Blogcritics

Panels #8: DC Comics, Marvel Comics, etc.

Vichus Smith — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 05:51:35 EST

Reviews of DC, Marvel and independent comic books for November 2007 to January 2008.
Comics I LovedJustice Society of America #10It has to be impossible for a comic book to be this great with such consistency. For ten issues, I have not even disliked a Justice Society story. An older, grayer Superman appears in the present day. Through Starman and this older Superman, the Justice Society learn that this Superman has come from one...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Panels #7: DC, Image + Wildstorm

Vichus Smith — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:45:02 EDT

Loved:Dynamo 5 #3It is hard to find an issue of Dynamo 5. The damn thing has been selling out month after month, before I can get my hands on one. I hate that! I’m glad people are reading it, but I want mine on the day it comes out. This is a super team with a twist, a family of heroes who have not known each other for years until their father, Captain Dynamo, died. Dynamo was a ladies man and he slept around, which left five kids, each with exactly one of his powers.His last wife, Maddie Warner, brought them together and activated their powers, but she has other motives besides just having a touching family reunion. This issue, they have to confront Quake, a superhero who has to take meds to stay on the level. Maddie suggests that Myriad pose as his dead dad to get Quake to calm down, before Quake rips apart the city streets.The first page, in fact, made me laugh. I’ll let you read it for yourself. So the five go have a heart-to-heart with Quake, but in the end, there’s an unexpected, creepy twist. A kid shape-changing into his dead dad is creepy enough, but then the whole team gets creeped out by something else entirely. Next issue is Father’s Day, and that can’t be hard on five kids who never met their pervy dad. Not awkward at all. I love Dynamo 5, and it’s the only Image title I buy, sad to say. I should be buying more Image books, but my budget says otherwise. I love that Jay Faerber took the usual super team idea and shook it on its head. There are lots of young characters across many comic book imprints, but Dynamo 5 speaks in a voice that I can believe.Justice Society of America #7I don’t even think I need to read this book. I think I can just stare at the cover, knowing that whatever is inside must be great. From issue 1, I haven’t been bored at all. After solving the mystery of the Legion of Superheroes in the Lighting Saga crossover, the Justice Society gets back to family business. Before the Lightning Saga, a team of Nazis egged on by the immortal Vandal Savage started massacring the families of heroes old and new. One of those ambushes occurred at the family barbecue of Commander Steel’s family, and every man, woman, and child was considered a target. Nathan Heywood, who is a grandson of the original Commander Steel, had his leg surgically removed, ruining his sports career. To feel like a has-been and to be attacked with no way to save your family must be the greatest hell on Earth, especially when your relatives have been superheroes in the past. Through luck (or maybe misfortune), Nathan hits one of the Nazi attackers in his throat, and some organic liquid metal drips onto him. Dr. Midnite tells him what this freak accident has turned Nathan into, and what it means for the rest of Nathan’s life.In short, Nathan is walking steel, but he can no longer live life as an average human. In the middle of calming Nathan down, Dr. Midnite also has good news for him. That doesn’t change the fact that Nathan is now so strong that he can’t touch anything without crushing it. Luckily, a smart guy like Mr. Terrific is a member of the JSA and he can do some mumbo-jumbo pseudo-science to make Nathan’s life more tolerable.There is some fighting, some good old fashioned Nazi punching in this ish, but this is really about Nathan becoming Citizen Steel. The Justice Society of America is heartwarming, exciting, and is one of, if not the best written DC book right now. Green Lantern #21After the phenomenal Sinestro Corps Special one-shot, the only place to take this roller coaster is down. I am elated that the tension is still holding. Green Lantern 21 is about the aftermath of the Sinestro Corp dismantling the Green Lantern Corps in one fell swoop. It was a grand display of their power, and proof that Sinestro is not to be taken lightly at all. Yeah, he’s still the purple guy with the mustache, but he is evil to the bone.This issue is told from Hal Jordan’s point of view, and he’s reflecting on how his life took a bad turn. He recently turned into Parallax and he lost the trust of a lot of his fellow corps members. Guy Gardner and John Stewart are on his side; but if I was a Corps member, I wouldn’t trust him either! Forget that he was the best Green Lantern of all time, he was as destructive as Sinestro’s team is now. Poor, poor Hal. Now the Sinestro Corps has Kyle Rayner, and fear is setting in for Hal Jordan. I’m scared for the whole damn Green Lantern Corps. Geoff Johns is upping the stakes for the Green Lantern series, and I have no idea who will make it out alive. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the big name Green Lanterns die during the Sinestro Corps War. Sinestro has gathered very powerful allies, and the game is all but won for him. I love this event. Why should I though? I know who Green Lantern and the members of the Corps are, but I’m not a reader of Green Lantern. I have to hand it to Sinestro. Sinestro may not win this fight, but he has scored a definite victory for both the Green Lantern title and DC Comics. If you are not reading this, and you call yourself a DC reader, shame on you. Liked: Action Comics #851It’s 3D, kids! Get out your 3D glasses! I’m not a kid. I’m also pretty sure that these stupid glasses were meant for kids, but I don’t know that any kids are reading Action Comics. Maybe they could have thrown in a larger pair for we grown geeks who want to see the pretty shapes in the Phantom Zone. It’s a waste of a gimmick, and they should have scrapped it. I don’t need 3D that bad.I think the 3D confused me more than entertained me. Still, I was excited, because Superman meets an old friend in the Phantom Zone. I really wish he could bring this guy back. It must be dull to be living in the Phantom Zone when you were so much more outside that world.What I didn’t like in this issue is Adam Kubert’s drawing of Superman and the Kryptonian Wheel of Cheese (you’ll know exactly what I mean if you’ve read the book). I want to read the next part of the story, though, because Lex Luthor is up to new tricks with a few of his friends.All Flash #1Someone, please tell me why this is called All Flash? This is like when Saturday morning cartoons are called “all new.” Of course it’s all new! What, were they going to give us half a new episode? I call this false adversiting, because two Flashes are now dead, Jay Garrick Flash doesn’t show up, and one of these speedsters is Inerta, an evil clone of Bart Allen.Part of this one-shot is about Wally West’s return at the end of the Lightning Saga with his family in tow. The art is done by a crew of artists, but I only needed one: Karl Kerschl. Karl’s style is the most unique of these five artists working on All Flash, with a cartoon take on the Scarlet Speedster. The rest of these guys aren’t anything special.I wasn’t excited reading All Flash because it’s just about Wally West playing catch up with the world he left since Infinite Crisis. what I’m even less excited about is Flash #231, with Wally West’s kids. It looks stupid. If you are a flash fan and a stickler for continuity, or if you want to see what Flash does to Inertia, I guess you have to read All Flash. Otherwise, I think it’s skippable.Hated: The Programme #1Maybe hate is a strong word. I am just not interested. When I finished reading, I thought “Hellboy, but not as interesting or funny.” The cover boy The Programme is some kind of mythological ubercommie who many people speak of but have no evidence of. The story starts during and takes place in the present. There’s some guy and he can’t get it up and he feels strange. It’s obvious that he is not who he thinks he is, and he is connected to this mythical Russian fighter. I am not into it. I have no problem with the art whatsoever, but I don’t think this was strong enough of a #1 to get me excited for the series. Maybe I’ll take a quick peek at #2 or catch some preview images on the web and be proven a fool, but I’m not into The Programme right now.

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire

Panels #6: Marvel Comics

Vichus Smith — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:17:37 EDT

Loved:Nova #4 Out of all the new titles coming out of Marvel, I am rooting for Nova the hardest. I still don’t know who Dan Abnett or Andy Lanning are, but they’re doing a remarkable job of writing the story of Richard Rider and they’ve been piquing my fascination so far. With issue 4, we’re already into crossover territory with Anihilation: Conquest, and I thought this would ruin my fun and force me to read some other event title. Thankfully, it doesn’t. Nova decided in issue 3 that he needed to do his job as space cop and look for some disturbances around the cosmos. This time, something finds him before he finds them. A techno organic race known as the Phalanx (remember them, '90s readers?) is up to no good, and Nova decides to smash all their big purple robots. Everything is going alright until the Phalanx and the beautiful green alien Gamora throw even more robots at him. Richard Rider - Nova to you - has to think fast and make some desperate decisions. The story flashes to a Kree character who has her own problems. Without spoiling it, Nova shows up again, and I was shocked. I can’t give away too much, because none of what I saw in the last few pages of this issue was expected. I did know beforehand about who was on the cover of issue 5, but the game has been changed for the Nova title. Anything can happen from then on, and for an issue that’s tied into Annihilation: Conquest I didn’t notice where the event ties in at all. I guess the Phalanx has something to do with it. Whatever. Nova has been great since issue 1. I didn’t know I would be this interested in a cosmic or space title, but Richard Rider is an average guy who just happens to be the last remaining Nova Corp member, a defender of Earth and any other planet in need. I think Abnett and Lanning do a better job of making Nova look great than I do, but I hope that my singing the praises of this title gets you to pick it up as well.X-Factor #21 X-Factor is back on track. In the last arc, Jamie Madrox and crew were taking on a group named X-cell, or something like that. Wasn’t too impressed with that detour. Now, X-Factor is moving on with a new villain and some new weirdness going on. For a moment, I thought this issue was going to be a rehash of old conflicts between the principal character, but that drama does not last long. We get it, Madrox made it uncomfortable for the ladies of X-factor Investigations to live with each other. We had two issues of that before. The story’s moving on to other topics, like Strong Guy meeting up with an old acquaintance or Layla Miller and her new French roommate having odd conversations about bathroom habits. Plus, we have a new romance (or a fling) developing in X-Factor. Again, I’m glad we moved on from Jaimie Madrox and his duplicate's bed-hopping. Also, as readers of X-Factor know, the team investigates cases for their clients which are usually mutant related. This time, they’ve been hired to lure a couple of kids out of the clutches of their mutant-hating parents. These kids are almost certainly based on the real group Prussian Blue, the oh-so-cute girls who happen to be the children of a white supremacist family. So you Law & Order fans can enjoy something “ripped from the headlines.” If you don’t enjoy real life influencing the story, our new baddie, who is on the cover, can hear thoughts to the point of needing drugs to sedate himself. He lives alone, but for some reason he comes to Madrox, calling himself a kindred spirit to Jaime. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I want some big strange man telling me that he and I were meant to meet each other. Peter David is still doing great work on X-Factor. This looks to be a good arc already, but I could be wrong.Runaways #27 Back to the future! I didn’t get why we went from the Punisher shooting a rocket at these children of villains, but by the end it all made sense. The Leapfrog, the Runaways’ primary mode of transportation, spirited them away to the past, without explanation. When they first figure out where they are, they are cautious because they don’t want to cause any time-altering ripples. Being the good guys that they are, eventually the Runaways go into action and attract the attention of a curious man. Whether he wishes them good or ill isn’t fully discovered within this issue. What you do find out is that even decades ago, people with superhuman abilities did exist, and they are called Wonders. I guess that’s a play on Marvels, right? There is no action in this issue, but I still love, love, love Joss Whedon taking over for Brian K Vaughn. Whedon has a style I’ve loved for years and the art of Michael Ryan is the sweet icing on top. Shout out to the colorist, too, because when the Runaways get into clothes fitting of the time period, they look great, especially Nico. You can never go wrong with black.New Avengers #32 Damn, I hate a skrull. If you read Marvel comics, and you don’t know what happened in issue 31, then I’m going to ruin it for you. Elektra, current leader of the Hand ninja, turned out to be a skrull in disguise. Around the net, readers have been going nuts about “if Elektra’s a skrull, then who else is?” I think Brian M. Bendis was well aware of what people would say in response to this twist, and it shows. With a skrull carcass in tow, the whole group takes a Rand private jet back to New York, so they can sort this mess out. This is when the accusations and wild theories fly, and no one can be trusted. It’s funny, because Doctor Strange did some sort of spell to see if everyone in the group was to be trusted, and everyone came out clean. That is, if Doctor Strange isn’t really a skrull and he just pretended to do a “trust spell.” Eventually, someone’s going to crack, and someone does. I’d crack too, if everyone was pointing fingers at one another. In what I as a Marvel fan can only call hilarious, Wolverine goes into detail about how everyone has changed, making them prime candidates as skrull doubles. It sounds just like a Marvel diehard complaining about how “out of character” people have acted in recent events. Again, I think that Brian Bendis is playing with this book, and he’s playing a good game. The ending, although unexpected by me, should have been obvious. Yeah, why wouldn’t that happen? Liked:Loners #4(of 6)This little book has spunk. In the Marvel Universe, this group of former heroes doesn’t make a blip on the radar of readers. You have one of the members of the Power Pack family, the least well known Spider-Woman, a member of the defunct Slingers, some chick code named Turbo and the other, other Green Goblin. The most famous member I would argue is Darkhawk. He’s insane. Green Goblin Phil Urich, nephew of Frontline writer Ben Urich, has taken in a genetically modified creature who tried to kill him and the Loners a couple issues back. Like the average guy, he came to an understanding about this female creature because a) she’s attractive, even though she has gigantic claws for hands, and b) because she kissed him. If Captain Kirk did it, why not Phil? Julie Power is on the Marvel Studios lot trying out for a part in the Civil War movie, based on the recent fight between Marvel’s heroes. Ricochet tries out as well. With their powers, they get the parts, but lie about being registered. All is not great with getting the big part, and here comes the drama. It’s back to the circle with the other former heroes to talk about the troubles of putting on tights. There’s not action in this issue, which sucks, but I like this random compilation of has-beens. What sells me every time are the covers. Some of them have been based on '80s comedies, but I’m at a loss as to whether this cover is based on an '80s movie of any sort. Sorry, I was in diapers for a good part of that decade. The art inside is “eh” but this is just a miniseries, so I don’t feel like picking this up monthly is that much of a problem.New Warriors #2 I am going to stick with this title. Why? I can’t spoil it, but one of the mysterious new New Warriors team members does a big reveal, and it surprised me. Maybe it was obvious to people from issue 1, but now that I see who one of the members is, I might have to crack open Generation M for clues on who else the team consists of. Wind Dancer, who used to be part of the New X-Men gang, is now empowered and she has been recruited by the New Warriors. The New Warriors are on Iron Man’s crap list because they’re doing just about the same as the New Avengers did during Civil War. They’re not doing anything “wrong” by taking down villains one after another, but Iron Man won, and the initiative is now law. Led by Night Thrasher, who should be (and maybe is) dead, they have the attention of not only S.H.I.E.L.D. but the cops and other marvel groups as well. While Tony Stark and Carol Danvers can’t figure out who these people are, Wolverine’s on the case and it looks like he knows one of the NW members for sure. Look for Wolverine in yet another Marvel title! Two cops may have gotten an idea as to why the New Warriors have come back with a vengeance, but I still can’t tell what their agenda is. Maybe they’re just out to help. Whatever the reason, all I know is that I like this book. My big problem, though, is with the art. Yes, this is comics, and every woman can be hot. However, not every marvel character has a nice rack! Mix it up a bit, or maybe, I don’t know, pick up an old issue of X-men or Generation X. Thor #1 Thor is back! So why do I care? I don’t know, really. I guess I just like Thor because he was an Avenger. Or maybe I just got this issue because it’s a #1. This is not only a #1 issue, but it’s also the return of Thor -- the real Thor, and not some man-made clone. There’s not so much to say, other than that Thor decides to come back from whatever Ragnarok limbo he was caught up in, and he starts his life once again as Donald Blake. Before he does, though, he has to fight his way back, literally. J Michael Straczynski’s a good writer, but I’ll wait for further issues to see what he can really do with the God of Thunder. This is just some pretty prose setup. And if you’re wondering, yes, I do like Thor’s new chain mail look. Uncanny X-Men #488 After going to the deepest parts of space, where do the X-Men decide to go? Straight to the sewer. Something is rotten in Morlock territory. What it is still is not clear. Something about a book and a prophecy. How many books with prophecies are out there? Is this one of the most tired plot devices in comics? Is everything that will ever happen to these characters written down? Lame. So a small X-Men team, led by Storm, go looking into the Morlok tunnels to help Caliban and find out what happened to Leech. I’m pro Ed Brubaker and I loved the space adventure the X-Men had in the last arc. Plus I think this ties into the mutant massacre. It seems that every book involved with mutants has some sort of way people are trying to find a solution or are reacting to the decimation of the mutants as a race. Speaking of reactions to the mutant decimation, Endangered Species, a story being told in the back of all X-books, is included here, raising the cost of the book a dollar. I have to say that I am enjoying this story about Beast and his search for answers. I had to wonder, though, why Beast looks so similar to the beings the High Evolutionary created. Why, I don’t know. Maybe Beast should make himself a new home on the Wundegore mountains and hang out with cat chicks. Mike Carey is warm and cold with me, but I think he’s got a firm grasp on this story. Maybe I would sing its praises if I didn’t have to pay another buck to read it. Throw me a bone, Marvel!Hated:None. You have to do a horrendous job of writing a book for me to hate it. Maybe next week.

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire

Panels #4: Reviews of Recent DC Comics

Vichus Smith — Sat, 2 Jun 2007 23:22:46 EDT

Birds of Prey #104I’m not one to deny people their praise, so here goes: Birds of Prey is well written, well drawn and a truly satisfying read. Birds, with its all-female group of heroes is under the mighty gaze of writer Gail Simone, and I haven’t missed an issue since. So by now the Birds of Prey have finished their mission and are on their way home, but since this is a comic book, there is little downtime for women who want to make the world a better place.Issue #104 opens with a Russian fairytale. Something about a “Maiden Tower.” I’m guessing you’re scratching your head, too. That’s not a tale I’d ever read in school. This legend of the Maiden Tower might have something to do with the villain group Secret Six. They are putting on their best formal attire in a plot to steal some high tech Russian hardware.I had never read a comic starring or featuring the Secret Six, a team that spun out of Infinite Crisis, but just from this issue alone, I think I will enjoy seeing how well they can fare against some of the best female super heroines in the DC universe. If you are as in the dark as I am about the Secret Six, we learn the basics about the team through Oracle, who can whip up some dossiers in the click of a mouse. By the time she informs the Birds on who they're up against, I learned what these villains for hire were capable of as well. If I was someone who stayed with a book based on looks alone, I would buy this issue for as long as Nicola Scott was on it. However, I need some good content to go with good art. Luckily, Simone’s on the case. There isn’t a terrible amount of action in this issue, but she establishes the fight the Secret Six are in for against the Birds of Prey. Members from each team play off one another while out of costume, and what we’re left with once the Birds give chase to the Six is a cliffhanger. Again, I don’t know everything about every DC character, so I hope Simone can explain why this last-page revelation is so important.My Ruling:Loved it!Teen Titans #45Some families have a strained relationship. Sometimes it gets so bad that they're at each other’s throat. In Teen Titans, that is literally the case. The villainous assassin Deathstroke has been a pain in the side for years, and he’s also been a horrible father to Jericho and Ravages, his son and daughter. The Teen Titans, Batgirl, and Deathstroke all have a very full plate.As soon as the Titans restructured their group with new members, Deathstroke revealed a Titans team formed in his own warped image. He calls the team Titans East, and they have their own nightmarish T-shaped tower in New York City. This new tower has become an S&M playground, full of tortures fit for each of the Teen Titans. While Jericho, Ravager, and Batgirl try to exact vengeance against Deathstroke, all of the other titans fight to break free of their respective traps. For this arc, the fight has been intense and the dialogue has been nothing short of sharp. Issue #45 is more of the same. The art (from some guy with a really long last name) is tight and the writing is one of the best examples of comic book writing you will find anywhere. Geoff Johns is brilliant, and he has yet to let me down with his run on Titans. I don’t know how Adam Beechen fits into this, but his name is in the credits as “script writer.” If he added anything at all, it must have been beneficial, because I see nothing wrong with this issue at all.My Ruling:Loved it!Justice League of America #7This re-launch of Justice League has caught hell from readers who think the story has been going too slow and in the wrong direction. As someone who doesn’t have that much of a history as a DC comics reader, I didn’t find much fault with the first six issues. I have to agree that it took a really long time for Brad Meltzer to get the team together and officially call them the new Justice League. In fact, there is still some official business to get out of the way in this issue.Already, I have to complain. Haven’t we done this already? This membership ritual was done at the start, and I don’t think we needed it again. I don’t think we need to see the members all get their membership cards. Let that be said and not shown. Meltzer must love tradition, because he doesn’t mind taking up a quarter of the issue running through the history of the JLA.It is a rich history, and one I want to know more about, but I think Meltzer might lose an audience that wants a little more “Bang!” and “Pow!” for their $4. He is teasing his readers. He’ll mention things in a panel or two, knowing that they mean a lot for the issues to come, but will the readers remember Geo force’s revelation or the Starro when they have to wade through all the dialog?I love the art, and I like that Meltzer has a fine grasp on DC history, but we need to get moving already! It’s okay to write, but let’s fight! Get on with it, Meltzer. It’s a bit silly to have a whole crew of metahuman head-crackers and little to no action.My RulingLiked it.

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire

Panels #3: Reviews of Recent Marvel Comics

Vichus Smith — Tue, 8 May 2007 21:13:36 EDT

1. Runaways #25Can Runaways ever be the same now that Brian K. Vaughn has left the series? It can, because he’s left it to Joss Whedon, who’s claimed to be a fan of the series, and it shows. If, by some strange series of events, Joss crashed and burned on take-off, at least we have a dynamite cover by Jo Chen and magnificent work within the issue by Michael Ryan and the art team.I don’t pay attention to who draws what as much as I’d like to, but I notice when I’m looking at something I like. I like the art of this issue, probably more than any other issue of Runaways. It’s not just the colors, but it’s how detailed every crack, joint, and strip of cloth was paid attention to. I’ll tell you a secret. In the back of my mind, I think about what a book is worth. In the case of Runaways, I think this issue is worth full price. That’s even before I tell you about Joss Whedon taking over the book. I was scared that while he may have taken over two hours of my life each week with the Buffy and Angel TV shows, he couldn’t take on what Brian K. Vaughn has done, could he?Yes, Whedon has done quite an outstanding job with Astonishing X-men, but the X-men has decades of history to augment his writing strength with. At the very least, I wanted him to get Molly right. It’s important to get her dialogue right.Joss Whedon has done more than that. He’s not only made a good first step in getting the characters right, but he’s maintained their depth, and he’s put together a plot that will allow the young, anti-adult heroes to sidestep that whole Superhuman Registration Act thing.The Runaways have gone to the right coast (everyone should at least once, maybe twice) to New York. If you’re in New York, and you’re the children of very bad people, then you’re bound to find some major league players who are interested in you. I’ll leave you to figure out who the Runaways have a dinner date with. Now, these kids have to begrudgingly have to do some growing up, in order to impress all the people who know they’ve offed their villainous rents.This issue is the full package. There are relationship issues, verbal conflict, verbal sparring, military grade weaponry, sexuality issues, and constant confusion on my behalf. Alien-man-woman-Skrull-girlfriend what? By last page, the Runaways are faced with not one, but two violent nut cases. One is a hero, and the other is totally new to me. All right, Whedon. I’m strapped in. Floor it.My Ruling:Loved it!2. Heroes for Hire #8If you’ve got nothing else to read, then please pick up Heroes for Hire, will ya? Heroes for Hire stars the lesser-known ladies of the Marvel Universe and Black Cat. I still don’t get where Black Cat fits in. Anyway, I am still going to bat for this book, because it’s a lot of C-level fun.The H4H are still up against the Headmen, the strangest group of baddies in the Marvel Universe. I wouldn’t have known that they have a history as Marvel Villains if I hadn’t read a book on villains that included them. Simply, the Headmen are a bunch of people who have grafted their heads on unlikely bodies. One member is just the opposite, with a red globe for a head and the body of a seductress. It’s just odd.Add a Doombot into the mix and you’ve got exactly what the H4H is about; they’re a band of good guys who get paid to do what other superhero teams can’t, or won’t. In issue 8, one of the team members might have paid a grave price for accepting this case, and it has Shang Chi mad. I like the master of Kung Fu when he’s mad. I like him a lot. With bare fists and hands drenched with blood, Shang uses nothing more than his martial arts ability to take on all the Headmen. They’ll learn that you shouldn’t ever piss Shang Chi off.After the smoke has cleared and the blood has been washed off, seeds of a romance begin to bud. Romance is great, but the Heroes for Hire are out for something more, something green. When they come to collect, the team learns of their next job. They get a double shock: one from the target they have to catch and the other from the one who gives them their intended target. If my description of this issue doesn’t get you hyped and curious about this series, then the only way I can get you to check out the new Heroes for Hire is by checking out the cover! I laughed at Doombot staring on as the H4H girls stroke their phalluses and pose seductively. Who needs Emma Frost when you’ve got these four hotties?My Ruling:Loved it!3. Cable & Deadpool #38I don’t care if you don’t find Deadpool funny! I do! The cover was odd, with a zero-chinned Deadpool; at least he’s wielding some fucking hot ass uzis in each hand. If you just happened to pick this book up, Deady’s scarred doppelganger, Alex Hayden, AKA Agent X, is on a mission, continuing his work-for-hire business he had in Agent X.I didn’t get to read the end of the Agent X series, so I didn’t now how that was resolved. Guess I do now. I would have thought this guy was Deadpool all along, but whatever. What makes Agent X different from Deadpool? Well, he uses a broadsword instead of a katana, and his thought boxes are in the form of scraps of paper. Oh yeah, he also wears a totally different outfit and he has an “X” scar on his face.Usually, I can’t stand a clone, but I can live with Agent X existing in the Marvel U. We need more funnymen, even if they’re not original funnymen. Agent X gets in a bad spot with Hydra, and his busty pals come to Deadpool for help. Problem is, Deadpool’s still tiny after his fight with Rhino. There are some benefits to being small. For example, when you have some ample-breasted women over as guests, everything looks much larger. So Li’l Deadpool goes on a rampage in a Hydra stronghold, with the usual hilarious results. When you have Hydra soldiers as cannon fodder, the sky’s the limit for hijinks. Since Deadpool’s adventures are played for laughs, lots of unexpected things happen, to Agent X in particular. At the last page, Deadpool has yet another problem to worry about. My only problem is that there’s no Cable in this book as well. Guess he’s too busy in X-men.My Ruling:Loved it!4. Wolverine #52Them frickin’ Europeans. They’re so different from how we Red, White and Blues operate, and it’s never more evident than in how they draw. If this story arc is not winning you over, then I dare you to not appreciate Simone Bianchi’s work. By the way, no, Simone is not a woman. Those frickin’ Europeans again, with their strange names.I was tempted to read Wolverine when he was caught up in Civil War, but now I had to pick up this arc because it is going to finally clear up what the whole Sabertooth/Wolverine connection is. I suppose that the head-choppin’ flashbacks with feral warriors going at it is supposed to give us a clue as to what makes guys like ‘Tooth and Wolvie unique, but it could also just be a symbolic dream sequence.Can I just take a moment to note Bianchi’s art? I guess I can, ‘cause it’s my column. While it’s really, really hard to accept Simone Bianchi’s version of Wolverine, I love, love, love the way he puts together a page. This book isn’t any bigger than the average comic you can buy off a rack, yet a single page feels so much bigger and full than your joe schmoe Marvel title.So maybe he does make Logan (James Howlett now, is it?) look more like Gérard Depardieu Gerard Deipardu than Hugh Jackman, but I think I can forgive him when the art is this good. I also don’t like the way he draws Black Panther’s outfit, but again, forgiven. At least Storm looks beautiful as ever.This issue takes place mostly in the nation of Wakanda, where Sabertooth’s visit to the hidden African nation surely isn’t welcome. Black Panther, his wife Storm, and Wolverine chase him around. Sabertooth has no mercy for anyone who gets in his way, and Wolverine has no love lost for Sabertooth. There is one flashback to when Wolverine encountered Sabertooth in Japan. Wolverine with a katana is the only thing that is near as cool as Wolverine gutting people with his claws. Now, although Sabertooth and Wolverine do tangle a couple times in this issue, this is just a single step towards some major revelations, so I can’t call it a total winner. On the other hand, you have good writing by Jeph Loeb, the aforementioned excellence that is Simone Bianchi, and that still makes this issue of Wolverine a good read. I’m just anxious. When I hear that we’re getting answers and bombshells, I’m itching for them, and I can’t wait too long. My Ruling:On the fence.5. Black Panther #26Well it was either this or Fantastic Four. I had to at least taste the hype before I cried foul. This “new” Fantastic Four was hyped a bit during the last months of Civil War, so I made a last minute decision to pick it up. I’ve been off and on Black Panther, reading random issues that looked interesting. I want the book to do good, and I want the character to get more play in the Marvel Universe, but I found myself not getting to invested in the goings-on in Wakanda. With marrying Storm, one of my favorite X-men, and now teaming up with the Fantastic Four, I couldn’t resist reading one of these issues.This temporary team-up comes about when Mr. and Mrs. Reed Richards decide to take some time off together in light of how much their relationship was tried during Civil War. So, because Black Panther and Storm’s embassy has been blown to bits anyway, the Wakanadan royal couple have nothing to lose in deciding to put up shop temporarily in FF headquarters . Iron Man, as the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a bit of a problem with Panther being in America, but I think Iron Man should worry about the crazy bug creatures running wild in the Negative Zone where S.H.I.E.L.D. is newly occupied. On Panther and Storm’s side, she has to presume her role as a part of Wakandan leadership. Doesn’t look like she’s having much fun with it. As much as I like action, I also appreciate having Wakanda as a setting for a book. There’s so much attention paid to New York and whatnot, that you want to focus on a place that isn’t already established structurally. Wakanda’s still a land that can be played with and you can add new characters to it.Speaking of new characters, of all the people I thought I would see, Brother Voodoo makes an appearance in this issue. Brother Voodoo? I had only heard of him, but I never expected him to show up in a story now. I guess they’re going to attempt to make the character relevant and cool again, if he was ever cool at all to start with. I don’t know whether I can gather up enough energy to be interested in this story arc. I am leaning on not picking up the next issue, evne though the art is sharp and some of the writing is on point.My Ruling:Liked it.6. Omega Flight #1 (of 5)“Wolverine’s a Canadian. Everybody likes Wolverine!” That’s my imitation of someone trying to sell the Omega Flight idea to Marvel. Will people embrace this team of Canadians and Americans? I couldn’t tell you from reading this first issue. Like Cable & Deadpool or Heroes For Hire these heroes will most likely take on some tough villains, some tough, C-list villains.Omega Flight’s premise is that with Civil War ending in the Superhuman Registration Act, many of America’s super-powered villain runoff is hitting Canada’s borders? What’s a Canuck to do? Well, if Alpha Flight hadn’t been killed by some crazy super-powered entity, the solution would be obvious. With Alpha Flight gone, there is only one alternative: rebuild. Dr. Walter Langowski, who was known in a previous life as Sasquatch, faces his life after his Alpha Flight teammates have died. It must be horrible to be called a “clone” and “the guy who didn’t die” by a bunch of school kids. After visiting an elementary school class as a visitor, another visitor shows up, but he isn’t doing “show and tell.”Agent Brown, of the C.S.I.S. (whatever that spells) wants a new team of heroes to repel the threats invading Canada. Sasquatch is reluctant to get back into superheroing full time. As a human, he’s a sloop-shouldered sad sack, and the C.S.I.S.’ suggestion of who will join this new team isn’t raising his spirits any. At least Sasquatch gets a say in one member being added. Problem is, she’s reluctant to be part of Omega Flight also.In this debut episode of Omega Flight, the team is not neatly formed. We don’t get to see any of the team in action besides Sasquatch, and he wasn’t even promoted as part of the team before this issue came out! I’m honestly confused. What’s Sasquatch’s role in this book if he’s not even on the cover? I hope he’s team leader, because he’s a good character to experience the book through. Plus, he puts up a good fight against the trouble-making Wrecking Crew in this ish.The action’s awesome, the art is better than I expect from the average book, and the cover makes me want to read more. The problem is that I don’t know how much more I can honestly stick with Omega Flight after the first arc is done. I never thought to read any Alpha Flight, so why should this be any different? This is still the beginning, so by the end of the year, my opinion probably could swing over to loving this book over every Marvel comic I read now. Maybe when I review next month’s books, I’ll have Omega in my stack.My Ruling:Liked it.

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire

Panels #2: DC Comic Reviews

Vichus Smith — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:13:16 EDT

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10I’ve never read a Flash comic book until now, and I don’t really think that this is the best representative of what a Flash comic book should be. I heard rumors that the new fan-derided Flash series is making its way back to being good again, so I wanted to take a look. I’m not that impressed. This is the new Flash, the young Bart Allen, taking over for his predecessor, and it’s his life as the flash and also as a citizen living in. The cover kinda sorta has something to do with the content, if you don’t take it in a literal way. The story starts with a scene being investigated by two cops, and the crime takes place in none other than the locker room for the police academy. The thing is, Barry Allen is a police cadet, and his locker is at the center of this mess, so Barry has a lot to account for.The first thing that catches my eye is the cool display of just how fast Flash can do his superheroing. It makes me want to be a speedster, if only for a second. Barry is on his way to police training, and the class is given a literal “cold case.” Barry, shocker of shockers, takes it upon himself to solve the case; and with the unique situation he’s in, being a superhero and all, he is used to odd murders committed in unique ways.That’s pretty much how I have to leave the details, but you know already that Zoom jumps in to make Barry’s life just a little bit harder. I am so new to this part of the DC Universe, so I didn’t know that part of Zoom’s MO is to jump around in time. All speedsters can do that, right? I know that at least one Flash has done it before.Ok, getting on a bit of a tangent there. Point is that Zoom pops up all willy-nilly and that leads to an ending that may bring me back to this title next month. Also, a lot of DC speedsters also make an appearance, so I’m curious as to how they fit in the current arc.Otherwise, I’m really at the edge about picking up Flash again. It’s not that it’s bad. In fact, I think it’s going in a good direction. I just am not the greatest fan of the flash, and there are other titles that I love more to fit in my budget.My ruling:Could have been better.Spirit #4I’m loving The Spirit Unfortunately, I wasn’t around at the time that the Spirit was actually being written, but settling for Darwyn Cooke is settling for something fantastic. Darwyn Cooke’s take on the Spirit, art included, brings me back to the days when Batman: The Animated Series. Since the first issue of the new Spirit, I have been feeling that this could easily be a cartoon, and I would watch every episode. It is slightly mature in some spots, but this is a title for a wide range of audiences. I hope that this book is being shared with wives and girlfriends, with parents and children.This issue is, like the other issues have been, a one-shot about the Spirit’s adventures as a hero. This time, he’s got a tough female companion in this adventure. The story starts from the present and goes into the past to reveal how these two got cuffed to one another.Their capture involves a character from issue #2, Hussein Hussein. Hussein is not wickedly evil, but he is not on the side of the angels, either. Last time he met Spirit, Hussein had his henchmen rough Spirit up. But by the end of the story, they had made up- as much as a criminal and a hero can make up with each other.No surprise, then, that Hussein is in the center of Spirit’s problems again. Hussein runs into the Spirit- or, more specifically, into a wall with his car. There is a mention of last issue’s origin story, but this is a whole new story that doesn’t seem to tie, at least in my reading of it, with issue #3.A villain that has not appeared in Cooke’s Spirit first appearance and Hussein Hussein is connected to him. Surprise again. An FBI agent named Silk Satin (criminals must cower in fear when they hear that name) is interested in learning all Hussein knows about the Octagon organization, and that brings us back to the present. Silk Satin is a tough person who doesn’t appreciate Spirit, a vigilante, being involved in official police investigations. You know, why can’t any vigilante just catch a break? Usually, vigilantes do good, catch the bad guy, and save the day. Now, does a man need to be called a “Gainsborough” (whatever that means) because he’s not an official man of the law?As you can see from the cover, Spirit isn’t entirely the star of this issue. Silk Satin is a trained CIA agent, and she isn’t impressed by what she’s heard of the Spirit; she wants to see him in action for herself. By the way, doesn’t Spirit have a girlfriend? I wonder what she thinks about these two running around together.The Spirit is a title that continues to be fun and beautiful to read. If I can list a problem, it’s that I don’t like that the book is $2.99. It’s a good book, but I’d rather pay 50 cents less. The cover is printed with a different material than the average comic, but if I have to sacrifice this type of material for a slightly cheaper book, I’ll take it.My Ruling:Loved it!Teen Titans #44Action! Hand-to-hand combat! Drama!If anyone ever came up to me and told me that Geoff Johns had one off day in his life, I’d call that person a liar, and then tear their face off with a katana. Geoff Johns is writing book after book in the DC Universe, and he’s winning my attention with each and every one of them.I’ve explained what Teen Titans has been about for the past 10 issues or so in my first sentence. This issue is no different. Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans is a great ride that takes you all over the place, spins you upside down, and shakes you violently.There is barely any down time for talk in this issue. The Titans East, led by the devious Deathstroke, do their very best to destroy the new team of Titans one by one. Deathstroke’s children Ravage and Jericho, go after their dear old dad, the man they hate more than anyone. Match, a Superboy version of Bizarro, and Wondergirl have a heart to heart with each other. Cassandra Cain, the newest and deadliest Batgirl, and Robin also try to talk things over- between fists and feet meeting flesh.This is just half of the teams going at one another. I looked at the book at least three times over and each time I look at these battles, I pick a new favorite. Last time it was the scene between Risk and Cyborg. The first time I read it, I was happy at what happens between and Kid Devil and Kid Crusader. Now, I think that the big fight involving Deathstroke in a handicap fight is what had my heart beating faster.No matter what I like the most about this issue, it’s partly due to Tony Daniel and the art team. One set piece is as nice to look at as the next, and it’s even better when every scene is obliterated because of Titans (East and West) being thrown around like rags.Justice Society of America #4Justice Society of America #4 redefines “like father, like son.” I don’t think there is anything to convince me otherwise. This is my first ride with the Justice Society, and Geoff Johns is the best driver I could ever ask for. From the cover of this issue, I was so elated that I just took time to stare about it. Of all the covers thusfar, this is the definition of what this book is about- family. You couldn’t pick a better artist to do the JSA than Alex Ross, and this is the best cover since issue #1. The cover says a lot of things about Geoff Johns’ JSA. One, it says that this is not just a superhero team, but a tight family who live together and work as a solid unit. Secondly, it says that the JSA carry on their legacy to further generations. In this case, it may be genetically.JSA member Wildcat learns that there is more to his long lost son than his son was willing to reveal. Under a desperate situation, the claws came out, and he was revealed to be a metahuman werecat; maybe a more appropriate term would be werepanther. I guess that an immortal war-starting caveman has that kind of effect on people.Vandal Savage laid his plans down for destroying the Justice Society by killing off every generation of every existing hero. The problem is that he chose the wrong superhero team to mess with. Issue #4 is crammed wall-to-wall with tons of supernazi thwarting action, from Jay Garrick showing lady Baroness who’s the best speeder in town, to Damage living up to his name, to Vandal Savage’s ultimate scene, which I think was intentionally created to put Civil War #7 to shame. David Eaglesham isn’t Alex Ross, but he doesn’t need to be. Eaglesham’s art fits to the writer’s style like no other comic I have read this month. There is chaos, destruction of property, admiration from afar, and narrow rescues, and Eaglesham has the power wrap your emotions around his pinky finger.I don’t want to spoil one moment of this issue. I’ll just implore you to start reading Justice Society of America, if you consider yourself to be a hardcore DC Comics fan. It’s quality storytelling paired with top notch artists and I find it hard to beat.My Ruling:Loved it!

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire

Panels: A Look at Recent Marvel Comic Books

Vichus Smith — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:27:17 EDT

I apologize to professional critics. I really thought it was so easy to come up with a review for a TV show, a movie or a book. All you have to do is write what you’re thinking, write it down and submit it, right? Well, by the time I even decide to start writing, the moment has passed and there is something new to review. So now I’m going to at least give my quick opinions on my recent comics purchases. First, I’ll be looking at Marvel Comics.The New Avengers #28Brian Michael Bendis is not only writing for this underground team of heroes, but he is also writing The Mighty Avengers, about the team who won the big Civil War. Mighty is all about the usual superhero fare; thwarting villainy, fighting for truth an justice, etc. With the New Avengers Bendis is having a bit more fun. When you put “yikes-a-hooty” in the mouth of Spider-man, I think you might be going more into the experimental route with these secret avengers. I’ll admit my bias right away; I think that this Avengers team is way hotter than the Mighty team.The lineup is what gets me right away. You’ve got Luke Cage as leader (in place of the dearly departed Captain America), Spider-man, Wolverine, Spider-woman, the new Ronin, Iron Fist and Doctor Strange. Now that’s a great balance of abilities and a perfect mix of unique personalities. Iron Man and Warbird’s Avenger’s team is more of a polished fighting force - and just a bit duller. A note on Iron Fist: I think that Danny Rand may be related in some way to Jay Leno. Well, that’s what artist Lenil Yu may want you to believe. His take on Iron Fist is all I can complain about. I really love his “dirty” style. It really syncs with a team that is on the run - the losers of a war amongst friends.In this issue, the Avengers are still in the land of the rising sun, but we take a break in the middle to learn how the Avengers keep a low profile. And we also get to see if Captain America is really dead or not. Or maybe we don’t.My ruling: Loved it!Punisher War Journal #5I didn’t jump on the Matt Fraction bandwagon when I should have, when he started writing Casanova. Now, I am reading Fraction’s War Journal and I have quickly become a fan of his writing. Ariel Olivetti’s big, beefy art took a bit more getting used to, but I started to become comfortable with it around issue #3.What makes this issue stand apart from the first four is that the Punisher is barely in it. Instead, we follow a man who has neither the ability nor the firepower to take on a maniac like Bushwacker. Bushwacker, if you’re not up on obscure villains, is a guy who can turn both of his hands into any weapon he desires. Must be hard to find ammunition for weapons like those.This young officer is in the area at the time Bushwacker decides to go on a rampage and take a hostage. As the standoff proceeds, we learn everything about this officer and his motivation to become a hero in blue. His story ties into not only the very real events of September 11, 2001 in the US, but also Marvel’s latest event, particularly the “Stamford incident,” which was the catalyst for the superhuman registration act.Fraction not even involving the character in his own book until the end was a very nice touch, and not giving us a plot that’s predictable is even better. I picked up the first three issues of War Journal because of Fraction and the Civil War tie-in. Now i’m sticking with it because Matt Fraction’s worthy of writing the Punisher.My ruling:Loved it!X-men #197I don’t know, I just don’t. Out of the three X-titles I read -- Astonishing X-men, Uncanny X-men and this title -- X-men is the weakest. Not to say that it doesn’t have anything going for it. The current team is much different than the other two. It’s led by Rogue, an odd choice, and it also claims Sabertooth, Mystique and Lady Mastermind as members. X-fans know Mystique and Sabertooth as former members of the Brotherhood of Mutants, both in the comics and in the movie version. They are guilty of a multitude of crimes, and they are not exactly the best of friends with any of the X-men. Lady Mastermind is new to my memory banks. I know that a villain named Mastermind was one of the Hellfire club members, but I don’t know her. I know that she is an X-man for the very first time, and that she isn’t well liked by the veteran X-men.Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend have been working together on the art for this new Team of X-men in a style that’s very young, very hip and very “anime.” I like Anime, and I like my American comics. The anime style (the best way I can describe it) being used for this book is not something I’m used to. I know these characters, I’m aware of what they look like, and yet in this book, they are alien to me. Iceman Bobby Drake and Sabertooth are the strangest looking of the whole team. It is probably because Iceman and Sabertooth are the least “human” looking out of everyone else. This is a new arc, “Red Data” and that’s what got me to pick up the book again. I picked up an issue or two of the last arc, and it wasn’t doing much for me. This arc, dealing with Rogue’s health status, is only three issues long, so I might be enticed to read the next issue. The A-story is about Rogue’s condition. She is taken to Cable’s island nation, Providence, which he is leader of. When I read the last arc, I had many questions, namely how Cable was a part of Cable & Deadpool at the same time he was part of this title. At least now, the two books are coming together with this issue. Rogue is suffering from some sort of virus and the team wants to discover what it is.The B-story is about Lady Mastermind and her own issues. She is suffering from something to, but her problems lie deep within her mind. She wants to perform self surgery and with the abilities she inherited from her father, she takes the opportunity to do just that.Also, Sabertooth, surprise surprise, is not to be trusted and is being locked up. Also, there is a page that sticks out to me for all the wrong reasons. I won’t go into details, but I know that I’d rather see Sabertooth and Mystique get involved than Bobby Drake and Rogue’s “mother.” Bobby Drake never struck me as a M.I.L.F. lover.My ruling:Eh, we’ll see.X-factor #17X-factor has yet to bore me, for even a second. The only thing negative I can say about it is that the cover isn’t entirely true to what happens within the pages. In this issue, Jamie Madrox continues his quest to make himself whole again and collect the duplicates he sent out to live their own lives. Only this time, the dupe he seeks has discovered an awful truth.Multiple Man’s dupe in this issue has become a detective. The “world’s greatest” he says. True to his self-imposed title, he tells Jamie all he know about Jamie’s recent problems, and he also hints at things that Jamie doesn’t even know about.From several issues back, we learned that Jamie Madrox is more than just a Mutant, and making duplicates of himself doesn’t begin to describe what his powers are about. This meeting with his detective dupe has most likely set the stage for Jamie to delve deeper into what his powers mean and how he will evolve both as a character and a mutant.This issue is an introduction to a new enemy who have an agenda tied into M-day, the day all mutants were decimated by Scarlet Witch’s powers. I’m biting my nails and rocking back and forth because writer Peter David knows he’s a tease, and he loves being one. I have to wait a month for issue 18, and the anticipation could kill me. The artist on X-factor doesn’t matter to me much, but Peter David is a must on this book. It’s a solid series with characters who are all worth caring about. X-factor, technically, is not an X-men book, but it is a definite tie for first with Astonishing X-men for my favorite X-men books right now.My ruling:Loved it! Civil War: The Confession One-shotHave you ever seen an Iron Man cry? I’ll tell you that it’s almost as sad as tears of a clown. In The Confession, one of Marvel’s monthly attempts to squeeze money out of your wallet, Iron Man is involved in two conversations. The first conversation takes place after a certain event, and the second convo takes place two days prior to that event.Brian Michael Bendis wrote this, and he does an outstanding job. Add to that Alex Maleev’s artwork, and this book is damn near perfect. This is a very emotional book, and Maleev captures every tear, every facial expression and every gesture perfectly. To describe it best as I can, the art looks like Maleev took smoke from the air, mixed it with ink and used it to bring Bendis’ writing to life. Steve Mcniven’s art was great on Civil War, but I would have loved to see Maleev drawing all those battle scenes involving a who’s-who of the Marvel universe.This one-shot is a valuable addition to the Civil War story, which angers me a bit. Why couldn’t this be part of Civil War? Did civil war really have to be just seven issues? I think people really missed out on seeing Iron Man as Tony Stark behind a mask. This is the same feeling I got when I read Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War. Why wasn’t this story included in the main Civil War story?In Civil War, Tony Stark sounded more like a robot than a man who was conflicted with being an enemy to his friends. Every time Iron Man was face-to-face with an Anti-registration hero, he was coldly logical and calm. In this book, he is exactly as he should be. Iron Man is a brilliant mind, a visionary, a man with a history of alcoholism and he is also a hero . He’s a man with so much power in his hands that he has to be rational and somewhat cold to get through tough times.My ruling:Loved it!Thunderbolts #112After Civil War the team known as the Thunderbolts has changed completely. Now the thunderbolts team is mostly comprised of villains, led by Spider-man arch enemy Norman Osborn. For two issues, we have been getting to know this team and what makes them tick. In some cases, it’s better not to know.In this issue, there is not a lot of fighting, but there is a lot of talking, which writer Warren Ellis likes to do before he sends out his Thunderbolts to face the latest opponent to superhuman registration. The infighting continues between Moonstone and Songbird, the two female members who just don’t get along. Moonstone is cold, reminiscent of Emma Frost, and Songbird represents the last of the original Thunderbolts, a person who is truly looking for redemption as a hero.Norman Osborn gets control over who’s the field leader, so it’s no surprise that he prefers the one who will work best towards his agenda. Radioactive Man, a former villain who has been a hero for a while, contests this, while also asking Norman Osborn about his new costume. It’s ok, Chen; we readers have been asking that same question since you became a part of the team. It’s a funny exchange between Osborn and Radioactive Man. Osborn’s answer about the new costume makes a lot of sense. “Diapers,” indeed. Part of the reason behind Radioactive Man needing a new look, other than the fact that it does look a bit silly and outdated, is that Osborn is responsible for the team looking presentable to the American public. They are one of the teams that are part of the 50 states Initiative; and although they are some of the most evil villains to ever team up, America must come to love and trust them.Who could love Venom or Bullseye, though? Venom, whose host is former villain Scorpion, AKA Matt Gargan, has been fighting Spider-man for years, and now he has a disgusting symbiotic alien creature that lives in his stomach when he’s not in battle. EW. Bullseye is without a doubt not deserving of any redemption. He has the talent to kill anything with pinpoint accuracy, and he loves killing. His conversation with Norman is creepier than hearing Matt Gargan’s description of being host to the Venom symbiote. This team, this wild group of “heroes” have a lot of opponents to face in the future. Their first opponent was Jack Flag, and in this issue, a few more heroes are stepping up to challenge registration. For their sake, I just hope that none of them are given the same treatment Jack Flag was when Bullseye snuck up on him at the end of issue 111.My ruling:Loved it!That's it for Marvel comics. The next panels you'll see will be for DC comics I have been reading.

"Vichus Smith" (K.L. Jr) also reviews movies and anime on Epinions.com and video games at GameInfoWire