What I Read This Week

Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin #5 -- Tony Stark, that cool exec with... ah, you know, marches right up to the Mandarin's castle and confronts the would-be Khan of the entire world. Of course, he has his special atache case in tow, and after escaping the Mandarin's wrath, the stage is set for the epic showdown of East vs West, Magic vs Technology, and Tyranny vs Freedom! Canete's depiction of the classic red-and-golds is great, and his Mandarin is vile and vicious and all those things you want the Mandarin to be. Combined with Casey's faithful but still modernist take on the classic Iron Man-Mandarin fight from 40 years ago, and you have one really nice piece of superhero fiction. I have been really enjoying this series and the finale promises to be one but knock-down, drag-out.

Superman #673 -- The saga of the new Insect Queen reaches it's finale here, with Superman desperately trying to break free from the Queen's psychic grip long enough to stop her from seeding Earth as her new hive planet. Meanwhile, just what is going on with young Chris Kent and the bizarre engery build-ups he is experiencing? I still maintain that Busiek is a great choice for this title, and the care and craft that was put into such a "small" story arc is a good example of why. Busiek juggles a few concurrent plots and then resolves them all satisfactorily, without stepping on Geoff Johns' or anyone else's toes in the process. I am very disappointed that he is leaving to do Trinity, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I really liked the mass and fluidity that Pete Vale's artwork brings to the table as well.

Tiny Titans #1 -- SOLD OUT! Can you believe it? I had to put in a reorder, because evidently Borderlands had sold out in less than 45 minutes. Yikes!

The Pick of the Pile is Enter The Mandarin, unsurprisingly. My Iron Fan colors are flying high right now, and there's no sign of any slowdown in the foreseeable future.