This grand beginning of the Age of Apocalypse packs an amazing punch. Taking place after the death of Xavier, you get to take a long look at how his death has effected Magneto. How Magneto has taken over the recruiting and training of the X-Men for the most formidable mutant they will every fight to protect both humans and mutants alike from the Armageddon to come. You even get to enjoy Scarlet Witch being quite sane and good-hearted as opposed to what you normally see.

Apocalypse grand scheme seems quite cheesy to start, if his intentions are as they seem throughout this issue. I even found myself with a new respect for Sabretooth and his change of heart as a villain. Of course it doesn’t last that long and the respect was back out the window in no time. I didn’t quite know who one of the players was in this issue, but I assume that will be revealed in the next issue.

The heroes and villains are well matched in the battle that takes place. It really brings me back to the scene where Magneto and Xavier are playing chess together in X-Men 2. He really does know how to use his forces well, a wise and strong leader. It makes the fighting sequence quite enjoyable. I guess there is some disappointment in Apocalypse unleashing his “best” people for the job and then they get beat by a bunch of people who are used to fighting computer simulations; no matter how strong they are or how powerful their ability. That doesn’t mean I would mark this issue up to a victory by any means.

I give this a 9/10 for how well it fills in how the new X-Men form and the dawning of the Age of Apocalypse.

Written by Alan Moore

Drawn by Brian Bolland

The Killing Joke is an exceptionally dark graphic novel as would be expected with Alan Moore behind the wheel.  Brian Bolland in this case makes an exceptional side seat driver with the brutality and grit of his artwork.  In many of his panels you feel the fear of Joker’s victims and even the insanity behind both of the masked men.  To say Batman is sane, well… then we’d lose the glory of the modern day Dark Knight that takes us through the areas of grey morality better than a tour guided my Saddam Hussein and our dear G. W. Bush.   Though, there’s more LSD in the ways of the Alan Moore’s Joker. 

by Jack Blacker

From: Marvel Comics
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Illustration: John Romita Jr.

   Neil Gaiman’s “Eternals”, a limited series based on the Jack Kirby creation, delivers intrigue, great storytelling, and amazing art but in the end leaves the reader wondering where the rest of the story is. Followers of Gaiman may also find some story elements to be very familiar.

   If you, constant reader, are truly interested in the history of the Eternals—which is somewhat compelling in its own right—and how it sprang from Erich Von Däniken’s work of non-fiction called “Chariots of the Gods?” I’ll leave it to up to you to research it on Wikipedia. Though, I will say that perhaps the most intriguing component of the Eternals universe is that it, unlike most comics, delivers a mythology that stretches back to the creation of mankind. Somehow, despite the sheer wackiness of these conjectures, it does lend a bit of gravitas to the storyline.

   In this particular installment, a strange occurrence has wiped the memory of the Eternals, who now believe themselves to be regular schmucks, with bad jobs and everyman problems. Ike Harris, the only Eternal with some semblance of memory remaining, seeks to reawaken the others to their true purpose as protectors of Earth. As could be expected he runs into some rather interesting and painful roadblocks. Somehow, despite being In Absentia for most of the story he accomplishes his goal and the Eternals begin to rediscover their powers just in time to confront their enemies from time immemorial, the Deviants, who seek to reawaken a godlike Celestial imprisoned on Earth for unknown reasons.

Written and Directed by Brooke Burgess.

Philosophy, theology, modern paranoia, conspiracies and the human desire to forge a journey for truth; Are you brave enough?  

Broken Saints is a seven-hour romp through a moving graphic novel.  It is painted with outstanding cells and imagery that is married to the bubbles of dialogue that are both read and narrarated by haunting voices asking questions of why, where, when.  As a child says through the story, “God is mad.”

Each act, each episode begins and ends with various quotes from Anais Nin to Radiohead, Shakespeare to Gaiman. These quotes seem to outline and lead us into expectation of the story, the chaos and the dreams that will set the tone of each episode and tends to fall short.  We follow four could be extraordinary people through their journey to find the ultimate truth through obstacles seen and unseen.  Each of the players is as different to each other as their quest is the same.  An Islamic Militant, an American Techno-Atheist, a Buddhist Monk who found resolution in Shinto and a young women from the Fijian Islands. 

With nothing but dreams, experiences and signs to guide them, they find their way to each other in order to continue their journey.  Coming to ask themselves if knowing the truth is worth the path taken.

My personal state of mind when I began this seven-hour journey was not the best.  And admittedly, watching it seemed to only make me more thoughtful, more depressed and just in a need to feel.  Feel.  Something, anything.  As a philosophy student, I’ve come to learn that philosophy by itself is dramatic.  There is no belief in philosophy, there is no truth, and there is no path.  Only questions without answers.  And in this tale it seems to take on the overwhelming effect of drama in order to tell a tale of a journey that has no end. 

What Broken Saints does do however is get under the skin of the modern day.  It is the anti-thesis to such things as the Cyberpunk Manifesto, William Gibson, as well as any sheep dreaming androids we may or may not come across in our lives.  Or is it the ultimate truth of it? The answer would be yes if it lacked the theological aspects of it all.  God’s revenge on the modern day. 

As I sit here typing this I am trying to say more.  But Broken Saint’s and the writing of Brooke Burgess lead me to believe that this tale is different for any state of mind, for every person, for every thought and belief.  What it means to me will be different than what it means to my neighbor or my best friends.  What will it mean next year when I take this journey again? Or the year after that?

I want the time spent on this series for now returned to me so I can go spend it on reading something with more legitimacy and less arrogance.

“You must be the change you wish to seek in the world.”

                                    -Ghandi.

I can not think of a better place to start again with my collecting than the Ultimate Spider-man introduction of Eddie Brock and the Venom Saga. Of course, it is just that. This issue fills you in on all of the back story of Peter and Eddie and paints a much better picture than the most recently known version in Spider-man 3. Like any good comic, it ends just as things are starting to get the best. So I am left waiting in suspense until the next issue to see if all of the hype about Bendis' Venom that I have been reading about is true. So, due to its effectiveness of looping me in, that I really liked this start.  I rate this an 8/10