clipped wings

drive-by readings

Birds of Prey #24 (DC) "Endrun Part 4: Impact Fracture" Gail Simone Ed Benes/Adriana Melo J.P. Mayer Nei Ruffino Steve Wands Alina Urusov (cover) Ryan Sook/Joel Gomez/Fernando Pasarin/Randy Mayor/Carrie Strachan (variant cover)

what we learned: just when we thought the Birds were down, they get back into the game. the White Canary is the sister of 12 brothers Dinah bitchslapped years ago, and now their sister is here to reclaim the family honor. Dove finds the mettle to introduce her fist to Penguin, who's already counting his birds before the eggs have even hatched. meanwhile, Creote and Savant attempt to push Barb off the edge, but its actually Savant who wants to die. and its all been a gay thing. oi.
oh shit moment: can we have Yuen Wo-Ping coordinate the fight scenes between Black and White Canaries? awesome!
what's next: what, Shiva framed Dinah?


Michael Phelps would be proud.

early Christmas for Oswald

look who got the virtual porn implants - in HD, no less!!



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Birds of Prey #3

the weekly hits

Birds of Prey #2 (DC)
Gail Simone/Ed Benes/Adriana Melo/Mariah Benes/Nei Ruffino/Steve Wands

what we learned: someone has successfully set up the reunited Birds, particularly Black Canary, to be fugitives from the law.
holy shit moment: Black Canary and the Huntress throw down on the White Canary, but she barely flinches. also, isn't it weird to have infamous macho Hank Hall standing with the sexy birds - considering Hall is just Guy Gardner with super-strength minus a power ring?
what's next: who's this White Canary? don't tell me someone kidnapped Sin, force-grew her to adulthood and brainwashed her to hate Dinah. also, Oracle apparently realized someone out-nerded her (is it Calculator? nope, he's just been asskicked in the pages of Batgirl, depending on the shipping schedule), and now will debug the program. girl po-wahh!!

avatar of peace and hotness! ay caramba!

The Boys #43 (Dynamite Entertainment)
Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson/Richard P. Clark/Simon Bowland/Tony Aviña

what we learned: things get finally sorted out as Mother's Milk gets in the Butcher's face, and Wee Hughie pays a bit o' a price for defending Superduper against Malchemical (who's apparently not as resilient as Metamorpho)
holy shit moment: what would happen if Mother's Milk and Butcher went at it? schism!
what's next: Homelander's up to something. and hey, when is everyone going to find out about Hughie and Annie?

Executive Assistant Iris #5 (Aspen)
David Wohl/Brad Foxhoven/Eduardo Francisco/Alex Lei/John Starr/Josh Reed

what we learned: love exacts a high price, if you're in the business of killing people.
holy shit moment: Iris thinks she can still have her cake and eat it too, but too late.
what's next: beware a woman's wrath, especially if said woman can kill you without breaking a sweat in a heartbeat.

New Avengers #1 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Stuart Immonen/Wade Von Grawbadger/Laura Martin/Chris Eliopoulos

Basically, a catch-all book for the rest of the Avengers who are not on the main "Big Guns" team. and more likely it will be a team-up book with non-Avengers as well. Bendis dialogue is dead on as usual. putting Victoria Hand as their coordinator/liaison is sure to ratchet up tensions, especially with Jessica Jones. hell, Hand is a lot easier to the eye than Henry Gyrich and Duane Freeman.

Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #1 (America's Best Comics/Wildstorm/DC)
Peter Hogan/Chris Sprouse/Karl Story/Todd Klein/Carrie Strachan
aaaaaaaaaaaaaand he's back. and fighting in a timeline hijacked by Nazis. well, not exactly Nazis. Aryan Supremacists. led by his son, Albrecht. and you thought your life was bad.

Incredible Hulk #610 (Marvel)
Greg Pak/Paul Pelletier/Danny Miki/Frank D'Armata/Simon Bowland (covers: John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson/Dean White)
you know its always attention-grabbing when the Hulk slams down for a groundbreaking appearance. yes, you heard what i said. The. Hulk.

Brightest Day #4 (DC)
Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi/Ivan Reis/Ardian Syaf/Scott Clark/Oclair Albert/Vicente Cifuentes/David Beaty/Peter Steigerwald/John Starr/Rob Clark Jr. (covers: Finch/Scott Williams/Steigerwald, Reis/Chuck Pires)

what we learned: ummm, Hawkpersons are not in Peru anymore. Deadman is more interesting dead, and something is taking the water out of people and places. or maybe its just Firestorm.
holy shit moment: umm, splash pages with Dove and some Mera-like babe with a water sword?
what's next: i'm barely with this series, only because i want to see the inevitable clash between Aquaman and Black Manta.

Shayera/Kendra will not cut it in Last Comic Standing.

New Mutants #14 (Marvel)
Zeb Wells/Ibraim Roberson/Lan Medina/Nathan Fox/Brian Reber/Matt Milla/Jose Villarubia/Joe Caramagna (covers: Adi Granov/David Finch/Matt Banning/Peter Steigerwald)
what we learned: conveniently, we have Legion on rehab/standby, and with a nifty machine that can project any one of his mutant personalities at will (they have all this fancy gadgetry but they have to depend on the outside world for food. go figure.). meanwhile, X-Force is making headway in shutting down Nimrod Central. also
holy shit moment: not sure if i've seen it before but Colossus having his arm broken? yeeeech.
what's next: Magneto is about to join the fray. finally!!!! (and i hope Hope does too.)

take, this broken arm, and learn to punch again, learn to swing so free.

Crossed: Family Values #2 (Avatar Press)
David Lapham/Javier Barreno/Julien Huggonard-Bert/DigiKore Studios (covers: Jacen Burrows/Paul Duffield/Michael DiPascale/JuanMar)

what we learned: the Pratts have relocated and rebuilt their community in Montana, but its only the winter that separates them from the Crossed.
holy shit moment: how many do you want? the Mormon bishops reduced to their basic instincts? the studying of a Crossed specimen? or that Daddy Pratt is still up to his old ways?
what's next: the inspiration is The Walking Dead, but David Lapham has taken Garth Ennis' horrifying concept of zombies with id gone wild and ran with it. what would Addy do now that it seems like there is no lesser evil?

things i liked this week

Siege #4 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales/Laura Martin/Chris Eliopoulos (variant covers: Gabrielle Dell'Otto/Joe Quesada/Danny Miki/Richard Isanove)

and that's the fall of Norman Osborn in four tidy chapters. the world is right again, and don't you give too much credence to those who complain. i for one am glad the Blackest Night Dark Reign is over, and let's get back to our shiny happy heroes doing the one good thing for the first time in a long time: playing together again.

Dark Avengers #16 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Mike Deodato/Rain Beredo/Cory Petit
a thrill-an-issue ride comes to a fitting end. in Hollywood, they might treat this as a franchise and churn out unworthy sequels. in Marvel, they ... whooops, don't give them any ideas! (wait, it is the House of Ideas after all ...)

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 (DC)
Grant Morrison/Chris Sprouse/Karl Story/Guy Major/Jared Fletcher
who doesn't want to see prehistoric Batman? crusader Batman? pirate Batman? revolutionary soldier Batman? Zulu Batman? WW2 infantryman Batman? disco roller Batman? wait, are they all available in action figures? count me in!!!

Birds of Prey #1 (DC)
Gail Simone/Ed Benes/Nei Ruffino/Steve Wands
aaaand they're back as well. this should be a consistent highly-touted title, and maybe Gail Simone can make this work again. not sure about Ed Benes who didn't exactly totally wow us in the Justice League reboot, but is actually returning to a book he did before. i want to enjoy this ride, and its with the usual suspects (Oracle, Huntress, Zinda and Black Canary) with a few new ones (Hawk & Dove). Hawkgirl should also be here from time to time. let's go, Birds! woooo-wooooo!


Black Widow #2 (Marvel)
Marjorie Liu/Daniel Acuña/Nate Piekos (variant cover: Stephanie Hans)
whu-? how the hell did i miss the first issue? after looking up images of Ms. Liu on the 'Net, man, am sold! i mean she's the reason why Daken's in touch with his feminine side. seriously, here's the premise: someone's gunning for 'Tasha, and she's suddenly like public enemy number one. we see Clint rocking the Hawkeye duds again, so its already the Heroic Age. hello, can't someone vouch for her? and will see that fake ass bitch Widow Yelena again? probably.


War of the Supermen #2 (DC)
Sterling Gates/James Robinson/Eduardo Pansica/Wayne Faucher/Blond/John J. Hill (cover: Eddy Barrows/J.P. Mayer/Rod Reis, variant cover: Aaron Lopresti/Matt Ryan/Brad Anderson)
hmmm. maybe it is fun to see arrogant Kryptonians and equally-douchebaggy Earthmen duke it out. i dont know, though, who's the most loathsome: Lex Luthor, General Lane or General Zod. whatever, i hope they all get sent to the Phantom Zone then play tag with Prometheus' ghost or something.


Justice League: Generation Lost #1 (DC)
Judd Winick/Keith Giffen/Aaron Lopresti/Matt Ryan/Hi-Fi/Sal Cipriano

right, your best friend-turned-evil Max Lord is back in town and he just gave everyone the shivers. even worse, he just made you forget he ever existed. JLI and FKATJL fans, don't expect the ha-ha-ha this time around, if only because Kevin Maguire isn't involved in the interiors.

Daytripper #6 (DC/Vertigo)
Fabio Moon/Gabriel Ba/Dave Stewart/Sean Konot
the melancholy daytripping continues. Moon and Ba find these stories that are tailor-made to pinch your heart. some people might say, if God existed, He works in mysterious ways, and we have no control over our destiny, because its been already set. so why bother living? should we not fear the unknown, but be always ready for the ride to come to a grinding halt?

Amazing Spider-Man #631 (Marvel)
Zeb Wells/Emma Rios/Chris Bachalo/Tim Townsend/Jaime Mendoza/Antonio Fabela/Joe Caramagna (variant cover: Doug Braithwaite)
let me just ask one question: how is it that Peter has not yet been driven insane with all the crap he has to deal with since Brand New Day? well, the answer might be it gets balanced because he gets to be in a happy place when he's with the Avengers ... (Chris Bachalo, your scaly lizards rock!!)


Avengers: The Initiative #35 (Marvel)
Christos Gage/Jorge Molina/Andrew Hennessy/Edgar Delgado/Joe Caramagna (cover: David Yardin)
and this is the end of the Initiative. though you're somewhat required to check out the other books for certain events in here, it doesn't detract much as a bookend to almost three years worth of stories of Avengers-in-training. some loose ends will still be loose ends (the Baron, the robbin' Hood) and some issues are open-ended (Diamondback and Constrictor). bonus: gratuitous T&A shots of suddenly-a-MILF Tigra. oh yeah.

doesn't he have the Skrull Hank's eyes?

Flash #2 (DC)
Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato/Sal Cipriano (variant: Ryan Sook)
this merits a "like" because am a bit intrigued where Johns is going with this (with that, should i also say, "Wally West, we hardly knew ye"?). on the flipside, its just the second issue and Manapul's backgrounds have been barely there or completely disappeared. is it because 'everything's a blur' with this title?

it does not compute

ohhh, look who got Extremis-ed and OD'ed with the Phalanx virus!

is this the apex for Calculator, a one-time DC punching bag who once had a keypad on his costume to figure out schemes that would save his sorry ass from utter defeat?

i preferred him as cunning scheming information mercenary who lived and breathed data like air and lived on the fringes of law and order, selling to the highest bidder, but more often than not sympathetic to the lunatic fringe. in short, the dirty Oracle.

please don't turn him into Brainiac.

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Birds of Prey #126

you hit like a girl! #14

can you imagine getting hit with a baton on the mouf mouth, and wondering if said baton got broken in the course of slamming on your mouth, and what effect would it have on your teef teeth?



well, the Joker knows.

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Birds of Prey #124

the joke never gets old

cliffhanger of the week!



the Joker vs. Barbara Gordon ... one more time!

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Birds of Prey #22

you hit like a girl! #1

copping an idea from The Man Named Chris, who has this super cool weekly posting called Friday Night Fights - which are just basically cool Chuck Norris-worthy fistfights from your favorite funnybooks - allow me to roll out my own version, where basically (super)girls put the hurtin' on (mostly) guys who hatin'.

there, that should make the feminists happy.

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pics for this inaugural post are all taken from the babe-centric Birds of Prey.


Lady Shiva/Jade Canary, Birds of Prey #93



The Huntress, Birds of Prey #93


Black Canary, Birds of Prey #94

for all of Prometheus' smarts, he's always vulnerable to this.

Huntress, Birds of Prey #95

and bitch-slapped by ... Gypsy? really??

Gypsy, Birds of Prey #95


Huntress, Birds of Prey #99