Considering the last story arc was so heavy, they decided to take a break from the angst and violence with this issue and give a few happy endings to some noteworthy people.

In “Comings and Goings”, Sonic and Tails head to the Zone to find a Chaos Emerald towake King Acorn from his coma.  Following that, Tails’ uncle Merlin uses the Emerald to rescue Tails’ parents from Argentum, the alien planet they’d been stranded on.  In the back-up story, the whimsicle “the Island of Lost Badniks”, Sonic dsicovers one of the original Dr. Robotnik’s secret islands where his Badniks would go for repair or retirement.  Sonic then faces Pseudo-Sonic, his very first evi doppleganger!

An upbeat issue to off-set all the depressing stuff that happened in the previous arc, though not ignoring those events (Sonic visits Tommy’s and Sir Connery’s graves).  Not any actual conflict in the whole issue, but it provides a breather.  The back-up story is the most fun, with Sonic finally facing off against Pseudo-Sonic who appeared waaaaayyyy back in issue #9 and was never seen again.  Done mostly for humor, but a fun story never-the-less.  We also get the return of the “Off Panel” comic strips, which they haven’t done in while.  Not the funniest stuff in the world, but it’s alright.

“Autumn Leaves”.  An excellent one-shot story, though it takes a few too many cues from the Ninja Scroll film.

Jubei happens across a woman working with the Tokugawa samurai.  They are trying to deliver a mysterious box to the Hoji Mountain temple when they are attakced by ninja.  Jubei saves the woman, only to learn that she is dying of a mysterious ailment, and agrees to help her complete her final mission.

The woman, Kaede, bears a few too many similarities with Kagero, the kunoichi from the Ninja Scroll film.  Still, what saves this story is Kelley Puckett’s perfect portrayal of Jubei.  Jubei’s just as witty as ever and gets in a surprising number of memorable lines for just 22 pages.  At least one good monstrous villain shows up at the end, though he is vanquished a bit too quickly. 

A really fun one-shot story, though I’d like to see a story arc, soon.

“Last Son part 2”.  This story is coming along quite well.  Richard Donner, Geoff Johns and artist Adam Kubert know how to craft an exceedingly cinematic story.  It feels like you’re watching a movie.

So Superman wants to adopt the mysterious Kryptonian boy, though Lois is having reservations.  Lex Luthor sends Bizarro to go kidnap the kid.  Bizarro has been incarcerated for a year, retrained by Luthor to be more brutal and psychotic.  Bizarro and Superman tussle, putting the boy’s life in danger.

I like this newer, meaner Bizarro.  Wacky Bizarro was fun for a while, but this evil version is what I’ve always wanted.  The name Lois selects for the kid, “Christopher”, is a bit of a heavy-handed dedication to the memory of Christopher Reeves, but whatever.  It’s just a first name.  What really got me excited, though, was the cliffhanger ending and the possible parentage of the Kryptonian boy.  I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

So the conclusion to the most epic arc of the entire Spawn run has come to pass.  Was the climax everything I had hoped for?  Yes and no, I’m afraid.

My one greatest fear was that the effects of Armageddon would be fixed with “the Big Reset Button”.  Sadly, yes, that partially is the case.  However, enough of the effects of Armageddon have remained to make things truly different.  The last pages also leave several naggign questions as to the future of this book (if there is any).

“Armageddon” has been the most ambitious storyline in the entire series and, honestly, more than what I’d hoped it would be.  While I’m not 100% satisfied with the conclusion, I remain impressed.  The epilogue next issue should be impressive.

So Richard Donner, the director of the original Superman theatrical film, has teamed up with Geoff Johns, one of DC’s star writers, to craft this Superman story.  I have to say, only one issue in and its already pretty amazing.

A spacecraft falls out of the sky and into Metropolis.  Superman catches it, of course, but discovers a unique cargo inside: a human-looking boy.  Tests at the Metropolis Metahuman Research Facility prove the boy to be Kryptonian in origin.  Superman isn’t sure what to do; if he lets the government keep him, they could abuse his vast powers for their own gain.  However, are he and Lois ready to adopt a son?  And then there’s Lex Luthor…

If you’ve seen Superman Returns then you know how that movie ended and you are probably going to start making guesses as to where this story is leading.  I’m not going to count my chickens before they’ve hatched; who knows if that kid is what he appears to be, and if he is, who’s to say he’ll be sticking around?  Still, if any pair of writers can give Superman a son and make it work, it’s Donner and Johns.  My only qualm is that the kid comes from yet another rocket that left Krypton before the explosion.  We’ll see where this goes.