Goblin's Books:

The Last Defenders #2

What exactly is the point of this book? It plays into Marvel's "Initiative" storyline, but that has already lost its luster. And even so, the team is disbanded by the beginning of the second issue. THe meat and potatoes fo the book isn't bad at all. The writing is snappy, even though the plot is kind of a retread of the 90s Incredible Hulk slapped with the 50 States Initiative, and the art is clean and energetic. It would be a little cartoony for some books, but it worse well for the humor of these characters. But the fact remains, what's the point? The book will end in six issues and I fail to see a question or facet of the Marvel Universe it will explore that hasn't been done before. It's funny and nice to look at, but not worth the $20 for the whole shebang.

Skip It

NOVA #12

Surprisingly, the first off-shoot of the Annhilation series hits the annual mark with Nova #12. After spending some time on the tangent, the book gets to bring a real impact to the Annhilation book when it changes the status quo for Nova, Drax and Gamorra. Aside from the fact that I'm a sucker for Douglock/Warlock and the Technarchy as a whole, this is another kickass issue of a great book. It's space drama to be sure, but its tropes are worth every penny. The Worldmind is a great character, even if it is only blocks of text. And in twelve issues the book has produced changes in its main character in half the span it would take other books. There is real progress with Richard Rider, yet he is still the Nova we care about. This is the kind of writing Stan Lee started 40 years ago.

Buy It

Fantastic Four #556

When you come off one of the most critically acclaimed and profitable series in comics history, there tends to be a fair amount of pressure to live up to. After the Ultimates, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch could have chosen anything to work on. They would have the pick of the litter. They were supposed to revamp the X-Men, but decided to switch to the World's Greatest Heroes at the last minute. (Which is fine really, as I'm quite enjoying the work of Brubaker and Carey on the two X-Men titles.) One would think that Millar, Hitch and the Fantastic Four would be a sure way to print money and accolades, right?

Yeah, not so much.

While we're three issues in, the book has neither soared up the sales charts not brought in a cascade of good reviews. To be fair, there aren't terrible reviews either, but still. The Big Idea of Millar's this time is that Reed's ex has created a parallel Earth so humanity can jump ship when we kill this planet. Not a bad idea, but not really novel either. To safeguard this new Earth, all weapons will be destroyed except for a giant robot modeled after Captain America (named CAP for Conserve and Protect). Of course, problems arise when CAP goes AWOL to our Earth and finds a whole mess of weapons to destroy.

This third issue is okay, but not really what we've come to expect from Millar and Hitch. The plot is stop and go due to the so-so main idea. The writing is still better than most, but darker and grittier than Hitch's usual. It works for some, not so much him. There are a number of things I could go on about, but they'll always end up with another retread of, "It's good, but it doesn't stand out." Thats essentially the conseit of the run so far. I think it's great Marvel has a superstar team on such an established book (and that they didn't renumber it), but I'm still waiting to be wowed. Still worth checking out for a fair enough way to sped ten minutes.

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Jono's Books:

Countdown to Final Crisis #3

What the crap happened?

Last issue was pretty decent but this issue quickly went downhill. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of action to be had, but the art definitely took a hit as Freddie Williams II took over pencils. Everything is drawn in a very happy, cartoony way; there's even an unintentionally hilarious scene that has Mary Marvel pummeling Donna Troy with Green Lantern's body. At least there's a Superman/Darkseid throwdown, but the more I see of him, the more I long for a modern update to Darkseid's costume. I just can't take the bringer of doom and death seriously while he's in a mini-skirt. And the ending...let's just pretend that it never happened.

Skip It!

Titans #1

Directly following the events of Teen Titans East Special #1 from back in November (in which the teammates were killed, maimed, blasted to bits, etc) we have part II of The Fickle Hand storyline continuing in the debut issue of Titans. All the promised cast members (Starfire, Nightwing, Red Arrow, Flash, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Donna Troy) make an appearance and share equal screen time as an unknown assailant attacks them one by one. Judd Winick keeps the story fast-paced and Ian Churchill does a fantastic job on the art (although he does seem to have a penchant for gratuitous nudity - both male and female). All in all, a great continuation of the story that was started back in November (though it may confuse readers hoping to jump on, only to find the story already in progress).

Buy It

Fantastic Four #556 (Second Take)

I can't quite put my finger on why I'm not enjoying Mark Millar's run on Fantastic Four. Maybe it's the dissonance between the events in this book and that other big Marvel event. I couldn't help when, upon seeing Johnny storm, perk up because I thought we were going to get an aftermath of the events that occurred after Secret Invasion #1. Millar's book exists in its own continuity and Marvel is expecting me to ignore their current status over in SI but I really can't. 40 Superheroes show up (a hodgepodge group that includes the X-Men, Young Avengers, and various superheroes that should technically not be there) to fight against the seemingly unstoppable CAP, but the threat is diluted by both the lack of a build up for CAP (he was just introduced last issue) and the lack of death for any of the heroes (since this uber baddie seemingly massacred 400 human soldiers in Alaska in mere minutes).

As I said, on its own, in its own separate existence from the rest of Marvel, I could see how this book would work. But this is one of the rare times that I would advocate for a tie-in to Secret Invasion since the main cast is so integral to the events happening elsewhere.

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Oraclechele's Books:

Serenity: Better Days # 2

While the crew thinks of rather unique and fun ways to spend their vast fortune, not one, but two, baddies are on their tail. (Minds out of the gutter!)

As always, certain characters hit nice notes with the comedy and like the series, the content isn't always G rated. There are a couple pages where the flow from panel to panel requires more then one read to be sure of what happened but overall it moves well.

Issue 2 certainly earns high marks from this Browncoat for showing me more of my favorite band of space outlaws. My only question is - with so much going on - how in the world will they tie this up with one issue to go?

Buy It!

Sgt. Sausagepant's Books

Green Lantern Corps #23

Wow, what a difference a month makes! While last months issue felt like filler, issue #23 moves the plot along quite well. Mongol reappears, recruiting for what looks to be a new Yellow Corps. Special appearance by his trademark Black Mercies and some great moments with Guy.

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Justice Society of America #14

The great race to stop Kingdom Come from happening again steps up a notch as Gog takes on the JSA. I'm really liking the art in this series and the writing is great. We get a few good Starman lines this issue and an appearance by one of the recent LGBT Characters of the week.

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Nova #12 (second take)

After last months surprise appearance by New Mutant Warlock, we get a fantastic fight this issue. Not only that, but some resolution to this Technophage problem, some new allies, and generally, the sense that Nova is about to go kick some ass :)

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