My other column 'Did I Get What I Paid For?' answers the question of what trades I'm reading. Some question remains as to what regular titles I read. This one shot column will answer that in a format I've seen other reviewers use and I'm sort of borrowing without asking. I'm going through week by week from the end of October to the last week of November. Only two titles per week will be reviewed. The first each week is the 'if I had a little less money, I would have left this one behind' and the other being 'The Pick of the Week'. The rest fall into their rank.   October 27th (Finished reading November 2nd. Blame news pundits Jon Stewart and The Reverend Sir Doctor Stephen T. Colbert, DFA)

Superman #704: This one is not a particularly bad story. In fact I usually enjoy it when a book takes time out of its busy or in the case of 'Grounded' not so busy schedule to focus on the book's supporting cast. Especially when the supporting cast member is one as interesting and emotionally challenging as Lois Lane. The problem with the story is that we've seen Lois come to terms being girlfriend/wife of Superman many times. You'd think by now she'd realize that she is as much a source of Superman's powers as the Yellow Sun. Why did we get this story? J. Michael Stracynski was too busy writing Wonder Woman and Superman Earth One to get something in on time. I guess he was thinking "The media picked up on my Wonder Woman thing. I should really work on that before people forget about it." Teen Titans #88 Avengers vs. The Pet Avengers #1 Action Comics #894 DC Universe: Legacies #6 Justice League: Generation Lost #12 Justice Society of America #44 X-Men Forever 2 #10: Okay, I am ashamed to admit this because like most fans as I get older I tend to follow creators around and not characters but I still have a soft spot for Kitty Pryde. Every time I meet a single woman with that mix of brains, geekiness, compassion and sarcasm- I have to put on a crash helmet before walking down a staircase with them. That's beside the point. I claim I read the book for Chris Claremont's writing. It's true but somehow, I always enjoy the issues he writes about Kitty just a tad bit more. Then Marvel went and did something that really blew my mind. They had an issue where Kitty Pryde was drawn by Mike Grell. It's enough to make any fanboy's brain turn to tapioca. Oh yeah- there's a plot and stuff too. Though with Claremont that's sort of a given. With a Claremont script and Kitty drawn by Grell it barely needs one. They could do an issue about Kitty going to the grocery store to pick up Corn Flakes and Chocolate Milk and it would still get the pick of the week status so I decided I wouldn't bother going into it. Besides attempting to summarize Claremont would be too much like a certain infamously censored Monty Python sketch.   November 3rd (Read on November 6th)

Brightest Day #13: I'm in a bit of a quandary with Brightest Day. There are about five stories going on, all of which I know will eventually dovetail into each other and I'm really liking three of them. I'm enjoying the Deadman meets Hawk and Dove team up. Firestorm has been twisted but fun. Martian Manhunter has been predictable, but at least enjoyable. I've probably enjoyed the Jade story the most. Unfortunately this issue focuses on the Hawkman plot which along with Aquaman have been pretty much incoherent gibberish. If I really thought it was going somewhere- it'd be tolerable but I don't think DC has any intention of keeping anyone on a Hawkman book long term because no creative team in more than twenty year has cared enough to stick around more than two years. So unless this plays into a 'they aren't getting reincarnated, I know we said that last time but this time we really mean it' death for Hawkman and Hawkgirl, I'm really not happy with my purchase. JSA All-Stars #13 Adventure Comics #520 Strange Tales II #1 Doom Patrol #16: The Doom Patrol has not been as good as Giffen's run since Grant Morrison. Giffen may have a one up on Morrison in some respects because he is actually telling a coherent story. He's digging through all the history, including the ones that contradict each other, to patch together a direction that really works. Not only that- the team has let in a new member. Their old foe turned hero and part time Keith Giffen self insertion - Ambush Bug. The book is grim but it is also very, very funny. It's a combo that Giffen excels at. Every time you think this book couldn't get any weirder- it does. Every time you think there isn't a forgotten Doom Patrol character that hasn't come back yet- Giffen finds one. I'm surprised Giffen hasn't brought in the characters from his own Doom Patrol and X-Force spoof Doom Force. Though considering the current story is dealing with alternate futures and the multiverse- you never know.   November 10th (Read November 13th)

Titans #29: To put it simply this book has fallen into the trap that most super villain team books fall into: they make it all about how bad ass the villains are and don't give us any reason to like them. If you can't empathize with them- then it just doesn't work. Invariably these books have to bring in a known hero to try to humanize what the villains are doing. Again, invariably they choose a disgraced hero who could possibly cross the line into villainy. Suicide Squad waited a year before doing it. So did Thunderbolts. The book not only has settled into these cliches right away, it seems they intended it go that way from this incarnation's launch five months ago. You'd think the fact the DC was readying this concept for over a year they would have had time to do something we haven't seen before. They've been promising and promising that this would be the biggest thing since sliced bread. It hasn't delivered any type of bread. Well unless you count my aunt's special recipe which is a substance about as easily sliced as adamantium and harder to digest. Though not as hard to digest as this issue. I'm giving the title an issue or two more to fix itself and it's off to the old Titans Tower in the sky. Justice League: Generation Lost #13 New Mutants Forever #4 of 5 X-Men Forever 2 #11 Booster Gold #38: Since issue one Booster Gold has been the best book DC has been producing- hands down. When it was announced that Dan Jurgens was stepping down last spring, I got scared. I'm as surprised to see me write that as you are. However DC didn't do so without finding the perfect creative team. Lo and behold, in walk Keith Giffen and J.M. Dematteis. The book had been on verge of cancellation and if these guys didn't take it there would be no book. When I heard they were the ones coming in, I realized there was nothing to fear save for accidentally spitting milk out my nose on to my comic while trying to read it or getting really odd looks from people sitting around me while reading it on the bus. Somehow DC's best book only got better. Since 52, Booster Gold has become a time traveling super cop. This is normally a bit of a downer. Now there are really only three word three words to describe it: 'bwha', 'ha' and 'ha'.   November 17th (Read November 20th)

DC Universe Legacies # 7: I'd actually been enjoying Len Wein's story of the DC Universe from the point of view of an outsider up until this point. Yes, there were some similarities between it and Kurt Busiek's Marvels but Wein's tale was more about a man who grew to be a cop in order to be like the heroes of his childhood. This issue is the one that bothered me. Why? Because they move Knightfall into the exact same time as The Death of Superman. Yes, they were a year or two apart our time which makes them a few months apart in normal DC Universe time however Batman (by which I mean Bruce Wayne Batman) is clearly present in all previous version of the Superman's funeral. It was the rare occasion where Batman made a confirmable public appearance in Post-Crisis continuity. I know it's a small glitch but it is one that the story hinges on. Once I noticed it the whole thing began to unravel on itself. Brightest Day #14 Justice League of America #51 Superman #705 Superboy #1 Legion of Super Heroes #7 X-Factor #211: I really dig super powered noir. I also like character driven stories and very dry yet somehow whimsical comedy. Which is why I read almost any comic Peter David writes. It has been an odd year for X-Factor. The first six months PAD spent making it more of a Fantastic Four book than an X-Book. (After seeing how Peter would write them, I'd welcome him taking over that book next time there is an opening.) Now it's more of a Thor Book than an X-Book. Yet Vegas, where Hela and her monsters are attacking, seems like just another place for Madrox and Longshot to get into mischief. Though my question is what does Mr. David have against Las Vegas? First- back in the early days of his career- Hulk trashed Vegas. Then about ten years or so ago, Supergirl trashed Vegas. You'd think there would be nothing left for X-Factor to trash. As seems to be the case with the way David handles long term story arcs, it seems like very little is happening this issue other than a basic action adventure piece. There are little snippets here and there that long time readers get the feeling are building to something. If this book stays true to form- and PAD rarely tries to do that because he loves throwing readers for a loop that actually makes logical sense- I bet most of us will be scratching our heads in a month or two saying- 'Wow, I didn't see that coming'. Every time the book gets that way, that's what happens. Even on its own merits this issue was a lot of fun, especially for those of us who have been following the book since the beginning.   November 24th (Read on November 27th)

Justice Society of America #45: This issue was not bad. In fact, it added just enough mystery to keep it interesting but didn't give enough away that I could figure out exactly where the story was going. The action sequences were nice and tight. There was some nice use of flashback. The only real problem is that I'm sick of Nazis as super villains. No matter what year it is- the Justice Society will always be stuck in 1945. It is a shame because I really like many of the characters. For the past two volumes the JSA has been about legacies and training the next generation. I wish they would fight the next generation of villains more often. Even my parents' generation of villains would be an upgrade. (I turned thirty this year, so ouch!) The reason this got on the "would have left it behind" pile is that the week of Thanksgiving, it seems DC and Marvel pulled out all the stops. Justice League: Generation Lost #14 Teen Titans #89 Avengers Vs. Pet Avengers #2 Action Comics #895 X-Men Forever #12: Yes, yet again Chris Claremont and the X-Men take the top spot. It seems many of the ongoing plots have been boiling to the top. Plot collisions are happening left and right. The series is scheduled to conclude soon, so it's obvious he's building to a big crescendo. When Claremont actually decides to end plots, which happens once in a blue moon, it gets pretty fast and furious. I expect the next few issues will keep if not somehow beat this pace. So if you've been reading this book from day one or catching up in trade hold on to your seats it's going to be a bumpy ride. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

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