Singularity 7 - Ben Templesmith

I'll be straight here. I bought this for the art. The story wasn't even a consideration. I'm pretty cynical about artists who decide they are going to be writers. Which was just as well as story wise this was a bit of a non-event. It's an OK idea but there's no real meat to the plot. Nothing essentially happens and then the world ends but doesn't.

The pictures though...gosh! He really is in a league of his own. I really dug his 30 Days of Night art but vampires are never my favourites so I wasn't too into the book. Fell on the other hand was an absolute beaute. Teamed with someone who can write, plot and layout Templesmith absolutely shines. Hopefully there'll be more soon.

Supreme Power: Nighthawk - Daniel Way & Steve Dillon

I'm not really sure what the purpose of these Supreme Power books are but they seem to be particularly violent.

This one is focused on the Kyle Richmond Nighthawk character who seems to have changed colour since I last read anything with him in. He's now an angry black billionaire with a rubber suit fetish and a violent streak.

Nighthawk was always a piss poor Batman riff and this book seems determined to actually dig that hole even deeper by giving him his very own clown faced adversary complete with tank of poisonous gas. The finale takes place in a water filtration site with the character doing something or other to it.

The art, obviously, is Steve Dillon level beautiful. Clean, crisp and natural. As for the story though, I'm not sure what I thought. It wasn't bad but it was depressingly violent. Realistic or voyeuristic? I can't decide.

Rising Stars:Born in Fire - J. Michael Straczynski & others

Straczynski is the creator and (almost) sole writer of Babylon 5 which wasn't a show I ever got into. The few episodes I saw were uninteresting and I think the best thing to come out of it was the line in Spaced.

This comic is his attempt at superheroes. He's going for the big concept aspect here and while Rising Stars certainly doesn't suck it falls way short of what he was aiming for.

The basic plot revolves around a group of 113 people affected by some cosmic energy or other whilst in utero. Focusing on their subsequent travails when one of the costumed meatheads amongst them realises that they all get more powerful whenever one of them dies and so goes on a killing spree.

It was horribly cliched for the most part and some of the plot development was just utterly ridiculous - I'm thinking here of the sudden team up between costumed meathead #1, his so-called arch-enemy (who we'd had next to no previous introduction to) and the god-bothering closeted gay lightbulb and his dad where they immediately convinced the government that the other powery types were eeviillll - bwah-ha-ha!

From that point on things just degenerated into a non-stop plunge into violent absurdity. There was little nuance and even less plot development. Instead it was full steam ahead to the intermission and it's big reveal. The only hint to this came a couple of pages before which left it feeling a lot like an afterthought.

I read this lying in bed, half drunk on cheap lager and even cheaper (but surprisingly tasty) brandy. It passed an hour and that was good. If the second volume turns up in the library I'll borrow it because I'm a completist saddo but on the whole this was pretty damn weak.

Powers vol 9: Psychotic - Brian Bendis & Michael Oeming

Deena goes completely over the edge in this one as she uses her new power Grosse Point Blank style on her obsessed ex-boyfriend.

The main story revolves around the search for a killer and a magic gem. The case is solved quite quickly before the gem goes missing again and we get a flashback to 'little' Deena.

I really dig the back story of Walker teaching Calysta how to use her powers and the interaction between the two is a joy.

I'm not sure where this book is going at the moment but I'm digging it and I've three more volumes sat on top of the speaker in front of me.

Powers vol 8: Legends - Brian Bendis & Michael Oeming

Dealing with the fallout of the events of the previous volume when one of the world's most powerful Powers went nuts and destroyed a few cities this is an odd volume.

There're two distinct threads running through it. One is the arrival of a new Retro-Girl and the other is the return to work of Pilgrim after her not near but actual death experience in the last vol.

The appearance of the new Retro-Girl ignites all the newly retired (by presidential decree) hero powers to return and sort out the new powered up gang warfare that has erupted in their absence.

Deena gets caught up in the war early on and is tortured by one of the players. This torturing brings on Powers of her own and she manages to bust free.

It's a fun volume but a little on the slight side. It didn't seem to take very long to read but I didn't really clock the time. The whole thing feels like a set up for something bigger.

I like this series.

Doctor Who: Peacemaker - James Swallow

I really like Swallow's writing. Some of his 40K books have been cracking, especially 'Flight of the Eisenstein' which was top notch. This one though took a while to get going. The setting didn't help - the wild west - as it's maybe got to be a little passe.

The story itself was a fairly typical piece of Who with the Doctor pitched against a couple (then trio) of sentient and psycotic hand guns called The Clade. The story chugs along until about halfway through when it starts to find it's feet a little and is all the better for it.

One of the main problems of these books I think is no-one really knows what to do with Martha. I didn't mind her in the TV show but in print you can feel the personality vacuum of her character. She sits on the page and sucks away any and all life from the scenes she's in.

A bit of an off day for Mr. Swallow this one though.