The List #40

Before we begin, apologies again for the my delayed and brief posts for this past month, I've probably already mentioned that it's due to my college workload at the moment and yeah, it's still going strong right now. Also, maybe it's just me, but this month's releases were overall bland and I found myself without much to say on half of my regular titles. Anyway, all of this will probably be resolved very soon, so please just bear with me.

Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #3
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Kaare Andrews
Despite the good omen of this issue's fabulous cover, this issue had little of the joy, laughter, and fun of previous issues to offer this time around. Basically the events of the issue were this: Captain Crocodile who popped in at the end of the last issue attempted to explain his motivation for wanting to kill the babies as they sometimes blow up. Then there was a hunt for a guy on the run named James Jasper clone or something who has to do with the Warpies business (Not sure the significance and I refuse to read Excalibur to find out). He was killed and then this leads to an opening of a Ghost Box with tons of soldiers from another dimension coming though.

Overall, it was underwhelming as Captain Crocodile and the silent hunt for James Jasper ate up a lot of page time. There was a moment of pure joy where Emma was given her due respect though [which can be viewed here], and of course this thrilled me to no end as it's always a good day when my Queen is treated like the Queen she is. Speaking of her being an absolute queen, unfortunately there was only one moment this issue where she was funny and it was really just commentary on her odd way of patching into other people's brains last issue. Still, Emma goodness is Emma goodness:

Conclusion: I'm sad to say this issue was a disappointment as it was an issue I had heavy anticipation for and also, Astonishing is one of the few titles where I can see Emma written correctly (as you will see emphasized when we get to Uncanny).

Gotham City Sirens #16
Writer: Peter Calloway
Artist: Andres Guinaldo
This arc begins fresh without the absolute bore that is Tony Bedard's writing. It's difficult to judge whether or not this writer will work this series as the results of this issue were mixed: The cast's personalities are still being flatly written with everyone's dialogue sounding mediocre and like the discount store version of how they usually speak. However, a big plus of this issue was the special guest appearances of other Gotham City Sirens such as Zatanna, Talia Al Ghul, and Oracle which is a big plus considering this is supposed to be a female-centered series.

On the other hand, the big conflict of this arc has to do with Selina's connection with Bruce Wayne and villains discovering his secret identity. Definitely a minus to have an arc rotating around a man attached to one of these characters, even though it's been the focus of most of the arcs so far, because it just seems to present this idea that these female characters have no stories of their own without the men in their lives.

The artist, who's been with us since at least last arc but I've yet to really comment on, is also a subject of mixed results as he's absolutely terrible, but he also seems to produce hilarious results as can be seen here with Selina:

Either Selina's been secretly working to be a body builder or this guy has difficulty drawing outside of male physiques.

Also did Dick Grayson get thrown in some sort of aging machine in order to be an adequate replacement for Batman? Because this guy's take on Dick is absolutely scary. Like I think he's using former Batman Adam West as a reference. And I mean the Adam West of now.

Conclusion: While I'm thrilled for GCS to finally have a new writer, I can't say he's doing anything that different from the last one. However, there are a couple spots that I found to be encouraging so there may be hope for this series yet.

Uncanny X-Men #528
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Whilce Portacio
Fraction needs to stop writing Emma Frost. For some reason he thinks he can, so he spent half the issue focusing on her and her new plan to kill Sebastian Shaw so no one ever finds out she's keeping him prisoner and all this just sounds like fucking grasping for storylines. More importantly, it's further ruining her character because obviously he's still writing her with the most fucked-up dialogue I've ever read.

Also, I'm so done with these new kids' storylines. It's the same thing every issue: There's conflict with the new power, X-Men arrive to help but they can't do much, and in the end it's only Hope who helps them and for some idiotic reason they agree to go with the X-Strangers. In the end, here's Storm's breasts to sum up how I feel about this issue.

I'll grow up someday.

X-Men Legacy #240
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Mann
Despite this being one of the best X-men series as well as a currently serving up a great arc with the much-anticipated return of the Children of the Vault, I find myself having little to actually say about it. It's through no fault of this book that I find myself in this position, hopefully if you read you can see why, but I just couldn't find any point in particular this issue that I found noteworthy on its own.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book as one of the strongest X-Books of the past year and also this specific arc as its got the charming work of Clay Mann with Carey providing a great story and using a unique cast of X-Men that really works for this arc.




X-Men Vs. Vampires #1
Writers + Artists: [Find Out Here]
X-Vignette mini-series tend to be a hit or miss with me with the miss being the general leaning. This one so far seems to be fine despite it being part of the horrible vampire-polooza bullshit. Here's a quick rundown of what was went down in this one:

Husk shows her loyalty to her BFF Jubes and goes out hunting for information about where she is. When she encounters vampires we get a show of how badass she is as she shakes off a vampire bites by just husking, turns into a wooden form with tons of stakes, isn't phased by being set on fire, and barely reacts to getting chopped in half with an axe. Why isn't she on a team again?

The next story is a Dazzler story where we get the whole "We're people too!" vampire story. Which would be fine if that was even close to the main focus of this vampire event. Instead, it's a story in a vignette series which means a whimper in the terrible roar of this event. Not only do I not care, but True Blood's already got this covered and does it so much better.

Following that is what seems to be a Rogue story where she meets a vampire who believes she's the reincarnated form of his past lover due to her spirit seeming the same. Instead it turns out to be none other than No-Girl possessing Rogue. At first she's torn about this as he promises her love and a body, but in the end she just kills him. Also, Ernst appears and is fabulous in appearance, but fails to sound like her creepy self (is it really that had to write a creepy voice? Seriously?). Basically a mediocre story involving two great characters.

And the last story is a Magneto one which I didn't even bother to read. I'm sorry, I don't care if this turns out to be the greatest vignette story ever, I'm so fucking sick of Magneto right now I just want Logan to decapitate him this frigging instant. And now for the news:

• This double-panel from Namor: The First Douchebag #2 served to tick me off. I'd take it less seriously had Emma reacted as if this was sarcasm or denial, but it seems she thinks him serious. To this I say: Really, Namor? You're the pathetic stalker here, bud. Remember [this]?
• Apologies for my lack of inclusion of Avengers Academy #4, but it was fucking dull due to spotlighting Mettle as well as having to no suspense considering A. Osborn wouldn't bite it in a junior book B. We already saw the end result of this issue in Thunderbolts.
  
• The results of our last poll reveal Wolverine and Rahne's Hellspawn in a tie for most likely to be declared Omega-level which is exactly as it should be. Narcissistic asshat Cypher followed in second and Fantomex came in a far behind third. Qwerty and Sage tied for fourth which is too bad because I was rooting for Claremont's super-pet. Oh and Longshot didn't get a single vote, so how's that for lucky? Thanks everyone for voting and don't forget to vote on the new multiple choice question where you choose who gets kicked out of X-Factor. And by multiple choice I mean you can pick as many members as you want. Hell, kick out the whole team if you want.
  

The List #35 Part 1 + News

Gotham City Sirens #14
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Andres Guinaldo
Turning away from the bland Maggie Kyle story, we return to my favorite Bat-villain, Poison Ivy. This issue it's revealed that one of her reasons for working at S.T.A.R. labs was because she'd heard about a "re-foliant" that could restore the rain forest in a way that's beyond her powers. It's revealed that this technology has problems, and comes from a guy who's "dead" but kept in the labs. From there Ivy learns he's actually a plant from a planet where plants ruled. How she learns this is through communing with a leaf on his body, and what follows this is:

Yet another possession.
That's 2 within 3 issues of your run, Bedard.

Ivy ends up being possessed into helping restore the alien guy, and they end up going on a rampage. She also turns purple and gets total man-hands. That's the issue.

Despite this being an issue centered around Ivy, it carried none of her voice or style, and just turned into a "meh" story. Also, if you remember the original solicits had GCS 12 being about Ivy and her new 'boyfriend' before Bedard took over as writer and changed it to the Kyle sister's story. Well, it seems this is the recycled idea of what was supposed to happen with Dini, and I have to say I think Dini would've done it a lot better. Also, did Ivy really need to be possessed to think that plants taking over the world is a good idea? All the alien guy needed to say was, "I'll help you out," and she would've gone for his plan. Yet again, one of the flaws of this series is that the writers seem to forget that these women were villains, and should still be.

Conclusion: This series was already having it's issues before Bedard came along, and now it seems this series is getting turned into bland city under his hand. Leave it on the shelves until Hurricane Bedard's passed.

X-Factor #207
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Sebastian Fiumara
It's been awhile since I've discussed X-Factor here due to it having been pretty mundane during that time. However, X-Factor is bouncing back...or at least giving me what I want to read.

This issue opens with Hela in disguise asking for Madrox's help in finding a pendant, and she has a picture of the guy who did it. Madrox finds him and it turns out this guy was using the pendant to glamour himself into looking human as he is a....leprechaun? Something along those lines. The best part of this search being the return of:

"Banshee's" Siren Song!
It's definitely one of the cooler aspects of her powers.

And of course I'm just thrilled to see Siryn back in action (fuck the name change, according to this blog she's Siryn). Another thing that happens this issue is Monet resolves her plot line that's been going on in a very clever way. I'd explain it, but I'd also have to explain what went on during the past few issues and I don't know what happened because I haven't read in awhile. Moving on to the reason why I'm back with X-Factor: Rictor and Shatterstar!!

Finally they get some real page time as a couple; I've been waiting for this since they kissed. While at a shooting range, Ric is trying to teach Shatterstar how to shoot a gun with Star finding it a waste of time (especially since when he does he has perfect accuracy). Rictor asks if he's a waste of time too, and finally, the issue of Star's kissing everyone is addressed. Basically, Star is finally discovering the magical wonder of different sorts of emotional relationships as well as sexual, and he wants Rictor to be there with him through it. Despite Star wanting to sleep everyone, he wants Rictor with him to experience this (so there might be threesomes in the future??) Anyway, this panel helps elaborate plus there's Ric/Star kisses:

You better believe I squeed at this.

The next time we see them they're getting to bed, resolving to work through this together, and possibly about to get it on when guess who walks in the door: Rahne. What a cockblock, and as if I needed another reason as to why she's #1 on my who-I-want-dead list.

In the end, this explanation of Star's behavior is the best executed I could've hoped for besides erasing the idea it ever happened. Plus, the fact that they finally got some meaningful time as a couple thrills me to no end. I'm still about as much of a fan of Star's issue as Rictor, but whatever, I can deal if they're still trying to be a serious couple. Anyway, it seems Ricstar are going to be the focus of part of this arc, so definitely go out, buy this issue, and get back on board with X-Factor. Plus I heard one of them leaves at the end of this arc, and I'm so crossing my fingers for it to be Longshot or Darwin. And now for the news:

(Some of this is a little old due to the hectic week I had last post time)

• This beautiful poster done by Marco Djurdjevic and revealed during Comic-Con. Seems to me it'll be split up and used as variants for the X-Books. For a better look, go [Here]
  

• As last weekend was Comic-Con, it's generally agreed that one of the best parts of it was when the full cast of the upcoming Avengers movie getting up on stage. [Source]

• Also among the Comic-Con news was this: "Next, a woman said, "Matt Fraction, thanks for giving Cyclops his balls back." Seriously, lady? WTF. [Source]

• For those of you who've enjoyed my Comparison posts, reader X-23 has made a post comparing Dr. Nemesis and Emma Frost and I recommend you go check it out. [Here]

• Also, if you really like comparisons, I found an entire site devoted to just that. [Here]

• Nick Spencer, who wrote the amazing Forgetless, is coming out with a new ongoing series soon called "Morning Glories". Expect to see rave reviews about it on here, I can't wait for it! [Source]
  

Astonishing X-Men #34 Review + News

Astonishing X-Men #34
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Phil Jimenez
Before I begin I just have to say that it's a weird feeling to throw a bookmark in Xenogenesis to return to Exogenetic, an arc I've mostly forgotten about at this point. It's also difficult to state both arcs' names without fucking it up; like seriously Ellis your next arc's title should stay away from the word "Gene" and anything that uses "x", "e", and "o".

This issue opens with Cyclops getting pissy with Beast over keeping notes on what experiments he's tried to restore mutantkind to its former glory because the enemy's managed to get a hold of them. It's pretty weak considering anyone who's just taken Bio in high school knows that scientists fucking LOVE their notes. It's difficult to believe that Cyclops would expect anything other than meticulous note-taking when it comes to Beast's experiments. You'll notice while this is going on that the divide between the team members is shown with Moral McCoy having other currently moral characters behind him and Cyclops having the amoral ones behind him [see it here]. Anyway, from here the fight evolves to Beast fucking giving it to Scott about his current attitude:

And that's the first time I've liked Beast in years. Beast's little rant reminds me of [this post] I made on X-Factor: Nation X about how it seemed like David was just using his characters as his mouthpieces to vent his criticisms on Utopia. Well, it seems like this is another example with Ellis using Beast to criticize how Cyclops is way too much of an asshole these days. Which I support because Cyclops really has been a mega-douche as of late.

Anyway, after this Cyclops and Beast share a smile and what seems like an understanding with Beast proceeding to tell him that he's not a killer and the way he's been acting just isn't him. Which is much better executed than Fraction's Beast who is just constantly drama queening out at Cyclops without ever seeming to try for a real sit-down discussion about what's going on.

Following this there's another monster-from-the-past attack as a genetic mix between Sauron and Brood attacks the team minus Beast and Cyclops who are continuing their heart-to-heart elsewhere. While this is going on Emma asks about Sauron and his abilities with Hisako and Storm letting her know that it's him and that he transforms. From there Emma does the telepath thing that I love so much:

And brings the Sauron/Brood hybrid back to human-ish mode. From there Cyclops and Beast catch up to the team and Cyclops instructs everyone to get off the ship they're currently in to the X-Plane and that him and Emma will be there in a second. That second being used to quickly share a kiss with Emma and then blast out the head of the mutant being used for whatever evil purposes that we saw last issue (he apologizes to it first at least).

Next we have the X-Men in the X-Jet trying to figure out where they are, and it's Storm who tells them they're in a remote part of Japan. She knows this because her being attuned to weather systems makes it so that she recognizes individual differences (and she's been to Japan before so she'd know what it feels like). Definitely an interesting aspect of her powers that I'd never heard before, but it makes sense.

The X-Men then wait in their ship as they watch the enemy's ship go into a mountain headquarters which they follow it into. Inside is a massive zombie workshop and watching the X-Plane enter on a screen is a bald-headed guy in a wheelchair. Yeah, so probably look forward to Xavier clone fight scene next issue?

Conclusion: Despite being a severely late issue to an arc that's almost been forgotten, it was still a great issue of Astonishing joy that beats out the lame crap being served out in most of the other areas of the X-Verse. The art is enjoyable as ever because Jimenez on art for anything is a genius move. Also, Ellis seems to have a great handle on the characters these days, particularly Emma who he spotlighted quite a bit this issue, and I just wish more people would tune into his take on the X-Men because it's way more believable than what's going on in Fraction's universe these days. And now for the news:

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants Saga #1
This isn't technically a review since saga's are just a compilation of previews, info, and interviews. Basically, it's all news. Except for my first comments which is concerning the cover [click here for a bigger version] and Namor on it. Um. If that neckline dropped any further we'd be seeing his sperm whale. Which is not a complaint, it's more like a suggestion. Namor's only asset to the X-Men is his constant state of skimpy dress, and I'm here to say I demand more of it for the rest of '10.

This saga starts with interviews and previews showing us who the major players of this arc are. Remember those "We are the X-Men" promos? Apparently those character are the major players. They're sort of a random, mismatched bunch; the worst being this guy--->

Apparently this marks X-Man joining the X-Men. Yeah, his "meh" face about it pretty much reflects mine. I really don't see his appeal, and now with his robe-like coat and his white streak and his older-looking face I just get a gross Hugh Hefner vibe.

The end of this saga is pages of major players in the X-Universe with biographies written by creators like Carey, David, and Yost. The players covered are Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, Magneto, Multiple Man, Wolverine, Daken, Emma Frost, and...Karma. Yeah, her inclusion in this confuses me.

I have to say that Emma's page frustrated the fuck out of me [Here!] Done by the writer who did that awful Origins one-shot on Emma and art done by Brooks who I consider on Dodson's level of being too cartoon-y and cutesy to be taken seriously. What's worse is on the other side is Madrox done by Peter David with Pablo Raimondi's art which is as goddamned gorgeous as ever. The worst part is this attempt at redeeming Emma's days teaching the Hellions:

Yeah, she was a real softie when it came to the Hellions:

For heaven's sake, it's ok for her to have been an evil bitch.

It's ok if she's one now. Trying to redeem her further won't make the boards like her or make them stop bitching about her being a homewrecking whore. Just let her be herself, stop trying to make her Jean.

• In other Emma-related news, she's been definitely cast now in X-Men First Class with Alice Eve taking the role. A Google search on her has shown that I definitely could believe her playing a nasty ice queen with drag queen flair. [Source]
• Concerning the absence of this month's Gotham City Sirens, um, really? They made a last minute change from an Ivy arc with Dini to a Catwoman arc with Bedard for a reason that I'm not aware of, and this arc is completely bland. Bedard's stuff is generally bland really, and I'm just excited to see this arc wrap up as soon as possible.
• Remember when I was an ass about the week delay we're having for the next Second Coming chapter? Apparently the delay is due to Mike Choi's grandmother passing, so my bad, apologies to those who were offended by my bitching, I didn't realize.
  
• Be sure to check in next week, there's three books of massive importance coming: X-Force #27, the before last chapter of Second Coming; X-Men #1, the start of vampirepolooza; and most importantly the return of the Young Avengers with Childrens' Crusade.
  

The List #29

Thunderbolts #144
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Kev Walker
This issue is the first with Luke Cage taking over Norman Osborn's old job of running the Thunderbolts, as assigned by Captain America. Which I'm all for considering I like Luke Cage, especially because I LOVE his wife, Jessica Jones, who I'm hoping will make a guest appearance.

Cage starts by going to the courtyard of the The Raft I think it is. Some maximum security penitentiary for super villains anyway. He first informs Ghost, who won't communicate without his helmet on, of his being approved for the Thunderbolts. Then Cage goes to pick up the most important member of the team:

My girl Moonstone!

She's so right! Or at least it's not a Thunderbolts that I'll read without her. Seriously, I stopped the issue she left for the Dark Avengers. Oh......and Cage also picks up Songbird. Who I can't stand and she just made things worse by giving herself what looks like a haircut done by a lightning bolt. Whatever, all I'm saying is she could have spared us this grotesque sight by just letting Osborn take her out. See? He was right about a couple things.

Songbird proceeds to object about Moonstone's coming aboard. Cage responds by looking up data reading off qualities like tends to create drama, manipulative, eager for attention, etc. Songbird agrees with this assessment. Then he tells her it's actually HER old profile. Ohhh Cage, I like you more already.

Unfortunately, Juggernaut's on the team thanks to Xavier begging Luke to make use of him. Oh and Crossbones, who I guess shot Captain America, is also on. Can this be like Suicide Squad where members die all the time? Because it'd be nice to replace them with Venom and Bullseye. And the last person on the team is:

Man-Thing.
Who's a non-speaking, empathic teleporter. I have to say I'm kind of interested.

And that's the team:

The team meets Cage who goes on to tell them he has faith in them, and that he's been down the road on the wrong side of the law before. Which, had it not been Cage, it would've been cheesy, but it's LUKE CAGE! He then gets interrupted by Baron Zemo who shows up because he believes himself to be the one true Thunderbolts leader and plans to recruit them.

Conclusion: Parker's got solid writing, I loved him on Exiles, but the artist Walker doesn't seem to use his space effectively since there was a lot of open flat gray background with characters seeming to be on the edge of the panels. But in the end I say buy this issue.

Gotham City Sirens #12
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artist: Peter Nyugen
You may have noticed GCS' absence from my blog for the past few months. That would be because I really had nothing to say about the mediocrity of the last few issues. But this issue starts up on a different kind of story.

The focus now is on Catwoman and what's going on with her sister, Maggie, who used to be nun (and I believe tortured by Black Mask in horrific way, which is a story I want to read). The change of focus is good because Catwoman's series actually went a lot further than Harley's and Ivy's never even had a series.

Basically, Selina is searching for her sister while her sister's going nuts on a nun who helps her because she owns a cat. She also believes her sister to be possessed by a cat demon. Maggie raids the now-killed nun's closet and finds herself some Angel-in-a-jar. Who's a sexy naked guy. Where do they sell those? Anyway, he gives her his abilities to fight the "demon".

And in the end of the issue, she ends up fighting Selina and Harley, and is all "In Jesus' name I pray". Meanwhile, Ivy's working things out at work with a fired worker who tried to kill her. And she's psycho as ever which I always enjoy.

Conclusion: You've read one "Religious nut" story, you've read them all. Unfortunately, religious nut villains seem to come in one style, and thus far I'm not impressed. Well, besides the naked Angel-in-a-jar. It's not a horrible issue, I just wish Maggie's hatred of Selina was more justified. Which means I wish the GCS were villains again because they're a lot more fun that way.

Dazzler #1
Writer: Jim McCann
Artists #1: Kalman Andrasofszky and Ramon Perez

Artist #2: Francesca Ciregia
The issue opens with Dazzler looking for her sister Lois London (it's a week to go looking for your sister), and ends up getting knocked out. She wakes up in a place she can't break out of unless she puts on her old disco costume, and goes out.

It turns out Lois is paying Arcade to pit Dazzler against robots of all her old enemies. The Grapplers, who apparently had Songbird on the team, Rogue, Enchantress, Dr. Doom.....Emma Frost. Also, Galactus who she's never even fought, but has worked for. It doesn't matter, she takes them all down like a pro, posing like she's on America's Next Top Model in the process.

Lois even manages to get the real Klaw, an old enemy of Dazzler's, to take on Daz. It's a struggle, but thanks to Arcade ditching, Dazzler comes out on top in the end. Which leaves her to take on Lois. Who looks like Lady Gaga gone tacky goth. Even the lightning bolt eye makeup, Lois? Really?

Anyway, they fight it out with Lois blaming all her hardships on Daz. To continue the referencing ANTM, I would just like to quote Tyra Banks during her freakout at Tiffany during Cycle 4 by saying, "TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FO' YO'SELF!" Instead of saying this, Dazzler knocks her out and brings her to the med lab in Utopia; resolving to help Lois.

Which pisses of Cyclops. But Daz counters this by saying she's not the only one with a mass-murdering sibling! (Cyclops' brother Vulcan, who's thankfully dead) And actually, considering Betsy's in the room, isn't Jamie Braddock also a mass-murdering nutso? Every family's got one I guess. She also brings up that there are tons of villains on Utopia including Emma and Magneto. Cyclops counters by saying....that Emma's never killed an X-Man. Even though I'm a fan of her, uh, the only reason why Emma never killed an X-Man was because someone stopped her. So that's a pretty weak comeback. Cyclops finishes by saying Emma won't help rehabilitate Lois after the resurrected Hellions deal, but it doesn't matter as Psylocke steps in to do that.

After they both leave, Dazzler is left to call her mom, who she resents, and tell her about what's happened to Lois. The conversation flashes between what Daz is really saying and raging she wants to say. She holds back, and it turns out her mom's tried to get her act together. It ends on a sweet note as Dazzler feels more resolved about her feelings towards her mother which is good.

Conclusion: While this is more for diehard Dazzler fans, McCann does Dazzler well as only a massive fan can. This issue is as over-the-top and campy as gay X-Men icon, Daz, deserves. I would definitely say consider picking this one up.

The List #24

Gotham City Sirens #9
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Guillem March
A lot of this issue focuses on the Riddler, it's his thought bubbles that are central this issue. And I have to say I find this irritating. The series is called Gotham City Sirens, not Gotham City Reformed Villains. If Dini is dying to write a series on The Riddler then go do it, but stop subjecting this series to constant detours to The Riddler when it's supposed to be about the women. It's especially insulting because it seems The Riddler appears every time something needs to be taken seriously, as if the girls are incapable of carrying a serious plot on their own. I'd say it goes so far as to suggest that female villains aren't to be taken as serious.

Another thing that gets me is since when is Ivy a reformed villain? I know Catwoman and Harley are, but Ivy just seems to have slipped into it without any real explanation. More importantly, who are the villains these days? With Ivy, Harley, Catwoman, and The Riddler all reformed it feels like all the best ones besides the Joker are gone.

This issue focuses around a body being dropped into the girls' home and Eddie trying to figure out what they were all doing before then. Harley's day is riddled with 'cutesy' crap and just details of her eccentric nature. Yet again, a mistake is made in writing Harley. The appeal of Harley is that her personality is such a contrast from her line of work. Her cuteness is odd in such a dark setting, and that's her appeal. Instead, Dini has focused in on her too much during this series and humanized her way too much. It's hard to believe she's ever been sick and twisted.

As for Ivy, it appears she was out at a job interview. Which I adore because I've already said I adore the fact that she's written to not need a man and has strong devotion to her cause. Making her a career woman just makes things even better.

As for Catwoman, apparently she was out sparring with Catman. And as a sidenote, I know I've stated before that Catwoman is the Gotham Girl I care about the least, but I've been looking into her recent appearances this past week and I have to say I find myself liking her now. I think it's up to Dini to spotlight her right now considering she's the least worked on Gotham Girl.

Anyway, the girls wrap up their stories and The Riddler goes to their home to check out the body. He makes a note of how the villain neglected to us the specific weapons and materials the girls would have which sort of brings the idea of villainy being an art (especially in such a villain focused universe as the Batman universe).

In the end it turns out the villain trying to frame the girls was none other than... Dr. Aesop!! Yeah, I have no idea who he is, but that's what I get for only reading Batman issues with Ivy in them. Conclusion: I'd say that this issue is worth the buy so long as you don't mind The Riddler.

X-Factor #202
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Bing Cansino
Here's the basic idea of this issue: Layla's working with Dr. Doom and apparently there's an impostor Doom or something from an alt. universe. I think. Whatever, anyway it turns out Invisible Woman is being kept in Castle Doom and it hooked up to a machine where she's exploring trashed fantasies with Namor. And we also finally get to know what Imperius Rex means, an explanation I certainly wouldn't deny.

In the end Monet interrupts and gets Sue out of the machine, everyone on the offensive team runs to go confront Doom. And they come upon a most unexpected scene as they come upon Doom...painting Layla's portrait. Which I kind of love because I have to say Doom humor, or as it should be called 'Dumor,' is a guilty pleasure of mine.

What a diva.

During the closing of the issue, Doom claims to just have been trying to protect Sue and reiterates that he's no longer after the FF4. As everyone is departing it seems an artist mistake was made. It seems Layla was colored to look like Monet (possibly drawn as well?), and the mistake was only fixed by having the 'M' tattoo put on the mis-drawn Layla.

Anyway, the team leaves except Layla makes Shatterstar behind with her and Doom for reasons currently unknown. Oh and back at home the evil Reed Richards is defeated. Conclusion: This issue crossed over the limbo between ok and good that David regularly visits and went into the more positive limbo of between good and great. I would say consider buying it.

X-Men Legacy #233
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Mann
This issue is basically made up of two parts. The first is Rogue discovering that Betsy's psi-knife can de-possess and subsequently psi-knifing everyone. You can imagine how tense that was. And the second was Proteus and Magneto's fight which was filled with, "Bah, old man, you're weak, you'll die!.......BAH! Old man, you're weak..." and Magneto in the end 'surprisingly' winning.
A couple things of interests included recreating a scene from the old days of Kurt teleporting around Rogue (this time possessed and trying to possess her, not tickle her) and Rogue eventually predicting his next move. Also, since when can Paige use her bodies of different substances to make powers? Like in this issue she became a fire form while possessed and managed to shoot flames at Rogue. Proteus' reality-bending or is Paige getting an upgrade?

Anyway, possessed Husk is most resistant to Rogue and almost ends up defeating Rogue when Betsy steps in with her psi-knife. And Magneto screws around with Proteus' electromagnetic thingy to make it go away. Afterwards, Rogue and Destiny have a really cute mother/daughter scene. I've always found the Mystique/Rogue mother/daughter relationship sort of unconvincing, but when Destiny's added to the mix I have to say the dynamics make a lot more sense. And it's a tragedy that Destiny couldn't be developed more because I do enjoy her character.

Destiny eventually goes to see Blindfold and we find out that two pre-cogs cancel each other out. And I just realized almost all of the X-Men characters who've been precog at one point or another have also been blind at one point or another. (Destiny, Blindfold, Psylocke, and Gambit. Preview is the only seeing one I can think of.) Destiny tells Ruth she's not her ma and tells her what she knows. Apparently there's an evil brother in the mix, which I can imagine is going to be the subject of a future arc.

And that's it for X-Men Legacy's part in the Necrosha crossover. Probably the one with the least amount of impact yet the best one out of the three. I would definitely recommend buying this arc if you're interested a simple but good superhero arc.

X-Force #24
Writers: Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Artist: Clayton Crain
In terms of last issue's body count, apparently it's Onyxx, Diamond Lil, and Meld, who I thought was Leech.

This issue starts with Warpath being taken to see Selene, Wither and Eli Bard get into a fight where Wither reveals he's also part-vampire or whatever Eli is. Then Selene kills Eli for his bullshit, and hopefully she'll get killed for her soon since she's just a boring villain in goth lingerie who's into S+M. Not exactly the height of originality.

Warpath is taken into the dungeons so that he can be forced to fight his resurrected brother. He resists, and Johnny can't stop himself but apparently tells James how to kill Selene.

X-Force arrives on Genosha and right as they arrive a few discoveries are made. The first being that Elixir changed Rahne's powerset a bit when he was healing her because of her pregnancy. That and apparently Vanisher's tumor is no more, but he's definitely got some sort of STD that causes spitting up blood. Vanisher ends up deciding to stay with the team though and goes to save James. And Blink, being the bitch she is, blows up Telford's arm as he's in the process of saving because no good deed goes unpunished.

X-Force's presence is discovered and there begins epic fight scene which is mixed in with Selene's ritual prep. The ritual eventually happens, can't tell if all the resurrected people die in the process, but I suppose it's to be assumed. And so now Selene's a god. The God of Boring Cliche's I'd wager.

Conclusion: This issue is only somewhat more interesting and intense than past issues, but it still ends up being pretty mediocre and not all that intense.

The List #22

X-Factor #201
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Bing Cansino
Before I begin, my apologies for taking so long to make this post; it's been a shit week. This post is not going to be a lengthy one because I didn't find much to comment on this time around, my notes on Works didn't exceed a page which doesn't happen when I've got four books to discuss. Also, there will be no post for the Wednesday that just passed's comics since I don't read any of them.

This month's X-Factor just went to further proving that the Fantastic Four are a horrible team. The Thing doing his manly, unnecessary aggression really just did nothing but irritate me. I mean it's great that X-Factor still has action because sometimes it's too focused on the drama, but when it's totally unnecessary it's just... flat and irritating.

But some good news is Peter David is finally using his characters more evenly without having to have a double issue to make it work. Monet is getting a sub-story which I think works because she's a wonderful character and this story looks like it has nothing to do with Jamie.

Back at the main story it's all FF and The Thing is an add-on to the X-Factor team for the moment and he has THIS to say when they conclude that Doctor Doom probably has something to do with the Invisible Woman's disappearance:

Seriously, how is FF selling if this is their mentality??
Like how fucking dumb do you have to be to consider Doom giving up on you for a second?

Maybe David is just critiquing the FF like he did Utopia last month. I would love it if critiquing Marvel's teams became his ''thing' because he's just the guy to do it. And if that's the case I'm %100 behind him.

Overall: This arc just proves that the FF are a boring team that should just stick to one book. In obscurity. Written by Chris Claremont. But aside from that, this arc is really just forgettable and it falls into the between the ok and good area that I find David ends up in a lot.

X-Force #23
Writer: Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Artist: Clayton Crain
This issue someone finally fucking dies. Unfortunately, it's characters of no consequence. Here's the death list, which means spoilers in case you're dense: Diamond Lil, maybe Leech?, and Onyxx. Onyxx just being cleanup by Yost and Kyle because he's redundant with Santo around. Why he was ever one of the remaining students always boggled my mind.

In other death news, MASSIVE SPOILER: Apparently She-Hulk and Ares died this week. What. The. Fuck. Two characters I enjoy greatly! Ares being killed by The Sentry which makes no sense because Ares could have a future after DA and without Bendis. The Sentry, not so much, his death is pretty much in high demand. And She-Hulk was killed by Red She-Hulk. Which is vicious disrespect.

This issue is pretty much the same amount of mediocrity and lack of progression that we've come to expect from this crossover. The end of the issue, they decide to invade Genosha to go destory Selene. They actuall had to come to that conclusion. At least Emma was the one to say Kill Selene considering she's been such a pansy in her emotionless diamond form. It seems writers believe her coldness is paper thin and can be ripped away so easily to make the plot seem that much more severe by having her, 'the heartless bitch', getting upset.

Overall, mediocre issue, only buy if you're collecting the crossover. OR if you happen to be a fan of Crain because he's had a couple spectacular moments during this issue and just seems to be on task at making things seem scary.

Gotham City Sirens #8
Plot and Art: Guillem March
Dialogue: Marc Andreyko
This issue revolves around my favorite Gotham Girl, Ivy, and luckily it's done right. But before we get to that, can someone tell me why she's drawn to look like a total tranny on the cover?

Also, I have to say something that occurred to me recently: Don't the Gotham Girls come off as that typical trio of sisters deal? Ivy, the serious older sister, Catwoman, the awkward middle sister, and Harley, the carefree younger sister. Or in Charmed terms, Ivy is Prue, Catwoman is Piper, and Harley is Phoebe.

Anyway, the issue is concerned with a copycat mimicking Ivy and her trying to get to the bottom of it, almost dying, and taking care of the situation. There's also flashbacks and I have to say I enjoy Ivy in Arkham because it better emphasizes her unique nature (but not in the Widening Gyre because I'm hate her being treated like some slut). And pre-Harley Quinn, Harleen the Shrink definitely interests me.

I also happened to love these panels--> Ivy presented as a 'weird' figure is always a joy especially considering the alternative is slutty Ivy.

An interesting discovery we found out this issue was that apparently Ivy can be revived from two weeks of starvation of sunlight, water, and nutrients by just throwing her in water. And it's not like she's pretty when she comes out of this starvation.

The issue concludes with Ivy finding her copycat, some guy who used to work at Arkham and she let's us in on her thoughts of love, men, and how she views herself:

I adore that she has no interest in love and just views it as a burden. Because otherwise she'd be paired up with the DC's version of Cyclops and subsequently defanged. Not only that, but a woman that's unconcerned with her love life is always refreshing considering how it's too often portrayed as the center of their universe. Also, she's sort of sexist and I'm all over it.

Conclusion: Wonderful Ivy issue, done-in-one story that's just a good read, so go out and buy it.

X-Men Legacy #232
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Mann
Before I begin reviewing the issue, I have to let you all know I did my homework and got to the bottom of a very serious need-to-know issue. The results are that, yes, the easy access hole in Colossus' costume is part of Bianchi's original designs.

This issue begins with seeing the results of the battle that ensued after Blindfold was possessed by Proteus. The remaining team included a weakened Magneto, Husk, Rogue, Trance, and Psylocke, so it was all very Girl Power. And good news for Psylocke lovers, she ended up functioning as she always should: as the second-in-command and they eyes and ears of the team. She definitely got a big spotlight this issue and I'm glad to see Carey take an interest in her. And Magneto proved he's too old for this shit and a really useless addition to the team. Until he's evil again, of course. Then he'll find himself totally rejuvenated for no real reason except that he just went from good to bad.

Concerning Proteus, I have to say that after 8 seasons of Charmed and 7 of Buffy, possession is an overused plot thing and should be used sparingly because the story's usually the same.

After the first 8 pages of showing the results of the fight, we get to see the flashback to the fight with possessed Blindfold. Something did catch my eye, yet again the character involved is Colossus. Seriously, look at this panel with no context in mind. What is this guy's deal?? Did he sign on for teaching duties in the hopes that he could slam a few kids whenever they'd get out of line? Colossus is most definitely the headmaster of Xavier's School of Child Abuse. He just lives for the days when he has to punch out a few kids. Or even Jean when she's possessed.

Conclusion: Despite Proteus being a horrible villain in the most boring way possible, the issue was pretty good and I would definitely recommend buying this, the best part of the Necrosha crossover.