It seems Image has become the independent comic book company who only publish stories written by writers who work for either Marvel or DC. But with that said here we have another interesting high concept story by Snyder.

Wow, this comic must really suck, because Comicosity rated it a 7.0 and they almost never give any book less than an 8.0, especially if it's from Marvel.

I'm coming to terms with this reboot. I wasn't expecting this series to be so light or humor driven. It has the snappy flow of Marvel's current house style which seems to make all their characters feel sort of the same and don't carry much weight. All threats seem to only be momentary distractions for breezy quips. But I guess it's fairly entertaining even if it lacks a sense of depth.

Fade Out never disappoints me. Another great issue.

Good stuff.

Aaron is the wrong writer here. Lame attempts at humor, magic seems arbitrary, and worst of all Strange is superficial and worldly.

Tarantino does Christian mythology. It doesn't work.

Trying to be funny and not succeeding. Art was nice. Coloring could be better. Overall this was a step down from issue one.

Thanks, but no thanks. It's well done for what it is, but I'm not into the subject matter at all. Guera's art looks pretty good. Better than Scalped. But again, this isn't what I'm looking for in comics, or any fiction really, and I'm not even really sure why I ordered it. It's well written and filled with all the superficial adult content that Aaron loves, with lots of violence, profanity, rape and pillaging etc. I'm usually more into imaginative stories, so this didn't do much for me. more

This was a really fun read. I'm sticking with it.

Engaging and fun.

Wow, four versions of Secret Six series in only ten years (four if you count Villains United). And all of them with the same writer even.

This was a fun read. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this, but it does a good job of generating a genuine feeling of interesting dynamics while still retaining a sense of fun and looking really good while doing it. Fiona Staples on art is a perfect fit here. Archie and the gang have been moved out of it's older cartoon strip aspects and into something that feels more like a three dimensional comedy/drama. Well done! more

Sort of fun, but dumb as hell. The corny cliche aspects and lame pre-packaged results ultimately just makes it a waste of time.

As has been the case with pretty much all the Harley Quinn books, I always have to ask myself if this is funny or just dumb?

I like the idea of Harley, and I suppose Power Girl has something going on with her giant breasts that convinces people to buy her books, but my time and money is better spent on almost anything else.

Big breasts.
This comic isn't bad, but it's not really good either. What is amazing about this book is that "professional reviewers" give it scores of 8s, 9s, and 10s. I guess that goes to show the power of Dodson's ability to draw orbit changing butts and super powered breasts.

Best art I've seen in a comic book series in years. It's so ornately imaginative and flawless in it's designs. It disappoints me that there hasn't been a larger fan response for the art alone, but the story has been excellent as well. It's not deep and it is whimsical, but it's super fun and often genuinely inventive in how it extends some of Windsor McKay's original ideas. I've loved this series, but I do understand why most readers would hope for something that had more character development to give it more of a sense of depth. Shanower stays true to McKay's original newspaper strip format where Nemo has a continuing whimsical adventure in dream land and wakes up every few pages to his surprise. It's fun and highly imaginative, but it leads you to wish for events that might determine a more hefty consequence, in or out of dreamland. Regardless, this has been a wonderful piece of work. more

I'm surprised at how many reviewers are willing to just whip out a ten rating for anything good yet nothing new or unique. Is it Jeff Lemire's name on it that excites these guys? This issue is fine but it's not like I cant wait for the next issue. A lot of the elements feel fairly familiar and not as exciting as you might hope based upon the review scores, but it's still relatively well written issue.

I'm not into the pastel water color art either. Nguyens often breezy light touch leaves me wishing for something with more edge and solidity for a science fiction story. more

This is a story of humorous irony, presenting the idea of a former robot warrior who was once a great leader in a war where the robots wiped out the entire human race. Now that the war is over and no more humans exist, D4VE is going through a midlife crisis in post-war robot suburbia. The robots have found that they really have no other purpose than to mimic human life and culture, which means having jobs with bosses, getting married, making kids... and now D4VE who used to be the great warrior finds himself hating his job, hating his boss, his marriage falling apart, and can't seem to communicate with his teenage robot son. What happened?

Fun series and good art. more

I've often been surprised at some of the medium-ish reviews Jupiter's Legacy has received on past issues, especially when comparing it to the other comics with the same rating from the same reviewer. I guess it just shows that some reviewers truly don't know what good and bad is.

So anyway, other than the painful months of waiting and wondering between issues, Jupiter's Legacy is easily one of the best comics currently running. Even if you only consider the quality and flow of of the writing and art from a strictly professional standpoint, it's a high end piece of work. But of course it's the guts of the thing that makes it shine. The relationship dynamics between the old and younger super heroes reads with an air of believability and the plot as a whole moves along with a compelling tension. The introduction of Barnabas Wolfe brings in a cool dynamic of pending trouble for Brandon and Chloe that will undoubtedly deliver some action at some future date. more

Roche Limit stirs up a mixture of familiar sci-fi elements into a story that is somewhat interesting, but maybe a little too familiar. The writing seems to make great effort to establish the role of science as a general topic, but then the story immediately goes into pseudo-religious territory under the guise of science. It's sort of a bait and switch. I guess I just felt that everything in this comic is a bit weak. The art is so-so, the story reads like a drawn out episode of Star Trek New Generation (with more swearing), and the characters don't grab me. As a whole it's not bad, but not really compelling either. more

This seems to be the only current title that I can depend on these days to be excellent month after month. Of course this is always the case with the Brubaker/Phillips/Breitweiser team. Great story and great art all around.

Question: What is a sign that a book is out of ideas?
Answer: When it's sent into outer space.

Ok, so Batwoman in space. Hmmm. Deep existential metaphor? Or how about a dream sequence? Or how about she's been drugged? Nope, this is in fact about as silly of an idea as you're likely to find in comics these days. I mean let's face it, Batwoman has no business being in space throwing punches and doing Batwoman stuff. Not only is it just out of place for the character, it's just plain dumb. The one interesting quality about this issue is that it reminds us how far comic book plots have progressed since the late 70s and early 80s, back when putting a super hero into a astronaut suit and have them fist fight in space was relatively common. But back then everyone was still in a post Star Wars daze, so at least they had an excuse.

I'll just end by saying it's odd to see what high potential this character had when she was originally introduced in the "52" limited series and then to see how she's slowly been frittered away. Even when the art has been noteworthy, the character development and plotting has gone from mediocre to just awful.
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Every now and then a set of reviews for a book make me question how reliable our professional critics are, and this is the perfect example. Sometimes it almost feels like comic book reviewers still use the average script from the 1970s as the basis for quality; as if the recipe for quality is 50% action and 50% over the top drama.

Ok, so criticism of the critics aside. I agree that this is sort of a Steve Niles version of the Addam's Family, and it's not a big over-the-top intro, but it's got so much atmosphere and the voice of the writing is so solid (as is always the case with Steve) that there wasn't a single moment that left me in doubt or didn't entertain.

I will say that it wouldn't hurt Damien Worm's art if he used a broader palette. Even if he wants to always keep things monochromatic, which is fine, his art could have a lot more impact if he used a broader range of tones and shades. Worm's art has a relatively fitting and distinct style, but it lacks a sense of varying dynamics.

This book is good stuff. Maybe not crazy, at least not yet, but seethes with potential and of things to come. more

Hmm. Well, here's the new clean shaven, generically sexy sort of Lobo. Everything that basically made Lobo a distinct character in the past has been chucked away to be replaced by a more predictable version. Ultraviolent story seems to be DCs intended selling point, but violence as a general theme doesn't get the mileage it once did considering that writers like Garth Ennis, Jason Aaron etc. have used and over-used sensationalistic violence to the point of running it into the ground. So where does that leave this new book? The art looks nice, but combined with the rest of it's mediocrity, the whole thing actually seems like something of a throwback to the generic Image characters of the 1990s -some violence, some brooding, derivative ideas-. more

Kids, you have to ditch the idea that the best comic books are predetermined by how flashy the premise is. Fade Out is the perfect example of a comic book that is an intense and highly crafted read that hits every note with mystery and dimension.

Phillips is doing some beautiful work here. I've noticed that he has actually taken a slightly softer and slightly more manicured approach in these first two issues. I'm also very happy with Elizabeth Breitweiser doing color for Sean lately (starting in the latter half of Fatale). Not to name names, but some of Phillip's past colorists have sometimes been too muddy in their palette and didn't offer enough contrast. Not the case with Elizabeth. The dynamics are right on the money.

Brubaker is killing it. Every single piece to this puzzle resonates.

It's so nice to be reading this level of craft in comic books right now. It seems like all the industry names are doing a lot of weak stories these days, so it's great to see the Brubaker/Phillips team making the genuine classics of this particular time in comics. more

Even though this story is reasonably well done, I can't decide if I really like it. It seems like the gimmick of the last decade in comic books is to offer up extreme re-imaginings of the history of real people or fictional characters that are otherwise relatively well established. This time it's Hemingway and Christian theology. Well, hmm. To be perfectly honest I would much prefer this story if it left out the pseudo-Christian mumbo jumbo and let it's weirdness be more organic instead of trying to hinge onto a subject that is all too familiar. more

Be aware that we've basically read all this before. Not that it's bad, but this story has all of Morrison's usual tropes... and that's the problem. The multi-dimensional crossover event has been done so many times, not only by Morrison but also by Hickman, Ellis, Moore, Wolfman and dozens of other authors, that the whole concept has been ran into the ground. Morrison shakes up the recipe again, but it's still yet another retelling of known characters or teams in an alternative history. Off the top of my head the stories I can think of that have the same basic gimmick are Planetary, Authority, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Miracleman, Hickman's FF, Manhattan Projects, and the entire Crisis line up all the way back from the days of yore... So, here it is again folks.

Chris Sprouse rocks it. Excellent art. more