Who'd Like A Cocktail? #195

Ruler of Hell, not to mention Purgatory. See? Rhyming's easy.

Here's your usual Sunday comics round-up:

CROSSED: BADLANDS #13 - Edmund's story comes to an end in typical Crossed fashion. Him and some of the bikers survive the attack of the Crossed and he's hailed as a hero but then it all goes south, partly due to his own actions, partly to the arrival of more Crossed and while it seems like he and his new beau get away... well, this is a Crossed series, after all.

Not a bad run by David Lapham but I'm not sure how much longer I'll stick with this title as it's already becoming a little repetitive.

DEMON KNIGHTS #0 - in this flashback issue, we get two origins for the price of one: those of Etrigan and Jason Blood. There are parallels between them - they're both unwilling to accept their station, both angry at their treatment, and both ambitious. Merlin takes them both and fuses them together into the Jeckyll and Hyde characters we know so well.

It's good fun and splendidly written.

FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #0 - Victor Frankenstein makes his debut in these pages as we see the culmination of his experiments come to life and, without a second thought, reject his creator utterly due to the vile nature of his experiments. So begins an ongoing animosity between Victor and the creature which is never really resolved but at least the creature is recruited to S.H.A.D.E.

A good issue, unburdened by the ponderous Rotworld crossover happening in the main title.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #0 - the New 52's Guy Gardner hasn't changed much over the last few years so it was interesting to see that his origin story has. Gone is the Phys Ed teacher and football player, replaced by the disappointing child in a family of cops, the only one of the Gardners in generations to be thrown out of the police force. While he and his father never see eye to eye, by story's end he's joined the Corps and gained the respect of his siblings.

Not bad at all on the whole.

RESURRECTION MAN #0 - as well as being an origin issue (like all the #0's this month) this final issue of the series manages to wrap up the story in a satisfactory manner as well. We discover which Mitch Shelley is which and how they both came to be, and at the end the angels and demons from earlier issues reappear to decide which one comes with them.

Sad to see this end.

SAUCER COUNTRY #7 - having had Professor Kidd's version of what UFOs are last issue which dealt more with the mythological and psychological interpretation of them, here we get the other side of the coin. The Bluebirds are a group who are convinced UFOs are literally alien space-craft which have been in contact with earth for decades, the technology behind numerous advances in military applications coming from them indirectly.

I've a feeling this series is going to need to be re-read from the start once it's finished!

STTICHED #7 - the attack on the camp of the Stitched goes ahead and both heroes and villains (or at least protagonists and antagonists) fall in various manners. There's some respite for one of the group, though, and the promise of more of the same for others.

Honestly, if I'd known this was anything more than a mini-series, I'm not sure I'd have bothered with it. It's okay as a complete tale but with the news that it's being continued as an ongoing, I'm out and will be cancelling.

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And what made me smile:

The new first meeting of Gardner and Jordan.