The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone By

Stepping outside the DCU, I wanted to point you to another great book by Robert Kirkman, "The Walking Dead". Now, to begin with, this series had quite a few strikes against my reading it. It is horror, black and white, and not DC. It had one plus - Robert Kirkman. I had read his "Invincible", liked his writing, and wanted to try something else from him.

Well, it is good I put aside my dislike for black and white comics and picked this TPB up. If you have seen the movie "28 Days Later" the initial chapter of this series has a similar feel. However, once the protagonist, Rick, gets out of his local town and starts searching for his wife and kid, the series kicks into high gear and new territory. This book is not the tongue-in-cheek look at zombies we have seen from Hollywood in the past decade. It is a real look at what might be normal people's reaction to this extreme situation. I'm five volumes into the TPBs and Rick and company have changed quite a bit from this first volume. Artist Tony Moore establishes a realistic looking cast and location. His art really propels this first volume.

Kirkman really captures the frightening nature of a world full of zombies. Sometimes the scariest moments are what happens between the uninfected humans and how they treat each other. All in all this is a quality series worth your time and money.

Infinity Inc #3

I read the original "Infinity, Inc" back in the 80s and thought their adventures were a fun read. Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway did a great job of introducing the characters and giving them a purpose for being together - McFarlane's first art wasn't too shabby either. This incarnation of the group has no link to the 80s version. It is the Emo group of the DCU - a bunch of kids sulking around, going to therapy, and just mentally unhealthy. I guess the thrust of this book is to answer the question what you would do if you had a super power and then lost it, but I'm not entirely sure of what is going on here. Writer Peter Milligan must have forgotten to take his pills because full depression is on display here. Every character from Steel to "Kid Empty" shows some form of psychosis. Does this make the book compelling? No. The art, once again DC, looks rushed as a gaggle of artist particpate in what looks like a hodge podge of styles.

With no connection to the past, a sulking cast, and uninspired art, I can't recommend this book.

Simon Dark #1

I'm getting ready to buy my weekly load of comics and my son hands me "Simon Dark". He thinks it is a "Countdown" tie-in and, without looking at it, I throw it on the pile. I got around to reading it today and, while it isn't my usual comic fare, I found it quite interesting. I enjoyed Scott Hampton's art as he captures the mood presented by writer Stephen Niles. Breezing through google I found out that Niles wrote the comic "30 Days Night" which the currently released movie is based. I don't shy away from horror comics - Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" being one of my favorites. However, I'm not sure what to think of "Simon Dark". It has an old Vertigo imprint feel but it is set in Gotham City. This book is a true "cold start" for a comic and I'm not sure that this character is strong enough to keep up a monthly series. It certainly didn't grab me like Todd McFarlane's "Spawn" did when it first came out, but that was more superhero than horror.

If you are into horror and mystery you might like this. However, if you are into traditional superhero comics, I wouldn't recommend it.

Superman #670

"Superman" issue #670 brings to a conclusion the three-part "The Third Kryptonian" story line. The entire Superman family is present including new additions Chris Kent and Karsta Wor-Ul - the third Kryptonian in question. This is an action packed issue reminiscent of the old "Superman Family" adventures during the Silver Age. In the middle of the battle Karsta flies away leaving Superman, Supergirl, Powergirl, Krypto, and Batman left to fight her battle. Her return to the battle is inevitable and aptly timed as well. Writer Kurt Busiek does a fine job of moving the action forward and concluding this three part story. Busiek continues to weave his perception of Superman's post Crisis reality showing that Red Sun doesn't strip Superman's powers it just blocks his ability to access them. Artificial Kryptonite is also introduced. Now, I'm not a continuity nut but can Kryptonians breath in space? Post COIE Superman needed a breathing appartus. In the most recent Supergirl we get the 2-hour limit. In this issue Karsta flies off into space unaided....what's the deal? I also found the whole Kandor explanation a bit hard to swallow and look forward to Busiek or Johns pulling on this thread.

Rick Leonardi and Dan Green's art captures the action well and provides one of the better representations of Supergirl and Powergirl. I also liked Jesus Merino's cover and wouldn't mind getting a poster size version of it.

All in all, the three parter was a fun read and I would recommend it.

Supergirl #23

New "Supergirl" scribe, Kelley Puckett, comes on board and spins a stunning tale establishing Supergirl as a powerhouse character in the DC Universe...is what I would have liked to said during this review. I had high hopes for Puckett's tenure here but this first chapter has left me cold. Entitled "Tesseract" we start with Supergirl getting a package from Batman ( a grizzled unshaven version of him) and then being thrown into some war with Superman and the Green Lantern Corps on one side and who knows on the other. Now a tesseract is a four dimensional analog of a cube where motion along the fourth dimension is often represented as the cube moving through time. Is the box that Batman left the cube? Is Supergirl moving through time? Am I reading too much into the title? I read this issue in about five minutes and basically got nothing out of it.

Drew Johnson's penciling is good for the most part, but the story relies so much on the visuals I don't know if I should blame Johnson for the confusing issue or Puckett. On a positive note, Puckett does establish that Supergirl is now 18 in this issue. In Superman/Batman when she was discovered she was 16 and in this issue she tells Batman she has been on Earth for two years. Now, why Batman after two years is still screwing with Supergirl is a whole other question.

I'm a Supergirl fan from way back and I'm hoping DC and Puckett can put this character back on track. However, this first issue does not bode well.

Metal Men #4 of 8

I have been a fan of the Metal Men since I first read their adventures in the 70s. Writer and artist Duncan Rouleau has presented an interesting if uneven incarnation of this team. Based on an idea by Grant Morrison, Rouleau is using time traveling robots, friends, and family as the impetus for everything from the creation of the Metal Men to Will Magnus' rise to fame. I usually like time travel stories if done well and I'm somewhat concerned and confused by Rouleau's take on it. The bright spot for this series is the art and Rouleau's interpretation of the Metal Men. As I said, I grew up with the more classic looking Metal Men and was initially put off by Rouleau's version. However, over the first few issues of this mini, these Metal Men have grown on me. I especially like Rouleau's characterizations of each robot imbuing each with very distinct personalities while remaining true to their past incarnations.

I'm not sure this book will draw any new readers to the Metal Men. However, I'm interested to see where this is all going and will stay along for the ride.

Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Red Rain

The search for Ray Palmer heads to Earth 43. For those of you out there keeping score, Earth 43 is the Earth where Batman is a vampire. In this issue, I was hoping to get more information about the team's desire to find Ray Palmer besides "Ray Palmer is the key". What we get is supposedly smart heroes acting very, very stupid. Where I come from vampires are bad and vampire killers are good. Why would the team then go after and stop the vampire killer from killing vampire Bat-Man? Their actions doomed this world's Dick Grayson and didn't move them closer to finding Ray Palmer. I'm sure the writer is writing from a DC editorial outline that goes something like "team arrives on Earth 43, confronts vampire Bat-Man, doesn't find Ray Palmer, and moves on". That about sums this book up. With the team of artist the outcome is surprisingly consistent. I'll have to give accolades to colorist Art Lyons for maintaining a consistent look and feel to the proceedings. However, the muted red tones did tend to drag towards the end of issue.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone other than a hardcore Countdown completist - if any of those really exist.

Countdown to Final Crisis #25

Action, Action, Action! "Countdown to Final Crisis" kicks into high gear this issue focusing on Karate Kid and his entourage in Bludhaven. Firestorm and the Atomic Knights show up and a battle ensues. Firestorm takes a while to realize he can do just about anything and takes care of business. I enjoyed this entire issue except for the three pages focusing on Piper and the Trickster. I get it Piper is gay. What this has to do with the story is a mystery, but the writers keep indulging in the urge to bring it up. Both of these characters were very good when utilized in "The Flash" and have been reduced to the Abbott and Costello of Countdown. Ron Lim's art is very good in this issue. I liked his Firestorm and Darseid. The final splash page has me looking forward to the next installment for the first time in this series.

Metamorpho Year One #3 of 6

Since I have "Batman and the Outsiders" on my pull list, my local comics shop thought I'd like to read "Metamorpho Year One" and put it in my box. I probably would not have requested this even if I had known it was coming out, but the fist three issues have been an interesting read. Writer Dan Jurgens is going for an action/adventure flavor instead of straight out superhero action. Rex Mason is portrayed as a handsome adventurer with his eye on the bosses daughter. All of the elements of Metamorpho's origin are here with Rex's boss Simon Stagg playing the villian role and Rex' girlfriend, Sapphire Stagg, playing the confused/mixed feeling girlfriend. The action and intrigue really gets rolling in issue #3 with the addition of Stagg's advesary, Maxwell Tremaine. Mike Norton's pencils and Jesse Delperdang's inks provide good visuals. However, I preferred Jurgen's layouts in the first two issues. Metamorpho is drawn a little too skeletal in the face for my liking as well.

Dan Jurgens has been one of my favorite writers over the years and he his having fun with Metamorpho. While the story is connect the dots as Metamorpho's origin is pretty basic, Jurgen's adds enough action, romance, and intrigue to keep it interesting.

Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes

"The Search for Cosmic Boy Grows Tedious!" would be the tag line for this series. I'm not sure I even care where he is now. I certainly don't get the motivations behind many of the players here - Braniac-5 in particular. Of course, he's a fifth level intellect and I wouldn't even consider that I could be made to understand his motivations. The only character that comes across interesting or exciting is Atom Girl. What started out 34 issues ago with great promise has settled into a muddled mess. The outgoing Tony Bedard has one more issue to tie up any loose ends on this "search" before Jim Shooter takes over the writing chores. Shooter has his work cut out for him if he has to take this version of the Legion forward. Dennis Calero's art is decent but the heavy handed inking and shadows highlight the aforementioned "muddled mess" presented here.

Invincible

Once again stepping outside of the DCU, I wanted to point you in the direction of "Invincible" from Image Comics. I did not start reading this comic in monthly form. I went the the San Diego Comic Con this year and when I was walking around checking out the art and such I stumbled upon "Invincible". Now, back in the day, I was a huge Image fan. I consumed pretty much everything the company put out when it started up in the 90s. However, my taste for comics and media in general changed and I went away from both Image and Marvel. When at the Con I usually check out the other companies to see if anything they have to offer peaks my interest. That's when I hit upon "Invincible".

I got the volume one TPB and now 6 TPBs later both me and my son are really enjoying writer Robert Kirkman's Invincible adventures. Artist Corey Walker really laid down the foundation for "Invincible" with his excellent art and, when he left the series, Ryan Ottley continued to provide solid art to back up Kirkman's inspired story. I don't want to give any spoilers away as if you pick up this TPB I want you to feel the excitement that I felt while reading it. I bet if you pick up volume one you will be hooked in no time. The series really picks up speed in volume 2 (issue #7).

I have since followed Kirkman to his very scary "The Walking Dead" series and the "Marvel Zombies" hard cover. Kirkman has rapidly jumped to up my list of top writers in comics.

Countdown to Adventure #3 of 8

The adventures of Starfire, Animal Man, and Adam Strange continue to unfold in this entertaining read from writer Adam Beechen. The rampage "disease" is spreading throughout San Diego and Rann as our heroes come to terms with the fact that they may be carriers. Beechen does a great job with the relationships between Buddy, Buddy's wife Ellen and Kory. I still believe that Buddy only has strong feelings of friendship for Kory and Ellen is worrying about a lot of nothing. However, that is coming from a guy and I'm sure my wife would have issue if I had a HOT woman living with us. Adam Strange is still in Rann and is also catching on that something is amiss. Beechen does an excellent job of weaving both of these stories and putting his characters in peril. Eddy Barrows pencilling along with Julio Ferreira's inks really make the book pop off the page. I have always been a fan of Barrows and he doesn't disappoint here. While the backup story did not do anything for me, the main story will keep me buying this miniseries.

Both this and "Countdown to Mystery" have been the best of the breed for Countdown tie-ins.

Countdown to Mystery #2 of 8

"Countdown to Mystery" #2 picks up right where issue #1 left off. The newly helmeted Dr. Fate is up against Negal of Charn, the Devourer of Souls, and he is in deep. Writer Stephen Gerber handles the action very well with Kent Nelson having issues with the helmet communicating with him while taking in this other worldly confrontation. I like how Gerber uses Kent Nelson's psychiatric background to analyze the proceedings. I found it humorous that Kent would hock both Negal's axe and his own helmet. In the end we see that Kent is coming to terms with having this helmet follow him around and that his mind is slowly getting right as he deals with this situation. Justiniano and Walden Wong's art is top notch matching the tone set forth by Gerber. I haven't enjoyed a Dr. Fate story in years and Gerber and company are hitting the mark here.

I usually don't care for the backup stories in the Countdown miniseries, but Eclipso's story brought to you by writer Matthew Sturges and artist Stephen Jorge Segovia is quite good. I especially like Segovia's depiction of the seduction of Plastic Man. I was initially put off by Sturges having Plas beat his son but given what is going on in this story it fit right in.

This countdown mini is highly recommended.

Countdown to Final Crisis #26

"Countdown" has been renamed "Countdown to Final Crisis" as of issue #26. While "Countdown" issues #52-27 choose to utilize the "Heroes" method of story telling - jumping from group to group showing a few pages of each story line as you go - issue #26 is generally exposition focusing on the Monitors. I believe DC was shooting for this issue to be a good jumping on point for readers as the first two-thirds of the book has the various Monitors talking to each other regarding the current state of the Multiverse. I thought we already went through this earlier when they all agreed to something but now they are all agreeing to "war", whatever that means. The true motivation behind Monarch, formerly the very cool Caption Atom, is still not revealed. He must be brain damaged as Captian Atom was never evil and he comes across as such in these pages. In the end we jump to Earth 8 to catch up on "the Challengers", Kyle Rayner and company, on the search for Ray Palmer. Why are they searching for Ray Palmer? Who knows? Then we jump to Earth 15. Why? I don't know. I need a scorecard for all of these Earths. Can DC put up a chart at DC online to help me out? Oh and Darkseid has something to do with all of this as seen in the last splash panel. I know we are headed to Final Crisis, but head writer Paul Dini and company are taking their sweet time getting there. I just don't see the character motivations and what this all has to do with the New Gods, Ray Palmer, Monarch, et al. Hopefully these guys will kick it into high gear as we get to the home stretch but color me unimpressed with the series to this point.

Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists #1 (of 6)

Bleh! That's what I've got to say about this offshoot of Countdown. I didn't ask for this in at my local comics store, the owner pulled it for me based on other comics that I buy. I wasn't looking forward to this, but thought DC has done well with both "Countdown to Adventure" and "Countdown to Mystery" and I thought I'd give it a try. Well, writer Frank Tieri takes a swing at the plate and it is a whiff. The story is a mess. I think DC is supposed to be poking fun at Marvel's "Civil War" but I'm not really sure. The whole "round up the metas/mutants/superpowered beings and put them in a camp" was handled much better in "Kingdom Come". I can't speak for Marvel's "Civil War" as I didn't read that cross over event. If I had to pick one good thing out about this comic, I would point to Liam Sharp and Rob Hunter's art. While not top tier, it is better than some of the other regular series art out there and reminiscent of some 90's comic art - shoulder pads and big guns making a showing. I'm assuming that is what the artist were shooting for here.

If you are looking for good DC miniseries look towards the previously mentioned "Adventure" and "Mystery" offshoots from Countdown. "Lord Havok and the Extremists" is not worth the cover price or your time.

Justice Society of America #10

With a beautiful cover by Alex Ross, "Justice Society of America" #10 kicks off the "Thy Kingdom Come" story line. Billed as a true sequel to "Kingdom Come", this story line has been greatly anticipated in my household. Writer Geoff Johns is in true form again spinning a personal story for Kingdom Come Superman with excellent interactions between JSA members and KC Superman. It was nice to see Obsidian show up after a long absence. His conversation with KC Superman is very telling. The art by penciller Dale Eaglesham is excellent. He really captures the despair of KC Superman. I also enjoyed Ross' painted pages for the Kingdom Come flashbacks. This was a great kickoff to what looks to be an interesting story line and I look forward to watching it play out.

Action Comics #858

Spinning out of the "Justice League of America" and "Justice Society of America" crossover event "The Lightening Saga", "Action Comics" 858 begins the reintroduction of the Legions of Superheroes into the Superman mythos. I grew up reading "Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes" in the 70s and really enjoyed those adventures. During the 80s I read everything DC put out that had the Legion in it. However, after the excellent "Crisis on Infinite Earths" John Byrne was brought on to restart Superman. One of the big mistakes that he made was the elimination of Superboy from Superman's past. This totally negated any adventures that Superboy had with the Legion. Since then there have been many attempts at jump starting the Legion with varying degrees of success. With "Action Comics" #858, Geoff Johns begins his attempt to clear up this mess. I'm very excited to see both Johns' retcon of Superman's first introduction to the Legion and Jim Shooter's run on the current "Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes" monthly.

Johns has brought a couple of other changes to book as well. John Byrne set Clark Kent up as a football playing "with it" guy and Johns takes Clark back to his origins here as a somewhat goofy "mild mannered" reporter. You can see Donner's influence as Clark comes across much like the Christopher Reeve take on Superman in "Superman: the Movie". It will be interesting to see if Johns' take on Clark migrates to its sister comic "Superman".

I wasn't really impressed with penciller Gary Frank's cover and promotional art for this comic. However, after reading the book I'm excited about his run on the book. Frank captures emotion fairly well and you can see the giddiness in the Legion trio that come back to meet a young Clark. By the end, I was loving Frank's take on the icons of DC presented within.

Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters #1 & #2 of 8

"Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters" #1 answers the burning question, "where was the team during Amazon Attacks?" Of course, I kid. No one really cared anything about "Amazon Attacks". The opening of this eight part series finds the team on a deep space mission fending off a hive of bees set on taking over the earth. Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justing Gray utilize this mission to "upgrade" the Red Bee. Once the team is back on Earth they deal with the after effects of "Amazon Attacks" and Palmiotti and Gray settle into the government intrigue angle of the Freedom Fighters. The team breaks up in the first issue and the reasoning behind the breakup is, well, reasonable. The issue ends showing that things aren't all well with the Red Bee. Issue #2 focuses on Phantom Lady and here Paris Hilton/Brittany Spears-like behavior. It culminates with the team back together for an intervention. While Palmiotti and Gray are not severing up much action, the interactions between the characters and the development of Red Bee and Phatom Lady are handled well.

I didn't think I would like Renato Arlem's art, but it fits the tone of the book. He has a good flare for action sequences as seen on the bee ship and for character interaction. However, did we really need to see Miss America's pink panties. You'd think she would be wearing something to match her uniform.

While I wouldn't recommend this series to a younger audience, the mature themes, characterization, and social commentary are better suited for older readers.

Green Arrow & Black Canary #1

The "Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special" left a sour taste in my mouth as once again DC went to the death well by killing off Green Arrow. I wasn't happy with the situation and how it occurred either. I am a sucker though and went out and bought "Green Arrow & Black Canary" #1 to see where this was leading. I must say that I enjoyed this book. The first few page flashback was nicely done. Cliff Chiang's style in this flashback is fairly close to Darwyn Cooke's version of Green Arrow. The inking and coloring also matched Cooke's look as well. For the present day art, Chiang really captures the intensity of Black Canary. Chiang does an excellent job from page to page and really shines here.

Writer Judd Winick's story is interesting. He shows us how Black Canary grieves and that is painful for the bad guys out there. He reintroduces the Green Arrow family along with their connection to the rest of the DCU. I especially liked Green Latern's chat with Black Canary. Finally the mystery of what happened to Green Arrow is solved and we are on to the rescue next issue. Now, I really liked this issue, but how does this all fit into the marriage of the two main characters. Was the switch early? Why did they Amazons do it? Who? What? Why? How?....Questions, Questions, Questions. Here's hoping that Winick can answer these as I'm on board now.

Suicide Squad #2 of 8

Writer John Ostrander continues to flesh out Rick Flag's back story as he advances the plot. General Eiling is being set up as the bad guy here with Rick Flag and Rustam stuck in Skartaris - a place of dinosaurs and endless sunlight. I really like Jaui Pina's art as it captures the intensity of Rick Flag. While last issue was all action, this issue Ostrander serves up character development. I enjoyed getting Flag's history and the explanation of how he and Rustam survived when Jotunheim blew up. We get a brief glimpse of Amanda Waller with the rest of the squad absent for this issue. It is good to see Ostrander back on this title and having fun with his characters.