G.I. Joe #13

Did I miss where it was established that Beach Head has amnesia. There are some comments dropped about it in this issue, and I really don't remember seeing it before. I guess it will be explained more in an upcoming issue of Origins, but man, that came out of nowhere for me. I hope Chuck Dixon doesn't do something silly and make him really Firefly or something!

This issue featured two of my favorite toys from my childhood. I always loved how Tripwire was so clumsy and silly when not dealing with high explosives, and heck, how could Beach Head not be the coolest with that mask? They both come off well here, they're tough and perfect Joes. But Tripwire is a bit more of a fratty type, with lots more "bros" and such than I would have expected. He's much "cooler" than the character used to be. Plus he's missing the great helmet! Beach is awesome, as usual. I hope he doesn't get killed soon, unfortunately I'm starting to worry he's the right level of character that could get whacked and seem really important but whose death wouldn't derail the Joe-verse.

Dixon has a lot of fun in this, with lots of Hama-ish tricks. Tripwire uses high tech methods to ambush some drug dealers, but he also just sets his cell phone in a hallway to lead them off the scent. Overall, this would have made a good hour of TV in a Joe program. Dial Tone, Tunnel Rat, and Scarlett also pop up briefly so that it still feels like an ensemble book, even though two guys get the starring roles.

Robert Atkins returns on art, and I've missed him. His affection for the old costumes is palpable. That's why I'm so surprised at his Tripwire redesign. Where's the old awesome helmet? In truth, the storytelling is clear and the character designs are actually more realistic, so I shouldn't complain. I never disliked S.L. Gallant's issues, but I think he's a better fit on Origins. Keep Atkins churning out classic material here for the next few years at least.

Good

Blackest Night #6

This was the best comic of the week. Of course, it was the only comic to ship this week, so it wins that prize by default, doesn't it?

There isn't a lot of forward movement in this issue. I'm thinking once again that this should have been a 6 issue mini. It's not even just that this core 8 issue series is getting slow, but at this point, all the tie-ins are dragging too. Eight months is just too long for one story.

Deadman helps Mera and Atom escape from inside the Black Lantern rings, and it seems the rings are linked somehow, since the two heroes jump out of Wonder Woman's ring and they arrive in Coast City. Meanwhile, most of the other resurrected heroes have been turned into Black Lanterns, but somehow Flash and GL jump into the future and avoid that fate. (I did enjoy seeing Wally West stick around too, I don't think he's ever died!) Then there's a whole weird sequence where Ganthet declares that all the rings are based on GL technology, and during Blackest Night, they can all split and empower another corps member. So Ganthet becomes a GL, Luthor becomes an Orange Lantern, Mera goes red, Flash goes blue, Atom goes indigo, Scarecrow gets a yellow, and a surprising character gets some love. I thought Atom being an Indigo Lantern made zero sense. The guy is torturing his enemies left and right over in Cry for Justice and yet he's supposed to be a model of compassion? I don't think so. I appreciate all these characters getting starring roles in this crossover, but I feel like pieces of the story have just been dropped. Black Lanterns like Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, and the Hawks have disappeared. Heck, Nekron is only in a panel or two this issue!

Ivan Reis' art is as fine as always. I dug his Rainbow Lantern takes on all those new lanterns. The new Star Sapphire was the best, no doubt about it.

Fair

New Avengers #60

Damn Stuart Immonen is awesome. I usually don't start off with the art in these reviews, but Immonen is so good, I can't help it. He gets to draw a ton of heroes in this issue, and they are just perfect. His Hank Pym looks cool and heroic, but he even nails the little stuff. Hellcat's poses as she's lounging around, Daredevil and Iron Fist looking like they could spring into action, even the Hood's grimacing attempts to seem relevant; everything looks awesome.

Bendis delivers another true win for the New Avengers. They actually beat off HAMMER last issue, then out-smart Norman Osborn again, making him pay for his attack on Luke Cage in a neat way. Osborn doesn't have a heart, so hitting him in the wallet is probably better. I'm not sure I like Cage being the sweetheart of the Marvel U like this, but what do I know? I still prefer him as Power Man!

I'm fascinated by the two different villain armies running around in the Marvel U right now. Taskmaster has a crew of bozos in the Initiative, and the Hood's army has just about everyone else. I do like that Bendis has essentially created a new Masters of Evil with this group of villains. They've been after the New Avengers for so long now, they will all have some nice history in their next appearance. (I do think Mandrill and Griffin have been shown on both teams though!) I'm not too broken up about Jonas Harrow's fate. Bendis has actually written him for awhile now, so he's killing a character he's worked on; plus I don't know what he's from anyway.

Good

X-Men: Original Sin TPB

I'm just not feeling the X-books as much as I have in recent months. In this installment of the X-Men: Legacy title, we get some flashbacks to Wolverine's early days in the X-Men. Mike Carey and Daniel Way reveal that Logan's memory problems were actually caused by Prof. X. It seems the Prof was trying to free Wolverine from Romulus' control, so he gave Wolverine the chance to break free from his past and become the hero he had inside. It's an interesting idea, but unfortunately I still think Romulus is stupid, so this whole trade suffers. I really don't care about Daken either, I think he weakens Wolverine as a concept (Two kewl guys with claws! But one has tattoos!)

The villains of the piece are Sebastian Shaw and Miss Sinister, both of whom come off pretty well here. I'm surprised to see Miss Sinister speak with slang and abbreviations, she seems more like a mastermind-type, but clearly she's a flunky. Shaw is great, as usual. His physical powers are always a great contrast with his scheming nature. Wolverine's takedown of him was well staged. Overall, there is just too much unnecessary stuff filling out pages in this collection. Why even introduce the new Hellfire Club? Why introduce Wolverine's monk-buddy only to have he and his family burned alive. There was a lot of running around in this trade that didn't seem to accomplish much. I guess the big status quo change is that Wolverine and Daken are going to team up to take on Romulus, but we know Daken stays bad, ditches his Dad, and joins the Dark Avengers anyway. So what's the point of all this?

I really like both artists for this, Scot Eaton handles the X-Men pages and the Wolverine: Origin issues get some nice moody pencils from Mike Deodato. Both guys draw hot ladies and roided up dudes, so they fit for the book, but they both work best as super-hero artists too. This only features two actual costumes (Miss Sinister and Wolverine) so they don't get to flex those muscles much. With that great cover flashing back to the Uncanny X-Men I would have really enjoyed some more story dealing with that old team.

Average

Thunderbolts #139

Jeff Parker sure knows these Agents of Atlas guest-stars! They come off very cool in this appearance. I loved seeing the Agents totally kick the crap out of this gang of random T-bolts. I especially enjoyed seeing Mr. X get his butt kicked. It's always wonderful seeing this type of know-it-all get his butt handed to him. Mr. X's telepathic fighting abilities don't hold up well against a robot with no brain!

Osborn is definitely setting up this team for a fall, but since half (or more) of them are traitors, I can't get too upset with him. Ant-Man still wants nothing to do with any sort of conflict, all he does is try to ride out fights doing nothing. Scourge is full on crazy and aside from his last-minute antics, isn't usually that effective. Ghost is a traitor. Paladin is clearly being paid by a good-guy to infiltrate this team. Headsman wants to kill half the group and the whole group wants to kill Mr. X. It's a sad state of affairs when new member the Grizzly is the most team-oriented guy in the group.

Parker's highpoint in this is the smack talk. There is some wonderful banter between the teams as the Agents hand the T-bolts their butts. Very entertaining.

Miguel Sepulveda has that Marvel house style that is quite popular these days. There are quite a few Marvel artists taking after Roberto De La Torre's gloomy, almost photo-referenced work. I like it well enough, but I could see how it could annoy some folks.

Good

BTW, this is the second comic I read this weekend with people throwing trees, the other being JSA All-Stars #1.

War is Hell: Flight of the Phantom Eagle TPB

I think Garth Ennis could do this in his sleep. This is another solid war story from a master of the form. This isn't the best he's done, but it is entertaining. The whole concept of Phantom Eagle as the "hero pilot" is kind of mocked and doesn't really come up. I have no problems with that though, since it is a pretty silly war-time concept. The characters become almost interchangeable at times, but readers can define folks well enough to get the required emotional punches. Surprisingly, most of the pages are spent on the ground. Multiple characters talk about how quickly combat happens in the dangerous skies, so it makes sense that those moments of terror are quick blips throughout this trade. I hate to say I wasn't as taken with this because I've seen it before, but in comparison to some of the absolutely perfect war stories Ennis has told, this doesn't rank among the best.

Howard Chaykin's art is dramatic, but I have a hard time figuring out who is who. Every character is in uniform and since they all have the same haircut, there aren't enough moustaches to go around helping me figure out who is who. I'm not sure this needed to be a MAX book; there are only a few scenes that utilized that ranking and I think they would have worked without the mature rating.

Average

Blackest Night: JSA #1

James Robinson picks up the thread from his Blackest Night: Superman mini by putting the bodies of Kal-L and Psycho Pirate in the JSA brownstone. It makes a lot of sense, Power Girl's presence is a great tie to that previous series. By keeping the bodies relevant, it makes that older series seem more important too.

The JSA seemed like a huge team for a long time, so big that I never really worried about them winning. But factor in some Black Lantern rings, and suddenly the team is overwhelmed. It was interesting seeing the team rocked back on their heels like this. I really enjoyed the heroes shifting back and forth between trying to protect civilians and trying to research the Black Lanterns.

Robinson spends too many pages giving us the history of some of the raised zombies. If these guys aren't coming back at the end of this story, I'm just not sure that most readers need to know this level of detail about Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Mr. Terrific. Especially since Johnny Quick's appearance is much more emotionally resonant. I am enjoying the team's struggles, as I said, so I'll stick around to see how this turns out. I will go on record that I'm still unhappy that Damage is dead.

Eddy Barrows is good at the dead folks' gristle, but his living faces aren't quite as good. Libery Belle looks kind of puffy and Hourman actually looks like a monster in one panel. Barrows has a nice sense for the dramatic splash, though. He uses them a little more than is necessary, but they are exciting shots.

Fair