Batman/ The Spirit One-Shot Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Darwyn Cooke & J. Bone

Best book of the week, by far. I picked this up on a whim, having enjoyed Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier mini-series. I wasn't expecting much, having never read any of Will Eisner's Spirit, but I came out totally blown away.

This is the story of how Batman and The Spirit first met, recounted by Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City and Commissioner Dolan of Central City. This takes place way back when Robin still wore Green scaly underwear and pixie boots, so forget any continuity. The tale sees all the great policemen of the country traveling to a conference in Hawaii and try and be murdered by the villains of Gotham City and Central City. Batman and the Spirit cross paths, and assist each other in foiling this fun, nefarious scheme. I don't want to say much else because I want you to go and get this book! The $4.99 price is a bit steep for 48 pages but it’s a lot of story in these 48 pages. Not counting the inside covers, there are only 7 pages of ads in this book, and they don't come every other page like some other comics this week (Teen Titans I'm looking at you!).

Darwyn Cooke's art may not win everyone over with its old-school style, but his story-telling will. Every action panel of this book feels frenetic, and Cooke chooses his shots like this were an animated movie. Hell, this should be an animated movie. Getting back to the point, it’s great. If you must buy only once comic outside your pull list, make it this one, you will not be let down. A+

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive # 6 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:

Writers: Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo
Artists: Ken Lashley, Andy Smith, & Art Thibert

Wow. What a way to kill your momentum. Since issue number 3, this book has been looking up, but this issue stinks. Bilson & DeMeo had started a story about Bart stopping his roommate from being a bad hero, and stepping up to the plate, while also creating a mystery and romance with Bart and a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist. All that is killed here. Griffin kills Jay Garrick, and then purposely wrecks a bridge so he can save the people on it and look like a hero. Bart restarts Jay's heart with the Speed Force? C'mon, at least make him do CPR super-fast or something! After saving Jay, who is extremely helpless in this series, Bart goes to stop Griffin. They save the people on the bridge, only to battle on it, and Griffin winds up dying. Over the past few issues, his powers had been aging him, and here he just ages himself to death. Great, except that it wasn't that clear when reading the book.

This issue also contains two pages that try to explain how Bart got back to Earth in Infinite Crisis, but it flies in the face of everything that happened in Infinite Crisis. In IC #4 Wally and Bart tapped into the Speed Force and took Superboy-Prime with them. They tapped into the Speed Force so much that Barry Allen and Max Mercury helped out a little too. At the end of IC, it was explained that Bart had spent 4 years in the Speed Force, over the course of a couple of days back on earth. In this issue, Bilson & Demeo say that the Speed Force took them to another Earth and Bart headed to our earth from there. But in IC, Bart stepped out from the Speed Force, and clearly said nothing about this other earth. Bilson & Demeo are clearly trying to shoehorn this into continuity, but it clearly doesn't match up.

Remember that romance plot and the return of Manfred Mota? Not resolved here, it’s left for the next issue, which is surely going to make for a confusing trade paperback. We need to refer Bilson & Demeo to Geoff Johns' Green Lantern and Teen Titans, for instructions on how to spin multiple plot threads correctly. In those titles Johns has begun a slow build to Titans East, and the Sinestro Corps over 8 issues in two separate arcs. He does this well by not letting these element take up more than 2 pages of story in 4 issues. They were small mentions, not whole sequences of an issue. Bilson & DeMeo meanwhile, gave almost a whole issue in the last 6 issues to the Mota plotline, only to quickly glance over to it here. The Inertia reveal last issue was the better cliffhanger last issue, and here he's relegated to exposition. Bilson & DeMeo could've done better with saving that whole segment for next issue, and giving those pages to more shoehorning of Infinite Crisis continuity. Maybe it would have made more sense. Save yourself 6 dollars over the next two months and wait to pick up this book again with issue #9, when Marc Guggenheim takes over as writer and wipes this mess away. D-

Ion # 8 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writer: Ron Marz
Artists: Paco Diaz, Yvel Guichet, & Joe Rubenstein

Greg Tochinni gets a month off, and his book falls by the wayside. Paco Diaz does some of the art chores in the beginning and end of the book but Yvel Guichet does most of it, and poorly. Guichet's style is so drastically different from Diaz and even Tochinni's that I almost wanted to put the book down, it doesn't flow at all. Where is Tochinni's assistant that's helped him out on the last two issues? Couldn't he do this issue? Or even let Paco Diaz do the whole issue, he's a very capable artist.

The best part of this issue are the first 4 pages and the last two. In these six pages we see the continuation of the plot threads from the last 7 issues of Ion. We see the monitors, all four of them, discussing Kyle Rayner's fate, and whether or not he will live or die. Marz writes them like they will kill Kyle themselves if they have to. In any case, they are giving Kyle a chance to prove himself, again. The last two pages deal with the guardians, who are questioning Alex Nero, who impersonated Kyle in the first 6 issues of the series. The very last page deals with the Lantern that washed up on a beach in Infinite Crisis #7... Paco Diaz does the art on these 6 pages and does a great job; let's get him on a regular book again.

The rest of the book is an ancillary story about Kyle trying to right the bad things Alex Nero did while impersonating Kyle. He travels to a barbaric world and battles a beast Thunderdome style to quell a local war. It's interesting, but the poor art make it seem almost unnecessary and almost skippable. Take a look at it in the shop, but this issue is not a necessary buy to get the Ion story. D

Superman/Batman # 30 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:

Writer: Mark Verheiden
Artists: Ethan Van Sciver & Marlo Alquiza

Damn. About time! Where last issue (2 or 3 months ago) left off, Kilowog had his foot on top of Superman's head ready to kill him. This issue begins with that battle as Superman takes Kilowog to the moon to battle. Meanwhile, Batman teams up with Lex Luthor and Plastic Man to retrieve and object from the Fortress of Solitude.

If this issue weren't so late or behind I might have enjoyed it more. Verheiden still has not revealed all of the players in this mystery where all of the aliens on earth are acting funny. The shape shifter from #28 is still here although it seems almost unimportant now. I'm interested enough to see what Verheiden has planned, but the schedule is hindering that interest a lot.

However, my interest is not hindered by Ethan Van Sciver's art. He's not mailing it in here, he's taking his time and it is every bit as good as his Rebirth stuff. I just wish he worked quicker. Unlike last issue, he's not inking himself anymore. I don't see a drastic difference, although I know that Ethan said at the signing I met him at that he likes to ink his own work. It looks great here; perhaps he should work more often with Marlo Alquiza. I wonder if Van Sciver will stay on this book much longer, since he has the Sinestro Annual he's working on. It's almost a toss-up, lose Van Sciver and get this book back on a regular schedule, or keep the irregularities and the great Van Sciver art. I don't know which one to choose, but we'll find out which one DC did when it ships us the next issue, whenever that is.... C-

Ultimate Spider-man # 102 Review

This review was submitted by Spider-ben
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Cover: Mark Bagley and Richard Isanove

Things just keep going from bad to worse for Peter Parker. After learning over the last few issues, Peter has to deal with finding out there is a Scorpion clone of himself, Gwen Stacy returns and morphs into Carnage, Peter’s father Richard has been alive and well all this time, Aunt May is suffering from a heart attack, Mary Jane is missing, and now Nick Fury arrives with an army of Spider-Slayer robots to arrest Peter! Whew! One would think things would only get better for Peter, but they don’t.

Reed Richards and Johnny Storm plead with Nick Fury to help Peter out and not arrest him. It isn’t Peter’s fault that there are psychotic clones of himself making things worse for everyone, and Peter finally gives up and lets Fury take him into custody.Suddenly, Spider-Woman appears and takes Peter away to safety. Spider-Woman breaks Peter’s shackles and reveals her identity: She is a female clone of Peter! At this point in the book I really feel creeped out.

Spider-Woman is HOT! I really want to play “find the web-shooter” with her, but it’s also creepy because that means I want to have sex with Peter Parker as well! Like I said, this is creepy and icky, and I feel really confused, but I still say that Spider-Woman is a hottie. OK, back to the story. Spider-Woman reveals her new name as Jessica Drew, and she tells Peter that she was cloned in a lab by a scientist named Ben Reilly. Ben reveals she is Peter Parker, memories and all, only in female form. Ben is working with a bunch of top secret government scientists to make up for his involvement in the “Carnage” arc some time back.

Jessica is the first in a new army of Spider-Powered soldiers. Suddenly, Gwen breaks free and turns into Carnage, escaping the so called “Clone Zoo.” When she does this, the other clones escape and try to find MJ.Ultimate Kaine is determined to find MJ, while Spider-Werewolf clone and Jessica realize this is a mistake. Scorpion escapes as well, and all the clones are free.

Now Jessica tells Peter that MJ is in trouble. They decide to work together and head towards the old Oscorp lab that blew up back in issue 4 of the series. They arrive and see MJ as the mutated Sasquatch creature. Peter knocks Kaine out, and Jessica saves Spider-Werewolf clone. Peter talks to MJ and calms her down, and she reverts to human form. Suddenly, a cadre of government soldiers surround all the clones. Peter and Jessica demand more answers, and Kaine says that they have cracked the OZ formula so MJ is going to be OK. Peter demands where he got the OZ from, and Dr. Otto Octavius comes in and tells them he got the OZ from their father.

Thoughts/Comments:
WOW! Wow, wow, wow wow wow! This is a totally rocking story arc. I never imagined I would enjoy a clone saga story ever again, but Bendis and Bagley proved me wrong. The artwork was great, there were no annoying ads interrupting the flow of the story, and like I stated before, I totally dig Jessica Drew, even if she is a sex changed Peter Parker. (Still kind of creeped out, but it’s a great twist) I’m glad Peter totally slugged Kaine, and I hope MJ will be alright when this arc is over. Still curious about how Doc Ock fits in, but I’d say we will find out soon. Great job team. This book is smoking! Solid A+

Punisher War Journal # 1 Review

This Review was submitted by Spidey:

Writer: Matt Fraction
Artists: Ariel Olivetti & Dean White

Civil War Tie-in! But don't pass this book up because of those words. This book takes place before/in Civil War #5, so don't worry about another ASM #535.

The plot here is we see how Frank becomes involved in the whole Civil War Event, These Civil war tie-ins seem to be a waste of time but this one has a promising outcome. We see why Frank was down in that sewer in Civil War #5 and pretty much leaves off where that one did. Great Art! I loved it, and story seems to be good, but I'm not going to judge it until the mini-series is complete, There was some nice Action in here too! I didn't know what to expect from this book, never been a Punisher Fan and really never read a Punisher book before, but lately I've started to like ol' Frank Castle more and more. After his recent Appearance in Civil War #5, I thought I should give this a try and didn't it disappoint, I'm looking forward to the next one! B+

Wolverine # 48 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artists: Humberto Ramos & Carlos Cuevas

Were you wondering how Wolverine healed so fast when he fought Nitro? If you're looking for a definitive answer, do not get this book. This book tells what happens to Logan's soul every time he has to re-heal from near-death. Basically, every time Logan "dies" he goes into purgatory and sees a white door, which he cannot enter, and does battle with some guy named Lazaer. Who? Yeah, I don't know either. If Lazaer wins, Logan dies for good, if Logan wins, he gets to live again. That's about it.

In the purgatory bits, Ramos art switches to his style he used in Revalations, which he did for Dark Horse with Paul Jenkins. Its great there and the same in other places. No more long necks, thank god. This is a totally skippable issue of Wolverine, when does Jeph Loeb start?
C-.

Evilomar's comment: Give me a fucking break. What the fuck kind of explanation is this? I would rather have seen them rip-off Lobo's abilties than this horrible explanation for Wolverine beating death. Again I say: What the fuck?!!

Amazing Spider-man # 535 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Ron Garney & Bill Reinhold

This is a good issue of Spider-Man, but it is really confusing in terms of where it is in Civil War. The first 6 pages take place within Civil War #5, but then it jumps to during or after Civil War #6! Number 6! We haven't read that yet, so why must we read it now? ARGH! I literally screamed that when I read the comic the first time.

The Iron Man and Spidey fight does NOT match up with Civil War #5. In Civil War, Iron Man lets Spidey jump out a window, and the fight ends. Here, it looks like Iron Man fights Spidey on the street, but Spidey is not all shot up like he was in Civil War. Iron Man gets webbing in the face, and Spidey escapes into the sewer. Then we jump ahead. Peter is checking in on MJ and May, wherever they are hiding out in New York. He moves them to a sleazy hotel, and then Peter decides to go on television and tell the world that he as Spider-man thinks Registration is wrong. For those looking for a reason to get this issue, Spidey ditches the Iron Spidey outfit and goes back to the classic, so get this issue for that.

This issue was not a bad issue; it just did not have the same impact on me as it should have because it takes place in the future. WHY OH WHY? I wanted a Spidey on the hospital table issue, honestly. C-

Blue Beetle # 9 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writers: Keith Giffen & John Rogers
Artist: Duncan Rouleau

This issue was an enjoyable issue. Not a lot of action happened, but a lot happened to advance Jaime's journey to becoming the next Blue Beetle. We get the beginnings of Peacemaker's origin and some new characters introduced. The strength of this issue comes from the interactions between all of the characters. The way Jaime's family interacts with his friends and each other feel real, and that is the strength of this comic. Jaime is bringing back all of Dan Garrett's files and notes and organizing them. His friend Paco, meanwhile, starts a virtual Beetle-cave. We find two more techno-nerds and they set up a system to monitor crime and natural disasters in El Paso. My favorite part of this book was Jaime asking his parents for permission to go super-heroing.

MOM: No Fighting. No Monsters.

JAIME: Nope.

MOM: Homework Done?

JAIME: Yes Ma'am.

DAD: Go. Be careful and let's say when it’s a natural disaster, not school hours, you can just go.

MOM: But if you're going to be late, call.

JAIME: Okay, Mom.

MOM: And no fighting monsters unless they start it!

JAIME: Okay, mom!

Great stuff. Duncan Rouleau's art is good, he's done an issue before, and so he's not totally new to people reading this book. Anyway, it looks like Cully Hamner is not going to be the regular artist on this book, so I will stop wishing for it and welcome whatever artist I get on here. C+/B-

Action Comics # 845 Review

This Review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writers: Geoff Johns & Richard Donner
Artist: Adam Kubert

After last issue, I was under whelmed. The story seemed too familiar to Superman Returns and the recently wrapped Batman arc. I thought the art was mediocre, Superman never looked the same and the characters looked really sketchy. But this issue changed my mind of this run. Sorta.

The first thing you see with this issue is the cover, it’s better than last issue's but I still hate the two-tone coloring. I wish this was in color rather than the two-tone. Simone Bianchi's covers on Detective Comics look better than the last two Action Comics covers. Anyway, Bizarro's back...

The story opens dealing with Superman's kidnapping of the boy from Krypton who landed last issue. Initially Clark wants his Ma & Pa Kent to raise the boy, but then decides that he wants to try to do it himself. Lois says no, that they were meant not to raise kids; Clark was put on this earth to save it, her to find the truth. With that, Superman calls Sarge Steel and the Department of Metahuman Affairs to give the boy back, and inspect where he will be living. So, you stole the boy, and now want to give him back? He's not a DVD player Clark! Lex Luthor gets wind of this and unlocks Bizarro. Bizarro has spent the last year watching TV, so I'm sure he's itching to get out and stretch.

What happens next has to be seen to believe. It's truly a battle of the Super-powers as Bizarro hurls cars and buses at Superman, and then throws him through 3 buildings, and we see them crash through each wall. It is this sequence that really makes Adam Kubert's pencils stand out. The city is painstakingly rendered, and just looks fantastic. The panel layouts are simple and wide, we can see all of the action between the two Super-men and everything that stems from their battle. Strangely though, in these shots, Superman and Bizarro look really flat, like crude cartoons against this real world background. A bus ends up being thrown and lands on the Boy from Krypton, as Lois watches, unable to do anything. Lois goes to the boy after the bus has landed and sees him crying. The boy is clearly terrified and Lois changes her mind about keeping the boy.

I won't give away the ending, because it is fantastic and yet cliché. Up until the ending I had been loving the issue, ready to sing the praises of all involved. It really feels like Donner is writing the comic rather than Johns, if it is more Johns than Donner, than it is unlike anything Johns has ever done in his career. If Donner and Johns stay on for the foreseeable future, it may be this run that defines his career, not the Flash or Infinite Crisis. Anyway the ending. It certainly adds a twist to the storyline, but somehow I wish they could've avoid using these characters. They are almost Donner's staple, so their appearance here feels exciting but clichéd. Donner's doing new things with Superman, but he's still using his same bag of tricks at the same time. Other than that, this issue is an A+. Go get this issue, you don't need to have read the previous issue to understand it, it’s a fantastic read. Go get it.

White Tiger # 1 Review

Authors: Tamora Pierce and Timothy Liebe
Penciller: Phil Briones
Inker: Don Hillsman
Cover: David Mack

After I read her comments on her blog that Tamora Pierce made about Mark Millar and Civil War, I just had to pick up this book. My knowledge of the White Tiger clan is very limited, I know that the original White Tiger (Hector Ayala) was framed for murder and was shot trying to escape. The first female White Tiger was some chick in the 90's Heroes for Hire book. The current incarnation of the character is Hector Ayala's niece and ex FBI agent Angela Del Toro, who inherited her uncle's amulets. Now, Pierce is no stranger to writing stories involving young heroines. She is a fantastic novelist that has written: Alanna: The First Adventure, Wild Magic, and other stories focusing on young women being the protagonist. So how did this mix work for this book?

Pierce was a very odd choice to write an urban superhero that Bendis set up in the pages of Daredevil, since she is a fantasy writer. However, this set up issue feels more like a traditional novice superhero book. Del Toro's career as a crime fighter doesn't begin as some avenging mission, she basically just wants to do the right thing. The story itself moves pretty fast and there is plenty of action to satisfy those adventure seekers. There are also plenty of flashbacks when she was training with Daredevil, for those not familiar with the character's origin. Overall I am very impressed with an author not familiar with writing comics. The character stays true to that of Daredevil and it shows a fairly original origin. Plenty of cameos such as the Man without Fear himself, Black Widow, and Spider-man. The only down side I can see to the actual story is that Del Toro spends too much time preoccupied with all the new changes in her life and it turns out her partner was murdered by one of the criminals (I was really hoping Pierce would stay clear of clichés').

Pierce is not the only name new to me in this book, I have also never heard of Phil Briones. But man he can carry some strong fighting sequences and great character designs. It's a nice mix of film noir and a classic Hong Kong flick! Don Hillsman does a fantastic job not adding any more darkness and grittiness to the book, as a matter of fact he adds to the fluid and organic look that Briones started. I am not a fan of David Mack's art, but that is a really good looking cover, maybe he has yet to surprise me. It's a solid read and it really reminds me alot of Gravity, which is probably why I liked it better than I normally would have. B+ Sign me up for issue 2.

Bullet Points # 1 Review

This review was submitted by The Dude:
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Pencils: Tommy Lee Edwards

Now I like many am hard pressed to find any "alternate" Marvel Universe stories that make me stand up and take notice, an exception is to be found however with Bullet Points. This title posits the question around the 1940s in the years of WWII how would have things have gone in the Marvel Universe had Captain America never existed. The question sounding more like a What If..then anything excels far beyond the What If... titles.

Stracynski's writing I have never been entirely familar with, I'll be honest I had to look him up to remember what the guy did. Too many times I and others will read a comic by a writer and not pay attention much to whose writing it unless we feel the need to, unless the issue is so good it demands us to know what the writers name is, for me this title was it. The pacing for the whole entire issue was good. It speed up when it needed to and took it back a little when the story required it.

The story in short is predicated on how would have things gone differently had the original doctor who created the super-soldier serum been killed before having given this serum to Steve Rodgers thereby creating Captain America. Essentially Rodgers determined to put an end to the ongoing war volunteers for another project that is experimentally dangerous. As you can guess from the cover of this title he ends up becoming a military Iron Man. There is more to the story obviously but, for now I'll just tell you the beginnings of this book are good.

Tommy Lee Edwards should be given huge props towards the art and tone of this title. The artwork is like a weird fusion of Sean Phillips from Criminal, David Mazzucchelli from Batman Year One and Frank Miller from The Dark Knight Returns. Facial expressions are loose in line but still tight if that makes any sense. The overall feel you get when reading this book is of that time period, I suppose, it's hard to put into words I guess, it's just good.

There are many good reasons to read this issue, in short, either pick the art, or the writing, either way your gonna be in for a treat. In general whether you can dedicate the money to get it now or buy the trade later, make sure you read this sucker. A+

What If? Spider-Man the Other Review

This review was submitted by Spider-ben

Writer: Peter David
Penciller: Khoi Pham
Cover: Mark Brooks

Last November, Marvel presented a twelve part Spider-Man story that would run through “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” “Marvel Knights Spider-Man,” and “Amazing Spider-Man” for four months. The epic was titled “The Other” and promised to be a senses shattering tale featuring the return of the enigmatic Morlun and a brand new set of powers for our favorite web-head. I was pumped and ready for this story. I ended up being pretty let down with the results. However, the best part of the entire crossover was the writing of Mr. Peter David. David scripted parts 1-3 of the story, along with part 10. In the story, Peter Parker dies and has to face and embrace his inner spider if he wants to be reborn and given another chance at life. But Peter David asks the question “What if Peter didn’t embrace the spider?” I have to tell you, it isn’t pretty.

In this story, Peter basically tells the mythical Spider-God to go to hell. He literally rips the huge Spider-God’s head off, killing it in the process. Without embracing his true spider heritage, Peter is left in limbo within the webbing cocoon underneath the bridge. He would remain there for months, while his New Avenger teammates and his wife Mary Jane and his Aunt May would have to learn to live without Peter.

Meanwhile, the new Venom is trapped in some high tech prison. This Venom is Mac Gargan, the Scorpion. (See Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5-12 for the story) The symbiote realizes that Peter is laying dormant in the cocoon, and decides to reunite with it’s first host and one true love. The symbiote leaves Gargan, and quickly finds Peter in the webbing cocoon. For months the symbiote and Peter do battle within the cocoon, both mentally and physically. The Watcher tells readers that Peter is strong willed and determined, and that is what keeps the symbiote from bonding with his dead body for at least three to four months. Finally, Peter looses to the symbiote and a new creature emerges from the cocoon.

May and MJ have been staying at New Avengers tower for months after Peter’s death. MJ continues to have nightmares of Peter returning to life, but as a horrific nightmarish creature and not the man she loves. May and Jarvis rush to her room as MJ has another nightmare. May tells MJ that they will move away from the tower to help get over the loss of Peter. Suddenly a black, demonic looking creature enters through the window. May and MJ are shocked to learn that the Venom symbiote has complete control over Peter’s body and soul. He is now Poison, and he wants to kill MJ and make her his mindless mate and companion. Luke Cage and Logan rush to help May and MJ, and Logan tells Poison that whatever he is, he is and will never be Peter Parker. MJ states enough is enough and doesn’t want anyone to get hurt protecting her. MJ tells Poison to drain her dry and kill her, but she swears to God to make every day a living hell for this vile creature. She also states that whatever this creature is, it is not the man she loves. Quickly, Poison disappears and MJ is fine, wondering where the creature went.

The Watcher then explains how Poison left MJ alone due to perhaps Peter had one last shed of decency in him and spared his wife’s life. Yet, the story of Poison is far from over. At a cementary Poison digs up Gwen Stacy’s corpse, then puts her in the cocoon. Later on, a red symbiotic hand breaks the cocoon, and Poison now has his mate. The Watcher reminds us that you never get over your first love.

Thoughts/Comments:
Not bad. I was kind of disappointed with the original “Other” storyline, yet this was a fun new take on the story. I would have rather had a “What if Peter returned from the grave and kicked the shit out of Morlun for two issues,” but this was a fun and sad look at Peter’s fate if he hadn’t accepted the spider God. Peter David delivers as always, but I didn’t care for the artist. Hell, I don’t even think I’ve heard of this artist before. But the story was fun and the cover was great. Still, this story was sad and kind of spooky, so I’ll give it a B. All in all, a fun read but not the best comic I read this week.

Iron Man # 13 Review

This review was submitted by Knightwingbk:

Writers : Daniel & Charles Knauf
Artists: Patrick Zircher & Scott Hanna

Okay, from what I recall when the Knaufs first came on Iron Man with issue #7, they wrote "Execute Program" their previous arc, way back when Civil War was still a twinkle in Mark Millar's eye. Since Warren Ellis' run got so put off by art delays, courtesy of Adi Granov, the Knuafs' story got put on the shelf, waiting for Ellis to leave. By the time Ellis and Adi Granov did leave, Nick Fury was no longer in the Marvel U, although he played a big role in the "Execute Program" arc. So while we were reading Execute Program, Nick Fury was apparently "in-hiding" in every other Marvel book putting Iron Man in a weird place. Now that the previous arc has ended the Knauf's are closer to current Marvel time, but not that close...

This issue starts off with Iron Man fighting alongside Spider-Man and Doc Samson in the streets against a villain. This puts this issue somewhere in between Civil War 2 & 3. Tony Stark, here, is still wary and worried about his position. This is the same Tony Stark in Civil War #2 where he worries if he's doing the right thing as the law is being passed. The Knauf's are still continuing storylines from the previous arc, but not so thickly that new readers will be lost. This shows that the Knaufs have an overall plan for Iron Man, that will not be way-layd by Civil War. Most of the Civil War stuff is Tony talking to his friends, asking them if they think he's wrong, since he never got to have that conversation with Captain America. There is also some more hints to Tony's role after Civil War, when the Secretary Defense shows up to blackmail Tony into being S.H.E.I.L.D. director. Tony says no, but the conversation points to more things going on in the Marvel U than just Civil War. The snakes in Washington all want Tony as their spokesman to please their constituents and further their own agendas. Why isn't this part in Civil War proper? In Wolverine, and previous issues of New Avengers, there have been hints of more to Civil War than just registration, so where is that in the main book? Although, leaving it out of the main book gives the tie-ins more paths to explore than just extensions of the same battle scene (I'm looking at you Teen Titans IC tie-in!).

Patrick Zircher is a great artist, who I've not seen previously to this book. I think he is a great talent, a solid artist who can do a monthly book. His characters are great, he can do action, he can do emotion, his backgrounds are full, but there are not all of the extraneous lines that add "detail" to dirt like there are in Ed Benes, Jim Lee, and Ivan Reis art that put them behind. Its good, clean, comic art that needs to be in more books lets keep this guy steady. B-

New Avengers # 25 Review

This review was submitted by Knightwingbk:
Writer: Brian Micheal Bendis
Artists: Jim Cheung & Livesay

Well, after a terrible Spider-Woman issue and an okay Sentry issue, New Avengers finally got back on track with its last Civil War tie-in. This issue focuses on Iron Man, and like the other books there is a story happening in this issue. Iron Man's tower and armor are breached by a disgruntled employee who helped Tony design his new armor and the armor the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are now wearing. He holds Tony hostage and does the standard villain monologue. What’s great about this issue is its villain monologue and Maria Hill. The employee is really well written and his motivation makes sense. He did all this work for Stark to help the world, to make it better, freer, and Stark uses it to make "cape-killers" new super-cops to imprison people, the opposite of its intent. This super-genius doesn't want to live knowing that he helped imprison good people. While Stark is being held hostage, Maria Hill herself goes into Stark Tower to find out what is going on and where Stark is. She's still the same determined woman that she was in previous issues of New Avengers, but this issue highlights her status as a great S.H.I.E.L.D. operative. Giving her some background and insight as to why she was chosen to be the new director. Tony doesn't have a lot to do here in his own "spotlight" issue, but the last two pages of this book are crucial to the outlook of Civil War. If you read this weeks Iron Man and this issue or only read one of them you will have a good hint of what is to come, whether Tony's side wins or not.

Jim Chueng's art is great here, although not as sharp as some of his previous work, probably due to his inker. Some of the lines on the faces look thicker than they should, especially when you gaze at this beautiful cover. The panels where you are looking through Iron Man's mask are great, and the inter-cutting between those and Maria Hill's scenes on the same page do not feel awkward, thanks to Jim Chueng's beautiful art. Bendis is doing his best work with these tie-in issues, the Captain America, Luke Cage, and this issue are the best issues of New Avengers since the issue where Spider-man said -- "Oh yeah? I have clones." If you're enjoying Civil War or curious on the outlook after Civil War, pick this book up. A.

Transformers The Movie 20th Anniversary DVD Review

This review was submitted by Spider-ben
Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary DVD
Writer: Ron Freidman
Director: Nelson Shin
Voice Actors: Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Orson Welles, Lenard Nemoy, Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, and Robert Stack

The Movie:
Enter the peaceful planet of Lithone. Robotic scientists conduct tests in their laboratories, while young children play in the streets. All is well until a huge, monstrous planetoid enters Lithone’s orbit. The planet shakes, glass cylinders break. Children and families scream and attempt to get to escape ships. “Arbulus, look! It’s Unicron!” With that statement, the terror bringer Unicron consumes the planet and its residents. A Legend is forged, and Transformers: the Movie has begun.

In case you have been living in a cave, or were not conceived back in the 1980’s, or were just plain drunk for over twenty years, the Transformers are a race of robotic warriors who can transform from vehicle to robot mode. There are two camps of the original Transformers. The heroic Autobots are led by Optimus Prime, while the deceiving Decepticons are led by the maniacal Megatron. For over two years the forces of good and evil clashed on television screens everywhere, and in August 1986 they hit the big screen.

I won’t spoil the movie for those who have not seen it yet. I will say this about it and then let you go buy the movie ASAP. The movie starts off in the future, the year 2005. The Decepticons have conquered Cybertron, and the Autobots are ready to reclaim their home world. Megatron and his forces decide to attack Autobot City on Earth, and our heroes are taken by surprise and massacred. Within the first twenty minutes of the movie, the regularly featured heroes of the television series are killed off. It is up to Optimus Prime to save the day, yet all are blind to the coming of Unicron.

Without spoilers from this point out, a new generation of Autobots arises to face their greatest challenge. A Legend falls and a new hero arises, while Megatron and his troops also receive powerful new forms courtesy of Unicron. The Matrix is the most powerful force of energy and wisdom, and it is the key to defeating Unicron. Planets are destroyed, new friends and foes gather to enter the battle, and the new leader of the Autobots must arise and fulfill his destiny to save not only Cybertron and his friends, but also save the galaxy against the threat of Unicron himself.

The DVD:
Fans are treated to a two disc set, with a beautiful holographic cover courtesy of hot TF artist Don Figuera. On disc one the movie is presented in widescreen form, and also has commentaries by Director Nelson Shin, Story consultant Flint Dille, and Autobot actress Susan Blu. There is also original TV spots and contest promos, along with the original theatrical trailer. This is a very kick ass first disc to this amazing set.

Disc two has the movie in full screen format. On both discs the movie has been digitally re-colored and it looks incredible! Disc two also provides three new featurettes: Death of Optimus Prime, Intro of new characters and their voice actors, and a Q&A with the producers and creators. Disc two also contains the Japanese episode “Scramble City” featuring Ultra Magnus working alongside the G1 Transformers cast prior to the movie. There are also toy commercials (from Japan and the US) and a few other surprises.

All in all, the TF movie is one of my favorite animated movies ever. This new DVD is a real treat to die hard Transformers fans, and a wonderful tribute to a sensational film. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will rock to the incredible soundtrack featured within the movie. My only complaint about the DVD is they did not include Stan Bush’s “You’ve got the Touch” music video. Other than that, this DVD set gets a solid A+! Check it out today, it’s worth the time and money.

Ultimate Alliance Review

This Review was submitted by Joshiebear:

Hey, I figured since I was the guy barking about this on the forums when it was announced, I would go ahead and submit my review of the game since I have played and beat it. So here goes.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance. A game? Sure. But it's also something more. It's a comic-book geek's wet dream. I mean X-Men legends 1 and 2 were fun games, but they excluded a lot of the things that are great about the marvel Universe. Namely, everyone that isn't a mutant (Juggernaut and Iron Man aside). Now we have an almost completely new cast of Characters to play with, and they're all the good ones. The only major heroes this game was missing were the Punisher and Hulk as far as I can figure. This all adds up to awesomeness. 100% sheer awesomeness.

You start the game on the sheild helicarrier, fighting ultron robots and doombots as Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, and Wolverine, however as soon as you get to the first save-point, then you can really start making your ultimate Marvel Team. Right of the bat, the heroes available to you are vast in number. Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, The Entire Fantastic four, Spider-Woman, Deadpool, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, Iceman, Elektra, and Luke Cage are now at your fingertips. It's so much to process, you'll have to play the game at least twice to really get a feel for each character. Later on in the game you unlock Dr. Strange, Blade, Ghost Rider, Black Panther, Daredevil, and Nick Fury as well. I played the
PS2 version of the game, which means I missed out on some characters. PSP exclusives: Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel and Ronin. Next-Gen (Wii / PS3 / XBOX 360) Exclusives: Colossus and Moon Knight/Khonshu. There are so many characters to play here, it's makes you feel guilty to build a team of only four people, since you feel that this amazing gift activision has given you is going somewhat unused. On top of this, Every character has 3
alternate costumes, which in some cases, are completely difference characters (with the same powers) such as Ghost Rider / Vengeance / The Phantom Rider, Captain America / U.S. Agent, Thor / Betta Ray Bill, Ms. Marvel / Sharon Ventura, Spider-Woman / Arachene / Spider-Girl, Iron Man / War Machine and Moon Knight / Khonshu. Anyway, the Character Selection is just the beginning of the awesomeness. Onward to melt-your-face glory.

The gameplay in this game, although somewhat repetitive, is quite fun, especially when you have friends doing it with you. All the characters have a good selection of powers / moves you can choose to equip (in the wii version of the game, you will be able to use all without equipping them due to the unique control system!). Not all the moves are necessarily good ones though. I found it much more useful to just stick to your guns (in some cases, a-hyuck!) and just concentrate all the skill points you acquire on making the moves you have completely tricked out. This way, at the end of the game, you are literally wading through your enemies (even bosses!) on your quest to stop Doom from destroying the Universe. In case you were curious, by the end of the game my team was composed of Deadpool, Captain America (with the U.S. Agent costume), Ghost Rider (with the Vengeance costume), Blade, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Iron Man (those are in ascending order of use too, most popular to least).

You storm through the halls of Valhalla like you were in a Dragonforce Music Video, you tear through murderworld like the punisher with an intense hatred of clowns, you kick Shi'ar butt with Corsair as if you were screaming JEAAAANNNN in the 90's X-Men Cartoon show. Ok, I had my fun, now you get the rest of the locations without cheesy joke-ish taglines to accompany them. You're going to be going through Atlantis, Doom's Castle, all of Asgard, Mandarin's fortress, Stark Tower, The Inhuman's base on the dark side of the moon, Dr. Strange's Manor, Mephisto's Realm, and the Skrull Homeworld to name a few. As the guys on 2 Guys Buying Comics said, it's like a sight-seeing tour of the Marvel Universe. It's really amazing. And not only do you go through the areas of the Marvel U, you also encounter all
the accompanying characters that go with the territory. There are so many minor-boss fights and Major boss fights in this game, you'll have an geek seizure. I'm sure you've all heard the specs by now, but there are around 140 Marvel Character you can encounter in this game. That's mind-blowing. The guys at Activision really did their homework. I've always been a Marvel boy, but they were pulling out characters that I had no idea even existed. And on top of this, the character dialogue the used was just slathered with cheesy comic book dialogue, just icing on the "Living Your Comic Book Dream" cake. All in all, this game was awesome, and I can't wait to re-experience it on the Wii, whenever I manage to get my hands on one. If your on the fence between this and Justice League Heroes (which i find to be quite crappy), you should just go ahead and slap yourself in the face. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is the best comic-book game ever made, by far. It's just full of what you know and love, there's no way you can loose. Go out and buy it now. You won't be disappointed.

-Joshiebear