This arc has bears all the signs of classic Brubaker – Bucky is almost James Bond like as he wanders into facilities, takes out AIM agents and heads on with his mission. I've had trouble recommending this book during the first arc, but I think they've found the rhythm now. It's too early to say, but I think they're about to crank the spy-fantasy dial up to eleven!

I have no idea why those cops wanted to arrest Theresa for clearing the tree out of the road – it kinda seemed like an excuse for Lorna to make the care fly… and I'm fine with that. In any case, I really admire Peter David's story telling in this issue – Madox's dupe is the perfect character to handle the Rahne issue, and whipping out the cat-o-nine tails was a great touch for someone like Rahne… although I have to say that for a character that is as into her Christianity as Rahne is, she sure doesn't seem to know anything about the standard nature of God that every branch of Christianity has been preaching fairly consistently for the last 50+ years. Maybe being a mutant were-wolf interfered with her Sunday School schedule.

I love Brubaker, but this is below his standards. Maybe the next arc will improve the book, but if this was anyone but Bru, I'd pack it in.

I know it's not a big deal, but I LOVE the old school cover! Everything about it says 1980s – of course the tell tale floating heads, the posing of the characters, the tag line – awesome. I'd love to have a giant poster of this issue's cover. As I always say, it's more of the same from Peter David – old plots are tied off while new threads are pulled. PAD does a great job of keeping us invested in the story while enjoying the action. I just wish X-Factor issues could be twice as long. Leonard Kirk and Matt Milla combine for some great images while the aforementioned cover by David Yardin is excellent.

Once again, I must make an open plea to everyone: add this book to your list. You don't need to know anything about X-Factor, X-Men or read the other X-Men books to enjoy this – it's just good writing and a style of story that you don't see much of in comic books these days. This month's cover takes a more serious tone as opposed to the recent more old school bold covers, but it's welcome. As usual, the art, layout and story are well done and easy to follow.

Leonard Kirk seems to move back and forth from a realistic to a more cartoon-ish style, and you'd think it's be distracting, but it's not; maybe it depends on the tone the story dictates for that particular image, or maybe it depends on which character he's drawing. Madrox always seems very cartoon-ish, but the women are always very defined in a way that makes them seem more real to me. But then, Layla and Monet are serious characters while Madrox is always ready with a joke. In any case, I enjoy it even if I don't understand it. Also: another awesome cover by David Yardin.

I chose to open with that quote from Dogma because this series and that movie were both written by Kevin Smith, yet the villain doesn't take Smith's advice, which may be intentional – Hull is a Bond villain of sorts, so it works. Here in issue 8, we're really in the thick of things – the second act of the story arc is in full swing. The dialogue and story are cliche, but it works and the pacing is nice – given the amount of text, it could be heavy handed, but it's fun. I wouldn't call this a memorable chapter in the pantheon of comics, but it gets the job done.

Next time, we'll see how this all turns out. I have no idea what to expect, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Peter David continues to weave a web; setting up new plot threads while inter-cutting between difference scenes. Right now, PAD is my favorite writer – he keeps the pages turning with ease while dropping in a mix of humorous and serious dialogue that has come to make X-Factor my current favorite comic book. There just isn't any other book like this, and if you're not currently reading X-Factor, issue 233 is a great place to jump aboard. Leonard Kirk's art is also great fun, but David Yardin's covers continue to steal the show.

Well, I wanted action, and I finally got it – that's about all this issue is – it picks up right where issue 5 left off and we get to see the meat of the fight between Austin and Hull, which is mostly Hull kicking Austin's ass until he decides to create a diversion (via the subway derailment) that will make it impossible for Austin to follow. It's the action scene the series desperately needed – the hero in combat with the bad guy. You can wait for this for a while when you're watching a movie, but to finally get to this moment in issue 6 is stretching tings a bit. Nevertheless, this book is going somewhere and it's a fun ride. I'm sure this is the 5th or 6th time I've said this, but wait for the graphic novel.

This issue is pretty damn good – I admit I was surprised. This is just good old fashioned story telling coupled with great art. Sure, it has that standard cliff hanger ending, but Steve is left with a decision to make; it's not as though he's hanging off a literal cliff or something. Many long standing questions were answered, points were made and the rest of the story is on a collision course with who the characters will choose to be, what they'll decide to do next. This issue is great fun and compared to the previous issue's sparse text, nets perhaps the series highest word count.

Nevertheless, this was a fun issue, and now that we've got what I would guess is the bulk of the exposition out of the way, we can get down to business in issue 5.

As has been the problem with this book from the beginning, there just isn't enough room in a comic to get these scenes completed in a satisfying way. I'm all for cliff hangers, but it did seem like it was finally Austin's turn to do some damage, for us to get to enjoy some crazy bionic action, but as soon as it starts, it stops – but at least it finally started. Austin's bionic powers are pretty awesome and unpredictable – I can't wait to see what else he can do. Jonathan Lau's art continues to rock, and while I like what Kevin Smith is doing here, I still recommend that if you haven't been reading this, just wait for the graphic novel so you don't have to get hung up. Steve Austin always looks older on the covers than he does in the interior art, which would annoy me more if the covers weren't so awesome.

There's not much to say about this issue, but I expect it to really hit the fan next month. If you haven't added Winter Soldier to your list, I'd hop on board.

The book has a wonderful look to it – Emanuela Lupacchino, Guillermo Ortego and Matt Milla all combine forces to illustrate a world that you can't look at hard enough – I also can't stop looking at the ice near the end of the book. It's just ice, but it looks great. I love this cover; it's deliciously old school and yet new. David Yardin uses a really nice color palette here that jumps right off the page.

Still, Winter Soldier remains a fun read even if this issue ends up being forgettable in the long run. It's clear Brubaker has a master plan and knows exactly where he's leading us, and right now I'll need to be patient as we continue to move there.

The art by Butch Guice, colors by Bettie Breitweiser and covers by Lee Bermejo are all outstanding – the tone is consistent through the images and writing and it all comes together beautifully. If you've read any of my reviews or comments before, you know I don't easily give out praise – so when I take this moment to encourage you to go out and buy this book, you know I mean it.

I have no idea where this story ends, and I can't wait to find out. If you're not reading X-Factor, I highly recommend adding it to your list – it's quickly become one of my favorite books of all time.

Oh, and just one quick note on the cover featuring Rhodey is his armor standing on a pile of broken robots… there are no robots in this issue.

Tune in next time for what will most likely be the uninspiring conclusion of me reviewing Iron Man 2.0.

When it comes to this arc, my patience is about exhausted. I expect serious plot development in issue 11, and if we don't get it… if the book doesn't make progress toward an end game, I may have to give up. It's not to say that issue 10 doesn't make any progress, but it's minimal, and ever since the point one issue, the book has been essentially treading water for three and a half issues. There's little action, endless exposition that is nearly identical from one book to the next and cover after cover of Rhodey modeling his armor. It's been stale for a while and the next issue needs to step it up.

While I believe that Kevin Smith's script might have made for a possibly interesting movie, adapting it to a limited series comic book is just not working. The pace just isn't delivering, our protagonist hasn't done anything in two issues (except complain about being alive), and our antagonist, who needs to carry the story at this point, is just not developed enough. I don't know who he is and I only have a vague idea of what he wants. Still, I think this might have worked on the big screen, or possibly as a trade paperback, but as a monthly installment, I'm just getting more frustrated with each passing issue.

That's really all there is to say – this issue contained no new information and the only new event that happened wasKaylie shot those agents for some reason without shooting the kidney transplant recipient or Rhodey, who were both sitting in between the two agents. This probably supports the idea that she is infected, but I don't know how or when that could have happened, unless I've just become so bored with the title that I'm not retaining what I read anymore. So while I don't have much praise for Nick Spencer or co-writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, Ariel Olivetti's interior art and colors continues to make me happy and, besides my morbid dedication to see this story arc through to the end, is the only other thing that keeps me coming back every month.

This issue contained a lot of exposition, and it was necessary, nor did I find it boring" but something was missing here. I'm happy with the art, the descriptions of Hull's brutality are interesting and the dialogue flows smoothly, but I'm having trouble figuring out who a lot of the characters are and what they want. Before I read issue 3, I imagine I'll have to read issue 1 and 2 again, but if that doesn't help me make sense of who all these people are, then my patience will be about worn out. Still, I'm not unhappy with the book, but there is room for improvement.

Like the Iron Man 2.0 series itself, I like the concept of this issue, but I'm not a huge fan of the execution. Still, the book flows well and I enjoy the art from Ariel Olivetti (with Jorge Lucas), and the plot is advancing (very, very slowly), so its certainly not the worst issue of Iron Man 2.0, yet I can't recommend the book. Besides, August sales figures aren't available yet, but in July of this year, 20,390 issues sold was good for 105th place, which is up from June, but not exactly setting the world on fire – maybe this title will survive the year, but who knows how much longer beyond that.

The story has a decent pace and it's a fun read. It's predictable, but when you're reading a book called ‘The Bionic Man' and the main character is on the cover as a bionic man but is not yet bionic in the story, that's understandable – not to mention that it's a known property. The art by Jonathan Lau is highly stylized – I appreciated the somewhat bold choices and consistent look. In regards to that art's consistency, I'm complimenting the artist for not making obvious mistakes, but I felt he deserved a shout out.

I guess we'll have to wait till next month. I'm staying on board to find out what happens, but after that, I can't make any promises.