CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #5 – By now, every Marvel reader knows Steve Rogers is back – already having appeared in Fall of the Hulks, Who Will Wield the Shield?, Dark Avengers Annual and the list goes on. This is another example of Marvel editors not communicating very well. However, that does stop this from being an incredible issue. The Red Skull had succeeded in supplanting Steve Rogers’ personality with his own… effectively taking over Captain America’s body. Cap-Bucky, Black Widow, Ronin, Wasp, Vision and Falcon have managed to track down where Rogers is being held and are planning a rescue attempt. As always, the Skull is prepared and shoots down their Quinjet in Washington D.C. and launches a squadron of M.O.D.O.K. soldiers. WinterCap fights his way to the Skull, takes out Sin and then gets the drop on the Skull but can bring himself to pull the trigger because of Steve. Ed Brubaker is doing an amazing job writing Cap as he’s had for the last few years and the art combo of Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice should stick together on one of the Cap books. I’m just having trouble getting past the fact that Marvel has once again f-ed up by simply not being able to manage continuity…
Undercover Fanboy Rating: 
MIGHTY AVENGERS #32 – Just lovin’ the fact that this is the only “real” Avengers title coming out from Marvel. Since dealing with the Inhuman, Unspoken, Hank Pym’s Avengers are the flavor of the week and Norman Osborn is beyond pissed. Loki sees it as an opportunity to further push Osborn and the Avengers into conflict. He frees the Absorbing Man from Project Pegasus and both teams respond in front of the nation’s TV cameras. Unable to come to a quick agreement on how to proceed gives The Absorbing Man time to absorb the properties of some fragments of a Cosmic Cube (I hate those things…). As good of a job that Brian Michael Bendis is doing on Dark Avengers and New Avengers, I’d rather see Dan Slott be the Avengers writer. At the very least, have Bendis do the plots and Slott flesh out the stories. Artist Khoi Pham has tons of potential and is only an inker away from working his way to superstardom. It’s weird you don’t see art teams anymore like Lee/Williams, Madureira/Townsend, Hitch/Neary – many artists either can’t draw fast enough and need a good inker (or more time…) or can draw fast, but just don’t have the skill to do a book alone without the help of a good inker. But, enough of that. If you’re looking for a great team book or just miss old school Avengers… be sure to add Mighty Avengers to your pull list…
Undercover Fanboy Rating: 
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #43 – At the end of last issue, Kyle Rayner appeared to have died stopping the Black Lanterns from tearing apart the main lantern on Oa. Enraged, Guy Gardner succumbs to becoming a Red Lantern – which is kind of a good thing if you consider that fact that the Black Lanterns can’t kill them as the Red Lantern becomes their heart. Gardner proceeds to whip Black Lantern @$$ as Kyle’s girlfriend, Natu and other Green Lanterns fight to keep a Black Lantern ring off of Kyle’s body. Natu’s grief attracts the attention of a Star Sapphire who merges/links Natu and Kyle’s hearts together. Kyle instantly awakens and his ring turns around to rejoin with him. The only question I have now is this: what happens when one of them truly dies? Die-die, not comic death. Once Kyle has his ring back, he rallies the other Lanterns to once again repel the Black Lanterns attacking Oa and is pleased to see the Green Lantern planet Mogo approaching orbit. I imagine the next issue will deal with whether or not to try to pull the Red Ring off Guy. Leaving it on is tactically sound, but dangerous – but he still has his Green Lantern ring to possibly keep him in check. As Blackest Night winds down and more of the living fall, it’ll be interesting to see how the DCU shakes out after this story in over.
Undercover Fanboy Rating:
DAREDEVIL #503 - Matt Murdock: Leader of The Hand… still can’t get used to that. And that’s what’s making this such a good story. Daredevil has seemingly joined a group of killers that have been a perennial thorn is his side. Much like Luke Skywalker tried in Star Wars Dark Empire, Matt is trying to hang on to the light as he tries to destroy the darkness from the inside. Last issue, Norman Osborn declared war on the residents of Hell’s Kitchen that have refused to move to make room for his plan of urban renewal. Employing dirty cops from all over NYC, Osborn is looking to push the residents out while taking control of the crime in the Kitchen. The big problem with that plan is Daredevil already has claim on Hell’s Kitchen – for good or ill and sets his Hand ninjas to push back at the dirty cops. Without killing (sheeyah…). Matt has instituted a no killing law within The Hand and one member takes his own life in front of Matt after being called out. All this going on while The Kingpin takes over The Owl’s gang and territory with the help of Lady Bullseye. Andy Diggle is continuing the great setup he was given to him by Ed Brubaker as he shows us just how far Matt has fallen and how far he may go in pursuit of “true justice.” The art by Robert de la Torre and Marco Checchetto is a perfect fit as the two artists seem to trade off between drawing the light and dark sides of the story. I’ve always been an occasional Daredevil reader, but I’ve been hooked since issue #500 and have started to collect back issue leading up. For a “time-out” from Dark Reign and Siege – check out Daredevil… you’ll thank me.
Undercover Fanboy Rating:
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.
Visit Things From Another World for a massive selection of these comics and more.
