New Comic Day! September 29 edition.

Hey there X-Maniacs, it's Wednesday, which means it's time for me to bust out my weekly “New Comic Day” post!!! Normally this is the point where I'd happily begin listing off all of the new books I picked up at the comic book shop today... Unfortunately for me, I only wound up picking up a measly FIVE new comics! Yes, that's right, I only picked up 5 new comics today... The rest of my comics from this week are subscription books, so I have a good week to wait on them. So needless to say, I was feeling like... well, less than a comic fanatic, so I wound up picking up a few back issues and a trade as well at the comic shop today. Hey, unless I spend at least $30 a week on comics I go into a funk! First off, the back issues. I managed to grab Flash #113-118, Captain America Annual #8(featuring Wolverine!)and the Kick-Ass hardcover. And now for the new books. Captain America: Patriot #2, Avengers Prime #3, Teen Titans #87, Detective Comics #869 & X-Men vs Vampires #1(yes, that's the actual title).

So yeah, a depressingly small pull today, but maybe in the long run, that's for the best... You see, my chum Kello alerted me to a huge sale over at Things From Another World. Btw, I think the sale still going on until Friday just so you know... Anywho, late Sunday night I wound up buying a mind boggling 19(!!)trades from that place. And the crazy thing is that I barely spent over $100 to get them all! I mean, that's an AWESOME sale if I do say so myself. While I'm talking about that particular comic order, I might as well fill you guys in on exactly what I brought.. Avengers: Kang- Time and Time Again, Infinity Crusade, Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, Marvel: 1985, Superman: Birthright, Batgirl: Destruction's Daughter, Batman: Scarecrow Tales, Batman: Harvest Breed, Penance: Relentless, Spectacular Spider-Man: The Final Curtain, Squadron Supreme: The Pre War Years, Superman: End of the Century, Supreme Power: Contact, Supreme Power: Powers & Principles, Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up: Ultimate Collection, What If? Classic Vol. 2, Wolverine: Logan and finally, Zombie... Whew! That's a LOT of trades!

Hmm, what else can I talk about here... I beat Fallout 3 earlier today, and I'm currently playing through the third expansion which allows you to continue the story even after the game ends. I can see myself picking up all of the expansions over the weekend... That game is THAT awesome! Once I'm done going through the expansions I plan on starting the game over again so I can play as the most wicked villain imaginable. Lookout Capital Wasteland, here comes EVIL X! BWA-HAHAHAHAH!!! Besides that I'm almost finished with my EPIC review for the Superman: Secret Origin mini-series that wrapped up not so long ago. I've finished reviewing it up to the forth issue, so hopefully I'll be able finish reviewing the last two issues and get the post up by the weekend. And I guess that'll have to do it for me, as I think I've rambled quite enough for one night. As always, any comments are appreciated and will be responded to... Probably! Until next time, X out.

Picto-Review: REBELS #20

REBELS #20: Writer: Tony Bedard. Pencils: Claude St. Aubin.

Just a quick note, REBELS #18 and 19 BOTH received rare perfect scores from me. Will this issue be the trifecta? Well I already know, but you should read on to find out!


We starts things off with Vril Dox bringing his secret weapon(LOBO!)to Colu, the planet his father Brainiac was in the process of conquering.


Unfortunately, by the time Dox and Lobo arrive on Colu, Brainiac has managed to wrest control of Stargrave from Dox's son Brainiac 3 and has sent the rogue star after Lobo.


The first round goes rather poorly for the Main Man...


While Lobo is busy dealing with Stargrave, Dox and his son Brainiac 3 send holographic avatars of themselves to distract Brainiac. However, Brainiac 3's avatar winds up getting shot, tipping Brainiac off to Dox's plan.


Now aware of Dox's duplicity, I'm sure Brainiac has some nefarious scheme to enact on his offspring...


And sure enough, Brainiac busts out said nefarious scheme, as he begins to drain every bit of knowledge out of Dox and his son.


Brainiac winds up outsmarting himself though as he taps into Dox's feelings towards his father and finds his mind flooded by feelings and sensations he had no way of coping with.


Unable to concentrate, Brainiac and Stargrave beat a hasty retreat while two rookie Green Lanterns decide to attempt to bring Dox in.

What I Thought: I thoroughly enjoyed this storyline. I'm an unrepentant Vril Dox fanatic, and his evil son Lyrl(Brainiac 3)has also managed to grow on me. So it was all good... Almost. I can't say I liked the way Brainiac was “defeated”. Basically Brainiac unlocked Dox's repressed feelings towards Brainiac himself, and Brainiac was unable to deal with those emotions since he had detached himself from his own emotions so long ago. So Brainiac essentially beat himself. I would have much rather seen Dox(or better yet, Lyrl)have a more active role in Brainiac's defeat. Instead Brainiac just kind of took Stargrave(and the Colu Data-Core)and left. A hollow victory for Dox to be sure, but I guess a win is a win. So from here Dox will have to decide what to do with his renegade son, as well as what looks like a potential battle between Dox(and LEGION) and the Green Lantern Corps on the horizon. It's a good time to be a REBELS fan!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10. So the perfect score streak ends at 2, but hey, this is STILL my favorite DC comic!

Supergirl #56

Supergirl #56: Writer: Sterling Gates. Pencils: Jamal Igle.

Review: We get started with Supergirl bringing Bizarrogirl back to Bizarro World. After seeing that half of Bizarro World had been destroyed, SG and her Bizarro counterpart land on the planet to find out what had happened. Bizarro Lex Luthor arrives on the scene and tells SG that he had accidentally summoned the godship to Bizarro World in an effort to destroy Bizarro. However, the godship instead began sending hundreds of bug-like creatures to the surface of Bizarro World, where the creatures began to feed on the populace. As Lex finishes his explanation, he is eaten by one of the creatures. SG and Bizarrogirl prepare to attack the creature, but it is defeated by the timely arrival of Bizarro. Bizarro takes the girls back to the Fortress of Togetherness to strategize, and SG decides to check out the godship against Bizarro's advice. SG flies into space and discovers that the godship is actually an enormous bug creature and that the smaller creatures were feeding off of Bizarro World and returning to the giant creature to provide it with sustenance. The godship knocks SG away and she lands back at the Fortress of Togetherness where this issue concludes with SG deciding that this looked like a job for Superman.

What I Thought: God do I love Bizarro World! I can't get enough of the place! The dialogue, the characters, all of it! Me am truly hate Bizarro World! So with that said it should come as no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this issue. Simple arithmetic tells us that Supergirl + Bizarrogirl + Bizarro + A giant bug alien = a really good comic. What else can I really say?

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.If I could choose any fictional planet to live on, I'd definitely pick Bizarro World.

Fantastic Four #583

Fantastic Four #583: Writer: Jonathan Hickman. Art: Steve Epting(!).

Review: Oh boy, here we go... This issue starts off with the Fantastic Four battling citizens of the Forever City who were trying to march onto US territory. While the FF have their hands full with the High Evolutionary's goons, Valeria is sneaking around her father's laboratory where she learns about his meeting with the Council, who seem to be a collection of several Reed Richardses throughout the multiverse who had banded together to try to solve all of life's problems. Valeria finishes going through her father's files and learns that Reed had turned down an invitation to join the Council since he didn't want to leave his family. From there we head to Latveria, where Dr. Doom is bemoaning the fact that he was brain damaged. Due to his diminished IQ, Doom decides he was unfit to rule over Latveria and resolves to abdicate his throne and concentrate on regaining his intelligence. Before he can make that move though, Valeria teleports to his throne room to speak to him about what she found in her father's lab. While this is occurring, the FF are mopping up the High Evolutionary's men, and are preparing to return to the Baxter Building. Back with Doom, Valeria tells the good Doctor that by choosing to stay with his family her father made a selfish decision, since going with the Council would have benefited way more than Reed's immediate family. Valeria asks Doom to help her father, and in return she promises to help him regain his intellect. After a moment of contemplation, Doom agrees and Valeria returns to the Baxter Building just ahead of her family. This issue concludes with the Silver Surfer standing deep inside the Earth looking upon the corpse of Galactus angrily.

What I Thought: Hmm, hmm, hmm... Where to begin... Well first off, I stopped reading the FF series after Mark Millar's horrendous run ended, and only started collecting the series again about two issues ago in preparation for this storyline. So going in I knew next to nothing about many of the plot threads Jonathan Hickman has been weaving. The High Evolutionary's Forever City? Dr. Doom having brain damage? The Council? Never heard of any of it! I was half hoping that this would have been a jumping on point for new(or in my case, returning)fans, but this was most definitely NOT a jumping on point. It was more like a “jumping into the deep end of the pool and trying to learn how to swim” point. I just didn't understand a good 75% of what was happening here. Hopefully before the next issue I can get my hands on some back issues or trades, because I was just in over my head here, which led to me just not enjoying this comic as much as I think I could have. Oh well, maybe next issue will make a bit more sense then this one did...

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.I find super-intelligent children SO creepy...

Avengers #5

Avengers #5: Writer: Brian Michael Bendis. Pencils: John Romita Jr.

Review: This issue starts off with the Avengers having split into two groups with one group trying to repair the damaged timestream, while the other group simply tries to hold things together in the present. I'll start off with the latter group, since their story is WAY easier to decipher. Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman try to keep rampaging barbarians at bay all while attempting to prevent dinosaurs from eating New Yorkers, while Thor attacks Galactus, who had materialized in the city and was building his world devouring machine. While all of that is occurring, the rest of the Avengers are in the future, where they learn from the Maestro and an older version of Tony Stark that Kang is responsible for fracturing the timestream thanks to a war he was waging with Ultron. It seems that(for some reason)Kang had decided to attack Ultron, and was soundly defeated. Not liking the bitter taste of defeat(although to be honest, he should be used to it by this point), Kang went back in time, organized a group of heroes and villains from various points in time and attacked Ultron again at the same point in time as the first war. Once again Kang is defeated, which leads to him putting together yet another team and starting the war yet again. And once again, Kang is defeated. Kang continues fighting and losing to Ultron, but winds up screwing up the timestream due to his repeated abuse of it. While old Stark is trying to come up with a plan with his younger self and the Avengers, the timestream begins to fold up on itself, which would start the entire cycle all over again. Old Stark notices Noh-Varr and realizes that he didn't know him, meaning that somehow he was the key to fixing the damage Kang had done to the timestream. With this knowledge, old Stark begins to frantically tell his younger counterpart what to do to right things, but before he can finish, time resets and both teams of Avengers are back several hours earlier battling Apocalypse and his alternate version of the Four Horsemen. The Avengers who were in the future can still recall what had happened and what Old Stark told them, so once Apocalypse and his cronies and tossed back into the timestream they begin to work on a time machine that would bring them to the place and time old Stark told them they needed to go. When the machine is completed, Noh-Varr, Captain America, Iron Man and Wolverine head into the future where they meet up with Ultron to ask him for a favor.

What I Thought: Woooo, there's A LOT to get through here... The main story(the Kang-Ultron War and it's effect on the timestream)IS interesting, but it's also VERY confusing! The older version of Tony seemed to enjoy speaking in crypto-nese. Instead of just coming out and saying, “Hey young me, do this!”, he instead played word games while Kang moped and Maestro complained. I get that Bendis is saving the big reveal as to what old Tony was trying to pass on to his younger self for the next issue, but it kind of made this issue a bit of a headache to read. Although it was a headache to read, the JRJR's artwork was phenomenal. The fight scene between Thor and Galactus REALLY needed more then the few panels it was given. Hell, after seeing what I did, I want to see a full issue of Thor and Galactus just having a mindless free-for-all, drawn by JRJR! It doesn't even need a story, just those two characters fighting for no reason! Anyway, back to the story. I am still enjoying this storyline, but I have to say, this issue was a bit of a step down from the prior four issues. Here's hoping Bendis pulls out all the stops(and explains what the hell is going on adequately!)next issue.

Score: 7 out of 10.A glimpse into Marvel's future or just some Bendis madness... You decide!

New Comic Day! September 22 edition.

Hey there X-Maniacs, I figured I'd take a break from schoolwork and Fallout 3 to do a quick New Comic Day post. So without further ado, here's the books I picked up today. Avengers #5, Avengers Academy #4, Black Widow #6, Fantastic Four #583, Justice League: Generation Lost #10, Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #2, Shadowland: Moon Knight #2, Supergirl #56 and Superman/Batman #76... Not exactly the greatest of weeks if I do say so myself. I'm not really looking forward to any of these books. Avengers has been strong, Fantastic Four begins the “Three” storyline, where one of the members of the team dies/disappears/retires. Again. Black Widow ISN'T written by Marjorie Liu, which is a bummer, and Superman/Batman looks somewhat interesting since Judd Winick is writing it. And that's about it. The other comics I'm either only vaguely interested in, or not very interested in at all. On the plus side, such a lackluster week means I can spend more time playing Fallout 3 and less reading comics! If you want me to do a review for one of these books, you know the drill, drop me a comment and I'll get right on it. X out.

Quick Thoughts on: Deadpool #27

Deadpool #27: Writer: Daniel Way... Why is he, “Daniel” in this comic but, “Dan” in Daken? Pencils: Carlo Barberi.

Quick Review: This issue gets underway with Deadpool trying to buy a burrito but ending up in the middle of a robbery(what, it's a Deadpool comic!). It turns out that the store's owner has an arsenal of weapons under the store and is a terrorist, and the robbers all have healing factors. Deadpool battles the robbers but doesn't get anywhere since they all came equipped with healing factors. Eventually Steve Rogers, Black Widow and Moon Knight show up and beat up Deadpool AND the robbers. The owner tries to attack the three heroes but he is shot dead by Deadpool. We end things here with Steve offering a speechless Deadpool a job.

Quick Thoughts: See, when I'm reading a Deadpool comic I'm not necessarily reading it for it's story. I read Deadpool comics to laugh, and that's how I score them. If I laughed a lot over the course of the comic then it was a good read. If I didn't laugh then it sucked. This comic had me laughing. Repeatedly. It was all just good, stupid, Deadpool-arific fun. From Deadpool's interactions with the store owner, to his fight with the robbers, to the way he was fawning over Steve Rogers this comic was a laugh riot, and that's all I really want from a Deadpool comic.

Score: 9 out of 10.Agreed!

Quick Thoughts on: Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2: Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Fernando Pasarin.

Quick Review: While Guy Gardner is wondering how his actions will affect the way he is looked at by the universe at large, Arisia is having nightmares about Sodam Yat and Kilowog is acting moody. Why do I mention these three Lanterns? Because they have all been tasked with heading into the unknown sectors to bring some law and order to the worlds therein. While the trio of Lanterns are preparing for their trip, an enormously powerful telepath named Zardor is plotting against the Green Lantern Corps from within the unknown sector. Before they leave the known universe, Guy decides to go to the homeworld of the Blue Lanterns in order to be purged of the influence of the Red Power Ring he wore during Blackest Night. This issue ends with one of the Red Lanterns attacking Guy and warning him not to purge the Red Lantern influence.

Quick Thoughts: This was a big ol' set-up issue. Nothing more and nothing less. Peter is setting the stage for the next several issues, which is both good and bad. It's good because the upcoming storylines look pretty solid, but bad because this issue suffered due to the extensive scene setting. Hopefully next issue will give us a bit more action and a little less talking.

Score: 7 out of 10.The Green Lantern oath, always a good way to waste a page in a GL comic book!

Quick Thoughts on: Daredevil #510

Daredevil #510: Writers: Andy Diggle & Antony Johnston. Artist: Marco Checchetto.

Quick Review: Some rogue Hand ninjas hunt down Foggy Nelson and Dakota North and try to kill them, but the duo are saved by one of Daredevil's top lieutenants, Black Tarantula. Tarantula warns Foggy and Dakota to leave the city, but instead they head to Iron Fist's office building, where IF is planning his next move against DD with Luke Cage(naturally!), Master Izo and Kingpin(!). Upon seeing Kingpin with DD's friends, Dakota and Foggy decide that it is indeed time to leave the city, but wind up getting stuck in the middle of a riot. While that is going on, White Tiger(another of DD's lieutenants)guts Black Tarantula and tosses his lifeless body down to the streets below.

Quick Thoughts: Not bad. Not as good as the main Shadowland comic has been, but this issue served it's purpose. While the Shadowland mini has been focusing on DD and NYC's assorted heroes, this series has been looking at DD's human friends(and enemies)and how they are dealing with DD's recent actions. It gives us a nice alternate way of viewing the Shadowland storyline, which I have no problem with.

Score: 8 out of 10.Lookin' sharp, Mistah Fisk!

Quick Thoughts on: Daken: Dark Wolverine #1

Daken: Dark Wolverine #1: Writers: Dan Way & Marjorie Liu. Pencils: Giuseppe Camuncoli.

Quick Review: This issue mainly shows Daken's part in the mysterious death of Wolverine that we have been granted snippets of in “Wolverine #1” and “Wolverine: Road to Hell #1” Daken has betrayed his father to the clandestine Red Hand all while betraying them to Mystique. Over the course of this issue Daken basically flirts, cajoles, befriends and manipulates everybody he comes in contact with, from the Human Torch to some random models, all while keeping his eyes on his ultimate goal, control over everything and everyone.

Quick Thoughts: I loved this comic. But that should come as no surprise since I absolutely love the Daken character. He's always been a manipulative bastard, and this issue spotlighted that aspect of Daken's personality flawlessly. This comic introduces Daken to any potential new readers(this IS a number one issue of a “new” series), while spelling out his agenda in this series. For Daken the end results is to create an empire similar to the one that Romulus had maintained for hundreds(thousands?)of years, and with both Wolverine and Romulus out of the way, now is his time to strike. Simple, logical for the character and intriguing. What's not to like?

Score: 10 out of 10. I tried, but I just couldn't find anything I didn't like here, thus the perfect score.My current Windows desktop background.

Quick Thoughts on: Zatanna #5

Zatanna #5: Writer: Paul Dini. Pencils: Chad Hardin.

Quick Review: Zatanna manages to take care of the Fire Demons that had been pestering her last issue and promises her cousin Zatara that she would go to one of his magic shows after he explained to her how much it would mean to him. Unfortunately things don't go as planned as Zatanna is attacked by Benjamin Raymond, who had acquired a love potion from Mammon, a powerful Hell-based demon. In order to keep his soul from Mammon, Benjamin has to cause Zatanna to marry him, and thanks to his love potion(and zombie slaves)by the end of this issue that scenario seems ready to come to fruition.

Quick Thoughts: First off, I'm a huge fan of Zatara, so it was nice to see him get some page time and a bit of character development. Here's hoping he remains a regular in this series. But enough about Zatara, let's get to Zatanna. I'm actually enjoying this story, Mammon was humorous while still being reprehensible, Benjamin played a very good villain, and Zatanna was Zatanna. No complaints here.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.That is one UGLY demon!

Quick Thoughts on: X-23 #1

X-23 #1: Writer: Marjorie Liu. Artist: Will Conrad.

Quick Review: This issue begins with X-23 having nightmares about Wolverine offering her a spot by his side in Hell. As this comic goes along we see that X-23 is unable to really communicate with any of her fellow mutants on Utopia. Emma Frost blames Cyclops for X-23's lack of social skills, since it was Cyclops who allowed Wolverine to place her on X-Force. To make up for this, Cyclops sends X-23 to a former mutant half-way house where she can try to learn from the people there. This issue ends with X-23 waking up at the half-way house with flames and bodies laying all around her.

Quick Thoughts: Meh. First off, a confession... I hate the X-23 character. I can't think of a more uninteresting character than a teenage, female clone of Wolverine. With that said this issue wasn't that bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrid, which is a testament to Marjorie Liu's writing skills. I'll probably pick up the second issue of this series, but I'm not sure how long I'll be sticking with this series.

Score: 7 out of 10.I have no idea why I scanned this page...

Trying to catch up...

Whew. That's 8 new quick reviews up and posted today. And believe it or not, I'm not done yet! With my hell week at school over with, I can spend a little more time pursuing my three favorite hobbies; comic books, video games and sleeping! I've also been kind of lax with responding to comments left here at the blog, but tonight I promise to respond to any and all comments left for me. That's it for now, it's time for me to get back into the world of Fallout 3. X out.

Quick Thoughts on: X-Men #3

X-Men #3: Writer: Victor Gischler. Pencils: Paco Medina

Quick Thoughts: After completing their various missions, the X-Men resurrect an antagonistic Dracula, who they ask to assist them in reeling in his rogue son. Meanwhile, Cyclops sends Wolverine out to track down and bring Jubilee back to Utopia. Unfortunately for Wolvie, Jubilee is now fully embracing her vampire side and ends up biting and turning Wolverine into a vampire as this issue ends.

So Wolveroonie is a vampire now... I'm not sold, but I guess we'll see. I like the fact that Dracula didn't just throw his hat in with the X-Men, since they obviously need him a lot more than he needs them. I'm still enjoying this storyline and for me, that's all that matters.

Score: 8 out of 10.My, what big teeth you have Wolverine...

Quick Thoughts on: Titans #26

Titans #26: Writer: Eric Wallace. Pencils: Fabrizio Fiorentino.

Quick Thoughts: Sick and tired of Deathstroke's actions towards her, Cheshire guilts Arsenal into helping her take down Deathstroke... Permanently. Slade accepts Arsenal onto his team, figuring the death of his daughter Lian had pushed him over the edge. Osiris fights with his teammates and gets contacted by the White Lantern entity, which tells him to, “Help Isis break free”. Finally, Cheshire and Tattooed Man screw up a mission which leads to the entire Titans being called in to help, where they all get taken down except for Deathstroke.

I think I like the direction this series is moving. At least I think so... I like that Roy seems to have SOME sort of direction, and seeing him and Cheshire secretly work to take Slade apart from the inside could be fun. Osiris has his own story, Cinder seems to have some issues, and Tattooed Man seems like he(of all people)might become the voice of reason here. All in all, pretty decent stuff.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Poor junkie Roy...

Quick Thoughts on: Superman #702

Superman #702: Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Pencils: Eddy Barrows.

Quick Thoughts: Superman continues his seemingly aimless trek across America by wandering through Detroit. Supes wanders along, meets people(and some aliens)and helps the economy by making the aliens open up closed factories. Yeah...

Wow, so is it too early to come right out and say that JMS has lost his ever loving mind yet? Yeah, I think it is still a bit too early for that. I mean, this is all leading towards something, right? Right?!? Sheesh, I sure hope so...

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.And Superman walked and walked and walked...

Quick Thoughts on: Brightest Day #10

Brightest Day #10(of 1,986,875,126): Writers: GEOFF(1959 4 Life!)Johns & Peter Tomasi. Artists: Lots of people.

Quick Thoughts: Here we discover that the Firestorms have to work together and not argue with one another or else the universe will end!!!!!! It's like the Odd Couple, but with powers! Oh yeah, plus Blackest Night Firestorm is also still a part of the Firestorms for some reason. From there Black Manta hunts down Aqualad and reveals that he is the boy's true father(WOW, who didn't see THAT one coming???). Before Manta can kill Aqualad's adopted dad, Aquaman steps in to face Manta.

*Yawn* Boring. Don't care about any of this stuff anymore. If you want to read some cheer leading, “rah-rah-rah, Brightest Day is Grrreat!!” stuff, look elsewhere. In my honest opinion, this mini is the perfect cure for insomnia, although I suspect it may also cause madness, so it's a mixed bag.

Score: 5 out of 10.So Aqualad is Manta's son... Yeah, NOBODY could see that coming...

Quick Thoughts on: Brightest Day #9

Brighest Day #9(of 700,934,276): Writers: GEOFF(1959!!!)Johns & Peter Tomasi. Artists: Lots of people.

Quick Thoughts: The Martian Manhunter arrives in Starwood Forest(get it??)and goes insane, trying to burn it down. Green Arrow says nuts to that and halts the mad Martians attack. Eventually MM realizes that Starwood Forest wasn't the forest he was supposed to burn down, so he leaves for Mars. Meanwhile, Black Manta and the evil Atlantians decide that they should try to find the new Aqualad before Aquaman does.

Ugh... This is STILL going on?!? By this point every story in this “event”(and I use that term VERY loosely)annoys me, and if not for my compulsive need to collect this full series, I'd have dropped this issues ago.

Score: 4 out of 10.The Martian Manhunter: a menace to trees everywhere.

Quick Thoughts on: Wonder Woman #602

Wonder Woman #602: Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Pencils: Don Kramer & Eduardo Pansica.

Quick Thoughts: Wonder Woman beats up the army goons who were trying to kill the hidden Amazons, but is unable to force them to leave. Instead, WW decides to take on the army goons herself, while allowing the Amazons to sneak out the back door of their temple. This action nearly leads to WW getting herself killed, but one of the Amazons sacrifices themselves to save WW. WW gets angry and decimates the army goons before heading back to the Amazons and helping them get to safety.

If you want to know what I thought about this issue, check what I had to say during the Superman #702 review, because the same applies here.

Score: 6 out of 10.Wonder Woman SMASH!!!

Quick Thoughts on: Batman #702

Batman #702: Writer: Mad Grant Morrison. Pencils: Tony Daniels.

Quick Thoughts: This issue rehashes a lot of the Batman stuff from Final Crisis. Batman investigates Orion's murder, gets captured by the rogue Alpha Lantern, tortured by Darkseid's scientists, frees himself and shoots Darkseid, but not before he is hit by the Omega Sanction. We do learn that Darkseid altered reality after sending Bats into the past, thus giving us all the recent Barbatos junk. Thanks Darkseid...

This comic wasn't half bad. I was glad that Grant pretty much said that Darkseid screwed with reality, which makes a lot of the recent events in Batman make more sense. The secret caverns under Wayne Manor, Barbatos, etc, can all be explained away by Darkseid's reality tampering. So I might not like it, but at least that fixes the MANY continuity breaks. I will say that the more I think of it, the more I HATE the fact that Bats shot Darkseid with a gun... Yeah, I know it took place a while ago, but it's just SO wrong on SO many levels.

Score: 7 out of 10.I still say Batman NEVER should have shot Darkseid...

Quick Thoughts on: Invincible Iron Man #30

Invincible Iron Man #30: Writer: Matt Fraction. Pencils: Salvador Larroca.

Quick Thoughts: Tony Stark drives Sasha Hammer away from the big Stark shindig and tells her that he knows that Sasha and her mother were working with Ezekiel Stane in an attempt to destroy his private and public life. Now exposed, Sasha reveals that she had been altered by Stane and forces Tony to crash his car. Tony armors up and battles Sasha, gaining the upper-hand until she begins attacking innocent civilians. Tony diverts his attention and winds up at Sasha's mercy, until the timely arrival of Rescue(Pepper Potts). Tony allows Sasha to escape(mainly so she could tell her mother that he was on to them)and helps the injured civilians. The following day, Tony prepares to test drive his new fossil fuel free car in front of the media. Before he can begin the test though, the Hammer girls have Detroit Steel(via his drones)destroy the car with Tony in it.

This was the first issue of this series that I actually enjoyed the whole way through. Granted I've only been reading this comic for 4 issues, but prior to this issue I was pretty lost. This one was the first one I understood from beginning to end. So for the first time in who knows how long I can honestly say that I am looking forward to next issue of Iron Man!

Score: 8 out of 10.So do I!

Some Quick Thoughts on: Green Arrow #3

Green Arrow #3: Writer: JT Krul. Pencils: Diogenes Neves.

Quick Thoughts: So last issue Ollie was shot in the head with a black arrow. Instead of dying he gets saved by the spitting image of Thor. Faux Thor tosses Ollie in the waters in the enchanted forest(I can't believe I just typed that!)and Ollie's wounds are miraculously healed. Ollie asks Faux Thor who the hell he was, and Faux Thor explains that he believes himself to be the Sir Galahad of legend. The forest then does some crazy stuff and a giant shadow gets ready to attack Ollie.

Weird... I mean this comic isn't terrible, but this is SO far away from the Oliver Queen I want to read about. Ollie living in Star City/Seattle fighting street scum while romancing tons of women I like. Ollie running around in the enchanted forest? Not so much...

Score: 7 out of 10.Good old Thor.

Some Quick Thoughts on: Action Comics #892

Action Comics #892: Writer: Paul Cornell. Pencils: Pete Woods.

Quick Thoughts: Lex Luthor, some of his scientists and Deathstroke the Terminator head to Antarctica to search for some residual Black Lantern energy. Lex and company discover a large black dome, and upon investigating, Deathstroke goes crazy and tries to kill Lex. Lex battles Deathstroke, and eventually Lex begins to succumb to the power of the strange black dome. Eventually one of the scientists manages to complete his analysis on the black dome which causes it to dissipate, freeing everyone from its influence. Lex decides to continue searching for more of these black domes.

Besides the Deathstroke/Lex Luthor fight(which was like something out of the DC vs MK video game)this comic didn't do much for me. I hope this series goes further than Lex randomly wandering the Earth searching for these energy domes... Lex is way too deep a character to be wasted like that.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.FINISH HIM!!!

Some Quick Thoughts on: Batgirl #14

Batgirl #14: Writer: Bryan Q Miller. Pencils: Lee Garbett.

Quick Thoughts: Batgirl and Supergirl decide to get together in their alter-egos and have a nice, quiet night. Needless to say, that doesn't happen, as due to a science experiment gone awry, 24 Draculas spawn from an old movie and run around tormenting the students at Batgirl's college. After some difficulty, the girls manage to defeat and destroy each one of the Draculas. Their Dracula experience also leads to them becoming closer friends.

This was an okay one-off sort of story, but with how awesome this series always seems to be, “okay” is actually a letdown. This series seems to be in some sort of a strange holding pattern lately. Maybe it's the Bruce Wayne Return thing, or maybe that's just the way Bryan is planning it out, but the last two issues have been quite forgettable.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10."BLAH-HAHAHAHA"... Classic...

New Comic Day!

Hey X-Maniacs, it's X here again with the weekly New Comic Day post. First off, a quick apology... I've been VERY lax when it comes to posting stuff here lately. The early part of the school year has been busy. Much busier than usual. I'm going to try to post a few quickie posts tonight from some of the comics from last week, but no promises. To make matters worse, my copy of Fallout 3 finally arrived in the mail today, so I'm going to have to assume that some of my free/blogging time is going to go towards that game. Okay, with all of that out of the way, here's what I've picked up this week: X-23 #1, Captain America: Patriot #1, Brightest Day #10, Deadpool #27, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #2, The Heroic Age: Super Heroes #1, Shadowland: Ghost Rider #1, Shadowland: Power Man #2, Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #3, Thunderbolts #148 and Zatanna #5. So a pretty good load of books. If you want me to review any of them, drop me a comment, and I will try to get reviews for those books done... Eventually! So that'll do it for me for now. I'll try to get a few quickie reviews up later on tonight, but that all depends on a few factors outside of my control. X out.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2 is awesome!

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2: Writer: Allan Heinberg. Pencils: Jim Cheung.

Review: This issue picks up from last issue's cliffhanger, with Magneto introducing himself to the Young Avengers and stating that he wants to help Wiccan and Speed find their mother, the Scarlet Witch(who also happens to be Magneto's daughter). While Wiccan seems moved by Magneto, Patriot(and most of the rest of the Young Avengers)don't trust Magneto. Before Wiccan can say yes or no, the Avengers attack Magneto, with Wolverine telling Magneto that he was warned to stay away from the kids. Wiccan tries to explain to the Avengers that Magneto wasn't trying to abduct the Young Avengers, only talk to them, but the Avengers refuse to hear him out. Wiccan is shocked by the Avengers antics, and Magneto explains that they don't want Wanda found, because if she was found, she'd have to be killed. Magneto then cautions Wiccan, telling him that once Wiccan and his teammates step out of line, they'd find themselves in the Avengers cross hairs. Wolverine punctuates Magneto's point by attacking Wiccan, who is saved by Magneto. Hulkling decides to get Wiccan out of the fray, but Spider-Man approaches the two boys and warns them not to entertain the idea of listening to Magneto. Ms. Marvel approaches the boys and pretty much threatens them, telling them if they try to stand against the Avengers they'd be put down hard. While the Avengers, Magneto and Young Avengers battle it out in the streets below, Wiccan decides he's had enough and teleports his teammates and Magneto away from the battle, leaving the Avengers confused and a bit angry. As for Magneto and the Young Avengers, Wiccan teleports them to Wundagore Mountain, the birthplace of the Scarlet Witch, figuring that would be the ideal place to start the search. Several of the Young Avengers are STILL not pleased that they went against the Avengers and were teaming with Magneto(most notably Patriot), but Wiccan and Speed seem to be fully under Magneto's thrall by this point. The group heads to the grave of Magda, Magneto's wife and Wanda's mother, hoping that Wiccan would be able to use his magic to locate Wanda. Wiccan, Speed and Magneto join hands and Wiccan believes that he had located Wanda in a nearby village, which causes Speed to impulsively take off to locate Wanda. While running through the village at top speed, Speed runs into Quicksilver(!). Quicksilver warns Speed to collect his friends and leave, lest they want Quicksilver to kill them as he intends to do to Magneto. By this point Magneto and the Young Avengers arrive on the scene and Magneto tries to reason with his estranged son. Quicksilver will hear none of it and demands that Magneto release the children, to which Wiccan explains that the Young Avengers had chosen to follow Magneto. Upon hearing that, Quicksilver grabs Wiccan and runs off with him. Wiccan tells Quicksilver that instead of fighting, they should all team up to find Wanda, but Quicksilver refuses, stating that as long as his father was with the Young Avengers, he wouldn't join their cause. Quicksilver does tell Wiccan that he'd be more than happy to work with Wiccan to find Wanda. By now Speed has arrived on the scene and after some bantering goads Quicksilver into racing him to see who was faster(much to Wiccan's annoyance). While the two white-haired speedsters race, the ground lifts up from under Quicksilver, announcing the presence of his father. That does it for Quicksilver, who runs around the village, grabs a bunch of wooden stakes and throws them at Magneto as fast as he can. Magneto and the Young Avengers manage to avoid the projectiles, but unfortunately, a townswoman(who happens to look EXACTLY like Wanda)is impaled by one of the stakes and falls to the ground. The Young Avengers rush to the stricken woman's side and realize that she was actually a robot... And not only was she a robot, but she was a disguised Doombot(!!), causing the gathered characters to realize that the reason nobody had been able to locate Wanda was because she was almost definitely a prisoner of Dr. Doom!!

What I Thought: Well, this was probably the best single issue I've read all year. From the opening battle against the Avengers, to the COMPLETELY out of left field revelation that Doom probably had Wanda, this comic was perfect. Sorry Shadowland and Red Hood: Lost Days, but for my money, THIS mini-series is the BEST mini-series of the year, and we're only 2 issues in with 7 more to go!! I really can't think of a single flaw in this book... Maybe the Avengers acted kind of rashly towards the kids, but even that is sort of understandable considering it looked as if they were conspiring with Magneto. Besides that, this comic was perfect. The art was great, the story had my full attention from the first page to the last, and the dialogue was perfectly done. Every character “sounded” exactly how they should have. Magneto was sympathetic, while also leaving the reader with just the slightest amount of doubt that he was acting in the Young Avengers best interests. The Avengers were portrayed perfectly(Spider-Man tried to reason with the kids, Wolverine wanted to attack first and talk later, Ms. Marvel was annoying, etc), as was Quicksilver, who as usual was acting before thinking. And then there was the Young Avengers... Unsurprisingly Allan gave each character the perfect voice. While this mini-series is obviously centered around Wiccan(and to a slightly lesser extent, Speed), every single one of the other Young Avengers received a moment or two of serious character development. Stature and Vision, Patriot and Hawkeye, Hulkling and Wiccan, each character had their own ideas, plans and wishes, as well as their own time to shine. If only every comic book contained this sort of character development... As you can probably tell by how long the review was, as well as my thoughts on this comic, I REALLY enjoyed this book. I could easily go on for another several paragraphs detailing just how much I loved this comic, but I won't. Instead I'll post the score(which shouldn't be a HUGE surprise!)as well as several scans from the comic. That's right, SEVERAL scans! I liked this comic so much I couldn't decide on just one page to post. I CAN'T wait for the next issue!!!

Score: 10 out of 10.Who wouldn't want Magneto as their grandfather?!?

Yet another example of Wolverine being a jerk...

Huh, I'd forgotten just how much I like Speed... He was a riot in this comic!

Not only is this page beautiful, the dialogue is pretty funny... If you really think about it. BTW, this picture is now my windows desktop background.

Yeah, next issue can't come out soon enough...

New Comic Day!

Hey X-Maniacs, it may be two days late, but it's finally New Comic Day! Anywho, I didn't get much from the comic store this week(for me anyway), but a glutton of comics came in the mail, so I'll list everything I got today(comic book store or mail)and leave it up to you guys to let me know what you're interested in. First the comic book store stuff: X-Men #3, Thanos Imperative #4, Shadowland: Blood on the Streets #2, Invincible Iron Man #30, Booster Gold #36, Batgirl #14. Next up are my subscription books: Action Comics #892, Green Arrow #3, Gotham City Sirens #15, Batman #702, and finally Wonder Woman #602. So if any of those comics interest you, drop me a comment and I'll try to get a review up for it. And that's about it. I fully intend on posting a review for Avengers: The Children's Crusade #2 at some point during this weekend, because it was AWESOME and deserves a review! Other than that, I've got nothin'... X out.

No new comics, but Nightwing!!!

Although Labor Day granted me a day off from school(which I naturally appreciated), it also pushed back the comic release day from Wednesday(today!)to Thursday(which by simple deduction would be tomorrow!). So what to do... Well, I went through my stats for this blog and noticed that the most searched topic on this blog was Nightwing... Weird. But hey, I aim to please, so I pulled out my New Teen Titans comics, scanned some Nightwing stuff and figured I'd post it. And that's pretty much all this post is. My cheap attempt at pleasing the Nightwing fans out there. After I get back from the comic book store tomorrow I'll have my normal New Comic Day post up. Okay, enough small talk, here's what so many of you have apparently been waiting for, some random Dick Grayson scans.Here's one of the MANY lover's quarrels between Bruce and Dick. (from New Titans #55)

Dick Grayson: Playa. (from New Teen Titans #33)

Impulse Monday. 9/6

Hey, check me out, I've managed to remember that today was Impulse Monday here at the blog! I was thisclose to forgetting, but no worries Impulsive Ones, there WILL be a random Impulse scan up here tonight! Huzzah!!! Anywho, before I get to the scan, I figured I'd inform you guys that I placed an order for Fallout 3 for my PS3, mainly due to the fact that IGN had it listed as the second greatest PS3 game ever released. So besides comic stuff, if anybody has anything to say about that game, let me know. Okay, enough babbling, on to tonight's Impulse scan. And instead of the humorous side of Bart, tonight we see that Bart has a romantic side. Who knew?!From Impulse #72(May 2001).

Picto-Review: Shadowland: Elektra #1

Shadowland: Elektra #1: Writer: Zeb Wells. Artist: Emma Rios.


This issue gets started with Master Izo contacting Elektra telepathically in an attempt to convince her to help save Daredevil from the Hand. Elektra is not at all interested in assisting Matt in his time of need.


When Izo breaks contact, Elektra returns to her body and beats up some goons.


Later on, a few Hand ninjas find her and warn her to leave town before the morning. Needless to say Elektra declines that offer and slaughters the ninjas.


After dispatching the ninjas, Elektra heads to the streets and happens across a store where the murder of Bullseye was being played on television.


After seeing the pain etched on Matt's face, Elektra decides to try to help her former lover break the Hand's hold on him.

What I Thought: Meh. This was one of those comics that really didn't need to happen... There really wasn't a story that needed to be told here. Instead of this one-shot, why not just put Master Izo and Elektra's conversation in the main Shadowland comic, since that was the only real pertinent thing to come out of this book. The story was okay, but for $3.99, I want good to great, not simply okay.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Picto-Review: Taskmaster #1

Taskmaster #1(of 4): Writer: Fred Van Lente. Artist: Jefté Palo


We begin this issue with Taskmaster being stalked by numerous villains at a diner. It seems there is a one billion dollar bounty of Taskmaster's head since he is thought to be assisting Steve Rogers.


The villains attack, and Taskmaster dispatches each and every one of them with ease.


After the battle, Taskmaster grabs one of the AIM agent's handheld devices to see what was being said about him and he learns that he wasn't the only one who was a part of the bounty anymore...


This issue ends with Taskmaster heading to the home of the waitress who was serving him at the diner to warn her that thanks to her speaking with him, she was now thought to be assisting him and was a part of the billion dollar bounty.

What I Thought: Well, I don't think I'll be picking up the rest of this mini. It just didn't deliver what I was hoping for here. Instead of a straight-forward Taskmaster story, we instead have a story where Taskmaster has amnesia(for some reason...)and is forced to save a waitress. It sounds more like a bad summer blockbuster movie than a Taskmaster comic book. Oh well, it was worth a shot...

Score: 4 out of 10.

Wolverine: Road to Hell #1

Wolverine: Road to Hell #1: Writers: Various. Artists: Various.

Review: First off, this comic didn't really have a story. It was a teaser comic for several new Wolverine-centered comics. We begin with the teaser for the new Wolverine series. Wolverine is falling through a dark cavernous void, and has no clue as to how he got there. As he falls he hears several voices who warn him that when he lands he'll be broken like all of them, the rest of the damned. Wolverine tries to grab onto the cavern wall to pull himself up, but is bitten by Sabretooth's decapitated head and continues to plummet into the darkness. Next up we get the teaser for the new Daken and X-23 books. They are both trying to get their hands on a scientist who worked with the Weapon X project, but before either one can make their move, Malcolm Colcord(!!!!!)arrives on the scene with the military and takes the scientist into custody. With the scientist out of their grasp, Daken and X-23 both try to figure out a way to spring him. Next up we look at Uncanny X-Force. Wolverine convinces Fantomex(!)to join the team, and he meets up with Archangel and Psylocke, who are also on X-Force. While the four heroes talk, Archangel reveals that he sent Deadpool to Egypt mainly to keep Pool out of the hair of the other members of X-Force. In Egypt, Deadpool fights some weird villains and gets his hands on some sort of magical weapon. This issue ends with a brief preview of the new Generation Hope series. I skipped most of that though because it was in black and white and only seemingly half done.

What I Thought: Well, I have to say, this issue did whet my appetite for all of the new Wolverine comics. I was going to buy Wolverine, Daken, and Uncanny X-Force regardless, but this comic did get me a little bit interested in the X-23 comic... I really hate X-23 as a character, but I do like Marjorie Liu as a writer, so I'm kind of conflicted here... As for Generation Hope, even though I skipped the preview in this comic, I'll probably pick up the first few issues just to see how it starts off. If Marvel can recapture half of the magic of the early Generation X series then it should be worth it. All in all, all of the comics in this teaser book have left me intrigued by what will be happening in Wolverine's corner of the Marvel U.

Score: 8 out of 10.

I was excited about Dark Wolverine before, but the return of Malcolm Colcord(the Director from the old Weapon X series)just made the new Dark Wolverine series an ABSOLUTE must read!

Shadowland #3

Shadowland #3(of 5): Writer: Andy Diggle. Pencils: Billy Tan.

Review: This issue starts off with Ghost Rider tearing through the Shadowland dungeons, which ruins Moon Knight's plans of sneaking into the dungeons to see what Daredevil's plans were for the many prisoners he had collected. Meanwhile, Daredevil and his army of Hand ninjas are battling against the super-heroes who had gone to try to talk Daredevil out of his recent actions. While the Hand ninjas are treated like the cannon fodder they are, Daredevil is able to MORE then hold his own against the heroes, displaying several super-powers, such as super-speed and enhanced strength. With the outcome of the battle very much in doubt, the heroes are saved by the surprising arrival of the Punisher(!?!), who blows a hole in DD's Shadowland castle and provides the heroes with a way out. With the heroes gone, DD sits in his throne chair and decides that his ninjas were not up to the task of dealing with the super-heroes who were pestering him. From there, DD realizes that he can resurrect Bullseye(!)to serve as a loyal champion of the Hand. DD and Typhoid Mary head to the graveyard and dig Bullseye's corpse up and are soon joined by Elektra(!!), who appears to offer her services to her long-time friend/lover. Later on, the heroes who fought against DD get together at Iron Fist's headquarters and try to decide what they should do about DD. Before they can come up with anything, Master Izo climbs in a window and tells the gathered heroes that DD had been possessed by the Snakeroot, a group of powerful mages who secretly ran the Hand. This issue ends with Izo telling the heroes that the Snakeroot were preparing DD to become the vessel of their dark lord, the Beast of the Hand.

What I Thought: I should just take what I've said during the past two Shadowland reviews and paste it here, because it pretty much applies. This mini-series is the best mini-series either Marvel or DC has put out this year. Hands down. Andy Diggle's story has been amazing, Billy Tan's art has been beautiful, and everything about this mini has been nearly flawlessly executed. I will admit that the reveal with Bullseye didn't really surprise me, I've been calling that since the final scene of Shadowland #1(right JT? :P), and I am a TINY bit disappointed that DD's actions are now going to be blamed on the Snakeroot... I liked the way DD had fallen from Grace(that's an old DD storyline reference by the way), and I would have liked to have seen DD's actions purely his own, as opposed to having been influenced by evil mages... But that's a very little gripe. This mini-series is amazing, and you're doing yourself a grave disservice if you aren't following it.

Score: 9 out of 10.Hey, aren't you supposed to be a weird monster or something, Punisher?

Picto-Review: Red Hood: Lost Days #4

Red Hood: Lost Days #4(of 6): Writer: Judd Winick. Artist: Jeremy Haun.


We start off with Jason Todd explaining to Talia Al Ghul that Jason had been learning skills from some of society's scumbags. Jason intended to take these skills back to Gotham with him to punish the guilty. Talia notes that several of Jason's “teachers” had ended up dead at Jason's hands, to which Jason explains that they had deserved it.


Before their meeting comes to an end, Talia reveals to Jason that Batman had replaced him with a new Robin, which needless to say hits Jason hard.


From there, Jason begins to learn about bomb-making from a Russian criminal. After secretly following the bomb-maker, Jason discovers that his “teacher” was planning on killing several hundred innocent civilians and pinning the act on Arab terrorists to help get the British Government off the back of the Russian mafia.


Jason decides to sabotage the bombs, but while in the act of disarming the devices is discovered by some of the bomb-maker's goons.


After a bit of a battle, Jason activates one of the bombs and hightails it out of the warehouse, letting the hapless goons blow up.


Before Jason can recover from the explosion, the head of the Russian mafia finds him and orders his men to deal with Jason... Permanently.


What I Thought: I've enjoyed every single issue of this mini-series so far, and this issue was no different. With the exception of Shadowland, this is probably(one of)the best minis I've read all year. I enjoyed the story, I loved Jason's shocked/devastated reaction to the fact that Batman had replaced him with a new Robin, and I continue to enjoy Jason's interactions with Talia. So yeah, I liked a lot here. I didn't really understand the cliffhanger ending though... We all KNOW that Jason isn't going to get killed here/CAN'T get killed here, so I'm not really sure why Judd decided to make this issue a cliffhanger. The other three issues before this were more or less self-contained, which makes sense since we all know how Jason's saga ends(with Crazy Grant Morrison butchering his character in Batman & Robin!). Besides the peculiar cliffhanger though, everything else here was highly enjoyable.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.