My stupid backup store had no IC. But I am fully caught up with War Games to date and...yeah Batman not so bright to only have worked it out now. Perhaps it's hubris. Catwoman was very annoying -- why not the fuck just tell Batman? Is this her walking the hero line? Keeping a dangerous promise in letter only? Pfft. Like seconds don't count. Him working it out himself doesn't mitigate that.

New X-Men #5 was absolutely beautiful. Interesting too, but mostly beautiful. They need to reconsider their New Mutant uniform, though -- the diagonal lines coming in from the shoulders are coloured in flesh tones too often, and that's porn on the girls.

X-Men #161 weirded me out -- are they going somewhere with Polaris? She's more powerful than anyone else on the team, it seems, and by a lot. She's not just Jean Greyesque, she's Phoenixlike.

cereal:

I was reading this TCJ column on Understanding Comics, and I have to say, when it comes to being cool, they're icy.

Two of the pros they namecheck TURN UP, and even Scott McCloud has his first post ignored.

I have now read BoP, GK and IC.

Why were Huntress and Dinah at that party/meeting? Were they just supposed to beat up henchmen? I may have to reread when I am less tired.

I also loved everyone's reaction to the fucked upness of Bats' plan.

Is this the first issue of IC where Batman has been active?

I wonder if Batman's plan included Darla's death. You'd think Innocent Child Dying at School would set off his alarms before All the Lights Go Out.

I don't think that his plan could be that specific -- I think that Darla's death is part of the way in which the plan didn't work because Spoiler didn't know that Matches Malone IS Batman.

Anyone else read Ultimate Nightmare? Not much happened. I also find it odd that there's this big global psychic threat and Xavier only sends 3 X-men?

Also, what was up with the art? Wolverine looks like he's 14.

I agree with you, Kalshane. The entire issue seemed to be to assure us that the winged guy whose name I forget is cool, and to get both Shield and the Xes to the same place.

Art was very weird. Jean's looked like a million different things, but I had to just assume that was her.

I was reading this TCJ column on Understanding Comics, and I have to say, when it comes to being cool, they're icy.

Just so you know, The Comics Journal itself merely liked Understanding Comics and totally reamed the follow-up Reinventing Comics.

That thread more than merely liked UC -- they either quite liked, or quite disliked. Which is why I was surprised there was so little reaction (of any sort) to the author.

TCJ message board is not a very nice place.

Apparently, many underground cartoonists aren't particularly mature or professional. Who'd have thought?