From Evernote:

All New X-Men #9 Review

4 / 5

This is my first review for the series, so I should start by establishing that this is one of my top pulls. I love All New X-Men. It's definitely an upper echelon book in both writing and art. The premise basically is that a dying Beast brings back the young, original X-Men team to the present to confront Cyclops, and help stop him from tearing the world apart. Every aspect in its 9 issue run so far has been well considered, making what's already an interesting story very believable. 

Issue 9 shows the young team being taught by Kitty Pryde about fighting Sentinels. As you'd expect, their first encounter in the Danger Room against the Sentinels is a small disaster, but the event is actually more interesting because of what is going on with Jean Grey. Earlier in the series she developed her telepathic powers and is still learning not only how to manage them, but some of the finer points of the morality behind using them. We get to see even her peers getting frustrated in this issue about her using her powers on them to read their minds continually, eventually leading to a fight between her and young Cyclops. Meanwhile, young Angel is still having trouble adjusting to the situation, and is probing his skepticism through modern day Beast. It's part of the interesting complexity that makes this series such a pleasure to read. 

The conclusion to this issue ties into last month's Uncanny X-Men in which Cyclops and his team decide it's time to visit Wolverine's school. I'm assuming that the next Uncanny X-Men is going to address this encounter, and I can't wait!

From Evernote:

Action Comics #18 Review

3 / 5

It seems unlikely that Grant Morrison's final Action Comics arc will go down in history as one of the greats. I had a pretty positive impression of the series last month when I went back and restarted the arc. Returning this month to finish the adventure, I dealt with the same problems I've been facing since the beginning of the arc. Telling a story about the 5th dimension was guaranteed to be a tricky affair. It's also right up Morrison's alley, so it shouldn't be a surprise that we get to explore the idea in full detail. The problem, unfortunately, is that it's so confusing, it's not very interesting. When the story clicks, it's great. A good example is in the conclusion of the arc in which there is a finale to the 5th dimension fable started earlier in the series. It's wacky, but sensible within the context of the 5th dimension that had been established previously. Back on Earth, however, things are just a mess. We have heroes popping in and having confusing conversations on one page, jumping to another group of heroes on another page, and then back to Superman on yet another page. It's not until everything comes to a close that it gets enjoyable again. 

In the end, this was probably just too ambitious a project. I'm 100% in support of trying new things and going places that have never been explored before. I'm not sure Morrison put as much time into the structure of the story as he wanted or what. In the end I didn't really enjoy the arc tremendously. I'm excited to move on to a new team though!

ROB'S TAKE- Robert is being kind. There is nothing redeemable about this arc, and I truly wish Morrison had just stepped away from a title he revitalized and let others move forward. I was excited when the 5th dimension storyline started, having hopes that Morrison would recapture a little of the 1950s Superman magic the way he had with the Batman titles from time to time.

In the end, I don't think Morrison was ever as interested or dedicated to Superman the way he was Batman. The result is that we get a Superman that comes off schizophrenic depending on what title you read. You are rarely convinced that the Kal-El in Superman is the same one you're seeing in Action Comics or even Justice League. Morrison was the flag bearer for the Batman books and other writers willing followed his lead. Not so for the Kryptonian. Hopefully, Morrison's exit from the series will usher in the new era of Superman that the New 52 promised. 

From Evernote:

Constantine #1 Review

3 / 5

Constantine #1 is a fun affair. It's been no mystery that Constantine was a character that needed a solo book for a while now. Seeing him in this first adventure only reinforces that point. Character-wise, there's very little new to report here. He's still the rough around the edges magic user we all know and love. What we do get are some twists on old villains and a nice example of him being just a total dick. Beyond that, I have little to contribute in way of a review. This book definitely assumes a certain degree of knowledge about the character that I just don't have, and it's a first issue, which is a notoriously difficult type of book to judge. I'll definitely be trying issue #2 if that's any indication as to my thoughts on the book. 

From Evernote:

Vibe #2 Review

4 / 5

I often comment that first issues are difficult affairs. You never know how they represent what is to come. Well this month we get the 2nd issue of Vibe, and if this is how the series is going to go, sign me up. Issue 2 revolves around Vibe figuring out how he's going to fit into his role as a super hero and member of the JLA. We get an amusing moment early on in the book in which he stops his first "crime." We get some great scenes of his brother keeping him grounded (important considering we're talking about a kid who just got some serious powers). We get his perspective of a big scene from this month's JLA. It's just good writing. The real selling point comes towards the end though. After being brought in to help track an alien, we get to see some of the shadier aspect of ARGUS that I've been coming to expect. In particular is a return to ARGUS's "zoo" of metahumans where some down-right evil stuff is going on. I love it. It makes me appreciate just how complex JLA and Vibe are going to be. 

The conclusion hints at Vibe going after Kid Flash, which should make for a nice tie-in. Hopefully the book can stay as strong as it's started (and let's face it, it's Geoff Johns. It'll be solid.). 

From Evernote:

Justice League #18 Review

3 / 5

This month's JL is something of an anomaly for me. I love this series, and I love that we're beginning to focus on Cyborg a little more, but some of the things going on right now are making feel a little uneasy. Given recent events in the JL, they're actively in recruitment mode right now, which has them bringing heroes from across the world to the Watchtower for a meet-and-greet. The problem is that it feels horribly uncomfortable, and I'm not sure if it's supposed to. Legitimately, I'm not sure if Johns is going for a humorous feel, a serious feel, or what, which leaves me even more uncomfortable with the fact that the entire scenario just doesn't feel right. If it's not supposed to feel natural, he's nailing it. It almost reminds me of applying to medical school. You're in a room filled with other remarkable people who have had their own adventures. Everyone is excited, but a little wary of the competition. What you end up with is a lot of stressed people all trying to put on very happy faces. That analogy alone may explain my feelings of unease towards the issue. This legitimately could me projecting uneasy feeling from those days of applying to programs, but it really has left a lasting effect of my opinion of the book. It's such a strong feeling that I don't really have much more to reflect on regarding the events of the story. Pick it up, and let me know if I'm going crazy. 

From Evernote:

DC Universe Presents Starfire (#18)

3 / 5

Much like last month's DCU Presents Arsenal, issue 18 is a one-shot story about Starfire, which is supposed to give us more insight into her personality. Unlike last month's issue, however, we don't get very much of it. Starfire's story revolves around being prisoner on a giant prison barge in space. It's so large that there are independent habitats that look and feel like small planet landscapes. She finds herself in a village of primitive people who are put at risk by her presence. Unfortunately, very little is really brought to the table that seemed particularly significant to me. It would have been nice to address some of the personality quirks that were introduced early on in her reinvention for the series. It might also have been nice to take a closer look at her early days on Earth. The story we get instead is kind of ho-hum. There's really nothing wrong with it at all, there's just nothing particularly enticing about it either. Take it or leave it. There's nothing special happening here. 

From Evernote:

Red Hood and the Outlaws #18 Review

5 / 5

This is the surprise hit of the month for me. Issue 18 of RHatO is the kind of book I think we as fans have been waiting for since the announcement of the series. Following the Joker's last gag against the Bat Family from issue 17, we find Bruce and Jason devastated - physically in Jason's case, mentally in Bruce's - by the event. While physically Jason will recover, he finds himself trapped in a nightmare guided by his mentor, Ducra (see early issues of the series to find out more). The entire point of the book is to get Jason to acknowledge that he can't continue being the loose, amoral cannon he's been since his resurrection. Meanwhile, Bruce gets a great deal of quiet time to reflect at Jason's bedside about what's happened to their relationship. The conclusion to the book is one of the most exciting moments I've had in the last couple of years of reading, and I can't wait to see where the series (and Jason in the other Bat titles for that matter) goes from here. I think it's safe to say also that you can have skipped all of the previous issues of RHatO and be able to jump in here without any problems. This is just a classic Bat Family story. 

From Evernote:

Supergirl #18 Review

3 / 5

This month's Supergirl is satisfying, if not terribly important. Kara is recovering from her recent ordeal with H'el in which she was poisoned by Kryptonite. She's now spent weeks recovering in a facility directly adjacent to the sun in solitude, giving her time to recover both physically and psychologically. As she was clearly the main character of the H'el on Earth story arc, it's appropriate that we're dealing with some last effects from the encounter moving forward. This issue does nothing but continue to reinforce how good a character she has become. 

Meanwhile we get to see Lex Luthor acting in his best role yet in the New 52. From inside his prison he's masterminding and collaborating with other villains, using his intellect to manage and relegate duties rather than actually take part in crime. It's clever, satisfying, and totally appropriate. Clearly Mike Johnson is more qualified to be writing Superman right now than anyone else. 

The book closes with a tie-in that we've all been a little curious to see - Powergirl is being affected by something tying her and Kara together. It clearly means we're going to see the two of them meet, which should be pretty exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here. 

All-in-all a perfectly okay book. Nothing of particular interest happened here so I can't rate it hight, but I still love the series. Every now and then it's actually important to have these status-quo books, and I'm glad we got this one. 

From Evernote:

Wonder Woman #18 Review

4 / 5

Woo Hoo! An arc completed! It was a good one too! Wonder Woman takes the fight to Hermes in search of the baby. The panels are sharp, and the action is actually pretty entertaining (something of a challenge sometimes in comics). The fight is definitely satisfying, but it's the plot surrounding the affair that's particularly satisfying. There are some interesting twists and turns before the issue is wrapped up, leaving you excited to see more, and uncertain still just who is on whose side. My only qualm with the book is still the art. It seems like it's taken a dip lately. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it just doesn't match the intense grandeur of Wonder Woman's current adventures. It feels more like something out of a cartoon. It's certainly not distracting, but I think a book of this quality really deserves the right art to complement it. All-in-all, otherwise, an easy recommendation for the month. 

From Evernote:

Green Lanterns: New Guardians #18 Review

2 / 5

I've finally hit my "don't give a shit" point with the First Lantern toying with different GLs plot. It's boring, and we're beginning to stretch to make stories out of some of these characters. Star Sapphire admittedly does have a long enough history in the GL universe to have some interesting perspective to add to this situation. Unfortunately I just couldn't care. I found myself looking forward to finishing the issue so I could bag it and move on. I think this entire plot-line has real potential to be fun. Unfortunately we are wasting an inordinate amount of time playing these low-stakes issues (in the sense that we know none of the main GL characters are going to be swayed into not being heroes). I'm hopeful that now that we've exhausted all of our characters we can move on and start telling some stories. Who knows though? Maybe this month's main GL issue will be a First Lantern toying with Baz story. Maybe we'll get him toying with Kilowog. Who knows. Who cares. 

Great series. Crummy arc. 

From Evernote:

Saga #11 Review

5 / 5

As always, if you're not reading this, you should be. This is some of the best stuff going on in comics currently. This month's issue follows up immediately from the events in the previous issue. Much to everyone's relief (I'm sure), Lying Cat is safe from the morbid fate he might have suffered at the end of the previous issue. More importantly, we're getting some classically fun flashbacks to the early days of Alana and Marko. The book opens in what is probably the funniest post-coital conversation ever. Moving forward we get back to the present where the stakes continue to be high for Hazel and family. Chapter 11 continues to bring the right blend of humor, action, and heart to keep this at the top of my pull list. In case I've not mentioned it before, serious respect should be given to the art and panel design. Just flipping through the book is a pleasure. Get out there and read Saga. Be one of the cool kids. Say you were there from the first year :)

From Evernote:

Savage Wolverine #3 Review

2 / 5

Savage Wolverine was always an interesting gamble for Marvel as far as I was concerned. The character already has a lot of exposure throughout the entire Marvel Universe. Giving him solo books need to offer new and interesting perspectives of the character to be worth my money. More importantly, they need to offer something different from the character. Otherwise, what's the point? Savage Wolverine had an okay start. I liked the first book, and tolerated the second issue, but three issues in, this series isn't really doing anything special. It does bring the trademark Marvel humor to the table, but in a very juvenile way this go-round. Wolverine plays such an insignificant role in this issue that it might as well not have been called Savage Wolverine. The antagonist (I assume?) is kind of obnoxious, but gets to have the majority of pages. It's just not my kind of book. I'm hoping next month's issue brings more to the table for me, but there's a good chance I'll be passing in favor of other books on the shelf. 

From Evernote:

Judge Dredd: Year One #1 Review

4 / 5

This is a new book that is supposed to early stories of our anti-hero, Judge Dredd. The book doesn't waste time explaining how he came to be a Judge, what a Judge is, or anything at all really. Instead, it assumes that the reader knows the universe and just wants to see some stories from a new angle. For me, it works rather well. What we get is a younger, less round around the edges, Dredd who hasn't quite become master of every aspect of his job. In comparison to the ongoing Judge Dredd book currently on the shelves, this book is actually very story heavy, which no doubt is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Nothing too wacky (at least within the realm of Judge Dredd) is going on here. It's just a dialogue-heavy affair. 

As always, 1st issues are always tricky affairs. Good, bad, or otherwise, they're poor indicators of how a series will go. Still, I'm looking forward to continuing this series. In particular, I'm interested to see where this specific plot goes, as it has been established VERY well for just one issue. 

From Evernote:

Superior Spider-Man #6 Review

3 / 5

This month's Superior Spider-Man is the sign of a book that's just kind of coasting along. Nothing particularly interesting has happened in the last few issues for a casual Spidey reader like myself. This month's issue is not different. We have a couple of jesters pulling pranks that lead to Spidey being hired by the mayor to hunt them down. While at first reluctant, he's soon convinced, and hunts them down at the expense of some of his personal endeavors. It doesn't make a ton of sense why he cares so much, but it certainly does add a lot of personal drama as he's now pissing off even more people. 

The only notable event in the book is a discussion among the Avengers about whether or not they need to bring him in for starting to kill / brutalize people. It's Wolverine who shuts that show down, effectively letting this series continue on its merry way for another few issues. 

I'm quite certain that if I were a long-time Spidey reader this would be more interesting, but it's just not doing much for me, and as I move into April and start reevaluating what books I pull weekly, I'm not sure this one is going to make the cut. 

From Evernote:

Justice League of America #2 Review

5 / 5

So far JLA is kicking ass. The premise established in issue 1 was exciting enough. In issue 2 we get the perfect blend of plot, humor, great art, and action. It's a great series to try if you've been skeptical up to this point. Continuing from issue 1, Ollie is still in surgery after having his butt handed to him by a mysterious enemy. Meanwhile, the JLA is meeting officially for the first time at their headquarters before being introduced to the public. If you buy the book for nothing else, the entire scene at HQ is worth the price of admission. We get a good taste of every one of the characters in the room, and why they're there (except maybe Martian Manhunter, but that's not terribly surprising or off-putting to me). You also get some good humor that really makes you like the characters. In particular, the scene in which Hawkman and Vibe meet for the first time is bound to be considered a classic some day. The conclusion is appropriately mysterious and leaves you hanging just enough to want to know what's going to happen next without being obnoxious. 

The art is vibrant and exciting, with a lot of variety depending on the type of scene being shown. I really have to give kudos to the entire art team. Most every panel in the book stands out. 

This month's adventure was even better than last month's, and we haven't actually started our real story yet. I can't wait to see where this goes, but for now I can definitely recommend that you get out there and pick this series up while it's new. 

From Evernote:

Stark Trek: Countdown to Darkness #3 Review

3 / 5

This month's Countdown to Darkness continues Kirk and crew's adventure with Robert April. Spock has run off to save Sulu and Cupcake, while Kirk and April continue to argue about the Prime Directive. Everyone gets their moment, including Bones who gets to play Captain of the Enterprise for a few panels. All-in-all, however, it's mostly unremarkable. It's very much an issue that preps the reader for the next issue. The only part of the book of real value is the personal issues with Spock, which I'm beginning to suspect this are going to tie into the next movie. 

Not a bad book at all, especially if you like the series, but nothing special happening here. Hopefully next month will close out with something nice and big. 

Absolute Identity Crisis

While I have a lot of things in my comic collection I love, this is my pride and joy. Got this yesterday from my LCS with a friendly discount from the owner (check out Southern Fried Comics in Hattiesburg, MS). I'm taking some time in the midst of everything else to reread this right now, and there will be a proper review up once I finish, but for now I just want to encourage everyone to make sure this is on the top of your reading list if you've never read it before. It is absolutely one of the most brilliant stories I've ever read. Part of what works so well is that you can no little to nothing about the characters and the story is still great. The writing is so good that you know absolutely everything you need to know to appreciate the beauty of the story. 

From Evernote:

Thief of Thieves #1 Review

4 / 5

Thief of Thieves starts off as an Ocean's Eleven-esque heist story. Our protagonist is a veteran thief who has just finished yet another brilliant heist. As he returns to his home base he reminisces about how he met his partner as a young lady without much direction. Finally we fast-forward back to the present where he is being pressured about a job he's been organizing for quite some time. It's actually a lot better organized than my description makes it sound, but first issues of new series are always hard for me to write. Without much to compare or contrast this issue to, I can't say how this stacks up for the rest of the series. This is another series that I picked up because my LCS owner highly recommended it to me. I love the art, and it's a Robert Kirkman book so the writing is of course solid. I'm a lot more interested to continue following this than other issue #1 books I've picked up over the last few years. Unfortunately, after just one issue, there just isn't a lot to say about it. Pick it up. Read it. Let me know what you think. I'll be picking up some follow-up issues this Wednesday when I do my weekly run. 

From Evernote:

Sex #1 Review

3 / 5

Sex came highly recommended to me from my LCS owner. It's the story of a man returning to his old stomping grounds after a few months off the scene. The easiest way to explain it so far is imagine if Bruce Wayne quit being Batman, and returned to Gotham to work full time as Bruce Wayne. You can assume there are going to be some adjustment issues. Unfortunately, because this is a universe we've not explored before, it's hard to say how impactful the sights, scenes, and stories from this first issue are. I'm definitely not dropping this book quite yet, but the first issue doesn't do anything to really pull me in. The art has kind of a retro, 80's feel to it, which is both cool and off-putting at the same time. As the title suggests, there is some explicit content here, but it's really not the focus of the book at all, so fear not (or be disappointed if that's what you're looking for?). At this point I'd recommend you pick it up your self and give it a try. If nothing else, you never know when a new series is going to blow up into something special. 

From Evernote:

Uncanny X-Men #3 Review

5 / 5

What a time to be a fan of the X-Men. Starting with Schism and moving forward, the X-Men corner of the Marvel universe has been an exciting place. The last 3 months have only made it better as we've now gotten a book devoted specifically to Cyclops, Magneto, and Emma Frost as they make their case for Mutant freedom. It's always been easy to see Wolverine's point of view from the moment the Schism happened, but there's always been a certain degree of sympathy for Cyclops and crew. This week's issue of Uncanny X-Men cements that feeling as the new X-Men face off against the Avengers. While I'll not spoil the encounter's brilliance, I will say that an important argument is made about the role the Avengers played in creating the chaos in the Marvel Universe. It's thought provoking and fun as hell. What's more, the book comes with the trademark humor that seems to permeate all of the X-Men titles right now. It's a great book and I can't recommend it highly enough. Jump in and enjoy this series from the start (as well All New X-Men, Uncanny Avengers, and Wolverine and the X-Men!).