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!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: August 1, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

Action Comics #853 (Countdown): 4 out of 5
Written by Kurk Busiek
Art by Brad Walker
After defeateing the Exomorphic Man (off page, unfortunately--maybe we'll see this fight in Countdown 38?), Jimmy Olsen takes on the Kryptonite Man. Unfortunately, he's not quite up to the task and is captured. Superman comes to his rescue, but he too is overwhelmed by K-Man, inpsite of his fancy anti-radiation spray. Meanwhile, not knowing Superman is fighting the K-Man in the NEXT ROOM (between this and Countdown 50, Jimmy Olsen is apparently legally deaf) he constructs a device to mimic his Superman watch, but since Supes is getting his Big Blue Butt kicked, Jimmy instead summons...Krypto? Also, Jimmy reflects on how he suddenly knows stuff he shouldn't, like the secret identities of all three Robins. He even seems to subconsciously know Clark Kent is Superman, but his conscious mind doesn't quite seem to make the connection.

All New Atom #14 (Countdown):5 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Mike Norton
Gail Simone is a damn good writer. She took the least interesting part of Countdown, and totally made it her own. Ryan takes Bob, Donna, and Jason to the microscopic city that lives on his dogs @$$, and then into a facimile of Heaven where they meet...the late Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), complete with Angel-wings jetpack. And just when you think things couldn't get any strangers, Hell invades, lead by a demon-wing jackpack wearing Hitler, which Ryan proceeds to kick in the face. Now channeling my inner Chris Sims, I will repeat: RYAN CHOI KICKS A DEMON-WING JETPACK HITLER IN THE FACE!

Black Canary #3:4 out of 5
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Mike Norton
Black Canary vs. Merlyn. 'Nuff said.

Countdown 39: 4 out of 5
Written by Pail Dini and Sean McKeever
Art by Jim Calafiore
Karate Kid visits Oracle, who brushes him off as someone is trying to hack the secret id of all the heroes. Pengiun sells out Piper & Trickster to the Suicide Squad, but the Rogues gives them the slip. Ryan, Donna, Jason, and Bob go to crazy-space-land. Mary Marvel doesn't appear. Mr. Action stops a purse snatcher and gets smooched. He then reflects on joining a team, while the purse snatcher skulks away (albeit without the stolen purse). Holly confronts Athena about Harley turning away the single mom. The new Question and Batwoman (the all-new, all-lesbian Birds of Prey) confront Piper and Trickster. Oh, and in the backup the Monitors reveal what is beyond teh Source Wall.

Detective Comics #835: 4 out of 5
Written by John Rozum
Art by Tom Mandrake
The Scarecrow decides to prove he's more than a smuck with fear gas, and first busts out Arkham and then goes on a reign of terror through Gotham, relying on pure psychology rather than the aforementioned fear gas. All in all, a surprising good read.

Justice Society of America #8: 4 out of 5
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Fernando Pasarin
This issue spotlights Libery Belle, and features Damage promently as well. Between Sinestro Corps and JSA, Geoff Johns has been at the top of his game lately.

Metal Men #1: 3 out of 5
Written by Duncan Rouleau
Art Duncan Rouleau
A solid first issue. My knowledge of the Metal Men is somewhat limited, so fans might find more enjoyment here. And props to Duncan Rouleau on Will Magnus's Hypo-Hyper Flux Theory, although one wonders why he would be presenting a scientific theory at an inventors conference, but I digress.

Supergirl #20 (Amazons Attack): 3 out of 5
Writen by Tony Bedard
Art by Renato Guedes
Supergirl deals with the mistakes she made during Amazon Attacks, namely attacking Air Force One alongside Wonder Girl. A good introspective tale.

Welcome to Tranquility #9: 3 out of 5
Written bu Gail Simone
Art by Neil Googe
Not one of the better issues of this series, but then I'm not a fan of zombies in comics. Although Roxie from Gen 13 does get it on with one of the Liberty Snots. Of course, this usually is the kiss of death in zombie stories, no?

MARVEL COMICS

Fantastic Four #548 (Civil War Initiative): 3 out of 5
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Paul Pelletier
Believing Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four are dead, the Wingless Wizard beats the captive Sue Richards trying to get her to admidt he is superior to her husband. Naturally, thanks to Black Panther, the FF are very much alive and ready to clobber some Frightful Four. However, the Wizard has an ace up his sleeve, as it is not the Frightful Four, but the Frightful Five! Reed, however, is apparently as blind as Jimmy Olsen is deaf. When the FF arived, the Frightful Four were plainly standing around the shackled Sue, but Reed feels the need to beat on the Wizard and demand to know where his wife is. I know Reed can be kind of oblvious at times, but come on.

Ms. Marvel #18: 4 out of 5
Written by Brian Reed
Art by Aaron Lopresti
Carol meets with Hank McCoy over her recent episode of turning blue, something the Beast knows a little about. She then welcomes two new recruits to Lightning Storm: Sleepwalker and Nextwave's Machine Man. Meanwhile, The Puppet Master is collecting superheroins to sell as slaves. Already in his collection: Shroud, Silverclaw, Stature, and Tigra. And his latest addition, Arana.

New Avengers Illuminati #4: 5 out of 5
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed
Art by Jim Cheung
The Illuminati discuss girl troubles, which includes Namor giving Reed marital advise and Namor asking Tony "Why would you sleep with a woman who looks like Doctor Doom?" From there, they address the threat of...Marvel Boy? After dealing with major milestone events like the Kree-Skrull War, the Infinity Guantlet, and the Secret War, this seems like an odd choice. As a refreshing change of pace, the Illuminati use reason rather then violence to deal with Noh-Varr (well, other than Namor) of course. This is a great issue, the best of the series, and is...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

New Warriors #3: 4 out of 5
Written by Kevin Grevioux
Art by Paco Medina
Although Microbe and Namorita are clearly dead (and have the bodies to prove it), all that was left of Night Trasher after Stanford are is tattered costume. In addition, someone is accessing funds in the Taylor family using codes only Dwayne and his brother knew. Also, Wolverine checks in on Jubilee, and the New Warriors turn down Stark's offer with some colorful graffiti. We also get a glimpse at the rest of the team, but really, we know nothing about them the three former X-Men. Nonetheless, this is a great new book spinning out of Civil War and worth checking out.

She-Hulk #20: 5 out of 5
Written by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton
Art by Rick Burchett
This issue serves to wrap-up the lose threads as Dan Slott nears the end of his run. Stu's escape from Duck World, Artie Zix's revealed to be RT-Z9, Hawkeye taping the Doc Brown (from Back to the Future? Anyone? Damn, I'm old!) letter She-Hulk gave him, the tragic fate of Awesome Andy, Jen's marriage to John Jameson, and Mallory's master plan getting dismissed as petty and trivial. But this is not quite the end as She-Hulk's time as a galactic judge may result in unforseen consequences. I'm sure going to miss Dan Slott on this series, even as I'm looking forward to Peter David taking over. Anyway, this issue is...

BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK

Uncanny X-Men #489: 4 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Salvador Larroca
With the help of the FF computer, Storm attempts to track down the Morlocks. O*N*E get the drop on the Morlocks first, however, and get slaughtered. They X-Men uncover Skids among the wounded, and she reveals that she is an undercover SHIELD agent. Also, Xavier and Nightcrawler continue to track down Magneto. In the backup, which is signifigantly better than it was during the first few weeks, the Beast makes a deal with the devil...the Dark Beast.

World War Hulk #3: 4 out of 5
Written by Greg Pak
Art by John Romita Jr.
With both the Avengers AND the Fantastic Four down for the count, its up to Thunderbolt Ross and army to take out Hulk. Naturally, they are little match for the Hulk's rage. Doctor Strange contacts Hulk through the astral plane and tries to reason with him as a friend, and although it appears he is reaching Hulk (and Banner), the Hulk instead lures him in to break his hands. Meanwhile, the Warbound capture Echo, Iron First, and Ronin in their effort to protect Strange. Hulk then oversees the construction of a gladiator arena while Rick Jones continues to try to reason with him. The Sentry continues to remain on the fence.

Next Week: Countdown 38, Green Lantern #22, New Avengers #33, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: June 27, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

Blue Beetle #17: 4 out of 5
Writen by John Rogers
Art by Rafael Albuquerque
It's always harder to critique bad comics than praise good ones. Just buy this book. You'll be glad you did.

Countdown 40: 4 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Tony Bedard
Art by Keith Giffen and Manuel Garcia
Jimmy Olsen debuts as Mr. Action! Mary Marvel catches a show with Zatana. Bob, Ryan, Jason, and Donna face off against microscopic gorila men. Holly learns that the shelter turns away an older single mother with a son. Someone (a New God?) spies on Darkseid building up an army of parademons. And the Question tracks Trickster and Piper to the Iceburg Lounge. Oh, and the backup this issue reveals new information for a change on the origin of the 52 monitors. All in all, a strong issue.

Fallen Angel #18: 4 out of 5
Written by Peter David
Art by J. K. Woodward
Man, I love Liandra. This being a comic book team-up, naturally she has to fight with Shi first, whom she beats using lesbian innuendo and poking fun at her whorish outfit. Things don't get much better off than that.

Green Arrow Year One #2: 1 out of 5
Written by Andy Diggle
Art by Jock
First of all, this issue takes less time to read than it does to tie your shoes. Not only that, most of the issue shows young Ollie fishing and making arrows. A real snoozer here.

Hawkgirl #66: 1 out of 5
Written by Wlater Simonson
Art by Renato Arlem
The last issue of Hawkgirl. That's good news as it will save me the trouble of dropping it from my pull list. The big show down against Hath-Set is fairly predictable, and lacks the gravity it should have after being built up so much. For someone who has supposedly killed the Hawks again and again over several millenia, he sure goes down easy.

Superman #665 (Countdown): 4 out of 5
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Rick Leonard
A flashback tale of how Superman and Jimmy Olsen became pals. A great read, but it doesn't seem to be essential to the ongoing Countdown series.

Teen Titans #49 (Amazons Attack): 3 out of 5
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Al Barrioneuvo
Reunited with Cassie, the Teen Titans (and Supergirl) find themselves in between the U.S. Military and mounted amazons led by Artemis. Plus Superman is here for some reason, although he really isn't needed here. Anyway, in the end, the women captives get free, the Titan's and Supes prevent bloodshed, and Girls both Wonder and Super make peace with their amazon friends. Yeah.

Wonder Woman #11 (Amazons Attack): 2 out of 5
Written by J. Torres
Art by Paco Diaz
Meh. That's all I have to say here.

MARVEL COMICS

Amazing Spider-Man #542: 5 out of 5
Written by J. Michael Stracynski
Art by Ron Garney
Peter Paker gives Wilson Fisk a beatdown in front of an entire prison, completely destroying his image. An altogether great issue.

Annihilation Conquest Starlord #1: 3 out of 5
Written by Keith Giffen
Art by Timothy Green II
The Kree assemble a makeshift team of ragtag prisoners commanded by Starlord to meet the threat of the Phalanx. By Keith Giffen. So far, it pretty much an assemble-the-team book. Not really enough to evaluate the series as a whole.

Black Panther #29 (Civil War Initiative): 3 out of 5
Written by Reginal Hudlin
Art by Francis Portela
So this month in Fantastic Four...I mean, Black Panther...Marvel's latest gimmick...the Marvel zombies...take on the New FF. Oh, and not only are they zombies, but they have the power of Galactus. So things don't go well and they are forced to withdraw while the Skrull FF cover their escape. They make contact with Marvel Zombie's Black Panther, who is married to whom I think is supposed to be the Wasp, who has some catty remarks to make to Storm. I really wish this book would get back to featuring the T'Challa instead of being a second-rate Fantastic Four.

Cable Deadpool #43: 4 out of 5
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Ron Lim
Well, things don't look good for Cable. It's been six weeks and he's still dead. Will this book be renamed Deadpool and Bob, Agent of Hydra? Plus, Wolverine guest stars (a Wolverine guest apperance? Shocking!) and takes on Deadpool inside of a Hydra base. Bad news for Wade as he loses his head. Literally.

Heroes for Hire #12 (World War Hulk): 3 out of 5
Written by Zeb Wells
Art by Claw Mann
Not all of the Warbound are giving the Hulk their full attention, as Brood seems to have her own agenda. But where does Humbug loyalties lie? And more importantly, will their be tentacle porn next issue?

Immortal Iron Fist #7: 4 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
Art by Travel Foreman
This issue is a stand alone tale of Wu Ao-Shi, the female Iron Fist. A great single issue story. 'Nuff said.

Incredible Hulk #108 (World War Hulk):3 out of 5
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Leonard Kirk
Rick Jones and Miek recall their relationship with the Hulk. In other words, a filler issue.

Iron Man #20 (World War Hulk): 3 out of 5
Written by Christos N. Gage
Art by Butch Guise
Not one of Chris Gage's best work, although it's still a fairly entertaining read as Dum Dum Dugan deals with the fallout of Iron Man's defeat and imprisonment by the Hulk.

Mighty Avengers #4 (Civil War Initiative): 4 out of 5
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Frank Cho
Ares is starting to grow on me as a character, as he kicks major evil robot ass in this issue. Plus, Wasp gives Hank Pym's ego a verbal bitch slap, which is always nice to see (insert cheap Hank Pym beats his wife joke here). And Ultron strikes the Sentry where it hurts, and I'm not taking about hitting him between the legs. Plus: Frank Cho's artwork is always a bonus.

Onslaught Reborn #4: 3 out of 5
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by Rob Liefeld
Ah, 90s nostalga. I remember when Onslaught first came out. Yes, I'm old. I know, I know. I've been reading X-Men for over half my life. Anyway, if you didn't read Onslaught and Heroes Reborn, just skip this series. Otherwise, it's fairly decent for those who have fond memories of the 90s.

X-Men #201: 5 out of 5
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Humberto Ramos
It's great to see the Marauders taking it to the X-Men again! If this book has a flaw, it's that HUGE cast of characters, and a few of them get lost in the background. In addition to this books class, we have the Astonishing and New X-Men, Sunfire, the Acolytes, and, of course, the Marauders. Even the backup story picks things up as the one evil scientist Beast seemed to forget when he called everyone else: his own evil doppleganger from the Age of Apocalypse! And this issue is thus...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

Next Week: Countdown 39, Metal Man #1, World War Hulk #3, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: JULY 18, 2007

All FLash #1, Black Canary #1 (yes, it's late for me), Annihilation Conquest Quasar #1, Mystic Arcana Black Knight #1, Super Villain Team Up MODOK's 11 #1, The Order #1, and Thunderbolts Desperate Measures #1. That's a lot's of #1's this week. Anyway...

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

Action Comics #852 (Countdown): 3 out of 5
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Brad Walker
Featuring Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, this story spins out of Countdown (and apparently Lois's hair is much shorter her for some reason). The Kryptonite Man appeals to be allowed to continue his research, under supervision, but when the judge denies his request, he goes postal. Superman takes him down with one punch with the aid of a lead glove before Jimmy can power-up. Also, a flashback tells the origin of his signal watch. Olsen then decides to help out with a liquor store robbery, sporting a makeshift mask and his Elastic Lad powers, but unfortunately the book ends before we can see him in action. Somewhat interesting, but like Countdown, is slow and Jimmy Olsen does little but observe events.

All Flash #1: 4 out of 5
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Karl Kerchl, Ian Churchill, Norm Rapmund, Manuel Garcia, Joe Bennet, Ruy Jose, and Daniel Acuna (that's a lot of artists).
Note to self: do not piss off the Flash. Following the events of Flash The Fastest Man Alive #13 and Justice League #10, Wally leans of Bart's death and takes off after Inertia. In spite of his future knowledge, Inertia is surprised by this turn of events (no doubt due to the Legions involvement in Wally's return). Anyway, Wally turns Inertia into a freaking statue at the Flash museum, a move that would have even Batman going "Dude, cheer up." The remaing rogues are taken out by Deadshot (Secret Six/Suicide Squad), Count Vertigo (Checkmate), Kid Boomerang (Outsiders), and some Puma-like guy I don't recognize leaving only Piper and Trickster still on the run. Isis gives a glimpse at what's to come, include Wally's superpowered kids and a Bat-suit in a flash ring. Tease.

Amazons Attack #4: 3 out of 5
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by Pete Woods
Superman swoops in to rescue Wonder Woman in her confrontation with her mother. After Wonder Girl and Supergirl corner the president, amazons arive to kill the man. Realizing they've been played, the two defend the president until Superman arives and gives a "can't we all be friends" speach before the military arives to take down the amazons. Also, Batman learns that the attacks outside of DC are by a group called the Bana, and heads off to pages of Catwoman to recruit her as a double agent. And Circe is revealed to be very much alive.

Birds of Prey #108: 5 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Nicola Scott
Gail's last issue of the Birds of Prey, she caps it off with a superb issue that makes you wish she wasn't leaving this book. The Secret Six limp off, with Catman getting a love note from Huntress. Harley decides to quit the team (and head off for the pages of Countdown). A mysterious voice, who may or may not be Amanda Waller, hacks their radio and reveals that they have footage of Deadshot murdering General Kerimov, which may or may not have to do with his recruitment into the Suicide Squad. Anyway, back to the Birds. Oracle challenges Spy Smasher to combat over leadership of her team, and after the former Batgirl hands Spy Smasher her buttocks, a four page spread of Barbara's friends back up her leadership claim. One wonders why Barbara didn't do this earlier if that was all that was needed to oust Spy Smasher. Then we get some girl time between Barbara, Helena, Dinah, and Zinda before Oracle and Lady Blackhawk headout to find Misfit. In the highlight of an excellent final issue for Gail Simone, Misfit's tragic origin story is revealed, and Orcale takes her in. As much as I'm looking forward to Sean McKeever coming on board, I still wish that this was the one title Gail Simone was keeping after her move to Wonder Woman. Tear tear, I promised myself...etc., etc.

Black Canary #1 and #2: 4 out of 5
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Paulo Siqueira
Merlyn, obsessed with all things Green Arrow, makes a play on Sin to (re)recruit her into the League of Assassins. He tricks Dinah, through her ex-husband, to enroll Sin in a private school for trouble children to get her away from the protection of Black Canary. After Sin takes out a squad of League ninjas, Merlyn, disguised as Ollie, tricks her into his car and puts her to sleep with a trick arrow. This isn't going to make Dinah happy. Also, we are treated to the occasional flash back of the Ollie/Dinah relationship.

Catwoman #69: 4 out of 5
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez
Spinning out of Amazons Attack, Batman recuits Selena to infiltrate te Bana (whom makes me think of that guy from the tragically bad Hulk movie every time I hear their name). But first, we are treated to the most shocking panel in the history of DC comics that you'll have to see to believe.

Checkmate #16: 4 out of 5
Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Bennett and Prado
A Lost style flashback treats to an excellently written then-and-now tale of the romance between Mr. Terrific and Sasha Bordeaux. Fire reunites with Ice (who recently returned from the dead in the pages of Birds of Prey) in an instance of DC cohesiveness at its finest. And the new Black King's Bishop arives: August General in Iron, or whatever his name is. Oh, and Mirror Master, somewhere between killing the Bart Allen and getting taken out by Deadshot (or perhaps afterwards if he joined the Suidice Squad), gets a poparatzi (sp?) gig photographic Terrific/Bordeux in bed.

Countdown 41: 3 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Adam Beechen
Art by Dennis Calereo
Piper grabs a bag containing their gear, and with Trickster's "boots of levitation", they manage to slow their fall enough to make a water landing before setting off to the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge. Jimmy Olsen investigages the pitfalls of having a secret identity. Mary Marvel ponders. Donna Troy and Jason Todd (well, mostly Jason) christen the "good" Monitor with the moniker "Bob" before arriving in the Palmerverse to a not-so-friendly reception. Holly Robinson has to bail Harley Quinn out of trouble when she confronts protesters outside the Athenian Woman's Shelter. Karate Kid learns that his work in the past is not finished, and is joined by 1/3 of Triplicate girl. In other words, not a whole lot happens in this issue as Countdown continues to crawl. The backup contains a cliff-notes version of 52.

Justice League of America #11: 5 out of 5
Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Gene Ha
After a rescue gone awry, Red Arrow and Vixen findthemselves trapped in a collapsed and sinking building. Vixen reveals that she has lost her animal powers and has been mouching off her fellow leaguers. That leaves things up to Red Arrow to save them with only his trick arrows. This issue his superbly written with only two characters in a claustrophobia (sp?) tale of survival.

MARVEL COMICS

Annihilation Conquest Quasar #1: 4 out of 5
Written by Christos N. Gage
Art by Mike Lilly
Or as I like to call it, SPACE LESBIANS OF THE 21ST CENTURY! Anyway, Phyla-Vell, perhaps the best thing to come out of Peter David's Captain Marvel (and that's saying something), starts her quest to find the savior of the Kree, with her lover, Moondragon. Unfortunately, they must first beat the latest Phalanx Select, the Super-Adaptoid, who has the combined powers of Hawkeye, Hercules, Quicksilver, Vision, and the original Captain Mar-Vell. We also get to see Phyla's introspective over her disfunctional family, and some nice scenes where she canoodles with Moondragon.

Avengers the Initiative #4 (World War Hulk): 4 out of 5
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Stefano Caselli
The deadly secret of why Iron Man's nanoprobes didn't depower the Hulk is revealed! I really hope they follow up on this. The Initiative heads to New York to help with the evacuation, but Triathalon soon looses control of the recruits (save for a subdued Komodo) when they rush to the front lines after seeing Iron Man boldly stand up to the Hulk. They arive just in time to see the Hulk and the Warbound standing victoriously over a combined Avengers team featuring such powerhouses like Ares, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Doc Sampson, She-Hulk, and Wonder Man. That would take the wind out of anyone's sails. Also, the mystery that is MVP deepens.

Captain America #28 (Civil War Initiative): 5 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
Sin leads the Serpent Squad on an attack on SHIELD to free her boytoy, Crossbones. There's just something about a red-haired, freckled vixin that looks so innocent but in truth is as evil as her namesake. Nick Fury, Falcon, and Sharon Carter continue to look for the Winter Soldier. And Tony Stark gets a mysterious letter from Cap to be delivered to him and only him in case of his death. I'm starting to think Ed Brubaker had the Shi-ar arc in Unncanny ghost-written.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #22: 4 out of 5
Written by Peter David
Art by Todd Nauck
Robbie Roberson informs his wife and kid of his being let go from the Bugle, much to his wife's relief as she felt his job (read Jonah) was overly stressful to him. His son doesn't take the news so well, and blames Peter naturally. Betty Brant with a shotgun arives to turn the tide against Ero, and the all-new, all-deadly Spider-Man echoes the Flash in creepiness this week. After a wounded Ero makes a threatening speach to Betty, Peter tracks her down and lures her to the Bronx zoo, where she gets eaten piecemeal by a flock of birds before Peter personally steps on one of her spiders. Flash and Betty patch things up and Peter learns of Robbie's firing, and heads off to confront J. Jonah Jameson.

Mystic Arcana Black Knight: 3 out of 5
Written by Roy Thomas
Art by Tom Grummet and Scott Hanna
A step down from the Magik issue, this story features not Dane Whtman but rather Sir Percy, the Black Knight from the days of King Arthur. Percy has to make a deadly choice about whether to save Camelot by killing Mordred or the save the future by letting Mordred kill him. Percy chooses the later, of course, and then becomes the mysterious Gwynn, who has previously been a guide and mentor throughout his life. The backup story bu David Sexton featureing Morgan Le Fay outshines the feature story and examines Le Fay in all her tragic villain glory.

New X-Men #40: 3 out of 5
Written by Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle
Art by Skottie Young
Sando, Anole, and Pixie all go through shocking transformations, with Anole taking a page from Hellboy by growing an extra-large right arm. Illyana continues to walk the line bewteen hero (or rather anti-hero) and villain, which leaves you guessing which side she is on, and spreads more confusion over her return as she apparently was never deaged after Inferno, and was separated from her soul (which was the deaged Illyana?). And how does House of M fit in here? Belasco brings Laura back to life, only to kill her again for kicks. And Amada Sefton brings Hellion and Surge (and a Sentinel) to Limbo. In the Endangerd Species backup, Beast visits Kavita Roa, who turns over her mutant research, which includes former mutant samples that are no longer x-gene positive. This seems to surprise the Beast as he apparently didn't have any samples himself (I guess since most of the X-Men were unaffected by M-day).

Super Villain Team Up MODOKs 11 #1: 5 out of 5
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Francis Protela
MODOK recruits D-list villains Armadillo, Puma, Mentallo, Rocket Racer, the Chameleon, Deadly Nightshade, Living Laser, and the Spot (yes, the Spot) for a heist job. This is only nine, including MODOK, which leaves two surprise members yet to come. Mentallo detects that MODOK has a hidden agenda, and MODOK brings him into the loop (but unfortunately) not the reader. Also, we are treated to a retelling of MODOK's origin story, where he volunteered only to impress his "girlfriend." This series is a tongue-in-cheek romp, amusing but not laugh-out-loud hysterical, that is nonetheless not to be missed, and is...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

The Order #1 (Civil War Initiative): 4 out of 5
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Barry Kitson
Featuring Anthem, who played Iron Man on TV and shares Tony Stark's alcoholism, stars in the start of this new series remaniscent of the first issue X-Force/X-Statix, where most of the team doesn't survive to the end. Only instead of getting killed, they are fired for getting drunk in public. That leaves only weather-wizard Anthem, speedster Calamity, and powerhouse Heavy (who is conspicously absent from the cover, so we probably shouldn't get too close to him) on the team, so four new members are recruited: Mulholland Black (street punk with a big hammer and a "pscyho-kinetic connection with LA"), Veda (self-absorbed animator), Becky Ryan (shapeshifter), and Supernaut (crippled mecha pilot). Other than Anthem, we don't learn much about the team, but there seems to be a lot of potential here.

Thunderbolts Desperate Measures: 3 out of 5
Written by Paul Jenkis
Art by Steve Lieber
Featuring Penace and Bullseye, the unlikely duo are sent to take down the unbalanced antihero Americop. Bullseye uses Penace as a weapon against him, and Penace stands up to Osborn by saving some of his power to wreck a irreplacable gizmo that personally cost him 17 million dollars. This only serves to impress the certifiable Osborn. Overall, a lackluster fill-in issue that leaves you missing Ellis (words I thought I'd never hear myself say).

World War Hulk #2: 5 out of 5
Written by Greg Pak
Art by John Romita Jr.
Hulk takes on the aforementioned combined Avengers team, including his cousin She-Hulk who attempts to reason with him, only to be bitched slap for not standing with him. The Hulk then makes short work of the Avengers before heading off to face the Fantastic Four. As Storm holds off the Warbound, Hulk takes out first the Human Torch and then the Thing. He then sees through Reed's ruse at pretending to be Hulk's friend, the Sentry, before breaking through Sue's force field before giving Reed a beatdown. Sue then attempts to enlist the real Sentry, who is watching from the sidelines. Rick Jones then reachs through to the Hulk, revealing to him the events of Civil War and the death of Captain America. Just when he breaks through the Hulk's anger, Dr. Stange attempts tow ork his magic against the Hulk, which only spurs him back to anger. Hulk then faces down Hercules, Angel, and Namorita, and General Ross arives to cleanup the mess since apparently he thinks he can suceed where Iron Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four have failed. This action-packed issue is thus...

BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK

World War Hulk Front Line #2: 3 out of 5
Written by Paul Jenkins
Art by Ramon Bachs
The feature story is mostly a retelling of events of World War Hulk #2 from the sidelines. The Daredevil scene, where a poor kid points out the heroes powerlesness prevents this issue from earner a lower rating, and is really the only part taht's worthwhile here. The first backup is a decent body cop story featuring the unlikely paiuring of Detective Danny Granville and Warbound Korg. The second backup is not even worth mentioning.

World War Hulk X-Men #2: 4 out of 5
Written by Chris Gage
Art by Andrea Divito
Inspite Xavier wanting to surrender, the Astonishing X-Men put themselves between him and the Hulk. They let loose with everthing they've got: Cyclops goes full blast, Wolverine goes for the Hulk's eyes, and Shadowcat phases the hulk into the ground. Even with the combined musscle of Emma Frost, Colossus, and the Beast, this isn't nearly enough to shop the Hulk, so the Stepford Cuckoos call in X-Factor, Uncanny X-Men, and New Excalibur for reinforcements (but surprising not the adjectiveless X-Men). New Excalibur, being on the "other-side-of-the-pond," have to sit this one out, but Juggernaut uses the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak to teleport there, in spite there never being an indication that it has this type of power. The Hulk makes short work of the Juggernaut, however, and his final words "Wuh--wait...this ain't right...I'm the J...." can only be finished with the infamous "Juggernaut bitch!" Pardon my French. Then in a surprising display of synchonicity, Uncanny X-Men and X-Factor then both arive on the scene. Chris Gage is a superb writer, who somehow manages to capture the essence of each character even when they only have a single line of dialog. This is a great, action-packed issue, but is not essential to the overall World War Hulk storyline.

Whew! That wraps things up this week.

Next Week: Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #1, Countdown 40, Mighty Avengers #4, X-Men #201, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: July 5, 2007

Both the Flash and Captain America have their funerals this week.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

All New Atom #13 (Countdown): 4 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Mike Norton and Dan Green
Ryan Choi searches for Ray Palmer. In a microscopic world where two sects argue over whether Ray is a savior or demon, Ryan finds himself in the middle of a civil war. As he points out, such things can last forever. Surely that's not a dig at a rival comics company.

Countdown 43: 4 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini, Jimmy Palmitotti, and Justin Gray
Art by David Lopez
Most of the plot-threads intersect as most of the key players attend the Flash's funeral. Jimmy Olson, Jason Todd, Donna Troy, the good Monitor, the Trickster, and the Pied Piper are all in attendence. The latter two are their incognito and attempt to slip out unnoticed, but they are intercepted by Multiplex and Deadshot, the latter's Secret Six teammate nowhere to be seen (well, almost). Meanwhile, Holly makes an unlikely friend at the woman's shelter: Harley Quinn (another Secret Six member?). And Monarch shows Forerunner the Stormtrooper army he wants her to lead against the Monitors, who apparently had someone else wipe out Earth 34, which persumable is the homeworld of the Forerunners. Mary Marvel doesn't appear in this issue. The bottom line, this series continue to build towards something, and while good in quality, lacks the tension it needs to really stand out as the backbone of the DC universe.

Outsiders #49: 2 out of 5
Written by Judd Winnick and Greg Rucka
Art by Matthew Clark and Wayne Faucher
As the conclusion of a crossover, this issue is extremely anticlimatic. The "big bad" gets away without a fight, and what little fighting there is against mostly mooks and has hardly any tension. This is Winnick's last issue, and Batman taking over the reigns makes way for the "big" roster shakeup when the new creative team comes aboard. And considering that they're making a five-issue mini-series event, you might want to not run adds that reveal the new team. As of right now, I could take or leave this title. I definately won't be getting the mini-series (although I may pick it up as a trade). Will I get #50 though? Only time will tell.

Supergirl #19: 3 out of 5
Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Art by Alé Garze and Marlo Alquiza
Joe Kelly wraps up his run on this title, and this entire issue is just wrap-up of loose ends and a thank you to the fans. The new Supergirl hasn't been a great success. Joe Kelly breathed some life into the character, but his leaving could mark the end of the book.

Welcome to Tranquility #8: 4 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Jason Pearson, ChrisCross and Georges Jeanty
This issue is a collection of three flashbacks which reveal some backstory on Tommy, Zombie Zeke (a new character I think, although he may have been there in the background), and the Emoticon. The latter two are origin stories, while the first isn't particularly signifigant.

MARVEL COMICS

Fallen Son Death of Captain America Iron Man: 4 out of 5
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art by John Cassaday
This might as well be titled Falcon as he hogs the spotlight in this issue, not Iron Man. The bulk of the issue contains Sam Wilson's oft referenced eulogy in Captain America #26. Nonetheless, this is one of the few decent issues in this series (the only other one being the Captain America issue). The heroes all say a final farewell to Cap (and Tony's cred as a jerk rises as he doesn't allow amnesty to the unregistered heroes so they could also pay their respects).

Loners #4: 4 out of 5
Written by C. B. Cebulski
Art by Karl Moline
This issue features Julie Power. There are a couple refences to her being a lesbian (since she looks like and has similar powers to Runaway's Karolina, a similar sexual preference was inevitable). It is revealed that she has been hidding behind the "dumb California blonde" persona and starts to openup more to her teammates. Plus: Darkhawk and Turbo hookup. This series has great characterizations and definately would make a strong ongoing series.

Ms. Marvel #17 (Civil War Initiative): 5 out of 5
Written by Brian Reed
Art by Aaron Lopresti
This series is not to be underestimated. A great miss of humor and superhero drama. And it features the one and only M.O.D.O.K! I liked this issue so much, that it is...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

New Warriors #2 (Civil War Initiative): 4 out of 5
Written by Kevin Grevious
Art by Paco Medina
This series is off to a slow start. Night Thrashers seemly return from the grave is unexplained (is he's a skrull?), and we still haven't met the majority of the New Warriors. We do, however, meet another member of the team--Jubilee! Is the whole team comprised of former X-Men?

Runaways #27: 5 out of 5
Written by Joss Whedon
Art by Michael Ryan
Teenage superheroes: check. Joss Whedon: check. Lesbians: check. Need I say more? Well, they Runawars are trapped in the past and get caught up in a gang war, with Gert's parents at the head of the one group. P.S. I think Xavin MIGHT be a skrull. I don't know why, but I just have a hunch that he is one. You can't trust anyone in the Marvel universe these days.

Ultimate Power #6: 3 out of 5
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Art by Greg Land
As the Ultimates and Squadron Supreme square off, Doctor Doom makes his move for the nanoprobes which gave the Squadron their power. Unfortunately, this series continues to live up to its potential, and I'm not sure why I keep buying it.

Uncanny X-Men #488: 4 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker and Mike Carey
Art by Salvador Larroca and Mark Bagley
Storm leads a small group into the Morlock tunnels and unveils a prophecy scribbled onto the walls. Did Destiny stay in with the Morlocks? Or is this another precog? Also, Masque, Erg, and Skids make a terrorist attack on a subway car where Masque uses his flesh-warping power to turn the inhabitants into "mutants." Plus Nightcrawler and Professor X begin their search for Magneto. This arc is a big improvement over the disasterous Shi'ar arc.
The Endangered Species backup is completely uneventful. The various villains give their responses (which pretty much are variations of go frak yourself with a few exceptions). Beast heads to Wundergore to meet one-on-one with High Evolutionary, only to be intercepted by the New Men.

And that wraps up things this week.

NEXT WEEK: Countdown 42, Deadpool GLI Summer Fun Spectacular, New Avengers #32, World War Hulk Gamma Corps #1, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: June 27, 2007

Wow, what a week for comics. I'll be keeping my reviews brief this week.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

Amazons Attack #3: 3 out of 5
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by Pete Woods
This is pretty much an overview title, with the real story taking place in Teen Titans and Wonder Woman. 'Nuff said.

Blue Beetle #16 (Countdown): 4 out of 5
Written by John Rogers
Art by Rafael Albuquerque
A great blend of humor and character. Blue Beetle takes on Jean Lorring as Eclipso! Also, Blue Beetle's secret power fantasy is not to be missed.

Countdown 44: 4 out of 5
Written by Paul Dini and Adam Beechen
Art by Carlos Magno
Countdown starts to pick up speeds. Billy Batson/Captain Marvel/Shazam confronts Mary Marvel about her new powers, Captain Atom/Monarch recruits Forerunner, Jimmy Olsen experiments with his power surges (not power escalations mind you), and Piper Trickster are on the run for their role in the death of Bart Allan/Flash. You know how cops get when you kill one of their own, so imagine what superheroes would do. Oh, and Holly visits an Amazonian woman's shelter. Okay, maybe that last one isn't as gripping, but it only takes up 2 pages, so at least it's short.

Fallen Angel #17 (IDW): 3 out of 5
Written by Peter David
Art by Joe Corroney
Yes, yes, I know this is no longer a DC title, but my friendly neighborhood comic shop keeps it in the Vertigo section, so what can you do? Anyway, not a whole lot happens here as it just leads up to Fallen Angel meeting Shi. Although Peter David provides some witty (as if he ever provides anything non-witty) commentary on the nature of free will.

Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1: 5 out of 5
Written by Goeff Johns
Art by Ethan Van Sciver
This issue simply blew me. The Sinestro Corps move on the Green Lantern Corps with devestating results. Plus, Sinestro recruits one last unlikely member into the fold, and the true power behind the Sinestro Corps is revealed. Don't let the $4.99 price tag deter you. This issue is worth every penny, especially since it's...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

Teen Titans #48 (Amazons Attack): 4 out of 5
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Al Barrionuevo
Wonder Girl and Supergirl have a lot in common. They're both blonde, they're both flying powerhouses, and they're both pissed at the U.S. government, who starts rounding up anyone remotely associated with the amazons. Miss Martian, Kid Devil, Ravager, and Robin find themselves caught in the middle.

Wonder Woman #10 (Amazons Attack): 4 out of 5
Written by Jodi Picoult
Art by Paco Diaz
The Amazons' secret weapon is revealed, and Wonder Woman takes drastic action to end the war.

MARVEL COMICS

Black Panther #28 (Civil War Initiative): 3 out of 5
Written by Reginald Hudlin
Art by Francis Portela
This title has really become a second Fantatic Four title. The foursome take on skrulls, zombies, and one giant bug. A fun tale, but nothing special here. Unless maybe your a fan of Marvel Zombies.

Cable Deadpool #42: 4 out of 5
Written by Favian Nicieza
Art by Reilly Brown and Jon Malin
A companion piece to X-Men #200 (although said title doesn't seem to know what's going on here in spite of Cable showing up in both issues). Cable battles former X-Men Gambit and Sunfire, while Deadpool faces down Senyaka! Who is Senyaka you ask? A member of the Acolytes I say. Who are the Acolytes?!? Sigh. I'm old. (When I was your age, comics only cost a $1.25!)

Daredevil #98: 4 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Lark
Determined not to let Milla to become the next Elektra or Karen Page, Daredevil battles Gladiater. How can you not love a villain, reluctant or otherwise, that can shoot saw blades from their wrist-gauntlets?

Fantastic Four #547 (Civil War Initiative): 3 out of 5
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Art by Paul Plletier
The Frightful Four make their move on their Fantastic counterparts. One wonders how the (Wingless) Wizard patched things up with Paste Pot Peter aka the Trapster, but I digress. But did they account for Black Panther and his queen Storm? Unfortunately, we have to wait until next month to find out. Also, don't question Storm about whether her hair and/or eyes are natural. Ever.

Immortal Iron Fist #6: 3 out of 5
Written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction
Art by David Aja
I was all set to drop this title, but being the completionist that I am, I decided to pick up this issue. I mean, everyone else seems to rave about this book, so I figured I should give it one more chance. I'm glad I did as, while it may not be my favorite, this issue was surprising enjoyable. Especially when Luke Cage tells Misty Knight she should get gay-married to her partner-in-crime, Colleen Wing. Okay, maybe I'm just a sucker for lesbians, even in jest. Or at least, "crazy white girls" with swords. Danny Rand has gotten a repieve, for now at least. He can thank the incredible confusing Moon Knight for that.

She-Hulk #19: 5 out of 5
Written by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton
Art by Rick Burchett
Ah, Dan Slott, or as I like to call him, the second coming of Peter David. Too bad your leaving this book, but at least you'll be leaving it in good hands. I just hope Peter will be able to pick up some if not all of Slott's well-developed supporting cast. Or at least Awesom Andy, even if he's been MIA for a while now. Anyway, the Leader goes on trial represented by Mallory Book. Jen's testamony is not to be missed! In fact, even the Leader aborted his prearranged escape attempt to see how things play out after Mallory tears Jen a new one on the stand.

Silent War #6: 4 out of 5
Written by David Hine
Art by Frazer Irving
Silent War concludes! Well, not really, as seem to be the trend in David Hine limited series. Seriously, this guy needs an ongoing series. Maximus makes his play for Black Bolt's throne (and his family), while Black Bolt himself fights a mutated squad of marines to protect Attilan. I just want to know how events here relate to Black Bolt's appearance in World War Hulk #1. Without giving too much away, I will simply say that it doesn't seem to fit either before or after the events WWH.

Thunderbolts #115 (Civil War Initiative): 4 out of 5
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Mike Deodoto Jr.
I have to admidt, I haven't been a big fan of the Thunderbolts reboot. I miss Atlas, Mach-Whatever, the Fixer, Zemo, Joystick, Speed Demon, and Blizzard. But I must admidt, the new Thunderbolts do make for an interesting read. Ellis show's he's not affair to shake things up as one the 'bolts (apparently) gets removed from the team in the worst possible way. Also, I don't usually comment on the art as I am by no means an artist, but wow! The art here is incredible detailed. From the flames on the opening pages to the sweat dripping off someone's face one the last page, the level of detail is just incredible.

World War Hulk Front Line #1: 5 out of 5
Written by Paul Jenkins
Art by Sally Floyd
Ben Urich and Sally Floyd report on the opening of World War Hulk. It's always nice to see a title that focuses not on superheroes but rather on "average joes", especially when its done so well.

World War Hulk X-Men #1: 4 out of 5
Written by Chris Gage
Art by Andrea Divito
This issue shows just why I love Chris Gage. He totally nails the character of the New X-Men (and Beast for that matter), so much so that it fits seemlessly with their own title. All too many writers seem to disregard the works of others, so much so that you end up with characters that don't even resemble themselves. Take Geoff Johns' Wonder Girl vs. Peter David's Wonder Girl for instance. Yes, there is something to be said for different takes on the characters and character development and what not, but to see such radical departures happen overnight...but I digress. Anyway, the New X-Men lead by Beast make an impressive showing against the Hulk, holding him off long enough for Xavier to evacuate the rest of the students. Only once they are safe does Xavier confronts the Hulk, who has some questions about Chuck's friends in the Illuminati.

X-Factor #20: 5 out of 5
Written by Peter David
Art by Khoi Pham
The X-Cell situations arrives at its (literally) explosive conclusion. X-Cell consists of Calliso, Marrow, the Blob (aka Sir Not Appearing in This Issue), and B-list former mutants Abyss, Reaver, Fatale, and Elijah Cross (a new character who has a Juggernaut-esque restored mutant power, not to mention the non-mutant power of being completely expendable). My only complaint is that Abyss serves as a dues ex machina of sorts to save Reaver and Fatale, not to mention himself, because they're not expendable at all (now if this were written by Frank Teri on the other hand...) Also, Maddox's one man performance of 300, M trying to save Fatale, and Layla Miller's comments on her "catch phrase" are great moments. Very few writers can successfuly mix humor into an otherwise dark, noirish comic, but then Peter David is no ordinary writer.

X-Men #200 (Endangered Species): 5 out of 5
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Humberto Ramos and Chris Bachalo
Last but not lest, we have X-Men #200, and the return of the Marauders! Yes, the Marauders, once formidable enemies of the X-Men turned cloned jokes return to their former glory as the adjectiveless X-Men are betrayed by not one, not two, but three of their number (aka, half the team with Cable and Sabretooth gone), although admidtedly one is possessed by Malice. One wonders if they were manipulating Rogue when she assembled her team. Luckily, Beast, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Wolverine are on hand to help even things out. Mike Carey really knocks it out of the park with this one, but unfortunately I only have one Pick each week. With that in mind, we have the first ever....

BRIAN'S HONORABLE MENTION OF THE WEEK Oh, and also, the Beast enlists some unlikely allies in the first chapter of Endangered Species, also by Mike Carey.

Next Week: Countdown 43, Fallen Son Death of Captain America Iron Man, and more! Plus, Endangered Species continues in Uncanny X-Men #488.

BRIAN'S BRAIN: June 20, 2007

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...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK<

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.

Next Week: Amazons Attack #3, Countdown 44, X-Men #200, and more!

BRIAN'S BRAIN: June 13, 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!

DC COMICS

Countdown 46: 3 out of 5
Written By Paul Dini, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Justin Gray
Art by Jesus Saiz
This week is a transition issue, and not a hell of a whole lot happens here. Mary Marvel takes out a throw-away villain (that, I kid you not, throws dead babies at her), Jimmy follows a lead to a guy who bites it just as he's about to reveal what's going on (shocking, I know) while Holly saves some guy from becoming collatoral damage (at least, I think that's Holly as nobody mentions her name), tension between Piper and Mirror Master continues to build (which while entertaining, is completely unessary). Jason Todd, being trained by the World's Greatest Detective (not to mention Rogue Monitor said as much in Countdown 51), just now figures out that the Monitors killed Deula because she's from another universe, and that he and Donna Troi, both having cheated death) are on also their hitlist. This doesn't sit to well with the Monitors (who are still indistinguishable from one another), who unleash Forerunner, a speedster chick who makes short work of Donna and Jason (who, naturally, is still wearing the Robin mask underneath his hood). And just when things start to get halfway interesting, it ends.

Gen 13 #9: 4 out of 5
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Carlo Barberi
Gail Simone's ability to write great characters carries this book. With a few injokes about comics (like Eddie coming up with about the worst codenames possible for everyone, and yes, the one he comes up with is worse than Grunge) to references to the team being a reboot. They don't really explain what that means, but I would guess that they are copies of the original Gen 13 crew (although that doesn't explain why nobody knows who they are, i.e. the Authority). Plus, Sarah takes Caitlin skiny-dipping before kissing her, and I can never say no to a comic with two hot girls making out, me being a dirty "old" man and whatnot.

Green Arrow #75: 4 out of 5
Written by Judd Winick
Art by Scott Mc Daniel
A great conclusion to the series. The only reason it didn't get a 5 is the rather dues ex machina resolution to the fight with Deathstroke and his little friend whose name I can't recall. Hopefully this series will be restarted after the Black Cannary limited series, in some form or another. Perhaps Green Arrow/Black Cannary is not far away.

Hawkgirl #65: 3 out of 5
Written by Walter Simonson
Art by Renato Arlem
A mediocre issue as this series draws to a close. Note to Walter Simonson: trapping heroins in occupied coffins is not hot. I just hope that wasn't what he was going for. 'Nuff said.

Stormwatch PHD #8: 5 out of 5
Written by Christos Gage
Art by Andy Smith
This is a great series. If you're not reading this, you definately should be. Do whatever is neccessary to get it: take a second job, drop a monthly comic or two, or even special order it if your friendly neighborhood comic store doesn't stock Wildstorm comics. But don't rob any mail trucks to get your hands on it. To repeat, this blogger is NOT encouraging you to rob a mail truck.

MARVEL COMICS

Cable Deadpool #41: 4 out of 5
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Art by Reilly Brown
How can you not love a comic that features a character named Bob, Ageny of Hydra, even if he only appears in the recap page. Cable and Deadpool reconcile their difference and take on an escaped Sabertooth. Unfortunately, the art Domino looks about 15, which makes the romantic tension between her and Cable a bit creepy.

Exile #9: 3 out of 5 Written by Chris Claremont Art by Clayton Henry The Exiles say goodbye to one of their own, and for once it's a happy occasion. The dialogue, however, is absolutely dreadful. Cringe...worthy...dreadful! Case it point, here is an actual quote by Longshot: "That sounds like the kind of thing that's likely to need some serious good luck. Since that's my power, I'll stay, too." There are just no words to describe that level of suckage.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #21: 4 out of 5
Written by Peter David
Art by Todd Nauck
Nobody writes Spider-Man banter better than Peter David (well, except possibly Dan Slott...if only he could get more time with the character somehow). I laughed out loud at the one zinger he said to a beat cop who was trying to arrest him. I don't know why Peter's wearing the black costume here, because his mood doesn't seem any different from before Civil War (would that be a pre-Civil War mentality?). Given the tone of this title, I suppose that the dark Peter attitude would be out of place with this book's humourous style.

Mystic Arcana Magik: 5 out of 5
Written by Louise Simonson
Art by Steve Scott
Yes! Finally, after dreadful characterizations in Exiles and House of M, not to mention New X-Men (see below), somebody finally gets Illyana right. Illyana is bascially a good person who's had to make some tough choices and only embracers her darker nature as a last resort, not someone who uses it a solution to everything. You'd think Louis Simonson wrote the character before or something. Anyway, a great start to Mystic Arcana. I am definately enticed by these series.

New Avengers #31 CWI: 3 out of 5
Written by Brian Bendis
Art by Leinil Yu
Okay, they said the reveal on ths last page of this issue would be like the most signifigant event in the Marvel Universe. And that page is...Jessica Jones feeding her baby. What? Well, I can assume they meant the reveal three pages before that Elektra is actually...a Skrull! Oh my gosh, the Elektra acting horribly out of character wasn't the real Elektra. Shocking, not so much, but Iron Fist freaks out by this revelation, while the rest of us are left scratching our heads. It's not like they found out that Iron Man was a skrull, or that the Skrull's orchestrated the Scarlet Witch going psycho or something, I don't know, that would actually be something BIG! Now, that could be well what happened, but at this point there is nothing to indicate that it did, or in fact that the Skrulls were involved in anything other than the Hand, and even there for we know this could be one rogue Skrull. Judging by the importence Marvel was putting on this issue, I doubt the Skrull thing ends there, but it would be nice if there was something in the actual STORY about this. Plus, Doc Strange gets impaled and goes astral, and seems fine with no further explanation. Oooookay. And the previously near-mute Ronin decides to start prattle on with the witty banter, now that we the reader now know it's really Hawkeye. Well, I suppose I've ranted long enough here.

New X-Men #39: 3 out of 5
Written by Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle
Art by Skottie Young
First off, if I were going to do an New X-Men-in-hell story, I might go with an artist with a less Animesque style, but hey, that's just me. I'm not saying that anime art is bad, just that I don't think it fits with this type of story. With Hellion and Surge stuck in the real world, Dave near death and in the care of Elixir, and Dust, Mercury, and X-23 captures (and Rockslide conspiculously absent), it's up to the D-list New X-Men to save the day (you know, Pixie, Blindfold, Anole, and a few others whose names I don't even know; in other words, I the reader have a lot invested in these characters) to save they day. Some demon girl that looks like Illyana, but acts completely different (and treats N'Astirh like a pet dog) arrives and, after dispatching most of the wannabe New X-Men claims to be on their side, but needs one of them to sacrifice themselves so she can summon her Soulsword. Yeah, that sounds like Illyana alright. Also, Belasco throws a tirade about finding Illyana, even though she's like right over the hill or something. Dude, maybe you should look around instead of torturing children who have no clue what you're talking about (you'd think, as the devil or whatever he is, he might be on to the fact that they are being sincere when they repeatedly tell him they don't know where Illyana is). Also, another New X-Men apparently buys the farm again. You know, at the rate this book goes through mutants, the 198 should be down to like 12. Sorry, guess I'm in a ranty mood tonight.

Nova #3 CWI: 4 out of 5
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Art by Sean Chen
Richard Rider takes a good look at post-Civil War landscape and basically says f!*% this, I'm going back to space. But not after having a throwdown with the Thunderbolts (who, apparently, didn't get the memo from Tony saying he had a reprieve). He does have a nice scene with Penace/Speedball, but instead of sticking around to help his clearly troubled friend, Nova decides to basically wash his hands of his homeworld. Maybe his father should show more tact before accusing his galaxy-saving son of basically being a supervillain for fighting back against the Thunderbolts when they ATTACKED him.

Punisher: War Journal #8 CWI: 2 out of 5
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Olivetti
First off, they whole start-at-the-end device never works for me, so my review might be somewhat tainted. This arc has also dragged on, and we finally get a glimpse of Hate-Monger vs. Punisher, but it looks like we'll have to wait another month for the actual showdown. Also, can someone explain to me why red-blooded Americans are marching around shouting Hail Hitler? I mean, I know they're bigits and all, but come on, Hitler? This book is getting dangerously close to being dropped. Frank Castle, you're on notice!

World War Hulk: 5 out of 5
Written by Greg Pak
Art by John Romita, Jr.
Wow! What a way to kick off the series. First, Hulk beats down Black Bolt, weathers even his powerful voice and saying "I didn't come here for a whisper. I wanna hear you scream." Awesome. Tony Stark's first response to Hulk's action is to have Doctor Strange magic him into another dimension or something (because the first plan to get Hulk off Earth turned out so well). Doctor Strange wisely points this out to Tony, who then turns to the Sentry. At first, he's all set to go up against his friend, the Hulk, but when he learns what Tony and friends did, he steps out, leaving Tony to dig up his biggest and baddest Hulkbusting armor. He throws everything at tge Hulk, including the nanoprobes which depowered She-Hulk before having a squadron bomb the crap out of him while he's weakened. However, the Hulk is reminded by the events that claimed the lives of his friends and family, and he gets...really...angry. And as we all know, the madder Hulk gets.... Needless to say, Tony Stark finally gets his well-earned comeuppance. Which brings us too...

BRIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

Next Week: Countdown 45, Annihilation Conquest Prologue, Falln Son Death of Captain America Spider-Man, X-Men Endangered Species, and more!

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!