Justice League: Cry for Justice #6

You know, if James Robinson wasn't quite so gore-happy, this would probably be a pretty solid little Justice League story. Prometheus kicks the tail out of the entire JLA, except for a surprising exception. I also find it fascinating that the biggest threat to Prometheus' computer powered suit is unpredictable fighters; so Hawkman and Hawkgirl are the biggest threats out of the whole league. Pretty cool.

Prometheus' plan is ridiculous, he wants to scatter teleported sections of main DCU cities through time and space. His rationale is that this fate would be harder to deal with because the citizens are still alive, wherever they end up. It's an interesting idea. Green Arrow's city is first up and gets zapped away at the close of the issue. I don't suppose that Connor Hawke and Speedy got zapped out with it? It might be cool seeing the story of a lost city and the random heroes and villains who went with it. Kind of a LOST/Salvation Run thing. Anyway, when Robinson gets to focus on dialogue and action, he's solid. Just lay off the gore dude! It is interesting that we finally get to see all the fights that injured Plas, Vixen, Red Tornado and the rest. I'm just not willing to

The painted art continues looking nice and dramatic.

Overall, this series still doesn't need to exist, but at least there is the core of fun JLA-style story here.

Average

Invincible Iron Man #23

This is better than the last issue, but not by much. There is still no real forward movement in the plot. I'm starting to think this book might read better in trade than in floppies. Waiting a month for such incremental developments is getting tiresome. Matt Fraction has some cool elements here, the best is how he's handling the Ghost as he floats around a rural town looking for an unconscious Tony Stark. Other than that, the only big development is that Maria Hill and Pepper Potts both realize that Tony Stark slept with them both while on his run from the law. Good ol Tony Stark always makes time for the ladies. The rest of the book is filled with the Stark's dreamworld stuff, with Dr. Strange providing exposition for us. I'm ready to see the armored Avenger do some straight up fighting again. Between this and World's Most Wanted I don't think Iron Man has straight out fought anyone in a year.

Salvador LaRocca draws entirely too much talking again this month. Let's get some fighting! Maybe Iron Man will actually fight the Ghost next month!

Fair

Siege #2

SPOILERS!
I'm impressed. The first issue of this event book really offered no new information. Almost everything that happened had been clued or flat out revealed in solicits and interviews. Not so in issue 2. Bendis packed this issue with high quality action. There are a few moments where we see a merged Avengers team (made up of the Secret Warriors, New Avengers, and Young Avengers) form up to go help out Thor. I would have liked to see some Mighty Avengers there, especially since Jarvis makes an appearance as the posse sets out with Nick Fury to give Thor a hand against the Dark Avengers and the Initiative.

The strongest parts of the issue involve actual fighting, sort of a rarity for a Bendis comic. Ares and Balder are having a knockdown brawl when Heimdall and Balder convince Ares that he's been had. Ares realizes Osborn has played him for a fool and sets off for a dramatic confrontation with a great line of dialogue: " And I told you what I would do, Osborn! I told you true! I'm going to pull off your head, armor and all." And he delivers that last line with a period, not an exclamation point. That's a statement, not a boast or threat! Awesome.
Unfortunately, Ares never gets the chance. The Sentry is full on evil now, and following Osborn's every whim. And Bendis shows us just how powerful the Sentry is when he tears Ares in half in a gruesome panel filled with tubular intestines and gore. (Hey kids, comics!) The Sentry doesn't say a peep. He just takes care of business. I suppose I'm ok with Superman being evil in the Marvel U, but he's going to need a new costume. On the Ares note, it is too bad, because he's awesome, but I'm confident he can fight his way out of Hades or whatever and make a big comeback. This is the right kind of death for an event book; a returnable one. Now where's the Wasp?

Oliver Coipel does a great job. Sentry looks so distant, he has no reaction to his murder of Ares. The bigger guys look the best, Thor and Ares looked awesome, while Coipel's kid-faces look a little odder. That closing page is great too. I'm not a fan of repeated images on the same page, but to close with Osborn's Iron Patriot armor as Cap's shield comes spinning in at him? It makes me anxious to read the next issue.

Good

Thor #606

Kieron Gillen has done the impossible. He's actually made me really dig the conclusion to the whole Loki/Doom alliance thing. I had been losing interest in JMS' story, but I actually switched back to floppies for this. Dr. Doom riding around in a souped up copy of the Destroyer armor? Balder the Brave actually seeing that he's in over his head? And best of all, this has turned into one hell of a setup for Siege. It's cool that Gillen is using obscure Asgardian Tyr so much too. With the Warriors Three sort of booked elsewhere, Tyr ends up as a right-hand man for Balder. I think Kelda's fate works well too. Asgard needed another heroic lady, and I'm hoping Kelda can fit the bill.

Most importantly, everyone is right where they need to be for Siege. Loki's in Asgard whispering in Balder's ear. Thor is back in Oklahoma with the Warriors Three. Doom is plotting away and saving face. I always like comic stories where the hero wins but the villains aren't reduced in their loss.

Billy Tan's artwork is getting looser and scratchier every issue. There are some horrible panels where Thor's body looks way out of proportion. The Destroyer armor usually looks good, but the faces of normal people don't look so hot. I'm pretty sure I'd rank this "Good" with tighter art.

Fair

Daredevil #504

Man, DD has gotten hardcore. It's too bad that Siege is sweeping through the rest of the Marvel U, the slow-burning showdown between DD and Norman Osborn is sort of about to be overtaken by events in other titles. In DD: The List, Osborn sort of declared war on Hells Kitchen, and in this issue DD fires back and basically claims the neighborhood in the name of the Hand. (The perks of being a ninja-clan leader, I guess.) I just don't see how this can draw out a whole lot longer because I do think Osborn's fall is imminent from other factors. Maybe I can hope that Bullseye can refocus his attention on DD after his stint in the Dark Avengers.

I do love what the Hand is doing with all those corrupt cops and HAMMER agents though. That is a level of vigilantism I can get behind. DC did it 20 years ago in Chain Gang War, but I loved it then and I love it now. How'd you like to be a normal resident of Hell's Kitchen and have to deal with this gang war.

Roberto De La Torre abandons his photo-referencing style for this issue. This is almost into David Mack-surreal territory. To be honest, I prefer the photo-realistic style if I had to choose. I can appreciate the mood setting and such saturated colors, but I like my DD to have a more realistic (if gritty) style of art.

Fair

Justice League of America #41

James Robinson is finally getting the team he wants. It took long enough but the work he did with the scrubs over the last few issues was strong enough that I think he at least deserves a chance to impress me now that he's got his real team coming in. It's annoying that we don't exactly know how Cry for Justice ends, since it is supposed to have such an important role in where all these characters find themselves. It seems he caused another huge catastrophe to hit Star City, so that's probably what has Green Arrow so wound up that the League will be hunting him down after a few months. In any case, after the drama of Cry and Blackest Night, a lot of the heroes are hurting. Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan see this as an opportunity to bring in a slew of old heroes like the Guardian and Dr. Light, and as a great chance to promote some Titans like NightBats, Cyborg, Donna Troy and Starfire onto the team. I'm not pleased that Donna Troy is quite so upset that she's pretending she won't help people as a super-hero, but I guess I'm ok since her time "sitting out" is non-existent. I think there is a lot of potential in this lineup. There isn't a huge amount of action here, it is mostly team-building. But I'm hopeful.

Mark Bagley is a perfect fit for the core title in the DCU. The heroes look bright and shiny, as they should. Mon-El actually looks like he is having fun. Even the dour heroes like Donna Troy look impressive. I will say I'm not a fan of the new Cyborg design. Too robot-y for me.

Fair

Atom & Hawkman #46

This was suprisingly relevant to the greater Blackest Night plot, unlike most of the other tie-ins during the last month. I guess Geoff Johns decided to move just a touch of plot from the core crossover so that we don't lose a whole month with absolutely nothing happening. This was really a focus issue for the Atom, Black Lantern Hawkman doesn't really play a part, except that Atom decides he's going to try and bring back his friend at the end. The bulk of the issue sees the Atom protecting Indigo-1 as she summons an army of lanterns for the big showdown with Nekron on planet Earth. While she's summoning her followers (who in turn are summoning the other corps), she's vulnerable, so Atom has a nice showdown with his crazy ex, Jean Loring. There's another flashback to Identity Crisis, and once again I'm confused on the rationale and randomness of the crime in that book. Jean Loring's motivation makes so little sense that every time it gets referenced, I take the whole idea less seriously. Shock for shock's sake is so silly.

Ryan Sook handles the cover and a few nice moody pages, but Fernando Pasarin draws at least as much. Fortunately, I like his clean style, the storytelling is clear and the fun Indigo tribe designs are as amusing as always. Both artists are talented enough that the change in art doesn't wreck the issue.

Fair