Front Lines - Comic Mini-Reviews & DC Rebirth

Extraordinary X-Men #8 (Apocalypse Wars) by Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos (backup by Jeff Lemire and Victor Ibanez)

Summary: Storm has a lot of concerns about the current state of the X-Men.  Are they mutantkind’s saviors or just witnesses to the end? She admits her doubts to Old Man Logan.  They seem to be getting pretty close.  Forge comes in, telling them that Cerebra has located 600 new mutant signatures in a warehouse in Tokyo.  The X-Men team is spread pretty thin, so Colossus decides to take some of the students along with them.  

They break into the warehouse and find Sugar Man.  He has built a device he calls The Ark, which contains 600 mutant embryos that he genetically engineered.  It will take them someplace safe.  The X-Men fight Sugar Man. The Ark starts to teleport away. The X-Men managed to stop Sugar Man from joining in, but Colossus and the students are taken with it.  They find out The Ark is going to the future.  The X-Men are able to use Cerebra to follow, though Storm insists that Magik stay behind to protect X-Haven in Limbo.

They find themselves 1000 years in the future. They find the students, though they are much older now.  They have been here for a long time.  Something terrible happened to Colossus.  There is some commotion outside.  Colossus (who looks like Apocalypse) has arrived with his Horsemen, future versions of Venom, Deadpool, and Moon Knight.

In the back up, 5 days before the main story, Magik took Sapna to meet Dr Strange.  We find out that Strange was the one who moved X-Haven to Limbo. They discover that Sapna’s powers allow her to understand all forms of language, which is why she was so easily able to manipulate the magic that forms Limbo.  They go deeper, and there is some kind of tentacle monster waiting for them.  Sapna fights it off.  Magik promises to protect her, but Strange reveals the creature was coming for Magik, not Sapna.

Matt:  It’s nice to see Sugar Man after all these years. That’s a villain that has Lemire creativity bleeding out of his concept. Jumping to the future also seems like a good Lemire move (see Trillium). As I felt, the back half of this first 12 issues feels like editorial took the hand off the wheel and let Lemire work his magic. Look at those Horseman, for instance!

The backup is interesting on its own, giving Magik and Dr. Strange some time  to showcase the previously lacking backstory and develop everyone involved.

Apocalypse Wars is starting promising. It has a smaller stable of books to juggle, a more focused cast and theme thanks to the X-Men stable, and this issue rights the ship for this series by getting to unleash its own vision.

Mike: From what I heard, Apocalypse Wars is going to be like Fall of the Mutants with each title having their own separate arc entirely tied together by a bigger theme.  That is actually my favorite type of crossover.  It’s a real shame that the X-books have such huge delays.  This issue came out two weeks ago, and we still don’t have any more Apocalypse Wars issues.  Even though both Uncanny and All-New X-Men have had issues since.  Such a mess.  Do they actually have editors at Marvel?

All that said, I really enjoyed this issue.  Lemire has been kind of hit or miss in his early issues, but it finally has started to feel like he’s finding his footing.  I loved that last shot with Colossus and his Horsemen.  It was just a hell of a compelling image that makes me want more of the story immediately.

And like Matt said, I like Sugar Man, so it’s nice to see he’s still around.  And he has potential to be a major player here.  Everyone in the X-books has been saying that mutantkind is doomed, but Sugar Man actually seems to have some legit solutions.

Matt: I miss the days when Marvel editors and stables really felt like they were focused and attentive to the readers. X-Men had its own bullpen just focused on X-Title happenings each issue. Everything feels very scattershot the past 15 years.

Summary: Sam visits Jane Foster.  He is concerned that she keeps sabotaging her chemotherapy by turning into Thor.  She talks about the legacy and wanting to help people in need.  Sam promises to keep her secret, but also warns that he won’t help her die a warrior’s death.

Ms. Marvel is having trouble trusting Vision since he turned out to be controlled by Kang.  He comes to visit her as school, and gives her a VR headset that allows her to relive past Avenger’s adventures.  

The Avengers (without Captain America) are called to deal with a lame old villain named Night Phantom.  He has escaped from Pleasant Hill.  They have no problem taking him down, but they are curious what he meant about Pleasant Hill.  Maria Hill shows up and tells them they don’t have clearance for those answers.  Captain America calls the team.  He is on route to Pleasant Hill himself.  Iron Man convinces Maria to take them all there.  On route, the spot the Unity Squad...with another Maria Hill.  The Hill with the All-New, All-Different Avengers opens fire on the Unity Squad.  The Unity Squad bring the ship down. The two Avengers teams start to fight.  It starts to snow.  The two Avengers teams are trapped in giant snow globe by Kobik.  They all end up mind wiped and in Pleasant Hill. 

Matt: Ah, the snow globe trick. I could hardly read those pages as I couldn’t get the shrieking sound of a barrel being scraped out of my head.

Well. Standoff was off to a cracking start and we’re already spinning wheels. This title is the most relevant crossover chapter last week, if you need to catch up. It runs parallel to the events of earlier chapters and dovetails in where Uncanny Avengers left off.

This gets tedious if you want to follow the event with minimal fuss, as most of the issue just retreads ground and focuses on building up characterization for the team - good stuff for steady readers of the title, a shallow time killer for those wondering what happened since Standoff’s Alpha and Uncanny Avengers’ cliffhanger. We’re still on the cliff, and the edge to hang from is getting crowded and heavier.

I’ll save you money and time: The two rival Avenger teams come face to face with their own Maria Hill, and instead of answers you get the Snowglobe Pan Out.

I’m harsh all week on this, but understand I don’t fault the creators of their own titles. Standoff feels like a logical pitch given our modern world and a fun Avengers All-New/Uncanny story that is now being stretched and strained over any book unfortunate enough to have an Avengers tie.

Please let Civil War 2: Minority Report have a steadier narrative not impeded by editorial mandates. Standoff feels like you’re reading the checklist in every issue telling you what to buy, but every issue you buy is just the checklist again telling you to buy next week’s updated checklist.

Mike: Yeah, I loved the two Nick Spencer issues that started Avengers Standoff, but basically NOTHING HAS HAPPENED since.  Your description is perfect. It really does feel like each issue that has come out since has been waiting for the next big development.  But who knows when it’s coming.  

The timeline has also been strange.  We know the villains took over Pleasant Hill.  And some of them seemed to have escaped at some point, but that never happened on panel.  And SHIELD still seems to have some control since they were able to lock the Avengers inside the bubble too. It just seems like they have a lot of things they want to tell us here, but they aren’t real sure how to put it all together.  

I think we are basically halfway through Avengers Standoff, and at this point, I am just begging for Spencer to write more of it, because no one else seems to have a good handle on what they are supposed to be doing here.

Grey: This is what happens when too many cooks stand around in the kitchen. It’s like Spencer gave everyone an outline to follow, but everyone is doing so as loosely as possible. I haven’t even read the Agents of SHIELD or Howling Commandos issues yet. I dunno, I kinda feel like it’s wayyyyyyy too early in the run of these new Avengers teams to have gone ahead and done a crossover.

Matt: It does feel too early, and this is going to speed us along to Civil War. Not a good sign. I wish they just let Spencer do the whole thing, or at least give the other books a skeleton to build on. The way it’s executed comes across like a game of telephone regarding the initial idea.

New Avengers #8 (Avengers Standoff) by Al Ewing and Marcus To

Summary: Rick Jones sent a message to Sunspot’s AIM team before SHIELD captured him.  To rescue him, the New Avengers would have to break  their agreement with SHIELD not to operate on US soil.  That would make them bad guys like the real AIM.  Sunspot asks the team to vote on what to do.  Most of the team agrees that they should rescue Rick, including Hawkeye who is a SHIELD agent embedded on the team.  Rick is his friend, and Hawkeye doesn’t trust SHIELD on this.  Sunspot admits that it wasn’t really a vote.  AIM was going to rescue Rick either way.  He ends up knocking out those who voted against the plan (Hulking, Wiccan, and Squirrel Girl).  He tells them that they are the New Avengers now that the rest of the team has gone rogue.

The team tracks Rick to a SHIELD helicarrier.  They smash their way aboard.  Deathlok, Simmons, and Quake are among the guards.  Deathlok is able to defeat the team himself, until Hawkeye hits him with an EM Pulse Arrow.  They free Rick.  We find out that Songbird has been working for SHIELD all along.

The joint chiefs decide to take out AIM using a massive monster called American Kaiju.

Matt: Once a week I am made aware that the entire reason Grey reads this title is for the American Kaiju plot, and that he will drop the book as soon as he gets his Kaiju fix. Here we are, it’s happening.

I’m only reading it for the Standoff crossover, which means I wasted my time. This book fights with Howling Commandos for “least necessary and relevant tie-in attempt”. It’s the sort of title you're thankful is traded separately and easily skipped when you decide to add a crossover trade to your collection. Once the Whisperer was identified, he served his purpose and the most interesting fallout of his actions take place elsewhere.

The book tries to throw some reveals and shock moments at a brisk pace, but I can’t help but feel that the creators feel the same way as Grey: Get this over with so we can play with something called American Kaiju. What’s worrisome is that stretch may be all this series was fueled for.

Mike: While I agree that the Avengers Standoff thing didn’t make a lot of sense here (Uncanny Avengers fought All-New All-Different Avengers, New Avengers have a real brief and pointless confrontation with Coulson’s Agents of SHIELD), I actually like New Avengers.  It’s got a cast of characters I really like, and it’s been good to see Sunspot in a bigger more meaningful role.  There has been some real well done suspense laid down throughout the series. Between New Avengers and Ultimates,  Al Ewing feels like he is back to the level of work he was doing in Mighty Avengers Vol. 1.  

I was genuinely curious where the series goes from here.  The New Avengers have basically just put a big target on their back saying that they are more willing to deal with principles than following the law.  I actually can see this as having a huge part of Civil War 2.

Grey: BRING ON THE AMERICAN FUCKING KAIJU! Seriously, Matt isn’t joking, I can’t talk about this book without mentioning that I’m holding out for that story and then I’m probably gone.  

Matt: That’s a good point, Mike, and I would like to see how this all pans out. I don’t feel like Ewing isn’t making an effort, but this does go back to Grey’s “too many cooks” callout. Maybe I’m disappointed because I like the talent behind the book and most of the roster.

Howling Commandos of SHIELD #6 (Avengers Standoff) by Frank J. Barbiere and Brent Schoonover

Summary: Orrgo had been looking into Kraye’s background.  Kraye used Project Kobik to turn Orrgo into a dog and put him in Pleasant Hill.  Now that the villains are all running free, Orrgo remembers who he is, and he’s pretty pissed off.  The rest of the Howling Commandos arrive at Pleasant Hill.  There are a lot of villains here, but their primary concern is finding their missing teammate.

Orrgo is across town and thinks the Commandos betrayed him, so he’s on a rampage.  Orrgo tracks down Kobik and seems to want her to turn him back into a dog.  He was happy and had a family.  She blasts Orrgo.  The Commandos arrive.  Kobik zaps Dugan turning him into a “bad robot.”  Dugan attacks the other Commandos.  Orrgo realizes that teh Commandos didn’t betray him.  He attacks Kobik. This frees Dugan from her control.  She tries to warp reality around them, but they stand together and resist her powers.  She yells “GO AWAY!” And they are all teleported back to STAKE HQ.  Dugan discovers that Kraye has set loose many of STAKE’s prisoners.  The Commandos set off to stop them.  And the series ends there.

Mike: It’s no surprise that this series only lasted 6 issues.  I can’t even find myself to get annoyed like I usually do when a series I like ends abruptly.   Marvel keeps trying to do a monster’s version of the Howling Commandos, and it never goes anywhere.  At least this one had some entertaining characters, but it was still doomed from the start.

I liked the idea that Orrgo was turned into a dog in Pleasant Hill, and that he kind of enjoyed that simple existence.  But this was basically just a crossover for the sake of doing a crossover.  And since it was the last issue of the series, it’s not like it was going to boost sales here.  So it doesn’t make a lot of sense, even though there was nothing wrong with the issue itself.

Matt: I found it shameless to cross into the event as the book was led up the gallows. The attempt to spin the Howling wordplay into the supernatural and bestial realm wore thin to me past the initial pitch, which shouldn’t have made it past the cheap laughs it may have earned at a hotel bar after some long forgotten convention.

Mike: It would be less annoying if they tried it once, and it failed.  But, this is like the third time they have tried to sell Howling Commandos as monsters, and it continues to fail each time.  WTF, Marvel?  I have no problems with companies making mistakes, but can we at least try to learn from them??

Matt: Are they trying to encroach on BPRD fandom? Or that cool DC book about the band with the vampire and werewolf from 1995? Marvel has no shortage of monsters and supernatural, why not spin that out and develop it? As you said, it’s the third time they’re forcing this and to be killed off six issues in, it must not work.

Batman and Robin Eternal #25 by James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Steve Orlando, Javi Pina, and Goron Sudzuka

Summary: All over the world, the Robins and their allies are having trouble fighting Mother’s Orphans.   Just outside of Mother’s Arctic base, Grayson finds himself fighting Azrael.  Azrael wants to kill Mother, but Grayson is determined to expose her for her crimes.  It takes some convincing, but Grayson manages to get Azrael to see there might be a better way.

The Trauma Toxin is ready, but the Orphans are making it impossible to distribute it.  Cullen comes up with a plan.  He has Midnighter open up portals at each location and the Orphans are all sent to fight Midnighter, who is eager for the challenge.  The Robins and their allies are able to use Crane’s formula to stop Mother’s plan.  Mother has a backup plan ready to go, but Grayson arrives, ready to stop her.  

Mike: Winding down to the final issue here.  I did think it was odd that just Grayson showed up for the final confrontation. It really begged the question, where did Azrael go?  While I had said before that the last few issues felt like they were cheating a little in trying to build in deadlines that just kept passing with no real consequence, they really did manage to up the intensity here.  It was kind of hilarious that the Orphans were dealt with by “feed them to Midnighter.”  They actually used a pretty similar plot point in Grayson this week, but it made sense both times.

Kudos to DC for keeping this self-contained.  I am amazed we didn’t get several “tie-in” specials featuring the Robins fighting the various Orphans.  They seem to do that often, and those tie-ins are usually pretty lousy.  Much better to just have that stuff happen off panel like they did here.

DC Rebirth

At WonderCon, the following series were announced (thanks to Comic Book Resources for this complete list):

• "Action Comics," which will return to its original series numbering, will be written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Patrick Zircher, Tyler Kirkham, and Stephen Segovia. It ships twice monthly, starting in June.
• "Superman" will be written by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, with art by Gleason and Doug Manke. It ships twice monthly, beginning in June.
• "Wonder Woman" will be written, once again, by Greg Rucka, and drawn by Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott. It ships twice monthly beginning in May, and with Sharp illustrating contemporary adventures, and Scott providing "Year One" stories.
• "New Superman" will be written by Gene Yang and drawn by Viktor Bogdanovic. It stars a new character who becomes imbued with the powers of Superman, and becomes a hero.
• "Supergirl" will be written by Steve Orlando with art by Brian Ching, and ships monthly beginning in September. The series will pit Supergirl against the Kryptonian Cyborg, who is revealed to be Kara's father.
• "Trinity," starring DC's Big 3 of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman, will be written and drawn by Francis Manapul, with additional art by Clay Mann. It will ship monthly starting in September.
• "Superwoman," a new character, will star in a book written and drawn by Phil Jimenez, with additional art by Emanuela Lupacchino. It will be released monthly starting in August.
• "Justice League" will be written by Brian Hitch, with art by Tony Daniel and Fernando Pasarin. It will ship twice monthly beginning in June.
• "The Flash" will be written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Carmine Di Giandomencio and Neil Googe. It ships twice monthly beginning in June.
• "Hal Jordan & The Green Lantern Corps" will be written by Robert Venditti with art by Ethan Van Sciver and Rafa Sandoval. It ships twice a month beginning in July.
• "Green Lanterns" will be written by Sam Humphries with art by Robson Rocha and Ardian Syaf, and ships twice monthly beginning in June.
• "Cyborg" will be written by John Semper and drawn by Will Conrad and Paul Pelletier. It ships twice monthly beginning in August.
• "Aquaman" will be written by Dan Abnett and Brad Walker, with art by Walker, Jesus Merino, and Phil Briones.
• "Titans" will be written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Brett Booth. It ships monthly beginning in July.
• "Green Arrow" will be written by Ben Percy with art by Otto Schmidt and Juan Ferreyra. It ships twice monthly beginning in June.
• "Harley Quinn" will be written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with art by Chad Hardin and John Timms. It ships in August, twice monthly.
• "Suicide Squad" will be written by Rob Williams, with art by Jim Lee and Philip Tan. It ships in August, twice monthly. The team will be made up of Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Katana, Deadshot, Flagg, with more members to be announced.
• "Red Hood & The Outlaws," shipping in August, will be written by Scott Lobdell with art by Dexter Soy. Bizarro and Artemis, of the Amazons, will join Red Hood for what Geoff Johns called a "dark trinity."
• "Deathstroke" will be written by Christopher Priest, with art by Carlo Pagulayan, Igor Vitorino, and Felipe Watanabe. It ships twice monthly, beginning in August.
• "Batman Beyond" will be written by Dan Jurgens with art by Bernard Chang. It ships monthly beginning in October, and sees the return of Terry McGinnis.
• "Blue Beetle" will be written by Keith Giffen with art by Scott Kolins. It ships in September, and unites Jaime Reyes with, according to Johns, "His mentor, Ted Kord."
• "Hellblazer" will be written by Simon Oliver with art by Moritat. It ships monthly beginning in August.
• In "Teen Titans," written by Ben Percy and drawn by Jonboy Meyers, ships in October, and sees Damian Wayne trying to lead the Titans, and instead sparring with them.
• In the Bat-family of books, a new "All Star Batman" title was announced, to be written by longtime series scribe Scott Snyder, with art by John Romita Jr., Jock, Sean Murphy, and more artists to be named. It ships twice monthly starting in August, and will feature many of the classic Bat-villains.
• "Batman" will be written by Tom King, with art by David Finch and Mikel Janin. It will ship twice monthly, beginning in June.
• "Detective Comics," which, like "Action Comics," will be returned to its original numbering, will be written by James Tynion IV, with art by Eddie Barrows and Alvaro Martinez. It, too, will ship twice monthly starting in June.
• "Nightwing," will be written by Tim Seely, with art by Javi Fernandez and Marcus To. It ships twice monthly beginning in July, and the first arc will be titled "Better Than Batman."
• "Batgirl" will be written by Hope Larson, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. It ships monthly beginning in July, and marks Larson's first superhero work in comics.
• "Batgirl & The Birds of Prey" will be written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, with art by Claire Roe. It ships monthly beginning in July.
• There were also a pair of titles that were discussed without revealing too much about them. "Super Sons," starring the sons of Superman and Batman, ships in September, with an as-yet-unannounced creative team. "Justice League of America" will ship twice monthly beginning in September, with the creative team still to be announced.

Mike: I know there is a lot to unpack here.  I will say that while DC did manage to get rid of some of my favorite quirky titles (bye bye Black Canary, Justice League 3001, Secret Six, We are Robin, and Sinestro), I do think there are many, many great creative teams here to be excited about. One change that really surprised me was that David F. Walker seems to be off of Cyborg.  Walker’s run was the first time I can really remember caring about Cyborg, so I am kind of bummed out by that.

But enough negativity!  There is a lot here to cheer about, so let’s get started!

So, gents, what are your favorite titles they announced?

Matt: Supergirl is my top priority. Always one of my favourite DC characters when written well, and it sounded like they were going to focus on the alien in another world aspect. I’ve missed her the past few years and look forward to this Cyborg twist.

Wonder Woman ties with it. Azzarello and Chiang’s run is a hard act to follow. I do not think the Finch run succeeded. I am disappointed that the Marguerite Bennett rumours were only rumours, especially after Red Sonja and Insexts. That said, Rucka is a proven force when writing Wonder Woman. I had just been looking for new voices on these characters. Nicola Scott landing her dream gig doing the Year One portion is the best thing out of all these announcements for my tastes.

Then Deathstroke by Christopher Priest. There are too many titles by Priest to list here as to why I’m amped, but Black Panther alone earns my anticipation for this book.

Rounding out my Day One buys are Tom King on Batman, Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque on Batgirl, Tony Daniel’s pencils on Justice League, Rob Williams and Philip Tan working the Suicide Squad, and Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s work with Harley Quinn. All talents I trust and enjoy, and most of DC’s Rebirth investment hinged on the creative teams over just following the characters. It’s gotten too risky to do otherwise the past few years.

All Star Batman will be an artist’s dream, so I’ll keep a close eye on it.

Mike: One of the books I am most excited about is Super Sons, even though they didn’t announce a creative team for it, and it’s not coming out until September.  I will admit, I was real down on Damien for a long time, but he is one of the few characters who actually got better in New 52.  They have just put strong creative teams on the various books he’s been featured in, and I’ve really enjoyed the character.  Partnering him up with Jonathan Kent should really create some fun stories.

Just yesterday, the three of us were talking about the fact that there are virtually no comics written and drawn by a woman.  Looks like there will be another one!  "Batgirl & The Birds of Prey" will be written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, with art by Claire Roe!  I say all the time, the only way to get real diversity in comics is to have more diversity in the people who create the comics.  So kudos to DC for this!

I love that both Superman and Batman are getting some real big writers on their core books.  Jurgens on Action Comics and Tomasi on Superman.  And Tom King and James Tynion IV doing Batman and Detective Comics respectively.  And it looks like Pre-Flashpoint Superman will either be the only Superman or at least sharing space with New-52 Superman.  I am actually hoping New-52 Superman sticks around. They finally seemed to be getting him pretty close to a Superman I enjoy reading.  

Titans should be great.  Teen Titans has been through some rough patches in New-52, but Titans Hunt seemed to be starting to get things back on the right track, and I am glad that Abnett will be sticking around.  He seems to have a good grasp on the characters and how to make a compelling Titans story.  Ben Percy has done some good work on Green Arrow so he may do fine on Teen Titans, but at this point, I am kind of think DC needs to just kill the “current” young heroes efforts for a while.  It just hasn’t worked.

Blue Beetle series starring Jaime and Ted Kord?  With Keith Giffen and Scot Kolins as the creative?  That almost makes up for ending Justice League 3001. Almost.

One last comment, it is real confusing to move Hitch to Justice League and have Justice League of America (the book that Hitch is currently doing...which was basically unreadable to me) now be the flagship title, and also not launching until later in the year.  

Grey: Tomasi and Jurgens writing MY Superman? YES!

Flash by Joshua “Nailbiter is the best book at Image” Williamson? YES!

Green Arrow not changing a damn thing? YES!

Nightwing by Tim “Bring back Hack/Slash already” Seeley? YES!

Snyder, King, and Tynion on Bat books? YES!

Alright, Daniel Bryan moment over. Seriously, I’m majorly stoked for this relaunch. There’s a lot of the old “Things that work don’t need fixing” evident in the Bat family, while at the same time you can see the “We miss our Superman” approach to the Superman books. The revaluing of the Titans is a big boost for me, as is Green Lanterns starring Baz and Jessica.

There’s a fine line between pandering to an audience and embracing what people love most about your product, and DC has been trying to find a way to hover over it the past few years. DCYou was an attempt to bring back lapsed readers with new takes, but it wound up just pandering to a certain audience (not that that audience doesn’t deserve attention), while alienating other ones. I truly think, on paper, that this relaunch is going to put them back at the middle. There’s enough stuff there to bring in the niche audiences, while embracing and celebrating the classic concepts and core concepts.

Oh, and one last thing.

Keith “Formerly Known as the Justice League” Giffen writing Ted Kord? YES! YES! YES!

Matt: I’m excited for Titans but will wait and see. I’m not the world’s biggest Green Lantern fan, but the Green Lanterns title is a chance to try and win me over to that corner of DC. Superman getting readjusted is a welcome change. I missed Batgirl & The Birds of Prey on my first writeup and I am hoping that and Green Arrow give me my Canary fix.

It’s a good lineup with a good mix of old and new talent behind it. Really, what I feel Marvel and DC need to do is just commit to their books, retain steady creative teams with solid storytelling, and see books through instead of calling it in six months or a year. I do believe that simply telling an entertaining story overrides pandering to nostalgia or catering to the whims of a potential new reader market that (the numbers show) doesn’t actually care even when you accommodate.

DC should take one part of DCYou with them: be You.