TOY REVIEW: NECA GEARS OF WAR SERIES 4 Part 1

This August brings yet another amazing entry into NECA's Gears of War line. This will be Part 1 since it will only be covering Marcus Fenix and Dominique Santiago in Theron Disguise and one of my new favorites, the Tickers. As soon as I get my hands on the Grenadier Locust and Flamethrower Grenadier, I'll be posting my review for them as Part 2.



First up are Marcus and Dom in Theron disguise. Xbox Live recently released a deleted mission from Gears of War 2 in which they don Theron armor while attempting to infiltrate Locust territory. When preview photos of the figures were released, I pretty much figured I would skip them. Once I actually saw the figures on the rack however, I just couldn't leave them. I'll admit having a weak spot for disguised characters (or characters that break away from their standard duds) and these two are pretty hilarious and carry more details that I'd have thought.

for comparison: original Theron (post my repainting)


DISGUISED!




Usually when a company makes a character dressed in a disguise, especially a helmeted one, they simply take the body of the outfit and plop an old head on its neck, pack in a removable helmet that just never sits right and calls it a day.





NECA here has reused the Theron torso and legs as well as the unhelmeted heads of Dom and Marcus. The neck line of the torso is retooled appropriately considering its a human in bulky Theron armor pulled over their own COG armor. The effect is much more obvious on the arms. As Theron have only shoulder plates and arm bracers, that leaves the entire bicep area exposed. It is this exposed area that allows you to see Marcus' armor showing through and Dom's tattoo of his recently proven to be deceased wife, Maria. Let me just add that that tattoo is just as impressive the second time around.





Also packed in with each of them are secondary heads with the Theron Sentinel helmet. Sentinels are sort of like Theron supervisors and are only discernable because of the helmets. That's surely better than running around with a clearly exposed human head when infiltrating a bunch of hulking gray Locusts, but its still not much of a disguise and that's why I ultimately love them. The disguise is clearly only meant to work at a distance. Its pretty hilarious and I'm glad I grabbed them.





Accessories include the alternate heads and lancer rifles with all of their usual little weapon details like the perfectly stamped COG skull on the side.



The paints and sculpts are just as solid as they were the first time around with body/leg articulation being consistent with the previous released Theron guard. Neck and arm articulation is consistent with the current version of Marcus and Dom. They're great figures that really exceeded my expectations, especially for a mere $13.99 each if you can find them at Toys R Us (which isn't that hard, go mid week early and you should be able to find them).

THE TICKERS!


The little Tickers I must say I probably love TOO much. In the game they are nasty canine sized bug creatures that run up to enemies and detonate. Living bombs essentially.

Sculpting on these is absolutely amazing. Tons of bits of muscle connective tissue, textures, detailed sinewy arms and vicious teeth. The tops of their flat, fluke like heads has a bumpy feel to them while much of the body is a maze of wrinkles.



The metal tank on/in their backs is especially detailed. The paint on these back packs are outstanding and I have to say the best weathering and metal fatigue NECA has yet released. Even the backs of them are incredibly intricate. The tank canister itself is slightly clear which adds an interesting touch.



The Tickers possess an impressive amount of articulation for what's basically a big bug. All four of its stubby back legs are ball jointed at their sockets allowing for a variety of stances. I have one crouched as if to pounce and one rearing up. The upper arms are ball jointed as well with swivel cuts just above the elbow and at the wrists. Their jaws are also hinged for various degrees of biting.

NECA attempted to recreate the fast manner in which these little beasties attack by including small wheels under the body that feature a pull back and let go race car like ability. The legs, if not positioned out far enough, will catch and slow the Ticker down. The feature in general does not work as well as it should. I'll admit, as dumb as it may sound, I was looking forward to having Ticker races across my pho-wood floors (sounds like good party game to me) so I'm kind of bummed it doesn't. I also figured they would make the jaw/teeth chatter as it raced along since they're called "Tickers" for a reason, in the game they click their teeth rapidly before attacking. Also, the fact that the canister of the back piece is slightly opaque makes me wonder why they didn't make it spark (they are bombs) as it raced across the floor like a lot of toy ray guns did back in the day. Its kind of odd that that part is clear at all so perhaps it was a consideration at some point.

If the feature doesn't catch your fancy at all however, NECA was nice enough to make the main stabilizing leg/wheel (think Artoo Detoo's spare leg) retractable into the body via small hatch. I think that was a very nice consideration for those who despised the action feature (I'm sure their were some, I wasn't one of them... TICKER RACES!!!).

Examples with it retracted and out:


At $13.99, NECA should have either nailed the action feature (with chattery teeth/sparks) or scrapped it and released these in a two pack format. Two packs would have suited me just fine, especially because I do love the figure and would like an army of them. Seeing as these are clearly for adults, action features will only be appreciated for a few minutes of amusement before the Ticker ends up on its rightful shelf space. Perhaps they'll release one of their $40 boxed sets with 5 featureless Tickers. I'm certainly down for that and I'd hope other fans would be as well. Its a very well done figure and I've already bought two.



That being said, NECA is going to release a Boomer in their next wave that will apparently be as big as it should be and they're not charging more for it (as far as I know as of writing this). The Ticker situation is a very small gripe for some very good value they've given Gears fans since this line started (which wasn't THAT long ago in toy years, spring of last year I believe). Especially the $40 Delta Squad box with tons of weapons and an exclusive Hammer of Dawn weapon or the Locust Hive box with seven heads (two of which are exclusive and one that was almost impossible to get the first chance)*. The Ticker is a gorgeous figure and I highly recommend getting at least one. If the value doesn't cut it for you, hope for a box set later on. I for one want around five and I'll just grab them off the peg "in case". If they release a box set later, I may grab that too. Seriously, Ticker Army! I'm all about it!

Check them out and let me know what you think. And be on the lookout for Series 5 in October with a new COG Trooper, Col. Hoffman, a Bloodmount rider AND my favorite Locust, the BOOMER!


*I'll be reviewing the Locust Hive box set hopefully by the weekend. Great set.

TOY REVIEW: SDCC EXCLUSIVE LAMBENT LOCUST GRENADER

Yep, another NECA figure. What can I say... they have a LOT of my favorite licenses. Of those, there is not one I love more than Gears of War. A lot of people know at least a little: a last holdout of humanity battles a subterranean race known as the Locust Horde. And there are chainsaws.

For their Gears of War exclusive this year (last year being the fan favorite Anthony Carmine) they did an interesting little remodel of their just released Locust Grenader. Part of the war between human and Locust in Gears deals with an underground fuel source known as Imulsion. Apparently it can cause quite a few health problems and, as seen in the latter scenes of Gears of War 2, some strange mutated Locust known as Lambents.



The Lambent Locust here is, as I mentioned, a retooled Locust Grenader. The Grenader uses the standard Locust legs NECA has been re-using since the second series Theron Guards and Sentinels. Re-using sculpts is nothing new. Back when I was a kid, the Superpowers line of DC heroes featured the same general body for all the characters with slight detail alterations and different heads. Marvel was doing something similar with their Secret Wars figures and this practice is still in effect today. The Four Horsemen have been making a lot of money for a few companies utilizing this very concept. Re-using parts in a video game however makes even MORE sense. Game developers often re-use parts where they can in order to speed development along. Many of the locust have alterations to a few set main bodies, they are soldiers in uniform after all. On the Lambent Locust/Grenader body, we get a whole new upper torso, arms, and head. Every set of Gears figures has blown away the last. And considering they're releasing nearly three sets a year, that's damn impressive. The body has intricate musculature with tiny, fibrous connective tissue sculpted in for a nice effect. The anatomy has a very solid, yet realistically organic look to it in addition to some nicely used veins. The heads their Locust also feature a lot of little skin folds and stretches.





What makes this Lambent edition sculpt especially worth while is his translucent plastic "veins" running throughout the body. Lambent Locust in the game are very easy to tell apart from their uninfected cousins because they glow. A lot. NECA has recreated this effect by (my theory that I'm pretty damn sure of) sculpting the figure in a translucent plastic and then painting him, leaving areas open so that when light is shown through his back, the clear plastic illuminates. It's an impressive effect and I'm very happy with the results.



Why didn't the Lambent Locust get the LED treatment that Isaac Clarke of Dead Space did? Apparently they looked into it but putting an LED light into a figure requires certain sculpting considerations and, since they needed to use this same body for the standard Locust Grenader and Flame thrower Grenader figures, it was simply not cost effective to do do. While an LED would have been obviously welcomed, their explanation makes sense. The re-using of certain parts throughout the Gears line has allowed them to release a lot of game accurate figures for fans at very reasonable prices. Especially when you actually get one in front of you and can see the intricate sculpting, innovative articulation, and detailed paint (most of the time and always improving). Not to mention the weapons selection.

The Lambent Locust features the same articulation as the standard Series 4 Locust Grenader and I'll get more into that when I obtain the standard figure this month. Suffice to say, there's plenty. He comes with a Gnasher shotgun, weapon of choice to Locust Grenaders.

His weapon features the new peg system NECA has been implementing on their Gears figures in much the same fashion as McFarlane's Halo line: a peg mounted on weapons that can be plugged into a spot on the figure's back to sit in the same fashion as secondary weapons do in game. On the Grenader I actually wish they'd have skipped it. Grenaders, not wearing shirts, have an exposed torso. A weapon hanging from nothing just looks weird, I don't plan to use it, and now there's a hole in his back for it. The standard version wears a couple of straps and I'm hoping his weapon snaps into that and not the figure. Its very possible the standard version will have a strap overlapping the hole so that the peg can slip through the strap, into the body, and appear to be attached to the strap. Here's hoping at any rate. we shall see after I get my hands on them.

All in all, a very cool exclusive. He's a solid representation of his in game counterpart and I really enjoy the illuminating feature. He's very well painted all around and he only cost me $20. Average con price and easily fair for the figure. I'm hoping NECA does more Lambent versions of the Locust Horde, maybe in the form of one of their very popular boxed sets, because I was only able to grab one. If the Lambent are more heavily featured in Gears 3, I'm sure they will. I highly recommend it to any fan of Gears of War or figures with amazing sculpts and fun extra features.

TOY REVIEW: SDCC NECA EXCLUSIVE DEAD SPACE ISAAC CLARKE

I first read about the PS3/XBOX/PC game, Dead Space quite a while ago and, regretfully, I've yet to play it. What struck me about what I'd read was that you play an entire action shooter, set in a very 1979 Alien film-like setting, as a mechanic, Isaac Clarke, with mainly tools with which to fight. Not being a well trained super soldier is always a more engaging premise.

This year, when I heard NECA secured the license to produce Dead Space figures, I knew they'd do the fans of Dead Space proud after seeing their outstanding work on several games including Gears of War and Street Fighter IV. What I didn't know, is that thanks to their San Diego Comic Con exclusive debut of Isaac Clarke, that I'd be drooling over their creation. It was only a few weeks before the Con when I read that the average, 8" scale Isaac Clarke, in keeping with the game's aesthetic, would feature LED lights in his head and torso.

I've never seen that before in an 8" figure. Needless to say, I made sure I got one.



Issac Clarke is made out of a dense plastic that carries some good weight without being clunky. Its one of my most common praises of NECA, they do not use weak, rubbery plastic like most mainstream companies. The sculpt is impressive as always. Clarke's suit is very simple in its very utilitarian style design. NECA has given it some good texture to keep him from looking like he's in a one piece body suit. The areas that are clearly meant to be fabric LOOK like fabric and the parts that are clearly meant to be metal (or whatever super plastics we may use in a space travel filled future) have a good solidarity to them.

Let's talk little details. There are all sorts of things happening all over Clarke's suit. I've since looked at quite a bit of material from Dead Space and this suit seems very game accurate. His left wrist and hand have a bit of tech looking equipment bits that are intricately sculpted and cleanly painted. Even the boots received some little extras.





My favorite detail, and its one most companies would have skipped or not really paid much attention to, is his little chest plate heads up display. The plate protrudes from his chest presumably so he can quickly look down at whatever data he needs while still having both hands free to fix what needs fixin'. Its astounding. The plate has a clear greenish tint plastic with some sort of text on it to simulate the holographic projection look of most of the computer interfaces of Dead Space. Its the sort of clever little detail you find and think, 'wow, they could have totally skipped this and no one would have complained, and yet they made sure it was there in perfect detail'. It truly is a commitment to detail I wish a certain company producing movie "accurate" figures from one of my favorite films ::cough::ghostbusters::cough:: would take a cue from. This level of caring about delivering the best representation of a fan's beloved property creates brand loyalty you can't buy.



Clarke features numerous points of articulation including a ball jointed head and shoulders, cut biceps, cut/hinge elbows and knees, cut wrists, waist, double hinge hips (for forward, back and out to side movement), and hinged ankles. I love that we live in an era of toys where that is only slightly above standard. The standard for articulation is in a fantastic place all over the wonderful world of action figures.

The paint, as you can clearly see from the photos already, is equally noteworthy. Some companies would have just painted him all black. Some companies would have allowed that black to have far too much sheen and negate the feeling that Clarke jumped right off the screen. Here NECA has multiple tones of black and dark grays to make their sculpting really pop and enhance all of the little details. The standard version of Clarke, available this fall, will feature a more bronze/brown paint scheme representing the suit he starts the game in. Apparently he upgrades suits when needed, sort of like all those mainstream rollerblade in lava lazers ninja Batman figures we've seen over the years. Only Clarke's are actually functional in the context of the game.

Here we have Clarke in his Unitology suit. In the game, Unitology is an obvious reference to Scientology and is appropriately portrayed as a cult. Clarke's suit is covered in symbols from this cult. I'm not sure how NECA did these, I'm assuming its some sort of stamp. However they did it, each character is as clear and crisp as if they were typed onto him. I've found that there is actually a translator for this code (a is this, b is this) and will someday, when I'm really bored, actually see if the symbols spell out anything or are just really awesome looking gibberish. Being NECA, I wouldn't be surprised if it said something.



Clarke uses a bunch of different tools in the game but here only comes with one. I'm assuming that was to keep the cost down to make room for his best feature, which I'll get to in a moment and then it's price tag. I'm unsure of what it's called but when I read about it on the game's Wikia page, it is apparently a super advanced sort of nail gun which can shoot three bolts in a vertical line or, if you were to switch to its secondary mode, a horizontal line. The plastic version that Clarke comes with doesn't switch to this horizontal mode. That would have been cool, but honestly, no big deal. You'd have to ask a die hard Dead Space fan whether or not that hick up would be enough to make them not want this figure. I'm sure they'd let it slide. The gun is also covered in the Unitology symbols and fits into his hand quite well. It has a mean look and really ads to Clarke's menacing appearance (which... is odd for a mechanic, but I like it so I'm not gonna get into an art versus total functionality debate with myself about it). I'm sure they will make many of Clarke's suits and each will come with his various tools so that by the end of the run, you'd have all of his better suits and tools to swap around.



I recently ripped into, just a little, another company for not providing ENOUGH accessories for their price tag. It might appear that I'm going easy on Clarke. Well that other figure did not feature an LED light (and it would have been one awesome figure if it did!). Most of the gameplay of Dead Space happens throughout a powered down and very dark star ship (borrowing from Alien for its excellent use of the combo claustrophobia/darkness threat). Within that dark, the main light source just happens to be, well, you. NECA obviously realizing what an important character this minimal lighting was on its own, Clarke features not only a light up face plate but back tubing as well. Apparently the developers wanted as little stat related text on their screen as possible so your health meter is the light up tube down Clarke's back. The fuller the tube, the better his health. Ingenious little idea. And NECA nails it here.

As you can see, the light is bright and full in any condition, as only an LED can truly deliver. The left side photos were taken in an all white kitchen heavily saturated in day light. The photos on the right feature him in the much more game appropriate lighting of... my darkened bathroom. NECA even made an already raised section of his spine plates the switch for the LED's so that it does not show up upon inspection. It also has two modes: push it straight in to turn it on and release to turn it off OR push the switch in and slightly up to have the LED stay on.





And the most amazing thing about all this... I'm going to sound like an infomercial... oh well... You get the amazing sculpt, the dense plastic, the high level of articulation, the crisp, well thought out and painted details AND a couple of LED lights for a whopping... twenty dollars. $20!!!

Standard mainstream Con figure prices. NECA has maintained a $20 price tag on, I believe, all of their comic con figures and, in this tough economy where even a company with NECA's big name licenses is forced to keep costs down, they maintain a commitment to making affordable exclusives. Even when they light the hell up.

I'm looking forward to getting some other versions of Clarke. The fall release figure is pretty nice looking and will feature a bloody variant with a different weapon. Oh yeah, those will light up too.

TOY REVIEW: GHOSTBUSTERS EGON SPENGLER (Mattel Movies Masters) Review

When I found out Mattel had secured the rights to produce figures from the original Ghostbusters (and apparently the animated series as well) I was ecstatic. NECA made those great ghost figures a few years back of Gozer, it's dogs and Stay Puft but they were never able to secure likeness rights to the actors so, sadly, no actual Ghostbusters were ever released. I'll be honest, I'd much rather NECA be the company to produce the figures, but at this point, I'm just glad some are being made.

Mattel's new line will be distributed through their online collector oriented site MattyCollector.com. They'll be released one every two months and retail for $20. Mattycollector.com also distributes their Masters of the Universe retro line and will, starting in January, distribute the remaining Dark Knight Movie Master figures that apparently weren't doing well enough in stores but will at least be accessible to hungry Batfans (like myself).

The first figure in Mattel's Ghostbusters line is Egon Spengler with a packed in Slimer figure.



Upon initial inspection I was very impressed. The over all sculpt is handled well. His likeness is very good for an 8" mass market figure (though distributed from a "collector" site, this is still Mattel and retains mass market aesthetic). It looks a lot like Harold Ramis especially from the side. They have a nice bit of airbrushed grey around the chin, but not enough to be five o'clock shadow which is a nice touch.



The figure also has tons of articulation: ball jointed head, shoulders, a hinge/ball elbow, cut wrists, waist, hinge knees and ankles. The hips also have that great swing forward and back as well as out to the sides so he's easily put into a slightly bent crouch (much like the original poster art). My one major beef with Mattel's Movie Master figures in general though is that they are made with a very pliable plastic and the peg joints (especially ankles) have a tendency to be placed a bit too far to either side and boom, you get a screwy joint (think axle of a car being too far into one wheel and not enough into the other). I wish they'd use a slightly more dense plastic, especially for the price, which I'll get into later.

Slimer!



Slimer is awesome. He has a fairly accurate sculpt, though I believe in the films his eyes were buried in his thick body a bit more, so having them so out there here looks a bit more animated (perhaps a decision made so that it could be reused for that line?). Still its an impressive little figure!



Slimer has ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows and cut wrist joints. For a pack in figure, that's a decent enough amount of articulation; especially when you figure it is in fact Slimer and he needs no other articulation. The clear green plastic catches light well without being too straight forward see through (to the point where all the joint pieces are visible through the body like most invisible character figures over the years). He sits atop a clear stand that allows him to hover at about Egon's eye level. Its definitely a great addition to the figure.



Meanwhile, back at Egon... The little details around the sculpt (handled by the Four Horsemen, responsible for Mattel's Masters of the Universe line, DC line and, I believe, the Movie Master Dark Knight figs as well) really make the figure what it is. The proton pack has wires all over it that are not just sculpted as part of the pack itself but are actually their own pieces glued on. Its a very nice touch and really captures the whole home made look that worked so well in the film. It has the appropriate colors and details with little silver scratches and wear around it. In addition, the blaster has a hole cut into it that fits perfectly over a hook on the proton pack for holstered poses. The glasses of my Egon were in pretty bad shape when he arrived, but I've since contacted Mattel and they're reasonably good about getting you a new figure pronto, though YOU have to pay the shipping back to them... even though they were the one's who supplied an injured product. I want my Egon, so I'll jump through a hoop or two.



The Ghostbusters logo on the right shoulder and the name patch across the left breast pocket are very clean and well executed. There is some good weathering on the boots and slime stains on the jumpsuit (I might have preferred a clean jumpsuit, but its not overly done or distracting so I don't mind it at all). The belt has several nice bits hanging from it, various equipment pieces and some gloves... but they are all permanently affixed to the belt itself.



And its that belt that brings me into accessories. Now, the Proton Pack is excellent. The blaster movie accurate. I'll never ever turn down a Slimer figure in any form. But at the same time, this figure is sold directly to customers by Mattel for $20 (then with shipping and all that bringing the total to around $28 and change). Them's Ebay prices as far as mass market figures go. Now, for that price, I see no reason there could not have been a PKE Meter thrown in considering Egon is pretty much always the one using it. And it should be able to clip onto the belt with all the other, non detachable equipment. For a $20, mass market quality figure that should be around $13-$15 even with the Slimer, it is severely lacking in accessories. A film as dense as Ghostbusters offered so many things that could have been thrown in for laughs. Tobin's Spirit Guide anyone? This is a collector site, they know who they're selling these to: Fans and collectors of an 80's property. We know the source material and we know it well. We also understand value.

Take into account the Invader Zim figures. Those came with so many accessories I didn't know what to do with them all and each one was very character appropriate and inspired by classic scenes. Those were around $15. Then there are the NECA Gears of War boxed sets where you get 4 characters, a slew of weapons, sometimes extra heads and they end up at around $40 retail. NECA, in general, is very good about accessories. Their Beetlejuice came with snakes and the Handbook for the Recently Deceased. Perfect.

Mattel has a serious problem with this department. I felt a little robbed paying $11.99 for their Dark Knight Movie Masters figures because they came with absolutely nothing. Oh wait, there was the "crime scene evidence" and the little ziploc it came with to put it in. Because the collector targeted audience craves random out of scale Crackerjack Prizes (which is essentially what they were). Their hands are sculpted to hold things... why don't I get anything to put in there? Especially the Clown Thug who was clearly aching for a hand gun with that poised and ready trigger finger.

Movie Masters is aimed at the higher end collector market. It's Mattel trying to be in the realm of a NECA or McFarlane or Mezco. If they want to hit that level, they need to get on the accessories. It shows a respect and shared love of the source material and its fans to go the extra effort to make sure a figure, especially from such a beloved iconic film as Ghostbusters, comes with character specific accessories that fit the figure. When I go into Toys R Us and pick up the latest Gears of War figure, I'm blown away by sculpt, paint, accuracy and accessories... and they cost me $13.99.

I'm not trying to tear Mattel apart, though I'm sure it sounds like it, what I want is for Mattel to hear this from fans so they can correct it. Egon and Slimer are great figures on their own. But in the end, you'll have to decide if that $20 (plus shipping and tax) price is worth it for a mass market quality figure with little to no accessories. Personally I think Mattel knows what they're doing and are trying to make as much as they can. They've figured out the internet direct to fan system several big collector oriented companies are doing and they're trying to get a piece. They're a business, that's their job. Honstly, I feel $20 is pretty steep for these. At SDCC this year, NECA sold an Isaac Clarke figure from the game Dead Space that featured not only heavy plastic, plenty of articulation and amazing sculpting/paint, but an LED light in his head AND back to recreate the game's aesthetic and THAT was a mere $20. I don't think each Ghostbuster will be coming with a Slimer sized ghost either, so I'm not sure what they'll use to justify the $20 price tag on these for future figures. I need PKE meters, those goggles, maybe some ectoplasm, a monitor of the Rick Moranis brain scan revealing him to be a ghost... ANYTHING extra to show Mattel really cares about the property as much as it's fans.

I'm happy I purchased the Egon, but my loyalty to the line isn't concrete yet. Mattel has a lot to learn about the collector market before they'll bring in the kind of loyalty that makes companies in that market thrive.

Comic Recomendations Week of 7/24/09

let's see, this weeks stack:

DC:

Gotham City Sirens/Streets of Gotham: I'm sorry, I've loved Paul Dini in the past, the cartoons were great, but his work on Gotham City Sirens and Streets of Gotham is so BORING. We've got Dick Grayson playing Batman. There's a little psychopath as Robin. No one, even Gordon, quiet believes Batman is back, not even Two-Face as we saw in the latest issue of Batman. So what does Dini give us in Streets of Gotham? We have Firefly escaping Batman hanging onto him via grapple and this is the exchange we get:

Firefly: How does it feel to watch everyone you've tried to protect burn to death?

Batman (Dick Grayson): You're the only one going down in flames, Lynns!

Really? If this was gonna be Adam West territory could we get a warning on the cover? Streets of Gotham could have been a title that simultaneously told short stories (mini's and one shots) depicting street level life in the, as of late, chaotic Batless Gotham city and Dick Grayson's struggle to become the big man. We could have had Grayson intervien in very real (and nicely developed) situations tapping into the public's own fears in a chaotic economy that would have created instant interest, understanding and drama. Instead we get the same typical surface crap we've all read so many times that the above example may as well have been white noise.

Over on Sirens of Gotham, the nicely drawn issue #1 ended promisingly, Ivy and Harley torturing the identity of Batman out of Catwoman... but as issue 2 resolves that in a matter of pages... oh it ends up Talia taught Catwoman how to suppress that knowledge a long time ago so its all good. Thank you flashback that was simply told in flash back because the scene carried absolutely no drama otherwise. And Catwoman isn't even mad they turned on her like that after they torture her! She continues to let them stay at her new pad! And why? Female commradery... woooooooooo. Really? This is one of those 'I can tell this is a man trying to write chicks' books. I literally only care about one DC book right now and its the Morrison Batman and Robin. Everything else reeks of filler/rehashing/a totally lost company trying desperately to be relevent. And I used to be one of DC's strongest defenders... I hope they turn it around soon. There wasting a lot of good characters.

Onto the relevant company who understands how to make current political economic fears into comic storylines for added realism and stress

MARVEL:

Nothing big big this week, the new Wolverine was really good. Anyone following the DKR storyline needs to grab this. Daniel Way is doing some great stuff with this book (much like his Deadpool book that I cannot reccomend enough). I can't explain it without killing the plot but suffice to say, it has Way's signature hard with a sense of humor dialogue and pretty great art too.

X-Men Utopia running through Uncanny and Dark Avengers right now is really interesting too. The whole 'villain running the show surrounded by other meglomaniacs who don't like following' is starting to come around to bite Osborne in the ass. His most recent scheme is exploitation of mutant riots for political maneuvering and the creation of yet another puppet super team (ala Dark X-men run by a very black leather clad White Queen) begins to stretch his scheming a little thin. My only beef so far is why Cyclops is taking Emma's change of heart so lightly. Its either a scheme he's in on, or this writer hasn't realized that Scott Summer's found his balls in the last few years (I thank Grant Morrisson for his FANTASTIC New X-men run a few years back).

Marvel in the past felt like the more rehash company to me contantly riding on their one laurel of having super heroes with real problems (which sometimes can make them a bit whiney for my taste) but lately they've been really doing well with adding corrupt business folk, politicians, shading puppet government activities and the ease with which evil people exploit PR to their books. Its a great commentary on current events in America and makes for a far more dramatic read than Firefly's cackling evil threats (can he just twirl a mustache already?).

Over at Wildstorm:
The GEARS OF WAR comic has been a bit hit or miss (thought I've still enjoyed it) but the story arc starting in issue 9 (with a slammin' cover by Jim Lee) is pretty damn awesome. And for any fan of the Gears world, it adds something we're just not used to seeing: women on the battle field. For the non Gears folk, the human race is at dangerously low levels and women are "protected" for breeding purposes, this new book shows how easily and horribly that can be exploited. It has a great artist who (i think?) is a Heavy Metal alum. If not he'd fit in that book nicely.

DARK HORSE:
ANYONE who loves The Goon or the show Metalocalypse needs to read the Deathlok vs Goon one shot this week! It is without a doubt the funniest thing I've read this year. And bloody. Its the perfect blend of the two properties. Powell draws all Goon related characters/backgrounds while the people who draw the cartoon draw those characters. There's even a bit where Goon is carrying weapons from cartoon characters that are drawn in that style, but held by the Goon we're all used to. Its hard to explain. Just read it. You will not be let down! And anyone not initiated in The Goon should grab it. Just go ask your local shop, they'll know about it. Its one of the most original comics I've ever read. And I've read a few.

IMAGE:
Also Rapture is really really good. Written by the guy that does Powers, its along the lines of the Powers 'superpeople from the perspective of regular people' but very much not (which will makes sense once you read it). Its very character driven and has an awesome mythic angle. Anyone into his other work or even the Hellboy/BPRD crowd should totally check this out!

That's all for this week but there are always more comics to read and even I can't keep up with them all! If I should be reading something let me know!