Also this week:

FABLES #38 - Huh.  It's the emperor, who's been kept as a mystery for the whole run so far.  And... that's a bit of an anticlimax, really, isn't it?  Well, unless this guy isn't the emperor at all, I suppose.  But what we get is an odd story where what feels like it ought to be a big reveal is shunted to the side in favour of giving a big introduction to the previously-unmentioned Snow Queen.  And a very good introduction it is too, with Mark Buckingham's art on top form as ever.  Still, feels like a big moment failed to happen, somehow.  B

GOTHAM CENTRAL #32 - Hey, a single issue story!  Gap between crossovers, is it?  Anyway, after following the honest detectives for three years, it's time to take a break and look at the rank and file.  And this being Gotham, the rank and file are corrupt as hell.  Shame about the cover, which comes perilously close to giving away the ending, but as a story from the point of view of the petty bad guy, it's a pretty good effort.  B+

MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS #2 - Yes, yes, I know.  But it's got Wolverine and Storm in it, so if I don't mention it, people will just e-mail me to ask what I thought of it.  Much quicker this way.  Basically, it's Greg Pak and Renato Arlem making a heroic effort to give a videogame tie-in a weight which it doesn't really deserve, and making a better job of it than you might expect.  On the other hand, this might have been the assignment to go dumb and fun, rather than grim and gritty.  Given that the plot still largely consists of people hitting one another, they could at least have the decency to smile.  It does reasonably well at what it's trying to do, but you have to wonder whether this was really the best tack.  B

PULSE #9 - And in a similar vein, Wolverine guest stars as Pulse wraps up its four-issue Secret War crossover.  By the way, now that Michael Lark is drawing the book, is there any reason why Pulse isn't back on a monthly schedule?  (It's still described as a monthly in the indicia, by the way, but that's presumably because nobody's bothered to change it in the year or so since it ceased to be true.)  Anyhow, this issue Jessica is directed to Wolverine, who's very upset about something and delivers some cryptic dialogue which I'm sure would make perfect sense if Secret War had actually bloody finished.  As it is, god only knows what everyone's talking about.  Really, they had no choice but to plough ahead and put this out anyway, because Pulse is due to do a House of M crossover next issue, and at this rate House of M will be finished before Secret War is.  But it's a mess to read.  B-

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

Next week, the thinning of the herd continues, as Gambit gets cancelled with issue #12.  Giant-Size X-Men #3 is, depending on your point of view, either a loveable collection of reprints, or a ridiculous five dollars for eight pages of new material.  Uncanny X-Men #461 has a Mojo story - oh, and there's a variant cover, if you're a magpie.  Cable & Deadpool #16 continues "Enema of the State."  And Wolverine #29 has more slaughter.  It's also the belated launch of the Ultimate Marvel flipbook.

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