Also this week:

AUTHORITY: MORE KEV #1 - This is the sequel to 2002's Authority: Kev, although this time it's a four-issue miniseries.  On the one hand, the Authority's time is long gone.  And I had my doubts that this joke - hapless ex-SAS soldier proves equal of the Authority by sheer dumb luck - was really going to carry an entire second miniseries.  But then it's Garth Ennis, and you can usually rely on him to know what he's doing.  After getting rid of the rest of the Authority in suitably humiliating style, Ennis settles down to Apollo and the Midnighter hauling Kev in to help against alien invaders even more ridiculously powerful than Authority villains usually are.  Completely absurd and great fun.  A-

PROMETHEA #30 - Another opportunity to gawp at Alan Moore and JH Williams' technical prowess.  Even if you think the philosophy is a load of nonsense, this title can always be relied upon as a masterclass in how to use the medium.  And the important thing is that it's not just a barrage of showiness - Moore and Williams really understand what they're doing here.  In terms of ambition, lightyears ahead of the pack - and it largely pulls it off.  A

RICHARD DRAGON #1 - Apparently this character's been around for decades, but to be honest, I've never heard of him.  Some sort of martial arts type, anyway, and he's been reduced to fighting in underground arenas.  A less artsy version of Fight for Tomorrow, I suppose.  As you'd expect from Chuck Dixon, it's efficiently plotted, if a bit generic.  Mind you, it's not exactly an oversubscribed genre.  Scott McDaniel's art is stylish but doesn't really get the flow of the action sequences.  B-

THOR #79 - Dan Jurgens' final issue.  He's been on the book since it was relaunched, which is an impressively long stint these days.  Much of it was mediocre, but the last couple of years have been getting into much more interesting territory as the book's spiralled off into Thor conquering the world.  Of course, the moment the series obliterated New York and flounced off into a far future, it was obvious the reset button was coming.  And here it is, in a story that comes across as decidedly anticlimactic.  Well, perhaps it'll read better in the trade.  B-

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

Next week, Alpha Flight #4, the final issue to be solicited as an X-book.  I think I'll take the hint.  Exiles #48 concludes "Earn Your Wings."  Uncanny X-Men #445 is the second Claremont/Davis issue, and there's also X-Men Unlimited #3.  Heavens, that's almost a sensible number.

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