The best Ghost Machine title is again a fantastic read.
Never thought I'd want to google Dolly Madison to learn more about her LOL

Best book being published today!

Fun.

That's a word that's been missing from comics for a long time. Mark Waid is one of the few (but growing number at DC) who knows what that word means - and it has shown in his work since his return to DC.

He's not Superman - he's still just Clark in a costume and it's... fun!

Here's hoping when Mark finishes this run that there are three teens from the future that stop by his time to say "Hi". more

The Ward story was good, the rest are easily forgotten. I should have passed on this.

This story is never ending. I never thought I'd want the Avengers to lose. They just so boring.

Really didn't the pages of them voting and annoucing thier skills. Might be good for new readers, but this story is 30 issues long so far, new readers probably aren't jumping on at this point.

The Avengers trust the X-Men that much? This is like giving a toaster to a full bath tub. Beast, sure, but Cyclops, Juggernaut and the other unknoiwn muties - no frickin' way.

The time for Cartol to ask the other if they volunteer for the mission, probably should have happened at home and not next to a black hole.

The whole fight with the zombies was utterly meaningless. And the SHOCK reveal? Ho hum. Yet another version of Kang. How many is this?

The art was not up to snuff either.
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The main story is ho-hum. None of the characters are very likeable and the art is kind of generic.

The second story, the art gets WAY better but the story is likewise ho-hum. I've seen Space-Spider-Man before and it rarely ever worked.

I really liked the art. Silva did a good job.
The colors too are good (minus the lens flares).
The story however, Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Valeria Richards takes 3 pages to say that “Uncle Doom” has given up on wanting glory and instead just wants power. 3 pages to say what Mom, Sue Richards, said the same thing earlier in the book in a two small panels. Did we readers not read it the first time?

And despite all the horrors that Vic has done, including incinerating soldiers, for her to still call him Uncle (or to have ever called him Uncle) is absurd. But then the character is absurd as she was stillborn (FF #267).

Hill tells the heroes they have "one chance" to defeat him. She must have forgot all the other times there was a chance and the heroes (stupidly) flubbed it.

The heroes then all gang up on Doom for quadrillionth time and have their asses handed to them. Odd though that none of them will have a scratch on them despite those poor soldiers from a couple pages ago. Gives us some consequences!

Then comes the BIG WOW of the book. No, it’s not that Reed has learned magic- it’s that North has apparently never read FF #500 where Reed learned some magic and kicked Vic’s butt.

Reed then announces he’s the “Scientist Supreme” as if it were something we’ve never heard of. Guess North apparently never read Mighty Avengers #30 where Eternity gave the title to Hank Pym. [and yes, I’m aware that Loki said it was him tricking Pym (Might Avengers #34) but he’s not called the God of Lies for nothing].

In FF #500, Mark Waid had Reed dabble with magic; North has him mastering it. This is a significant change in Reed’s power set. Is he to become a full time sorcerer now? While it's "scientific" magic, the power still needs to come from somewhere. What nether godling does Reed owe alligance too? Was this change necessary? I say no.

And in the "short term memory" department, in FF #728, from just A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, Vic told Reed his weakness was babbling too much which gives Vic the opening he needs – so of course in this issue, Reed is babbling too much which gives Vic the opening he needs.

This series reminds me of Gilligan’s Island. Each issue the ‘heroes’ have a new plan, they engage the plan, it fails (often comedically).

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.


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Knowing Waid was coming back, my lcs put this in my stack. I didn't notice until I got home.

If I had caught it, I'd have left it behind. This book was a mess, no wonder Waid is coming back.

Summer of Superman is upping the stakes with this issue.
The Legion of Super-Heroes is MY team of all teams, so I was ready for something big - but I did not expect the long-ago promised War of the Legions to have happened.

And that's "happened" as in past tense. All we see are the repurcussions and some of what's left of 4 different Legion teams. While I'd had loved every one of Bendis's Ultimate Legion of Super-Heroes Team to have been obliterated, it looks like at least one survived. But four Brainiacs lived! Oops - make that three.

It's getting clearer that the next LSH is going to be a smattering of the Retro/Archie/Threeboot/B.U.L.S.H.T. teams so it's a guessing game now.

Oh there's Superboy Prime and Booster Gold stuff in here to.

PS: Dan Mora is beyond awesome! more

While intergalactic war is happening elsewhere in the Imperial story-line, this issue focus's on a warrior world and She-Hulk baby sitting it while Space Hulk is away.

She stops the warriors from being, well, warriors, and then gets involved in a murder mystery that's over before it really begins.

It's a very quick read, but there's a light tone, almost comedic, to it that as a one-off issue, it works well enough because it DOESN'T really rely to the Imperial story-line (which if you've seen my other posts, you'll see that I find it all rather silly).

As a stand alone, it's a fun read. more

The story so far... The space head honcho is assasinated. All fingers point to Space Wakanda, so most everyone goes to Space Wakanda to exact revenge.

Now... Space Black Panther runs away from Space Hulk and then tells all those everyones who were kicking Space Wakanda's ass that they need to surrender. And all but the Kree do.

Then Space Black Panther gets pissed off that his sister is alive and well but on another space ship.

Then Space Black Panther visits Space Wakanda. Space Black Panther gets pissed off again that the Kree didn't want peace (forgetting that fingers still point to Space Wakanda and that Space Black Panther wanted THEM to surrender).

The whole concept of Space Wakanda is just so laughable. T'Challa is ruler of a postage stamp size country in Africa AND several galaxies that contain billions of worlds!? Taking any of this seriously is ludicrous. more

The team (finally) decide to take their problem to someone smarter than them (Reed Richards) after knowing about it for a year (Marvel time).
Meanwhile Mr. Who Is He Under The Mask assembles his court of heroes that match up with each Avenger.
Meanwhile, meeting up with Reed, they begin to describe pieces of their story.
Meanwhile, Mr. Who Is He Under The Mask assembles his court of heroes that match up with each Avenger (déjà vu anyone?).
Meanwhile, the Avengers politely take turns telling Reed that the universe is going to be destroyed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Who Is He Under The Mask tells his court (who if you didn’t know match up to each Avenger) that they’ve died a bunch of times (but got better).
Meanwhile the Avengers continue to tell Reed about the end of everything, the Grandmaster and how it’s all Reed’s fault.
Meanwhile, Mr. Who Is He Under The Mask, talks some more with his court that match up with each Avenger.
Meanwhile, Reed’s upset that he created everything but it’s okay because they’re going to save his everything.
Meanwhile, Mr. Who Is He Under The Mask let’s the Grandmaster destroy his team that he spent all issue talking to. I guess they don’t match up anymore.

This run by Mackay has been a mess – and it just gets worse.
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Three stories...

AIN’T NO GRAVE
Moleman has cancer. Sue Richards cures him by using her powers to remove the tumor.
This echoes FF #606 when Hickman had the FF cure Willie Lumpkin from cancer as well.
And therein lies the problem with both stories… Why isn’t Sue saving the lives of cancer patients she doesn’t know. Yes, it’s fantasy, but if you have someone who CURES CANCER then it just makes her/them horrible people to let other people and children suffer and die.
This is why writers should steer clear away from things like this – but then this is Straczynski who pushes real life into his stories way too much (remember FF #533 when he had Child Welfare remove the Richards kids?).

Also, JMS admittedly admits this story is a direct rip of the Phantom of Opera, so there’s not much originality here.

Also also, at the beginning, Reed is puzzled how Sue can use her powers externally, yet excludes Johnny from the same when he clearly can control flames outside his body.

A poor story. Thankfully Cafu does a great job artwise. Bonus points for NOT sexualizing Sue’s butt shot on the last page.

ONE NIGHT
The starts with a scene from FF Annual #5 (1967.11) with a slight retcon that removes the doctor that was called originally. Anyway the story jumps to later when everyone is still surprised by the announcement that Sue is pregnant. They have a night out at a county fair. It’s an off beat tale but the characters sound like they’re supposed to which is highly enjoyable.
But then, somehow, Sue uncovers a scheme by the Circus of Crime. Somehow. She’s never encountered them before yet recognizes Princess Python in a heavy coat by her, I don’t know, shoes? The story could have handled this bit better. Handled well though was Sue’s response to the CoC.

Not handled well, was Princess Python stating the crew should spend their time planning for Hank and Jan’s wedding (which doesn’t happen until Avengers #60 over a year away (1969.01) and they got married suddenly within only days of the engagement announcement.

Bagley’s art is nice, but can Marvel PLEASE get Ben’s height right or at least consistent? Oh, and he should have used a photo reference for what funnel cake looks like LOL.

CLOBBERIN’ TIME
This is just outright silly and easily not to be considered canon in the slightest – therefore, it’s really enjoyable and fun imo.
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The only thing good is the cover .

The Taylor and Rucka stories were absolutely sensational both with art and writing! I liked the other stories quite a bit as well, considering I’m not a big fan of Watters or Tamaki. I was a bit underwhelmed by this anniversary issue compared to previous milestone centennial issues, where you’d often find additional pin-ups by great artists as well as an occasional essay or two. Still, a really really good read for fans old and new! more

LOST AND FOUND
A silent story but it's heart speaks volumes. One of the very best Bat stories I've read in years. Taylor & Janin are sensational.

YOU'RE ROLE IN COMMUNITY
Easily the one to forget. Joker vs Bat/Press vs Wayne. It's been many times over - and better.

THE KNIFE AND GUN CLUB
The art is iffy, but Rucka's story of two Doctor's talking is fantastic.

FALL
The story is iffy but Sienkiewicz's art of a murderous suicider is fantastic. more

Godzilla kicks the hell out of everyone - which is great.

That the heroes are basically useless is not great.
That the villains are even more useless is really not great.
That the villains are written as a comedic afterthoughts doesn't help. Heck, even Stiltman survives fighting Godzilla. Stiltman!?
More comedy with a Saturday morning version of Fin Fang Foom.

For all the devastation, no one has been killed yet except for a future Johnny (who won't exist soon because of an even more comedic usage of (ugh) Herbie).

I'm not feeling the stakes that should be EVERYWHERE by now.


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Only three heroes here - Red Tornado, GL: Simon Baz and the glorious return of POWER GIRL!

She's back people! We can put that dreadful Leah Williams series in the bin, because this Power Girl is confident and powerful - the way she was always meant to be!

Thanks Saladin Ahmed her return! And thank you Clayton Henry for a surpubly drawn issue!

This book has VERY loud echoes of Scott McCloud's "Destroy" from 1986, so what was inside wasn't a surprise.

What was a surprise was the art by McGuinness/Farmer. The Thing looked like the Thing (which doesn't happen nearly as much as it should elsewhere). [Note: one exception is the last page where he's WAY larger than he should be).

As for the story, Ben fights robots of his friends and foes. Nothing we haven't seen before - and done SO much better in Fantastic Four #100.

And since when was Impy smart enough to make a robot, let alone one that could pull the moon out of orbit?

North writes Ben better here than in the FF series, but it's still a lame story and worse explanation for why it all happened.

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An Adam Hughes cover.

That's the good news. What's inside is a wannabe 4th wall breaking Harley Quinn story.

And c'mon - the Lizard defeated by a simple overhang sign.

And c'mon, - as if her breasts falling out every panel wasn't enough, the gratuitous bathtub page was, well, gratuitous.

Summary:
Nova gets a new helmet.
Maximus betrays the Grandmaster.
And a whole lot of blah blah blah yakkity yak.
The art gets more cartoony too.

A total snoozer.

Another superb issue.

Talok II? Braal? What's up with this I wonder.

This story is basically a stand alone issue for Sue RICHARDS with a bit of Reed spread throughout (I mean that literally as Reed has never looked sillier).

We're expected to believe that Reed Richards covers the entire planet in arrows made of diamonds, that somehow haven't had a tectonic movement in 8 billion years.

Sue RICHARDS won't drink the water because she'd... rather die?

Later, they have Doom on his heels and then the FF just stop thier attack allowing Vic to psuedosciencebabble his way to victory.

And Doom's new tactic of time manipulation? Stolen straight from Rick & Morty's "The Vat of Acid" episode (which was taken from a Futurama episode).

These last two issues rely completely on forced plot devices that North sets up just for the specific needs required to move this story.

That said, I'm beginning to think that North isn't so much the problem as it is the editorial team. The letters page apologizes for a massive creator credit problem from last issue and if they're that sloppy with credits, that might explain why my favorite Marvel team suffers on and on and on from poor story telling.

Never been a Ramos fan but he's hasn't been too bad - but then he draws Sue RICHARDS when she tries to protect the team in a field in such a laughable way that's it's not even funny.

As for my capitalization of Sue RICHARDS in this review, she is called that on the credit page, but then in the recap just below it, it's back her maiden name - heck even Reed (twice) refers to her by the name she hasn't had since 1965!

Just sloppy. more

Marvel's sliding time scale doesn't mean you overload things with more recognizable real world events. Cap doesn't need to be fighting against the Taliban when there's plenty of Hydra, Secret Empire whatever groups out there that can fill the gaps without making this story outdated in a few years.

And that idiotic new costume doesn't help. He's Captain America, not Captain Wardrobe.

And now there's a new guy who plays at being Cap (and probably more over the years). Seems so unneccessary.

The art is just okay. It looks like the Doombot is huge - which makes no sense because Vic's ego would never make a robot bigger and more imposing than himself. more