Buy Pile Report

OK, it's too late to do anything about it now, but before we say anything else about this week's comics it must be said — Countdown to Final Crisis #5 was one of the most horrendous comics I've ever had the displeasure of buying.

After 45 issues leading up to this "Great Disaster," the last two issues have shown us the disaster through only one set of eyes — Buddy Blank — a character we did not even see until 44 issues into the story. And his one set of eyes are only off doing his own thing, telling us his own story of peril through narration. I think the boys at DC have been watching too much "Cloverfield."

Check that, I think the boys at DC are scrambling as much as any time since re-writing Monarch's identity in "Armageddon 2001." They found out halfway into their story that it really kind of blew. Fittingly, they decided to separate "Final Crisis" from "Countdown to Final Crisis" and needed something to count down to — enter this ridiculous virus' importance. And from there, the poorly conceived story (seriously, the animal-people is like a crappy 1980's movie) led to a poorly written story.

And just when Countdown was starting to feel exciting. Oh well, with so little left to the story, we're all stuck with it.

Two issues were really pretty good, though. The first was X-Men Legacy #209, the second issue since adding "Legacy" to the title. What really works in this issue is the ending, the dialog between Magneto and Xavier (yes, I spoiled it, Prof. X wakes up already). The pair are written realistically as two down-and-out former icons who are now forced to face some harsh realizations about their place in this world nowadays.

The buddy comic of Xavier and Magneto has been tried before, namely one of the incarnations of "Excalibur," with only marginal results. But from the last couple of pages in this comic, the humility shown by Erik and Xavier, I really feel like Carey's story may not only work, but may lead to these one-time icons returning to prominence in an entirely different way than we've seen them before.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #52 was equally strong. I know, I've been pedaling this book for a few months now, but for good reason. Ultimate Thanos is a certifiable badass, and while the whole "alien tried to takeover Earth" thing has become ho-hum, this villain is doing enough to make the threat seem as real as possible. He's turned many of the Earth's heroes into his slaves, and still possesses the cosmic cube.

This issue also featured a fun way of detailing his backstory — his daughter explains it to Ben Grimm while she has kidnapped him to go on a date. Yes, a date. It sounds ridiculous, but it felt right when dealing with creatures of such prestige and power, they don't realize how crazy their demands are.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, even if you hate the Ultimate Universe, this is simply a GREAT Fantastic Four story, any way you slice it.