LOGAN #1 spoilers

The runner-up for spotlight as Panel of The Week (damn that pesky curious Buffy), the startling ending from LOGAN #1 by Vaughan and Risso (Marvel Comics).

(erm, serious SPOILERS)
mr Vaughan is still the master of the cliffhanger. In this case, it's a very specifically Vaughan ending, saving the setting of the story for the very last page (not unlike EX MACHINA #1) for maximum effect. With a setting like this, Logan fighting and falling in love on a fateful day on the island of Hiroshima, how can you not swallow the bait and come back for more??

For a full review of the issue, check out Mark Stoddard's review at the Nexus
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A Public Health Warning Announcement

courtesy of J. Jonah Jameson:



It's true, I read it in Amazing Spider-Man #555 (Marvel Comics)!
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Vote For BUFFY Panel of Week 10 2008

Week 9 was a slow voting poll, with a winner barely scraping through, Incredible Herc's Hot Damn Evil half-brother Ares with a 30%

This week, there's hardly a fair competition for POTW with the shocker opening of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #12 from Dark Horse Comics. Although I did have the urge to pit it against the ending of Logan #1, I decided to simply honor Buffy#12 with a tribute poll.

Don't read below this point if you still want to avoid SPOILERS from the startler of this issue!

As for our question: What was your favourite reaction to #12?



A.



B.



C.

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Donna Troy Cry Me a River

It's all in the details of course, from the dripping effect on the bottom of the last four panels, to Aqualad being Aqualad in the very last one! (hey the guy lives in water, cut him a break)

Source: Teen Titans Year One #3 (DC Comics)

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My First Newsarama Interview!

Nothing like some self-hype to get our day started!

I did an interview with Barry Levine - the publisher of Radical Comics- for Newsarama. It was an amazing experience, and makes for a great read as Barry goes in great detail about Radical's publishing plans. You can read the full interview here.
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Marvel Finally Responds To Mary Jane Laundry Scandal

Remember this little Adam Hughes statue of Mary Jane which caused such a huge ruckus only a few months ago?


Nothing a little Deal With The Devil (Copyright Marvel 2008) can't fix!

Behold the newly perpetually single Peter Parker setting things politically right.



Source: Amazing Spider-man #552 (Marvel Comics)
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Watchmen Movie Designs: Schumacher Would Be Proud

So, the Watchmen movie character photos have been released. Was there anyone out there who wasn't scared from the odd parallels to Schumacher's Batman movies?

I mean we do have it all:

-Plastic domino masks with black painted eye shadow underneath for that extra 'brooding avenger of the night' feel



-Anatomically impossible fake kevlar abs chiseled on the costume



-Ill-fitting masks that just look ridiculous



-- and of course... NIPPLES, shaped on the costume


Effing up the Watchmen designs for the screen must have really taken some effort. These are super-heroes who were dressed in actual fabrics instead of spandex! It takes some imagination to get from A to B in this fashion.

Ozymandias is the worst example. A fairly simple and elegant costume, turned into a malformed muscle-freak. The sheer width of the chest and shoulders compared to the actor's puny neck and head looks ridiculous. Could we cover it up with some fabric please?

And then you have Nite-Owl. Supposed to be an out-of-form super-hero getting back on the game, Dan was never supposed to be Batman, he had a belly and a lot of extra pounds on him when he put the costume back on. He looked somewhat sad in it, and that was precisely the point. Now we get a different kind of sad, a sad attempt to copy the Batman costume, with a nod to Dr Mid-Nite. Thankfully Warner owns all of the above characters so at least they don't have to fear any lawsuits.

The Comedian and Rorschach are the only ones who look decent, but then a fedora and trenchcoat are even hard to screw up. Fearfully waiting the first look at Smurfy-blue Dr Manhattan for final verdict now.

Seems to me they're more interested in selling action figures to kids than making a worthwhile adaptation of the most famous and beloved super-hero story. It's a shame. If we don't see some worthwhile changes in the next releases, I'm giving this movie a miss, and I'm predicting a flop the size of Schumacher's Batman & Robin.
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Jack and the Bruised Beanstalk

What, he only slept with her two sisters and her so he could later brag about it. What's to regret?

Source: Jack of Fables #20 (Vertigo / DC Comics)

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DC Capsule Reviews Week 10 2008

Short-form reviews for DC and Wildstorm books which shipped Wednesday March 5th.

This week: Midnighter shuts up, the Atom examines deep inside himself, Karate Kid is redubbed Infectuous Lad, Raven goes Emo, Donna Troy cries a river, Nightwing frames Jimmy Olsen, Batman fades to white, Booster and Blue rule the day, and Wonder-Woman jumps out of a cake?!?

In more detail:


MIDNIGHTER #17

(Keith Giffen / Lee Garbett & Rick Burchett)

Midnighter fights some unnamed guy for about 20 pages. There's punching (x1000), kicking, knife throwing and use of refrigerators for purpose of blunt trauma. Then that other guy wins, puts on Midnighter's stuff and goes through a Door to the carrier. To Be Continued. There, now I've just saved you $2.99 and the ordeal of spending about 3 minutes of your time reading this issue and putting up with the amateurish art trying to fruitlessly emulate a Frank Quitely effect. You're most welcome!

1/10


ALL NEW ATOM #21

(Rick Remender / Pat Olliffe & John Stanisci)

A new writer, a new artist and a new direction: inwards!? After Gail Simone wrapped up her run in an explosive way last month, Remender takes a more comfortable, sci-fi and exposition heavy approach to the title. The good news: the annoying science quotes are gone. Bad news: they've been replaced by endless (oh, and do I mean endless) first person narrative from the Atom; he muses about this and that and the other thing and doesn't seem to shut up. It's a good way to get an idea of the protagonist's thought process, and Remender has a good hold on how a scientist of genius level like Choi would react and think, but he does go over the top in many places. The Atom wants to discover conclusively if his size-changing technology is to blame for the craziness in his new hometown, so he shrinks down to explore inside his own blood cell sample! The writer does a great job of explaining away some o the pseudo-science here, enough to satisfy this scientist at least, until the very end where the concept of enlarging a nucleus to man-size and cutting open its electron cloud with a scalpel made me cringe. If you're aiming for a higher lever of sci-fi detail, you can't pick and choose where you apply it really. As for Pat Olliffe, he's a welcome upgrade over Mike Norton, with a grittier style than what we're sued to from him.I'm not sure I'm sold on this new approach here, as I already miss the quirky weirdness of Ivytown as it was conceptualized by Morrisson and Simone.
6.5/10

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 8

(Paul Dini / Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti / Carlos Magno)

Raise your hand if you breathed a sigh of relief when all the characters finally came together last issue and were getting ready for an 8-issue giga-battle to cap off this series! Heh. So much for hoping. This issue, the battle on Apokolips settles down with a whimper and the heroes are transported back ot Earth where they -shock- go their separate ways again, while the Atom has to find a cure for the cootie-bomb that is Karate Kid before he gives the entire Multiverse the flu. Plus, Bob the evil Monitor cackles a lot about his eeevil plan to turn Captain Atom into bad guy Monarch. It wasn't exactly subtle, bub. Too bad, and I was just beginning to have hopes for this wreck of a series.
3/10


DC SPECIAL RAVEN #1

(Marv Wolfman / Damion Scott & Robert Campanella)

The cover boasts: "Finally In Her Own Emo Series". No, really. It says that. Did Raven actually inspire the Emo movement? Was it a world first? Raven's creator, Marv Wolfman returns to the character for this mini, examining her new life as a 'normal' high-school teenager. Raven is plagued by prophetic dreams of a schoolmate dying from a sniper's bullet by week's end, while by day she herself suffers attacks from her peers' emotional fluxes. The shady government agents interludes didn't do much to grab my interest until the grand reveal of the Psycho Pirate's Medusa Mask opened up a whole can of possibilities. Unfortunately for the series, Wolfman here is paired with an artist entirely unsuitable for the project, as Damion Scott derives his style from grafitti and wall painting, giving the characters a fluid, smooth and 'hip hop' (ugh, i hate my own coined term) feel with the thick ink lines giving the impression the whole book was hastily drawn with a thick marker pen. Not really what you'd associate with the cold, pragmatic and organized Raven. As a result, the protagonist feels out of place in her own book. I don't need to spell out doom more clearly for this one.



5/10

DETECTIVE COMICS #842

(Peter Milligan / Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs)

Pete Milligan writes this aftermath issue of the Ressurection of Ra's Al Ghul, as Batman becomes obsessed with the Suit of Sorrows -the armour that Talia gifted him in the crossover- and its dark effect on his mood. Batman begins a trek to the suit's origins and discovers its bloody history from the time of the Crusades. I can't say I was too impressed with the revelations here, as by the end of the issue Batman doesn't really have the answers he set out to uncover but still decides to put the issue to bed. Milligan has a great grasp on the Dark Knight's psychology and mode of thought, I'd enjoy seeing him in a more regular role in the Bat-writers rotation. After suffering through the scripting chores of RoRAG, he more than deserves it!

7/10





JUSTICE LEAGUE THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL

(Darwyn Cooke / J. Bone / David Bullock)

Three new stories from the world of DC: The New Frontier just in time for the release of the animated movie based on the original material. In this world, DC's Silver Age super-heroes were debuted in 50s America, and gave fodder for some amazing insightful and fun yarns from the imagination of Darwyn Cooke. In the first story, written and drawn by Cooke himself, Superman is ordered by the President to take down the renegade Batman; Of course Batman isn't about to go down without a real fight, and we're served to a Bats-Supes battle that stands up to and surpasses the classic Miller recipe from Dark Knight Returns. The other two stories are only written by Cooke and illustrated by his associates, keeping to the same art style and feature Robin with Kid Flash taking down a dragstrip gang, and Wonder-Woman teaming up with Black Canary (in her first appearance in New Frontier) musing feminism and springing the Gotham City Playboy Club opening! The special is worth its money only for the shot of Diana springing from a cake and Black Canary dressed as a playboy bunny.




9/10



JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #43

(Keith Giffen / Christopher Jones & Dan Davis)

Keith Giffen writes Blue Beetle and Booster Gold again! Of course, it's only the animated versions, trying desperately to impress their way onto the Jutice League by helping take in the Demolition Crew, so they can rake in the fame and cash and the chicas! You can just imagine how impressed Bats and Wonder Woman are gonna be with this. JLU is a Kid's comic, and done even simpler than Marvel's Adventures line, so there's no more meat to the story than the initial nostalgia jolt and a few chuckles here and there. I do miss my Giffen League! Why not have an off-continuity Earth 42 or something book where the Super-Buddies are still around and Giffen/DeMatteis are writing them?

6/10








NIGHTWING #142

(Peter Tomasi / Rags Morales)

Nightwing faces off a clandestine organisation making zombies out of dead super-villains and heroes, tracking down their origins to a familiar member of the Al Ghul family. Tomasi keeps Nightwing closely tied to both the Bat-family and the DC Universe (with Supes last issue and the JSA in this one), re-evaluating his exact place in the super-scale. We get a glimpse of a life outside the mask, and his relationship with 'younger brother' Tim/Robin, while oddly name-dropping recent Morrison storylines over in Batman for no apparent reason (I doubt Morrison needs Nightwing readers to support his sales). All said, Nightwing seems to be on the right track here, even establishing his very own potential action figure accessories with the Night-wing/Winger, just like Daddy Bruce. Rags Morales elevates the story here, although I still feel he's squandering his potential on such a low-tier title, when he really hasn't advantage of the huge boost Identity Crisis gave him to launch himself to superstar status. He should be drawing the JLA title or Batman's solo title, not Nightwing. Allowing a disconnected troupe of random inkers to finish off his pencil work isn't going to help things either of course.



6.5/10



SUPERGIRL #27

(Kelley Puckett / Rick Leonardi & Dan Green)

This is the first I'm checking in on the new Supergirl writer, Kelley Puckett. Supergirl is almost killed by a Kryptonite bullet and then whisked away 400 years into the future by her would-be killer who bursts to tears and gives her the grand tour of her destiny: a world where everyone is a super-human, and a world she must not let come to pass. We get a glimpse of some self-indulging landscaping and a poorly-designed league of Bat-Men, but apart from being vaguely ominous, this story didn't touch any chords with me. Averting a future-gone-bad? Is that really what Supergirl is going to be about? DC has repeatedly lost the point with this title as writer after writer overshoots their aim, with the rare exception of Joe Kelly who almost got it -- for all of 2-3 issues. Can't we please see Super-girl be a teen first, have an actual life and a supporting cast outside of her two daddies and have her realize her potential in the world instead of wasting her time with run-of-the-mill storylines like this? Wildstorm does a better job with their own Super-girl equivalent, Jenny Quantum (just think age, power levels and parentage), it's quite ironic. I'll CC the link to Project Rooftop's brilliant Super-girl costume contest in case someone from DC is reading this and gets the message: Supergirl is a teen and an icon. You only need to get these two things down right, how hard can it really be.



4.5/10



TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE #3 (Amy Wolfram / Karl Keshl & Serge Lapointe & Steph Peru)

Wonder Girl joins the support group for abused sidekicks just in time for the Teens to form a plan and take on their possessed mentors down one by one and expunge the evil creepies that have taken over them. A ton of nice moments in this issue as well, with Wolfram balancing humour and drama from one panel to the next and Keshl proving the ideal artistic choice (obviously boosted by both the inker and colourist) by giving us the damn cutest Titans. Can we get some action figures from these designs, please? Aqualad just screams to be made into a plush toy! Favourite notes include Wonder-Girl's emotional burst (and the boys' reactions), Kid Flash's pet turtle and the crashing final sequence which spotlights the Batman-Robin relationship against the other Titans and their mentors. Wolfram and Keshl have created an instant classic here, making this classic line-up into an utterly contemporary and relatable team. With any luck DC will realize what they have on their hands and give this pair their own ongoing project.

9/10





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Marvel Capsule Advance Reviews Week 11 2008

Jumping a few weeks ahead, this week I'm taking an advance look (without serious spoilers) to the week ahead and Marvel titles shipping on Wednesday 12th March 2008.

This week: A raccoon will fly, Spider-Girl is rated Mint, Johnny scores a HOT date, Cap chases his shadow, Hulk gets the couch, an Avengers kills himself -twice-, Rictor suffers a crotch shot, Jennifer Kale loses her top, Logan joins Osama, the Sentry is beside himself, Nighthawk gets more than he bargained for, and Psylocke with Sabretooth get the love bite!


ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST #5

(Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning / Tom Raney)

I haven't checked in on this crossover since the very first issue of its prequel. The recap page and the exposition in the story bring the reader up to date effortlessly; just one issue before the great conclusion, the expository flashbacks hit critical mass as the High Evolutionary accesses Ultron's memory files (as the maniacal robot is too busy bonding with Adam Warlock to do his own evil master plan reveal) to discover the origins of his resurrection and alliance with the Phalanx. The story touches on the recent Mighty Avengers boo(b)-tastic appearance, actually tying the dire moment in the villain's history with his current incarnation and using it as footing for his new motivations. There's something to be said about lemons and lemonade here. This is Marvel's unsung treasure, and only judging by the separate threads joining together and the overall plot and scope it's easy to make the comparison to DC's Sinestro Corps War. Definitely checking back for the rest of the story and looking forward to the conclusion following the stunning cliffhanger.

8/10

AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #18

(Tom DeFalco / Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema)

May is trapped in mylar getting auctioned by some evil guys for some other evil guys with mastermind Hobgoblin cackling about, while baby brother Benjy is getting surgery for injuries sustained when he was taken over by Carnage a few issues back. Some masks are pulled, characters die, there's fists aplenty for even the most insatiable action-philes and even a bit of romance on the side. After the OMD marriage-killing fiasco, all eyes were turned to Spider-Girl, the What If future where the wedding did stick, and produced two kids for Peter and MJ. DeFalco provides a great counter-argument to OMD, although it does get mired a bit too much in the 70s storytelling style. After a bit I started leafing through the senseless spandex action to get to the more interesting supporting cast scenes and mystery reveals that give this title its longevity.

7/10



AVENGERS FAIRY TALES #1

(C.B. Cebulski / Joao Lemos)

Cebulski begins yet another Fairytale series, this time adapting/remixing with the help of the rich Avengers universe of characters. This issue, 'Peter Pan' (Steve Rogers) and 'Tinker Bell' (the Wasp) invite Wendy/Wanda and her brother (Pietro) to Neverland where they face off against Captain Hook (Klaw). These tales are always amazing reads, not really for the sake of the script itself, but for the striking art from a variety of new talent who are making their american comics debuts in these pages; Mind, the scripts aren't bad at all, but you can only get excited about the alternate castings so many times; in the end it's only a retelling of a story we've heard hundreds of times before. The casting in this story is among Cebulski's most brilliant, especially when it comes to Klaw as Hook, whereas the rest of the Avengers acting as the Lost Boys are simply adorable. Joao Lemos is a revelations and really helps this story take off with his ethereal stylistic art and the remarkable character re-designs. A Must-Buy.

8.5/10



FANTASTIC FOUR #555

(Mark Millar / Bryan Hitch & Paul Neary)

Well, that went bland fast! After a promising premiere, I was primed for the fun to start; as it turns out, we were only half-way through the setup! Taking two full issues to introduce the setting and the threat for a four-issue storyline can't be very wise as Millar spends way too much time info-dumping all the fun, yet self-congratulatory facts about 'Nu-Earth': Alyssa Moy's new pet project, a life-size model of Earth, meant to be used as an escape hatch for the entire world population once environmental destruction really kicks our collective derrieres. Reed is being approached for the job, while Torch has a naughty moment with a new super-villainess, the Thing returns from a date and Sue is nowhere to be seen. I hope the last two parts of 'World's Greatest' are explodey enough to compensate for this extended infomercial.

6.5/10



X-FACTOR #28

(Peter David / Valentine DiLandro & Andrew Hennessy)

One of the X-Men's classic and most beloved villains returns in a big fashion here. Although I can't reveal who it is here, a quick flip trough the next issues' solicitations will prove a great help! Unaware of their target status, the X-Factor group continues to pull things together after the catastrophic events of Messiah Complex, with their roster dwindling even further, certain plotlines set up months ago proving a dead-end (but why develop them in the first place then?) and PAD providing a very PAD take on the Misunderstanding gag commonly encountered in the shut-door sex farces. It's a joy to see how well this disparate cast of characters has come to feel like a natural family. How the loss of two of the cast's most favorite characters (Layla and Rahne) will come to affect the dynamic of the series will unfold in the next few months, but for now the title still reads as good as always. Mad props go out to editor Aubrey Sitterson as well for keeping a cohesive artistic feel in the series even as it passes through a variety of fill-in artists. Why aren't talents like DiLandro getting more regular work at Marvel?

8.5/10


THUNDERBOLTS #119

(Warren Ellis / Mike Deodato Jr)

Four psychic villains have got themselves captured inside T-bolts HQ in order to play a little game of Mouse Trap with the Villainous Super-Hero team. Shutting down all exits, they're telepathically nudging each of their psychoses to the front to get them to kill/eat/destroy each other. Swordsman fully realizes his hereditary right to the Baron Strucker taking over the base, Norman is craving the Green mask of the goblin, while Venom overcomes his host and goes on a cannibalizing streak with the HQ personnel acting as the all-you-can-eat buffet. Ellis orchestrates a manic chess game with two Kings throwing peons/guardsmen at each other, a rampaging Alien Symbiote Queen tearing up both sides of the board and Leonard Sampson finally acting his fictional IQ and seeing through to the game's real grandmasters. Mad props to Ellis for remembering and utilizing a fun tidbit from Speedball's tenure in Nicieza's New Warriors.

8.5/10


WOLVERINE #63

(Jason Aaron / Ron Garney)

Finally. I -of course- had seen the signs back in Jason Aaron's first fill-in issue on the title, but I couldn't be conclusive before I had read at least 3 issues under his pen. Jason Aaron is the best at what he does, and what he does is make Wolverine a thrilling character to read. He gets the voice right, he gets the mood right, he gets the action right and he's not afraid to point out the inconsistencies and contradictions in the character as he's being treated today but most of all: he makes him worth reading. Wolvie continues to hunt Mystique down, in a genius Tom & Jerry manner, all the while flashing back to the pair's hidden history in 1921 where they are revealed to be lovers leading a team of mutated thieves and scoundrels. Ron Garney is doing the best work of his career, finally overcoming the shadow of his legendary run on Captain America with Mark Waid. This is the best creative team Wolverine has ever had, don't miss out on another issue!

9/10

MIGHTY AVENGERS #10

(Brian Bendis / Mark Bagley & Danny Miki)

Sentry, Iron-Man and Doctor Doom have been trapped in 1975 (Marvel publishing time, not Marvel U. time) due to a time platform accident. This is a nicer effort than -well- any other issue of MA before, with balanced action, exposition and gags. Is this the positive effect of Bendis trying to script like it was 1975? Could we please keep it up anyway? Stark and Doom hatch a plan, Sentry has (another) psychotic episode and the whole thing is over quite fast and painlessly (for some) with a quick application of Sentry History 101. As far as time-travelling stories go this was equal parts uninspired, undistinguished and unnecessary, as it unfolds in a simple 'let's get from A to B' fashion without any bumps or detours. Bagley is wasted on this, ad Bendis needs to realise he's ill-suited for super-team comics and get back to super-teens and crime.

4/10



NEW EXILES #3

(Chris Claremont / Tom Grummett)

The New Exiles have landed in a parallel Earth where Storm is married to Wolverine, Namor is black and married to Susan Storm, while their son is a blonde Gambit. I dare you to find cause and effect in this What If world which was hit by meteors 30 years past creating massive floods. Claremont uses pure coincidence upon chance to connect familiar names to utterly random characters and connections here. Susan has invisibility powers although she was never part of the FF? She named her son after alternate reality New Orleans X-Man, and all her kids speak in Southern accents? His cast is a true Who's Who of Claremont Holy Cows, with alternate versions of Sage, Kitty, and Rogue, led by Ultra-Cow Psylocke (Boy, am I getting tons of hate-mail for this); Still, Claremont seems to be heading somewhere with this, and Tom Grummett makes the pill go down lighter with a consistent art style. It took him three issues before a character spouted 'OutSTANding', maybe there's hope still!

3/10




AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE #10

(Dan Slott & Christos Gage / Stefano Caselli)

K.I.A. continues, wrapping up the long-running MVP mystery of the title's first year. MVP was one of the earliest Initiative recruitees who died in a training accident and his death was covered up by the Initiative bosses. Later issues revealed his body was cloned not once, not twice, but -um- many times. There's a regular MVP who lives with his dad in the country, three of his clones who became the Scarlet Spiders and now a zombie version calling himself K.I.A. (Killed In Action) literally tearing through a laundry list of people who witnessed his death. In all the mayhem, Justice reforms the New Warriors (not the horrendous Ex-mutants ongoing now on the stands, but an actual NW roster) and the Initiative recruittees are asked to pick sides. I can't say this title really works for me in the big scheme of things in the Marvel U. Is it a young heroes title? A generic Avengers book? Why are some mutants forced to join while others like the New X-Men are left out? Why are veterans like Hellcat and Gargoyle training along utter novices like Slapstick and Cloud Nine? It all lacks clear definition for me. At least the ugly situation with the colouring has been resolved and Caselli's artwork shines through better. Is it that hard to get a more capable colourist on board? Overall a good action piece, but weighed down by the enormous and unmanageable cast which seems to grow more with each issue.

6/10



MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #9

(Paul Benjamin / Steve Scott & Nathan Massengill)

Titled "Analyze SMASH This", you just know this is a can't miss, as MA Hulk meets Doc Sampson! There's something to be said about the classics: Bruce Banner, on the run from the military, turning into a rampaging Dumb Green Hulk when angry, partnered on the road by sidekick YorRick Jones (and new addition, a very Ampersand-like monkey). Sampson takes the Hulk in for therapy and a cure, but some not-so-startling romantic revelations will lead to some quality smashing time! This is an average classic Hulk yarn, almost by-the-numbers, but it's still a fun story with concrete art. If you're willing to sample this series, I'd urge you to try out earlier issues though, which played up more with the funny aspects of Dumb Hulk.

6/10



THE LAST DEFENDERS #1

(Joe Casey & Keith Giffen / Jim Muniz & Cam Smith)

It's the Defenders by way of Justice League International - minus all the jokes. Nighthawk is tasked to lead an utterly random team of new Defenders for the 50-State Initiative, consisting of the X-Men's Colossus, the Invaders' Blazing Skull and everyone's favourite Green-Genes: She-Hulk! It's a team of seasoned pros, acting like a bunch of amateurs, by going in battle untrained and unprepared, against the KKK of the Marvel Universe: the Sons of the Serpent. There's little believable reasoning behind assembling this team, as much as Stark is funnily vilified in these pages. With the upcoming solicits in mind, and all the quick cameos and interludes of previous Defenders members, this doesn't like it's a staying roster anyhow. A good read, but considering the abilities of the two writers, I came in with higher expectations but was only served a lukewarm appetizer.

6/10



DEAD OF NIGHT #2

(Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa / Brian Denham / Nick Percival)

A MAX series reintroducing readers to Marvel's horror and magic characters, using Man-Thing as the silent protagonist and the wordy Digger as the narrator and Crypt-Keeper stand-in. This issue sees the Man-Thing enter the life of stripper/sorceress Jennifer Kale when she traps/gets trapped by a group of Lady Killers. A short-but-sweet story, with enjoyable art and Digger's narration providing the right amount of creepy snark to counterbalance the grisly proceedings. I wish they would still use the classic catchy 'Whoever knows fear, burns at the touch of the Man-Thing'. Who knows, if this proves popular enough we might end up seeing a collection of J.M. DeMatteis and Liam Sharp's classic Mature Readers Man-Thing series which was never concluded. (PLUUUUUG)

7/10

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