Also this week...

BASTARD SAMURAI #3 -  It's a big climactic fight scene, in which characters talk about the rights and wrongs of human cock-fighting.  Unfortunately, this isn't a sufficiently controversial subject to really carry off the issue - after all, it's pretty obvious who's in the right.  Good action sequences, though.  B

BATGIRL #33 - Back to business as normal following the protracted fill-in arc.  This seems to tie in loosely with the end of the Bruce Wayne: Murderer crossover, but not in an excessively obtrusive way.  Batgirl and her two father figures - simple, straightforward, effective.  A-

BLACK PANTHER #50 - To call this a total change of direction would be an understatement.  A suspended police officer who's found the Black Panther's abandoned costume (from several story arcs ago) wears it to fight gangs in gun-toting fashion.  It's a crime series, in other words.  Dan Fraga's art is certainly much better than expected, but let's be honest, it's a totally different series.  Time will tell whether this is going to tie back in with previous storylines to any significant extent.  Judged in its own right... well, it's okay, but it's not really my sort of story.  B

CAPTAIN AMERICA #5 - If this comic had shipped on time, perhaps the "Honor Them" cover would make a bit more sense.  Anyhow, our hero goes off to hunt down nasty terrorists.  Apparently September 11 has given him a newfound appreciation of Dresden.  Yeah, because he never saw any buildings being bombed during World War Fucking Two.  Give me a break.  A token foreigner turns up to say that the War on Terrorism is a poorly directed load of nonsense, but apparently she's wrong because terrorism is bad and World War III would also be bad.  Christ, this is awful - high-school level politics and a plot that drags like a club foot.  D+

CALL OF DUTY: THE PRECINCT #4 - Sweet jesus, this is even worse.  Bruce Jones may be doing great work over on Hulk, but my god.  Wasn't this a semi-realistic police procedural to start with? Now we've got devil-worshipping drug dealers and a drug which lets people burn but remain alive.  This series simply will not take that sort of strain on disbelief.  What is this, a leftover plot from an aborted Punisher/Dr Strange miniseries?  Plus, one of the most appalling sex scenes ever written.  ("Damn your honor to hell!  LOVE ME!  LOVE YOUR LITTLE SISTER, JOEY!")  Fucking terrible, to the point of making me laugh out loud several times.  And I was reading this in public.  D

FABLES #6 - New arc, and we get away from the genre straitjacket and back to the high concept.  Mark Buckingham provides the art for a story about the non-human fables who have been effectively thrown in jail and forgotten about.  An interesting idea, and one that plays better with the central gimmick than the last arc does.  Plus, it's Mark Buckingham, and he's great.  B+

IRON MAN #60 - Iron Man pisses about in medieval Wales, part two.  Apparently medieval Wales has come under attack from the Picts at some point, which must have been a hell of trek down from Scotland.  But if you say so.  Anyhow, it's dated rubbish.  C

JLA #73 - Ah, the two arcs are coming together again.  Look, could we just admit nobody gives a toss about Aquaman, leave him in the past, and avoid having to do all this stuff?  No?  Oh well...  B-

POINT BLANK #3 - Guest starring the Midnighter, who's surprisingly busy this week for someone whose comic has been cancelled.  Anyhow, Cole continues his investigative work and Ed Brubaker tries to make it fit into the WildStorm Universe.  For me, the less obvious the costumed elements in this series, the better, so bringing in the Authority doesn't really work for me.  Still not at all bad.  B

POWERS #24 - End of the current storyline, of sorts - although it reads like it's mainly setting up further plots about Christian Walker's plans secrets.  In the long term, great issue.  A bit unsatisfying in terms of the immediate arc, though.  B+  (NB: This issue is missing a page due to a production error - the link for the missing page is in the sidebar.)

SPIDER-MAN'S GET KRAVEN #4 - Ron Zimmerman continues to expound on why he doesn't like Hollywood.  Yeah, whatever.  This really isn't working at all, and I fail to see why anyone thinks readers should be interested in Zimmerman droning on about why he didn't like his last job.  C

STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES #4 - Guest starring the Authority, who are made to look like complete bastards for once.  I like this book.  The art's still got its problems - the colouring still seems a bit off to me, although it's nowhere near as lurid as it was at first - but there are plenty of ideas in here that I'm enjoying.  Worth a look if you haven't been reading it, since this is the beginning of a new arc.  A-

VISION #3 - Gremlins?  Literal gremlins, who crawl into aircraft and destroy them?  Coupled with throwaway references to "terror from the skies"?  Oh lord.  A couple of nice character moments in here, but not enough to avoid everyone looking like a stereotype (the party girl student with hidden talents, the innocent but plucky kid, the cold robot with a heart of gold).  Nice art, though.  C+

On Monday at Ninth Art, a new Article 10 column, about the reaction in... certain quarters to James Sturm's Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules miniseries.

Next week I'm going to be on holiday over the weekend, but if I'm feeling energetic I might do the reviews on Thursday.  No promises, mind.  Failing that, see you in a fortnight.  Check back to the website on Thursday and you'll find out either way.

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