What I Read This Week

Doom Patrol #4 -- Nile Caulder and the rest of the Doom Patrol have left a lot of bodies in their wake, so when the Dead begin to Rise, well, let's just say that they are in for it now.  And in the Metal Men backup, can our robotic heroes stand up to the fury of The Clique?!  Justiano does a good job filling in for Porter here, really pushing the horror angle of Giffen's story.  I especially like his use of the 6-panel grid page layout to open the story, which quickly comes unhinged (literally).  The Metal Men feature is a hoot, as usual, and combined they make for one heck of a good comic book.

House of Mystery #19 -- Cain is going to take back his House, no matter the cost!  Well, the cost might be higher than it seems... Things are starting to meander in this storyline, and it's not really clear where Sturges is headed.  The Cain feature was nice, though.

Red Tornado #3 -- Red Tornado and his sister Red Torpedo set out to track down Red Volcano, who in turn is on his way to seek out Red Inferno!  (Got all that?)  Similarly named robots aside, I enjoyed this issue and the continued fleshing out of Reddy and his extended "family."  Red Volcano is certainly a badass.  Nothing Earth-shattering but solid.

Warlord #8 -- Still without his memory, Warlord Travis Morgan fights Beastmen in Atlantean ruins... so why does this all seem so familiar?  Grell's pencils and script both shine in this fine S&S comic, with some gorgeous page layouts and excellent storytelling.  Plus I have a sneaking suspicion that we have not heard the last of certain elements of this tale.  If Grell wants to pencil two issues or so of Warlord a year, I for one will be very happy.

Iron Man: Armor Wars #4 -- Tony Stark... betrayed by Jim Rhodes to the Soviets?  It seems that way!  The climax of our All-Ages series winds up as (unsurprisingly but not unwelcomed) an armored slugfest.  Clearly this miniseries is designed to be read in collected or digest form, but it was fun while it lasted, especially for the old school baddies.  

The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #6 -- In The Eastern Dark, The Phantom must save the kidnapped villagers and his friend from the "sleeping god," who seems to have rather a modern use for those sacrificed on his altar.  Very well done Adventure strip, with plenty of punching and buckling of swashes.  The end leaves more questions posed than answered, but in a good way.  The prose backup is well done as well, serving as something of a hype piece
for the upcoming Race Against Death one-shot (starring Julie Walker, the only female Phantom).  I cannot recommend this title strongly enough.

Re-Read Pile: Doom Patrol, Red Tornado, Warlord

The Pick Of The Pile is, fairly unsurprisingly, Doom Patrol, though Warlord was quite good as well.