G~man

Joss Whedon back on Buffy. That's how it should be. Anything else feels like filler. This issue picks up shortly after the last season (obviously). There has been a little time that has gone by. I was never a huge Buffy fan but always appreciated the witty diaglouge and cheesey plotlines. You get a sense of the ambition that Whedon has by returning to his beloved characters. There was the expected one-liners. It's amazing how witty they can all be. It was also nice that a character from the "past," Amy Madison.

So I liked it. I'm glad Whedon is taking a major role in this series rather than simply throw it to the generic writer and just cash the paychecks he'd recieve. The art was good too. The characters resemble the actors. Buffy hasn't had her proportions "exagerated" to satisfy the desire of the fanboys.

Whedon also has some all-star writers lined up to tell their stories. I will stick around as long as it stays consistently good. Looks like it's gonna be a fun ride.

Over two years later, the New Avengers is still one of my favorite titles. The Avengers in the past has also seemed mediocre to me. You usually had powerful teams with battles against enemies that usually didn't feel like that big a deal. I think what's been different about this team is that they're not going out fighting Bad Guy Team A then Bad Guy Battle B. There's still some unresolved storylines like who's been behind the Raft break-out and so forth. The team still has it's mis-matched feel. Doctor Strange and Avenger? Wolverine still ticking everyone off. Iron Man and [Power Fist] together again! And another Ronin to try to figure out who's wearing the costume.

In this issue we find out how this version of the New Avengers got together. We see their reaction to Captain America's death and how they can be called Avengers when Stark has just formed his own "Mighty" Avengers. Next issue's battle will be your typical good guy vs good guy but it looks to be good. I don't think anyone here is happy with Iron Man.

Bendis is still on his game. He still manages to throw in those funny little comments or situations. Leinil Francis Yu's art feels a little...weird. It's always hard when a new artist comes on board. It's great stuff but just different.

Another thing that bothered me a little but can't be blamed here is Spider-Man's portrayal. Everyone knows something has happened to make him return to the black costume. We know that apparently Aunt May was shot. We don't know (yet) if she lived or died and even if Mary Jane is still alive. So he's supposed to be sad or angered or depressed or something to have gone back. Because of editorial direction, we don't know why here. Spidey, for the most part, still seems his old self. He's still crackin' the jokes. That's the problem with sharing characters. Your hands are kind of tied. But this series is still at the top of my read list.

I ask myself that each month. I love Wolverine. I know there's a lot of people that are tired of him but I still like him. I like him in Astonishing X-Men and also New Avengers. I like him in his solo title but that feels like it's been comic out more sporadically. But Wolverine here is just kinda...boring.

He has a son. Whoopee. That seems to have been the direction that last half dozen issues. It started out with him filling in the gaps to his newly restored memories but now he's just obsessed with his kid. And also, now that he's conveniently has knowledge of his son, his son now wants "revenge" against him. Boo-hoo, your daddy didn't tuck you in. Well he's had his friggin' memory wiped, what do ya expect?

We also find out his son's alleged name, Daken. Uhm...okay. And he has a mohawk. Are those back in style? Maybe Storm is secretly the mother from back in the day. Cyber's also back. I think people liked him when he was around. I personally never really cared for him. He found a convenient way to come back. Yawn. And Steve Dillon's art? It's good in it's way. But there's something about the way he draws the eyes. Almost creepy in a way.

So this issue didn't feel like it offered too much. We have a name for the kid and an explanation how Cyber's been able to come back. I wonder where this will go next. Logan and Daken will fight. Then what? They'll sit and have a beer. I figure Daken will eventually become an X-men, maybe to prove he's better than his old man or he'll seemingly die only to return later.

I'm not sure why I'm still buying and reading this. Something's gotta happen. Either it gets better or should just go away.

For a title that has had some...release problems, now that it's back on a regular schedule, I feel like I've missed something. Was there an issue 4 1/2? Last issue ended with Wonder Woman (Diana) about to face off against a bunch of her rogues. Now here we begin with Diana investigating some women's shelter that apparantly has some connection to Wonder Woman. It's my understanding that DC wanted to get the comic back out on an actual shedule. I commend them for that. You can't have one of your top tier characters suffer from delay problems. I don't care who's at fault, writer, artist, whoever. I do agree that if they are not delivering, you give the title to someone that can and will perform. But to have a jump like this is just confusing.

This issue felt and was a filler. A different team came in and put out an issue that didn't rely on the first 4. Fine. Maaaaybe there'll be some repercussions over the death of the abuser at the end. I do agree that the message here was important. Women should never have to deal with an abusive situation. They do need to realize that they can leave and there are people and organizations that will help. But it almost felt too much like an "after school special."

I still don't know what's up with Wonder Women. Is Diana gonna continue to be Wonder Woman? Why is she still working for the Department of Metahumans? What happened to Donna Troy? If she was spending time as Wonder Woman, how could she also be in space with Kyle Rayner in the latest issue of Ion?

It all just feels a little sloppy. DC has to tighten its reigns and get their act together. Wonder Woman is a major character and should be treated better than this.

I'll admit, I got burnt out on old Frank in the 90s. I know there's a lot of praise over Garth Ennis' MAX title but it's never called out to me. We all know Ennis hates the superheroes so I figure it's Frank going hardcore on the human bad guys. Okay.

With Punisher War Journal, we have Frank in the Marvel Universe. Let's remember his first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man. I've liked how this series has been so far. The narrative along with the art has just been...working for me. Some of the Civil War crossover stuff felt a little forced. Then we have the whole 'Punisher respects Captain America' thing. He let Cap beat him up because he didn't wanna hit him back. I think I can get that. He truely respects the guy.

Another thing that surprisingly has been working is Frank hasn't been too active in the last couple issues. Last issue we had the funeral for Stilt Man after Frank launched a rocket at his crotch (with Frank fire-bombing the services at the end). This issue we see a volunteer cop standing up to a super-powered nut-bag. I'll admit, I don't really care for G.W. Bridge and his obsession with bringing in Frank. Aren't there any other "bad guys" for him to go after?

What I really liked about this issue was the reaction from the events of Captain America #25. Not only do we see Frank's reaction but those of the average New Yorkers. Touching and fitting.

Marvel tried their best to keep this a secret before the issue hit the stands. I think they did a pretty good job of it. There was some speculation. I thought if it was going to happen, it would've been in Civil War #7. Maybe that's what a lot of people thought and maybe that's why Marvel didn't do that. For a few minutes, I was even thinking that maybe it was the death of Cap in the "War" that would cause Spidey to mourn his teammate and start wearing the black.

So now he's dead. I feel it was handled very well. Cap was true to form leading up to the events. He noticed that someone had a laser scope and pushed the Marshall in front of him out of the way. After he was shot numerous times, his first concern was the safety of the crowd.

But is he really dead?

Bucky (Winter Soldier) and Nick Fury had some plan. Obviously having Crossbones shoot him wasn't part of it. But what was the plan? Another thing is the news report said he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, yet Sharon and Falcon were sitting in the waiting room...waiting. It almost seemed his "death" was prematurely announced. They've tried to fool us by having Ms. Marvel (in Civil War: The Intitiative) tell Spider-Woman that he's still alive. (That's been addressed in New Avengers). But Cap does have the Super Soldier Serum in his body. The first shot wouldn't do much. The three shots at point blank to the gut is another story. The question is would it be enough? As I said, he has the serum in him and he was wearing his chain mail costume. Next issue is supposedly the Autopsy. What's to prevent Tony Stark from getting an LMD now that he's in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. to take his place. Autopsy results can be faked. Although Civil War: The Confession shows Stark kinda choked up.

Bottom line, this was a great issue even though Brubaker killed my beloved Captain America. I have complete faith in him. I trust what he's doing. We all know Death isn't permanent in comics. Heck, Brubaker even broke the cardinal rule and convincingly brought back Bucky. I cannot wait unitl the next issue.

I really liked the Teen Titans in the 80s. Wolfman and Perez just shined. When this series re-launched, I actually passed on it. I thought I didn't want to read about a bunch of "teens" (I deal enough with that at work). But Teen Titans is the all-star Justice League Jr. Just don't tell them that. What I mean, is you have an all-star team that works great together. I've recently started reading the trades of the first issues and actually feel kinda lucky that I can plow through them in one sitting.

Titans East has been great. Deathstroke is such a b@$t@rd. We can see his highly intelligent evil mind at work. He's thought this through carefully. He's hand-picked his team to mess with the minds of the Titans. His overconfidence seems to get the better of him in this issue. We'll have to see is he has even more up his sleeve next issue.

My only problem with this issue is it seemed rushed. Actually last issue did too. By rushed, I mean too fast paced. It's over before you know it. That could be a good thing since it means you don't get bored and are on the edge of your seat. But things almost happen too fast. I would've liked to see more on the individual battles. It's almost like there's too many team memebers that have to fight with their evil counterparts. This issue could've been spread out more. And also Batgirl is back to normal already? Sure she's been whacked in the head in other titles for almost a year now but it would've been nice to see her and Robin go at it longer here.

Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel are doing a great job. This much excitement is what I want in a team book.

Dang Moon Knight is just depressing. I love Charlie Huston's writing and David Finch's artwork is phenominal. But holy crap, Moon Knight needs to lighten up. I get it that he's gone through some hard times. He lost it all and now is trying to work his way back. But he's being such a jerk to everyone else in the process. It's like he's trying to push everyone away. It was a little hard to see his interaction with Captain America since this took place before his death. I did think it was gold when Marc told Cap that he and Stark should just get a room and leave everyone else out of their "war."

What's nice is we have some hardcore action here. Moon Knight is not holding back. He shouldn't since he is fighting for a spirit of Vengeance. What bothers me a teensy bit is the fact that he's pretty much a nut-bag. I don't know if Khonshu is actually talking to him now. He has in the past, sort of. And the appearance he takes and things he "does" is kinda whacky. Moon Knight never really had a fully stable mind, but now it's like it's about to completely shatter at any moment. That's what worries me. I want Moon Knight to stick around again. I want him to keep kicking butt but I don't want him to just be a psychotic vigilante. We've seen enough of those. Maybe he just needs Marlene back into his life to help him relieve some tension.