Also this week:

DAY OF VENGEANCE #1 - God, do I never learn?  This is more accessible than The OMAC Project was, to be fair.  But if you weren't already into the mystic side of the DC Universe, this book is not going to be the one to change your mind.  No doubt that opening scene would mean a lot more to me if I had anything more than a vague clue of who Eclipso was and what his significance is supposed to be.  And so forth.  Having sat through three of these Infinite Crisis tie-ins now, I give up - these things are plainly aimed at readers with a fairly detailed knowledge of the DC Universe, and the rest of us apparently aren't invited.  Oh, and I'm sure there are some people out there who think the idea of using Detective Chimp in a major crossover is hilarious, and good luck to them.  C+

EASY WAY #1 - You wait for years for a series coloured entirely in red, and then two come along at once.  IDW move away from horror for a change, and give us a four-issue crime miniseries from Christopher Long and Andy Kuhn.  A bunch of drug addicts in a rehab clinic come up with a surefire money making scheme.  They're going to steal some drugs.  This seems like a fantastic idea to them, because they're desperate, and they're out of their minds.  Duncan, the lead character, gets sucked into all this because even though he can see that it's a horrible idea, he really, really needs the money.  Of course, this is not going to work out well.  It's not a particularly original set-up, but it's well handled with deadpan dark humour, and the colouring allows Kuhn's art to manage the interesting trick of being muted and exaggerated at the same time.  A-

HUMAN TARGET #21 - The final issue, due to sales that could charitably be described as catastrophic.  Human Target was a very Peter Milligan comic, full of characters who act in defiantly contrived ways and challenge the reader to accept this as part of the groundrules of the book.  It's easy to see why this sort of thing isn't for everyone, but the title has had some interesting ideas about the nature of identity, and whether its title character really even has one at all.    There's a Christopher Chance persona, but is that actually his natural personality, or just another one that he's constructed over the years because it works?  Great stuff, and it'll be missed.  A

NEW AVENGERS #5 - Before another bunch of people e-mail me, no, New Avengers is not an X-book.  So no, it doesn't get a full review.  And the fact that Wolverine's on the cover doesn't change that.  Anyway, this issue Wolverine meets up with the Avengers in the Savage Land and they team up to fight Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates.  I mention this largely for those of you who might be interested.  Actually, New Avengers has been growing on me.  It's certainly improved massively from the incoherent "Chaos" arc, and it's starting to come together, although I still don't think it's quite there yet.   But there's entertainment to be had here.  B+

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

Next week is nice and light.  Excalibur #12 continues the road to House of M.  New X-Men #13 is a belated crossover with "Enemy of the State" dealing with the fallout from the death of Northstar.  And Rogue #10 continues the memory thief arc.

Plus, some really weird reprints.  X-Men: Eve of Destruction trade paperback collects the fill-in storyline that immediately preceded the Morrison and Casey runs several years ago.  And Marvel Milestones brings us the whole of Uncanny X-Men #201, the Wolverine story from Marvel Comics Presents #1 (plugging an upcoming trade paperback collecting the whole storyline), and two Tuk The Caveboy stories which once appeared as back-up strips in Captain America.  In 1941. 

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