Dark Knight Poster

We are all pretty excited about the upcoming Batman and when I saw this poster I couldn't help but become more excited. This movie will probably be the best Batman movie ever made seeing as the Nolans are great directors, Bale is an Oscar caliber actor, word up to Ledger, and Morgan Freeman who is the anchor to the whole thing. This movie is pretty much the event of the summer and I already know it will be good. Dark Knight > Iron Man. There I said it.

Ultimate Spider-Man #121 Review

Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Artist Stuart Immonen

Summary: Bendis has been an absolute phenom on Ultimate Spider-Man. In all of 2008, this title is looking to be very explosive and could actually become a contender with Captain America and Iron Man. Let's kick off the summary with the statement, you remember that one baby project Peter and Kitty were assigned, well.... Kitty and Peter go to turn in their baby, but it has been burned and destroyed. Thus we are whisked into a flashback of what went down 18 hours ago. MJ is walking to her locker all sad when she finds ice cream and is instantly cheered up (what can't you do ice cream). MJ and Peter are walking to the cafeteria when Kitty runs up and starts yelling. She got kicked out of the X-men and replaced by Liz Allen and shes mad, shes so mad she dumps the baby on Peter and then storms out. The guidance counselor comes to class to talk to them about Liz and calls Flash Spider-Man (good times, good times) and this segways into a tangent of how the health teacher is the prime suspect and his method of sucking in his gut to conceal his identity. The counselor continues to make everyone feel awkward but calling on Kitty and this does not help the situation. Peter then goes to work where JJ is going off on Betty Brant and he isn't cutting back, he goes 110%. Omega Red then attacks JJ but luckily Spidey is passing by and they brawl and destroy the suspect baby. The teacher is staring at Peter and gives him a B-.

Comments: The reigning best Spider-man title in all of Marvel continues to flex its muscles and here is a prime example. This issue is chalk full of humor and it really shows. Bendis has constructed a world here and the way he cites events within the story really make it entertaining. This title has depth that no other title on the market has. I don't think any title has a had a writer as long as Bendis has wrote this title. The humor is absolutely top notch, from the whole Flash being Spider-Man to the way this whole adventure was set up around an explanation of what happened to the baby. The teacher's response was priceless, that B-, she was just throwing a grade out there. This title is absolutely great if you have followed it up to this point as you get more of the humor as characters cite events from the past. If you have not followed it you won't get the same satisfaction but you will still enjoy it. This easily is the best of the week.

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Uncanny X-Men #497 Review

X-Men Divided (Part 3 of 5)
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Mike Choi

Summary:
I just got my Captain America Omnibus today. Very excited, but too intimidated by paper quality. Holy shit man. We got Logan, Elf, and Petr getting attacked while on a train by a big robot. Brawl insues, but bottom line: Petr gets captured by the robots. Scott and Emma are stuck in dark times (1970's), and Emma is paranoid because she can't be a control freak and look into people's minds. So the heel in this arc is some "Goddess". Scott and Emma get attacked by cops. Scotty blows them away with you know what. We end the issue with Petr captured. Yawn.

Comments:
So the art saved it. It didn't even save it, because it still sucked. Man do I wish this arc ends, because it is pure filler. This is the obligatory post-big-event-filler-arc. I am totally ok with that, but that doesn't mean i can't bitch about it. So this issue sucked because, well nothing happens. So i guess I'll fill up this space with some thoughts. I want to add more puns into my arsenal. I love them so much, but I they only come around once in a while for me. I want more though, so I will experiment next week on it. I'll let you know how it goes. Oh sorry, back to X-Men. Story = sucks........... Brubaker = still kicks ass.

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Batman #675 Review

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Ryan Benjamin

Summary: We begin with our Nightwing and Robin fighting a cult Scooby-Doo gang. We cut back to Bruce and Jezebel Jet on a date when she goes off on him for being a phony but Bruce is playing it all cool when the waiter suddenly collapses and some one with 9 eye tats on his finger busts into the scene. He kidnaps her and manages to smack Bruce around. We get a brief clip of Talia, Damien, and Merlyn hanging out at their artic base. The 9 eyed man is taking Jez out and tells his body guards to handle their business but Bruce beats them down off panel and he gets really freaked. Nightwing and Robin are fighting some D-list villain and talk about Bruce's diminishing mental health and how the man is due for a breakdown. Robin takes down the D-list villain and they mention the isolation experiment when they see the restaurant Bruce is at, explodes. The 9 eyed man takes Jez into the kitchen and he is pretty freaked at this point. Talia gets news of what's going down with the 9 eyed man and decides to mobilize because they got a feeling shits about to blow up. Nightwing and Robin bust in and are ready to beat some people down but Bruce has already blazed a path to the 9 eyed man. Bruce is beating him down back when Nightwing and Robin get into the room and Jez figures out that Bruce is Batman.

Comments: What do I say about this issue? First time I read it, I extremely disliked it and manage to get into an argument with Sports God about whether this issue was relevant or not. As i mediated on it during a less than thrilling math class it came to me. This issue is meant to show the toll of all of Bruce's adventures coming down on him. The man at this point has been at it so long that hes finding it harder to come back from being Batman. He carries a huge burden seeing as he has no super powers yet kicks Superman's ass annually. The art in this issue is terrible. It looked rushed and very sloppy. Bruce looks like an ape and seems to gain and loose muscle mass every panel. There are very few good panels and they aren't even average. I'm so glad he was a fill in. Story wise this wasn't the best but I concede that Sports God is right and in retrospect this issue will be important. Morrison is writing this to be a novel and you can't put too much emphasis on any individual issue until you see the final product. I understand that the point of this issue is to emphasize the toll of having to give up all and any chance of happiness you have to complete your mission. I think Batman will come out of this with a new perspective on the mission, whether it is good or bad remains to be seen. This isn't the strongest issue of Morrisons run and the art doesn't help it either. It is worth a read and I think you will have to read this within the context of the entire run.

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Hulk #3 Review

Creatures on the Loose
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Art: Ed McGuinness

Summary:
This title has taken a hiatus, and is back. The new series started off well, but the last issue was garbage. Hopefully Loeb can bounce back and give us an entertaining read. We start the issue with Tony upset about the carnage that took place last issue. She-Hulk tells him that there is a video with Banner in it. Banner is being interrogated, and he says he can help. He whispers something to a general, and the screen goes black. Tony wants that video. Next, we got Red Hulk fighting A-Bomb. Red Hulk calls him Rick, but that only confuses A-Bomb. They are attacked by booby traps, but Red Hulk smashes them, or something. I am not going to give play by play here, but think Great Khali vs. Mark Henry, with Hulks. Back to Banner, whose prison opens, and then he escapes, and turns green. More monster mash, but Banner shows up, and sets up a fight for the next issue.

Comments:
Not bad, just no substance. Loeb would be such an asset to DC because he has superior skill in writing the Batman. Hulk is not an interesting character to me, and Loeb doesn't do anything to make me like him better. This is just a fun read about a red hulk. It's not even that good, but it was nice to look at. This issue was better than the last one because Loeb doesn't butcher Tony's character as much. Its not great, but

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Iron Man #28 Review

Written by Daniel and Charles Knauf
Art by Roberto de la Torre

Summary: Here we are in the glorious Iron age. Iron Man has just been phenomenal and single handedly has challenged Captain America for the top spot at Marvel. Can Tony pull the upset and come out on top, will the Mandarin be successful, and will this review ever start? Let's find out. Jack Kooning is about to parachute and attempt his assassination mission. At the exact same time Tony is getting crucified at the UN for basically nuking the Mandarin's old headquarters. I'm not going to lie here, in one of the greatest Tony Stark moments in all of history, he gives a very passionate speech the UN. He has this amazing line about how the courts should not prove Captain America right and punish Tony. In China meanwhile Kooning has failed and is killed by the Mandarin. The UN decides to punish Tony but Maria Hill and Dum Dum come up with the greatest plan in all of SHIELD history. They invade the UN and due to international law no one can do anything about it. Dum Dum takes Tony into a secret underground escape tunnel and tells Tony to finish the fight. Tony suits up and Mr. Stark is off to China. He tracks down Maya and gets the 411 on what is going down. Immediately after learning of what is going he goes off to chase the Mandarin down. They brawl in an amazing action sequence that results in Tony pulling out the rings from the Mandarin's spine and blasting him into another area code. Tony puts jell and o together and figures out a way to stop the virus by using cold weather to kill it. He cuts off part of his ankle and manages to tap into his Extremis powers and stop the virus from wiping out all of mankind. The Mandarin refusing to lose punches some chemical container and freezes himself. Tony passes out and when he comes to Dum Dum is there telling him that he has been reinstated as director of SHEILD, he is on Time magazine, and he has given everyone the proverbial finger. What a man!

Comments: This was the greatest issue that came out that week. Iron Man has single handily become king of the hill of Marvel. Bucky is now playing second fiddle to Tony and his adventures. Tony showed here that he is all heart, everything that has happened in Marvel is meant so superheroes can be superheroes, that is all Tony wants. The dialog is always guarn-damn-teed to be great. The great things they do with the supporting cast is fantastic as well. That plan to take down the UN was just amazing, who thinks of something like that? I'm not going to point out everything good thing about this issue because there are too many and it wouldn't do enough justice to the talented people on this comic. Here is how I will put it, great art, great story, great characters, and this was one of the best story arc endings I have read in a long time.

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X-Factor #30 Review

The Only Game in Town (Part 2)
Writer: Peter David
Art: Valentine De Landro

Summary:
Ever since the Messiah Complex ended, this title has been going downhill. We start with Rictor still on that crucifix. Monet comes to save him, but she gets electrocuted. We then see who is behind this master plan. The black guy that got kicked out of the Purifiers enlists Arcade's help to kill of Rictor. So I think everyone escapes into this jungle. Then we have Big Mutant being bouled over by a boulder. Get it? Ok that was seriously a line from the book. He somehow gets out of that, only to be followed up by an Asian chick shooting at them. Ok so Rictor didn't escape. He does now though. Back to the jungle. There is an electric fence that blocks the mutants from the exterior. Kaitlin tries to go through, but she gets burned up. Madrox sneaks up near the Asian chick, and finds out she is a robot. He escapes from the jungle, but only to be shot by a Dupe. Turns out its another robot. Big Mutant Man takes care of the robot. So they are in civilian territory, and some ONE people come in. Madrox says they don't have anyone looking out for them. They find the source of all the chaos, and its inside a bar. They find the black guy slouched over. He says the Purifiers took him in when no one else would, thats why he feels so indebted to them. He says when his heart stops beating, the whole place will blow up. We end the issue with him drinking some poison.

Comments:
Well that sucked. This title is going downhill. Messiah Complex seriously fucked this title up, because it was a really strong read before MC. I don't even know what happens half the time, because they just jump around without explanation. I feel the writing is weak, and not having Layla and Rhane and them really detracts from this title. Now they are fighting C-list villains, trying to survive. The art isn't that good, and the story is kind of retarded. You might like this but in my opinion

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Captain Marvel #5 Review

Orthodox
Writer: Brian Reed
Art: Weeks

Summary:
I read some of the beginning issues of the series, but missed the last one. I enjoyed it for the most part, so lets see what I have missed out on. We start the issue with Ms. Marvel arriving on the SHIELD hellicarrier. Apparently, Captain Marvel is in the negative zone, so Ms. Marvel attempts to go there and find him. The attempt fails because he is not in the negative zone anymore. Now we see that Marvel is being held captive by some Skrulls. Lots of stuff happens here but I will give you the sparknotes of it: Captain Marvel is actually made from Skrull DNA, but has the mind of Mar-Vell. So he thinks like a Kree, but is actually Skrull. Get it? Good. He then takes out a bunch of the Skrulls and escapes. Agent Sante then puts a gun to his head. She threatens to kill him, but the Kree tries to reason with her. He says he is not a Skrull, and his mind is pure or some bs. He says he wants to help save the world. Back on the hellicarrier, Tony, like the good Samaritan he is, assures Ms. Marvel that Captain Marvel is dead. Turns out, there was peace on Earth for a whole 24 hours. This dude is preaching in the Church of Hala. Someone in the crowd freaks out, and turns out they are all Skrulls. Big surprise. That one really took me off guard. Wow. (Sarcasm). Captain Marvel kills some more Skrull ass in outer-space, and comes home to save us all.

Comments:
I was not offended by this issue, but almost. Remember back in Secret Invasion, we all thought Captain Marvel was a Skrull because he caused terror. Well this was kind of a swerve. It was fine though. Good art, decent story, kinda sappy, anti-Ironman, and Secret-Invasion-tie-in. That pretty much sums it up.

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Captain America #37 Review

Act 3- The Man Who Bought America (Part 1)
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Steve Epting

Summary:
I am very excited about this issue because the last one was pretty much awesome. Let's see if they follow up on the Steve Rogers situation. We start the issue with Red Skull observing an American celebration. He comments about how he will crush them and their spirit. We go to Senator Gordon Wright on the news, who announces a 3rd party to run for president. Back to Skull, who is with Faustus. He is watching Cap on the news. He says that he won't be the only stripling to wear that flag. Foreshadowing maybe? We go to Sam and Tony. Sam is grilling Tony about making Bucky the new Cap. He says that he doesn't trust him to uphold what Steve stood for. Tony is like Steve wanted me to take care of Bucky and have a new Cap. We go to Bucky who is working out on a rooftop. Hawkeye finds him and attacks. Hawkeye also has problems with Bucky being Cap because he doesn't trust the guy. We go to Sharon who is trying to follow up on the Steve thing. She says she wants to get Steve and herself out of there. We go to a flashback with Bucky. He is in WW2 with Steve. Bucky is acting silly, wanting to use the internet to warn his girlfriend and stuff. Then, Steve says he is going to want his shield back, and he says say something in Russian. Really weird scene. Back to present time. Bucky is going to get a snack, and Sam appears. Sam clearly disapproves, but agrees to work with Bucky to find Sharon. Back to Sharon, who finds a body bag thing. Steve Rogers walks out, and he doesn't know his name or anything. Sharon says you aren't Steve, but the man says he is, and asks who she is.

Comments:
This was another great issue from Mr. Brubaker. He continues to crank out great stuff, and moves the storyline along well. The One and Only said that he thought the issue was "weak", but i disagree after reading it. It isn't as action-packed as the other issues, but there is enough plot movement and character work to suffice. Brubaker does an excellent job invoking political tension in this issue, as well as the series. The Red Skull is really a menace, and he has a crazy plan going on to take over the world. This isn't some half-assed and shallow scheme (coughDINIcough), but it is really well crafted and well built up. You have to understand that Brubaker, as well as many other writers, make issues for the trade release later. That is why they are so meticulously crafted. With that in mind, this is such an excellent title, and definitely my favorite from Marvel. The artwork, the story, and the characters are really what this title is all about. If you don't read this, then you are just an idiot. The flashback scene was really out of place and threw me off. I had no idea what happened in that 2 page span. Other than that, pretty great stuff. Brubaker is making Bucky out to be someone who has to earn people's respect, because he sure as hell isn't getting it from Steve's old pals. The Steve Rogers situation is still interesting, but we didn't get many answers in this issue.

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Justice Society of America #14 Review

Writer Geoff Johns
Artist Dale Eaglesham

Summary: We start off with the Sandman waking up because he has a bunch of nightmares and can't sleep unless he solves the crime. Power Girl walks in and asks him to check on this Gog fellow. We cut to Gog who is trying to kill a fourth generation god because Gog is a third generation Gog and hommie don't play that. He tries to off Infinity-man but the dude takes off. The JSA is having a meeting and discussing why Gog is a threat as KC Superman breaks down what will happen in the future if they let this Gog fellow continue his right wing militant spree. Gog happens to break in sporting a Sandman on his little spear and they all start brawling. Gog is taking people down left and right but Alan Scott decides to suit up and go to work.

Comments: This arc finally kicks into high gear. I'm not going to lie, I skipped the last couple of filler issues so this storyline is moving along at a fast pace for me. I'm wondering though when did the rooster get so big. It was not that big three issues ago, so someone needs to run what happened by me. I liked the art in this issue which was solid. I am not an expert on the society so i can say a lot about the knowing whether the dialog was spot on or not but it seemed to work. I can't say whether I really liked or hated this issue because I really don't care about these characters but I will say that I am enjoying the story.

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Green Lantern Corps #25 Review

Writer Peter Tomasi
Artist Patrick Gleason

Summary: So we had a two month break from the main GLC writer but now he is back and after the last crappy arc I am willing and proud to settle. So we pick up on the ringquest storyline and for those of you who don't remember it, Mongul decides to collect power rings. There you go, so we pick up with our villain a field of plants. These are the same plants that he uses every couple years to trap them in a fantasy world where they live out their fantasies but have the life drained out of them. Hes loading up on them for some reason beyond the reader [sarcasm]. We spend a majority of the issue seeing various green lanterns pulled out of situations to go see the smurfs in a big meeting. We have a brief clip of a deformed alien who gets selected to join the SC when Mongul bursts in sporting a ring for every finger. Mongul then bullies him to be a minion. The smurfs feel in the green lanterns and telling them they are going into a forbidden sector to collect some SC rings. They split up and start taking some bitches down. Mongul then makes his move and takes down Ion and Marissa using the evil plant things.

Comments: It's good to finally have a good writer on this title. The last arc really blew, really blew, as a matter of fact it blew so hard it destroyed New Orleans. I like what they are doing with Mongul making him relevant. He is gearing up for something big which is kind of nice. I like build up. One negative is the art though, it goes in and out and it isn't like New Avengers art which I do not enjoy at all. I also got a problem with Mongul using that damn plant to take out more people. It's like Umaga and his damn thumb, every freakin time, not cool man not cool. Mongul needs a new game plan, I mean come on this is just getting old. Its like a yearly ritual. I will admit though, when Mongul is on the panel he steals the show. I like his loading up on ring approach, fight fire with more fire, always works. This is a moment dominated issue but is weak as a whole. It shows flashes of potential and I have faith that the story will pick up. On that note it is worth a read.

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The Last Defenders #2 Review

The Breaks
Writer: Casey
Art: Giffen

Summary:
We start the issue with Tony yelling at the Defenders for being terrible. They caused a lot of collateral damage, and they didn't get the job done. The Defenders complain that they had no idea they would face a giant monster, but Tony doesn't care. They tell they're story about how they fought the big flying bird monster. First, they launched Skull into it. That didn't work. So next Colossus gets burned up, because the bird breathes fire. The bird got down by Skull burning it's eyes out, and it went crashing through a casino. Tony, who is incredibly irritated, disbands the team. She-Hulk walks out, and Colossus leaves gracefully. We go to the past of the leader, and we learn that he had a relationship with this one guy that told him to be a hero. Back to the present, the leader is moping around. A homing beacon kicks in and he found the location of an enemy. She-Hulk rejoins him, and they go off to the place. We go to the place where Jaoquin is held captive. They try to have a quiet entrance, but She-Hulk is a loudmouth. They find themselves in a bad situation, but Jaoquin comes and bails them out. She-Hulk and Nighthawk are still arguing. They get stashed away in a secret place. Jaoquin says that his team members got shot, and his head got grazed so he would be a good captive. He escaped and has been working to take them down. Hulk and Hawk are still arguing. They eventually get into a real fight. Jaoquin breaks them up with a high pitched whistle. He says that the white supremacists plan on building a big weapon (the Madbomb) that will tear the country apart.

Comments:
This is just a small-scale title, and is not meant to be taken seriously. It is just a story of a rag tag team built together to protect New Jersey. Thats funny. They got disbanded because they just wreaked havoc last time they fought an enemy. Casey is trying to give Nighthawk a kind of push to being a D lister from being a U lister. He is shown to be noble hearted, but with a confusing background. It was fun to see him and She-Hulk trying to coincide, while also trying to rescue someone. It didn't work out too well. This issue was fun to read, and set up the plot well.

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Fantastic Four #556 Review

World's Greatest (Part 3 of 4)
Writer: Mark Millar
Art: Bryan Hitch

Summary:
We start the issue with the CAP that escaped in the last one. He kills 3 or 4 people on his way to an air force base. We go to a command station, where people are panicking. Someone decides to gather a large superhero presence so that CAP will come to them. We go to Johnny, who has a million people at his house setting up stuff for a reality show. We see that he banged the villain from the last issue. We go to Sue, and Allysa comes flying through this room. Reed is gone, so she wants to gather all of the Fantastic Four. So the battle with CAP insues. We learn that CAP took out 40 of the largest superheroes. The F4 start fighting with the big monster robot, but nothing is working. Ben is too small, flames don't hurt, and Sue's force fields are being broken through. It is about to kill Allysa, but she installed a mechanism in it that prevents CAP from hurting her or her husband. CAP throws Ben into a lake. CAP deactivates all the weapons there, and is about to teleport to Russia. People are panicking, but not to worry: Reed is on his way!

Comments:
This was a really good issue. I am not really into monster heels (i.e Hulk), but the other stuff in this issue made up for it. CAP is just way too strong though. If it took out 40 of the biggest Marvel superheroes, how is the Fantastic Four going to stop it. Better yet, Millar sets it up to where Reed is the one to stop this thing. This better be good, or this book will lose major cred. I liked the stuff with Johnny, because it exemplified what his life must be like. Good stuff there. The art is nice looking, and the dialog is well crafted.

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Booster Gold #8 Review

Blue and Gold (Chapter 3- Freedom Fighters)
Writer: Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz
Art: Dan Jurgens

Summary:
Booster Introduces the issue with the cardinal rule of time travel- don't mess with the past. He says that messing with the past can drastically mess with the future. We see Booster, Ted, Hawkman, and Green Arrow making their way to the Resistance hideout. Booster and Birdman's personalities quarrel for a while. They go to the hideout and see that it is made up of Wild Dog, Anthro, and Pantha. Ted says that they are so dead. We meet all of the characters, and Hawkman has the plan to take Ted's jet, which is undetectable from OMACs, and fly right into Max Lord's castle. Booster thinks the idea is crazy because Max has a secret weapon- Superman. We see Max Lord telling Superman to kill, but he can't. He says he will eventually break him, and have full control over him. We go to Rip, Daniel, and the reporter. Rip says that they found Ted's chronal residue at the end of time, so that is where they are going. Daniel and the Reporter don't want to go. We go to the bad guys. Some of them want to get rid of Rip, but Black Beetle says killing Booster is the primary goal. Supernova says that they must get rid of Booster before he realizes his true destiny. Supernova says kill Rip, save Daniel and the girl because they need to mate. Supernova gets this gorilla to destroy Rip's lab. Back to the ship. They are going about, and Booster still thinks its a bad idea. All of a sudden, Superman missles into the ship and kidnaps Anthro. They break into the castle and Hawkman makes a lot of noise. They get confronted by the cronies. This one chick stabs Arrow with a dart, and he turns into an OMAC. He kills Hawkman. Wild Dog starts firing away, killing Pantha. He does this because Max Lord has taken control of him. He eventually kills himself. Max shoots Ted in the arm, and wants to know all about time travel. Booster takes Ted and runs. All of a sudden, Superman comes back into the fray. Ted activates a boom tube, and they end up in the decomissioned HQ of the Justice League. They decide that they need a large number of people to take down Max. Booster says that they should get the old Justice League International back together.

Comments:
That was a really good issue. Finally we see the plot unfolding for this title. We started off with a bunch of stories, but now we see a well constructed plot being put together. I enjoyed the different characters in this issue. Wild Dog was great, always wanting to shoot his gun and stuff. Someone should give him his own title. Katz and Johns did a good job showing the disunity in the group members, and how it eventually led to their downfall. They did it in a way where it didn't hurt Booster and Ted, but just heightened their resolve. Max is a serious little fucker. He will do anything to be in control. The bad guys are really good here. Supernova is a serious bad dude. I am looking forward to seeing his role in this picture. I liked the end when Booster wanted to get the old gang back together. We didn't know exactly what happened to them, so it was safe to assume that they were still around. Now they are going to be brought into the picture. Dan Jurgens dishes out some good art.

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Nightwing #143 Review

Written by Peter Tomasi
Art by Don Kramer

Summary: Nightwing has been a controversial title for me. I don't think he can carry a title by himself. He is stuck in a weird place. It would be bad for his character to go back to being a sidekick but at the same time I can see validity in it. This new writer though is at least making think twice so lets get into it. Our heroes are cruising somewhere over the African ocean in the bat-plane. Robins riding shotgun and Nightwings running the show. They are sitting there joking around and arrive at their destination. The plane goes into sub mode and they go Navy Seals all up in this bitch and get to the island. They are trying to find the guy who is been messing with the dead bodies and they tracked him to this island. They do some reconn and get Red Arrow to give them a lay of the land. Once they figure it out they jump some guards and break into the secret lab. They beat up some more people and decide to split up to end all this. So the evil professer X, best way to describe the villain, is killing some of his creations because they are self aware and aren't completely committed to his cause just yet. Nightwing discovers a little evil place where they got tubes of people which is never good, he radios to Robin who immediately gets jumped by a ninja and the evil Professor X goes off on an evil tangent. He seeks the birdmen on Nightwing in a fight that spans the entire base. They get to the incenarated room and he convinces the birdmen to switch sides. Professor is ready though and starts pushing the button that makes their heads explode. Nightwing frees Robin and then the birdmen pull another heel turn and start helping Nightwing again. The Professor is ready to go at this point and takes off in a rocket ship, to which Nightwing and Robin try to hold on to but can't and they fall in the ocean. They then swim back to the Bat-sub.


Comments: I still have mixed emotions about this title. The issue itself reminds me of Casino Royale with he whole back to basics approach featuring action. This issue succeeds in being action packed and all but I got several reservations. There was a bit too many clinches like the rocket ship escape, I mean seriously come on now. Nightwing just seems to be like a glove that different writers try on. Sometimes he is actually superheoring in NYC, other times hes around the world, and then the rest of the time hes playing the 2 to Batman's 1. As they say if the glove don't fit you must acquit. Ok that doesn't really work there but Nightwing has been the best he can be in a long time and this could turn around. The chemistry between Robin and Nightwing is great, they work really well together. The cover also looks really good to me. I don't know why but it just appeals to me. This was a pretty good issue and its worth it. Quick sidenote, I'm watching the Rick Ross Speeding video on youtube, I gotta say, I'm impressed with Rick Ross's athleticism at the start of the video, its pretty amazing.


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Detective Comics #843 Review

Written by Paul Dini
Art by Dustin Nguyen

Summary: Detective Comics has been off for a bit as Dini has been currently bombing on Countdown. He is back this issue and we continue along. We start off with Batman saving a janitor from an exploding volcano (#1 cause of work related accidents). He runs down the Penguin and accuses him of making the volcano go off to shut down the rival club. He denies it. Meanwhile the owner of club volcano is in Vegas trying to get Zatanna to perform. After some intense banter he agrees to do it and the next thing we know Bruce Wayne is on stage about to be killed by some magical trap. He and Zee whisper back and forth about whether there are any shady characters in da club (fiddy cent joke). After the performance Bruce is introducing Zee to some of Gotham's finest and they get asked if they are more than friends. Bruce gives one quick no. The club owner is getting shaken down by Scarface in the backroom while this is going on, some fyi there. So Zee and Bruce are chilling at the bar and she brings up that topic about them going out. She says she was surprised about the time when she was shot that he hang out by her bedside before tracking down the Joker and shes open to the option of them together. Conveniently enough gun shots are going off and Scarface has made his move. Zee tries to fight them off but they manage to kidnap Bruce, the club owner, and get away. While in the car the ventriloquist recognizies Bruce and snaps out of her crazy phase. She is Peyton Riley and was engaged to one of Bruce's friends, she manages to get all that out before Scarface comes back to life and starts pumping bullets into Bruce.


Comments: This is kind of out there but how does the puppet fire a gun. In the picture u see his little hand pulling the trigger but hes a wooden dummy and usually u can't control their hands only their mouth. That is something to think about. The art in this issue was very square. Not as good as it has been but still gets the job done just very square.... Storywise I liked the character development between Bruce and Zee. Dini is kind of obsessed with her but he writes a damn good Batman and a damn good Zee so its cool. Over the course of Detective he has been building towards it so it doesn't feel forced which is a plus. One criticism is of Scarface. She or he depending on which one the reader considers Scarface which in this case I consider it to be the lady behind the puppet so she, has been around too damn long. Batman should have caught her a while back, this is just really asinine that a white woman like her could really do all this. The guy beats up Superman once a year and can't take down a white woman with a puppet, not cool man not cool. This is a delightful issue though, you are basically paying for the conversation between Zee and Bruce so check it out.

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Cable #2 Review

War Baby (Chapter 2)
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Ariel Olivetti

Summary:
We start the book with Cable and Bishop feuding. Bishop is intent on getting that baby. He has these octopus tentacles that choke out Cable, but the locals arrive in time. They tell Bishop and Cable to leave (with the persuasion of shotguns), and that is pretty key for Cable because he is losing blood from the gunshot last issue. We get a little flashback as to how Bishop sports that bionic arm. He got his arm sizzled off by Sunfire in the past. We see a little remix of the final chapter of MC here. Bishop shoots at the baby, Cable teleports, and the shot hits Xavier in the head. Bishop states that the only thing that kept him alive is knowing the baby is still out there somewhere. We see Bishop going to Forge to get his bionic arm that lets him teleport to the future. So Bishop starts jumping around, looking for Cable. He finds a milk bottle in the ground, and he knows that Cable is in this time stream. He asks the locals and finds out that he was here. After a bunch of trys, he finally finds Cable, and it goes back to the first scene of the book. The locals are still shooting at the mutants. Cable can't teleport now. He is stuck there in that shitty situation and Bishop is about to throw a semi at him.

Comments:
This was an ok issue. I like how Cable is getting some attention. Back in the day, I used to read Cable and Deadpool for the Civil War tie-ins. That was terrible. Cable is pretty much a man here. The highlight of this book was how Bishop was used. He ambushed Cable in the last issue, no one knew how he got there. I like how they spent this issue showing how Bishop got to that position. It was really well done. Nothing too much to say here. It is still very unclear how the baby plays into this. It is definetely a big deal though, so I am interested to see how that plays out. I don't think we will get the answer in this title though, so it won't get that kind of push.

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Secret Invasion #1 Review

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Leinil Yu

Summary:
We start the big event year's ago on the Skrull homeworld. It has been destroyed, and the Skrulls are going back to the Queen. Back to the present. Tony is going to tell us how he knows that the Skrulls have taken over this world. We see that Elektra was a Skrull. She is laid out, in Skrull form with her Elektra gear. Tony shows Pym and Reed this, and he says he doesn't trust them. We go to SWORD, which is a space station. They oversee a Skrull ship headed to Earth. I am not sure what time period this is in but just hang with me here. They call for Tony. Back to the Skrull-Tony scene. Tony receives word from SWORD that a Skrull ship has landed. Tony leaves to check out the scene, but he doesn't clue in Pym or Reed about it. Tony calls Spider-Woman and tells her whats up. Woman goes and tells Luke Cage of the Secret Avengers. Luke tells his crew they are going to raise some hell. Secret Avengers just jack Tony's Quinjet. Tony is just incredibly pissed by this predicament. Off to Savage Land. Dinosaurs attack the Quinjet. They luckily escape and track out on the Savage Land. They get to the ship, but the Avengers arrive too. Lots of tension between Luke and Stark. Luke ends up opening the ship. Just as he does this, the bigshot SHIELD hero on SWORD turns out to be a Skrull. He blows up SWORD! Tony gets plastered in jelly. The Butler of the Avengers is a Skrull. Shit just hit the fan here. ALIEN VIRUS DETECTED just goes off on all SHIELD stuff. Skrulls everywhere. Just kidding. But seriously, everything goes to hell. A prison holding villains gets opened up because of this virus thing. Everything goes to hell, seriously. I think Captain Marvel just revealed himself as a Skrull. Not sure though, but he did break into Thunderbolts Mountain. Sue is a Skrull. She goes into the Baxter building and opens up the negative zone. Ok so i am very lost here. A bunch of heroes (Cap, Wolverine, Tony) come out of the ship. They talk human, and they know who they are. The other heroes look on in bewilderment. Agent Brand, who is floating around in space, calls for help. A ton of Skrull ships come on in to Earth. Back to the lab. Reed figures out how to detect the Skrulls. Just as he makes this astonishing discovery, Pym blasts him in the head, and reveals himself to be a Skrull.

Comments:
That was a very fun issue. Nothing really too structured here, just a lot of chaos. I don't think we learn anything too significant. Pym is a Skrull. The Avengers Butler is a Skrull. Sue is a Skrull (or maybe not). Captain Marvel might be a Skrull. The whole fight between the SHIELD guys and the Secret Avengers was a bit distracting, but it was fun. I really was entertained by all the things that happened. I was totally against this Skrull thing like a year ago. I thought they were lame and they didn't do anything to pique my interest. BMB is really going to make Secret Invasion a fun read. I am looking forward to all of the issues. The art is fantastic. Like seriously, this is some of the best art I have seen. I guess all of the Big Events get big time artists, and Yu is definetely a big time artist. It is not really clear what happens with the Skrulls. It is clear that they are smart and they are intent on taking over the Earth. The whole scene where all the heroes come out of the ship confused the hell out of me. I have no idea, I'm just going to go with it. This is just a set up issue, so you can't really expect too much, but i was satisfied.

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