Omega Flight, Civil War Fallen Son: Wolverine, Avengers Initiative

Omega Flight # 1
Michael Avon Oeming-Scott Kollins

Omega Flight is the progression of Alpha Flight, which is sort of a canadian avengers. Suffice it to say I've never really had any interest in this book, but I was kind of interested in the new lineup which includes Beta Ray Bill apparently.


The Book is definitely solid, with nice artwork, lots of action, and plenty of moxy. It's not entirely remarkable compared to the vast array of very similiar avengers books, in fact I'm not entirely sure why one would choose to read this given the...Four diffrent Avengers books that are going on right now?


But it's there and if you read a lot of books and want another decent to good one, this is definitely in that category.


Hoo0-rah Canada.

Civil War Fallen Son: Wolverine
Jeph Loeb-Leinil Yu

The Civil War Fallen Son mini-series done by Jeph Loeb, takes us through the grieving stages for the Marvel Universe with respect to the death of Captain America, with each character for each book emblomizing that stage. In this book, Loeb uses Wolverine to wrestle with denial.

Loeb as every review has probably mentioned, is no stranger to grief after losing his son. In many ways, for very sad reasons, he's the perfect person to do these books, and one would think even though this is a superhero story, it's also an incredibly personal and hopefully cathartic one for Loeb who is one of the best story tellers in the business.

After all that buildup, you're probably wondering if the book is any good? Well in short, yes. It's really very good. And as an opening salvo of this mini-series it's fantastic and leaves me very excited about the next. If you're following Cap's death, this and Brubaker's stories are musts. Even if you're really not, these books by Loeb are pretty self-contained, and really fantastic.

The Avengers: The Initiative # 1
Dan Slott-Stefano Caselli

This is a series wholly born out of the new marvel world created by Civil War. The intiative is about the government program that Tony Stark has implemented wherein superheroes become tools of the state, every state, and have to get trained and licensed in order to carry out government specified actions as an arm of the state.

If you can get over the fact that you are for all intents and purposes reading a book about tools of the government, it's a pretty okay read. Dan Slott is always good for entertainment. The problem I kind of have with this book isn't really directly tied in with this actual book. It's kind of a general marvel thing. I don't really understand why they had M-Day, which was the eradication of pretty much all the mutants from the marvel world, the impetince behind which was to avoid the kind of over-proliferation of hyper-powered individuals, such as they are creating in The Avengers Initiative. The Avengers: The Initiative is for all intents and purposes New Mutants but with Avengers instead of X-men. Which I guess if you're fine with that concept to begin with, then I think this may be alright. Though New Mutants were coming in against the grain of society, whereas Avengers are coming in as arms of the state. So it will be interesting to see how or if Slott wrestles with some of the more pressing political questions this book raises, while trying to forge his own ground with the book and truly make it something we haven't really seen before in the Marvel U.

Not a must own by any means, but if you are following Civil War fallout, it is integral.

Brave and the Bold # 2; Fantastic Four # 544; 52

Brave and the Bold # 2
Mark Waid-George Perez

Brave and the Bold was a book I had sort of enjoyed, but kind of ended up deciding it was mediocre enough not to worry about, but on a whim I decided to go ahead and read number 2, and I'm glad I did, because the second entry into the series is a lot better.

The second issue team up is Supergirl and Green Lantern, and grant you I am a big Supergirl fan(though her solo book is a big pile of poo right now), but still the book seemed a lot more lively than the previous entry. There was more humor. The action was better. The second issue seemed to do everything I sort of liked about the first book well. I appears it will be a good series worth checking out monthly, especially in kind of a slow time, like now.

The art still looks really great, though at times it seemed to get overly convuluted in the second issue, and seemed to get harder to tell what was going on, but all the same it was good and I look forward to reading the next entry, which will be Blue Beetle and Batman.

Fantastic Four # 544
Dwayne McDuffie-Paul Pelletier

Fantastic Four was a book my mom actually read as a kid. But I have to say, I've never really been at all interested in any of the dynamics of Marvel's First Family. The whole reason I actually picked this book up, was because it's the "new" fantastic four, with Black Panther and Storm taking over for Sue and Reed Richards who have gone off on a second honeymoon of sorts.

Is this book good? No. Not really. If you're a fan of some of the more scattered cosmological jargon in the Marvel Universe, this book might appeal to you. I couldn't really follow, or care to follow, half of what was going on and where. The Black Panther pointing the Ultimate Nullifier at the Watcher, is kind of silly, and sort of diminshes the history of that weapon.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the two new members who are also married now, played off of Torch and Thing. But really, they just felt like they were out of place. It would sort of be like replacing Robin with The Flash. Yeah the Flash is more interesting than Robin, and can do more things, but the chemistry isn't there.

I think I'll go back to my not reading the Fantastic Four mode, now, thank you.

52

My brief checkback with 52. This series has been amazing. I've loved every minute of it. The zaniness of some of the characters and things that happen from week to week are stupid grin inducing. Black Adam should have his own series in the DCU after this, if not that then he should be the principle villain in the DCU for awhile. I've loved all the arcs of the series.

I fully recommend picking this up in trade when it comes out. It's one of the top books put out by either of the two companies, and it is weekly, which is amazing.

I can't wait for Countdown which will be a similiar weekly series that guess what...counts down to the next major event.

52 right now is leading in DCU's next big event(which techinically already happened since this all takes place in the year between Crisis and One Year Later(I think just reading that sentence convinced anybody who may have wanted something to do with the DCU, to not, ha)) and it is SPECTACULAR. Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison are working on this along with several other top writers. It's amazing. You should be reading it. Or if not, you should be planning on reading it.

All the haters, are just haters. Love me some 52.

The Incredible Hulk #104; The Dark Tower # 2; Crossing Midnight #4

The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk # 104
Greg Pak-Carlo Pagulayan

Thought I'd check back in on this book, now that we are nearing the next big marvel event(does the fun never stop?) World War Hulk, and see how the big mean and green is doing. Well it looks like I missed a lot of smashing because now Hulk is emperor of the planet he's landed on, and generally being a good guy, living a good life...all of this is of course setup for yet another batch of stupid puny humans to come and mess things up for the Hulk.

As I said before Planet Hulk got overly repetitious, this is a quality book. You do enjoy following the hulk. It is a lively cast of characters that Pak's created. But as they say, it's time to get the show on the road. Once we knew the Hulk was going to return to earth, everything else started to become just filler before the main course. So while I appreciate Planet Hulk, it did drag on over long, and I am glad to see it an issue away from it's end.

Probably if you are wanting a jumping on point pre-world war hulk, this is the issue to get. It recaps everything, and is really the beginning of the next great batch of hulk smashings.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Reborn # 2

Peter David-Jae Lee

The art on this book is still beautiful, and for that alone you want to turn the pages. But geez. Overwrought much. As I've said, I haven't read the Stephen King books on which this was based, but the dialouge and narration are just sooooo excessive. Almost to the point of parity.

I would love if this book were more pared down, and the art was left to tell the bulk of the story. This issue is more expository, and a lot less actually happens in this issue. I think that's going to become something of a lingering problem with this book, the pace. There were more than a few times I was caught looking to see how many more pages I had left in the book. It just yammers on and on.

I guess you're getting your moneys worth, because the production values on this are still through the roof. I'm still not reading the essays at the back of the book by Robin Furth, because I'm lame like that. But really...a good time was not had by all in the reading of this book.

I think it will make an excellent trade, and it probably makes an excellent set of novels, but as a monthly, I have to say I'm not all that excited to see the next issue.

Crossing Midnight # 4
Mike Carey-Jim Fern

In contrast to The Dark Tower, Mike Carey's Crossing Midnight shows that you can tell a very measured tale, and still make it work as a monthly. Without fail, no matter how I might feel in the middle of the book, by the end, I am always wanting to immeditely read the next book.

I don't fully understand the mythology behind the book yet, and I get confused about who is who when they are referred to by name, so I don't have all the names straight, but I really am enjoying the story. In particular the newly appeared kind of rebel sewing god that appeared in this issue. Very cool.

This still feels like a book that is moving towards something spectacular, and I still fully reccomend giving it a shot. I don't know how it will read as a trade, but it is a great monthly.

Captain America # 25; The New Avengers # 28; The Mighty Avengers # 1

Captain America # 25
Ed Brubaker-Steve Epting

So by now you've heard all the hub-bub. We've had all the debates as far as why, and whether Marvel should have done it. So put that aside, and just focus on the actual book, if you can get your hands on it. Because this book is astounding storytelling. Which, really...what else would we expect, it's Brubaker damnit.

Wonderful art. Wonderful omniscient storytelling. That Captain America dies is important, but compared to the story on the whole, this book stands on its own, and makes you want to keep reading. This could have been the death of some C-level hero, and it still would have been really good.

Steve Epting's art shifts wonderfully through time, and holds the story in a gravely reality.

You should buy this book, with the knowledge that once you do, you're stuck on the Captain America book until Brubaker leaves. A must buy, and not for stupid collectible reasons. This really is issue eight of Civil War.






The New Avengers
Brian Michael Bendis-Leinil Yu

Heck. Maybe I AM a Bendis fan? I think I'm now reading just about every book he's writing right now. New Avengers was a book that I read for like ten or forteen issues, never really liked it that much, but really wanted to, and now post-civil war, with Bendis also writing The Mighty Avengers(see below) I thought it was a good time to get back on the book. Plus I really like the team, even if it doesn't make a ton of sense. I like Spider-man, I like Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, Echo, Ronin, Spider-woman, not so much Wolverine these days, but it's a good group. Very disgruntled, very magic and ninja-y.

So how was the book? It was good. The banter is still excessive, and Bendis misses more than he hits, but there are some good lines here and there. The overall direction and tone of the book is interesting though, and I love the look of the book. It's very gritty. Some of the facial expressions are a little weird during the discussions, and seem counter-intitiutive to what is being said, but other than that it's a fantastic looking little book.

This book isn't going to change your life or anything. But it's good enough entertainment. I really enjoyed reading it, despite it's flaws. And hey, maybe I am starting to "cotton" to Bendis writing. Or the more likely thing, he writes just about ever Marvel book of note....

The Mighty Avengers
Brian Michael Bendis-Frank Cho

Now for the other Avengers book. In case you are wondering what the diffrence is, the Mighty Avengers are tools of the government, and the New Avengers are kind of an outlaw vigilante group.

Anywho. Mighty Avengers is a chuck back to more hokey comics, where heroes battled monsters, and talked in thought bubbles. And while I thought at one point I was nostalgiac for the thought bubble, after reading Mighty Avengers, I am squarely against it. There are parts of this book that are just completely grating to me. The dialouge is extremely annoying. Like...compare Tony and Ms. Marvel picking a team against Brad Meltzer's Justice League picking a team--it's day and night.

It doesn't help that there's not a single character I like in this book either. Very irritating book. That basically spoils all the good will that New Avengers was building for me. I like the Frank Cho art okay. It's not reaaaallly my cup of tea though. But it's solid.

I will probably stick with this book for a little bit, just to see the two Avengers teams go at it from diffrent vantage points. But really...if you're wanting an Avengers book, pick New Avengers, please.

Brave and the Bold # 1; Action Comics # 846; Strange Girl # 14

The Brave and the Bold # 1
Mark Waid-George Perez

I was really excited about reading this book. The premise of it is a classic team up book, where each month we get to see two of our favorite DC heroes, in this months case Batman and Green Lantern(Hal Jordan version), join forces to help solve, what looks to be an ongoing problem. It's written by Mark Waid, who I thought I was beginning to like, and drawn by the legendary George Perez.

But I have say, even though I plan to keep up with the book because I really like the concept, this book was really pretty disapointing. To me sometimes Mark Waid's writing, in particular, his dialouge can start to come off very wooden, like I had that problem with his Flash run earlier in his career. I thought after reading Legion of Super-heroes that he had spiced things back up, but it's still very flat dialouge. Which...I mean...is certainly a part of the premise to this book, it's supposed to throw back to that sort of era, I understand that, but it doesn't really mean that in 2007 I really enjoy reading it, on top of given how often Waid ends up with dialouge like this, it seems kind of like a crutch.

No problems really with Perez' art. In fact I like the look of the book a lot.

It's just I was expecting to have my socks knocked off with this book, and was just completely underwhelmed. If you are a big DC fan like me, you'll probably be interested in checking this book regardless. But honestly, there are a ton of books out there that actually get it right. Especially on DC.

Action Comics #846
Geoff Johns-Richard Donner-Adam Kubert

Holy crap! I've been hearing great things about the Johns-Donner run on Action Comics. So me being me, I decided to check it out in the last issue before the group goes on hiatus. And wow what a show. I'm not a superman fan, but there are so many great books out about him right now, and this is definitely one of them. I love love love Kubert's art. The story gives Superman a great foe in General Zod. And in general does the one thing that I've always complained most superman stories don't, which is play on his humanity and put him up against impossible odds.

Even though this is a long way into a story arc, I was able to catch this on the run, and didn't have a ton of problems following what was going on in the book. Geoff Johns has seriously upped his game the last two years. He's always been a good writer, but now he's starting to string together GREAT writing.

He gives his characters pathos, without falling into the trap of a lot of post-Dark Knight/Watchmen writers, and making the characters psychotics. The shades of humanity he puts into his characters embues them with vulnerability yes, but they still have a certain goodness about them. The characters Johns writes are at their core good people, who do amazingly heroic things, but they are never perfect people. Even his General Zod is pretty sympathetic. He's mis-guided and evil, but I could understand his anger and resentment.

And one can't overlook Ricahrd Donner's contribution. This is the man who gave us the Superman movies that didn't suck, and apparently the studios should have left him to his druthers to do the whole franchise, because he's got what they'd call a real barn burner of a story cooking here.

The final page of this book will keep me excited for the continuation of the story whenever it comes. Already one of my favorite splashes of the new year.

Strange Girl # 14
Rick Remender-Nick Stakal

How should I explain this book....hmmm....it's kind of like in Buffy when the apocalypse starts to happen, but it's narrowly averted, except here, it's not averted, and so our main character goes on a mindbending trip through hell.

Rick Remender is definitely one of my favorite writers right now. I love the choices he makes in his stories, and I love the way his characterse think and speak. There's a lot of humor in it, but it's also very serious. I guess since I brought it up, he's sort of Whedon-ish in that respect, but I actually am not a big Whedon fan. I think Remender has a lot more range, particularly in comics, and this and Fear Agent are two of my most look-forward-to books each month.

I definitely have a soft spot for heavy religious iconography, and occult bends to stories, and Strange Girl really fits that bill. And does it without falling into a ton of mopey goth type cliches.

The art, I'm not quite as sold on. It's very versatile I give it that. But imagine this book with like a JH Williams working on it. It would really jump to the next level. I definitely think the ideas for the art are great, and I like how hard Remender seems to be pushing his artist. But if there's a week point to this book it's the art.

But yeah, I definitely recommend Remender to anyone. He's good stuff.

Seven Soldiers of Victory; Civil War; Local # 8

Seven Soldiers of Victory
Grant Morrison-Various Artists

Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory is point blank, a tour-de-force, in every sense that word can mean. The premise off the series is seven heroes strung out through time, who never meet, are part of a team, unbeknownst to themselves, fighting to save the world against an aged fairy race called the Sheeda, who have come to harvest mankind.

The series is built on these seven mini-series, which though best read in the order they are collected in the trades in, can be read seperately as their own adventures, as their own self-contained origin stories.

The series starts at issue 0 and then has the seven mini-series, which are kind of origin tales, finally concluding with issue 1 of The Seven Soldiers of Victory. The structure alone of the story is worth the price of admission. To say nothing of Morrison's meditations on writing, magic, the devolution of society, history and time.

It would not be a stretch to compare Morrison's contemporary work to that of Robert Anton Wilson, Phillip K. Dick, and Alan Moore. The man is on top of his game, and the artists in this series respond to his call. Each series has it's own distinctive look and flavor. Just as an exercise in characterization the series is worthwhile.

I really do hope that DC collects the entire run in one huge absolute edition, because this work is that important. However, it would not be somewhat appropriate if they don't, because the series itself kind of operates through the seems of the DC universe. And I definitely think once you have read this, it changes the DC world for you. It's a definite companion piece to Infinite Crisis, and I highly reccomend it. But make sure you are in it for the long haul. This is a story that once it gets going is impossible to let go, but it's also an easy story to dismiss based on the early issues. Stick with it, because the payoff is worth it.

Civil War
Mark Millar-Steve McNiven

Well it's over now. The blueprint for the new Marvel World has been put forth. And now it's time to look back and see what what we've ended up with. Is Civil War perfect? For what it is supposed to be, in terms of setting new ground rules for the Marvel world it definitely accomplished it's task. Where a lot of the problems come in, are from expectations of this event to be like an Crisis on Infinite Earths, which it certainly is nowhere near that epic. And then on top of that, there is the predictable niggling over piddly details of whether you buy certain characters being one way or the other.

For me the character issue was never a huge one. Sure there are a few moments where you wonder if say, Reed Richards, would really be that devious. But I was able to suspend my disbelief as a reader, in large part thanks to the art of Steve McNiven, who I believe has set a new high water mark for the tighted ones. The emotion that he is able to convey in characters faces, and postures--you could read this book without Millar's words, and enjoy it as much, or more.

Millar's writing has been equally strong for the most part. There have been several brilliant exchanges through the book, in particular the one between the Punisher, Spider-man, and Captain America, that I will remember for awhile. Is this book as strong as Millar's Ultimates? No. But it's also only 7 issues long. And for being that cramped, I think Millar does a good enough job.

Where this book is important I believe, is in marking out the new direction for Marvel and the 616 universe. This work is nothing if not a manifesto for the new Marvel era. Hopefully we can expect more of these timely political books now that the Marvel world has been brought a little farther into the real world it's always said it's a part of. In many ways Civil War can servce as a refocusing point for the universe, and allow for a better exploitation of the advantages that the Marvel 616 has over say the DC universe. I think in that respect, whether it's everything you wanted or not, it is an extremely important book, and anyone wanting an entry point into Marvel Comics for the next year should pick up the core book(which reminds me, I've heard a lot of people complain about all of the extra books that you supposedly have to pick up--having finished Civil War, I really do think all that you need to know is contained within the pages of those 7 issues. If you are reading it, and want to know more about a specific character related event, you can definitely go pick up their book(as I did with Amazing Spider-man a few times) but it is hardly essential that you do this, and I can't really stress that enough. YOU ONLY NEED TO READ THE 7 MILLAR ISSUES).

And I know we aren't supposed to do this, but since both companies have been so event laden...here is my ranking of events between the two companies from the last two years:
1. 52
2. Civil War
3. Identity Crisis
4. Countdown to Infite Crisis
5. House of Stupid M
6. Infinite Crisis

Up next we have another DC countdown to something or other, and from Marvel World War Hulk.

Local # 8
Brian Wood-Ryan Kelly

Kind of a nice book to review as a change of pace from the superhero books up above. Local is this indie book that each issue takes place in a diffrent place of the country, and kind of is about the smaller things in life, which are usually the things that matter most.

This issue takes place in Wicker Park, Chicago, and takes place mostly between a diner and two apartments. It's about a waitress named Megan(who I gather most of the series is about) as she is kind of in that mid-20's crisis point of deciding what she wants to do with the love in her life. If she wants to stay with a nowhere guy who makes her happy, or go with a rich guy who can buy her things and give her a future, but who she doesn't really like.

It's really a wonderful piece of character writing, and it's a testament to the creative team that the story feels as quiet yet important as it does. Reading this book you really do hear the wind whipping leaves through the air, and all the diner sounds and congestion. You really do get into Megan's headspace for the duration of the book, and can understand where she's at as a person. It's definitely a wonderful book, and I look forward to catching the whole run in trade once it's collected. Supposedly the series basically follows Megan from 18-32, which is completely fascinating to me.

As an aside, in my creative writing class in college, the idea was thrown around that men could not write women characters believeably. This is another book that counteracts that arguement, as Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly do a wonderful job telling Megan's story. A lot of good writing can happen when your characters are treated as humans, not sex objects.

Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears # 1; Spider-Man Reign # 3; Wormwood Gentlemen Corpse # 5

Ghostrider: Trail of Tears # 1
Garth Ennis-Clayton Crain

Let's see...war, the west, vengence, what makes a hero--all by Garth Ennis, like you're not going to check this book out. For a book subtitled trail of tears, it really hits the mark of what you'd hope for. For a book about a flaming skull spirit of vengence, the cultural and political analysis is suprising and worth the dime.

The dialouge sometimes seems to be a tad overwrought for what it's going for, but the content of what the book is about makes you extremely forgiving.

Ghost Rider Trail of Tears starts off in the tail end of the american civil war, and examines race relations, who really profits from war, and a whole mess of issues which almost set you up perfectly for the haunting image on the final page of the book.

To say this book is in Ennis' wheelhouse would be a massive understatement. But it definitely has potential. For all the talk of The Boys being the new preacher, Ghost Rider seems to more closely hit those themes and I would definitely reccomend it to any fan of Preacher or Ennis.

The artwork is fantastic. It bounces between sepia colored paintings of horrific detail, to more impressionistic nightmares.

I was apprehensive about reading a Ghost Rider book, because I'm not really a fan of the character, but you really don't need to be to enjoy this book.

Definitely a worthwhile read.

Spider-man Reign
Kaare Andrews-Jose Villarrubia

This book is really starting to piss me off. It could be so good, and it just continues to be so overwrought, so derrivitive, so geriatric that three issues in I really wonder how the conclusion is going to redeem all the time I've already put into this book hoping it would get traction.

As it stands, this book one issue away from it's conclusion is still really not worth reading. If you always wanted to see an aged Peter Parker mope his way around with a bunch of other old men, then this is the book for you. I mean, it's like nobody in this book is middle aged. It's all little kids saving the day, and old men.

The art is pretty nice, but it is the same every issue. It's been raining(of course it would be raining) all book long. Maybe it's playing on seasonal depression everywhere by just having a complete air of gloom, but I would kill for something NOT drab.

The dialouge is crap. I actually find myself skipping much of it halfway through because it's so pretensious. The first person narrative is even worse.

Instead of reading this, read Dark Knight Returns, and past a picture of spider-man over all the images of batman in that book. Trust me, it will be a lot more fun.

Wormwood Gentlemen Corpse
Ben Templesmith

Now here is a book that's a real hoot. This issue is almost entirely self-contained, so far as I could understand, and it centers around going to watch drunken leprachauns fight in an arena. If you're at all a fan of deadpan but over the top zombie humor this book is for you. Just a really fun read, and a joy to let your eyes move over.

Did I mention drunken leprachauns fighting it out with busted beer bottles? Because surely I did. Coming off the dismal gloom of Spider-man Reign, this was a lovely book to come to. The sense of humor is spot on. Very dark humor.

The central character of a worm that inhabits decayed bodies is extremely charming and this is a book I will definitely be looking to pick up from here on out. I fully reccomend it to all of my friends.

SHAZAM!: The Monster Society of Evil # 1; Fell # 7; The Dark Tower # 1

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil # 1
Jeff Smith

The one word to describe what I felt reading this book by Jeff Smith, creator of Bone, is giddy. This book which begins Jeff Smith's take on the character of Captain Marvel is just sublime. This should be current DC continuity, it's so good. This is a book that really brings out the magic and amazement of the superhero genre, as well as a lot of the humor. Watching Captain Marvel buy a hotdog is a great joy.

The book is rife with make-you-smile moments involving Billy Batson and Captain Marvel. Though at it's core it is about a homeless child coming from a tragic past, the mood is always two steps away from happiness. Shazam just makes you feel so good to be reading a comic.

Jeff Smith's artwork for the book matches the writing, and in many cases carries the day. This is a book you can enjoy without any of the words. Just a real capturing of the genre of superheroes--not an easy thing to do, and great talents have been far lesss enjoyable while doing so. This is a book that definitely reminds me why I still read superhero books and why I liked them so much as a kid. I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone that was even slightly interested in either Jeff Smith or the superhero genre.

I can only hope that this opening adventure that will eventually tally four issues will beget many more from Jeff Smith who is one of the truly great talents in the field today.

Fell # 7
Warren Ellis-Ben Templesmith

It seems like forever since I've reviewed Fell. It's been ages since an issue has come out of this terrifici book. And the question is whether it maintains the level of excellence it had previously set in the prior 6 issues. I have to say, this issue is terrific, and if it were any other book I'd probably be lavishing praise upon it. But as a new edition of Fell it's rather anti-climactic.

As an aside, if you're wondering what the hell Fell is, it's a book about a Detective Fell working in the morally bankrupt town of Snowtown, a town which is essentially been given over to people's worst vices, and essentially lives in a perpetual nightmare of existence. Every issue is selfcontained and priced at 1.99. It's attempting to give you a satisfying story, working within the pamphlet side of comics, to sort of disprove that 1, comics need be so expensive, and 2 that you can't tell a good self-contained story in a single issue. Paul Dini is doing this as well in Detective Comics it should be noted.

But anyways. What we have in issue 7 is another issue basically locked in an interrogation room while the events outstanding are rehashed by Detective Fell, and he attempts to play his little logic games to nab the criminal. The problem with this is, we've already done that in the series, and the town of Fell is interesting enough that I would have liked to had Detective Fell out roaming it a little more. The other problem to it is, that this issue doesn't really contain any sort of logical games. Just a kind of indictment on the legal system in a note we've heard before. All in all, considering the calibre of what came before, it's very blase. It almost feels like the book was just shoved out to shove one out after all this time, and there wasn't really any passion behind it's making from Ellis. Which is something that happens a lot to me when I start Ellis series. They usually start off very strong and full of a lot of great stuff, and then he seems to lose interest, and the book suffers. I hope that doesn't happen to Fell because it's a book I get legitimately excited about reading, but this issue is really nothing exceptional for the Fell team.

There is some cool art in here by Templesmith, but since 90 percent of the story happens in a gray four walled room, it does seem kind of boring even for him. I suppose he could have done a better job of playing with the space of that room. I mean, if Linklater can do it in Tape surely it can be done here.

All in all, if you've never read Fell you should start with the other issues. This isn't bad, but it's not what I'd use to convince people to read the book.

In fact the most exciting thing about this book, was Matt Fractions little short story staring match/promo for Casanova, a book I've been meaning to check out. The small three page story is better than the entirety of the Fell portion of the book, and has reminded me that I must go and get the trades for Casanova so I can figure out what the hell is going on enough to read the monthly.

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born
Peter David-Jae Lee

Holy crap I had no idea what I was going to walk into. I had heard of the Dark Tower books and had some sort of vague notion about what they might be about, but after reading the new comic book story based on that world--wow. I will be getting myself to the bookstore. Fun stuff. Wizards, gunslingers, psychics, crazed apocolyptic vibe--so cool.

And without having access to the source material I can't really truly assess how good or bad Marvel did at translating this work over, but I have to bet good, because on it's own this is a fantastic book and one I look forward to following immensley.

The writing is like something a character from a Cormac McCarthy book might say, and the artwork is incredible. I mean, it's not suprising as Jae Lee is one of the real talents in comics, and Peter David has always been a pretty terrific story teller in the medium. It's books like this that will catch Marvel up to DC's Vertigo imprint.

Just fantastic stuff. Definitely reccomend the book to anyone whether they are familiar with the Stephen King work or not. This will appeal to you if you are into westerns on any level. Wizards on any level. Horror on any level. Fantastic opening salvo. Production values through the roof. There's even an added short story in the back of the book by Robin Furth.

EXCITING!

Criminal # 4; Punisher War Journal # 3; Fear Agent 10

Criminal # 4
Ed Brubaker-Sean Phillips

If you're into comics, you already know the score on this book. I always hesitate to even bother reviewing it because of that reason. But if you're not into comics and you're looking to read one of the best books out there, and enjoy Noir tales at all, then this is the book for you. Brubaker as he shows in most of the things he's writing these days, is a master storyteller who knows how to unfold a character on the side of your pool and make them the most captivating thing under the sun. Not because these are perfect statuesque models of humanity, but because these are flawed unadmirable people. Junkies and Cowards are your heros in this book.

But man does it sing. Sean Phillips artwork for the series is restrained and beautiful. It's mostly comprised of quiet scenes of people getting their morning coffee, jarred with very few, but very effective flourishes of blood drenched corpses as the body count continues to silently stack up.

Like I was saying, if you're into comics at all, you know about this book, you're reading it, and this review one way or the other will have no real effect on you. If you're not into comics though, go pick this up. It doesn't involve superheroes on any level. It's not overly violent. There isn't a lot of cursing. It's just tight tight storytelling of a dark noir tale.



Punisher War Journal # 3
Matt Fraction-Ariel Oliveti

Despite the fact that Fraction completely rewrites the portion of this that is in the main Civil War Book (I don't know if these errors might not be intentional, since the book is told from Frank's messed up vantage point, or if it's just sloppy editing) this is a good book that just needs patience from the readers. The talent working on this book is exceptional. And while Civil War is dragging the plot of the book down, the book works as chopped up bits that have been seemed together. The writing actually on each page is a lot of fun and I geniunely enjoy reading it.

The art of the book is the highpoint for me. I absolutely adore Ariel Olivetti's work, and will be very interested in seeing more work.

This book is far from perfect, and I feel like I have to appologize for it a lot both in reviews and when I talk to others about it. But I promise you if you give this one time, I am pretty sure given the evidence we already have, that it's going to be a terrific book. Not every book comes sprinting out of the gate. Punisher War Journal probably won't hit it's groove until the second arc or further. Which wouldn't even make it the first Punisher work in the last ten years that started off slowly.

And while it does seem a bit much to be picking up two punisher books per month, this one is so diffrent from Ennis's book that despite them both being about the same character, you really shouldn't hesitate. If you have room in your shopping bag, and some patience to wait through some early growing pains, pick this up. You'll seem so much more respectable when 6 months from now everyone is raving about how great this book is.



Fear Agent # 10
Rick Remender-Jerome Opena


Oh how I love my Fear Agent. I picked this book up only an issue ago, and have to say I am so not regretting it. Follwing the adventures of this drunken cowboy of an anti-hero through his bent up space adventures is a complete joy. I'm planning to go catch up on the rest of the series. But this is definitely a book I recommend.

It's a good thing to get away from the big two, because a lot of the independent publishers aren't as tied down by pandering to children. And so with Fear Agent we get a very adult book with lots of slime, grime, and boozing. The book is pretty funny, but definitely feels developed and multi-dimensional. There's a definite heart and soul to this book that even having only just jumped on is palpable. This is a book that for all the fun it is, feels very well thought out.

Rick Remender's essay defending the drug use of an earlier issue at the back of the book is a must read as well. A very interesting and provacative meditation on censorship and the need to show the very real effects that certian actions can have.

This is definitely a book to fill the hole leftover by some of the more mediocre books being put out by the big two, like in my opinion Green Lantern, The Flash(which is just bad), any book with the words Spider or man that doesn't also include the word Ultimate, and the now droning slodge through Planet Hulk.

Batman and the Mad Monk 5; Nightly News 3; Kabuki: The Alchemy 8

Batman and the Mad Monk # 5
Matt Wagner

The most straightforward yarn of the bunch this week, Matt Wagner's Batman and the Mad Monk trudges on. It still feels too quality a book to dislike, but too run of the mill to really lavish praise on. For my money it's a very "meh" Batman book, but considering Morrison is on sabbatical from Batman, it will have to do.

The artwork is still from that Year One era Batman, with a little bit of an upgrade. Batman gets very bloody in this issue, and it looks pretty cool all told. I would appreciate more in this book if the campiness of it were played up. It's kind of by the numbers anyways with respect to the story, so it would be nice if it played with that fact more. The most exciting flourishes in the book, are the ones that have their tongue poked firmly in Batman camplore.

A lot does have to be said for the nostalgiac feeling you get from entering this sort of Batman world which wasn't so highly developed. But I do think Morrison did what Wagner should be aiming for with this book, a lot better with his Son of the Demon/Ninja Man Bat arc.

So yeah if you are starved for some Batman, this or Detective Comics will tide you over till Morrison gets back on the case.

The Nightly News # 3
Jonathan Hickman

So glad I stayed with this book with all the potential is showed in the first two issues. Issue three is where the book has finally found it's stride. Between the story and the political essaying, everything is in balance this issue.

The book is subtitled "education. ritalin. porn. rehab. choice" and that's a very good guid for what this issue tackles. The opening salvo about the american education system is a fantastic read and has me excited for more. The dialouge in this issue has taken on a definite poetic bend, and is fantastic to read.

Oh yeah, if you didn't know...the book is about putting a bullet through Lou Dobbs forehead. And I'm not talking metaphorically. Frankly it's amazing a book like this is being put out, but I guess if it were being put out by DC instead of Image, it probably would have already been pulled off the shelves. If you're at all angry about american society and the role politics and media play in it, this is your book. If you're at all interested in really interesting non-linear art, this is your book. Definitely the most intense read that you can get off the shelves without having to hide it under your mattress when you get home.

Do yourself a favor...

Kabuki: The Alchemy

David Mack

If there was a capital "C" comics label out there, Kabuki: The Alchemy would fall right into it. This book is basically free license for magic funtime artist David Mack to let his imagination take a flying blue yonder into jaunts unknown. Whether it's paneling, the style he's drawing in, the cut outs he's using--he'll do anything to express the ideas in his head.

This book centers around a dream and a debate about the nature and compulsion to write. It's a manifesto it seems of what drives Mack to do what he does and how he does. I mean, you'll note that I'm not really referring to the characters of the book doing this, because...well frankly I don't remember them at this point anymore, and they really just seemed to be placeholders on the page for the text and design that went on around and through them.

All in all this is a fascinating work, even if the philosophy of it doesn't interest you. Mack's art is always interesting, and in this book you can kind of get behind the mask of the art and see how it ticks.

It's a beautifully naked work to be sure.

Blade of the Immortal; Snake Woman; Superman Confidential

Blade of the Immortal # 120

Hiroaki Samura

I actually started reading Blade of the Immortal in high school, that's how long this book has been going. Even then I was two manga collections behind. But I loved the story then, and I think it's still good now. It's weird to jump back into it now though. In case you're wondering, by the way, Blade of the Immortal is about an immortal Samurai who must kill 1,000 evil souls in order to finally die. The story is actually more about this young girl Rin, and her quest for vengence against a samurai clan called the itto-ryu.

Anyways, it's all done by one man. The art is at times breathtaking. The characters are all fully fleshed out three dimensional characters, and just on the whole it's a very classy tale. It is exceptionally violent however. But it balances that out with many moments of stillness and subtlety. When it is finally done, it would not be at all suprising for it to take it's place next to Lone Wolf and Cub as one of the all-time great mangas.

I don't know if I'd reccomend just jumping right in right now though. This is the 3rd part of a 4 part arc, and the book is extremely jargon heavy, and it can be very hard to follow what is being talked about, and whom. There is a handy glossary in the back, but more often than not I chose to be confused than enlightened with it.

Blade of the Immortal is an extremely quality book. If you like Samurai and really good interesting diverse characters, this is a good book to read. But I would definitely try and catch up first.

Snake Woman #6
Zeb Wells-Dean Hyrapiet

I didn't pick these two books to review together intentionally. I swear. It just happens to be a coincidence that Snake Woman is a book about a god that has to kill the reincarnarated souls of sixty-eight british explorers who desecrated an ancient temple in the 18th century. If she fails to kill all sixty-eight within a single lifetime all are reborn again and she has to start over.

Very interesting premise, and the art while it probably would be more interesting stylized diffrently is good enough. The dialouge is okay. The characterizations...meh.

It's really not a wholey remarkable book. There's nothing wrong with it, and if the premise interests you, you might be interested in reading it. I mean, I can't lie, I'm sort of interested in picking this up again, but not thaaat strongly. It's a good mid level book if you're looking to get something that's not Marvel or DC, and not centered around a white male aryan-type character, or just a Zeb Wells fan.

Superman Confidential #3

Darwyn Cooke-Tim Sale

Good lord there's a lot of good Superman books out there these days. And I'm not even reading The Johns-Donner Superman. Superman Confidential combines the wonderful talents of Tim Sale and Darwyn Cook to tell the story of the first time Superman encountered Kryptonite.

The art for this book is wonderful, and you could really read the book without the words. This is two masterful visual storytellers busting out the fat yarns. Unlike Batman Confidential, both the art and the writing are up to snuff, and if you're looking for a third Superman book the chuck on your shelves this is it.

That said, if you're wondering whether to replace All-star Superman with this, don't. It's a good story, but this is not New Frontier or Dark Knight Returns for either of these creators. It's a nice collaboration, and a good to very good book, but it's really just icing ontop of your superman cake.

With all of this talent working on Batman and Superman, I can only question why it is Wonder Woman, the supposed other part of the big three, hasn't got half the talent working on even one of her books, none of which can bother to come out on time.

If it sounds like I'm complaining...I am.

Justice Society of America # 2; Phonogram # 4; Scalped # 1; Crossing Midnight # 2

Justice Society of America# 2

Geoff Johns-Dale Eaglesham-Ruy Jose

As good as Justice League of America by New York times best-selling author Brad Meltzer is--Justice Society of America is just flat out better. You don't have to know anything about the Justice Society to enjoy this.

If you enjoy superhero pathos, multi-dimensional tighted ones, especially ones that haven't had a billion bad TV shows and movies made about them, this is it for you. Honestly, this book has to be read for the Starman character alone. He's easily my favorite thing about this book. His rambles are brilliantly funny and absurd. He's completely out to lunch, and yet somehow is allowed to walk around spouting off madness left and right.

If you're going to be reading a mainstream DC comics book, or any kind of superhero team book, this is the best one out there. I really don't even have to say much in that direction. It's just accepted now. Everyone knows. This is the best superhero team book out there. Deal with it.

Art looks good too. And if you want to stay with the major DC events this year, this is a must buy book because apparently this is where it's going down.

Phonogram # 4
Kieron Gillen-Jamie Mckelvie

So my favorite book came out finally. After reading the first three issues last month, 30 days felt like a death march through all things eternity. I mean, I worried honestly. I shouldn't have. But I did. Would I still love this book at 4? The ante has been raised on every book, can I make an obvious Spinal Tap cliche here? No? Screw you too.

Anyways, Kieron Gillen broke my brain on this one. Like there was some tipping point in the book where everything I was keeping track of went in on itself one to many times, and I crashed. And what I was left with, was really freaking cool pictures by McKelvie, and really freaking cool words by Gillen. I don't mean it to sound backhanded to say that even an idiot hillbilly could enjoy this book. It's kind of a thing where...do words and pictures stimulate you at all--because this is a full on sexing.

Issue four is basically everything the book's been talking about to this point, made real. And honestly, there had to have been a ton of trepidation about that. It's fun to talk about something as an allusion to what it might be, but to actually go through, show it, and have it live up to what you've been talking around, is exceptional. If either the art or the writing had failed at any time it all would have come crumbling down in a pile of silly mash. That this didn't happen only further illistrates that the cats making this book are on the level.

It'd be silly of me after all of this time to only say buy the book you retarded tree diddler. But that's all I've got.

Scalped
Jason Aaron-R.M. Guera

Jason Aaron only continues to impress. First off, you should be reading his other book The Other Side and now you should be reading his fascinating Sopranos on the reservation book Scalped.

The book follows an anti-hero named Dashiell Bad Horse who has returned to the third world apocolypse that is contemporary reservation life. The book makes no bones about the fact that native americans in this country live in a state that could easily be described as third world. And right in the heart of america no less. The adversarial tone of reservation life towards american government, makes this with The Other Side a timely book.

Honestly if I have a complaint with the book, it's that the art sometimes seems jumbeled. Sometimes it nails it, sometimes it doesn't. The color tones I think take something away from teh story making it look too much like 100 Bullets when it's really something else. The dialgoue of the book, as with his other book, is fantastic though. And the characterizations are exceptionally strong.

I actually like the writing of Scalped more than The Other Side but the artistic visioin isn't quite as strong as Cameron Stewarts. And though I know it's not fair to compare, but hey, what the heck. I am.

If like me you've always found reservation tales compelling, or like hard boiled noirish type stories, this is a good book to check out.

Crossing Midnight # 2
Mike Carey-Jim Fern-Mark Pennington

Crossing Midnight is that japanese story of two twins born on each side of midnight, one with the powers of invulnerablity granted by a japanese god, and the other...not. It's a very interesting change of pace book, in line with a kind of adult fairy tale.

It's not fast paced at all, but everytime you reach the end of an issue, you just have to read the next issue. The most intriguing thing about the book is actually the non-mythological familial disfunction that the story weaves around and through. The book has the blunted feel of a family on the skids.

It's amazing to remember this is the same guy who is writing X-men right now for Marvel, and just makes me more interested to check out Mike Carey's other books. He's not an overt stylist of dialouge like Garth Ennis. Nor are his stories playing crazy and loose with the paneling like a Bendis project. But he's definitely got his own voice. And there are some incredibly clever moments in this book.

It can sometimes feel like a lot of these books just kind of run together in pacing style, Crossing Midnight is a book that takes it's time. It's the assured narrative of a master storyteller. Mike Carey's confidence in this project is what carries it through in it's execution. He makes you believe that your patience in the book will be rewarded, and that you are in for the measured construction of something really beautiful.

In it's own way, it's unlike anything out there right now.

Action Philosophers Giant Book 1; The Killer 2; Punisher War Journal 2

Action Philosophers Giant Size Book 1
Fred Van Lente-Ryan Dunlavey

Oh the halicoyn days of my "I...uh...think I maybe want to sort of major in philosophy" youth. I was so young and idealistic. All those bright sexy young ideas floating around. Yes. Those were the days. Action Philosophers reminds of those funtime special carnival freakshot days. It's got that wide eyed fun of big ideas by big people living in important times.

Backing up, in case it's not self-explanitory, what Action Philosphers is, is a comic that kind of distills about three philosphers or great thinkers down to their essence, and through the magic of comic humor makes what would otherwise be very daunting to understand, very easy to learn. The art is bombastic in that grand old cartooning sense. The jokes for the most part work. But on the whole, what you are in for, is something that at times might feel slightly textbooky. There is definitely a sense reading this book of "hey, wait a minute, you're trying to educate me, aren't you?" But it is a lot of fun.

It's a book that is completely diffrent from what else is out there, and in small doses, is really nice. If you are at all interested in philosophy then this is a great comic for you. If you also like a good humor book Action Philosphers will also appeal to you. You'll be better for having read it, that's for sure. Though your enjoyment level could vary depending on what you came into the book looking for.

The Killer
Matz-Luc Jacamon

This book is just the epitome of french cool. If you love stuff like the Professional, Ghost Dog, Le Samarouai, this book is for you. It mixes all of that into a very cynical world view that isn't afraid to engage contemporary politics(as much as one can be that was originally written in 1998 in France).

Just a really slick book. I've actually reviewed it before, but I wanted to reitterate that if you haven't started picking it up you are missing out.

In this issue we start to see the sanity of our hitman slip. The way this is shown through the art, is very cool. In fact that's the best word for this book. Cool.

Archaia Studios Press puts out fantastic quality books, and this is one of them. Do be reading.

Punisher War Journal # 2
Matt Fraction-Alive Olivetti

The writing in issue two takes a bit of a dive, with a seemingly inconsistent portrayal of Frank Castle, at times to embarrassingly silly degrees. It feels constrained and rushed in the writing. And the voice is not nearly as strong as it was in the first issue. But I can almost entirely blame all of this to being forced to tie into Marvel's Civil War. It's clear Fraction doesn't really enjoy wasting his time under the constrains of what's going on in Millar's book. Fraction's book almost seems to show contempt for the hoops Millar has thrown the Punisher through. The suspension of belief in Civil War that Cap and Punisher would work together that led to probably the best line of the entire series, is basically shredded to pieces in this book as being completely ridiculous. There is a real sense of contempt in Fraction's book when you really get down to it.

The art remains outstanding. I love to just look at this book. I love everything about the art. Even if I didn't have confidence in Fraction pulling this book off, I'd probably still pick it up just to enjoy the art. I mean, it's not like...life changing art or anything. But it's a lot of fun.

Getting back to Fraction though, if you look at the seems of this book, in combination with the stellar debut issue, I think it's clear this is going to be a fantastic run. Fractions vision of the Punisher is a huge contrast to what Ennis is doing, but it is just as compelling. The Bridge character and his pursuit of Castle is one of the best aspects of the book so far. Pretty much everything in this book that isn't shoe-horned into the Civil War story, is excellent, which bodes well for the future of this book. I think much like Ennis, the editors at Marvel will be best served to walk away and let Fraction go crazy.

I think a lot of people who picked this issue up, but not the first issue, might not give it a chance, and that would be a huge mistake. I think Fraction has a big future with the Big Two, and this Punisher run should serve as an effective salvo ushering in a bright new talent(Read Cassanova too, please).

Civil War #6; Strange Girl # 12; Battle Pope # 12

Civil War # 6
Mark Millar-Steve McNiven

If this isn't the most maligned good book out there I don't know what is. It's the book everyone buys to complain about to the smallest of details and I just plain don't understand it. I love Civil War. Not so much the exterior books, I've mostly stuck to the main book, and for my money it's wonderful. Politcal commentary on the state of america and civil liberties and how those things have been dictated by history, just flies off the pages of this book to gobsmack the reader in the face. So many readers are truly upset because the book is not supposed to take sides, but they feel it's slanted against Tony Stark's authoratian regime, which is a stand-in really for Dubya's Neo-Con vision of america and the world. Not to pull their cards, but I imagine most of them are closet republicans, and they deserve to feel a little uncomfortable, a little guilty, a little embarrassed by what's taken place in this country the last several years.

I'd say that's beside the point, and it's time to discuss the comic, but really that's the point of this book. Like Millar's The Ultimates this is not a book to stand idly by on the sideline of. The ad campaign says very directly Choose a Side. You're either for freedom and all the dangers that implies, or you're against it and all the baggage that carries.

My main complaint with Civil War is that in spite of the overly complained about delays, the book is going by too fast. This is a year long story really, like The Ultimates. I just don't see how this can come to a reasonable conclusion in 7 issues. The major battles are condensed to good looking skirmishes because of this. It's a 12 issue book that feels crammed into 7(which I believe is an extension of the original size the series was supposed to run). But aside from that, the writing is terrific--there's a line in here about the Punisher by Spider-man comparing him to Captain America that may be the best line of the whole series to this point--and the art--the art is amazing. So much of this book is being carried in the expressions and body language of the heroes, and McNiven has yet to disapoint. If you got rid of the words, the story would still make perfect sense, which is a testament to Millar-McNiven as a storytelling team.

Only one issue left on this series, so it's hard to say get out and read this right now if you aren't already, but this is basically shaping the Marvel 616 for the next year, and if you want to understand Marvel comics this year, it's a series you need to find time for.

*As good as this is, Millar's The Ultimates is this times better.


Strange Girl
Rick Remender-Nick Stakal

I am really becoming quite the Rick Remender fan. Last week I gave a thumbs up to Fear Agent this week Strange Girl gets the same reccomendation. Granted I don't know much of what's going on with the series, beyond we seem to have this girl, with possibly sorcerous powers, going into hell, to rescue someone she loves, that old tale, with nice little bits cribbed from Dante, it's good stuff.

The art is pretty striking and does a really good job of depeciting the blob of hell that our hero is going into. Narratively speaking, the story is kind of on a loop, which sets a nice tension that underscores all of the interactions. You really do fall into doubt with our hero Bethany.

The book is actually quite diffrent from Fear Agent. It really doesn't have the kind of ascerbic biting tone, and is definitely more gothic in flavor. The mood is entirely diffrent, which is something I like to see, because there's a lot of writers out there who seem to be writing the same wolf in diffrent skins.

But yeah if you're looking for something a little off the beaten path, kind of in that Hellboy type of mold, then this is a good book to check out.

Battle Pope
Robert Kirkman-Tony Moore

Yeah so you can't accuse me of not giving Kirkman every chance to hit me with something I like. For an author I wasn't initially enamored with, I've ended up picking up a lot of his titles, and I've finally found one(well two if you count Ultimate X-Men, though I'm still waiting to see on that) I really like. It's name is Battle Pope. And it's everything you could imagine a book called that would be.

The Pope basically rolls around town, punching people, having sex with loose women--basically the Pope for all intents and purposes is Project Pat. I don't really know the circumstances of the world he lives in, but it's very fascinating, with very incompetent demons running around trying to cause trouble. Santa Claus and Jesus as the Pope's useless deputies. It's a very fun enjoyable book, and really shows off Kirkman's wit, which he also put on display in Marvel Zombies to great effect.

The art by Tony Moore is very nice as well. It's very crisp. The coloring by Staples is really well done as well, in so far as I can judge things like that. But yeah, another really quality image book. There's a lot of them.

Styx Taxi: A little Twilight Music

Styx Taxi is an indie book put out by FWDbooks about a taxi company that picks up the recently deceased and drives them around for two hours before they go to their final resting place.

This collection is a series of short stories that have as their central theme the influence of music. Unfortunately the bulk of the stories seem like they would have done better without the constriction. There is definitely quality work here though and if you're in the mood for a more existential meditative book this is definitely something to look into.

"Sing Along"
Steve Goldman-Dan Goldman

I really enjoyed the art of this short. The concept of kind of a collage of people the drivers deal with is a plenty good one, and it's carried off pretty well. Though the captions with the song verse kind of impeded my ability to feel the weight of the story as a whole. It was hard to see through them to the page narratively speaking, I know they were working in concert with the panels, but I guess I'm not much for reading lyrics in text, and as a central narrative voice for the story, it didn't seem to work as well as you'd want something like that to work.

The little snippets of each person's story worked really well though, and I thought ignoring the captions yielded a more powerful and immediate story, which I enjoyed more.

"A Vita Coda"
Elizabeth Genco-Leland Purvis

This story about the driver Charon's love for a girl who plays the violin in the park has many of the same strengths and weaknesses of the earlier piece, though the art doesn't seem to be as consistently strong. Dom's interaction with Charon seems strange, and the way that he seems to throw a block in front of Charon that directly corresponds to what Charon is desiring is one of those things that you either buy or don't buy, and part of the reason that you don't buy it here is because the issue isn't really masked in anything, because of the compression that this story was put under, there wasn't a lot of room to beat around the bush, yet this is a story that is very much about a mood, and could use more space to stretch out in.

"Encore for My Babies"
Steve Goldman-Rami Efal

The best story of the book, really fantastic art. The lyrics on top of the first person captions on the first page were very difficult to read, and I was glad when it stopped. The dialouge was good, but lacked the succinct brilliance of the first story in the collection. But all in all, definitely the most satisfying story of the collection.

Ultimate Spiderman 1-103; Fear Agent 9; X-23: Target X 1

Ultimate Spider-man 1-103(Entire Run to this point)
Brian Michael Bendis-Mark Bagley

Yeah so the whole run. From an author I kind of really don't like and an artist who draws Mary Jane more like the Green Goblin than his Green Goblin. But I did it. I gave in. Plowed through it. And did it. And you know what sucks? I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it moreso than any Spider-man story in my entire childhood. This was the Spider-man I had in my minds eye growing up from '82 to present. These were the fumes that I was feeling in those awful Maximum Carnage and Clone Saga days.

Bendis doesn't just get Spider-man, he knocks him out of the park. So much so that even though I think the art is annoying, especially compared to the art in the all-time great Spidey stories, I think this should be the canonical version of Spider-man. Like 200 hundred years from now if I was trying to impart to someone the essence of what Spider-man was and was about, I would give them the wonderful Raimi movies, and this monster of a run.

Don't get me wrong, some things in the run really made me angry. The way Gwen Stacy was handled in the book almost made me stop reading. It's been awhile since I've been that angry at a book. If I hadn't been reading it like a year or two after it happened, I would have written an extremely angry letter.

In fact after that point the series sort of hit a lull. Though Spider-man's interactions with Kitty Pryde were possibly my favorite things in the book. For all his failures with Gwen Stacy, Bendis nails MJ and Kittie Pryde. Maybe he has a thing against blondes? Who knows. But Peter's relationships with both women are incredibly sweet and heartfelt.

But the Clone Saga, which is the current arc. Whoa. The Clone Saga was such a lame thing in the 616 universe, that it got me to stop reading Spider-man altogether. In fact considering what a lull the book was in, I was really dreading coming to it. But this version of the Clone Saga, is possibly the worst most horrific thing to do to a main character in a universe. You basically get to watch every single thing that Bendis has built up into Peter's life over 100 issues get ripped apart in the most cruel manner possible. I mean it's built into the Peter Parker character that he's this guilt ridden kid who always seems to lose even when he's winning, but you almost feel like this is too far. I have no idea how Peter is going to come out on the other side of this arc believably but I am really interested to see him try.

I know there's a lot of doubts about the Ultimate Universe at times, and hell, at times it seems like a horrible idea, because bad writers think it's just their place to simply retell the old stories they read as kids, but the good writers see it as an opportunity to give us something new and dare I say better. If at the end of the day the Ultimate Universe really only gives us Ultimate Spider-man and The Ultimates as enduring works, that's fine, because both may be some of the best most significant pieces to come out of Marvel in 20 years. Even though it's a lot to catch up on with Bendis run, it's very much worth it. A lot of the guy's stuff annoys the crap out of me, but his visions of Spider-man and Daredevil are as good as anyones.

Fear Agent # 9
Rick Remender-Jerome Opena

This was the first issue of Fear Agent that I've read so I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to describe the emotional impact of the things that happen in the book, but I can say it's a book I plan to keep up with. The book can best be described as something like a cross between Batman, Buck Rogers, and the X-Files. It's gritty first person narration combined with lasertastic action against weird aliens.

The art by Opena is very good and really fits the mixture of the above elements. The main reason I plan to keep reading though is Remender's writing, which though at times a little unpolished(mainly though in the form of oddly placed captions, which isn't something I normally notice, but there's a few of them that unnecessarily break up the narration simply for the sake of putting one in a panel) is a lot of fun. There's been discussion on some message boards I post at who should be the next Detective Comics writer after Paul Dini finishes up, and my top two for that gig would have to be either Matt Fraction or Rick Remender. I think either one would do an exceptional job at it. This isn't to say that Fear Agent isn't enough. It's just that I like Remender's writing in Fear Agent so much, I'd like to see it in more books that I read. Because I'm lazy like that. Rather than chase the author, I'd appreciate it if he would just come to the books I read.

Add another one to the pull list. Fear Agent is good for what ails ye.

X-23: Target X
Craig Kyle and Chris Yost-Mike Choi and Sonia Oback

Books like these, with two authors(and in this case two artists as well) make me wish I had a writing partner. I think it'd be a blast. But I digress. Does X-23 qualify as a guilty pleasure? Because I read the first X-23 story, and felt guilty about really enjoying it, and I've got that same feeling here. It's not a life changing meditation on some great universal truth. It's not savagely political. It's just a nice yarn about this cloned from wolverine lonely psycho girl with toe claws.

She of that long line of blank slate psycho girl killing machines. Harboring dark childhood traumas. Hmm...maybe it is savagely political. Perhaps if Kathleen Hanna were writing this book...hmmm that would be cool.

Anywho. The art is really clean nice eye candy, though at times X-23(or "Laura") looks a little wonky. But all in all, like the story solid.

There's nothing truly outstanding about this book. But there's nothing wrong with it either. I will be sticking with it, much like Supergirl because I like the character, but if you're not terribly interested in the character, there's nothing here that would really compel you to bump something else off your list for this.