2.91 (456) Villains for Hire #2 ... Marvel ...

Seriously, I have no idea why they rolled this one out. I mean, Misty Knight and the Purple Man. Both are B list at best. Sure Misty has had some decent cameos, guest star, supporting roles - call it what you want but whenever she headlined anything be it with Colleen Wing or others, she has always never achieve moderate success. So what's with this new version, eh?

And here we see the continuing adventures of Ms Knight as her crew of villains go up against yet another job that belonged to the Purple Man and beating him at his game. So is she merely being the good guy using villains or has she decided to vie for one of the top spots of a Marvel baddie?

At this juncture, we know not except that someone who seemed to be her are pulling the nasty shots. And we even see that she is willing to put one in the back, literally, just to achieve whatever she wants. So it is an impressive issue ... not strong enough for her own mini or ongoing but enough to make us intereste in 3 next

Ratings: 5/10

2.90 (455) Wetworks vol 2 #2 ... Wildstorm ...

You know that saying, sometimes you shouldn't go back and revisit places where your memories are so beautifully stored and treasured? Sad to say, for me, in this case, Whilce should not have returned to Wetworks. What he did in volume 1 for his own issues was brilliant and him at the pinnacle of his artistry

This volume told several years later? Sorry, for me it feels like a nod to the first volume and while the story has deviated and evolved but it isn't sufficient to carry the series much and from a weak issue 1 to this, you just know it is going to be cancelled even if Whilce is onboard as artist

So in issue 2 we get more confusion as the plot develops. We see the old enemy from the first volume continue making their plotting and moves but an even more unknown villain makes its presence even more pronounced as it appears to have abilities beyond those of the Night Tribes. All this is of course necessary because our heroes are down to one of the original Wetworks member and assisted by an assortment of new bies that are from a more diverse background. Think of this as the original X-Men that received a much needed shot in the arm, so to speak, when it was relaunched with a more global cast except here ...

The vampire chic is to give it its token women in scantily clad clothing while Ab Death is to fill the quota of mysterious hero (with confusing speech pattern to boot), a weak assed alien or other dimensional cop of sorts and ... well ... you get the picture, right?

Ratings: 4/10

2.89 (454) Ultimate Fall Out #2 ... Marvel ...

For those who do not know anything about this issue, here is the set up. Basically in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, there comes a point in time, when a huge cataclysm hit their world and in one of the many battles during that moment, Spider-Man who is still a teen in this particular version bit the dust. So the title of Fallout is all about what happens immediately after

And this issue is very serious and sad

It opens up with a huge memorial service in a church where Aunt May is supported by family and friends and whom should offer condolences but the Ultimates led by Captain America. Anyone reading initially will thought that what Cap said is touching but trust the writer to upstage even that moment with an even more emotionally visceral punch via Aunt May. And the artist conveys it perfectly! That anger that was boiling just below the surface, the anger that spilled over and just explodes ...

And as for the cover with Thor? Well, that's something that is told as something of an aside where in the world of Thor, tragedy is something that is not the be all and end all for there is Valhalla, the hall where fallen heroes go to stay and it is like a virtual paradise/ holiday forever ... although shades of Loki do appear here and there

All in all a touching issue ... you can just pick this up to read on its own or follow the series. So well written that you are not left grasping at straws at any point in the pages contained

Ratings: 7/10

2.88 (453) Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #7 ... Marvel ...

When one arc ends, another begins and the title of this is Return to Weapon X. With that kind of a header, you will expect this to feature Marvel's most popular hero, Wolvie so why's the Night man on the cover?

Well, the Ultimate take on the Weapon X program certainly has a few surprises in store for us and indeed we open with Nightcrawler being pursued and this is one vicious Nightcrawler who can actually fight and not just stay cute and teleport with a gentle Bamf-ing sound only. Hehehehe!

But unfortunately, after this one great opening chase sequence, the entire issue goes downhill with lots of talking, reflections and some mumbo jumbo about Wolverine and what he remembers of the program. In fact, all this chit chat takes up more than 2/3 of the issue and then ... it ends ... asking us to follow them on the next issue. My answer to this is ... yeah, sure ... let's flick through a few pages first of the next issue before we actually buy it, eh?

Sorry Mr Mark Millar ... too much time spent on setting up

Ratings: 4/10

2.87 (452) Ultimate X-Men vol 1 #6 ... Marvel ...

And from one Ultimate title, we moved to another i.e. the world of the mutants simply because it seems that the powers that be in Hollywood seemed to deem that the world of movies can do with yet another movie coming next year on this particular corner of the comic-verse and so here we are at the end of the first arc in the Ult X - verse

While the first 5 chapters have some really wow angle moment scenes in terms of artwork and that unique palette of colours but all has been building towards this final issue and alas in terms of artwork, there is not a single scene that makes you go WHOA it's good don't get us wrong ... just nothing special for this wonderful ending to a great first arc

We see here the different of the mutant factions that as of last issue were spread across the globe ... broken and disheartened and we were wondering how they are going to cope when Magnus finally comes a calling ... and come he did with the entire Sentinel arsenal at his disposal ... think of the last X movie and you will know what we mean ... so perhaps that movie took a few pages of hints from this particular comic, eh?

But as fate or rather a good writer could manage it, everything turns at the right time. So when Magneto makes his move, each faction of the X-Men team come together at just the right moment to give Magneto shock after unexpected shock that left him literally scarred and reeling ... the ending is great ... not what we hoped for but acceptable and good fun

What more can you ask for, eh?

Ratings: 6/10

2.86 (451) Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #17 ... Marvel ...

From the last issue, one would expect this to be the big fight with Kraven, right? Right?

Well, guess what? The answer is no. Unfortunately for whatever the hell kind of reason, the writer and powers that be at Marvel decided to lure us in further and give us yet another issue full of ongoing development on all the various subplots instead of anything on a main issue focus

Hmm ... while last issue was interesting ... this issue feels like it's getting a little bit too much as there is no pay off yet ... and for a monthly ongoing series this is not good

So what actually happens here?

Well, first up let's talk about Kraven. We see that as part of his TV show, he is on a publicity bent trying to set things up including potentially faking certain things but hey this is TV, right? And then naturally all the supporting cast that gives Spider's verse such a warmth and inviting feel gets their fair share of spotlight space

And then finally the cover stuff ... well, this didn't happen even until the last panel. In fact, it was more of an Octopus making a move on someone else and dear ole Spidey getting dropped into the mix by accident and by the time you reach the last page you will be going WTF ... because the fight hasn't even started. Not even one panel!

Grrrr ...

Ratings: 6/10

2.85 (450) Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 #16 ... Marvel ...

Our overall 450th review! Yipeeeeee and in comicdom, this means something special and for something special, we decided to jump back to Ultimate Spider-Man vol 1 back when it was just Peter Parker, Mark Bagley and that writer hehehe!

Check out that cover! Peter has never looked so good and so "real" like a geeky teenager!

In this issue, we see a number of subplot moving forward and in fact, the title with Kraven is only being developed and finally brought to the fore. But of such strength is the writing and artwork that the entire issue just slipped by and before we know it, we are at the end and going WTF ...

We didn't get the big encounter with Kraven yet ... instead we get to see Spidey and his ongoing problems with authority ... we see Gwen ... and we even get a bit of Octopus plus of course more on Kraven as he finally arrives in America to officially hunt Spider-Man as part of his TV show (yup he is a TV star so you know he is going to be a wash out kind of like the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 movie)

All in all, like we said, it is so well told and drawn that the issue is still highly enjoyable

Ratings: 7/10