectations. Buff em up, buff em up, go CU. I'm rambling without comic reviews, aren't I? Let's fix that:

New Excalibur #1: Thumbs down, but it's not terrible. Meaning maybe you should give it a flip through at the store and see what your first impression is. Mine was that the story of the first issue was somewhat silly, but once the status quo is set up, this could be a fun series. Dazzler is killed by some original X-Men clones. A few hours later, Cap Brit brings her back with some CPR. (sigh). My medical knowledge is limited to television and the First Aid merit badge, but even I know that's past the credibility point. And the idea that Cyclops would send a full X-Team to England to see how Brian is doing? Apparantly the phones were mutants who lost their powers during M-Day. I could go on with more silliness, but you get the point. All too convenient just to get the team together.

Captain Universe/ X-23 #1: Thumbs down. "Hey, we need a mutant for our Captain Universe crossover. How about Wolverine? Nah, too overused. Hey, we need to promote X-23 more, use her! Yes sir. Oh, and throw the new Scorpion in, too. Uh... Yes Sir." Street characters with cosmic powers just don't work. This was forced and it felt like it.

Batman & The Monster Men #1: Meh. I wanted to like it, because Mage and Grendel are just two of the best things to ever happen on paper. But I didn't. There's plenty of story for your dollar, which is always good. Batman is written well, straight out of Batman: Year One. But this Hugo Strange story just didn't work for me. And it's a Batman vs. Hugo Strange story, and when one of those two just feels... disconnected from the overall story, I just don't get sucked in. Look, thumbs up for me means I get lost in the issue and don't notice earthquakes going on around me. This issue? I noticed grass growing around me.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #197: Thumbs down. Wow, I've been pretty negative all day, haven't I? Sorry about that, I calls em like I sees em. I love Weston's art. And I like nearly every Pfeifer story I've read. But this one lost me in the first 5 pages when I had to flip back and forth trying to decide if this was an elseworld story or not. Not good. After that it was solid enough, but I kept wondering where am I?

Toodle oo, people. I'll be back with more reviews of books I like next week. I can't believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry. Sorry Adam Sandler.

Bring the Noise, Bring the Funk

Bring the best you got. Not the best, just the best I got right now here in front of me.

Mutopia X #5 (of 5): Thumbs up. Nicely ties out the Mutant X and the Mutopia X series. As David Hine says in his farewell, these were the stories of officer Ortega and his family. And with the events of M-Day (is that really what they're calling it? geez), his story is over. Very good issue, brings closure to both series. And does it well.

X-Men #177: Thumbs down. Where do I begin? Two weeks after M-Day, Polaris is without powers, but in denial about it. That's fine, I understand that. But no one else around her has noticed? Didn't they do some kind of powers role call after the big depowering? Emma, you pick up on any of Lorna's angst at all? And the way the some of the characters just throw themselves at the Sentinels without thinking... just poorly done. And why do Cyclops and Havok never attack? The two heaviest hitters, who have nothing to fear shooting up robots? I have no problem with the revamped sentinel program, but the X-Men's reaction was poor. And actually, couldn't Val have just called the mansion and said "I'm coming over with some sentinels, don't weird out about it." Just illogical all the way throughout the issue.

Green Lantern #5: Meh. It was a good enough story, easy to follow no matter how new you are to the new GL series. But GL could have been any hero and this would have worked. It wasn't a GL issue, just a generic hero issue. And that's bad. So thumbs up on the well written story + thumbs down on being able to plug in any hero + meh. I like the Van Scriver art, though.

Action #833: Thumbs up. Fun story, clean art from Byrne (though Jimmy looks 10 years old). Done in one, and it wasn'c Crisis related. An issue you could give to any one and they could follow it and appreciate it for a solid Superman story, that stands on its own.

Rocketo #3: Okay, so I've heard tons of great things about this series, so I pick up this issue, the first I can find, #3.... and meh is the best I can give it. Honestly, I want to give it a thumbs down, but will reserve that opinion, since I haven't read the first 2 issues. Though issue 3 didn't make me feel like I have to read issues 1 and/or 2. The art style was pretty, and something new, definately something you should check out. But the story? Average. Fun, but trying to be fun, instead of just being fun. I see the appeal, but I just missed connecting with this book.

X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1: Meh. Rough week. And the X-books are all letting me down. This first issue was a setup with a mysterious adversary from the team's past. But we knew all that before we even picked up the issue. Next issue maybe we'll learn something interesting, but this issue pretty much just put the ads and the articles we've already seen in comic book form. It's like when you see a movie preview and feel like you already saw the whole movie. That's what happened here, too. Pretty art, but frustrating read.

Stand back, kids, this is harder than it looks

Seriously, it's getting hard to keep track. What books have I read, what books have I spoiled at comicspoilers, what books have I reviewed here, what weeks did they come out, blah blah BLAH BLAH. Makes me wonder if I should just do one book per entry and alphabetize em all. But that sounds like work, and I do enough of that during the day.

Books of Magick: Life During Wartime #15 (final issue): Meh. I really wanted to like this series, I really did. But I just couldnt. It was too.... Vertigo-ey? Which is weird for me to say, cause most of my favorite books on the stands are Vertigo books. But this whole series was just too screwy. Too hard to follow. Too disconnected from past Tim stories. Though this issue was fairly coherent and gave good closure to this chapter of his life, which gets a hearty thank you from me.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4: Thumbs down. I'm not a hardcore turtle fan, though I do like some of the original Eastman and Laird issues. I thought the Erik Larsen series strayed too far from the suspension of disbelief that the previous stories allowed, and this current series does the same. Don is a robot. Raph is a monster. Leo works for/inside the Foot. Mike is in a prison world somewhere. And Splinter is, of course, missing. And the art was crap, too.

Ultimate Spider-Man #86: Thumbs up? I was ready for a new story, and this is one. But it's to be a 6-issue arc, so we'll have to wait and see how it shapes up. Good first issue, though, Silver Sable makes her Ultimate debut, and Omega Red gets his ultimate butt handed to him by our hero. Ultimate Vision Part 1: Meh. Hard to feel strongly one way or the other over so few pages. Vision reassembles and is in female form. That's it.

Firestorm #19: Thumbs up. Easy to follow, fun to read, solid art. He goes into space, has his best friend in his head.

This is rushed, I gotta... "go to bed." More to come!

And I can do anything

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 60% Spider-Man 60% Iron Man 60% Green Lantern 55% Supergirl 53% Robin 48% Catwoman 45% The Flash 40% Wonder Woman 38% Hulk 30% Batman 15%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

%20HREF="

A Quick Note about "The Other"

From good friend Scott, he of the Scott Supplements:

""Jumped the shark"? Jesus, where do I start with what's so completely terrible about this issue?

With great power comes great responsibility. I personally can't think of anything more responsible than slapping some antiquated Iron Man armor on a senior citizen and dragging her into Doctor Doom's sure-to-be-dangerous-as-hell castle. To use "the only operational time machine known to man," even though Reed Richards has made - what - like twenty time sleds? Gee, if only Spidey knew the FF, he wouldn't have had to place his wife and aged Aunt in mortal danger. And it's all so they can go NOT SPEAK TO OR BE SEEN BY THEIR DEAD LOVED ONES WHICH SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA TO ME AND NOT AT ALL COMPLETELY HEARTBREAKING. And they're there for all of two seconds before Peter breaks down and has hisself a good cry. "Wait! Don't Leave! I need you! [If you stay, nobody dies!]" Which is, of course, the first thing comes to mind for any man who's had decades to come terms with the traumatic deaths of his parents: childish denial.

reprinted without permission. good thing neither he nor I work at law firms.

Comics - Week of November 16

Welcome back my friends, to the show that sometimes ends. It's been a few days, I took a quick trip this weekend and it took me some time to get back. Sorry! Let's get to it, shall we? I still have a ton of last week's books to talk about, but let's stop living in the past:

Fables #43: Thumbs UP. How do I love Fables, let me count the ways: 1)Buckingham's art, 2) the pictures in between the sequential panels, 3) the way old characters and story lines are so well intertwined with 4) the current ingenious story. All kinda of goodness to be found in these pages. If I ever got all trades, or all digital comics, ill still buy Fables the day it hits a shelf. And so should you.

Green Arrow #56: I hate to do this, but thumbs down. I hate to do it cause GA is one of my favorites. It's the only book I own original art for (a two page spread from Longbow Hunters. Grell was godlike back then). BUT: when the only thing the title chracter does is the same thing he did the previous issue: thumbs down. When the bad guy spends an issue setting up that which was already set up: thumbs down. And when Ron Garney follows Ron Garney, instead of following Tom Fowler: thumbs down. Maybe something new will happen next issue. Love the James Jean covers though, this and Fables.

Runaways #10: thumbs up. Better than last issue, this was fun. And you can tell Vaughan and Alphona are enjoying themselves playing with the mainstream Marvel characters. Runaways is another book I'd get in single issues, although the all in one Hardcover is tempting.

Manhunter #16: Meh. It's a good issue, the status quo is about to change. I just feel disconnected from the previous couple of issues. And I hate feeling HATE feeling like I missed an issue (or worse, a page, though that's not the case here, just mentioning a pet comic peeve). And this issue makes me feel like I missed something.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man #20: Thumbs down. Way down. Are those jumping sharks I see? Aunt May and Mary Jane in Iron Man armor helping Peter. Remember kids, cut with the veins, not across them when trying to kill yourself instead of reading this.... this..... ack!!!

X-Men #177: thumbs up? House of M - Decimation has me intrigued. For the first time in a long time I'm curious what happens in the X-books again. Oh, and Polaris has seemingly lost her powers. ooooooooOOO.

For reader reference: I started reading comics because of the X-Men, back around the time of Fall of the Mutants. I collected every X-book from then on until Age of Apocalypse, and I mean every X-book. Series, Limited series, one-shot, spiral bound guide to the mansion, you name it, I have it. I even tracked down most X-books that came before. My collection runs from Giant-Sized #1 through AoA. With many before then, too, the earlies being Uncanny #2. But by AoA I was looking for a jumping off point, just reading them because I always had, and getting bitterer each time I read an issue. So I stopped. It's funny, before then I used to think the day I stopped reading X-Men was the day I stopped collecting comics. I havent touched the X-books since then, and this is the first time I've been interested enough to do so. But more than I want to read the X-books, I just want to see the list of every mutant left, and see where they are. Who do I have to kill to see that?!?!

Uh be, uh be, uh be, that's all (for now) folks!

They're ba-ack

No poltergeists in any of these books (waiting for the next Walking Dead tpb for those). Just some good, some bad and some meh. So here we go...

Nightcrawler #11: Meh. The book isn't bad, but I can see why it's being cancelled (other than too many x-titles and no support from corporate for new titles). That art is really good. The story structure is superb. But Nightcrawler is a character things happen to, he's not an active protagonist. And his supporting characters literally stand around waiting for their scene. It's definately a Nightcrawler story, no other character could be used to tell these stories, he just doesn't act, he reacts.

Spider-Girl #92: Thumbs up? This book is fun. The art isn't. It's a simple story, and it's nice having a book that has everything you need to know in narrative boxes (what happened to those? I miss em). This issue makes me happy to read the next issue without making me feel like I need to read the previous 91. Which is praise indeed these days.

X-Men: Colossus: Bloodlines #3 (of 5): Thumbs down. It's an interesting story, and this issue gives the background and basis for the premise of the entire series. But it's a silly premise that stretches credibility too far. My favorite part/least favorite part is when Rasputin sings "I am the Walrus" by the Beatles. It was a definate wtf??? moment.

Solo #7: Thumbs up to Mike Allred! This was just a cool book. You smile reading it. Do it. Read it and see. If you don't smile, ummm... well then you're a freak. Super freak. You're super freaky now.

More more give me more!!! You're alright with me.

Leftovers From Last Week

Part 1 of more, if I get back to the rest, busy busy. But I do hope to get to it all. Starting with these:

Blood of the Demoon #9: Thumbs Down. But only because this is the first issue of this series I've read. Byrne's art is looking like it always has, but that's what happens when he inks himself (heavily). There are some interesting ideas in this, and it might be worth borrowing someone else's copies, but I can't say I'll be actively looking for them.

Sentinel #1: Thumbs up, but just barely avoiding Meh. I'm not really familiar with the first series, but this is a solid enough first issue of a series. The tone is set, the characters and their goals are clear. An exciting enough issue, so you don't feel like you have to wait for the trade. And it has me interested in finding the collected first series.

Detective Comics #813: Thumbs way down. Lapham writes STray Bullets and kicks ass. But this whole City of Crime story has been a mess, and the art is no help. I honestly can't tell what happens from one panel to the next sometime, and it's never a good thing when you feel like the book is missing pages because some things just aren't clear.

Jonah Hex: Meh? I don't know what to think of this, may have to read it a couple more times. The art is very pretty, though. Luke Ross, another Crossgen refugee turns in some pretty pictures. And the cover jumps out at you. The story is good, too, and is refreshingly told all in one issue, so points for that. I may change this to a thumbs up. The only thing making it Meh for me is that the book didn't inspire me to look for the next issue.

Marvel Team-Up: Thumbs up, yo! I like Invincible, and his meeting up with Spider-Man has so fun, smile-inducing moments. And it's good to see Cory Walker drawing again.

Spier-Man: House of M #5: Well, now that this series is over, I can give it a big thumbs down, this issue included. The storytelling in this issue jumped all around, and Peter's just a jerk for 4.9 issues. No fun, no point. More interesting than The Other, but still not good.

More to follow: Firestorm, Nightcrawler, Colossus: Bloodline, Spider-Girl. Maybe more to follow "to follow." Cause I'm neat like that. Or not, we'll find out eventually.

Comics - Week of November 9

Look kids, comics! The bad news: I won't be around this weekend to review many many titles. The good news: I should have access to more comics than before after the weekend. Fingers crossed. So we'll be slow here for a bit, but with a bright light at the end of the tunnel.Wagons ho:

100 Bullets #66: Thumbs up, a lot of huge things happened in this issue. Though as always, I think this book reads better collected. It's just too hard to track and remember all the Machiavellian goings on. As always, this issue was pretty, and the cover iconic.

Teen Titans #29: Thumbs up. Jason Todd versus Robin, and the rest of the team reconciles with recent events. Good character stuff for all involved. Good to have Geoff Johns back, and Liefeld gone.

Y: The Last Man #39: Thumbs up up and away. Though I swear, Yorrick can't get a break! Art: solid. Story: easy to follow and plenty has happened. Vaughan is probably my favorite writer right now. Get this either in single issue or trades, both are rewarding.

Infinite Crisis #2: Thumbs up on this one too, I'm full of love this week (or I only buy books I like). If you like Crisis II so far, you'll like this. If it's pissed you off so far, you'll be pissed off here too. The Alternate-Earth team makes themselves known to Power Girl, and Joker wonders why he hasn't been invited in the bad boys club. And Animal Man appears, yay!

Other books I still have from last week are many, if you want to see reviews of any, let me know and I'll get to them first: Blood of the Demon, Sentinel, 10th Muse, Batman: Gotham County Line, Kolchak, Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Swamp Thing, Wildsiderz, Aeon Flux, Colossus: Bloodline, Detective, Firestorm, Jonah Hex, JLU, Marvel Team-Up, Nightcrawler, etc. etc. etc.

Keep em Coming

Good morning campers! For those wondering when/why I do these reviews, the mass reviews come weekend mornings. See, my girlfriend sleeps in and I wake up early. So I have hours to kill without being able to turn on the TV. We live in a tiny studio in San Francisco, and turning on the TV would disturb the princess's slumber. Not that the clickety clack of the keyboard is better, but so be it. I know, I know, no one cares bout this. umm.... look! a chicken! (dashes away)

Outsiders #30: Thumbs up. I haven't been reading this book regularly in years, but this was a fun issue. Especially if you like hot super-villain action (and who doesn't want to see nekkid badguys getting it on). The big deal with this issue is that Psimon tells Arsenal everything about the Secret Society. Donna appears (and saves the day, deus ex machina like) and asks the team to come fight with her. Next issue will be the team splitting in half, and if youve read any solicits, you already know who's on Donna's team. Solid issue, the art was shaky sometimes, though.

Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer: Meh. This was my first of the SS mini-series (I got issue zero), and it didn't do anything for me. Standard origin issue. Pretty art, though, I like Paquette's pencils. Oh, and they made a plot point out of the title character having a stripper-like chest. So it's not Morrisson's usual trippy, deep stuff (see Animal Man. See it! The cover to issue 25 helped come up with the title for this blog).

JSA #79: Thumbs down. Nothing friggin happens!!! Two fights go on, and not much changes from the beginning of the issue to the end. They're fighting on page one, they're fighting on page 32. Oh, Stargirl gets a new costume (aside: where's Jack Knight? I miss him. Where's James Robinson for that matter?). Even in a TPB this issue would feel like a weak chapter. Definately could have done this in 4-6 pages instead. Oy.

Second only to "free beer:" "free comics"

Thanks to the wonder of computers, I've read many many more books this week. Super sweet. So much to do before the Simpson's Halloween Special tomorrow night, but here we go. As usual, rankings are Thumbs Up, Meh, and Thumbs Down. Don't believe me, ask the dishes.

House of M #8: Thumbs up. The first 6 issues of this series got a thumbs way down. The last two are up. Should have been done in 4 issues, this was ridiculously drawn out. But hey, they had to give the other Limited Series time to run their course. Know what I want? I just want a list of all the mutants who still have powers, and a Where Are They Now of the major players who lost theirs. Solid art, too, characters looked less stiff than Coipel has drawn before.

Captain Universe/ Hulk: Thumbs down. It's gimmicky, and not all that interesting, or well drawn. Sorry. Not even worth talking about any more.

Spider-Man Unlimited #12: Thumbs way up! Loved it loved it. I'm a big Tom Beland (True Story, Swear to God) fan, and his Spidy story had me a little choked up. At the end, I was smiling cause it just made you feel good. The first story was a fun one as well, which left me smiling from being amused. Better than the regular Spidey books right now (can't fall out of the Other ditch).

Superman #223: Meh. Supergirl says goodbye to Superman before going off into space to help Donna Troi. Oh, and a bad guy attacks them at the behest of Luther. That's really it. It felt like an amateur plotted it, it was that simple.

Still to come: Outsiders, Blood of the Demon, JSA, Sentinel, SS: Bulleteer.
And maybe: 10th Muse, Kabuki, Kolchak, Swamp Thing, Solo, Ultimate FF, Wildsiderz, Batman: Gotham County, and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. Maybe. Let me know if you want to see any of these, or if there are other books you're curious about.