Finally for the day we have Justice League of America #27 and I had to do a little research on this one because I do not read very much Milestone Comics. I remember collecting some issues of Hardware when that first came out and I may have issues #1 of some of these characters because my uncle dropped them in my lap, but not that I was excited about reading the series. This is a sighting’s issue so obviously there appearance is a major event in the DCU. Dwayne McDuffie should be well-versed in writing for these characters since he was around when they were first created back in the 90’s. I love the interaction of the characters in this series. The best moment of the issue is Black Canary walking in on the secret meeting room of the Big Three. You know if there was a female in the real world that looked like Black Canary in that uniform I would be a stalker. Seriously, I love Benes’ artwork on the series and while many may not like it, I am all for it. His superhero characterization often fall right into that area where they look superhero for a comic, but they do what I often did not like about Michael Turner’s artwork, god rest his soul, and that is make characters look different and unique from one another. Big question here is what does the Shadow Cabinet want with Dr. Light? Even bigger question is will Versus System get the license’s back for the DCU so we can have these characters printed on cardboard. The DCU has definitely been taking care of business by shuffling and reimaging the DCU, bringing in characters who look like they have potential to move comics and making character’s who were already potential movers more prominent taking away a lot of the focus from the Big Three a.k.a. The Trinity! Enjoy!

On Another note, check out Chaotic Reigns Versus System MWS tourney on TCGplayer hosted by the one and only Mike Lopez.

The age is modern. The event is Random Punks, why cuz its hella fun thats why!

1st Place: 3 packs of MEV
2nd Place: 2 packs of MEV
3rd place: 1 Pack of MEV

Registration Due by the 3rd of January with decks submitted to me for approval. Tourney begins on the 4th of January. Have fun and good luck!











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Now we start getting the engines on this train revved up. We have no previews out on Facebook for the Marvel Evolutions Expansion due out in November and we also have explanations of the Hunter Mechanic. Check out VSrealms for more info as these exciting preview cards keep coming at us. I want to turn my attention to Justice League of America #26, which wraps up the Anansi story arc. Personally the art on Justice League of America by Ed Benes is some of my favorite on the stands at the moment. There were discussions about favorite artist on the realms a week or two back and with the absence of Michael Turner in the Comic Industry Benes definitely takes the throne for me. Though I still pay much homage to my Turner Variants that are signed, especially Thor #1 and the Hulk #7 that is currently on shelves.

Justice League of America has been a great series, 26 issues deep and I still do not get the overpowering characters of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman driving the storylines, but instead feel their presence through dynamic visualization, but constantly as the backdrop to these great stories. This conclusion had some loop holes that I cant forgive but it still manages to do what I love so much about this series and that is keep the big three or trinity out of the limelight. Let me address the hole first, what happen to Animal Man? If you recall he was a part of this whole mix up with Anansi, but poof! He is a non-entity in the storyline and instead it focused on Vixen, which isn’t a bad thing because that was done remarkably so.

My co-worker whom I have been writing about is a fan of Vixen so getting to see her featured in the comic is definitely a wanted welcoming for a new reader who may see a favorite team member like Vixen fall to the back in a lot of issues. The surprising work on Justice League of America is how great McDuffie has been at creating storylines that have allowed character development and I am pleased to keep reading. Justice League of America will probably be bumped to the Left side of this page soon for quick access along with Justice Society of America depending on the strength of the next story arc’s until then enjoy…













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Justice League of America #24 is next up for review. I have not been impressed greatly with the direction Justice League of America has been going with the back story and development of this new villain Anansi. It is a cool idea and injecting an African folklore character into the DCU is interesting, but everything has to fold into place. Looking at the cover of this issue you would think that is what is going to be explored, Anansi and his link to Animal Man and Vixen, but we get none of that…

Instead what we get is the conclusion to the Amazo storyline and a very quick wrap up to the Red Tornado return. The action in the series is awesome and it very huge fight panels, very good drawing and solid writing for what is presented, but we only got two pages where we get more on this mystery behind Vixen’s powers and Animal Man’s connection with Anansi as well. I’m looking forward to a bit more than what is presented here for the story. Amazo has become a very pale villain for the Justice League to fight, he is almost just a training tool, I am not trying to take away from his power and abilities, but the Justice League has learned to effectively deal with him…










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McDuffie and Benes are back at it with The Second Coming Chapter two; Things Fall Apart in Justice League of America #23. This is part two of the return of Amazo! In JLA #22 the Amazo program awoke in the old body of Red Tornado and transferred itself into the new body the JLA was prepping for Red Tornado. As the back drop to this story we have Vixen who is kicked off the team until her power problems are figured out. The story is interesting and intriguing, especially since the last time we saw Amazo he was so easily defeated at the hands of the Justice League. By the way this also happens to be a Sightings issue. I am happy DC has decided to remove the banner they were plastering across the top of all the Sightings issue.



The story opens up with Vixen, Canary, and Zatanna meeting about Vixen’s power problems. Trying to restore the Tantu Totem, Zatanna is repelled when she discovers that Vixen and Animal man are under the magics of a very powerful being, one more powerful than herself. This new villain that will be revealed in upcoming issues is Anansi, the African Spider God. There is an interesting story here in itself that this character is being introduced into the DC world. Anansi is based on African folklore which carried over to Jamaica and has been told for a long time. You can look up various stories about the trickster spider, Anansi on the web. They are very good children tales that teach values and morals in a very interesting way.



That’s for later though the rest of the issue is the Justice League combating the new and improved Amazo. Batman and Black Lightning wake up and quickly alert the Leaguers of the intruder. Superman is already on the job though dealing damage, as much as he can, to the new and improved Amazo. Amazo responds to his assailant by mimicking Firestorms powers and giving Superman a hefty dose of Solar Radiation. Flash is quickly on the scene and there to aide his friend, but Amazo has too many tricks up his sleeves for the speedster who manages to escape by draining the speed from Amazo. It’s a pretty good fight scene and exceptionally narrated from Flash’s perspective. I think Flash is probably only one of a few characters that a writer could pull this narration while in battle concept with.



Amazo has some really good moves here fighting the Leaguers; wrapping Hawkgirl up in a mimicked lasso and keeping Wonder Woman at bay with some fancy heat vision. All comes crashing down on him as Hal uses some of that Guardian approved lethal force in order to severely damage Amazo forcing him into retreat. He phases through the floor and goes into hiding. All of this culminates with Amazo reappearing and dismantling the remaining members of the JLA before targeting Vixen who he deems a higher level threat than any other Leaguer. It was Vixen who single-handedly defeated his last incarnation thanks to her power sapping abilities.



Vixen believing the same will work again begins draining Amazo’s powers, but Anansi warns her it won’t work, either because he won’t allow it or she just can’t. That’s unclear but it is definitely showing how much a liability Vixen is without dealing with this new threat. I like the Anansi introduction into the DCU even if it does seem like a very weird concept to introduce. For Animal Man and Vixen the character as a villain works. The cliff hanger with Amazo poised to kill Vixen was definitely a memorable ending as well.



On the back pages was a farewell to one of the greatest artist in the industry, Michael Turner, whether you agree or not the man’s covers were legendary. His own artwork in Aspen, Marvel and DC are in my opinion are the greatest ever to grace the pages of comics anywhere. Many would say his characters were over done with rippling muscles and fantasy definition, but I looked and saw a man with an understanding of the anatomy and how to make that look dynamic in each panel. He made a superhero come to life and leap off the pages, when I read a comic book with art by Turner I felt that I was reading about gods amongst men and the detailed in each characters and backgrounds were always amazing. He is a great artist that will be missed. Thank you DC for paying respect to the man and the legend who kept putting out comics through his tremendous and inspiring fight with an illness that cripples many.
Benes is a great artist and I love his work on the series.



The only disappointment with this issue is that where is Red Tornado? We have Amazo parading around in his new body and we don’t even get a glimpse of Red Tornado or his wife in the whole issue? Did you enjoy the read?

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Justice League of America #22 brings the series back on track with great writing and even better art and a direction for the future I am happy to see. The Last issue was a DC “Sightings” event which meant it tied into the Final Crisis series as a bread crumb and I can’t say I liked the issue too much as it strayed from the direction the series was going, but like I said JLA #22 brings everything back in line with what I want and more.



This story Arc is entitled the “Second Coming” chapter one, for those who have not been following the events in JLA, Red Tornado has basically loss his body again. Yes, this is not the first time and it will probably not be the last time. However some of the greatest minds on the Earth, to include Dr. Magnus, Batman, Niles Caulder, Mr. Terrific and even Zatanna have built Reddy a new improved body which looks awesome, but begs the question would he be called the Red Tornado if he were in the new body?



Reddy has been holed up in the JLA computer waiting for this procedure and now he begins questioning whether or not it is worth it because he will never experience the love and or feelings that he has witnessed the other members of the JLA witness. This has always been a nice dynamic with the Red Tornado character. Before the operation though things get a little weird as the secondary programming that Reddy was telling Batman and the others he felt within his systems reveals itself to be none other than Amazo. Amazo has fully repaired the old Red Tornado body and wreaks havoc upon the Justice League with a preemptive strike. He then assumes the new and improved body built for Red Tornado.



This is a nice story as it defines the pace and events of the current arc, but I was more interested in the back stories going on, namely the love relationship between Hawkgirl and Red Arrow. This was nice because of the Final Crisis series where the two were working to defeat the Human Flame, but in this story the relationship is given some depth with insight from Superman and Green Lantern. Meanwhile Vixen reveals to the team the truth about the current status of her powers.



Black Canary shows just how compassionate she can be while maintaining her leadership role of the JLA by removing Vixen from the team according to the bylaws. Canary doesn’t want the team jeopardized, but she still decides to help Vixen figure out what is wrong with her powers which seems to be the start of a Vixen story arc later this summer. All in all I am pleased with this issue. McDuffie and Benes put together an excellent job and manage to get readers interested in the storyline after the short hiatus that was “Sightings.”



Hopefully, you enjoy the read as much as I did, so go pick up a copy from your local retailer. Don't forget to come and check out the blog as i take on Worlds one day at a time. I'm excited and looking forward to it with great anticipation.

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