BRIAN'S BRAIN: June 6, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

All New Atom #12: 3 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Mike Norton
As someone who is not that familiar with Ray Palmer, particularly his rogue's gallery, I can't give a fair review of this issue. Even in spite of not having a clue who any of the loonies are, this is still a solid issue, due mainly to Gail Simone's writing.

Birds of Prey #107: 4 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott
Another great book by Gail Simone. It's a shame she's leaving this title soon, even with Sean McKeever taking over. Let's just hope the return of Ice doesn't get lost in somewhere and is picked up by Sean or elsewhere. And nobody tell the Monitor's that's she's still alive.

Countdown 47: 5 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Sean McKeever
Art by Al Barrionuevo
I'm really dig this series, and keep in mind that I'm not a big DC continuity buff. The extra reading time on Wikipedia is well worth following this series. Oh, and Mary spots some hot new threads, which certainly has no influence on my assessment of this issue. Riiiiight. Anyway, we have:

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

Outsiders #48: 3 out of 5
Written by Judd Winick and Greg Rucka
Art by Matthew Clark
This title is good, but not great. I mean, it has lesbians in it, how bad can it be, right? However, I can't just justify buying five issues of this title in one-month though, so I'll likely be dropping this title after the current storyline. No, not even for lesbians (did I mention there were lesbians in it? Oh, I did? Nevermind then. Now where, was I, I seemed to have gotten distracted for some reason).

Supergirl #18: 4 out of 5
Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Alé Garza
This issue is pretty much an rebuttal to fan criticisms of the new Supergirl. I just got to say, what's wrong with an oversexed Supergirl? She's fictional, so even though she's underaged, it's not at all creepy. Riiiiight. Anyway, after a shakey start, Joe Kelly turned this title around into a solid title. With Tony Bedard taking over, this title is hit or miss. Linda Danvers is still the best Supergirl though.

Welcome to Tranquility #7: 4 out of 5
What, another Gail Simone comic? Busy week for the Gail Simone fan. This title has a huge cast, and it could take a page from Checkmate and have a who's-who photo gallery up front of every issue. Especially since these are all original characters that never appeared before this series.

MARVEL COMICS

Avengers The Initiative #3 CWI: 4 out of 5
Writen by Dan Slott
Art by Stefano Caselli
This is a strong series, and I can definately see why it was turned from a mini-series into an ongoing title. Another instance of Dan Slott writing Spider-Man. Will he be taking over writing duties for web-head? That would certainly be amazing, spectacular, and friendly-neighborhood...er wait, that last one don't quiet work with this joke. Foiled again!

Iron Man #18 CWI: 1 out of 5
Writen by Daniel Knauf and Charles Knauf
Art by Roberto de la Torre
For a title featuring the most controversial and conflicted Marvel character, this latest arc has been a snooze. So in the aftermath of Civil War and the recent deaths of not one but TWO of his closest friends (i.e. Captain America and Happy Hogan), what happens? Pretty much a cookie-cutter espionage story. I might pick up the World War Hulk tie-in issues, but only since they are written by Christos Gage. And even then its only a might.

Loners #3: 4 out of 5
Writen by C. B. Cebulski
Art by Karl Moline
Dear Marvel, please pick this title up as an ongoing. 'Nuff said.

Ms. Marvel #16 CWI: 4 out of 5
Writen by Brian Reed
Art by Aaron Lopresti
I'm not crazy about the idea of Ms. Marvel getting her own mini-SHIELD, but we get Wonder Man as part of the deal, so I'll put up with it. How can you not love a title where the villain is a giant head that mind controlls Carol's love interest into fighting her. Plus not only does Carol give Simon some sugar to return him to his senses, but her publist is running interference against his rival for Carol's heart. It's good to an ionic-entity-returned-from-the dead. Oh, and did I mention there's a big giant head in it? Brian Reed is definately a writer to watch at Marvel.

New Warriors #1 CWI: 4 out of 5
Writen by Kevin Grevioux
Art by Paco Medina
A promising first issue. Sophia (aka Winddancer from New X-Men) and Barnell (aka Beak from the other New X-Men; Marvel needs to get more creative with naming their title before we end up with Really New Avengers, and given Marvel's propencity to slap a "New" on every title they can, I wonder how many people will be looking for "Warriors" in the back issue bin). And who is that at the end? Was that Night Trasher? Well if he survived, and Speedball survived, could Namorita survived as well? At this rate, Marvel will bring back the 600 school children that died in the Stanford incident by the end of the year.

Omega Flight #3 CWI: 0 out of 5
Writen by Michael Oeming
Art by Scott Kolins
This is a weak series, and I can definately see why it was turned from an ongoing title to a mini-series. It's a reverse Avengers The Initiative, proving that Newton's third law holds in the world of comics (for those who are physic buffs, that's the one that says for every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction). Actually, I take back my original statement. I'm quite mystified how this series even got published. I'm an obsessive completionist, and even I will not be picking up the rest of the series. It's just that bad.

Uncanny X-Men #487: 4 out of 5
Writen by Ed Brubaker
Art by Salvador Larroca
Ed Brubaker redeems himself after a horrid year-long arc. Let's just hope he keeps it up and doesn't reserrect the original Thunderbird or anyone else. I'll wonder if he'll address why Masque appeared as a hot chick last time we saw him (in X-treme X-Men by a little known writed by name of Chris Claremont). Maybe he was in a bad movie with Rob Schneider?

Next Week: Countdown 46, Green Arrow #75, New Avengers #31 World War Hulk #1, and more!