HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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BIRDS OF PREY #117, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Sean McKeever; Art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood; Cover by Stephane Roux

Very little fanfare for this issue, but it is in fact the final issue of Sean McKeever’s short run. Naturally, he stepped down as writer of this title far earlier than anyone expected, but in his short time he actually did manage to put out a few decent issues. It is a testament to KcKeever’s skill, as well as the outstanding foundation Gail Simone built for these characters. McKeever’s touch was especially felt on Misfit and Black Alice “feud” - hopefully Bedard will be able to continue that character thread.

It is a shame to see McKeever go, but Tony Bedard has more than proved himself on this book. There is little no doubt that this title will continue to be excellent under his pen.

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 1, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Story by Paul Dini; Story consulting by Keith Giffen: script by Paul Dini; art by Scott Kolins; Covers by Adam Kubert

Yikes. It is kind of hard watching this title tick closer to a conclusion without muttering an “I told you so” here and there. The quality of Countdown has been a serious issue since day one. Not that the writers are bad, but it is painfully obvious that this series - as well as the “Final Crisis” it is “counting down to,” are the result of the kind of engineered hype that Marvel seemed the most guilty of just a couple years before. Combine that with event fatigue - we are actually seeing readers who are generally DC fans admitting that this series isn’t as good as they had hoped, but that they are only buying it because they feel obligated to. As I said when I first started discussing Event Fatigue about a year ago, once that sense of obligation is diminished, a serious sales drop is going to occur that may be very bad for the industry. Sadly, with the announcement of another weekly series, it seems that DC isn’t seeing the red flags. Perhaps Trinity isn’t going to lead into yet another event - but based on DC’s record of late, that isn’t a guarantee.

Of course, for those following this story, this issue is not the end of the “Countdown.” Next week will see “DC Universe: Zero” hit the stands, which is the end of the Countdown. The first issue of Final Crisis follows a month later at the end of May. Between this and Secret Invasion, the summer event season has begun.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #121, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Justin Ponsor

So in the end, we got a little Firestar after all. It just wouldn’t be Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends without her! Honestly, the past arc really highlighted what is great about this title - Peter’s age, and how it is portrayed. He is a kid - and that is constantly a focus of the story. Even better, last issue found a few more “kids” in the Ultimate universe who found commonality, and did what kids do - come together. It has been a long time since the mainstream Spider-Man was this age, and while it does make sense that they aged him, his youth was a critical part of his success as a character, and having that aspect back in the form of Ultimate Spider-Man is one of the biggest reasons this title is such a success.

This issue starts a new arc that sees the return of Omega Red. Should be action packed!

UNCANNY X-MEN #497, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Michael Choi and Sonia Oback

I have to admit that I have been enjoying Uncanny of late. The overall X-Men story has been a little poor, and we have heard quite enough of “Without Charles, there is no X-Men,” but the tone is right on. Sure there are some continuity bugs - there always will be whenever you have a title that is as late as Astonishing is - continuity fans are always going to want a connection to the overall universe, even if it isn’t a seamless one. Things like tha t you need to ignore.

The X-Men are underdogs, and the world is “against them.” Brubaker has done a great job reestablishing that. The story could be better, but it feels like an X-Men story. That was lost for a long time, and it is good to get it back. I also kind of enjoy the “trapped in a 60s acid flashback” story. Not all threats have to be huge global fights for survival, and most shouldn’t be. This is the kind of thing we should get from the X-Men. The more the better.

Of course, I am someone who really liked Arcade, for what it is worth.

SPOTLIGHT PICK OF THE WEEK

CHECKMATE #25, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann; Art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson; Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky

Another unheralded final issue from DC - this is the final issue for Trautman, Rucka, and Bennett, who will be making way for Bruce Jones and Manual Garcia. There has been some discontent from long-time Checkmate fans about Jones taking over, but since this title was slated to be cancelled, isn’t this a better solution?

Bruce Jones has had a very disappointing run since he came to DC - there can be no denying that. But he is a talented writer who is bound to find his groove on a title sooner or later. This is a great opportunity for him to finally snap that down streak and shine at DC - Checkmate might just be the ideal title for him to finally do that.

If you have your doubts about Bruce Jones, don’t count him out yet. And above all - this is better than Checkmate being outright cancelled. So things could be worse! Rucka is sure to go out with a bang this issue, so enjoy it, and hold out hope for the next issue. You might be surprised.

DARK HORSE

STAR WARS DARK TIMES #10 $2.99 Now: $2.69
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF OLD REPUBLIC #27 $2.99 Now: $2.59
STAR WARS LEGACY #22 $2.99 Now: $2.59

DC COMICS

BATMAN #675 $2.99 Now: $2.69
BATMAN CHRONICLES TP VOL 05 $14.99 Now: $11.99
BIRDS OF PREY #117 $2.99 Now: $2.69
CHECKMATE #25 $2.99 Now: $2.59
COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 1 $2.99 Now: $2.69
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #8 (OF 8) $3.50 Now: $2.99
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #20 $2.99 Now: $2.69
NUMBER OF THE BEAST #2 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
SECRET HISTORY THE AUTHORITY HAWKSMOOR #2 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
SHADOWPACT #24 $2.99 Now: $2.59
SPIRIT #16 $2.99 Now: $2.59
SUPER FRIENDS #2 $2.25 Now: $1.99
SUPERMAN BATMAN #47 $2.99 Now: $2.69
SUPERNATURAL RISING SON #1 $2.99 Now: $2.59
SUPERNATURAL RISING SON #1 (VARIANT COVER) $9.99
TEAM ZERO TP $17.99 Now: $14.99

DEVIL’S DUE

SHEENA: TRAIL OF THE MAPINGUARI $5.50 Now: $4.99

IMAGE COMICS

SPAWN #177 $2.95 Now: $2.69
SPAWN GODSLAYER #8 $2.99 Now: $2.69

MARVEL COMICS

AVENGERS TP KREE SKRULL WAR $24.99 Now: $18.99
DEADPOOL VS MARVEL UNIVERSE TP $24.99 Now: $18.99
HULK #3 $2.99 Now: $2.69
HULK #3 (FITCH VARIANT) $24.99
HULK VS HERCULES WHEN TITANS COLLIDE $3.99 Now: $3.49
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #35 $2.99 Now: $2.59
MARVEL ILLUSTRATED PICTURE DORIAN GRAY #5 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
MIGHTY AVENGERS #12 $2.99 Now: $2.69
MS MARVEL #26 $2.99 Now: $2.59
NEW EXILES #5 $2.99 Now: $2.59
POWER PACK DAY ONE #2 (OF 4) $2.99 Now: $2.59
SHE-HULK 2 #28 $2.99 Now: $2.69
THOR #8 $2.99 Now: $2.69
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #53 $2.99 Now: $2.69
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #121 $2.99 Now: $2.69
UNCANNY X-MEN #497 $2.99 Now: $2.69
WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #2 $2.99 Now: $2.69
X-FORCE #3 $2.99 Now: $2.69
X-MEN FIRST CLASS VOL 2 #11 $2.99 Now: $2.69
YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #4 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.69

MARVEL APES

There has been a long and storied love affair between comics and gorillas. Way back in the silver age this trend originated, when comic publishers noticed that comics with apes on the cover seemed to sell more. Since then, the simian has been an inseparable part of comic legend, with ultra advanced gorillas, apes endowed with powers as a result of science, and human heroes being turned into apes all becoming regular features in comic stories for decades. To this day comics with apes on the cover sell more. Don’t ask me why - it is just the fact.

At the recent New York Comic Convention, marvel announced a four issue mini called “Marvel Apes” (to be released in October) which will feature a Marvel Universe populated by familiar, though “monkey-fied” Marvel heroes.

So are the “Apeventers” simply a rip off of the JLApe from the 90s? It might seem that way, but JLApe was hardly the first to come up with the concept. It is a completely silly idea, but if you ask me - far better Apes than Zombies. This series looks like good, clean, ordinary fun, and should be one to look out for.

GOOD NEWS FOR DEADPOOL FANS

Deadpool fans have had quite a tough time these past few months. For quite some time they have lamented the fact that Deadpool did not have a solo book. The Deadpool portions of Cable & Deadpool were spot-on perfect, but the involvement of Cable really pulled the series down. But wouldn’t it be great if Cable was just dropped and Nicieza was allowed to focus only on Wade Wilson?

Well, the exact opposite happened. Cable & Deadpool was cancelled, and as a result of Messiah Complex, Cable was given a solo ongoing title. Deadpool fans lamented.

But then it seemed like Marvel relented, and announced that there would indeed be a new Deadpool ongoing, by Daniel Way with Steve Dillon art - the same creative team on the critically panned Wolverine: Origins series. The outrage shared by Deadpool fans became confusion.

The current Deadpool vs. Wolverine arc on Wolverine: Origins has been a mixed bag. The story has been okay - much better than what we are used to on W:O, even to the point where it is buoying art that just doesn’t fit the characters. Based on this arc and Way’s previous work on Bullseye: Greatest Hits (also with Dillon), it seemed like Way might actually be able to handle a Deadpool ongoing. If only the art were better.

Another quiet announcement that came out of the New York Comic Convention (hidden in a general push for the upcoming ongoing) was the fact that Steve Dillon has been replaced by Paco Medina as the regular artist on the title.

Maybe Deadpool fans can finally take that sigh of relief after all?

POWER GIRL ONGOING

It’s about time. Sometimes Power Girl’s more controversial “features” dominate the stage, but it can’t be denied that she is a solid character. And way more interesting than the current Supergirl if you ask me. The potential for a good Power Girl ongoing has been high, and was only strengthened by the Infinite Crisis tie-in arc that helped kick off that event in JSA Classified.

The good news is that Amanda Conner (the artist behind that story) is returning to work on the ongoing, and she will be working with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti (a team that needs no introduction - but if you do… Jonah Hex!). Power Girl has all the ingredients of a solid title.

NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or its staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.

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