LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: MILLENNIUM #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled/inked by Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Sorrentino, André Lima Araújo, Scott Williams



Oy, this was just boring. A complete miss in my eyes. I really didn't find the introduction of the new character very interesting at all, and even after I got the idea of what was happening in the issue, I still didn't find myself caring too much about her plight. It really came off as a crazy person essentially hoping around through various eras and speaking almost incoherently. That's another thing, the dialogue presented by Bendis here is sooooo clunky for me. Rose/Thorn just has several strange interactions with various people that really don't sound like an actual conversation. She speaks in almost riddles, and I just thought the exchanges were really bizarre. This makes what Bendis is doing on Superman like Citizen Kane, and that book has largely been average I feel. Oh well. I was guessing that this was going to get me excited for the Legion of Superheroes return from the jump, but nope. There are pages done in here by various artists, which...ehhh...not a fan of multiple artists on a book. The pages by Lee/Williams were good as usual. Everything else...not so great.

BATMAN VS. RA'S AL GHUL #1
Written by Neal Adams
Art by Neal Adams



Damn. I wanted to like this book. I was really excited for a couple of months when I heard it was coming out. Neal Adams is arguably my favorite comic artist ever, but when it comes to his writing...not a fan. I gave up on Batman Odyssey pretty quickly. It was just too strange. While this doesn't seem as wacky, Neal's depiction of Batman is really old school, and the dialogue is really dated. I don't mind that, but I guess with Batman being depicted as he has the last 35 years or so...this just isn't cutting it. Also, Neal just seemed to barely establish any backgrounds. Which isn't unusual for him, but compared to his older stuff he at least had more invested in the panels. Here, the building are really just sketched out essentially. I know he's doing this comic all on his own, and DC just seems to let him down whatever since he's a legend, but it's still a little jarring. Neal Adam's Batman is of course in his 1970's garb, and the other two popular characters Adams is known for doing are here: Deadman and Ra's Al Ghul. Probably too much to expect Adams to start drawing Batman in his more modern day getup, but that's fine. The actual story so far isn't a bad idea. Ra's essentially offering overrun Gotham his own special fighting force, and Batman not being on board with it. It's just the execution to me was a little disappointing. It's Neal Adams though, and I'll keep reading, as long as it's not what Odyssey was.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #2
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Nico Leon/Pop Mhan



Heard elswhere that this is essentially an Amadeus book dressed as a team book, and I'd have to agree. Up to this point he's taken up most of the panel time, and I haven't really learned much regarding the other characters. As a Shang Chi fan, that's a little unfortunate. Silk seems cool, but she's just acting as someone to bounce Amadeus' emotions off of. Who is Sword Master? I don't know, but he's on the team. Pak is setting up this young love triangle thing, and...I mean...it's not bad, but...I'd like to learn more about the larger story that has been set up with the tech mogul Issac Ikeda, and his city of Pan with it's magic doorways to other Asian cities. Also, what about Jimmy Woo and his secret plans behind the scenes? What happened? I laughed at various points in the issue though, so this has potential, but I just think it could be better. Art was okay. Meh.

HOUSE OF X #4
Written by Johnathan Hickman
Penciled/inked by Pepe Larraz



Yup. That was the pop off for sure. Things got savage in this issue. This was the first book I read for the week's releases, and I was almost pretty sure it was going to be my top pick. After a week to think about it now, I'm not so sure. Hickman is still dealing. He dropped the exposition heavy approach, and had Larraz just got bonkers with the face paced operation in space. I do have to say though, with all the chaos that ensued, I'm still not sure who I should be rooting for, the mutants or the humans. I felt something on both sides of the conflict. All around the situation is just an unfortunate reality for all involved. A lot of emotional moments in this book, and it was a great read pure and simple. The only thing that gave me pause after I thought about it, and heard what others have had to say, was that due to what was previously established with Moira, and the first few panels in the first book, all that happens is probably irrelevant. That isn't a new concept obviously, but in this story the fallout was treated with heavy emphasis, as if there will be big consequences down the road. Clearly from the future solicits, that's not the case. Hickman has control of the entire X-Men bus though, so I want to see where he takes it.

I don't usually do video game tie in books but I liked the cover( Jean-Luc Picard as a Jedi? Yes Please!) so I picked this up and the story was actually pretty compelling. It had a solid story and the introduction to the new characters really drew you right in.

That might be the best one can hope for though with the mandates put on writers from American superhero comics. The iconic characters can't die, and if they do, it won't be for long.