things i liked this week

X-Men Second Coming one-shot (Marvel)
Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost/David Finch/Matt Banning/Peter Steigerwald/Joe Caramagna (cover: Adi Granov, variant cover: Finch with Jason Keith)

has Finch been around too long that i think of this dirty rough-edged work with old colleague Batt kind of a throwback? is Hope Summers a positive or a negative? also, see X-23 make a point!

Blackest Night #8 (DC)
Geoff Johns/Ivan Reis/Oclair Albert/Joe Prado/Alex Sinclair/Nick Napolitano (variant cover: Doug Mahnke)

did anybody notice that this was released leading up to the Easter weekend? the conclusion, although nothing totally surprising, has mixed results with the fan base. certain characters were brought back for a reason (and the reason being "we can have more events with them!" - they weren't randomly pulled from a bag). and i can certainly agree with Geoff Johns that Ivan Reis is a god - imagine drawing all this craziness for eight straight issues. we need to give him a White Lantern ring. wait, that's totally gay.

X-Factor #203 (Marvel)
Peter David/Val De Landro/Pat Davidson/Jeromy Cox/Cory Petit (cover: David Yardin/Nathan Fairbairn)
Monet goes to rescue her father in South America. probably kidnapped by Nazis hiding there. anyhoo, look who's got a mad-on for her! woooohoooooo!!!


Gotham City Sirens #10 (DC)
Paul Dini/Andres Guinaldo/Raul Fernandez/Ian Hannin/Sal Cipriano (cover: Guillem March)
listen, there's only one Fable that works - its that book by Bill Willingham. anyway, Doctor Aesop? pffffft. also: the girls' relationship with Riddler? pffffft.


Realm of Kings: Inhumans #5 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Pablo Raimondi/Tim Seeley/Victor Olazaba/Adriano Lucas (cover: Stjepan Sejic)
say what??? this is all a sham? oh, wait till Thanos returns. and the real Maximus comes back.


X-Force #25 (Marvel)
Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost/Clayton Crain/Cory Petit

Attack of the 50-foot giant, blue, goth goddess sexbomb! hey, question: doesn't anybody question why certain mutants show up in Cerebra as Colorado visitors every so often? do the Cuckoos mindwipe those who notice?

Cloak and Dagger #1 (Marvel)
Stuart Moore/Mark Brooks/Walden Wong/Emily Warren/Dave Sharpe
riddle me this, Batman! are Tandy and Ty doing what they do as a woman and a man?

Green Hornet #2 (Dynamite)
Kevin Smith/Phil Hester/Jonathan Lau/Ivan Nunes/Simon Bowland (covers: Alex Ross/John Cassaday/Joe Benitez)
out with the old, in with the new. one thing sure, Southwest Airlines is not a sponsor of this book.


Punisher #15
Rick Remender/Roland Boschi/Dan Brown/Lee Loughridge/Joe Caramagna (cover: Mike McKone/Morry Hollowell)

Frank versus dead Nazis, samurais and Hellsgaard! what more do you want? oh wait, is Frankencastle concept ending?

The Sword #23 (Image)
Joshua Luna/Jonathan Luna

you know that line that goes 'that the greatest trick the devil played was to make everyone believe he never existed' or something like that? well .... kinda something like that.

snaps: Blackest Night #8

... where the Rainbow Riders finally get to defeat Nekron and the Black Hand (as if there was any doubt). and in a complete reversal of a cookie-cutter comicbook event, NO ONE DIES (well, except the bad guy and the jury is out on that, and because they were fighting dead people to begin with), and A FEW DEAD PEOPLE COME BACK (not just all you hoped for). all in all, i'd still rank Blackest Night below The Sinestro Corps War, primarily because there were no more surprises after the first issue. plus with the Internet talk these days, you basically get a preview of what's going to happen anyway ... what's that? Brightest Day is going to be a gay musical starring our DC heroes? for sure?

"and that's for not getting my back when i got captured by that loser Libra!!"


why do you have to be a heartpuller?


coming soon to Broadway: Brightest Gay Day!


"uh, J'onn ... are you gonna reimburse us for that funeral we threw you?"


goodbye, Infinite Crisis!


goodbye, 90's!! farewell, beard and hook!!


William can't even wipe off his drool with his Hand.

things i liked this week

in no particular order:

Dark Avengers #15 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Mike Deodato/Rain Beredo/Cory Petit
i wonder why The Sentry's expressing his anger at losing his wife in the form of The Void? why would he even have feelings for her in the first place? with both stellar and exasperating Deodato art, this series encapsulates the beauty of this series, as the world crumbles around the bad guys we've grown to like. denouement is near.


Hercules - Fall of An Avenger one shot (Marvel)
Fred Van Lente/Greg Pak/Ariel Olivetti/Simon Bowland
that was fun, especially a glimpse at the dead Herc's secret liaisons. and not just with the female species! i wish there were a few more guests, like Dane Whitman, Jan (the real Wasp, but dead), and She-Hulk (hey, where is she? Banner's here but she isn't? uh oh). oh, and the Wrecking Crew, Erik Josten, and Mr. Hyde, just for kicks.

Guardians of the Galaxy #24 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Wes Craig/Serge LaPointe/Nathan Fairbairn/Joe Caramagna (cover: Alex Garner)
let me just say this: not only the missing Guardians are coming back. and on that thought, hello, Cosmo!


Siege #3 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales/Laura Martin/Chris Eliopoulos
hey, its not that bad. for all the crap Bendis got for his dialogue (i actually like his style), this one's got a lot of punching and kicking and shooting and yelling. though i'm still searching for that one big-ass fight scene where everything is thoroughly scripted well and the action flows fuidly and flawlessly (an idea for a regular post i'm toying with), i guess this will have to do. one thing for sure, there won't be a shortage of construction jobs in Broxton, OK.

Nova #35 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Mahmud Asrar/Scott Hanna/Bruno Hang/Cory Petit (cover: Brandon Peterson)
does this mean there's no second go-round for Nova and previously-the-most-dangerous-woman-in-the-galaxy? and who still says "Blue Blazes"?


Nation X #4 (Marvel)
"Dooptopia" by Peter Milligan/Michael Allred/Laura Allred
the most light-hearted of the stories in this issue is arguably its best. Doop is appointed Head of Criminal Investigations in Utopia. are you kidding me? shouldn't they pick Lucas Bisho- oh. never mind. its Doop, Milligan and Allred. what more do you want?


Green Lantern Corps #46 (DC)
Peter Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Rebecca Buchman/Keith Champagne/Tom Nguyen/Randy Mayor/Gabe Eltaeb/Steve Wands
sometimes writer Peter Tomasi's brain really scares us.


Devil #2 (Dark Horse)
Torajiro Kishi/Madhouse Studios
Devil Investigation Section officers Takimoto and Migiwa (described hilariously as "straight-laced, procedural and tight-assed" - oh, you Japs) crap their pants when they meet a super advanced Devil temptress named Mariko. when humanity is no longer at the top of the food chain, who you gonna call?


X-Factor Forever #1 (Marvel)
Louise Simonson/Dan Panosian/Jim Charalampidis/Dave Sharpe
at this rate, we'll have New Mutants Forever, X-Force Forever, New X-Men Forever and X-Men Unlimited Forever hitting the shelves by the end of 2010. anyway, Weezie's 5-issue take on the original X-Factor past #64 seems a more reasonable diversion rather than giving Chris Claremont the keys to a car driving off to nowhere, cliffs included. you have villains coming out of the woodwork, and Apocalypse is at the forefront. Cable's still a baby. should be fun.


Batman #697 (DC)
Tony Daniel/Sandu Florea/Ian Hannin/Jared Fletcher
and its only because the identity of Black Mask is revealed - and holy crap, it wasn't Alfred!! and the jerk actually wears his glasses inside the mask. moron.


Incredible Hulk #608 (Marvel)
Greg Pak/Paul Pelletier/Danny Miki/Crimelab Studios/Frank D'Armata/Veronica Gandini/Simon Bowland (cover: John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson/Dean White)
am still a little slow on the uptake on the whole thing here, just like Skaar is, so the Leader is laughing at me. nevertheless, i like the killer ending (its already the end of Fall of the Hulks, and am still behind the eight ball). eagerly awaiting what's next.


X-Men: Legacy #234 (Marvel)
Mike Carey/Yanick Paquette/Michel Lacombe/Nathan Fairbairn/Cory Petit (cover: Clay Mann/Danny Miki/Emily Warren)
a long-overdue story about Rogue, after regaining her sanity and control of her powers (Rogue is a Carey favorite), and her new life as a life coach around Utopia. its quite satisfying to leave that drama of "ah can't touch anyone, ah'll absorb 'em with mah power" in the dust, and just have sane relationships where she can get close to Remy AND Magneto in the same day. hey, i said "close". git yer dirty minds outta de' gutter.


Amazing Spider-Man #625 (Marvel)
Joe Kelly/Max Fiumara/Fabio D'Auria/Joe Caramagna (cover: Marko Djurdjevic)
the foreshadowing has come to pass. the Old Rhino, with nothing left to live for (i'll let you make your guesses) comes to terms with his loss and takes on the New Rhino. and you're left a lot more depressed along with Peter. yes, this is how you wanted your hero. a sad sack loser.

snaps: Secret Six #18

... where the Six team up with Amanda "Fried Donut Burgers For Breakfast" Waller to beat back the Black Lanterns. then make threatening gestures at each other. before someone actually gets the balls to shoot someone else.

how is it any worse than what she eats?


oh, you useless emo bitch.


and this is what happens to useless emo bitches.


Scandal, Scandal ... six more inches towards the middle and you wouldn't have to.


can Batman claim to have done that? who da man, now? who daaaa!!!

atomic fate

drive-by readings

The Atom & Hawkman #46 (DC) "Bye Bye Birdie" Geoff Johns Ryan Sook Fernando Pasarin Nick Napolitano Hi-Fi a presumably one-shot following the final issue (#45) back in November 1969, The Atom & Hawkman #46 begins with a recap of what Ray Palmer's life's been so far (new fans will remember the Identity Crisis period) and details the moments as he becomes deputized as an Indigo Lantern deep in the midst of Blackest Night. his best friend Hawkman (with Kendra), now a Black Lantern, attempts to bring him over to the dark side, and is saved momentarily by his sponsor, Indigo-1. to enable her to contact the rest of her tribe, Ray has to protect her from all comers including his bitch of a wife Jean Loring (who makes him relive that night she kills Sue Dibny). his success fittingly puts him back into major player status, something i've been looking forward to, with all due respect to Ryan Choi. Geoff Johns makes hay while the night is still young, and Ryan Sook's fluid art complements him perfectly. now if only Sook also drew the X-Force issues of Necrosha ...

and here we have another case of DC's adeptness in typos.


does AIG work for you, Ray?


ironically, Ray refines his ex-wife's tested killing method.


in the land of tinier people, the Atom is king.


my, my, Mr. Palmer, what language.

aaaaaaaaaaand ... we're back.

the DC Universe is so circular. who are they gonna bring back next??



/uhh ... Batman?

snaps: Green Lantern Corps #44

... where we see how badass a planet can be. especially a Green Lantern planet. also, the throwdown between Red Lantern Guy and his Green buddies is for next issue. stay tuned.

now we know who's the top and who's the bottom.


Guy easily aced his Ax Men audition.


how? well, there are these things called laxatives ...


Mogo sucks!! Mogo sucks!!! Mogo sucks!!!


this time, the grass smoked the hippies.

snaps: Catwoman #83

... where we have the requisite Blackest Night crossover. is this a one-shot deal? the original Black Mask comes back to haunt Selina, and even with help from her little friends in Gotham City Sirens, this battle may have even more damaging consequences. man, i miss Adam Hughes covers on Catwoman (Jim Balent slowly shaking head at me).

zero points for originality, Black Mask; somebody already did that.


somebody mistakenly believed in Luke Wilson and AT&T.


really, there should be a Blackest Night video game. should be as fun as Left for Dead or Dead Rising.


awwww, look who needs more practice in Batman: Arkham Asylum.


Warrior Nun Areala, anyone?

snaps: Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2

... where we get more girl-on-girl action than the TNA Knockout Tag Team Championship. or not. what we know is, there should be a March Madness-style, single elimination tournament for DC female characters. minus the Mortal Kombat characters. anyone for Power Girl versus Diana for the championship? c'mon, Midway Games and Warner Bros, make this happen!

apparently, Rudolph lost his title for reddest nose of 2009.


i heard Diana wanted to get pierced but this is ridiculous.


c'mon, that's so cliche! hey, Ocean Master, care to file a complaint??


of course, this really doesn't happen but that shocked you all for 10 seconds. and that's what Greg Rucka WANTS.


no, he's not dead!! he's trapped in time and coming back to you in couple of thousand years (two in DCU time).



ditch the collar and that ridiculous faceplate and we're talking, baby!!