New Comic Day! Oct. 31st edition.

Hey X-Manicas, X back after some much needed time off.  Things have been better for yours truly health-wise, but I think I've recuperated enough to get back to my blogging duties.  As usual, I'll do three reviews, while my good friend, JT, will add three reviews of his own.  Everything else will get a mention over at X-Man's Comic Forum(which, if I'm being honest, is way easier, and a tad more enjoyable, than working here at the blog...).  Anyway, here are the books I'll be getting for today...  American Vampire #32, Justice League Dark Annual #1, Fatale #9, Whispers #4, A+X #1, Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1, AvX Consequences #4, Mighty Thor #22, New Mutants #50, Ultimate X-Men #18, Winter Soldier #12, X-Men Legacy #275.  That gives me 12 books to read this week...  That's right around the perfect number of books for me in a week, so huzzah for that.  As for what I'll be reading and reviewing, A+X #1, New Mutants #50 and probably Mighty Thor #22, although I could just as easily review Ult. X-Men or Winter Soldier.  We'll see what happens as the week progresses.  My review days will be Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.  And that's all for me this week, until next time, X out......

Or maybe not...  JT asked me to handle his side of the NCD post this week, and with all the work he's done here at the blog while I've been laid up, how could I say no?  Well, I could have, but I'm just too awesome a guy to do that to him.  Now, JT claims that he'll be getting Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1, AvX Consequences #4, A+X #1 and Ultimate Spider-Man #16.1.  But you know how that guy is...  You just can't trust him!  So yeah, JT is getting a rather pathetic 4 books from the shop this week...  How sad.  He also told me that he'll be reviewing Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1, AvX Consequences #4 and Ultimate Spider-Man #16.1.  Or at least that's what he claims...  Mr. JT will be dropping reviews on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.  And that's it for this week.  Until next time, um... JT out?

Change in Plans

Hey everyone, JT here with a quick announcement. Due to the fact that I've yet to take even a week off since taking the reigns full-time back in June here,  then slowly taking a part-time gig once my buddy X returned, to say I'm a bit tired of blogging would be accurate. I think a week off would be enough to recharge my batteries, and with X taking time off, me having a ton planned for the next week, including the Detroit FanFare, I figure I'll take off for the week. I'll still discuss the comics I've read at my leisure over at the X-Man Comic Forum... We gotta work on that name... and X will be there as well talking comics. Sorry for the change in plans but hey, when ya get burnt out what can you do? See you guys at the Forum, til next time, JT signing off.

New Comic Day! October 24th edition.

Hey Comic Misfits, JT here with this week's New Comic Day post! As you may have noticed, I didn't get around to reviewing Hawkeye #3 and Venom #26, and I apologize for that, but things have been a bit busy around here with myself and my good buddy X. X will probably be taking a week or two off from blogging, which he'll delve into a bit below, leaving things in my less than capable, yet very manly hands. :P I'm not going to promise a review everyday, but I will try to get at least three reviews up between Thursday and Monday. That may even be a hard feat considering I'm only getting five comics this week! And those five comics are Batman: The Dark Knight #13, Invincible #96, Amazing Spider-Man #696, AVX Consequences #3, and Deadpool #63. I'll more than likely end up reviewing ASM #696, AVX Consequences #3 and Batman: The Dark Knight #13. So expect those at some point... And now, here's my pal X.

Hey X-Maniacs.  A very sore X here to echo what my friend JT just said.  I won't be able to do much blogging the next week at the very least, and possibly longer depending on what my doctor tells me.  Yep...  Anyway, with JT running things around here, things honestly couldn't be in better hands.  I'm actually getting a ton of books this week(or actually my brother is picking them up for me since I can't drive yet...), so here's what I'm expecting my brother to drop off for me.  I, Vampire #13, Justice League Dark #13, National Comics #1, Teen Titans #13, Invincible #96, Wolverine #315, Amazing Spider-Man #696, Avengers #32, AvX: Consequences #3, Captain America #19, Captain America and Black Widow #638, Deadpool #63, Invincible Iron Man #527, Journey Into Mystery #645, Secret Avengers #33 and Ultimates #17.  So as usual, a LOT of comics!  But that'll give me something to read while I recuperate, so that actually works out this week!  So huzzah!  I guess...  Anyway, the three I'm most looking forward to reading would probably be Spidey, Cap and Deadpool.  One more thing before I vanish for a while.  A year ago, JT and I started up a message board called, you guessed it, X-Man's Comic Forum.  If you guys want to head over there to talk about any of the comics JT and I listed here, go for it.  Or join the forum and you can try to get a conversation started on a comic me and my buddy may not be reading, but other people may want to talk about it.  For now, the forum may be the easiest way for me to talk comics, since it doesn't include all that much typing/thought.  So if you want, check the forum out HERE.  That's it for a very tired X, until later, see you guys.  X out.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16

Hey guys, JT here with a change from our regularly scheduled program, I've decided to review Ultimate Spider-Man instead of Nightwing, I'd been holding off on reviewing this series since we skipped so many issues but I think this is a good series and it should be reviewed, so why not start here?

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16

Summary: We start things off with Miles' dad, Jefferson, trying to get home to find out about his family, but the government has his street blocked off due to the United We Stand drama which has been going on for the last few issues. Because he's belligerent and worried about his family, he tries to go past the barricade, and ends up getting sent to a detention area, Meanwhile, Miles is trying to help Captain America and says he wants to join the Avengers. Cap verbally decimates Spidey by telling him that he's too young, he's not ready and etc. and to leave before he arrests him. The argument is ended when a HYDRA attacks and Spidey saves Captain America from falling to his doom with some quick webbing skills. From there, Cap and Spidey, accompanied by a few Hulkbusters take on HYDRA agents galore, and Miles even helps re-direct a rocket that was aimed at a building of civilians. Captain America things Miles may be in trouble but is shocked to see miles handled his own and stopped the rocket, and even helped Cap get the drop on the last HYDRA agents. Surprisingly, Captain America tells Miles he was wrong, and that Miles is in fact ready, and offers him a spot on The Ultimates, which Miles quickly accepts. He's then introduced to his new teammates, Iron Man, Thor and his old-pal Spider-Woman. Miles puts a hold on the festivities and calls his mom to tell her that he's okay, and says he's safe over Ganke's house. His mom says she hasn't heard from Miles' dad and Miles says he hasn't either, but his mom says that's him on the other line and she'll call Miles back. Miles is then told by Tony Stark to come on because he's not going to want to miss what's about to happen. The issue ends as Miles and the rest of The Ultimates watch on as Captain America announces that he's accepting the position of President of the United States of America.


Thoughts: This issue flew by man, It was full of so much fighting and action it didin't take long to read at all. I enjoyed the reasons Cap said Spidey wasn't ready, but I also liked that Spidey got to prove himself to captain America and earned his respect and a spot on the team. I can see this more as a training exercise than Miles being a full-fledged member, but I guess we'll see. Miles' dad being an idiot and acting like he doesn't know you can't cross police barriers really annoyed me, I get that he was upset and whatnot but there's a barrier for a reason, if his family were in their home, I'm sure they would've been escorted it and past the barrier... him acting like an ass came off as more of him being an idiot than a worried husband and parent. Overall, this was an average issue, but with the invitation to the Ultimates, that saved it from being forgettable, which definitely helps. I'm interested in seeing what happens now though, with Miles as a member of the Ultimates, his Uncle dead and his father in a detention area, there's a few ways this could go, I'm interested in seeing what happens to Miles next.

Score: 7/10 

Iron man: Welcome to the Ultimates, kid.

AVX Consequences #2

Hey guys, JT here again, and no, this isn't X playing a prank, it's actually me. My buddy X has been under the weather lately and I'm not sure if he's gonna be able to review for the rest of the week, and rather than him feeling like he has to post or not having any content up, I figured I'd fill in for his days for the rest of the week. X was scheduled to review Hawkeye #3 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #13, but since I don't read Lobdell, I'll review Hawkeye #3 and AVX Consequences #2. So, let's do it shall we?

AVX Consequences #2

Summary: I didn't review this first issue, but if I recall correctly the gist of it was that Cyclops is in prison with a cell block to himself pretty much, Wakanda is rebuilding and Mutants aren't welcome there, also they've declared war on Alantis, and Wolverine had to give Xavier's eulogy. This issue starts things off with a rightfully pissed off Wolverine coming to meet with Scott "Cyclops" Summers in an empty room at the prison. Wolverine downs a bunch of beers before asking Cyclops about "Chuck" Xavier, to which Scott replies that killing him was the last thing he wanted, and it wasn't him, but Wolverine tells him it doesn't matter, it was him when he started that path of destruction and still continued, so he's to blame. Cyclops says he did what he had to, and that Wolverine taught him that. He says the Jean Grey School will have new mutants now thanks to him, whereas Wolverine wanted to kill Hope in the first place, (Excellent point by Cyclops) and if he'd succeeded things wouldn't be the way they are now. Scott then says he understands how Jean felt, now more than ever, in ways Wolverine never will, which enrages Wolverine even more so he attacks him. Cyclops, de-powered thanks to the goggles that he has to wear in prison, waits for Wolverine to impale him with his claws, when Wolverine stops and says that Cyclops wants to die. Cyclops tells him that he does, and if he dies now he's a martyr. Wolverine says that's BS, and Scott wants it because he wants it, but Cyclops doesn't deny that either. He says he's either going to go to trial and be convicted of Diminished Responsibility or an Insanity Clause, so of course he's not going to get that chance. They can make him disappear, which Captain America would never allow, or they can keep him de-powered in prison, and let the inmates take him out. He tells Wolverine that he'd rather die at his hands, at least he'll make it quick. Wolverine, dejectedly tells Scott he takes all the fun out of wanting to murder someone. Wolverine then asks Scott to give up Colossus, Magneto, Magik, Danger and Namor, because if they don't find them soon, people will get wary which will lead to the return of Sentinel's, and asks Scott, even referring to him as "Slim" to help bring them in. Scott asks where Emma and Hope are, and if Wolverine tells him, he'll help,. but Wolverine says screw him, but in a less nice way, and tells him to go to hell, and as he leaves Scott replies "I can and did." Next we see Scott meeting a new mutant that recently got his powers after being attacked by another inmate, and they triggered which led to him taking out a bunch of inmates before being knocked out by the guard, so he now has to wear a power dampening collar. As he finishes his story, Cyclops notes that everyone is gone, including the guards, as three big inmates (including the one the new mutant beat up earlier) approach Cyclops and his newest associate holding shanks (prison knifes) as this issue comes to a close.


Thoughts: It's not often you get a comic that's 80% of two men in a room talking back and forth, and it's even less that you get a great comic from that, but AVX Consequences proves to be the exception. They used the excellent history between these characters, their morals, and of course mentioning Jean Grey to make this conversation draw you in. Cyclops made great points and showed while sometimes cocky, he was the leader for a reason, he's not an idiot. He knew what was going to happen before it did and we see that here, as well as his reasoning for the things he's done, while they can be disputed, he does make good points about Wolverine wanted to kill Hope, and how he inadvertently led to the return of the mutant population. The ending was a great cliffhanger because you have to wonder how a de-powered Cyclops can fare, I'm sure he can fight his ass off, but to say I'm curiously awaiting the next issue is an understatement.

Score: 8/10 

Cyclops: And in a few years, some rebellious lit;e kid is going to turn up at your school with me on his T-Shirt. "Cyclops was right."

Justice League #13

Hey everyone, JT with my first review of the week and it's none other than Justice League, so let's get right to it because intro's are overrated, just like teams my Detroit Tigers beat in Semi-Final games. :D

Justice League #13

Summary: We pick up where we left off two months ago (Damn you Zero Month!) with Superman and Wonder Woman dealing with the fallout of locking lips, before Diana tells Clark she needs to leave and takes off. From there we jump to five days later and see Wonder Woman and Cheetah fighting each other in a gruesome battle, where we also learn that apparently Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth doesn't work on Cheetah for some reason. Wonder Woman is going a bit easy on Cheetah, tryingto help her because they used to be friends, but Cheetah doesn't want her help and uses this advantage to knock Wonder Woman out. She awakens later to see Cyborg and Flash helping her as she says she has to find Barbara, she can't fail her again. Next we see Batman and Aquaman talking to a recovering Steve Trevor, as Superman, Flash and Cyborg talk to Wonder Woman, as both groups learn about Wonder Woman's ties with Cheetah. Turns out they were friends after WW saved her from some terrorists, so Barbara used to study mythological artifacts for her and Steve. One day, Barbara mistakenly cut herself on a ancient dagger and was possessed by The Goddess of the Hunt, causing her to become The Cheetah. Steve says that Diana blames herself for Barbara becoming the Cheetah, just as she blames herself for him being attacked by Graves. Superman offers Wonder Woman help from the League in dealing with Cheetah, she denies but he persists that it's not because she needs it but because they want to help. She finally agrees to take the League's help, and they discuss that kiss and seem to be planning to continue their smooching ways. Outside the room, Flash and Cyborg have a conversation and Cyborg reveals that sometimes he thinks he's just a computer program that believes he's Vic Stone. He's not sure if he's alive and he feels like he's more computer than human sometimes, but Flash tells him computer's don't laugh, have favorite TV shows or worry about being robots. Cyborg says Flash may be right about that, and the two go meet back with Superman and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman says they need to find the Congo Tribe that Cheetah's connected with as they may be able to help. From there we see the six league members, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash in the Congo, looking for the Lost Tribe when suddenly they're attacked by Cheetah. She takes down Batman and Flash with quick blows then leaps on Superman and digs her fangs into his neck. Diana goes to check on Superman when he turns around and reveals he's been turned into a Male version of Cheetah?!


Thoughts: So Cheetah can turn people like a Vampire now?! Okay... I guess that helps make her more of a threat, plus it's more believable she can take on the League with help from Superman now. Maybe the next issue is when Batman pulls out Kryptonite and shows he's the master of contingency plans. This was a good issue though, I enjoyed the opening fight with WW and Cheetah, as well as the stuff with Cyborg, that really made his character a bit more relatable, since every since he's joined the team I've gotten the vibe he was more of a token character than anything, but I like that he's getting some character development for the first time since the opening arc. I do wish we had more for Aquman and Bats to do here than just interview Steve Trevor, that didn't even seem like a two person job but whatever... besides that small thing, I enjoyed this issue and I'm excited for the next one to see how the League deals with a Cheetah-controlled Superman.

Score: 7.5/10 

Cheetah: Use your lasso on your precious flock and ask them about their darkest desires. See if your adorable heart can stomach what perversions you expose within them.

Marvel Now! Point One #1

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do a review last night, so here's the first review of the week now.  Or maybe I should say Now!  Get it??

Marvel Now! Point One #1

Summary: For this comic, I'll do a quick review of each mini-story, starting....... Now!
-First up we get an origin story for Peter Quill, Star-Lord.  He's a kid, some aliens attack and kill his mother, who apparently had Peter with a rival alien race.  The aliens go to kill Peter, but he kills them with a rifle, before finding a fancy space gun in his mom's closet.  With that, he escapes his house before the dead alien's spaceship blows Peter's house up.
-Nova is still flying high(pun intended) after being invited to join Avengers, but runs into longtime Nova villain, Diamondhead.  We learn during the battle that this Nova is apparently not the Nova we know(Richard Rider), and that it seems the Nova Corps is also no more(making this Nova Kyle Rayner then?).  In the end, new Nova manages to defeat Diamondback before heading off again.
-Next up it's Loki meeting with Miss America(from Earth-212) to gripe about Wiccan, who Loki wants gone.  Miss America doesn't like the way Loki is talking and knocks him around a bit before leaving, but not before telling him she'd be keeping an eye on him and Wiccan, which is apparently exactly what Loki wanted.
-Scott Lang(Ant-Man) is still hurting about his daughter(Stature) having been killed at the hands of Dr. Doom.  Since he had no way of getting direct revenge on Doom(yet...), he messes up a Latverian art gallery.
-Forge is crazy.  However, thanks to Cable, Forge manages to fix his own mind, at which time Cable asks Forge to work with him.
-Tying all of these stories together is a man from the future, who has been telling these stories to Nick Fury(the new one).  He then mentions a word(Kobik) and possesses a mess of SHIELD agents, who come in, guns firing.  Eventually Agent Coulson kills the agent the man from the future had jumped in to, ending his bizarre threat.  From there, Maria Hill tells Fury and Coulson it was time to talk about the Avengers Initiative.

Thoughts: Honestly, I'm kind of interested in all of the comics mentioned here, even the one I was sure I wouldn't want(FF)!  Nothing mind blowing here, this wasn't a necessary read in any way, it was an okay comic about a few upcoming comics.  If you're curious about Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Secret Avengers, Young Avengers, Cable and X-Force or FF, this may be worth a pick up.  Nothing more to say here.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

This is probably the series I'm most looking forward to out of all the Marvel Now! books.

New Comic Day! October 17th edition.

Okay, I'll be honest, I forgot to get this post done earlier in the week, so I'm gonna skip most of the intro and just get into the meat of this post, the books I'll be picking up.  That way JT won't be TOO angry with me for my laziness...  Probably...  Anyway, here are the books I picked up today.  At the comic shop...  Today...  Walking Dead #103, Red Hood and the Outlaws #13, Nightwing #13, Hellblazer #296, American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #5, Avengers Assemble #8, AvX: Consequences #2, Daredevil #19, Dark Avengers #182, Hawkeye #3, Marvel Point One #1, Mighty Thor #21, Venom #26, X-Factor #245.  That brings me to 14 books.  And there really aren't any I'm jumping up and down to read...  I guess my three books for the week will be Marvel Point One #1, Hawkeye #3 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #13(just to mess with myself).  If I get REALLY bored today(which probably won't happen), I'll put a review for Point One #1 up tonight, and add some other book as my final review.  But I wouldn't count on that happening.  As for my review days this week, they are Thursday, Saturday and Monday.  Whew, glad I finally got this post out of the way!  Now I'll make the hot tag to JT and get out of the way with a hearty X out!

I'm SO angry with X's laziness! Or not... whatever. These are the books that I, myself, me, JT, picked up at the comic shop... today. Walking Dead #103, Justice League #13, Nightwing #13, AVX Consequences #2, Hawkeye #3, Ultimate Spider-Man #16, and Venom #26. Of those seven comics, I guess I'll review Justice League #13, Venom #26 and I guess I'll do Nightwing #13 as my final review. My review days this week are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, so come on those days for some JT reviewing-goodness. And just like that, that's the end of this NCD post, feel free to let us know what you guys picked up, and be sure to expect a review from X tomorrow (if not tonight) at 8 P.M. Til then, this is JT signing off!

First X-Men #3(of 5?)

I think this was announced as a 5 issue mini-series, but it doesn't say so on the cover, thus explaining the question mark in the title.  I haven't been all that high on this mini, but hey, I'm here, it's here, my laptop is here, let's give it a go and see what happens!

First X-Men #3

Summary:  This issue gets started with an amnesiac Namor(who was a hobo at this time) beating up Wolverine's First X-Men squad and the feds, who were sent in to apprehend Namor(who nobody knew was Namor).  Agent Duncan(who will go on to work with Prof. Xavier and has no real hatred towards mutants) tells Wolverine that fire seems to hurt crazy Namor, so Wolvie has Bomb blast both Wolvie and Namor, at which time they both land in the water.  Duncan lets Wolvie and company leave the scene, while Namor doesn't resurface for quite some time, leading to the feds figuring he was dead.  Later on, Sabretooth sleeps with Holo, and decides that he and Holo were leaving Wolvie's merry little band to start a life somewhere !!??!).  Wolvie claims that the team was close to winning(winning what, I don't know...), so Holo decides to stay, which leads to Sabretooth reluctantly sticking around.  Meanwhile, a mutant named Virus sticks himself on to Yeti's brother, which seems to be some sort of plan Trask and the feds had.  Wolvie's crew attacks the FBI office holding Yeti's brother and are met with minimal resistance.  Wolvie cuts Virus off of Yeti's brother, and also manage to free a few other captive mutants before heading back to their base.  Wolvie's crew is pleased by their success, however, Virus is also pleased, and tells the feds that the seed to Wolvie's defeat had been planted.

Thoughts: Okay, I'm just gonna come right out and say it, I didn't like this comic.  As in at all.  I'm not a fan of the story, I don't like the art(what the hell is wrong with Sabretooth's mouth?!?), the characters don't interest me, there's really nothing here I like.  Sabretooth as a good guy who wants to settle down with Holo?!  What the hell am I reading here?!  I think I'm going to do something I NEVER do, and that's drop this mini before it concludes.  And I actually picked up all of that awful Space Punisher mini!  But yeah, I think I'm done here.  You can't say I didn't give this a real shot...

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.

I can't even find words to describe how awful that shot of Sabretooth is...

Avenging Spider-Man #13

Hey everyone, JT here once again, this time with my last review of the week, Avenging Spider-Man. Last month's issue wasn't all that great so my expectations going into this one aren't that high, but here's hoping Unlucky #13 proves to be quite the opposite.

Avenging Spider-Man #13

Summary: This issue starts off with Spidey finding out he was hypnotized in the last issue by a smooth, jive-talkin, slow walking, criminal by the name of the Hypno-Huster, who also hired Deadpool for the gig, agreeing to help Deadpool die for helping him, since thats what Pool wanted at the time of this story. There's an awesome part where Spidey mentions the last time he fought H.H., and Deadpool has the little editor's box telling us when it happened, then taking a shot at Wacker. Spide plans on making sure H.H. stays in jail, with his roomate, The Tinkerer (who seems to be relaxing while all of this is happening) but Spidey has to deal with a new and improved type of powers by H.H., thanks to Tinkerer. Spidey also has to deal with Deadpool, so Spidey retreats from the cell as Deadpool shoots at him, and H.H. makes it so everyone Spidey see's will be his worst fears. Just when things can't get worse for Spidey, he discovers the criminals have all left their cell's and instead of leaving, they want a piece of Spidey, and thanks to H.H.'s spell, they look like classic Spidey enemies like The Green Goblin, Kingpin, Tombstone and Morbius. Spidey's taken back a bit until he see's the names of the inmates and recognizes some of them as The Painter and Boomerang, to which he promptly cleans their respective clocks. Meanwhile, Deadpool and H.H. (who did not make the list of most awesome super-villain team-ups, I know because Deadpool checked.) H.H. tells DP if he wants him to hypnotize his heart to stop pumping like he wants, Pool has to kill Spidey. DP "ain't down with that jive" but H.H, hypnotizes him to kill Spidey. Deadpool does attack Spider-Man but manages to fight it off since he's schizophrenic and only half of his brain was hypnotized, which is genius. While Spidey tries to help Deadpool snap out of it by telling trigger words, including Ryan Reynolds (Hey, I get it!), Hypno-Hustler collects his things before escaping, which includes a mood ring, a pet rock and socks with toes. While trying to catch up on current events before escaping, he asks Tinkerer in Henry "Fonzie" Winkler ever made it to the White House. Damn... that dude is gonna be ecstatic when he learns about Obama. Before H.H. can leave (Why is he STILL THERE?!) Deadpool comes in with Spidey inpaled on his sword, H.H. takes off his goggled to get a closer look when he's attacked by Spidey and Deadpool, who switched costumes to fool him. Now THAT was genius. They make quick work of him and Spidey webs Deadpool to the floor to keep him there for the authorities as well. Spidey uses H.H.'s goggles to subdue Deadpool, who has the weirdest fantasy ever including a Deadpool version of Spider-Pig named Deadpork and Deadpool dressed like the cross-dresser from Rocky Horror Picture Show, as Spidey heads home to get out of Deadpool's costume and this issue comes to a close.


Thoughts: Now that was a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect much from this issue after the last one being so all over the place but I'll be damned if I didn't laugh my ass off. H.H. was awesome here, I'd love to see more of him, maybe as a member of Deadpool's Rogue gallery, along with Doctor Bong of course. And the twist of having them switch costumes honestly caught me by surprise, which made this all the more enjoyable. I never thought I'd say this, but I want more Hypno-Hustler!

Score: 8/10 

Spider-Man: High-lever security? He's got a roommate, for crying out loud.

Captain America #18

I could very easily sum this issue up in a sentence or two...  That's about how much I care about this storyline...  Eh, I might as well polish this one off.

Captain America #18

Summary:  While Falcon and Diamondback try to keep people from going crazy due to the madbombs dropped by the Hydra Queen, Bravo and Baron Zemo(who is unfortunately evil. Again...), Sharon Carter confronts Zemo on his space station and Cap heads after the Queen and Bravo.  Sharon(with some help from Dum Dum Dugan), manages to choke Zemo unconscious, before the two destroy the station, which in turn destroys the madbombs(I guess...).  Cap beats up Bravo, so the Queen shoots at both of them, which is fine since Cap has a shield.  Not so fine for Bravo, who doesn't.  Bravo gets shot a few times, so Cap throws his shield at the Queen, which knocks her into her computer screens, and apparently puts her in a coma(?!).  From there, Cap and company are happy, Bravo and Zemo get taken into custody, while the Queen is being worshiped by some lackey in her hospital bed.

Thoughts:  Blah.  That's my thoughts on this one.  It's sad that Ed Brubaker's epic Cap run is ending with such a whimper, but that's what we're getting.  But considering the fact that Brubaker's Cap run is my favorite run, by any writer, on any comic, from any company, ever, he definitely gets a pass from me on this one.  I never found Bravo or the Hydra Queen interesting(which is weird since Brubaker has that special talent to make ANYBODY interesting), the storyline was another variation of the old, "Cap is disillusioned by America" story, and yes, I hate the fact that Baron Zemo is evil again.  So if you take all of that, mix it up, you end up with a comic I sadly didn't really enjoy.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Too bad Bravo didn't die here...

Scarlet Spider #10

Hey everyone, JT here with my second review of the week, and we're continuing the Minimum Carnage Mini-series in this month's issue of Scarlet Spider. Last time we left off, Carnage had escaped to a tiny universe, Scarlet Spider was trying to stop him, and Venom showed up, telling Scarlet Spider to surrender. Let's see if Kaine did that... which I doubt.

 Scarlet Spider #10

Summary: We pick up where we left off, with Kaine, extremely upset that he wasn't able to stop Carnage. Venom tells Scarlet Spider to relax, he remembers him from killing The Queen during Spider-Island, and he's there to stop Carnage, just like SS. SS tells Venom that's fine, but if he touches him again, he'll kill him. Venom says he'll keep that in mind and they discuss the tiny people that were with Carnage, when suddenly Venom loses control and the the symbiote takes over, turning him into the big, hulking Venom. With his last bit of control, Flash yells for SS to run, as Venom tries to eat SS. Kaine fights back and tries his hardest to take down Venom but he can't. Flash fights the symbiote for control as it tries to move onto Kaine, but he calms it down somehow and regains control. SS is rightfully upset at what just happened, but Venom cuts him short when they find that Dr. Ketola survived. Venom asks her where Carnage went and she said he's in a subatomic space known as the Microverse, after using that machine in the last issue, Venom says they have to go after Carnage, to which Scarlet Spider replies "@#$% That." This seems more like a JT and X crossover... Anyway, Venom says they have to go after Carnage, he's their responsibility, but SS says he's not Spider-Man and he could care less what Carnage does as long as he's out of Houston. Venom says Carnage will be back, and asks SS for help, but he tells venom to go to Micro-Land or Hell for all he cares, SS is out. In the Microverse, Carnage tells Katy Kiernan he's keeping her alive to report on what he does, he wants the world to know of his exploits, so she's allowed to live, for now. We also see that Carnage's allies seem to think he's a bit crazy as well, but they apparently need him, so they put up with him. Back in the lab, Venom is about to enter the Prometheus Pit when SS shows up, asking Venom if he really thinks Carnage will come back, to which Venom says the bad ones always do. Scarlet Spider decides to join Venom in going after Carnage as they step into the Prometheus Pit. Venom wakes up in the Microverse in a nice area with little faeries... but they quickly attack him, causing the symbiote to break apart. Venom is saved by a group of Microverse inhabitants, and they recognize Venom and tell them they need his help. Over with Kaine, we see him waking up by a yoda-like zen master, and just when it seems like things couldn't be worse for Kaine, we see that he's also by a gigantic green-bug-lobster creature that's getting ready to take out Kaine and his new friend when the issue ends.

Thoughts: It's funny, before he took over Scarlet Spider, I didn't like Chris Yost's work much, but I'll be damned if he hasn't made Scarlet Spider something I look forward to every month, and his work in this issue continues that trend. The Minimum Carnage mini has been pretty good so far, Kaine and Flash are such polar opposites that its great seeing them together, it's kind of like seeing Cap team with Wolverine, in the sense you have a guy who plays it by the book and a guy that does what he want when he wants. I enjoyed this issue, it was average, far from bad but nothing too memorable happened here. I can't wait to see what happens when Venom, Scarlet Spider, and Carnage are all at the same place at the same time.

Score: 7.5/10 

Scarlet Spider: I know another idiot who talks about responsibility a lot.
Venom: Yeah? I know a great man who does the same.

Deadpool #62

So T-Ray and Slayback have returned to menace the now healing factor-less Deadpool in this comic...  That HAS to lead to some hilarious moments, right?  Right?!?

Deadpool #62

Summary: Agent Kemp is running T-Ray and Slayback through a very advanced virtual reality program that is simulating Deadpool.  The program is so good though the two villains aren't able to defeat it, so Kemp tells them to keep practicing so that they're ready for the real thing.  From there, Deadpool hunts down Taskmaster for a mercenary job, but Taskmaster figures Pool was there for selling him out to Black Box a few issues back, leading to the two fighting.  Pool comes out on tops, and Taskmaster apologizes for selling Pool out, with Pool accepting.  From there, Taskmaster tells Pool that T-Ray and Slayback had suddenly popped back up, which leads to Pool leaving.  This issue ends with Taskmaster selling Pool out to Agent Kemp and telling her that Pool had just left his safehouse...  HA!

Thoughts: Okay, I kind of/sort of expect Taskmaster and Pool to be working together here, and that Pool asked Taskmaster to tell Kemp that he was leaving in order to draw Kemp and her cronies out in the open.  However, I REALLY hope that Taskmaster has betrayed Pool again, because that would just be awesome on so many levels, especially since Taskmaster had just apologized for selling Pool out a few seconds earlier!  Um, besides that, nothing really happened here...  T-Ray and Slayback trained, and Deadpool learned the art of forgiveness...  This wasn't a terrible comic, and the last page(which I'll scan) gave me a legit laugh, but other than that, that was it.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Ah, how many times have I said that line...

Batman #13

Hey everyone, JT here with the return of the freaking Joker. So screw all this intro crap, Joker's been gone for a year, he's back, let's get to it!

 Batman #13

Summary: We pick things up in Gotham with Commissioner Jim Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock discussing the weird things that have been happening in Gotham, like three days straight of rain, and a lion cub being born with two heads at the Gotham Zoo. He says they're omens and when something happens people are gonna say they should've expected it from the omens. As they talk, we see a "Forget Me Not" catering van arriving in Gotham and right outside of the GCPD. Inside the building, Gordon is talking to his officers when the power goes out. The generator's kick in as Gordan see's The Joker in the doorway. The lights go out again as Joker taunts Gordon with jokes while murdering officers one by one, snapping their necks in the darkness. Joker eventually says that Gordon is looking well, as is Barbara. Gordon yells at him not to say her name, but Joker says Gordon is always hiding things, like the pack of smokes he hides under his mattress, and Joker says he's seen it, since he sometimes lies under Gordon's bed at night, and sometimes he wants to reach up and... Joker laughs as a startled Gordon shoots. The lights come back on and Batman is standing next to Jim, who is literally circled with the corpses of dead Police Officers. Batman asks Gordon what Joker did, and he says Joker told a joke, as he checks the evidence room and see's that Joker has stolen his face back. Next we see Bruce in the bat cave, studying The Joker, looking for clues about where he may be. While Bruce and Alfred discuss Joker, Damian basically calls Joker a pushover, to which Bruce tells him that couldn't be farther from the truth, and not to underestimate the Clown Prince of Crime. Eventually Nightwing, Red Robin and Batgirl all contact Bruce to confirm that The Joker is back when a news-feed seemingly shows The Joker making an announcement live on television. He says that he's been away but now he's back, but you can see the Joker is actually behind a man whose face is painted like The Joker's. He makes the statement that Mayor Hady will die at midnight, and after using his body double to make this announcement, Joker shoots him point blank in the head. Turns out Joker's body double was the son of the first man he killed in Gotham (to Batman's knowledge) and Joker killed his dad the same way Joker said he'd kill the Mayor, as Joker seems to be repeating his first kill for some reason. The original first kill was poisoned with Joker Toxin, so Batman and Gordon run numerous blood tests while protecting him with other officers as Batman works in the shadows. Eventually, Batman realized Joker wasn't going to kill Mayor Hady, he'd actually poisoned all of the police officers with Joker Toxin, causing them to die, but instead of having the trademark smiles, they had frowns. Batman takes a sample of the Toxin and sends it to Alfred, who notes it's the same except now Joker's added Asprin, Chlorine and Ethanol, which Batman puts together as A.C.E., the ACE Chemical plant where Joker and Batman first started their historic rivalry. Joker is waiting for Bats when he shows up, wearing his Red Hood attire and telling Bats that this is why he left, because he needed the Real Batman. Bats says that this Red Hood isn't Joker, and asks where he is. Batman runs at the Red Hood and is suddenly hit by a huge mallet which knocks him into an empty chemical vat. The doors seal on the vat and it starts to fill up with the chemicals that Joker fell into. The Red Hood removes their helmet to reveal that it's actually Harley Quinn! Joker's voice was coming from a recording in the helmet, and Batman yells that he knows Harley is up there. Harley says Joker's not the same, he's no longer her Mr. J and his plan is too much, even for him. Batman yells at her to tell him where Joker is, as we cut over to Wayne Manor to see Alfred opening the door. As Alfred opens the door, he see's the two-headed lion cub and Joker is suddenly behind Alfred, raising a hammer and saying "Now, Mr. Pennyworth, stop me if you've heard this one!" and maniacally laughing as this issue ends.


Thoughts: Holy...shit. Okay... I doubted Snyder a bit after the Court of Owls ending. I doubted his Harper row issue. But this... this was amazing. His Joker was fantastically written, he was close enough to Joker that he seemed like the same character but so sadistic that he seemed new and even more ruthless. The stuff about being under Gordon's bed, and knowing something only Gordon would know about what's under his bed was creepy as shit because that means it HAD to be true. While Gordon slept... The Joker sat under his bed with a creepy smile on his face, and that's got to be scary as hell. This is a Joker who knows who Batman is, and instead of just going after Bats and leaving Bruce be as he always does, he's going after everyone, including ALFRED. This storyline had a ton of potential and if Snyder can keep this up, this is definitely going to be an arc we all talk about for many year, much like Year One, Hush, Knightfall and etc. There's also a creepy back-up story where we see Joker returning to Harley, threatening to remove her face and describing it in gruesome detail, as well and how he got her on board for his plan that was great too. It looks like we're in for a treat with The Joker's return, and I'm not sure if anyone is really safe...

Score: 10/10 

The Joker: But just because he's the Mayor, don't think he may-or-may-not die. He's dead as a baby bird smashed with a crowbar! (This was an excellent hint at what would happen in hindsight...)

Uncanny Avengers #1

Okay, this review is being put up later than I usually do, but what can I say, sometimes life happens.  Anyway, due to my 3 and a half hour lateness, I'm gonna skip the intro and dig right in.

Uncanny Avengers #1

Summary: This one kicks off with somebody apparently cutting into the brain of Avalanche, before setting him loose.  From there we head to X-Mansion/the Jean Grey School where Wolverine says a eulogy for Professor X...  And does a pretty damn good job of it.  I have a couple of things to say about that, but I'll save it for the "Thoughts" portion of this post.  Next up we go to Havok, who has stopped by the Brig, which is currently holding his brother, Lord Summers/Cyclops.  Havok does a magnificent job of dressing down Lord Summers for his recent actions, going so far as to call Utopia "Magneto Island".  Personally I always called it Crazy Mutie Island, but to each their own.  Havok ends the conversation by telling Lord Summers that it was really nice that Lord Summers basically forgot/ignored all of the things Prof. X tried to teach Lord Summers, and then murdered Prof. X to boot.  On the way out, Captain America and Thor invite Havok out for a cup of coffee.  At Avengers Mansion, Cap and Thor try to convince Havok to lead a joint team of Avengers and X-Men, to try to keep Prof. X's dream of mutant and human coexistence alive.  Havok doesn't feel he's the man for the job, but before he can be pressured any further, Avalanche attacks Midtown Manhattan, tearing the streets apart and destroying buildings.  Cap, Thor and Havok rush out to help, with Thor and Havok rescuing civilians and Cap confronting Avalanche.  Avalanche babbles about this being the inciting act before jumping off of a several story high chunk of street.  Next up, we head back to X-Mansion, where the Scarlet Witch is paying her respects to the Prof.  Rogue comes by and bitches Wanda out for the whole, "No More Mutants" thing and claims Wanda had always hid among the humans(as a member of the Avengers).  Wanda's retort is brilliant, and is something else I need to touch on in the "Thoughts" section of this post.  Eventually the argument breaks down into a fight, and the two are hit by an explosion and confronted by a bunch of strange, powered beings.  The beings kidnap the two women(or maybe just one, it was hard to tell) and quickly leave.  This issue ends with the leader of the beings cutting out the brain of Prof. X(!?!?!), stating that with that brain he could eradicate the mutant menace.  And the leader?  The Red Skull!

Thoughts: Wooo, I have a lot to say about this one...  First off, I thought it was a great first issue.  It balanced the Avengers and X-Men sides of things well, gave us a good cliffhanger and was full of really great moments.  Now, those few things I wanted to talk about...  I have to say, this issue really made me realize what a great job Marvel has done turning Wolverine from a crazed, murder machine, with little to no conscience, to a legitimate leader.  I was one of those people who groaned(loudly) about Wolverine being put on the Avengers(and still don't particularly like that fact due to his colorful past...), but I can get it now.  His character has evolved SO MUCH from the one dimensional berserker from back in the 1980's-1990's.  I hated Wolvie heading up a school, but I can see why he did it.  Oddly enough, out of everybody who has been an X-Man, Prof. X is probably the most revered by Wolvie, due to all of the mental help the Prof. gave him those early years, when Wolvie struggled the most with his animal side.  So yeah, go figure, I see Wolverine as a human being now, and not just a crazed animal.  Next up was the conversation between Wanda and Rogue...  I've never been shy about how much I hated the whole, "No More Mutants" decree that screwed up the X-books for so many years.  It led to some repetitious and downright terrible stories.  However, Rick Remender makes a great point through Wanda here...  Why the hell was it so important for there to be more mutants?  So the mutant population was decimated...  So like 90%+ of the mutant population was depowered...  So what?  So former mutants were now normal?  Big deal.  So when the remaining 198 mutants died there's be no more?  And that's a problem because?  Seriously, why was Lord Summers so damn keen on there being more mutants?  I honestly never really looked at it that way, I looked at it the simpler, "I wish there were more mutants because the X-books are really boring now..." way, but why was all of mutantkind so pissed with Wanda?  Hell, if anything, she did them a favor.  If the remaining mutants would have quietly retired/joined the Avengers/a million other things besides become crazed militants on an island, wouldn't they have been able to live out the rest of their lives in peace?  Sure, that's a really simplistic way of looking at it, but why couldn't, say Emma Frost, who could easily pass as a human, dye her hair and just live a nice, quiet, happy life in nowhere-ville USA?  Wanda is totally right here, obviously a large majority of the X-Men flat out love being martyrs.  It was a very powerful argument   So there's that.  Now let's try to get back to the main story here.  I loved Havok's interaction with... Well, everybody, from Lord Summers(who it appears Marvel is going to smartly keep evil), to Cap and Thor.  As a long-time Havok fan, I am really excited to see Alex get a huge role going forward.  The Red Skull reveal was kind of strange...  I'm guessing that's the original Skull, and not Sin, although we only saw the head and not the body, so I guess it COULD be Sin.  Although it's probably not.  I'm cool with the original Skull being the first villain in this series  because he is a big enough threat to actually face the Avengers, plus, as a crazed Nazi, he WOULD hate mutantkind.  I don't get a) how he got Prof. X's brain, or b) how he plans on using it, but it should be fun finding out the answers to those questions.  In closing, this comic was NEARLY perfect.  If not for a few small bumps(mainly the Red Skull and his whole brain-snatching thing), it would have been perfect.  As it is though, I'm going to give it a...

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

Wow, Wanda just verbally kicked Rogue's ass there...

New Comic Day! October 10th edition.

Hey True Believers! JT here with this week's New Comic Day post. This week is actually a pretty packed week for comics, I mean we get the Joker's return AND Uncanny Avengers? Happy Birthday to us! Anyway, let's check out my comic haul. This week I picked up Batman #13, Batman and Robin #13, Suicide Squad #13, Halloween Eve #1, Avenging Spider-Man #13, AVX Consequences #1, Deadpool #62, First X-Men #3, Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers #1 of 4, Scarlet Spider #10 and Uncanny Avengers #1.  That's right, JT picked up 11 books! Who am I, that X-Man guy?! My review days this week are Thursday, Saturday and Monday. As for what I'm reviewing, I plan on reviewing Batman #13, Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers #1, and Scarlet Spider #10. So, I'll see you guys tomorrow with a review for The Joker's return in Batman #13. And now, for a message from my boring co-host, X!

Yep, it's Wednesday alright...  JT took care of the intro quite nicely if I do say so myself, so I'll just get into which books I expect to pick up from the comic shop when I get there later today...  Batman #13, Batman & Robin #13, Grifter #13, Superboy #13, Team 7 #1, Morning Glories #22, Avengers #31, Avenging Spider-Man #13, AvX Consequences #1, Captain America #18, Deadpool #62, First X-Men #3, Invincible Iron Man #526, Scarlet Spider #10, Secret Avengers #32, Space Punisher #4, Ultimate X-Men #17, Uncanny Avengers #1, Wolverine #314...  Wow, so that's a grand total of 19 books, and that's provided I don't impulse buy anything else.  Ugh...  My wallet is gonna feel THIS one.  And JT was griping about a measly 11!  It looks like I'll be reviewing Uncanny Avengers #1, AvX Consequences #1, Deadpool #62 and possibly Captain America #18 or Superboy #13(depending on which one I feel like blabbing about) if I manage to get the review for Uncanny Avengers up later on today.  Regardless, I'll definitely have reviews up on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday.  And that's that, another NCD in the books.  Until next time, X out.

Minimum Carnage Alpha #1

Hey everyone, JT here with my last review of the week, Minimum Carnage: Alpha. So what happens when Venom and Scarlet Spider team up to take on the crazed Cletus Kasady? Let's find out, shall we?

Minimum Carnage: Alpha #1

Summary: Things start off quickly, as this issue has a cinematic feel to it. We see Cletus Kasady sitting in his cell, when he looks up and says "Yes". We jump forward three hours and see Flash "Agent Venom" Thompson and a few armed soldiers, moving through the prison, looking for the recently escaped Kasady, as well as any survivors of the slaughtering spree he went on after escaping. They discover that the glass to Kasady's cell was broken from the inside, something he shouldn't have been able to do. Venom eventually finds the prison employees, holed up in a room trying to save themselves from Kasady. Venom tells them to call the police, the F.B.I. and the National Guard, because Carnage is on the loose. We eventually see Cletus Kasady, driving a car out of town when he's caught at a police checkpoint. They tell Cletus to surrender, but he says his friends won't like that. The officer insists that Cletus steps out of the car when suddenly his throat is slit, and the rest of the officers are attacked and killed as Cletus happily drives off. Back at the prison, Venom watches the security footage of when Cletus was freed and has the prison workers zoom in, as we see a small parasite or something on Kasady. Venom also asks why they didn't reform Cletus' symbiote, like they were able to do with his, and learns that Cletus' symbiote is bonded with him on a molecular level, and has nested in his DNA, which leaves Venom shocked. He then puts in the call to Hawkeye to alert the Avengers about Carnage, then calls his very own April O'Neil. Katy Kiernan, and asks if she knows anything about really small killers. She sends him an article from her paper about something that happened in Texas with shrinking and Venom heads off towards the Lone Star State. Two days later, we see the Scarlet Spider entering a burning building (because that's what heroes do, as Kaine says) when he stumbles upon the pieces of the body of a murdered woman. He says he's killed before, but whoever murdered that woman savored it. Kaine notices one survivor, a man that seems deathly afraid of him, but Kaine grabs him anyway and they escape the burning building. We later find out that the man that murdered the lady and scared the other guy was looking for his wife, and killed her mother for fun. Kaine heads out to find the man's wife before the murderer can, and it just so happens the woman is being questioned by Katy Kiernan. Kiernan asks the woman, Dr. Ketola, about a machine that allows people to go to a sub-atomic universe. The woman denies it but Kiernan knows there's a story there, but the two are interrupted by Carnage, who wants to use the "Prometheus Pit" as it's called. He attacks the Dr. Ketola and yells that her husband says hi, when Scarley Spider shows up and takes down Carnage. Carnage, thinking this is Spider-Man in a new suit (can you blame him?) underestimates the ruthlessness of Kaine, who immediately tries to snap Carnage's neck. Carnage says he likes this new mean streak in Spidey, and attacks with his tendrils, but Kaine uses his claws (I forgot he had those!) to cut them off, which tells Carnage he's not Spider-Man. Suddenly, Kaine is taken down by a bunch of smaller super-powered people that incapacitate him long enough for Carnage to make Dr. Ketola start the Prometheus Pit, and for him to throw Katy Kiernan in it as his guinea pig. Carnage gets ready to enter when one of his tiny cohorts reminds him of their deal, he has to kill some people for them, and they give him a whole new universe to kill people in afterwards. Kaine recovers and tries to stop Carnage, but Carnage enters the Prometheus Pit and disappears. Just when things can't get worse for the Scarlet Spider, he's told to get down and surrender by Agent Venom.


Thoughts: Now THIS is what I'm talking about! That's how you start a crossover. We got a quick introduction into each characters mind, for anyone who is only reading one series, we got to see them act on their own first before we saw them team up, and Carnage was built up like the threat he should be. Plus, we got a few unanswered questions like Carnage's tie with the tiny people and who exactly they want killed, which should keep people interested. After Bunn's lackluster start to Venom, I'm really enjoying what he and Yost have started here, hopefully they can keep the momentum going. Overall, this was a nice start and a very good way to get Flash and Kaine to cross paths.

Score: 8/10 

Venom: I'm the guy. They're looking to me to lead them through this. I can't tell them how badly this guy freaks me out.

Uncanny X-Force #32

The best thing about this storyline?  It actually has Daken in it.  And he's being written pretty damn well(for a change...).  That's pretty much all the intro I have for this one.

Uncanny X-Force #32

Summary: While Wolverine and Psylocke are breaking into the Brotherhood's underwater base(you have to wonder where the bad guys got that place from), Deadpool is trying to free Evan/Kid Apocalypse from Brotherhood captivity.  Evan isn't sure if he should go with Deadpool, since, you know, X-Force killed his prior self and Fantomex lied about his entire life and all.  Unfortunately for Pool, Daken, AOA Blob and one of the Omega Reds attack him.  Pool surprisingly holds his own against the villains, at least until Evan blasts Pool in the back, with a little mental prodding from the Shadow King.  Meanwhile, AOA Nightcrawler and Mystique have a heart to heart about the 616 Nightcrawler and AOA Mystique.  Mystique promises to serve AOA Blob up to AOA Nightcrawler, provided he betrayed X-Force...  From there, Deadpool is being tortured by that Omega Red, while Daken is getting annoyed by the fact that he has yet to turn Evan to the dark side.  Wolverine finally arrives on the scene, attacking an Omega Red, that skinless dude who hates Fantomex, and Sabretooth.  While that battle is taking place, Psylocke is quietly making her way to Deadpool.  Unfortunately for Psylocke, the Shadow King senses her and drags her on to the astral plane for a confrontation.  Back with Wolvie, he has all but dispatched the bad guys when AOA Nightcrawler and Eva(in her human form) teleport in...  But wait!  It turns out "Eva" is actually Mystique in disguise!  Mystique sticks Wolvie with a mutant power dampening poison and AOA Nightcrawler tells the downed Wolvie that he had indeed turned on him.

Thoughts:  Hey, hey, this was a great comic!  First off, this version of the Brotherhood is probably among my all-time favorites.  It's basically a who's who of X-villains, but without Magneto or Apocalypse there to monopolize the page-time.  There's really not all that much I can say negatively about this one...  Everything played out the way I would have hoped, and this issue ended with all of the heroes in mortal jeopardy...  What more could you want?  Hell, even Daken was written well, which is something I haven't seen since his glory days in Dark Wolverine!  Nope, no complaints here.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.

If you ever wondered what the villains did when there were no heroes around, now you know.

Avengers Academy #38

Hey everyone, JT here and today's review is none other than the penultimate issue of Avengers Academy, and it features a Flag Football game between the Avengers Academy students and faculty vs. the Jean Grey school's students and faculty.

Avengers Academy #38

Summary: This issue has a lot to touch on, so I'll go with the broad strokes instead of a page by page rundown. The Flag football game is more of a framing device to get everyone in one place, as it falls to the back for this issue, but when touched on, it's awesome. The rules allowed the students and faculty that participated to use their powers, as long as they aren't using them in hostility, and if they do, they get ejected from the game. This leads to many ejections, some at the very start of the game (I'm looking at you Iceman and Hawkeye!) and more as the issue goes on. From there, we see Gambit talking a bit with X-23, about how killing a person as an assassin is different from what she did to Briggs, and how there may be some psychological problems to it, but Laura brushes him off. We also see Gambit giving advice on women to Reptil, who is still pining after Finesse, although she seemingly shows no interest in him. We also see Mettle and Rockslide share a moment where Rockside basically tells Mettle how lucky he is to have a girlfriend that loves him and he's anatomically correct, unlike Rockslide, and to appreciate how great he has it, to which Mettle agrees. Along with that, we get a great moment about Striker learning to accept who he is thanks to Anole, regardless of his new facial scars. Wolverine uses this time to tackle the hell out of Hank Pym, in a flag football game, as revenge for Pym kicking him out of the Quinjet during AVX. This of course leads to Tigra sticking up for her man and having a scrap with Wolverine off panel, before they're both tased by Jocasta to break them up. There's also the fight between Quicksilver and the Shi'ar warrior, Warbird, after she mentions how Quicksilver's marriage is a joke on her planet, as is he. Quicksilver tells Warbird that he's the reason his marriage didn't work out, he knows that and he's not going to live a lie and act like he's not hurt from it, which surprisingly leads to Warbird locking lips with the mutant marathon man. Another awesome scene was seeing Finesse admit to X-23 that she's the one that killed Briggs, and that she used Laura's claws to do it. X-23 is justifiably upset that her "best friend" used her as a weapon, and replies that she's killed everyone that's done that to her. Finesse says she hopes X-23 will realize why she did what she did, that she made a choice, and now X-23 has choices to make as well. The issue comes to a close as we see Pym, Jocasta, Kitty Pryde and Iceman discussing how hard it is to be a teen hero, and that maybe it's time the kids got something of a reward for their hard work.


Thoughts: First things first, I loved the cover being an homage to Uncanny X-Men #100, that's pretty awesome. So, I loved everything about this issue, like I said earlier. the football game was more of a way to get everyone in one place, but the one on one conversations, like the advice Gambit gave Humberto, the tense scene with Laura and Finesse, the bro-like conversation between Mettle and Rockslide and the hilarious thing with Wolverine, Pym and Tigra alone made this a fun issue. This was the kind of light-hearted, yet very story driven issue we needed before the last issue, and it really captured the amazing job Christos Gage has done in this series with these characters. This issue was perfect as far as I'm concerned, I enjoyed it immensely and in my eyes, that makes it a perfect issue.

Score: 10/10 

Gambit: 'Ey, brother. You mind some advice?
Reptil: Grow my hair long and talk like Pepe Le Pew. Got it.
Gambit: Not what I was gonna say, but it works pretty good for me.

Amazing Spider-Man #695

We begin the march to issue #700, the final issue of this series...  You know, until the inevitable Amazing Spider-Man #1, probably due out come January.  But that's down the road, let's see what kind of awesome Dan Slott has for us this issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #695

Summary: This issue gets started with Hobgoblin and Kingpin's Hand ninjas attacking some members of the Goblin Cult, who have a suitcase Kingpin is keen on getting.  Spidey joins the battle, and Stone, the turncoat from Horizon Labs, activates his anti-Spider-Sense device, which actually enhances Spidey's Spider-Sense.  Once Hobby sees which way the wind is blowing, he gets out of town, leaving Spidey, and the suitcase, behind.  Meanwhile, Madame Web apparently sees a vision of her own death coming really soon.  Spidey drops the suitcase off at Horizon and switches to his Peter Parker identity, at which time he finds Sally Floyd interviewing Horizon head honcho, Max Modell.  It turns out some of the blabbermouths at Horizon had let it slip that Peter had been Spidey's tech guy, and that she intended on reporting it...  Unless Spidey could convince Robbie Robertson not to run the story.  Long story short, Robbie had already posted the story to the Daily Bugle's online site.  And then things get worse for Spidey, as Stone activates his Spider-Sense machine again, which causes Peter to sense trouble everywhere, in the middle of the Daily Bugle office.  Also in that office?  Phil Urich, you know, the Hobgoblin.  And then Madame Web sends her astral projection into the Daily Bugle offices to warn Spider-Man that some trouble was right behind him.  Peter decides to get the hell out of there before anything else happens, and has great difficulty walking down the sidewalk since he was sensing danger everywhere.  Once Peter leaves, Phil switches to his Hobby attire and this issue ends with him drugging Peter and kidnapping him.

Thoughts: Okay, I don't think for a second that Hobby believes that Peter is Spider-Man.  So let me just put that out there right off the bat.  Instead, I figure he kidnapped Peter due to that report that said he was Spidey's tech guy.  What better way to get into Spidey's head than to kidnap Spidey's tech guy.  Not only that, but Hobby can take Peter to Kingpin, who can then force Peter to perfect the Spider-Sense dampening device Kingpin had Stone working on.  It all makes so damn much sense!  There was also some stuff with the presumed to be dead former Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, returning to Manhattan to take back his mantle from Phil.  All in all, great stuff here, as usual.  I can't wait to see what Dan Slott has in store for Spidey(and us!) as the march to #700 continues.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Oh that wacky Peter...

Green Lantern #13

Hey guys and gals, JT here and I'm kicking off my reviews by checking in with the newest Green Lantern, Simon Baz. After escaping the authorities while being suspected of being a terrorist, with the help of his new Green Lantern ring, let's see how Simon copes with being a mebmer of the Green Lantern Corps.

Green Lantern #13

Summary: This issue starts with President Obama and Amanda Waller discussing Simon Baz, the suspected terrorist from Dearborn, Michigan's recent escape. The President tells Waller to notify the Justice League of Baz's escape, he doesn't know if he is a terrorist but he knows that a Green Lantern ring is capable of a lot more than a bomb in a van.From there we see Simon Baz, still unconscious after his escape, and the ring scanning his mind for memories, as we see Simon and his brother-in-law, Nazir, street racing when Simon wakes up. As Simon gets up, the ring gives him a costume from the neck down, and the ring shows a weird hybrid message from Sinestro and Hal Jordan. It's basically a message to their successor about not trusting the Guardians of Oa, and to stop the Guardians. As the message ends, Baz see's police officers driving near his position so he flies away with his ring, heading back to Dearborn. There, we see his sister, Sira, talking to their Dad, about how hard their lives have been since people suspect Simon is a terrorist but she knows he's not. She arrives at work and is basically given a leave of absence because no one there feels safe, because they think she may be a terrorist as well. As Sira cries in the alley, Simon approaches her. She's happy to see him but she's also obviously upset, as she questions him for stealing cars, and how he didn't notice one had a bomb in it. Simon says it was stupid (ya think?) but he was stealing cars no one would notice, so he could give money to Sira and her son. Sira says Simon is never around to talk to her, but he thinks she doesn't want him around, since him street racing with Nazir helped him end up in the ICU. Simon says he thinks the ring came to him to help him figure out who's bomb that really was, and he wants Sira to help him find out who, by using her sources at the Secretary of State to find out who the car he stole belonged to. She agrees to help Simon and tells him they'll meet at their old meeting place tonight, and to hide his face. Next we see the newest "children" of the Guardians, continuing to assimilate humans for the Third Army and they're now seeking Simon Baz, due to the Green Lantern energy reading on the planet. Simon arrives to his secret meeting place to meet Sira and see's a security camera, so he constructs a mask to go along with his Green Lantern costume. Before Simon can relax, he's suddenly knocked off the roof and is told that he's in trouble. It nturns out he is, as he's confronted by Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash a.k.a. The Justice League.


Thoughts: This issue was pretty good in my opinion. Simon is pretty likable to me, and his sister makes him even more likable because she seems like a sweet and nice character, so you relate to Simon as the regrettable big brother. I liked that we got to see the messages left by Sinestro and Hal, and how different the two are, even when saying similar things. The League popping up here surprised me, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they treat him after Hal's disappearance, Simon just showing up, and whole "terrorist" thing. The next issue should be interesting to say the least.

Score: 8.5/10 

Superman: You're in a lot of trouble, Mr. Baz. Like Justice League trouble.

AVX: Vs #6(of 6)

Okay, here's a comic that I wished I hadn't read...  Why?  Well, let's dig into it.

AVX: Vs #6

Summary: If you haven't read Avengers vs X-Men #12, then you probably shouldn't read any further........  Still here   Cool.  This one starts off with Hope vs the Scarlet Witch from AVX #12.  Wanda is more skilled, while Hope swipes Wanda's power and tosses it back at her.  Eventually Captain America and Iron Man walk over and Cap tells them to cut it out.  Wanda shakes Hope's hand, which leads to Hope punching Wanda out to "win" that fight...  Oh the hilarity...  My sides are splitting...  Ha.  Ha.  Yeah.  And then?  It got WORSE!!!  After that "battle" we get 8 other battles.  Cyclops and Cap argue(written by, who else, Bendis!) in what I guess was supposed to be funny, while all the scientists from each side battle to a stalemate(apparently).  Havok beats Cap in a splash page because, "the X-Office put this book together."  Next up Domino defeats Rulk with her probability powers, while Jarvis defeats Toad after knocking him out of a window with a punch.  Hawkeye then fantasizes about Spider-Woman fighting Storm, Emma Frost and Psylocke, followed by Iceman defeating Iron Fist with a hailstorm, because he's Storm now...  Finally something awful happens between Pixie and Squirrel Girl, but since I hate both characters, I'm going to ignore THAT one.

Thoughts: Humor, my friends, is a very subjective thing.  What one person may find funny, another may find childish and unbearable.  This comic?  For me?  Was not funny.  AT ALL.  It was obviously meant to be funny, but it sucked.  NONE of the humor connected with me, except for maybe the Hawkeye story, 'cause it was something I could see Hawkeye doing.  As for the main story?  It was what it was.  I hated Hope prior to reading this issue, and I hate her after reading this story.  It changed nothing.  Instead of doing the mature thing and shaking hands after her little skirmish with Wanda, she cheap-shots her.  Why would I ever like a character like that?!  One who starts a fight, while the Earth is being destroyed, and then punches an unsuspecting woman in the face?!?  Cue the Hope fans saying that she had to punch Wanda because... I don't know, Wanda is a jerk.  Anyway, this comic was awful, and doesn't compliment the main AVX book in the least.  My best advice is to save your $4 and skip this one.

Score: 2 1/2 out of 10.

Sure, the reasoning may be asinine, but the picture is pretty awesome.

Avengers vs X-Men #12(of 12)

Alright, this will be a total knee-jerk reaction review for me, because as I'm typing this intro up, I haven't opened this comic up yet.  Once I finish reading it, I'll just let loose with whatever I have in my head.  So, without any further ado, the final chapter of AvX.

Avengers vs X-Men #12:

Summary: The combined forces of the Avengers and X-Men have one final, desperate plan left against Dark Phoenix Cyclops, get the Scarlet Witch and Hope to combine their forces against DPC(yeah, I'm not gonna type Dark Phoenix Cyclops through this entire review!) since Wanda's hex bolts have been the only thing to hurt DPC and Hope can mimic those powers.  With that, the combined A+X group attacks DPC, but really get nowhere against him, at least until Nova(!) slams into DPC, driving him to earth, where the A+X team, as well as Hope and Wanda can lay into him.  During the battle, DPC flips out and lashes out with a massive amount of flames, at which time a woman shrouded in shadows walks over telling DPC it was time for this all to end...  DPC immediately realizes the woman is Jean Grey, and she promises him that it doesn't hurt...  With that, Hope and Wanda hit the distracted DPC with everything they have, forcing the Phoenix Force out of his body and into the air, where it locates it's originally intended target, Hope.  Hope gains the power of the Phoenix and flies off, with Tony Stark trying(unsuccessfully) to keep up.  However, Phoenix Hope flies around undoing the damage DPC had done to the world.  After doing that, Hope comes back to the A+X team and tells them that she was going to be the White Phoenix, doing good deeds and the like.  Wanda tells Phoenix Hope that she was chosen by the Phoenix because she was the one person who could let the power go, due to her strong training by Cable and Iron Fist.  With that, Wanda and Phoenix Hope combine their powers and say "No More Phoenix", sending the Phoenix Force out of Hope, where it bounces around the planet before vanishing.  However, it appears that the Phoenix Force did indeed do what crazy Lord Summers had hoped for, as several people around the world begin to gain mutant powers(YES!!!!!!).  And now, it's epilogue time!  Cyclops has been locked up where he's still acting oddly smug about his whole role in this mess, since the mutant race did seem to experience a bit of a rebirth, even though, you know, Professor X and several civilians died, along with the X-Men being torn apart in the process.  Captain America tells him that the other Phoenix Five X-Men were wanted for their actions in this mess, but that Cap has come to realize that the Avengers hadn't done enough to help the mutant population, something he intended to change...  That brings us to Wanda and Hawkeye, who are looking to put together a joint X-Men/Avengers team.  Iron Man acts as if he knew all of this would lead to a mutant rebirth(?!), while Thor offers Nova a slot on the Avengers(YES!!).  Wolverine has nothing to say to Lord Summers, while Hope flies away, having accomplished her goal of being the mutant messiah(I guess).

Thoughts: The bottom line is this...  There was ONE thing and ONE thing only I wanted out of this series.  And that would be the reversal of that idiotic, "No More Mutants" garbage.  That one line handcuffed so many X-Men writers since they had no way to add new members to the team, nor any way to give them new mutant enemies.  So, as a long time X-fan, I am overjoyed to see new mutants popping up, hopefully leading to some great new characters and storylines(not involving an endless supply of Sentinels and William Stryker!).  Now, onto the meat of this issue, and series.  I don't get why Professor Xavier was killed off, especially since Lord Summers seemed kind of unfazed about it when he was talking to Cap at the end.  He was like, "Well, if I could take his place I would, but I can't, so I won't!"  On top of that, Hope is still around...  I don't get that at all.  I'd have bet good money that she either dies here, or would have left Earth with the Phoenix Force...  Instead she's just kind of around...  With nothing to do...  I don't get that at all, but whatever.  So what did I make of this series?  I think it was full of missed opportunities   I think it could have been told way better, in a way where the X-Men didn't turn evil once they got the Phoenix powers.  I'd have liked to have seen the X-Men more shades of grey instead of deciding they'd rule the world, "for it's own good..."  However, you always remember the last thing that happens in an event like this, and for me, this event will always be remembered for bringing back mutantkind for me, so for that?  I'd call this series a win.

Score: 8 out of 10.

"More mutants."?!  Oh god yes!!!!!

New Comic Day! October 3rd edition.

Huzzah, it's another New Comic Day!!  This is actually a big week, as we get the final part of Avengers vs X-Men...  One guess at what this week's first review is going to be...  Anyway, this looks to be a relatively small comic week for me.  How small, well, see for yourself!  Hypernaturals #4, Stormwatch #13, Fatale #8, Amazing Spider-Man #695, Avengers Academy #38, Avengers vs X-Men #12, AvX VS #6, Minimum Carnage Alpha #1, Uncanny X-Force #32.  Yep, Ol' X is only getting 9 books...  And I can't even read two of them(Hypernaturals and Fatale) because I'm not caught up with those two series!  So that's only SEVEN review-able books for me!  I'll be doing four reviews this week(I know, MADNESS!!!), with the first one on tap for 8PM tonight.  That book?  AvX #12, of course.  I'll also be reviewing AvX VS #6, Amazing Spider-Man #695 and Uncanny X-Force #32(you see that, JT! I left Avengers Academy for you, 'cause I'm such a nice guy!).  My review days are Thursday, Saturday and Monday this week, and as always, you can expect my reviews up at 8PM.  Unlike that other guy...  Speaking of that other guy, let's see what JT picked up and plans on reviewing. X out, JT up.

And now that the boring guy has spoken, welcome to JT's New Comic Day, starring JT, featuring JT and a special guest appearance by none other than JT! My comic week is actually pretty impressive, as I ended up grabbing the following books, Detective Comics #13, Earth 2 #5,  Green Lantern #13, Worlds' Finest #5, Amazing Spider-Man #695, Avengers Academy #38, Avengers vs. X-Men #12, AVX VS. #6, and Minimum Carnage Alpha #1. And unlike that first guy, my reviews will be up BEFORE 8 PM, because it's a review, not dinner. :P And since my buddy X did leave me Avengers Academy, out of guilt probably, or a trap, you can expect me to review Avengers Academy #38, Green Lantern #13, and Minimum Carnage Alpha #1. My review days are Friday, Sunday and Tuesday, so expect to see those reviews then. Til then, this is JT, signing off.

Winter Soldier #11

And we're sadly reaching the end of the Brubaker era at Marvel...  But instead of going with my initial response to that(sobbing hysterically), I'll just enjoy what we have left...

Winter Soldier #11

Summary: Leo and Black Widow are still several steps ahead of Bucky, who is teaming with Hawkeye throughout this issue.  The two chase after a bunch of clues left behind by Leo and ends up fighting their way through some AIM agents who were exploring an old Soviet weapon's cashe(that they were presumably led to by Leo).  Upon entering the weapon room, Hawkeye and Bucky find... Well, nothing.  Leo had been their earlier and cleaned the place out.  However, there is an old hard drive and Leo pops up on the screen and tells Bucky that the hard drive had a mission for the Winter Soldier on it.  And if Bucky doesn't have the programming put in his head?  Leo kills Widow.

Thoughts: This issue was a bit of a step backwards from the total awesomeness that was the last issue.  I mean it was okay, but it was also a whole lot of nothing...  Hawkeye and Bucky wandered around for a while, fought some AIM agents, and Leo told Bucky his nefarious plot.  Which was pretty cool actually...  With Leo living in the past, it makes sense he'd want both Bucky and Widow working with him.  Leo's interactions with the weapon's maker here were also pretty good, as he made it obvious that he wanted everything Bucky has, and wanted to earn it.  I'm still looking forward to the final confrontation between Bucky and Leo(in a HUGE way!), but this issue was a bit of a sidestep.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Um, I can't think of a caption for this picture...