So, this month's GK is the end of the arc - because next month's is part of War Games?

Re: Outsiders 14 I love Jade. I fell for her in the Winick GL stuff, and have been waiting for the man to use her like I know he can. And he did. It was, of course, about time. That said, I wasn't big on the pacing of this one. The balance of fight vs. team was off, to me.

Re: BoP 70 meep. meep. This, however the pacing was right on. Aside from my continuing blink at Helena's shifting eye color (blue in this issue, but I read two Huntress-centric titles today, where they were brown as I remember them being), I was sucked right in, and when I hit the end of the book, I wanted the two weeks to be up as soon as possible. Two weeks? How the hell am I going to last two weeks? All signs point to another good arc from Simone, and her writing just keeps getting better. The easy friendship between Dinah and Babs was warm, funny, and never an anvil. Given what happened next, it would have been easy to overplay the interaction. My fondness for Helena grows by the hour, by the way. And Savant? Well, this should be interesting...

Alan Moore, the creator of V is for Vendetta and From Hell, has an interview up at salon.com. There's a Best Buy ad to sit through if you're not a member, but the interview's pretty interesting.

BoP: Strangely, I didn't notice the eyes -- possibly because it seemed like the whole book was colored blue by mood or something. I like the two different stories and also enjoyed the Babs-Dinah interaction.

BoP: Babs and Dinah keep seeming more and more real to me, as characters, and as a really easy, relaxed, genuine-feeling friendship. Go Gail, and I wish I could do that. But oy, do they need a different artist on the title, because Dinah's fishnet-clad ass in hotpants in the foreground of every frame is getting a little old. Really, guys, it's not the kind of sight that should become visually monotonous.

Beware! There are Watchmen spoilers in that salon.com article. I advise those who haven't read it to skip the paragraph on the first page beginning

Similarly, "Watchmen," Moore's groundbreaking serial that blew the comics genre wide open

and the first question and answer on the fifth page.

Yes, it's old, and no, it doesn't give away the villain, but part of the enjoyment of reading it came from not knowing what was going on, and I wouldn't want people to have that experience tainted.

I've got a question -- the first BoP I read was the one where they take the day off -- then I read the "Of Like Minds" tpb -- what I want to know is: did Savant have a major role in the story between "Of Like Minds" and now?

Re: Outsiders 14: I'm a little put off by a Green Lantern being handily beaten by two old Teen Titans villains, as it seems Jade's competence is being downsized to fit her into the team. (Since when does Green Lantern energy—if that's even what Jade is using these days rather than magic—involve molecules that Shimmer could rearrange?) But the confrontation with Dick was very, very good.

I think my favorite part of the book was Sivana's "you kids get offa my lawn!" moment. I like his re-emergence as the world's best mad scientist .

Sumi: no, but he's mentioned in Sensei and Student.

First impressions from the pull list -

Birds of Prey #70 - I'm right with Plei. Meep, indeed. I also agree that the pacing is fantastic in this run. It's a good thing this is a bi-weekly instead of monthly arc. The Savant subplot definitely feels like something long-term, and it will end badly.

Robin #128 - OK, I didn't see that coming. (Not during the issue, though, the ending was a foregone conclusion - what can you expect when you lose the Batplane?) I was also surprised by the antagonism Tim showed Batgirl. Ever since Tim saw her in the old Batgirl costume, I've been expecting more interaction between them.

Outsiders #14 - I was kind of disappointed with the issue, although I do agree that Jade was appropriately awesome. Also, not being up on the details of the Fearsome Five, I was unaware that Glimmer had the power she displayed. Why she didn't do it to everyone is a complete mystery.

Daredevil #62 - Matt's life get's more and more twisted. Black Widow comes onto him (and he turns her down! - maybe he is psychotic). A villain comes to him to offer a piece of his action, considering he's the Kingpin now - that's messed-up, and will have further repercussions down the line. Finally, he's getting in the crossfire between Black Widow and the government. Things are never dull in DD's world these days.

Ex Machina #2 - Whoa! Brian Vaughan is not pulling any punches. More and more stuff gets displayed that you know will have significance down the road. I hope sales remain strong on this title, because I really want to see what's coming.

Adventures of Superman #630 - That was fun. All the meta references may throw some people off (but considering the cover, they should be expecting some). Even with the comedy of Mr. Mxyzpltk (spelling way off), I did get some sense of foreboding.

I still have to get to Gotham Knights, Justice League Elite, Seaguy (but boy, what a sweet cover), Wonder Woman, Hawkman, and Lucifer. A pretty good haul this week.