Also this week...

BATGIRL #36 - The first half of this storyline had a rather obvious plot debt to Amateur, and even if the mechanics are different, this is still a rather similar plot with an upbeat ending.  I strongly recommend renting Amateur, which is a great film.  This is, well, okay.  B

HSU AND CHAN #1 - Apparently this is some sort of spin-off from Electronic Gaming Monthly.  Basically, Hsu and Chan run a small software development company, and I assume they were created to do industry satire in a gaming magazine.  But there's not really that much of the gaming stuff in this issue, which is a rather scattershot set of silly but entertaining comedy stories.  I'm all for destroying "genuine all-wood portable trees".  B

IRON MAN #64 - The Standoff crossover continues, and it's Iron Man's book, so he's right.  There's your moral dilemma.  By the way, where the hell is "Slokovia" supposed to be?  The name is a knock-off of Slovakia, the set-up implies some sort of Serbia-style military dictatorship, the dictator's surname is Polish, the country borders Latveria (which places it somewhere near Romania), and it apparently now contains an ethnic minority "descended from ancient Vikings who once raided along the Slokovian borders".  Yeah, the Vikings were forever raiding Yugoslavia.  Or is this supposed to be an ethnic conflict in the Baltic States?  Or is it just that Marvel still think everywhere in Eastern Europe is completely interchangeable as long as the inhabitants consist entirely of peasant farmers living in rustic villages?  Yeah, probably the last one.  C

MEK #3 - Okay, this is an interesting finish, with Sarissa going off in a completely different direction from the one you might have expected.  On the other hand, I really don't think Steve Rolston's artwork is at home on this issue - extreme violence and mutilation just don't feel all that believable in his style.  B

QUEEN & COUNTRY #13 - Jason Alexander is our new artist, and god, he's great.  He's also got a style that's more to my tastes, which is good news for me personally.  Anyhow, the new storyline is industrial espionage, which is a change, and meanwhile, Tara and Ed's relationship subplot continues.  Or rather, doesn't.  Excellent as ever, and I'm going to repeat it again: if you're not reading this, you should be.  A+

SPIDER-MAN'S TANGLED WEB #22 - I think this may be the last in the series, and it's a reasonable way to go out - two criminals who were captured by Spider-Man are interrogated by the police as they try to patch up the difficulties posed for their case by the interference of a vigilante and the lack of witnesses.  Of course, the police aren't all that bothered about due process themselves, and set about things in a completely unethical manner.  Simple point, well illustrated.  B+

THUNDERBOLTS #75 - Originally intended as a transition issue to set up the next storyline, this reads rather strangely as the final issue to a de facto cancelled series.  Then again, it probably does make more sense to just leave things like this than try to bring the story to an artificial resolution.  One of the better recent issues.  B

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #35 - The fast-forward origin of Venom continues, as we go through the entire "black costume turns out to be evil" story in one issue.  All the goodness of the Venom concept, without the nonsense about alien symbiotes.  At its root, there was always something quite effective about the Venom idea, even if he was very much of his time.  The bizarre distortions of the Venom character design don't entirely play to Mark Bagley's strengths, and the whole living costume thing still strains credibility somewhat, but it's better than you would expect from Ultimate Venom.  B+

ULTIMATES #8 - A big set-piece action sequence to open, and a hidden conspiracy in which David Icke turns out to be correct.  Over the top and tongue in cheek while still remaining somewhat character-driven, this is easily the best work Millar is doing, at least as long as he doesn't let it get too silly.  And Hitch, obviously, is breathtaking.  I just wish they'd start soliciting the damn thing on an eight-monthly schedule if that's how they want to produce it.  Much less embarrassing that way.  A

There's a new Article 10 column on Monday at Ninth Art, this time looking at DC's latest scheme for limited returnable comics in the direct market.

Next week, Uncanny X-Men #418 and Weapon X #5.  Agent X #7, originally scheduled for next week, isn't on the shipping list, but that hasn't necessarily stopped things turning up anyway over the last few months.

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