Comics

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten #7

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten #7After taking a month off, Nicholas Brendon returns to co-write the latest issue of Buffy Season Ten which continues the fresh start for the comic’s core characters and new living accommodations for roomies Spike and Xander. Continuing the theme of temptation, the latest issue sets Spike and Xander at the mercy of Sirens who nearly devour the pair if not for the timely intervention of ghost Anya screaming some sense into her ex-fiance.

With new digs the Scoobies are back together. Across from hall from Spike and Xander there’s Buffy, Willow, and Dawn leading to a Friends-style set-up so obvious one character even comments on it. The Siren escapade is a mix of bizarre and humorous (pillow fights? do Sirens really enjoy seeing half-naked men having pillow fights?) tempered by the loneliness of both Spike and Xander.

Xander’s situation with Dawn is far from settled and the ongoing temptation to use the new Vampyr tome continues to affect all those who hold onto it foreshadowing an error in judgement looming just beyond the horizon. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

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Uncanny X-Men #26

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Uncanny X-Men #26In an attempt to fulfill the final wish of Charles Xavier, the unlikely force of Rachel, Cyclops, and Wolverine go after an Omega-Level Mutant whose knowledge of his immense powers Professor X wiped from his mind. With the professor gone, those memories are returning making the man a potential danger to every living being on the planet.

Without getting specific about just what powers the man controls, Uncanny X-Men #26 sets up the mutant as a major threat who S.H.I.E.L.D. will gladly take all the help it can get to neutralize before things spiral out of control.

The issue brings up two subplots worth keeping an eye on in Iceman‘s boiling rage against Scott Summers for Xavier’s death and in the conflict of Cyclops’ young mutants when discussing the reasons for the existence of a training program pitting them against the Avengers. Both foreshadow potentially messy situations for Cyclops and possibly his entire team. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15Leonardo‘s planned competition for the rest of the team gets out-of-hand when the Turtles’ leader is captured by Fishface who alters the various challenges and traps in Leo’s obstacle course to lethal levels in hopes of finishing Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael once and for all. The comic’s main story forces the competition into a team-building exercise (which Leo had in mind all along – although be it far more dangerous than he planned).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15 also offers a pair of goofy and enjoyable back-up stories. The first is presented from the perspective of Ice Cream Kitty who fancies herself a legendary hero with the freezer door is mistakenly left open allowing the slowly-melting warrior to dispense justice on the streets of New York. The second storyline involves Splinter‘s attempt to master Mikey’s favorite video game, which offers only frustration for the Turtles’ master. All three stories work well and are certainly worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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Astro City #15

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Astro City #15Wrapping up the two-issue arc begun last month, Astro City #15 reveals the history of Eleanor Jennersen and how the leading mind behind robotics became the owner of a robot scrap yard in the middle of nowhere. Pulled before a judge for the crimes caused by the robots her nephew decided to use for a quick profit, Ellie breaks out of prison (thanks to the help of her metal friends) and clears not only her name but those of her rebuilt robots as well by revealing the true threat behind the plot: her old college roommate Vivi Viktor.

The Reed Richards/Victor von Doom elements of the story are fun to see played out as the unassuming and noble Ellie is revealed to be one of the most brilliant people on the planet despite Vivian’s attempt to shatter her mind and steal her secrets decades ago.

Despite every motive to seek revenge from the woman who stole her life, Ellie proves to be a hero in every sense of the word not even accepting the praise or help of the world’s heroes once they realize the true story. As always, worth a look.

[Vertigo, $3.99]

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Nova #21

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Nova #21Although his actions will have serious consequences for when he returns home to Earth, Nova takes the day off from school to fly into the heart of the Chitauri Empire and search for his father whom he has learned had been living as a slave forced to battle in the alien race’s gladiatorial games.

Sam makes it to the race’s heavily-guarded homeworld of Chitauri Prime, but discovers his father has already led a prison break and is now lost somewhere in space aboard a ship with limited capabilities which the young Nova cannot track.

Although Nova #21 doesn’t reunite Sam with his father, it does confirm for Sam that the former Nova is still alive and (like many other of the former gladiators) searching for a way home. It will be interesting to see how long the comic keeps his father lost in space and just what happens to Sam’s space-fairing extra-curricular activities once he does return to Earth. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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