What I Read This Week

Final Crisis: Requiem -- The final moments and the final wishes of the Martian Manhunter play out in this one-shot special.  Tomasi and Mahnke deliver a really solid piece of superhero pathos here, as the brief death and funeral scenes from Final Crisis are fleshed out with a retrospective on the life and times of everyone's favorite Martian.  The ending got me pretty choked up!

Captain Britain and MI:13 #3 -- With the Magic Super-Skrull ready to overrun Great Britain's last lines of defense both mundane and mystical, only Pete Wisdom can unlock their savior.  Continues to improve from the inauspicious debut, with really nice art and a pretty compelling story.  Well, the main plot at least, I still don't like Faiza.  And the new Cap's costume looks an awful lot like the new Captain America's costume, don't you think?

Justice Society Of America #17 -- With the last remaining god of the Third World, Gog, committing blatant acts of peace all over the world, what are the Justice Society and Justice League supposed to do?  Demonstrating once more that heroes just can't handle when things go right, this is a slower, character-driven issue, but things pick up at the end, setting up where the story is turning.  Worthwhile.

Guardians Of The Galaxy #3 -- The Guardians battle with the Universal Church of Truth's faith-powered bishops, while Mantis and Major Victory have their own problems back at Knowhere.  Fast paced and fun, this series is a blast to read without feeling like 4 Color junk food.

Invincible Iron Man #3 -- In the wake of Exekial Stane's latest attack, Tony Stark has to find a way to save his trusty Gal Friday Pepper Potts-Hogan, as well as figure out how Zeke is able to pull off these attacks.  Fraction and LaRocca deliver the goods here, with an unforseen twist involving Pepper which should yield a new type of status for the character.  A lot of this issue is recap for those of us who aren't newbie Iron Fans brought in by the movie (who Obadiah Stane was, how he controlled Stark International, and so on), but it's nice recap.  This remains a solid, healthy spin-off title.

Dead, She Said #2 -- PI Joe Coogan is in trouble.  Found at the scene of a murder by the cops, he is the only suspect in the case.  And did I mention that he is dead and currently rotting?  Wrightson's art is the perfect vehicle for Niles noir-horror cross-breed, with rain soaked alleys juxtaposed with bloodstained floors.  Very enjoyable from both sides of the coin, with a conclusion coming in the next issue; I cannot fathom how the two storylines are going to be resolved.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #4 -- Facing down a demon which would put super sentai monster Dora Algos (look him up) to shame, the mystically empowered Iron Man and Doctor Doom have to figure out how to use their new abilities to stop the eradication of the entire planet!  The finale to the Iron Man-Doom trilogy does not disappoint, as Layton, Micheliene, and Lim all turn in dynamite performances, making this series one of the most fun Iron Man stories in years.  Readers who want a sample of old school Iron action should definitely either pick of the back issues or wait for Marvel to collect this one.

Nova #15 -- Trapped on a dying planet, Nova faces some pretty ridiculous odds.  And even if he somehow is able to make it off-world, will he be able to survive the horror of Harrow?  Exciting space opera stuff, with Wellington Alves and Geraldo Burges both turning in beautiful pages depicting Galactus and his giant ship, as well as the true form of Harrow.  The cliffhanger pushes the title in something of a new path for the next storyarc, and I am very eager to see it.

The Pick Of The Pile is Final Crisis: Requiem.  Yeah, sappy of me I know, but the story of J'Onn J'Onzz's death and rememberance were really well handled, and the story stands completely on it's own outside of the larger event.  You should definitely check it out.

So what did YOU read this week?

What I Read This Week

Well, it seems that the links below didn't work as well as I thought via email, so hopefully these will work out better!

Action Comics #865 -- After Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Superman's rogues gallery has traditionally not been the strongest.  A change to that staus quo starts here as Geoff Johns and Jesus Merino pull a "Rogue Profile" on Toyman.  Who is Winslow Schott?  Is he the gentle toymaker who was pushed into a life of crime?  Or the cold, monsterous child murderer?  Johns made these types of tales on of his trademarks on Flash, and it works equally well here, as we feel some sympathy for Toyman while at the same time not too much sympathy.  I really liked Merino's rendition of the grotesque "classic" Prankster as well.  About the only complaint I have from this issue is the cover by Kevin Maguire, which looks nothing like any version of the Toyman seen within.  Worth picking up if you like the classic Superman foes.

Justice League of America #21 -- I picked this one up on a recommendation from several people, including Lilbones.  And, I must admit, as a prelude to Final Crisis (see below), this is a pretty enjoyable comic book.  The talky bits with the "Big Three" were a little tedious, and somewhat hard to follow, but the balance of the issue, dealing with the Human Flame and Libra, were very well done; I'd have taken that part of the issue as a sort of Final Crisis #0.  McDuffie's script meanders a bit at first, but settles down in the second half, while Pacheo's style is well suited to the action elements.  Still not really an issue of Justice League, but otherwise worthwhile reading.

Final Crisis #1 -- Or, Grant Morrison and JG Jones Destroy The DC Universe.  Well, honestly it doesn't come to all that in the first issue, but as far as first issues of such things go, this one is quite good.  Beginning with Metron giving Anthro the gift of Knowledge (in the form of fire) and then following "Terrible" Dan Turpin hunting down some missing kids, and seguing into Libra demonstrating a sample of his power, I thought that this issue crammed a lot into it's page count and made me hungry for more.  And that's pretty much all I asked of it.  Two points.  First, the death which we have all known about for such a long time happened in such an unusual way that I was unsure what to feel about it, and still am.  I mean, I know it's comic book death, but the handling of it was a little... odd.  And secondly, DC is using the "low gloss" paper which has shown up on a few other projects I have seen from them lately, including House of Mystery.  This paper rocks!

Futurama Comics #37 -- Stuck on a farming plnet inhabited by giant robots called the (wait for it) Transfarmers, Fry and Leela, along with super-stud Zap Branigan, must find a way to escape or else end up as victims of a pest-control protocol.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, Bender has a few magnetic problems of his own.  Any comic which opens with a whole planet acting like Pac-Man, features a barn turning into a giant robot, and a plan by Zap Branigan to build an army though "making it" with the women is pure gold.  

Dead, She Said #1 -- Another pickup thanks to Lilbones' suggestion, this pairing of Steve Niles and Bernie Wightson seems pretty obvious after the fact.  Following gumeshoe Coogan, who seemingly had a very bad night, as he tries to find the guy who shot him, leads down a lot of weird alleys in the big city, as well as out in the coutry.  Some nice hard-boiled stuff, with big heaping helping of strange mystery on top of that.  So far, this one has a lot of potential for awesomeness.

The Pick Of The Pile is a tough call, mainly between Final Crisis and Dead, She Said.  I am going to give it to Final Crisis just because of the anticipation that I have had for it, which the issue itself did nothing to deflate.  Dead, She Said was quite cool as well, and a very welcome surprise since I knew nothing about it going in.

So what did YOU read this week?

What I Read This Week

Justice Society of America #12 -- I'm not sure why exactly Geoff Johns feels the need to introduce EVEN MORE characters into this title, but a new trio of heroes make their debut this time out anyway, while Wildcat puts Judomaster through her paces and Jakeem Thunder makes his return. It's enjoyable to see the interactions between heroes new and old, but considering that this is part of the ongoing "Thy Kingdom Come" storyline, there's precious little having actually to do with that plot. There's an interesting development of a sort of "Boys' Club" in the JSA this issue as well, with Wildcat, Wildcat Jr, Citizen Steel, Starman, and Damage all hanging around being dudes. Also of note is not one, but two old school Outsiders references, including the wholesale slaughter of one of Barr's villain teams (the New Olympians).

Annihilation Conquest #4 -- While reading this issue, I started thinking about the major differences between this title and its predecessor from last year. And the biggest change is of course the fact that in Annihilation, it was all-out war, where here in Conquest, it's about resistance. What that means is that this entire series seems a little smaller in scope, because we don't have vast cosmic armadas duking it out, but instead focus on smaller conflicts and groups. If nothing else, it helps to make this a wholly different experience from the first story, while still being a recognizeable part of the same over-reaching corner of the universe. Things look bleaker and bleaker by the minute for our heroes, but it looks like Ronan has the tools to break the occupation -- but what about the cost? Really fun science-fictiony stuff.

Futurama Comics #35 -- Go Go Go New Justice Team! The new (old) adventures of Captain Yesterday, Clobberella, and (the greatest one of them all!) Super King take center stage here as our intrepid heroes battle the fiendish Son Of The Human Sun! Great, goofy fun with sight gags a-plenty as lots of Silver Age tropes are sent up in riotous fashion. Also, be sure not to miss the Professor's venomous hatred of the 1980's musical scene. Considering that this title is published bi-monthly, I don't think you have much of an excuse not to buy it, really.

Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook #4 -- Foreword: My review of this title shall consist of only two words. As such, some opening remarks. Namely, if you enjoy sourcebooks and Beast Wars Transformers, you should have already bought this series. This issue contains a few more major characters, including Tigatron and Waspinator, and otherwise continues with the same quality as the previous installments. Thank you.

Review: SKY SHADOW!

The Phantom #21 -- After the breather last issue with the flashback story, we're back in the present-day for the Ghost-Who-Walks, and kicking off a big new storyline to boot. When groups of armed soldiers begin using a small Bangalan village as a battleground, the Phantom puts a swift end to it. But in the process he catches wind that one of his past enemies is making a comeback, and the wife of recently defeated dictator, child-kidnapper, and all-around piece of crap Him has begun to make waves as well. And then everything comes off the tracks, and the fight turns personal. Bullock's script and Szilagyi's pencils are in sync, and this comic really looks great (especially on the newly glossy paper). And the story itself builds up vrey nicely -- slowly at first, but then taking a harsh and nasty twist which redefines the Phantom (at least in the context of this series) in a way which both intrigues me and angers me. Hopefully it will be played for what it is and not just used as a plot device. But given the history interent to the title, I have a lot of hopes that it's not going to go the typical route. In any event, this series rarely disappoints, and it doesn't here.

The Pick Of The Pile this week goes to Futurama Comics, which despite being light and silly, was super-enjoyable (pun intended). All of my purchases were enjoyable, and quality comics, but after the grim stuff going on in most of them, Futurama was a really nice change of pace.

What I Read This Week

Annihilation: Conquest #3 -- We're running up to the midway point of these series, which means that the spit really hits the fan here. Our cast of heroes is split up into three groups, and for two of them, war truly is hell. While Quasar and Adam Warlock deal with Ultron's forces in the High Evolutionary's haven, Star-Lord and his team are suddenly in a firefight on Hala. Can Ronan, Wraith, Super-Skrull and Praxagora make enough progress to save the cosmos? Another rock-solid piece of space opera, with DnA's snappy scripting a good match with Tom Raney's "kinda-but-not-really" plasticy pencils. This is truly epic, "widescreen" stuff, but in the true tradition of space opera, it's presented with enough grounding through the beleiveable (and likeable) heroes that the reader doesn't lose the connection. Great escapist fare.

Superman #672 -- Deep inside LuthorCorp's secret Moonbase, the new Insect Queen prepares her army and finalizes her plans to infest Earth. Unfortunately for her, Superman is hot on the trail of Lana Lang, and is bearing down on the Hive. Plus, what is wrong with Chris Kent? Busiek's new take on Insect Queen is interesting. He speech (or should I say "zpeech?") impediment is a little silly, but I like how he sticks to the anthromorphized bugs aspect from the previous issue, and even gives a rationale for how she found Earth, and chose Lana as her new form. It's a little repetitive during the backstory exposition, though, and Lana's responses kept reminding me of Bill Cosby's Noah routine -- "Riiight!" Pete Vale's art is top notch though, handling the mundane and the fantastic equally well, and making the Queen look sexy as well as bizarre at the same time. The Photoshop'ed posters in Chris's room are obvious, but they made me grin so I can't hold that against the art. I think you have to like Busiek's work in general, and it's neo-Bronze Age sensibilities, to really like this title, and I happen to fall into that field.

Drawing From Life #2 -- Jim Valentino's collection of short autobiographical comics returns with eight more original pieces illustrating various points in the creator's life. Jim, or "Kid," as he is called in the strips, explores chasing fads as a junior high school student, dealing with the Denver police, and getting in touch with his "spiritual side -- that is, going to a series of lectures to get a girl's number. Of interest to most comic readers are a trio of tales about the industry: one is a dedication to the late Clay Geerdes, the underground "comix" guru from the 70s, and the other two are both tales of Jim's time with the Image boys -- one set during the infamous 1992 San Diego Comic Con, and one from San Diego this past year when the Founders had their panel. I mark out for Jim Valentino in a way most bloggers reserve for Grant Morrison and Ed Brubaker, so I am definitely the target audience for these stories. The crips black and white printing is very pleasing to the eye and Valentino's work lends itself very well to these sorts of cartooning. Really great sutff, even if most readers will see "Valentino" and be turned off, thinking, "Ugh, he created ShadowHawk."

Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascending #4 -- It's the final issue of the mini, which of course means it's time foe the Big Fight At The End. But seeing as this is a Transformers miniseries, written by Simon Furman at that, it's time for the Big Fight At The End Where Characters Die Trying To Stop Unicron -- or in this case, at least, his agents. It's familiar ground for Furman, who has been writing this kind of Cybertronian war stuff for decades now. It's a satisfying conclusion to the storylines both on prehistoric Earth as well as Cybertron, but there is little to recommend of this particular issue to anyone who is not already a Transfan. The ending seems to set up a sequel while hinting at stuff we already know happens, if that makes any sense.

Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook #3 -- At the risk of Dave Sim calling me an "emotion-based being," let me tell you a little story. Since this series began being published, I have eagerly waited for the profile of my favorite Predacon who has never had one -- Sky Shadow. A Fuzor (that is, his beast form is two animals merged together -- in this case, an iguana and a dragonfly), he was one of the first Beast Wars toys I ever owned, and he stood on top of my computer monitor for many, many years. He's got a great personality as well -- scheming, duplicitous, gregarious and cruel. So I really wanted to see how Ben Yee and/or Simon Furman would flesh him out. So when I got this comic in my hands, I flipped to the last page to see if he would be covered in this pages. That last profile? Silverbolt. AHHHH! I have to wait another month! Anyway, insanity aside, this one covers a lot of major characters, including Rattrap, Scorponok, Rhinox, Quickstrike, and Bigbot himself, Optimus Primal. One more issue remains, which, one imagines, will contain Sky Shadow! You should already know whether you need to buy this one or not, folks.

The Pick Of The Pile is Drawing From Life, unsurprisingly. A:C continues to be top-shelf type stuff, but I am a sucker for Valentino as well as auto-bio-comix.

So what did YOU read this week?

What I Read This Week

X-Men: Die By The Sword #5 -- Considering that the Fury Prime appeared on the last few pages of the previous issue, it's not much of a surprise when everything goes to hell in this one. And go to hell it does. Claremont is game -- this is his kind of story -- and there's a lot of shakeups in the Omniverse scene, setting up some new status quos which may or may not be summarily ignored when the two teams relaunch. Santacruz's pencils are okay but a little rushed. Overall, I enjoyed this series much the same way that I enjoyed the HoM tie-in from Uncanny a few years back, which was much of the same type of stuff from Claremont. Only Excalibur or Exiles fans need bother reading this series, as is par for the course.

Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascending #3 -- It's #3 of 4, so that means it's time to set up the Big Fight At The End. Of course, this being Transformers, we also get the Big Fight In The Middle as well, as the Angolmois-infected Razorbeast, along with Unicron's heralds Ratorata, Elphaorca, and Drancron do battle with the Maximals and Predacons on prehistoric Earth. A lot of action and a ton of characters, as usual, but the overarcing story is a good backdrop for the proceedings. The artwork is the standard IDW Beast Wars fare. Enjoyable for Beast-fans, but others, including G1 afficianados can safely leave it on the shelf.

Wonder Woman #15 -- More backstory starts things off, as we are introduced to Hypolita's Royal Guards, 4 women who swore blood oaths to protect their queen at all costs. Back in the present, Agent Diana Prince must deal with Captain Nazi -- without her powers -- while her mother faces the threat of a Nazi invasion of her home. The good stuff continues from Simone, who packs a lot of interesting details and developments into the alloted space without feeling like a complete data-dump. The Dodson's artwork is consistant -- about the only consistancy this title has seen -- and handles both the action and talky aspects well. Overall very enjoyable, and readers who want to start reading the Amazon Ace's solo series would be well served with picking up this issue and the previous.

The Pick of the Pile is a tough one for me. I really liked both Wonder Woman and Die By The Sword, for different reasons. WW is the better comic, all told, but DBTS tugs at nostalgic heartstrings for me. Since this is my blog, I get the final say, and so I'm picking Wonder Woman. Gail Simone is working hard on making this a top dog at DC, and her effort is paying off.

So what did YOU read this week?

Indy Cred

I was reading the letter column in Wizard the other day (what? Yeah, I read Wizard, I've been reading it since 1992 -- you got a problem with that?), and a reader raised an interesting point: If you only read Dark Horse and Image, are you an "indy" comics reader?

It's something I have thought about myself a few times. I mean, I read a pair of "small press" comics regularly, but can either Moonstone's The Phantom or Bongo's Futurama Comics truly be considered "indy" comics, what with being licensed and all? The same goes for a lot of the Horse's output: they traditionally and still to this day make a lot of bread off of their licensed comic properties. But they are very often touted as the top dog indy publisher. And what about Image, which remains the poster child for creator owned work, the definition of indy?

The argument is one which works better reversed. Not "what is indy?" but "what is mainstream?" Marvel and DC plainly fit this bill, with their easily recognized armies of superheroes, just waiting for the right screenplay. Archie and his teenaged cohorts, too, is simply classified -- Archie might be a "small press" publisher as far as Diamond is concerned, but a publisher who is found on nearly every checkout line in supermarkets across the country is not indy (and is it just me, or do you also grab the Jughead Double Digest when on a long line at the checkout?). That still leaves a large swath of the comic industry in this country to look at.

The thing about the modern Dark Horse is that while they are still known for their license work -- Star Wars, natch, as well as Conan and Buffy -- which sell a lot of copies and no doubt produce a lot of profit, their catalog also includes a lot of strongly non-mainstream work. Hellboy is the closest thing they have to a mainstream non-licensed product, thanks to the movie, but if you ask a dozen people in the street, maybe two or three would know that Hellboy's a comic book character. Beyond that, it's a weird group of titles which cover a large range -- Umbrella Academy, The Goon, Rex Mundi, Grendel, Apocalypse Nerd and so on. That's pretty solid indy cred right there.

Image is the same way. Their days of mainstream are long gone -- does anyone who jumped on the bandwagon in the mid-90s really still remember or care about Spawn? And the other Image property with any real non-cartoon exposure (Withcblade) isn't even with Image anymore. They still serve as a sort of clearing house for creator-owned work, but even that comes with a catch, since you have to essentially pitch a series still. So Image is like the "mainstream indy" publisher -- like how you can find a sampler CD filled with a dozen "indy rock" bands all signed to one label, and who magically seem to pop up in the denoument's of hour long TV dramas. Not that there's anything wrong with that (other than the music, of course), since Image provides a higher profile for work which might not have gotten any attention otherwise, including Parade (With Fireworks) by Mike Cavallero, Dynamo 5, Mice Templar, Noble Causes, and Invincible. That sounds "indy" to me.

Beyond those two there are plenty of other publishers out there, toiling in relative anominity save for licenses and the occasional breakthrough which grabs headlines over at Newsarama or whatnot. IDW works hard chruning out the Transformers and Star Trek stuff, to the delight of fans, but also has 30 Days of Night; same with Devil's Due and G. I. Joe, responsible for causing no small part of the 80s nostalgia wave. Dynamite has stuff as varied as Battlestar Galactica and the Lone Ranger, and even little Moonstone has Kolchak, Buckaroo Bonzai, and Sherlock Holmes in addition to the Ghost Who Walks. These are certainly indy publishers, but I can't really see these titles as indy comics.

So what's the answer? There isn't one, of course. Indy is in the eye of the beholder. I might call Jim Valentino's Drawing From Life the epitome of indy comics, but Joe Bloggs down the street might consider it utterly corporate. I won't call Transformers: Beast Wars an indy comic because it is a license of the most popular boys toy of the year, but someone else might say "Well, Beast Wars is obscure enough, and the print run is small enough, so it's obviously independant." It's all a matter of taste and what you enjoy reading.

The moral of the story? Read what you like, and don't worry about whether something is "too mainstream" or "off the radar." As long as you think it's worth spending your hard earned money on, that's all that matters.

So what about YOU? What small press or "indy" stuff do you read?

What I Read This Week

Countdown to Mystery #2 -- Let me just say this: if Gerber's intention is to re-invent the way we think of Dr. Fate, he's off to a good start here. It's always a hard line to toe with the magical hero set -- put too many limits on them, and things get much to staid and uninteresting, but set too few limits, and you have to figure out how to threaten a character who can pretty much do anything. There's a good balance here. Justiano's art is equal parts funky and mundane, which also works well considering the subject matter. The Jeanclipso/Spectre backup is helped by once more not really focusing on the titular (no pun intended) star, and instead on Crispin Allen and Plastic Man. It's nothing I would buy on it's own, but as a bonus feature in a Doc Fate story, it's not bad. Pretty neat double-shot for folks who like the mystical stuff.

DC Infinite Halloween Special -- First things first, this thing is thick. It's quite a tome -- and for the price it should be. Sadly, this was not nearly as charming as last year's Holiday special, with only a few standout tales amongst the 13 presented. The best, ironically enough, is the one with "AJ" Curry, Aquaman II, encountering a trio of witches who are actually the offspring of a human and a kelpie -- and considering the relative turn of Aquaman to more supernatural and mythological type stories over the last decade, I'm surprised no one has thought of this earlier. Of course, it looks like they'll be one-shot baddies. Amongst the lesser tales is a meaningless peek into the "Red Rain" Earth, which is little more than an advert for the upcoming one-shot, and the piercingly bad Robin tale featuring the Watchdogs, a set of action-oriented, bounty hunting, reject werewolves the likes of which would have been grating in 1995. Pass on this one, folks.

Justice Society of America #10 -- "Thy Kingdom Come" begins proper here, and appropriately enough we do get a few pages painted by Alex Ross to demonstrate "Earth-22." Say what you will about Kingdom Come and the legacy it created (or destroyed), but in this issue Johns does a good job of addressing some of the key issues raised by Waid and Ross more than a decade ago. Johns also effectively ties the new JSA's mission statement into the thesis of that series as well, so while this isn't really groundbreaking stuff, it certainly is enjoyable to read and expresses itself nicely. The setup for the big bad seems a little obvious at this point, so I am suspecting a swerve coming up. And Eaglesham can draw the "KG" Superman really, really nicely.

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #35 -- "The Quest For Cosmic Boy" continues here on the planet Lallor, as Timber Wolf, Shadow Lass, and Atom Girl must face down the fiery assassian known as E.R.G.-1! From there, it's over to Earth itself, where Supergirl, Saturn Girl and my main man Lightning Lad come face to face with a certain big-domed baddie named Evolvo Lad. Bedard balances two concurrent stories with ease and brings a nice sense of flow to the preceedings as we move from one part of the universe to the next. Bedard once again is called upon by DC to be the transition guy, this time from Waid to Jim Shooter, and he is pulling off the role with aplomb. (Needless to say, your's truly is still ticked about the BATO thing.) Next issue is the conclusion, wherein Evolvo Lad will learn a several-hundred megavolt lesson in the class of "You Do NOT Touch Saturn Girl!"

Trials of Shazam! #9 -- Well, I made my Apollo Creed joke last week, and it looks like DC took note of it, judging from the copy on the cover! Anyway, this issue follows the precident set by the earlier ones, as the set-up for the Trial is followed by action, while Sabina and/or the Council of Merlin scheme and do evil stuff. The resolution is a bit too pat and predictable for my tastes, but overall it's not bad for a book-length fight. Say what you will about Judd Winnick -- lord knows everyone does -- but he's taking the ball and running with the concept in this series, despite the seemingly endless criticism it receives. The home stretch is in sight now, and I as a reader want to see how it plays out. Again, it's not classic Captain Marvel, but really, it never claimed to be, either. I find it hard to hold that against it.

Superman Confidential #8 -- I don't know what this title's deal is -- whether it is like JLA Classified, and telling stories from different eras, or if it's a continuity-free zone, or whatever, so I don't know how to deal with this tale itself. Is this an alternate telling of Forever People #1, or is this how the "New Earth" continuity dictates that the meeting occured? It's not really clear. In any event, the Forever People are characters I like (hey, maybe I'll blog that!), so seeing them in action is reason enough for me to check it out. It's a fairly average story all told, from the Kirby-esque cover by Chris Batista and Cam Smith to "DnA's" script featuring Big Blue and the Kids From Supertown battling Parademons and rescuing Beautiful Dreamer from Darkseid. DnA are game, ending sentences with "friend," and hitting most of the character notes for the kids. But there is a strange undercurrent of aggression which seems out of place for the quartet. Mark Moonrider talks about how Earth is not part of the Pact, and thus they are free to "wage war" there -- that's not the Forever People I know. That leaves a sour taste in my mouth for what would otherwise be a perfectly enjoyable tale with Moonrider, Vykin, Big Bear, and Serifan having an adventure. If this is the new. in-continuity first meeting between Supes and the New Gods, I'm a little disappointed, since while it may ramp up the action-quotient, it also jetisons all of Kirby's poinancy regarding the Man of Steel's position of being an outsider on Earth.

Annihilation: Conquest: Quasar #4 -- Meanwhile, over in the Marvel side of the cosmos, it's all out fantasy space opera epic action, with Quasar, wielding a giant sword made of pure energy, mounted on a flying dragon, leading an army of primitives against a legion of robotic overlords. That premise alone pretty much seals the deal for me, right out of the gate. Add in a battle against the Super-Adaptoid -- wherein Quasar summons up energy beings who suspiciously resemble the pantheon of creatures animated by Ray Harryhausen -- plus a cameo by Wendell Vaughn and a second-to-last page reveal of one of the major players in A:C, and things are cooking with gas. Not the deepest or most cerebral thing you're ever going to read, but Annihilation is not about that in the first place: it's an action epic, and so is this series. This week we get the finale to Star-Lord and then A:C proper begins. Not to sound too much like a squeeling fanboy, but... yay!

Iron Man #23 -- I was taking part in a discussion about the relative merits of Iron Man last week when I started to wonder why seemingly every online comic fan cannot sing enough praises for Brubaker's Captain America but have opinions ranging from disdain to ambivalence regarding the Knauf's run on Shellhead, despite both being similar approaches to the current Marvel Universe. The answer is obvious of course; thanks to the machinations of Mark Millar, J. Michael Straczynski, Dan Slott, and others, most readers are pre-disposed to dislike Tony Stark (before even taking into account the plain-as-day poltical aspects, which irritate me and thus will not be addressed). Thus, since the character is so unlikeable, obviously his solo series must be terrible. (I for one, adore people who insist on calling Iron Man a villain when referring to his own mag, which only highlights the fact that they haven't read it and are simply projecting their own thoughts onto it.) The fact of the matter is that the Knaufs have been crafting solid, well-told tales of armored superhero action mixed with political espionage and intrigue, building a complex plot over the course of several smaller stories. Things hit the fan here as the investigation in Omaha goes terribly wrong, and Tony is forced to clash not with Graviton or Paragon, but with the CSA and their hidden agendas. (By the way, not to be a "told-ya-so"er, but this issue also handily illustrates that Tony Stark has oversight and doesn't "control everthing." Thanks for playing!) The resolution is unsatisfying in the traditional Marvel manner, as there are no real "winners" or "losers," just consequences and after-effects. We also get some more foundation-building for the apporaching showdown with the Mandarin, and the inevitable addressing of Tony's Extremis. I doubt that anyone already a dyed-in-the-wool Iron Hater will be swayed, but this title remains one of Marvel's upper echelon.

Transformers: Beast Wars Sourcebook #2 -- Blame the gamer in me, but I like sourcebooks. There's something about reading all the profiles for lots of different characters which appeals to me. Some properties work better for sourcebooks than others, and Transformers is one of the best. Add to that the fact that "Beast Wars" featured a ton of toy-only characters who were never featured in the cartoon, and until recently there were no comics, and you have a lot to discover within these pages. Transfans will enjoy seeing the famous side by side with the obscure, as everyone from Mainframe mainstays to Japanese-exclusive characters to fast food premium toys (seriously!) are profiled. Highlights from this issue include repaints Manterror and Mantis being on opposite pages from one another, Killer Punch becoming a paranoid nutcase, head Pred Megatron, and some of my favorite Fuzors, including Injector and Noctorro. Unless you like "Beast Wars," like I do, then there's no reason to buy this, however.

The Pick of the Pile is JSoA, not an uncommon occurance around these parts.

So what did YOU read this week?

What I Read This Week

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #57 -- The undersea voyage is over. Not even two years and 18 issues since the debut of "Artie Joe" (or as I call him, AJ), the journey for Aquaman has ended once again. I'm very bummed out by this, but taken on it's own merits, this issue was quite enjoyable -- Tad and Shawn were really firing on all cylinders. We learn AJ's true origin, we find out a little bit more about Issitoq, possibly see the birth of a new Aqua-baddie (Clowfish? Too cute!), and the first steps towards the creation of a hero. Sure, there's a lot of threads left hanging -- what the heck happened to Tempest, what was the Deep Church's plot, what is the secret of the Hatches -- but all those things are out there waiting to be explored. It's unclear if AJ (well, maybe I should just call him Joseph now?) will be showing up anywhere any time soon with the creative shakeup over on Outsiders, but I sincerely hope this is not the last swim for this classic hero, whatever form he is in. Unfortunately, this would become a trend this week...

New Excalibur #24 -- ... in this title right here. The final showdown between Albion and his Shadow Captains against Excalibur and the surviving members of Shadow-X delivers, albeit in slightly abbreviated form. But then things transition, with Juggernaut having some personal business to take care of (namely, going back to being a villain over in the mainline X-books), Sage being wanted by the feds and MI-13, and things generally concluding. That's right -- according to the last page thank you's, New Excalibur has also come to a close. Now, whether the title is going to be relaunched in a few months, I don't know. But this is just another in a line of Marvel books I have supported only to go belly-up within 2 years of inception, and ironically reminds me exactly of how both Alpha Flight V.2 and New Invaders were handled. All three series were updates on old concepts that made them viable for the present, all three were never advertised or supported, and all three suffered premature deaths. And it looks like next month you can throw Heroes For Hire V.2 on that pile as well. Is it any wonder that Marvel's non-cosmic titles are holding so little interest for me at the moment? Ah well, it's not all doom and gloom, though, because of the next title...

X-Men: Die By The Sword #1 -- ... which is hyped on the last page of New Excalibur, and picks up exactly where that issue left off. Betsy Braddock shows up alive and well on Earth-616, and Brian couldn't be happier to see his sister again. But Bad Stuff (TM) is brewing in the Omniverse, and it looks like Roma and her Corps are going to be in for a fight... and so is the combined might of Exaclibur and the Exlies! Is this continuity-heavy? Oh yes. Non-Claremont fans need not apply. But it's more than that, really, because you need to know at least some of your old school "Alan & Alan" Captain Britain as well (Mad Jim Jaspers! The Fury!). But damn if I didn't like it. The art is more pleasing to me than the cool-but-stilted look over in New Excalibur. These teams mesh up well together and have a lot of history (Longshot and Dazzler, Nocturne and Thunderbird, Cap and Psylocke), and it's obvious that Claremont has something big in mind for the "second teir" X-Books while the others are involved in "Messiah Complex." Exiles and Excal fans should definitely check this out. (I still want Claremont to explain just who the heck the Courtney Ross on Earth is at this point, especially since Saturnyne just showed up. My money is on it being a HoM thing, since she first popped up when Claremont did the tie in over in Uncanny, but you know he'd bust out Sat-Yr-9 just to screw with us.)

Wonder Woman Annual #1 -- Finally got around to reading this one (still have not had a chance to read #13), but considering how long we had to wait to read this final part of the initial storyarc, what's a few more weeks? Anyway, Wonder Woman does battle with her entire rogues gallery, then takes care of Circe and Hercules before heading back to Man's World to proclaim herself their defender once more, even if she's not entirely trusted yet. The showdown with Circe is inconclusive, but we know that, yes? The main draw of this feature story is the first half, wherein Heiberg (re-)introduces Diana's line of baddies, including some characters who haven't seen print in decades, such as Minister Blizzard (which is the most awesome cold-related villain name ever), and revamps of old characters, such as The Mask (who seems to fit in very well with some of the themes of this new volume). There's a large depth of villains here, with different origins and motivations, and it doesn't take a super-nerd to see the potentials for a lot of conflict with Wonder Woman and these foes. Hopefully, Gail Simone will pick up on that and we can see some of those. Failing that, I may have to pitch a story to DC about Minister Blizzard trying to freze Washington DC. Still not thrilled with how cheesecakey Diana looks, all boobs and butt, but the villains all looked quite cool, plus Donna is back in her classic costume so I cannot complain too loudly. We also get a backup which serves primarily to flesh out everyone's origins for new readers (seriously, it's called "Backstories"), so we get some history on Sarge Steel, Diana, Donna, Cassie, and Nemesis. If not for the wait, this issue would have been somewhat enjoyable to me, as a new WW reader, but my enthusiasm for it has declined from the delays and the forced tie-in. I am hoping that the series really hits its stride when Simone takes over, and builds on the ideas of this initial arc (plus the plot of #5, which is still my favorite issue of this series) and utilizes Diana's history to really make a solid run.

Terror, Inc. #3 -- As if to demonstrate that, yes, this is a MAX title, this issue features enough unsavory elements to impress even the most jaded Tarantino fan. We get discussions about sex rings and torture, a panel containing randomly exposed boobs (the best kind of boobs!), a guy getting drugged and then ripped apart by mechanical tentacles, a movie theater showing Dr. Strangelove exploding, more four-letter-words than the previous two issues combined, and Terror himself literally tearing a man to pieces and then stomping his head into mush. It's fun for the whole family! The over-the-top aspect of this has to be intentional at this point, and I'm cool with that -- Terror is an over the top character. He doesn't work in a normal, main-line title (his power involves him having to eviscerate his enemies), so why not embrace the absurdity and go all out? The story here (the parts which are not blood-soaked) are primarily expositionary, as we learn a bit about just who had it in for Terror and why they seek his mystical arm. The ending is somewhat predictable, but it's not too much of a problem. I liked it, but if you don't like grue and naughtiness then pass on it; Terror is nowhere near the level of a guy like The Punisher, so I expect that this series is all we're going to see of him for the forseeable future.

Transformers: Beast Wars: The Ascension #1-2 -- Transformers is hot right now -- unsurprisingly -- so for guys like me who actually got back into TF back when it wasn't fashionable to do so (in like, oh, 1992 or so), it's a mixed blessing. Yeah the exposure is way up, but now it's also extremely mainstream -- everyone seems to have some memory of how much they loved Jazz as a kid. But at least I still have BEAST WARS!!!, that awesome phase of the line which not only produced the best series in the history of the property (Count it!), but also a lot of really cool, creative toys as well. Plus, most "norms" know absolutely nothing about, so it remains safely ensconced inside my inpregnable nerd-hold. This series, a followup to IDW's Beast Wars: The Gathering mini from a while back, is in spots little more than an excuse to cram as many toy-only characters into 22 pages while giving Furman an excuse to play with time travel and paint personalities. It's not exactly top of the heap quality, but it's fun in an action-oriented sort of way, especially if you are already a BW-era fan like me. Speaking of which, if you don't know your extended BW stuff -- namely, BWII and BWNeo -- you're in truhhhh-ble. Still, playing name-the-character and trying to figure out where this is going is worth the money to this TF fanboy. My only real complaint is the complete lack of Sky Shadow! He should be a star, dammit!

So what did YOU read this week?

What I Read This Week

JLA Classified #44 -- You ever read a comic book, and, as you're reading it, you are saying to yourself 'Is this a retcon? Because that didn't happen that way... at least I don't think so,' and as you continue to read it, you get more annoyed because the writer "screwed everything up" and all of the references are wrong, but then you get to the end and there's a reason why everything is out of whack? Yeah, that's this mag right here. Featuring a cameo from the Detroit Justice League!

Graveslinger #1 -- The Old West was a strange place, with a mix of world-shaping technologies and just enough mystery left to make one cross themselves before passing a graveyard. So seeing Frank Timmons hunt down the escapees of Gila Flats prison across the desert is not unusual, and maybe, just maybe, it's not too unusual to realize that the men he hunts down have already been executed. Denton and Mariotte's newest spin on the "Weird Western" is an enjoyably low-key read -- something akin to Louis L'Amour mixed with Dean Koontz -- and John Cboins linework is just quirky enough to fit right in. Worth checking out if you like the genre.

Superman #668 -- Yeah, I know, another fill-in/content change from DC. But you know what? At least this time Busiek and company spell it out on the splash page, and, get this, apologize for it. So quitcher cryin' and just enjoy the first part of "The Third Kryptonian." I know I did! Between the interaction of Superman and Chris, Superman and Batman, and Robin and Chris, to the mysterious presence of Kryptonian molecules to the looming alien threat, this is a fun superheroing tale, with nary a trace of angst in sight... just the way I like Big Blue.

Nova #7 -- Annihilation: Conquest can't get here soon enough! It's like the antidote to the rest of the Marvel line. So it's no surprise that this series -- born of the first Annihilation -- is so enjoyable. Here, it's an internal battle as Richard Rider tries to escape the programming the Phalanx have subjected him to. The finale pretty neatly answers my question about what this title would be doing during A:C proper (and is a riff on a direction taken by the old Silver Surfer series about a decade ago). The Human Rocket keeps on shining.

Heroes for Hire #14 -- The Planet Hulk tie-in continues, and honestly has worn out it's welcome. It's hard to fault a tie-in to a one note "event" for being one note, but that's the problem here. Humbug is still all messed up, Col and Chula are in trouble, and the rest of the team is trying to figure out some way to save their friends, if not stop the invasion. It's still solid reading, but the for the love of Hashut let's move on, alright? Either that or bring in Devil Dinosaur again. This may or may not be the second to last issue of the title -- Marvel's certainly not telling us!

X-Men: Die By The Sword #1 -- Sure enough, this shipped before New Excalibur #24, and thus, I have not read it. I will say this, however -- the cover is sweet.

Star Trek Aliens Spotlight: Gorn -- Ahh the Gorn. Long my favorite of the Star Trek aliens, they get little to no attention from the show's lore. Why, I have no idea. But this one-shot is a step in the right direction, as we get to see them in a context besides trying to kill Captain Kirk. Of course, that's not totally absent, as it seems that "Arena" is in fact one of the defining moments for the entire race. Coincidence? Metatextual commentary? I'm not sure. What we have here is a nice enough story about Captain Terrell from Wrath of Khan and Chekov, along with some redshirts, getting stranded on a Gorn world. Overall, I liked it, but I had the same complaint I have with all IDW Trek stories -- 22 pages is good for adapting a half an hour show, not an hour show. Would have been much improved to be double-sized.

The Pick of the Pile is Superman, which holds off a very strong effort from Nova. Chalk it up to Busiek starting a new story as opposed to DnA wrapping one up.

So what did you read this week?