JSA All-Stars #1 & 2

Before I get started with these two reviews, a word to the wise. I read these comics a few days ago, and have since lent them out, so if the reviews seem a bit on the uninformative side, it's probably because I've forgotten some of the stuff that was inside! Alright, with that out of the way, here are my reviews for JSA All-Stars 1 and 2.

JSA All-Stars #1: Writer: Matthew Sturges. Artist: Freddie Williams II
This group of JSAers(the All-Stars)begin by battling a group of robot communists who emerged from the waters surrounding Manhattan and decided to march down Times Square. The All-Stars take the robots apart with relative ease, but are unsure as to what the purpose was. Magog, who is the field leader of the team, is surprised by the lack of military precision the All-Stars displayed while battling the robots, so he decides to drill them for several days before Magog and Power Girl hold a press conference explaining what their branch of the JSA stands for(they're proactive!). During the press conference, Arthur Pemberton and his Strike Force attacks the team. While the All-Stars are trying to contain the battle, Pemberton knocks Stargirl unconscious and whisks her away from the battle. This issue ends with Pemberton's forces telling Johnny Sorrow that they have Stargirl but that they want more money before they hand her over to him. Sorrow responds by announcing that he'd do anything for the love of his life(Stargirl!), before killing the two men.

This was a pretty good start for this series. I love the Johnny Sorrow character(just the look alone if priceless!), but I'm kind of... I don't know, disturbed I guess, by his sudden fixation with Stargirl. She's the love of his life? Wha?!? Anyhow, as a fan of the JSA, I've got to say this issue hit almost all the right notes, so I don't have anything substantial to complain about. Huzzah!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I have a question. What's up with those ram horns on your head?

JSA All-Stars #2: Writer: Matthew Sturges. Artist: Freddie Williams II
This issue opens with Power Girl and the JSA searching(unsuccessfully)for Stargirl. Unable to discover her whereabouts, the team returns to their base. Stargirl awakens at Arthur Pemberton's warehouse headquarters, where Pemberton taunts her like any good villain would. In the midst of his taunts though, Pemberton hears some loud explosions and rushes away from Stargirl, figuring the All-Stars had discovered his hideout and were attacking. Instead, Pemberton and his men come under attack from Johnny Sorrow and his Injustice League. It seems Sorrow is angry that Pemberton tried to charge him extra for the capture of Stargirl, so Sorrow has decided to steal Stargirl right out from under Pemberton and his men... Ah those wacky villains! The All-Stars are able to pin down the location of Stargirl with the help of the very annoying robot Hourman's father created, and the team rushes to the scene, where they are surprised to see the Injustice League doing battle with Strike Force. Magog wants to hold back and let the villains destroy each other(HA!)but Power Girl realizes that Stargirl could get caught in the middle of the battle, so the All-Stars rush in and attack both sides. Stargirl manages to escape her captivity, and joins her teammates outside, which causes Sorrow to decide to retreat with his group, since he doesn't want any harm to come to Stargirl. This issue concludes with Sand having a vision from the future where Sorrow summons the ultra powerful King of Tears as his servant.

With the exception of the annoying robot, this comic was really good. I'm not sure why Matthew thought the team could use a smart-alec robot to aid them, but whatever I guess. The story moved along at a brisk pace, the battle scenes looked good, and Johnny Sorrow was just the right mixture of evil, funny and creepy. Plus I liked the Liberty Belle/Hourman Second Feature! All in all, this was a pretty good comic that I'd have no problem recommending.

Score: 8 out of 10.Jeez Johnny, you're like THREE times the age of Stargirl! Can't you find a nice 80 year old to settle down with?

Comic gazing for: 1/13/10

Hey, today is Thursday, which means yesterday was Wednesday(how's THAT for deductive logic!). I completely forgot to check out which new comics I'll(eventually)be ordering from my online comic shop. After a quick stop at my online CB shop, here's the books I just placed in my shopping cart.

Action Comics #885: This issue crosses over with Superman, and I(unlike many fellow CB fans)have been enjoying both Action and Superman, even though Superman himself is appearing in neither title. I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

Adventure Comics #6: This is Geoff Johns final story in Adventure(for now anyway), so that alone is reason enough to buy this!

Batgirl #6: I've been thoroughly enjoying this series, however, it looks like my least favorite member of the Bat-family(Damian)makes an appearance... Will that be enough to ruin this title for me? Hopefully not!

Batman #695: So far I've been VERY underwhelmed with Tony Daniel's run on this series, especially in light of how good the Battle for the Cowl(which Tony wrote)was. Some friendly advice for Tony, if you want me to like this series, PLEASE stop putting the Penguin in it!

Booster Gold #28: If we get more Booster and less Jamie Reyes, I'll be happy. See, I'm easy to please.

Catwoman #83: Blackest Night tie-in. 'Nuff said!

Green Arrow/ Black Canary #28: Hey look, it's another issue of Cupid's comic! I'm hoping that this issue FINALLY begins to spell the end of Cupid. Conventional wisdom tells me otherwise though...

Magog #5: This series has been OK, but out of all the books I pick up monthly, this one is probably the closest to getting dropped.

Power of SHAZAM #48: Blackest Night tie-in.

REBELS #12: This series is, believe it or not, one of my monthly favorites. Once this order arrives, this will be among the first comics I read.

Secret Six #17: Blackest Night tie-in.

Titans #21: I really don't have any reason for picking this one up other then the fact that I am, and probably always will be, a Titans fan.

Dark X-Men #3: Why am I picking this one up? X-Man is in this comic, and I've named this blog, X-Man's Comic Blog... Do the math! Seriously though, I am PSYCHED for this issue! So far, this mini has been extremely enjoyable.

Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #3: I probably won't read this issue until the entire mini-series is out, but I'm willing to spend the money without reading the work because I trust the writing team(Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning)that much.

Annnd, that's it. Wow, DC is getting WAY more of my hard earned money then Marvel this week. Although DC is getting most of my money, the comic I'm most looking forward to reading is a Marvel, more specifically, Dark X-Men #3. Well, that's it for me tonight, if you feel like sharing, let me know which books you have/will be buying this week. Long Live The Legion!

Teen Titans #78 & Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2

It's another day, which means it's time for me to check out MORE Blackest Night x-over issues! While DC's Blackest Night hasn't become as massive as Marvel's Civil War from a few years back(I don't think there was a single Marvel title that didn't x-over with Civil War in one way or another!), I've got to admit, after 6 months of Blackest Night mayhem, I'm getting a little burnt out... I mean, it's a good story and all, but does it have to be SO long? OK, end rant. Tonight I'll be looking at Teen Titans #78 and Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2. You've been warned.

Teen Titans #78: Writer: J. T. Krul. Pencils: Joe Bennett.
Picking up from last issue, Jericho explains to Ravager that he's no longer crazy and that his eyes somehow grew back after Vigilante poked them out... OOOOOOK then... The two siblings wind up getting attacked once again by their Black Lantern brother, Grant, while Deathstroke is trying to deal with the Black Lantern versions of Wintergreen and his wife, Adeline. Jericho and Ravager's battle with BL Grant spills over into the next room, and BL Adeline and BL Wintergreen wind up getting the upper hand on Deathstroke, but they are unable to elicit a strong emotional response from Deathstroke. However, upon seeing Ravager and Jericho, Deathstroke winds up feeling love, and the Black Lanterns begin to tear his heart out. Jericho and Ravager save their father and Deathstroke leads his kids to a panic room filled with weapons. Deathstroke locks them in the panic room and tries to kill the Black Lanterns on his own, but fails miserably, and the BL's break into the panic room and attack Ravager and Jericho anew. Finally having enough, Jericho possesses the body of his Black Lantern mother(Adeline)and attacks the other Black Lanterns while telling Ravager to escape with the beaten Deathstroke. Jericho winds up tricking the Black Lanterns into killing each other, ending their threat. This issue ends with Jericho making amends and forgiving his father, which Ravager is still unable to do.

This was a completely acceptable comic book. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the entire Wilson family, so it was nice to see them spotlighted these past two issues. While I was a bit baffled by the way the Black Lanterns were able to kill each other(reaching into another BL's chest kills it? Huh???), I was pleased to see Jericho and Deathstroke make up. It was also nice to see that Jericho wasn't crazy anymore, although his explanation for how his eyes grew back(he has no idea how that happened!)definitely annoyed me. All in all though, this was a pretty enjoyable comic which I'd happily recommend to any fans of Deathstroke and his family.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Awww, see that, Deathstroke isn't just a killing machine, he's also a good father... Kind of...

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2(of 3): Writer: Greg Rucka. Pencils: Nicola Scott.
This issue takes place between the pages of Blackest Night #6 with Wonder Woman now running amok as a Black Lantern. BL WW attacks Mera and manages to get the better of her for the most part. However, BL WW hesitates slightly(WW is trying to fight her transformation into a BL), which allows Mera to toss WW away. BL WW then runs into Wonder Girl and BL Donna Troy. WG gets distracted by BL Donna and BL WW tears WG heart out, much to the horror of WW who is still trying to fight the transformation. BL Donna taunts the dead WG, which leads to BL WW snapping and hacking BL Donna to pieces with her axe... Huh... At that point, Batman(?!?)arrives on the scene, and he proceeds to make out(?!?!?)with BL WW, which helps WW regain some semblance of control over herself. From there, the Greek goddess Aphrodite appears before WW and tells her that nothing I just described actually happened, that WW imagined everything from making out with Bats, to killing WG. Aphrodite explains that she was just keeping WW from harming anybody until the Star Sapphire ring of love was ready to find WW. With that, the Star Sapphire ring latches onto WW, destroying the Black Lantern ring that WW had been wearing, as well as ending this issue.

Well, that was kind of meaningless... After reading this comic, I had to wonder what the purpose of this issue was. I mean, let's face facts, NOTHING HAPPENED! Wonder Woman(thanks to Aphrodite)imagined everything! Hell, as long as you read Blackest Night #6, you already knew what was going to happen(WW becoming a Star Sapphire). I'm not going to say this was the worst comic I've ever read, because it wasn't, but it WAS a big waste of time. If you've already read BN #6, then I'd definitely recommend skipping this issue.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Even lost in time, Bruce Wayne is STILL the man!

Blackest Night #6 vs. Siege #1!

Since the two mega events from the top two comic book companies in the world arrived at my home at the same time today, I figured I'd review the both of them in one post and see which company comes out on top. So, in one corner we have the 6th part of the Blackest Night x-over, written by Geoff Johns, arguably DC's top writer. In the other corner stands the first installment of Marvel's Siege, which is written by Marvel's golden boy, Brian Michael BENDIS. Both events(supposedly)have been in the works for several years now, and both should greatly shake up both companies status quo. So, who wins round one? Let's find out.

Blackest Night #6(of 8): Writer: Geoff Johns. Pencils: Ivan Reis.
We begin this issue with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen managing to outrun the black power rings that were trying to turn them into Black Lanterns. Upon returning to the battle in Coast City, Hal meets up with Ganthet, former Guardian of the Universe with the Green Lanterns and current head honcho of the Blue Lanterns. Ganthet uses a fail safe that was built into the power rings long ago to force Hal's ring to duplicate itself. Ganthet takes the second green ring and joins the Green Lantern Corp. From there, Ganthet gathers the heads of the other Corps(Hal, Sinestro, Indigo-1, Atrocitus, Saint Walker, Carol Ferris and Larfleeze)and uses his powers to make their rings duplicate and search out somebody on Earth who embodies each rings emotion. The orange ring of greed latches on to Lex Luthor, the yellow ring of fear goes to the Scarecrow(YEAH!), the red ring of rage connects to Mera, the violet ring of love breaks Wonder Woman free of her enslavement to the black ring, the indigo ring of compassion finds the Atom, and the blue ring of hope joins with Barry Allen. This issue ends with the new members of each Corps arriving at the battle in Coast City to take on the forces of Nekron.

Umm, that was it? Huh... I was expecting A LOT more... Basically, the only thing that happened here was Barry and Hal outrunning their designated black rings, and Ganthet duplicating each Corps power rings and giving those rings out for a period of 24 hours. I've got to say, this issue was a MAJOR disappointment to me... Granted, there were a few cool moments such as Scarecrow FINALLY becoming a member of the Sinestro Corps(even if it is only for 24 hours), Black Lantern Kid Flash attacking Barry and Ganthet welcoming himself to the Green Lantern Corps, but a few cool moments do not make a great comic book. This issue felt like a placeholder for the climatic battle yet to come between the combined Corps and Nekron, and I for one expected better here. Oh well, here's hoping the final two issues of Blackest Night make up for this one.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I'm sorry, but Ganthet welcoming himself to the Green Lantern Corps is awesome on SO many levels!

Siege #1(of 4): Writer: Brian Michael BENDIS. Pencils: Olivier Coipel.
This issue begins with Loki and Norman Osborn tricking the Asgardian Volstagg into destroying Soldier Field in Chicago during a battle with the U-Foes. With that, Osborn has reason to invade Asgard(which is hovering over Oklahoma)and throw the Asgardians out of the United States, which is something both Osborn and Loki want. Osborn assembles his Avengers and the entire Initiative, and under the command of Ares, Osborn launches a major military offensive against Asgard, against the wishes of the President of the United States. Thor, who was caring for the injured Tony Stark in Oklahoma, witnesses the battle on Asgard, and goes to defend his home. Upon arriving on Asgard, Thor is promptly knocked a country mile by the Sentry. Thor and the Sentry engage in battle, and the Sentry is joined by Osborn, the U-Foes, Moonstone and a few others. This issue ends with Thor being defeated, while Captain America(Steve Rogers!)watches from the edge of his seat at the Avengers hideout.

OK, now THIS is the way to do a major company-wide crossover! Before I get to the good, allow me to get something off my chest first. I'm really sick and tired of Marvel constantly resorting to terrorist attacks as the rational behind many of their major x-overs... I didn't like it during Civil War, and I didn't like it here. However, that was pretty much the only thing I didn't like about this comic! The story was fast paced, the dialogue was perfectly done(I especially loved Ares war speech to Osborn's gathered forces prior to the battle for Asgard)and the artwork was beautiful. Man, BENDIS was firing on all cylinders for the first time in a long time with this one! Great first issue that has me salivating at the thought of the next issue!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.(By the way, I'd have given this comic a 10 out of 10 if not for the destruction of Soldier Field.)I know the Bears were lousy this year, but come on, they didn't deserve this!

Well, in the battle of the mega events, Marvel's Siege soundly thrashed DC's Blackest Night this month. Will Blackest Night be able to make a comeback in round 2? I guess we'll find out in two months time.

Dark Wolverine #81 & Wonder Woman #39

I've got two new reviews to post tonight, one from Marvel and one from DC. Who's going to come out on top? Read on and find out! Besides that, I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be receiving a shipment of new comics tomorrow, including Blackest Night #6, which WILL be the first thing I read. But before we get to tomorrow, we've got to get through tonight, so here are my thoughts on Dark Wolverine #81 and Wonder Woman #39.

Dark Wolverine #81: Over the course of the past few issues, Daken has been flirting with Moonstone, and the psychologist in Moonstone wants to know more about the mysterious Daken. Moonstone follows Daken to a Japanese restaurant and the two talk. Moonstone questions and prods Daken, and he deftly sidesteps the questions, answering nothing. Eventually, Daken tells Moonstone a fictitious story from his youth, with the moral being that he's an awesome liar, and that he's been toying with her and the Dark Avengers from the beginning. With that, Daken leaves and Moonstone realizes that she'd never be able to get into Daken's head, because he has never once dropped his guard, and that he probably never would.

Man, this comic was an absolute treat to read... I've been a huge fan of Daken since Daniel Way introduced him in Wolverine Origins a while back, and I've always loved Moonstone's mind games, from her days as a Master of Evil, through her Thunderbolts days, so I was expecting pretty big things from this comic. Both characters are master manipulators, so I knew this comic had the potential to be a whole lot of fun... And it was! There were no real action scenes in this one, just a lot of talking between two of the more cerebral Marvel characters. It was kind of like a good chess match, some people probably won't get what was going on, while others will absolutely love what they read. For the record, I'm a member of the latter group.

Score: 10 out of 10.This comic was awesome in ways that I can't even put into words! Long live Daken!!!

Wonder Woman #39: We begin with Ares collecting the pregnant Amazons and telling them that he'll be taking their children, and that there was nothing they could do about it. From there we head to the battle between Wonder Woman and the creature Alkyone summoned. The creature claims to be WW's father, but WW doesn't buy it. All of the Amazons and Olympians present on Themyscira rush to WW's aid, much to the surprise of Alkyone, who figured the Amazons would attack her for unleashing the creature, not sacrifice their lives to save WW. While WW and the combined forces of the Amazons and the Olympians battle the creature, Achilles takes on Alkyone and her Circle. Before Alkyone and the Circle can kill Achilles, Alkyone is slain by WW's mother, Hippolyta. WW manages to defeat the creature thanks to an assist from Zeus, who finally realizes his recent actions have been fueled by the embarrassment he suffered at the hands of Darksied's forces prior to Final Crisis. Zeus apologizes to WW and the Amazons before deciding to leave them all in peace. This issue concludes with Zeus telling Ares that he was hereby banned from stepping foot on Themyscira. However, Ares is more then happy to follow his father's edict, especially since he had what he wanted from the Amazons, their children.

Huh, this issue surprised the hell out of me. I really wasn't feeling the first few parts of this storyline, but everything came together beautifully in the end. I could have done without the creature, WW's supposed father, but everything else was really dead on. Gail Simone did a great job of tying up several loose ends, from Alkyone and her Circle, to Achilles and his Olympians, to Zeus and his behavior, as well as planting the seeds for Ares and his "children" in the future. I've got to say, this comic was a very pleasant surprise.

Score: 9 out of 10.That last panel, the one with Ares and his "children", needed to be posted on this blog.

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!

New Avengers #60, Uncanny X-Men #519 & Wolverine Origins #43

OK, it's time for some quick reviews again, this time from the Marvel side of the fence. Well, let's get this show on the road I guess...

New Avengers #60: Why look, it's ANOTHER spotlight on Luke Cage! The various heroes who helped Luke escape Norman Osborn last issue learn that Osborn planted some kind of device in Luke's heart. The heroes all bicker(as usual)about what to do, and about what the device might be, until Hank Pym arrives. Pym and Dr. Strange venture into Luke's body in order to find out exactly what the device is, and whether or not it would be safe to remove it. In the meantime, Osborn and his Dark Avengers have locked on to Luke's position and are rapidly approaching. Pym and Strange get the device out of Luke's body, and it winds up exploding, just after the New Avengers make their getaway. The Dark Avengers arrive at the scene of the explosion and Osborn realizes that the New Avengers were using one of his houses as their base, which mean Osborn blew up his own home. This issue ends with Luke reconsidering whether he should remain a hero in light of everything that's happened, as well as the Hood retaking control of his gang from Dr. Harrow.

Do I even have to say it? Of course I hated this issue. I really miss the days when I could open an Avengers comic book and read about actual Avengers characters! You know, Captain America(Steve Rogers), Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Hank Pym, Black Panther, etc. What a novel idea, Avengers in an Avengers comic! No, instead month after month after month, BENDIS flushes the Avengers proud legacy down the drain as he continues to run roughshod over the Marvel Universe... Very disappointing.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.So on this page we have a grand total of ONE character who isn't a BENDIS Avenger... That's both sad and infuriating at the same time.

Uncanny X-Men #519: This issue opens up with some guy describing an attack on his girlfriend to Fantomex(!). Unfortunately though, that's all we get to see of Fantomex this issue(BOO!!!). From there, Emma and Scott continue their battle against a sliver of the Void, which has taken residence in Scott's psyche. While that is going down, The X-Club(minus Beast)are trying to figure out a way to prevent the X-Men's island home from sinking. Magneto asks Namor to help prop the island up with Atlantian labor, and the two come to some sort of an agreement. Iceman and Beast have a heart to heart, which leads to Beast admitting that he feels out of place on the X-Men's island, while also showing signs that he is still suffering from the torture he underwent at the hands of his evil doppelganger, Dark Beast, a few issues back. Scott manages to defeat the Void and imprison it in his mind, and this issue concludes with Beast approaching Scott and seemingly announcing that he is leaving the X-Men.

I enjoyed all of the non-Cyclops parts of this comic immensely. What can I say, I've gone from being a huge fan of Scott to hating his guts(kind of like Tony Stark...). I can only hope Jean Grey returns soon, because I'm REALLY not feeling the Scott/Emma relationship anymore. Fantomex appearing was great, the stuff with Beast(who has been written fantastically by Matt Fraction during his X-run)was extremely well done, and the scene with Magneto and Namor left a smile on my face. All in all, the positives slightly outweighed the negatives in this one.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I can totally relate to Beast's frustrations with the current direction the x-comics have gone in.

Wolverine Origins #43: We begin with the Silver Samurai teaching Wolverine how to better wield the deadly Muramasa blade as per their agreement from last issue. After Wolvie's training is complete, he receives word from Cloak that Dagger has been kidnapped by Romulus's right hand man, Victor Hudson. Hudson tries to discover what Wolvie's plans are concerning Romulus, but Dagger has no clue as to what's going on between Wolvie and Romulus. Wolvie and Cloak arrive on the scene and Wolvie slays Hudson with the Muramasa blade, ending his threat. Dagger gets pissed off at Wolvie's murderous actions and attacks him. In the end, Wolvie, Cloak and Dagger all make nice, and this issue finishes up with Wolvie about to break Ruby Thursday(!?!?!)out of prison.

Ruby Thursday?!? Wow, where the hell did Daniel Way pull her out of! I've been very high on this series since its inception many moons ago, but this issue left me feeling a little bit flat. While I'm glad Daniel explained why Wolvie was training with Samurai, it still kind of irked me. Wolvie is as good, if not a better swordsman then Samurai, but at least that part of the story is over and done. I was really let down by how easily Wolvie disposed of Victor Hudson... The guy has been Romulus's right hand for who knows how many years, and Wolvie put an end to him within one page? That seemed extremely anti-climatic to me. You'd have thought Hudson's final battle against Wolvie would have lasted a little bit longer then that, but I'm sure Daniel knows what he's doing, he's done an excellent job with what should have been a terrible storyline(sorry, I still hate the entire Romulus concept), so I definitely trust his judgement in offing Hudson in such an offhanded way.

Score: 7 out of 10.I don't have anything left to say except that this is a pretty cool picture!

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!!!