Booster Gold #10
Decent issue, though the "Time-Stealers" don't really seem to have amounted to much here; the JLI easily hands them their asses, apart from Black Beetle; we'll have to see how the final issue turns out, but it's dispiriting that, at this point, Johns & Katz are going with the most predictable of all endings for the series. Jurgens' art continues to be very high quality.
Captain Britain and MI: 13 #2
A good second issue, although it lays on the Wisdom continuity pretty thick here, which is maybe not the best strategy given that that didn't exactly light up the charts; Faiza's (start the codename speculation!) superpower is interesting, though I'm not clear on how her and Dane are going to tie-in to the Avalon invasion at this point. Cornell gives us a lot of action, and fun dialogue that has the right amount of gravity (I really liked Spitfire's description of Excalibur). Leonard Kirk's art on this series is fantastic.
Clandestine #5
Davis' enjoyable revisiting of his old Marvel UK property ends, and while the finale isn't the strongest issue of the series, feeling a bit rushed given the amount of stuff that's packed in here, it's still very entertaining. Davis obviously included a lot of his old plot ideas, so there's a certain unconnectedness to most of what's going on (the three-issue-long visit to the alternate Earth ruled by evil Inhumans, for example, has basically nothing to do with the main plot; it's mostly just a sidetrip allowing Davis to write and draw classic Excalibur against). The series actually ends on a tease, so hopefully Davis has future stories in the works.
Huntress: Year One #3
Newbie writer Ivory Madison is really turning in great work here as the series hits it's half-way point; we're still in Sicily, as Helena finds herself confronting the various people out to steal her inheritance (3 billion dollars), who are the leaders of The Hand (they aren't ninjas, at least, just five Italian guys ranging from the Prime Minister to the leader of the global Italian mafia, the latter of whom, as it turns out, being the man who ordered the hit on her family). Cliff Richards' art is really great; perfect for this kind of project. We see Helena in costume for the first time here (I miss the old Huntress outfit; the newer one is nice, but the old purple is a favourite).
Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #3
Iron Man finds himself facing an Excalibur-powered Doom, who is now invincible, and, after some advice from Merlin, races to locate the sword's scabbard, which makes the holder invulnerable. Most of the issue is a battle of wits between the two as they try to work through various traps to find the scabbard; Tony wins, and, of course, it's only then that Doom lets him in on the fact that he needs to unite the two in order to defeat the giant eye that's coming to destroy the Earth (my first thought was of the Eye of Odin from those old issues of Thor, but as I recall Thor tossed that into Mmir).
Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?
Captain Marvel: Decent story, though I find Marvel's motivations kind of confusing.
Agent Brand: This one was pretty good, though I think the art could have been more suited; I liked the look inside SWORD's workings.
Beast/Wonder Man: I've always hated this dynamic, because Beast invariably gets sold down the river and loses about 100 IQ points any time he goes near Simon.
Marvel Boy: I liked the reconcilation of the events of Young Avengers/Runaways with Noh-Varr's current status (and he gets maybe the best line here).
Agents of Atlas: The only one of the three stories without an scheduled follow-up, it's also extremely strong (shame Kirk couldn't draw it, but he's gone on to bigger things).
Wonder Woman #21
Structurally, this story is still a bit confusing, as Simone leaves implied how Diana got from the flashback in the last issue to the current snowy land of Beowulf; initially it seemed like that blackness transported her there, but now it seems that she and Stalker just teleported there on her magic seashell. Speaking of that, Beowulf brings up the issue of Diana's current apostasy (though her powers still work, so the gods can't be that annoyed), which is good, and Kane demonstrates a nice bit of benevolent deity. And we get a hint about the status of Alkyone. Aaron Lopresti's art is really excellent here (and Diana's got a bunch of really cool outfits).
