What I Read This Week

Justice Society of America #11 -- "Thy Kingdom Come" continues here, as various characters -- KC Superman, Power Girl, Damage, the new Judomaster, and another new legacy character -- strive to find their place in this world. Johns and Eaglesham consistantly pump out solid, entertaining superheroics every month, and make it look effortless in the process. It's been mostly a quiet story so far, but this issue amps up the violence a bit, as Judomaster battles a team of Yakuza assassians who would make Mike W. Barr (that magnificent bastard) proud. Speaking of which, could this by one of the reasons why Katana changed her costume? I always have a good time reading JSoA.

Steel Watch: Not much for Nate to do this time out, as he gets some panel time, but lines or real action. Ah well, at least he is prominent on the cover.

X-Men: Die By The Sword #4 -- It's more fighting and talking in the Classic Claremont style, with lots of thought baloons an blows to the face. This issue is a bit scattered, with three disparate storylines all going on at once. None are all that groundbreaking, but they are nice enough. The art is by "Cafu" (Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano), who I am not familiar with, but it matches up well with Santacruz's work from this series, and has a nice style to it. The finale is set up, and while I tend to enjoy this kind of Excalibur story, it's really not for everyone. I get the feeling that this was supposed to run in New Excalibur #25 and Exiles #100 as a pair of double-sized issues crossover.

All-New Atom #18 -- Ryan Choi usually has enough on his plate in the backwards backwoods burb of Ivy Town (Motto: We're Cautiously Optimistic!), but when the Amazon Ace rolls in, things get even weirder. Simone and Norton turn in another fine Atom-ic adventure, with plenty of inanity which should satisfy most of the target audience. ANA is a title which keeps things light and airy without condescending to the reader or constantly winking at them. The innuendo and other silly "sex" talk in this issue (centering arounf Ryan's not-entirely-out-of-place fantasies, and his inability to stop blabbering like an idiot) could have come off as crass, but Simone makes them bubbly and charming. And Norton draws a powerful and elegant Diana without making her look like a stripper, so that's a big plus, too.

Annihilation: Conquest #2 -- The galaxy is going to hell in a handbasket, so who do you call in? Why Starlord and the Suicide Squad of Space, of course! So while Pete Quill and his team clandestinely organize the resistance on Hala, Ultron makes his move to eliminate one of the biggest threats. DnA are firing on all cylinders here, piling mystery on top of mystery, all set up on the foundation of cosmic carnage. Raney's pencils have a noticeable bit of a cartoon-y influence at times (especially on Quasar), which is a different take for this series, but not bad. Great adventure and intrigue, without any wannabe politicking -- I'm sold.

This week's Pick of the Pile is A:C. JSoA made a legitimate threat (Judomaster... *swoon*), but the Cosmic Crew had the right mix and got just about everything right. Plus, Blaastar!

So what did YOU read this week?