Green Lantern #23
This is still the best event of the summer, with great art coming from Ivan Reis and Geoff Johns handling a ton of characters, but still making the events important to all. The whole thing just feels epic, with lots of large fights. Hal and company manage to rescue John Stewart and Guy Gardner this issue, but run into new problems, namely, the Anti-Monitor. The whole threat seems real; the only problem comes from DC, revealing what will end up happening to Kyle as Parallax. Lots of great action in this issue. –3 out of 5

PULL LIST 9-12-07 Green Lantern #23 The Loners #5 Ultimate Power #7 Star Wars Legacy #16 New Avengers #34 Ultimate Spider-man #113 X-Factor #23 JSA #9 Casanova #9 Fables #65

The Loners #5
Still no clue as to who the new girl that shows up in this issue is, hopefully that will be explained in the next issue. Other than that issue, this is more interpersonal fun for the group of former superheroes. Phil Urich split personality comes back to haunt him as it turns out he has a crush on one of his other teammates. This has been a really great interpersonal drama series, and the 80’s movies cover homages are very appropriate. This is one mini that I really hope continues on into either other minis or a regular series. C.B. Cebulski has a great way of making you identify with the characters. –4 out of 5

Ultimate Power #7
Other than the issue that there is probably less than 6 issues worth of material for this 9-issue mini, I’ve been enjoying this. Lots of big action scenes, not much on deep characterization, kind of like World War Hulk. It’s a big candy coated action scene, and that’s what I like. Greg Land‘s art is certainly over posed, the action is totally staged, but it looks very pretty. It’s certainly not the greatest thing ever, but it gets the job done. We find out in this issue who’s behind everything, but they manage to fit in some good fight scenes. Kind of just chugging along. –3 out of 5

Star Wars Legacy #16
Thankfully, John Ostrander does a good job in this issue of explaining to us who the big reveal from last issue is. We get a good chunk of back story on series villain Darth Krayt, and how it ties into the movies. There’s also a plan starting on how to get Cade Skywalker out of the situation he’s in, but he doesn’t help himself by seemingly joining the dark side. The art is a bit uneven as there’s a fight that’s hard to follow, but the story is told pretty well, and it’s still a fun old Star Wars tale. –3 out of 5

New Avengers #34
Didn’t Doctor Strange do a similar spell a few issues back? That part of the plot seemed a bit redundant, as the Doc reveals each members’ true nature. But hey, we get a fight between Wolvie and the Hood, with bad news for Wolvie’s junk. Also, there’s a bootie call with the Night Nurse, nice to see this being picked up from the recent Doctor Strange mini. The interaction between the team members continues to be the highlight of the series. Leniel Yu‘s art though still is a bit uneven. His faces are goofy looking, the colors are way off, the action is hard to follow. I’m a fan of his art, but this is not looking good. –2 out of 5

Ultimate Spider-Man #113
More good work from Brian Michael Bendis as he gives a look inside of Norman Osborne’s head. Osborne makes his break from prison, and then he proceeds to start a media attack on Nick Fury. He also recruits a sidekick in the person of Electro. Bendis portrays Norman as a driven man who still thinks he’s doing the right thing even as he kills a bunch of people. Stuart Immonen draws some good action in this issue, but does a really good job showing the emotions of Osborne as the narration shows what he’s really thinking. Another well done issue. –5 out of 5

X-Factor #23
The Isolationist continues his plan to do, well something, not sure what his ultimate plan is but it involves getting to Cyclops and Beast (Cyclops in his old Morrison-era uniform for some reason). But the plan is ruined due to not taking out Layla Miller. Peter David still writes the best Quicksilver, this time showing him as being very nervous and near homicidal. I’m very curious to see where this story ends up going, as PAD reveals the Isolationist has ties all the way back to the first arc. Artist Pablo Raimondi excels as characters, but doesn’t do so well with the action but his Beast is really weird looking, which is not much of a surprise since his Wolfbane has looked bad the whole time he’s drawn it. It’s kind of a minor quibble though, and David is really the driving force in the series. Please, please, please Marvel, don’t mess with this series during the whole X-Men Disassembled thing that’s coming up. This is still the best X series on the market. –4 out of 5

JSA #9
Here’s another example of Geoff Johns writing a large cast of characters, and while he does a good job of bringing them to life and capturing the team dynamic, the issue by itself is a bit of a let down. Johns falls into the trap of decompression, as this issue follows the team as they spend a day at fire station, having fun with the public, and generally helping out, until a fire erupts and the team goes to help. The ending is not much of a surprise, since this arc has been teased since issue 1 of the new series. The art by Dale Eaglesham is good as usual, except for the younger Wildcat, who for some reason looked like a rat to me, don’t know why. It’s a decent issue, and I’m interested to see what goes on with this arc. –3 out of 5

Casanova #9
Have I mentioned how much more I enjoy crazy Matt Fraction on this book than I do by-the-numbers-Marvel Matt Fraction? Cause I do. This is the book that he really lets himself go at, that he keeps all his good ideas for, and it shows. There’s a manic energy that fuels the whole book, which has only improved with Fraction becoming a more seasoned writer. Fabio Moon is just as good a match for this book as Gabriel Ba was for the first seven issues. With all the characters showing up now, the art works well to keep everyone straight while introducing interesting new characters every issue. As for the plot, well this one is a look of exposition about what this arc will be about. It’s very helpful though, especially for this book which has a habit of not explaining as well as it should. Pop comics at its best. –4 out of 5

Fables #65
Okay, it’s boring to say how good Fables is every month, which it is, and if you’re not reading it, you really need to be. So I’m going to lob a few complaints at it. This story has been dragging for a bit too long now. This is part five, plus last issue was an interlude, plus it’s been building since the Fables hardcover came out last year, so I’m kind of interested in how it ends, which doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon. As good as this series is, it has been in a bit of a holding pattern for the last year or so, and I really hope it gets to a point soon. You know, other than that, the series is great. So, –5 out of 5