Catching up slowly with reviews….

Animal Man #5 – The rot is spreading and Animal Man and his family must fight it.  The series art has dipped a little, but story is Vertigo meets mainstream DC.  Solid work and I can’t wait to see where it goes….

Story: 8 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.75

The Avengers Annual #1 – Remember when Wonder Man and a team attacked the Avengers mansion?  Yeah… so if you wondered whatever happened to that story, it gets wrapped up in this issue.  It’s interesting and sets up a lot of potential, but it’s been so long since that first part you have to wonder why it’s taken so damn long.

Story: 7.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.75

Avengers Academy #24 – Hmm, kind of torn on this issue.  The art is just ok, and the time travel/traitor story has been done, but there’s something interesting about it all.  It’s not “A” level, but getting better than it’s been.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Avengers: X-Sanction #2 – Cable continues to fight the Avengers as more hints towards the why are given.  Cable slips between the present and future in decent story telling, the art I’m iffy on over it.  The story is intriguing, just not totally sold.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5

Batman: Detective Comics #5 – The main story is ok, Batman chases some guy as people protest Batman.  The back-up story is a jumble of a mess.  I’d rather have a longer main story or something else, cause the quality is just not good.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Batwing #5 – Anyone else think it’s odd that Batwing has to call in the white Batman to help?  No message there?  The issue is decent and has some character depth added for Batwing and the art is fantastic.  The series is one of the bright spots for the DC relaunch.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

The Defenders #2 – The series second issue is a bit better than the first.  There’s a tone and pacing that’s different and entertaining to it.  The blurbs at the bottom are interesting too.  I can’t say this is a huge hit and must read series, but it’s getting better in my opinion.

Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7

Fatale #1 – So much hype surrounding the series and while it’s interesting, it’s not as good as Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ previous work.  The noir meets Lovecraft series is not as good as what they’ve done, but that makes it better than most everything else.  My gut says the series will be a better read in one sitting instead of individual issues.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 7.5

Fear Itself: The Fearless #6 – What happened to Crossbone’s new ability?  That seemed to go away… The event spin-off hasn’t gotten much better and I’m not seeing the point.  I’m reading it in hopes it leads to something.

Story: 6.5 Art: 7 Overall: 6.5

The Punisher #7 – I really liked this issue.  On the way to the massacre from the last issue, two detectives talk about the Punisher and what he does and how that differs from what the police and law do.  I solid issue that really gets you to think about justice and who decides and dispenses it.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Rachel Rising #4 – The state of Rachel is starting to be noticed as more bodies are dumped.  The series is weird and a very slow creepy burn to it.  It’s so good though showing why horror was my pick of genre of the year last year.

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Red Lanterns #5 – A bunch of the Lanterns get smarter as they look for Krona.  Earth gets it’s own Red Lantern.  Overall an ok story that’s getting somewhere, just not sure where.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5

Stormwatch #5 – Um, what the hell did I read?  I am so confused by this series.  There’s a bunch I like and then again, this is just not a friendly series for new readers. What. The. Hell?

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.25

Swamp Thing #5 – The rot continues to get stronger while the green attempts to fight back.  The series is colliding with Animal Man and damn it’s good.  There’s just this great horror feel to it all and it’s easy to get into, even with such material that’s come before.

Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25

Thunderbolts #168 – Luke Cage is going after escaped convicts from the Raft as Mockingbird and Mach V deal with the committe that oversees the program.  At the same time the other Thunderbolts are on the run still and did Ghost reach them?  Lots going on here in an interesting issue that’s pretty solid.  Not bade, but not great either.

Story: 7.5 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.5

Uncanny X-Force #19.1 – We get a preview of what to expect when the Age of Apocalypse comes back as an ongoing series.  The preview is crazy and entertaining, but I wonder what the big game plan it is for the series.  There has to be something.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.5

Uncanny X-Men #4 – A story of the Phalanx and it’s interesting.  There’s a slight tie-in with Sinister which seems a bit stretched.  A lot I like and some I don’t.  Pretty decent read though.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Villains for Hire #2 – Purple Man is on the move to find his rival and it’s a shocker as to who it is, but that ending just made my jaw drop.  I have no idea what is happening next, but this series is very entertaining.  I can’t wait to see what it leads to.

Story: 8 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.75

X-Men #23 – Yay, we get a semi-mission/point for this team, other than leaving weapons of mass destruction lying around.  What an anti-climatic ending to the story…

Story: 7 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7

Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #1 – Quentin Quire decides to get his revenge on Wolverine for sending him to Westchester.  Sadly, the story isn’t needed and really adds nothing so far.  The art is just ok and doesn’t live up to the cool cover.  Overall, no idea why this is being done.

Story: 6.75 Art: 6.75 Overall: 6.75

X-23 #20 – Laura and Jubilee have a night out and Laura gets an offer as to where she should go next.  The story is ok, but really could have had a much more emotional impact.  The sub-par art didn’t help at all as well.

Story: 6.5 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.5