2.160 (525) The Immortal Iron Fist #2 ... Marvel ...

Before this series came out, I have no idea who David Aja, artist is but after that first issue, I knew regardless of the quality of story, I would stop by for issue 2 and the surprise here is that writers, Matt and Ed decided that it is their turn to shine. And so we get a comic where all creators are going all out to impress we the readers thus resulting in an entertaining read!

This book opens with a style that is soon to be recurring throughout its 2-year-plus run with flashbacks to other Iron Fists and so it is great that we get a glimpse of hundreds of years ago somewhere in China where pirates come to do a little raiding by sea only to encounter a female Iron Fist ...

But hey Rand is the star so let's not forget him although his first appearance here is more akin to a falling star as we see him tumble through the skies right through some construction before realizing ain't no way he is able to stay conscious

SPOILER ALERT

Loved also the way that other super heroes pop up in this comic book as part of the supporting cast without the need to publicize on the cover. So we see Luke Cage dropping by to check up on a recovering Danny and loved, loved, loved the banter between the two of them over Chinese takeaway

However, as if that wasn't tough enough, we see moves of a hostile company takeover on Danny's Rand Inc by someone who is possibly linked or hired on Hydra goons. So Danny has yet another nightmare on his shoulders and one where he couldn't just karate-chop it away

Now if you thought that was enough of a revelation ... well it isn't according to our writers as we see yet another new character making his way into USA only to encounter trouble! SPOILER ALERT and what he uses to help himself is sure to make everyone reading this, fans new and old gasp in surprise!

Ratings: 7/10

2.159 (524) Realm of Kings - Inhumans #1 ... Marvel ...

[We are approx. 1 month behind now in our reviews and for our regular subscribers, we do apologize]

Anyhow, a looooooooong time ago ... or rather in 2008/ 2009, back when Marvel was exploring its vast catalogue of characters, it had decided to split events into Marvel U and then more contained sub events in the Mutant verse and finally the cosmic folks and this one is an epilogue of sorts to the awesome War of Kings

For those unfamiliar, think Guardians of the Galaxy and you are fine

Inhumans are basically an offshoot of humanity on earth where eons ago a space faring race called Kree came to experiment upon and then thinking that it was a failure, left them behind. So what happens is that they have since then lived by themselves hidden from the general public awareness of Earth. What made them different is that every child is exposed to something called the Terrigen Mists that mutates them and bring out different abilities including what we would term deformities or monstrosities but not to the Inhumans

Next bit of background info is that in the War of King, basically Inhumans kicked Kree asses and then ruled them. Unfortunately another space faring race called Shiar also tried to launch an attack on them and they also kicked said Shiar's asses so now they have 2 Empires. The only problem is that they lost their king, Black Bolt to the cause

And so this issue opens ... what should be a normal epilogue is not ... in fact, the writers have made this into an integral ongoing saga of the previous limited series as we see the Inhumans adapting to the roles of rulers of 2 Empires now and playing politics while simultaneously denizens from the Negative Zone try to expand its own Empires

But that is not the extent of the threat

We are given hints that Medusa, the queen is still harbouring hopes of finding hubby alive and thus divide their already stretched resources in that direction ... and like all newly come into power, she is protective of future heir, her young son ... and worrying and seeing shadows where there may not be while all the time, at her side is the most treacherous of Inhumans, Maximus who once again appears to be "normal" and not the "mad" ... sigh ... when will super heroes ever learn, eh?

Ratings: 6/10

2.158 (523) X-Factor vol 1 #11 ... Marvel ...

There was a time ... a few decades ago ... that whenever it was time for a huge crossover yearly event, it was what it promised to be - an event. Not just recycled old villains going through the motions on a larger scale but rather something new entirely

So this year is the year of a storyline called Mutant Massacre. The thread is straightforward. At this point in time, a hidden figure has sent forth some super nasty cold blooded assassins into the Morlock tunnels to assassinate all mutants living there. The X-Men got involved because Storm, leader of the X-Men at that time is also the leader of the Morlocks while X-Factor got dragged in due to the fact that they enjoyed running through the sewers more or less from their office to the outside world so that no one can linked them to mutant hunters' front that they were presenting at that time. Got it?

This issue is the tail-end of their involvement

We open up with the final bits and pieces of fight scenes between various members of X-Factor and loose factions of mutant-dom with them rescuing sorry looking kiddie muties and kicking ass a lot. Unfortunately, they didn't escape unscathed and one of those in serious medical issues is Angel

The really noteworthy bits about this issue for those of you who only know the team of X in more present terms are actually quite a fair bit and we will highlight them to you SPOILER ALERT as follows:

1. Angel is still Angel and in fact, it is because of this injury that is the opening act in him becoming Archangel

2. Apocalypse is a new villain in Marvel U having just finished his arc with X-Factor in issue 6 and is given cameos here as he goes about recruiting down-and-out mutants who have tremendous power and potential

3. Naturally here we are also introduced to a whole host of mutants like Scalphunter and others but not their enigmatic leader

4. Sinister will be identified as said manipulator and in a typical retcon of story telling, we will in decades to come find out that Gambit, future X-Men was part of the Marauders although throughout its original run, we were not given even a hint of Gambit - hah - bad retcon, eh?

Still, overall, an entertaining chapter in the life of a new comic series

Ratings: 5/10 (would be higher but the artwork didn't quite match this book's requirements)

2.157 (522) X-Men vol 1 #8 ... Marvel ...

Christmas Day 2015 and what better celebration than to do a review of one of the all-time favourite artists in comics - Jim Lee! Yeah, man! When you look back at these early 90s work, you can, naturally see that in many ways, it does look dated when compared to today's artists especially in terms of paper quality, printing and colouring but then again, you can see just how much energy and crazy detail Lee has put in into each of his pages

Anyhow, this tale is on the X-Men's downtime except that this time, they are really just chilling out instead of the usual soft ball game that was their past fave thing to do. What can we look forward to in this issue?

Well ... SPOILER ALERT ...

As the cover indicated, we see Bishop (waaay back then he was a grim and gritty policeman from the future not yet given over to the dark side ... ooooops wait wrong comics .... ) who is still adjusting to his time here on Earth in our timezone ... and trying to discover the identity of the man who would betray the X-Men. Gambit, being the sole survivor to Bishop's future, Bishop suspects that it is him and takes the opportunity to confront Gambit ... but rest assured, no big fights ensue

Then we have one guest star ... as we learn SPOILER ALERT that Gambit's other half is not dead but for some reason, still alive and kicking ... and coming to get him because the peace between their two families is about over and Gambit has a huge part to play in the forthcoming drama

And finally, the most interesting titbit continues as we see Psylock and uh-uhm ... Cyclops ... Cyke sure has a thing for telepaths, eh? From Jean to her clone, Madelyn then to this brief flirtation with Psylock before finally (in today's comic times) settling for Emma the White Queen, yet another telepath

Enjoy!

Ratings: 7/10

2.156 (521) Archer and Armstrong (2012) #1 ... Valiant ...

I am NOT going into the history of Valiant nor am I going to talk about this re-launch Valiant but instead I want to tell you, right up front, this is not your typical supes and capes type of comic. In fact, the good guys here wear pants and t-shirt and jackets and hats. The bad guys come in suits and military gear. There is only ONE sect whose henchmen dress in something resembling your typical superhero type of gear. But you know what? For someone whose comics are probably over 90% superheroes, I found that this series is so highly entertaining that I kept checking the shelves for each TPB that was released. Because it is so good that soft copy just isn't enough!

Okay?

So Archer is one of many kids raised in a religious compound that is also a religious themed theme park during the day. The children are raised in the believe that the best will be assigned special missions to achieve that of their adopted parents. And Archer was led to believe that he is the only one not adopted

On the other side, there is he who must not be named (no not Voldemort!), Armstrong. Armstrong is part of an ancient civilization who had thrived thousands of years ago. And one little incident wiped them out leaving Armstrong to wander the earth all alone as he watched civilization start anew. So while he is fat, loves to drink and takes young ladies to the bedroom, he is also incredibly knowledgeable and near "un" killable but not like Wolverine, okay?

Now that you know our primary players, let's get into the thick of things. We see here that Archer (Obie) passes the final tests by beating all the other kids and is thus assigned to go out and kill he who must not be named as well as to retrieve more pieces of an ancient machinery. What that is ties back to Armstrong's own past and as luck would have it, they ran into each other in a pub

It's a joy to see old-fashioned super uptight upbringing like Archer's colliding with our modern world juxtapose with someone who has the most right to be old-fashioned but instead is a freewheeling opportunist .. Armstrong is a bouncer in that pub! Naturally a fight ensues ... and we end with Archer learning a wee bit more about his "mom and dad" and it ain't pretty!

Great opening issue that feels like watching an excellent tv serial!

Ratings: 8/10

2.155 (520) Punisher War Zone (2007) #1 ... Marvel ...

This is sort of an odd issue for me in terms of the artwork. While I liked the fact that Ariel makes his figures huge and bulky and the facials are perfect, the fact that the colouring and inking/ shadowing using so much light/ watered down/ pastel effect simply makes the whole book ... or at least softens the impact of this comic which is a shame because as a storyline goes, this one opens with a huge BANG!

I mean this is Frank Castle, the Punisher we are talking about. The one real "hero" in the Marvel Universe who has no powers and yet is serious enough about crimes to put an end to it rather than those supes in capes who enjoyed incarcerating villains so that they can escape and murder others again and again and again ... almost as if ensuring that the supes have something to do, eh?

So sometimes the Punisher does feature in the more colourful main landscapes of the 616 while at others he is more street level. This series aims to bring Frank back into the landscape of the supes by having him take part in the Civil War between Iron Man and Captain America

Anyway, it starts up simply enough with Frank being annoyed about the Civil War but not participating. He goes about doing his job of taking down bad guys. Unfortunately, this is the one time where Stilt Man decides to go straight and thinks that when he encounters Frank, it is going to be a team-up ... well, he sure doesn't get Frank, does he? Because in Frank's books, if you are a villain, you stay a villain and the best way is to stay dead. Love, love, love the scene on how Frank brought him down (literally)

Well, if you are not reading the rest of the tie-ins to Civil War (like us), you will be left wondering why GW Bridge is now old and fat and a practising Muslim because hey in Cable? He wasn't. And why the heck is SHIELD suddenly asking him to bring down or bring in the Punisher

Seeing that the opposition has stepped up, Punisher decides he needs a new wing man kinda like his old pal Microchip. And away he goes recruiting ... SPOILER ALERT ... only to encounter after a few worthwhile trips a case of Civil War that has him left with literally no choice. If he stepped aside, a good guy could potentially bit the dust and it's a character that Frank knows well over the years. Thus that is how they introduce Frank back into the world of the supes ... and left us wanting more ... more violence and goodness hehehe!

Ratings: 7/10

2.154 (519) Secret Wars vol 1 #7 .. Marvel ...

[We have fallen way behind in our reviews. Today is already the 10th of Jan and we are still doing for 19th of Dec. Let's try to catch up, eh?]

In honor of the ongoing madness in Marvel's latest miniseries a similarly named Secret Wars, let's turn back the clock to the 80s where the original Secret Wars is. And now, we have just stepped past the halfway mark as we review issue 7

Talk about action, intrigue and a tale from many angles. Here in this issue, there is so much here that we cannot even find a quick way to summarize except to say that .. the heroes have split into two camps earlier with the mutants on one side (natch) and the heroes on the other. However, here, owing to ongoing investigation done by Prof X, he decided that the threat is so big, it will take both teams to re-combine SPOILER ALERT because Galactus is here and about to make his move! Cap obviously agrees because Mr Flag believes in the goodness of everyone or some such nonsense. Hahaha!

While on the villains side, it is even worse. There is, at this point, the mysterious Beyonder who is still nothing more than a presence. Then we have Galactus as mentioned earlier with his world ship and devices planning his own move to either defeat or get away from the madness of Battleworld

Obviously Doom is his own team since he believes himself the superior of everyone. And even in defeat and near death, he learned something new. But what will that result in? Future issues for us to find out. On Doom's side, we have the mad Klaw and equally loony Lizard. But the surprise of the moment is Ultron

Finally the remainder of the villains are seen fleeing inspite of having achieved a momentus victory by trashing She Hulk to within an inch of her life. The biggest casualty is Molecule Man who was savaged! So they are retreating but find that they have no safe haven. Will they team up with Doom?

And what's up with the alien healer, Esaji?

So much goodness all in one flimsy issue. Is it any wonder that this comic was a hit?

Ratings: 7/10

2.153 (518) Darth Vader (2015) #2 ... Marvel ...

By now, everyone out there who doesn't live under a rock would have heard how awesome was the sales numbers of Star Wars the Movie Episode VII ... and of course the limp ass Kylo Ren, baddie, Darth Vader wannabe because he looked so cool in the previews but so lame in the movie. Anyone can give him a hard time. You sort of wonder how he managed to sabotage Luke Skywalker then, eh?

Anyway, that's neither here nor there because what we want to talk about is the awesomeness of this comic. And in issue 2 it doesn't let up one inch in the awesomeness department. First up, just look at that amazing cover, eh?

Well this issue continues right off from 1 with Darth Vader trying to preserve his tenuous position in the Empire what with challenges from the military not counting his own Sith Lord, the Emperor and all the while trying to track down the user of the force, the boy Skywalker

We see him putting plans in motion even as someone suspects him of doing something he shouldn't. And the "overseer" who is sent to work with him naturally meets his own just desserts

What is really awesome here is the artwork. Salvador Larocca is a perfect fit here. The lines are clean and the background is chockfull of details. Yet at no time is there clutter i.e lines and items for the sake of filling up space. And at no time, does it feel too polished. In fact, it feels just right. Shiny and smooth breathing menace!

Ratings: 8/10

2.152 (517) Captain America vol 2 (Heroes Reborn) #1 ... Marvel ...

I have to admit that prior to this release, I was not a fan of Captain America. I did not mind when he made his appearances in Avengers but his own solo title was good for the casual peruse while at local convenience stores' spinner racks (back in those days). So when it was announced that Captain A would be one of the titles involved in Heroes Reborn, it was not on my pull list and look at the cover! So not there when compared to say Iron Man or Avengers. But the moment I bought it (with the white cover) and got home and read it ... well I was hooked and knew for sure, I would follow the next few issues. That's how good it was

Of course, if you do online googling, you will find that this issue is one of those that earned creator Rob a lot of flak from his detractors but you know what? To heck with them all. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Don't read it. Why bother spending hours and days just typing up articles to put down someone, right? And anyway, no one artist is perfect. Here in this issue, there is so much goodness that why anyone would want to look at the negatives is beyond me ...

Examples of what I enjoyed included:

Page 3 - with Cap holding his shield up close and looking serious - every inch the war hero!

Nukes - the page where Agent Hunt (Mission Impossible? Hahaha) - come on! That is so awesome and scary - the shiny and clean lines of the Nukes versus the darker, warmer colours of Hunt and his rocky outcropping

Nick Fury - splash page - you can tell that Rob is a fan of Fury. That is one awesome Nick!

See?

SPOILER ALERT

Story wise, everything goes off at a rapid pace with no time wasted on why Rogers is awake from WW2 without remembering anything (kind of like Wolverine). We see him dreaming more and more of a time in WW2 when he is dressed in a costume but he does not know why he has this dream and is afraid to tell his wife even though he supposedly is in love with her

And one fine day, while engaging in his routine dredge of a job, an old black chap ... who apparently has been tracking him down for over 50 years ... finally sees him passing by and waited for him to finish work ... because this man found the shield of Captain A and is looking for Steve to return it. Unfortunately all is not on the up and up in Steve's life as some of those around him are posing as friends and colleagues for Master Man and his World Party

Master who?

Master Man is one of the engineered super humans from WW2 who like the Skull survived WW2 and is now establishing a new party called the World Party aimed at Aryan Supremacy. Some of the rhetoric he spills when standing in front of his supporters ... well if you take out the Nazi reference ... can fit many of the situations in our world today as there are still politicians who do this. Scary when you think about it. Open racism!

Anyway, aside from Master Man and the Spy Hunt, we also see a new "Barnes" in the form of a young girl named Rikki whose dream is to be a dancer. And her dumb brother who is buying into the World Party spiel

So what happens next?

Fight fight fight that's what! Great stuff here with Rogers recovering part of his senses and taking down goons but how much does he really remember eh? Well that's for issue 2

Ratings: 8/10

2.151 (516) New Avengers vol 1 #5 ... Marvel ...

Before you read any further ... the most important thing to know is ... the artwork is DAVID FINCH! And if you are a huge fan like us, then this is most definitely for you. Buying softcopy is not enough. You need at least the tradepaperback or even the floppies. So glad we got it when it originally came out in sequentials hehehe!

Check out that awesome cover!

Alright as for the storyline, it continues as the (unofficial at this point) Avengers continue to track down escapees from the Raft break out while trying to figure out what the F is really going on but they haven't much time. Why? Because they are in the Savage Land and as the opening pages show, dinosaurs are trying to chomp them up

Yup Savage Land that unique piece of warm climate somewhere in the snowbound south where apparently time stood still, well, not really except that evolution is kinda screwy there

Anyway, to our Avengers' utter surprise out comes Wolverine and what a NASTY scene it was when he jumped on Spider-woman. Damn! But that's important is that after teasing everyone with the cover way back in issue 1, Bendis finally got around to introducing Wolvie to this ongoing volume of the Avengers. Naturally a short fight ensues before everyone questions everyone else on why they are in the Savage Land

The cool bit here is when the nasties uses vertigo and WHACK them all unconscious SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT the bad bit is why did the mutates not kill them? They know the Avengers are super powerful and they are nowhere near their league. So you know in a few pages, even though they are stripped and naked (yes you read that right) the Avengers are so going to wipe the floor with those mutates. Sigh!

And as for Wolvie? The person he is tracking is Lykos, Sauron a chap who sucks mutant energies to transform himself into pterodactyl. Yup, that's it. Come on! Sabretooth I can understand. Even Jugs but Sauron? Never understood why no one bothered to just shoot the old wild life out of him, eh?

Ratings: 7/10

2.150 (515) New Mutants vol 1 #1 ... Marvel ...

Yeeeees! Yaaaaay! For our volume 2 or "year 2" or "season 2" reviews, we hit our 150th review which is just awesome. So at this point, we have to wonder, do we start with calendar year as year 3 or do we wait until we hit 365 like a normal year? Reason is volume 1 was reviews done daily but as time progresses and we added in movies and novels reviews amongst others, we did this on alternate days and even then, we are severely behind by now nearly 3 weeks or thereabouts.

We think, for ease of reference, we will wait until 365, eh?

Anyway, for this special occasion, we review the original, the first splinter X-team waaaay back when mutants were at the top heap of the comics monthly sales charts and popularity. Here, author Claremont decided to go back to the early days of the X-Men when the school is more a school than a training ground for super-heroes which was what the X-Men had transformed into. And here, in their first issue though not their first appearance (for that you need the Graphic Novel), we see newbies:

1. Xian (Vietnamese and ability to possess people) - sad she never stayed long enough and only popped up whenever someone remembered to use her

2. Mirage (American Indian with the ability to channel someone's deepest fear) and at this stage still feel that she is not of much use and generally scared of everything

3. Cannonball (your typical red neck geek?) who is having huge issues controlling his power in the sense that he can generate and fly but had to tone down the sound of his flight or even turn

4. Sunspot (Brazillian) and the only one who can control his power which is like low grade Superman as he uses the sun to charge his body into super strong form and ... that's it. Lame? But the visuals are great though

5. Wolfsbane (Scots) who can ... change into a full blown wolf form or a were wolf ... hey every team needs someone savage with claws, right? But she is the lamest of them all in the M U hahaha!

Anyway, here in issue 1 they are brought together in X Mansion and gets to know each other ... with all the usual teen angst and conflicts unfolding ... and also to know the Danger room as Prof X (who seemed unnecessarily harsh and cold here) shows them the ropes of the room and how much more they have to go through training to be acceptable

Sideplot wise, we have 2 (hey this is Claremont). Firstly is the government keeping an eye on them which is fine but what is amazing now that we have re-read is the plot about Moira McTagggert and Gabrielle Haller because what started here in 1 will get full blown main plot attention only from issues 23 to 25! How's for building up suspense, eh? Imagine plotting that far down the line! Awesome, Claremont, just plain awesome!

Ratings: 6/10 (not enough fights - sorry that's why I buy comics)

2.149 (514) Alpha Flight vol 1 #7 ... Marvel ...

[Even though the date is 9th Dec but we are doing this on 3rd Jan 2016 - Happy New Year - so we are going to do a batch of bullet reviews to catch up, okay? As we are reading a lot of newer stuff not just comics from decades ago ... hehehe and want to share with you all]

In this, the 7th issue, the spotlight is on the speed twins of Northstar and Aurora. Waaaay back then, they travel together and do things together. Waaaay back then, when they joined hands, they can generate super powerful intensity light that blinds opponents and waaaay back then, we were not given the knowledge about Northstar's sexual orientation. Got it? Good, then you are ready

Here the issue splits into three, not just two from the previous format as writer John Byrne (awesome chap) decides not to waste our time by having sub plots littered throughout the main thrust of the story and what is this main thrust?

Well, firstly we have Aurora in her human, prim n proper personae going through a check up to determine if she is "normal" as her brother worries that her split personality may cause more damage to come and true enough, it does show up her in bits and pieces but basically aside from this, the remainder is prelude to something else as the twins run across old friends who on the surface seemed to be doing fine until a stranger comes along

Flip to the next shortest segment and we see a man who is down on his luck and have a poor outlook on life suddenly being approached by a snazzily dressed lady and you just know that troubles a brewing for the future eh? Because this lady is on a recruitment drive ... but for what? Well, this IS a sub plot

Finally we venture further into the past as Byrne continues his take on the individual origins of the team. Here is Snowbird and it actually goes waaaaay back to how researchers found some ancient sites of the old "northern" gods of Canada ... naturally Shaman is involved ... and we see Snowbird finally arriving in the human world as a one year old child! Now that is truly an origin, eh?

Ratings: 6/10 (would have rated higher if the main storyline had a little more villainy and action)

2.148 (513) Stormwatch vol 1 #10 ... Image ...

This is a shocker. As we checked our archives, we are embarrassed to admit that we have never reviewed a Stormwatch issue. Why? Because the first few issues of Storm was actually very entertaining with great artwork, colouring and a decent line up of characters

Here in this issue, the artwork has morphed into something more serviceable and less posturing but still good. The artist in this issue even tried something different with 2 page spreads broken up with side panels. All well and good, eh?

Storywise, this takes place immediately after Image's original novelty i.e. each title that wants to ... can participate by printing issue 25 of their series ahead i.e. after Stormwatch 9 came out ... it was 25 before 10. So here in 10 we get a SPOILER ALERT glimpse of what went on with 25 ....

For the Stormwatch portion of this 25 event, the writer decided to make it a time jump forward where leader, Battalion discovered that in just a short time, he was dead, his psycho father is back to being a major super bad guy and many of the team he led is either killed or been transformed. So he started off this issue by logging his thoughts for the future incarnation of the Watch team when he is called to duty (hey this is a comics and we need our action)

Apparently, the super nasty looking chap from issue 4, Talos who escaped is discovered. As expected, from Image of that time, the strength and abilities of the bad guys tend to waver. Here the threat is supposedly great but easily taken down. Talos is attacking a special weapons firm to steal some of their tech for himself when Watch comes in to kick his butt and kicked it they do and ... that's it ... hehehe

Ratings: 5/10

2.147 (512) Moon Knight vol 3 (2007) #7 ... Marvel ...

Approximately 450 reviews ago (can you beat that?), we did a batch review of the first story arc and how awesome this series' re-launch was. So we figured, it's time we move to the second story arc

The awesome bit first - David Finch is still on art duties. So it means that no matter how lame this story is, it will still rate well simply because of his work but thank goodness, this first chapter continued strongly in the vein of the first arc

As the cover shows, there is a cameo by Spidey (and no stupid super hero fight here). This tale takes place at the early part of Civil War, the Marvel event where heroes are split owing to the registration act with Iron Man on the government's side (obviously since he loves their defence contract money hahaha) and Captain America on the opposing side (proving that there is a difference between government and country)

Anyway, we start off with Marc slowly getting back in the groove even as his body is complaining about the hardship he puts it through, he is doing the rounds on the rougher neighbourhoods giving hoodlums a hard time. Naturally his own inner demons are still popping up as if they are real instead of figments of his imagination but the thrust of this entire issue is to hint at the villain that will be appearing in this particular arc (someone who loves clocks - sorry I couldn't even spoil it for you if I wanted to as I am not a 100% follower of Marc's earlier volumes and have no idea who this villain is except that he isn't knew) and Marc doing the rounds trying to assemble a crew to work with him so that he can carry on his plans of being the superhero vigilante once more

And amongst the rounds include a visit to his old pilot/ mercenary buddy, the gay French guy nicknamed Frenchie in his restaurant, an old African American lady and a few others ...

SPOILER ALERT About the only thing we can spoil it for you is that on the last page, Captain America pops by and then it's to be continued moment. See? Civil War crossover

Ratings: 6/10

2.146 (511) Bloodstrike vol 1 ongoing #3 ... Image ...

When you are a kid in your teens and you go to a comic book specialty shop and this cover just stands there on the racks ... you know you want it because just look at it! Two chaps going at it full blown. Isn't that even more awesome than any of those wrestling and MMA events? This book with Dan Fraga as artist onboard kicks all kinds of @$$ ... and the colorist is improving by leaps and bounds too ... hehehe

Anyway as the cover indicates, this is the fourth and final part of the Blood Brothers saga (in Bloodstrike that is). To sum it up, there are two brothers, John and Cabbot with the former being the elder brother. When growing up with their psycho father, they were consistently pit against each other with one being weaker. Naturally when both grew up, they have no love for each other ... and father dearest makes appearances SPOILER ALERT in later issues

However at this juncture, John had gone off from his tenure in Youngblood owing to disciplinary issues in anger management and formed his own group to supposedly show up the govt (yeah right and you never get to see much of this unfortunately) ... so to cover their tracks, the govt sicced their new team from Project Born Again (read that as reanimated bodies i.e. zombies of a sort) to take down and if required kill everyone in John's team. Coincidentally this new govt team is led by John's younger brother, Cabbot

Got it?

So this issue opens like most Bloodstrike issues with awesome interior artworks and revelations - the first of which is the mutation of Coldsnap right there on page 1! Day-mn! And while the fight continues as each side tries to take down the other (for the remainder of the issue it is one awesome fight), on another part of the world, good old sexy Lethal went on a recruitment mission to help her buddy, who she tries to assure everyone else is not her buddy (hmmm) ... suffice to say that if you read this issue, you are guaranteed excitement up the wazoo ... everything is just so good here ... and the only letdown would be the second story of some knights in space where while the artwork is good enough but unfortunately with Dan Fraga in lead story ... this one just looks so sad that I skipped it after the first 2 pages ... that's how good the main tale is hah!

Ratings: 7/10

2.145 (510) Captain America vol 4 (2002 to 2004) #2 ... Marvel ...

It's been over a year since I reviewed issue 1 of this volume and not because I do not like the first 6 issues (I love it) but that the topic, if one were to randomly read just an issue, might seem inappropriate in our world of today what with all the bombings and terrorism going on but author Ney Reiber hit this subject matter so well in his own view that I figured ... let's do this

In issue 1, you have Steve as Captain America being on missions not against supervillains but against bombs and what-not in good ole USA. But as this is a super hero comic, you just know that there must be more to it than that

What stands out in this volume is the narrative manner of artist and caption boxes where both worked so well ... at times it seems like a monologue and at times as if from a third party yet everything reads seamlessly

This issue SPOILER ALERT opens with a kidnapping ... and then is revealed that there is a mad bomber plot going on ... and this time they attacked a church in a red neck part of USA with a reporter being forced to "report" from the terrorists point of view ... but basically what they are doing is to drive out Captain A. So you have to be wondering say what?!?!?!

And Cap sensing that time is running out realizes he has no choice but to go charging head on hoping that his skills is enough to see him through

Now before anyone goes jumping to conclusions, yes the guy at this point calls himself Al Tariq and he has kids dressed up with head scarves and long robes ... and that's the cliff hanger but hang on ... I encouraged you to read the rest of the next few issues because you will discover that author Rieber has thought this through ... and it's not necessarily anti-Muslim or Islam issue but something akin to almost paranoia in the West ... using doubt to tear apart a society ... good stuff

Ratings: 8/10