UNTIL YOUR HEART STOPS v33.1
by Brian Domingos

Checkered Floor

February 17th, 2010

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day. The Wife and I didn’t do anything special: we caught a movie (Benecio del Toro’s THE WOLF MAN), had dinner and spent a bulk of the weekend clearing out the DVR.

I like to horde shows that are on there – I’ve got the Spring episodes of “White Collar,” “Burn Notice,” “Psych” and a couple others that I can’t think of, all piling up. I’ve done the same thing with the new “Human Target” series, and with between that and the JSA “Smallville,” I made a weekend out of the comic book shows.

I watched the pilot of the “Human Target” and, while I missed the Peter Milligan version, there was a lot of like about the more classic version of the character. Mark Valley is a cocky and capable Christopher Chance, which is a great way to play it. He’s always in control and he can always figure out how to get his client out of the jam. I liked the idea of starting the series at the end of a job, using the cold open to show just what kind of guy Chance is and how he works. (We also got to see Duck get blown up, which was an added bonus.)

Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley serve as the supporting cast, playing the contrasting sides of Chance’s personality. McBride’s Winston is logical and thoughtful. Haley’s Guerrero is the hard edge that’s willing to bend the rules to the breaking point to get the job done. We see them face off against each other – their only connection being chance – forced to work together to help out their friend. Tricia Helfer plays the first client, an engineer who helped develop an $80 billion supertrain on the California coast. Someone’s trying to kill her and Chance poses as her translator to blend into the background and find the assassin. Chance’s character is developed quickly and Valley has a subtle charm that persona. He’s likeable, which is a major plus. Helfer is almost attractive and almost engaging. She’s this generation’s Lucy Lawless – a genre actress who’s half-good in seemingly everything.

As far as pilots go, I thought it had some problems – it was kind of boring – but I thought there was a lot of potential. I quickly connected with the main cast, which is half the battle. Give them some half decent scripts and we’ll have a winner here.

Then there’s the “Smallville” movie that focused on the Justice Society of America, “Absolute Justice.” I used to watch “Smallville” on a regular basis but it kept getting more and more ridiculous so I bailed. (Remembering, it might have been around when Jeph Loeb was coming on as writer, but I don’t recall exactly.) It’s been years since I even paid attention to the characters or stories. The two-hour TV movie was written by one of the current architects of the DC Universe and longtime J.S.A. writer Geoff Johns so I figured it’s probably not going to get any better than this, so it’s worth a shot.

Overall, it’s about as good as “Smallville” ever was, so take that as you will. Clark (Tom Welling) Kent’s best friend Chloe (Allison Mack) Sullivan has been acting as a sort of facilitator for the various superheroes running around Metropolis and that gig has always gotten her into trouble. She’s worked with Clark alongside Green Arrow/Oliver (Justin Hartley) Queen and J’onn (Phil Morris) J’onnz calling herself “Watchtower” and doing the techie thing. She’s pretty much the “Smallville” version of Oracle, which is kind of silly but it’s somewhere in the realm of who her character has always been, so it makes sense.

So Chloe gets tracked down by a costumed Star-Spangled Kid/Sylvester () Pemberton (complete with Jack Knight’s cosmic rod) who tries to warn her of coming trouble. He’s then killed by an unknown icy assailant and Chloe enlists Clark to figure out who he was. This leads them on the trail of these random criminals who seemingly are unrelated. They start to unravel the story of these criminals and their pasts which leads them to Wesley (Ken Lawson) Dodds, Carter (Michael Shanks) Hall, Courtney (Britt Irvin) Whitmore and Kent (Brent Stait) Nelson. It’s a long process but it’s revealed through some detective work that the criminals were actually costumed adventurers. (In addition to the named above we also briefly see Alan Scott, Ted Grant, Jay Garrick, Al Pratt and, yeah - Ma Hunkel.) Clark learns a little about his Fate, Chloe learns how to better manage her team and Oliver and Carter get to do their famous head-butting.

The plot also sets up Checkmate as a major threat in the “Smallville” universe. Amanda (Pam Grier) Waller is responsible for releasing The Icicle (Wesley MacInnes) after the J.S.A. members. She, well, she looks the part, which I don’t know if it’s a compliment.

It’s largely well done. Hawkman looks a little silly, but how could he not? Shanks does a good job as Carter but his Hawkman has a Christian Bale-esque grumble that is kind of embarrassing. But he’s well cast as the gruff and damaged leader of the J.S.A. Irvin’s not bad as Stargirl, either. (That right there must have been a mind-blowing thrill for Johns; he got into the biz and created Courtney a decade ago and now he’s writing her on prime-time TV.)

I love Checkmate and I love the idea of it being on the weekly “Smallville” show as the shadowy agency behind the scenes. They are already manipulating the characters – by influencing Lois (Erica Durance) Lane – and there were even hints to more J.S.A. villains being out there. Now, I don’t know if it’s enough to get me to watch every week but I might consider thinking about adding it to the DVR, which is better odds than the last couple of years.

One last word on this stuff: THE WOLF MAN. It’s directed by Joe Johnston, the guy at the helm of the CAPTAIN AMERICA movie, so I thought it was relevant. The movie itself is a high C+/low B-. There’s nothing wrong with it but there wasn’t anything all that great about it. I did think it was lovely to look at and as a period piece, it gave me an idea of what the Cap WWII movie would look like. (Plus, Johnston directed one of the greatest period piece superhero movies, THE ROCKETEER, so we’ve got hope.)

Jeez, this month has flown by. It's halfway through February and it feels like it's almost March. It's just, you look at lists of comics coming in March and they're barely two weeks away: the final hardcover of PLANETARY is due that day. That's amazing. In the meantime:

Upcoming…
Books and items shipping Wednesday February 17th, 2010

OCT090885 9TH SLEEP GN $12.95
NOV090854 ADVENTURES OF SIMONE & AJAX GN $19.99

DEC090264 AIR #18
Vertigo/DC Comics
$2.99

Blythe has had a rough couple of months but she's ready to get back on the job. It's been a long time since we've seen that. She's on the road to master flying the Hyperwing 307, a super fancy hyperprax airship. Sounds dangerous, and if I know Blythe, it probably is. More good stuff from Willow Wilson and MK Perker.

NOV090779 ALMOST SILENT HC $24.99
DEC090476 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #621 GNTLT $2.99
DEC090916 ANGEL #30 $3.99
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DEC090905 ARMY OF TWO #2 $3.99
AUG090317 ASTOUNDING WOLF MAN TP VOL 03 $16.99
NOV090372 ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #21 (RES) $2.99
DEC090976 ATOMIC ROBO REVENGE O/T VAMPIRE DIMENSION #1 (OF 4) $3.50

DEC090240 THE AUTHORITY: THE LOST YEAR #6 (OF 12)
Wildstorm/DC Comics
$2.99

That last issue of "The Lost Year" had some great moments and now it's time for more Authority-fun with... Brian Stelfreeze and Joel Gomez? If I wasn't already there I'd have to make a special trip.

DEC090486 AVENGERS VS ATLAS #2 (OF 4) $3.99
DEC090161 AZRAEL #5 $2.99
NOV090248 BALLAD OF A SHINIGAMI VOL 03 $9.99

DEC090155 BATMAN #696
DC Comics
$2.99

Tony Daniel's run on BATMAN continues and it's pretty damned great. He's weaving different villains together - and it's not the usual suspects, either. The Black Mask story is coming to a head and I'm curious to see the identity of that newest sociopath. Art's awesome, too. I recommend this more than I thought I would.

JUL090312 BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE MARSHALL ROGERS $80.00

DEC090157 BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #9
DC Comics
$3.99

So this is the final part of Mike Benson's two-issue story and.. well. OK - it's not a very good story. I mean, it's like a stock-piled Batman story - there's nothing about it that's Dick/Batman unique, which I think is a flaw these days. It could be Bruce in the suit, which is lovely and all, he's not in the suit, so that makes a difference. It seems like Benson wrote this a while back and submitted it for "Streets of Gotham". The saving grace is the art team: Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs are excellent and the result is a meh story with great art. The MANHUNTER arc feels like it's coming to a conclusion. I've enjoyed it - I certainly like Jeremy Haun working with Marc Andreyko but it's almost time for Kate Spencer to get a break.

DEC090231 BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #14 $2.50
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AUG090267 BLACKEST NIGHT SER 3 STAR SAPPHIRE AF PI

DEC090140 BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #3 (OF 3)
DC Comics
$2.99

"Rogues Revenge: Part Two" has lots of cool scenes and it's nice to see Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins working together. It's weird, though, because to me, Johns+Kolins=Wally and, with Barry there and the new series on the horizon, it feels like Johns is two-timing with Francis Manupal. Weird, no? Anyway, #2 ended with the new Captain Boomerang showing up and I'm hoping Johns gives us some more clues as to his history. His final issue of FLASH gave some clues but it also raised more questions.

JUL090100 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL NOVEL VOL 01 SWORD DEMON $10.99
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OCT090793 CARS #1 $2.99

DEC090372 CHASE VARIANT ONE SHOT IS ALL I NEED
Image Comics
$3.99

This is Rich Johnston's satirical look at '90s comics which makes it funny to have it released by Image - home of the long time offenders. I'm not going to break my neck trying to track this down but if I find it I'll enjoy it.

DEC090248 DANTES INFERNO #3 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99

DEC090490 DAREDEVIL #505
Marvel Comics
$2.99

Andy Diggle gets a co-writer - Antony Johnston - for this arc that sends Daredevil to Japan... Land of Ninja! The art's by Marco Checchetto and the preview pages I saw looked nice.

DEC090436 DARK AVENGERS #14 SIEGE $3.99
DEC090596 DARK AVENGERS PREM HC VOL 02 MOLECULE MAN $19.99

NOV090173 DC UNIVERSE: ORIGINS TPB
DC Comics
$14.99

This is a collection of the quick origin stories of the heroes and villains from 52 and COUNTDOWN. I've read all of the 52 stories and a few from COUNTDOWN. The art all looks terrific - by folks like Doug Mahnke, Ethan Van Sciver, Andy Kubert and lots of others. This was sort of an impulse preorder for me. Oh well.

NOV090510 DEADPOOL #19 $2.99
DEC090461 DEADPOOL MERC WITH A MOUTH #8 $2.99
DEC090492 DEATHLOK #4 (OF 7) $3.99
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NOV090669 DIE HARD: YEAR ONE #6
Boom! Studios
$3.99

Oddly enough the second arc of DIE HARD: YEAR ONE takes place a year after the first, which defeats the purpose of the title. It's still a good book, though. John McClane's a detective now and he and his new partner are investigating a string of robberies that runs parallel to the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City. I suspect they'll get wrapped up into it soon enough.

DEC090493 DOCTOR VOODOO AVENGER OF SUPERNATURAL #5 $2.99
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SEP090521 FANTASTIC FOUR IN SEARCH OF GALACTUS PREM HC $29.99
SEP090522 FANTASTIC FOUR IN SEARCH OF GALACTUS PREM HC DM ED 39 $29.99
DEC090735 FARSCAPE ONGOING #4 $3.99

NOV090175 FINAL CRISIS – AFTERMATH: DANCE TPB
DC Comics
$17.99

I love Joe Casey and I thought this was the perfect story for him to write. It's a showcase of the Super Young Team, complete with corporate sponsors, twitter feeds and superpowers. It felt a lot like his previous book, THE INTIMATES, which pleased me quite a bit.

DEC090249 FREE REALMS #6 (OF 12) $3.99
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DEC090890 GI JOE COBRA II #2 $3.99
DEC090896 GI JOE TP VOL 02 $19.99

DEC090136 GREEN LANTERN #51
DC Comics
$2.99

Uh oh - in order to defeat Black Lantern Spectre, Hal re-bonded with the Parallax entity. It's supposed to be temporary but we'll see about that. The other New Guardians - Sinestro, Indigo-1, etc. - are going to have to stop him.

DEC090138 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #45
DC Comics
$2.99

Man, Peter Tomasi and Pat Gleason have really been kicking ass on GREEN LANTERN CORPS. It's been crossing over with BLACKEST NIGHT for nearly a year yet it feels like its own book. The Kyle/Natu story has been great and seeing Red Lantern Guy Gardner in action is a thrill. We've had the death and resurrection (by love!) story plus Mogo stepping up and taking care of hundreds of Black Lanterns Itself. So so so good.

DEC090534 GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #23 $2.99
DEC090595 HALO HELLJUMPER PREM HC (MR) $24.99
DEC090271 HELLBLAZER #264 (MR) $2.99
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DEC090506 HULK #20 FOH $3.99
DEC090602 HULK PREM HC VOL 04 HULK VS X-FORCE $24.99
OCT090783 HUNTERS FORTUNE #3 (OF 4) $3.99

DEC090685 IGNITION CITY HC VOL 01 (MR) $27.99
DEC090686 IGNITION CITY HC VOL 01 DUAL SGN ED (MR) $49.99
DEC090684 IGNITION CITY, VOL. 1 TPB
Avatar Press
$19.99

The latest collection from Warren Ellis' creator-owned group of books over at Avatar, IGNITION CITY is the story pilot Mary Raven, the death of her father and an island of space heroes. It's illustrated by Gianluca Pagliarani (Ellis' collaborator on AETHERIC MECNANICS) and pretty crudely colored.

DEC090739 INCORRUPTIBLE #3
Boom! Studios
$3.99

Mark Waid's "bad guy gone good" is inspirational.

DEC090504 INCREDIBLE HERCULES #141 $3.99
DEC090509 INCREDIBLE HULK #607 FOH $3.99
OCT090797 INCREDIBLES #5 $2.99
NOV090384 INVINCIBLE #70 $2.99
DEC098263 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #21 2ND PTG VAR (PP #904) $2.99
DEC098264 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22 2ND PTG VAR (PP #904) $2.99
DEC090933 JENNIFER LOVE HEWITTS MUSIC BOX #3 $3.99

DEC090274 JOE THE BARBARIAN #2 (OF 8)
Vertigo/DC Comics
$2.99

So issues one of JOE THE BARBARIAN was a whole lot of set up for the next seven issues. I'm eager to see what Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy have cooked up for us this time around.

DEC090195 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #42
DC Comics
$3.99

This picks up from last issue's "Cry For Justice" aftermath... but that story's not done yet. One more week. I'll get #7 of "CfJ" next week and then I'll have two issues of James Robinson and Mark Bagley's J.L.A. to read.

DEC090575 KICK ASS PREM HC (RES) (MR) $24.99
DEC090576 KICK ASS PREM HC DM ED (RES) (MR) $24.99
NOV090860 KING AROO HC VOL 01 $39.99

NOV090180 KOBRA: RESURRECTION TPB
DC Comics
$19.99

Kobra was one of those villains who were spotlighted in last year's "Faces of Evil" storyline. Ivan Brandon reintroduced him and that story turned into the excellent Eric Trautmann/Don Kramer JSA VS KOBRA series. Oh course, before that, Kobra was a big part of the final three issues of Greg Rucka and Trautmann's CHECKMATE run. And before that, we've got the origin of Kobra and all that with Martin Pasko and Jack Kirby. It's a nice little collection, that's great even just for the Brandon issue and the CHECKMATE three-parter, starring Superman and... The Rooks!

DEC090630 LADY DEADPOOL BY LIEFELD POSTER $8.99
DEC090711 LEAST I COULD DO BEGINNINGS HC VOL 01 LOOK AT ME $19.95
NOV090846 LOCKE & KEY CROWN OF SHADOWS #3 $3.99
NOV090658 LOGANS RUN #1 $3.99
DEC090190 MAGOG #6 $2.99

MAY090518 MARVELS EYE OF CAMERA #6 (OF 6) B&W VAR $3.99
MAY090517 MARVELS: EYE OF CAMERA #6 (OF 6)
Marvel Comics
$3.99

Holy crap - this hasn't ended yet? It's Kurt Busiek's sort-of sequel to MARVELS. Jay Anacleto's art is great but he's slow as hell. I'm still considering getting the collection but who knows when we'll see it.

NOV090577 MEANWHILE PICK ANY PATH 3856 STORY POSSIBILITIES $15.95
DEC090412 MICE TEMPLAR DESTINY #7 $2.99
DEC090601 MIGHTY AVENGERS PREM HC UNSPOKEN $19.99
DEC090250 MODERN WARFARE 2 GHOST #3 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99
DEC090941 NANOVOR GAME DAY TP VOL 01 $11.99
NOV090943 NAOKI URASAWA 20TH CENTURY BOYS GN VOL 07 $12.99

DEC090160 THE OUTSIDERS #27
DC Comics
$2.99

Dan Didio's first issue of THE OUTSIDERS was odd. I felt like I missed a bunch of pages while reading it, but maybe that's part of the charm. Philip Tan was touted as the artist but he's only doing about 60% of the issue. Don Kramer - and his new style - is doing the rest and it's just fine.

DEC090376 PERHAPANAUTS MOLLYS STORY (ONE SHOT) $3.50
AUG090995 PHANTOM GENERATIONS #8 $3.99
DEC090191 POWER GIRL #9 $2.99
DEC090561 PSYLOCKE #4 (OF 4) $3.99
DEC090522 PUNISHER #14 $2.99
DEC090837 RED HAIDA MANGA GN $22.95
NOV090888 RESURRECTION VOL 2 #8 $3.99
NOV090960 SHAKUGAN NO SHANA TP VOL 05 $9.99
JUL090134 SIMPSONS CLASSIC CHARACTER #4 BART $49.95
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DEC090875 SKIM GN $12.95
DEC090674 SONIC UNIVERSE #13 $2.50
DEC091069 SOUL EATER TP VOL 02 $10.99
DEC090483 SPIDER-MAN 1602 #5 (OF 5) $3.99
DEC090599 SPIDER-MAN GAUNTLET PREM HC ELECTRO SANDMAN $24.99
DEC090520 SPIDER-WOMAN #6 $2.99
DEC090448 STAND SOUL SURVIVORS #4 (OF 5) $3.99
DEC090912 STAR TREK DS9 FOOLS GOLD #3 $3.99
DEC090911 STAR TREK ROMULANS PAWNS OF WAR TP $19.99
DEC090066 STAR WARS KNIGHTS OLD REPUBLIC #50 (OF 50) DEMON PT 4 (OF 4 $2.99

OCT090253 STARMAN OMNIBUS, VOL. 4 HC
DC Comics
$49.99

It's weird, I've been waiting on this for so long I'm already looking towards the next Omnibus. But this one is important - it's got the STARMAN/POWER OF SHAZAM crossover, two previously uncollected "Times Past" issues (the only remaining STARMAN issues I've never read), the 80-page giant and the BATMAN/STARMAN/HELLBOY two-parter. That's just awesome. The actual STARMAN issues set up Jack's journey into space to search for the brother of his honey, Sadie... 'cuse me, there's something in my eye...

DEC090171 SUPERGIRL #50
DC Comics
$4.99

Big anniversary issue for SUPERGIRL. It's all thanks to Sterling Gates and his affection for the character - this book was floundering for the first couple years and he finally righted the ship and made it actually matter.

DEC090175 SUPERMAN/BATMAN #69 $2.99DEC090252 SUPERNATURAL BEGINNINGS END #2 (OF 6) $2.99
OCT090883 TAIMASHIN RED SPIDER EXORCIST GN VOL 01 $9.95
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DEC090822 TALISMAN ROAD OF TRIALS #4 $3.99
NOV090994 TENA ON S STRING GN VOL 02 $10.99
DEC090626 THOR BY DAN JURGENS & JOHN ROMITA JR TP VOL 02 $24.99
NOV090886 TICK NEW SERIES #2 $4.95
DEC090233 TINY TITANS #25 $2.50
DEC090900 TRANSFORMERS BUMBLEBEE #3 $3.99
DEC090902 TRANSFORMERS LAST STAND O/T WRECKERS #2 $3.99
DEC090546 UNCANNY X-MEN #521 $2.99
DEC090757 UNCLE SCROOGE #388 $2.99
SEP090079 UNCLE SCROOGE COMIC CHARACTER #6 BEAGLE BOY $49.95
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DEC090478 WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #5 GNTLT $3.99
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NOV090701 WIZARDS OF MICKEY HC VOL 01 MOUSE MAGIC $24.99
DEC090612 WOLVERINE DARK WOLVERINE TP PRINCE $14.99
JUL090328 WOMEN OF THE DCU SERIES 3 HIPPOLYTA BUST $60.00
NOV090902 ZMD ZOMBIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION #6 (OF 6) $3.25
DEC091070 ZOMBIE LOAN TP VOL 08 $10.99
DEC090922 ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS AVENTURE #1 (RES) $3.99

---

More reviews next week. See you then!

 

Brian Domingos is the Editor-in-Chief at Popimage.com. Questions? Comments? Love Notes? Email him via brian@popimage.com. To submit a comic for review, please email him at the email link. We're always interested to see what people have to offer. And you can follow me on Twitter @bdomingos


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