Pull List: 7\3\7

52 #44

Interesting twist\disembowelment last week. I hope that's not the end of Osiris because he was the first interesting addition to the Merry Marvel Family in a long time. Also it's good to see Buddy Baker alive and kicking. I've got warm place in the cockles of my heart (maybe below the cockles, maybe in the sub-cockle area) for Animal Man whenever Morrison is writing him. At first I thought that they may have revamped his powers but after a reread I realized he wasn't actually doing anything new, just reading the powers from animals who are reeeeeeally far away.

Authority #2

FINALLY. I thought this was never going to come out. I'd almost forgotten what the Authority was. They're a super team right? Hopefully after the lead up of the first ish we'll actually see some faces this time out.

Midnighter #5

Out on his own. I wasn't sure how well a solo title was going to work for Midnighter. A lot of his character is defined by his relation to the rest of the Authority. On his own he's just Batman without any pesky morals about killing. But I have to admit that Ennis did a really good job. They're handling the whole team\solo adventure puzzle by treating it similar to Wolverine and the X-Men. Midnighter is still part of the team. But now, every so often, he just goes out on his own and kicks a little ass.

Superman / Batman #32

This title is dragging a little bit. I'm still reading it but my interest in what happens is flagging. I think it might be because the Loeb arc was such an epic adventure that it becomes a challenge for the next guy out to top it. I'm not ready to drop it just yet but previously I couldn't wait for the next ish to come out and now I'm reading it hoping that the current blah-ness is just a temporary condition.

Ultimate Spiderman #106

I came to USM late but I've always loved Bagley's pencils. The great thing about the Ultimate Universe is that there isn't thirty years of continuity weighing everything down. It brings a freshness to Spiderman stories that's pretty hard to find anywhere else. I think they've done a great job touching on the major threads of Peter's life and making a new story out of it instead of just retelling it.

Ultimate Vision #3

A good read. I love the nearly continuous plot thread here that comes out of the Ultimate Extinction story line. They just as easily could have given The Vision a "Villian of the Week" to pound on. But instead they chose to tie in her story directly to the larger over arching plotlines of the Ultimate Universe. I likes it.

new universal #4

I've never read New Universe. So I don't have any baggage when it comes to this title. I just like watching Ellis dabble in his super teams. Nothing so far to drive me away. One caveat. Salvador Larroca, for whatever reason, likes to draw the peripheral characters based on famous actors. I find it distracting rather than amusing. I don't know if he's just screwing around or if there's a reason behind the whole thing.

Dark Tower #2

Peter David meets Stephen King. I know there are naysayers, but I really loved the early Dark Tower books as a kid. David does a great job creating the feel and flavour of Roland's world and he condenses a lot of information from different books into one coherent storyline. Also a big thumbs up for Jae Lee's pencils.

Justice League of America #6

Nearly seven years on and I still miss Morrison's turn on JLA. Meltzer is doing a fairly decent job but he's taking his sweet time officially revealing the new line up. (Although you'd have to be pretty slow not to have pieced it together by now.) All in all a good read.