Also this week...

52 WEEK TWO - An improvement after a slightly lacklustre start, since the plot is now hitting its stride, and we're past the initial hump of explaining plot points everyone knows.  I've no idea how these various plot threads are supposed to tie together, but at issue #2 of 52, I can't say that's a major problem.  There are interesting ideas here, notably the timeline glitches in the Booster Gold storyline.  But like most DC books at the moment, it's still assuming an awful lot of knowledge of the DC Universe and doesn't seem especially bothered about explaining it to me.  Admittedly, this is not a project that I'd particularly expect to be tailored for newcomers, so it bothers me slightly less here.  Somewhat annoying, but intriguing enough to hold my attention a little longer.  B+

JEREMIAH HARM #1 - A second printing of this sci-fi book, which makes the rather bold claim that it's "from the creator of DC's 52 and Marvel's Annihilation".  The creator in question is Keith Giffen, who plots this story (with Alan Grant scripting), co-wrote Annihilation, and provides, er, breakdown pencils for 52.  Would you describe the breakdown penciller as "the creator of DC's 52"?  No, me neither.  Anyhow, this is a sci-fi comic which seemed like it might be worth a look on the strength of the creators, but turns out to be Lobo minus any of the jokes and 90% of the violence.  Disappointingly bleh.  C

ULTIMATE X-MEN #70 - Robert Kirkman seems to be almost daring critics to call his new character, Magician, a Mary Sue.  I shall resist for now.  Nonetheless, we do seem to be getting a story largely devoted to telling us how wonderful this new character is.  I'm not sold; I'm very wary of heroes with vaguely defined reality-warping powers, simply because it begs the question of why they ever lose.  I can only ever remember reading one good story about a character with powers like that, namely Peter Milligan's Shade the Changing Man, and I don't expect to get that here.  In theory it's a good idea to bring some completely new characters into this book, but this guy is starting to irritate me.  On the plus side, the Phoenix arc is working nicely, and Kirkman seems to have some more interesting ideas about that.  But can we please cut back on the throat-shoving with the new guy?  B-

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #2 - To give credit where credit's due, this is a definite step up.  We've finally got some sort of direction, and at last Way seems to have hit on a point with his new revelations about Wolverine's past.  He's making the character complicit in some of the abuses that he later suffered himself, and that's potentially interesting.  Shame it took eight issue to get there, but we're here now.  Nuke is a bizarre choice of villain - has he done anything since the 1980s? - but there's some promise in the remarkably gory material tying him together with Wolverine.  (The book rightly carries a "parental advisory" warning, although since it's printed sideways in virtually illegible type, you'd be hard pressed to notice.  Which rather defeats the point, doesn't it?)  Still, a real improvement from the last few issues.  B+

There's a new Article 10 on Monday at Ninth Art, and more from me at If Destroyed.

Next week, X-Statix Presents Dead Girl #5 completes the miniseries.  It's business as usual in X-Factor #7, and business more or less as usual in New Excalibur #7, with Frank Tieri stepping in to script the book in Chris Claremont's absence.  Wolverine #42 is a Civil War tie-in, and Exiles #81 begins the final leg of the World Tour storyline, taking us back to the Heroes Reborn world.

Marvel Milestones continues the doomed attempt to convince us that Storm and the Black Panther have a long and storied history which makes their marriage entirely natural and not at all ludicrous or forced, by reprinting Black Panther #26 (where she guest starred) and the Marvel Team-Up back-up strip which they've already retconned away.  There's also a Golden Age Ka-Zar story, if you like that sort of thing.

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