Heroes: Out of Time

Adam Munroe: The big reveal this week is that Adam Munroe is Takenzo Kensei, and that he's behind the company. This explains 90% of the occurances of the helix symbol (the Company, the murder pictures, Molly's dreams, etc.) We still don't know why it was on Jessica back (but not Niki's) and Chandra's book. It is also clear that he was the one that killed Kaito as he has a personal fued with Hiro. One more thing: Linderman was his protege, and they both have healing powers. Makes one think if there is a biological link.

The Nine: After Linderman's death, Kaito mentioned there was nine left. So by my count so far we have Adam, Angela, Bob, Kaito, and Murrey. That still leaves four of them unaccounted. Who are they?

Powers in Family: This episode establishes that Parkman has the same power as his father. This is the first confirmed instance of a power being passed down. But what about Clair and Micah? They don't have either of their parents powers. But what if they have their grandparent's powers? This might put some suspicion on Nathan's father as we already known Angela and a relationship with Kaito. Who is Nathan's real father? Linderman? Adam?

Niki: I think this is Niki, and not Jessica (or rather, a union of Niki and Jessica). Just one question here: did she see DL on her own the first time, and Murrey picked up on it, or was he messing with her then?

Issac's Paintings: So far 6 of the 8 paintings have come true. Only two left: Mohinder firing a gun, and Noah being shot. It looks like Mohinder shoots Noah. Or does he? I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Bob: It looks like Bob isn't really that bad of guy. He seems to have real regrets over some his past actions and seems to be taking the Company in a better direction. He's not a paragon of virtue, but is he that bad? Mohinder thinks so, but even though his judgement is questionable at times, I think he made the right call here. I just wish they did a better job of distancing him from Noah first.

Angela: When she restored Peter's memory, did she use a power?

Time Travel: Last but not least, I got one question to put out here: If Peter (and friends) change the past, what happens to Catlyn? Will she cease to exist? Will she return to the present, or would she just show up when the present gets to that point. Is she still trapped in the alternate future? Also, why didn't the virus happen in the future last season, or Matt had expanded powers? Yes, events happened differently now that they stopped New York from going kablooey, but still....

That's all I have to say for now.

Brain Dead

Due to lack of time, I will no longer be continuing with comic reviews. My apologies to the 5 or so of you reading my blog.

BRIAN'S BRAIN: September 6, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Amazing Spider-Man #544: 5 out of 5
Written by J. Michael Stracynski
Art by Joe Quesada
A heart-wrenching tale of Peter Parker trying to come to terms with his Aunt's death. Running out of money to keep May on life support, Peter confronts Tony Stark. Tony initially rebuffs Peter, but ultimately does the right thing and fronts the money. But even so, the doctor doesn't think Aunt May will pull through. But Peter can't accept that just yet. Amazing Spider-Man, I choose you as...BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK.

Countdown 34: 4 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini, Justin Gray, and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Keith Giffen and Jesus Saiz
Things really pickup with this issue, and every storyline advances. Wally West confronts Piper and Trickster, who after explaining themselves in the events leading to Bart's death reveal that Deathstroke is planning to attack Green Arrow's wedding to Black Canary. Jimmy Olsen reflects on the mysterious deaths we was investigating (which hopefully means he will return to that storyline rather then bumbling about trying to be a superhero) and consults Steel about his powers, who concludes that Jimmy is no longer human. Also, he seems to have knowledge about the 52 earths and the source wall floating around in his subconscious (sp?). Donna Troy and Jason Todd break free and send Belthera packing, but not before she nabs Donna. Holly Robinson, along with Harley "Funny Face" Quinn, win the gladiator games and win a trip to Paradise Island, where Granny Goodness no doubt has evil plans for them. Mary Marvel finds a mystical Chinese village where she is captured by Klarion the Witch Boy. And Orr reveals that Karate Kid is infected with the OMAC virus, and refers him (and Una) to Buddy Blank on behalf of Darkseid's lackey, Dassad. Also, the Origin of Lex Luthor, just in case anyone didn't know who he was.

Ms Marvel #19: 4 out of 5
Written by Brian Reed
Art Aaron Lopresti
First off, the cover is worth picking up this issue alone. Tigra! Second, it's Brian Reed, so you know it's all good. Third, Silverclaw, Stature, and Tigra! Fourth, Machine Man gets drunk. Fifth, Tigra! And finally, Puppet Master being really, really creepy. Plus: Tigra! Did I mention she was also in this issue? Oh what the heck, one more. Say it with me now: Tigra! Tigra makes Ms. Marvel...BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK.

Uncanny X-Men #490: 3 out of 5
This issue features Skids: Agent of SHIELD, who MUST team-up with Bob: Agent of Hydra now that I think about it. Somebody make this happen!. Hepzibah gets her freak on with Thunderbird. Oh, and they fight some Morlocks, and Masque makes Thunderbird ugly, which distracts Hapzibah enough for Bliss to blindside her. Storm, Caliban, and Skids find another group of pacifist Morlocks where they learn about a precog who wrote a book (no, not Destiny) that the Morlocks have taken as a religious text. Unfortunately, a cave in occurs, trapping Storm, who as you know, doesn't like tight spaces. Bad weather insues. In the backup, Beast hits another deadend, but thinks that maybe Bishop, being from the future and all, might hold the key in his DNA.

BRAIN DROPPINGS

All New Atom #15 (Countdown): 4 out of 5
Annihilation Conquest Wraith: 2 out of 5
Black Canary Wedding Planner: 2 out of 5
Detective Comics #836: 3 out of 5
Exiles #98: 3 out of 5
Incredible Hulk #110 (World War Hulk): 4 out of 5
Infinity Inc #1: 3 out of 5
Metal Men #2: 3 out of 5
New Excalibur #23: 3 out of 5
New Warriors #4 (The Initiative): 4 out of 5
She-Hulk #21: 4 out of 5
Supergirl #21 (Countdown): 3 out of 5
Super Villain Team Up MODOKs 11 #3: 3 out of 5

Next Week: Countdown 33, Green Lantern #23, JLA Wedding Special #1, Justice Society of America #9, New Avengers #34, X-Factor #23, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: August 29, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!

Amazons Attack #6: 3 out of 5
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by Pete Woods
This series doesn't make for great reading material, but it does have some ramifications to the DCU. Circe is revealed to be the mastermind of the war, and is imprisoned in Hades by Athena. Athena then chastises the Amazons for being duped and scatters them about to live covertly amongst humanity. Themyscira is exiled from the gods realm and now resides on New Earth, where the empty island is ruled over by Queen Hippolyta. And most importantly, it is revealed that Athena is not Athena, but rather Granny Goodness, who has captured the Greek Gods and assumed Athena's identity. This sheds some more light in the warrior cult appearing in Countdown.

Countdown 35: 3 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Sean McKeever
Art by Keith Giffen and Manuel Garcia
This is not one of countdown's better issues, inspite Sean McKeever being attached. It focuses mainly on the two of the less interesting storylines, namely Jimmy Olsen and the Challengers. Trickster and Piper don't even appear in this issue. The highlight is Zatana besting Mary Marvel in their magical catfight, ending with a depowered Mary being expelled from Zatana's home. It is perhaps interesting to note that Mary seems to be her normal self when depowered and tries to apologize, but it's too little, too late. Way to be a hero Z, leaving an obviously troubled young girl to her own devices. Anyway, the backup reveals the origin of Paralax, which brings us too....

PHUN PHYSICS PHACTS: The backup states the guardians chose the color green as it is a combination of yellow and blue. While this may be true when mixing paints, when talking about light (something more relevant to the Green LANTERNS), yellow and blue in fact make white, and yellow itself is a combination of green with red. Now this is based on the fact that the human eye can detect three colors: green, red, and blue (with all other colors being combinations of those three). Now the guardians, being alines, may be able to detect different colors of light, but I digress. Anyway, now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Countdown to Adventure: 4 out of 5
Written by Adam Beechen and Justin Gray
Art by Eddy Barrows, Fabrizio Fiorentino and Julio Ferreira
Don't let the "Countdown" in the title fool you, this issue is surprisingly good. The first half focuses on the space heroes of 52. Adam Strange finds himself replaced by a hotshot movie star, while Starfire crashes with Animal Man, much to the horror of Mrs. Animal Man. The backup reveals the origin of the Forerunner. She is from a parallel earth that surves as a battleground for the races of the Nine Houses (although I only count seven: the Mercurians, the Venusians, the Martians, the Jupitarians, the Saturnarians, and two unnamed Houses, presumably the Uranians and the Neptunians. Even if you count Pluto, I'm not sure where the last house comes from as Earth has been deemed uninhabitable by this point). The Forerunners are descended from the mixed blood of the survivors of the wars between the houses, and the Forerunner chosen by the Evil Monitor is an exceptional member of her race. Now according to Monarch, she wasn't the only Forerunner so chosen by her race, and the Monitors unleashed the Shadow Demons that lurk beyond the Source Wall to destory her homeward. This last bit must be taken with a grain of salt. Anyway, be sure to check this title out as it is...BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK.

Avengers the Initiative #5: 5 out of 5
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Stefano Caselli
Drama. Mystery. And a touch of that Dan Slott wit. These are the incrediants that makeup the best selling new comic to come out of the Initiative. This issue focuses on the Shadow Initiative:former villain the Constrictor, foreign national the Bengal, the mysterious Mutant Zero, the Scarlet Spiders, and rookie Trauma. Together they head into the warzone to recover the renegade recruits, dead or alive, to prevent a repeat of the Stamfrod incident. This leads to a throwdown between Trauma and the Hulk himself. Who is Mutant Zero? Who are the Scarlet Spiders, and why are there three of them? What's going on with MVP? Will Armory return? There are so many intersting plot threads going on in this title. Anyway, in case it wasn't clear by now, this book is...BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

BRAIN DROPPINGS

52 Aftermath the Four Horsemen #1: 3 out of 5
Action Comics #855: 4 out of 5
Black Panther #30 (The Initiative): 3 out of 5
Fallen Angel IDW #19: 4 out of 5
Fantastic Four #549 (The Initiative): 4 out of 5
Teen Titans #50: 4 out of 5
Wonder Woman #12 (Amazons Attack): 3 out of 5
World War Hulk X-Men #3: 4 out of 5

Next Week: Amazing Spider-Man #544, Countdown 34, Uncanny X-Men #490, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: August 22, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Amazing Spider-Man #543:5 out of 5
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Ron Garney
The conclusion to Back in Black. With the life of Aunt May hanging in the balance, Peter Parker finds himself spiraling downwards and dragging MJ down with him. The road to hell and all that. JMS does an excellent job exploring moral ambiguity on the wrong side of the law. Be sure to check this issue out as it is...BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK.

Astonishing X-Men #22: 4 out of 5
Written by Joss Whedon
Art by John Cassaday
Shipping delays have really dragged down the momentum of this title. Even so, it is still one of the best titles out there. Emma calling Danger's bluff was great, nobody writes Emma like Joss Whedon. It was also nice to see the "fornification" of Kitty and Peter. Plus Lockheed! Unfortunately, that Armor girl is still hanging around. Considering how many X-Men-in-training teams there have been (New Mutants/X-Force, Generation X, New X-Men), it's amazing how many people get to join the main team (or is that teams?) directly. Go figure.

Countdown 36: 3 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Tony Bedard
Art by Jim Calafiore
The Challengers story becomes marginally interesting this week as we are left wondering who Monitors Bob the Monitor, but Jimmy Olsen wastes a page. If you were looking for a follow up on the big reveal last issue, you'll find it in Action Comics. It is completely glossed over here folks. The Karate Kid storyling has become my least favorite. The Mary Marvel (who has a magic catfight with Zatanna...yum!...while Eclipso watches!) and the Piper/Trickster storylines are continue to carry this title for me. The new backup, Origin of Supervillains, is a complete waste of space. I mean, is anybody reading Countdown that don't know who Poison Ivy or Deathstroke the Terminator are? And don't give me the any comic might be someone's first line. That may hold for titles like Batman or Justice League, but nobody is going to walk into a comic book store and pick up Countdown on a whim. I'll stop ranting for now.

Green Lantern Corps #1: 3 out of 55
The Sinestro Corps War
Written by Dave Gibbons
Art by Patrick Gleason and Angel Unzueta
A descent issue in the shadow of its big brother. Still entertaining though and if you enjoy Green Lantern, you enjoy this issue as well. I mean it's got Killawog vs. his Sinestro Corps counterpart in it. Plus, Mogo the Planet Green Lantern for the giant city...um, Sinestro Corps member (Sinestro Lantern? Yellow Lantern?). And a punch of characters which I would probably know more about if I read the series, but I must say that Arisia chick is smoking!

The Order #2: 5 out of 5
The Initiative
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Barry Kitson
Say what you will about Civil War, it made possible great new series like Avengers the Initive, New Warriors, and this title, the Order (however the less said about Omega Flight the better). The Order just may be the best of the bunch. This issue spotlights the shapeshifting teen sensation Becky Ryan, codename Aralune (what the frak is an Aralune?), whose story brings to mind a certain former pop star that has fallen from the grace (I won't name names, but it's Britney Spears). In the hands of a lesser writer, this could spell disaster, but Matt Fraction totally pulls it off. If her and Anthem are any indication, I'm sure the rest of the team are equally flawed and interesting. Anyway, this is...BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK.

X-Men #202: 4 out of 5
Endangered Species
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Humberto Ramos
Colossus, Kitty Pryde, and the New X-Men vs. the new Acolytes. Mike Carey is an X-Fan, and it shows in his able to bring in obscure characters without stomping over their previous history and personalities. Chris Gage lends his writing talents to the Endangerd Species backup (that guy is fraking everywhere anymore. Did you see how many books he has coming out in November? Even Brian Bendis is telling him he needs to slow down).

BRAIN DROPPINGS

Annihilation Conquest Starlord #2: 4 out of 5
Blue Beetle #18: 4 out of 5
Birds of Prey #109: 4 out of 5
Cable Deadpool #44: 4 out of 5
Immortal Iron Fist #8: 4 out of 5
Mystic Arcana Scarlet Witch: 3 out of 5
Thunderbolts #116: 4 out of 5
World War Hulk Gamma Corps #2: 4 out of 5

Next Week: Amazons Attack #6, Countdown 35, and more! Including something from Marvel.

Stardust

Awesome movie. Plus Claire Daines looks radiant in it.

BRIAN'S BRAIN: August 15, 2007

Quick review this week.

DC COMICS

Action Comics #854 (Countdown): 3 out of 5

Amazons Attack #5: 2 out of 5

Black Canary #4: 4 out of 5

Booster Gold #1: 5 out of 5
Booster Gold is...BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

Catwoman #70 (Amazons Attack): 3 out of 5

Checkkmate #17: 3 out of 5

Countdown 37: 4 out of 5

Flash #231: 3 out of 5

Green Lantern Corps #14: 3 out of 5
Late.

Justice League of America #12: 2 out of 5

Shadowpact #16: 3 out of 5

MARVEL COMICS

Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2: 5 out of 5
Annihilation Conquest Quasar is...BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK

Captain America #29 (Civil War Initiative): 4 out of 5

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23: 3 out of 5

New X-Men #41: 3 out of 5

Super Villain Team Up MODOKs 11: 3 out of 5

Next Week: Countdown 36, Astonishing X-Men #22, X-Men #202, and more!