BB: Rest Of The Best 12/1/06

Bigger Boat: Rest Of The Best 12/1/06

Desolation Jones #5. (Written by Warren Ellis. Art by J.H Williams)

In recent times Warren Ellis has been a bit more hit and miss than I would like but with the adventures of 'professional bastard' Desolation Jones he's in the kind of form that made Transmetropolitan one of the bestest comics ever. There's been some real jaw-dropping stuff from J.H Williams thus far as well. This is the penultimate issue of the first storyline and we find Jones is in the mood for some real violence after taking a bullet of unknown origin last time round. And when he finds those responsible you can be sure Williams makes the pain look oh so pretty!

Exiles #75. (Written by Tony Bedard. Art by Jim Calafiore)

I may have said this before but I'll say it again regardless - outside of Whedon's this is the best x-book on the stands. Characters we care about written and drawn by people who care about the characters, who'd a thunk that would work eh Marvel? Anyhoo, our intrepid Exiles are still hot on the trail of Proteus and the next stop on their sales-failure World Tour is the 2099 universe. It's great stuff but where are the 2099 X-men?

Ultimate X-Men #66. (Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Tom Raney)

We're rolling with the new at casa del Ultimate as Robert Kirkman takes a shot at the runt of the litter. For whatever reason, barring Millar's first couple of arcs, this has never hit the heights of Ultimate Spiderman (or even Ultimate Fantastic Four based on its excellent recent issues). So the question of the day is, can Kirkman make the difference? Answer? Too early to tell but the early signs are encouraging as we spend some time with the actual X-men as opposed to whoever's trying to kill them now. Raney's turning in work comparable to his excellent Outsiders too, so we can but hope.

New X-Men #22. (Written by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost. Art by Mark Brooks).

I could go either way with this one. While the first two issues under the new team of Kyle and Yost were promising, there's some stuff here that doesn't sit so well. The animosity between Emma Frost and X-23 feels a bit out of the blue and the back and forth flashbacks are starting to get a little annoying. However this is still the title that seems to be benefiting the most from the Decimation debacle as 'No More Mutants' really starts to hit home with some of the series regulars. Brooks meanwhile, handles the large cast well and the tribute to the X-costumes of yesteryear are a hoot.

Ultimate Extinction #1. (Written by Warren Ellis. Art by Brandon Peterson)

This very nearly went into the Dogs pile but as it's Ellis and it's the first issue it has a stay of execution. After two mini series (plus the Vision back-up) of build up you could be forgiven for expecting something big. This is the only Marvel title at the moment comparable to Infinite Crisis but while the first issue of that series had some genuine 'wow' moments this has, to be honest, not much of anything. We get a slightly more specific re-iteration that when 'Gah Lak Tus' (and oh lordy that annoys me) turns up everybody is screwed and then we spend some time with the newly-minted Ultimate Misty Knight. While her detective work does, eventually, turn up a surprising link to the impending threat - and a possible link to an Ultimate villain Ellis has already had a crack at - for the impatient amongst us it's a little annoying. Lets see some Extinction dagnammit! This will undoubtedly read better as a trade but as a single issue it comes mighty close to failing all together. Peterson's work is solid if a little heavy on the shading but given the problems with artists that this event has already had we should just cross our fingers he does all six issues.