What I pull most from this book is the lesson that we shouldnt let circumstances prevent us from doing what we love. Many people who give up on their passion will say, Life happened, as if it was out of their control. For Cardy life certainly did happen but he didnt use it as an excuse to stop being an artist. Think of this the next time you think you dont have the time to do what you like.

Since theres only one issue left, you may want to wait for the TPB to come out if you havent already started reading these, but take a long look at this mini-series which I obviously am gushing over.

As a whole, continuity is bugging me right now (In X-Factor #9, Multiple Man thinks, Spider-Man seems to be in so many places at once, I always figured he was cloned at some point, and, though it is referring to the clone saga, the same can be said about Cap, Wolverine, The Fantastic Four, Iceman, Cyclops, et al). It seems like there isnt much cohesion between all of the different titles for the size of event theyre trying to portray. That shouldnt be held against this comic, which I loved (as indicated by my rating). This is still an essential comic for super hero genre fans.

Personally, I am going to advocate The Last Christmas win an Eisner award. It is one of the funnest stories I have read in a while. Plus its greatly executed. I give it because while I think it is perfect and deserves , my editor might not think so, especially after he starts receiving hate-emails directed towards me, describing my retardidity and calling for my immediate dismissal.

Honestly, this is one of the best comics out there. Better than the tie-ins for Civil War and Infinite Crisis, and right up there with those mini-series as well. There is only one more book of this five-issue limited series left to be published, so Im hoping that this team has more ideas in the works (a Frosty spin-off is mentioned in this issue).

This issue is a prime example of why The Unwritten is one of the most interesting stories in comics right now.

Dont buy this expecting Civil War II. Buy this expecting something different and possibly even better.

To me, this is an air tight comic. Its a good jump on point for both X-Factor and Civil War while continuing both those stories. Davids dialogue is smart, occasionally funny, natural, and always builds the overall story. The story itself is complicated without being confusing. Calero makes it even better with his art. This is definitely worth the price, and I could argue that it is the best comic with the Civil War tag so far.

This is one of the best titles around right now. The art is solid. Most issues have all around great writing. Though David doesnt produce nearly as much, his writing is at least on level with the Meltzers, Straczynskis, Johns, and Brubakers but grounded with more reality. I wish more comics were like this.

Those who like the series would give this issue 5 bullets, but I wouldnt consider this issue to be on the same level as Watchmen or Wolverine Origins (the original mini-series, not the ongoing abomination) which is why I only gave it 4 bullets.

Ms. America is the only slasher in this issue and she appears in the B story. A villain from First Cut appears in the C story, but he isnt a slasher - just some douche. The B story centers around a researcher who had a schoolboy crush on then-famous Ms. America. The opening has a really cute scene where the researcher as a young boy fakes being sick to stay home alone and gets into his dads porn mags. Thats where he sees naked pictures of Ms. America. As an adult he is doing studies on her after she has been destroyed in two meetings with Cassie and Vlad. His loss of control in the face of fantasies leads to Ms. America being freed in stellar fashion that I would recommend seeing but its something that only people with a screw loose, such as myself, will get a kick out of.

As good of storytelling as this issue is, I cant recommend it to everyone. It doesnt show nudity like some comics, but its more sexually explicit then most of the comics that do show it. The violence in this is not like superhero comics or even many in the horror genre - it does show a wrist-slashing scene (the character doesnt cross the street on her wrist).

Since a lot of focus was given to Cap and not Spider-Man, I cant say that this is a great Spider-Man book, but in the context of Civil War, I think this is a must buy. It presents a part of Cap not seen in the main CW title, and tells a damn exciting story about Spidey.

All that I can really complain about is that Annihilation is another big event involving many titles that I probably dont have the money to afford. If youre interested in this or love DCs space stuff, give it a look at the very least. This Prologue is barely a continuation of the previous Annihilation story and is a good jumping on point.

While a lot of the book is used for promotional reasons, there are still character developments. Often in Cable & Deadpool an issue ends with one of these moments. It happens when Deadpool is about to make a mercy kill and gets shot in the head by Bucky and Bob takes Deadpool in his arms before they teleport to another place in time. Since Deadpool has a healing factor like Wolverine, its not a big deal that hes shot - whats important is the choice Wade made thinking it was right, while Bobs reaction shows the degree of their relationship with each other.

This story is not going to create as much buzz or get as much acclain as the over sized epics, but at least I can give it to a casual fan or someone who isn't into comics and be reasonably confident they will enjoy it. Many of the titles out right now cannot make that claim.

Though I like the comic a lot, there isn't a lot of emotional range in it. It's well written and well illustrated, but I'm not expecting anything other than just a western/horror story.

If you have yet to give Hack/Slash a try, do so now, even if you havent read the prelude.

Combining character and plot development found in the Big Two Publishers with the art and dark humor of many Indies makes Hack/Slash a great pick up. This was the first issue of it that I read, and Seeley made me feel like I knew the whole story and the characters.

As much as I like it, I cannot deny that this isnt for everybody. With that said, fans of the slice-of-life indie comics or super hero genre will likely find this a good read.

A great concept, good art, and good story telling make this a very good read.

Pick this one up. It has everything except humor.

Penciler Jim Cheung does a bang-up job with the art. Morales and Ponsor with the ink and colors add that feeling the cover gives of these not being bright and shiny heroes. They had what I consider a difficult task of showing Iron Mans arm slowly ceasing to exist, and I thought they did a hell of a job, my favorite scene artistically. The scene where they get the Mind Gem is also splendid.

For anyone who wants to get into X-Men but knows little of what has been happening, this is definitely worth the time to pick up. If you like badass characters like Wolverine, I recommend you see what Carey and Bachalo are doing. X-fans should also enjoy this story. The only comic book fans who wont like this are those who usually stick to the indies and arent in the least bit interested in super humans. They arent going to read this review, so if you are reading this, you should go look at the book. That is why I feel safe bestowing this issue with . Not everyone is going to be interested, but the art and writing is sweet, and its easy to follow.

As an epilogue, I would like to comment on the Masked Marvel backup story, since one of the last lines in it was, Okay, so well do the best backups ever and then the fansll demand to see more Masked Marvel stories! Well, after this one, I am not a fan and certainly will not demand to see more of this. Aside from the shots of Masked Marvel himself, the art was just sort of there, not adding to the story or characters at all. Likewise, the colors were just a step above black and white. I like the storyline of a comic book writer actually being his character, and the dialogue was sometimes funny, definitely campy which I cant decide if I like or not. Deadpool cracks jokes at comics in the same way that this one does, only much funnier. If the art were better, I might pick up a full issue, but really I think it wouldnt fit in the Marvel U since its too much like an Indy comic and makes the same vein of jokes as Deadpool.

This is an interesting issue put together by a great writer and a great artist.

This issue is hard to slip right into since it has a lot of continuity from previous issues, but if you dont mind being unsure whats going on or already know it, Id recommend picking it up. Even the "Previously" page is a bit confusing. Well worth it though as I now see Kitty in a different light, and I like how much the continuity builds on itself to create insane amounts of conflict.

Whats more, Whedon opens with a bit of story about Breakworlders who are opposed to what their government is doing, which complicates how the enemy is viewed in this story. Instead of them all being bad people, you see that there are good guys as well. So the X-Men cant just go around killing them all in defense, because readers will go, He just killed Timmy, who was doing what I think I would do in his shoes, instead of, He just killed some alien, whos gross and totally different from me.

For all that I love about it, I cant recommend it to everyone. If you liked I Cant Believe Its Not the Justice League then buy this issue. Buy all the issues. But if you were annoyed by the JLA: Classified issues with the Super Buddies, then dont bother. Any issue eventually explains everything that happened, and this is no exception, so jump on anywhere. Though Im tempted to give this a perfect just to be funny, I cannot in good conscience do so, and will instead give it the deserved .

The idea of a wide range of emotions in comics, and most media, seems almost to be avoided. Yet many of the great comics are strong because they have that pathos. Hero Squared is funny, sad, and dramatic with the action expected of a comic book. Its only drawback is that its not the kind of humor that everyone likes.

Learning those things makes the issue a lot more interesting to me. But I dont think Im in the majority of enjoying looking that up. Whats more is that there are some things that the average person isnt going to know off the top of their head. To understand a lot of this you need to know general facts about Roman history, its ancient culture, and how the Empires government worked at that time. This is definitely an acquired taste, but well worth it if you have that taste.

Regardless, this has been a fun read and really intellectually stimulating. The idea sets up for so many great stories that got passed over, Im disappointed that it was limited to only four issues rather then being an on-going title. However, I must keep in mind that it took about a year for the four issues to be published, so maybe its better this way.

Superhero genre fans should try out this series as it pokes fun at the genre. Its level of irrelevance makes it so that a reader can jump on at any issue. If youre not a DC fan, just make sure you have a friend who is a DC fan that can explain some of the jokes to you, or at least be good at looking up info the internet.

Lets hope that we see more issues of Initiative like this. As much as I like the Shadow Initiative, I keep in mind that I like Juggernaut but have hated him in a monthly title like New Excalibur. This dark side of Initiative isnt what is new; in fact its pretty fitting of the series. What is different is a bigger mix of adults into the equation, which is what I hope to see more of in the future.

This isnt one of those great stories that all comic fans or even all Batman fans should read, but it is fun. Its not pretentious and is more entertaining then a lot of the stories that are plot focused. So if you like insanity, humor, or stylized art give this a try. But if youre all about epic plots and mainstream style, youre not likely going to feel good about spending money on this.

All I can make of this is that its entertaining and interesting.

Though there are some things that are going to rub people the wrong way, I think there is a lot to like about this comic. The setting is just so fantastic that its worth picking up for that reason alone. If you have even a slight interest in this, ask your comic shop to pull a copy of it for you.

Its a lot of fun to look at and imaginative. But there are a lot of buts to go with it. The amount of imagination that Wagner shows is enough for an ongoing series. But instead hes blown a load of stories in the first arc. If you bought the first one, Id recommend you go ahead and get this issue but dont jump on now if you havent already.

Since the dominant narrative carries the story so much, I could not give it . I wish the story could have been stretched out more properly. But since the art was great, and I did like the story as a whole, I have to give it mad props with a high . I cant wait for the next Forgotten Realsm adaptation, and I plan on picking up the original novels.

A little quirk that I noticed was the turn in prejudice between this story and Sojourn. Sojourn delivered a metaphor for racism; people hated Drzzt because he was a black elf and therefore evil, pretty easy to pick up on the message. In this story, there is prejudice toward the orcs and goblins and giants, though. Granted, they probably are evil, and I dont want my daughter dating them, but still. The shift can be best demonstrated in that Drzzt tells the barbarian hes training, Wulfgar, that he left his people because, They kill, yet later on he says to Wulfgar, I wont start the fun without you, referring to killing a bunch of giants. Granted, the giants had killed a couple dwarves, so their deaths were warranted, but to be so flip about it seemed hypocritical to me. Either way, I liked this a lot, but it isnt anything stellar.

BOOM! has been kind enough to send a lot of advance copies our way, so Ive read a lot of their books. So when Waid says, This is one of the best books BOOM! has published, I can informatively agree with that statement. In fact, much of what they've published hasn't been to my taste, but Ill definitely add this one to my pull list.

There really isnt much to say about the book. The art is right up there with the best in comics. The story, though, is more like one scene in part of a story rather then one scene that is a story.

This really was one of the more fun reads I have had lately. I like what the creators are doing, but was peeved by little things which is why they finally the issue only earned from me .

My only peeve was a logistical one. Theres a scene where the mayor of this major city has a press conference, apparently broadcast live. Having been living in Chicagoland most of my life, I have never heard of a TV station cutting to a live press conference for the mayor, but Daley tends to ramble, so maybe it happens elsewhere. Alas, there is more to my peeve than that. The reporter who is chasing Nightwolf is an on-air talent who doesnt reveal any of her sources ever. Maybe having gone to a school full of print and broadcast journalism majors, having friends in broadcast journalism, and myself writing for newspaper I could have an unfair view of this. BUT the people who get in front of cameras, especially in urban city markets, only read the news; they do not track it down. In this book she goes to shady neighborhoods alone, which no smart reporter would do, her story relies on hearsay of people who dont want to be named, which does happen in print journalism but only when

Im really impressed by this book. Not so impressed that Ill recommend it to everyone, but I find it interesting and the concept is solid. Since I didnt get issue zero of it, Ill buy that as well as issue #2 when I get the chance. Browse it if you see it at the shop.

I highly recommend people check this out. The story line isnt exactly Long Halloween, but it still is setting up well enough to not ruin the book, and almost everything else about it is a blast (just not the exposition). Though it is about zombie hunters, I dont think its appeal is limited to just one genre; I think people who like superhero comics will like Dale and Otis, indie comic fans will like the humor and quirkiness, and horror comic fans will like the setting. If not for the exposition, I would have rated this higher than .

Don't pass this up just because Jenna Jameson came up with it, and I'd have to say don't buy it just because Jenna Jameson came up with it. I'm no Jenna aficionado, but the content of this wasn't what I expected. Horror comic fans should give this one a try.

Writer Bill Willingham and the rest of the creative team have been doing a decent job of mixing the hokey aspects with the super hero/magic genre of the book. My only problem, and I may regret saying this in an e-published document, is that I dont like how they changed Detective Chimps outfit. In Day of Vengeance, he had on a Sherlock Holmes coat and hat with a t-shirt that said "You Suck." Now he looks like a character from Planet of the Apes. What would be great is if they based his look on Hunter S. Thompson (Father of gonzo-journalism, writer of Fear and Loathing Las Vegas, and god-father of blogs). They would not have to change much; though they dropped the alcoholic part of his character, he still chain smokes and seems to just wander around making witty observations. For instance, when they are explaining how the door to the Oblivion Bar works (it changes, but potentially any door can lead to it), he says, Remember when it was little Timmy Lipmans closet door for a few

For all of my gripes about character development, I liked this book. Its a lot of shoot em up fun.

Fans who stick to independent comics probably wont like this, but if you enjoy Marvel or DC, check this outits worth the hype from their ads.

Though there wasnt much to knock on him for the writing, there isnt much to praise either. I would recommend this for fans that appreciate the artwork of it more then the entertainment value it has. Templesmiths art would make me praise a poorly written book and this isn't that bad.

Though I didnt like some of the details, the plot does make it worthwhile, and the art is good, so I cannot write this off as being bad. I have my problems with it but theyre merely personal preference so there is no reason to skip over thisI still look forward to the next issue. All Im really saying is that I wont be voting Abortion and Havok in 08.

Ill definitely be picking up issue #5 to see the conclusion. It is a good title. But I wont be excited to see it in the store like I still get with many other titles right now.

Though another "X-Men in space" story seems the most likely story for a sequel, it's not the only way the story could go. A couple of times in this issue Vulcan mentions wanting to kill Xavier. Then in his speech at the end of the story, Vulcan declares to his people that his next goal is to kill Xavier. Since most readers know that Xavier had his head cleaned by a gun, it creates an interesting story to tell as this guy leads an armada to kill someone light years away who has already been killed.

Following the main story is another story regarding dreams and recovered memories. This one focuses on Wolverines first fight with Hulk. Ed McGuinness provides the art which combines old-school with contemporary. The colors are a complete throw back, though. I havent read the original issue, so Im not sure how exactly it compares, but the end has a twist.

My feeling is that this was a story that would fit better with the Wolverine Origins title, where Wolverine explores his past, solves its mysteries, and all that stuff that doesnt hold as strong as the original Wolverine Origin mini-series. I dont mind that theyre doing it, but I think its excessive to have two titles focusing on it; the main Wolverine title should keep moving forward with his story or they should cancel Origins. Maybe Im in the minority here. Maybe lots of people like to read about Wolverine facing the same enemies he always has and reminiscing so much that they need to have two titles with two independent stories. But not me.

Like I said, in a few pages a new terrorist group thats apparently as big as groups like Hydra is introduced and falls. At the same time, Wolverine falls in love with an undeveloped character. Why? It is merely a means to an end: Wolverine had to be blown up and recovered by SHIELD so they needed terrorists - cant figure out why it needed to be a new group, possibly just Marvel wanting to introduce Scimitar to their universe. But why have him fall in love with some woman who couldve been anyone? It gave a good reason to mention specific memories and characters - previous women hes loved that have died - which leads to another question: Why would they need to mention these characters? I dont have any idea what the answer to that is. I hope it to be interesting and assume that those memories are going to play some role. Whats going to get me picking up the next issue is the cliffhanger. Based on the title and the character, it could be that Logan dies in the same way that James H

There are good scenes that I liked in this - those have a lot of exposition too. The opening scene is primarily there to remind the reader of a protagonist that doesnt appear in the rest of this issue and explain some of what previously happened. Like I said, theres not much importance to the text in the toy store scene. When Logan is walking everything thats happened in this arc is explained and shown in the art. That apartment scene spends most of its time saying who Shiori is, but helps lead into the next scene. Chaykin shows everything that you need to know about the scene with Shogun, so skip the words. Finally the last scene talks about things that have happened to the characters in the scene before a big reveal.

I like the art and I like the idea. Overall I like it; it's certainly not bad. The problem is that the story pacing and build up hold it back.

This was amusing, but expect Slice Hard to be much better.

It was entertaining, and as a comic book fan I enjoyed. But dont read it because youre a fan of Halo. Dont give it to your 10-year cousin who likes the game, because there are more then a few sex references. And dont expect the plot advancement Bendis is known for. If you have a chance, though, pick it up for the art.

Geoff Collins is a former sports reporter in Chicago, IL. He is now studying computer networking and considering committing a crime to get health care, like this man.

There isnt much in the first issue for readers to sink their teeth into. If this were a movie, these scenes would be run with the opening credits. The characters are introduced, but no insight is provided into them. Emotionally, its flat and just shows people fighting with no real humor, suspense, or crucial conversations.

This is a genre book. If you like horror movies or comics, give it a try, but if not its probably something to skip on.

Kirkman and Oliver definitely have me sold on Ultimate X-Men. For all of my griping, I think this is good stuff. Marvel is definitely letting Kirkman take this book unexpected places.

The writing was good, but not stellar. The art had points but has major flaws. If you really like the series, I guess its worth buying, but you can enjoy it about as much by hearing about it from someone else.

In the end it's still meant to promote Young Avengers. If you're interested, go ahead and read it; it's not bad. But this simply won't appeal to many fans. You can put together great creators, but if you assign them something like this it's still not going to be very interesting.

My emotions are mixed by this issue. Obviously, I am excited thinking about what could happen next, but I cant ignore that a complicated and confusing storyline begins with an issue that is vague and confusing. No doubt this is an important issue to buy for any X-Men fan. It is just a wretched starting point. Because I think it was poorly plotted out and wasnt excited by the art, I only give it , but I still strongly recommend buying it, along with some of the stories leading up to it.

Uncanny X-Men #477 wins points with me because I liked some of the scenes and the story. However, it loses points by not fitting in with the rest of the story too well and having boring art. . If youre following the story and cant get a hold of this issue for whatever reason, dont fret.

Readers who loved Messiah Complex will probably have fun reading this. Readers who refused to follow it due to the many crossovers can read this and get a good understanding of what is happening now. Im not sure if the next issue of Uncanny is going to be good, but any X fan should consider buying this.

Uncanny X-Men #540Posted: Thursday, July 14, 2011By: Geoff Collins Kieron GillenGreg Land, Jay Leisten (i), Justin Ponsor (c), Joe Caramagna (l)Marvel Its good to see Juggernaut going on a tear again. Ive been reading comics for only 10 years or so about the time that the "Huggernaut" moniker began. So I havent had a storyline where Juggernaut is out to cause true mayhem without reading older titles, which just isnt the same.

There is plenty to like about this issue, so its worth looking at. But I cannot ignore that it is far from living up to War of the Worlds, which is why I decided to give it . Chee did a great job, and Nelson isnt half bad. I just wish he had a better story to tell.

Like I said its not horrible; I thought the first issue of New Warriors was worse. But there are a lot of better comics out there to buy, so you might want to consider putting this on the back burner. On second thought, just take it off the stove altogether until after youve consumed Sinestro Corps, other X-Titles, Countdown, Annihilation, Hack/Slash, Invincible

Again, this is a turning point for the characters and series. If you have not liked New Excalibur since it became "new," dont let that stop you from picking up this issue. It is meant as a jumping on point, so if youre unfamiliar with the characters, all but one is thoroughly introduced. Tieri is definitely passionate about this story, and he makes it into a good read.

If you really want to know what happens, just read the last four pages and put it back down; if you already read the first part then get a lobotomy. I would now like to apologize to Chris Claremont for criticizing his writing seeing as he is a legend and Im not even getting paid for writing this. Either way this issue sucked, Mr. Claremont. And this is coming from a guy who writes mostly positive reviews. The major plot point was good, and I think with Claremont on board there will be more big twists like that, but the opening scene killed this issue and the dialogue was hokey. Art was great, though.

For all my griping, it is a fun and light hearted story, which can be nice to read sometimes. Maybe I was disappointed because I was expecting similarities to The Accused story in Front Line, and this is far from that. Since it is about a group of heroes without any special powers, I might give the next issue a look, and its not as if there is nothing redeeming about the book. But I wont buy this first issue and the title is going to be too far down my wish list of comics for me to ever likely buy.

Regardless of if the writer didnt care or not, I didnt care about it at all. Its a struggle for me to sit here and come up with stuff to say about the book. Even though there are redeeming qualities about the story, its overshadowed by there not being much in this issue to give a damn about.

I cant say everyone will love this, and Im not claiming this issue is flawless, but I can honestly say any fan of the super hero genre will enjoy this. Great art and great writing.

Thats not enough for me to equate the story to emo. What puts this over the top is the final scene where Annette meets with her family for the first time since her feet were shot off. Her mom and dad are there with her brother who saw her get run down by a car. Whats horrible about this scene is that the family refuses to accept her back in. They feel that since they had already come to terms with her death and accepted it -- in a matter of months, not years -- they shouldnt accept her back into the family as a zombie. If my dead uncle calls me tomorrow, Im not going to say, Oh, Im sorry, but I went to your funeral and already dealt with the pain. You should go back in the ground where we left ya, jerk.

I would say that aspiring writers should pick up this book to give them encouragement. You'll be able to look at it and say , If this can get published then Im sure I can. However, I pulled up the publisher website and this is very clearly self-published. Apparently, the only person willing to publish the writing of Hasbrouck is Hasbrouck and a couple of his friends.

Check out the two preview issues, but skip this one. Im going to get #2 but this was just rough. If it wasnt for the two previous issues being so good, Id just completely rip into this one.