You don't know what it's like to be a father--to really be a father.

X-Force #26  *****
"Our Father who are in heaven," oh I'm sorry, I must have been channeling the late Kurt Wagner. You heard that right, our resident religious funny man himself, Nightcrawler has passed into the land of the dead. Let that soak in for a while as I take you on this journey. So much happened in this issue and everything happened so well. First, Bastion is tracking all the mutants in the world, except for Hope (who's still able to avoid detection, much like when she was a teenie tiny babie.) Cable, after having split up from Hope, is creating a diversion with the help of Angel, Psylocke, Logan, Colossus, and X-23. Suffice to say, Bastion was not fooled. And just to add, while I understand Colossus' pain and desire to help his sister, annoying much? Back to the good stuff. Meanwhile, Rogue and Hope have been traveling cross-country via that Nightcrawler "Bamf" express. Having briefly stopped to allow Nightcrawler to rest, the gang was attacked by Bastion himself. Rogue quickly utilizing near every power she had recently absorbed (see review for X-Men Legacy #235,) however the quickly repairing, non-human, Bastion kept barraging her with more attacks. Finally having beat down Rogue, Bastion turns his attention to the weakened Nightcrawler and the unprotected Hope. Now, I'm not usually one for spoiling, but you must forgive me this one time. With his last burst of energy, Nightcrawler "Bamf"-ed for the last time, transporting himself and Hope to Utopia, uttering his final words "I...I believe in  you." (Much like I said you all should believe in Cyclops back in our 50th post special.)

I don't even know where to start really. The writing and the artwork in this book was superb. Fantastic. Beautiful. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost weaved the words like they were thread in a Navajo blanket. And there were often times when the silence was even more powerful. enter Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. These four people weaved together a brilliant chapter to this awesome event. The battle scene between Rogue and Bastion was awesome. The final moments of Nightcrawler's death was touching. And the moment that Colossus and Wolverine find out he died was heartbreaking. I've had an inkling that it would be Kurt that would be a major death in this event. His interaction with Scott in the one-shot, his transporting Rogue and Hope across the U.S., his vocal opposition to X-Force, just little things. And I was all for it, mostly because his faith in his religion makes me feel awkward, because it's something that I can't relate to him about. But at the end of the day, he is a part of the second generation of X-Men, best friend to Colossus and Wolverine, good friend to many, and he will be missed by thousands of fans across the world. He deserved an honorable death, and Kyle, Yost, Choi, and Oback gave him just that.

I met up with Chris Yost on Free Comic Book Day, and he's just a great guy. I got my issue signed by him, of course, as well as a couple Necrosha issues, and my Red Robin series. We talked about Nightcrawler's death a little, and you could just tell that there was a level of respect he had for this character and the character's history, especially with the fans. He said that their main intent was to make sure his death wasn't pointless and meaningless.
And they did just that.

Because that's what I'd do, and I'm the guy that taught him how to run in the first place

So my appy-polly-logies to my readers. I'm sure I speak for both myself and Matt when I say, we've been busy. This is a major long post and as I mention further on that there are also a couple reviews from three weeks ago, the rest are from two weeks ago. And I'll be getting to last week's issues shortly.

Uncanny X-Men #523 **** 1/2
The X-Men have been on a wild ride in the past years, one more than the others, and it has all been leading up to the Second Coming of the Messiah. This epic event has been living up to all the expectations that I had and then some. What a great issue this was. I am loving the way that the writers have been portraying Cable and Hope's relationship. That whole hair kit scene was just a really nice touch. I am very excited to see how this all works out for Scott. The X-Force has been a clandestine operation because Scott knew that some of the X-gang would have an issue with it. And now that its existence is out in the open, not everyone agrees with their methods. And while I do have certain issues with Logan's actions in this particular issue, I think that Scott's decision to create the X-Force was the correct decision. With the New Mutants landing in, all hell's about to turn loose.

Matt Fraction has been a great asset to the X-Titles roster. I'm loving his run on the Uncanny title and I think that this issue just furthers my belief. I'm also a big fan of Terry Dodson's artwork. It has a great look and feel to it.

Even dead, he saved us

Good day all. So I'm here early this week. I get my comics on Saturdays while I'm in school, time constraints and all that, but I got home today and I just zipped through them. I usually try to space 'em out a bit, but I was in a mood or something.

On that note, I should just add that the comics I read today were all damn good stuff.

Blackest Night #7 ****
Now I normally do not review Blackest Night, only its tie-ins, but like I said, I've been feeling crazy good today. Those of you reading know the history, those of you who aren't reading it, well, ya'll are fools. Now that we know who the fools amongst us are, I'll continue. Was that an action packed book of goodness or what. Seeing as this is my first Blackest Night review, I can't go one sentence further without praising Ivan Reis on the fabulous artwork that has graced these pages. Geoff Johns sure can write, but the artwork has definitely made an equivalent impact. One of the greatest things about comic books, in my opinion (and therefore should be your opinion,) is the symbiosis of art and literature. There aren't too many places where both the artistic and linguistic ability are of importance, and definitely not nearly as much as it is in comics. But I digress. These two men have weaved an amazing story. Not to imply in any way that the authors and artists of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps have not made also been a crucial aspect to the Blackest Night story.

So I want to do this review, specifically this issue, in a different manner. Instead of commenting on everything that happened, which I will wishfully rely on Matt to do, I will leave you all with questions that I have.

.5. (This one is residual) Who has Parallax?
1. What happened to Scarecrow?
2. What will truly become of the Guardian who has pledged himself to Larfleeze?
3. Who is stuck in the Battery?
4. What role will Dove be playing?
5. If Black is death will White be Birth or Life?
6. Can we stop calling them the Sinestro Corps now?

And if that doesn't entice all you non-readers to reader, I have nothing left for you.

Blackest Night Green Arrow #30 ****
So a fellow comic book lover, also known as Andy my comic book store guy (which reminds me that I was going to do something) expressed that this was his best read of the week. And having read certain unrevealing reviews about Blackest Night 7 (remember I only picked them up today) I thought, hm that's interesting. But I read it, and it was awesome stuff. Gut wrenching, stomach churning, tension building, good stuff. Hence my reviewing it now and not later in my Blackest Night tie-in post.

I'm a fairly recent follower of the Emerald Archer, that's the Green Arrow to all you non-followers, and his entourage (Arsenal, Speedy, Green Lantern the second, and Black Canary.) But what I've read, I have loved. This issue, written by Los Angeles local JT Krul (who I'm told goes to my comic book shop!) was amazing good stuff. If you recall, there have been some really strange tie-ins that felt out place and were just really not good (yes, I'm looking at you especially Doom Patrol). This issue was amazing good stuff. The artwork was done by Diogenes Neves, who I will confess I had not heard of until this moment. That was both my and your loss, because the artwork was great stuff, fantastic stuff. (p.s. just looked him up, he apparently has been doing the art for New Mutants. Now I blame myself for not knowing of him)

As is the fashion of the Blackest Night Tie-Ins following the protagonist who has been recruited by the Black Lantern Corps, in this issue we are privy to the thoughts of the mind-trapped Ollie. The scenes that depicted his interactions with Dinah, Mia, and Connor Hawke were painful to read, emotionally painful. Any writer that is capable of taking a single tie-in issue and make it feel like you're skidding uncontrollably down the street, must be commended. Black Lantern forcing Dinah to relieve Ollie's affairs, forcing Connor to relieve Ollie abandoning him, and making sexually motivated indications to Mia was emotionally draining, in a most excellent way. Pick this one up folks, you won't regret it.

Gotham City Sirens #9 ****
Continuing on with the greatness that is this week in comics. Paul Dini is back on as writer, after taking a break last issue allowing Guillem March take a crack at it, and I'm liking this direction. I fear I may become redundant in saying the artwork in this series has been amazing, but I will continue to praise Guillem for it. His depictions of Harley, Selina, and Pamela are amazing enough to give any other artist a run for their money. And Paul Dini, who is back on next issue for Streets of Gotham (woot) has been doing great stuff wit this series. This mini surrounds a murder mystery, the reintroduction of the Riddler into the story, and Aesop come to life, yes the fables man. The Riddler thinking/talking to himself is great stuff. What I'm also loving about this issue is the gals' attempts at maintaining a quasi normal life. Adopting Hyenas, sparring with Wildcat, and chemically inducing a job approval, yea, normal. I'm not exactly sure how connected Streets of Gotham and Batman are, or how connected Dini and Daniel are, but I'm pretty sure I can see where things are going with the Riddler. It's fairly unfortunate, because I've been liking this Private Eye Edward Nigma.

Batman and Robin #9 ****
This was the culmination to Grant Morrison's very own Blackest Knight. I will admit to two things. I liked this story more than I anticipated I would and I can't stand the way that Morrison has portrayed Dick in this story. This story tied up a couple of loose ends that I had been thinking about, frayed ends that had come about because of Morrison mind you One, was that actually Bruce's body that Superman pulled out of the wreckage? Answer, nope. Who's body was it then? Answer, mind-fucked, crazy clone. The interactions between Dick and Damian are always entertaining, though I'm not particularly fond of the Damian of Batman and Robin. More importantly, I've greatly enjoyed Batman and Robin up through the Red Hood's story and I enjoyed having the Squire back in the mix. However, in this story specifically Morrison turned Dick into this desperate man, that I know him not to be, which is really my only issue.

Tiny Titans #1 ***
I got this free in the mail with a couple orders I made. And how fun is this series. I know it's on number 25 now, I've been meaning to pick that one up but it's no longer in my comic book store, and therefore this is not a "new" issue. But since I just read it, it will be reviewed here. Sometimes it's nice to just read for entertainment's sake. That's exactly what this is. It's fun, filled with short stories, and just pure entertainment. If any of you have kids, you should think about investing in getting them to read this. And for those of you that are still a kid at heart, pick this up for the pure fun of it. Aww Yeah!

He was my brother, my best friend. I had a job to do and I never let him down

Well hell, I'm a full week late on this review post.

Gotham City Sirens #8 ***
So this issue was both written and drawn up by Guillem March. Who, those of you with a good memory might remember, I've been absolutely giddy over with regards to his past artwork for Gotham City Sirens. Poison Ivy is probably my least favorite of the three Sirens, and as a result I probably didn't give this review 4 stars. All in all it was a decent issue for Guillem's first shot at writing.

Batman and Robin #7 ****
Blackest Knight. What can I say, this looks like it is gearing up to be a great series. I know people have had serious problems with Grant Morrison's writing in the past, but I feel overall he's done some really good stuff with this issue and series. I don't particularly care for his take on Damian, but that kid irks me so often anyway. I'm definitely intrigued about who this "Batman" is that has been resurrected via a Lazarus Pit. Plus there's the whole Damian having reconstructive spinal surgery, and by that I mean he had his whole spine removed, fixed, and then replaced. Oh to be rich. I also really enjoy Squire and am kinda hoping for a little Tim/Beryl love. I don't know much about this Batwoman, but she seems like a bore and freak all rolled up into one. I'll eventually freshen up on her.

Superman Secret Origins #4 ***
The issue was ok. The weird purple guy that tried to give Clark a hickie, absolutely disgusting. Perry pissing of Lex was amusing and entertaining. In my opinion, and let's face it this is all my opinion, the best part was the interaction between Jimmy Olsen and Superman, yes Superman not Clark. First Supes thinking Jimmy was about to commit suicide, absolutely hilarious. Them having a touching moment afterwards, great. Jimmy taking a picture of Superman in his world famous hands on the hips pose, priceless. Or gag worthy, you decide.

World's Finest #4 ***1/2
Not the spectacular finish I was hoping for, but still pretty good. Superman coming to save the day all the time will never cease to irritate me, but that's old news. Dick and Clark's first team up, successful. Or is it? Damian calling Stephanie Brown Fatgirl, hilarious. I am actually wondering where this Toyman plot will jump to, my guess is the War of Supermen. We'll see.

New Avengers #61 ***
So this was a strange issue for me. I'm not a regular reader of the New Avengers series, so bare with me. The writing was good enough. I don't know, I really enjoyed Bendis' writing on House of M and I'm thinking that I might end up liking Siege a whole lot more when everything is all said and done. Now on to the art. I've rarely ever enjoyed an issue that has multiple pencilers and multiple colorists. That being said I thought that the penciling was pretty good, granted I enjoyed one penciler more than the other. However, I did not like both colorists. One, in my opinion was far superior to the other. I enjoyed the Captain Americas story better than the Spiders, mainly because their awkward flirtations made me feel weird. Although, I will admit to being fairly amused with Spidey.

Avengers Initiative #32 ***1/2
So being that for the longest time the only thing Marvel I read surrounded the X-verse I did not know 90% of the people in this. However, I found that it was still enjoyable. Taskmaster, who reminded me of Skeletor (from He-Man), as pretty interesting. Although, I did find myself more interested in Diamondback, Constrictor, and Justice. It will be interesting to see what happens at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. and what comes of Diamondback.

"To absent friends." "Amen."

World's Finest #3 ** 1/2
This one wasn't as good as the other two, to be honest. It could be because I have no emotional attachment to Supergirl and Batgirl still irritates me. This Toyman storyline is interesting, the artwork isn't the greatest, but it's fine. The fact that I know what part 4 is about (Batman and Superman's first team-up,) I can say that I am more excited about what's to come than what happened in this issue. I did enjoy Dick and Barb.

Gotham City Sirens #7 **** 1/2
I love that these gals have turned a new leaf. I hope it lasts for a long time, because I do really like them. Selina Kyle is one of my favorite females, Harley Quinn is enjoyable, and I'm growing to like Pamela Isley. This issue was cute, sweet, and just great all around. I can't say enough about the artwork and the writing in this series, Paul Dini and Guillem March have done an amazing job. I thought this issue was great. Selina interacting with Dick, Harley and her family, Pamela with nature, and then all coming together.

What if? Astonishing X-Men
This one was in two parts. These are my own titles for the parts, as I do not have my copy on me.
*** Rebirth of Jean: This one was interesting for a couple of reasons. One, the whole what if Jean was alive issue parallels the rebirth of the Phoenix and that's always interesting. More importantly, I would just love Jean coming back. I'm not altogether sure how to review this though. I liked the art. Would I like to see the story develop? Of course, but it won't. I thought it was a tad bit far-fetched to believe that if Jean came back instead of Colossus that 7 people would die (six that wouldn't have died otherwise.)

** Danger in Love: Danger falling in love with Ultron and attempting to conquer the world is just an altogether strange story. It's not that I didn't enjoy it but I didn't love it.

Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield ***
I did not read the Death of Captain America. I do not particularly like Steve Rogers. That being said, I thought the one shot was decent. I personally like Bucky better than Steve. I found it sickeningly noble of Steve to let go of the Shield for Bucky's sake. And I will say, I found it oddly strange that Obama made an appearance, although not so much when you take into consideration that Marvel incorporates real time within their comics, while DC tends not to. Overall an ok read.

And if I don't end up posting again before the year is up, have a great New Year's Eve and I hope to see you in the New Year.

"Together again for the first time"

Many apologies for taking so much time between posts, in the future I will try and have my reviews up at a quicker pace. So as of right now Matt is not following the Bat-verse(Batman Universe) so I will be doing these reviews. It pains me to think about starting my reviews smack dab in the middle, so I will do a mega catch up review on each arc and then start with weekly issues. The best place for me to start would be with Battle for the Cowl, so I will.

Battle for the Cowl: *****
What can I say, this was a fabulous read. As an aspiring artist I'm going to go ahead and start by raving about the artwork. Can you say awesome? Tony Daniel is like a comic book deity. First of all, to those of you who do not know, Tony Daniel did all of the writing and the penciling for B.f.t.C., which basically means he is the reason I loved it. Now on to the actual story. Going into B.f.t.C. I couldn't possibly imagine how anyone other than Dick or Tim could even make a claim for the Cowl, and to be even more honest it was my opinion that it could only be Dick. Dick is pretty much, in my opinion, the heir of the Batman Legacy for a multitude of reasons: He was the original Robin, he continued to follow Bruce's teachings as Nightwing, he was the closest to Bruce (even through all of the problems they had), he's Bruce's son in all the ways that count, it just had to be. B.f.t.C. did a great job in telling this story, showing both Dick's struggle with Bruce's wishes and the needs of Gotham. Ever since Infinite Crisis we've seen some major changes in Tim, the biggest shock was probably when he gave being Robin. However, since then there has been a drastic change within him, that I feel plateaued here. During the early stages of being Robin, Tim always insisted that his crime fighting days would be a short time thing and that eventually he would move on and get a stable job. In B.f.t.C. Tim is the one who is insistent on keeping the Batman alive, even if he was the one to take up the cowl. I welcomed and hoped for this change in him (mostly because I did not want to see him leave.) Nightwing's "Network" was a great touch. The biggest difference between Bruce and Dick was their willingness to befriend and remain in contact with others and the Network showed us this. Dick is by far the most liked character in the DC world (by the other characters), and their willingness to help him out exemplifies this. As a side note to it all, I want to like Jason Todd (if he weren't so damn crazy,) and getting some insight into his personality was a nice touch. Catwoman, I love that she cares about Bruce and is loyal to him even after his departure. Damien is annoying.
Basically, all of you should read this. It's pretty much a great read, has great art, and makes me feel good. Know this though, Battle for the Cowl really ends in Batman #687.

Batman 687-693:
As I just mentioned Batman #687 is really the conclusion to Battle for the Cowl. I know that we have star ratings here at Phoenix Lantern Corps, but since there are so many issues I don't think that that would work out so well. I can say that #687 is definitely a 5 star read, so pick it up right after Battle for the Cowl. Batman follows the trials of Richard Grayson [Wayne] in his attempt to take on the Cowl. He faces all the usual problems that seem to gravitate towards Gotham. Two-Face and Penguin are still fighting, Black Mask is still gaining leverage, and Arkham has been rebuilt. Dick also now has to face the problems that arise from his taking on the mantle: fighting with a cape again, the physical differences between Bruce and him and the way they moved, fought, etc, Dick also has to deal with all of the new pressure that falls on him because he is now Batman. In case it hasn't been apparent, this arc tends to focus on Dick's acceptance of the role as well as everyone else's acceptance. Nobody knows that Bruce has died or that the original Batman has died, but people do have their suspicions that something is up. The writing has been pretty good with Judd Winick at the helm and nice art with Mark Bagley. Tony Daniel has even made a return to writing and doing the artwork starting on number 692.

Batman and Robin 1-6:
Grant Morrison is a great writer, regardless of the flack he received for Final Crisis. Batman and Robin has some great writing, nice one-liners, and is just a great read in general. Starting up from Battle for the Cowl, Dick is now Batman and Damien is now Robin. This arc follows the struggles that Dick and Damien go through now that they have teamed up together. Dick is struggle with his new role as the leader, Damien still believes he should be Batman, and Alfred is pretty much amused with the whole situation. The story is bound to give some of readers the creeps, what with a gang of pig-faced criminals that replace your face with a monsterous or Flamingo, a crazed freak who eats people's faces, literally. Jason Todd returns, and I've got to say that I am still rooting for him to turn good some time in the future (although I know this to be unlikely.) All in all I have been greatly impressed with the writing, but unfortunately not so much with the artwork. Frank Quitely is fairly renowned for his artwork, but it doesn't as much for me. Personally, I prefer Philip Tan's artwork, which started with the fourth issue. This is a definite must read, I've even got Matt to give it a chance.

Red Robin 1-6:
This definitely a must read for fans of Timothy Drake Wayne (and who isn't right?) So Red Robin starts of with "The Grail", which is basically Tim's journey to prove that Bruce is still alive, even though everyone seems to disagree with him. I think the biggest problem I have, and it's more of a personal thing, is that Tim and Dick are having problems. Tim is mad that Dick made Damien the new Robin even though Dick explains that he doesn't see Tim as a sidekick but as an equal. Tim's decision to isolate himself from his family and friends is pretty much just another emulation of Bruce, which is not a bad thing mind you, it can just get tricky in the future. I don't know how I feel about Tim shacking up with Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins, even if he says it's about taking them down. I love the cover artwork done by Francis Manapul, the writing by Chris Yost has been pretty good (even if I question the direction it is going) and I preferred the original artist, Ramon Bachs, to the new artist Marcus To, who took over starting issue 6. If you are a hardcore fan of Tim's definitely pick this up and read it. If you aren't a hardcore fan, you will probably want to catch up on the rest of the Bat-verse first.

Streets of Gotham 1-6:
Streets of Gotham ties most closely with Gotham City Sirens. Paul Dini takes the reigns in writing for both Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens, which would explain the fact that they are so closely related. This story arc follows pretty much follows Gotham City and everything that goes along with it. Hush has broken out of his prison and is now galavanting around Gotham pretending to be the Bruce Wayne and has promised Gotham billions of dollars, Bruce's dollars. Black Mask is still terrorizing Gotham. Streets of Gotham also has more guest stars, including Huntress and Man Bat. Dustin Nguyen does the cover art as well as the pencil art, and let me tell you, the cover art is just beautiful and the artwork inside is great as well. In fact, Streets of Gotham has the best looking Damien out of all of the arcs. If you've read the others, you should definitely pick this one up. It has great tidbits of what goes on in Gotham when the Bat and the new boy wonder aren't watching.

Gotham City Sirens 1-6:
What a great idea this was. This follows the story of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn as they have now decided to live with each other. First, let me just get this out of the way and say, Goddamn that's some great art. Guillem March, man can he make a guy want to be with Catwoman. Paul Dini is doing great work with the Sirens as well as the Streets, but there is just a whole 'nother level of awesome brought by Guillem's artwork. I loved the second issue which surrounded Ivy and Harley's desire to get Batman's true identity out of Catwoman, with the use of some of truth serum. It is revealed that Talia came to Catwoman for this very reason. Talia taught Catwoman some secret techniques to push her knowledge to the deep recesses of her mind, where it would remain untouched by everyone else. Love it. The Riddler has also made appearances throughout (even had a single issue revolving around him) and I reckon we haven't seen the last of him. I thought the return of Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy aka Gaggy was also a nice touch. Overall, this has been a great read, definitely need to check this out. Of course, it helps if you actually care about these three characters.

Batgirl 1-4:
So I really just started reading this series in honor of my favorite Comic Female, Barbara Gordon. I've gotta say that I'm less than impressed with Stephanie Brown, who I just don't like in general. The artwork isn't so bad, some parts better than others. I'm not too sure if Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott switch off, or how that works, but it's overall ok. Sometimes they look weird, sometimes they don't. The writing isn't too bad either. My favorite parts are when Barbara is on (not that this is TV.) I love the Barbara and the Commissioner's scenes and the parallels that exist there. I also am loving Barbara's role as a leader, she's kinda the Batman to Batgirl's Robin. I love Barb, now if only she and Dick would get it together.




***Just in case. I obviously own nor claim any rights to these images (I wish I were that great.) Anyway, all artwork is done by and owned, I presume, by those that I have mentioned in the pertaining reviews.

Hello and Everything that Encompasses

"Good Morning Starshine, the Earth says 'Hello'! " (Willy Wonka)
For today and the rest of your time spent in our universe, you can refer to me as Arnab. I've never written for a blog before, so forgive me if I may sound (non-vocally of course) a tad out of sorts. As Matt has mentioned, we are indeed friends and he has invited me to share with you all my thoughts, views, and everything I think about comics in general. Matt is pretty much one of two of my comic buddies, and definitely a person to be held in high regard, both in and outside of the realm of comics, superheroes, and everything awesome.

I thought it would behoove any, if not all, the readers to know which comics I follow and thus will probably be reviewing. I should also mention that I am more than willing to read and review any comic that is offered up and this list will most likely grow. Like Matt, I will divide them by publisher.

MARVEL:
X-Men Legacy
Uncanny X-Men
New Mutants
X-Force
Cable
Deadpool
Necrosha
New Avengers (sometimes)
Dark Avengers
Dark X-Men
The List
Psylocke (miniseries)

DC:
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Blackest Night-All Tie Ins
Batman
Batman and Robin
Red Robin
Gotham City Sirens
Streets of Gotham
Adventure Comics
Teen Titans (although I'm not completely up to date)
World's Finest (miniseries)
Superman Secret Origin (miniseries)
Green Arrow and Black Canary

Image:
The Walking Dead

Top Cow:
Berserker

I will also probably end up reviewing TPB's and any other collected issues I read. My first real post will probably come later today, hopefully, although most likely it will be a work in progress.

Watch for it!