Also this week...

100% #4 - Paul Pope's Vertigo miniseries continues, as the plots begin to intertwine.  As his introduction confirms, there's really three separate stories about different couples going on here, and yes, individually they're not that far off the beaten track (girl persuades tortured artist to stand by his dream, etc).  But it's the detail of the near-future world and the interaction of the characters that make it work.  With one issue left to go, you're probably better waiting for the trade paperback at this stage, but do look for it.  A

AVENGERS #60 - Wow, this storyline lost the plot completely, didn't it?  We start off with a somewhat interesting idea about world governments disappearing, and then jettison that theme entirely in favour of some nonsense about chaos and order.  A real mess.  C-

CATWOMAN #13 - Catwoman opens a community centre.  No, really.  And obviously, things don't go to plan.  Meanwhile, she's also reunited with her estranged middle class sister.  Perhaps not a series that really leaps out at you, but good solid storytelling nonetheless.  B+

CEREBUS #284 - Oh dear god, make it stop.  This month, twelve pages devoted to small-print analysis of the Book of Genesis.  Frankly, I couldn't be bothered reading any of it.  I went off and read a textbook on Roman Law instead, and had a much better time.  I give up, Dave.  You win.  Your comic is too boring to read.  D+

FANTASTIC FOUR #63 - Part two of... uh... ∫£ti∑t, I guess.  One of those charmingly retro plots where Mr Fantastic is able to outwit the villain by virtue of knowing an elementary mathematical concept that could help you, yes YOU, in school.  Oddly enough, it does have a certain charm on that level.  B+

FIGHT FOR TOMORROW #3 - From the figures I've seen, sales on this book look to be pretty dire, which surprises me.  While it's not the best thing on the Vertigo roster at the moment, and admittedly has its melodramatic tendencies, Brian Wood and Denys Cowan's story about a former enslaved martial artist is still an enjoyable read.  It might actually be more at home in the Eye of the Storm imprint, come to think of it.  Anyhow, I'm enjoying it.  B+

GLOBAL FREQUENCY #2 - Second issue of Warren Ellis' series about a global rescue organisation, and it's another story about his current obsession, cyborg body modification.  Unlike Mek, this is more of an action story, and a pretty good one at that.  Have to wonder how many of these stories Ellis has in mind, though.  Two different series on the same subject in one month?  A

HELLBLAZER #178 - John Constantine tries to avoid picking sides in London's mystical gang war, and finds out why they wanted him in the first place.  Mike Carey's run still feels like it's going over familiar ground, but despite that reservation, it's still a good read.  B+

PARADIGM #3 - Hmm.  Paradigm is a hugely ambitious series, but by god, it's heavy going.  Part of that is a tendency towards rather cluttered panel layouts (they don't always draw the eye to the right things), but to be honest, three issues in, I still have only the faintest clue what's going on and no idea whatsoever why the book's slogan is "Fight for the sitcom."  I do get the overwhelming impression that there's a clear plan here and they're getting to it in their own time, but I'm starting to feel rather lost.  B

SPIDER-MAN'S TANGLED WEB #20 - Ah, Zeb Wells, the guy who did the Frog-Man issue.  This time he's got Dean Haspiel on art, and it's a story about J Jonah Jameson.  Basically, JJJ is an asshole, and tells us some flashbacks which try to explain why.  Pretty good, in fact, and more sympathetic to Jonah than it first appears.  A-

ULTIMATE ADVENTURES #2 - I think one of Ron Zimmerman's problems in comics is an inability to pace for the medium (ie, trim down large chunks of unnecessary dialogue in order to advance the plot at a sensible space).  This issue ends with Hank discovering his new mentor's secret identity, which is the point we could and should have reached at the end of issue #1.  Get Kraven suffers from a similar inability to move on with the damn plot.  There's still potential in this, but the pacing needs serious work.  B

WILDCATS v3.0 #4 - Casey still seems unable to grasp the concept that accountants have been giving business strategy advice for years.  Ah well.  Over in the main plot, Grifter and co fight a Stepford nuclear family who've all got guns, in a story that reads like it escaped from Automatic Kafka, and really doesn't seem to fit in this book.  Dustin Nguyen milks it for all it's worth, though, which is fun in itself.  B

Last week's Article 10 is still up at Ninth Art.

Next week, a new storyline in Exiles, the beginning of the Ultimate War miniseries (which is a crossover between Ultimate X-Men and Ultimates), Kia Asamiya debuts on Uncanny X-Men #416, the end of the "Is anybody reading this?" Wolverine: Netsuke, and X-Men Unlimited #39.

Finally, in the unlikely event that anyone from the WWE is reading this, please god never let Ernest Miller near a microphone again.  Thanks.

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