Panel Discussion: Buffy Season 8 #26 Special!

The start of Jane Espenson's new arc on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8 was so full of in-jokes and easter eggs, I had to give it it's very own Panel Discussion. Medium spoilers for the issue.

Project Runway Award

Andrew has the heart of a nerd and the eye of an aesthete (because gay guy = automatic fashion fan in popular media) , so of COURSE he's got the Ecko Boba Fett Sweatshirt! I see a million of these at every convention I go to, and you know, usually the guys wearing them look pretty damn good in them.

Here's a shot of Andrew's full ensemble, which includes the essential brown pants. Check out the real sweater on the Ecko site, or just look at this photo from the 2009 NY Comic Con. I'm telling you, it really is a good look.

Easter Egg Alert

Maybe you just looked at this sequence and said "Sexy!" and moved on, but I said, "Sexy! Hey, what book is that on the table?"
Aww! Of course Willow is reading Wicked, not only is it about cool teenage witches, it's also nerdy and full of lesbian subtext. Willow is so a fanfic writer.

Best Series Callback

I don't think Andrew ever adequately repented for killing his best friend, but I have to admit his fantasy about what he thought would happen after killing Jonathan was a definite highlight of Season 7. So I was really pleased to see it rendered here in panel form; check the scene below to see how precisely Georges Jeanty replicates.

Untold Stories

This is all very sweet in the foreground, but what exactly is the drama in background? Why is Kennedy glaring at Faith? Am I forgetting something that happened in the series between them, or does everyone still just hate Faith so much they're openly hostile to her at all times? Poor Faith, she's always failing at life. Or maybe she just hit on Willow (speaking of fanfic).

Double Standard Alert

As much as I love this issue, I must call continuity on this plot point. Willow has just disappeared into some torture dimension to subject a captured demon to some patented Rosenberg Enhanced Interrogation tactics. Everyone acts like this is some sort of unheard of war crime, but Buffy TOTALLY killed a vampire prisoner like ten issues ago! I believe it was in Wolves at the Gate, but basically Willow traps a vampire in a box, and Buffy interrogates him, and when they're done they set him on fire and he dies and they all walk away looking really badass. At the time I was all, "DAMN! The Scoobies are hardcore now!" But no, apparently only Buffy is allowed to abuse prisoners, cause you know, she's Buffy.

To be fair; Willow's tendency towards evil (Oh, Willow!) is a theme of Season 8, so I understand that it's concerning when she specifically uses her powers to torture a prisoner. But still. There's no precedent for any of the White Hats giving a shit about killing and/or hurting demons, so I maintain this moment doesn't work.

Second Best Series Callback

Xander's line on the left, "It's always good to ask" and Dawn's "Yes it is" recalls the fact that last time these guys all busted into Buffy's bedroom unannounced, Buffy was naked in bed with fellow slayer Satsu, aka A LADY! Wow this was the most lesbtastic Panel Discussion ever, no wonder I liked this issue.

Reuniting the Sunnydale Class of 1999

Can you believe it's been ten years since Buffy Summers and her wacky pals graduated high school? How old does that make you? Pretty old, probably.

Last night, Whedonites of all ages gathered at the Manhattan JCC to celebrate those magical high school years when Cordelia, Oz and Angel were series regulars, Buffy was not clinically depressed, Dawn still an inter-dimensional SuperKey and Willow was still crushing on boys. Okay so maybe I personally am actually a bigger fan of the later seasons (and possibly for those same reasons?!?), but still. Faith!

The free event was put together by the folks who gave us that beloved geek institution The Buffy Sing Along, a fully-interactive screening of Once More With Feeling (that's the Buffy Musical Episode for you dilettantes). The Buffy Sing Along was of course tragically shut down in 2007 by the same suited geniuses at Fox who killed Firefly and Dollhouse.

That said, the event-planners at the reunion put together a delciously nerdy evening, complete with Buffy AMVs, a trivia contest (won appropriately by a group called The Firsts), and A SUPER SECRET MAIN EVENT which I totally cannot blog about because they asked us not to, for reasons which may be clear from this very post!

The whole extravaganza will be repeated on June 2nd at Brooklyn hipster-nerd magnet Galapagos, but this time with BOOZE! That's right, it's the Sunnydale Reunion: BRONZE EDITION. Buy your ticket now, and be sure to wear your best 90s gear and/or Vampire outfit. That means a leather jacket.

More scans from the "Class of 99: Where Are They Now?" after the jump...it's so full of Buffy Season 8 in-jokes your brain might explode. From insiderness.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Buffy #20, Batman #683, and Thunderbolts #127

Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some light spoilers if you haven't read your books this week.

Cute Overload - Buffy Season 8 #20
Oh NOES! Buffy has gone back to Season 1! And to reflect the relatively angst-free atmosphere of the early episodes, she's an adorable cartoon character! And Joyce is alive and also cartoony! And Dawn is a pre-teen instead of a key! THIS IS AWESOME.

Buffy also nicely retcons the whole Willow/Xander affair...awk!waaard. This whole issue is filled with squeeable moments, why can't they make a All Ages title like this?

PS: This is all based on the pitched but never sold Buffy cartoon series; here's the pilot with many original cast voices! Cept it's not very good...still, cute, right?



Crazy batman after the jump...

Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Batman #683
We all know Batman has a lot of baggage surrounding the Robins. Here, Batman is being mind-raped by some Darkseid minions, who are making him quickly relive some of his most traumatic momments. But in this garbled memory, Tim Drake seems to be emerging, in full costume, FROM JASON TODD'S SMOKING REMAINS.

Most Painful Panel - Thunderbolts #127
Ai yee yee yee! Songbird juuuust stops Bullseye's sai from nailing her in the eyeball by stopping it....with her palm. This kind of injury is pretty tame by comic standards, but that red splash in the background and Songbird's horrified expression really bring the sting home.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Batman RIP #681, Buffy Seaon Eight #19, Blue Beetle #33, and More

Every Monday, we at Geekanerd rip panels from last Wednesday's comics and post the best, the worst, and the weirdest. If you didn't read your books this week, beware of some MAJOR SPOILERS.

Best Acting - The Cast of Blue Beetle #33
The always awesome Rafael Albuquerque is at the top of this game this week, breathing life into the Beetle crew with a bunch of hilariously pointed expressions.

Here, Wonder Girl looks SERIOUSLY fed up with Robins leader-talk...or is she annoyed by Red Devil's running commentary? Whatever it is, no one seems to be paying her much mind.

Here we have strained guilt and compleate dismissal. Paco's tiny mouth is what really does it for me.

This panel is stepping into farcical sitcom territory between Peacemaker's dumbly confident smirk and Beetle's "why me" expression and posture. I will never cease to be amazed by how much facial acting Albuquerque gives the Blue Beetle with just eyeballs and a little white line.

This gag made me laugh. Big biker Peacemaker has been 16 year old Jaime's sidekick for the last year or so, and now he's taking orders from the Boy Hostage. The right panel is a perfect moment of self realization, in which the big man tries comes to some small self-realization that perhaps his time might be better spent with people he can actually have a beer with.

A familiar face for Buffy, and giant spoilers for Walking Dead and Batman, after the jump...


Best Splash Page - Batman RIP #681
This page by Tony Daniel doesn't win any points for originality, but you don't always have to reinvent the wheel to make a powerful splash page. This is classic Batman, having fought his way out of the grave and still looking hale and hearty. And as for his supposed "death" at the end of this issue....come on, people. Habeas Corpus. Show me the body.

Best Cameo - Buffy: Season 8 #19

RILEY! Everyone's least favorite Buffy boyfriend is back, and he's working for Twilight, the Big Bads of Season 8 (not the Vampire movie...kind of confusing, actually). Perhaps this shocking (but not entirely unexpected) turn of events will give Riley what the TV series never could; interesting personality traits.

Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity - Batman RIP #681
"Force of habit"? So, does Bruce ALWAYS switch cups with whoever he's drinking with when they blink? Like, even at his society luncheons and company board meetings? "Oh, that's funny, I thought I ordered diet." "HNN."

Downer of the Week - The Walking Dead #55
We've had just a few too many happy reunions since Rick & Son decided to leave their prison stronghold. Nothing like a completely unexplained suicide to get that sense of hopeless dread back to normal Walking Dead levels. Jeez.*

*Girl gripe: This is a pretty good example of Women in Refrigerators. Maggie has been one of the least developed characters in the series, and her death is only effective because now her husband (funny, smart, menchy Glenn) will be emotionally crushed. If a less disposable character (like Glenn himself) had been touched by despair and driven to take their own life, this moment would have been a lot more moving. Gripe over.

Chiller of the Week - Batman RIP #681
How many times can writers flashback to the moments before Thomas and Martha Wayne's death and still have it be chilling and sad? As many times as they want, as long as they're as good at Grant Morrison at foreshadowing. Here, Thomas Wayne discourages his son's romantic notions of vigilantism by equating it with mental sickness, as little Bruce responds only with a uncomprehending, "What?". As Joe Chill rounds the corner, the reader knows that Bruce's lessons in the lines between heroism, revenge, and insanity are just about to begin. This is a sad and poetic moment, and a great ending to Morrison's outstanding storyline.

Snap Judgments, "And We're Back!" Edition: Amazing Spider-Man, Buffy Season Eight, Secret Six and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.

HOO, that was one INTENSE labor day weekend! Also, we've been moving into a new Geekanerd HQ, and you know, these things take quite a bit out of you. And by you I mean us.

Amazing Spider-Man #570 gets an A from Albo
Good old fashioned comic-booking from Dan Slott and John Romita, Jr. Nothing's being reinvented here, no concepts of what a comic can be challenged... Just a great lookin' story about Spider dealing with two Venoms. Seeing Eddie Brock getting into action again sure is exciting, and hints about Menace's real "deal" and an imminent showdown with Bullseye guarantee I'll be hanging on until this story is up and Slott/JRJR get swapped out for a lesser team (no offense to the next team, I haven't actually looked up who it's going to be.)

Detective Comics #848 gets an A from AHR
I can't believe I'm so excited about a Hush "event" story, but Dini's made him such an engaging character. More pieces of his slightly Norman Batesy past come to light, and we finally get a chance to see him put that medical degree to some truly horrific use. Throw in a surprising link to one of Dini's rising star villians, and this is a serious page-turner with great art to boot.

Secret Six #1 gets a A- from AHR
I loved the last series of this title with a passion, and this issue promises to continue the fun. Great setup for a wacky roadtrip plotline, a new gross and awesome villian, and a Batman tie-in! All the pieces are here for a kickass run, though I personally was hoping for a few more hillarious scenes with between the six (or four, as the case may be.). Simone also nobly
tries to give some resolution to Knockout's clumsily handled death scene, though I wish more time could have been devoted to settling what was my favorite relationship in DC comics. Maybe more of that is coming. A girl can dream.

Buffy Season Eight #18 gets a B+ from AHR
Lesbian sex! Lesbian sex! All of these comics have lesbian sex! Not that I'm complaining. This is a really fun issue, and the future plotline gets more engaging as Buffy meets some sort of alternate version of herself. And of course we get a little more Dark Willow, and who doesn't love Dark Willow? Honestly. Next month's cover appears to be suitable for framing.

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #1 gets a B from Albo
Recasting Namor as mythological sea terror in an submarine horror story is a stroke of genius. The art from Esad Ribic is really something unique as well, giving a soft pastel cast to a dark tale. Could become a great series, we'll see about that second issue.

Fringe #1 gets a D from Albo
Bargh. What a schmuck I am. I see the word "Whedon" on the cover and I jump, thinking I'm snagging some underpublicized Joss Whedon-does-JJ Abrams brilliance. Instead it's not Joss but Zack that greets me with half of this dull rag. There are two stories here, both about mind-swapping. And... Well, yeah. It's a prequel for the show.

Marvel Apes #1 gets a D from Albo
Zombies these are not.

Panel Discussion: Scans From Spider-Man Summer Special, Buffy Season Eight #17, Special Forces #3, and More

Worst Battle Cry - Teen Titans #61
Truly putting the "kid" in Kid Devil, looks like someone is still hanging on to their third grade zingers.

Inappropriate baby imagery, inappropriate places to have sex, and inappropriate uses of the English language, after the jump...

Supervillainscuties - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special

Chris Giarrusso's brain-hungry symbiote and Colleen Coover's squat little Modok make for some adorable little miscreants.But what's up with the Spectacular Spider-Chub?

How They Like It - Catwoman #81
Catwoman and Batman have sex while falling off a building.

Is She or Isn't She? - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special
Hmm, that would explain her obsession with Thor--the girliest hero in all of comics. I also submit into evidence the fact that this story was drawn by Colleen Coover, the writer/artist responsible for the lesbian porno comic Small Favors. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Class Act - Blue Beetle, Teen Titans #61
Blue Beetle is such an enjoyable character to read, you have to wonder why more teen super heroes aren't written beyond petulant, angsty stereotypes. Here he tries to make piece with Kid Devil after they find their tracking the same vllian...
And though this next panel may seem like a dick move out of context, I feel that this is a honest attempt to respectfully keep KD in the loop, and to downplay the awkwardness of the situation by injecting a little humor. Tactful texts are very important in this day and age...

Stay classy, Double B.

Spider-Man is Creepy - King Size Spider-Man Summer Special
Keeping an eye on the missus? Trying to stare down her blouse? Any way you cut it, this is a little weird.

Irony Alert - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight #17

Buffy has done more than her share of twisting the english language into a near unrecognizable web of adjective-nouns and superfluous suffixes, and only a thousand years in the future does Buff realize what her valley-speak hath wrought.

Woah, Overreact Much? - NYX: No Way Home #1
What? There's nothing I understand about this interaction. Her art? What the hell? Dumpster diving? And that face! She's really really pissed about this. I just don't get it.

Celebrity Casting Corner - Army @ Love: The Art of War #1
Paris Hilton makes an appearance here as Sylvia Stein, a hot actress who just happens to spend much of the issue as a giant ape that blesses a fanboy soldier with some rough monkey sex. Oh, that sounds like something you'd like to see?

Kyle Baker Goes Too Far - Special Forces #3

Going...
Goooiiiinnnggg...
Gone.

Writer's Worst Nightmare - Army @ Love: The Art of War #1
This issue opens up with writer Rick Veitch getting waterboarded for the suspicious web research he did when writing the first series. I'm sure this scenario has played itself out in the heads of anybody who has ever Googled something like "how to build a nuclear bomb" for the sake of some creative work. Or published the words on their public blog. Be right back, someone's at the door.

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Buffy, Detective Comics, NYX and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special gets an A from Albo
I used to LOVE these 80-page Summer specials when I was a kid. Turns out I still do! Kinda. What we have here is a really great Spidey-less story about a bunch of Marvel Girls facing the Enchantress, a really awful Spidey/Falcon team up story where the the latter gives the former a bunch of unwarranted race relation scoldings, and a sub par story of mini-Spidey and mini-Venom competing for a paper route. Still worth it for that first one by Paul Tobin with really cute, clean art by Colleen Coover.

Reviews for Detective Comics #847, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #17, Special Forces #3, NYX: No Way Home #1, and Army @ Love: The Art of War #1 after the jump!

Detective Comics #847 gets an A- from AHR
I get it now! "Hush" fits into the cannon of Batman villains because his evil pathology is a Norman Batesesque mama's boy gone homicidal trip. And "Hush" is probably a hush-little-baby thing. I wonder if any of this was planned ahead of time or if Paul Dini in his wisdom just filled in the backstory to give this silly "event" character some substance. Either way, it's fun to see the pieces come together, and Dustin Nyguin's art shows no signs of becoming any less fun and surprising.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #17 gets a B from AHR
Did you enjoy the way the future punks spoke in The Dark Knight Returns? I didn't. Joss's future-speak in this arc of Buffy sounds even more tinny and labored than Miller's, but it does at least give rise to one really good gag in which Buffy bemoans how this perversion of the English language may be partly due to her own Whedonesque speaking patterns. I'm still not quite sold on the Fray arc, but the heavily foreshadowed cliffhanger of this issue guarantees my continued readership.

Special Forces #3 gets a B from Albo
This book is astonishingly amateur. It's really quite sloppy, but in a way that feels more like uncapped creativity than poor storytelling. Kyle Baker is constantly ALMOST going too far, and while the series hasn't quite lived up to the amazing first issue, it's still chock full of absurd, thought-provoking stuff. Bonus "reality" section in the back brings real world context to the issues Baker is dealing with in the book--including photos of real mutant babies with ironic word balloons. Like I said, this guy really pushes the boundaries of good taste.

NYX: No Way Home #1 gets a C from Albo
This first issue looks nice, but doesn't do much to get me interested in the characters. 'Nuff said?

Army @ Love: The Art of War gets a D from Albo
Very unfriendly to the new reader (me). If you want to see lots of cartoon boobs, this book is for you. If you want a clear story or a funny joke or some good drama leave this one on the shelf.

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1, Buffy #15 and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #15 gets an A from AHR
Oh noes! Here endeth the Buffy/Satsu storyline, aka the ship that launched a thousand fics. I'll certainly miss the lesbian jokes, but this issue wraps up with excellent action sequences, heartwarming and heartwrenching drama, and a satisfying resolution that still opens up a few doors. Also lots of lesbian jokes.

Detective Comics #845 gets an A from AHR
Too much fun. Batman and Detective Chimp sitting at their computers IMing each other may top out some people's tolerance for silliness, but i found it delightful.

Reviews for H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1, Omega: The Unknown #9, Secret Invasion #3, Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1 and House of Mystery #2 after the jump...

H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1 gets an A from Albo
Kind of a weird idea. Celebrated underground artist Richard Corben does graphic adaptations (and expansions) of H.P. Lovecraft short stories and poems, and includes the original source text after each story. This works really well when the source is a vague poem that he has built an interesting narrative around, but when the source is a short story with more evocative imagery than the adaptation, things become a little less satisfying. He did the same thing with Poe, but I haven't gotten the chance to read those. All told, a cool experiment and a welcome serving of Corben's unique art.

Omega: The Unknown #9 gets a B from Albo
This book is so consistently good that for some reason it hardly excites me anymore. That sounds cynical, right? But I'm sitting here flipping through it and thinking "that's great, that's great, that's good too" but I know that when I was reading it I was a little bored. What's the deal? Well, in my heart I know this is a classic story that I'll be re-reading for years to come. The end is near!

Secret Invasion #3 gets a B from Albo
Ho hum. Very skeletal storytelling. Feels like an outline for tie-in issues to elaborate on, a very Marvel storytelling method I strongly disapprove of. Yu's art is still amazing, though, and the confrontation between Skrullica Drew and Tony Stark is pretty exciting though I'm pretty sure it's just some Skrullian mind games.

Trinity #1 gets an A+F=C+ from AHR
Wow. The first half of this book, in which Bruce, Diana, and Clark meet up for lunch and talk about a spooky dream they had, is awesome. I love any time attention is drawn to how insane Batman's "Bruce Wayne" persona is, and here Wondy actually calls him on it. But the second part of this book is a droning mish-mash of expository detritus featuring characters and situations that I have zero interest in, and after spending a fun lunch with my oldest DC pals I have no desire to jump into a red and green space land full of proselytizing god/alien creatures. Perhaps the writers are trying to set up two bands of alien/god creatures, since that description extends to the titular trinity, with the intention of showing us how much more interesting the group who act like humans are. These two very segmented stories are perfect examples of what I love and hate about DC.

Ultimate Origins #1 gets a C from Albo
There's nothing outright bad about the first issue of this major Ultimate event, but it just doesn't make enough of a statement right off the bat to justify its existence. You can hardly blame Bendis, though. I mean, how many universes can he be expected to turn upside down at once?

House of Mystery #2 gets a C- from AHR
Bleh. Reads like second rate Neil Gaiman, with really self-conscious and over-stated fantastical dialogue. It's brightened up by some fun touches (lady pirate bouncer) and a few pages of Jill Thompson's moody cartoon art, but what a let down after such a gripping and disturbing first issue.

Dollhouse Upfront Teaser Hits the Net; Wheadonites Rejoyce

Have you noticed all these ads around NYC for TV Networks, a'cept they're not asking you to watch their network, they're telling you that you should advertise with them? This is because it's time for UPFRONTS, when all the advertising suits come to town and get wined and dined by network suits who show them splashy presentations of their amazing new post-strike fall seasons. And while it's hard to get too excited about anything TV-related because the cultural relevance of network/cable boxed television died with the last really good HBO show, one interesting leak did make it online; the very rough looking teaser for Joss Whedon's return to network TV, Dollhouse.

Why you should not expect this trailer to be very good, after the jump...


Keep in mind this is a teaser designed to appeal to advertisers, not audiences. It's very BASE, is what I'm saying. Not FANbase, just base. As in, lots of clumsy exposition, skin, cheesy aftereffects and bad font choices. And it's not like they have a ton of footage to pull from, they've been in production for a month. A month! This is probably why they don't want this kind of thing leaking on the internet. But as a fan of many people involved on this particular project (faithfaithfaith), I can't NOT watch and post it.

Extra points to anyone who can spot the clip from Buffy Season 3, presumably thrown in because they simply haven't shot enough action sequences to fill a two minutes trailer (again, one month of production). Also note that actor Harry Lennix makes an appearance (the skeptical black guy about 1:45 in), who you might remember from one of those awful Matrix sequels, but who you SHOULD remember from Titus, in which he gave a supervillianous performance for the ages.

Anyway, if you Wheadies out there are looking for more of a reason to have (ahem) confidence in this show (see how I avoided a potential pun there?), check out this New York Magazine article in which Joss says he created Dollhouse to save Eliza Dushku from B-Horror Movie Starlet Hell and that she guilt tripped him into not sheving the writing duties off on someone else. How can a series so steeped in personal drama fail!? The stakes are simply too high.

Panel Discussion: Scans from Detective #844, Buffy Season Eight #14, Secret Invasion #2, and More

Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some HUGE SPOILERS, including character-death related panels for a few of these issues!

Click the pics for high res goodness!

Emotion Without a Face - Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #1
It's always been a problem showing emotion with fully masked characters. Spider-Man bends reality by having his eye shapes change around, Dr. Doom often has metal eyebrows that furrow with anger. But artist Adi Granov goes old school with good ole SURPRISE LINES!!! - Albo

Death scenes, a return to mid-90s fanboy hell, X-Factor jailbait and more, after the jump...

Making Light of a Bad Situation - Secret Invasion #2
Amid all the double hero scuffling going on in this issue, these two Spider-Men find some common ground. -Albo

Best Death - The Ventriloquist II, Batman #844

No sooner do we discover the second Ventriloquist's tragic origin story then do we see her meet an untimely end, mourned only by Scarface himself...

Chilling. No one can make fractured personalities seem quite as poignant as Paul Dini. Of course no villain has really ever died from a falling/drowning death, so here's hoping we see Sugar/Peyton again. -AHR

Worst Skrull Invader Design - Secret Invasion #2
Oh man, Wolvercyclopollus here is swimming in a sea of 90s cheese. I used to design guys that looked just like this all the time... When I was nine. -Albo

Visual Foreshadowing Alert - Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season Eight #14
Oh these two lovebirds are so adorable, but my goodness Xander is certainly doing a lot of gesticulating with those knives. I mean I know they're getting ready for battle here, but it's like knives a-go-go up in this joint, and specifically pointed at Renee. Could this be...visual foreshadowing?
...that's a yep. But Is She Dead? As mentioned earlier, it's premature to characterize a comic character as dead unless you see them with their head cut off or have a panel in which someone cradles the victim in their arms and says "....she's dead....". But there is a lot of precedent in the Buffy cannon for killing off characters, particularly love interests, in abrupt and shocking ways. Renee is (THEORETICAL SPOILER ALERT) on the next issue's variant cover, though Tara had her first appearance in the show's opening credits in the episode she died in (HAHA, Joss, hilarious), so that doesn't necessarily prove anything. I'd give it about 3 to 1 odds she's actually dead. Anyone think otherwise? -AHR

Jailbait! - Mighty Avengers #13
Isn't Layla Miller supposed to be like... 12? At most 16? This is some risque attire for a young lady to run around X-Factor HQ in. I don't trust that Strong Guy guy. -Albo

I saw that panel and I thought, "Who's the hottie in boyshorts? Layla Miller...why does that sound familiar...AHH! Unclean!" I don't think her age has been stated in the books, but I feel like it was always implied that she was like, EARLY teens. Pretty sketchy, Marvel. -AHR

Greatest Supporting Character - Omega: The Unknown #8
Nowhere Man really steals the show in this issue of Omega. He's only there for a couple pages, but the surreal awesomeness of his scenes is so so so great. -Albo