Ok, so I’m not sure it’s really a “versus” book. I mean, sure, it’s got the Atlas guys fighting the X-Men, but it’s really just an Agents of Atlas issue with an X-Men crossover (much like the New Avengers crossover early in the Atlas series).

Parker does an unsurprisingly fantastic job, though I wish there’d been a little more recap–I can’t remember if Venus got snatched in the Atlas finale, though I know for sure Parker did start laying the groundwork. He mixes the unfunny X-Men brilliantly with the humorous, but serious, Atlas team.

Pagulayan’s artwork is excellent as always, a slick modern Marvel style without sacrificing expressiveness. The backup, which is just a fun insert instead of dramatically important, has lovely art from Samnee. Along with the other Atlas backups, it does more to establish the series’s perceived playfulness than anything in the modern stories.

So apparently Christopher Priest could always write. This issue of Power Man and Iron Fist makes me wish I had the rest of the series, or at least Priest’s work on it. The really strong part about the comic is how well Priest paints the ranges of characters’ motivations. When S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to blow-up the Beyonder’s fortress, they aren’t necessarily bad–just like when the Falcon essentially puts them up to it.

But when Iron Fist realizes it’s wrong, he’s definitely the good guy. I never knew the series was so packed with guest stars–besides the two main characters, there’s Fury, Falcon, the Beyonder and Captain Hero (a DC hero trapped in a Marvel universe)–but Priest makes it clear it’s Luke and Danny’s book.

Obviously, being a Secret Wars II crossover hampers it a little, but there’s a lot of good stuff going on here. Lots.

It’s finally over. I’m sure no one thought, seeing this series, Leon would go on to do anything good. Or draw anything competently. I mean, the art in this issue is the worst so far. It’s absolutely atrocious. I guess Dark Horse was being mindful of Robocop as a children’s property at this time, which might explain the goofy artwork, but some of it’s worse than goofy, it’s just plain bad. For instance, the female sidekick, Leon’s rendition of her is laughable. She might as well have been a trapezoid with a wig.

There’s only action in this issue; it’s hard to tell what’s Arcudi’s fault and what isn’t. It’s terrible, but it’s a terrible approach to the property and not necessarily Arcudi’s doing.

See how nice I am, giving him the benefit of the doubt? It makes me feel better when I say kindergartners could make a better comic.

In one of the letter pages, the editor said Robocop would never meet up with any Marvel superheroes (I guess the licensing worked differently than that Spider-Man crossover with the Transformers) and this issue kind of shows why it wouldn’t work.

The last two issues have been about costumed vigilantes. Some of them are silly, some of them aren’t. And in the issue, it turns into a huge bloodbath. Grant tells this story without making any kind of comment on the superhero comic other than generally–he doesn’t point out the absurdity in the superhero comic as a concept–it’s not like there’s a scene where the Joker just shoots Batman.

It sets up Robocop a little different than the traditional comic book, as these issues sort of dismiss the idea of Robocop as a “comic book superhero.” Instead, it’s something else.

It’s a good issue, though occasionally obvious.

Wow, it’s best issue so far. It’s still a complete piece of crap, but it’s the best issue so far. Why’s it the best issue? I have no idea, maybe I’m just being generous. Maybe the art is a little bit (we’re talking on the microscopic level) better. Or maybe because Waid isn’t having his protagonist giving speeches Sarah Palin would think are stupid?

Speaking of the protagonist, isn’t Max Damage a standard character name for everything? You’d think Boom! would have wanted something they could trademark.

So the big cliffhanger is that Max became a good guy because instead of him killing a bunch of people, the Plutonian did it.

Lame, but about on par with what I’ve come to expect from this comic book.

There isn’t anything to Incorruptible at all, except to see a smaller publisher exploit a property as selfishly as one of the big two.

Is this my first issue of Thor? It might be, at least as an adult. I thought there was a miniseries I read, but probably not. I’ve always just assumed they sucked.

I mean, I don’t all of a sudden love Thor or something; it’s still really wordy and obnoxious and not even when it’s just Thor talking, Simonson has some really talky narration. And even with the lame story from Secret Wars II continuing–the Beyonder gave a Thor villain infinite power to see if the villain would be happy after killing Thor–and the Power Pack showing up (did Simonson and his wife coordinate their Secret Wars II crossover issues, because they use the same storytelling techniques), there’s something likable about this comic.

I think it might be Thor. He’s talks too much and is kind of obnoxious, but he’s a good guy.

Much better than I figured.

There’s some really awful art this issue. I’m pretty sure the last panel is the silliest panel so far in the series. It’s like a two dimensional … I don’t know what, but something atrocious.

The issue really ramps up like it’s going to stop being stupid towards the end–though I do appreciate Arcudi not giving Robocop internal dialogue–but then it just craps out, which shouldn’t surprise me.

What’s really stunning about the comic is how poorly paced these issues are getting. Leon wastes panel after panel with his artwork and it’s not like he’s capable of passing time well. The series maybe should have been three issues, with a competent artist, but with Leon, four issues is just disastrous.

Then there’s the big reveal this issue and it’s superbly lame, as it directly depends on the reader remembering a conversation from the first issue between two incidental characters.

Thank goodness, DeMulder’s back.

Grant’s doing another multi-part story here, with Robocop trying to deal with OCP (his bosses) inspired vigilantism. It’s a little strange, just because it’s in a comic book so you’ve got the protagonist fighting the traditional protagonists of the medium. There are some absurd vigilantes and then some more serious ones–it’s never clear where the more serious ones get their wonderful toys.

Robocop’s sergeant shows up in this issue–maybe the first time he does in the Marvel comic series, I can’t remember–but still no Officer Lewis (did Grant forget he implied romantic tension between her and Robocop in the series’s first issue?).

There’s some weak dialogue from Robocop and the gang emphasis reminds a little too much of the previous issue, but it’s fine. I’m a little less impressed than usual, just because the vigilante stuff is so contrived and so silly.

I hate Palmiotti and Gray’s writing. I mock them every time I look through Previews. So damned if I know what I’ll do now one of their comics has made me tear up, has ruined my day, effectively kicked me in the stomach to the point I want to crawl up in the fetal position.

Clearly, the reason this issue of Jonah Hex succeeds is Darwyn Cooke’s artwork. No way anyone else could have made this story so affecting.

I should want to read more of their issues, just in case I’m missing something, but I don’t think anything can really top this issue. In just one issue, they fit in about as much tragedy as occurs in Hamlet.

It’s not particularly thoughtful tragedy, or brilliantly plotted tragedy, but it’s real effective and all because of Cooke. It’s haunting, in fact.

Though the cover doesn’t do the interior content justice.

People actually read this comic? I mean, I couldn’t understand a single word of it. It’s got an insane continuity to follow, but you also have to be able to translate Gillis’s writing into narrative. It’s just a bunch of events, without any connecting scenes, over and over again. All in one comic book. It’s nuts.

In fact, it’s so confounding, I don’t even know how to talk about it. What do they call those issues now? “Jumping on points”? Micronauts–even with the Secret Wars II crossover–clearly did not care about new readers or even casual readers (I thought I had some idea who the Micronauts were–still don’t know if it’s correct, but was that Ambush Bug in the issue?).

But it does have Kelley Jones on–not just mainstream art–but Marvel art. It’s crazy; almost worth looking at for his contribution alone.

I said “almost.”