Also this week:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #515 - That whooshing sound you can hear is a shark being jumped.  I don't have any particularly strong views on Gwen Stacy, and I can't say I'm all that bothered by the retcons being attempted here - although they're of such a daytime soap/Jerry Springer nature that they scarcely help credibility.  ("My dead girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend's supervillain dad and kept the pregnancy a secret!")  But Gwen Stacy has been dead since 1973.  I just don't get the point of opening up these long-gone stories at this stage - if anyone remembers or cares a story from that long ago, and it wasn't an obvious trainwreck, chances are it was perfectly good already.  And it's hard to think of a much clearer example than this of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  C

CAPER #12 - Well, what a weird series that was.  Officially this was a trilogy of three stories following various generations of the same family.  From that, you might expect that there would be some sort of linking theme.  There isn't - it's three completely unrelated miniseries set in different periods and genres.  Frankly, this third one has been the weakest of the bunch, and it goes way over the top in this final issue.  The first two arcs are excellent, and well worth picking up if they do separate trade paperbacks for each.  The third is alright, but ultimately forgettable.  B-

DAREDEVIL #65 - The 40th anniversary special, and this time they've actually got the right year (though the anniversary itself was a good few months back).  It's a series of scenes elaborating on what happened during the lengthy gap in which Daredevil established himself as the Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen, showing how the other Marvel characters reacted to that, and allowing a somewhat eccentric selection of guest artists to do a scene each.  All of the art here is good, but the artists don't exactly leap out at you as the natural people to phone for a Daredevil anniversary special.  P Craig Russell?  Chris Bachalo?  Phil Hester?  Talented guys (and Bachalo does some of his best work in a while, finally returning to clear, effective storytelling), but not particularly connected with Daredevil.  (The upcoming Avengers Finale seems to have a similarly erratic choice of artists.  George Perez, yes.  But Chynna Clugston-Major?  Er...)  Still, however oddball the art choices, none of these guys feel out of place with the material.  It's a stock-taking issue, but perfectly good on that level.  B+

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

Next week, astonishingly, NYX #5 is meant to be coming out - originally solicited for February.  Fans of X-23 can follow her storyline into Uncanny X-Men #450, which will presumably have to give away the plot of NYX #6-7 into the bargain, and those issues won't be out until, what, summer 2005?

The Ego storyline continues in Exiles #53.  Mark Millar takes over Wolverine with issue #20.  There's the first issue of a new Sabretooth series, although since the art is by Bart Sears, it'll probably be completely unreadable.  Oh, and Jubilee #2.

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