What I Read This Week

Magnus, Robot Fighter #2 -- Down in the depths of NorthAm, Magnus comes face to face with the Robot Mafia and their human trafficking racket!  Shooter is infusing this series with a sort of retro-vibe, which is appropriate for 1) a Gold Key revival and 2) a series set in the 41st century.  I am digging it as a straight forward, Magnus-fights-robots book, which is the intention, I think.

Outsiders #33 -- In Markovia, troops are massing at the northern border against an invasion, but Geo-Force and The Eradicator have to deal with the insane Geode!  Dan DiDio brings back Denise Howard?!  I did not see that one coming!  But beyond that, some of the earlier seeds planted begin to sprout, as the Herald makes himself known.  I also like the intro text, which describes Geo-Force and his team of Outsiders (as opposed to Black Lightning's crew).  Strong stuff right here.

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Outsiders -- Speaking of Outsiders in Markovia, when Bruce Wayne (as "The Insider") makes his way into the country, he finds himself on the wrong end of the Outsiders attention after a botched attempt on Brion's life.  For the love of Hashut it's good to have Mike W. Barr write these characters again.  And he also GETS GEO-FORCE'S POWERS CORRECT, something which hardly no one seems to be able to do lately.  Beyond that, this is a nice little Outsiders story, but it doesn't seem to serve much function other than to get Bruce Wayne's opinions on the current team.  Still, any time Barr writes the Outsiders its a treat.  The art by Javier Saltares is action-packed, and I would not mind seeing him on the main title.

Superman #703 -- Outside of Cincinati, the Dark Knight catches up with the Man of Steel, while the remnants of one of Superman's foes has plans all its own.  I liked this issue quite a bit, and I liked the philosophical stuff with Supes and Bats (even if it clearly was meant to be Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson had to be sorta shoehorned in there).  Then we get a nice action sequence and some social relevance.  I know there are a lot of haters out there but I am enjoying "Grounded" and think it will be a very good story when its all said and done.

Tiny Titans/Little Archie #1 -- A dry cleaning mix-up leads to the revelation that, well, wouldn't you know it, the Tiny Titans and the Little Archies are a town apart from each other!  Hilarity ensues as it only can from the Tiny Titans crew.

Iron Man By Design -- All of the Iron Man By Design covers are collected herein, along with commentary from the artists.  Considering I didn't buy any of the variants, this was a good investment as a small art book.  

Iron Man: Titanium #1 -- Four titanic tales of the Golden Avenger and those who associate him.  First, Iron Man has to battle a new sect of AIM and their bootleg Titanium Man armor.  Next, Pepper Potts has the commute from hell.  Then, Iron Man and SHIELD have to shut down what may be Ultimo's older brother.  And finally, Tony's reunion at MIT turns into a life or death struggle.  Sweet Christmas can we get Adam Warren to write the monthly Iron Man book?!  This man has a handle on the Cool Exec my friends.  All four stories are fun, with a large variety of art styles demonstrated.  The second feature (done by Nuno Plati) has a sort of an anime-ish look to it, while the fourth feature is rendered by Filipe Andrade, who looks a lot like previous Iron Man artist Keron Grant.  Great fun for $5.

Re-Read Pile: Magnus, Outsiders, Bruce Wayne, Superman, Iron Man: Titanium.

The Pick Of The Pile is Iron Man: Titanium, unsurprisingly.  Just a great showcase of the kinds of stories that can be told with Iron Man that don't involve moping, building electric cars, failing personally and technologically, or putting other people over while burying yourself under a mountain of ill-founded liberal guilt.  Ahem.  Outsiders and Superman were very good as well.