Top 5 and Bottom 5 Comics for December 2009

The rules: These are comics I REVIEWED during the month of December 2009. I pre-order my comics, so sometimes there is a lag before I get them.

Without further ado....

Top 5

1) Detective Comics #859 (9.4/10): The Go storyline has really dragged me in. I think what Rucka and Williams have done with Detective is created (or at least fleshed out) a character (Batwoman) who will stand the test of time. How often does that happen?

2) Last Days of American Crime #1 (9.2/10): If you could get your hands on this, it was really good. It is an original concept and a lot of comic (almost a mini graphic novel).

3) Daytripper #1 (9.0/10): This is an odd choice because I don't really know what Daytripper will be about based on this first story, but this was the kind of mature comic that you could had to your parents to read and they'd like it.

4) Batman 80-page Giant #1 (8.8/10): This was a really good anthology. A couple of the stories were not stellar, but there were a few real winner as we look at Gotham after a major winter storm.

5) Blackest Night #5 (8.7/10): As much as I hate Necrosha, this is a zombie comic that is really hitting on all cylinders.

Honorable Mention (i.e. anything else breaking 8.5/10): Uncanny X-Men #517, Batman Unseen #5, Batman: Streets of Gotham #6, Web of Spider-Man #3, Forgetless #1, Batgirl #5

Bottom 5

1) Web of Spider-Man #2 (4.0/10)

2) Superman/Batman #67 (4.3/10)

3) X-Force #22 (4.4/10)

4) X-Men Legacy #231 (5.1/10)

5) New Mutants #7 (5.8/10)

Guess I really hated Necrosha, huh? It occupies 3 of the bottom 5 spots.

The Walking Dead - #1-60 - Review

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Art: Charlie Adlard

Review: I did not read The Walking Dead from #1 because it started up before I got back into comics. But, having heard everything great about it, I figured I'd buy the trades and catch up. So, over the last month or so, I've read the first 10 trade paperbacks. I've added it to my pull list starting with #67, so once the 11th trade comes out, I can do reviews. However, they are going to be spoiler free reviews. This series is just way, way too good for people to ruin it for others.

If you haven't read The Walking Dead, it follows the main character, Rick Grimes, during a zombie apocalypse. Rick is a cop, gets shot and goes into a coma. When he wakes up, the world is overrun by zombies and the story follows his and other survivors attempts to make a new life and survive in a world that is overrun by zombies.

The great thing about this series is that the zombies are a constant background noise. And they do something terrible every very issues just to remind the reader that they are there. But, the real horror comes from the surviving humans. If you've ever read anything else that has a post-apocalyptic theme, you know what I'm talking about. But, I've never read anything that explores it in this great depth. Lots of the things that happen in this title are just awful. I haven't had a book or a movie cause me to lose sleep for years before I read this. Yet....it is a complete train wreck to read....you simply cannot put the book down.

The art is simple but effective. My kid saw me reading it and wanted to know why there was no color. This book just doesn't need color to tell the story. Adlard's sense of sequential art is great. For such simple art, it conveys a LOT of movement.

Another great thing about this series is that Kirkman has rebooted it a few times. He jiggles the status-quo every 6 issues or so (this is definitely a series written for trades), but there is one huge reboot that he works in very effectively.

And, on top of all that, supposedly AMC is working on an ongoing TV show based on this comic. These are the folks who have brought us Mad Men and Breaking Bad, so it could be really really good.

That's all I'm going to say about this series. It deserves not to be spoiled. In fact, there is such a culture around not spoiling this series that its Wikipedia entry is pretty sparse. Just read it.

Uncanny X-Men #519 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Matt Fraction

Pencils: Terry Dodson

Inks: Rachel Dodson

Colors: Justin Ponsor

Stats: 22 pages / 124 panels / 5.6 panels per page

Review: This is kind of a housekeeping episode. Fraction has had a lot of balls in the air with Uncanny and he kind of takes this issue to wrap up one item and remind us what is going on with a few others.

The "main" part of this story carries over from last issue where the Void was trapped in Cyclops' head (after they had freed Emma from the Void where it had been since Utopia wrapped up). This part of the story was a bit of a dud......the art concepts are basically the same: we see Scott and Emma running around inside of someone's head. I was a little surprised that Scott/Cyclops was able to resolve this issue so easily after it had caused Emma and Xavier so much angst, but at least he had a decent explanation of how he was able to do it. And.....the Void looks to be pretty resolved. We might see it again if future creators care about it, but I don't Fraction will touch it again.

It other news....

• The island of Utopia is still sinking and they are enlisting the Atlanteans to help out. I've said before that this could be kind of cool as I don't know that we've had an X-Men - Atlantis team-up before. I really loathe Namor as a character, but if we must have him around it should be for something beyond sneering at people.
• Beast is leaving on walkabout. He has been bothered by a lot of things recently, so he's going off to stew on things. I could really care less about this. I just have never found Beast very interesting.
• We find out that the Predator Xs that were dropped on the island were merely delivery agents for some kind of nanobots. That Lobe guy had said that he wanted to save the mutants, so this must tie into that somehow.
• Fantomex is investigating that one random Predator X in the NYC subway.

With all of that, we don't even touch on the Phoenix essence that left the Cuckoos a few issues ago.

As you can see, this was a crowded issue. It didn't do a lot of moving forward, but I don't mind a complex title like Uncanny having a reset issue every once in awhile.

Artwise, I don't love the Dodson's at all. I really don't understand why Greg Land gets so much hate because I'd prefer his art to what the Dodson's do. There are a few weird panel designs in this issue that seem like weirdness for the sake of being weird. JH Williams, III pulls this off well, but other artists would do well to stick to the grid.

Score: As I said, this was a "reset" issue. But, it was pretty good and I hope they can build from this and resolve some of these other storylines. 7.5/10

X-Men Legacy #231 - Necrosha - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Mike Carey

Pencils: Clay Mann

Inks: Danny Miki

Colors: Brian Reber

Stats: 22 pages / 99 panels / 4.5 panels per page

Review: I was really hoping that Necrosha would be better once it crossed into X-Men Legacy Mostly this was a hope that Mike Carey could do something worthwhile with it. Unfortunately this is not the case.

On the positive side... We do get a new penciler on this issue and that is a good thing. I like Mann's art a LOT more than I liked Acuna's. We also get a little more explanation of what Psylocke's powers are now that she is back. And....Nightcrawler finally gets something to do after being a complete afterthought in all the X-books for a couple of years.

However, all of this cannot save the issue from the fact that Necrosha is just a lousy story so far. That is funny because I generally like Blackest Night (which Necrosha is compared to). I think the difference is that Blackest Night feels important, but Necrosha does not. In Necrosha the dead are coming back but they haven't really done much worthwhile over the one-shot intro and ~5 issues of New Mutants/X-Force/Legacy. They've acted menacing, but none of our heroes has been hurt or had anything bad happen. Frankly, the story seems to have barely progressed beyond the dead coming ashore on Utopia.

Score: I'm sorry to say that this sucks. This is why I hate cross-overs. They are rarely good and when they stink, they take away all the momentum that a title like this had. 5.1/10

X-Force Annual #1 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writers: Robert Kirkman, Craig Kyle & Chris Yost

Art: Jason Pearson, Carlo Barberi

Stats: 33 page / 151 panels / 4.6 panels per page

Review: You never really know what you're going to get with an annual. The recent X-Men Legacy Annual served as a beginning chapter for a couple of upcoming stories. The Batman and Detective Comics Annuals served to launch the new Azrael series. Here, we get a pair of stand-alone stories that are just fun, but have no meaningful impact on the X-universe.

As an aside, this makes figuring out how to bind these things really a pain in the neck. If they were all going to be anthologies, you'd just bind them together as a series. But, when they are part of a story, you feel like they should be included with the main series. Sigh....

The first, "main" story by Kirkman and Pearson follows Wolverine as he invades a Hydra base and kidnaps one of their officers. There is lots of good tongue-in-cheek humor through this series and the purpose of the kidnapping isn't clear until the end of the story. The officer's daughter is sick and needs a bone marrow transplant from the officer, but he doesn't want to give it because the daughter is a mutant. This leads to the scene here where the officer is holding his arm out and Wolverine is eying it like a dog looks at a bone (they only need a tissue sample after all!).

This was a fun little story and the art by Pearson is sketch-like. I wouldn't want any of the main X-titles to look like this, but its okay for a Annual.

The back-up story by Kyle, Yost and Barberi follows Deadpool during the undead invasion of Utopia during Necrosha. I've hated Necrosha so its nice to see it used as a bit of a joke here. This is kind of how I want my Deadpool. I want to see him about once per year as a guest star in comics. Any more than that and I get sick of him. But, he is funny as hell here and he comes up with a way of killing the undead mutants by using Loa's phasing power.

Score: This was an unexpected surprise. Read it and enjoy it. 8.4/10

Batman Unseen #5 - Vanished - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Doug Moench

Art: Kelley Jones

Colors: Michelle Madsen

Stats: 22 pages / 113 panels / 5.1 panels per page

Review: So we wrap up Unseen and what a good wrap up it is! How will Batman defeat the invisible man? By becoming invisible himself, of course! This leads to some seriously cool art from Kelley Jones where we just see the pieces of Batman's costume.

Batman has lured Nigel Glass to a snowy retreat. Glass has been driven insane by the potion he is taking, so he doesn't see the obvious problem with tromping around in the snow (they can see your footprints) or that it'll be pretty cold to be a naked man in the snow.

There is also some really cool art after Batman strips down himself. One of the big challenges in this series has been "How do you draw an invisible person?" and Jones has done a few things over the series and they've all worked.

I've warmed to this series. At first I just really hated seeing a Batman with 2 foot ears, but as I've gotten over that, I've come to like the campyness of the story and the art (art is especially strong in this #5). It also has an interesting investigation into the fear that Batman strikes in criminals. THAT is his major weapon. But against Nigel Glass, Batman has taken a few thrashings from the guy (when he couldn't see him) so Glass isn't afraid of Batman at all. It is neat to see how Batman uses Glass' invisibility potion against him and thereby regain his aura.

Score: Really good end to a really good miniseries. 8.6/10

Haunt #3 - Review

Publication Date: December 2009

Writer: Robert Kirkman

Layouts: Greg Capullo

Pencils: Ryan Ottley

Colors: FCO Plascencia

Stats: 20 pages / 102 panels / 5.1 panels per page

Review: We're getting into put-up-or-shut-up time with Haunt as I'm trying to decide whether to keep this in the old pull list or not. This issue isn't stellar, but I'm going to hang on for a bit longer. One, Kirkman doesn't really do many lousy comics so it *should* be okay. Two, even if I don't love it, I can probably sell the back issues on eBay without trouble (not for a lot of money...mind you, but at least not have to pitch them into a recycle bin).

In the last issue, Daniel had found his way to the HQ of the "agency" that employed Kurt. Of course, they are highly suspicious of why this random guy is there and they question him. By the end of the issue, the agency seems to believe Daniel's story (that he and Kurt have formed this new creature called Haunt) but we learn that there is a mole inside of the agency.

I do feel like I have to ding this issue a little for being 20 pages. BUT....they do crank out the panels (102) and that is longer than a lot of 22 page comics (I tend to think that each panel tells a portion of the story) and this doesn't feel like a short comic.

The art is what we've come to expect from this title in that it is very sketchy (no pun intended).

Score: There are a few teasers/reveals here, but for some reason none of them is really grabbing me. I feel like I should be liking this series better, but I'm not so far. 7.1/10

X-Men Legacy #230 - Devil at the Crossroads, Part 4 of 4 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Mike Carey

Art: Daniel Acuna

Stats: 22 pages / 86 panels / 3.9 panels per page (plus 6 page "A girl called Hope" back-story)

Review: This is the finale of this Devil at the Crossroads story featuring Emplate as the main villain. This arc has been a little ho-hum as Emplate has kidnapped Bling (who falls in to the category of "mutants I don't care about") and Rogue has gone to rescue her in spirit form (which apparently requires you to look naked for the enjoyment of the teenage readers).

The last two issues have had lots of hand-wringing about "What will happen when the spirit-powers that Rogue absorbed from Trance fade? She'll be trapped and powerless in Emplate's dimension! Oh dear!" Well, that happens, but it turns out that she does have another mutant to absorb powers from. You could see this coming a mile away since Emplate has to touch someone to vampireize them and that is a bad idea with Rogue, so we get this cool scene here.

From there, we have standard wrap up to the story arc. I will give this arc kudos for a somewhat definitive finale. Emplate is surely not dead, but I doubt we're going to see him again in 6 months either. He's going to be gone for awhile.

Again, I HATE the art from Daniel Acuna. This just doesn't work for me at all. I'd like a normal artist please!!!

This also contains the latest arc of "A Girl Called Hope". I just don't care about this at all and kind of resent how they/Marvel has smeared it all over their various titles.

Score: Okay....nothing great, but I did like that Emplate is gone for awhile. Too bad that Necrosha is next for this title because I've hated that so far. 7.8/10

The Last Days of American Crime #1 - Review

Publication Date: December 2009

Writer: Rick Remender

Art: Greg Tocchini

Stats: 48 pages / 228 panels / 4.8 panels per page (plus 11 pages of concept art and 2 page interview with Remender)

Review: This was something I'd somehow missed in the previews (perhaps because it is from Radical Publishing), so I had to try my Local Comic Shop and they didn't have it either. And, I'd heard a nice interview on iFanboy with Remender telling people to read this, so I really wanted to get my paws on it and had to resort to eBay. This does beg a question of what is the purpose of the LCS in this day and age if they can't have stuff like this on the shelf? It isn't like I'm going to forget to preorder Batman.

Anyway, this is a really good comic. The basic premise is that the US government has come up with a radio frequency that they can transmit that will prevent all crime before it happens (it will supposedly inhibit even a criminal thought from forming). The streets are bedlam as the criminals get their willies out. Canada are Mexico are bracing for a surge of criminals trying to escape across the borders. As this is going on, we meet our main characters who have devised the heist of the century, but have to pull it off before the American Peace Initiative goes into effect.

This first issue doesn't do a lot more than lay out who the main characters are and the lay of the land. This is a 3 issue series with subsequent issues supposedly following at 2 month intervals. Remender says that the property has already been sold to a movie production company and that Sam Worthington (from Terminator Salvation and Avatar) has signed on to star.

This is sold in a lengthier format. I read some griping online about the book costing $4.99, but it is more than 2X the length of a standard comic and you get concept art if you're into that kind of thing. I generally don't give a damn about concept art, but its okay in a case like this where you've just met the characters. What I hate is when we get concept art on Wolverine. That might have been cool in 1972, but not so much today.

The art is really nice as you can see here.

Score: I'd encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this off eBay. Its a really good issue and promises to be a good series (and it'll get turned into a movie at some point). 9.2/10

Daytripper #1 - Chapter One: 32 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Creators: Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba

Colors: Dave Stewart

Stats: 22 pages / 132 panels / 6 panels per page

Review: I really didn't know what to expect from Daytripper. I'd seen it in previews and Vertigo has been so strong recently AND it was by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba....so I gave it a shot.

Wow!

There really isn't much to say without spoiling the comic for people and even though I'm a week slow on reviews, there are probably a lot of people who haven't read this, so I'm not going to say too much.

The basic premise is that you follow a guy Brazilian named Bas on a "day in the life". He is an obituary writer, has issues with his father and has a neat dog named Dante. That's about all I can say without ruining it. But, if you can enjoy things without superpowers or explosions OR if you like to have comics that you could hand to any skeptical friend, you should get your paws on this.

Coming from this pair of Brazilian brothers, you knew the art was going to be good....and it is great! Dave Stewart does a nice job of coloring. This is almost a book that could be black and white, so its nice to see a colorist who understands that the book shouldn't be about color.

Score: Simply great. One of the best of the month. I have no idea what this series is going to be about and I could hate it after a few more issues, but this #1 was really nice. 9.0/10

Batgirl #5 - Batgirl Rising, Core Requirements, Part One of Three - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Bryan Q. Miller

Pencils: Lee Garbett

Inks: Sandra Hope & Oliver Nome ("guest inkers")

Colors: Guy Major

Stats: 22 pages / 98 panels / 4.5 panels per page

Review: I really like Batgirl. This has been a sneaky hit. I am a Batman complete-ist. I get them all. But some of the titles are always going to be a bit marginally related, and....if anything HAD to go, they would be the first on the list.

I have to admit that it was only for the sake of completeness that I ever picked up Batgirl in the first place, but it has ended up being really, really good so far. DC is doing a very nice job having positive female heroes (see Batwoman) who don't look or act like pornstars. I think that's important, don't you? I wish Marvel could get in on that act....

In this issue, Batgirl crosses paths with Batman and Robin and it doesn't go well as Stephanie ends up freezing Damien solid. Dick/Batman is furious and Damien/Robin wishes he had something to stab Stephanie with. This all culminates with Dick tossing Oracle out of the Batcave (specifically, he tells her to "get her crap out of the cave").

Meanwhile, Stephanie kind of blunders into a new situation while trying to meet a boy. I've never liked teenager TV shows, but I do like this aspect of Stephanie....she's trying to find time for a normal life, but you know its just not going to work with her desire to be Batgirl.

There are a lot of interesting little things going on here with Stephanie's relationships with Oracle, Dick and Damien. Given that "we" all know that Bruce Wayne is coming back in the next year or so, there could be a lot of weirdness. For all we know, Stephanie and Damien could be a team by next year. That would be fun!

The art is good. Nothing too spectacular, but I like it.

Score: This is a nice issue in a surprisingly good series. 8.5/10

The Unwritten #8 - Inside Man: Interlude - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Mike Carey

Art: Peter Gross

Stats: 22 pages / 130 panels / 5.9 panels per page

Review: I feel like I start off every review for Unwritten this way, but.... This is really one of the best new series of the year. Every issue is good and it is the perfect antidote for relatives and friends who think that my comic hobby is just some teenage fantasy.

This is a bit of a stand alone issue. When we last left Tom, he was locked up in a French jail for the murder of those horror writers and some sort of SWAT team was coming in to kill him. This issue doesn't really further that story at all, but follows the prison warden and his family. The warden is very unsympathetic to Tom's plight and does not think much of his "innocent until proven guilty" rights. But, when the warden gets home, he has to deal with his children who are complete Tommy Taylor fanatics, especially his daughter who draws protective sigils on her windows and when she gets into a fight at school, attempts to curse the other child.

This obsession drives her mother batty, but the warden is very supportive of his childrens' right to daydream. The contrast is obviously that this hard-boiled warden is very willing to take on a play-time Professor Dumbledore-like role with his kids as soon as he gets home.

The warden does take the daughter to a therapist who points out that her obsession is so powerful that she is losing the distinction between reality and fiction. Given that the entire series is based on a blurring of that line, I would be surprised if this little girl doesn't become a major player in this series.

Again, the art chores are well handled. This is not a comic that you would every hand to someone and say "Look at the art!", but it isn't supposed to be that kind of comic and so we are spared attempts to make silly splash pages and just get lots of good sequential art that enhances the story.

Score: Not the best this series has done, but still very good. 8.4/10

Red Robin #7 - Council of Spiders, Part Three of Four - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Chris Yost

Pencils: Marcus To

Inks: Dexter Vines

Colors: Guy Major

Stats: 22 pages / 93 panels / 4.2 panels per page

Review: This is another pretty strong installment of Red Robin. All the Bat-books have been at least "good" recently and Red Robin is no exception. Regular readers of this blog will know that I've been on a Tim Drake kick recently and reading a lot of his older stories from ~20 years ago, so I do enjoy this character a lot.

To recap for everyone, Tim Drake is currently acting as the head of the League of Assassins. His plan is to destroy the League from the inside, but the League is under assault from the Council of Spiders who seem to be killing the League for mere sport. This issue is mostly a fight issue with some additional background on the Council tossed in.

When we last left our heroes, Tam Fox was about to be killed when the Council attacks the League's HQ while Tim is out on a mission. Of course, Tim comes back in time to rescue her. One of the big questions in this story arc has been "Where is Ra's al Ghul?" and that question is answered here in a pretty surprising way. I'm sure our heroes will fight there way out of this mess in the next issue, but I'm still interested to see where it goes.

I'm also eager to see where this series goes. It is probably time for Tim to come back to Gotham and Yost also reminds us that Hush is running around in the guise of Bruce Wayne. That probably won't get resolved in this comic, but it will still be a fun thing to watch.

Score: Solid. Nothing great, but this title hasn't done anything lousy yet. 7.5/10

Batman 80-Page Giant #1 - Gotham Freezes Over - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writers: details below

Art: details below

Stats:

Review: First, this is a pricey issue: $5.99. But it is big and I really enjoyed it. It is told anthology style with a bunch of short stories taking place during a really nasty winter snow storm in Gotham (think No Man's Land).

Fire and Ice, Written by Kevin Grevioux, Pencils by Grey, 10 pages

This is a short and sweet little tale about the lengths that a man will go to in order to help his family. The snowstorm in Gotham has knocked out power and a man is having trouble feeding his family.....at least that is what he tells his kid, but he's really using the storm as a chance to loot. The climax is a little shocking and let's us know that this isn't going to be a light-hearted anthology. The art is solid as you'll see from the image below.

Pure as the Driven Snow, Written by David Tischman, Pencils by Alex Konat, 10 pages

Alfred is visiting hookers! Wait...it isn't what you think.....or maybe it is. This story starts with Alfred picking up a hooker and taking her to some fancy society ball. Of course, this causes a stir and Alfred has to take care of a few drunk guys who are insulting his "date". They go back up to the room (and it isn't clear if anything happens) but Alfred gives her new clothes and a one-way ticket out of town explaining "My best friend --- He devoted his life to helping people. He died. Others have taken his place, but this is the way I keep his memory alive." Nicely done. Good art.

The Hero of Orphan Alley, Written by Mike Raicht, Art by Clayton Henry, 10 pages

This story follows a few teenagers from a Gotham orphanage. One of them "wants to make a difference" by dressing up as vigilantes and fighting crime in their neighborhood. He gets three outfits so that they can make a bigger impression and perhaps get into the news. One of the guys is reluctant. Of course, things eventually turn out badly when they respond to a disturbance and find out that Killer Croc is behind things and one of them is killed. It helps you realize how special Batman/Robin, etc. are. No superpowers, just like these kids. And when you see Killer Croc you just know that these kids are dead meat.....yet Batman always prevails. Its a nice grounding of how unique Batman is.

Reveiled, Written by Peter Calloway, Penciled by Marcus To, 10 pages

I didn't love this story so much. It is the story of a guy who is getting mugged and is saved by a mysterious woman in a veil. It turns out that she is a performer at a theatre that the guy used to frequent before it went out of business. Now she haunts the theater as a kind of good Phantom of the Opera. The art is really nice, and the story is touching, but it left me a little flat.

No Two Alike, Written by Ivory Madison, Art by Kat Rocha and Josh Finney, 10 pages

This is a Catwoman story but who cares about the story (which is good, btw), but get a load of that artwork. That is awesome. Why can't more comics look like this? I tried to look up Kat Rocha and Josh Finney from Titanium Rain. I wish we could see more of them!

The Wilt, Written by Simon Spurrier, Art by Chris Samnee, 10 pages

If you've ever wondered what happens to Poison Ivy in the winter, here's your answer. Its not really my cup of tea from a writing for art standpoint. However, it does look like she got tossed back into Arkham at the end of it, so if you're keeping track of which mega criminals are in/out of jail, that's worth noting.

What Falls Below, Written by Kevin Shinick, Art by Rafa Garres, 9 pages

I read and enjoyed the Battle for the Cowl, Commissioner Gordon one-shot last year where he was abducted by Mr. Freeze. This is kind of a follow-on to that story. If Poison Ivy was struggling with the weather, you know that Mr. Freeze will love it. He busts out of jail and leaves his cold suit behind. When he is confronted by Gordon, he tells him how much he wants to just run free without a suit and makes Gordon an offer: let me run loose during this storm and I'll turn my self in when it is over. Gordon almost takes him up on it and we almost feel sorry for Freeze. Nice story, but not crazy about the art.

Snow Patrol, Written by Steve Niles, Art by Stephanie Buscema, 1 page

This is short and sweet. Batman (seen here) is commenting that all but the most inept villains have escaped in the storm. And then he realizes that one of the gargoyles he is next two is a frozen Man-Bat. Ha..... Cute wrap up to a nice anthology.

Score: I really enjoyed this anthology. Of course, not every story was awesome, but they were all good and that Kat Rocha and Josh Finney art was almost worth it by itself. My only complaint is that it seems like we got 70 pages here? 8.8/10

Amazing Spider-Man #615 - Keemia's Castle - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Fred van Lente

Art: Javier Pulido

Colors: Javier Rodriguez

Stats: 23 pages / 109 panels / 4.7 panels per page

Review: The Gauntlet story-line is off to a good start. First the Electro mini-arc was good and now Sandman is off to a good start.

Amazing what happens when you put good writers on a title, huh? It'll be interesting to see how this series maintains momentum as different writers take over.

This issue centers around a cute little girl named Keemia who has been kidnapped and Spidey's search for her. I don't think I'm spoiling anything to let you know that the Sandman has taken her and that his motives are unclear (they always are).

What is cute about this issue is that it really captures the fun of Spidey. See this scene of him wearing leg warmers and a scarf. And he wears them throughout the whole issue. Or the scene where he comes upon the herd of snowmen that Sandman has made for Keemia. I don't really enjoy the over-the-top humor of Deadpool, but I like my Spidey a little silly. And....he can pull off legwarmers because he is one of the few heroes who isn't trying to be tough.

The art is nice here. I remarked during the Electro story how nice it was to have one person on art. Well....new artist, but same result. It would be really nice if they could just get a few issues ahead on ASM and not have to use 3 pencilers and 6 inkers because they are behind schedule. Those issues just look like hell!

Score: Really good. My world is a little happier when ASM is a good title. 8.2/10

Incorruptible #1 - Review

Publication Date: December 2009

Writer: Mark Waid

Art: Jean Diaz

Inks: Belardino Brabo

Colors: Andrew Dalhouse

Stats: 22 pages / 83 panels / 3.8 panels per page

Review: I was really excited to read this because I have so enjoyed Irredeemable. For those unfamiliar, Irredeemable is story where the world's most powerful superhero turns evil. Incorruptible is supposed to be the bookend where one of the world's worst villains becomes good.

Story wise, there wasn't a whole lot here that I hadn't gathered from previews and interviews with Mark Waid. The villain, Max Damage, decides to be a good guy. We see him helping the cops to take down a few of his former partners. Along the way, we find out that he is the only person to survive a physical scrap with the Plutonian (the hero-gone-bad), so he might be just what the world needs.

We're also introduced to Max's girlfriend, Jailbait. She's appropriately named as she is underage and while that didn't bother Max before, he is now not so interested in her charms, but he also doesn't let the cops bust her. I'll be curious to see if she (or other of his partners) also turn good.

The art is a little "meh". In the action scenes, the folks just don't look kinetic. Maybe they need some lines to indicate motion or something. There are also a few splash pages that aren't very impressive......they're decent, but if I'm going to give up a portion of my comic to splash pages, I want them to be impressive and not just blow-ups of a normal panel. In particular there is a 2-page splash of Max's car. I would have rather had 2 pages of story.

I'll be curious to see how this title develops and whether it is a mirror image of Irredeemable, whether it is just another comic in the same universe and how knitted together the two titles will become.

Score: Pretty good start. I'll be interested to see future issues. 7.2/10

Superman/Batman #67 - Night of the Cure, Part Two - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Scott Kolins

Art: Scott Kolins

Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Stats: 22 pages / 110 panels/ 5 panels per page

Review: As much as a respect a creator who takes on both art and writing duties on a comic (as Scott Kolins has done here), I just didn't enjoy this comic at all.

This is kind of a all-monster edition of a Blackest Knight tie-in. We have Bizarro, Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat, Frankenstein and Bride all at once. It's a bit of a mess. The basic story is that Bizarro has come upon Black Lantern Grundy, but Grundy turns on his former friend and tries to rip out his heart. While this is going on, Man-Bat's wife is trying to administer an antidote to prevent his changing in the future. AND.....Frankenstein and Bride are on the scene too trying to fight Grundy. It all ends up with Bizarro throwing Grundy into the Sun. At least this seems to be a way to kill a Black Lantern!

The art is in keeping with the monstrous theme of the book, but it really wasn't my cup of tea.

Score:If you really dig any of these characters (I don't) or if you have a compulsive need to collect every Blackest Night tie-in (I don't) then get this. Otherwise it is a skip. 4.3/10

Vengance of the Moon Knight #4 - Shock and Awe: Chapter 4 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Gregg Hurwitz

Pencils: Jerome Opena

Colors: Paul Mounts

Stats: 22 pages / 101 panels / 4.6 panels per page

Review: It's another of those bittersweet moments of reviewing a comic that I've dropped (but still have a few pre-orders coming in). This is my last issue of Moon Knight. It's not a bad comic at all, but for some reason there is nothing grabbing me. I don't understand why not. Moon Knight is often said to be Marvel's version of Batman and I love me some Batman. I actually think that Moon Knight is a little more like Azrael (given that Azrael is a newer character) and I enjoy Azrael.

If there were anything that is going to make me grab the trade of Moon Knight in a year or so it would be the artwork of Jerome Opena. He can really do some nice art and I'll be on the lookout for future titles that he works on.

For this particular issue, we continue with the story where Bushman has released the prisoners from Ravencroft and they are rampaging through the city. Moon Knight goes in to help save the innocent folks and this is going to lead to an inevitable clash with Bushman.

Score: This is really a pretty good comic, but for some reason, it hasn't pushed me to scan eBay for back issues (and that's my mark for whether a comic is really under my skin). 7.8/10

X-Force #22 - Necrosha, Chapter Three - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost

Art: Clayton Crain

Stats: 22 pages / 85 panels / 3.9 panels per page

Review: If you are enjoying Necrosha, stop reading this review now and continue your enjoyment.

I think this "event" has really sucked. I don't like anything about it. All it is doing is bringing back a bunch of dead mutants that I don't care about and having them fight various X-Men. Compared to Blackest Night, I just don't feel like anything important is going to come from this story. Events need to feel important right off the bat and this has failed on that front.

And, the art is just atrocious. Events need better art than this. I will be curious to see what Crain can do once we get back to "normal" stories. The art was so much stronger on the recently finished "Not Forgotten" story-arc.

Score: This title is in serious danger of getting dropped. Crappy event? Check. Failing to use the interesting characters you have? Check. Terrible art? Check! 4.4/10

Batman: Streets of Gotham #7 - In the Bleak Midwinter - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Paul Dini

Pencils: Dustin Nguyen

Inks: Derek Fridolfs

Colors: John Kalisz

Stats: 21 pages / 88 panels / 4.2 panels per page (Manhunter Back-up: 9 pages / 45 panels)

Review: First things first......They're ripping us out of one page on this issue. I really don't count pages and panels to "keep them honest" (its more to show how some comics are much denser than others), but I do notice when they shorten a story. And, the main story is not particularly dense: it only has ~40% more panels than the backup.

But....is it a good story?

Someone has stolen some toys-for-tots and the perp is a fat guy in a red suit driving a snowplow. Could it be some sick, Gotham-version of Santa? Will Batman & Robin really beat up Santa?

It turns out that it is Humpty who has gathered the toys for a bunch of dead children he has found. This story winds itself back into the story we left a few months ago with Zsasz. It does tie back in nicely and it looks like this series has its momentum back. We also see that new Gotham vigilante with the ABUSE brass knuckles. Dini had kind of forgotten him for a few issues and I'm curious about what his deal is.

The back-up is a little dull. I just haven't enjoyed this Manhunter arc as much as I liked the first one with Jane Doe.

Score: Even though the two-issue break we took with Chris Yost as the writer was good, it is nice to see this title get back to the main story. 7.6/10

Invincible Iron Man #21 - Stark: Disassembled, Part 2, Digging in the Dirt - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Matt Fraction

Art: Salvador Larroca

Colors: Frank D'Armata

Stats: 22 page / 101 panels / 4.6 panels per page

Review: This is probably one of the weaker (for me) Iron Man's in a while, but it is still pretty darn good.

The story still revolves around Thor, Cap, Pepper and Maria trying to revive Tony. This does yield some nice moments. I've said before that one of the nice things about this series is that the cast of characters is really pretty small, so Fraction can do good work on them (I also read Fraction's Uncanny X-Men where he doesn't have that luxury). Here, Tony is reduced to a background character because he is in a coma so he does some really good work with Pepper and her feelings about everyone swooping in to save Tony when so many people have just died before and no one lifted a finger. "Why should Tony get special treatment?"

I guess if you were an Avengers fan, this might be a cooler issue because you have Thor, both Caps and Iron Man (even if he is in a coma) in the same room. I'm just not an Avengers guy. I didn't like them when I was a kid and don't like them much now. Just not interested in a government-sponsored superhero team. Still, it was kind of neat watching them make like Ben Franklin up on the roof, using Cap's shield that is hooked up with jumper cables to Tony, to catch a Thor thunderbolt. Not sure if that really works on folks in persistent vegetative states....

The B-story that Fraction is working here continues Madame Mask sending Ghost to kill Tony. This is currently just setting up so that as soon as Tony wakes up, he'll be in danger (if they can wake him up in time), but I'll be curious to see if Fraction has any interesting twists in store.

Artwise, I've been having some trouble with this title even since a comic podcast mentioned that Larroca is clearly using Sawyer from Lost as his photo reference material for Tony. Now I just keep expecting to see Tony blurting out silly nicknames for people. I'd previously thought that he looked like Freddie Mercury. Art is not the strong point for this title.

Score: Good, but not great. I'm still excited to see where this is going. 8.1/10

Forgetless #1 - Review

Publication Date: December 2009

Writer: Nick Spencer

Art: Scott Forbes (A-Story) & Marley Zarcone (B-Story)

Stats: 22 pages / 118 panels / 5.4 panels per page

Review: And now for something completely different.... I really liked Forgetless #1 even though it isn't clear what is going on yet. I saw this in the previews catalog a few months ago and said "Hmmmm......that could be neat." And it was.

The book is split into two stories. In the first we follow two party-girls who also happen to be assassins as they attend some cool party in NYC called Forgetless. Supposedly the Forgetless parties are the greatest, but this is going to be the last one ever. This first story is told very non-linearly so we have lots of "10 hours earlier" action. I think they probably overused this, but it didn't bother me too much (i.e. I didn't have to get out a pen and paper to figure things out). The main catch with this first story is obviously going to be putting together the stories of these two girls.

The first story also makes very good use of Twitter as an artistic device. It is basically used in lieu of thought bubbles or inner monologue squares. Neat.

The second story shows a bunch of underage kids who are pissed because they want to go to Forgetless (it is the LAST ONE EVER), but have no fake IDs to get in. I didn't think this was quite as strong from either a story or art standpoint, but we've all been in these kids' shoes.

Score: I definitely want to see what happens in issue #2. So considering that I don't really know this creative team, they did a nice job with issue #1. 8.5/10

Powers #2 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Mike Avon Oeming

Colors: Nick Filardi

Stats: 33 pages / 122 panels / 3.7 panels per page

Review: I've never read Powers before, but started picking it up because I'd heard a few podcasts and reviewers say that it should be good. These are folks who tend to like the same types of comics that I enjoy, so I took their advice. But.....I have to say that this isn't quite working for me yet.

In this issue we continue investigating the death of Z. Last issue we had a lengthy flash-back to the 1960's to see Walker, Z and gang as mob thugs in Vegas. Here we see them as a super-powered team during WWII taking on a huge Nazi war robot.

When I first read this, I was a little put off by the story because I'm just not understanding all that is going on. I always write these reviews after the first read and sometimes comics make a LOT more sense when I re-read them 2 weeks later. I feel like that might be the case here, but I will say that just giving the art a re-look while counting pages and panels for the Stats (above) I do love the art. Does Oeming draw with a Sharpie or something?

I'll be sticking with this title even though I haven't loved it so far. Too many people whose opinions I respect like the older Powers. Plus, if it turns out to be non-enjoyable, I can probably move issues 1-12 on eBay without too much trouble.

Score: Pretty good.....just not really grabbing me yet. 7.3/10

Astonishing X-Men #33 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Warren Ellis

Pencils: Phil Jimenez (they are calling it "Breakdowns")

Inks: Andy Lanning (calling it "Finishes")

Colors: Frank D'Armata

Stats: 22 pages / 83 panels (note 2 double-splash pages) / 3.8 panels per page

Review: Its always a little hard for be to avoid comparing comics, especially when I'm sitting down to type a bunch of reviews at once. I just finished a Batman Confidential arc that revealed the villain too early. This issue of Astonishing is just the opposite. We are 3 issues into the story and they have only teased the villain. But, that's why Warren Ellis is a good writer. It could well be the the final reveal will be a bit of a downer, but the build-up is fun.

As I've already spoiled a bit, we do not learn who the villain is in #33, but we do start to get more clues. The bad guys are using Beast's post-M-Day research to revitalize dead mutants and send them after the X-Men. The only thing bugging me is that some of this seems in conflict with what is going on in the Necrosha event in the main, X-Men universe. I know Astonishing is somewhat out of continuity, but they could at least avoid having them directly at odds with each other.

There are a few neat moments in this issue, but the best for me was when Cyclops blasts the Brood - Krakoa hybrid and explains "I just get sick of all the long fights and faffing around, you know?"

The art is strong here as well. After the major letdown when Cassiday left this title, Jimenez has picked the ball up nicely.

One other note: It is nice that this series keeps a small cast. The challenge the main X-books suffer from is that they just have too many people to juggle. That is pretty obvious, but the one thing I'm really respecting Ellis for is that he's kept Armor as the throw-in non-major character. When Whedon did his run, Armor was new and no one knew that much about her. Whedon obviously was using her as a proxy for 80's Kitty Pryde so he could play Armor off of Wolverine. It would have been really easy for Ellis to dump Armor and pick up someone else, but he didn't. The problem with all of these characters in the main X-books is that they don't get enough time to develop. So, we get a lot of Pixie in one issue, but then don't see her again for 2 years. That's no way to build characters, but Armor has had enough of a consistent push over the years with Astonishing that we'll have a useful character when we're done.

Score: A good issue. Not stellar, but quite good. 7.8/10

Batman Confidential #39 - Blackhawk Down, The Conclusion - Review

Publication Date: Late February 2010

Writer: Royal McGraw

Pencils: Marcos Marz

Inks: Luciana Del Negro

Colors: David Baron

Stats: 22 pages / 108 panels / 4.9 panels per page

Review: This is a wrap-up to the Blackhawk Down storyarc. I came away feeling a little blah about the whole thing. This issue concludes things in a pretty predictable fashion. That's okay. These Confidential stories are shoe-horned into the Bat-past, so they cannot really change things too much.

This issue and the entire arc suffered from too little Batman. He just wasn't doing anything cool here. His detective work wasn't that neat: we just saw a few panels of him rattling off how he figured out that Blackhawk was still alive. It doesn't sound like it would be THAT interesting to see Bruce plugging away at the computer working this out, but it would be at least as interesting as showing 5 panels of him talking about it as he walks down the hallway with old-man Blackhawk.

The fighting stuff wasn't that neat either. There was no kick-ass Batman in this arc.

The villains just weren't that compelling either. Ted Gaynor was just a man. If the last decades' Bat-stories have established anything, it is that Batman/Bruce Wayne is pretty much the top banana of the "just a man" club. You need something better if you're going to be a credible threat. The creators could have done something cool with Killer Shark, but they had Zinda kill him with a kitchen knife in #38 (for a big guy with teeth and claws he sure went down easy, btw!). Ted Gaynor had some cool military tech, but he never really threatened Batman with it.

Again, the art looks a little rushed. I think Marz did a nice job of drawing Batman while standing still, but his action shots just never looked very kinetic.

Score: Mediocre really. At least we're done. 6.9/10

Amazing Spider-Man #614 - Power to the People, Part Three - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Mark Waid

Art: Paul Azaceta

Colors: Dave Stewart

Stats: 23 pages / 99 panels / 4.3 panels per page

Review: So we wrap up the first phase of the Gauntlet. Some of it is pretty predictable.....you didn't really think Electro would triumph, did you?

Two things jumped out at me from this issue. One, the art is still really nice and kind of throw-backy. Hopefully this will continue with the Gauntlet by letting just one artist do the whole book. The art is pretty 80's looking, but I like it.

The other is that they destroyed the Daily Bugle. ASM is always a pretty contemporary title, so from the sound of things....the DB was on hard times anyway (since it is a newspaper) and isn't going to be rebuilt. The DB has always been an anchor point in this title. The only real constants through 600 issues have been Aunt May, Jonah Jameson, Jr. and the Daily Bugle. Now the DB is gone and we get this kind of iconic image of Jameson watching "his" building fall down.

Score: This is a pretty good issue. Not great, but I like how they point out that Electro was a C-list villain and he trashed the DB.....what could the A-listers do? 7.4/10

Secret Six #16 - The Rabbit & The Grave - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Writer: Gail Simone

Pencils: Peter Nguyen

Inks: Doug Hazelwood

Colors: Jason Wright

Stats: 22 pages / 101 panels / 4.6 panels per page

Review: I miss Nicola Scott. There are some artists who are so awesome that you just know it right away (see. JH Williams, III), but there are others who I find sneaky good. I didn't necessarily look at Quitely's work on Batman & Robin and appreciate it.....until Philip Tan took over that title. Then it was clear just how good Quitely was!

I'm getting a bit of that vibe here. I never would have said that Secret Six was an "art" book, but boy to I miss Scott on this title this month. The story is just as good as ever, but I spent the whole time reading it trying to figure out what the heck was going on. There are weird panel layouts, misleading word balloons and funny looking characters. Clearly Scott and Simone are in sync at a level that Nguyen and Simone are not.

That should cover the art.....for this issue. [Note: Scott is also not the penciler for the next few issues.]

The story is good. We start out seeing Blake and Lawton busting a guy out of jail. I think a common theme for this book could be that we want these guys to be noble rogues, so when we think they have really gone over to the dark side......we're a little upset. And I was a little upset with this until I found out why they busted the guy out. Ha.

The rest of the issue deals with the possible recruitment of Black Alice to join the team. Being an old X-Men fan, I do love these issues where people leave/join the team. I certainly don't get that now since X-Men is just an amorphous blob of mutants, but I can scratch that itch here. There are lots of good little character moments once you get past the crummy art: Deadshot commenting that he's never seen a strip club without strippers, Bane's prudishness, Scandal's girlfriend being a stripper at this club, Ragdoll enjoying being called hot....all good.

Score: Another good issue, but it is held back from being "top 5 of the month" territory by lesser art. 8.0/10

Batman Confidential #38 - Blackhawk Down, Part Three - Review

Publication Date: Early February 2010

Writer: Royal McGraw

Pencils: Marcos Marz

Inks: Luciana Del Negro

Colors: David Baron

Stats: 22 pages / 102 panels / 4.6 panels per page

Review: Meh.... That pretty much sums up this issue. It isn't objectionable. It isn't good. It's just a mediocre Bat-comic that appears a little rushed.

This continues the Blackhawk Down storyline from McGraw and Marz. We've learned that Blackhawk himself never died.....he just got old and here we learn that he has been running Blackhawk Industries from the shadows all these years. Lady Blackhawk has been kidnapped by Ted Gaynor and Killer Shark. Batman and Blackhawk go to save her and stop Ted's nefarious plot.

There's just nothing great about this issue. In issue #38, I thought the art was pretty strong, but it is no where near as good in this issue. It is very photo-referency. I swear that if I really looked, I could find duplicate images of Batman or Lady Blackhawk in previous issues. It is also lacking in detail. I would almost say it looked rushed and that Marz may not have had time to do as nice of a job as he wanted. Of course, why this book should be rushed is beyond me. It did issue twice this month, but I am not aware of anyone clamoring for a biweekly publication on this title. Why not give the artist his whole month and let him do a decent job?

Review: Just not great. "Meh" is a good word for it. The last couple of issues were kind of saved by neat art, but now we have no art and no story. 6.6/10

Web of Spider-Man #3 - Review

Publication Date: February 2010

Gauntlet Origins: Rhino: Fred Van Lente (writer), Nick Dragotta (Artist)

Whom Gods Destroy: Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (pencils), Sal Buscema (Inks) and Bruno Hang (colors)

Love and Marriage: J.M. De Matteis (writer), Val Semeiks (pencils), Dan Green (inks) and Andres Mossa (colors)

Stats: 35 pages / 183 panels / 5.2 panels per page

Review: Since I preorder all of my comics, I am committed 3 months out. If I get a new series, I'm pretty much committed to issues 1-3 before I've even seen #1. So, if I have a strong visceral reaction to #1, I will kill the preorders pretty fast.

I just hated Web #1. The Clone Saga back story was good, but it was mixed in with Mayday Parker and some garbage about a Spider-Frog. Web #2 followed a similar pattern. Good story about Electro, but otherwise crap. So, when I opened my comic book shipment and saw this Web #3, I knew it was the last issue that was coming to me.

Guess what....I really liked this issue a lot.

We start out with a really short/strong story about the origin of Rhino. Check out the art! That is good stuff right there. Van Lente also throws in some great writing. Rhino has always been dumb, so when the scientists are describing the procedure they are going to do to him to turn him into the Rhino, he uses a very clever writing trick to emphasize that Rhino doesn't understand what the hell is going on.

From this auspicious beginning we move onto Mayday Parker. I just have zero interest in this character. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the continuity of the "regular" Spider-Man stories and don't have time for Mayday who is having her adventures in some possible future. I don't understand why this would be tossed into Web. It seems like Web is for complete continuity geeks who need the WHOLE story, so why include something that is separate?

What really set this issue apart was the great wrap-up about Aunt May and J. Jonah Jameson, Sr. on their honeymoon. Good art, good writing.

So, why am I ditching this title? In 3 issues, we have had a total of 9 stories. I have loved 4 of them and hated 4. That's not a good ratio. I honestly think that I would rather Marvel just add these short stories as back-ups in Amazing Spider-Man. I would rather that title be regularly $3.99 and get the relevant back-ups there.

Score: This was a really good issue. I'm dumping it mostly because I don't like Mayday Parker, but if you love her.....this is a no-brainer to read every month. 8.5/10

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5: Shaman - Back Issue Review

Publication Date: November 1989 - March 1990

Writer: Dennis O'Neil

Pencils: Edward Hannigan

Inks: John Beatty

Colors: Richmond Lewis

Review: I was reading this thinking, "Why can't Batman: Confidential be this good?" Confidential is the same basic premise as Legends. They are both stand-alone Batman titles of a younger Bruce Wayne. There is no Robin in these stories. Some have been accepted as part of the established Batman continuity but others are just good stories. But, the early Legends stories are so good! Confidential is just okay every month. Sigh...

Issue #1 also made me chuckle a bit. This pinkish cover I've scanned here is explained inside the cover: "The premier issue deserves the protection of a second cover." There is a "normal" cover inside. The collector's boom of the 1990's was just silly and this is a perfect example. You can buy a copy of Legends #1 for under a dollar from mycomicshop.com. Its funny that they didn't get that the only way to have value is to have some sort of scarcity. This issue sold almost one million copies, so pretty much anyone who wants it can have one (by comparison, a current issue of the flagship Batman title might sell ~70K in a given month). LOL!

This original story arc on Legends takes place right around the events of the Year One story arc, so it is VERY early in Bruce's career as Batman. Like many of the best Batman stories, he isn't going up against some costumed villain, but an odd Native American power that interweaves the mythos of the Native American warrior tradition with the symbolism of the Bat.

I really enjoyed the art. It is so much simpler than what we see now and I don't think a comic could really fly with this sort of art today. Check out this scanned image with its lack of backgrounds. Most of the five issues are just like this. It is simple....on the other hand, it is effective storytelling. A lot of the art we get in comics these days is centered around full page spreads that are pretty, but lots of current comics just fail that the basic sequential-art/story-telling that is the bread-and-butter of comics as an art form. There is never a place in this arc where the art leaves you confused for the sake of being flashy.

The creative team is also worth a note. Modern readers might not be familiar with Dennis O'Neil because he did most of his Batman work in the 1970's, but he wrote a lot of darker Bat-stories instead of the campy stuff that was common in that era. He is also the creator of Ra's al Ghul, one of Batman's more important foils. I really don't understand why some of these older guys don't get to write anymore.....Maybe they're just crabby old men, but I wouldn't might seeing them give these guys a crack at a story arc on Confidential sometime.

Review: This is a really great little story. You can pick this up at the above mentioned mycomicshop.com for $5. That is not much more than the price of ONE current comic at the comic shop and for that you get 130 pages (these are ~26 pages each) of comic goodness. 9.0/10

Robin II: The Joker's Wild - Mini-Series - Back Issue Review

Publication Date: October - December 1991

Writer: Chuck Dixon

Pencils: Tom Lyle

Inks: Bob Smith

Colors: Adrienne Roy

Review: The first Robin miniseries was such a success that DC decided to do Robin II. The first mini detailed Tim Drake's training and first adventure after Bruce Wayne decided that Tim would be the next Robin. It saw Tim learning fighting skills from a bunch of various characters around the world and tangling with King Snake.

The basic premise of this story is that Batman is out of town and Robin is left "home alone" to patrol Gotham. Presumably, Batman figured that Gotham couldn't be too bad and that Robin would easily be able to take care of muggers, but all hell breaks loose when Joker breaks out of Arkham Asylum. It is unclear why they couldn't call Batman on the phone to say "Ummm....Joker just broke out."

The miniseries is about a typical Joker plot: cause mayhem.....kill Batman. The only problem is that Batman isn't in town. Tim and Alfred try to maintain the illusion that Batman is around because they think that concern about Batman is the only thing holding Joker in check at all.

It is a predictable story......Tim/Robin conquers his self-doubts and inexperience and foils Joker's plan and sends him back to Arkham, but I still really enjoyed reading this series. Tim is a really fun character and he really plays up the detective aspect of Robin. In my mind, this is really important to the characterization of Batman and Robin. They don't have any superpowers, but they live in a world populated by super-beings. Their fighting skills are impressive against muggers and hired thugs, but if they're to be taken seriously they have to have an edge. Their edge is that they research the heck out of things and are always one step ahead of the bad guys. If they were just guys who knew martial arts, they'd be dead meat the first time they took on a real super-villain.

The art is standard early 1990's fare. It is a little more detailed than we saw in the 1980's, but there are still lots of panels without backgrounds. The covers are a great throw-back to the 1990's as they all have a holographic insert about the size of a playing card and there were multiple covers since this was at the start of the collector's boom.

Score: This and the first Robin mini are really good intros to Tim Drake as a character. It isn't that often that Marvel or DC introduces a successful new character and Tim/Robin has carried a solo series for almost 20 years now, so that's saying something. 8.5/10

Batman / Spawn: War Devil One-Shot - Back Issue Review

Publication Date: 1994

Writer: Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon & Alan Grant

Art: Klaus Janson

Colors: Steve Buccellato

Stats: 48 pages

Review: Sometimes knowing what NOT to do is just as important..... This comic is 48 pages of turd-ness!!!!

These sorts of books where comic characters from different publishers team-up are often formulaic and never good. The two good guys usually meet and fight because they don't know who the other one is. The fight is almost always a stand-off because having anyone win would alienate one set of fans. [You can imagine the negotiation when DC and Image were planning this book. DC might have said....."Hey, why don't you let us borrow that new Spawn character that the kids seem to like so much? We'd like to have Batman beat the crap out of him. How's that sound?"]

After the inconclusive fight, they realize they should really be allies and team up to fight the "true enemy" and after emerging triumphant with new respect for the other, they go their separate ways. The End.

This comic plays out just like that. Batman and Spawn meet. They fight. Batman wins, but only because Spawn's magic didn't work. Then they team up to take down a demonic force/real estate developer. Sounds good, right?

The only interesting this about this is that it doesn't look like Image had anything to do with it. The three writers responsible for this hot mess are all Batman writers and Klaus Janson is a Batman artist. One wonders why Image agreed to this if they weren't going to have any creative input. Maybe they started to help and when it was clear it stunk, they said "Ummmm.....can you take our names off that?"

Score: Just so you don't think that every old Bat-book is worthy of a good score. 4.0/10

Avatar - Movie Review

Released: December 18, 2009

Review: Its Dances With Wolves in space! But.....Dances With Wolves was a really good movie, so that isn't really a bad thing at all.

Avatar is a really good movie. All of the advance reviews that said "it sets a new standard" for visuals in a movie are right on the money. The best comparison I can make is when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time. Remember how cool those dinosaurs looked the first time? If you look back now, they don't look like anything special, but it is easy to forget how over-the-top great those Jurassic Park dinos were.

Avatar gives you the same thing except the visual excellence isn't confined to 10% of the movie. Basically the whole movie is one long visual effect. Its almost hard to think of parts that weren't full of visual effects. But, the really cool thing is that you almost stop noticing and just enjoy the film because it is so good and believable.

In terms of story, as I said above, it is basically a sci-fi version of Dances with Wolves. The story takes place on Pandora where a native tribe of indigenous aliens called the Navi are sitting right on top of some minerals that the humans want. Pandora's atmosphere is poisonous to humans, so to interact directly they have created avatars that look just like the Navi. The avatars are big RC constructs with the operators sitting in a coffin back at the base.

One of the operator/avatars gets very close with the Navi while trying to find out what they want to move (so the "company" can have the minerals), but in getting close he falls in love with their lifestyle and one of their women. The end is pretty predictable but still a lot of fun.

I just cannot say enough about how visually great this film is. I saw this with my kid (who is too young to read) and even though the plot was too complicated and the subtitles were obviously a miss, I didn't hear one peep of complaint during the entire 2 hour 40 minute show. Its just that cool to look at.

Score: Run! Don't walk..... 9.5/10

Batman and the Outsiders #5 - Psimon Says... - Back Issue Review

Publication Date: December 1983

Writer: Mike W. Barr

Art: Jim Aparo

Colors: Adrienne Roy

Stats: 24 pages / 145 panels / 6.0 panels per page

Review: In this issue from 1983 you get both the Outsiders AND the New Teen Titans. The fun thing for me in reading these older books (besides the stories) is that you see how they did things differently. Beyond the fact that you can see Teen Titans members on the cover, there's no "Guest Starring: The New Teen Titans" text anywhere. Nowadays they would note it and probably issue it with two different covers: one focusing on the Outsiders and the other on the Titans.

The basic story here is that the Titans and Outsiders are teaming up to fight the Fearsome Five with the big-bads in that group being Dr. Light and Psimon. The FF have a falling out pretty quick and give Dr. Light the boot. The nefarious plan is to use some TV/Radio tower in NYC to allow Psimon to control the minds of all residents of NYC. Muhahahaha!!!

Of course, the good guys are able to put a stop to this by using some clever teamwork.

A few neat things in this issue....

One is that we get to see the continued chafing of Dick Grayson/Robin at Batman's interference. He'd been leading the Titans for a few years at this point, so having "Dad" show up and start bossing everyone around wasn't too welcome. This is interesting to see because although Dick's character has moved somewhat beyond that stage......he's still a little overshadowed by his mentor. We'll be seeing more of this dynamic in 2010 when Bruce Wayne comes back from being "dead".

Another is that the call him "The Batman". As in "The Batman seems to be on our side, but I don't like how he treats Robin!" Funny....

A final neat thing is the timing of this issue. This was right before the classic Judas Contract storyline in the Titans. I didn't read a ton of Titans when I was a kid, but I did catch that storyline and it was really cool. Here we see Terra thinking about how she is going to betray the Titans. So, even back then they were trying to make you buy multiple titles to get the whole story.

Very classic 1980's art here. The characters are well drawn, but the thing that always makes me laugh about the 80's is the lack of background. These folks usually look like they're standing in front of a blue-screen!

Score: Really good. For all I was making fun of aspects of the 1980's, back then you could pick up a random comic and pretty much figure out what was going on. These weren't written for eventual collection in trade paperbacks, so the stories are somewhat self-contained. They explain what their powers are (sometimes annoying, but useful). Just a good story and from an interesting time in the Titans story. 8.5/10