Also this week...

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #5 - Boy, they've gone to some lengths to obscure the word "Initiative" on that cover.  I don't know quite what to make of his book.  It seems to have going on ninety-seven lead characters, and nobody is really coming to the fore.  Is it about the trainees?  The teachers?  The authorities?  And this issue, we get yet more characters - an entire extra team, with bozos like the Constrictor and the Bengal.  It still hasn't quite figured out whether its characters are there voluntarily, and although there are a lot of interesting ideas floating around, they don't add up to any sort of coherent whole.  Dan Slott is a very talented writer, but this is looking more and more like a mulch.  More focus is sorely needed.  C+

EX MACHINA MASQUERADE SPECIAL - Just when I think I've seen it all, DC ships a Hallowe'en special in August.  Words fail me sometimes.  And it's a story that needs the Hallowe'en setting, because it's about anonymity and masks.  Admittedly, the point being made is fairly elementary, and the story is really of more importance for filling in some holes in the lead character's history.  Still, it's a decent story, and guest artist John Paul Leon is on good form, lightening up on the shadows for a change.  B+

There's more from me at If Destroyed, and if you're desperate for more Article 10 columns, you can always hunt through the archives on Ninth Art.

Next week, Marc Guggenheim takes over Wolverine with issue #57 (which sounds like it should be a big improvement).  "The Extremists" continues in Uncanny X-Men #490.  And for Chris Claremont fans, both Exiles #98 and New Excalibur #23 are both out.

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