Also this week...

CABLE & DEADPOOL #33 - Oh, Rob Liefeld's back on covers.  Well, at least the weaponry's down to a sensible size.  Anyhow, this issue sees the book get back to its normal agenda after its contribution to Civil War.  Except now the two leads aren't on the same page any more.  Well up to normal standards, and guest artist Reilly Brown fits in nicely, although there are a couple of manga-style exaggerated expressions that seem a touch out of place.  B+

DAMNED #1 - Five-issue miniseries from Cullen Bunn (who I've never heard of) and Brian Hurtt (who drew DC's often excellent Hard Time).  It's a crime story with added demons that could easily have been just a dodgy pun on the word "underworld", but the creators play it straight and actually make a pretty convincing world out of it.  Basically, it's a noir story with added demons.  But it's a good noir story, and the lead character's curse - he can die, but people keep dragging him back whether he likes it or not - is a nice twist that fits well with the crime format.  These outright genre hybrids tend to generate more good reviews than actual sales, but it's certainly a creative success on its own terms.  A-

HELLSTORM: SON OF SATAN #1 - Another effort from the revived Max imprint.  This is by Alexander Irvine and Russ Braun, neither of them a familiar name to me (and interestingly, they're not credited on the cover, even though it's been standard Marvel policy for years now).  Daimon Hellstorm goes to New Orleans; a story about Egyptian mythology ensues.  Bit of an odd combination of themes, and to be honest, it comes across as a watered down Vertigo title.  It's certainly not bad, but the guys across town have got this sort of thing sewn up, and it'll take something much more memorable than this to enter their market.  B

WILDCATS #1 - Grant Morrison's other WildStorm revival, this time joined with Jim Lee.  Although some elements of Joe Casey's benign corporate superheroes remain, this is a much more traditional take on the characters.  Unfortunately, it seems to assume that everyone knows what the book is about, and while you can get away with that on the X-Men or the JLA, you really can't with a title like WildCATS.  From the look of it, this is an attempt to write the characters more or less straight, but do it with a bit of intelligence without departing from the superhero paradigm altogether (which is what Casey ended up doing).  Perversely, it's more accessible and immediately entertaining than Authority, but perhaps less interesting, because there don't seem to be any hidden depths here that haven't been explored before.  B

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 New Excalibur #12 completes the team's trip to Camelot.  X-Men #192 continues the "Supernovas" arc.  And Exiles #87 begins a two-parter guest starring the Silver Surfer.

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