Rating System: 0 to 1.5 stars = save your money unless you are just mindlessly collecting the title. 2 to 3.5 = worth a shot if you are up to trying something new or wanting to get back into a title. 4 to 5 = a must buy for any comic reader.

STAR WARS: INVASION #5 – This is the last issue of the Invasion limited series, but probably not the end of the story. Dark Horse announced recently that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic would be ending some time next year to be replaced by a new Star Wars comic that would affect the entire line of Star Wars titles. Jedi trainee Finn has accompanied the Solos and Jedi trainee Lowbacca (Chewie’s nephew… a wookie with a lightsaber – think about that coming at you…) have gone to Nar Shaddaa to see if they can’t shake some information about the Yuuzhan Vong from the armpit of the galaxy. Meanwhile, Finn’s sister leads a revolt to take over the Vong ship she was on and while they manage to kill every Vong on the ship; many prisoners died in the battle. Finn’s mother, who was also a prisoner on the ship, sacrifices herself to pilot the Vong’s living ship (because she has no Vong implants, once she attaches herself to the controls – that’s it…). No Luke this issue or Han for that matter (he goes off on his own…), but the interaction between the Solos twins and Leia and Anakin about the death of Chewbacca was worth the price of admission. I said it on ComicCenter and I’ll say it here again: writer Tom Taylor is doing an amazing job writing established characters while covering new ground at the same time. Here’s to hoping that Invasion will be the new series Dark Horse was talking about, Tom Taylor will still be the writer and Knights of the Old Republic artist Brian Ching will draw it.

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PSYLOCKE #1 – Oh, if only cover artist David Finch had drew the interiors on this series… (sigh). This Lenil Francis Yu art clones are getting annoying. At lease Harvey Tolibao can draw women decent, but I believe that master inker Paul Neary may have more to do with the art looking good than Tolibao. Recently back among the living, Psylocke decides it’s time to bury her original body (inhabited by the Japanese assassin Kwannon until her death…) in Japan. After a small run in with the Japanese military (who look more like members of the Chinese Red Army…), Psylocke has set up to had the body buried, but the ceremony is interrupted by Hand ninjas sent by Matsu’o Tsuirayaba that completely destroy the body before Psylocke can stop them. She swears vengeance, blh, blah, blah. Ho hum. The best thing about this issue was the Cable and Hope back up story by Duane Swierczynski and Steve Dillon that will be continuing next week in Dark X-Men #1. What a waste of a good character. Psylocke deserves better.

Psylocke story:

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A Girl Called Hope backup story:

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THE BOYS #36 – If you’re over the age of 18 and enjoy stories like Watchmen, The Boys needs to be on your comic pull list. Written by Garth Ennis in his normal, irreverent style and drawn by co-creator Darick Robertson; The Boys focuses on a CIA sponsored team that keeps the superheroes of this world in check. Shown to be arrogant, hedonistic, debaucherous, substance abusing wastes of space; the superheroes are actually creations of a super-conglomerate that has used its power to get one of their own people elected as Vice-President. Since issue one, we’ve known the origin of Boys member Wee Hughie (Robertson used actor Simon Pegg as his artistic inspiration for Hughie…), but we’ve never known the origins of the rest of the team. Starting in issue #35 and continuing in this one we see Mother’s Milk’s childhood, how he got his got his powers and what is cost him. Next issue, we discover the origin of Frenchie. The Boys is one comic that makes me laugh out loud and want to puke at the same time. Garth Ennis has truly found an artist in Darick Robertson that can properly translate his twisted sense of humor to the comic page. The Boys is currently being produced by Neal H. Moritz and Jason Netter for Columbia as a feature film. Pick up this series simply to get a different perspective on superheroes.

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BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #1 – Finally, we’re getting an actually origin story for The Black Widow aka: Natasha Romanova, aka: Nathasha Romanoff. We’ve only gotten bits and pieces over the years between stories in Avengers, Daredevil, X-Men and Captain America; but now it looks like we are going to see everything updated and in order. From her relationships with Wolverine and The Winter Soldier; to why if she was an infant in 1928 that she still looks like she’s 25. Someone from Natasha’s past has activated some called “Icepick Protocal” against her. This protocol calls for the elimination of anyone she has every been close to; her adopted father Ivan, Wolverine, Winter Soldier, Daredevil and so on. Writer Paul Cornell dialogue is great and he’s writing this almost like a James Bond/Bourne Identity movie. John Paul Leon’s art on the flashbacks was perfect choice as the old has an older, simpler feel to it. My complaint is “present day” artist, Tom Raney. I’ve been keeping an eye on Raney’s stuff since the early ‘90’s and while his art has a lot of potential – it hasn’t evolved one bit since. Faces are still “bloopy” and look like they are about to melt off in some places. In one series of panels, he makes Natasha look like she’s pre-teen rather than a grown woman. His storytelling and pacing is great, but the consistency of the people is way off. I still think that the story and art by Leon is enough to draw buyers. Pick it up to see the origin of Marvel’s premier female spy.

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HAUNT #2 - As priest Daniel Kilgore comes to grips with merging with is dead brother, gaining powers and killing agents out to kill him; he continually fights his brother Kurt’s control as “Haunt” while they escape. Running back to his church, Daniel finds that the other priests have been killed by someone looking for an object they think Kurt had before he died. As Haunt, the brothers chase the assassin way and then go to a safehouse Kurt knows where they take an elevator in his closet to the underground HQ of the agency that Kurt worked for. I would probably be enjoying this series a lot more if it wasn’t a rip-off of Marvel’s Brother Voodoo, that said, Robert Kirkman’s dialogue rocks and seeing McFarlane’s inks over Ryan Ottley’s pencils over Greg Capullo’s layouts is reminiscent of his inks on Greg Capullo’s run on the early issues of Spawn. Lots of blood and gore, but “feels” empty – much like the early comics from Image.

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ASTONISHING X-MEN #32 – After saving Director of S.W.O.R.D., Abigail Brand last issue, the X-Men were confronted by a (dead) former student of Emma’s which then turned into a full-sized, organic-based Sentinel. During the battle with it, they (and me too…) are shocked to see it fire out living Broodlings instead of energy blasts. After a pretty pitched battle, where Cyke and Wolvie are hurt pretty badly, they return to their San Francisco base (that was sealed off by H.A.M.M.E.R. at the end of Utopia. where the f#%K is the editor in charge of continuity?!? Marvel needs to rein this crap in before they wind up with Crisis in Infinite Realities…). Warren Ellis has some really good banter between Cyke and Wolverine that brings another aspect to their “friendship.” As the X-Men begin to grill Brand on what they just encountered, she tells them that someone has hacked their systems and is using their own tech and research against them. I might be enjoying this series a little more if we knew WHEN this was taking place. Artist Phil Jimenez art seems to compliment the X-Men pretty well when he’s not drawing the crap that Grant Morrison did to them on his run. And I will say that this series, much like when Joss Whedon was writing it, has an epic feel that has been missing from the X-Men titles for quite some time…

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VICTORIAN UNDEAD #1 - I got a hold of this from my local shop (couldn’t buy it, only read to see if I wanted to order it…) and from what I can see – it’s just a series trying to cash in on two popular things: Sherlock Holmes (movie’s due next month) and zombies. I’m so sick of seeing zombies on every comic, on TV shows and in movies. Over it. Zombieland was hilarious, but the rest of this crap is getting old. Here’s the “Hollywood” pitch for this series: asteroid hits Victorian London, infects water supply, begins bringing the recently deceased back to life and Sherlock Holmes is called in. Ian Edginton is “spot on” with his depiction of Londoners during this period and the artwork by Davide Fabbri looks good. I’m just sick to death of zombies. Come up with something new and don’t be so quick to follow the trend guys…

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DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #899 – The book that is counting backwards and trying to overexpose Deadpool. Now that’s out of the way: F-ING HILARIOUS! Teaming an insane merc with the equivalent of a drunken high school football lineman was instant comedy. Nightmare has teamed with Arcade and lured the two into an inescapable maze. Turns out, Nightmare is merely augmenting a virtual reality program he’s trapped the two in. At the center of the maze, Hercules is confronted by all of the children he has sired over the years who want to suck his lifeforce; while Deadpool fights the other two “voices” in his head in an amalgamated form. Deadpool breaks the spell by lobotomizing himself with a knife. Stuck in his head. As he fights. After helping Herc break the spell, chasing Nightmare away and capturing Arcade, Herc pulls the knife from ‘pool’s head and suggests they go celebrate their victory. Tijuana will never be the same (I’m just glad there wasn’t a donkey show reference…).

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AGE OF REPTILES: THE JOURNEY #1 – A four issue limited series by Ricardo Delgado that has no dialogue at all. It simply shows a day in the life of dinosaurs. Nothing flashy, nothing too bloody or gory; just a story that shows various species trying to find food, protect their young and survive the day. This will be a great series for anyone approximately 9 and up (so far). The great detail and simple concept will definitely appeal to that age where everyone is fascinated with dinosaurs. It reminds me of the opening scene of The Lion King with all the various herds of animals. Check it out, I’m getting a copy for my nephew and donating one to my son’s class.

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NOVA #31 – Geez, when did this title go bi-weekly? Who cares – it’s one of the few that I can take more of. Artist Andrea DiVito needs to become permanent on this book. I liked her stuff on Wolverine: First Class and its spectacular here. Nova manages to track down Darkhawk, who is wanted for the murder of Lilandra and has the obligatory fight while Darkhawk pleads his innocence. As the planet they’re on begins to destroy itself we learn there is a party of Kree archeologists that have uncovered a gem that looks suspiciously like the one Darkhawk has on his chest. When touched, the gem unleashes another Darkhawk being that attacks Nova and then escapes. Thinking Darkhawk has turned on him again, Nova starts up with the real Darkhawk for round two as the rest of the Nova Corps watches as the planet explodes. It’s really tough to summarize Nova or even Guardians of the Galaxy because of the way Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning write so far in advance, leaving themselves loose-ends to tie-up later – much like Chris Claremont used to do in Uncanny X-Men. If you are intrigued at all, start with The Annihilation Conquest trades and then move on to the Nova trades. You’re probably thinking the same thing I thought when someone told me I needed to be reading Nova: Really? The f-up that was the “Cannonball” rip-off on the New Warriors? Cool? How wrong I was. Within one week, I had devoured the entire series and couldn’t wait for the next issue. A true cosmic odyssey at its finest.

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DONALD DUCK & FRIENDS #347 - I’m glad that BOOM Kids! has picked up the Disney license (although I’m sure Marvel will get it sometime in the future…) because now kids can see what Disney was built on – characters created by Walt himself. Gemstone always did a great job (no one does Disney better than Carl Barks…), but they priced themselves out of the kids market. What kid do you know (or adult) that will casually lay down $9.99 for a comic every other month? Not many. BOOM is doing it right by putting out comics in the price range that most comics on the shelf fall into. This issue has Donald realizing that he has “lost” a few days here and there; ultimately finding out that he is a secret agent. Kind of like the Christian Slater TV show, My Own Worst Enemy where he has no memory of anything his alter ego does. Writer Fausto Vitaliano and artist Andrea Freccero have done a near perfect job of making me think of Duck Tales or the old Walt Disney cartoons from the ‘50’s they used to show on The Disney Channel. Pick it up to remember the good old days or for a new comics reader…

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PICKS OF THE WEEK 

I couldn’t pick between these two…

THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ #1 - Writer Eric Shanower and artist extraordinaire, Skottie Young return to the land of Oz with this new limited series for all ages from Marvel. As with the Wonderful World of Oz series, the creators are staying very true to Frank Baum’s original Oz books and not the Hollywood movie(s). This issue introduces us to Tip, a boy who lives in the Northern part of Oz and worked for an old woman named Mombi who is always very mean to him. Wanting to get back at her, Tip builds a scarecrow with a big pumpkin head; going so far as to fashion a wooden body and limbs with joints. Once complete, tip stands him in the road to wait for the old woman to return home from town. Not scared at all, she decides to get back at Tip by bringing the golem to life with some magic powder. But, Tip is simply amused and the three return to the old woman’s home. Deciding that the Pumpkin Man would make a better helper than Tip (he’ll eat less…); she starts a potion that will turn Tip into a marble statue in the morning. Not wanting to be a statue (who would…), Tip steals some food and the magic powder and runs away with Jack Pumpkinhead. Having never been anywhere but the country of Gillikins (mostly purple…), Tip wants to travel to the Emerald City. This is going to be another sure hit for Marvel and a great read for any fan of The Wizard of Oz or beginning reader. I’ve given the Wonderful World of Oz hardcover to people who have never read a comic before in their life and I’ve had to buy a new copy three times.

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #4 – Finally, Steve Rogers is pulled back to the present by the combined efforts of the Red Skull and Dr. Doom by using the temporal markers in Sharon Carter’s DNA and Doom’s time machine. Reed was able to determine what happened to Cap when he triggers the message left in Vision’s memory. As Steve is forced to relive the fateful day when Bucky was “killed” and he was frozen, he’s violently pulled to the present – fighting the Red Skull along the way. When Cap gets up, Sharon yells, “Steve!” to which “Cap” replies, “No… not Steve, I’m afraid. Not Steve Rogers at all…” – with little red skulls in his eyes! Holy flirpin’ crap, Batman! Did not see that coming. Some kind of mind control or I have your child hidden away or even a you owe me, but not the Red Skull putting his mind in Cap’s body. Ed Brubaker continues to amaze with his noir-style storytelling and I think that Bryan Hitch (if he can maintain a monthly deadline… it’s gotta be tough to draw that detailed every month…) should become the penciller for the regular Cap series when all this gets sorted out. While I didn’t like his art on Fantastic Four, it’s perfect for a character like Captain America. Wow… and there’s still one more issue to go…

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