"but thats the thing about batman."

criminal 7
secret invasion 8
batman 682
jsa 21
the boys 25
the sword 13
new avengers 47
immortal iron fist 20
marvels eye of the camera 1
cable 9
punisher xmas
x-men manifest destiny 4
sandman the dream hunters 2
trinity 27
haunted tank 1
army @ love 5
superman/supergirl maelstrom
solomon kane 3
fight or run

batman 682: personally, i'm more of a superman guy. i've rarely been excited about batman. there's just something about how he always pulls the solution out of his utility belt, or has already anticipated every possible outcome of an unpredictable situation, that deflates the drama for me. but thats the thing about grant morrison. he wrote an epic about batman facing a foe he could never suspect or plan against, only to reveal that he had suspected as much and had a plan for it all along. the line"but thats the thing about batman" on the first page of 681 is the defining moment in r.i.p. for me and made me smile more than any comic in recent memory. when he took off his cowl, jumped on the helicopter and disappeared in the explosion, i just smiled again. thats the thing about batman. no matter how it looks, he has a plan.
so here we are with batman 682. now we're treading water. it was an enjoyable issue, bringing bat continuity up to speed with the rest of dc, tying into final crisis and rewriting the history of the character at the same time. whats next? i'm not excited about battle for the cowl or the o'neil issues. i'm hoping for great things from neil gaiman's "whatever happened to the caped crusader?", but in light of his marvel comics projects over the last couple of years, i don't consider it a sure thing. what i want is to see the next part of batman, and grants, plan.

punisher xmas: fuck right floronic man.

secret invasion 8: grade b. good wrap up to the story, but with a little to much bullshit. mockingbird is back? what? norman osborne gets a massive promotion for shooting someone wolverine was a split second away from killing? the cabal group is a pretty cool idea, i just hope this isn't a return to evil for emma. and as much as i appreciate a change everything epic, i'd pay anything to read a comic about dr. octopus robbing a bank or something. event fatigue for fucking real.

-the neg man

It's beginning to look a lot like X-Mas...

Fuck yes!

If there is anyone that can even come close to being a worthy successor to Garth Ennis on The Punisher, it would hands down be one Mr. Jason Aaron. And I'm as giddy as a school boy that Jason makes his Punisher debut this very week with the holiday one-shot Punisher MAX X-Mas Special.

Here's what Jason told CBR:

"...it's got a couple of the darkest scenes I've ever written,” Aaron stated. “ There's no way I could ever even attempted a story like this in the Marvel Universe. Axel Alonso would've had me drawn and quartered. And he could do it, too.”

As any good little Scalped fan knows, thats a pretty lofty promise from ol' J. But I think I just might believe him.

If you are so inclined, CBR also has a preview of the first few pages at that same link. As for me, this is one holiday treat that I am going to need to enjoy all in one sitting.

Here's hoping this thing sells a gazillion copies and they put him on the ongoing series toute suite and el permanente.

- TFM