2.234 (599) Fantastic Four vol 2 Heroes Reborn #6 ...

Waaaaay back then or about 20 years ago (damn has it been that long?), when this book was coming out, it was a huge hit regardless of what some critics were saying (originally). We have artistic superstar retelling the original tales of the FF and updating not only costumes but storylines. In fact, rather than decompression storytelling, this is like an overload trying to cramp as much as possible into each issue and the surprising thing is inspite of the amount of dialogues, it is still a very good looking book thanks to the entire creative team from penciller to inker to colorist

In issue 6, as the book approaches its half year point, we see the end of one tale, the start of another that will crossover into the other books and also the start of yet another thread for issue 7. In short, this is one heck of a comicbook storywise

First up, we see the conclusion SPOILER ALERT to the Silver Surfer issue as we see that the Super Skrull has mistakenly thought (so childish - seriously) that by absorbing some of the Surfer's powers, he will have enough to challenge Galactus himself. The FF proved him wrong by wakening the Surfer and letting Surfer kick Skrull butt

Unfortunately the place they were having their all-out was Latveria because it was Doom who originally kidnapped the Surfer hoping to syphon the Surfer's Power Cosmic for himself. That ended in a dramatic explosion where once again probably owing to lack of pages we see the FF depart without clear conclusion on outcome or even following up later

So we have a potential ticking timebomb underground, Surfer surviving with potential world devouring status coming to pass and finally, an enraged Doom who as usual will plot his revenge. Unfortunately as if that isn't enough, we get a whiff of something going horrendously wrong in USA where it affects a certain green-skinned monster. So what book is next for you to buy?

Avengers #6 and all the others that has #6 before coming back here for 7

Ratings: 8/10

2.116 (481) Cyberforce ongoing vol 1 #2 ... Image ...

Before you read this, I do strongly suggest you get WildCATS #6 as that is the official starting point of this great crossover. And if you ask me to choose, I have to admit that the 'CATS have better art thanks to Jim Lee (sorry, Marc, I do like yours too but just for comparison ...)

Anyway, remember our gripe from the last review? Well, because this is part of a bigger story arc, it finally feels like a proper comic of sorts because there is fast paced development, character moments and slam bang action  yes yes yes!

But like his Marvel counterpart, this story arc is all about Wolverine wannabes because it stars Ripclaw from Cyberforce and Warblade from WildCATS, both claw characters with temper except Rip is more the animal and here in this issue, we feel like reading an X-Men Comic because almost the entire issue is only on Ripclaw SPOILER ALERT

We open with a sequence of Rip and the Blade together with SHOCS on a mission for cyberdata and what-not only to be ambushed and through one page after another of subterfuge and action, we felt the betrayal and "death" of Rip ... only to be told that it was a flashback because in the here and now, Rip is controlled by former love, Misery who has, for her own reasons, set him off against Blade. And so another round of battle ensues ...

And this eats up the entire book except the last 2 pages where the rest of Cyberforce finally makes an appearance. See what I mean?

Still a decent read though

Ratings: 6/10

2.79 (444) WildCATS/ X-Men Golden Age ... Marvel n Image ...

Well, well, well ... in happier times, Marvel and Image finally decided to work together to pull this crossover series off ... mind you this is before Jim Lee's Wildstorm studios and characters were acquired and absorbed into the DC mythos

So here we see a series of one-shots showing us that the Cats and X-Men have actually encountered each other over the years i.e. not in alternate realities but in this, our prime reality and thus trying to make it seem like they are all in 616 and such a joy to read

This is the first issue to be released and it features an almost black-n-white style of artwork from superstar Travis Charest. While I loved Jim Lee, Travis, if I dare say so (and why not, eh) outdid even Lee here in this one shot

As for story, it talks about the time of the war, back when we have Nazis running around doing crazy experiments and a perpetual torn in the side of the Nazis is super-soldier Wolverine. However, at that point, W didn't know about the fact that aliens have taken on the identity of human Nazis and are actually in cahoots with the stormies

Enter Zealot! She who is from another offshoot of aliens named Khera and has stayed on our planet hundreds of year constantly battling Daemonites wherever they may rear their ugly head and one of the most pertinent of these nasties are now with the Nazis ... and so our 2 heroes met!

Awesome art, awesome story, awesome action sequences - what more do you need?

Ratings: 9/10

2.78 (443) WildCATS vol 1 #3 ... Image ...

There was a time, more than two decades now (wow I find that hard to believe) when comics were all about having a good time - if action, let's go overboard. If pencilling, then let's forget about perfect human anatomy but rather idealized it. And if we talk about printing, let's go for the best ink and colour and paper and that's the glory of Image!

And this issue from Jim Lee is a celebration of all that ... as we see the CATS finally coming to a head against team Badrock ... oops I mean, Youngblood. Hehehe!

As the name implies, Wildcats are covert independent teams and they are busy tracking alien scum that are hellbent (Helspont is one of the bad guys) on Earth domination while Youngblood is part of US enforcement super-cops style ... SPOILER ALERT ... and so when the trail of aliens led to the government senior officials (I so wanna so who but I need to keep lips sealed Sigh!) ... well someone decided to tip the US team off and so they come charging for the CATS

And as every comic fan so loves and want to see, first is always misunderstanding that both are good guys and every first encounter must have a great fight and this? It's just that. Awesome!

Love the artwork but it could have benefitted from perhaps (in my opinion) heavier inking and a more muted colour palette thus giving the right scenes greater accentuation. Still this is a colourful amusement park style fun read on every single panel. Go CATS!

My fave 'blood? Badrock rocks!

Ratings: 8/10

2.56 (421) Batman vol 1 #612 ... DC ...

2 issues later and we see that the fight promised is delivered in spades and thanks to the cover you know you are going to get Supes. The big question is why are Batman villains like Ivy running off to Metropolitan to use as her base of operations? Could the baddie be someone tied to the Superman stories like perhaps President Luthor (yes crazy as that sounds)?

Anyway, the tale starts off strong with Batman and Catz finally confronting Ivy only instead of having just her plants to be wary off ... it appears that Ivy was smart enough to somehow put her spell on Superman and hence Superman is now on her team ... and when Ivy whispers to him to take down Batz ... it's one hell of a ride

We see here that Batz have to use all his resources including a Kryptonite ring to even marginally slow Supes down but the best part is that once more Jeph shows his understanding of the characters by letting Batz acknowledged the fact that he and Catz are even alive is that Superman is innately a good guy character and he must be in his own way fighting against Ivy's spell. Otherwise they would have been vaporized!

It's a great chase scene even minus the cars as we see the fight occurring from roof tops to sewers and everywhere in between. And in order to finally free Supes, Batz came up with an idea to tap into Supes ultimately good guy character NO SPOILER ALERT

But the best guest star is almost at the end ... a cameo of sorts ... someone I wasn't expecting to see in today's grim n gritty world of comics ... brought a smile to my lips NO SPOILER ALERT

Once again, we end the note with hints of who Hush is but at this point, half way through the journey we are no closer to the truth

Ratings: 8/10

2.55 (420) Batman vol 1 #610 ... DC ...

Over the years, like it or not, Mr Jim Lee has been pencilling less which is sad as many of us are huge fans but whenever he releases something new, it becomes a huge marketing program and if he is paired with a great writer, then it is a genuine success ... like this 1 year run on Batman!

I am glad I am not a regular collector of the DC and Batman comics. In that sense, I don't have to give a F about continuity and just enjoy the stories because they are sooooooo awesome. And the artwork? WOW!

This is part 3 in the year long saga of a new villain Hush and in this chapter, Batman comes to prison to interrogate a captured Killer Croc whose anger and murderous rages releases his human nature ... unfortunately for Croc, it's all a set-up. So that Bats can finally track down who Croc was in cahoots with ...

SPOILER ALERT

And the villains of the piece this time around are the popular villainess from the Bat mythos including Ivy and Catz. Well, well, well ...

Naturally to keep us guessing on who is really Hush, we get a surprise visit from an old friend who just in this story arc saved Bats via surgery i.e. he is a surgeon ... I am sure this is a retcon character created for the sake of this particular storyline ... see what we mean by good not being a regular reader so we can just enjoy?

Overall, a good chapter in a larger arc that you can read on its own without earlier chapters but the storyline and artwork is so good that will make you want to collect the entire series

Ratings: 9/10

297. Gen 13 vol 1 #1 ... Image ...

Can we make it four in a row? Yes, we can. And so for the fourth day, we jumped to yet another new title with a rotation of publishers and none Marvel (be patient all you Marvelites - you know a Marvel can never be far ahead, right?)

Well, this series when it was first launched featured a few notable facts and the first is that it was meant to be Gen X while simultaneously Marvel was coming out with Generation X. So the early ads for this title is actually different than what was finally launched. Not a surprise though as an Image character went from Bedrock to Badrock or vice versa (?)

Anyway, the next important fact is that it featured then unknown but now super popular artist, J Scott Campbell ... here his artwork is a wee bit cartoony with those large eyes and oft times overly proportioned ladies ... but hey even after 20 years, he still has the same characteristics except far more refine ... so you know he didn't waver much

What's the tale like? Well, it seems that the govt is setting up all these exam centers although some are disguised as more fun than serious all over the country in the hopes of locating teens with a special gene that may grant them super powers. Where did these genes come from? Experiment? Natural i.e. evolution? Read on then, eh?

Our main stars at this point are (no names intentionally):

1. Short chunky hairy guy with tattoos supposedly loser Asian American
2. Tall All American Girl with legs and geeky looks waiting to blossom into super bosom we mean super strong gal
3. A bleurgh average bloke who will look like  the human torch
4. A Jubilee wannabe gal who is insecure and will fall in love with 1
5. Another non-Caucasian gal whose sole purpose is to be less popular than the above and while her powers is kinda more powerful than some of them, yet she didn't make much impact here or throughout the remainder of the series

Who are the bad guys? Some government folks who managed to recruit the kids under the pre-text of good for the nation ... you just know that's full of shit, right? Hah!

Ratings: 6/10

274. Global Frequency #3 ... Wildstorm ...

I cannot remember if this limited series came out when Wildstorm was part of Image or when it went to DC but whatever it is, that's not important. What's important is that this is an AWESOME comic and I kid you not. No hype. This is not a comic about superheroes and even though it is a 12-issue limited series, you can pick up the earlier issues as a single issue and still know what's going on.

A good example is this - 3

We start off with a regular lady receiving a phone call from a unique phone while going about her daily chores and that unique phone? It's part of a global aid organization called Global Frequency and she has just been summoned for the first time in her life ... why? Not because she has some special powers but because of a thesis she wrote on something very unique ... that's it

So out she dashes in reply because ... hey ... a car is coming to pick her up ... and it all sounds so dramatic because the caller is arranging for car ... clearing traffic lights ... and even police escort!

Now let's side track a bit. That girl? She is a lesbian because we are shown a few scenes a few pages in. And the lady who called her? Well she is base at HQ having sex ... how do we know? Because we have one word balloon conversation and one pic

See? That's wildstorm trying to be mature by throwing in sex wherever possible and in odd situations. While I find it "funny" but to me, it doesn't matter if there is regular sex or no sex. Sorry!

Anyway, what's the mission? It appears that someone dialed into a virus that spreads and controls people ... not zombies or death but basically turns you into a hive mind and is spreading fast ... and it has control of one whole neighbourhood ... anyone going in gets converted ... so our team has to figure out how to get in alive and fix the problem

Suffice to say there is no continuation ... it ends in one issue ... brilliant pacing!

Ratings: 8/10

248. X-Men vol 1 #4 to 7 ... Marvel (natch) ...

Well, first day of 2015 .. and to start it right, we continue where we left off in 2014 ... to show continuity (yeah, right!) ... and because we want it to start on a BANG and the next story arc continued where the first 3 issues finished off!

Before we go to the story, let's talk about the artwork - Jim continues to churn out over-the-top detailed artwork with great inking and colouring ... except that the legs of his babes can be a wee bit too long and sometimes the thighs are huge ... hehehe but it all works in one tight package!

Now .. for the story ...

If you thought after the huge long arc, it's time for the X-Men to have some downtime, you are right and wrong because just as each of them starts to attend to their own problems, BANG BANG n BANG trouble comes to them


First up we have new baddie Omega Red, Russian from Wolvie and Sabretooth's past, who comes invading the X grounds and then KICK the shit out of all of them and kidnapped ... Wolverine! Yup, that's right! So the X-team goes scrambling trying to find Wolvie

And basically that's it ... they rescued Wolverine ... but not after having a hell of a time trying to get through to the fortress that is their enemy's base of operations

So who else makes an appearance?

The Fenris Twins (from Uncanny 200), the Hand cult through Matsuo, the old professor from Wolvie's past ... as apparently everyone is after a mechanism and that the location may be hidden within Wolvie's memories ... and as we all know waaaay back then, Wolvie's memories are a mess!

Awesome! And we get to see Psylocke flexed those thighs hahahah!

Ratings: 9/10

247. X-Men vol 1 #1 to 3 ... Marvel ...

Final day of the year ... and to put forward something good ... we went through our list of reviews and was surprised to find that these 3 issues were not covered ... so definitely we have to, right?

For those who read comics and actually doesn't know, there was a time before DC and Wildstorm and Image when Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld and Todd Mc were like superstar artists at Marvel and each of them were given the chance to launch a new title each

For Jim Lee, he left Uncanny to Whilce Portacio ... and launched a new  X-Men title ... this one ... with like 5 covers or something and sold millions of copies ... although we believe a lot of the buyers are speculators because now you can go online and buy them for like really cheap. Hehehe!

But you know what, it doesn't do justice to the book

Great art, great colours, great storyline ... has human interactions besides just superhero action ...

As the cover shows, basically after the long silence, Magneto is back and typical of Magneto whenever he comes back to remind everyone of his agenda and power, he goes overboard and causes massive problems on planet Earth and then retreat back to his home in the sky

The X-Men definitely intends to go after him but the challenge is how and can they go up there undetected ... when we talk about X-Men here, we are talking about a huge team of original and new and other newer mutants ... and we talk about Magneto, this time he comes with the Acolytes ... a new bunch of mutants led by a chap who supposedly spouts the lines made famous by Magneto as if Mags is a cult leader or some such ...

Betrayals are a plenty ... from the good guys or from the bad guys? And we found out more about some of the Acolytes ... and potential ties with  Xavier

A rollicking good read ... and the ending ... can bring a tear to one's eyes! Sniff Sniff!

Ratings: 10/10

244. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #258 ... Marvel ...

For me, Jim Lee came into his own on the Uncanny X-Men ... this particular run and what a run it is ... of course thanks to the poor quality of the newsprint ... sometimes the artwork comes out dark ... but you know what? During this time, Lee gave us his quintessential look and paired with Scott Williams? Awesome! Just check out that cover

This is the end of an arc but heralding more to come but during this time, the X-Men reads as a slice of mutant life story with almost no downtime. It is not about them going to confront only villains but having villains come after them and their lives are thorn apart

At this point, there isn't a proper team of X-Men. The entire team is split and then ... thanks to something that happened before #250, the X-Men decided to walk through a powerful mystical portal called the Siege Perilous ... that analyzed them and churned them out with new personalities and memories in various parts of the world ... the one that didn't go through? Wolvie and Jubilee

As the cover indicates, Wolverine and Jubilee are now making their way around to recover their team mates while trying to find out who is after them. On the sidelines in the form of side plots, we have Legion and something super nasty brewing on Muir Isle

On the main story? We have Psylocke being reborn in Asia in the body of an Asian woman ... who is an assassin named Kwannon. It will be a few more years before what happened is told in full in another X-Men series (not yet launched when this issue came out) ... and the Hand, that loser ninja cult sect, is using Psylocke to convert Wolverine to their cause ... naturally as they are X-Men ... they managed to fight the conditioning and give it back to the villains

As this is also the time of Marvel's weaker crossovers i.e. Acts of Vengeance we see classic Iron Man baddie Mandarin here giving the mutants a hard time

So how do we rate this?

Ratings: 9/10 (yeah baby yeah!)

227. WildCATS vol 1 #6 & 7 ... Image ... Jim Lee

After the first few issues were launched, as it was a huge success (as if there were any doubts, right?), Lee decided to continue his CATS as a regular ongoing and to buck the trend at that time, he decided to continue with issue 5 onwards rather than renumber like most of his mates. On top of that, except for the foil on 2, there are no other enhanced covers ... now don't get me wrong ... many people bitched about those enhancements ... me? I thought they were wonderful. After all, novels have them so why not comics when comics is even more of a visual medium, right?

So why issues 6 and 7 for this review then?

Because this is the official cross-over between Marc Silvestri's Cyberforce and Jim Lee's WildCATS ... and what a crossover it is ... with both artists going all out to impress the other chap's fans ... and colourists literally going overboard with strong bright colours and awesome contrasts ...

In fact, if you were to read this, you might say that it is overboard with the details ... just check out the covers and see how much tiny details are there ... and when you read it, it seems like even the writers are going overboard with each panel jam pack with word balloons and thought boxes etc etc

What's the story about?

Well once upon a time, some of the characters in both teams have a similar/ linked background i.e. Reno/ Warblade from the CATS and Ripclaw from Cyberforce. And both of them remembered a lady named Misery who is still with the SHOCS (bad guys) ... although each of their memories may not be the same any more thanks to the usual tinkering about ...

Unfortunately Misery is back ... and she is using her powers to manipulate both teams against each other ... because there is something she and her employers want ... that's it. More or less. The fun is seeing them tear into each other over 4 issues or so ...

Enjoy!

Ratings: 8/10

226. WildCATS vol 1 #0 ... Image ... Jim Lee ...

If you are not a fan of Jim Lee or were there collecting comics in the 90s, chances are you may have passed on this title, right? And so is this issue. Because issue 0 of the Cats at that time only came out as a freebie together with the TPB ... I am not sure if they subsequently released it as singles or not ...

But it is good

The artist for this is Brett Booth ... and this is before Booth became too stylized with his people all having about the same features ... and all too tall and too thin ...

Anyway, here we get a glimpsed of all the CATS just before they became a team and how they became a team ... example we get to see Emp and how he ended up as a bump on the streets prior to walking back into the tower of Halo Corp ... we also see glimpses of other comics in the Image universe like SHOC troops and what-not

But the most important or the most spectacular?

Void ... that scene of the mountains and what not ... wow! Amazing artwork and spectacular colouring

So if you don't have this but have read #1 to 4 ... this is worth your time to track it down if only to fill in some early gaps ... but if you don't have #1 to 4 ... I suggest you buy the entire TPB

Ratings: 8/10

210. Justice League new 52 #1 to 6 ... DC ... Jim Lee ...

Can Jim Lee still draw? Yes

Is his work still relevant and up to the times? Yes

Is this work awesome? Yes

Okay. So I am not a fan of DC but I have to admit that a few years ago, when JLA was relaunched, I actually followed it for 2 years enjoying both stories and artwork. So when new 52 states that there was going to be a new Justice League, I waited and waited for the TPB to arrive ... no onlines please ... and finally couldn't wait anymore and decided to splurge on the hardcover edition

First up, if you are not a DC fan like me, or you have given up on comic continuity like me, then you will, more or less enjoy this series because this first story arc has it all. It checks on every tiny square box on that checklist: good story, good pacing, enough action, enough villains, enough drama, good artwork, good colouring and good origin story where relevant

Sure we know from here, if you read the new 52, some of the timelines do not make sense. But forget about it

Basically it is about a boom tube appearing on Earth and depositing alien warriers in humanoid forms. What are they after and why are they here? Well Earth's heroes have banded together to find out. Note that in this series, they may or may not know each other but generally have never worked as a team and some like Cyborg are totally new having his origins happen in the course of this series

Who is the baddie?

None other than DC super-baddie Apokolips! And what a show. We see the team fighting with each other as they try to confront Apokolips ... only to realize that inspite of their crazy super powers, none of them are a match for the bad guy not even Supes!

So while they thought they were so hot, Apool showed them all and managed to trounce them one after the other

SPOILER ALERT

Ummm ... nah we better not. Suffice to say action takes place on more than planet Earth. And that there is reveal after reveal until we reach the awesome me-punch-you-me-blast-you ending!

AWESOME!

Ratings: 10/10