still haven't found what they're looking for

drive-by readings

Brightest Day #9 (DC) "Lost and Found" Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason/Ivan Reis/Joe Prado Rebecca Buchman/Keith Champagne/Tom Nguyen Peter Steigerwald Rob Clark Jr. David Finch (cover) Reis/Hi-Fi (variant cover)

what we learned: ah, so the black dude with the eel tattoo is Black Manta's son. why did it only take this long for him to get up his butt and look for him? J'onn's search for the telepathic black hole lands him in Oliver Queen's enchanted forest and they needed to hightail it out of there before the forest ate them up.
oh shit moment: never saw Black Manta this cool and aggressive. but that costume is still funny.
what's next: message in a bottle, yeah.


Ollie didn't like his first session with The Mentalist.

excellent, J.T. Krul, excellent! everything is falling into place!

you're following the footsteps of James Robinson just fine. next up, Speedy.

speaking of which ...


see, that was fine work indeed!


wait, did you ever see Robinson and Krul in the same place, at the same time? are you sure???

the weekly hits

Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark (Image)
Ryan Ottley/Jason Howard/Cliff Rathburn
what we learned: a Sea Bear. a Grizzly Shark. eating people anywhere. that's all you need to know.
oh shit moment: just imagine any moment you could be doing your own thing, then suddenly you're wondering why your head is at ground level and the rest of your body's just ... gone.
what's next: really? you want this to be an ongoing? well ....


Batman: Streets of Gotham #13 (DC)
Paul Dini/Dustin Nguyen/Derek Fridolfs/John Kalisz/Sal Cipriano
what we learned: the Carpenter turns the tables on the Director just in time for Batman to clean up. despite the cheesy dialogue because of the nature of the story, its entertaining. by the way, how does everyone manage to show up at the right time for the board meetings to remind Thomas Eliott of his place?
oh shit moment: nothing much to shit your pants about. although Jenna Duffy has been warned off by Bats, she can't resist the lure of the job of assembling for dangerous people (which means that hauling supercriminals off to jail never works).
what's next: what is Hush up to?


Hulk #23 (Marvel)
Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuiness/Mark Farmer/Morry Hollowell/Richard Starkings/Herb Trimpe/Dave McCaig/Tim Sale/Dave Stewart/Dale Keown/Sal Buscema/Brad Anderson/Ian Churchill/Edgar Delgado/Leinil Yu/Gerry Alanguilan/Marte Gracia/John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson/Emily Warren/Dean White/Jason Keith/Mike Deodato/Rain Beredo (variant cover: Adam Kubert/Laura Martin)
man, i'm tired typing all those credits, but its the only way to give those nods as Blogger's 200 character limit for tags (booooo!) kinda put a damper on the party, and it was a rocking one.

Green Arrow #1 (DC)
J.T. Krul/Diogenes Neves/Vicente Cifuentes/Ulises Arreola/Rob Leigh (covers: Mauro Cascioli, Ethan Van Sciver/Hi-Fi)
what we learned: despite him being kicked out of Star City, Ollie Queen can't help himself and still hangs around. and conveniently a "magical" forest has sprung around the city, giving him cachet to play a man in tights. oh, someone offed his best friend Nunocerda. now Ollie has to throw away his special Nunocerda arrow.
oh shit moment: uh, Ollie stealing food from the rich to give to the poor? yeah. or his stepmom takes his company back.
what's next: team up with his pal Hal and beat up some rent-a-soldiers.

"well ... uh ... actually this is my BDSM outfit. heh."

X-Men Legacy #237 (Marvel)
Mike Carey/Greg Land/Jay Leisten/Justin Ponsor/Cory Petit (cover: Adi Granov)
what we learned: aren't you glad they resurrected Doug Ramsey? and they say diplomatic and linguistic skills are useless in battle. suspiciously, Colossus' broken arm is not shown at all.
oh shit moment: two for me: Magneto bleeding for the X-Men once again in a very long time, and Hope having the balls to threaten the de facto leader of an endangered species. really.
what's next: bring on Bastion!!! (i wonder if Scott Lobdell or Pascual Ferry is reading this crossover?)

see, if only Jean was that frisky ...

Fantastic Four #580 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman/Neil Edwards/Andrew Currie/Paul Mounts/Rus Wooton (cover: Alan Davis/Mark Farmer/Javier Rodriguez)
what we learned: Toys R Us is actually a front for Arcade (no longer a premiere X-villain) and the Impossible Man is an NYC gadabout with a semblance of social responsibility (you mean to say no one mistakes him for a Skrull?). much more interesting is Reed's Future Foundation, where a disparate young cast of characters is mentored by Mr. Fantastic to generate ideas for the betterment of mankind. no, not the wrestler.
oh shit moment: the Future Foundation's first project: to cure Ben Grimm! ok, not a total cure, but its a start. the Thing's inability to become human and the subsequent frustration of trying to be normal is a Marvel tradition. Jonathan Hickman, just like Ed Brubaker and that Bucky thing before him, is poised to upend the apple cart.
what's next: don't call him Rocky no more! no, seriously, please let this not be a dead end. Ben needs this as much as we fans do.


Avengers #2 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson/Dean White/Cory Petit
to get to the future, they need a binoculars. then a ride. so they ask Space Ghost Penis to help. then (less than) Wonder Man shows up angry, disappears. then some Horsemen show up, also angry. next issue, they fight.

Secret Warriors #17 (Marvel)
Jonathan Hickman/Alessandro Vitti/Imaginary Friends Studio/Dave Lanphear (cover: Jim Cheung/Mark Morales/Justin Ponsor)
what we learned: smelling blood in the water, Nick Fury unleashes all his teams on the warring Hydra and Leviathan. the narrative though is post-event, as Dum Dum and Jasper Sitwell are grilled in a secret meeting convened by the UN Security Council. oh, and there's a party and Steve Rogers feels like a 20 year old man again.
oh shit moment: Howling Commandos silenced forevermore?
what's next: Howling Commandos silenced forevermore?


Thunderbolts #145 (Marvel)
Jeff Parker/Kev Walker/Frank Martin/Albert Deschesne
i commend Luke Cage for taking the task of running Marvel's rehab program and facing threats with a bunch of guys who might just stab him in the back, front, side or wherever they please. nanites or no nanites, something bad's gonna happen.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne (Marvel)
Grant Morrison/Yanick Paquette/Michel Lacombe/Nathan Fairbairn/Jared Fletcher (covers: Andy Kubert/Yanick Paquette)
what we learned: some people might scoff at at the whole Final Crisis/Batman RIP thing as poorly-conceived non-permanent-event ripoff. that may be so, but it allowed us to have Batman & Robin and the Return of Bruce Wayne. in his trek back from the past, Bruce gets involved with Blackbeard the Pirate and upholds his legacy as the Man of Bats in the most amazing way.
oh shit moment: a dazed Bruce takes the cape and takes on the buccaneers with the Bat People. whooooooooo!
what's next: Jonah Hex! Cowboy Batman! yeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaawww!


Wolverine: Weapon X #14 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Ron Garney/Jason Keith/Matt Milla/Cory Petit (cover: Garney/Morry Hollowell)
what we learned: this Deathlok is a murderer revived as a killing machine (what's new?). but there's a conscience there somehow.
oh shit moment: the future human resistance decides to go after the civilian identities of the Deathloks in the past - while they're still kids.
what's next: Peace, 'Lok!!


Joker's Asylum: Killer Croc (DC)
Mike Raicht/David Yardin/Cliff Richards/Rodney Ramos/Jose Villarubia/Patrick Brosseau (cover: Francesco Mattina)
what we learned: despite the fear you have for Killer Croc as he chased you down the sewer tunnels of Arkham Asylum, there are bigger and viler beasts among men that you need to be more afraid of. and oh, did Francesco Mattina switch to DC already?
oh shit moment: we knew were it was going but the betrayal was painful nonetheless.
what's next: i think i need to check out the other Joker's Asylum titles i missed.


Power Girl #13 (DC)
Judd Winick/Sami Basri/Sunny Gho/John J. Hill
i know y'all miss Amanda Conner, but you should give this Basri guy a chance. and a serious story for a change.

Green Lantern Corps #49 (DC)
Tony Bedard/Ardian Syaf/Vicente Cifuentes/Randy Mayor/Gabe Eltaeb/Steve Wands (cover: Syaf/Cifuentes/Ulises Arreola, variant: Patrick Gleason/John Dell/Mayor)
what we learned: the rebellious Alpha Lanterns' recruitment drive is in full swing and it may have added Jon Stewart. opps, i meant John Stewart. dumb keyboard.
oh shit moment: who's behind all this nonsense? no, not Tony Bedard! its the i-wanna-die-but-i-cant Cyborg Superman! paging Dr. Kevorkian!
what's next: paging Dr. Kevorkian!

Russel Crowe wants you ...

... to buy Green Arrow #1, on sale in June!



oh, you mean he's not Green Arrow?? didn't he have a movie opening today??

things i liked this week

time is not my friend. so, in brief, here's the books that distracted me from Just Cause 2 and Borderlands.

Doc Savage #1 (DC)
Paul Malmont/Howard Porter/Art Thibert/Rob Leigh/Hi-Fi (covers: JG Jones, John Cassaday/Alex Sinclair)
so DC's big play is to harken back to its pulp fiction properties with crossovers with versions of its established characters. First Wave goes back to the childhood heroes of your dad, and updates it for your kids. Howard Porter's art gives me some JLA flashbacks, but i think he's past his shelf life (sorry). i am interested to see Warren Ellis do his take on the good doctor though, spoiled as i am with Planetary.


Justice Inc. (DC)
Jason Starr/Scott Hampton/Daniel Vozzo/Sal Cipriano
i remember reading the Richard Benson's origin story as a kid. again, with the 21st century update, its as fresh as could be. i actually like this better than the main feature. gimme a Mike and an Ike!


Iron Man: Legacy #1 (Marvel)
Fred Van Lente/Steve Kurth/Allen Martinez/Victor Olazaba/John Rauch/Dave Lanphear

somehow i like the way Marvel mines their characters' history, and am not even worried about the continuity cops. i know this is about creating more movie-related products, and i don't mind. Tony Stark, ex-weaponeer, worries day and night about living up to what his father was, belatedly realizing he can craft his own. this is another version of Armor Wars, but with Dr. Doom.

Green Arrow #32 (DC)
J.T. Krul/Federico Dallocchio/Michael Atiyeh/Sal Cipriano (cover: Mauro Cascioli)

wasn't it just long ago that Dinah and Ollie got hitched? the Amazons even messed up their honeymoon night. and now, we're witnesses to a painful breakup to one of DC's most enduring couples. Ollie goes on a short trial for his actions, and the jury finds him not guilty, but he's banished from Star City forever. i like the part where he whispers "now you show up" to Clark. its a surprisingly beautiful ending to something that started so messily.

New Mutants #12 (Marvel)
Zeb Wells/Ibraim Roberson/Brian Reber/Joe Caramagna (cover: Adi Granov)
this is the most entertaining action-packed book of the week for me (and that's with Punisher Max #6). somehow, the X-Men rescue team manages to get slowed down by a bunch of humans (hah!), and they need to resort more to their X-Force tactics to get the upper hand. of course, unless they shut down the spy (more like transmitter) in their ranks, it wouldn't matter. it's also great to use Karma in action, and move away from that useless moping character we've been subjected to for the last decade or so. (was that Claremont's fault?) Ibraim Roberson's art is spectacular. hey, any chance we'd see another round of Archangel decapitating Hodge? please please please!



Siege: Loki #1 (Marvel)
Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie/Nathan Fairbairn/Joe Caramagna (cover: Marko Djurdjevic)

it seems everyone has underestimated Loki. he's no longer just concerned with mischief and punking the Avengers; he wants the full freedom to do what he wants, when he wants, without the consequences. kinda like what we wanted when we were young.

Punisher Max #6 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Steve Dillon/Matt Hollingsworth/Cory Petit (cover: Dave Johnson)

this is the most disgusting thing that Bullseye's ever done. well, as far as we know. Jason Aaron has grabbed this title from Garth Ennis and ran away with it. Bullseye is one of the best characters to write from a villain's point of view. and that's with the Kingpin in the picture.

Secret Six #20 (DC)
Gail Simone/Jim Calafiore/Jason Wright/Travis Lanham (cover: Daniel Luvisi)

with all due respect to Calafiore, i wish the interiors were being done by Luvisi. but regardless, the story keeps getting better and better. Catman was always the one sort-of honorable member of this team, and that may be coming to an end when he gets his hands bloody.

Daytripper #5 (DC/Vertigo)
Fábio Moon/Gabriel Bá/Dave Stewart/Sean Konot
another beautiful bittersweet tale from the acclaimed duo. sometimes i regret reading their stuff because there's a chance it may end sadly. i never learn.



The Flash #1 (DC)
Geoff Johns/Francis Manapul/Brian Buccellato/Nick Napolitano (variant cover: Tony Harris)

i like Manapul's art better with Iron and the Maiden. his newer sparse work in Adventure Comics and now the rebooted Flash kinda leaves me a little disappointed. anyway, Barry Allen is truly back, so let go of your Crisis on Infinite Earths slipcase edition. we know Johns' history with the character, and its likely he'll create some magic again. i want to be impressed, so let's go for a run.

who can haz girly lips? pt. 2

taking the crown away from Cyclops ... its Oliver Queen!!!



and the name doesn't hurt either.

-----
Green Arrow #32

snaps: Green Arrow #31

... where we see Oliver Queen continue his fall from grace, shooting arrows at everything all the way down. i wonder where this is leading to. is he going to be an anti-hero, getting into conflict with the moralistic DCU heroes from time to time? it would be worth it as long we can also see some upper-tier DC bad guys end up dead on the JLA stoop as well. oh wait, can we just get Zatanna to wipe everyone's memory that Ollie killed Prometheus? what, too soon??

c'mon, it was just a burst of light, Jordan. you wuss.


"every time you see him-?" even since the Silver Age. fuck you, Barry. go back to the timestream, you ass on a high horse.


he thinks he's inconspicuous?


oh, look who stole some speed from Flash! liberal hippie versus fascists! hold Page One!!!


"including that time you made me drink vodka from the feeding bottle, you parenting model!"


what the deuce?? how are we sure that's not Cupid?


on the other hand, we don't mind. anyone who takes "Electrocutioner" as his code name deserves an arrow right thru the head.

absolut emo justice

if it involves Ollie totally throwing down against Carter (broken arrows, scattered feathers, blood everywhere), i'm in! [via Newsarama]

no, that's not Connor Hawke!

but it could.

no, it can't, stupid.

but it could.

Green Arrow is still a horndog ...

... that's why he's joining Hal Jordan's new Justice League ...


... so they can ogle more chicks!

(because his wife is chairwoman of the current League, and damn if he'll be able to get away with it!)

hey, i didn't make that up; Newsarama did!!


(btw, the censored parts of that DC Memo were "retcon", "Final Crisis" and "Batman R.I.P.")

man in orange tights

oi! this will be so much more FUN than that Prison Break shit.

any takers for the role? casting call, anyone! no, tell Orlando Bloom he's done playing with bows.

cliffhanger of the week #8

counting down the best (i.e., the ones i read) cliffhangers of the week.


#7 - Diana The Khund

what? our Wonder Woman could be an alien? did that lump of goo contain some Khund DNA? why is she even believing this crap? the Khunds, a galactic conquering empire based on legends of Attila (Attila the Khund) or Gengis (Gengis Khund) recruits Diana - in the middle of her courting Tom Tresser a.k.a. Nemesis (what? you mean she's over Clark and Bruce?) - to help them repel another alien race. turns out these Khunds are pussies. and liars.

Wonder Woman #18 (DC)
Gail Simone/Bernard Chang/I.L.L./Rob Leigh

#6 - E.T. Ain't Phoning Home

speaking of aliens, how surprised were you like Ollie and Dinah to find that the suspects in Connor's kidnapping were of the unearthly kind? what a real close encounter, the kind where i'd like an autoloading crossbow in my hands! by the way, what happened to Dinah's plans to semi-retire to rear a kid and get married? damn aliens and villains screwing up family plans!

Green Arrow and Black Canary #5 (DC)
Judd Winick/Cliff Chiang/David Baron/Travis Lanham

#5 - We Have Explosive

take a big explosion, some may-jah characters and put them all in on the last page of any comic. presto! instant cliffhanger! after forcing Dr. Doom to bring them back to their proper timeline, Iron Man and the loopy Sentinel find themselves without Doom, and with a frantic Ms Marvel warning them to get away from the - yep, an explosion. oh well. see ya next month.

Mighty Avengers #10 (Marvel)
Brian Bendis/Mark Bagley/Danny Miki/Allen Martinez/Justin Ponsor/Dave Lanphear

#4 - Battlefield Hearth

so far the Millar/Hitch/Neary combo has been on schedule (yeah, wait till they get six, eight issues in), and serving up a healthy dose of sci-fi. Reed's ex and brainiac peer, Alyssa Castle, has developed a replica Earth where we can all go continue our destructive civilized way of life after this one has passed on. its supposed to be a better version, a true Utopia where all past mistakes have been taken into account, and we can start new generations with better lives. of course, that's when it all starts going wrong. speaking of wrong, what if you were the goody rock star and Miley Cyrus was the bad girl groupie? Johnny Storm has got a story for ya!

Fantastic Four #555 (Marvel)
Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary/Paul Mounts/Rus Wooton

#3 - The Name of the Game

is there still an X-Factor? Rahne left to join X-Force, Rictor is a human, Laila's stuck in the future, Theresa is pregnant, Monet thinks Jamie is a sleazebag (only because he doesn't know he's the daddy), and Guido is seeing things. well, relatively. its the perfect time for an old villain to strike. i'll give you a couple of hints: the word denotes where your parents used to find you spending your lunch money when you were a kid, and it starts with the first letter of the alphabet. "Armory"? wrong!

X-Factor #29 (Marvel)
Peter David/Valentine De Landro/Andrew Hennessy/Jerony Cox/Cory Petit

#2 - Heeeeeeere's Warlock!

let's give a warm welcome to the return of self-friend Warlock to the Marvel Universe! and appearing in a sci-fi-slanted comic makes much more sense, despite spending all those years with the junior X-Men. true to the Technarch way of life, father raises son, son defeats father. now that Warlock is a pappy himself and has no time for any other distractions, looks like Nova's last hope of beating the Phalanx virus just went down the drain.

Nova #11 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Paul Pelletier/Rick Magyar/Guru eFX/Cory Petit

#1 - And Heeeeeeere's Warlock!

Messrs Abnett and Lanning land two cliffhangers this month, and both have Warlocks in them. sadly, in this case, he won't be a Warlock any longer, because everyone's favorite cosmic pin up boy has just been co-opted by Ultron. that's it, cash out your stocks, buy a spaceship and get the hell out of this galaxy. or just kill yourself now. the Earth is doomed.

Annihilation: Conquest #5 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Tom Raney/Scott Hanna/Frank D'Armata/Joe Caramagna

cliffhanger of the week #4

counting down the best (i.e., the ones i read) cliffhangers of the week.

#6 - Broken Arrow

when will Ollie and Dinah ever get to consummate their marriage? and just when we thought he's hanging up the bow. bad enough that his son got tabula rasa-ed, they have to steal his body too? and who's they??

Green Arrow/Black Canary #5 (DC)
Judd Winick/Andre Coelho/David Baron/Pat Brosseau

#5 - Spectacular Peter Pauper

yep, Pete just can't catch a break. there's a menace called Menace, murders are being blamed on him, the law is after him, he's not liquid, he can't even mend his costume, he's about to be sued, and worst of all - he doesn't even have a MacBook Air!! or even an old Dell, fer crying out loud. is this the Spidey we want or what??

The Amazing Spider-Man #550 (Marvel)
Marc Guggenheim/Salvador Larroca/Stephane Peru/Cory Petit

#4 - Come Mr Taliban, Tally Me Banana

hunting for the Bitch Formally Known As Mystique, Logan has 9 hours (well he gave himself that deadline) to bring her in cold. but that ol' girl ain't going nicely. look who's about to get shot up in Afghanistan. suffice it to say, calling the US Marines may be a little too late.

Wolverine #62 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Ron Garney/Jason Keith/Joe Caramagna

#3 - Girl Interrupted

what, a scantily-clad girl about to be devoured by some tentacled monster not enough of a cliffhanger for you??

Jungle Girl #4 (Dynamite)
Frank Cho/Doug Murray/Adriano Batista/Frank Martin/Zachary Metheny

#2 - Is Your Last Name Damocles, By Any Chance?

Dara surrenders to the FBI, only its not the FBI. this secret agency interrogates her, but that doesn't go well either. do you keep maintaining your innocence, or do you take that badass sword (the possession of which has already started this shit) and fight the powers that be? i don't know, i gotta go to the loo.

The Sword #5 (Image)
Luna Brothers

#1 - Force X from Westchester

i thought Wolverine was hunting our faveorite shapeshifter. now he's also hunting religious zealots. said zealots have just rebuilt Nimrod/Bastion, that metrosexy beast of all Sentinels. and they have a gun on Wolfsbane's head. at this rate, Wolverine will be the only remaining character by the time this series is over.

X-Force #1 (Marvel)
Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost/Clayton Crain/Cory Petit