METAL MEN #7 DC COMICS
Just over 1/2 way through the maxi-series and it looks as Didio has gone off on a tangent. The series up until now have been a wonderfully nostagic romp through the back catalog of the DC Universe. And while an arguement can be made that one of the things that made the original series of the Metal Men great was when Doc Magnus would create a secondary team of Metal Men using other strange and interesting elements on the periodic table. With these new Metal (Men?) we may have taken that step too far. With new arrivals Nitrogen, Neon, Oxygen, Helium, Fluorine, and Xenon (all gases) appearing as robotic animals, this feels like a jumping the shark moment. Although there is a semi-plausible explination for the animal forms, I can’t help but relate this to when the Transformers started coming up with all sorts of weird combination characters and ruin the toy line. With the return of the Missle Men, I had hoped to be getting back on track with the main storyline but sadly, this gets pushed back to a back burner. Still, I was entertained and enjoyed some of the science-y moments and dialog. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams. 