[caption id=“attachment_528” align=“alignleft” width=“195” caption=“Batman Vol 2 #6”] [/caption] Batman Vol 2 #6 - see the linked review Nightwing Vol 3 #6 - the story is near its conclusion and it’s still pretty great Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #679.1 - a great one-off that gives us more time with Uatu Jackson and sets up a future storyline Uncanny X-Men Vol 2 #7 - this arc is about one issue too long, but it continues to have some great action. Red Hood and the Outlaws #6 - see the linked review X-Factor #232 - The story arc ends with a lot of great humor and possibly setting up some future arcs

When I was around five or six years old, my aunt gave me Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) as a present. My parents watched it and decided it was not appropriate for me to watch at that age. Once I was close enough to 13 that my parents would have let me watch it, I was busy spending my allowance on renting new movies and video games. So I never saw it until I recently rented it via Netflix to watch on a plane ride. ...

[caption id=“attachment_523” align=“alignleft” width=“197” caption=“Generation Hope #16”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: I was spoiled for choice this week. Out of the seven books I read, I felt that four of them were POW! Worthy. And, in the end it was a fight between Batman, X-Factor, and Generation Hope. I decided to take your tactic, Dan, and choose something that hadn’t been in the POW! yet. Dan: I’m glad you did. You inadvertently created our first theme week here at Comic POW!: Isolation Week! The week where two books about isolation are chosen. Ok, that tagline isn’t that great, but I think you’ll agree that this week is about two characters who have difficulty relating to their teams and, perhaps, other people on the whole. ...

I’ve wanted to focus on different comic creators for a while now. A recent comic vine podcast made me think that perhaps I should first focus on inkers. In my current collection here are the top 5 inkers: Jay Leisten Tim Townsend John Dell, Victor Olazaba, and Cam Smith tied It doesn’t surprise me that Jay Leisten makes the top of my pile because he does a lot of X-Men books and nearly all the X-Men books come out biweekly. Of the issues I own, he’s mostly done Uncanny X-Men, although he does have some work on X-Men Legacy and an issue of Astonishing X-Men. Here are some examples of his work: ...

[caption id=“attachment_504” align=“alignleft” width=“195” caption=“Suicide Squad #6”] [/caption] X-Men Vol 3 #24 - deals with Jubilee being a vampire. One of the better X-Men stories in a while. Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #2 - no one will listen to Quire and Wolverine’s out for blood Huntress Vol 3 #5 - This miniseries reaches its climax and I’m afraid to say it’s not as awesome as it seemed it would be when it started Suicide Squad #6 - got this because of the Harley story. Every other part reminds me of why I dropped this book Secret Avengers - Rick Remender’s got a very interesting story in his first full arc of Secret Avengers Superboy Vol 5 #6 - he has a confrontation with Supergirl Batman and Robin Vol 2 #6 - a GREAT book in this arc. Really good job they’re doing with Damian. Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #5 - this miniseries ends not quite as awesomely as it ran, but still a great ending and a great series overall.

[caption id=“attachment_495” align=“alignleft” width=“197” caption=“Wolverine and the X-Men #5”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: This week I picked 2 Months until A vs X #AvX. Ugh…I don’t know about you, but these ad banners are getting pretty annoying. I’m excited about Avengers vs X-Men (#AvX) and I’m sick of them. Dan: It’s getting to be pretty bad. Wait…no…it’s already terrible. I’m sick of the event and it’s not even here for two more months! ...

Uncanny X-Men Vol 2 #6 Uncanny X-Men Vol 2 #6 - the fallout from Uncanny X-Force continues. The result is a kind of Savage Land for new readers. Overall, I liked it less than issue #5, but still pretty good Defenders Vol 4 #3 - this continues to rock. Love it! Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #679 - a great followup to the Spider-Man time travel story started in the last issue Avengers: X-Sanction #3 - action-packed adventure continues in the mini-series that will launch Avengers vs X-Men Uncanny X-Force #21 -this story arc is very disorienting and it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on X-Club #3 - continues to be fun, but unsure what effect it’ll have on the rest of the X-Men universe Action Comics Vol 2 #6 - very confusing and I didn’t like it at all

[caption id=“attachment_475” align=“alignleft” width=“197” caption=“X-Factor #231”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: I was a bit surprised with the book I ended up picking for this week’s POW! It came out in a week with other titles that are usually strong and X-Factor has been on a very slow climb to the top of my favorites list. In fact, after the first two months (four tissues since it’s published biweekly) I was about to drop it from my pull list. But then it started getting really interesting and, this week, beat the competition to be my POW! choice. ...

[caption id=“attachment_470” align=“alignleft” width=“197” caption=“FF #14”] [/caption] FF #14 - This issue continues where the last one left off with the kids, Doom, and Grey Reed facing off against The Celestials. It also indirectly leads right into Fantastic Four #602. Astonishing X-Men Vol 3 #46 - The issue wavers in quality, but continues to tell a promising story. Batman: The Dark Knight Vol 2 #5 - I really came close to hating this story. It’s once again using a similar plot as a Batman issue from the same month and not doing it in a compelling way Justice League Vol 2 #5 - It’s still a middle-of-the-road book. I’m awaiting the end of this story arc. X-Men Legacy #261 - this issue does what I wish the Cyclops books (Uncanny, X-Me, etc) would do - advance the characters lives, emotions, etc in addition to having some action elements [caption id=“attachment_471” align=“alignright” width=“197” caption=“Secret Avengers #21.1”] [/caption] ...

[caption id=“attachment_463” align=“alignleft” width=“197” caption=“Fantastic Four #602”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: I don’t think there’s any way I can lose because this week I have chose “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”, according to the cover. And we all know that covers don’t lie. Dan: Well, hmm…That’s a wrap then, folks! Eric: Alright, another notch in the win column for me! Well, just to go through the motions - this is the latest of the parallel story arcs that Hickman set into motion when Reed tried to Solve Everything. (The other half being told in FF) Because we’ve covered FF and F4 before - the quickest recap is that Johnny Storm is back and he’s now the leader of the Negative Zone baddies. He and the rest of the Future Foundation adults are in space, fighting the Kree Invasion which has beef with Earth because that’s where the Inhumans come from. Black Bolt’s crew is also in the battle, but don’t seem to be contributing to the win much. Back on Earth, bits of debris from the fight are demolishing NYC for like the 8th time in the past twelve months. ...