SPOILER ALERT!!!
DC COMICS
Catwoman #68: 4 out of 5
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez
By threatening little Helna, Hammer and Sickle keep Selina on the ropes all issue, and Holly arives for a last minute save. I usually hate it when the title hero is saved by another, but due to Holly's intrical part in the book, it works here. However, Holly then has to leave Gotham (for Countdown presumably), but it is not made clear just why that is. For such an important plot point, it feels very rushed and forced.
Checkmate #15: 2 out of 5
Written by Greg Rucka and Judd Winick
Art by Joe Bennett
As Checkout continues on to its conclusion, not much happens. They group tries to rescue the captured Boomerang, Nightwing, and Sasha Bordbaux, but they are misled to the wrong location. It turns out, they are really in North Korea (presumably), and Batman has to save the day. So the entire issue was just a pretense for bringing in Batman to the Outsiders.
Both Checkmate and Outsiders have been dropped from my pull list, although being a completionist, I will pick up Outsiders #49 for the conclusion of this story.
Countdown 45: 4 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Tony Bedard
Art by J. Calafiore
Things start to pick from last week as the character of Forerunner is given some depth as she battles Donna Troy over the injured Jason Todd. Good Monitor intervenes to save the pair, which causes the Monitors to exile Forerunner for her failure. The Jimmy Olsen story is essential a recap of his journey from Countdown 51 to Countdown 46, and he gives some exposition on the New Gods for those who don't have access to Wikipedia. Holly Robinson makes a brief apperance, but neither the Rogues nor Mary Marvel appear in this issue.
Flash The Fastest Man Alive: 4 out of 5
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Art by Tony Daniel
Another one bites the dust. Without the Speed Force, Bart Allen is overwhelmed by the Rogues. But Bart fights on, and pays the ultimate price to save the day in the end. The last few pages are well done as Tim Drake (Robin), Jay Garrick (Golden Age Flash), and Jesse Quick (Liberty Bell) react to his death without any words. Less is more in this case.
Justice League of America #10: 4 out of 5
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Ed Benes
The Lightning Sage concludes! I'm not going to spoil the big event in this issue, even with a Spoiler Warner. All I will say is not to overlook this book.
Shadowpact #14: 4 out of 5
Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Tom Derenick
Zauriel confronts Blue Demon over him making demons cool, and after teasing a fight for several pages, reason prevails. It sounds dull, but is in the able hands of Bill Willingham, it actually works much better than the typical hero vs. hero fight. Blue Devil calls for a press confrence where he tells kids not to do drugs, I mean make deals with the devil, stating how it has ruined his life and those of everyone he cares about. He then takes a leave of absense from Shadowpact to go into Hell to investigate what happened to his family, with Zauriel temporarily taking his place on team.
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Man #541: 4 out of 5
Written by J. Michael Stracynski
Art by Ron Garney
The darker Peter Parker learns of the Kingpins involvement in the assassination attempt on Aunt May, and the Kingpin prepares for their showdown by bribing a guard into helping him escape from his cell (and more important, change out of his prison jumpsuit). Peter checks in on his Aunt, and decides to take the desperate measure of injecting her with his Spider-Blood, as it has saved her life one before (albeit with side effects later on). Then Spider-Man and the Kingpin meet face to face in the prison, as the inmates look on in anticipation of their fight.
Annihilation Conquest: 5 out of 5
Written by Dave Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by Mike Perkins
This review will be biased. The Phalanx Covenant was the event going on when I first got into comics, so can hardly be abjective here. Not to mention it features Phyla-Vell and Moondragon, two of my favorite characters in Peter David's Captain Marvel run (even before they became a lesbians and hooked up). Anyway, this issue is a great setup for Annihilation Conquest, and even if you didn't like the Phalanx from the 90s, you should check out this issue as it breathes new life into them. In fact, this issue is...
Captain America #27 CWI: 4 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
This title really outshines the Fallen Son limited series in dealing with Cap's death thanks to the superb writing efforts of Ed Brubaker. The Winter Soldier targets Tony Stark, and begins by reclaiming Steve Roger's iconic shield from the Black Widow. In a flashback to the days of the Cold War, it is revealed that the two have a history. The Black Widow divines the Winter Soldier's motives and warns Tony. Meanwhile, the Falcon recruits Sharon Carter on behalf of Nick Fury to pursue the rogue Winter Soldier.
Fallen Son Death of Captain America Spider-Man: 3 out of 5
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by David Finch
This series have been mediocre at best, with the exception of the Captain America issue. Spider-Man grieves over Cap's death, bringing back memories of losing his parents, Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy, and of course Gwen Stacy. He has a rather pointless brawl with the Rhine, who is just there visiting his mother. Their battle is mostly filler as Peter reflects on a similar fight in which he teamed up with
Cap to take down the Hulk. Wolverine trails after Peter and tries to cheer him up. You know your in a bad place when you need Wolverine to cheer you up.
Heroes for Hire #11 WWH: 3 out of 5
Written by Zeb Wells
Art by Clay Mann
If you pick up this issue expecting a World War Hulk tie-in, prepare to be disappointed. This issue only tangentially ties-in to that storyline, as the Heroes help with the evacuation of NYC a bit before going off on a "side-quest" invovling some evil bugs from space.
Incredible Hulk #107 WWH: 4 out of 5
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Gary Frank
Amadeus Cho, the seventh smartest person on the planet (as they keep reminding us), gathers human allies for the Hulk, from former Champions Hercules and Angel (although it unclear what Angel's motives for doing so are) to the brother of the late Goliath and average joes. Hulk at first views the puny humans as enemies, but Amadeus tries to reason with him. The Hulk appears to be listening to him, especially when Hercules underscores his point by not fighting back as the Hulk smashes him.
Iron Man #19 WWH: 3 out of 5
Written by Christos Gate
Art by Butch Guice
Christos Gage takes on the task of making the post-Civil War Tony Stark heroic. Iron Man has the potential to be a great character, as evidenced in Civil War: The Confession and Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America - Captain America. Gage builds on that by showing that even though Tony Stark has made many questionable decisions of late, he still has the guts to face the consequences of his own actions.
Moon Knight #11 CWI: 3 out of 5
Written by Charlies Huston
Art by Mico Suayan
As I mentioned last week, I hate the hero-start-in-peril, flash-back-to-how-he-got-there plot device. This issue illustrates just how confusing it can be as three stories happen in a jumbled sequence, further confused by Marc Spector's proclivity towards hallucinations.
X-Men Endangered Species Special: 4 out of 5
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Scot Eaton
Endangered Species kicks off not with a bang, but with a whimper. A throw-away mutant has died, and various members of the X-Men, New X-Men, and X-Factor react to his death and the impending extinction of their species. A well written story, but hardly anything Earth-shattering.
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