The Best of the Rest... Part 1!

If you read my Comic Gazing post yesterday, I mentioned that I have a lot of comics to get around to reviewing before my next shipment of books arrive(which will probably be Monday). Since I have SO many comics to read/review, I'm not going to be able to dedicate a whole lot of time to each comic(there are only 24 hours in a day!). So tonight, I'm going to review not one, not two, not even four comic books, I'm going to take a quick look at SEVEN(!)comics! Since I'm planning on going through so many books in just one night, don't expect very in depth reviews. Hell, for that matter, don't expect them to be very coherent! OK, let's get this horror show on the road, beginning with:

The Phantom Stranger #42: Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Ardian Syaf.

The Phantom Stranger and Blue Devil try to take on Black Lantern Spectre, but that doesn't exactly work out very well for our heroes. BL Spectre eventually figures out where Hal Jordan is(he's in Green Lantern #50!), and leaves Stranger and Devil behind. Stranger and Devil then head to Nanda Parbat and help Deadman reclaim his dead body from the Black Lanterns because that's really important or something... Anyway, this issue ends with Deadman leaving to help the heroes battling Nekron, Devil standing guard over Deadman's dead body and Stranger acting cryptic, 'cause that's how he rolls!

Eh, I'm kind of going through Blackest Night overload right now, and this issue didn't really help with that. It was MORE zombies, MORE Deadman, MORE BL Spectre, plus the Phantom Stranger ran around speaking Cryptic-ese, which is a language I'm not fluent in at all. If you like the Phantom Stranger(why?!?)you'll probably like this issue, if not, then you'd probably want to avoid this one.

Score: 5 out of 10.See, he walks alone because he's a STRANGER!!!

Magog #5: Writer: Keith Giffen. Pencils: Howard Porter.

The Warden tries to torch Magog, but right before Magog gets fried, he gets teleported to a strange world where he eventually meets the woman in charge of the whole shebang, Alba. Oh, and Alba claims Gog wasn't really a god, and that she is Magog's mother. Plus she's also fluent in Cryptic-ese... Ugh. After saying a whole lot of nothing, she sends Magog back to Haven, where he decides he's going to take out the Warden, once and for all. Warden sends a distress signal out to the JSA, and it seems this storyline is going to continue in the JSA annual.

Can't say I really enjoyed reading this comic. I don't think Magog needs to have his origin radically altered, Geoff Johns did a good job creating the guy, but I guess Keith wants to put his own stamp on Magog. Whatever I guess. I'll probably keep reading this series until the current storyline ends, then I'll be dropping it.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10."Unacceptable"? Yeah, that's how I felt about this comic!

The Power of Shazam #48: Writer: Eric Wallace. Pencils: Don Kramer.

This issue deals with Osiris rising from his grave as a Black Lantern, but with a twist. Thanks to Black Adam's magic, BL Osiris isn't a crazed, heart eating ghoul, he seems to have kept his regular, good guy personality. Instead of eating hearts, he walks through Kahndaq wondering where his sister and brother-in-law were. He discovers they were turned to stone, and his old friend/evil alligator who killed and ate him, BL Sobek arrives. BL Sobek gets pissed that Osiris isn't running amok and eating hearts, so he attacks him. Ultimately, Osiris gets BL Sobek close to him before saying Black Adam's name, which causes a huge lighting bolt to strike them both down, re-killing them.

I actually really enjoyed reading this issue. It wasn't the regular, "Dead hero rises from the grave as a Black Lantern, runs wild and is re-killed." story, this one was actually different, and I for one appreciated that. Then again I always liked Osiris anyway, so I have to admit that I was pleased that he didn't rise as a bland, cookie cutter, Black Lantern, but that he was a Black Lantern with a heart of gold. If you're getting tired of reading the same old, same old Blackest Night story, then you might want to give this comic a read.

Score: 8 out of 10.I love Sobek's reasoning for betraying Osiris!

Green Lantern #50: Writer: THE Geoff Johns. Pencils: Doug Mahnke.

With Black Lanterns running wild through the streets of Coast City, Hal and his strange mix of allies are trying to eliminate as many of the buggers as they can. For the most part, everything is going well, that is until BL Spectre arrives(from Phantom Stranger #42 I guess!). BL Spectre shrugs off the combined attacks of EVERYBODY, and basically beats the hell out of Hal and his allies, even going so far as to eat Ganthet and another Guardian of the Universe! After freeing Ganthet and his gal pal, Hal decides the only way to defeat BL Spectre is to become Parallax again... Uh-huh... Sinestro scoffs at that, since HE wants to become Parallax, but since this is Hal's comic book, Hal gets his way, and allows Parallax to repossess him, setting up Parallax Hal vs. BL Spectre.

Don't get me wrong, this was a real good comic, but I HATED Hal resorting to becoming Parallax again to defeat BL Spectre... I literally JUST finished reading the Emerald Twilight story, which details crazy, Parallax possessed Hal marauding through the cosmos, killing friend and foe alike, so Hal voluntarily deciding to become Parallax again was quite vexing... I know the Spectre is supposed to be uber-powerful and all, but still, Hal becoming Parallax to defeat the Spectre is kind of like smacking yourself in the head with a hammer to kill a fly. Sure it'll get the job done, but it's probably not the best way to go about it! Had I not just read about all of the atrocities Hal committed while under Parallax's thrall, maybe I would have enjoyed this issue more, but as it is, I can't forget the terrible things Parallax Hal had done before, so I have to say, Hal's actions in this comic were a bit of a letdown.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Well, that's one way to deal with bothersome Guardians of the Universe I guess...

Nova #33: Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning. Pencils: Andrea Divito.

While trying to figure out where they are and why the Sphinx transported them to a replica of ancient Egypt, Mr. Fantastic, Nova, Namorita, Black Bolt and Darkhawk are attacked by a younger version of the Sphinx. Unable to defeat the younger Sphinx's forces, the heroes retreat into a pyramid and are transported to the older Sphinx, who explains that his younger counterpart is trying to steal his all-powerful Ka Stone, which would give the younger Sphinx two Ka Stone's and WAY too much power. The young Sphinx arrives and attack his older self, but the two stalemate each other. The heroes decide to attack the younger Sphinx, so he responds by summoning villains from various points in the timestream to deal with the time-lost heroes.

I've got to say, I've never been a big fan of the Sphinx. Whether it was in the Fantastic Four, Nova or the New Warriors, he's always been a really annoying(and confusing!)foe. This issue didn't change my opinion of him at all! He's still annoying AND confusing! Somehow this is all tied into the Realm of Kings storyline, but I'll be damned if I can figure out how! Even with all that said, this was still an above average comic book, just not as good as a few of the previous issues of this series have been.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Umm, nice dress there, Sphinx...

Superman #696: Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Bernard Chang.

Following the explosion at Science Police Headquarters in Action Comics #885, Mon-El and Guardian are sifting through the rubble trying to find survivors. Nightwing wants to help with the rescue effort, but Mon-El, Lois Lane and Flamebird convince him to leave, since General Lane was prowling around the devastated building. Gen. Lane orders his soldiers to attack the fleeing Kryptonians, but Mon makes the save before confronting Lane. Lane tells Mon that by saving the Kryptonians he had committed a treasonous act, but Mon scoffs at that, stating that since he's not an American, he can't be charged with treason. The two bicker for a while and Mon for some reason has a flashback to when he was in Gen. Lane's custody and was being tortured by a damn talking monkey. Guardian snaps Mon out of his flashback sequence by requesting his help at the control center of the SP Building. It appears that the woman who was running the SP was actually Chameleon from the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Eh, this was another comic that didn't really move me one way or the other. I'm actually not sure what exactly this comic accomplished to be honest. I guess we now know that Chameleon was running the SP for some reason, but I really could care less... Chameleon isn't exactly one of the more interesting members of the Legion. When somebody major like Saturn Girl or Cosmic Boy show up, I'll take notice, but Chameleon and Bouncing Boy aren't exactly what I would call Legion a-listers.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.What's worse then a talking monkey? A CREEPY talking monkey!

Blackest Night Flash #2: Writer: THE Geoff Johns. Artist: Scott Kolins.

The story in this one follows Flash's Rouges, as well as Saint Barry Allen, God of the Speed Force, and Savior to all things Flash. I'll hit the Saint's part of this comic first. Saint Barry, now sporting a snazzy Blue Lantern ring tries to separate the current Firestorm from BL Firestorm, but winds up getting interrupted by BL Kid Flash. Saint Barry is almost able to stop BL Kid Flash's rampage, but BL Professor Zoom arrives on the scene to attack the Sainted One. Luckily, Wally(the OTHER Flash)West shows up and makes the save. However, one of those damned talking apes, in this case, BL Solovar, arrives on the scene, laying the Saint(and the other, WAY less important Flash)out. As for the Rouges, they enter Blackgate Prison, looking to destroy the resurrected BL Rouges, but the BL Rogues prove to be a tougher challenge then the Rogues originally thought. After a give and take battle, the son of the original Captain Boomerang(also named Captain Boomerang... Very creative...)arrives on the scene and tells the Rogues to leave his BL Daddy alone! With that, he spirits BL Capt. Boomerang away, promising that he knows a way to bring him back to life.

As expected, I liked the parts of this comic that featured the Rogues, while I was apathetic towards the parts with Saint Barry. Well, that's not fully true, I did enjoy seeing BL Bart attack the Saint. For a Blackest Night x-over, this issue was pretty good.

Score: 8 out of 10.Yeah, yeah, yeah, as long as YOU'RE around, all will be well, Saint Barry...

Whew, that's it for me tonight. I'll either post a whole mess more reviews tomorrow, or I might do another one of those "Let's Talk About..." posts to change things up a bit. I guess it'll all depend on what kind of a mood I'm in tomorrow. Anyway, if you've managed to read through this entire post, give your self a pat on the back, you've earned it! Long Live The Legion!

Talking comics and football.

There were a few ways I could have gone with tonight's post. To be honest, I was close to just skipping tonight, and posting some reviews tomorrow. But if I start shirking my blogging "responsibility" again, it gets easier and easier to skip the next night, and the one after that. So, since I'm not really in the mood to do any proper reviews, I figure I'll post some thoughts on the comics I have read, as well as the NFL playoff games I've spent most of the day watching. If you don't care about my NFL musings, then I'd recommend skipping the following paragraph...

First off, are you ready for some football?!? Yeah, I went there! The Cowboys spanked the Eagles tonight, which was and wasn't a surprise. I mean, defensively, the Cowboys are WAY better then Philly, but I thought the Eagles had a better offense then the Cowboys. I figured this game would at least be close, but wow, the Cowboys just laid one on the Eagles... After watching tonight's game, I've got to say, the Cowboys are for real! I mean their defense is playing fierce right now, and as a life long Giants fan, I know about good defense(well, not this year, but usually...). If Dallas can keep up their strong defensive play, and Tony Romo can avoid falling apart, there's no reason Big D can't go all the way to the Super Bowl, and trust me, as a Giants fan, that's the last thing I want to see happen! On the AFC side, the Jets took care of business in Cincinnati this afternoon. That win was extra sweet for me because my little brother is a huge Bengals fan, and it's always fun when one of my favorite teams take care of his favorite. That means I have gloating rights until next season over him! Hey, if he'd have won, he'd be doing the same to me! Just like Dallas, the Jets won thanks to their impressive defense, although I'm just not sure the Jets have enough offense to go far in the playoffs... But then again, Baltimore won it all with a strong defense and a running game a few years ago, so I guess anything is possible. All I know is that I hope the Jets wind up facing Indianapolis next week, because I sure don't want to see them face off against San Diego... As for tomorrow's games, I think the Packers will be able to defeat Arizona in a high scoring affair, and I think Baltimore will pull the upset against New England. No Wes Welker for the Patriots is just going to be too much for the Pats to overcome. So there you have it, my picks for tomorrow's playoff games!

OK, this IS a comic book blog, so I should probably get to the comic books, right? Last night I read a couple of books, so here are a few quick thoughts on them. Superman/Batman #67 was a Blackest Night x-over and dealt with Bizarro and Man Bat facing off against Black Lantern Solomon Grundy. It was OK, but I definitely wouldn't give it a really high recommendation. It was readable. That's about all though. Speaking of Blackest Night, I also read Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1(hey, that was a pretty good segue!). This one left me with mixed feelings. While on one level I did enjoy the stuff with Maxwell Lord and Wonder Woman, I didn't like the whole idea of resurrecting the fallen soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery as Black Lanterns... That just rubbed me the wrong way. This issue actually felt like a one shot more then anything else, so I'll be interested to see where Greg Rucka goes with the next issue. Next up is Magog #3 & 4. I really like Magog, and I really WANT to like this series. With that said though, these two issues left me a little bit flat. Once again, they were all right, but they were just missing a little something to me. I understand that Keith Giffen is trying to create enemies for Magog, but to me that's a bit of a mistake. Instead of introducing new enemies for Magog to deal with, I'd rather see him dealing with a few established DC villains first. Since Magog himself is still a relatively new character, it's tough to get into a series where EVERYTHING is new, the title character, the villains, the supporting characters, etc. If it were up to me, I'd have Magog facing and soundly defeating guys like Dr. Polaris or Amazo, before introducing new villains. I'll be buying the next couple of issues, but mainly because I like Magog, not necessarily for the stories. Finally, I read the Aquaman: Tide and Time TPB. I have two things to say about this trade, #1, Peter David is, was and always will be awesome in my book, and #2, I really want to get my hands on the 90's Aquaman series! This trade collects the mini-series that came out right before Peter's 90's Aquaman series. It's pretty much an origin tale for Aquaman. We get a glimpse of Aquaman being raised by Dolphins(ala Tarzan), his first meeting with humans, his initial meeting with the Flash(Barry Allen), as well as documenting his first run in with Ocean Master, who turns out to be Aquaman's half-brother. I expected a lot from this trade going in, and I was not let down. Man, was there ever a time when Peter David didn't rule as a writer? Well, that's going to do it for tonight. Tomorrow I should be back to doing regular, conventional comic reviews, hopefully you enjoyed this mishmash post. As always, Long Live The Legion!

Magog #1

Magog #1: Writer-Keith Giffen Penciller-Howard Porter

What Happened: This story opens with Magog visiting Sudan, Africa and finding several atrocities, including soldiers who have enslaved villagers, lopped off their arms and fitted them with some sort of device that forces them to obey. Magog discovers what he can from one of the soldiers and then proceeds to annihilate the rest of the evil-doers. We learn that the villagers were basically zombies and that the control devices were the only things keeping them "alive". Magog has an old marine buddy do some digging about the devices, but his friend comes back with nothing. Alan Scott(Green Lantern)stops by Magog's hotel room, and Magog tells him about what he ran across. Alan reads Magog the riot act about his behavior and actions(killing the evil soldiers)and Magog yes's Alan until he leaves. We get a strange interlude with some businessman killing a family with invisible assassins as per instructions he received over his cell phone. Magog heads to his buddy and gives him one of the control devices in the hope that his friend can get some answers as to who is responsible for them. While he's awaiting the results, he heads down to El Paso and destroys some drug dealers. This issue ends with the businessman from earlier vaguely talking to somebody over his cell phone at the scene in El Paso where Magog had come and gone.

What I thought: This was a good first issue. It established to any readers unfamiliar with Magog exactly who he is and what he stands for. The stuff with the businessman was WAY to vague for my liking, but I'm sure as this series unfolds all will eventually be revealed. I like Magog, I like his approach towards crime and I like his personality. This issue did nothing to change my opinion on Magog, which was a good thing. I'll definitely be sticking with this series for the foreseeable future.

Score: 8 out of 10.Well, that'll teach them not to sell drugs anymore!