Adventure Comics #11

Just this one review on tap for tonight. I was going to review Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 tonight, but that comic was SO bad that I'm actually going to attempt to read it AGAIN later on tonight to see if I can possibly glean anything positive from it... But let's not go there just yet(there'll be plenty of Return of Bruce Wayne bashing on Thursday I figure), tonight I'll be looking at Adventure Comics #11, which contains two stories, one being an epilogue to Brainiac's attack on New Krypton, while the other is the conclusion to the long-running Mon-El storyline that had been taking place in the Superman title for the past year or so. Why am I talking about that here in the intro though? Let's get to the review!

Adventure Comics #11: Writers: James Robinson and Sterling Gates. Pencils: Travis Moore and Bernard Chang.
Last Issue: 9 out of 10.

Review: Our first story is the Brainiac one, so that's where I'll start. After being defeated by General Zod on New Krypton, Brainiac was abducted by Brainiac 5(of the OLD Legion of Super-Heroes), just prior to Zod blowing Brainiac's head off. Instead of allowing Brainiac to be killed by Zod, Brainiac 5 intends to turn Brainiac over to the authorities on Brainiac's homeworld of Colu. Before Brainiac 5 can get to Colu though, Brainiac manages to break free from his shackles and attacks Brainiac 5. The two Brainiacs fight, and Brainiac manages to get the upper-hand on his descendant, and is about to tear the secrets of time-travel from Brainiac 5's mind when Vril Dox(or Brainiac 2 since we seem to be on a Brainiac kick right now)arrives on the scene and takes Brainiac down with a well placed taser blast. It seems that Brainiac 5 had contacted Dox earlier and was intending to hand the elder Brainiac over to Dox all along so he wouldn't have to head to Colu and explain to the authorities who he was. With Brainiac now destined to be returned to Colu, Brainiac 5 returns to the future where he receives a hero's welcome, ending the first story. Next up is the Mon-El story, which also spins out of the Last Stand storyline. Mon has been taking all of the bottled cities he rescued from Brainiac's ship(with some help from the OLD Legion Espionage Squad)and placing them on planets where they would be able to grow(literally!)and thrive. Mon eventually completes his task, but returns to Earth greatly diminished thanks to the return of his fatal lead sickness. Mon says his good-byes to Jimmy Olsen, finds and defeats the talking monkey that had experimented on him, and in doing so rescues a young Daxamite female who the monkey was also experimenting on. Mon then takes the woman to the Fortress of Solitude where Superboy and a spacecraft was waiting. Mon escorts the woman onto the spacecraft so she can get off of Earth before she also begins to suffer from the deadly lead poisoning that Mon was suffering from. Once the woman is safely headed off of Earth, Mon begins to collapse. Chameleon Boy(from the aforementioned Legion Espionage Squad)teleports over to Superboy and the stricken Mon and offers him a chance to live by returning to the newly fixed Phantom Zone. Mon decides he'd rather die then spend forever drifting as a phantom, but Chameleon Boy guilts Mon, telling him that he still has more to do one day down the road. Mon agrees to go back to the Phantom Zone and drifts aimlessly for untold years, until Superman and the Legion pull him out of the Phantom Zone in the future, where the apparent cycle of Mon-El's life begins all over again, ending this issue.

What I Thought: I actually liked both stories. The first story had Vril Dox in it, and as far as I'm concerned, a Dox appearance can make ANY comic better! The second story felt somewhat rushed, but was a satisfying end to Mon-El's story. I will say that I'm sad that Mon's story(in the present day DCU at least)has ended, I always felt he had some great potential. I did like the way James Robinson pretty much completed the apparent circle that is Mon-El's life, with him returning to the Phantom Zone where he would eventually be rescued thanks to a young, time traveling Clark Kent in the future, so that his life story could begin anew. As I said in the intro, I did find it strange that Mon's story was completed here in Adventure Comics as opposed to Superman(where Mon has been starring for over a year now), but I've given up trying to figure out the way the DC brain-trust thinks... I'll just shrug my shoulders and say, whatever, and move on to the next comic.

Score: 8 out of 10.If Vril Dox appeared in every DC comic, I'd have nothing to complain about!

Superman #699

Superman #699: Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Bernard Chang.
Last Issue: 8 out of 10.

Review: (You should definitely read Supergirl #52 before this comic)We start this issue off with Gen. Zod and his military men fighting side by side with the recently arrived Superman against Brainiac's robots. Supes expresses his anger at Zod for leaving Kandor aboard Brainiac's ship, just so he could attack Brainiac, but Zod gives no thought to Superman's whining. Eventually, Brainiac decides to see what all of the hubbub is about, and once Zod spots Brainiac, he makes a beeline for him and attacks. With Zod out of the picture, Superman orders the Kryptonian soldiers to hold the line against Brainiac's forces while he finds and rescues the bottled city of Kandor. Supes eventually finds Kandor and using his mental link with Tellus of the Old Legion, asks Brainiac 5 and Supergirl to report to his location. Meanwhile, Mon-El(who was trapped in some sort of Brainiac torture device)is reliving strange memories from his past, focusing on the time he was held captive by Gen. Lane and his monkey scientist. Mon-El goes over several conversations he had with Lane, the monkey and Metallo and begins to realize that while they were experimenting on him, there is a very good chance that they managed to acquire some of his DNA... Either that or the talking monkey has some sort of weird fetish concerning the reproductive organs of a male Daxamite... The more time Mon thinks about that situation, the closer he comes to regaining his consciousness. The Old Legion is still running around Brainiac's ship fighting robots, when an enormous robot strolls over ready to make them pay for their transgressions. Before the robot can make mincemeat out of them, Mon arrives on the scene(I guess he woke up)and tears the robot apart. By this point, Supergirl and Brainiac 5 have arrived at Superman's location, and he gives them Kandor and tells them to get off of Brainiac's ship and to head back to New Krypton. They go, and manage to re-enlarge the city back in the spot it was taken from. The Old Legion tell Mon that he has to go to the future with them and the bottled cities aboard Brainiac's ship. Mon is hesitant, but ultimately decides to go with the Old Legion. Superman finds Zod and Brainiac still fighting and adds his muscle to Zod, double teaming the mad Coluan. While all of this is going on, Lex Luthor takes the bottled city he stole in Supergirl #52 and begins to enlarge it, before abandoning ship. This issue ends with the rapidly enlarging city bursting through the roof of Brainiac's ship, causing it to begin to plummet towards New Krypton.

What I Thought: This issue was a little better then SG #52, but considering it was the penultimate part of the Last Stand storyline, I was kind of hoping for more. I think the problem with this story, for me anyway, is the fact that there is just WAY too much going on at once to keep the story cohesive. There's the TOTALLY unnecessary Old Legion, there's Mon and the back story(which I had all but forgotten)about him and the monkey, as well as Supergirl and Brainiac 5, Lex Luthor, Kandor, Superboy(who is hanging around for no reason I can figure), and the list goes on and on... All they really needed was Brainiac and Lex stealing Kandor, and then the Superman family responding in kind... Simple, no? Instead we get a big convoluted storyline with dozens of unnecessary characters all over the place.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.And this is the reason I'd never be a criminal in Metropolis... Imagine that sight coming at you with a full head of steam!

Superman #698

Superman #698: Writer: James Robinson. Artists: Javier Pina & Bernard Chang.
Last Issue: 4 1/2 out of 10.

This is the third part of the Last Stand of New Krypton storyline. While Brainiac's forces continue to soften up the Kryptonian defenses on New Krypton, Superman himself remains the prisoner of Brainiac and Lex Luthor aboard Brainiac's spacecraft. While Brainiac and Lex torment the captive Man of Steel, Mon-El manages to break onto Brainiac's ship, all to free Supes. While fighting his way through Brainiac's army of freaks and robots, Mon begins to hear telepathic cries for help from one of Brainiac's bottled cities. Using those cries, Mon begins to hone in on the location of Brainiac's command deck. After some struggling, Supes manages to free himself from Brainiac's torture device(which surprises Brainiac), and he prepares to launch a counter attack against the two villains. However, before Supes can make a move, Lex pulls a gun and aims it at one of the bottle cities, warning Supes that if he so much as twitches, he'll pull the trigger, killing however many millions of beings may be living in that city. Supes backs down, and Lex smugly tells Supes that he should know by now that he can never trust Lex Luthor! Before Lex can pull the trigger, Mon arrives on the scene and pulls the city out of harms way. With the threat to the city eliminated, Supes breaks free of his restraints, and Lex runs away to a safer part of the ship. This issue ends with Brainiac calling forth hundreds of his robots to put an end to Supes and Mon.

This was a very good comic. I have to say that I enjoyed it from the first page to the last. Of course, whenever Lex Luthor is around, that's always bound to make the comic a much better read! This issue was basically a lot of Mon fighting, and Supes being taunted by Brainiac and Lex, with the only real story advance being the fact that Supes was now free to renew his attack on Brainiac and his ship. So although nothing of real note happened, I still highly enjoyed Supes and Lex's interactions. This story continues in Adventure Comics #9, and as long as it's anything like this issue was, I'll be very happy to give it a read.

Score: 8 out of 10.If I could choose to be any villain, I'd definitely choose to be Lex!

Booster Gold #29, JSA All-Stars #3 & Superman #697. Plus a bonus rant against Geoff Johns?!? Wha???

Now that I have all of my midterms and papers finished and out of the way(for now...), I can devote a little bit more time to my favorite pastime, comic books! Before I get into the reviews, a word to the wise... Although this post reviews three DC comics, I have a pretty large pile of Marvel comic books that I'll probably start getting into soon. I only say this because I know that most of my regulars are more DC oriented people, as is evident by the fact that I always get WAY more comments on my DC related posts then my Marvel related posts. So as to not annoy my DC X-Maniacs, I'll make sure to try to add at least one DC review to every couple of Marvel reviews I post, that way everybody is happy! Aren't I the greatest?

Booster Gold #29: Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens.

We have a couple of converging storylines happening here, so I'll try to keep this review as linear as humanly possible... That's code for: if this review sucks, don't blame me! I'll start off with Booster Gold sister, Michelle, who has been living in the past since she split from her brother. After coming face to face with Cyborg Superman in Coast City during the Reign of the Supermen storyline from a few years ago, Michelle remembers that Cyborg Supes is responsible for the utter annihilation of Coast City, and as such she does what any sane human being would do in a similar situation, she gets the hell away from Cyborg Supes! Michelle heads back to her boyfriend and tries to warn him that Coast City is about to be vaporized, but he is hesitant to believe her, since she won't give him any reason other then the vague, “I know what will happen in the future”. While this is going on, the woman who tried to assassinate Cyborg Supes before he becomes a maniacal Cyborg from last issue arrives in pre-annihilated Coast City and begins to hunt down the nefarious Cyborg. Booster Gold is summoned by Rip Hunter, who warns Booster that he has to head to Coast City and prevent the woman from killing the Cyborg, even though it means 7 million people will die at the hands of the evil Cyborg. Booster reluctantly follows Rip's orders, and heads into the past to Coast City and finds the woman(whose name is Sondra Crain, by the way). Booster tries to reason with Sondra by telling her that as awful as it sounds, Cyborg Supes MUST destroy Coast City in order to protect the integrity of the timestream. Sondra eventually manages to convince Booster that it would be wrong to stand by and allow seven million people to die in Coast City, and just as it seems like Booster is about to take a stand and do the right thing, Cyborg Superman and Mongol's plan to destroy Coast City gets underway... D'oh!

Oh yeah, I really enjoyed this story. As a matter of fact, the past couple of issues of this series(especially the last two issues)have been really strong. In particular, I'm loving this story and the moral choices it is forcing Booster to make... Does he stand by and allow the past to unfold as it was originally intended to, as Rip Hunter has been telling/ordering him to do, or does he take a stand and do what seems like the right thing to do, even though that would mean altering the timeline... Pretty deep, no? If I were Booster, knowing what I know, I don't see how he can't prevent Cyborg Superman from destroying Coast City... Not only would you be saving seven million innocent beings, but perhaps as importantly, saving Coast City would prevent Hal Jordan from going insane with grief, destroying the Green Lantern Corps and becoming Parallax... Then again, if Hal doesn't become Parallax, he would never gain enough power to defeat the Sun Eater and save the entire Earth... Huh... Damn it, Rip was right!!! Jeez, as awful as it may be, I guess Coast City has to die or there would never be a Parallax, and no Parallax means the Earth would die. What a downer... See, you know a comic book is really good when it makes you think THAT much after reading it!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Hmm, I wonder just how many times Booster has been smacked by a woman...

JSA All-Stars #3: Writer: Matthew Sturges. Artist: Freddie Williams II

Johnny Sorrow, still a bit miffed that his Injustice League lost Stargirl last issue, cuts out the heart of one of his underlings to present as a sacrifice to some evil god he is worshiping... Note to self: if you ever turn to crime, DO NOT work for Johnny Sorrow... Meanwhile, the All-Stars decide that although they don't know where Sorrow is, it would be in their best interests to train ultra hard in preparation for his eventual return. Oh, and they learn that Atom Smasher was missing as well. Unbeknownst to them, it appears Atom Smasher has been abducted by some kind of evil magician. From there we go to several pages of the All-Stars training their hand to hand fighting techniques, which leads to an all out brawl between Power Girl and Magog over what kind of tactics they should be using. Magog favors killing his enemies, while PG is obviously against that, so the two decide to release some of their frustrations by beating the hell out of each other. Unsurprisingly, PG gets the best of that, which leads to Magog storming away. Later on, the All-Stars learn that Magog was responsible for a jail break(which happened in the terrible Magog series), and they decide to go after him(which occurs in the JSA Annual). This issue ends with Sand being visited by his mentor the Sandman in a dream, and being warned that “The Cycle” was about to occur, and that he had best to alert the JSA.

Not bad. Not bad at all. Granted, this wasn't the best comic book I've ever read or anything, but it was perfectly acceptable. The story was coming together, and I like the tension that exists between Magog and... well, everybody else on the All-Stars. Unfortunately, it looks as if Magog leaves the team as a result of what happened in the JSA Annual, but I'm still interested enough in this series to stick around to see just what Johnny Sorrow's master plan is.

Score: 7 out of 10.Here's a quick and helpful tip for Mr. Magog... Unless your name is Wonder Woman, DON'T try to take Power Girl in a fist fight...

Superman #697: Writer: James Robinson. Pencils: Bernard Chang.

This issue opens with Mon-El, Guardian and the forces of General Lane discovering that Control at the Science Police was actually the shape-shifting Chameleon of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Needless to say, nobody is overly pleased to find out about this chicanery, and Lane sends his men to capture the sneaky Durlan. Before Lane's forces can take out Chameleon, a robot from the future appears and attacks Lane, Guardian and Mon-El, allowing Chameleon to make his escape. Mon-El and Guardian give chase, but Guardian is blasted out of the sky by the idiot Starman from the Legion/JSA and Mon is taken out by several of Chameleon's Legion teammates. After that, Mon goes around and whines to his girlfriend, Steel and Superboy about how hard it is trying to live up to Supes, the junk with the Legion, as well as a few other problems he's having. While he's in Smallville complaining to Superboy, Superboy manages to set up a meeting between Mon and the Legion which crosses over with Adventure Comics #8, which as luck would have it just arrived in the mail today!

Umm yeah, I really didn't like this issue at all... For the most part, NOTHING of note happened... And the stuff that did happen I didn't like at all... I've said it ad nauseam, but I'll say it again, I HATE the original Legion... They shouldn't be! Uh-oh, I feel a rant coming on... Once again, this is a case of Geoff Johns run amok! You all know I like Geoff and all, but jeez, the guy has a really unhealthy fixation with DC's Golden/Silver Age... Here's a quick crash course on the Legion. They're a bunch of teenagers from the 30th/31st century who have banded together to deal with the adult run government, as well as dealing with whatever threats came their way. The original Legion met Superman back when he was still Superboy and living in Smallville. They shared some adventures, and eventually Supes grew up. After Zero Hour, DC changed up the Legion's origin, so as to revert them back to their teenage years. After that, in the mid-2000's, DC re-re-booted the Legion again(the Threeboot Legion)and built the team up from scratch, once again reverting the team members to their teenage roots as well as redoing the team origin. While the Threeboot Legion was still around, Geoff Johns decided to bring back the original Legion, and reincorporate them into Superman's life... This(along with bad sales)led to the cancellation of the Threeboot Legion, which is something I'm still sore about to this day... But my immense displeasure at the original Legion goes farther then that... Common sense tells us that Superman is probably at the very least 30 years old... Although I'd be willing to bet that he's even older then that. That would mean that the original members of the Legion that teenage Superman use to hang out with are probably approximately the same age as Supes is. And yet they still go by codenames that end in boy, girl, lad and lass... What the hell is that all about?!? What thirty year olds still refers to themselves as Cosmic “Boy” or Saturn “Girl”??? Not only that, but the entire backstory of the Legion(that they're kids fighting against an unfair system)doesn't work anymore because they ARE adults now, and as such, ARE a part of the system... It was fine when Geoff brought the JSA from the Golden Era into the Modern one. I was fine with him rebooting Hal Jordan back to his Silver Age self. But returning the Silver Age Flash(Barry Allen)and the Golden Age Legion is just a bit too much for me to stomach! We get it, Geoff Johns LOVES DC's vast past. That's great, DC's long and illustrious past SHOULD be respected... Just not at the expense of everything that has happened during DC's Modern Age... Wow, I sure got offtrack there, didn't I? The bottom line to all this is the fact that I didn't enjoy this comic at all, and that I don't understand why I'm reading about a Legion that should have died several decades ago... LONG LIVE THE THREEBOOT LEGION!!!

Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.You should be sorry... For doing this to this series!!!

Action Comics #885, Guardians of the Galaxy #21 & Siege: Embedded #1

Alright, here's how it's going to go tonight... I'm not so much going to review these comics as I'm going to complain about them. All three really weren't that good... Hell, to be honest, if I had some other comic related topic to opine about tonight, I would just skip these "reviews" all together! Yep, I'm in THAT kind of a mood! Well, let's get the horror show over with...

Action Comics #885: Writers: Greg Rucka & Eric Trautmann. Artist: Pere Pèrez.

This comic actually crosses over with Mon-El's Superman comic book, just so you know. The Science Police, led by Guardian and assisted by Mon-El, peacefully capture Nightwing and Flamebird, who were at STAR Labs getting Nightwing treatment. Oh, and the SP knew the Kryptonians were there because a sleeper Kryptonian criminal had infiltrated the SP. Guardian takes NW and FB to SP headquarters and the two explain why they are on earth(to get those blasted sleeper agents!). Guardian doesn't really buy the story, but before he can dig anymore, Gen. Lane shows up with the army(he was tipped off by the evil Kryptonian sleeper agent)and demands NW and FB. Mon-El convinces Guardian not to hand the two Kryptonians over, and during the confrontation between Lane's forces and NW and FB, the Kryptonian sleeper blows up SP headquarters with some sort of Kryptonian weapon.

Meh, this issue just didn't really do anything for me. We find out there are Kryptonian sleeper agents in STAR Labs and the SP, but I kind of don't care anymore... NW and FB had been ignoring their mission to capture the sleeper agents for so long, that now that they are after them again, I've just lost all interest. This comic probably wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be(the artwork was nice), but it's just the same old, same old in the Superman family of books. To be honest, I think I finally miss Big Blue. He really needs to come back to earth from New Krypton... It's time.

Score: 6 out of 10.Gen. Lane is the best thing going on in the Superman books BY FAR!

Guardians of the Galaxy #21: Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning. Pencils: Brad Walker.

The Guardains and the Luminals(the other super-group on Knowhere)battle the creature from the Fault which killed one of the Luminals last issue, and Moondragon ultimately subdues it by ingesting it... Yeah... The crazies from the Universal Church of Truth believe the creature is their god(because they're CRAZY!)and want to get at Moondragon, so Starlord locks her away for her own safety. Later on, the Luminals confront Starlord and Moondragon and demand that she is given to them since the creature residing in Moondragon killed one of them, and they want justice. Starlord balks at that, so the leader of the Luminals handcuffs herself to Moondragon and forces Starlord and the Guardians to face a tribunal held by the powers that be on Knowhere. Drax convinces the tribunal that since Moondragon is his daughter he should be the one to deal with her current problems, and the tribunal agrees, pissing off the Luminals. This issue ends with Matriarch and her UCT followers kidnapping Moondragon, since they believe their god is residing within her.

Once again, meh. I'm really not into the Realm of Kings storyline AT ALL... Don't get me wrong, I love my Marvel space titles(Guardians and Nova), but it's just been non-stop x-overs since the War of Kings broke out last year. Enough! Hopefully this Realm of Kings business wraps up post-haste, and this title goes back to being as incredibly awesome as I know it can be.

Score: 6 out of 10.In my experience, THAT is never a good sign!

Siege: Embedded #1(of 4): Writer: Brian Reed. Pencils: Chris Samnee.

Ben Urich goes to Chicago to report on the destruction of Soldier Field as told in Siege #1, but gets arrested by the Chicago PD because he's on Osborn's arrest on sight list. A Chicago cameraman lets Urich out of the police car and the two stroll away?!? Umm, really? Is it that easy to get away from the cops in Chi-town?!? They sneak into the remains of Soldier Field and watch the Dark Avengers help with the rescue effort, somehow avoiding the notice of the police, the National Guard, the Army, HAMMER, Osborn's armor, AND Daken's senses... From there they bump into the guy partially responsible for blowing up Soldier Field, Volstagg, who is just WANDERING DOWN THE STREETS!!! The guy isn't exactly inconspicuous! He weighs like 500 pounds and has a flowing red beard! Are you seriously going to tell me NO law agencies in Chicago were able to find him?!? He's walking right down the goddamn street!!! ARRGH!!! Ugh, that's about all for me folks! Some other idiotic stuff happens and Volstagg, Urich and the cameraman decide to drive a stolen news van from Chicago to Oklahoma where the Asgardian battle is taking place.

This comic was just terrible... That's really the best thing I can say about it. I mean come on, how is Volstagg just walking down the road, escaping the notice of EVERYBODY? I can almost forgive the fact that the cameraman simply opens the backdoor of the police car to spring Urich, because with the mess at Soldier Field, let's say the Chicago PD was overextended(although that's still a stretch), but how in the hell do Urich and the cameraman gain access to the disaster site?!? That really blew my mind. Where were the cops? Where was HAMMER, or the National Guard? Why didn't Osborn, Daken, Moonstone or Sentry realize they were being spied on??? The amount of stupidity in this comic was just plain shocking. I can tell you this much, I definitely WILL NOT be buying the other 3 issues in this mini... Just horrible.

Score: 1 out of 10.Can someone explain to me why the army is driving right past the 7 foot tall, 500 pound guy wearing a bright pink outfit?!?

Batman #694, Justice Society of America #34 & Superman #695

Sticking with the new format, I'm going to take a quick look at the three comics listed in the title. Don't expect a page by page recap of every little thing here, no, instead I'm going to touch on the main points in an attempt to make this post as quick and painless as possible. Since I'm reviewing three DC books tonight, it's only fair that I'll be reviewing three Marvel comics tomorrow. Well, with that said, away we go!

Batman #694: This issue deals with the Black Mask attempting to keep his turbulent hold on the Gotham City underworld. The Penguin makes a play for power, and nearly gets himself killed by Mask's underlings as a result. Batman and Robin are continuing their hunt for Mask, and Batman learns that the boy who was shot by Mask's men last issue had died after being rushed to the hospital, making Batman's war against Mask even more personal.

Eh, I didn't really care for this comic one way or the other. Maybe my apathy is due to the Penguin appearing in these pages(I do HATE the Penguin!), or maybe it's the whole disjointed feel this series has going for it right now... Nothing really clicked for me. Black Mask is talking to himself(sort of like the Red Skull did while he was in possession of Aleksander Lukin's body), Dr. Death is killing mobsters, Penguin is annoying Mask, some girl is working against her mobster family and working for Penguin, it was all just a convoluted mess.

Score: 6 out of 10.Batman seems like he's about to bust out his best tortured Shakespearian soliloquy here!

Justice Society of America #34: With the destruction of their New York Brownstone, this portion of the JSA has taken residence in the cave the Justice League and Young Justice used to call home. Dr. Fate gets possessed by a mystery being and scouts out the JSA while they're unpacking and hanging out. Kid Karnevil, who is a prisoner of the team, taunts them with knowledge of Obsidian's whereabouts, and this issue concludes with the team confronting Dr. Fate after they realized something was wrong with the way he was acting. Upon knocking out Fate, Mordru emerges from his body, ready to do battle with the JSA once again.

This issue was OK, but it wasn't quite up to the high standards the past few issues had reached. I got a huge kick out of the Mordru possessed Fate acting like a jerk to his teammates, and I enjoyed Karnevil as usual, but for the most part, nothing of note really happened here.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.If Dr. Fate acted like this all the time he'd be one of my favorite characters, hands down!

Superman #695: Before Bizarro and the Parasite are able to kill the momentarily powerless Mon-El, Guardian and the Science Police arrive on the scene to buy Mon some time. When Mon's powers return, he chases Bizarro back to Bizarro World, and the Science Police manage to take Parasite in with relative ease. After arriving back at Science Police headquarters, Mon tells Guardian that he was tortured by Gen. Lane for the last month, and that he wanted to warn the public that Lane is evil. Before Mon can make a move though, Lane goes on TV and claims that Mon had suffered Kryptonian brainwashing, and that his words were not necessarily to be trusted. From there Mon meets up with his former Science Police teammate, and the two end up sleeping together. This issue ends with Guardian and the Science Police calling Mon in to help them arrest Nightwing and Flamebird.

I've always been a very stout supporter of James Robinson(the writer of this series), but this was by far my least favorite issue of Superman in quite a while. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what bugged me about this issue. It could be that I'm getting a little bit tired of Mon's powers conveniently cutting out whenever he's about to go into battle, and then miraculously returning at just the right moment, it could be Mon's new attitude(I liked the old, stiff Mon, not the new tough Mon), or it could have been the dialogue, which was painfully bad at times... Whatever it was, hopefully things will improve with the next few issues crossing over with Action Comics.

Score: 5 out of 10.Ugh, worst pillow talk EVER!!!

A Quick Look at Superman #694

Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Javier Pina.

What Happened: This is one of those comics that jumps back and forth in time, so to keep things straight(and in order to keep this post semi-coherent)I'm going to tell the story in its proper chronological order... That makes sense, no? Anyway, we begin with Mon-El, who recently escaped from Gen. Lane, heading to Smallville in order to talk to Ma Kent and Superboy. Mon complains that he has failed Superman by not protecting Metropolis in the same way that Supes did. Ma tells him hogwash(well not in those words, but it would have been great if she did say "hogwash"), and that he's done a fine job serving as Metropolis' protector in Supes absence. Mon then goes on to complain about the way Gen. Lane has sullied Superman's symbol, and swears to tell anyone who will listen that Lane isn't the hero he's been claiming to be. Ma continues to serve as a sounding board, and ultimately gives the type of sage advice only Ma Kent can give(keep your chin up, keep fighting, etc, etc). Before Mon leaves Smallville, Ma presents Mon with a slightly altered version of his costume, complete with Superman's "S" adorning it, so Mon can better represent Supes. From there, Mon, in his new threads heads back to Metropolis just in time to assist the Science Police in a battle against the always awesome Bizarro. After an extended battle between the two powerhouses, Mon manages to put Bizarro down momentarily. Before Mon can finish Bizarro off however, his powers give out on him, just as the Parasite arrives on the scene. This issue ends with Parasite and Bizarro bearing down on the powerless Mon-El.

What I Thought: This was a fun comic that I enjoyed for the most part. The only thing that bothered me was what I think was the return of the most ridiculous, idiotic and useless character in all(yes all!)of the DCU, Bouncing Boy... Bouncing Boy, whose "power" consist of the fact that he's fat... Uh-huh... Hopefully I'm wrong about this one, but it sure seems like it was Bouncing Boy who appeared here. Besides that junk, everything else here was pretty well done. There were a few moments that had me laughing, both intentionally and not. I got a kick out of Ma telling Mon-El that she stayed up all night designing him a new costume and then presenting him with the same costume he's been wearing, only with an "S" sewn on it... It really took Ma all night to sew an "S" onto Mon's costume? Really? Bizarro was Bizarro, which is always good, since Me am not love Bizarro, and the next issue should contain a pretty sweet battle between Mon, Parasite and Bizarro.

Score: 8 out of 10.I'm glad Mon took the time to explain that Bizarro was speaking "reverse speak". I'm sure there were plenty of comic book fans who were taken aback by that revelation.

A Quick Look at Superman #693

Writer: James Robinson. Pencils: Fernando Dagnino.

What Happened: This comic was all about Gen. Lane of Project 7734 trying to recruit Mon-El into joining his forces against the world of New Krypton. Lane tries to reason with Mon, which doesn't work, he has him beaten up by Atlas, which once again, doesn't work, and he has one of those damnable talking apes in the DCU experiment on/torture Mon, which also doesn't work. After a few weeks of this, the Parasite, who is also being forced to work with Lane, visits Mon in his cell and offers to help him escape, provided he takes Parasite with him. With no other real recourse, Mon agrees, and after allowing Parasite to leech some of his power, the two make a break for the portal exit of the Project. Parasite activates the portal and races away, and when Mon exits the portal, he is met by Lane and a surprising amount of carnage. Mon can't imagine Parasite caused so much damage in such a short timeframe, and Lane explains that it wasn't Parasite who did this damage, but Lex Luthor and Brainiac(from Adventure Comics #2)when they made good their escape from the Project. With Lane's super-powered defenders after Lex and Brianiac, Lane tells Mon that there's nothing he can do to force Mon to stay, so if he wants to go, he might as well. Mon is surprised, and threatens to expose Lane's evil activities, but Lane could care less, explaining that Superman is persona non grata on Earth, all thanks to Lane. Mon leaves swearing to fix Supes bad image. This issue concludes two days after Mon and Lane's meeting with Guardian and the Science Police preparing to battle Bizarro, who is menacing the skies of Metropolis again.

What I Thought: For the most part, I liked this issue, but not for the reasons one might have expected. The torture/experimentation on Mon-El actually became very tiresome after a while, it just kept dragging on. I do wonder if that talking ape(it's the DCU, OF COURSE there was a talking ape here!)may wind up discovering the cure for Mon's impending death, but that's neither here nor there, although if that does indeed happen, remember, I said it first! No, the parts of this comic that featured Mon were almost universally boring, with one exception, whenever Gen. Lane was involved. I thought James did a wonderful job with Lane here, he's not just another crazy super-villain with an axe to grind, Lane seems to firmly believe the Earth is threatened by the very existence of New Krypton, and he is going to do everything in his power to protect the planet. Sure, some of his actions aren't "nice"(torturing Mon for example), but everything he does seems to be for the greater good. I liked the fact that Lane actually showed remorse at the sight of the soldiers who died during Luthor and Brianiac's escape as well. The fact that he seemed truly bothered by the loss of life definitely had me looking at Lane in a different light. It's funny how one simple, well written scene can totally transform one's ideas about a character.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.My god, WHAT is DC's obsession with talking apes?!?

Superman #692

Writer: James Robinson, Pencils: Fernando Dagnino.

What Happened: This issue gives us the aftermath to the “Codename: Patriot” storyline, with Metropolis in near ruins with its sewer systems destroyed, and no fresh water available. The JSA and a few other heroes stop by to help Guardian get the sewers up and running again, but apparently Gen. Lane used stolen nanites from Steel to make it so that nobody would be able to fix the sewer system, superpowers or not. With Mon-El presumed dead at the hands of Supergirl, Morgan Edge(as per the orders of Gen. Lane) is trying to whip Metropolis into a fit of anti-Kryptonian rage. Guardian and his Science Police are doing what they can to maintain order in the increasingly desperate city. Meanwhile, Zatara has been captured by Gen. Lane's associate, Mirabai(huh?), and she plans on forcing him to work for her. Guardian reveals to the SP that Jon Kent and Mon-El were one and the same, which shocks the SP, especially Billi Harper, Mon's partner. Billi approaches Guardian and Guardian reveals that he knows he's related to Billi and the two wind up bonding. This issue ends with Codename Assassin and Gen. Lane checking on the latest captive of Project 7734, Mon-El, who is being kept immobile in a stasis tube.

What I thought: Eh, this comic was OK I guess. Nothing really spectacular happened here, this was basically an issue to deal with the fallout from Codename: Patriot. I'm guessing I missed the comic where Zatara gets captured(possibly the Superman Annual?), when I place my next comic order, I'll have to see if I can figure out what I missed. I was a bit bothered that Guardian outed Mon's identity so readily... I get Guardian's explanation(Mon's dead, so why hide it), but jeez, people come back to life all the time in the DCU! At least wait a few weeks to make sure he's really dead before you out the guy!

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.If I was floating in a tube full of green water only wearing a pair of shorts, I'd be pissed too!

Speed Reviews for: Supergirl #44, Superman #691 and Superman Annual #14

Since I liked doing the Speed Reviews so much last night, that I think I'll do another batch of them tonight!

Supergirl #44 Writer: Sterling Gates Penciller: Jamel Igle
This is the third part of Codename: Patriot.
What Happened: Gen. Lane purposely let it slip to Ral-Dar that Lane was only using him and that the US President, along with several allies were going to blow up New Krypton. Ral flips out and heads to Markovia, where the President is to meet with his Markovian counter-part. Supes chases after Ral upon learning he was headed to Markovia and Supergirl and Mon-El head to Los Angeles, where Nightwing and Flamebird are inexplicably tearing up the town. We discover it was a trap, and that Nightwing and Flamebird were actually Reactron and Metallo in disguise. Metallo and Reactron(along with Lane's lackey Mirabai)beat up SG and take off, leaving Mon and SG to chase after them.
What I thought: Honestly, there really wasn't much to this comic. It mainly consisted of super-folks flying after each other. Thus far, I think my favorite part of this x-over is Gen. Lane. I'm really enjoying the way he has been pulling every body's strings, and I can't wait to see what his endgame is.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10The worst kind of Kryptonian? An angry Kryptonian!

Superman #691 Writer: James Robinson Pencils: Renato Guedes & Eduardo Pansika
This is the forth part of Codename: Patriot.
What happened: Mon-El and Supergirl track Nightwing and Flamebird to the sewers of Metropolis where Mon discovers that SG is actually Mirabai in disguise, while Nightwing and Flamebird are Reactron and Metallo. The trio KO Mon and after getting out of there they blow the Metropolis sewer system up, all on the orders of Gen. Lane, who makes it look like an act of Kryptonian terrorism. Superman catches Ral-Dar just as he reaches Markovia, but before either Kryptonian can make a move towards the respective leaders of the US or Markovia, Gen. Lane arrives on the scene and attacks the aliens with Squad K and Kryptonian firing weaponry. Ral is KO'ed in the attack, but Supes is more concerned as to how Lane is alive. Before he can get his answers, he is called back to New Krypton by Alura, who states Supes is urgently needed. Supes leaves with Ral, looking like a traitor to Earth, while Lane comes out smelling like roses.
What I thought: Meh. This comic was OK, but for me there was just something missing... I can't quite put my finger on what the missing aspect is though. I guess I was left feeling kind of unfulfilled. I don't know, I was hoping for something more I guess.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.USA! USA! USA! Sorry about that...

Superman Annual #14 Writer: James Robinson Artist: Javier Pina
What Happened: This was a Mon-El origin issue. Daxam was originally established by Kryptonians who colonized the planet and then crossbred with the natives. In time the Daxamites became their own people and began to explore the stars themselves, not as conquerors, like the Kryptonians, but as scientific observers. One such observer visited Earth several hundred years ago and was impregnated by a Terrain. She returned to Daxam and bore the child. From there the Daxamites begin to fear space and after a bloody civil war, they ban all space travel. Years later, Mon comes across an old Daximite ship and escapes from Daxam just as the anti-space forces were closing in on him. He crash lands on Earth, meets a young Clark Kent, and the rest is history. Oh yeah, and Mon is a descendant of the Daxamite who visited Earth, meaning he has some Terrain blood running through his veins.
What I thought: Once again, I was hoping for something more here. The origin of Daxam/Mon-El wasn't particularly interesting or original, and the stuff with Mon's distant ancestor and the earthling was just plain dumb, with some of the hokiest dialogue you'll ever read.
Score: 6 out of 10.Look, it's Mon-El meeting Clark Kent for the first time! Again...

Superman #689

This was another comic that arrived in the mail for me today. I tell you, nothing can put a smile on my face quite like finding a comic book in the mailbox. That's actually kind of pathetic if you really think about it... Anyway, this issue is written by one of my favorite writers, James Robinson.

-This comic begins with Morgan Edge, the owner of WGBS(a TV station based in Metropolis), ranting against Kryptonians and Mon-El on a talk show he gave himself. While Edge tries to bury Mon-El in the media, Mon travels around Metropolis and the world preforming acts of super-heroics. Mon is trying to see as much of the planet as he can before his inevitable death.

-Tellus(who I guess is an old-school member of the Legion of Super-Heroes)thanks Guardian for freeing him from captivity, gives Guardian something that should provide him assistance for when he encounters Codename: Assassin again(I'm guessing some kind of mental defenses)and leaves to start some kind of unnamed mission.

-Later, Guardian appears on Morgan Edge's show and tells him that #1, Mon-El isn't Kryptonian and #2 that Mon-El is a hero, so there is no reason to tarnish his name. After the sternness of Guardian's words, Edge publicly apologizes to Mon.

-Next up we find out that the Prankster has been working for Gen. Lane(REALLY??? The Prankster?!?!), and that the Prankster has managed to fool Black Lightning into leaving town. Gen. Lane tasks Prankster with eliminating Steel, and this issue ends with Atlas managing to trick Steel into letting him into the Ironworks so he can apparently kill him.

This was a decent story, it really didn't advance the Mon-El/death storyline, but it did advance the stuff concerning Guardian and Steel. So this Tom guy was secretly Atlas, who has seemingly been hired to kill Steel? Huh??? Why Atlas? I thought he was supposed to be a misunderstood hero type, not a murderer for hire... And what the hell is up with Gen. Lane hiring the Prankster to be his pointman in Metropolis??? Was the Toyman unavailable? I mean come on! Gen. Lane is in charge of some sort of secret US military program and the best he can do is the Prankster??? That's just pathetic...

We also still don't know why Tellus was captured, why he choose to contact Guardian for help or what the hell he's up to. On top of that, I really don't know what the stuff with Morgan Edge accomplished. First he hates Mon-El, then after some stern words from Guardian, he loves him? What purpose did that serve? Wow, that's sure a lot of complaining about a comic I liked! To end this review on a positive note, I will say I really enjoyed the parts of this comic that focused on Mon-El and his world tour. I like Mon-El, I like the way James has been writing him, and I hope the next issue devotes more time to Mon and less time to the secondary characters. For a score, I'll give this book a 7 1/2 out of 10 and hope we get more Mon-El and less of everyone else beginning next issue.

Superman #688

On tonight's agenda we have the most recent issue of Superman. This series stars Supes pal, Mon-El and is written by the awesome James Robinson. Now that James is back at DC full time, I for one would love if he'd revisit Starman or the Shade(THE greatest supporting character in ANY comic book). Well, enough of that, here's the review.

-This comic opens by following up on the events of last issue(makes sense, right?), with Mon-El falling from the sky into the Bay in Metropolis. It seems that Mon's powers have mysteriously left him and he doesn't know how to swim. Luckily for Mon, Guardian was in the area and saves Mon from his watery grave.

-Upon reaching the surface of the water, Mon's powers return as mysteriously as they left him. As Mon and Guardian decide what to do about the sudden loss of power, the Squad K losers show up and are subsequently defeated.

-Guardian takes Mon to STAR Labs and after an examination from Dr. Light, Mon finds out that the elixir from the future that he drank, the one that is holding his lead poisoning at bay, is being attacked by his super-powers, which think the elixir is a dangerous foreign entity plaguing his body. In return, the elixir is attacking his super-powers, which explains why his powers momentarily left him. Whew. The bottom line here is that due to the turmoil within his body Dr. Light gives Mon 12 to 18 months to live.

-After leaving, Guardian asks Mon what he's going to do now, and Mon states that he promised Supes he would look after Metropolis, and that's exactly what he intends on doing, to the bitter end.

-Later in the day, Mon(in his other identity of Jon Kent)and Guardian, along with some other members of the Science Police, break that weird creature, the telepathic one with the Legion flight ring, out of the facility that was holding it captive. As they are leaving with the creature, they come across Codename: Assassin. Assassin tries to get into Guardian's head, but the creature prevents it and Guardian and Mon leave an upset Assassin behind.

-Assassin reports what happened to Gen. Lane, who tells Assassin to let the situation alone for now. Lane does tell Assassin that he will get his shot at Guardian down the road, as well as making cryptic threats about Guardian's "daughter".

-This issue ends with Mon visiting Paris and realizing that there is still a lot he wants to do with his life, and that he isn't ready to die yet.

What a wonderful comic this was. THIS is why I love James' work. I'm not sure that any other comic writer(maybe Ed Brubaker)can develop characters as brilliantly as James can. After reading this comic, how can you not like Mon-El? Although he is dying, through no fault of his own, he still insists on carrying out with the promise he made to Supes. Besides that, James also played up the stranger in a strange land aspect of Mon's character with great success.

The subplot with Guardian and the creature is interesting, mainly due to the fact that the creature is wearing a Legion ring. I'm not sure if that creature has appeared before(it may have, my knowledge of the DCU isn't complete yet), but I for one can't wait to find out more about it.

This comic was practically perfect... With the exception of the pseudo-showdown between Guardian and Assassin. After reading the "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson Special" I was really expecting a LOT more between these two considering it was Assassin who killed the original Guardian at Project Cadmus. I guess the stare down will build anticipation for the next time these two meet, but you'd think Guardian would want to tear Assassin apart, or that Assassin would make a move to stop Guardian from stealing the creature... I guess not.

For a score this comic gets a very easy 9 1/2 out of 10. I was toying with giving this book a perfect score, but the lack of action between Assassin and Guardian really bothered me. This comic gets my very highest recommendation though.

Superman #686

Overall- So, this is the first non-Superman, Superman issue, if that makes any sense. Actually, that doesn't make any sense... Allow me to try to clarify that. Superman is leaving Metropolis to go spend some time(12 issues)on New Krypton, basically to watch the New Kryptonians and make sure they behave themselves. Before Superman leaves Earth, he meets with several folks in order to make sure Metropolis is protected from its many threats. To that end, Supes asks Mon-El, who was recently released from the Phantom Zone and cured of his lead poisoning, to take up his role as protector of Metropolis. Mon is surprised, but accepts.

Next, Supes meets with Jimmy Olson, who is as usual whining about something. Superman tells Jimmy not to worry, and the next day, Mon meets up with Jimmy and gives him a signal watch that will alert Mon if Jimmy is in any danger... Jeez, with how inconceivably dumb Jimmy Olson is, saving Jimmy is going to become Mon's full time job! Supes heads to the Iron Works building and asks John Henry Irons if he could keep an eye on Mon, since Mon is still relatively new to the whole super-hero thing. John agrees and even says that he'll pull the old Steel suit out of mothballs when necessary. Finally, Supes meets with the Science Police(whoever they are)and their field commander, Guardian. Supes asks if Guardian and his superiors could give Mon a secret identity, and Guardian agrees to place Mon on the Science Police.

With that, Superman officially leaves Earth, and leaves Metropolis in the hands of Mon-El and company. Mon's first day as a super-hero starts out with him battling the super-strong and super-ugly Rampage. Mon gets roughed up a bit by Rampage(she actually pulls his hair!), before Mon decides to grab Rampage, fly way up high and throw her into the streets below, knocking her out. Guardian and Steel arrive on the scene and they both admonish Mon's strategy of just throwing Rampage at the street, because, #1, the fall might have killed her, and #2, she might have landed on top of somebody and killed them!

Since Rampage IS still alive, and nobody was killed, Guardian tells Mon to consider the experience a lesson learned. With that, Guardian takes Mon with him so they can work on his secret identity. At a meeting with the Science Police, Guardian introduces Mon in his civilian guise as Jonathan Kent, an English prodigy from Interpol looking for a fresh start in America. One of the Science Police heckle Mon's hair, which makes him think back to the battle with Rampage, where she was pulling his hair.

Later, Mon meets up with a friendly female SP member named Billi Harper, who is great-niece of the original Guardian(who the current Guardian was cloned from). Billi tells Mon that she hasn't told Guardian of their family relationship, and Mon agrees to keep it their little secret. We end the issue with Guardian ordering the SP to suit up to face Chemo, who is wreaking havoc downtown. Mon walks into the picture, dressed in his SP duds, with a new, shorter haircut, telling Guardian he's now ready for anything.

I've stated before that James Robinson is possibly the best comic book writer alive today when it comes to character development. Most of this issue was used to show Superman's departure, while having Mon slowly step in to replace him. I really liked the way James placed Mon in the starring role of this comic book. Instead of dropping Mon on every page, and basically hammering the readers with the fact that this was now Mon's book, James slowly moved Mon to the forefront. James didn't throw Supes out of this comic and throw Mon in, he gradually moved the characters into the positions he wanted them to take over, which is a VERY smart writing move. A lot of lesser comic book writers would have just dropped Mon in the starring role and had him battle some kind of super-villain, just to show that Mon was now in charge here. Usually when a writer does that, the fans of that particular comic book tend to resent the new guy and begin to demand the return of the guy who was replaced. I think that by gradually easing Mon into Supes role, as opposed to having Mon just take over immediately, some of that fan backlash should be tempered.

I liked this comic a lot, which is no surprise, considering it was written by James. If James Robinson wrote the phone book, I would gladly pay $2.99 to read it! My one complaint, and I'm sure James already has this figured out, is that putting Mon on the Science Police doesn't really make too much sense... If "Jonathan Kent" is fighting super-villains as a member of the SP, how exactly is Mon-El supposed to help out? Shouldn't Mon's #1 priority be to stop super-crime in Metropolis as Mon-El, not be a member of the SP? But, I consider James to be a genius, so I'm sure he's already worked out the details concerning that situation. For a score, I'm going to give this issue a 8 1/2 out of 10. Most of this issue dealt with Supes leaving and Mon slowly meeting his various allies. As James moves forward, I fully expect this series to become one of the best comic books on the market very, very soon.