Brightest Day #4
It finally happened! The story moved forward! But it might be too little too late. Hawkman and Hawkgirl stand in front of the pink portal for an hour talking. Hawkman's hand really wants to go in (make your own joke here) and so they bravely walk through the portal. The rest of the book is spent with Dove, Hawk and Deadman in Dove's bedroom. The "white light" continues to be a practical joker as it teleports Deadman into her room. Dove changes into her costume which alerts Hawk, sending him into a drunken rage. Not only does the pacing for the book change but now the series is ten issues long! I guess the editors figured the story wasn't quite fleshed out or the read base dropped significantly and they need to make up the cost with two more issues.
If you're in love with it keep reading, otherwise this might be a good time to stop reading since they've given up explaining the mystery of the white lantern and the resurrected twelve.
New Avengers Vol 2 #1
Bendis writes his third monthly Avengers book and this one really is his best. The New Avengers team moves into the old Avengers mansion because Luke Cage feels like they've been fighting since the Civil War for nothing... That's because they have been. As the team settles in, a demon begins takes control of Hellstrom and Dr. Strange. Then the possessed sorcerers kill Sorcerer Supreme Brother Voodoo because he wouldn't listen to his dead brother.
Bendis returns to writing the Avengers in more of his trademark style which makes for a great read. What isn't good about this book is the fact that Steve Rogers and Iron Man's relationship continues to be inconsistent between all three of the Avenger books Bendis is writing. Sometimes they're at each other's throats, other times they seem like they don't know each other. Once in a while Tony is subservient to Steve, but all of them different. In this title they act like they did before the Civil War which is great.
Miss the New Avengers from before Secret Invasion? Good, then pick this book up and enjoy.
Joker Asylum II – Mad Hatter and Harley Quinn
They should have called this series, "My first Batman Villain." The Mad Hatter issue seems more like the writer just watched the Tim Burton movie but then made him a serial killer at the end. The art only focused on the Hatter's teeth and his obsession with scrap-booking.
As for Harley Quinn's issue it reads more like an adaptation of two of the Batman: The Animated Series episodes: Harley's Holiday and Harleyquinade. There are so many similarities that the book becomes completely predictable. The art is very inconsistent as Harley looks like a plastic doll throughout most of the issue.
If for some reason you enjoyed the Riddler issue you'll probably like this as well. Frankly this just seems like DC reminding the readers of these characters existence since Grant Morrison doesn't want to use them in his series.
DV8: Gods and Monsters 3 of 8
This book continues to be amazing and different in the world of Superheroes. Brian Wood and Rebekah Issacs tell their unique story and make a statement about superheroes in general. It seems that each issue will focus on how each of the team came in control of their own tribe and explain what they're doing in the new world.
You are really missing out if you're not picking up this book as it will be book that people talk about in the years to come. If WildStorm is smart they'll start doing more titles like this and return to their glory days before it's too late.
Black Widow #3
A lot of readers will write this book off as a movie tie in, but they'd be wrong. This story is an interesting mini-series with a twisted mystery. The Black Widow has been ousted for gathering information on her friends. Now she must get back a one of a kind storage device that's been taken from her and prove her innocence.
Daniel Acuna's art is fantastic and fitting for the story. He's a great choice to capture the espionage elements of the story. A downside for the series is that every issue seems to guest star a new character which isn't needed.
With the series almost over you're probably better off picking up the trade or checking the back issues. But it's a good story and definitely one of Marvel's best movie tie-ins.
Atlas #2
This book is great but really hard to talk about. If you missed the first two Atlas series then you'll find yourself a little lost on this one. Even if you have read those series and missed Avengers: The Initiative during Secret Invasion you'll still be lost. If you're like me and read all of those then everything will be clear and make perfect sense.
Still worth the read even if you're not familiar with the characters as it does a good job of catching the reader up with an interesting back story at the end of the issue.
Amazing Spiderman Presents: The Black Cat
Spider-man and Black Cat are sleeping together? What? Umm... cool? I for one stopped reading Spider-man after "One More Reason to stop reading Spider-man" but figured I give this a shot. After I got over the two of them having relations I found this to be a really good issue. It's a bit predictable and Jen Van Meter seems to understand Black Cat a lot more than Spider-man.
If you're looking for any similarities between this series and Kevin Smith's then fear not... this series is actually good! If it wasn't obvious you don't need to be following Spider-man to get a complete story which is a definite plus.
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