Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Here are this week's comics ranked both prior to purchase and then after one reading.

First, the rankings before reading the comics, based upon past performance and advance information released on each issue:

1. X-Men Legacy #210
2. Green Lantern #30
3. Star Wars Rebellion #13
4. Ultimate Human #4
5. DC Universe #0

After reading them once they ranked with a mini review:

6) Caliber #1 (-)

A revisiting of the tale of King Arthur and Excaliber set in the Old West. This was an impulse buy mostly because of the outstanding art work. The story is more of a set up but you can see some of the clear lines to the old lore while others don't fit in at all. For example, Arthur's father is a man of principle and courage. He is a man to be respected. The man who would line up with Merlin is an interesting take as he is a rogue Native American who sides with both his people and the white man. This series has some potential. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Plus, for only a buck you don't have much to lose.

5) X-Men Legacy #210 (1)

This issue disappointed me on a lot of levels. Basically you have a comic with Exodus, Xavier and Magneto and nothing significant happens. Xavier has selective memory, which makes things impossible to know what he knows or doesn't know. Exodus lets him walk out with Magneto who he was trying to kill last issue. Add in that mutants are unaccounted for that had been in the fray and you have a bit of a mess. And as stated all over the place: why aren't the X-Men concerned that Xavier's body disappeared from under their noses. This issue was a letdown.

4) Star Wars Rebellion #13 (3)

I don't know what to make of this title. Of the four Star Wars titles out there, this one is the only one that features the classic Star Wars cast, but this series is really odd. For example, Luke has no lines in this entire comic. Leia has a couple, but not many. That doesn't mean the story is a bad one, but it just means the comic is utilizing all its parts available within the story. I did like the plot development in this issue and it sets up a great escape coupled with a space battle. The art had some problems. For example, Admiral Ackbar seemed to be photoshopped into the panels he appears. It was very awkward. The conclusion should be a good one.

3) DC Universe #0 (5)

I didn't view this entirely as a promo, but it largely was. This had some interesting snippets of the Guardians and other Lantern-like activity. The interaction with Batman and the Joker was interesting in a bizarre kind of way. The art added a good layer of interest to this issue. For me, I don't plan on picking up Final Crisis, but this issue did nudge me to the side of reading it rather than validating my thought of not reading it, so it would seem to have done its job.

2) Green Lantern #30 (2)

I guess I had thought the Secret Origin would add more information to the Hal Jordan origin tales and not re-write it. This issue has both. The great part of this issue is showing exactly what was going on with Abin Sur up to the point of his crash. It explains why a lantern would need a space ship and it adds in the close friendship he had with Sinestro. This part was really well done and adds some much more to the overall Green Lantern story. The whole part with Pie-face was awful. First off, Hal called him Pie-face throughout the past incarnations of these stories and to have him now offended at the remark only to turn around and make his own derogatory remarks towards someone else is just ridiculous. Add in that Hal attacks his rival's ship and then pretends to rescue it as Green Lantern is so far against what the Guardians would allow made the ending of this simply not believable. I'm hoping some of this gets explained next issue, but think about it – the Guardians scrutinize over using the ring for personal gain and yet they let a rookie (first time wearing it!) go after a civilian in a ship because he doesn't like him? This arc has the potential for disaster, but I'm hoping it all neatly ties together. You cant find better art.

1) Ultimate Human #4 (4)

I had very low expectations for this finale. Last issue left me so deflated that I felt this issue couldn't possibly be good. Well, it was. It had a good exchange between Banner and Stark. It had a good escape for the two. It had some good scheming on the part of Stark and the Leader. Plus, it had the Hulk just destroying people en masse. It was a fast paced finale to this series. The one element I wasn't crazy about was the art's coloring. It was so shaded and dark that it seemed that the issue took place in a sandstorm. The art was very different from the first couple of issues in the series. However, the size and shape of the Hulk looked excellent. This was a fun read.