Thief of Thieves Vol. 5: Take Me

The fifth volume of Thief of Thieves sees Conrad try to retire a second time & reignite his relationship with his ex-wife.  Except this time Audrey finale gets through to him that there is know way to win her back.  On the plus side Conrad is closer to his son now that the events of the previous two volume are over.  Celia is the main focus of this volume, she thinks she can just take over the Redmond persona but she is in way over her head.  We see the return of Liz Cohen in this volume & Redmond saves the day by the end.  So much for retirement but not all is as perfect as it seems.

Thief of Thieves Vol. 4: The Hit List

What can I say it has been awhile since I last revisited Redmond & his crew especially since he was incarcerated in Venice.  This volume is built on revenge for something that happens as part of con to get out of the game.  There is a nice creepy reveal to who Lola is & how he came into his own it also leads to my biggest gripe about this volume.  For this con to work Redmond would have had to have some prior knowledge of Lolita  Without her involvement this con would have backfired however if this doesn't reconcile Redmond with his family I don't know what will.

Superman, Action Comics Vol. 4: Hybrid

I heard the story of how Andy Diggle was taking over Action Comics after Grant Morrison's run.  Diggle would be partnering with artist Tony Daniel for his upcoming run.  This was promoted by DC heavily for months prior to their actual first issue launch.  Shortly after the first issue came out Andy Diggle left the book.  Reasons for Diggle's departure are still unclear probably something to do with editorial since DC has been having lots of those as of late.  Tony Daniel took over writing responsibilities for the rest of the Hybrid arc using Diggle's notes.  Now on to the story the Hybrid arc at the beginning of this volume was actually really cool Tony Daniels art is top notch, his writing however is still clunky.  The first issue by Andy Diggle is a nice throwback to the characterization of Superman from Pre-New 52  The arc overall is a great Luther vs. Superman story that I would love to built upon the characterization of Lex Luther in this story is above any & all expectations,  The second arc in this book is not as good as the first it is by Scott Lobdell building into his run on the Superman title.  Lobdell's arc's in this volume are somewhat confusing unless you have been reading his run.  The final issue in this volume is part of the Psi War story arc which taking place in the other Superman title.  I think Lobdell was put on Action Comics after Diggle's departure as an emergency writer but also to bring some uniformity to the Superman line of titles for DC.  This is really a stand alone volume because of the Hybrid arc but other than that it is a cluster frak of stories.  DC really needs to change up how they create their collected editions because compared to Marvel & Image comics, they are severely lacking in cohesion.

The Losers Book 2

The second volume of The Losers starts off with a flashback story arc about how they got screwed.  This volume also took the plot which was really grounded in the first volume & cranked up times ten.  The climax to this series is so satisfying on par with the ending of Wanted & 100 Bullets.  Even though the story gets kind of convoluted in this volume it still feels right within the context overall story.  This book also brings about so many twist that keeps you reading.  Overall this series was awesome & way better than the movie; if your a fan of the movie you'll love the first volume.  The second volume really made me a fan of this series and I wish there was more but at the same time I love the finality of the climax because it is such a fitting & satisfying ending. 

The Losers Book 1

I have always been a fan of Andy Diggle & Jock's collaboration since I read Green Arrow: Year One.  This however I feel is not their best effort.  I didn't start to feel this series until about the forth issue of the series that kicked it into high gear & it has kept the pedal to floor ever since.  Book 1 collects the 1st 12 issues of this series.  Jock's art is awesome most of the time there are a few panels scattered throughout that feel off, proportionally.  Jock also isn't the only artist on this series but he is in charge of layouts & covers his covers are way better than his interior art & look spectacular.  I picked this series up cause I have had it on my to read list since I saw the movie however 90% of the movie can be summed up in this book alone which is kind of sad.  The main premise of this series is that its a little like A-Team meets Rainbow Six meets Mission Impossible.  A black ops. team left for dead goes up against a crooked C.I.A. handler Max, who has more power & influence than J. Edgar Hoover.  By the end of the end of book 1 you see just how powerful he is without actually seeing him.