Best to Worst of Last Week

Gwen always tells me she hates the intros and “outros” that we do on many of our post and I can understand her reticence in trying to determine what to write. I find that I can make it as innocuous as I want as they really just serve as a little offset before you jump into the actual heart of the post. I also find this is a place where I can vent my opinion on some subject matter that would not make up a decent post.

Dominion #5 (of 5)- Writer Michael Allan Nelson, Art Tim Hamilton, Colors Fran Gamboa & Pablo Quiligotti. – A terrific ending to a well done mini-series. Richard Urbanski pays the ultimate price to save the day from the virus. I enjoyed how the narration of the book in the beginning and end was the speech being made at his funeral. The other part that I really enjoyed about this series is that Urbanski was a thinking man’s hero along the lines of Adam Strange. In this issue he encounters a super powered person whose skin acts as a protective coating. So Urbanski shoots him inside his mouth to see if that was coated also and it wasn’t. A great story about one guy who embodied the hero ideal in every sense of the word and we don’t see enough of them in comics today.
Green Lantern #28 – Writer Geoff Johns, Pencils Mike McKone, Inks Andy Lanning w/ Marlo Alquiza & Norm Rapmund, Colors Jo Smith. - The Alpha Lantern story line concludes and the Guardians announce the 2nd new law. Also we get to see the first of the Red Lanterns and the beginnings of the orange lanterns. Plus once the 2nd law is passed authorizing lethal force to all enemies of the GL Corps. We see Hal visiting Sinestro as he gleefully tells Hal that the Corps will bring order to the Universe as he brought order (fascism) to his world. Then he tells Hal how much he believes in the corps. A chilling scene then lies the seeds for the future. I always enjoy Mike McKone’s pencils and Geoff Johns may have a seminal run with his work on Green Lantern, another terrific issue.
Scalped #15 – Writer Jason Aaron, Art R.M. Guera, Colors Giulia Brusco – This series is hitting home run after home run and the Dead Mothers arc is one of the hardest hitting arcs and I have read and the depth of the emotion is just unbelievable. You really feel for Dash Bad Horse as he presents an “I don’t care attitude” about his mother’s death, but you can feel it eating away at him. This story is juxtaposed over the story of the death of a young boy’s mother that Dash has taken under his wing. Dash is investigating that murder, but not his own mother’s murder. Add it the confrontation with Red Crow when he accused him of killing his mother and you get a very rich and complex story just brimming with emotion. The always raw nasty edge to this story still exist as we see a gruesome act of torture is used by an associate of Red Crow to elicit information from a prisoner.
Twelve #3 (of 12) – Writer J. Michael Straczynski, Pencils Chris Weston, Inks Garry Leach, Colors Chris Chuckry. – This book has been so good that I can almost nominate for the best book of the week every issue that has come out. This issue we saw a family confrontation as an old hero returns home to find hatred from his son. The reason is that the hero had changed his name so he would not have to deal with the prejudice that Jews faced in pre-war America. His son despises him for that fact and has taken back their true name and heritage. The crestfallen hero returns back to his comrades and paints a different picture. This part of story was great as it points out how many immigrants who could blend in would do so; the Irish were hated at certain points in our history also. It even makes you think how short sighted the son was to turn his father out without understanding that maybe what his father did was the best thing he could do at the time. Many other touches emanate throughout this series. One such touch is a line of narration as the Phantom Report is following the Black Widow and having thoughts of an affair with her he thinks “I follow her our of the door the way a man tired of his life walks into the arms of the sea. Thinking, even as he sinks, beautiful, so beautiful..” First it is a nice line and straight out of the old 40’s movies, which is how a man from that era would think. Another touch was during the origin story of the “Fiery Mask” the Mask states “I awoke in the lair of a twenty foot tall mad scientist who was the master of the zombies, he called himself --- “The Zombie Master”. That could have been a line lifted in tact from a golden age book. It made me laugh out loud. So far we have a fantastic well written book with lush and detailed art that excels and seals the deal on this being the total package.
Penance Relentless #5 (of 5) – Writer Paul Jenkins, Art Paul Gulacy, Colors Rain Beredo – This was an excellent ending to a surprising mini-series. Robbie turns out to be quite the manipulator of events as he uses the stolen money to ensure Stamford is able to complete the memorial. Also he brutally beats the every living crap out of Nitro and then tortures him for killing all of those people, but he doesn’t kill him. I’m not sure if not killing him keeps Robbie as a real “hero”, but it was a very good read, great Gulacy art and a mini-series worth the price of entry.
Logan #1 (of 3) – Writer Brian K. Vaughn, Art Eduardo Risso, Colors Dean White – First off I have to admit to being a huge Eduardo Risso fan. His art work is phenomenal. His layouts and story telling abilities are excellent and the way he spots his blacks and shadowing is second to none. Finally, most of his women have a voluptuousness nature to them that is very sexy. The story was also top notch as we start with Logan returning to face off with an old enemy and then we go back 6o years to learn what this is all about. Logan and another man (Warren) are Japanese prisoners in WWII. Logan and Warren escape and Logan sends Warren on his way after saving a Japanese kill from Warren killing her. She befriends Logan and they start a relationship. Logan asks if he is in heaven and she tells him no Hiroshima. I loved that ending and I also like that it is only 3 issues long. The $4 price tag is steep as we still only got 23 pages of story and art, but paid 133% more then a regular comic.
Pax Romana #2 (of 4) – Created, Written and Illustrated by Jonathan Hickman – First off kudos to Hickman to give us an apology and explanation of what is going on with the three mini-series he has coming out from Image. I appreciate having the creator let me know what is happening in the actual book. Next, this is a great series. This issue we see how the time travelers are going about changing history. Forearmed with knowledge of history they go about setting up Constantine as the Emperor of all of a Rome years before it would have ever happened. I’ll be curious to see what we see happening next issue as once you change history, controlling the “new” history I would think becomes harder. Hickman’s books so far are some of the more intellectually stimulating books on the stands.
Justice League New Frontier Special – Chapter X- The Greater Good – Writer and Artist Darwyn Cooke – What a great story about why Batman managed to beat Superman and stay a vigilante while other heroes were rounded up by the government. Chapter X fits into the New Frontier saga perfectly, but it also is missing from my New Frontier Absolute Edition. Not a big deal, but a little annoying. The story and art were great as Batman gets a heads up Superman is gunning for him and sets a trap to take Superman down. Wonder Woman comes in to end the fight and helps forge a truce between Batman and Superman. This was a wonderful addition to the New Frontier story. Two other back up and very short stories were also in this book and both were okay, but really throw away stories.
Nightwing –Writer Peter Tomasi, Pencils Rags Morales, Inks Michael Bair, Mark Propst & Sandu Florea, Colors Nathan Erying and Hi-Fi. I really can help but be happy with this book. It is such a pleasure to have this book being done right again after years of neglect and abuse. Rags work is stunning and his depiction of the acrobatics of Nightwing is phenomenal. The natural intermixing of the DCU characters is also well done and the reference to current continuity story lines, the family feeling with Bruce, Dick, Tim and Alfred, the new girl friend, it all works very well, The building mystery as to why corpses of metas are being stolen is moved forward at a steady pace. Normally I might think it was too slow, but with all that Peter is doing on the book to establish a complete person I think the pace is working perfectly.
Atom #21 – Writer Rick Remender, Pencils Pat Olliffe, Inks John Stanisci, Colors Alex Beyaert – The new creative team starts and does a great job from the jump. Building on all the great stuff Gail Simone had put into this series and then Rick twists it into his own. Rick’s story is about the Atom taking a hard look at himself and trying to determine if he is the root cause of all Ivy Town’s problems. At the end we are left with Panda being kidnapped by a molecular sized monster that Ryan expanded to study. Pat Oliffee brings the sharpest looking art to the book the series has ever had.
Northlanders #4 – Writer Brain Wood, Art Davide Gianfelice, Colors Dave McCaig. This series just continues to improve. Sven continues to take out bits and pieces of his Uncle’s men and is growing in stature among the people. During the winter Sven retreats and lives with a young girl to help each other survive. During this time Sven’s Uncle has his men research Sven’s previous life and they manage to find his lover and they bring her head back and give it to Sven. This is a wonderful hard edge tale that you would expect of a Viking story with artwork that was good to begin with and is getting better.
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Terry Moore’s Echo #1 – Story and Art – Terry Moore. Since I never read Strangers in Paradise I only knew that Terry’s art was very realistic and a very appealing style. Reading an entire issue the art did not fail to hold up to my expectations which were relatively high. The story I was unsure about as the premise sounded odd and it is odd, but after issue #1 I’m signed up on this book. Julie Martin is a photographer in a field when it starts to rain hard pellets of what she does not know. We know that the government shot missiles at a woman trying out a flying suit with an atomic bomb or something strapped on her back and I have to assume the rain is the fallout. A piece of the suit was also found by Julie and that suit piece and the pellets have now been absorbed into Julie’s skin. Where we go from there is issue #2. A really nice beginning.
Space Doubles #2 (of 5) – A really fun and wonderful little series. She the full review here.
Resurrection #3 – Writer Marc Guggenheim, Art David Dumeer. This is fast moving up the charts in my view, especially for post apocalyptic type stories. I appreciate the inside front cover giving us a rundown as to who is who as it helps to start my memory up to get back into the story a lot faster then just diving into the comic itself. I find that with new series the brief reminder is a big help. Once I have six issues or more under my belt I can skip the introduction. What I like about the story is that we have multiple storylines that we are following and therefore have a better chance to see the overall picture of what has happened to the world. The premise of what happens after the world is invades and taken over by aliens and now they have left has so much potential that I can see this series having a long life. David Dumeer is a good artist and I can see some flaws in his work, but I already feel like he is learning on each issue and I welcome seeing his ability mature over time.
The Sisterhood #1 (of 3) – Writers Christopher Golden & Tom Sniegoski, Art Wellington Alves, Colors Andrew Dalhouse. The premise is a secret order of Nuns that has been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church exorcises demons from people. To protect the world at large they take the demon into themselves and hold them captive. Their faith protects them from the demons and allows them to tap into their power. If they die a natural death the demon dies with them. The story revolves around someone (apparently from within the order) is killing the Nuns and releasing the demons. It appears the Eden will be the main good guy and Vanessa as the main bad guy, but I hope they are twins as they look exactly alike and both are total babes. Plus we have sword and gun fights with decapitations and heads blown off as they fight in their penguin outfits. And I should not forget to mention that we have a gratuitous shower scene of Eden showing as a naked back. Wellington Alves is a solid super hero artist and this book makes great use of those talents. I can see why Marvel hired him and would expect for him to become at regular at Marvel or DC. The story should be how some of the demons have taken over their vessels and as it is three parts it should wrap up quickly. For such an odd concept it is very entertaining and made me laugh, not because it is humorous, but for what it is.
Jonah Hex #29 – Writers Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Art Rafa Garres – This issue was called “Return to Devil’s Paw” and we find out about the Indian Tribe that lives in Devil’s Paw. The art by Rafa Garres gave this issue a rough and gritty look that gave this book a hard edge. The actual story was also as harsh as the art as the end was a group of soldiers came in and slaughter the entire tribe except for one lone brave whom Jonah saved. Another solid issue is what I consider the best western on the stands and certainly a top series.
End League #2 – Writer Rick Remender, Pencils Matt Broome, Inks Sean Parson, Colors Wendy Broome. The first issue did not leave much of an impression on me, but this issue the firth between Thor and Astonishing Man was a good one with the net result being both are presumed dead. Still with Astonishing Man dead I do not see how the End League can avoid being wiped from the face of the Earth. Also while the dystopian future is an interesting setting, I’ll be curious to watch this series develop as I’m not sure if that concept has long time viability for a series. In reading the criticism of this book that the characters are not very original, well what super hero is original anymore after 70 years of super hero comics? It is ultimately how you tell a story more then anything else. One problem I see for this book is with the dense plot and large cast the sixty days between issues is too long during the start of the series. My optimum choice would have been three monthly issue or more before going to a six times a year schedule.
North Wind #3 (of 6) – Writer David DiGilio, Art Alex Cal, Colors Renato Faccini. First I should mention the art on this book. Alex Cal is a very good artist and a one page panel he did of the Skinrunner overlooking the city was a great page. This has been a well structured story with issue one setting up the world we are in, issue two setting up who our central charter is going to be and this issue the beginning of his quest. The post apocalyptic setting is simply that at this point, the story is about the Skinrunner Pak who has come back to take revenge on the people who killed his mom and his community.
Dynamo 5 #11 – Writer Jay Faeber , Art Mahmud Asrar, Colors Ron Riley. This was another solid issue in this series. Jay has really created a family oriented book as Dynamo 5 is a group of half siblings we are also meeting the parents who raised the kids. This issue Slingshot is being blackmailed to save her Dad, and the rest of the group joins into help her against Maddie’s orders. The closeness of the kids is really shinning through in issue after issue, with fights between them, but coming together as a family when a crisis occurs. We also get a good cliff hanger as the group is teleporting back to headquarters into a trap. Mahmud’s art work is also improving as each issue comes out.
Streets of Glory #4 (of 6) – Writer Garth Ennis, Art Mike Wolfer, Colors Greg Waller. This is a very gory and violent western. I guess if the old west had as much violence as it is often depicted as having it may have been this bloody, but Ennis often goes for the shock value way too often. Shooting a horse through the head showing blood and guts spewing out and all the rest is really all for shock value and I guess to maintain the editorial standards of Avatar. I sometimes think what is funny is that Avatar has always been known for its playing to the ultra violence crowd and now the rest of the industry has gotten closer and closer to it, so Avatar must have to up the ante again. It actually distracts from what is a decent story about Colonel Dunn who is our old hard bitten remorseless gunslinger who has happened to run into his ex-wife and discovered an adult daughter he never knew. Mike Wolfer’s art is well done, but I believe the excellent coloring helps to make his art look better as he is good, but not as good as it looks when reading it. What I mean by that is I don’t slow down to really examine the art until after I read the story. So art works on one level to tell the story and keep the pace going and on the second level I look at for just the art.
Midnighter – Writer Keith Giffen, Pencils Lee Garbett, Inks Rick Burchett, Colors Wildstorm FX. This was the fastest read in comic books this week. Assassin8 shows up at Midnighter’s house and the two proceed to have a fight. This was one of the better fights I have seen in a comics in a long time. Often we just almost skip the actual fights as we have seen it all before, but we get to see the battle go on for page after page. I also think it served a good purpose to show that Midnighter was just not defeating this guy like he does everyone else. The bad guy wins, takes Midnighter’s implant for the door out and puts on his costume and is off to take out the rest of the Authority. Lee Garbett and Rick Burchett’s art is top notch work and just nice to look at.
Detective Comics #842 – Writer Peter Milligan, Pencils Dustin Nguyen, Inks Derek Fridolfs, Colors John Kaliz. This was a nice follow up to the Ras As Ghul story line. It was funny because I never really thought about the armor that Talia gave him, but someone decided it has special significance and crafted a well told tale about the armor. I also thought the Gotham Jack, which was a Jack the Ripper type, was a nice touch to add as a villain for the issue. A solid little one and done tale.
Grimm Fairly Tales #23 – Created & Story by Joe Tyler & Ralph Tedesco, Writer Raven Gregory, Art Jordan Gunderson, Colors Nei Ruffino. I have no clue why this book has become weekly all of a sudden, but it is on next week’s list yet again. The story is all about Belinda and Sela and apparently they are Snow White and Rose Red or at the very least their analogues in the “real” world. We also get the story of Rose Red and Snow White as Rose saves Snow from some trolls by sacrificing herself. This book has morphed from what it originally was to being a story of these sisters and the story itself is well done and a very enjoyable read. I just wonder what the next phase of this book will be as it cannot continue to be just about them. The cover was again total good girl art and it was a good one.
Young Liars #1 – Writer & Artist David Lapham, Colors Lee Loughridge. I had a fair amount of trepidation going into this series as the cover was not a real selling point for me and the premise was way too long. What we have is the beginning of a story about a girl named Sadie Dawkins and her friends. Sadie is a run away daughter of a Wal-Mart like billionaire. She also was shot in the head and the bullet has caused her to be extremely wild and violent. We are told she may only have a little while to live, but she is very alive at this moment. Danny Noonan is her want to be boy-friend and served as issue #1’s narrator, other cast members include Don Diego a transvestite, Annie X an ex-model who still struggles with her model years, CeeCee a girl who lost everything to marry and a rock star and was then dumped and more. In the first issue you get enough of a glimpse of these people to want to learn more and you know that being a around Sadie is bound to be trouble.
Supergirl #27 – Writer Kelley Puckett, Art Rick Leonardi & Dan Green with Drew Johnson and Ray Snyder, Colors Brad Anderson. It has been a fair amount of time since I have enjoyed an issue of Supergirl, but I liked this issue. We pick up exactly where we left off and find a person is trying to kill Kara. Her assassin and Kara get whisked off to a future, get in the middle of a fire fight and then Kara saves the man trying to kill her. He explains Supergirl is responsible for changing humanity into something more then human and he was trying to stop her. Then some future Batmen send her back to her own time. The assassin warns her to not save the boy who is dying of brain cancer which is where the last issue ended. It was wild, fast paced and crazy but set up a nice premise. Supergirl now has to decide if it is better to let nature takes its course and the boy dies or do the impossible and potentially change the world into what she never was able to determine. The art teams kept a very consistent look to the book and were solid all the way through. I get the feeling that the brouhaha over late books is causing more and more books to be split up to make sure deadlines stay on time.
Invincible Presents Atom Eve #1 (of 2) – Writer Genito Cereno, Art Nate Bellegarde, Colors Bill Crabtree. I really enjoyed this two part series that gave us the origin of Atom Eve. It shows that no one in the Kirkman Universe gets their unscathed. It was interesting as she learns who her true parents are and how she came to be. In a moment of blind rage she overcomes her blocked inability to manipulate organic matter and instead of saving her parents, kills her tormentors. Something that is sure to haunt her forever. The art was still not to my liking for this series. Nate’s work is very good and he does decent job and I would love to see his work on other books, but Atom Eve is always portrayed as a beautiful woman and in this series she is the ugly duckling
Uncanny X-Men #496 – Writer Ed Brubaker, Art Mike Choi, Colors Sonia Oback. The first issue of Uncanny X-Men I have like in a long time. The Logan, Peter and Kurt story is the best. Peter returns to Russia to visit his parents’ grave with two friends. They are drinking and discussing life, get in a bar fight and the Russian government finds out Colossus is still alive and wants him to stay. The Emma and Scott story about the San Francisco turning into a hippie dream was touched upon only lightly. It read well as both stories felt organic and like the book was going in its own way for a change as opposed to always moving towards some event. The art was clean and well done and while two scenes were out of movies (Scott landing in Golden Gate Park and cloaking the plan is lifted from Star Trek IV and the bar fight was partially lifted from the first X-Men movie) is was a strong effort.
Dead Space #1 (of 6) – Writer Anthony Johnston, Art Ben Templesmith. It starts with the ending, where a security officer from an off world project is radioing out telling anyone who can hear to just nuke the planet. Then we flashback to five weeks ago when a strange object is found that resembles some sort of object that a very scientologist type religion thinks is a “marker”. The unrest among that fraction is felt and people are starting to go nuts on the planet. A lot of set-up and a building sense of menace. A decent start to this story that feels very derivative, but it is a prologue to a video game and most of those are derivative by nature. I always enjoy Ben Templesmith’s artwork, but I think he needs to vary the people he uses as I almost recognize people from book to book.
Exterminators #27 – Writer Simon Oliver, Art John Lucas, Colors Brian Buccellato. This book was a quiet interlude before we move into the big war with the Mayan Hissers. It focused on Gloria (the newest Bug Bee Gone employee) and her son Danielo. It also set-up a mysterious person acquiring explosives. The artwork was really well done. Lucas has a cartoon like touch to his realistic style. Each panel was filled with an amazing amount of detail. An enjoyable issue.
Infinity Inc #7 – Writer Peter Milligan, Art Matt Camp. This series is starting to turn the corner with me and it might be because the art has gotten a lot better. This issue we have Matt Camp who is the only artist that I believe has a visual style close to Paul Gulacy’s style, yet is still very much his own work. It is a smooth, clean, realistic style that is very easy to read. Also the group is starting to be better defined. Natasha the niece of John (Steel) Henry has the ability to turn into mist. Gerome has the ability to split into at least two. Erik turns into Erika when under stress and seems to have a level of super strength. Lucia and Mercy maybe part of the group, but have not yet been fleshed out in a meaningful nature. This issue the group helps to stop another former everyman who was broadcasting his influence and causing some people to act in accord with their baser instincts. Next issue Pete Woods becomes the regular artist and hopefully this series will be given enough time to live up to what I think is now an interesting potential.
Teen Titans Year One #3 (of 6) – Writer Amy Wolfram, Art Karl Kerschl, Serge Lapointe & Steph Peru. This issue went a lot more for pure cartoon type laughs, but they worked. We have a scene where Wonder Girl is crying and the tears are so heavy it is like a waterfall and they are soaking all of the boys. Aqualad continues to look like a zombie on dry land, but he is also played for laughs. The shocker for me was the adventure with their mentors going bad was wrapped up in this issue as Robin mapped out a strategy to take their mentors down and that freed them from an alien influence. If that is the end of that story line I’ll be surprised as it wrapped up too fast. Just a fun little mini-series.
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Countdown to Adventure #7 (of 8) Adam Strange/Animal Man/Starfire Story: Writer Adam Beechen, Pencils Allan Goldman, Inks Julio Ferreira with Oclair Albert & Wilson Magalhaes, Colors The Hories. Expectations are an interesting thing for me with a comic book. My expectations had been knocked down to zero on this book as both series had crashed and burned for me, but the first story was not too bad. I guess I like to have some resolutions in my stories and this issue we saw Animal Man realize he now taps into animals throughout much of the Universe. Starfire gets her powers back and she used them to cure the Rannians. Now how they get back to Earth to save San Diego is the next problem. Nice touches showing Starfire gently brushing off Buddy and we are left wondering if Buddy understands it was a crush or if he has real feelings for Kory. Allan Goldman’s art is serviceable. He has decent layouts and can tell the story, but his art is not going to wow anybody at this stage of his career. Forerunner Story Writer Justin Gray, Art Fabrizio Fiorention & Adam Dekraker, Colors The Hories. The Forerunner story was not as good. She confronts the Monitor who tells her she was just a dog to him and Monarch and she is essentially unimportant and nothing that matters. He dismisses her and teleports back to her ship. Here ship is at the Source Wall and has lost all power and stranded in space that will lose life support in 48 hours. Still see no reason for this character. Is she a space pirate, a new alien hero on Earth that has lost her race or something else? Curious to see how it ends, as it will be a challenge to make her story have any meaning inside the DCU or to me.
Graveslinger #4 (of 4) – Writers Shannon Eric Denton & Jeff Mariotte, Art Nima Sorat, Colors Carlos Badilla Z. This was an enjoyable little mini-series as our “hero” saves the ranchers family and kills the “undead” prisoners who are harassing her, essentially saving the day. The surprise was that supposedly he still has over 100 more undead prisoners that he has to find and put back in the grave. As a one time mini-series this was fun, as an ongoing series of mini-series it was not that strong. Also the artwork was lacking. Not sure if the artist is still learning or just has no clue how to lay out a book, but it was basically three panels a page all the way through the book. Finally his actual drawing was not the strongest. I think they should have ended this story on this issue. Everything does not have to be a franchise.
Countdown Presents Lord Havok and the Extermists #5 (of 6) – Writer Frank Tieri, Pencils Liam Sharp with Mark Robinson, Inks Rob Hunter, Mark Irwin, Mark Pennington and Sandu Floera, Colors Dave Baron. We are building up to the concluding battle of the Extremists versus the Americommando’s forces and Monarch. Looking at the credits you get the feeling this book was falling behind schedule and that got everyone to chip in. This has been an entertaining mini-series, but I wonder if the Extremists are gone for good after the events of Countdown or we get to see them again.
Countdown To Final Crisis #8 – Head Writer Paul Dini with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Story Consultation Keith Giffen, Pencils Carlos Magno, Inks Rodney Ramos, Color Tom Chu. Essentially the Monitor Solomon and Darkseid are playing their cosmic chess game and Darkseid says he wins. Solomon goes to the heroes and sends them back to Earth. Ray (Atom) Palmer is upset as the virus in Karate Kid could kill everybody. This book is just sucking wind right now. If it was not this close to the end I would can it. I mean Jimmy Olsen shows up with a bunch of biker people I don’t know and they play no role whatsoever. We add these people in the last few issues and don’t use them. Darkseid is using Jimmy as a vessel for god powers so he can take them later, why? Trying to make any sense of this book is a wasted exercise. I’m counting down alright. April 23 the last issue of this quagmire.
Cable #1 – Writer Duane Swierczynski, Art Ariel Olivetti – Ariel’s work has a good quality to it, but it is also obviously totally computer created and it also has a stiffness and awkwardness about it with some panels. The story itself is pretty unimaginative as we are 35 years in the future and have had the global warming catastrophe that has apparently decimated much of the world. We get a cutesy picture of Cable changing diapers and then my friend Rusty’s favorite ending for a new number one; the main character is apparently killed at the end of the story. The whole “Messiah Complex” was about the only new mutant to be born and then Cable disappears into the future carrying this kid around. What are we going to roam in some alternative future earth scenario forever while waiting for what? There is no reason to read this comic. Cancelled.
New Dynamix #1 (of 5) – Writer Allen Warner, Art JJ Kirby, Colors Chris Walker. I have never been a big Wildstorm person, but I have certainly enjoyed many of their characters and series. Apparently this group includes some old WU people from times past, but none of them rang a bell with me and the story was nothing that held my interest. JJ Kirby’s art borders on a cartoon style and while it was okay, it also did not endear this book to me. Cancelled.
Vinyl Underground #6 – Writer Si Spencer, Pencils Simon Gane, Inks Cameron Stewart, Colors Guy Majors. This book is just not connecting with me on any level. I’m not even sure why it isn’t working. The art is absolutely fine, the writing is okay, I think it comes down to I don’t really like the main character and the story is not holding me in. Cancelled.

All the Countdown material went to the bottom this week. None of the spin offs have really been that good and I don’t see a lot of books launching out of Countdown. Also I cancelled three books this week, two were first issues and don’t really count, but Vinyl Underground just never really caught my attention, but I gave it a fair try out.

The plus side was huge this week and I could have made a case for any one of the top four being the winner, but Dominion is the final issue in that series and has no chance to fight for the top spot again. The main reason it won was that the hero in the story was the true definition of a hero and with so many books wanting to make every one have feet of clay, this book showed what a portrait of a true hero. I know if we “explored” everything about him that it would not be so ideal, but in the point of an ideal is something to aspire to. Finally Marvel made their strongest showing in a long time with three top tier books.