Due to personal reasons, Fanboy Fights is on hiatus this week.

Sorry, but it'll be back and better than ever next week.

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.
Colorist: Rain Boreto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $2.99

Supervillians, like blondes, always have much more fun. And we readers have more fun with them. As it states at the top of this issue, this storyline takes off right "from the pages of Civil War." Because when Civil War (finally) ends-issue #7 is now due to be released February 21, but don't hold your breath-MU fans are going to left with the narrative repercussions. And they better be good. For those of us who have been eagerly anticipating the end of Civil War since its initial end-date in November, the ancillary books have barely kept us afloat.

Back to the supervillians. They're here, they're assembled, and they're an all-new team. Thunderbolts, as a series proper, has gone through several revamps. Even though this issue is technically #110, Warren Ellis has written the book more as a #1. The team has new members (Bullseye, Penance-more on him later) and old favorites returning-Radioactive Man, Songbird, Venom, and more. The team is now led by the Green Goblin Norman Obsorn, who has obviously and blatantly been recast with Tommy Lee Jones in the role. The book opens with Bullseye being forced to join the team. While the rest of the Thunderbolts team is pretty much stagnant for the remainder of the issue, another plotline concerns hero Jack Flag, who refuses to get registered. While he's trying to keep off the cape, it's too hard when he sees bad guys doing bad things. Spread through out the story is the portrayal of the Thunderbolts in mainstream America. Since they're aligned with the pro-reg crew, they're heroes to the media.

While any new reader with a modest about of MU knowledge can jump on board with this title, familiarity with Civil War events will make the experience that much better. For example, Penance, as a character, has the most promising back story. He was Speedball, but after the 600-plus deaths in Stamford, Connecticut, he was thought to be dead. Instead, the blast sent him 500 miles away. He was imprisoned by the pro-reg faction, but then eventually joined their side and donned a new costume. He's gone from a bright hero to one that's Goth-dark. His costume contains one spike for every death caused in Stamford, so he feels the pain of each victim with every movement. (This was covered in Civil War: Front Line #10.) Heavy, very heavy.
The good guys are fun, but when you've got a guy like Venom working with other baddies to take on the good guys? I know what side I'd be on. Warren Ellis writes an accessible story that leaves open lots of storylines. He brings ample amounts of jingoistic melodrama in the Jack Flag segments, but it's brief and excusable. Mike Deodato's art is workmanlike and dark. Every panel is drenched in shadow, which fits the evil atmosphere quite nicely. His muted work gives the whole book a malevolent air, which is exactly how it should be.

RATING: 4/5

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: R.M. Guéra
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Publisher: DC/Vertigo
Price: $2.99

Another Vertigo ongoing series, another reason to celebrate. Even when a Vertigo series sputters and spurts, it's still infinitely more interesting that the other drivel that scums up the comic shelves. Without content restraints, Vertigo writers and artists have free reign to create the stories they wish to tell. For a new series such as Scalped, which casts a forgotten segment of the American tapestry as its setting, creative freedom has been essential to what is an engrossing, graphic and character-dense first salvo of what promises to be a series to diligently follow.

My first concern, after hearing about this title and having spent time on the land with the Lakota people of South Dakota, was the way in which their society and culture would be portrayed. They are an insular people, abandoned by this nation, but rich with history, family and religious beauty. The reservation land looks like third-world landscapes. In the summer, the air is blistering, and in the winter it'll freeze you solid. The Lakota, like so many native peoples, have been subjugated for generations. For some, this creates a tighter notion of community. For others, it leads to crime.

Crime is where Scalped narrows its focus. As far as debut issues go, this one is remarkably packed with personality and history, opening the floodgates for multiple storylines to come. At its core, the story here, part one of a three-part arc, concerns Dashiell Bad Horse's return to the (fictional) Prairie Rose Reservation. He's a muscular tough guy who brandishes a set of nunchucks and doesn't mind using them on a saloon full of local mob foot soldiers. His ass-kickery drops him right in the palm of the reservation-the Rez-mob boss "Uncle" Red Crow (who holds the titles of tribal president, casino impresario, tribal sheriff, among others). Bad Horse is forced into Red Crow's police unit-the "Dawg Soldierz"-who keep the law as much as they break the law. That's the A-story, but what happens in between the lines is combination of familial angst and a proud legacy.

Writer Jason Aaron (of the stellar Vertigo mini The Other Side) has a great respect for the Lakota people, but doesn't shy away from the ugly nature of humanity. Rarely is the "mature reader" label so righteously enacted-every bubble is thick with profanity-both justifiable and gratuitous. There's also booze and sex, so the Sopranos comparison is fully earned. His characters exhibit a full range of emotional gravity, and his lock on the story is so secure that a secret he retains to the final page is a total surprise. Aaron is a superstar writer in the making, no question, with Scalped as a perfect coming-out party.

Sadly, the art doesn't stand up to the level of the writing. It's gritty enough, and the action is conveyed clearly with transitions that don't stutter. But too often the characters and scenes are muddy and their faces resemble molded clay. It's hard to differentiate between characters early on, especially the leads, which is a big mistake for a new book. The colors assist, but artist R.M. Guéra's pencil work forces so much ink when it isn't necessary. That's not to say that this book should be "pretty"-it should be damn ugly-but ugly doesn't have to look so much like itself.

Scalped is a maniacal affair that is drenched in vice and is a blast to read. The greatest pleasure is in seeing that Aaron isn't making light of the people or their ways; he's simply showing how the greater American criminal virus has infected a people who had once looked out for one another, but where select members are solely out to be the biggest dog in the pen.

RATING: 4.5/5

Writer: Fred Perry
Artist: Craig Babiar
Publisher: Antarctic Press
Price: $3.50

Something tells me the fan boys are being taken for a ride. Publishers know where are genre interests lie. Anything with zombies? Sold. Marvel Zombies? Sold twice. Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness? Zombies vs. Robots? Superman and Batman vs. Alien and Predator? And it would be all the more maddening if we refused to buy the books? But if we did that, we wouldn't be fan boys, so would we? We need these books.

As popular as the many permutations of zombies and robots are to the geeky set, they are closely followed up by pirates and ninjas. And...surprise! Look what Antarctic Press has released-Pirates vs. Ninjas #1. Is it a good story, or are our interests being whored out in the interest of boosting sales with a book whose name sells itself?

For the most part, this book is the former and not the latter. The storyline here is simple, as it should be? When you come to a book like this, it's not more intellectual stimulation. It's to witness a throw down. Fred Perry (I love his shirts) injects some background history to the battle between the pirates and ninjas, but it's not all that necessary. Once the story ramps up to the first fight, momentum turns for each side through every panel. The outcome of a fight such as this series documents is something that can never have a winner. Two nerds argue their sides, and each has a reason that their combatants win. Pirates are expert swordsmen. Ninjas are stealthy. Pirates are toughened through surviving scurvy and contracted STDs from sea-wenches. Ninjas and lightning-fast and skilled with various weaponry. It goes on and on.

Thankfully, Perry gives advantages to each side. While the pirates might score points with their canons and knock flying ninjas from the sky, it's only a matter of moments before said ninjas are crawling up the sides of the ship and taking out the deck-swabbers. The ninjas are dead serious, while each pirate is only truly out to save his own skin. The end result is a amusing, fast read that trades fairly on the action. My only real concern is that the back story is sort of lacking. The history between the fight goes back to an ancient fight between a pirate and ninja. They struggled for a invaluable treasure. In the end, the pirate won, but was cursed for all time for defying Poseidon. Yup, that's about it. It's light, for sure, but it's doesn't get in the way of the action, which for a book like this is a good thing.

Antarctic is known for the Manga creations, and this book benefits from the press' focus. The art style isn't distracting from the story, and the black and white art creates a nice bit of atmosphere. Craig Babiar's handle of the characterizations leaves them roughly-edged, which fits them well.

This isn't a series that's going to demand a lot from the reader, which is a welcomed change. This is a book you can read and enjoy.

RATING: 3/5

Writer: Adam Warren
Artist: Brian Denham
Colorist: Guru eFX
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $2.99

It's nice to see a Marvel book that doesn't depend on Civil War. It reminds me of the blissful ignorance prior to these lame major-crossover days. Back to when things were simple, back before there were more miniseries than full series because a six-issue mini can be neatly packaged into a trade paperback...wait, that's this series exactly. Oh, hell. Can't fight it. And since we're at the whims of the editorial and marketing powers that be, might as well enjoy the ride.

Good thing that this first issue of a new mini offers some cheap, fun thrills that don't completely suck. This isn't the thinking-man's Iron Man. We've got verbose narration, bad dreams and lots of fighter jets. In some ways, this Iron Man is pulpier than other current incarnations of the character. And who knew that Tony Stark's suit was also a 30GB iPod?

The book opens with Iron Man being stalked through the skies by fighter jets aiming to bring him down. The pilots are being directed by Major Tom Aramaki, a commanding officer of the S.H.I.E.L.D. unit nicknamed the "Capekillers." Guess what they're job may be? Aramaki and his crew show a lot of guts in going after their target. Aside from the inherent goals of his division, it's unclear as to why they're after Iron Man at this time. If this has anything to do with the Civil War events, that relationship must've soured.

In the moments when Iron Man isn't evading rockets in the clouds, he thinks back to his first dances with his addiction to the fast life. He's got great affection for sweet ex-girlfriend Naomi, but her image is hijacked by a raven-haired stranger who speaks Chinese and likes flicking her tongue. Tony Stark refers to her as a "Suicide Girl," and that label is just about right.

There's really not a whole lot going on in this book, save for massive amounts of explosive ordinance and flying. But that's actually all you need. What's more fun that nonstop action? It's like a Die Hard movie in here. Adam Warren's writing forces lots of words where they're not necessary and some story elements seem out of place. They are some fun twists in the story, though, and Warren knows how to toss them in delicately. Writing will always seem weakest in a story that's more art-driven. Brian Denham's work is exciting, and he's got a firm grasp on visual pacing. Reds dominate nearly every panel, and there's a clear focus on speed and...oh, I can't resist...hypervelocity.

It's not the most amazing book ever created, but you'll be hard pressed to find a book that has more fun. And there's nothing wrong with that.

RATING: 3.5/5