It is clear that a little familiarity may help some readers, especially in the case of 'The Raven'. I would highly recommend reading 'The Raven' and 'The Masque of The Red Death' anyway, as both can beeasily found online, and it is fun to see how Corben has visualised the central characters compared to how you imagine them when you read the original works. If you choose not to read the source material, however, you should still enjoy this.

Fantastic Four is off to a very positive start with its new creative team, and I'm happy to stay on board with the title. It's a book that I just want to be entertained by, and there is a comfortable balance and pace to this first issue that leads you to believe the team is in very good hands.

Nova #13.NOW looks great, provides a fairly accessible jump-on point, and sets up a new arc with an awesome supporting character. If you're looking to add a superhero book to the pull-list, and you aren't already reading Nova, then just get it bought already!

Going forward, I'm really keen to see what this series has in store. Based on what is being teased, ‘The Royals' looks like it could get very interesting. Superheroes have been done to death, and will always feel slightly derivative, but it's good to see creators do a slightly different take on the genre, instead of shying away from it as many do these days. This issue handles its original characters and premise well, and is a strong debut for a potentially very strong miniseries.

The Wake #1 may feel like too much of a change for some. It's a sudden change of pace, and the shift from Sci-Fi Horror to what appears to be just straight up Sci-Fi feels a little odd, otherwise this would have been a 5/5 review, but knowing that it's deliberate, and all part of Scott Snyder's master plan should give you confidence that things are going to get better. Vertigo titles are really where Snyder does his best work, and The Wake is no different.

It's obviously not for everyone, and it will always struggle to shed its 'cutesy' reputation, but ElfQuest really isn't like any other comics currently hitting the shelves. Although it's not this reviewer's usual cup of tea, it's a nice change from the familiar superheroes and gritty indie comics I'm used to. I'm admittedly a noob to the series, but I will happily take a look at future issues. Dark Horse may well have picked a winner here.

All in all, issue #6 doesn't look as if it's about to take this title anywhere particularly new, but it is a pretty entertaining set-up, and if the title can avoid re-treading old ground, 'Ghosted' could very well be worth sticking with.

Grindhouse: DOAMbegins a new 2-part story next month, with new artist Simon Fraser on-board for two issues. I could happily follow this story's heroine through a few more issues, but sometimes it's nice to be left wanting more.

Grindhouse: DOAM changes things up in its third issue. The idea behind this book is that Alex de Campi writes 2-part stories inspired by the exploitation movies of the 70"s, with a different artist on each tale. It's fast becoming one of my favourite books out of the Dark Horse stable, and this issue continues to impress.Part one of 'Prison Ship Antares' takes us aboard a ship full of female prisoners destined for a new Earth. The Governor is a violent and torturous bitch, and the guards are all obedient clones, but there's an uprising brewing, and the inmates are apparently pretty badass too.Grindhouse isn't the most intelligent book out there, but it's not trying to be. Fitting entire stories full of unfamiliar characters into 2 issues comes at the cost of character development, but de Campi still manages to provide everything needed to stop the it from feeling incomplete, although the end point of this issue does seem to come at a slightly awkward moment. It feels like p

It won't be for everyone, but if you can accept the series for exactly what it is and just allow yourself to be entertained, Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight will certainly oblige.

If you're not picking up this title yet, you probably won't, but you'd be missing out. This type of comic rarely catches my interest, but this one most definitely has. It won't change the world, but 'Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight' should certainly be on your buy list.

This annual does exactly what Byrne sets out to do with it though, and is a nice representation and homage to the original series, but at 48 pages and a $7.99 cover price, it may be one for the more loyal Trek fans.

I guess it's unlikely you'd be buying this book without some previous knowledge of the franchise, and if you're already a fan, Ash & The Army of Darkness will certainly entertain, but if you're a noob looking for something fun to read, you could do a lot worse.

Of course, we still get Ash's wonderful badass banter and the famous chainsaw even makes an appearance here, and it's good to know the creative team appreciate what makes Army of Darkness cool and entertaining in the first place, and going forward It will be good to see where they can take the character in this new, back to basics title.

All in all, Star Wars continues to be a very strong book, and while this arc initially feels unnecessary, there is nothing wrong with taking a breather, and you can trust Brian Wood to tell a decent story nonetheless.

It's likely to do with the fact thatthe story is basedon a movie treatment that the pacing of the story is working so well. The zombie-animal outbreak is a cool, totally far-fetched variation on the theme, and the first three issues have given us plenty of horror action whilst still managing to focus on characters. Most other books would squeeze all this into two issues and leave me asking questions, but as we head into the ‘second act', it feels like things are moving along at just the right speed, and this book only stands to get more entertaining in where its headed.

Ultimately, I'm not honestly expecting much of a payoff from this crossover, but with Bendis at the helm, I know I may be proven wrong, and whatever happens, ‘The trial of Jean Grey' is still pretty entertaining at its mid-point.

The obvious assumption is that Never Ending will continue past this short run, although it really does feel like the story is now done with. The title has pretty much covered Chuck's entire career in flashbacks, and although some of his heroics are briefly skipped over, we know he won, and that honestly feels like enough. On the whole, though, Never Ending has been pretty enjoyable. Despite only being a 3-part miniseries, the pacing of the issues has been handled well, and this final issue wraps up nicely.

I'm always a fan of the Star Wars stories that follow the clones more closely, and anyone who watched the Clone Wars animated series will probably agree that the instalments that focussed on the clones were often the best episodes. Going forward, Darth Vader & The Cry Of Shadows could have potential if it manages to channel some of that sort character development, but at the moment, there is a lot to improve upon.

The great thing about 'The Star Wars 'is that it's a strong enough story on its own that, even without the character familiarity, it would still be a decent comic book. As long as the pacing keeps up, and the book doesn't get weighed down by its script, this could be a cracker come the third act.

All in all though, the pacing of The Star Wars is being handled pretty well, and aside from that one death scene and a serious lack of menace from the book's villains, this is still the second best Star Wars book out there at the moment (after Brian Wood's main SW title). This is probably the weakest issue of the series so far, but The Star Wars is still managing to hold its own at its mid-point.

I could pick away at the niggles in this issue for ages, but it boils down to the fact that this adaptation has a lot of potential, and as far as the overall design of the book and the different takes on the characters goes, it is delivering. Unfortunately, the pacing of this issue is all over the place, and will see you paying for something interesting to happen next month.

Although this first instalment is very well put together, Sins of The Wreckers won't blow you away straight out of the gate, as Roche needs these pages more to set the tone of the series than to start blowing things up (and, presumably, killing robots). Everything is here that needs to be, though. Action, mystery, and character development – especially between Impactor and Roadbuster – are all present and accounted for, and if Roche and his Wreckers' track record is anything to go by, this'll be a hit.

As a dark fantasy comic, this isn't bad, but it's a familiar start to a familiar story. It may throw in a few surprises in future issues, but ‘Umbral' may struggle to shine among Image's big-hitters.

I jumped on this title just as 'The Khitomer Conflict' kicked off, and issue #28 has done enough to keep me interested and to continue reading. It's a licensed property, so as always, it won't be to everyone's tastes, but 'Star Trek' almost lost me immediately. This issue won me back.

After the previous arc finished so strongly, this title was looking up. Star Trek #29 deviates from its course, and just about manages to pull off something a little different, but ultimately results in a fairly boring and predictable reading experience.

This latest issue continues to keep the reader guessing as to whether there is actually a natural disaster looming, or if Lucas is actually playing everyone as part of a bigger plan, but ultimately the pacing of this story feels too drawn out to actually keep you caring, and instead of closing the first arc, the end of issue #5 feels more like the mid-point in a story that may already be losing its way.

It's a shame, but Cryptozoic Man is failing across the board. The simplest way to sum it up is to say that the creators are trying too hard to make this book clever, when clearly it is anything but. The premise is just far too complicated to keep it interesting, and the pacing is all over the place. If you're a hardcore Comic Book Men/anything-Kevin-Smith-related fan, then you could maybe see past its flaws, but I hold myself among said fans, and I still can't stand this book.

I was keen to pick this book up, purely down to the Nova association, and while the book isn't necessarily bad, it does suffer from ‘team-building-first-issue syndrome', which I think could have been avoided. Things may well get better, but as a first outing, New Warriors didn't get this reviewer hyped.

The constant change in artwork and inkers is totally jarring, and off-putting, and the cover is awful. You'd think with four pencillers, four inkers, and Marguerite Bennett writing, they could have at least squeezed some quality out of this book. Instead, they squeezed out a big turd.

There's no doubt that John Byrne is a comics legend, but in today's rich comics landscape, Triple Helix is painfully sub-standard, and the weight of Byrne's name is likely the only thing carrying this book to print.