In Passing...Deadgirl to Manhunter

Nextwave #4 - Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen wrap up their second story arc of the hilarious series and show no sign of pittering out. I get more laughs out of some issues than others, but overall, it's just a great, fun book that I look forward to every time it comes out. In this issue, aside from the big battle with the cop/alien/robot guy, we are treated to the origin of The Captain, which is encased between the words "How stupid are you?" and "I'm not stupid," so you can imagine how pathetic it was. But next issue is a new storyarc, so jump onboard if you've been missing out on the fun. 9.1/10

New Avengers #18 - A couple of the big gun superheroes try to take on the powerful being from the previous issues of the series...guess how that works out. This is a really entertaining story, even though I saw where it was going before the big reveal at the end. Like the first issue of the arc, there's a small scene that concentrates on characters watching the battle from a SHIELD helicarrier, trying to figure out what's going on. When it's removed from the actual face-to-face fighting like that, it gives the events a sense of grandeur, of mystery, when it's pulled back to that scale. I don't know if it serves to ground it a little, but these scenes make the goings-on seem a lot more cooler than they otherwise would be. 8.1/10

Manhunter #21 - This issue centers around Kate Spencer, attorney, with no tights in sight. It's a courtroom drama that has Kate defending Doc Psycho for some event he caused during an Infinite Crisis superhero/supervillain brawl. It's nice to see Kate in this role again - it's been awhile and she's good at what she does. 7.7/10

X-Statix Presents: Deadgirl #4 (of 5) - As the cover suggests, the reunion of Mr. Sensitive and U-Go Girl happens in this issue. Yeah, it seems the entire X-Statix team ended up in Hell. It's not exactly the reunion you'd expect and, of course, lots of other stuff happens as the hodge-podge team of superheros descend into the lower realms of Hell. And I have to say, I really enjoy the relationship between Deadgirl and Dr. Strange. 8.1/10