What I Read This Week

Wow, this is a lot of books!  This is going to be a little on the brief side.

Brightest Day #9 -- More mysteries and questions abound -- although it is nice to see Green Arrow totally outclassed.  And apparently Black Manta has a name now!  I may have been wrong on the other Martian being a new version of Roh'kar...

Our Army At War -- Harsh story detailing two American soldiers in oddly symmetrical battles: one in France in WW2, the other in Iraq in the modern day.  The twist at the end punched me in the stomach and left me very strongly effected.  Very good one-shot which is demonstrative of how the War genre works.  It will be hard for me to read this one again, though.

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #2 -- Didn't get read in time for this review.  Sorry!

Iron Man 2: Agents of SHIELD -- Three short stories, each detailing one of Nick Fury's charges (witting or otherwise): Shellhead, Agent Coulson, and Black Widow.  I enjoyed this much as I enjoyed the Public Identity miniseries, and I always like more Iron Man, but you can pass on this one without much trouble.  Good but certainly not required reading.

Iron Man: Legacy #6 -- After Obadiah Stane has bought up Stark Industries, Tony Stark is on the streets of LA, and now has a bigger problem on his hands.  Another story where you can definitely tell when it takes place.  A good start to the new arc, with little hints of not only where this story is going but where I think Van Lente might be setting up something big for down the road.

Charmed #2 -- The first Innocent the Charmed Ones ever saved dies of old age... despite being younger than they are.  Strange things are afoot in San Francisco, that's for sure.  Not thrilled with the pacing but the story is interesting and the art is appropriately cheesecake, although Paige doesn't look much like Rose McGowan, which is a let down for me personally.

The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks #12 -- Moonstone's ongoing series come to a close with the Phantom's final confrontation with the warlord Him.  Goes out on a strong, high note, with plenty of two-fisted action to go around.  The interview with writer Mike Bullock in the back is good reading too.

The Phantom: Unmasked #2 -- In The Deep Woods, the Phantom's secrets are about to be revealed.  The kind of story which, if the main book was monthly, would have been a fill-in arc.  But a lot of fun nonetheless.  A lot of action in this installment, a nice juxtaposition to the first issue which was a lot of investigation.

Phantom Double Shot: KGB Noir #5 -- In the front, The Phantom must escape the island where the Russians have set up their bomb if he has any hope of stopping them from detonating it.  In the backup, Domini Lady uses all of her weapons to save the father of a Russian stuntman.  The Phantom story has a huge action quotient, including a great brawl with the hulking Russian mechanic ala Raiders Of The Lost Ark.  The backup is the first Domino Lady story I have read, and it's very surprisingly forward with the sexuality.  It's not inappropriate, but it certainly is risque.  Can't wait for the finale!

Re-Read Pile: Brighest Day, Iron Man Legacy, Charmed, The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks, The Phantom: Unmasked, The Phantom Double Shot: KGB Noir, Our Army At War (possible).

The Pick Of The Pile is a tough call, but I am going to go with The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks, which was a fitting send-off to this era of the character.  A close second is Our Army At War, which was tremendously well done.