Outstanding - Recommended read.   Above Average - Worth a read.   Average - Could be better, could be worse.   Below Average - Time and money better spent elsewhere.   Paper Shredder Material - My Eyes! My Eyes!

June 2009

Aliens No. 1 (Dark Horse) - $2.99 John Arcudi - Writer; Zach Howard - Pencils; Mark Irwin - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison A group of planetary prospectors receive an unexpected surprise upon their arrival to a pre-prepped expedition site. Meanwhile, the site prep crew has awakened something, something that is hunting them. Based on the original solicitation information I read, it sounds like a whole lot happened in this first issue. That information really covers more than this first issue however because not all of it happened in the span of these first twenty-two pages. I had no intentions of picking up this title (clearly the last thing I need is another series on my reading list). But after thumbing through it at my local comic shop, I decided to pick it up. First and foremost, the art is quite good. Zach Howard also drew the outstanding mini-series Outer Orbit (published by Dark Horse back in 2007) so his work on the quality of his work on this comic was no surprise. I have to admit Arcudi really hit the ground running with this premier issue. The script is tight and builds interest from page one. I have to say I’ve very intrigued with the developments of this issue such that I will have to come back for another helping. What more can you ask from the writer of a new series?

April 2009

Madame Xanadu No. 9 (DC-Vertigo) - $2.99 Matt Wagner - Writer; Amy Reader Hadley - Pencils; Richard Friend - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison Depression leading toward the next great war, Madame Xanadu is troubled by the apparent re-emergence of the Phantom Stranger after half a century of inactivity. She looks to another wielder of true magic, John Zatara, to see if he has felt the presence as well. She discovers that the Stranger is indeed back and contacting other magic users to seek their aid in another of his games. This a fantastic series that not enough people are reading (I know because I’ve seen the recent estimated sales figures are they are dismal). Matt Wagner has done an excellent job crafting Madame Xanadu’s past while building toward a major confrontation with the Phantom Stranger, all of which is leading into her adventures in the present day. Amy Reader Hadley is one of the best ‘new’ artists in comics today. She isn’t brand new as she did two volumes of a series for Tokyopop called Fools Gold, but she is new to the comic publishing giants. Her art in this series is reason enough to buy and read it. It really is that good. But it isn’t just her art that makes Madame Xanadu as good as it is. This series is the full package. The story and art are both outstanding. Either could stand alone on their own merits, but fortunately for readers of this title, they are together, and that makes for a comic that is easily one of the best on the market today.

Justice League of America No. 31 (DC) - $2.99 Dwayne McDuffie - Writer; Shane Davis - Pencils; Sandra Hope - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison Occasionaly you'll run across a solicitation for a comic claiming it to be a convenient jumping on point for new readers. Yet that also has implications for the previous issue providing a good jumping off point. Unfortunately, this is one of the jumping off point variety. This title has been ‘struggling’ for a while. Between derailments from Dinah and Oliver’s wedding to the Crisis events, there hasn’t really been much of a prime opportunity for this book to establish itself as the preeminent series in DC’s line. Much like (New) Avengers has become the standard bearer for Cup O’ Joe comics, Justice League of America should be the best and brightest of what DC has to offer. It has definitely fallen well short of that. Part of the problem is that DC has put most of the focus just about everywhere else but the JLA. Batman R.I.P received a lot of promotion. The return of Krypton has been the driving circumstance in the Superman titles. There have been a string of Crisis events running the last several years, but the only one that really spiraled primarily out of the Justice League was the one that started everything in motion – Identity Crisis. The major event series from DC’s major competitor have all revolved around the (New) Avengers in some significant form. House of M was a result of Avengers Disassembled. Civil War started due to the New Warriors, but it essentially pitted the Mighty Avengers (Stark’s team) against the New Avengers (Roger’s team). Secret Invasion basically kicked into full gear when the New Avengers discovered Elektra was a Skrull. So you can see they wrapped everything around their strongest and best selling series. The book most of their fan base is reading provided entry into all of those events. It doesn’t take a genius to see how that increases the likelihood of those events being a success. Justice League of America has taken a backseat to the rest of the major goings-on. It has been supplicant to these events rather than a driving force around them. Look at what the JLA has been engaged in over the course of the past two years. They were a major player in the Sinestro Corps War (along with virtually everyone in the DCU) providing support to Hal and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps. They played a role early on in the Trinity weekly series. Prior to that they were involved in Amazon’s Attack (which was a part of Infinite Crisis and Countdown). They’ve had more prominent world-and-universe wide roles in those three series than what they’ve done in their own. You look at the two most recent arcs in JLA and you would barely know there were any Crises in play. That just isn’t the best way to maximize a title that should touch on so many corners of the DCU line of books. (Don’t misunderstand, I’m not advocating for Justice League of America to be nothing more than a bridge book leading from one event to the next. What I’m saying is that if they are going to continuing having these events that are impacting most, if not all, of their core books, they might as well drive said events from the series that should be the premier title in their stable.) So as I mentioned, this particular issue, wherein the team begins to dissolve as many of the members choose to go their own separate way, really is a convenient jumping off point. I think I’m going to take advantage of the opportunity and step off at this station. I know that train is going to keep-a-rolling, but it will have to make its way without me. The only real negative of any significance to this action is that with my decision to kick the Green Arrow Black Canary title to the curb due to their inability to provide at least some minor semblance of a good and interesting story, it leaves me without a proper source for my Black Canary fix.

Wonder Woman No. 30 (DC) - $2.99 Gail Simone - Writer; Aaron Lopresti - Pencils; Matt Ryan - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison In the aftermath of her defeat at the hands of Genocide, Wonder Woman is desperate to locate her foe, who has absconded with Etta Candy. The trail takes her to Gotham City and the headquarters of the Secret Society. Even as Diana makes her way through their defenses, the Amazons are returning one by one to Themyscira, while Zeus creates a son to lead the Olympians. This is Gail’s best issue of this series to date. This story arc is really beginning to pick up some serious momentum. We get to see a relentless Wonder Woman in this issue and really get a good picture of the effect she has on her adversaries when she is coming at them like a true force of nature. Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan do a fantastic job as well. The action sequences are excellent and really demonstrate Wonder Woman’s power. More importantly however is the emotion they convey through the entirety of this issue through the faces and postures of the characters. Emotion is a big component of this story and the issue wouldn’t have been half as good if they had failed to deliver it in their art.

March 2009

G.I. Joe Origins No. 1 (IDW) - $3.99 Larry Hama - Writer; Tom Feister - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison IDW recently acquired the license to publish G.I. Joe comics (the last company to hold said license was Devil’s Due) and is starting over from scratch. There are three books in the line – G.I. Joe (written by Chuck Dixon), G.I. Joe Origins (written by Larry Hama), and G.I. Joe: Cobra. I didn’t plan on picking up any of the titles (I’ve never been what you would call a Joe fan --- though I did read several issues of American’s Elite, the Devil’s Due’s reboot, since it was written by Joe Casey), but I figured I might as well at least check out the first issue of Origins since Larry Hama (the godfather of G.I. Joe comics) is helming it. I didn’t have any particular expectations about it and was pleasantly surprised by the overall product. The story was fairly interesting as it marked the very first meeting of Duke, Scarlet, and Snake Eyes. I’m kind of curious what, if any, particular secrets they may reveal about Snake Eye’s past given that Devil’s Due had a mini-series a couple of years ago that was a full blown revelation of his origin (something that had never been fully revealed before in any previous published series). Obviously IDW isn’t bound to honoring that particular story as they didn’t publish it (well, unless Hasbro makes them keep it as the de facto origin tale), so it will be interesting to see what they present of Snake Eye’s back story. Hama’s script had a few interesting twists and it is definitely a good way to kick off the new series. I was especially pleased with the art. Typically when picking up projects from some of the smaller publishers (BOOM! Studios and IDW being prime examples), the art tends to leave a lot to be desired. That was definitely not the situation in this case. I don’t know what other work Tom Feister has done in the industry, but I really liked his style and layout in this issue. It is a little disappointing because the solicitations I’ve seen for upcoming issues indicate Mike Hawthorne will be the artist going forward, so it appears Tom Feister won’t be lending his talents to crafting the future presentation of this title. If you’ve ever been a fan of previous incarnations of G.I. Joe comics or just have a curiosity about the G.I. Joe empire, then I definitely recommend this as a very solid jumping-on point.

January 2009

Umbrella Academy: Dallas No. 1 (Dark Horse) - $2.99 Gerard Way - Writer; Gabriel Bá - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison The initial volume of this property (The Umbrella Academy – Apocalypse Suite) was a highly enjoyable series. The first two issues of this sequel have been no less engaging. Number Five was the primary player in the first issue’s action. In this second issue, he only appears physically in a couple of pages, but he is the focus of most of the other characters in this story. The police want to question him, the Kraken is trying to locate him, two psychopathic hit men (Hazel and Cha-Cha) have been dispatched to take him down, and the Rumor is the only one able to follow the clues and find him. The whole ‘family’ is the picture of dysfunctional but the looming threat is likely to draw them back together. The Rumor is the surprise in all of this as it appears she may end up assuming the role as the backbone of the group. Gabriel Bá’s art is outstanding as usual. If you’re sick of the Final Dark Secret Countdown House Crisis Invasion War event style books which bring ‘dramatic’ changes that last all of five minutes until they are undone by the follow-up event, then this is kind of book for you. Self contained, interesting, entertaining, and well-drawn, The Umbrella Academy is a can’t miss series.

Superman Supergirl Maelstrom No. 4 & 5 (DC) - $2.99 Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti - Writers; Phil Noto - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I really have little interest in Superman and Supergirl as far as my buying practices go. There is nothing wrong with either character (I certainly don’t mind reading their appearances in Justice League America, Trinity, and other titles they might show up in) but there isn’t anything I find especially compelling about them in terms of making them must-read. It might seem strange then that I picked up this five issue mini-series in the first place. I’ve enjoyed Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray’s other projects in the past (their recent Terra mini-series was aces and I’m very much looking forward to the Power Girl monthly they will be writing later this year) and with Phil Noto handling the artistic chores, I decided there was enough creative talent to merit my attention. My final analysis is that I wish I had saved my money. That is not to say it was a bad series because it was not. It just wasn’t anything special, and given my usual disinterest in the characters there wasn’t anything really stirring in this particular tale to refashion my view. If you happen to be a Superman and/or Supergirl fan, then you would probably enjoy this series (I think you would be likely to enjoy it more if you’re a Supergirl fan), but there isn’t anything of significant impact that makes it a necessary read (Supergirl does experience some level of character growth but it is not extraordinarily transforming).

Wonder Woman No. 27 (DC) - $2.99 Gail Simone - Writer; Aaron Lopresti - Pencils; Matt Ryan - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Gail Simone’s direction on this title. She has been writing the book for a year now and has really done a great job. The last two story arcs have been excellent and the current arc promises to be even better. Gail has been expanding on different areas of Wonder Woman’s character and history as well as adding bits and pieces to the overall mythos (in this particular issue we discover just how powerful her golden lasso really is). She has really established Wonder Woman as a fantastic character with a multitude of interesting facets (I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that Greg Rucka did an outstanding job defining the character when he previously helmed the title). Wonder Woman is really everything Superman is and more; and it is the ‘and more’ part that really makes her a fascinating character to me whereas I tend to find Superman lacking that extra element of ‘extraordinary’. Whereas I view Superman to be too idealistic at times, Wonder Woman embraces possibilities – she desires to offer an open hand but has no misgivings about providing opposition with whatever force she deems necessary to stop a given threat, up to and including ending the life of her adversary. In fact, I would challenge any Superman fan/reader who doesn’t read this title to check out a couple of collections of Greg Rucka’s run as well as Gail Simone’s current run and then tell me that Wonder Woman isn’t a more fascinating and entertaining character than Superman.

Vigilante No. 1 (DC) - $2.99 Marv Wolfman - Writer; Rick Leonardi - Pencils; John Stanisci - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison I was a big fan of the original (costumed superhero) 1980s Vigilante title. In fact, it was the first monthly DC title I ever bought regularly. I’m not even really sure exactly what drew me to the title because I wasn’t a Teen Titans fan (and the Vigilante spun out of the book) so I didn’t know anything about the character going in. I seem to remember thinking the character looked rather intriguing (on the cover) so I imagine that is why I picked up the first copy that I bought. And clearly that issue was interesting enough to get me to jump on board for good. Fast forward to 2009 and a brand new Vigilante title is being launched. Frankly I have no interest in this new incarnation of the character because the Adrian Chase version will always be THE Vigilante in my eyes. Again, I know nothing of the character (this incarnation) going into this first issue. I think he likely showed up in The Titans (or perhaps the Teen Titans) prior to the launching of this new series. The ONLY reason I picked up this issue in the first place is because Rick Leonardi is penciling it (plus it doesn’t hurt that Walt Simonson is doing the covers). I’m one and done here though. Much as I really like Leonardi’s work (and don’t get to see nearly enough of it these days), there just isn’t anything for me in this title. I have no interest in learning more about the title character. That isn’t an indictment of Marv Wolfman’s script because I thought he did a good job with this story. The odds are just stacked against this title for me because the lead character will never be able to match Adrian Chase. For anyone who never read that original Vigilante series, then you might find something of interest here. If you’re a fan of a character like the Punisher, you might like this title. If you like the idea of the Punisher but think maybe he is a little too kill-happy, you’ll probably find this title to be a little more to your liking.

Madame Xanadu No. 7 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Matt Wagner - Writer; Amy Reader Hadley - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Vertigo imprint titles tend to be the ones I find most appealing these days. Madame Xanadu is no exception. I’ve very much enjoyed Matt Wagner and Amy Reader Hadley’s work on this title. Madame Xanadu is a character I had very little exposure to coming in, but I was quite impressed with the previews of Hadley’s art and I’ve been pleased with Wagner’s previous Grendel work so I decided to give it a shot when the series first started. It was a decision I have not regretted. These first seven issues have delved into Madame Xanadu’s past as Wagner establishes the history of her character and brings her to the present day. Hadley’s art has been nothing short of spectacular. She is definitely an underappreciated talent (due to her being a relative unknown for the most part). She is certainly someone to keep an eye because she will be doing ‘bigger and better’ things in the future (by that I mean likely more mainstream --- I don’t mean the projects themselves will necessarily be ‘better’ than this title because this one is pretty darn good).

Green Lantern No. 36 (DC) - $2.99 Geoff Johns - Writer; Ivan Reis - Pencils; Oclair Albert - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison This issue introduces the Blue Lanterns -- so now we have Green, Orange, Red, Sapphire, Blue, and Yellow (the Yellow being the Sinestro Corps) that have been established. The Blue Lanterns’ rings are powered by hope. Former Guardians Ganthet and Sayd (who were banished by the other Guardians of Oa) are responsible for the creation of these new Lanterns and, as we discover in this story, intend for Hal to be the leader of the Blue Lantern Corps. This is still one of the better superhero titles in my opinion, and I fully expect it to get even better in the second half of 2009 as it moves into the Blackest Night storyline. Blackest Night is the ‘event’ I’m most looking forward to going into 2010. Frankly it is the only ‘event’ I’m looking forward to and have any interest in (and the best part is that I don’t feel the need to read any secondary or tertiary titles in order to appreciate it –-- I greatly enjoyed the Sinestro Corps War ‘event’ and I read that solely in the pages of Green Lantern, I didn’t buy or read the Green Lantern Corps title, and was able to get what I felt was a complete and quality story out of just those issues).

Legion of Super-Heroes No. 49 (DC) - $2.99 Jim Shooter - Writer; Francis Manapul - Pencils; John Livesay - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison One issue remaining following this one. I’m still disappointed DC (Dan Didio in particular) is pulling the rug out from under this one. Granted, I haven’t been quite as pleased with Jim Shooters’ current run on this title since he replaced Mark Waid (Tony Bedard wrote a couple of issues between the transition of creative teams). I really liked Waid and Kitson’s incarnation of the Legion. I wasn’t overly thrilled when Supergirl was brought into the mix halfway through the second year (because I felt like the focus shifted a little more to her than the core team) but it didn’t drag the title down in any significant manner. Shooter’s arrival provided a major shift in the characterization of many of the Legion characters (Timber Wolf especially). I didn’t care for some of those shifts but I thought a number of the plot points were interesting enough to give it a chance. It was very discouraging to discover that Shooter and Didio were clashing and that Shooter was temporarily removed. Even though Didio allowed Shooter to return, his decision to cancel the title completely a short time later forced Shooter to rework his remaining plots and eliminate certain aspects of his story (including the marriage of Brainiac 5 and Dream Girl). I’m rather aggravated that Didio is so easily casting this incarnation away with the idea of going back to the drawing board YET AGAIN even though he clearly doesn’t have a concrete plan in place for the Legion universe. What is especially bothersome is that Shooter has been building to a major conflict against a significant new threat while developing a very interesting sub-plot involving Princess Projectra and now he has to wrap it all up in one more issue (and even if it turns out to be a double-sized issue, there is far more story that needs to be told to adequately provide conclusion for all of these elements than could fit in the space of one issue – be it double-sized or not).

Wolves of Odin (SR Graphics) - $7.50 Grant Gould - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Wolves of Odin is a 64-page original graphic novella from Grant Gould. This is sort of an unusual project because Thor doesn’t actually have a physical manifestation in the story (nor does Odin or Loki). Instead, the gods communicate with and give power to their followers and let them do all the dirty work. This is a fairly interesting story, though I felt it could have been fleshed out a little more in some areas. The art was pretty good, though it could have been broken down a little better (there were several pages that had only one or two panels –-- I would have liked to have seen a few more panels to really help build the story). All in all it was an interesting take on some of the Norse mythologies but I feel like it fell a little short of what it might have been.

July 2008

Madame Xanadu No. 1 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Matt Wagner - Writer; Amy Reader Hadley - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I must admit to having absolutely no familiarity at all with the character Madame Xanadu. And after reading this debut issue of this new series, I still don’t. That isn’t a bad thing though. This issue focuses on a young forest sylph named Nimue Inwudu. She is the sister of the Vivienne (the Mistress of the Lake) and Morganna. Druids have asked for her assistance as the kingdom of Camelot has come under dark times, and they believe Morganna is to blame. Nimue also finds herself visited by a powerful stranger who tells her the fates have already been cast and there is nothing she can do to stem the tide of the coming war. I believe this title is supposed to be rooted in the present day (or close enough to it), so I think what Matt Wagner is doing here with this first issue is establishing the history of the character Madame Xanadu (who would appear to be Nimue). I really like the approach and I’m very interested in seeing where Matt takes it when he does jump forward. The art by Amy Reader Hadley is excellent. Her style reminds me quite a bit of Charles Vess, so if you’re a fan of his work, then you should definitely like this. I think this is a very fine debut issue and it certainly succeeds in making me want to come back for more.

June 2008

Wonder Woman No. 20 (DC) - $2.99 Gail Simone - Writer; Aaron Lopresti - Pencils; Matt Ryan - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison This is what I’ve been waiting for. This is the beginning of Gail Simone’s third arc on the title since she took the reins at the end of last year. The first arc left me a little indifferent and the second arc wasn’t a whole lot better (though the last issue of that story started to show some of what I was expecting). Perhaps Gail would not agree with me, (that it took this long) but I think she finally hit her stride (on this title) with this issue. We really get to see all the facets of Diana in this story. Her power and strength, her compassion, her determination, and her calm demeanor. Plus, she encounters the Grendel-seeking Beowolf. In this story I was ecstatic when it was announced that Gail would be taking over this title and it is finally starting to pay dividends. Definitely a good time to be aboard this one.

Echo No. 3 (Abstract Studios) - $3.50 Terry Moore - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I never intended to read this particular title, but what with all the openings on my reading list since I kicked Marvel to the curb, I decided to give it a look when the first issue hit the stands. I never read Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise, but there have certainly been a lot of positive things written about it. If it was as good as what I’ve read in the first three issues of Echo, I can understand why. Start with a likeable protagonist who has her share of personal issues, toss in a secret government project (a suit of liquid metal that essentially makes its wearer a walking atom bomb) that only adds to her troubles, salt and pepper to taste, add garnish and serve.

January 2008

Black Diamond No. 6 (Ait/PlanetLar) - $2.95 Larry Young - Writer; Jon Proctor - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I had some seriously high hopes for this mini-series. When I read the initial solication, I really though it was going to be something special. And after the first issue, I thought it held a lot of promise. But now after holding the final issue in my hands and reading through it I can only say ... "Are you f'cking kidding me? I spent money and time reading this series for this????" Here is the best way I can describe this series. Think of it like a movie. A movie that starts off with some promise but then sort of meanders along for a while without a whole lot of purpose. And then suddenly the director realizes that he has shot about 75 minutes of this 90 minute movie and he’s got to wrap it up. Except the story hasn’t exactly moved forward to any signficant degree and there isn’t enough time left to really give it any meaning in the wrap up. So you just have a slapped together ending that doesn’t establish a damned thing other than to put The End on the final page. I liken it to watching a kid play with their toys. They start out and there might seem to be some sort of actual method (plot) to their madness ... but then they’re just all over the place. They go from point A to point G to point C to point M to point J to point R and then they drop the toys and wander off to play with something else. 0 stars. Seriously.

Teen Titans No. 55 (DC) - $2.99 Sean McKeever - Writer; Jaml Igle - Pencils; Ruy Jose and Jimmy Palmiotti - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison I’ve never really been much of a Titans fan. I think a big part of it is that I’ve never really cared for Robin. I think the first Titans book I ever bought was actually a one-shot cross-over between the X-Men and the Titans (which I believe may have been drawn by Walt Simonson). It wasn’t too long after that I found myself bitten by a comic bug that had me buying titles from just about all the notable publishers at the time (the successor of Timely/Atlas, DC, Comico, Eternity, Dark Horse, Mirage, and others). I don’t want to say it was an obsession, but I was definitely buying a lot of stuff, and quite a bit of it really wasn’t all that great looking back. Just to give an example, I have never really been a Superman fan. He has just never appealed to me. And yet, I found myself buying two (or maybe it was all three) of his titles. Part of it had to do with the fact that John Byrne had jumped over to DC and was working on one or two of the Superman books at the time, so I had a natural curiosity because I was a big fan of his work. Even so, I still look back on it to this day and wonder ‘why the hell was I buying those??’. Anyway, at the same time I started buying New Titans. By that point Robin had become Nightwing and the Wolfman/Perez run was over. A couple of things influenced me to pick up the title. For one, I was reading a title at the time (that I thoroughly enjoyed) called Vigilante that had spun out of the Titans. Because there was a bit of a relationship between the title character and Robin/Nightwing, I ended up picking up a Titans trade called The Judas Contract (which was part of the Wolfman/Perez run). It was an excellent story (it is basically the Terra arc, if you’re familiar with that) and it pretty much enticed me to start picking up the monthly Titans title. Well, that eventually grew into my reading New Titans and the spin-off Team Titans (which was actually pretty crappy, truth be told). And then some time after that I actually walked away from comics for a year or two. Annnnnnnnnnnyway, that was kind of a longwinded non-explanation of why I’ve never been much of a Titans fan, though it didn’t exactly convey. Just trust me. The Titans have never held that great of appeal to me. I skipped the most recent relaunch by Geoff Johns and haven’t been a regular reader up to this point (I will admit to having purchased the first two trades to give to my 10 year old (at the time) nephew as a Christmas gift a year ago because he was a fan of the Teen Titans cartoon ... but after I read through them, I realized I couldn’t give them to him because they were a lot more violent and bloody than I had thought they would be ... so they’ve been sitting on my shelf for over a year ... and will continue to do so for at least a couple more years until I feel like he is old enough for them to be appropriate). But now that I’ve cleaned several titles off my buy list, I’m auditioning books to fill those holes. I decided to give Teen Titans a shot (even though I still don’t care much for the character Robin) because it is written by Sean McKeever, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with his past work (on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane for one). And having read this issue (which was touted as a bit of a jumping on point), I have to say the jury is still out. I find some of the characters intriguing, but I also have to say most of them don’t have a lot of appeal to me either. I’m going to give it a couple more issues though. I think there is some promise in the title. It is going to have some competition in a few months however as DC is launching another Titans title, this one featuring most of the original members (so basically it will be an adult Titans team while this book will be the, appropriately enough, teen Titans team). Fact you may or may not find interesting - Dan Didio is editing Teen Titans. He apparently decided he wanted to take a more hands-on approach with a title and decided to go with this one.

Fell No. 9 (Image) - $1.99 Warren Ellis - Writer; Ben Templesmith - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison This title really comes out too infrequently. More sadly, there are a lot of people bitching and moaning about bad magic (though it probably won’t ultimately change their buying habits) that would be better served reading a title of this quality. They’ll never even give it a glance though because it doesn’t have a big M in the top left hand corner. In this particular issue, Richard Fell is called in to an apparent hostage situation. There is more than meets the eye [there is that bloody Transformers jingle again] with the situation however. Ellis’ story makes a statement on medical care and the bureacracy involved. The final page was really quite good. WHY AREN’T MORE PEOPLE READING THIS TITLE????? It is only $1.99 an issue. And it doesn't even require a monthly commitment. Others have seen the light. It was my Favorite New Comics Series in 2006. It was my Favorite Independent Series in 2006. It was my second Favorite Independent Series in 2007 (behind Casanova). What more can I say about it????

Northlanders No. 2 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Brian Wood - Writer; Davide Gianfelice - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I thought the solicitation for this series was interesting, but I was going to skip it anyway. When the first issue finally arrived, I gave it a quick thumb-through and picked it up. There have been enough other Vertigo books that have more than sold me to provide enough latitude for me to give a new title the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t completely sold on the first issue, but it held my interest enough that I was compelled to pick up the second issue when I saw it on the stands. I’m still on the fence after this second issue. It is good, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t know if I really WANT to follow this series. It has plenty of sex and violence thus far (and what else would you expect from a Viking series). I’m just not sure this is exactly what I’m looking for in terms of a new title to follow. I’ve recently dropped Red Sonja (which had been good, but they started to push too far into more extreme fantasy elements) and am about to drop Conan (which has been exceptionally good, but they are about to restart with a new number one and I’ve started to lose some interest in the book overall, so it is a good jumping off point for me). This is similar enough in genre that I’m really hesistant to make it a regular part of my reading list.

The Vinyl Underground No. 4 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Si Spencer - Writer; Simon Gane - Pencils; Cameron Stewart - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison In this fast-paced, ultra-cool ongoing crime-noir series, an unlikely quartet of occult detectives secretly solve crimes — from DJ crack bars in Camden to the elegant, high-society ballrooms that make up modern London. The Vinyl Underground is led by Morrison Shepherd, a D-list celebrity darling, soul DJ, and son of an ex-footballer. Fresh out of prison and off a nasty coke habit, Morrison is joined by a fellow ex-con named Perv, whose seizures give him clues to crimes long before the cops, and Leah, a gorgeous morgue assistant who leads a double life online and represents the brawn of the team. Hey, it is another one of those quality Vertigo titles. Much like Northlanders, this is another title that I thought was somewhat interesting when reading the initial solicitation but was going to skip anyway. I thumbed-through the first issue when it came out and bought it. And was pretty much hooked from there. This one had to be added to my reading list, no question. It demanded it (it might as well have held a gun to my head). It is that good. I’m not going to tell you to run out and buy it. I already did that with Fell and to be fair, I can only do that with one new title a month. You really should check it out though. You’re missing out on something good.

The Long Count No. 1 (Archaia Studios Press) - $3.50 Jason Blair - Writer; Leanne Buckley - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I ordered this one based on the solicitation. Here is the ‘pitch’: Though their home was founded on the traditions of the Maya, the denizens of Colombiana don’t much believe in the long count: the end of the Mayan calendar, the end of the world. They claim it’s mythology, superstition. And even the warnings of the great dragon Quetzalcoatl have not changed their minds. Twenty-three-year-old Carmen Sandoval is about to be burdened with a terrible and righteous task: to travel to the center of Colombiana and bring a close to all Creation, to rebuild the world in the image of the one destined to destroy it. I don’t remember if there was any preview art included (at the very least the cover was there, and it was drawn by the series artist). New titles (especially those from unknown creators) are always hit or miss. Unfortunately this one is a miss. The story just wasn’t all that clear. The art, while not bad, didn’t do a good enough job of telling the story. There were a few too many instances where I couldn’t exactly tell what was happening.

Madam Mirage No. 4 (Top Cow) - $2.99 Paul Dini - Writer; Kenneth Rocafort - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison The best part of this title, hands down, is the art. I really like Rocafort’s style (the coloring from Imaginary Friends Studios certainly adds to the final product as well). Paul Dini’s story is decent, if not especially original. Madam Mirage takes the fight to her enemy and bests his agents one by one. After running the gauntlet and coming face-to-face with her target, she tells him the whole thing was an audition and she wants to join him. That particular part of the story is the weakest part. Coyle has to know it isn’t a serious offer. Any villain worth their salt knows it is merely a ruse. Yet, Coyle probably has no choice other than to accept her offer because he knows he can’t beat her at the moment. His best bet will be to give her what she wants, bide his time, and try to find an opportunity to take her down. Yet, he has to know that she is expecting exactly that. It is almost a lose-lose proposition. His only chance is to be more clever than her. And he’s probably got the ego to think he can pull that off. He wouldn’t be a master-criminal otherwise.