2.63 (428) Thor vol 1 #351 ... Marvel ...

This issue is big on  the fight scenes and there are a lot of them. We see glimpses of the Avengers and the human armies out on the streets of New York fighting hordes of demonic creatures. And joined with them are Thor and the Warriors Three ...

Further afield in another geographic location we see Sif and Beta Ray Bill and other Asgardians facing another incursion of demons ...

And then a thought occurs on how to shut down the baddies at once because if the portals remain open, the replenishment is at a rate beyond the ability of our heroes to cope ...

But as per our previous review ... this is all but a distraction ... for the golden price is in Asgard and the last few to stand in the way of the price is Odin and Heimdall ... and o what an oaf Thor proves himself to be ... he may be strong, powerful, great fighter, big hearted but an oaf nonetheless when he finally realizes WTF is going on

Ratings: 8/10

2.62 (427) Thor vol 1 #350 ... Marvel ...

I am ashamed of myself as a reviewer. I just did a check on my archives and realized that out of the many reviews I have posted online, I failed to include 350 and 351 when in truth, they are amongst the most awesome issues in Thor chronicles ever!

So ... here it is ... the big 350 ... what is shocking at the time of its initial publication was that while it is a landmark issue and a huge chapter in the lives of the Asgardian as Ragnarok came a calling, it was done as any other normal sized issues. No specials within, no extra remarks, no extra pages ... Walter Simonson gave his best from stories to artwork and that's it and if truth be said, there were at times too many word balloons that it made some of the panels looked bare ... especially the ones where the camera lense angle is zooming out while the words remain the same size and thus eclipse the artwork

However, that is but a minor gripe

Overall, all the DOOM DOOM DOOM sound effects and ominous hints that has been building for the past year and many panels come to a head here as Thor and his allies both in Asgard and on Earth braced themselves for war when the sons of Muspelheim attack earth. These are fire demons and they come through huge dimensional gates appearing across the globe

So it's sheer size and immense madness!

So we have Surtur of the Flame, Malekith of the Dark Elves who has successfully brought the casket of ancient winters to Earth and giving Earth a perpetual winter storm and finally ... everything is but a ruse ... the war is not on Earth merely the battle ... and by the time Thor realizes this ... could it be too late?

Ratings: 8/10

2.61 (426) Original Sin 5.2 Thor & Loki Tenth Realm ... Marvel ...

We open this issue with hesitation and wonder if we are going to be disappointed and the first 5 pages didn't give us much assurance. But only those pages though which was a huge relief because after that, the story and artwork lift themselves up by several notches

Basically thanks to Loki, they managed to find themselves in the 10th realm where Thor demanded for his sister to be present never even wondering for a moment who she is and whether the people he met understood him. Oaf, right?

Then we see the lame bit of writing protruding here ... as we see a wasted scene of older Loki thinking himself cunning by watching from afar all that goes on ... why we say this is because at the end of the storyline that's all he did NO SPOILER ALERT

And then we get a glimpse of the movie hit of the past year Guardians of the Galaxy where Angela is now a member except ... it was a glimpse because she desserts them SPOILER ALERT in the middle of a battle simply because she felt something drawing her back to her home world and she goes without giving a fuck about her team mates and at this point we say what the fuck right?

Now we comes to the next stage of oaf-ism ... when Thor needs Loki he found that Loki has ... disappeared but that's only to be expected, right? Here we are talking about the younger Loki (yes there are 2 now in this series very confusing for those who never read a single issue of Thor in the past 10 years) ...

So battles galore by the GOTG, by Angela, by Thor against the Angels of Heven ... but the stunning display is by Loki when we are finally shown where he went off to ... once more Loki proves that he is a far more entertaining character than the Oaf

Ratings: 6/10 (better artwork too)

2.60 (425) Oringal Sin - Thor and Loki - 10th Realm - 5.1 ... Marvel

I have not read many a Marvel event series for a looooooong time simply because whenever it is collected together there are a fair number of issues and the purchase price is quite high. And thanks to their intention to deliberately tie in so many other regular titles, it makes the reading pleasure too expensive to indulge for me

So the only reason I even bought this is because the cover has Simone Bianchi on art and it promises interiors as well and ... well ... this is the FIRST time I am disappointed as apparently Bianchi is supported and covered by many other artists from inkers to colorists to even pencillers so the entire reading pleasure of this miniseries is disrupted

Next is the fact that it didn't take place in regular Thor continuity but shoved in between Original Sin miniseries from 5.1 to 5.5 - see what we mean by expensive?

And next is the usage of Angela - that character that generated more publicity than her own tales thanks to the dispute between Neil Gaiman and his original usage of that character in Image-verse ... anyway I am not sure what the big hoo-ha was ... they could have easily created a character with a different name and tweaked design a wee bit .. but I guess what they say is true ... there is no bad publicity hahaha

In this opening arc, we are given a glimpse that when the Watcher was murdered, someone procured one of his eyes and the information contained within went spilling out across the cosmos with many secrets suddenly revealed including one where Thor discovered that he as a sister

Naturally being the thick headed all muscle no brain oaf that Thor is, he went fleeing back to his mother's bosom disrupting meetings with disregard to demand the truth only to find out that ... all thought the child dead ... however such is the course of royalty and ruling politics that Thor was forbidden to interfere

Now as we said earlier he is an oaf did we not? So do you expect him to obey? Naturally no

And who should he seek assistance to reach this new tenth realm? Why Loki the most treacherous bastard ever ... silly never learn his lesson Thor

Ratings: 5/10

2.59 (424) Bloodshot (2012) #1 ... Valiant ...

Firstly, you can pick this issue up as a loose issue or in TPB 1 or in TPB 6 (for the so-called director's cut version i.e. in black-n-white) but whichever version you try, you are guaranteed for a genuine flavour on what the other 24 issues are going to be

We start off with the world going to pot and in comes Bloodshot as an infiltration agent. Unfortunately before he could get far, he was BLOWN to shreds and we kid you not. There is some awesome artwork here and nowhere do you get to see it so good as in the black-n-white edition. Some great art there

Naturally the baddies do not know about 'shot's nanites and before they can go down on their knees, our main man is back on his feet and storming the base

Even the ending is cool where 'shot found out to his own surprise that no one is on his side not even his own side ... and it ends there leaving us gasping and wondering what's next!

Damn!

Ratings: 8/10

2.58 (423) Bloodshot (2012) #25 ... valiant ...

Following from our last review, we chose this issue to continue so as to give you, our readers a feel of what to expect from issue to issue of Bloodshot. Here is the big 25th anniversary issue. So we have a main story then a few short stories including one-page so-called humour pieces. The one-pages didn't do anything for me and I feel that it was a waste and better to have filled up the space with posters!

But the main story once again delivers including Bart Sears the artist

We see Bloodshot on the operating table as various parties including his handlers around and we are left to guess at the true meaning of their words right from the start of the tale to the end. Did it happen? How much is truth? And how much are memory implants?

But what's really touching here is that it wraps up the first 25th in a nice manner because there is a miniseries out that takes off from here and serves as connecting to 26th or rather vol 2. What we mean here is that Bloodshot finally realizes who he is (or thinks he is) and goes off in search of his love who thought he was dead. But again, is she real or a figment of his imagination?

Unfortunately, real or otherwise, his handlers and others are after him to prevent him from reverting to a more humane type of killing machine and thus it is a race against time to get away, discover himself and finding and saving is love

And once more, all told in one

Ratings: 8/10

2.57 (422) Bloodshot (2012) #24 ... valiant

I am quite surprised and disappointed with myself that I have not done much of a review on valiant when the truth is that I picked up late on the valiant boom in comics when it was first launched like a decade ago and enjoyed a huge number of their titles from the dollar and quarter bins

And here I am again when 2012 was launched ... I picked up a lot of their trades and enjoyed every single volume! I kid you not

24 is basically end of year 2 where Bloodshot is ready to move into the next phase of his journey and thus this is vol 6 if you are buying by TPB

In summary, Bloodshot is someone who was probably in the military but he isn't sure because like Wolverine his mind has been wiped clean repeatedly and false memories implanted. As for his special abilities, aside from sometimes being robotic and following orders, he has a swarm of nanites within his blood and body allowing him to heal rapidly including replacing limbs and giving him the ability to change his appearance instantly thus great for undercover ... got it?

In this issue, which is a one-off but with so much crammed that I cannot believe when I reached the end, the story is a one-off! We see in far off remote region, one fine morning, a number of their people going bonkers from politicians to military, from police to the commoner and when we meant bonkers, we meant they developed like a hive mentality and killing anyone not within that hive mentality or willing to subject themselves to the hive control

Enter Bloodshot to investigate what the fuck is happening and to pull the plug. Now the odd thing is we have so many side angles that even when we reached the climatic conclusion, we are left in the dark on whether the villain is this or that person or perhaps someone else entirely. Very intelligent story telling here that leaves you waiting hungrily for the next issue

And the artwork though could be better is sufficient to the task at hand giving it the moodiness required

Ratings: 7/10

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

2.54 (419) Red Sonja #2 ... Dynamite

This entire issue is one long fight and the only breaks in between are when we are treated to glimpses of Sonja's past heroics and the thoughts of the bad guys. But who exactly are the bad guys? The soldier boys, the advisor who appears to have his own agenda and the mystical being behind veil?

We are shown that Sonja, mighty as she is has her limits and with the right amount of force, can be overwhelmed and that is how she is brought down low but once again, the ending? WOW!

A real cliffhanger ... if only this came out back when there are still comics shops and I frequent regularly, I would have been a collector of the floppies. As it is, I only managed a few here and there since the back prices of some issues sky rocket like crazy!

Ratings: 7/10

2.53 (418) Red Sonja #1 ... Dynamite ...

From the days of Conan the Barbarian, from the "misty past" of Hyrkania comes a redheaded woman who has foresworn herself to a life of a virgin unless and until she meets a man who can defeat her in combat ... not sure why she feels the need to go to such extreme but at least in this new volume of Sonja the Red right in the first few pages someone questions her skimpy clothing and writers Carey and Oeming provide us with an answer which is a refreshing change of story telling

In this particular relaunch of the tales of the She Devil with a Sword, we see Dynamite shamelessly capitalizing on the bad girl gimmick where we have so many covers each issue from the norm to the rare incentive covers but whatever sells, right?

In this first issue, aside from the opening scene, we basically she Sonja aimlessly wandering through the lands looking for adventure and the opportunity to make her coin for meals and lodgings wherever she may find them

And it is in this wandering that she encounters a stranger ... who after her rescuing him offers to guide her to his home city ... where all is what it seems except that something is amiss ...

And what that is ... is just some fun story telling to come ... the cliff hanger is equally good and ensures we come back for the next issue ... in short, this is classic comic storytelling at its core!

Ratings: 7/10

2.52 (417) Astonishing X-Men vol 1 #29 ... Marvel ...

If there is one new artist from the Marvel pages that seemed to explode from day one with pure line goodness, it is Simone Bianchi. We have never seen his early works as he does it elsewhere and by the time Marvel found him BANG he hit the pages running, so to speak and this issue proves it

The interiors are as exquisite as the covers and Simone does not waste space. If you look at the clothes, he even thinks through what type of material and thus what time of stretching lines and folds it will have. He also crafted additional accessories for his characters and when you flip within the covers, he decorates the entire page and not just the space within similar to what Mark Buckingham and Chris Bacchalo would do

In short, it's AWESOME

As for this tale, well, it is part of a story arc and we see the X-Men finally tracking down the ones who were giving them a hard time. But the only challenge is that WTF is going on? Are there aliens invading Earth and the ones they have been fighting are actually on the side of the human race? Is there even a side?

And o yes what is Forge doing in the middle of all this?

Ratings: 9/10

2.51 (416) Section Zero #1 ... Image ...

After the first big run of Image when their titles sell in the hundreds of thousands came a slew of more like real independent small press publishing. Except that since it is Image, the small press are not always by unknowns but by creators who have had some success and wants to show their own true creativity and Section Zero is one such series

It has Karl Kesel (Superman I think) and Tom Grummett (Robin) as creators

And it is basically about a super powered MIB or perhaps a different take on the Hellboy and his team of investigators because here we have a super powered team whose job it is to investigate strange phenomena and either resolve or recruit them. Naturally you need a chick to strut her stuff and a gruff guy and a team weirdo and finally the kid ... and some mysterious men in suits who sits in their offices and lots of grunts who get their asses handed to them

This comic checks all the above ... and yet something feels missing ... the art is decent, the story is decent, the characters are somewhat interesting but nothing quite clicks ... now on re-reading this for the third time ... I still cannot understand why I never bothered to buy issue 2

Ratings: 5/10

2.50 (415) Dragon's Claws #2 ... Marvel ...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay we made it ... our 50th review in year 2 ... here's to the next 50, eh?

In this review, we continue with the second issue because in the second issue we have ... guess what ... an awesome scene with more cannon fodders biting the dust as they go out to hunt down the bad guys ... come on ... you know only our main man and his team can do it

Seriously the stories are fine but it's the artwork that is sadly lacking ... it looks rushed ... perhaps it is fine if the artists are doing it in magazine black and white format ala Beano and Dandy but when you want to print in American style with better quality paper and printing? You got to put more time and effort into it ... sorry ... again personal opinion

Ratings: 7/10

2.49 (414) Dragon's Claws #1 ... Marvel ...

Two more reviews and we hit the big 5-0 in our year 2 of comics reviews and we are stoked and in order to celebrate, we are going to review 2 back to back issues of our only favourite titles from Marvel UK. For you see, in the height of the comics boom, Marvel decided that Marvel UK is going to actually have original stories that will be distributed beyond UK and so we see titles that celebrate the Image style minus the artwork like Death's Head (sure lots of people will object to my comments but hey this is a review from one person's opinion okay?) and Killpower ...

... and of course, Dragon's Claws

I like this series because it brings to us a more extreme interpretation of other storylines and is a precursor to even the Japenese movie and current Hunger Games movies ... in the sense that we see the future and it is not a happy place ... as part of an effort for the government to keep the populace under control, they introduced games in an arena where people are fighting for their own survival ...

What happens then is that these can oft times escalate beyond control ... and thus the games are cancelled ...

However, what happens then to all the players? Retirement isn't their cup of tea, right? Hehehe!

So what I liked about this series is the above and the fact that we get to see them ace cannon fodders left and right. Yup, that's the reason. It's good because that's ... more realistic? Hehehe!

Ratings: 8/10

2.48 (413) Dazzler vol 1 #37 ... Marvel ...

Half a year later, we pick up our thread in the life of Ms Blaire as we see here now largely going under disguise so that she is not hounded by crazies all the time ... crazies thanks to her role in that movie where she revealed her status as a mutant ...

In this issue, which is yet another standalone tale, one in a series of such, Alison decides to visit an old friend ... a rich old school friend ...

However, her luck is like that of Peter Parker. It's always bad and as the cover indicates, something has happened to her friend and before Alison could figure it out, BANG she is attacked on all sides by those samurai like automatons ... lots of tense moments and actions ... and a little brain work by Ms Blaire before she could find her way out of this hole

Ratings: 5/10

2.47 (412) Dazzler vol 1 #31 ... Marvel ...

It has been a while since we reviewed anything on Ms Blaire aka Dazzler so let's take a few minutes and cover yet another part of her 4-year series. Yes, surprising to those who didn't know, Alison Blaire who at that time didn't join the X-Men actually had a series that lasted 42 issues plus a 4-issue miniseries with the Beast towards the end of her run and also a graphic novel so she is officially more successful than a lot of the X-ladies

Anyway, this issue sees her in her non-superhuman guise ...

She is a young woman who is very much alone as she has had issues with her dad when she decided to embark on a career as a singer while he very much wanted her to follow her footsteps in the legal profession. On top of that, her mom had disappeared when she was but a child. So now, on the cusp of her big movie break and stardom, she has been badly advised about going public on being a mutant

I guess her publicist thought any publicity is better than no publicity

So this issue sees her being swept up in the arms of a man who made it big in the movie industry and she is staying at his place seeing the rewards of being at the top echelon of his chosen industry. Unfortunately, this being a comic, and as the cover clearly indicates, disaster strikes in the form of a tsunami ... and boy did we get an awesome scene of Dazzler standing there a wee little human against this titanic wave ... just ... plain ... wow!

Ratings: 6/10

2.46 (411) Daredevil vol 1 #268 ... Marvel ...

Six months down the line, a different writer and artist ... and we see a different direction for the Devil

After the mess in New York and Inferno, we see DD travelling incognito through small towns and suburbs across America ... trying to find himself I suppose ... although being a blind dude? And in this issue, what works really well is that we see the tale from so many perspective and not just from DD's. Even the narrative boxes works so well about appetites

SPOILER ALERT

DD or rather Matt has come to a small neighbourhood and in here, there is the usual "big" man who thinks he is really something when he is nothing compared to people like the Rose or Kingpin. Still big fish in small pond and all that, he takes what he wants and even tries to espouse his own weak knee philosophy on the rest of the people

And that's when our dear Matt realizes that like it or not, he has the urge to do something ... to balance the scales a little bit ... and it's just great the way he did it ... not just jumping in and knocking teeth out ...

Ratings: 6/10

2.45 (410) Daredevil vol 1 #262 ... Marvel ...

There was a time when all things mutants took centerstage and when there is an event, all other titles will try to tie in. Sad to say, Daredevil was cashing in on the Inferno storyline. For those who didn't know, the Inferno storyline takes on a few front in the various mutant titles. Example: in New Mutants, Illyana and her demons were instrumental in bringing the demons of Limbo to Earth while in the regular X-Men titles, it was Cyclops first wife, Madelyn who is now transformed into the Goblin King and instrumental in a deal with demons to devastate our world (yes we know it sounds ludicrous but you have to read it - quite good actually)

Anyway, here in this issue, after being beaten to near death in 260, we finally see DD coming to ... just as the world around him goes nuts and more and more things are being infected by the techno organic virus ... basically making all metallic and electronic items come alive hence the cover

What's cool about this issue is the fact that you really feel for DD ... the pain of gaining consciousness ... the struggle to survive ... and yet that fighting spirit that doesn't give up!

And o that awesome John Romita Jr artwork ... one of his best comic runs ever in our opinion is his work on DD

Ratings: 7/10

2.44 (409) Deathstroke the Terminator #27 ... DC ...

A few issues down the line and we open up this review with yet another issue where we have jumped right into the middle of yet another story arc. That's the thing with completing your collections from the quarter bins, eh? But I enjoy it. Never know what you may find and this one? It's awesome!

If you actually read the last 2 reviews, you will know what I like about comics like this that is not about super heroes and this issue delivers in spades

We see a reunited Deathstroke and his buddy Green ... as they find that all their past ties have come full circle and now rush to aid one of those ties ... unfortunately for them, the baddie of this arc is still one step ahead and reaches the destination before them

So while Death and his mates came upon the scene in time, it wasn't that much in time for some of the supporting cast. Mayhem ensues without a doubt and the best parts is ... there is no lame ass grunts ... well the grunts or rather cannon fodder are lame but it is deliberate and part of the storyline as you will find out before the end of the issue ... so great thinking ahead Mr Wolfman!

Love the scenes of the men in green getting their just desserts from bad ass Slade!

Ratings: 8/10

2.43 (408) Deathstroke the Terminator #20 ... DC ...

You know, not everything that was launched in the 90s were all about grimacing and posing and having spittle dripping between your clenched teeth and this comic book is one of those surprises. After enjoying the last issue, I decided to go back to the quarter bins and dug this and a few more up

And in 20, the tale that began issues earlier comes to its conclusion!

The crazy Amazon? SPOILER ALERT She decided to snatch the warheads from her boss and instead uses it to blackmail the world. I mean, come on! So our dear old Death naturally went in to spank her bottom

Why do we call her Amazon? Because not only is she dressed up like a superhuman but she surrounds herself with enough lady soldiers or bodyguards and that Mammoth fool? He is here and is a mental midget so naturally he is upset when he sees Slade aka Deathstroke is no longer his buddy

The last page or rather the final scenes in the last page is almost as good as the opening scenes in the last issue ... at least for this reviewer

Ratings: 6/10

2.42 (407) Deathstroke the Terminator #19 ... DC ...

I didn't know much about Deathstroke when the series came out and so it was refreshing to pick it up on the back issue bins and finding that while it is not about superheroes and costumes, it is still an entertaining read

This issue is in the middle of a story arc but still easy to follow through

We see Deathstroke going undercover to Russia to "assist" some psychos in retrieving Nukes when Russia was undergoing political turmoil and collapse of the USSR. And in the midst of all these is another undercover agent who decided to pull the plug early ... thus resulting in mayhem ...

As if that isn't bad enough, amongst the baddies, there is yet another betrayal by Ms Amazon (not her character's name - heh) ... and those who know Deathstroke's background would be wondering where his trusty sidekick Wintergreen was ... well Mr Wintergreen is shown as a prisoner in a jail cell!

So lots of things going on and while we do not know why certain things are happening, like I said at the start of the review, it's still easy to read and the artwork though workmanlike is sufficient and up to the task for this type of stories. I especially like the opening pages where Mammoth (big strong guy who seemed to be a superhuman) whacked the Russkies! Yes, man!

Ratings: 7/10 (1 point just for those opening scenes)

2.41 (406) Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #251 ... Marvels ...

If there is one person we all respect when reading all these old Marvels, it is Chris Claremont. He certainly brought life to a flagging title and made it the superstar it has been since then until now. The mutants have never slowed down ... gotten lost yet but slowed down no ... regardless of artist he is paired with ... sounds like Bendis, eh?

Anyway, before the big 250th, we saw that this incarnation of the X-chums have come to an end and all their thoughts of bringing the fight to their enemies lasted less than a good 2 year run ... oh well ... that's why they are predominantly heroes and not villains, eh?

So what happens after that? Before the return of the team?

Well, this issue kicks it all off as we see the old base of the X-Men ... it was by a team of semi-robot and partial-humans ... and now they have come back to reclaim what was lost ... and from the cover you can see that Wolvie encountered them .. and is left strung up in the open to die ... and yes it happened inside too so it's not a hype

However, a minor character introduced several issues ago ... the Asian American Jubilee who has since then stowed away in the home of the X-Men ... is still around and is shocked by what happens so will she go help Wolvie or is he bad ass enough to free himself? What do you think? Heh!

This is the start of the next incarnation of the X-Men and it ran on for another good 2 years before it morphed into something else ... so this issue is a definite must read ... the muddy inking and colouring and rush pencilling styles merely enhance the mood!

Ratings: 7/10

2.40 (405) Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #194 ... Marvel ...

If you have been a regular reader of our reviews, you will know that we are fans of big slug fest that is not based on high energy shoot outs although that is cool too. So what made us like this so good is the fact that there is Juggernaut on the cover and this is the first time he was totally pummelled!

And the storyline interiors didn't disappoint either

We see a subplot of a mysterious dock worker finally coming to fruition as it turns out he is a robotic entity from the future sent back in time ala Terminator ... except its name is Nimrod like out of myth and legend and his agenda is to terminate those that will prove  a threat to baseline humans and in this issue, he succeeds magnificently!

He attacked the most powerful of them all ... Juggernaut ... naturally Juggie is not a mutant but managed to give him a hard time tearing a huge chunk of real estate before even slowing down ... and this gets reported on the news!

So the X-Men instead of having a quiet day decides its time to investigate ... this inspite of their recent big walloping session with Jugs. What's charming is the different reactions we are given a view of by the various X-members when this news hits them such as Nightie's reluctance or Peter's dumb eagerness ...

The battle is indeed savage ... and thanks to a younger Romita Jr, the artwork is energetic without being too grim and gritty ... if it had been a Finch?!?!?!

The solution is ingenuous and not just all about brawn

Definitely a good read

Ratings: 8/10

2.39 (404) Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #193 ... Marvel ...

It had to happen. I am sure you knew that, right, dear readers? After all those reviews on the junior team, we now move back to the main team that started it all - Uncanny X-Men ... volume 1 (hehehe) ... yup this is way before the relaunches but what the heck we labelled it so as to be clear

This is an awesome double-sized issue of the X-Men

Inspite of Claremont's ability to weave tons of subplot and with more dangling to come in the issues ahead, to celebrate the 100th issue of this, the new X-Men, Claremont decided to do a homage back to the character he created and killed Thunderbird. NO SPOILER ALERT

For those not in the know, Thunderbird is an American Indian mutant who joined the X-Men along with Storm, Nightcrawler etc and finally made the X-Men a top tier title. However, he bit the dust in his first outing and we are not surprised. All his abilities are matched and surpassed by Wolverine from speed to strength to fighting skills to savagery. So what's the point of keeping him here, eh?

Now in this issue, his younger brother has come of age and inherited all of his brother's powers and so he plots revenge. Do note that at this time, he is still a member of the Hellions, junior members of the Hellfire Club similar to the New Mutants

But he is smart enough and cunning enough to make life a living hell for the X-Men all by his lonesome self by sowing dissension and confusion and even spiriting away people like Wolverine and the location is a defence base for the Israeli Army and what-not

Not so much power and energy shooting spectacular but a tight and taut tale

Definitely worth a re-read or three ... and o yes, this is the same guy who has since grown to be Warpath in X-Force becoming a giant size super strong chap and then subsequently armed himself with those two dagger like blades that he carries around these days

Ratings: 8/10

2.38 (403) New Mutants vol 1 #32 to 34 ... Marvel ...

This issue introduces a new artist and since the success of Bill S, Marvel, I guess, decided to do another artist who doesn't follow the house style and ... for me, it doesn't work. It looks just way too amateurish and clutter making the reading experience less than pleasant. After the first issue, I almost dropped it but at that time, we have the completest mentality going around ... that and the fact that I am still a kid so ...

However, it was saved by the continuing storyline that sees the Mutants successfully tracking down Karma ... except that not only is Karma this huge bitch but her powers of mind-control seems to have grown exponentially as well allowing her to possess several persons at one time ... which initially was something the mutants didn't expect and thus fell hard for it ...

Until Magik (Illyana) came up with a plan of her own on how to save her teammates and defeat the evil witch ... which involves some deception on her part ... but since Illyana is supposedly a witch too ... nothing surprising there except for the hurt feelings of some of her more self-righteous teammates

At this juncture, we have to share that this series does crossover into the Summer event of X-Men/ Alpha Flight, New Mutants Special Edition and X-Men Annual before resuming back into 35. Therefore if you enjoyed the Bill S experience, we still encourage you to wade through these 3 issues as the storylines are indeed continuous

Enjoy

Ratings: 7/10

2.37 (402) New Mutants vol 1 #29 to 31 ... Marvel ...

Do you remember some of the weird lame ass seeming characters introduced in the Dazzler and Beast mini-series, Beauty and the Beast? Well, if you don't, no one blames you as it certainly wasn't significant except for a guy who claims to be the real life heir of Doctor Doom NO SPOILER ALERT

Anyway this 3-parter is so good that it rightly deserves its own individual reviews rather than smushed into one like this but ...

#29 - as the cover shows, some of the mutants are "kidnapped" and forced to fight in the Arena against the gladiators who happened to be in the BB mini-series. For those who read this when it first came out, the first reaction would naturally be WTF? Because when that ended, the Mutants had learnt to be free of Doom wannabe and supposedly gone to a better lifestyle than this. So what gives, eh? And o yes, naturally, this is the perfect excuse to introduce Alison Blaire to this title

#30 - next issue, Alison is back and fighting to be top dog of this vehicle or so it seems. Is she slipping back into style because she misses the high of being a performer after her big expose as a mutant forbid her from being an on-stage singer? Or is she merely pretending? And amidst all these, Magneto comes onboard to offer them an out. Remember that last X-Men movie where he ripped a huge stadium shaped thingie? He does that here. And that's how this issue earned its crossover to SW2 but the question on your mind is who the F is running the show since it is most definitely not baby Doom anymore

#31 - the big reveal NO SPOILER ALERT and it is shown on the arty cover as the baddie is ... the first of the Mutants, Karma except she is no longer that shy, lacking in self confidence Vietnamese girl but a hugely bloated bitch. Naturally when faced with overwhelming odds, she bolted and the Mutants are free. Except that since she was once one of them, they decided that they needed to find her and rescue her from herself in need be. O glorious heroics eh? Hahahahahah! We also bid a fond farewell to Bill S with this issue

Ratings: 8/10

2.36 (401) New Mutants vol 1 #23 to 25 ... Marvel ...

We kick off our next 100th reviews (fingers crossed and all that) by taking a plunge back to the 80s with the first spin-off mutant titles. Yes, there was a time when each title had its own identity and was told for a looooooooooong spell without relaunches and a spin off only comes around when it makes story telling sense

The New Mutants as the title indicates are young people who come into their abilities and brought in by Prof X not to be heroes like X-Men but to learn both normal lessons and how to control their abilities so that they can rejoin the greater world outside ... but as it is still people in costumes there will be the occasional foray into superheroics

What is entertaining is that from issue 17 onwards most of the stories are told in 3-issue arcs and with awesome cover art by Bill S. The interiors are also done by him but almost a different style especially with the heavier inking making everything look moody and muddled

In this 3 issue arc after issue 22's breather told in one, we see the youngest of the team, Rahne Sinclair (the werewolf girl) and Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot) ... being embroiled in something totally unexpected SPOILER ALERT ... drugs! Experimental drugs to be more precise with the ability to bring out the worse in people, super or regular

And naturally the Marvel heroes who are generally involved in anything drugs is Cloak and Dagger - she is a mistress of light who dances and shoots a light beam that can freeze her opponents amongst other things while he has a teleporting cloak that can grow and envelope many things and people and also chill his opponents

At this juncture, some may be confused about the origins of C and D and to be honest, so are we. At first, they are regular kids who got involved in drugs that transformed them. Over the years and different writers, in order to boost their popularity, there was at one time stated that they were mutants as well and the drugs merely knocked the power out of them or some such. So one has to wonder eh? But at this point in their storylines, they were NOT mutants

And so you have it!

Of course once the rest of the team realizes what is going on, they rush in to help and all sorts of mayhem ensues. As for supporting cast, we have a "preacher" who assists. All in all, a very "mature" sort of storyline involving the junior members of the X-team. And over the course of their series, basically that's the type of stories you get ... the villains are less colourful


than the X-Men and more grounded

Ratings: 8/10

2.35 (400) Prophet vol 2 #4 ... Image ...

Welcome to our 400th review and to celebrate we have a comic with the answers all told in one issue ... yes a rarity and not only does it not feel rushed, it feels just perfect - great timing/ pacing. The artwork from cover to interiors are plain awesome and that coloring? Just perfect. Just ... look at it! And go buy several issues for your friends and neighbours please hahaha!

Okay

After the hectic saga of issues 1 to 3, this is supposed to be the downtime. However, before anything can happen SPOILER ALERT enter the New Men. New Men are another of Rob's studio's great creations where a bunch of young people with special abilities are brought together (not by bald wheelchair bound chap) by coincidence and an experienced individual and here ... they believed that Prophet may hold the key to the salvation of one of their own

Unfortunately, in order to satisfy the quota of a brief but necessary battle scene as is the wont of superhero comics, there is confusion/ misunderstanding and so a fight ensues ... it is brief but wonderfully told and we have absolutely no problems with it as we like our heroes to fight too (hey if not why read a Marvel these days, right? Hahahaha)

But the best part?

It ends here and ends on a good note. Very satisfying ...

Ratings: 9/10

2.34 (399) Prophet vol 2 #3 ... Image ...

Issue 2 was the one issue of Prophet that we reviewed a loooooooooong time ago and hence that's why we started with 1 and now 3

And in this issue (damn love that cover) we finally get the ending we deserved NO SPOILERS as John (yup that name) finds out the truth about his own background and how he has been utilized over the generations ... and how he may not be the Prophet that he thought he was ... although the Disciples are there and just as nasty

He also finds out more about why he is always thinking and quoting Biblical phrases where we as readers have been reading in the narrative boxes ... which is really great because at least now we know that there is a story logic to it all and not just purely there to seem cool

And best of all he finds out more about his supposed friends and teammates

So all in all a great opening arc for this series and looking forward to it ... if only it hadn't ended abruptly within the next few issues ... ah well ... at least it didn't drag on and become crappy like Power Pack ... hahahaha!

Ratings: 10/10