Also this week...

52 WEEK 44 - Hmm.  I'm still reading this book, but I must admit there's an increasing element of "Well, I've come this far, I might as well see how it ends."  And the answer, I suspect, is "awkwardly."  The gimmick of 52 is supposed to be that the series progresses in real time, with each issue covering another week.  But what this actually means is long stretches of padding, while major events have to be rushed through in the space available.  Hence the format-bending World War III one-shots, which effectively up the total number of issues to 56 because the regular format just isn't workable.  I'm also struggling to see how the disparate story threads are going to come together in anything approaching a satisfying way.  DC appear to have learned from their mistakes and abandoned the real-time gimmick for the follow-up weekly Countdown, but I very much doubt I'll be sticking around for it.  52 has achieved a large amount of success by coming out on time and delivering a reasonably engaging and highly popular story based almost entirely around the DC Universe's lesser known characters, but the closer we get to the ending, the more my doubts are mounting.  Last week's twist with Sobek worked very well, I thought, but this issue tries to sell us on Isis' deathbed conversion to anti-heroism, and it just feels contrived, as if pieces are being shunted into place a little too desperately.  B-

CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE - It's a load of trailers for Civil War spin-off projects, basically.  And if you're thinking, "Hold on, didn't they already do that in Civil War: Choosing Sides?", then yes, they did.  But now they're doing it again.  There's some set-up for Omega Flight, a scene which bizarrely asserts that Captain America isn't dead after all (er, scheduling glitch there?), and a sequence where the Thunderbolts do what's starting to look worryingly like their one and only trick by beating up a Z-list hero.  Adequate for the purpose, but in the wider context, it just gives the impression that Marvel are milking this one for all it's worth.  B

CRIMINAL #5 - Concluding the first arc of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' justly acclaimed crime book, and it's a satisfying resolution to the story.  After this, the book takes a break before returning with a new arc featuring a new lead character - it sounds like we're more in the "series of miniseries" format than a conventional ongoing title.  But it's the creators who are the ultimate selling point here, and they're doing great work with the pulp genre.  Crime comics have always proved a tough sell - for all that people claim this sort of thing is the "real mainstream", the reality is that mass audiences seem to turn to other media for their crime stories, and comics have never made much headway.  I can't see Criminal as the sort of breakout book that's going to make people re-think that, but then that would be holding it to an unrealistically high standard.  It's simply a very good crime comic, and deserves to succeed.  A-

ONSLAUGHT REBORN #3 - Virtually incoherent, and for once the blame doesn't lie with Rob Liefeld.  Jeph Loeb is the credited writer here, and you really have to wonder what he's thinking.  Obviously nobody would waste a serious piece of storytelling on an anniversary story for Heroes Reborn, but even on the level of dumb fun, you still need a certain degree of flow and pacing, and a rudimentary plot.  Liefeld's art, for all its familiar flaws, at least has energy and genuine enthusiasm.  When I look at a Rob Liefeld comic, I honestly believe that he gazed at each finished page with a big grin, thinking "That's so cool," and really, truly meaning it.  I might not agree, but at least I believe in his sincerity.  But as for the writing... dear god.  This is such an abject mess that it's hard to imagine what could have possessed an experienced writer like Loeb to submit it for publication - save the belief that he could get away with it.  D

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, "Mercury Rising" concludes in New X-Men #36, while Wolverine's son appears in Wolverine: Origins #12.  There used to be another three books scheduled for next week - Astonishing X-Men #21, New Excalibur #18 and Cable & Deadpool #38 - but they're all running late.

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