BIG @$$ 8th ANNIVERSARY COLUMN!!!

Hey folks, Ambush Bug here and I’m very proud to announce that this is our 8th year reviewing comic books at AICN. There have been plenty of highs and lows in the comic book industry and the @$$Holes have been there trying to give our honest, off the cuff, and uncensored opinions about anything comics.

It’s hard to believe that it was eight years ago that The Original @$$Hole AKA The Comedian took the bull by the horns and decided to send in a comic book review of his own to Moriarty at AICN. A few weeks later, The Comedian talked the ever-insightful Cormorant (AKA Dave Farabee), the one and only Buzz Maverik, and some guy named Ambush Bug to join together and write up a review column of our own at AICN. Soon, other rogues like Jon Quixote, Sleazy G, Vroom Socko, Village Idiot, superninja, and the original Indie Jones Lizzybeth joined in on the fun and The Talkback League of @$$Holes were formed.

The rest, as some folks who say things say, is history.

We have a fantastic column this week; a shitload of the best reviews you’ll find anywhere from the best reviewers you’ll find anywhere. A sincere thank you to all who read this column and all who help put it together. I have met some of my best friends doing this thing for all these years. Their contributions to this column, the Talkbacks, and conversations through the years mean the world to me. So to the @$$Holes (past and present), the Talkbackers, and the casual readers who don’t (but should) Talkback; WELCOME TO AICN COMICS: YEAR 8!!!

@@@@ From April 2002: The very first @$$Hole Review ever! @@@@

This week’s column begins with a feature I hope people will enjoy. We call it “Ye Olde @$$ From the Past” where we repost a review of out very earliest columns at AICN. Some of them are painful to read. Others still resonate with what’s going on today. If anything, it provides a nostalgic look at how we used to look at things, how things have changed, and how some things stay the same. This week we have the one that started it all….take it away Comedian!

X-FORCE #126

Written by Peter Milligan
Illustrated by Mike Allred
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by The Comedian
Originally posted 4/11/09

Well, here we are nearly a year since Joe Q decided to ditch the Not-So-New Mutants so that Milligan & Allred could give birth to everyone's favorite "Junior-Justice-League-of-Wrong-Headed-Miscreants" and I will scream out with pride at the top of my lungs that X-FORCE STILL ROCKS YOUR FUCKING HOUSE DOWN. Sure, it's not a big action book and they've only had one decent villain (The Coach) but other than those and a few other minute flaws X-FORCE is in my opinion in a dead heat with THE INCREDIBLE HULK as the best book Marvel is putting out right now. For grown ups, anyway. I don't really need to get into the why's and how's because they've already been discussed to death. Those of you out there that 'get it' love it. The whining minority still writing in hate mail demanding the return of Sam Guthrie & Co. still don't 'get it' and probably never will. Over the past ten issues we've seen a virtual revolving door of misfits hoping to cash in on their powers and make it in the "big time". Just about every other issue a new X-Forcer is introduced and each and every one of them has been more three-dimensional and compelling than any of the Not-So-New Mutants or even in some cases Jean, Scott, Logan and the "Varsity Team" themselves. HOWEVER, I have picked up on a pattern of Allred's. A dirty little secret if you will that has become blatantly obvious with issue #126. He's taking some of his Oni Press/AAA Pop characters and recycling them as Marvel mutants. Which is fine since they're his characters and he can do whatever the hell he wants with them. I'll give some proofs to this hypothesis in a little bit but first here's the obligatory plot summary.

X-FORCE # 126 is the second part in a storyline that will end in the death of one of the Big Three (Edie, Tike and Guy). The current team comprised of U-Go-Girl, The Anarchist, The Orphan, Doop, Phat, Vivisector, The Spike and new member Mad Gir..I mean, Dead Girl have been sent into space on a bogus mission against fake aliens. They've been told to throw the mission and purposely lose so that a team of C.I.A. goons can come in and hot dog for the cameras. If that weren't bad enough, they've also got to think up a new name for their team because Spike Freeman doesn't feel like paying royalties to the original founders anymore (this is of course a riff on Marvel wanting to cut Rob Liefeld out of the gravy train and there's an added layer of irony because that jackass Spike Freeman is drawn to resemble Liefeld.) We learn that Vivisector and Phat have developed "special feelings" for each other, Tike & The Spike still hate each other and Edie is still in some way pining for Zeitgeist. But all these superfluous subplots take a back seat to the action involving the team's encounters with the "aliens" who are really former Texas death row inmates who have been genetically turned into shape shifting energy blasting mutants by the Govt. As well as the origin and inner demons of the teams newest member MadGir….I mean, Dead Girl. Dead Girl is a mutant whose powers are pretty straight forward. She's a zombie. She can't be killed. She's dead already so every time she's killed again her body simple puts itself back together. She bullshits Edie & Tike into believing that she can communicate with the dead but it's really a front because she doesn't even know what the hell she is. Her pale white-bluish skin, grayish-black hair and bulgy white eyes will remind you of a certain Snap City hero we all know and love. Not to mention her "undead angst". As far as her origin goes, we find out that she was a dime a dozen aspiring actress who came to NYC to start up a theater career and ended up murdered at the hands of some pretty boy, Ted Bundy/Robert Chambers wannabe from her acting class. By the end of the issue Dead Girl has saved the Anarchist's life. The Spike has turned traitor. And the wounded, delirious half asleep imaginary girlfriend we all wish we had, Edie Sawyer thinks up the best suggestion for a new team name yet. "X-Men! Our new name! X-men! It's the perfect name for a group of mutants with the X-Gene! X-Men!…zzzzzzz".

As far as Dead Girl's blatant similarities to Madman, I don't mind all that much. She may not have "the touch" like ol'Frank Einstein but they do have the whole "I've been brought back from the dead and now I'm a blue skinned, angst filled, zombie freak" thing in common. I mean look at her on the cover or even her first appearance in #125 before Allred decided to make her bluer. Put an electrified exclamation point on her chest and she could be Frank Einstein's hot female cousin with similar powers (like Hulk & Supes). Of course I wouldn't have noticed so much if Allred hadn't already pulled this with The Orphan who's basically a doppelganger of THE ATOMICS leader Metal Man only with completely opposite powers (The Orphan wears his suit and helmet to protect himself from the outside world while Metal Man wears his get-up to protect the outside world from himself.) Still, I don't mind that much and truth be told if it weren't for this spectacular run on X-FORCE I would never have picked up back issues of MADMAN or THE ATOMICS in the first place. Ain't I just the indie comics poser. Hell, maybe this will start a trend. Maybe DC can hire Nick Bertozzi to work on a NEW TITANS book and then he can replace the old team with clones of The Incredible Drinking Buddies.

What I like about this issue and most issues of X-FORCE is that Milligan and Allred are fantastic when it comes to fleshing out their characters and giving them complex, concrete origins. The characters and their internal conflicts take precedence over big action and giant sized superhero plotting. This new storyline and the satirical elements of the book are all going along like a well-oiled machine. The subplot with Phat & Vivisector turning out to be "buddies" is out of left field but I think they're really not gay and just faking it so that they can "stick out, have an edge, and shake things up" like Spike Freeman advised them to do back during the Lacuna storyline. That would be a perfect satire of Gay today, straight tomorrow media whores like Anne Heche. Tike and The Spike's rivalry is running its course and even though we have been set up to root for The Anarchist I'm finding that all Tike's worrying and complaining are revealing him indeed to be a crotchety old woman. The Anarchist is shedding all the layers of pretense and cockiness that we saw in the first few issues. And while I'm rooting for him and loving the multi-layered characterization whammy that Milligan is doing on him I'd really like to see Tike just suck it up and kick some ass. This new "see who dies" storyline at first glimpse seems like they're running out of ideas. But if you look at this entire run one of the major themes has always been "Death as the Ultimate Price of Fame". Even after the first arc where Zeitgeist, the previous team, Rainbow and Saint Anna took the dirt nap it was still a major theme. They wouldn't let Lacuna join because she didn't understand that risk. And in Edie's origin issue we see that even she fears death and doesn't reveal her true identity to her daughter because she wouldn't want to break her heart should she die in action. So by killing one of these three characters we've grown to love Milligan and Allred are wrapping up their first year and bringing it full circle. Sadly enough, my money's on Edie Sawyer. From what I've heard, issue #129 is going to be the final issue of X-FORCE and Milligan & Allred's Hollywood mutants will re-launch in yet another different direction with X-STATICS #1 in July. Which is kind of like when Liefeld relaunched THE NEW MUTANTS as X-FORCE. Here's to knowing that this time around it's actually worth the trouble.

OVERALL: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

THE WALKING DEAD #61

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Art: Charlie Adlard
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

THE WALKING DEAD is one of those books that I have reviewed so many times that I often find it hard to say something new about it. The story is always solid. And the art by Charlie Adlard is some of the most distinct and amazing stuff to be seen on the printed page today. I named this series as the Best Ongoing Series of 2008 in the last @$$ie Awards Column and five months into 2009 the book is looking to be a frontrunner in that category again this year. Plain and simple—I love me some THE WALKING DEAD!

But that doesn’t mean that occasionally I don’t have something critical to say about the series and that’s the case with the issue that dropped last week; issue #61.

The rest of this review is going to be SPOILER heavy, so tread carefully, my friends.

Now I’m not one to be offended but I do know when something is going to ruffle feathers, even if it isn’t my own. In this issue two children commit murder and two children die. Now this isn’t like the scene in CRAWLSPACE: XXXOMBIES from last year where a zombie nurse is treating a natal unit as if it were her own all-you-can-eat buffet. That scene was ugly and gross. It made me feel wrong for reading it, even though I should have known I was in for a raunchy time when the premise of that series was zombie-porn. But when it comes to THE WALKING DEAD, I’m expecting a higher caliber of story and we got one of sorts here. It’s just that something was off with this issue and that’s why I decided to review it this week.

It’s an ugly world Rick and the rest of the survivors are wandering through in this series. The few remaining living cast members of this series are literally trying to outrace death itself on a daily basis. I don’t really have a problem with how Kirkman is depicting the effects of this zombie world on the child survivors so far. What I have a problem with is how it is dealt with in this issue, though.

First, the homicidal tendencies of little Ben could have highlighted a bit more before he goes off the deep end and kills his brother in this issue. Last issue he’s killing a bunny in the woods and in this one he’s carving his brother to pieces. For me, the pacing was just a bit rushed and would have had more resonance with me had there been a bit of a buildup to the events of this issue.

Secondly, as character goes, Ben and Billy really didn’t have much, so while their deaths were shocking in this issue, Kirkman could have actually given them a couple of scenes to make the impact of their deaths in this issue hit even harder.

But that’s not the thing that bothered me the most about this issue.

After Ben’s body is found and Billy is being held in the back of a van, the group discusses what is to be done with him. A similar scenario came up while Rick and the crew were living in the prison, though no one really references it here in the story, I couldn’t help but remember how that predicament turned into a big screw up too. But here, the group is split with Rick, Abraham, and a few others believing that the only thing to do is kill the young boy before he turns on someone else in the group, while the other half are utterly offended by the suggestion of taking a child’s life, especially so soon after one just died. It’s a tough decision, I understand. All parties are bereft of a way to solve it. The child’s seen walking humans being picked off like flies on a daily basis and his sense of value of human life has got to be skewed. He saw his parents murdered in front of his eyes. Over and over members of the group say that the child doesn’t know right from wrong and the only debate they have is whether to execute the kid or not.

Here’s a kooky concept: How about just sit down and talk to the kid about it?

I mean, this comic has been guilty of having its fair share of word balloons. It’s not like it’s out of the realm of possibility or out of Kirkman’s skill-set to do such a scene. Why not try to explain to the child that what he did was wrong and try to explain the concept behind life and death to him?

The argument could be made that the world Rick and co. are walking around in has vastly changed them; that their own perceptions of what’s right and wrong have been shifted due to the zombie apocalypse. In a world where your own loved ones can die and rise from the dead with a craving for your flesh, one can imagine the effects that would have on a person. Maybe I’m jumping the gun here. Maybe the fact that the only solution everyone could come up with was execution is another example of how these survivors and not the shambling mounds around them are actually the Walking Dead depicted in the title of the book. Maybe it’ll be dealt with in a later issue. There’s definitely another kid in this book in need of such a talking to. But to me, the fact that simply talking with the child who is obviously confused was not even brought up as an option is just as disturbing as the act the kid did itself.

This is an amazing book--one of those books that won’t last forever and should be appreciated and cherished while it is still being printed. Eventually, like all good things, it’ll come to an end. Years from now THE WALKING DEAD will be another classic series that people recommend to others like PREACHER, SANDMAN, and Y: THE LAST MAN (mentioned in this issue’s letter column) as one of the best. But for now, despite a story that seemed a bit rushed and not completely well thought out, THE WALKING DEAD continues to be the best on the shelves.

Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, reviewer and co-editor of AICN Comics for eight years. Check out his short comic book fiction here and here published in MUSCLES & FIGHTS 3 and MUSCLES & FRIGHTS on his ComicSpace page. Bug was interviewed here and here at Cream City Comics. Look for more comics from Bug in 2009 from Bluewater Productions, including the just-announced sequel to THE TINGLER for their VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS ongoing series in stores October 2009.

SECRET SIX #9

Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Nicola Scott
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

There's been much to love about this title since it was brought back for yet another run, this time thankfully an ongoing one, but I think my favorite thing about this newest iteration has been the big addition to the roster, both figuratively and literally, in Bane. Not only has he broken the Bat, but he had the most stand out character moments in the first arc, which had a big drive towards getting into the heads and motivations of those that comprise this group of miscreants. Now again we're in a story - stand-alone but with a “Battle for the Cowl” moniker above the title - that puts the Big Man in a more introspective light, this time alongside the Catman, as they both fight back some kidnappers in Batmanless Gotham. Also, Ragdoll dresses like Robin and acts like a big perv, of course. More on that later...

Really, when it comes down to it, this story is basically about two men living in the Shadow of the Bat. You've got Bane, a man whose first appearance on the scene was to snap the Caped Crusader in half, now shown to almost revere the man he once tried to destroy. Then you've got Catman who seems to feel almost like a younger brother to the Bat in that no matter what he does, it will never be good enough, which of course is the case because of how amorally he goes about his actions even if they do more often than not result in "good" being done. It really makes for a great back and forth, as you've got Bane pretty much stoically extolling the virtues of a man he was once in confrontation of and knows that he could never replace now that he's more in the realm of good than evil bouncing off Catman who has had a hell of a mad-on towards Batman that could really only be boiled down to an almost seething jealousy of because of how revered he is. It makes for some great rolling commentary on the two as they go about their vocal denials about their viewpoints on the now deceased protector of Gotham as they now fight on the behalf of some of its denizens. And then Rag Doll makes a "Bat-Pole" joke and I'm reminded of another reason why I enjoy this title so...

Gail's trademark humor is always a key to this title and it was in full force with this, what I would say is easily the best issue we've seen so far of SECRET SIX this new volume. Not only were the usual barrage of double-entendres and sight gags perfectly on point, but they added some great levity to the back and forth between the usually pretty tight lipped duo I was going on about above. But even they had their moments in this I will say, though more in the forms of mayhem, destruction and physical violence than perverted wit, but worth their respective amount of chuckles all the same. I particularly liked the bit early on when Bane had a youngin thrust upon him and tried to console her. Some points may have laid it on a little too thick, but overall this issue showed great balance between all its elements.

And to close this out, big props again to Nicola Scott, whose art I've always enjoyed since I first saw it when she first teamed with Gail back on BIRDS OF PREY. I was so glad she was tapped to pencil this book and this issue is a great example why. Crisp lines, great push on the action sequences, great range in expression to drive some of the more somber bits and get more oomph out of the funny bits. I'm a little disturbed at how much emphasis was put in the big Nightwing panel on his rock-hard ass - it almost looks like he's deliberately clenching it at us - but eh, I'll chock that up to girls being girls…and a little bit of jealousy on my part that I can't get mine to look that way no matter how I work out...yeah, I went there. Anyways. We've got humorous, action-packed, and some good heaps of characterization thrown in to boot. That's what I like in my comics and that's why this book continues to be one of, if not the best thing I pull out of the DCU. "To my Bat-Pole" indeed...

Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, The MySpaces, Facebookand a Blogger Account where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.

ANGEL: BLOOD & TRENCHES #3

Written by: John Byrne
Art by: John Byrne
Published by: IDW Publishing
Review by: Baytor

As this mini-series goes along, I find myself feeling that it’s being padded. Of the three issues published, I think there’s about two issues of actual plot in the mix. Both this issue and the first could probably be cut in half without losing anything essential. My opinion of the mini is still favorable, but I find myself cooling toward it slightly.

This is due, in no small part, to the character of Colonel Wyndam-Price, who despite being on a mission to avenge his father’s death comes across as something of a cold fish. This issue essentially retells the story so far from his point of view and, quite frankly, there’s not much here that would warrant more than a four or five page flashback. He’s informed that the demon who killed his father is stalking the Western Front, he swears vengeance, then we get a fairly pointless fight scene as German vampires jump into London during a zeppelin bombing run.

Why is this scene here? Apart from demonstrating that Wyndam-Price is adept at fighting vampires (which isn’t needed after he got the drop on Angel last issue), your guess is as good as mine. It also shines a much unneeded spotlight on his batman, whose chubby appearance and thick accent mark him as a comic relief character, only without doing or saying anything remotely funny. He’s just a strange character that doesn’t fit in with the overall tone of the piece.

Then it’s off to the Continent, where he spends a bit of time aboard the German U-Boat that sank the ship Angel came over on. Not much information here, apart from the appearance that Angel fed on the German sailors, which, quite frankly, feels more than a bit wrong for Angel during this time period. While he did feed on humans after regaining his soul during the Boxer Rebellion, he only fed on criminals and only to fit in with Darla, Spike, & Drusilla. Feeding on rank-and-file German soldiers who could not be considered evil by any stretch of the imagination seems a fairly big deviation for the character and requires a bit more explanation than we’ve seen so far. It’s possible this is a bit of misdirection to make us believe Angel is feeding on humans while the true culprit is revealed next issue; but the story doesn’t seem to be making a big deal about it, presenting it in a rather matter-of-fact manner, making it feel like sloppy research.

A quick retelling of ANGEL #1 & 2 later, the Big Bad of the piece shows up and I must say I’m still feeling really underwhelmed by him. Kakistos was a fairly forgettable one-shot villain from the third season of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and Byrne has done little to elevate him above the other vamps in the story, apart from being a bit bigger and tougher. Being able to take a stake in the chest and live is impressive to a point, but the character is still a complete cipher with a stock vamp personality. I really would have loved to have seen this issue through his eyes, building him up for the big finale next month. It’s not as though this issue couldn’t have trimmed a dozen pages or so pages to make room for his story.

Even with this rather impressive laundry list of complaints, my impression of this mini-series remains favorable. Byrne’s b&w artwork remains impressive and he seems to have artistically connected to the material. Byrne’s dialogue remains a bit of a weak point, but anyone familiar with his work knows what to expect: it gets the job done with a minimum of grace and poetry.

Next issue is going to be the make-or-break issue of this series. If it can make Kakistos a compelling villain with an interesting evil plan, then this will go down as one of the best Byrne stories I’ve read in ages. If not…well, it still has some pretty artwork to look at.

WARLORD #1 & 2

Writer: Mike Grell
Artists: Joe Prado (pencils)/Walden Wong & others (inks)
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger

“I don’t see why she should mind sharing you if I don’t.”
-- Shakira

I’m from the generation of comic readers who grew up reading Mike Grell’s THE WARLORD during the 70s. The hidden land of Skartaris and the pilot-turned-warlord Travis Morgan battling dinosaurs, wizards, and other monsters while surrounded by sexy scantily-clad women. What was not to love about that? It was basically Frazetta for the Jr. High set.

Recently, at least sometime in the last year or so, DC attempted to relaunch and reboot THE WARLORD without Mike Grell and it was about as awful as it could possibly be. In fact, I didn’t even realize that it had been quietly removed from the publishing schedule and this new restart for the series planned until I saw the first issue on the stands. Seeing a Grell cover for THE WARLORD #1, I thought at first it might be a reprinting of the original series with a new cover, but happily that was not the case.

DC has wisely chosen to cut their losses on that abominable faux WARLORD series and apparently let Grell pick up the reigns once again as writer on the series (and cover artist) that essentially made his career. And the thing is, it kind of works for me. It feels like no time has really passed between the end of the original series and this one. All the major characters are still there unchanged, including Morgan, his daughter Jennifer, Tara, Shakira, and even Machiste.

In the first issue, Grell sets up a mystery that involves some new visitors from the surface world to Skartaris and in the second issue he lays out all that one needs to know about the Warlord and his history to sufficiently understand and enjoy the series. And for old-timers, it’s a good refresher on what has gone before because it has been many years since the original series ended its healthy run.

The writing on the series feels almost exactly like it always did, so what feels familiar to me may be jarring to a more modern audience that perhaps wasn’t weaned on Grell’s earlier work. Prado’s art is fine. His work reminds me of the young Dan Jurgens who took over the art from Grell back in the day. I prefer for Grell to illustrate his own work, though, and the full-color covers Grell has produced for these issues are so dynamic and sharp that the interior art doesn’t fully hold up to the promise of the covers. And that’s unfortunate for Prado, whose work is still solid and good, especially when inked by Walden Wong, but it’s not Grell. I wonder if the interiors might not work better for me if reproduced directly from the pencils and then fully rendered and textured color work layered together with them? Just a thought. Might give it more of that barbarian style that works so well for Grell.

Bottom line is that I’m happy to have this series on the stands and relegating that recent reboot attempt to the trash heap of bad dreams that disappear into the wisps of lost memory. Didio gets a plus-mark in his failing grade from me for at least seeing this series back onto the stands. For readers who enjoy a bit of the old-school in their sword and sorcery comics, THE WARLORD is a good addition to those decent new Conan comics out there and others.

Prof. Challenger is illustrator and "Renaissance Man" Keith Howell who is married with two kids, a dog and a cat. Headquartered in the Republic of Texas, he has a glorious ability to annoy people, the strength of ten men, and sometimes updates his website at profchallenger.com.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #132

Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Stuart Immonen: Artist
Marvel Comics: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Delivering

I may be calling it early, but what the hell; ULTIMATUM is the worst crossover event Marvel has ever produced.

Seriously, the whole thing feels like a film that was written by Eli Roth and produced by Irwin Allen, only to be directed by Uwe Boll. There’s so much ungodly, horrific shit happening in the various installments that I’ve just stopped caring. A perfect example of this comes from the issue of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN prior to this one, which I decided to reread before starting the latest installment. There’s a scene in that issue where Spidey is making his way through the ruins of New York, and stumbles onto the crushed remains of Daredevil. My immediate response to this was, “Oh that’s right, he’s dead. Huh.” The items to take away from this are: 1) In this Event, Daredevil is killed off-panel, with only the discovery of his body shown. 2) After having read this, I completely forgot it had happened. 3) Upon being reminded that DD was dead, I didn’t give a shit one way or the other.

Yeah. That’s a good sign, right?

As to the events in this issue, there’s even more horrible shit happening, due to the destruction of Dr. Strange’s house, releasing the magiks contained therein. (The theme of ULTIMATUM seems to be that if all this superhero crap was real, New York would be destroyed about a dozen times over. Of course, if this WAS all real, the planet would have cracked in half a dozen years ago, but we can’t write a story if the Earth is a dead world, now can we? Oh fuck, I’m giving them ideas…) And so, horrible shit is layered onto more horrible shit, building up to the inevitable fecal trifle.

Did I like anything about this issue? Yes. The first four pages are great. This sequence, where Peter’s friends are surveying the damage and arguing amongst themselves, is the sort of writing that Bendis was put on this planet to create. These small, character driven moments, where insights are revealed and personalities are laid bare, these people and their dialogue are everything that makes Bendis the phenomenal talent he is. Why he continues to forego this for monstrous “epic” event style stories is beyond me. It’s like Woody Allen directing INDEPENDENCE DAY or something.

I must confess, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN is pretty much the only Marvel comic I’m continuing to buy. (Nobody here counts CRIMINAL as a Marvel book, right?) Thanks to deals with the devil, a bloated “Messiah Complex”, and a company-wide rehashing of 12 year old plotlines from THUNDERBOLTS, I’ve become bored and disinterested in the whole of the company’s line. This book was the exception. I’m a huge Spidey fan. I’m a me-sized Bendis fan. I’ve enjoyed this title from its beginning. But the upcoming new #1 may just be my jumping off point. I hope not, but we’ll see.

Vroom Socko, aka Aaron Button, has two great loves in his life, the telling of tales and the Portland Timbers. To locate him, just head to Portland, and odds are he’s either at PGE Park or Powell’s Books.

TRINITY #50

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Mark Bagley
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Jinxo

So as we head into the home stretch on DC’s latest year-long weekly epic, seemed like it was worth taking another look at.

On the whole TRINITY has turned out to be…okay. Well, a bit better than okay but…holy crap, plunking down three bucks a week for a year I want something that kicks major ass. And it does try.

On the plus side, it has been much better than the last DC weekly “epic”, COUNDTOWN. They went in with a well thought out plan and a solid story. COUNTDOWN was a bit of a meandering mess. Even when TRINITY comes close to meandering, everything has actually fed into and supported the main story. The problem is TRINITY is just so big and epic that…I don’t know that I needed every last second of every last plot. The book feels at times like it’s being written by one of those people who tells you a personal story and throws in 5 million details not directly relevant to the point.

“So then grandma gave me five dollars. And I was like, hey, five dollars. What should I do with this?”

“Excuse me…this relates to you being shot in Iraq?”

“It will make sense once I explain about the trip to the zoo when I was eight…”

Ugh. While TRINITY isn’t quite that bad…it can start to feel like that. Reaching the end the action is kicking into higher gear. Oddly this adds to the feeling that a lot of the details from over the past year were actually less than essential and could have been yadda yadda’d over. Last week found an amazingly powerful entity actually ripping the Earth to shreds with his bare hands! Really pretty cool. I mean, that’s an image used all the time in comics but usually figuratively for a cool cover. Not sure I’ve ever seen a villain ACTUALLY grab the world with his hands and shred it. That leads into this week where giant cosmic forces confront each other over questions of morals and metaphysics. Strangely that I have seen a lot in comics, but watching the all powerfuls debate can be entertaining. But…the world is shattered, the “gods” debate as all seems lost. Reading that, it’s hard not to look back and think, “Were all those weeks and weeks of following an alien race (which we will NEVER see again) on their religious pilgrimage REALLY necessary?” Yes, important things happened in that part of the story but they didn’t need to take near as long as they did with it.

On another note, don’t go into church and start telling your local clergy that the REAL Trinity is Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. They do not find that amusing. Nope. Not at all.

Jinxo is Thom Holbrook, lifelong comic book reader, and the evil genius behind poobala.com. He may appear cute and cuddly but if encountered avoid eye contact and DO NOT attempt to feed.

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN CENTURY: 1910 OGN

Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O’Neill
Published by: Top Shelf Productions & Knockabout Comics
Reviewed by: BottleImp

For those of you not in the know, Alan Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN consists of various characters from the literary world joined together as a British government-sanctioned team of special agents—think JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA with Wonder Woman replaced by DRACULA’s Mina Murray, and Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo filling Aquaman’s flippers. However, much like DC’s foremost supergroup, Moore’s League has a changing roster of members, some famous and bordering on the iconic, while others are more obscure and give off a “B-List” vibe. If the first two volumes of LOEG were the equivalent of the classic JLA lineup of Superman, Batman and the rest, the incarnation found in CENTURY: 1910 is more like the infamous “Justice League Detroit.”

Though I enjoyed this volume more than the previous LOEG offering THE BLACK DOSSIER, I feel that by using these lesser-known literary creations Moore loses some of the spark that made the first two volumes so enjoyable. As much as I’m intrigued by the set-ups offered here—the moon-cult, Captain Nemo’s daughter, the mysterious time-stepping Prisoner of London—I can’t help but be jarred out of the story slightly by my unfamiliarity with this 1910 League’s members. With Volumes I and II it was much easier to jump on board with the storyline, since characters such as Mr. Hyde and the Invisible Man are familiar icons to fans of the fantasy, horror and science fiction genres. So in the interest of helping out my fellow readers, here’s a quick rundown on the new faces of the League:

Allan Quatermain Jr. is in fact the same Quatermain of the previous volumes, just revitalized and youthful again (the details his transformation are tied in with H.R. Haggard’s novel SHE and are alluded to in the text pages at the end of Volume II and within THE BLACK DOSSIER).

Thomas Carnacki is a supernatural detective created by English writer William Hope Hodgson, and seemingly a prototype for later pulp and comic book mystics such as Dr. Occult.

Arthur J. Raffles was created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, and is basically Holmes’ opposite—a gentleman thief rather than detective.

Orlando is an immortal gender changing character out of a Virginia Woolf novel, though Moore has him/her dating farther back than Woolf originally wrote. Lots more about him/her can be read in Volume II’s text and BLACK DOSSIER.

Thanks, Wikipedia!

As I said, I enjoyed this more than the previous volume—incomplete as it is, this first CENTURY book is much more plot than the DOSSIER and much less ramblings about Victorian sex (don’t worry, though, there’s still sex in it…just not on every other page). And it is fun picking out all the little pieces of literary reference that Moore sprinkles throughout the series (for example, in the text back-up feature for 1910 he manages to bring the Monolith from Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001 into the folds of LOEG lore). Kevin O’Neill’s art remains that quirky mix of caricature, cartoon and etched-line style that gives the series much of its character. It’s just a shame that with each volume Moore and O’Neill produce they add more and more works to the tapestry of their mythology, when none of these later additions equals the fun of the first iconic stories. Nevertheless, Moore putting out “B-material is still better than many scribes’ “A” game, so count me in for the next CENTURY installment.

When released from his Bottle, the Imp takes the form of Stephen Andrade, an artist/illustrator/pirate monkey painter from the Northeast. You can see some of his artwork athere. He’s given up comics more times than he can remember. But every time he thinks he's out, they pull him back in.

BOOSTER GOLD #20

Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Pat Oliffe/ Dan Jurgens
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Optimous Douche

BOOSTER GOLD #20 is a cocktail of two parts snark and one part cold war drama all blended together by the Holy Fathers of irreverence Giffen and Jergens. While it’s been pleasant to see Booster man-up and become a big boy super hero since the death of bromate Ted Kord, it’s also fun to once again see the golden one act like a teenager out for a night with Dad’s car, or in this case, his son’s time machine. None of this is to say this issue didn’t have problems because frankly it did, but they are tolerable nits for collectors like myself that have been following the Booster legacy for the past 20+ years.

I could tell from the set-up that this issue was going to be more bubblegum than filet mignon. Rip Hunter, Master of Time and grown son of Booster (still unbeknownst to Booster, and certainly still more of the Father figure in this temporal ass backwardness), gives Booster the parachute equivalent of a time machine in an attempt to simply get Booster out of his hair for a few hours. Booster selects the year 1952 because he hopes to meet The Fonz. Booster has always been fun loving, but if he means this literally (which is how it comes across) somewhere between issue 19 and 20 he suffered blunt head trauma. In some 4th wall breaking fun Rip replies, “I thought we were done with that number.” 52 – get it? Cute, not BWA-HA-HA funny, but cute.

Once he is lands in the time of American Graffiti, Booster ends up at a secret rocket facility under the charge of a Soviet genius that promises to get man into space a full decade prior to when it actually happened (well, when it actually happened in comics). That scientist in question would one day start the Rocket Red program assuming Booster can stop this early launch from taking place.

The choice to take the title down this route presented several problems. Fanmen and fanoldfucks will remember Rocket Red, the bulky Iron Man that always struggled with English back in the JLI days only vaguely. Every time Rocket Red appeared you knew you were in store for some “Cousin Balki Perfect Stranger” English misconstruing fun. Sadly though this is no longer the late 1980’s and what made Rocket Red so interesting was his bumbles, not his “powers.” Fanboys and younger readers will merely recognize the Rocket Red name as fodder from the CRISIS flood of carnage. There’s just a real lack of consequence from this whole story. Personal feelings aside, if the Rocket Red program never came to be, would the universe be truly worse for the wear? Not really. All of Booster’s missions under Johns and Katz in the early days of this series had true consequences, this felt more like biding time. I guess from any other creative team I would tolerate this type of laissez-faire filler, but I know that this august lineup is capable of so much more.

Generally these one-shots are the perfect jump-on point for new readers, but this issues is far from Booster’s finest outing and laden with far too much DC history for anyone under the age of thirty to truly care about the title. To truly play the nostalgia card, Giffen needs to go back to his roots and have present day Booster time warp to the early formation of Justice League International or perhaps a trip to Justice League Europe.

When Optimous Douche isn’t reading comics and misspelling the names of 80’s icons, he “transforms” into a corporate communications guru. "What if the whole world had superpowers? Find out in the pages of Optimous’ original book AVERAGE JOE. Read the first full issue on Optimous’ New Blog and see original sketches by fellow @$$hole Bottleimp. If you are a publisher or can help these guys get AVERAGE JOE up, up, and on the shelves in any way, drop Optimous a line."

DARK REIGN: HAWKEYE #2

Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Tom Raney
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Liam ‘The Kid’

Note: ‘The Kid’ is 8 years old and has been doing reviews on his own site since August of 2008. And you can now follow the kid’s daily ‘adventures’ on Twitter.

Daredevil’s enemy Bullseye is pretending to be the good guy Hawkeye because Norman Osborn has set up a team of bad Avengers to do whatever he wants. A lot of the Avengers on Osborn’s team are bad guys pretending to be superheroes and Hawkeye is the craziest one on the team. Even Osborn can’t control him because Hawkeye just kills whoever he wants and then when Osborn yells at him he really doesn’t care. In the last issue Hawkeye looked like he was going to be a hero because he rescued a lady from being attacked but then he killed her and the people attacking her and someone was taking pictures of it from a helicopter.

This issue starts right after that part and I guessed right how Hawkeye was going to stop them. I know that the real Hawkeye has good aim because of how he took care of the Skrulls in the SECRET INVASION comic but I think Bullseye has even better aim because he is doing a lot of hard shots and making them. I think it would be cool if the real Hawkeye shows up in this comic and is mad at Bullseye for stealing his name and they fight. I’d like to see which one would win.

This time Osborn isn’t really as mad at Hawkeye and gives him another mission to go on. Osborn says that it’s okay if Hawkeye kills people this time because the bad guys are terrorists and people won’t think he’s bad if he kills them. The end of the comic got a little strange. When Hawkeye shows up at the building all of the terrorists are dead and it looks like another Bullseye killed them. They don’t really tell you who the Bullseye is and maybe Hawkeye is imagining it but on the last page something happens which is pretty crazy and I don’t think it’s a dream. I think I know how Hawkeye can get out of it because he used trick arrows in the beginning of the book but we’ll see next issue if I guessed right.

The comic has a lot of action in it. Hawkeye is doing a lot, especially in the beginning and end of the book. It’s not good that he was killing regular people but the parts where he was doing his trick shots with the arrows and stuff showed how good he was at being an assassin. I also liked the part where Osborn had his goons come in and take care of Hawkeye’s mess. He had them show up so fast and just take care of the whole place it’s like Osborn can do anything. I bet that he and Hawkeye are going to end up fighting because Osborn wants everything to be his way and Hawkeye is too crazy to follow rules.

The art is great in the comic. I like all of the poses that Hawkeye is in when he’s running or shooting the arrow. He’s drawn really well and the artist makes him do these crazy smiles to show people that it isn’t the good Hawkeye. But he also draws other characters and things like buildings and helicopters really good, too. I even like his Bullseye and he draws him with a really creepy smile.

It’s a good comic for action even if it’s really just about a crazy bad guy who is going around killing people and getting into trouble. The middle part of the book with just the talking with Osborn is just okay and I hope there is more Bullseye and Hawkeye next issue since there wasn’t a lot of it in this comic and they were both on the cover.

Rating: 9 out of 10

POWER GIRL #1

Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Amanda Conner
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger

"Green Lantern used to ask me why I never wore a mask. It's because most of the time...they ain't lookin' at my face."
-- Power Girl (JSA CLASSIFIED #1)

God.

Damn.

It.

I'm happy.

A couple of years ago, I reviewed that JSA CLASSIFIED comic that featured Power Girl and I had a lot of fun by basically rating her breasts page by page. For, as we all know, Power Girl has become the possessor of comicdom's most famous twin headlights. The thing is, as a character she's so much more than that. Finally, after decades of floundering attempts at writing this character (and a lot of that time in embarrassingly awful attempts at pointless costume redesigns), we have Power Girl done right.

So many times, people approach PG as basically a confused Supergirl with big tits. But the truth is, a simple sampling of her original appearances in ALL-STAR and SHOWCASE demonstrate a fully realized and intelligent young woman. As Karen Starr, PG did not run around pining for boys and dealing with angst. She was a professional who owned and ran a tech corporation and could hold her own in the business world as well as the costumed crime-fighter world. And Palmiotti picks that up and runs with it. In the high-tech 21st century, of course, Karen Starr is ready to take Starrware Labs and restart it with a pointed purpose in addressing and curing environmental problems through high-tech solutions. This gives her character meaning and direction beyond just how she and her company tie into whatever the next mass cross-over storyline might be.

Palmiotti resets PG firmly into the modern world and introduces a new supporting cast around Karen, which should give him much to play with. He relocates her outside of Metropolis and smack dab into New York which works perfectly to give her a setting that is familiar but slightly outside the usual "fake" cities of the DC Universe. Plus, like PG says in her voice-over narration, there's no better place for a fresh start than New York.

To me, the plot takes a back seat to the pure character work being done here. Palmiotti has developed into one of my favorite writers working at DC right now. The work he did with Justin Gray on the FREEDOM FIGHTERS and JONAH HEX started out strong and got better (continuing so on JONAH HEX). As well, his writing on the TERRA mini-series (also with art my Connor) was outstanding. So, I expected that this comic would be pretty good, but in my book, within the context of mainstream super-hero comics I would say the writing is flawless. Nothing missed its mark with me. The briefest of brief recaps of her Kryptonian origin and structure and pacing of the story completely worked for me. The balance of humor and seriousness was perfect. And the introduction of the villain of the piece, the Ultra-Humanite, was dealt with as a true and deadly threat upon the people of New York rather than just a villain-of-the-month plot device. Ultra being a longtime JSA villain from the 40s through to today who was originally most famous as a cheap knock-off of Lex Luthor until he started plopping his brain into other people's bodies -- then he turned into a monstrous hyper-intelligent maniac (used quite effectively in James Robinson's classic THE GOLDEN AGE). Ultra's current form where his brain has been transplanted into the body of this huge albino ape has been his only visual since the 80s and I guess he's tired of that ape, because he now apparently wants to shove his brain into the beautiful skull and body of Power Girl herself. Thus, a cliffhanger ending ensues and I'm hooked for the next issue and the duration.

No review, however, would be complete without spending some time gushing lavish praise upon the beautiful art and storytelling of the incomparable Amanda Connor. Yes, the one who posted a copy of her cover art for the comic on FACEBOOK recently and had the assholes there remove the art because it was obscene or something. Regardless of those FB dumbasses (who seem to have since realized their mistake since Palmiotti now has the cover posted), I swear that each and every time I see something new by Connor it is even better than the last thing she did. She's at the top of her game and yet keeps topping herself! I loved her work on TERRA last year and spent a lot of time just going back through the issues admiring her artwork, but her work on this issue is equal parts pretty, sexy, powerful, and clean. In fact, just as I said about the writing, I would say her work was flawless here. The costume tweaks that Connor has done to PG's costume here have taken my favorite super-heroine costume and actually improved it. The only thing I would change back would be the buccaneer boots. I just happen to love the buccaneer boots. But Connor has managed to retain the essential elements of PG's costume but upgrade them to look like something she could actually wear in the 21st century. Outstanding work and I can't wait to see how Connor improves once again next month with POWER GIRL #2.

I am committed to this series for as long as Palmiotti and Connor continue to work on it. This comic made me feel like a kid again. Thank you to all involved.

THERE’S AN ALIEN IN MY TOILET Vol 1

Written by: Samuel Vega
Art by: Jorge Medina
Published by: Crazee Comics
Reviewed by: Ryan McLelland

You would think just by the title of this book that the authors are going for the lowest common denominator. This isn’t really the case and the comic is not about E.T.’s excrement. Rather THERE’S AN ALIEN IN MY TOILET is a wonderful kids property from Crazee Comics. It’s fun, it’s cute, and it’s a book I can read to my own 5-year-old.

The plot is simple: An alien named Doodie (He’s from Uranus. Hee hee.) is sent to Earth to determine if the blue planet is a threat. Upon (crash) landing his vessel in the forest Doodie is at first thwarted by every imaginable creature in the woods from bear to ant. While he may be ‘big stuff’ on his own planet we get quickly that Doodie has no clue what to do once out of his element.

With the government on his trail Doodie hides in a house with a wide-eyed Dad, a video-game obsessed boy, and a Chihuahua determined to bite the odd-looking creature. His hiding place of choice? One look at the title might tell you.

For those who might roll eyes – don’t. I know this isn’t a comic for everyone and it’s not Alan Moore writing a space saga. This book is meant to be fun and for kids – accomplishing both with ease. My son LOVES the book and constistantly asks me to read it to him which is great. It gets him not only into the art but interested in reading as well. I’m very glad the powers-that-be at Crazee have put together this great TPB which does include a bonus story, some pin-up art, and a look from Medina’s sketchbook. I love this book and can’t wait for future Doodie adventures in years to come.

Hee hee…Doodie.

Ryan McLelland has worked in movies and comics journalism for the past several years before joining the @$$holes here at AICN. Ryan’s comic work has already graced comic shelves with Arcana’s PHILLY, WISE INTELLIGENCE, UPTOWN GIRL, and THE SENTINELS ANTHOLOGY. He rarely updates his blog but when he does it can be read at www.eyewannabe.com. The first issue of his new WISE INTELLIGENCE miniseries can be found here.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #13

Written and Illustrated by a multitude of talent

Publisher: DC/Vertigo

Vroom Socko: At Dinner

It’s a tricky thing to disrupt a story in mid flow, especially on a cliffhanger. If you’re going to do something like that, you’d better have a damn good reason, and it better be pulled off with style. Thankfully, HOUSE OF MYSTERY #13, with three short stories centered around that number, has style to spare.

Each of these tales has a particular “Rod Serling” vibe to them, with each also being distinct enough from each other to keep from feeling repetitive. The first story, from writer Matthew Sturges and artist Ralph Reese, features a young man who is the only person aware of a secret thirteenth hour in the day, and of the horrors that happen during that hour. The second, from Bill Willingham and Eric Powell, has a man shopping for a thirteenth wedding anniversary present for his wife, only to receive a most interesting offer from the shop owner. The final story, by Chris Roberson and the incomparable Neal Adams, is a story of two immortals and the thirteen different times they meet over the millennia. Then there’s a final page, provided by Sturges and Sergio Aragonés, that’s too fun for words.

Of the three main stories, the one that has the most fun with the whole 13 theme is the Willingham/Powell one. Each of the stories has a bit of a twist to them, and this one was the easiest one to see coming. However, Willingham is so dedicated to the 13 theme, and Powell’s artwork is so appropriately moody, that I can’t help but think of it as my favorite of the issue. The other stories are no slouch though, with the Sturges/Reese story having the most interesting, and chilling conclusion. As for the Roberson/Adams story, well if you really need to hear anything other than “artwork by Neal Adams” then just know that this story is the most charming of the three.

If you’ve been reading HOUSE OF MYSTERY the past year, don’t skip this one by just because it’s an aside from the main story. If you haven’t been reading HOUSE OF MYSTERY, then for the love of Neal Adams pick up this issue, then go get the ones you missed. In either case, get your hands on this book. Reading this issue was like finding a lost installment of HARLAN ELLISON’S DREAM CORRIDOR. If there’s a higher compliment than that for an anthology comic, I can’t think of it.

(Oh, and for an extra treat, count the page numbers. Go ahead, I’ll wait.)

(Nice touch, eh?)

THE UNKNOWN #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Minck Oosterveer
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

For anyone who thinks that Mark Waid is all Spandex and Super-powers when it comes to writing, there was once upon a time a little book called RUSE from a doomed little company that spoke highly otherwise. And it's the main reason I decided to give THE UNKNOWN here a try, a book whose main protagonist Cat Allingham is known as the World's Foremost Detective. And much like RUSE's lead, Simon Archard, she's got more motivation than the Little Engine That Could and all the intelligence, skill, and touch of arrogance to back it all. And she's also got only six months to live and keeps seeing visions of a pale, mysterious figure in all her waking moments.

Like RUSE, again, this book has a lot of "Get up and go." While that book was more driven in that Waid would go to great lengths to have Archard paint the scene or to have him always going from scene to scene to scene on his hunt, Cat is more the type to keep lord knows how many plates spinning as she can since her time on this is very limited. A lot to prove and a chip on her shoulder this one is. She's already a very fun character to watch, jumping from a very matter of fact tone when she's "on the case" so to speak, but very flippant with other people as shown while she's bringing in a new, promising and overly muscular assistant on a big case. She jumps modes in the span of a panel break, and it goes very well for keeping the reader invested in the book with its very energetic pace.

While this is a first issue and there's a lot of characterization to cram in here, both for our lead and her new assistant, James, there's a big mystery built up in the last third of this issue which I assume will be the main focus of this particular mini (with more to come in the future I'd assume). It's also where I think this book stumbled a little bit, but I could easily be proven wrong. The gist is that what looks to be a large scale research experiment gone wrong could have met with a disaster because of quantum theft. Basically whatever it was that was stolen could have been teleported out in all the hullabaloo, and what was stolen was, apparently, a human soul...yeah. It's not that I don't applaud the high concept that this appears to be on paper, far from it, it's just more that after watching Cat solve "planted evidence" murders and so on over the span of the first half of the book or so, and then having our introduction to her new help be his very observant catching of a pocket thief at the club he's bouncing out, jumping to "stolen soul" seems to be a huge leap forward. Again, not saying it won't pan out, but it that just seems to be pushing the suspension of disbelief a little far, but I don't really fault a writer for swinging for the fences on a project like this. Sometimes you just need to do anything to differentiate yourself.

As for the art chores, I'm a fan. Despite not knowing Mr. Oosterveer's work, nor really even knowing if it is indeed Mr. or how to pronounce Oosterveer (who I will now refer to as Oost because I'm way fumbling over that name every time I type it) there's a damn lot to like in these pencils. For one, the atmosphere for this book is damn spot on. Lots of darks (props to colorist Fellipe Martins here) and shading keep that proper air of mystery. Lots of detail, great panel flow, a wide range of expressions - basically everything I like in my art. I could have used less "random narrow panel shot of Cat's eyes" that happened at least four times in this, but if that's how it's scripted, what can you do?

Overall though, I think I'm on board here. I like the characters, I like the art, and I have to appreciate the balls at least at how above and beyond the big mystery in this is on scale alone. Heck, the energy alone that this book and its lead exude make me want to continue, and the mini-series format will work well for this as well methinks. If we're going to start off with a mystery involving a stolen soul, I imagine it could be really easy to run yourself out of bigger and better ideas if you keep yourself on an ongoing pace. Something like two mini's a year could be just what the doctor ordered for such a book, and I think this will read very well in TPB form which the BOOM! line seems to be all about. I hate to be constantly comparing this to RUSE, but if this title can keep up half the consistency that book had under Waid's pen, and if indeed the big mystery in this pans out given the circumstances around it, then I might just have a new favorite book to always excitedly be looking for week to week on the shipping lists.

THE UNWRITTEN #1

Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Peter Gross
Publisher: DC/Vertigo
Reviewer: Optimous Douche

UNWRITTEN #1 was almost the unbought when I started reading the preview pages in the back of my favorite Vertigo titles last month. As much as I tried to grapple with the story possibilities, my own obtuseness wouldn’t see past the fact that on the surface this book was about some loser doing the convention circuit because his father patterned some books on his childhood vestige. On first glance the only tantalizing parts of this title were the James Jean inspired cover and the extremely low one dollar price of admission. After closing the last page I realized that UNWRITTEN not only far surpassed the price of admission, it made most of the books I paid full price for pale by comparison.

There are basically two books going on here, and allow me to applaud Carey now for the Herculean undertaking he has placed on his shoulders. The first book is literally a series of 14 titles about a young Wizard named Tommy Taylor and his adventures thwarting the misdeeds of the devilish Count Ambrosio. UNWRITTEN opens with the closing chapter of the entire series where Tommy at last entraps Count Ambrosio in magical amber wrought with mystical symbols.

BAM! Without warning, Carey then thrusts the reader headfirst into the “real” world to DorkCon 2009, where a middle-age man laments his fate of signing autographs for a book he didn’t create, but merely served as the catalyst for his father’s imagination (or so we think). Tommy, excuse me Tom as he now likes to be called, is instantly relatable on many levels. Personally, I’ve been working the better part of 25 years to get my family to collectively call me Rob instead of Robby, it seems like a small thing, but the perception that comes with cutesy nicknames is far reaching. Beyond the name, most will understand Tom’s desperate need to escape the legacy of his Father and forge his own legacy, a path most men (except maybe Dan Fogleberg) traverse at some point in their lives.

This would be as good a time as any to applaud Gross’ work on giving each world its own distinct aesthetic. The fictional sub-world of this fictional world gives the appearance of a truly mystical land, without ever lowering itself into the cheap parlor trick of being cartoony. Contrast this dewy ethereal landscape with the harsh lines of reality and you have an artist who is essentially doing double duty each issue. Sure it’s the same number of pages as a regular book, but as anyone that has tackled a creative endeavor will attest to, switching styles midstream is no easy task.

Eventually reality and fiction blur, when a young college co-ed calls shenanigans on Tom’s origin during a panel discussion. This leads Tom down a path of discovery that shows perhaps he lived another life before the one he remembers, and these fictional tales about the boy Wizard might actually be autobiographical.

A well delivered high concept aside, Carey bastes this meaty story with great humor (a dork dressed as Count Ambrosio questioning canon was as funny as Tom’s response to have him ejected from the panel) and some unconventional story delivery devices like telling part of the story through blog posts.

To say that I can’t wait to see what the future unfolds for this title would be an understatement. With the loss of Harry Potter to satiate my thirst for all things magic, this book is not only entertaining, it has become a genre lifeline.

HOTWIRE: REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD #3

Written by: Steve Pugh (based on ideas by Warren Ellis)
Art by: Steve Pugh
Published by: Radical Comics
Review by: Baytor

Frakkin’ wow! Steve Push certainly has come a long way since I last picked up one of his books. Back then, he was one of those quirky artists that tended to pop up on Vertigo titles like HELLBLAZER, ANIMAL MAN, and SAINT OF KILLERS. I can still see little flashes of his old style in here, especially around the eyes and it’s a bit stiffer than it used to be, but he’s in a whole different league these days.

If anyone out there is paying any attention to my reviews (which I doubt), you know I’m not someone who mentions very much about the art and it’s usually buried in the middle of the review, but it’s getting the spotlight here, because I am floored by it, doubly so because it’s not coming from one of the major companies. This is A-list material coming from a company I didn’t even know existed.

The basic plot of the story is a hi-tech Ghostbusters filtered through Warren Ellis. For anyone who has read a couple of his books, you know the score. Alice Hotwire is a bad-tempered genius working as a detective exorcist ridding the city of techno-ghosts. In this issue, things ramp up as they follow the mystery to a Maximum Security Cemetery and very bad things will happen to people in new and novel ways.

Which brings us back to Steve Pugh. He’s the guy who gets to draw all the impossible things you expect from an Ellis story and he knocks it out of the park. That little postage stamp of a cover up there doesn’t even convey the sense of awesomeness that is beneath it, such as the corridor that turns into a skull or the knife-legged spider ghost. I got a preview copy, so I don’t know how well this is reproduced, but the colors are absolutely beautiful on my computer screen. He also manages a pitch-perfect imitation of Ellis' writing style, because, surprise, Ellis didn't write this, Pugh did (an embarrassing fact that caused me to re-write this review several times).

Warren Ellis is probably the best futurist working comics today, filling his books with serious cool stuff that comes across as not only plausible, but so trendy that it seems inevitable. For Pugh to mimic it so completely is quite an achievement. The only drawback is that the imitation extends to one of the only flaws of the book, which is a common failing of Ellis’ shorter works. Both of the leads are pretty much on all the time, so it’s one hard-boiled line after another, with only random hints of a deeper psychology at play. This isn’t a major flaw, but I'm left with the feeling that I would have liked to have spent a bit more time with the characters; but this is action movie territory and the characters are developed enough to be interesting within that framework.

FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: ESCAPE #1 (of 6)

Writer: Ivan Brandon
Penciler: Marco Rudy
Inker: Mick Gray
Published by: DC Comics
Reviewed by: BottleImp

You know those dreams where you wake up in a strange place and you try to find your way home, but nowhere you go ends up leading you anywhere, and you see people you know but when you try to talk to them nothing they say makes any sense, and the next thing you know they’re gone and you’re left talking to someone you don’t know, then you think you wake up, but next thing you know you’re stuck back at the beginning of the nightmare, and you can’t get out?

That’s the essence of this comic. In a good way.

So I’m just gonna come right out and say it; I have no clue how this is supposed to be tied in to the debacle that was FINAL CRISIS, and I don’t know what our protagonist Nemesis has been up to in the DC Universe lately. All I know is that I remember the character from his first appearances in the back-up features of DETECTIVE COMICS back in the early ‘80s, that he was a master of disguise looking to avenge his brother’s death, and that he was recently immortalized in plastic as an action figure for the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED series toys. What I do know is that this series has some fantastic art by Rudy and Gray and a great hook of throwing the reader headlong into what can only be described as a nightmare situation ending up somewhere between THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE PRISONER in terms of mystery and creepiness. This is definitely not the typical superhero/supervillain plot… what it is I still haven’t figured out, but you can be damn sure I’m coming back next month to find out more.

And on a purely technical note, this is the first time I’ve seen that blurry Photoshop effect used in a comic book and have it actually work—most times that effect is used to try to simulate motion, and it just doesn’t look good. In fact, I tend to think it takes away from the sense of motion that the penciler has already put into the drawings. But in ESCAPE, the blur is used far more effectively as a means to convey that fuzzy, out-of-focus quality that is oh so common in those lost nightmares.

Like a mystery? Like THE PRISONER? Like third-string characters like Nemesis and Count Vertigo? Like FINAL CRISIS? Actually, that last one doesn’t make a difference, no matter what it says on the cover. Check out this series.

ATOMIC ROBO: THE SHADOW FROM BEYOND TIME #1

Writer: Brian Clevinger
Artist: Scott Wegener
Publsiher: Red 5 Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

I'm pretty shameless when it comes to my love of this title. Any time a new mini of it makes itself known, I completely feel obligated to bring the word from down on high to the people of how much of a delightful romp this always is. Typically it's so full of basically slapstick humor and one liners that bring the big "HA!" out of you that you'll be smiling from start to finish. Really, it's almost like a less weighty and more sci-fi based version of HELLBOY, and that's a heck of a pedigree to be compared to.

This volume – THE SHADOW FROM BEYOND TIME - has started off a little differently than the usual, though, adding some occult fantasy lore to the sci-fi we're used to as now this book is playing with elements involving a certain well-known, cute little tentacly Elder God. This time, though, it's a weird sort of combination of being more Martian than "Ancient Evil" it seems, hoping that I read this issue right. That would be the other departure from the norm to start, as there's less in the way of fisticuffs and more just a pretty big bundle of exposition - cut with some comedic bits of course - to set us up with what our mechanical protagonist is about to combat.

The punching and smashing looks to be well on the way though, and this was definitely up to snuff as far as the standards ATOMIC ROBO comics have set. It was a good bit wordier than normal, but still rife with hilarity. The opening few pages when Robo first comes face to face with Misters Charles Fort and one J.P. Lovecraft are just big bags of hilarity, with some good jabs littered in thereafter like a Tunguska aside and whatnot. And Scott Wegener completely delivers on art again, even though it's a little restrained through pretty much ninety percent of it due to the aforementioned lack of action. But his art, especially in the eye servo motions of Robo himself, has fantastic comedic timing and expression to pull us through all the verbage. This looks to be the start of yet another fantastic Robo adventure and the comics world feels better and brighter for it.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #36

Writer: Peter Tomasi
Artists: Patrick Gleason
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Liam ‘The Kid’

Note: ‘The Kid’ is 8 years old and has been doing reviews on his own site since August of 2008. And you can now follow the kid’s daily ‘adventures’ on Twitter.

In the regular Green Lantern book the main Green Lantern, Hal is working with other Lanterns to try and find out who the Orange Lantern is and to stop him from killing other Lanterns. This comic is a little different because it shows all of the other Green Lanterns instead of Hal Lantern and it’s pretty much about Sinestro and the Yellow Lanterns. In the Green Lantern comic Sinestro was captured by the Red Lanterns and they said they were going to find and kill his daughter. Sinestro escaped and now the Red Lanterns are looking for him to kill and the Green Lanterns are looking to capture or kill him and the Yellow Lanterns want to save him because he is their leader.

This comic starts off by showing that Sinestro found his daughter who is now a Green Lantern. Sinestro is telling her the story of how he is her dad. He used to be a Green Lantern, too and when he was still a good guy he had a baby. The baby looked pretty funny because it had pink skin like Sinestro and liked playing with the green rings. I like when Sinestro and his little girl both flew with green rings. When Sinestro started to go bad his wife took the baby away and let it live with another family. The old guy who looked after the girl was funny looking because he had white hair and a mustache with the pink skin. It looked silly. Sinestro snuck into her room and put a mark on her face so he’d always know where to find her and now he wants her to become a Yellow Lantern like him.

My favorite part of the book was when the special Green Lantern, Sodam, was fighting the big huge Yellow Lantern. He has all these special powers but the little blue guys in charge weren’t letting him use it. I can’t believe it. The monster guy is really tough and wears a yellow ring on each of fingers. That has to be a lot of power that he can put out. Sodam Lantern’s fight with him was one of the best parts. I also really liked a couple pages where the artist shows all of the Green Lanterns fighting a bunch of Yellow Lanterns and some Red ones in space. It was a massive battle and looked really cool in the comic. I think it’s great that there are so many different colored lanterns and all of the people who wear rings can look so different and I like the different types of aliens who are Lanterns.

Some parts were a little confusing because there are so many different people in the book but the main story was cool. I was surprised that there was so much about Sinestro and his daughter in the beginning of the comic and think it would have been better if they showed more of all the Lanterns fighting in space. I loved the picture of Zombie Superman in the comic book for the Blackest Night story. That’s going to be such a great comic book.

Rating: 8 out of 10

LOVECRAFT IS MISSING WEBCOMIC

Written and Illustrated by: Larry Latham
Reviewed by: superhero

I don’t know if I was the right person to write this review because I don’t know a damn thing about H. P. Lovecraft. I wouldn’t know a Cthulhu from a chulupa. What I think I do know, however, is good comics and H.P. LOVECRAFT IS MISSING is good comics.

LOVECRAFT IS MISSING was a great read for someone like me who happens to love stuff like Hellboy and B.P.R.D. and is also an all around horror fan. Latham does a superb job of creating the kind of creepy feel that artists like Mike Mignola and Guy Davis are famous for. His art and coloring are impressive and have a style that is both original yet familiar. If I were going to try and peg it down I would say that he very much embodies the spirit of the aforementioned Davis mixed in with a dose of TIN TIN’s creator Hergé. Latham is a pro and every page of LOVECRAFT IS MISSING is just great to look at. The cartoony nature of his linework is backed up by a powerful and moody color palette. Every page…er…screen is attention grabbing in a way that not many webcomics are.

Much of the story so far involves meeting the main players of the LOVECRAFT IS MISSING world and setting up much of the backstory. The action doesn’t really get moving until the end of chapter two but so much of what Latham presents was interesting enough for me to have kept clicking through the pages. This is no small feat being that I’ve gone on record as saying I prefer to read my comics the old fashioned way. No, this doesn’t mean I don’t like webcomics. I actually love them. But sometimes it’s a little hard for me to keep up with a webcomic when I spend most of my day in front of a PC or a Mac. Truth to tell I prefer to stay away from the computer in my leisure time, if possible. So, again, it says a lot that I kept wanting to go back to LOVECRAFT IS MISSING. It seems to me that this webcomic is just getting started and if these two opening chapters are any indication of what’s to come then I’ll do my darndest to keep up with this webcomic.

Latham has successfully put together a tale that is both entertaining and interesting. It’s a good read with a lot of potential. So far, like many webcomics, it’s a work in progress. But Lathan has presented characters that are likeable enough and situations that are compelling enough for me to want to keep coming back for more. It’s all around good stuff that has the added bonus of being just a bit on the weird side. I can’t say if H.P. Lovecraft fans will like it but as a plain old horror fan I do. As a matter of fact this comic has gotten me interested in looking into some of Lovecraft’s writing. Now if only I knew where I should start.

Discovered as a babe in an abandoned comic book storage box and bitten by a radioactive comic fan when he was a teenager, superhero is actually not-so mild mannered sometime designer & cartoonist, Kristian Horn of Los Angeles, California. He's been an @$$hole for three years. Some of his work can be seen at www.kristianhorn.com.

IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT VOL.1

By Motoro Mase
Released by Viz Media
Reviewer: Scott Green

IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT is a social engineering high concept blown out into a manga off stories spun of from its central idea... The Lottery: The Manga... A Modest Proposal: The Manga... To join two very obvious comparisons, Battle Royale meets 1984. Given the cinematic appeal of this sort of incendiary "what if", it's not surprising that the manga was adapted into a live action movie last year.

The execution is either complex or contradictory. While it might be too early to tell which, that might be a moot point if the manga continues to focus on pitched emotion to a great extent than the implication of the society being explored.

"In our country, there is a law that preserves the welfare of the people. Obedience is the key to happiness, our government tells us. The law is called The National Welfare Action." IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT opens with a class of children stifling their fears or weeping as nurses administer immunization shots on their first day of elementary school. Afterwards, the school principal addresses the assembled class of children. "Welcome to our school! I know you all want to study hard and grow into absolutely wonderful positive adults. But first we have something very important to discuss about your future.... several of you entering the first grade today will not actually live to become adults."
The manga then cuts to one of those children as a young man, attending a lecture that describes how, as part of the National Welfare Immunization, 0.01 percent of the syringes contain a "special nano capsule." The capsule lodges in the pulmonary artery, then, when the recipient is between 18 and 24 years old, at a predetermined time, the capsule will rupture the artery and kill its recipient.
With a propaganda shot of a young father, one arm pointing to the sky, the other holding a young mother cradling an infant, with the family surrounded by criticizes from all walks of life, the manga tells us "Of course...citizens never know who has been injected with the capsule. They grow up wondering if, and when, they will die. This uncertainty makes them value life more and increases social productivity. Ever since this law was established, national suicide and crime rates have fallen. Meanwhile, the GDP and birth rates have increased." After an outburst from one of the young men attending the lecture, the manga reveals that "social miscreants" will also be injected with the capsule.

24 hours before the capsule recipient is scheduled to die, an ikigami death paper is delivered to the person, giving them time to set their affairs in order and live their final hours in a meaningful way. Our point of view character, Fujimoto is one of these ikigami deliverers who has largely shelved his questions about the system to carry out his work.

The two stories in volume one affirm the fundamental concept of that the National Welfare Act; that we should be conscious of the opportunities that we're given, and live life as if what we were doing mattered. At the same time, its critical of the Act's unconscionable methods. It also telegraphs how the Act can be abused and/or undermined.

The subject of the Ikigami's first scheduled death is effective, and also, possibly, unfortunate. The doomed individual in The End of Vengeance is Yosuke Kamoi, a convenience store cashier who was forced out of school and emotionally crippled by school bullying. With works like Shadow Star/ Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru Ko / Narutaru, and Gantz, seinen manga has refined how to construct infuriating scenes of bullying that box the victim into a corner, strip them of any self government and begin physically battering them. Like other injured compatriots, Yosuke's forced to pay his victimizers and shop lift for them. Other insult and injury include being stripped and photographed, as well as being burned in the scalp with cigarettes so severely that he has a large bald spot covered with a patch of artificial hair.

With 24 hours left to live, Yosuke considers the notion that his past might disappear, then confusion passes into self pity before hardening into rage. Though Yosuke already regrets the sorrow he's caused his parents, and though the surviving family are punished for the crimes of the condemned, Yosuke decides to finally enact revenge on his tormentors. Compared to other seinen manga, such as GANTZ, BLADE THE IMMORTAL or PARASYTE, IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT is not a graphically violent work, but it is brutal. Yosuke's assault on a female ex-classmate and dismembering of a male certainly earn the manga its mature rating. However, even if this manga did run in the same anthology as ICHI THE KILLER, I'm not convinced that this brutality is characteristic of Ikigami as a series.

The content warnings that End of Vengeance warrants might put Ikigami out of the reach of the audience who'd be most interested in the manga series. In the first volume, characters are motivated by high school social problems or aspirations to start a career on the right path. It's about getting things right in one's youth. Beyond that, the social speculation at work is more in line with high school reading than what might be generally read at older ages. As such, there is an unfortunate possibility that the rating pushed that manga out of the reach of it's optimal audience.

By the same token, I also think that I would have had more patience for a work like Ikigami in high school. Starting with the double page spread on the second and third page, showing nurses holding children onto chairs with the kids they crying or trying to look brave as they're given shots, Ikigami's primary target is the reader's emotions. The propaganda imagery, the outburst at the lecture, death notice deliverer Fujimoto swallowing his discomfort, the Yosuke flashback and his rage... IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT is punctuated by heated emotional disposition rather than information to intellectualize. Basing a social argument on emotional appeals is worrying, but IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT might just be a drama pitched as a critique.

Time Out Hong Kong nailed my concern in their review of the live action IKIGAMI. "Why make a film on this topic while skimming the philosophical debate entirely, you may ask. Fujimoto’s supervisor seems to hit the nail on the head at one point. “Everybody loves melodrama,” he says. “There are people who grow rich selling it.” He could well be talking about Ikigami’s producers." I'm not convinced that the manga is cynical, but it does seem to have eyed speculative authoritarianism as fertile ground for high drama.

Scott Green has been writing for AICN ANIME for over seven years. If you like what you see here and love anime & manga, be sure to check out his latest AICN ANIME column here.

Hey folks, Ambush Bug back again with a trio of indies you may be interested in. In my eternal effort to try to get you all to give some of these worthwhile alternatives to the mainstream a shot, I’ve tried something new this week. So check out the cover images below and consider: If you like this…then maybe you should check out this indie alternative. Who knows, Marvel Zombies and DC whatever-you-are’s, you just may find something new and interesting below. I dare you not to scroll past!

THE MISADVENTURES OF SIMON & EMILY #1
Opiate Press

This book is a gothic romance tango between Faust and Kevin Smith. Simon and Emily are a pair of slackers who are forced to make a deal with a demon. In order to save their own souls, they must seek out others to give up their own. There’s a lot of quirk and humor in this one. The nonchalant way the couple deals with these unearthly horrors is pretty fun. And the art by Lisa Hughes, which looks as if it were ripped from an expressionistic painting, isn’t your typical comic book fare, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less fantastic. There’s a lot to like in THE MISADVENTURES OF SIMON & EMILY. It looks as if it will be adapted into a motion picture sometime in the future. I’ll be looking out for that movie and future issues of this interesting series.

MONSTERS VS ALIENS: THE OFFICIAL MOVIE ADAPTATION
MONSTERS VS ALIENS: THE “M” FILES OGN
Titan Books

Anyone who enjoyed MONSTERS VS ALIENS in theaters (I sure did) may want to check this pair of MvA offerings from Titan Books. Though not illustrated in the CGI Animation style (these books use the more traditional illustration route) and not in 3-D (dammit!), these stories capture the same sense of wonder and fun that the movie did. As you’d expect, the movie adaptation is a recount of the film, but THE “M” FILES is an all new story as a new officer is introduced to the monsters. There’s a lot of fun to be had. Kids would love this. And if you’re like me and couldn’t get enough of the movie, you’ll deem these worthy companion pieces to the film.

CERTITUDE: A PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO BLOCKHEADS AND BULLHEADS, PAST & PRESENT
Random House/Harmony Books

Not sure why this plopped on my doorstep, it being a coffee table book and not comic book, but it was a fun read. CERTITUDE points out that it’s not just today’s politicians that are stubborn, full of contradictions, and a skewed sense of reality. Seems it’s been the case throughout history. Cleverly written by Adam Begley, who covers politicos of all shapes, sizes, and nationalities and illustrated satirically by Edward Sorel who is able to capture the essence of a famous face and caricature it to the extreme without losing the recognition factor. Not your typical comic book fare, but it’s got words and images, so I guess it qualifies. If anything, it’s something you Marvel & DC fans can set out on your table to make you seem informed and witty when friends come over.

FRANK CASTLE: THE PUNISHER #70
Marvel MAX

I wanted to give this series a shot after Garth Ennis finished up his stellar run, but Marvel is doing everything they can to make me want to drop this issue. And guess what? It worked. No, it’s not the fact that this “Six Hours To Kill” arc is taking six millennia to finish. It’s not the fact that Frank acts a bit out of character numerous times including dropping one-liners and spray painting a thug’s car in one issue. It’s not even the stupidity of the “D.O.A.”-ish story where we are actually supposed to think that Frank will actually succumb to the poison in his veins and die (Sure, yep, I’m sure he’s going to die here). Nope it’s not about any of that. The reason why FRANK CASTLE: PUNISHER is going to be off my pull list as of this issue is because of the $1.00 price hike FOR NO FUCKING REASON! Keep the dollar, Marvel. In fact, keep all four. This Punisher fan will just wait until Ennis comes back. - Bug

DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS #1 of 5
Marvel Comics

Finally, THE YOUNG AVENGERS get a new book. Okay, it is a “Dark Reign” book and in keeping with that the book starts off not about the real Young Avengers but with a new group of Dark Reign-ish wannabes. That could go wrong. I wait all this time for a new YOUNG AVENGERS book simply to get another book about ANOTHER group of jerkwads? But this book actually worked for me. This is actually a pretty interesting group of complex jerks. It might be that I love a good powers-gone-wrong plot. This book gives one of those to its one potentially good and decent hero. Just one of those moments that will have the guy in therapy for forever. Another reason fans of the real Young Avengers should keep reading? You don’t REALLY think they’re going to stand by and let some punks steal their name now, do you? - Jinxo

R.E.B.E.L.S. #4
DC Comics

I’m still loving this book and having a blast wondering who will finally round out Vril Dox’s reluctant band of revolutionaries. The set-up is sound; Dox has lost control of L.E.G.I.O.N. and has set out to reclaim it. But he needs help. The crew he’s assembled has been unconventional, to say the least, but fun. Tony Bedard is putting together DC’s equivalent to Marvel’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and doing a similarly phenomenal job of keeping the characters fresh and the cosmic threats dangerous. This month, the few members of R.E.B.E.L.S. face off against an army of Starro controlled soldiers. The growing tension between Vril Dox and Tigorr of the Omega Men is worth the price of admission alone. Very fun diversion from the rest of the crap that’s going on at DC right now that doesn’t have GREEN in the title. - Bug

DEADPOOL: SUICIDE KINGS #2 of 5
Marvel Comics

DEADPOOL is my comic book crack. I just enjoy the hell out of all his books lately. The guy is just fractured in every way possible. Mentally, often physically…comedically. The freak someone makes the silly impossible full on reality. This issue centers on Deadpool going one on one with the normally dour and serious Punisher. But somehow just by proximity to Deadpool even Frank Castle becomes a bit more silly. This issue though has the weird leaping right off the page. I mean, really, the book chooses NOW for a Bea Arthur cameo??? How does that happen? There is also a reference to a dating service that won’t mean anything to most people aside from Howard Stern fans. I laughed. I appreciate reference jokes that not everybody will get. As it goes on it looks like this book is determined to drag every “serious” Marvel action character into Deadpool’s wonked world. Any book that can slice and dice while also forcing the serious and dour to lighten up is fine by me. - Jinxo

G.I.JOE: COBRA #3
IDW Publishing

This comic is better than it ought to be and one of those books I talked about above that you don’t realize how good it is until it’s gone. I recently found out that this is a miniseries and not an ongoing. And to that I scream, “BOOO!!!” I want more Chuckles. I know Snake-Eyes is the character everyone knows and loves, but this miniseries has proven the versatility of the G.I. JOE property and how, just because this is a licensed book, it doesn’t have to be phoned in. This is the clear front runner of IDW’s G.I. JOE launch and better than most comics out there today. This issue in particular hits an emotional chord that I never thought possible in a G.I.JOE comic. Christos Gage and Mike Costa are writing their dicks off with this one and Antonio Fuso’s noir-ish imagery put this book in a league of its own. Simply put, this is one of the absolute best stories of the year and IDW would be insane not to make it into an ongoing. Even if you don’t like G.I.JOE seek out this and the first two issues of this series and see what I mean. It’s that damn good. - Bug

WAR OF KINGS: ASCENSION #2 of 4
Marvel Comics

Okay, this book is supposed to be dark and edgy and… it is. Darkhawk has discovered his armor is an ancient force for evil and has his consciousness cast out of his body and into another dimensional holding area. Meanwhile his armor’s original owner’s mind is planning devious deeds. But this issue, quite by accident, this book just kept making me laugh. Razor, the guy possessing Nighthawk, and his partner Talon speak of their “Great Purpose”. For some reason my brain jumped right to The Jerk and Steve Martin’s “Special Purpose”. The idea of these bad asses being concerned with that just set me to laughing. Then on the next page Talon and Razor discuss Darkhawk and how his presence still needs to be fully removed from Razor’s armor leading to Talon saying, “Your armor systems will purge its taint soon.” If you’ve ever had your taint purged you know how pleasant that can be. Sorry, at that point I was just gone. Setting my own immature sense of humor aside, the book is okay. Still waiting to see if this truly ties into “War Of Kings” in any meaningful way, though. I know I was reading in humor that was not intended to be there but…how funny would it be if they ran with that. Two super serious ancient intergalactic killing machines who just keep saying things that sound accidentally funny and undercut their whole vibe. Okay, I’ve been reading too much DEADPOOL. - Jinxo

LOCKJAW & THE PET AVENGERS #1
Marvel Comics

There’s a lot of fun to be had with this issue. Most of it circles around Frog Thor (or Throg as he’s called here). With MARVEL APES and the recent FING FANG FOUR, Marvel is sure proving that it allows itself to have fun every now and then. Those who were up in arms when Dan Slott suggested that Lockjaw is a mutated dog and not an actual Inhuman humanoid mutated into canine form may want to arm up for battle after reading this issue. Yes, Lockjaw is treated pretty much like a dumb, yet noble mutt here. And yes, a lot of the characterizations of the animals such as Redwing (Falcon’s bird) and especially Niles the Hairball (Speedball’s cat) are more than a bit annoying and cartoonish at times. But I’m recommending this book to Marvel Zombies who don’t take the Marvel U very seriously. This issue is steeped in continuity nods, especially the inclusion of Ms. Lion on the team, but will probably entertain the younger readers quite a bit. Pack your humor though while reading this one. It’s not Shakespeare. It’s a bunch of animals running around on a quest tied together by the thinnest of plot threads. If anything, this is worth a chuckle or two for the Ms. Lion bits and the coolness of Throg. - Bug

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