DC:
Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 – The first of DC’s titles that I’ll be picking up with a co-feature, which looks like its going to be miscellaneous-Gotham-happenings-plus-Manhunter-backup, is off to a solid start, in the front half of the book, we see the straight-for-the-moment Harley Quinn(in a great casual outfit) at the center of a minor scuffle before Commisioner Gordon clears things up, and the new Dynamic Duo give her some words of advice. Then its on to the co-feature, which flashes back and forth just about every other page as Kate transitions to the new role. Setup’s quite nice, the ever-noble attempt to be a DA on the straight and narrow in dirty, dirty Gotham while investigating the murder of the previous DA. Lots of stuff packed into its 10 pages, and well worth the extra dollar to keep her tales going.

Final Crisis Aftermath Dance #2 – Okay, first, how the hell did I not catch Stanley “Artgerm” Lau on the covers for this? That’s completely awesome. As to the story within? Super Young Team continues to be pimped as the image of Japan to keep everyone’s eyes off of whatever horrible post-Crisis state Japan is in, Most Excellent Superbat continues to be most excellent, and Shiny Happy Aquazon sells out. Another solid issue, and I like the angle of the book, unfortunately, there isn’t really much more say about it.

Green Arrow Black Canary #21 – What’s this, an issue with Black Canary front and center? Quite the pleasant turn for me, and perhaps something of a lead-in to the book splitting into the Feature/Co-Feature format in the nearish future (presumably not before this arc finishes). Unless the run’s supposed to have covered a decent chunk of time, that seems like a mighty quick turnaround from traumatic injury to technological supervillain, but whatever, its a clever gimmick that he’s got and this has probably been my favorite arc of the series’ run so far (help by being about, y’know, the title characters).

Outsiders Vol 4 #19 – I’m still undecided on continuing the book, having started picking it up for Cassandra/R.I.P., but now that it seems clear she’s not going to be a part of it, Alfred is the main thing keeping me with it for now. Its a curious cast, but not one I can completely get behind, so its looking more and more likely that it’ll be slipping by the wayside soon.

Power Girl Vol 2 #2 – Outside of perhaps Booster Gold (which I’ve not been keeping up with) and Secret Six, this is easily one of most amusing books DC has going at the moment, and we’re only two issues in! Lots of Power Girl beating up the giant white gorilla, as the Ultrahumanite tries to make good on his plan to put his perfect brain in her perfect body (made rather difficult with her Kryptonian invulnerability). We also get a look into his past, where its revealed that after overcoming the terminal illness that is his ever growing brain, he made sweet, bloody, monkey love to his assistant post-OP.

Marvel:
Cable Vol 2 #15 – The X-Force / Cable crossover is almost at its conclusion, as Stryfe continues to go on about how much better he is, Apocalypse gets back into form, and the bulk of the X-Force squad (plus Deadpool) come across the wholly unexpected appearance of NYX’s Kiden Nixon. Next X-Force sees the conclusion as our team is out of time, Apocalypse is angry, and Hope is in some serious trouble. The crossover’s been pretty fun, and my only real complaint is that I still don’t like the look of Ariel Olivetti’s artwork, just rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

Invincible Iron Man #14 – Heigh ho, heigh ho, its off to Russia we go. Tony’s slow process of wiping his brain continues as makes his way from base to base, Pepper gets herself a codename and finally decides to track Tony down, and Maria, well, Maria seems to be going a bit off the deep end, as she makes attempts to get in touch with Natasha Romanov, the original Black Widow. Highlight? Russia telling Osborn to go and fuck off. A great read, but the inconsistent art (which I’m mostly attributing to the coloring) continues to gnaw at my eyes, argh.

Marvel Zombies 4 #3 – In true zombie fashion, things quickly continue to go from bad to worse. The zombie virus has become a literal storm of body parts, raining blood and gore as it goes, and then sucking it all back up again to continue on its way as it seems to follow Zombie Deadpool and his silent buddy, yummy. Morbius is having an internal meltdown over this, leaving the rest of the team, and Hood, to try figuring out how to get themselves out of this before A.R.M.O.R. decides to nuke the island from orbit. Unfortunately things just got a bit more complicated, Werewolf-by-Night’s just gotten the hunger (go figure), causing Jennifer Kale to make a rather poor decision… On to the finale (and please let there be something other than that horrid Greg Land cover!).

War Machine Vol 2 #7 – Augh, what’s happening with the art! All over the place thanks to the huuuuge number of people on the book, some mandate to make sure it ships on time for some reason(aside from it being a nice thing to do and all that)? War Machine continues his hunt for whoever’s playing with the Ultimo virus, only to find the giant head of Ultimo himself, and really, you can’t go wrong with a fight against a giant robot head. American Eagle shows up again (making Osborn giggle like a little girl over their Thunderbolts tussle), and it seems that War Machine‘s squad of helpers may be getting armors of their own, interesting. Beyond that though, not much to write home about.

Wonderful Wizard Of Oz #7 – The wonderful adapting continues, as Oz grants Dorothy’s companions their heart’s desires (or their heart itself, in one case), while pondering how to get her home (something which the flying monkies are unable to assist with, alas). Finally the balloon is hit upon, but a wayward Toto foils that plan, as they watch Oz disappear forever over the horizon. But all hope is not lost, for its time to go see Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. Though the journey is long and perilous, we at last reach her land’s mighty walls… and have to wait for next time, argh. Its an absolutely delightful and gorgeous book, full of whimsy, and I’m seriously considering double dipping to pick it up in its collected fashion.

Other:
Executive Assistant Iris #1 – Shameless, I know, but I’m a sucker for tough women and new Aspen books. It’s certainly been the subject of mockery around the internet, but the promise of her not staying in that role very long, combined with the idea that there’s be no small amount of dust ups was enough to get me to pick up the issue. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really done anything to redeem itself in the first full issue, and took a step backwards by ending the issue with her showing us just how much of a ‘perfect servant’ she is for her boss, breaking off a date with a board member that he OK’d to have her come back and be his sex toy, which pretty much makes this an entirely misogynistic work so far. That pretty much assured it getting dropped, and they’d have to come up with something epic in having her break from this lifestyle to make it worth even the slightest bit of further attention.

Groom Lake #3 – The scifi hijinks continue as our little drunken Grey pilots his UFO out of the Groom Lake facility with cohorts in tow, evade capture by nonexistant military super aircraft, and make with the sightseeing before deciding that maybe they better do something about the angry spooky secret agents hunting them down. And then its Klaatu, Barada, Niktu time as the giant alien robot gets loose and calls home. Bring on the angry alien invasion!

Incognito #4 – Brubaker’s superpowered pulp villainy continues, as Zack Overkill finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place, having been discovered letting his frustations out both by his former villainous cohorts and the ‘good guys’ who, after this issue, aren’t nearly so cut and dried good as the would seem. A great read and highly recommended, highly curious to see what other twists are in store as life continues to get worse for the poor man.

Phonogram 2 Singles Club #3 – I’ll get around to reading this eventually, just like the first two issues, I swear… Actually, the nature of the book leads me to think that I’m going to just hold off and read it in one go once its complete.

Red Mass For Mars #3 – Finally! After a 10 month delay, Hickman’s superhero tale sees the light of day once more. It certainly isn’t wasting any time either, as we cover events in 4-5 different time periods showing the sad life of Mars. Given how brutally fast he moved through things here, I can only imagine the remaining issue will deal with his death? Anyhow, go, buy, read. Hickman earns every penny, always. Let’s just hope we don’t have as long a wait on the finale.

DC/Vertigo:
Battle for the Cowl: Gotham Gazette – Batman Alive? – With the Battle for the Cowl mini finishing up this week, this one-shot serves as an endcap to the quasi-event, pairing with the opening Gotham Gazette – Batman Dead? one-shot that kicked it off. We check in with Detective Bullock, Leslie Thompkins, Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), and Vicki Vale while providing a bit of closure and opening some new doors for these secondary characters, and Gotham itself has survived its latest struggle. Reasonably enjoyable, and the art for the Vicki Vale section (each segment had its own art team) was a treat, and served as a nice tease for Guillem March’s upcoming work in Gotham City Sirens.

And with that out of the way, we’re ready to plunge into the new Bruce Wayne-free Bat books, none of which are looking bad by any means. We’ve got the Grant Morrison-Frank Quitely Batman and Robin, Red Robin (okay, this one I’ll probably pass on), Streets of Gotham (my Birds of Prey replacement? the better part of the team’s here anyhow), Gotham City Sirens (Gotham’s bad girls combined with Guillem March’s gorgeous work = eye candy overload), Batgirl (with a mystery about who lingers behind her mask now), and the biggie, Detective Comics with Greg Rucka and JH Williams. Quite a good time to be a fan of the Bat Family.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink #1 – The last of the Aftermath miniseries to get started, Ink puts villian-turned-JLA member Tattooed Man in a very street level tale as he discovers life on the right side of the law. Not a bad start to the mini here, but the story itself seems familiar and looks like it will lead to a bad end… at least, it looked like it was going to be pretty straightforward up until the last page, where we get a bit of a surprise. Consider my interest piqued thanks to that, but still, I like all of the other Aftermath titles better so far. Of course, its still early, with just the one issue out for each, so we’ll see how things turn out.

Justice League of America #33 – Continuing the tale of repowering Dr. Light II (with a nice bit of presumed finality to Dr. Light I) and integrating the Milestone Comics characters into the DCU, this one had something resembling a comfortable flow to it, and a nice surprise in the form of Paladin’s return(a fake/alternate cowboy version of Batman from an earlier JLA arc). To be perfectly honest though, as Black Canary’s prominence in the title diminishes, so does my interest in the book, and her prone form on the cover was all she wrote here. Zatanna’s presence helps, but its quickly sliding to a point where I’ll be dropping it (which is probably a good thing, given the incoming mass of Bat books).

Madame Xanadu #11 – After having what was essentially a 10-issue origin arc, our titular character has finally settled into her fortune-teller/mystic services role in 1940s New York City, something that looks like it could make for some interesting pulpy tales if we stick to this time period. As we open, she’s put on the case of a murder most foul as a woman visits her father’s suite, only to discover his charred skeleton in a case the police attribute to Spontaneous Human Combustion, woo, happy times. We also spend a number of pages flashed back to another historical period, this time Spain under Torquemada’s Inquisition, and its very plain to see that this will come to a Bad End.

Northlanders #17: The Viking Art of Single Combat – Another one-shot in Brian Wood’s ongoing series of Viking tales, this time he’s dedicated an entire issue to a single fight between two champions, that of the drunken Eastern clan leader and that of the Western clan leader whose hall the Eastern leader burned down. As the title suggests, Wood goes into great detail as he enlightens us on the weapons and tactics of Viking combat, provides details about the weaponry involved that’s just as intimate as the backgrounds of our combatants, quotes the Sagas, and somehow makes it all flow together seamlessly with the fighting. Truly another reason why Brian Wood is someone you should be reading his stuff, and the format of Northlanders, with it beginning and ending new tales all the time, makes it a great place to start.

Trinity #52 – And so it ends. Rather than the one last fight teased by the end of #51, we spend the bulk of the issue back at the cafe where it all began, as all the heroes hold a party to commemorate the affair before it fades from memory with one of those happy fun plot devices that keeps things mostly status quo (important here, as it all takes place before R.I.P. and Final Crisis). The changes/introductions include letting Enigma to continue on on the Anti-Matter Earth, which makes me happy as he was quite an enjoyable creation from the series. Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the series, a big huge smashup with an enormous scope that was exactly the sort of thing it should have been, and feels like it would make either a great animated movie or a season-long event if JLU was ever ressurected (which it won’t be, sadly). That said, bring on Wednesday Comics!

Marvel:
Immortal Iron Fist #26 – Another arc finishes as the Immortal Weapons succeed in making their escape from the Eighth City (aka Hell). More fighting, more horrific and appropriately hellish imagery, and more of Danny pushing for a better path of acknowledgement and reconciliation with the troubled history of K-un Lun. Then Danny returns home, where its implied that things aren’t as normal as they seem, and the issue ends. This has me intrigued about what happens in the next issue, particularly as the issues after that are a series of one-and-dones focusing on each of the other Immortal Weapons.

Moon Knight #30 – And another arc finishes… repeating myself much? While there was murder-a-plenty, it was actually a fairly anticlimactic issue, with Moon Knight essentially acknowledging this other Mexican death god(or avatar of, like himself) and walking away rather than getting into a huge brawl like the cover teases. Still, it was nicely done, and I continue to like what they’re doing with the character, such damaged goods, wanting to escape from it all, but constantly being dragged back in. Of course, the highlight of the whole arc was easily the Merc Luchadore brothers, I surely hope they become a regularly part of the Marvel U, as they were quite entertaining. Next arc looks to be gunning for Norman Osborn (wonder if we’ll get a Deadpool teamup…)

Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine #6 – Finally, 3 1/2 years after first starting, all six issues are out and it is complete! The dialogue has easily been my favorite part of the miniseries, and this issue was no exception, both with Wolverine’s internal monologue and his little chats with Banner, Hulk, and Ross. Of all the matchups between the two, especially recently with both Hulk Vs and Wolverine and the X-Men, this has probably been my favorite incarnation of the perpetual fighting between the two of them. Despite my usual hesitation about double-dipping, I’m eagerly awaiting the HC collection, as it was just such a blast (and the singles are going to a friend).

War Machine #6 – In an odd break from what has become the norm, War Machine is starting its second arc with issue 6, rather than finishing the first one up. With his crew in tow, War Machine pays a visit to his mom in the Southwest US before beginning his assault on an American military facility. Giving the issue something to do, American Eagle shows up to try and talk him out of it, giving the appearance of having some pretty hax skills in the process, but falling for a fakeout that leaves you wondering if they’re really all that crazy. More damaged goods, but damaged goods with a purpose, and an inability to turn away from the wrongs of this world (the perfect machine memory certainly doesn’t help).

X-Force #15 (Messiah War Part 5) – Hey look, this one’s only almost finished with this issue. Little bits of development with X-23 and (Arch)Angel, the former showing signs of irritation(hey, for her, this counts), the latter taking control of himself and refusing to bow before Apocalypse. Lots of villianous monologuing, and the first half of the final showdown (which concludes over in the next issue of Cable). Admittedly though, while this has been an interesting diversion for the book, I’m eager for them to get back to the present so they can get back to the arc they were quite literally in the middle of.

Other Publishers:
Ignition City #3 – Warren Ellis’s retro-future tale continues, with lots of drinking, Great Cosmonaut Yuri being great, and the introduction of Corrupt Rocketeer Marshal. While the plot, alterna-history, and dialogue have been quite enjoyable, I think all of the junked spacecraft making up the buildings and backgrounds are my favorite part of the book. Its like they’ve pillaged ships from the breadth of classic sci-fi and crashed them all into the ground on one small island, then let them decay for a few decades.

Special Forces TPB – Finally collected, I finally get to the last part, as well as a reread of the whole, in this distinctly different war story from Kyle Baker. Following a squad of true misfits through a post-war mission in Iraq to capture one of the remaining terrorist leaders, we follow along as everything just goes to shit, one way after another, and the squad’s membership keeps on decreasing before we’re left with two- the autistic Zone doing everything in his power to continue and complete the mission, and the felon Felon constantly trying to keep Zone’s ass alive. An action masterpiece in its own right, its also a powerful tribute to the people who’ve been sent to war to die who had no business being there in the first place, and highly recommended.

Whew, quite a week, thank goodness they aren’t all this full though.