New Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Captain America #618:  So, when the "Gulag" storyline first started, I was super-annoyed, because it felt like just yet another iteration of the "Trial of Captain America," making Bucky pay, yet again, for his sins as the Winter Soldier.  But, it's actually morphed into something much more intriguing and much more sinister.  It hadn't dawned on me that Bucky might not end this series as a good guy.  I assumed he wasn't going to end it as Captain America, but I figured we'd get him some other secret identity (USAgent, I believe, is available).  They'd probably give him a monthly series that would get canceled after 25 issues or so, but he'd still be seen as a member of the "New Avengers."  But, here, Brubaker opens the doors to the possibility that he may actually become the Winter Soldier again.  I don't think it'll happen, but just the injection of the possibility of it happening has made this story line a lot more dramatic.  It's like the "Trial of Captain America," before the somewhat bizarre Sin-related ending, where Brubaker really just kept you guessing.  The next issue is the conclusion to the storyline, and I'm intrigued to see what connection Rostov has to the two KGB agents the Winter Soldier killed and whether we will indeed see Bucky still on the side of angels.  Way to get me back in the game, Brubaker.  I won't doubt you again. 

Detective Comics #877:  I don't even know where to begin.  This issue is perfect.  It starts with a cliff-hanger, gives us character development in the middle, and ends with a cliff-hanger.  I could point out so many awesome moments in this issue, like Bats taking out the Roadrunner's foot while he's in the middle of a tirade to Dick embarrassing himself in front of Sonia Branch.  Both these scenes work not only on a basic level, but on a secondary level, sending up the usual "super-villain" monologue trope (by having Dick cut it short) and reminding us that Dick, and not Bruce, is behind the cowl by making him embarrassed (something I'm guessing Bruce probably wouldn't have been).  But, the scene that totally epitomizes why Scott Snyder is the best writer in comics right now is Dick's hilarious conversation with Red Robin.  It represents the grace note that Snyder is so good at giving us.  Other writers would've just given us Dick monologuing to himself (something Bruce probably would've done), but, instead, we get Dick having a conversation with Tim, developing their relationship and injecting humor into the story.  Snyder makes his life more difficult by giving us these scenes, because they're harder to write, but it's why "Detective Comics" is the best comic on the shelves right now. 

inFAMOUS #6:  Since the first moments of the game, Moya's allegiance has always been a question (if not the question).  If you accept that her primary allegiance is to the government (which is a big "if), her ties to Kessler and his experiments made her dirtier than your average agent.  However, shooting a military officer in the face pretty definitively establishes that, if she was working for the government, it was a pretty shady outfit (and probably not the FBI, as she claimed).  Her death means we don't know, still, who was pulling her strings.  At this point, I'm not sure how big of a deal it is.  inFAMOUS, as a game and a comic, has always hinted at some sort of conspiracy.  But, if you look at what we know, I'm not sure it matters.  We know Kessler got involved to jump start Cole's powers so he could face down the Beast (who clearly isn't David, as I originally thought) and we know that the government at the very least wanted the experiments to create some sort of super-soldier.  Zeke telling us about Cole surviving an accident a few years earlier more or less establishes that Cole's powers were innate (and activated by the Ray Sphere) and not something the Ray Sphere created in him.  So, I'm not sure if we really have a mystery left.  Sure, we can find out the identity of the shady outfit employing Moya, but it's not really going to change what we already know.  Despite the lack of a big reveal, this mini-series more or less did what it was supposed to do:  wrap up the loose ends from the first game and wipe the slate clean for the second game.  It doesn't so much set up the second game, since all we know is the NSA wants to talk to Cole.  But, it does give us some insight into Cole that we haven't really seen before.  He laments here that he walked away from things his entire life, and he decides he doesn't want to be that guy anymore.  It sets the stage for a more heroic Cole in the next game (and not an accidental hero, as we saw in the first game).  So, despite some pretty bad art, this series delivered on what it promised for me.  Now, I can't wait to get my hands on the game! 

X-Factor #220:  OK, so, I wasn't super-thrilled with the JJJ, Jr./Black Cat arc.  Whatever.  It's in the past.  This issue?  I love this issue.  It's been a while since we focused on the Rahne/Rictor/Shatterstar love triangle, and David handles it beautifully here.  He not only gives us a really touching scene between Rahne and Shatterstar as they walk through the rain discussing Rictor, but he also gives us Rahne and Shatterstar kicking some serious ass against a creepy-as-all-Hell-villain.  David's genius is really on display here, highlighting his talent in giving us emotionally-driven stories while at the same time scripting excellent fight scenes.  Those two abilities don't often go hand-in-hand (in fact, they almost never go hand-in-hand), which is what makes "X-Factor" such a joy to read month after month.  The appearance of Feral -- who, last I checked, was dead -- was an unexpected surprise at the end.  From the preview page at the end of the issue, this whole "Rahne and Shatterstar versus the Hordes of Hell" story looks like it's going to last a few issues, and I am very excited to see that.  I just hope, in the end, Rictor doesn't get jealous when Rahne and Shatterstar spend a night doing each other's hair. 

X-Men #12:  This issue continues the story from "X-Men Giant Size," with Cyclops facing down the Evolutionaries just as he remembers he has faced them before.  The issue starts with a group of Eternals (I'm assuming) watching a group of proto-humans being attacked and expositing that their purpose on Earth is to keep the Deviants in check, not get involved in deciding which races live or die, which is the Celestials' job.  Sure, whatevs.  Based on the narrative boxes, the Evolutionaries might have come from this group (or race) of proto-humans, though we don't really return to that idea in this issue.  Instead, we learn that the Evolutionaries, who seem to be the ones designated by the Celestials to make the sort of decisions the Eternals said weren't their job, have decided that Cyclops has failed in his task to protect mutantkind and decide to eliminate him as its leader.  Cyclops has downloaded his memory -- which Jean apparently blocked -- to Madison Jeffries and Dr. Nemesis, who are disturbed by what they learn (but we don't) and are scrambling to do something about it.  At the end, as the team swarms to protect Scott and Emma orders Pixie to take him off the island, Scott is trying to keep the Evolutionaries from contacting Magneto, who, in a flashback, the Evolutionaries previously took to be the leader of mutantkind.  This issue doesn't really answer that many questions.  Although it's (more or less) clear that the Celestials are behind the Evolutionaries, their origins are still shrouded in mystery and it's not clear why they decided that they needed to strike now (unless it was just to protect the X-Men from the Neo, which it may well have been).  Moreover, Cyclops clearly knows something more about the Evolutionaries that scares him, which intrigues me, since it seems enough that they're threatening to wipe out humanity.  At any rate, we shall see.