OFF WITH THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!

I've come across a lot of really good and really bad books in my time and I don't mean comics. This time around I'm talking about an actual prose book. You know one of those things we all had to read in High School and hated...Anyways! I had the awesome opportunity to read an amazing new book called "DUNCAN'S DIARY: BIRTH OF A SERIAL KILLER"


Ducan's diary is a visceral story about a man who gets a taste for blood and takes it to the human extreme. From torture, dismemberment and sexual exploitation, Ducan's diary is the handbook to your future serial killing. From his first encounter with violence the story progresses as our narrator slowly begins his descent into madness. This book has all the right moods. Violent outburst filled with remorse and shame into bloody carnage and onto the next victim. This book is not for the faint of heart. Think "American Psycho" on acid. Currently, the book is only available from the author and through amazon. I strongly suggest you go out of your way and make some time because this book will consume you and give you ideas on exacting revenge on your enemies.

This is my first prose review so bear with me if it's short and sweet. I didn't want to give too much away because the book is so amazing for me to start picking out all my favorite parts would just basically tell you the book from beginning to end.

OFF WITH THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!

WHATS UP WORLD!!

I hope everyone's enjoying their Memorial Day weekend. Time to BBQ and enjoy the nice weather but also to remember those men and women who fight for our rights, so tip your glass to those people who put their lives on the line for us.

With that said, this was a pretty heavy week. so without anything else to yap about, I've got something to say...




FALL OF THE HULKS: SAVAGE SHE-HULKS #3

What a complete waste of time. This series started off alright but then slowly plunged into "why am I reading this?". This series to mean seemed like an easy way for Jennifer Walters to be "found", instead of writing her into the main series' story lines. Lyra has finally found and rescued Jen Walters and now its an all out fight between these two ladies and an army of Hulked out A.I.M soldiers.
They outwit, outsmart and out think this Hulk army and manage to escape off into..oh wait, The Red She-Hulk shows up and fights them but then suddenly changes her mind and decides to fight alongside them and that's the end of the issue and this mini series.
I was hoping for something more to come out of this series and I certainly didn't think it would end this way. Its all very neat and short almost as if Jeff Parker got bored with this book and needed a quick fix ending.
Well with this mini in the can, I almost feel compelled to tell you to just read the main books Hulk and Incredible Hulk because aside from Jen Walters being found and freed, this book has little to no relevance on the grand scheme of things.

2 out of 5



SECRET AVENGERS #1

The Avengers proper title dropped last week and this week we get Steve Rogers new black ops team book adequately titled SECRET AVENGERS. I've actually spoken to a few people about this book and the general consensus is that everyone enjoyed Avengers #1 but everyone really likes Secret Avengers...why do you ask? simple because this book is the book that Steve Rogers was meant to be a part of ever since he took that infamous injection of super soldier serum. This book is 100% without a doubt the new "James Bond" book of the Marvel U.
Steve Rogers has taken it into his own hands to put together a crack team of super heroes who can help him avert trouble before it starts. This issue is about obtaining the Serpent Crown from Roxxon. In doing so, every member of the team plays a vital role in this first mission. Black Widow and Valkyrie go undercover as hookers to gain access to where the crown is kept, Moon Knight and Ant-Man Eric O'Grady hack Roxxon's computers, War Machine and Sharon Carter pilot their escape as Hank McCoy aka Beast cracks all the information gained from Roxxon's computers and the final piece Nova investigates their findings on Mars.
Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato do an amazing job of crafting this team together and create an amazing story and it's only the first issue.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It's got so much appeal to anyone who reads comics, likes superheroes or digs spy books.

5 out of 5!



THUNDERBOLTS #144

So with Norman Osborn out and Steve Rogers in, Luke Cage is asked to The Raft and to create a new Thunderbolts team, this time around with the same idea and message as when Hawkeye was running the team..Redemption. Not only will their sentence be reduced but they wont spend as much time behind bars physically if they help out.
With this being Luke's first day at the prison he's got to assemble the team first and foremost and some of his team are chosen for him for one reason or another and others he feels compelled to have aboard because of their power set.
Introducing himself to each and every member he explains what being a part of the team will mean to their jail sentence and why he cares.
Ghost, Moonstone, Juggernaut, Crossbones, Songbird and Man-Thing make this team up this time around.
This issue was amazing! I couldn't put it down and the ending was just what it needed to really set things off the right way.
I promise you, if you've never read the Thunderbolts ever, this book is the book you need to get your hands on and you'll be hooked by the end of the issue.

5 out of 5!!



X-FORCE #27

Bastion has begun his final attack plan, first barricading the X-Men and whoever was unlucky enough to be caught inside this organic bubble and now on the Golden Gate Bridge, a time sphere has opened to the "Days of Future Past" timeline and Nimrods have begun to come through and just destroy any mutant in their way. With injuries and fatalities almost being neck and neck, Cyclops makes the only choice he can make in the matter. He asks X-Force to assemble and head out with Cable to the future to shutdown whatever is on the other side keeping the doorway open to their time, the thing is, is that Cable only has one time jump left and he just sent Cable and X-Force on a suicide mission because their is no way home.
This is a pretty emotional issue because the X-Men's backs are to the wall literally and there's nothing for them to do but scratch at possibilities that will kill someone somehow.
My favorite part of the story is the continuing saga of everyone slowly finding out about X-Force and that Cyclops had a black ops team and no one knew about them.

5 out of 5



SECOND COMING REVELATIONS: BLIND SCIENCE #1

Talk about a good book! This issue was great. Dr. Nemesis really was brought out in this one and makes this book so much more funnier / interesting with his little quips and complaints about the X-Clubs situation.
Aboard one of Bastions pillars, The X-Club are certain that they're going to die in an explosion when they're whisked away to the future. There they meet a human version of Hank McCoy who tells them that they won but Hope's body continued to mutate to the point where she began eating the psyche's of her fellow mutants. McCoy then explains that Dr. Rao is going to save the world with her anti-mutation serum. Apparently before his ultimate demise, Bastion told Beast the day, time and place that the savior would show up..interesting.
With a little talk, Dr. Rao creates her serum but doesn't activate it. She doesn't want it falling into the wrong hands just before they use it on Hope.
As the team heads to Utopia where Hope has created a hell on earth for herself, Dr. Nemesis and Dr. Jefferies are both killed in action. Only Dr. Rao and McCoy are still alive and the only ones to complete the task. Just before McCoy distributes the serum to Hope, everything goes white and you come to find out that it's all been a hoax and that the team was in a holo-deck and that this was all set up by Bastion so that Dr. Rao would unwittingly create her serum for him to use. Little do they know she made a bomb.
This book was great and I would personally love to see an X-Club ongoing with writer Simon Spurrier at the helm.
This is a great addition to the Second Coming storyline because it goes to show just how far Bastion is willing to go and it also clues us into what his ideas or visions of the future hold for Hope and the continuation of the Mutant species.

5 out of 5

OFF WITH THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!

WHAT UP WORLD!!

Happy Belated Avengers Day!!
This week was an amazing week in comics and truly cannot be put in words just how awesome it was. Avengers fan's rejoice, we're given a brand new issue number one as the new series with JRJR and Brian Bendis hit the shelves. Legion of Superheroes fans also had their day in the sun as the new series by long time fan favorite writer Paul Levitz also dropped this week. So much goodness, so little space...lets just jump into it because I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!!



AVENGERS VOL. 4 #1

On a day unlike any other, Earth's mightiest would heed the call. Steve Rogers now taking the place of Norman Osborn as America's "Top Cop", has decided to re-establish order in this chaotic world. No more S.H.I.E.L.D and no more H.A.M.M.E.R, now everything will be based around The Avengers. In doing so a new team of Avengers must be picked and the process started all over again. On this new incarnation of the Avengers we have: Wolverine, Bucky (Captain America), Iron Man, Thor, Spider-man, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Spider-Woman along with the newly appointed team Captain, Maria Hill.
Steve heads out and begins the recruitment process. In his travels, he goes to talk to Simon Williams aka Wonder-Man and gets a surprising answer of "No!" as he asks the former Avenger to join the new team. Simon explains that no matter what, everything that has gone wrong in the world the past couple of years is all The Avengers fault and he doesn't want anything to do with the team. In fact, he mumbles under his breathe that if Steve persists in creating this team (which you know he will) that Simon will stop him...That's subplot number one.
The second subplot to the story is the conversation that Tony Stark and Steve Rogers have as they talk about Tony being on the team. Tony states that things have changed so much that he and Steve cannot be on the same team seeing as how they both don't see eye to eye on things anymore and that "They will wind up killing each other eventually." This is where Steve let's Tony know that he will not be on the team and Maria Hill will be filling in the void for him.
In the middle of putting the finishing touches on the team in the new Avengers tower, Kang The Conqueror shows up to alert the Avengers of a terrible event far into the future that they must stop. The world had been taken over by Ultron and the only one's capable of defeating him are The Avengers children (who resemble the kids from the Avengers Next animated movie)
Subplot number three is how Bucky doesn't know who Kang is and what he's capable of. It's interesting to see one of the three major players on the team have no idea of the threats he will face because he's been on ice for so many years as the Winter Soldier.
It's revealed that Tony Stark thought about a doomsday device, never planned on ever making it, yet, Kang has it in his hands and threatens the heroes with unleashing it if they don't attempt to get to the future and stop their kids. that's subplot number four.
This issue really sets the pace for what Bendis has in store for us and as far as starting off an issue this is one hell of a starting point!

5 out of 5!!



SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: AMERICAN SON #1 (OF 4)

What do you do when your father was the head of the nations security and one of the most infamous villains ever? You wait for him to fall and his true face to finally see the light of day right? wrong! Harry Osborn has been in the shadow of his father since the day he was born and now with Norman behind bars and his entire company turned to shit, Harry has to attempt to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and move on.
The American Son armor that Norman made for his son has gone missing and everyone is pointing the finger at Harry. Norah Roberts decides to head down to the Coffee Bean and check up on Harry and see if he is in fact running around thwarting crime as American Son. Harry gladly informs her that he is in fact not running around in the armor and doesn't understand how whomever is because it's keyed to Osborn DNA, which means someone from the Osborn lineage is. A big point made in this issue is that Harry is once again taking drugs. After his little conversation with Norah, Harry heads into the back room where he pops two Oxycodone. This is really bad considering that Harry has had a long and troubled history of drug addiction.
Due to his recent drug problems along with his father's recent downfall, Mary Jane calls Peter Parker to go and check on Harry because he's acting very strange of late and she's worried that Harry might be doing something to harm himself.
Peter in typical fashion, heads down to the Coffee Bean as Spider-Man to check up on his friend only to be attacked by Harry and cheered on by the growing crowd. To Peter's surprise, letting Harry kick his ass helps the failing business as everyone wants to go there instead of the Star Bucks across the street.
After that Gabriel Stacy, Harry's thus far unknown "brother" shows up and shoots Harry point blank. Gabriel Stacy? Did Norman have a trist with Peter's one time love Gwen Stacy? Is this the son of the Gwen Stacy clone? Are Norman's ghosts finally coming out of the closet now that he's out of power and can't cover for himself anymore? We'll just have to wait and see but I strongly recommend this book.

5 out of 5



BRIGHTEST DAY #2

The Atom and Professor Stein are attempting to split Jason and Ronnie from each other and from the Firestorm Matrix. The Atom shrinks down to subatomic size and see's first hand that there is something very wrong with the Matrix and gets caught in an explosion along with the two boys.
In Pearl, NY, a family is about to have a nice dinner when the mother starts killing everyone and peels her own skin off to reveal that she's a White Martian.
Hawkman and Hawkgirl find Hath-Set's secret base in search for their remains. They want the endless cycle of dying and being reborn to stop once and for all but to no avail cannot find the fiend or their bones.
In Denver, Colorado, The Martian Manhunter assumes the form of the doctor who initially brought him to Earth and talks with his now elderly daughter. The two remember the night he was brought to Earth and the horror she witnessed as The Martian went from one form to another as he ascended to earth, the explosion and the eventual death of her father. Slowly but surely, Manhunter is putting together the pieces of his recent dreams.
In Dubai, Boston Brand follows Aquaman and Mera as he's transported to the Anti-Matter Universe to do battle with one of the most powerful villains ever...The Anti-Monitor.
So far so good, the pieces to the puzzle are slowly being laid out and things are starting to be fleshed out. What is the white rings ultimate goal and what surprises are in store for us.. another book in which we'll have to wait and see.

4 out of 5



DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #1

Written by the great Len Wein, this book is a look back on the past of the DCU. It's an illustrated update to the old "History Of The DC Universe". In this first issue the first sightings of the Mystery Men and the formation of The Justice Society are laid down. In this story, a young boy named Paul Lincoln takes us through the first couple of years as these "Mystery Men" begin to make themselves known as they battle back the Mob in the early 1940's. Pauly as he's known in the book is a small time crook along side his friend Jimmy. They start off running numbers for a small time crime boss but as he gets busted, they find new employment running alcohol off a boat during prohibition. One night, they witness The Sandman and The Atom Smasher break up the delivery and set Pauly on the right path.
This is an interesting start to a retelling of the history of the DCU. It's a quick read and I can't wait til they get into the introduction of Superman and Batman and really show how these heroes showing up changed so many things. Any fan of the DCU will love this book and anyone interested in seeing just how things started need to get this book and read as history unfolds in your hands.

5 out of 5



LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #1

Spinning out of Geoff Johns' story "Superman and the Legion of Superheroes", "The Legion of Three Worlds" and the most recent issues of "Adventure Comics" comes this revamped ongoing about everyone's favorite 31st century super team. Written by legendary Legion scribe Paul Levitz, this new series picks up all the pieces and runs with it.
With Xenophobia running rampant on Earth due to Earth Man and his false Legion, The Legion is tasked with allowing him on the team as part of the terms they've come to adhere to, to keep their base of operations on Earth.
While on Titan, Saturn Girl is dealing with all the events that have happened of late as her home planet literally begins to come apart due to a group of scientists opening a time hole and watching the beginning of creation.
To make matters worse, Saturn Girl also bears witness to the disappearance of her two sons in some kind of quantum flux, only to watch later on as her entire planet explodes.
On Oa, the last remaining Green Lantern Sodom Yat bears witness to a green creature pop out of the ground, take his ring and disappear, only to re-appear on Earth to give the duty of Green Lantern to sector 2814 to the most unlikely of people, Earth Man.
Talk about starting off with a bang, Paul Levitz does an amazing job of setting off this new series with so much to look forward to. Not only are there references to things that have yet to happen like the upcoming Flash miniseries "Flashpoint" but all the pieces that have been laid out in the three stories I mentioned and everything that's happened in Superman, this book is going to be the face of the future of the DCU literally.

5 out of 5



Zatanna #1

Another number one issue from DC this week is the long anticipated series written by comics legend Paul Dini.
Zatanna is asked by Detective Dale Colton to come and advise on a case dealing with magic. The two arrive at a hang out spot for criminals and villains to find everyone inside mutilated or transformed into some kind of creature by some unknown force of magic. At first the two suspect The Spectre, seeing as this is his typical M.O, but with finding one of the waiters still alive, Zatanna reads his memories and finds out that this isn't The Spectre at all but an crime boss from the magical underworld known as Brother Night. Having pity for the slain criminals, Zatanna returns them to their human forms and heads down to Brother Nights hang out in the underworld. There Zatana finds out that Brother Night has taken over the underworld crime scene and has decided to spread out into the mundane world. Zatanna quickly lets him know that if he continues his new plan that she will gladly see to his demise without hesitation. This series has a lot of potential seeing as how more and more recent events in the DCU are leading towards a new age of magic and with it a new age of magical villains and threats to the mundane world. Expect this book to have some serious ramifications later on down the line. I strongly suggest you pick this book up and see what all the fuss is about.

5 out of 5



X-Men Legacy #236

Utopia and half of San Fransisco are trapped under Bastion's force field. No one can escape and no one can get in. Donald Pierce, plays his role as he blows up on Utopia, crippling their means of communications. Amidst the chaos, The Avengers show up and try to help as best they can. Thor tries to smash the field down but to no avail is he even able to make a dent. Inside the field, Cyclops and a small team consisting of Emma, Archangel and Iceman attempt to break the field. They quickly find out that no matter what, they can't get out and no one can get in. On the Golden Gate Bridge there is some kind of epicenter that they feel is the cause of the containment field. Soon enough, they find out it's actually a worm hole that has opened and is letting in NIMRODS from Rachel Summer's future.
Again, Hope is put to the test as Cable continues to tell her that if she feels that she's not ready, he still has one time jump left and they can leave and let everyone deal with Bastion alone. This time however, she says that she is ready and the two ready themselves for war.
With six parts remaining, time is of the essence. Bastion has strategically removed all the X-Men's teleporters off the board and trapped almost every last mutant alive on Utopia. Now trapped inside with an army of Nimrods coming through and the two people capable of helping defeat them no where to be found, what are the X-Men going to do? Is this timeline that Bastion opened a potential future or is it THE future? Only time will tell. Until next week.

5 out of 5

and that's all for me folks!!

Upcoming News for the Week of 5/26/10

SECRET AVENGERS & THANOS IMPERATIVE IGNITION BEGINS!

After reading Avengers #1 all of us here at CBJ are hungry for more. We all thought it was a great start to the Heroic Age and we can't wait for all the other new books getting ready to kick off. Luckily we won't have to wait very long because Secret Avengers is the next new Avengers book to come out this month. The team has been revealed and it's interesting to say the least. Hopefully Marvel can continue the great trend they started.

This week one of the Marvel U's most popular characters makes a return in a book bearing his name - Thanos Imperative! This is another one of those books that's been a long time coming and it also features fan favorite Silver Surfer. Add this all up with the newest Green Lantern and another installment of the Return of Bruce Wayne and we're looking to have another fantastic week of comics. Very exciting stuff indeed!

To all of you who voted in Dark Horse's Facebook poll - THANKS! For those who don't know, Dark Horse asked New Yorkers what their favorite comic shop in NYC was and we asked you all to kindly vote for us and many of you did, so thanks again! Our last tally had us up by a good margin. We're not sure if this thing is still going or what the deal is but I won't deter you from voting if you already haven't, the link can be found right here! Keep it going for good ol' CBJ and representing the lost borough!

OUR TOP 5 PICKS FOR THIS WEEK:




COMIC BOOK JONES WANTS TO SAVE YOU MONEY!

Comic Book Jones isn't just about comics! We can also save you money on other things like your gas and electric bills. It's true! Just bring a copy of your electric and/or gas bill to the store and we can guarantee you savings on both your bills every month with absolutely no cost to you and no contracts whatsoever. In addition to this if you bring in your bills we will extend your Wednesday discount up to 14% off everything for life! We want to help you guys save some extra money! If you have any additional questions feel free to ask Socko or Tiger at the store or by shooting us an e-mail at comicbookjones@gmail.com.

In addition, feel free to come down to the store every Thursday night for some free food and drinks starting at around 9:15pm to learn even more about this opportunity with some special guests!



THE RAFFLE IS BACK!

That's right folks, the raffle is back! Starting this Saturday, May 22nd throw your hat into the ring for a chance to win your choice of either the JLA Trophy Room Superman Cape (Retail Price $294.99), Watchmen Movie Rorschach Grapple Fun & Mask (Retail $249.99), or the Angel 1/1 Scale Puppet Replica (Retail $324.99)! Tickets are only $1 and you can buy as many as you like! This raffle will end on Wednesday, May 26th.



JONAH HEX TAILGATE PARTY!

The next tailgate extravaganza of the summer has been locked in. Come join us at the store on Thursday, June 17th starting @ 9pm (tentatively scheduled) to check out Jonah Hex! Starting at 9pm, join us for some free food and drinks and our special tailgate sale where we pick a number out of a hat and everything in the store will be between 10% - 70% off! Wowee! We're still not sure if there is going to be a midnight showing for this movie or not but we will keep you posted! If you haven't been to one of our tailgates before, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?

A Goodbye to 24

Well here we are, counting down the final hours in the final day of the groundbreaking series 24. This show which made it’s debut in 2001 immediately after the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001 is more than just another television series. It has become a cultural touchstone.

Just as the original Star Trek carefully mirrored the Kennedy Administration’s “Camelot” philosophy and the movie version of M.A.S.H. reflected the post Vietnam attitudes towards U.S. involvement in foreign wars, 24 spoke very loudly to our feelings of helplessness and anger in a Post Cold War reality rife with terrorism.

In the days following 9/11 most Americans were filled with rage over the terrorist attack on our own soil. But unlike other enemies, (Nazi’s or Cold War Soviets etc.) the terrorist had no single identity. They were not an accessible enemy. Terrorists could be anyone, anywhere. Domestic or foreign. How do you fight an enemy you can’t see? So along with our anger, many Americans felt impotent to do anything about it.

Jack Bauer changed that .

He put a face on the enemy and then punched that face dead in the mouth. No one could stand in his way. Not corrupt politicians, incompetent bosses, internal moles…not even the law. Jack did what he had to do to get the job done. To save the most lives. He made the hard choices and then lived with the consequences, which were often devastating to him personally. One of the things that made Jack so compelling was the fact that he KNEW many of his choices crossed both legal and moral lines. At the end of last season Bauer confesses to Renee Walker that, yes, he knows the law is more important that those 50 people held hostage on the bus. His mind knows that but his heart could not live with it. Jack always chose justice, even if it was often in conflict with the law.

In 1941 it was Captain America socking Hitler in the jaw, throwing that punch for ALL of us. In the post 9/11 world it was Jack facing down the bad guys for all of us. Through jack we could all fight back.

Jack was a hero.

He was even more of a hero because, over the course of the series, the audience has seen him lose little pieces of himself with each fight to save us all. He lost his wife, alienated his daughter, lost two lovers and countless friends and co-workers. He witnessed the death of Bill Buchannan and the destruction of his best friend Tony Almedia. He was forced to kill Ryan Chapelle, his superior at the time, in order to hold off a terrorist threat. The list of unmakable choices that he HAD to make goes on and on. At times it seemed that jack would break altogether but somehow he always gathered himself for the next battle.

Over the course of eight REALLY bad days Jack has been shot, stabbed, beaten, infected, thrown in a Chinese Prison and STILL he kept on coming. Jack was A FORCE OF NATURE.
Jack Bauer was not the only element that made 24 so ground breaking. The real time conceit of the show that did not allow for any lag in pacing kept 24 a mile a minute thrill ride. It did not matter that there were so many plot holes or that CTU agents could get across a traffic jammed L.A. in a matter of minutes. By the time we noticed plot holes we were already on to the next explosive (literally) scene! But Jack was the center, the heart of 24. He is already an iconic character in the same mold as Dirty Harry, James Bond and even Superman.

You’ve done a great job Jack. Thanks for the memories. You will be missed…

At least until the MOVIE!

That’s 30!

Mitch

OFF WITH THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!

So much stuff in one week and being such a huge Avengers fan, I didn't want to take up too much space with everything I wanted to review. This week we also saw some really cool revelations along with some awesome new series.



BIRDS OF PREY #1

I was really sad when this series ended. I didn't really care for the Oracle miniseries that came out after and Gotham City Sirens is a great book but nothing can beat Gail Simone writing the ladies and gentleman of The Birds Of Prey.

In this new series, it starts off slow with Oracle trying to get together the team for something big...big like what?! Big like, oh every superhero and supervillain's identity, family members and even their lovers names out in the open, that big.
Black Canary and Lady Black Hawk answer the call first along with Huntress the next two they try to recruit are Hawk and Dove. These two are the odd choice for the team considering Hawk just came back from the dead and he isn't your typical team player.

If you've never read the Birds, then get on it! This series is going to be amazing because you've got the talented lineup of Gail Simone writing, Ed Benes on art and Nei Ruffino coloring. This book is anything you can ask for in a comic book and more.

Do yourself a favor and go get this now!

5 out of 5



Justice League: The Lost Generation #1

From the creative minds of Keith Giffen and Judd Winick comes this awesome new story that is going to rock hardcore JLA fans. Maxwell Lord returned at the end of Blackest Night after being dead from having his neck broken by Wonder Woman during Infinite Crisis. What are his plans? Why is he back? Well, everyone is looking for him to answer these and many more questions.
Leave it to the former members of the Justice League International to hunt him down and bring him in. Captain Atom, Fire, Ice and Booster Gold make it their personal mission to bring Max to justice.
Little does everyone know that Max has plans for everyone else. He hooks himself up to a computer along with enough blood to sustain a huge telepathic exertion.
The greatest trick the Devil did was make people believe he didn't exist...well that's exactly what Max does. He erases himself from everyone's memory save the four heroes hot on his trail.
This book is going to be huge and I'm telling you jump on now or get left in the dust. Even if you've never read any of the older JLA - JLI stuff, you're going to like this reguardless.

5 out of 5



BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1

Another major character literally clawing his way back to his proper place in time, We see the amnesiac Bruce Wayne make his first stop on his time traveling journey as he pops up in the time of the cavemen to do battle with a as-yet-to-be badass, Vandal Savage.
The Omega Beams drop Bruce off with no memory of his former life and no knowledge of who or where he is. He arrives and is dubbed the Bat-God. He and one of the cavemen come to the rescue of others as they are attacked by Vandal Savage and his group of cannibal cavemen. Just after saving these people Bruce is propelled further into the future for his next stop on his time traveling story.
I personally don't care for this story line because of it having many similarities to the recent Captain America: Reborn story in which Marvel's counterpart, Captain America bounced through his own time lines. The only redeeming part of this particular story is that Bruce plays a pivotal role in the creation of Batman long before his parents murder in Crime Alley. He's sowing the seeds for things to eventually build to his creation of the Dark Knight.

3 out of 5



HULK #22

This is it, the final reveal as The Red Hulk's identity is finally unveiled. From the beginning of this series, we've all wondered who was the Red behemoth that stalked Bruce Banner and the rest of the Marvel Universe and it only took twenty-two issues for them to finally give up the ghost. General Thadeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is and always was the Red Hulk. Next issue Jeph Loeb finally tells the origin story of our anti-hero.
Not only was Ross' identity revealed but we also come to learn that his daughter and the love of Bruce Banner's life Betty Ross is actually the Red She-Hulk. Another character who, since her inception has been at the center of controversy.
In this issue, The Red Hulk does battle with the recently "Hulked Out Heroes" and finds a crippling blow delivered by the Red She-Hulk along with the fatal reveal. I have to say this has been one hell of a story and the fact that after all this time people still want to know who the Red Hulk's are and what their grand purpose in the Intelligencia's plot truly are just goes to show how good Jeph Loeb and Greg Pak are as writers. By killing Ross off supposedly really threw everyone off the trail and to be honest none of us knew who the Red Hulk could possibly be. This new revelation just makes the origin story next issue that much more juicy in terms of how this all came about.

5 out of 5



INCREDIBLE HULK #609

Leading in from "Hulk #22", this issue continues the reveals as the identity of The Red She-Hulk is finally exposed. After so long and "Hulk #22" also identifying the Red She-Hulk, Betty Ross is the crimson bombshell. Betty and General Ross have been a vital role in the Intelligencia's plot to finally rid the world of Bruce Banner and his green counterpart, The Hulk.
Amidst the battle between the Gamma irradiated A.I.M soldiers and the "Hulked out heroes", Skaar makes the killing blow attempting to thwart The Red She-Hulk from finishing off Bruce Banner and stealing away his eventual battle with his father The Hulk.
Again, this story has been nothing short of amazing and with the reveals of not only the identities of both Red Hulks but with the revelation the Betty's long thought dead husband Glenn Talbot is really a L.M.D controlled by The Leader just adds to the air of mystery within this great who-done-it.
This is a classic story being laid out in front of us and will have ramifications for years to come. I cannot wait to see what's in story next for The Hulk and his kin.

5 out of 5



NEW MUTANTS #13

Putting to rest the fallen Nightcrawler, the X-Men are now regrouping and preparing for Bastion's next attack. On Utopia, dissension begins to grow as people are now having their doubts about Hope and what she can potentially do for the mutant populace. Hope is really starting to flesh out as not only a character but a major player in the X-universe, from being a child messiah on the run through time to now being a child in a soldier's body, she's really starting to show her true side. At one point, Cable asks her if she's ready for what needs to be done and she says "No". He informs her that he has one last time jump left and that if she truly isn't ready for the role she must play that he'll jump the two of them out of there and they'll deal with the consequences.
While all this is going on, Cyclops has sent the X-Club off to a oil rig in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to investigate what exactly Cypher had found on his mission with The New Mutants. They come to find out that Bastion has built some kind of force field and arrive just in time to witness it being unleashed.

Thus far this story has done nothing but get better and better as it progresses. Not only does it show how far Cyclops and Bastion are willing to go in order to achieve their goals but we're starting to see the fear that all of the mutants have if this girl doesn't start living up to all the hype Cyclops has put on her. Different members of the team are starting to show their true feelings like when Dani Moonstar attacks Hope in the mess hall because she doesn't think Hope is the messiah and that she's not going to save anyone.
This is only the beginning to what I think will be one of if not the greatest X-Men story ever told.

5 out of 5

OFF WITH THE TOP OF MY HEAD!!

WHAT UP WORLD!
OH MY GOD! This week was probably my favorite week in comics for 2010 so far. Siege is over, The red Hulk's have been revealed and as Socko said "The Birds of Prey got back together."
I have so much to talk about...lets get to it.



SIEGE #4

Bendis did it and he did it big. This was the final piece of the puzzle that he layed down seven years ago in "Avengers Disassembled". Steve Rogers rallied the Avengers and they kicked Norman Osborn's ass and hard. When all was lost and nothing seemed like it could stop The Void from destroying everyone on the remains of Asgard, Loki of all people repents for his past crimes and gives the heroes the power of the Norn Stones to defeat The Void. Not only does he show a side we the readers have never seen but he also sacrifices himself.
As Bob Reynolds in his human form begs Thor to kill him to stop The Void, Thor crosses the line that no hero ever wants to but in the end has to because it's a mercy killing and it stops the villain.
The Hood and Madame Masque make a run for it leaving behind all of their powered down lackeys to get arrested along with the remaining H.A.M.M.E.R troops left in Broxton.
With Norman Osborn out, Steve Rogers is called in by the President and asked to become America's next top cop. He replaces Nick Fury, Tony Stark and now Norman Osborn as the big security chief. His first order of business is to abolish The Super Human Registration Act, which means The New Avengers and all the real heroes are no longer criminals in the eyes of the law. The Heroic Age has truly begun.
Speaking for myself being a huge Avengers fan, I'm so excited to see what all the new titles spinning out of this have in store. Which bring me to my next book...



NEW AVENGERS FINALE.

I never thought I'd see this book but alas all good things must come to an end. So like I said The Hood and Madame Masque escaped Oklahoma and are on the run from the heroes and the law. What better time for Madame Masque to run back to daddy, who turns out to be the long time Avengers villain...Count Nefaria!
The New Avengers are hot on their trail when they find out from The Hood's scorn crew that he has a cousin and they're all fairly sure that if The Hood's on the run, he's going to get in touch with him.
They find his cousin and set everything up for a trap. Inside Count Nefaria's penthouse, he's explaining to The Hood that he'll help him get his powers back but he wants every single penny the two have stolen since becoming Norman Osborn's dogs. In mid conversation is when the trap snaps and everyone gets their asses beat Avengers style.
The team heads back to Broxton where they drop off the three criminals and find out from Maria Hill that the Super Human Registration Act has been lifted and Steve Rogers is America's next top cop.
I really enjoyed this issue and the little look back at what this incarnation of the Avengers has had to go through since their inception. It's sad to see this book end because it's been such a figure head for so long but a New-New Avengers series starts in June so we'll see what comes from that then.

which leads us to...



AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #35

With all the other heroes fighting in Oklahoma, The Avengers Resistance is waging a full scale battle on Camp H.A.M.M.E.R and it's remaining villains. So much happens in a small amount of time.
Taskmaster and Constrictor make their way out of Asgard leaving behind Diamondback to wonder just what Constrictor is going to do now that the tide of power has shifted once again.
The Avengers Resistance aka The New Warriors and The Camp Hammond graduates finish off the last of Osborn's remaining loyalists at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R, while Cloud 9, Komodo and Hardball make amends with one another and realize that the first group to graduate from the Initiative need to stick together and work hard to make sure that nothing like what's happened can happen again.
The best part of the issue is where Parker Robbins aka The Hood is tied to a chair in a holding cell and Tigra comes in and does the unexpected and doesn't kill him but gives him the ultimate F- You by telling him that no matter what he'll never touch his family again whereas she will be with her son and nothing can stop her.
A son? When did Tigra get pregnant? Who is the father? I think it's Skrull Hank Pym. Another story plot we'll have to wait and see what happens.
I'm sad to see this book end because it's been nothing short of awesome every month since it came out but with the new book Avengers Academy coming out soon, we won't have to wait to long to see these characters again.



DARK AVENGERS #16

Another book that see's its final issue come and go. To cut through all the retold stuff about how the heroes win and how Steve Rogers gets the job he should've gotten all the way back when Civil War was starting, we see Daken escape Broxton, the remaining Dark Avengers get arrested, Victoria Hand is asked to work for Steve Rogers as his new director, Thor gives Phobos Ares' helmut and battle axe and tells him that no matter what his father did really love him and everything he's ever done no matter how messed up was always for his benefit and that maybe one day he'll fully understand it.
My favorite is the ending, we see Norman Osborn locked up and talking to himself. Is it Loki or someone else playing with his fragile mind?...no! It's the Green Goblin persona telling him that no matter what Norman does, he'll always be a part of him.
I think I'm more excited to see what happens to the remaining Dark Avengers in this new Heroic Age than I am for anything else. Will they be treated like the criminals they are and be locked up or will they attempt to rehabilitate them again in the Thunderbolts program under the guidance of Luke Cage? only time will tell.




SIEGE EMBEDDED #4

This book really gives you the ground view of everything that's happened. Ben Urich survives the Sentry crashing into Asgard and like the good person he is begins to look for other survivors. In his search he comes across loud mouth icon Todd Keller.
Ben meets up with Volstagg and Will Stern just in time to see everything go down as the heroes face off against The Void and win. They also bare witness to Volstagg stopping Norman Osborn from fleeing the scene.
After everything is said and done, Ben and Will both head back to Frontline and return to "normal" life. Volstagg has pledged to help with the clean up of Soldiers Field. Norman Osborn is in jail and big mouth Todd Keller has switched band wagons and is now telling everyone how Captain America is in charge and he ain't taking crap from no one. All in all a nice ending to a great story.
Granted we've been running the gauntlet with continuing attacks, invasions and sieges, it would be nice to see Ben Urich and Frontline get their own ongoing so we can still get that view from the streets when the battles up in the air over our heads. We'll see what happens.



SIEGE EPILOGUE: THE SENTRY: FALLEN SUN

With the battles finally over and things returning to a somewhat state of normal it's now time to bury the dead and the one person who everyone knew and was sad to see die but knew it had to happen was Bob Reynolds aka The Sentry. The Fantastic Four, Rogue, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Cyclops and Emma all make their way to his grave to say their last goodbyes.
This issue is really weird because you have to take in the fact that The Sentry was written into Marvel continuity only a couple of years ago. He's had roots in the beginnings of so many heroes lives. Reed Richards for one was Bob's best man at his wedding. Everyone says their goodbyes in their own ways and for the most part it was a very sad and touching issue unlike any other death of a hero comic, this one was really about the things Bob did to save people by making them all forget him as opposed to his accomplishments.
Thor who was the one to strike the killing blow visits Mrs Reynolds, Bob's mother and attempts to tell her what happened but winds up hanging out with her and enjoying each others company.
The strangest part which leads me to believe that something is going to happen with The Sentry / Void in the future is Cloc's response to Reed Richards telling him that he's going to rebuild the Watchtower in anticipation for his masters return and if anyone comes near it they will be considered a threat and killed on site.
If you don't get what everyone is talking about in this story, make sure you check out the three Sentry mini's that have come out and maybe you'll get a better insight into this unsung hero.

and that's the end of SIEGE! HERE'S TO THE HEROIC AGE!

check back later this week for more on this weeks books including:

The next chapter of Second Coming
The Return of Bruce Wayne
Fall Of The Hulks
The return of The Birds Of Prey
and
Justice League Lost Generation