And I thought the villain in the book was supposed to be way wacky, even though I don’t believe Vaughan is going all Reefer Madness on us. I just think he’s crazy.

I think I only got the first five issues (I was in highschool with no cash flow) and it’s been a while since I read them, but I remember reading the first issue of that and having my mind blown by how good it was.
That first 3 issue arc was gold – I spent the next few years scratching my head in puzzlement at the fact no one ever mentioned it, and how all the stuff that was getting buzz was no where near as good.

Kaminiski’s Ghost Rider 2099 is also worth checking out, but not quite as good.
The first few issues are tops though – Kaminski and Chris Bachelo doing cyberpunk is a match made in heaven.

Dude. That was one of my favorite 90′s comics. Then again, I have a huge love for Sleepwalker, SuperPro, and Ravage 2099, so my judgment is probably in doubt. Regardless— Kaminski is a good writer. And Martinbrough is a terrific artist (what happened to him, anyway? He was on Detective for a while and vanished).

Can’t say I enjoyed the first issue of The Creeper much myself. What little of Niles’s writing I’ve read has always rubbed me the wrong way somehow, and this one was no exception

The next issue of UXM doesn’t hit stands until the sixth of September.

That’s interesting about Brave New World, Jordan. I don’t mind the revamped origin that much, I just wonder why DC isn’t making a bigger deal about it. They can’t think it would slip in under our radar! And I still have to hunt down that old Creeper series, because I like Martinborough’s art. All those series were interesting in one way or another, but God forbid DC put any muscle behind them.

And Bill – I do like the X-Men in space story, despite the weakness of this issue, I just wonder why they show up every so often. It’s like a Batman writer desperate to do a Two-Face story – every X-writer says, “I have a great take on the Shi’ar!” If I were more ambitious, I’d look at the sales figures to see if this story is spiking or dropping.

Evan – that’s why you pre-order weird stuff like Mouse Guard!!!!!

Actually, no, the BNW preview did NOT lay the ground work for this issue. In fact, having read the BNW story made me MUCH more surpised to find that this was a new origin. In BNW, the Ryder is already the Creeper, and the story revolves around him coming up with a semi-clever way of disguising that fact. It was the fact that I enjoyed that story that made me think I would pick up the first issue of this series. Now that it’s gone back and told a new origin… I am disappointed. We’ll see if I pick up the next issue.

Agents of Atlas is pretty great, though.

And so is anything involving X-Men in space. Hmmm…X-Men vs Morlocks or X-Men vs. Shi’ar Imperial Guard–which one is cooler? Is it even close? Who DOESN’T like X-Men in space? That’s the best stuff.

Oh, and Harris’s art on the new Ex Machina is his new style as reported at Newsarama. He says he’s giving the fans a little extra with his new inky-wash (aka blurry and dull) style. Give me strong black lines any day.

In general that issue of Ex Machina felt way off – like it suddenly turned into Brian K. Vaughan’s Reefer Madness. The naked guy getting off on his oxygen mask while talking about how much stronger pot was these days? It’s like someone crossed a David Lynch flick with an after-school special.

The picture of the dummy right after the mention of doing neat things with Batman’s rogue’s gallery made me miss the Ventriloquist all the more.