HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
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BATGIRL #2 (OF 6), $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Adam Beechen; Art by Jim Calafiore and Jonathan Glapion

It really is tough to say whether this title is going to become as good as the last volume was. Batgirl, as a character, took a lot of damage in that harebrained OYL “turn her into a villain” scheme, so much so that the entire first issue of this series was devoted to repairing some of that damage.

Despite how badly Batgirl’s “heel-turn” was executed, you do have to give DC some credit for the way they have handled the backpedal. They are trying very hard to take what happened, explain it away, and return Batgirl to the place she was before that whole mess started.

There might be a positive unintended consequence to the restoration - the lack of trust. You can’t just explain away her actions to the point where the Bat-clan would take her back with open arms, and in a way that strengthens her character, and restores one character aspect that was lost during her title’s original run. Once Batman’s allies stopped fearing her upbringing as a lethal killer, she lost a little of the edge she had. Restoring that lack of trust, and the fear that she could, at any moment, turn on her allies once again - in many ways, this reversal might have succeeded in far more than it set out to.

Jury is still out on the long-term success of the title, but there is definitely something to work with here. One to watch.

BIRDS OF PREY #121, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Tony Bedard; Art by Michael O’Hare and John Floyd

There was a bit of a stylistic hiccup on this book when Simone left, but surprisingly, Bedard has managed to get the quality back up to just about where Simone left it. Not that Bedard isn’t a solid writer, but the way Simone redefined the Birds was legendary, and it was kind of hard to imagine anyone else writing them. In a way, Bedard has followed in her footsteps, not only building on the development Simone did to Zinda, Huntress, and Oracle, but he is also doing a pretty solid job with Black Alice and Misfit.

The short of it is - Birds of Prey is still alive and kicking. If anyone was worried that Simone’s departure would spell the end for this book, well… hate to disappoint!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #41, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Steve Epting and Frank D’Armata

Still moving right along on the whole Death of Captain America story. It is enjoyable - you can’t deny that it is well written and entertaining, but the flaws are really starting to show. For one thing - this story is just way too padded. Brubaker is writing it like it truly is an epic, but there is almost no real substance there. We are getting just enough character advancement to satisfy, and lots of gorgeous art, but that’s about it. I can’t help wondering how much better this story would be if it was progressing about twice as fast. Not Straczynski-level padding by any means, so it isn’t horrible, but it is noticeable.

Still - a decent read, and well worth your time. If anything, the padding makes things a little more accessible to the new reader!

FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 (OF 5), $3.99, 40 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by George Pérez and Scott Koblish

The DC die-hards are still rallying behind Final Crisis, but beyond those core loyal readers, things aren’t looking so good for that event. Nonetheless, as Marvel has proven time after time, you can still have some good come from the worst event - tie in minis! This looks like it could be one of those moments. Geoff Johns penning the story of three different Legions (PreCrisis, Post Crisis, and “Three-boot” I would imagine) joining to stop the Time Trapper and Superboy Prime before they can erase Superman from existence. Not a bad premise at all! Could be a very exciting read.

HELM #2 (OF 4), $3.50, 32 Pages
Written by Jim Hardinson, Art by Bart Sears and Randy Elliot

A real chuckle. Issue #1 was about as silly as you could expect. Sure - the concept almost writes itself, but it is a pretty clever premise, and you don’t need to be too intellectual when you have a great idea like this.

As to that premise: well, if you don’t know, imagine your stereotypical comic book geek. He is overweight, unemployed, and living in his mother’s basement. Now, imagine this guy comes across a magical Helmet that, for one brief moment, mistakes him for “The Chosen One” and grants him incredible power. Of course, realizing the horror of his mistake, the Helm sets out to do the one thing that will allow him to separate from this so-called Chosen One and await the true champion: kill him.

Issue #1 was a riot. I am really looking forward to seeing the imaginative murder attempts Hardinson will come up with for the Helm. Should be a good issue.

ROBIN #177, $2.99, 32 Pages, DC Comics
Written by Fabian Nicieza, Art by Rick Leonardi and Lorenzo Ruggiero

You really have to hand it to Fabian Nicieza - he picked up the ball in a really tough situation, and ran with it. Dixon’s departure was a real shock for the readers, and that could have sent Robin spiraling down the drain at a critical time in the story. Thankfully, Nicieza more than kept the book afloat, and it continues to be a solid read. Really looking forward to what he is planning on post Batman RIP.

X-FACTOR SPECIAL LAYLA MILLER, $3.99, Marvel Comics
Written by Peter David, Art by Valentine De Landro and Andrew Hennessy

As Messiah Complex wound down, Layla Miller ended up trapped in an alternate future. We have seen glimpses of her, but the actual character’s story will pick up again in this one shot, following her story through the “Summers Rebellion” taking place in her current reality. Probably not absolutely critical to understanding what is going on in X-Factor at the moment, but a great extra for fans of the character who might like to see what has happened to her since we last saw her.

YOUNG X-MEN #5, $2.99, 32 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Marc Guggenheim, Art by Yanick Paquette

The old New X-Men never really recovered from that ill-advised creative shift - this much is certain. The shift to Young X-Men was kind of jarring to some, but in the end it seems like it was the right move. A new creative team, new direction, mostly new team… somehow all that “New” reclaimed a lot of the appeal that was lost when the “Old” team of Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFillipis left New X-Men.

To be fair - Young X-Men isn’t quite that good. Not yet, anyway, but it is far and away better than what New X-Men became at the end of its run, and a solid X-book with good potential Definitely worth checking out if you aren’t already.

SPOTLIGHT PICK OF THE WEEK

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 20 AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS, $12.99, 120 Pages, Marvel Comics
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Stuart Immonen

This story arc was just plain fun, and it really highlighted the strengths of Ultimate Spider-Man. Spider-Man, the mainstream version, has really been missing something for a long time, and despite major event after major change, Spider-Man continued to fall from grace. It was occasionally good, but not something you really got emotionally invested in. Ultimate Spider-Man brought back one of the biggest strengths Spider-Man’s stories always had - an outstanding supporting cast.

This arc brought that aspect to the forefront, as Peter’s life as a “superhero” bled into his civilian life in a pretty unique way. We got to see Peter’s confidants, both “civilian” and otherwise (those who know who he is and what he does) put together with people who have no clue about him, and even others who put two and two together and had the class not to mention anything about it. Peter’s strange circle of friends exhibits the same sorts of dynamics you would find in a normal teen circle, respectful friends, girlfriends, spurned romantic interests, crisis and drama… one of the reasons this title is so engaging is that instead of just telling the story of a guy with superpowers, it has gone back to the classic Spider-man way of telling how those powers effect the personal life of the hero, but in a whole new way.

This is a great trade to pick up if you are looking for a solid Spider-Man story of any flavor. It is a fantastic example of why this title has been so good for over 125 issues. (Collects Ultimate Spider-Man #118-122).

DARK HORSE COMICS

HELM #2 (OF 4) 3.50 Now: $2.69

DC COMICS

BATGIRL #2 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.69
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #10 $2.99 Now: $2.69
BIRDS OF PREY #121 $2.99 Now: $2.59
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16 $2.99 Now: $2.59
CASEY BLUE BEYOND TOMORROW #4 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
DC WILDSTORM DREAMWAR #5 (OF 6) $2.99 Now: $2.59
FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 (OF 5) $3.99 Now: $3.49
FLASH #243 $2.99 Now: $2.39
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24 $2.99 Now: $2.69
RANN THANAGAR HOLY WAR #4 (OF 8) $3.50 Now: $2.99
ROBIN #177 $2.99 Now: $2.59
STORMWATCH PHD WORLDS END #13 $2.99 Now: $2.59
SUPER FRIENDS #6 $2.25 Now: $1.99
SUPERMAN BATMAN #51 $2.99 Now: $2.69
TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #6 (OF 12) $2.99 Now: $2.59
TRINITY #12 $2.99 Now: $2.69

DEVIL’S DUE

DRAFTED #10 $3.50 Now: $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568 $3.99 Now: $3.49
CAPTAIN AMERICA #41 $2.99 Now: $2.39
GHOST RIDER #26 $8.99
MARVEL 1985 #4 (OF 6) $3.99 Now: $3.49
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT SPIDER-MAN BRAND NEW DAY $2.99 Now: $2.59
SECRET INVASION #2 (OF 8) 3RD PTG $3.99 Now: $3.69
SECRET INVASION #3 (OF 8) 2ND PTG $3.99 Now: $3.69
SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #2 $2.99 Now: $2.25
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #57 $2.99 Now: $2.69
ULTIMATE ORIGINS #2 (OF 5) 2ND PTG GUICE WRAPAROUND VAR $3.99
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 20 AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS $12.99 Now: $10.99
UNCANNY X-MEN #501 $2.99 Now: $2.69
X-FACTOR SPECIAL LAYLA MILLER $3.99 Now: $3.49
X-MEN FIRST CLASS VOL 2 #15 $2.99 Now: $2.59
X-MEN TP DIVIDED WE STAND $12.99 Now: $10.99
YOUNG X-MEN #5 $2.99 Now: $2.69

ROBERT KIRKMAN - “SAVE COMICS?”

Well, a pretty noble idea really. Kirkman, of course, recently left Marvel to become a partner at Image, and will be focusing on his three creator-owned projects there: Invincible, The Walking Dead, and Astounding Wolf-Man. He recently expressed a desire to use his new position to “save comics,” and called on creators to join him in changing the face of the industry.

He makes some fair points in his attacks on the Big-Two, specifically the focus on event-driven stories rather than quality runs. But then - that criticism doesn’t really hold too much weight, Bendis, for example has had an unprecedented (in modern times) run on Ultimate Spider-Man which is close to legendary, and his run on Daredevil was more than memorable. Ed Brubaker has reshaped more than one Marvel property. Even David Hine was given a lot of room to flex his pen in his Quicksilver/Inhumans minis.

You have to ask - is Kirkman upset that Marvel isn’t allowing creators a chance at Claremont-X-Men-greatness any longer, or is he upset that Marvel didn’t really give him that chance?

Kirkman also challenged creators to focus on their own, creator owned work, instead of working on corporate properties. You have to ask, however - who is going to publish those?

Image has been a beacon of creativity since its inception. In fact, between McFarlane’s Spawn and Kirkman’s Invincible, Image could lay claim to the home of the two greatest comic creations of the last 20 years. But then, why isn’t Image more successful? If creators should work on their own projects rather than work for Marvel or DC, why isn’t Image challenging the Big Two for dominance today?

Image’s business model is all you need to look at. How many Image titles ship on time every month? It is a common joke among comic readers, but if you really look at it, just how many artists are playing World of Warcraft (or heaven knows what else) instead of handing in their work? And when you are with Image, where there is even less pressure to deliver on time? Kirkman’s own titles have been plagued by delays throughout their history. They sell well, because they are outstanding, but for the mediocre books… which would you rather read: a book that came out on time from Marvel, or a six issue mini from Image that takes 2-3 years to release?

The idea that creators would abandon Marvel and DC is laughable. Since so few make a decent living outside the Big Two (throw Dark Horse in there for good measure), just how can you expect them to focus on their own efforts, when The House of Ideas and the Spin are paying the bills?

Saving comics? A noble idea. It might have been better for Kirkman to use his influence to fix the wealth of problems in-house at Image, before pointing out what is wrong with the rest of the industry. Holding creators accountable to deadlines and pricing Image titles competitively might be a good start.

The opinions in this article are the writer’s alone, and no not necessarily reflect the views of X-World Comics or comiXtreme.com.

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