Andy Hunsaker Comic Reviews

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #12

Overall, A Voice in the Dark blends the killing of people with the coming of age and the slicing of life. The first issue sets up the players in what's sure to be an unsettling game. It's taking its time unfolding, with a mild undercurrent of tension that's sure to ratchet up quickly as we watch a person who wants to kill people dealing with a caller who wants to kill herself, which is where the first issue leaves us. It could become something very compelling once it gets its legs.

If you can let go of the last 70-odd years of comic history and not bring all that baggage to bear on this new take, it's actually a pretty fun read so far. Maybe the ever-controversial Morrison will go off the rails figuratively in the next few issues, but he did it literally in Action Comics #1 and it turned out pretty exciting. We get inured to the idea that Superman is more powerful than a locomotive after decades of hearing it, but here, we see that it's really damn hard to stop a train with your bare hands. We're back to basics here, and it ain't a bad place to be.

It's an entertaining enough story on its own, though, and it continues to earn enough good will to give the next issue a chance. The reveal at the end about who Luthor is working with is an interesting one, but it still doesn't feel right. Maybe it's just a matter of time and getting used to all this change after 70-odd years of traditional Superman, but we haven't seen the heart and soul of the mythos yet, and we miss it.

Anyway, Action Comics #4 is all right. It's not great, but there's a bit of fun and cool to it, and some iffy stuff to cast the stink-eye upon. That's mostly what you get with the New 52.

Might this be a huge new story that will eventually involve the standard Superman, or could we hope this could be a spin-off series of its own? Or will the next several issues of Action Comics be devoted to various other alternate Earths? Who knows? It's Grant Morrison.

That's another reason why Morrison tends to get to do what he wants - good or bad, he's a writer whose next move we never see coming.

Regardless, this is Lex Luthor doing what he does, using people as pawns to further his own ambitions, and one can imagine the lack of Superman made him a little more prone to sacrificing those pawns because no one is around who can put him in check. Enjoying his freedoms and all. The art from Raymund Bermudez is solid, and you really get a sense of how cold Luthor is. Depending on what brand of Lex you like, this could be an awesome issue for you, as his eerily calm ruthlessness definitely brings across a feeling of malevolence " and it feeds into what Geoff Johns had Luthor do to Kord in FE #1. It fits well enough. I suppose I just prefer my Lex to be a bit more perversely inspiring. An antithesis of Superman should be able to hit him where it hurts and make him doubt everything about himself by seeming to be absolutely in the right " but apparently, that's being left to Wraith over in Superman Unchained, relegating Luthor to Montgomery Burns-style everyday villainy a

Clark and Lana couldn't be more different, but they share a heart of gold, and you can feel their warmth and sorrow in Action Comics #29. It's good to have a Superman book that makes you feel things again.

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So far, it's interesting enough to check into and see where it goes.

Make it happen, Mr. Lapham.

We tend to like these kinds of stories that start with 'the heroes have lost and lost hard, and this is how they figure out how to win again.' We didn't particularly enjoy it in Dark Reign, which dominated everything and went on for an interminably long time, but in its own self-contained, quickly-released book like Age of Ultron, it's much more palatable and much more interesting. This is the first event book in quite some time that I've actually enjoyed.

Web comics are not the fringe things they once were, and the internet provides a great opportunity to get your work out there while cutting out red tape and middlemen. Bird & Brar are doing just that with Al'Rashad: City of Myths, and it's very much worth your time and it's quite accessible, to boot. As they explain in their very short "About" section: "What you need to know before reading: this is a comic about a fantasy world. Everything else you can figure out."

Overall, it's a really good beginning - one that can probably be ascribed to an author adapting her own work to a different medium, knowing how to get the essentials out there to keep readers hooked. Alabaster: Wolves is a five issue series, likely adapting each one of the short stories in the original book. Hopefully, they hang well together as one full tale, and even if they don't, well, Dancy's had her one chance, and she certainly didn't let us down.

Overall, it's a solid next effort and I'll certainly be reading the rest of this five-issue miniseries. Dancy is a compelling mix of down-home earnestness, savage ferocity and sullen misery, and we still aren't entirely sure what her angle is. Ostensibly, she's a monster-slayer out to protect reg'lar folk, but is she mistaking a demon for an angel in her holy quest, or is there other stuff going on here? Hopefully, we'll find out soon. There's plenty of promise that it'll be a cool revelation when we do.

Alex + Ada isn't any kind of exciting, action-packed adventure, nor is it a supremely engrossing drama. But it's got an easy comfort to it that doesn't demand much of any suspension of disbelief, and yet it also brings an awkward, real-life sensibility to a situation we all know is something we'll have to face someday soon " perhaps even within our lifetimes.

It certainly doesn't stand alone as a story or anything like that, but if some quick hits are what you're into, Point One will provide a nice little variety pack, and will hopefully turn you on to some books with a lot of potential.

So how's Gambit? Well, he's certainly not offensive yet. Having Logan run him down like a dumb child helps deflate some of that lame LeBeau "mystique." and making it seem like he's stumbling into something way out of his league also negates that 'too cool for school' malarkey that made him so unappealing. So Peter David and his talent for interesting character work may actually be able to do the unthinkable - make me like a book that stars Gambit. That is some of the highest praise I can offer.

All-New X-Men #1 is an interesting start, and it has the potential to be absolutely fascinating if it doesn't get too schticky or smugly glib with self-satisfaction. That shoe may indeed drop, but for now, the first one's hit the ground running.

There's also part one of a back-up story, also from Gray & Palmiotti featuring art from Jordi Bernet, about the demonic vigilante El Diablo, justifying the fact that this book is called All-Star Western and not Jonah Hex. The ghostly Lazarus Lane happens upon an old western town besieged by zombies, and it's up to him and his dark power to save the day. J&J own the DC west, and it'll be great to see them reintroduce all the good ol' boys in good ol' ways. Here's hoping they'll bring Tallulah Black back, too, and we'll know the New 52 thing was barely a hiccup for these guys - just like it was for Batman and Green Lantern.

CRAVE ONLINE RATING: 4/10

Overall, All-Star Western #9 maintains the entertainment level of the series so far - particularly with Arkham's incredulity at the revelation that someone actually married Hex, and Hex's response at his attempted mockery of it. Also, it was nice to see that Arkham wasn't entirely dead weight, and actually played upon his appearance as dead weight to help pull off the plan. This book is good, and Hex is back in Gotham by the end of it all. Is he gonna remain there for good? Who knows, but if it helps get him in the mix with big-time crossovers, I'm eager to see how it works out.

All-Star Western #11 is a pretty cool issue of a pretty cool book. I'm very pleased that Gray and Palmiotti seem to get free reign over the Old West of the DC universe, and it's a consistently entertaining read.

J&J hit on all notes, with the Black action, and Hex making deals with Batman's ancestor, and even Arkham gets some hilarious potshots in on the CBers. "Perverse aberrations such as yourselves are the reason societies and religions formed - to elevate us from the fecal-smearing superstitious savagery of our murderous ancestors!" There's nothing better than a well-formed intellectual put-down like that.

Let me say that again. Jonah Hex is in Arkham Asylum. That is seriously all you need to know to start reading this book NOW. Never mind the irony that Hex had been reluctantly partnered with Amadeus Arkham himself for a long while back in his own time. Come on now. You have to find out how Jonah Hex will react to the Calendar Man.

So far, I'm enjoying this All-Star Western time warp, although I'm holding out hope that J&J will really deliver some truly great moments in a "Future Hex" story, where they've really only got one chance to do Hex In Modern Gotham right and proper, before shoving him into the modern-day would feel forced. Or even more forced than the series has felt thus far with Hex in Old Gotham instead of out west where he belongs. I have faith.

All-Star Western #23 helps us settle in to what may be a long haul for Hex in the modern-day… or maybe his connection to Batman will find a way to put him back where he belongs in short order. We'll have to see, but I trust J&J to make it a good time regardless.

A good alpha issue for Alpha #1. This kid's a wiener. Fialkov's got his work cut out for him, making us like the guy enough to follow his story. So far, it's working.

There's so much to see. So much to enjoy. So much to love about Spider Island. Thank you, Mr. Slott, for restoring our faith in the ability to tell epic stories without sacrificing character or charisma.

Slott continues to be a master of pacing and tension and fun and enjoyment. Read Amazing Spider-Man.

"This is our day, gentlemen. The day the Sinister Six reigns supreme." Something about that declaration is inspiring. Dr. Octavius referring to his compatriots - including a guy made out of sand, a guy wearing a fishbowl on his head and a guy in a rhinocerous outfit - as 'gentlemen' lends a quiet dignity to their collective madness, and the only way Amazing Spider-Man #683 could make me happier would be letting Mysterio kick a little more ass.

Amazing Spider-Man #684 is a great read all around, all the time. It's entertaining, it's high adventure, it's funny, it's smart and it's part of a series that's got everything you want out of comics - fun on every darn level.

As usual, Humberto Ramos and his highly-charged kinetic style might very well be contributing to just how breathless Slott's stories become, because his work is just so damn dynamic and energetic. Hell, in this issue, he even gives Slott a cameo. The Amazing Spider-Man #685 once again proves that it's possibly the most consistently and thoroughly enjoyable read that Marvel Comics puts out, and you're missing out on plenty of exciting adventures if you don't dig in.

I can't say enough good things about Dan Slott, and you've heard/read them all before anyway, so I'll just say he's still kickin' it with the densely packed and entertaining scripting, while Stefano Caselli's art is plenty great, too. Amazing Spider-Man #686 is good stuff, and anything that makes you actively root for Mysterio is welcome in my book.

Slott writes so densely, and so urgently that he tends to leave you a little breathless, and it's hard to imagine the goofy bits with Mysterio at the beginning are in the same issue as this grisly demise of a cult favorite character like Sable. It's possible he's got a plan to get her out of there, but since he's been building this story for years now, the last great plan of Doc Ock, it had to have a lasting effect somehow, since burning the world is apparently the Phoenix's job over in Avengers vs. X-Men. The art from Stefano Caselli is also top notch, bringing the kinetic energy of Humberto Ramos' work without the distended angles, so it may be a bit more palatable for mainstream appreciation.

Amazing Spider-Man #688, the next chapter in a stellar series of consistently great comic books. If you're not reading this book, I don't know what your problem is.

Slott's reputation is that of a light-hearted storyteller, and there's been a lot of that in Amazing Spider-Man that's kept it so much fun for so long. However, he's not afraid to get into the macabre, either, and that's on full display in Amazing Spider-Man #689. It's still got the dense, entertaining writing that so characterizes him, but the wide range of themes and tones Slott can ace really makes us believe that Spider-Man is in the best hands possible, movie or no movie. The comic book has always been where it's at, anyway.

All in all, Amazing Spider-Man #692 pretty cool anniversary issue - we get some pathos, some comedy, and a big, thick ol' mess that Spidey's gotten himself into and will have a hard time extracting himself from. It's what Spidey's all about. Let's hope those Marvel NOW goons don't decide to yank Slott from Spidey for the sake of a stunt.

Amazing Spider-Man #693 is interesting even while being off-putting, and Slott's walking a very tight rope with keeping it that way while featuring a character as annoying as Maguire. Let's hope he keeps it going with Part 3 next time out, because we REALLY want to see this brat learn a lesson or twelve.

The art from Giuseppe Camuncoli is much more realistic than the kinetic, angular work of Humberto Ramos, but it's still solid stuff, bringing the energy when needed. The players in the game here - two different Hobgoblins, the Bugle, the Labs, Stone, Kingpin, Madame Web - are all leading up to something interesting, and Slott, and Gage, for that matter, are the kinds of writers we can believe when they say they've got things cooking that will knock our socks off.

As a swan song to 50 years of Amazing Spider-Man, #700 does delve into a lot of what makes Peter Parker tick, what makes Spidey Spidey, and proves that strong core character is powerful enough to reform a supervillain once they truly understand it. I can't say this issue knocked my socks off, due to all the unanswered questions and my very real concern that an Otto/MJ skeeve-fest is in the offing, but it is a bold effort, a daring move and it will all probalby turn out just fine in the end. It's not a grand finale. It's just a new story arc. Let's roll with it.

There's certainly a talented and twisted imagination at work here, and if the creepy stuff is your thing, you'll probably enjoy Animal Man #1. It's never really been mine, but your mileage may vary.

"Throne Of Atlantis," which stretches between Aquaman and Justice League, looks to cement this new era of the bad ass Aquaman.

Archer & Armstrong #2 is fun stuff. Nothing super-hilarious, but I am duly entertained. I must clarify that I haven't read the original Valiant Comics, and a reader did point out last time out that this seemed like a rehash of stuff better told in the previous incarnation. I can't speak to that, but I'd be interested in hearing what other old Valiant readers might have to say about it. As a newbie, though, it's a good time.

It's the Gage story that makes this issue a great read, though. He loves these characters as much as we do, and he likes to use lots of them at the same time. The more, the merrier, I say.

Astonishing X-Men #50 is a pleasant enough set-up for the big deal next month, even if it's nothing crazy exciting. Get on board, perhaps you'll enjoy the ride.

The much-ballyhooed gay wedding goes off without a hitch. Karma at least waits until after the reception has started before doing... something gross to Ol' Woofie. Having tuned in to check out the hype machine, I'm not sure if I'll continue reading this title now that the big event has happened. It's a good enough book, but aside from being the host series for a social landmark, these last two issues haven't really jazzed me, which may just be a purely aesthetic response on my part. Your mileage may vary, of course. It's a place to get something you don't really get in most other superhero comics. If you dig it, keep on digging it.

Astro City is a nice place to visit. It's good to see the gates are open once again.

Avengers #12 is a very welcome chance to take a step back and process what's been going on so far in this book, and the lasting changes to Marvel's Earth it seems to have brought about. It stimulates the brainmeats without bogging us down with stoic unfamiliarity. Plus, with Hickman bringing in not only Garokk but the High Evolutionary, two essential components of that classic X-Men annual from yesteryear, dare we hope that he has plans to bring forth the forgotten son of Colossus in some fashion? Or maybe Terminus, who may seem more in line with big ideas in general? I'm surely planning to stay tuned to find out.

Avengers #18 somehow accomplishes the feat of amplifying the threat level the team is up against while simultaneously letting us breathe a little bit by seeing them get proactive and take the fight to the jerks, even if it doesn't go so well for them. It's only the first issue post-Infinity #1. We didn't expect them to win.

Avengers A.I. #1 is a big letdown - disappointing to read and not all that great visually. Most of what was wrong with it could have been fine and functional if Hank Pym was written like Hank Pym, but instead, he's written like a schmuck, and I suppose he will continue to be for the rest of the year. Joy.

Also of note is what Gage does in "After School Special," aka the AA letters page. In it, he prints a long and relatively even-tempered letter from a Kentuckian objecting to AA #23 and Striker's coming out, believing that "alternate lifestyles" should not be portrayed in a comic aimed at teens because he feels it to be a political issue rather than a human issue. Gage then writes an equally long and even-tempered rebuttal explaining why he's so very, very wrong. Let's do this kind of thing more often, world. I'm looking at you, 24-hour news channels.

Gage's writing is completely engaging, as usual, and we like all of these people. The art from Karl Moline is also pretty sharp, doing a very good job at juggling this huge cast of characters and managing all their expressions deftly. Avengers Academy is one of the best things Marvel has going for it right now, and the fact that they can publish stories like this that completely undercut their blockbuster endeavors without fear speaks well of them. There's room for all kinds here - and there's no better illustration of that than Avengers Academy, where all kinds mingle free and relatively easily.

Avengers Academy #29 is a great way to tie in with the AvX event without selling out to it. This book is all about characters we like, and if Gage can do with the X-Kids what he does with the AA crew, I may have to start looking into those X-books, too.

There's just always so much going on with Avengers Academy that it's one of the first books you want to read when a new issue is in your stack, and AA #30 is no exception. It's just compelling character drama, the kind that can make an iffy "event" good.

And as usual, the acidic Hazmat has the best summation of the crux of the problem:

WIth Avengers vs. X-Men taking an interesting turn, Avengers Academy #32 takes a step back from lightly satirizing the entire concept and brings us a small-scale personal conflict that certainly serves to illustrate the much larger issue about the Phoenix Five being the absolute arbiters of right and wrong for the entire world. Gage has proven wonderful at this sort of thing, and as always, we look forward to the next issue.

This is a great book. I recommend it to everybody.

Read Avengers Academy while it lasts. It is great.

But overall, Avengers Academy #38 is just a blast, because it's all about characters bouncing off each other, and we comic fans love that stuff - to the point where it's slightly dangerous that we connect with these fictional people like they were our real friends, which makes us that much more upset when their book gets canceled. But Gage is such a class act that he even makes us feel better about it in the letters page - he's heartbroken that the book's going away, but he's happy to see these characters have caught on well enough that other writers want to take them on.

For those of us who split the difference, it's going to be one hell of a headache.

If you want some Avengers fun without the complications, look no further. And start with Avengers Assemble #9.

Hickman spends more time getting to the point of the story and less time focusing on forcing square characters into round plot holes to make them fight each other and kind of making us hate them, and thus AvX Round 4 is a step above the rest. Wolverine is cool, Gambit is not, and the Phoenix is finally here so the snotty slap-fighting is hopefully over. If any slap-fighting starts anew, it'll hopefully be more along the lines of extremely intense world-in-the-balance stuff rather than the "humans are so petty... and tiny" style.

Questionable motivations and suspect contrivances make it hard to connect with the story being told, but there are much cooler things happening here than in most summer comic stunts, so we'll take what we can get.

Once again, Avengers vs. X-Men splits the difference between event-book frustration and doing something new and interesting, which means it's just cool enough to keep us reading, and not going off on endless vitriolic Fear Itself/Flashpoint rants like last year.

Hey, it's still sorta fun. And it's not Fear Itself. So let's enjoy what we can. We do like liking things.

In the meantime, let's just be glad that she's fine. And she's Wanda.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade has been one of those series you wish for. Putting right what once went wrong. It's been said that it was designed to end at the same time as X-Men: Schism and Fear Itself, which should be next month. So hopefully we won't have to wait nearly as long for #8 and #9 to give us this full story, so we can find out just what the future of the Scarlet Witch will be. As it stands now, though, some of us are just glad that she actually has a future to wonder about.

CRAVE ONLINE RATING: 7.9/10

Now let's just hope some of the creators involved with Avengers vs. X-Men have read this series and respect its tone and message about what they're about to do before plucking out its characters and plugging them into their fight card. If it feels just as contrived as it sounds, those of us who read Avengers: The Children's Crusade are going to have that much more difficult a time swallowing it. However, considering the pre-sale numbers are going through the roof for AvX, they likely don't care all that much.

So, it's a decent start to the big AvX proceedings. However, as we've seen countless times over the past decade, a good start doesn't always lead to an acceptable finish. Time will tell. Cable would agree with that.

So, sure, I've crammed a Captain Marvel review into this Avenging Spider-Man #10 review. They're so closely intertwined, though, that it feels natural, and they're both in support of Carol Danvers as the new Cap, which feels so cool that it should've been done a long time ago. The AvSM two-part tale has been a lot of breezy fun with a nice emotional twist at the end. It's good comics.

The result so far is that I'm interested. I can't say I'm excited yet, but I'm interested. Let's see what trick is pulled in Superior Spider-Man #1.

I can't believe I care about Kaine. Yost is a miracle-worker. And Avenging Spider-Man should be an interesting ride for as long as he's in control of it.

Overall, Spider-Man's books right now are a one-two punch of twisted goodness. My reservations at the start about this whole Freaky Friday switch have been put to bed, and I'm really fascinated with learning how it's going to turn out.

Avenging Spider-Man may not get to define what happens in the ongoing saga of Superior Spider-Man, but it is giving us a very intriguing picture of the everyday functioning of Otto Octavius in the world of superheroes to which he is not accustomed and ill-suited. While I will enjoy it when Peter Parker comes back eventually, we know he'll have the lions share of all Spider-Man stories in perpetuity, give or take a clone or two, so I'm content to watch this unique look at a different kind of wall-crawler for as long as it continues to unfold. It's disconcerting to read a Spider-Man who hates all the good guys and is a completely arrogant ass, but it's pretty entertaining, too.

By the end of Avenging Spider-Man #21, we're somehow rooting for Evil Spider-Man to get one over on the good guys, and Yost managing that is a remarkable feat. Go team Spider-Man.

The interactions between heroes are so much more interesting than the big events these days, and important little character pieces like this are what carry us through when we get bogged down by hazy plotting. Guys like Gillen can help us make sense of it all.

It's disappointing that Gillen is managing to make me an X-Men fan just in time to see him stop writing X-Men. Let's hope the Marvel NOW X-books can rise to Gillen's game here.

Avengers vs. X-Men VS. #1 is not bad. It's not trying to be this big deal - it's just there for comic book slam-bang fun. That may change as the stakes get higher, it may not. I may be able to remember how to just go 'wheee!' along with a comic book, I may not. Either way, I yam what I yam and it is what it is, and if you dig what it is, who cares what I yam?

Shit's going down in the Mignolaverse. Hellboy's dead (he's still dead, right?) and most of the B.P.R.D.is down and out. And I'm back on board to find out what's next.

That... could have repercussions down the line. And I'm on board to find out what they might be.

Here's where Simone shines - dealing with twisted people. The shinola is hitting the fan, business has picked up, and when the Joker's involved, the stakes are always at their highest and we never know how things are going to shake out. That's going to make every book Death of the Family touches something you need to read. Batgirl #14 is no exception.

Overall, Batgirl #19 is a very strong return with a flourish for Simone, and we're glad to have her back. Perhaps we hadn't appreciated her prior run as much as we should have, but now we've seen how bad it can get, and we'll trust her instincts going forward.

We're past the time when I felt I was reading Batgirl more out of loyalty to Simone than I was out of genuine enjoyment of the book. Batgirl #23 has confirmed that all (or maybe just most) bets are off, and we don't know how far into the rabbit hole we're going to go.

… man, it's really hard to stop doing that. But then again, why should I? You just don't get this kind of rollicking frolicking in comics anymore, so it's a gas when you get a book wherein the last panel of the story involves the Dynamic Duo staring out at the reader, with Robin simply exclaiming "Gosh!" over the congratulations offered him for his fine work. Parker is nailing the dialogue and making us chuckle, chortle and cherish the madcap magic of Batman '66.

Jae Lee is back on art duties, so the rejoicing never ends. This is magical stuff, really unique and exciting. Lee has touches of Norman Rockwell and Alex Toth, but never loses his original eye. Dealing with dark subject matter, Lee brings a texture of nightmares to his panels. Things are foreboding, especially with Batman and Huntress, and Superman becomes elemental, almost primal. Nobody works in the way Jae Lee does, which is something you can’t often say about comic book artists.

As it is, though, Two-Face is little more than a triggerhappy thug with a more striking look than most, and the more masses he murders, the less we seem to give a damn about him or who he used to be, because there's no turning back with this high a body count. Well, there could've been with the New 52 switchout. Too bad nobody thought to do that.

Regardless, it still feels like an "oh, by the way" sort of character reboot, though. Harvey Dent deserves an epic, but I fear he might be getting the shaft.

We'll have to see how this shakes out now that everything's coming to a head, but there's not a lot of cause for optimism that the new status quo for Harvey Dent will be anything but lame. However, Erin McKillen makes for an interesting character , so it's up to you to decide whether or not the new blood is worth the sacrifice of the venerable classic.

So long, Harvey Dent. You were my favorite Bat-villain, although I'm surprisingly fine with watching you go.

In essence, Batman: Death By Design feels like the movie serial era of Batman, complete with the old-school Bat-computer with knobs and gauges and the like, and as such, it's really pretty cool that way. Kidd's script does explore some interesting architectural ideas and ramifications while drawing inspiration from reality, but the star of the show is Dave Taylor, as well he should be. The classically styled visuals, the slick look of Exacto, and the very inventive designs bringing Gotham City itself to life will definitely be a treat for your eyes.

Anyway, aside from that and the awful incorporation of the mass murder of young girls stacked in a basement in the continued SVUing of popular culture, Batman: Earth One is a solid read, if a dark and ugly one, with interesting canonical tweaks and the potential for more to arise - with D.A. Harvey Dent and new Mayor Jessica Dent ripe for some new stories. But it's Gary Frank who makes it all work.

Anyway, aside from that and the awful incorporation of the mass murder of young girls stacked in a basement in the continued SVUing of popular culture, Batman: Earth One is a solid read, if a dark and ugly one, with interesting canonical tweaks and the potential for more to arise - with D.A. Harvey Dent and new Mayor Jessica Dent ripe for some new stories. But it's Gary Frank who makes it all work.

If you enjoy watching the creepy be creepy for the sake of creepiness, you may dig Joker's Daughter #1. She takes the place of psychotic Joker groupie that was vacated when Harley Quinn graduated beyond flunkie-dom, taking it to a new level of ick. Some people are into that. If so, knock yourself out, you've got a new book to read. If not, you probably won't dig this book too much.

Anyway, Marvel's promising that Marcus Johnson is going to be a hugely important character as the mystery around him unfolds, and Yost has certainly earned enough credit to be allowed to unfold it the way he'd like. Battle Scars #1 isn't anything stunning, but it's just the first chapter in a larger story, and it does manage to remind us a bit about what Fear Itself was actually supposed to be, but failed to become.

Good-bye, good ol' Nicholas J. Fury, you badass, no-bullshit, hard-bitten, stogie-chompin', one-eyed master of espionage, shell games, international intrigue and balls-to-the-wall ass-kicking. It's been a a hell of an adventure, and we couldn't ask for a better pilot through the last 50 years of Marvel Comics.

As much as I dread what Winick sounds like he's doing with Catwoman, I highly anticipate him doing great things with Batwing. The setting is a breath of fresh air, but it's got enough familiarity working for it to make it easier to get into. Now, it's just up to the world to support it, and it damn well better be ready for a successful book set in Africa. It's about damn time.

Batwing is good reading. So read it.

Batwing is still good stuff. One hopes it doesn't fall by the wayside due to lack of attention.

All in all, if we have to Americanize Batwing in order to keep it around, I suppose I can swallow this. Palmiotti said at Wondercon that the new Batwing was going to be much more international and not confined to one region. While I'll lament the loss of the African focus, an intercontinental effort may still be pretty worthwhile. I think J&J can make that happen.

When Batwoman is on, it's really damn good. Batwoman #0 is one of those times.

Batwoman #1 has helped me do a complete 180 on this character. Where once I thought she was just another cheap knockoff, now I see the truth. This book is going to be stellar.

It's already a pretty hefty web of intrigue being woven here, and with art this beautiful and ideas this intriguing, we have to cross our fingers and hope that enough people are noticing, and this is going to be one of the New 52 that lasts a long, long time. The only quibble is this 'look, Kate, you're the only person in the world with this ashen-alabaster skin, and Batwoman has it, too, along with the same shade of shock red hair.' Which is likely just an artistic choice to make her stand out to the reader, but still, it has a feeling of Nightwing, where if you're trying to kill Dick Grayson and fail, then a minute later, a guy with the same exact build and look in a domino mask comes after you - he's not Dick's protector, he's Dick. But hey, comic books. That's the stuff you take with salt grains.

There's no way anybody has any idea where this story is going besides Williams and Blackman themselves, but it's an involving and breathtaking ride to wherever they're taking us.

The main thing to take away from this is, while we'll certainly miss the treat for the eyes that Williams' art is, Reeder is certainly no slouch, and she does a great job of maintaining the mood and tone that has been established with this series. Thus, Batwoman is still good stuff.

Batwoman feels like it's back in the saddle again - not that it was ever really off. It still feels like a breath of fresh air for the series, though, and come on - Batwoman and Wonder Woman. That's gonna be a cool team-up no matter how you slice it.

Batwoman #13 shows Willians and Blackman back in top form, and it's a refreshing change of pace from most superhero fare.

Batwoman is one of the biggest reasons to buy comics at all, with it being an overall feast for the eyes. But one of the best things going in the medium is hampered a bit by the digital format. The best comics work best as actual hard-copy comics. Could it succeed in a digital form? If designed differently, perhaps... but then it wouldn't quite be Batwoman.

Maybe now, Batwoman will get to punch Owlman in the face at the end of Forever Evil, but I'm not sure her greater involvement in the New 52 at large is worth the loss of Williams & Blackman. If nothing else, though, hopefully Director Bones of the DEO will step up to the plate in a big way, too. It's hard not to root for a cigar-chomping guy with invisible flesh to show up more often.

Here's hoping that Beasts of Burden can get its on ongoing series, as it would certainly be a refreshing change from capes, and a much more palatable form for dark stories to take than we usually get in comics.

Darwyn Cooke is bringing his A-game. That's always something to see.

Cooke's illustration is as beautiful as always, and the stories unfolding in Minutemen are the most compelling of all of the Before Watchmen efforts. If you're going to read any of it, this is what you should read.

Cooke's storytelling is masterful, his art is beautiful, and Before Watchmen: Minutemen may finally put to bed my kvetching that this whole project is misbegotten. Yes, most of Before Watchmen feels pointless, and if they actually attempt an ongoing series, it will be unfortunate, but if Darwyn Cooke is involved, it's damn well worth your time. He may have made The Silhouette my favorite character in the whole canon.

It has Cooke's fantastically perfect artwork - particularly perfect for this retro series as well.

That's about all I can muster to say about it. It's just that lifeless.

But it still has to be the Watchmen of an alternate reality to be acceptable. This entire project would likely have been a little better received if they'd conceived it as such, rather than a straight prequel. It would have served the purpose of exploiting these characters without directly trying to change the original story. Sure, Alan Moore still would've thought it sucked, but fans could likely swallow it much more easily.

I want to hate these books and be all indie-cred about it, but I can't when they're this compelling. These first two books have been really good stories on their own. As long as I keep up the mantra that this isn't a prequel, but an alternate universe where life didn't turn out quite so miserable, I can enjoy comics instead of knee-jerk hating them. With apologies to Mr. Moore, I'll just quote Abed Nadir from Community: "I guess I just like liking things."

And I really hope they eventually do something together that's NOT a Watchmen spinoff. I'd like to take the guilt out of this pleasure.

I really want Cooke and Conner to team up on something else. Something new and wholly theirs so I can stop having reservations and just love the hell out of it. As it stands, I still kinda love this.

It's the same refrain I've had with each issue - Conner's art is breathtakingly wonderful and Cooke's story is highly compelling despite the ludicrous criminal plot. Say what you will (and I have) about the need for the whole prequel project, but this Silk Spectre series gets into your heart and screws around with your emo-stuffs. Just like good comics should.

It will be given a chance, but only one. Black Panther: Man Without Fear has been given many more than that, and it continues to underwhelm. I want to like this book. I really do. But this whole take is just not very intriguing, it's not compelling and it doesn't feel any different from the eight hundred billion other "big city vigilante" books out there today, and that's what Black Panther should always be. Different. Unique.

You guys couldn't have told us that earlier and spared us all the angry twitching? Ah, well, all is forgiven, now that you've given us legitimate in-story cause to hate the American Panther, and even given us T'Challa pointing at that costume and saying "That was a mistake." We now know that Liss seems to get it. Here's hoping he's got something a little more nuanced to do with it now that he's got it.

Judging from Liss' talk on the letters page, T'Challa won't be returning to Wakanda anytime soon, but at least we can hope that T'Challa will finally start to establish himself once again. Hopefully, somewhere else. Someplace that doesn't have any protectors. Someplace new and unique, like Wakanda once was for him. When he no longer has to balance the governance of an entire nation with his crimefighting activities, he should be able to set up a very impressive dominion over whichever city he chooses. That might be a T'Challa I'll be able to fully embrace again.

Anyway, since Liss has proven himself capable of work I like, I'll stick with his Black Panther through the title changeover and see if there's any difference in tone or methodology enough to properly service the uniqueness of T'Challa. This last arc has been interesting at the very least, and hopefully things will start to improve. As they say, hope springs eternal.

Alas, I was so concerned that nobody would bring the Panther back to what made me a fan of his in the first place that I felt compelled to keep shouting about it. And perhaps that helped lead to the unfortunate cancellation of this series, which ends with the next issue. We don't know what the future holds for T'Challa. Which side will he take in the big Avengers vs. X-Men war, since he's an Avenger and his wife is an X-Man? WIll he even be remembered in all the commotion? Let's hope so. But for now, Liss looks to be poised to send the Black Panther out on a really kick-ass high note, and if he's actually able to go through with dismantling Fisk's entire status quo, then it's a victory and a respect well and truly earned.

Hell, let's just hope we as comic fans get another chance with him, too.

Black Widow #1 is a solid start. Let's hope they can find a way to give a supporting cast to a woman who makes a point of supporting herself and no one else.

BlackAcre #1 is a solid start. It remains to be seen if it'll manage to balance the gritty action with interesting social commentary, or if it'll become more of a standard common vs. wealth struggle. It's worth checking out.

BlackAcre has the potential to be a very interesting examination of the dichotomy between the haves and have-nots. Or it could just be the standard kind of post-civilization turf-war fare, but given the opening of the first issue in the re-civilized future, I'm guessing Bordreau is going somewhere specific with all of this, and I'm on board to find out just where that might be.

BlackAcre is an engaging series from Image worth checking out, even if it's a little hard to take a character named Kellogg seriously as a power player. All it does is make you want Frosted Flakes.

The visceral response to Bloodshot #1 might be what hooks you into the new Valiant. I think it's enough to make me stick with all the books for the near term.

If Tony Bedard is going to have Bones as a recurring character, then Blue Beetle will make its way back to my pull list. The fact that Booster Gold appears at the end, possibly to establish a new Booster/Beetle partnership like what he used to have in the Old More-Than-52 with Kord, is a hint that maybe it'll find a way to tide me over until Bones' next appearance, too. I'd rather read Bones' own title, but that's not happening, so I'll be fine with this. I do have to say that the revelation that there's apparently a TMZ for the superhero set is a horrible and smart idea at the same time. Because of course there would be, even if we hate it for smearing people we like.

It's not Rick Remender's book by any means, but this hearkens back to the origins of X-Force with the big freaky-eyed tactician doing mysterious things and people just glomming into him as he goes about taking care of business. I'm looking forward to finding out the Colossus angle before I offer any final judgment on Cable and X-Force, and in the interim, I hope to hear some entertaining science-bickering between Forge and Nemesis.

Overall, this is a decently entertaining book that seems to be approaching a stride. I'm looking forward to the next insane adventure, and to the fate of Piotr Nikolievitch Rasputin, considering the drastic step he takes at the end of Cable and X-Force #5.

Regardless, thanks to Hopeless and Bunn for maturing Colossus once again after he was torn down to nothingness. Cable and X-Force remains an entertaining read.

Brubaker had eight years on the book, and had come to define what we expect when we read a Captain America comic. Remender's take is very much NOT that, and it HAD to not be that. It may seem strange to throw Captain America into situations where America doesn't matter in the least and there's no political intrigue to maneuver through, but it's just different enough to have a decent kind of cognitive dissonance about it. Plus, it's about Arnim Zola, and the only way he was going to make a splash is by doing horrible things to Captain America. And it seems like the worst is yet to come, and one can only imagine how weird Remender and Romita are going to get with this. I'm certainly down to find out.

Captain America #7 is the beginning of the end of the Dimension Z travails, and it is succeeding in putting the freak Arnim Zola a lot higher on the Steve Rogers Shit List than he's ever been before, as the connection is now a deeply personal hatred. It remains to be seen whether or not we're going to get a much dirtier, more flawed version of Captain America when this is all over and done.

As trite as alternate realities can get these days, it's still pretty cool to have established characters from different points in time like this team up for adventures. Hell, even Bill Clinton did it once, and we all know how much fun that turned out to be. Captain America Corps looks like it's on course to bring us that same kind of "yay, comics!" experience.

The fact that Captain Atom seems a hell of a lot more emotional than Jon Osterman ever did would lend credence to the notion that, yeah, this won't be the same thing we've seen already.

It's fun. It's cool. Soy's art, again, is very hit or miss - sometimes cool, sometimes excessively murky - but it's a good time to be had here with Captain Marvel. I'm stickin' with it.

Maybe it's just a matter of growing accustomed to different art styles, but I found Captain Marvel #11 to be a pretty enjoyable issue. The characters are engaging, the interplay is fun, and whereas I never really had much stock in Ms. Marvel, I find myself actually caring about Captain Marvel. As in, I'm worried about her getting evicted. When I start to get emotionally attached to characters, you've done your job.

After another touching scene between intrepid Kit and the intrepid Carol at the end of the issue, the new Ms. Marvel, aka Kamala Khan, is briefly seen in Jersey City, and we get a hint of her shapeshifty powers when she looks partially steroidal. We'll get plenty more on her in the near future when she gets her own book, and it's up to us to make sure the perception that comic fans are hostile to women is put to bed forever. I'm planning to give each of these female-led books at least three issues before I decide whether or not I'm on board for the long haul, and I hope you'll do the same.

Captain Midnight #1 isn’t bad, but the creative team needs to step it up and give the veteran hero the respect he deserves.

Overall, Catwoman #0 raises a lot of questions and makes us feel some things. It's not really a thrilling new direction for the series, though, but we're not exactly giving it the stink-eye, either. The jury is still out.

The art is okay, mildly unpleasant at times as I'm not a big fan of Ryp's puffy faces, but solid at other points. The energy in this book is great, though, and it's got enough inertia to take us to the next issue.

I want to like Collider, and it's not actively bad, but its first issue didn't bring the excitement I'd hoped for.

So... yeah, time travel confusion, and Walsh's art works well, even though it feels like the same style that's in every third book these days. It's cool enough to warrent a look, though. I'll be getting #2.

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Much has been made of Waid's lightening up of Daredevil after the years of needing a stiff drink to cope with reading each miserably dark issue, but DD #16 shows he's not afraid of those depths, either. Samnee and Javier Rodriguez continues the generally brighter look to the series, with clean lines and crisp coloring even when dealing with pitch blackness. They just continue to craft involving stories in this book, and it's well worth all the Eisners it won.

Just like we can probably trust Dan Slott to find interesting things to do with Superior Spider-Man, we can trust Mark Waid to deal with The Big C with the appropriate grace and sensitivity to realism.

Great little story here, with the potential to turn into a great big story - which seems to be the case with Infinite Comics these days, considering that Deadpool: The Gauntlet (another series you should be reading) is introducing someone Wade Wilson is going to marry. Daredevil: Road Warrior is surely be setting up some things that will come to fruition in the West Coast Daredevil adventures, and you'll want to get on board now - because Infinite Comics are cool, Mark Waid is a good writer, and Daredevil is always a great read.

Then again, we've been led to believe all this time that Wade was going to get hitched to Shiklah, but then a mysterious vampire lady with an umbrella obscuring her face shows up to wrangle the vampire hobos, and it brings to mind the big Issue #27 wedding photo and the obscured face of Wade's bride, so there could be a bridal shell game happening here. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Deadpool: The Gauntlet has been a fun ride either way, and of course it takes a succubus to find Wade attractive!

Iffy nomenclature or not, it's a volatile mix of questionable personalities - and that's what makes Thunderbolts comics so much fun to read. This one is no exception - especially with the tagline at the end saying "Next: DEATHDEATHDEATHDEATH." Something tells me 'Toxie Doxie's going to run out of moxie.

It's a good read. It'll make a great trade paperback.

The potential for great dramatic storytelling here is unlimited, and the DCU can keep presenting Deadman for as long as Jenkins and Chang want to keep bringing him to us. If the TV series is half this good, we'll be okay, and it'll probably be better than Smallville.

However, it does gain points for being free.

It's a good read. It'll make a great trade paperback.

Acker & Blacker (Bigger & Blackerer?) get points for actually trying to quantify this whole issue canonically, which was really probably just one of Way's writing-style affectations rather than any big plan to have the extra voice in Wade's head mean something. However, they seem to see Wade as more of a surly bastard rather than his trademark wack-a-doodle before the merger, although that might just be to differentiate him from Madcap a bit more, and to make their moody conclusion more resonant. Still, it's a cute, twisted little story that befits an Annual, and they've got good gags " like Thor accidentally killing people and hurriedly claiming "They died warrior's deaths!" " and the art from Evan "Doc" Shaner is suitably balanced between comic booky and cartoony.

Here's a swell chance to jump on board the Wade Train once again if you'd checked out for a while. Let the Good Time Charlies roll!

It's also worth noting that the appearance of this Butler character, who has apparently been randomly harvesting Deadpool's organs for who knows how long, might be a sign of some of that compelling drama coming back as well. Regardless, they were able to make me laugh at a guy getting sacked, which you'd think is the lowest form of humor. But no! It works on so many levels!

I do like the psychological drama that comes out here, there's something definitely creepy about Butler, and Declan Shalvey's artwork is pretty kinetic and interesting - never a dull moment with this guy. My hopes for a Deadpool revival - a complete one - are ever rising. I'm actually interested in his story and not just waiting around for the next gag. This crew seems to know what's up.

The end of this big arc gives us a new lease on Deadpool going forward, and he's actually in the good graces of both Wolverine and Captain America, who have borne witness to his emotional breakdown and can both recognize his potential as a legit good guy. Whether or not he'll manage to follow that path is anyone's guess, but with Duggan & Posehn at the helm (and editor Jordan D. White apparently protecting the best parts of Wade's history, according to the letters page), it feels good to be able to call myself a Deadpool fan again with confidence. It's inspired me to want to re-read their entire run from the beginning - including killing all those zombie presidents.

Sure, these are gimmick issues, but Deadpool comics should always be a place where gimmicks can feel right at home. Is there more to come? Will we get a Golden Age issue where Deadpool punches Hitler? We can only hope these folks have more madcap hijinks up their sleeves.

Mike Hawthorne seems to be having a fun time with the art, which serves the story well. His work is very bright and crisp, and sometimes he gets to draw three Deadpools in painter uniforms smacking each other around like the Three Stooges, or Preston as the Virgin Mary to Wade's sombrero-sporting Baby Jesus. Working on a Deadpool book has to got to be a dream job for the artist, and if it ain't, it should be.

The resolution of the Agent Preston In Wade's Head should come next issue (as evidenced by the great Watchmen reference on the final page), and after that, the whole Gauntlet business is going to jump to the print book, because Deadpool's getting married to Shiklah in issue #27, and that's gonna make for some seriously madcap hijinks. Seriously madcap! Wait, no, not Madcap, that was the annual. Just lower-case madcap.

Read Deadpool: The Gauntlet. It's cool comics in computer-face form. And it's buckets of funsies.

Layman may have hooked me onto another Bat-book with Detective Comics #15. Maybe the more I read of him, the more likely I'll be to take another crack at Chew.

Overall, it's an interesting effort from Layman, and certainly a respectable one, but I'm not sure how much confidence I have in Detective Comics going forward.

Yeah. This book is going to be fun. Wild, crazy fun. Miéville's ideas are golden from the get-go, and we can only imagine how much zanier they're going to be as the series wears on. The art from Mateus Santolouco has a great dark and freaky vibe to it, with some imaginative layout work and an energetic madness to its style. Dial H #1 is definitely weird fiction of the most palatable kind. Strap in, and let's see where this head trip takes us.

If you like the weird stuff like MODOK and the Bi-Beast, you'll probably enjoy the heck out of Dial H.

It's hard to believe something as inherently perplexing as Dial H exists within DC's New 52, but it does, and you should buy it so it will continue to exist there. It may be an acquired taste, but it's well worth the effort so far.

Dial H is a really nutty book that will likely read better when collected in trade form, but I love that I never have any idea what to expect from it.

We never have any idea where this book is going, and it will likely read better if you read collections to get whole story arcs at once. But Dial H is certainly worth your time to experience - and I'm looking forward to seeing if this has any actual effect on Flash comics.

That's another reason why Morrison tends to get to do what he wants - good or bad, he's a writer whose next move we never see coming.

If you're looking for a good, fast-paced ongoing mystery with elements of action, noir and the supernatural, odds are you'll enjoy Dream Thief. It's pretty freakin' cool.

It's just… cool. That's the word I keep coming back to, and it's hard to really nail that on your first try like Nitz and Smallwood have. There's a fine line there - if you try too hard, you just come off as lame and stupid like Gambit. But if you manage to ride that line and keep it from becoming obnoxious and cloying, you make fans of your readers. Dream Thief has done that for me.

The Dream Merchant #1

Yes, I know, when has that stopped us before? Touché. How's about we let it stop us here, just this once?

Cafu and Julius Gopez turn in a solid effort. The Captain Atom work has a dream state quality to it, as though we’re inside his thoughts and seeing his memories through his eyes. The panels outside of Captain Atom is harsher, thicker lines, heavier inks, more in your face color work. Cafu and Julius also know how to maximize panel placement. Some of the sweeping two panel action scenes are epic. If the story here is a bit frazzled, the art helps hold it together.

It's a good issue, and sets the stage for something that feels pretty fresh. There are some residual nerves at work, hoping we won't lose some of these beloved characters to that pit of reinvention for its own sake in the Billy Batson Is A Dick vein, but so far, only Joan is in danger of that, and we don't really have enough information to pass judgment on that shift just yet.

Overall, EGOs #1 is a solidly entertaining start to what could be a pretty cool series.

Here's hoping that Beasts of Burden can get its on ongoing series, as it would certainly be a refreshing change from capes, and a much more palatable form for dark stories to take than we usually get in comics.

Extermination #1 has me on board for the long haul, with absolutely no reservations. It's going to be messed up and dark, but it'll be amusingly so, and black comedy is wonderful when done right.

What started as a neat concept - what if a superhero and his archenemy were alone in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and had to work together to survive scary monsters - has become a more detailed subversion of the entire superhero genre, while seeming to celebrate some of the more ludicrous conventions at the same time.

Hop on board the Extermination train, which certainly doesn't sound like something anybody should recommend to anybody, but trust me. It's a fun ride.

Extermination is a very cool book full of action, malarkey and subversive undermining of the whole superhero genre, while at the same time celebrating how fun it can be. Go get it!

This 100-page extravaganza is a big, deliciously meaty feast of storytelling, just in time for Thanksgiving. Dig in.

Steve Epting's artwork is solid as always, too, as well as his inking team working to make things moody when they need to be, bright when they should be and touching when Ben Grimm gets his groove back. If you're a fan of the classics, you can't go wrong with hopping onto Fantastic Four #601. If you think you're too cool for that, enjoy your gooey murderfaced symbiote. We'll be over here havin' fun.

Everything's coming to fruition, and it's a big ballistic BA-BOOOOM of an impact when it does. This is the kind of fun you don't get in any other Marvel book, and chances are it'll read even better in trade form. It's not easy to jump right in, but try it anyway.

It's a touching but not trite story about love and family with moving moments from artist Steve Epting, plus it's a giant god-fight with Franklin Richards cutting loose with his mind-bending power. It's a very satisfying conclusion to a huge saga that's beyond the comic book norm, and those don't come along very often. Enjoy it while you can.

No wonder he's Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew.

Fantastic Four #607 is a very interesting set-up to what I hope is a revitalization of the Black Panther concepts, and thus maybe we can get a spinoff series restarted once again - hey, maybe that's even in the cards for Hickman's future plans once he leaves the FF proper. We can only hope. If anything merits Hickman's high-minded approach to storytelling, it's the legendary, ancient culture of Wakanda.

Fantastic Four #1 is a hootenanny of a kick-off. Let's hope this new team can keep it up.

Fantastic Four #5AU leaves things in a weird and sort of interesting place, but I have no idea if it will continue in the next issue or if this is some kind of stand-alone tie-in that's just meant to be a sort of quick gut punch.

By the way, there's no mention of the red-and-black outfits, not even some witty aside, and the FF kids are still in the whites. There is a bit of chicanery with the Foundation kids that momentarily breaks up the somber tone of the first issue, but all in all, it's a truly ominous affair. Hickman was able to make this team work by embracing the huge-scale cosmic events this family deals with, while Fraction's run succeeded on its embrace of the gee-whiz fun and interpersonal drama. It remains to be seen what shape the Robinson era will take, but it's probably going to be a bit depressing for a while. Let it settle in.

It's just fun, which is what the Fantastic Four should be.

Fantomex MAX #1 is okay, but somewhat suspect from the get go. It's certainly weird, it could wind up being fun, but it could also become something gross.

As it stands now, though, Fear Itself has no business being this boring.

There's something about groups of sorta bad guys trying to be sort of good that's just appealing - evidenced by the fact that Thunderbolts, Secret Six and Avengers Academy are often in my pull file, and I've just binged through John Ostrander's original Suicide Squad run. The intrigue of never knowing who to trust keeps things taut and involving, and with Parker being Parker, you generally have no cause to worry it'll change for the worse, no matter what the House of Ideas higher-ups throw his way.

It's in those tense, tragic moments of action where the true-to-life drama comes through, even amidst the backdrop of giant supervillains and Nazi robots. And that's why tie-in stories like this will always be better than the main event - at least until those events stop focusing on the slam-bang to the exclusion of all else.

This is how engrossing and emotionally engaging an event book should feel. Too bad it's relegated to a tie-in, but as long as it's here in some capacity, we can't dismiss Fear Itself entirely.

On the surface, this whole X-Force concept seems like it should fall into the 'dark for the sake of dark' trap, but in both Remender's series and Williams' efforts here, it manages to avoid that sensibility, while certainly maintaining that unrelenting bleakness. It's a strange thing, to still want to read books that bring up really murky feelings of ugliness, but in this day and age, Uncanny X-Force is managing just that.

Overall, it's going to take some effort to get up to speed with FF. It's intellectual and only very subtly emotional. But if you're tired of the same-old same-old, this should be worth that effort for you.

We won't know until Fantastic Four #604. But we do know that Franklin Richards is a really good-hearted kid, and his character has been developed enough to know that we really care about what happens to this little guy. That, in itself, is an accomplishment, considering he was once completely untouchable.

We love these guys, too, Mr. Hickman, and we tend to forget that in the greater hype that surrounds the movie stars and event books, but we have to thank you for reminding us why these people are Marvel's First Family, and why this can be considered the World's Greatest Comic Magazine. Or at least one of them. The beauty of this FF #23 reminds us that, in this post-modern age of bitter cynicism and detached irony, the happy ending is now a daring choice - and one that's more than welcome.

The Fraction FF era is so far off to a really cool start. It's a great time to hop on board what is surely a great space-time coaster.

Fraction's having fun, and this time, unlike his Defenders, it's fun we can all enjoy.

Matt Fraction is doing entertaining work here " I particularly enjoyed Blarrgh The Unliving " and he's also working with old continuity and keeping it real, which I respect. Putting She-Hulk back in what might be the most real relationship of her life is a nice way to avoid the usual temptation writers have to just play around with her penchant for promiscuity (not that there's anything wrong with promiscuity in general, as long as it's done responsibly). Fraction is having a lot of good old-fashioned yet new-fangled fun in the FF universe. Let's hope he keeps it up.

Of the two FF books, it certainly seems like Fraction has a clearer vision of what to do with this series than the main Four. It's a wild and woolly cast of weirdos, and I really like it that way, dummy! YANCY STREET.

I want to say Flash Annual #1 will get me back into reading The Flash again, and I'll definitely check out Flash #13 if it upholds the promise of Rogues vs. Gorilla City, but I know that, eventually, all of these bad guys will have to exeunt with a flourish, and we'll be back to focusing on Barry Allen. Then, my eyes will glaze over and I'll forget to buy it again. It's not something I blame Manapul and Buccellato for, though. I have no idea what to suggest to them that would make Barry interesting. He's not cool in Justice League and he's not cool in his own book. He's just okay. He's not really fun, and that's what I'd prefer out of a Flash.

There's enough interesting stuff going on in The Flash #6 that I might jump back on the train and see where it takes me. With any luck, it will eventually take me to Wally West, but I can be patient if The Fastest Man Alive's journey to ginger is a slow one.

Anyway, once again, I like everything around the Flash, and in Flash #13, even he's all right, because he gets to bounce off the Rogues in a fun team-up. Still waiting, however, to find out what's so great about Barry Allen that he was brought back from the dead. I think I'm still holding Flashpoint against him, since I don't get the Secret Six anymore just because he missed his mommy.

Overall, the artwork DOES look pretty cool, and the elements of the story are fun, but while it's been a pretty solid ride the last few issues, Flash #15 just seems to undercut everything that was crafted so far. It's decent enough, and there's nothing actively bad about it. It's... well, it's just okay.

It may be a long time before we see Wally West again, but there is a West who is now a Flash, if that helps. Foreshadowing, maybe?

In the meantime, let's root for the series we do have to find its footing and make the case for an independent Lois Lane.

Maybe I shouldn't think about it too hard. It's time to watch the new Bad Guy Earth unfold, this time without Axe Cop to save us all.

All in all, Forever Evil is cool, in that same dark, tough-guy tone in which DC seems to be unifying all of their books. Maybe that's why it feels like I've been reading the same thing a lot of the time with DC's stuff - unless it's Larfleeze, it all seems to have the same Dark Knight kind of vibe. It's not a bad vibe, but when it's the only vibe, you can get burnt out.

It's possible ARGUS can emerge as a rock-solid part of the DCU. Team 7 didn't take, but maybe this series will.

Overall, it's a good start, and I'll certainly make an effort to acquire that taste with #2. Hopefully, it'll be able to differentiate itself from B.P.R.D. enough so as not to feel like a retread. The vampire seems like an entertaining asshole and the werewolf looks badass. It could happen.

If you have doubts, allow me to reiterate: monsters, robots and Goddamned War Wheels.

Overall, this is still a compelling book, where monsters are monsters and they fight other monsters, and sometimes realize all too keenly that they can't really transcend their own monster status. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. is an inherently cool concept, and there's plenty to like here, especially the lovably gruesome lead character. We'll hope that Matt Kindt has more good ideas when he takes over with #10.

Artist Goran Parlov works well with Ennis' machismo, and the fact that Fury's one eye never seems to be open beyond a squint give him that Clint Eastwood swagger that works so well in stories like this. Marcus Johnson Fury is for the kids and casual fans, but the star of Fury: My War Gone By #2 is the Nick Fury for adults. Honestly, we like him that way.

Garth Ennis can tell a fucking story.

So, G.I. Combat #1 is a tale of two tales. One is shrug-worthy, but with potential, and the other is pretty engrossing. It's worth your time.

In the end, Godzilla #1 doesn't do much to blow us away, but it's certainly teeing up for what could be a compelling Sisyphean effort on the part of the most rugged of humankind against the unstoppable tide of destruction.

That said, one feels somewhat compelled to see exactly how Sato plans to use Mothra against a crimelord, and any chance that a Godzilla story manages to find a good hook to keep going is a chance that should be taken. Giant monsters are too cool not to try everything you can to utilize properly.

Overall, it looks like some cool adventure awaits in Godzilla: The Half Century War, and it's earned a reprieve from my previous disinclination to keep up with my favorite lizard's stories.

I was uncertain about this series from the get-go, as much as I've liked Godzilla since I was a kid, but Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #4 is the issue that officially hooked me, and I'm in for the full ride.

If you like Godzilla at all, this is the best you're going to get in the comic realm. Check out Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters while there are still a few issues left to go before the complete collapse of civilization.

Two issues left, and we have to believe that the world's governments are out of ideas, and will collapse from here on out. We have no idea how Powell and Marsh are going to end their grand tale of the end of life as we know it, but even if it takes a Cormac McCarthy route, we can be comforted by the knowledge that these two writers are far too fun for this to ever get as depressing as The Road.

The drop-off in quality isn't steep by any means with the writer hand-off, but there's some inevitable loss of excitement. We'll have to see if Ciaramella can inject it back into the story before we miss it too badly.

Still, Great Pacific has enough great ideas in it that I'm on board to see where it goes. Something about the pioneer spirit is engaging, even if it's a mess of complications and nastiness on a trash heap instead of braving the wild west. To be fair, it was a mess of complications and nastiness back then, too - and we're about to see all that echoed in this series. Should be compelling reading.

Some comic books have enough artistic pizzazz to command you to own them in print form. Great Pacific seems like one of those books you'd rather get digitally " you still want it enough to follow the story, but it's not going to be something you pass on to your kids or anything.

Overall, there's enough here to build on, and Lemire's proven himself to be a writer to trust. It's worth a few more issues to see if it's going to go pear-shaped or not.

It's nice to say I'm on board to keep reading Green Lantern. At least for the short term. Once Baz is shuffled off to Justice League of America, Jordan will likely slip back in and drag everything back to Sucktown.

Overall, some new blood on the GL books may be what they need. They've had their moments, but they haven't seemed to be consistently compelling lately. Maybe a fresh direction will help. Green Lantern #21 might not be a clean enough break, but hope springs eternal. Wait… that's Blue Lanterns…

"Lights Out" is off to an interesting start with plenty of potential. Let's see where it goes.

All in all, the GL/RL #28 stunt was an enjoyable one, if not particularly exciting, giving us a frog lantern and a bit of bitchiness between a ball lantern and a box lantern, as well as dropping a major character into the Red Lantern fray that will hopefully spike its interest levels and get the Reds mixed in with the rest of the DCU.

Green Lantern Corps is a great launching pad for the kind of GL adventures you actually want to read about. Why is there such a clusterfuck on Earth? Space is a massive place, and a lot more time should be dedicated dealing with stuff out there. It's refreshing to see these cool Green Lanterns realize that and go about their business without whining about bills. And although Gardner seems like a more chill guy, he's not without some obnoxious behavior, so Tomasi should have plenty to work with, as it can't be too long before his two leads are butting their hard heads against each other.

The "Wrath of the First Lantern" storyline hasn't been the best, but I enjoyed the deep look into the mind and new origins of John Stewart in Green Lantern Corps #18. I'm hoping he'll remain somewhat relevant in the outcome of it all, but it's looking as though All Things Defer To Hal Jordan's Infallible Greatness will be how this all plays out. Yawn.

As of now, it looks like Green Lantern Corps is the book you'll want to check out if you want to read about actual Green Lantern business rather than all the internal bickering and spectrum slapfights. It's not bad.

Just a little, though, and if we give them the benefit of that doubt, "Lights Out" is a unique and interesting challenge for the Green Lanterns to face, with every element of their mythos being systematically destroyed. Oa is gone. Their Central Battery is gone. Every use of their power kills their environment and hastens the end of all life, and their leader is a bull-headed jackass who sucks and is bad and is dumb. How do they adapt? Do they adapt at all? I can't wait to find out.

CRAVE ONLINE RATING: 4/10

*bias against Hal Jordan freely admitted. He's just the most boring GL of all time. Yes, I'm including Ch'p.

If you'd told me last year that the Kyle Rayner book would be my favorite Green Lantern title, I'd have scoffed. But here we are. Green Lantern: New Guardians #6 - stuff's actually happening, and it's bright and shiny and the most interesting ringslingin' goin' these days.

So far, it's a reasonably good start for the new creative crew handling the Emerald Knights. They're getting back to they're actual damn jobs, they're realizing Hal Jordan is impossible to love, and they're dealing with the fallout of some catastrophic storytelling, even if it's becoming even moreso. Green Lantern: New Guardians #9 is all right by me.

The art from Darick Robertson is pretty solid as well, which makes the contrast between gritty, violent realism and Disney-fied Happy more fun. It's possible this whole concept will cross the line between clever and "clever," but for right now, Happy! #1 is a goofy blend of overblown crime drama with overblown cutesy fun. No telling where Morrison is going to take this one.

Everything's still very tentative about Harbinger, though (although the Phil Briones art is mostly lamentable when it comes to human faces). It could be interesting, it could be acceptable, it could, it could, it could. But it's six issues in and still all about could. I'd been waiting for Kris to return so I could pass a verdict, but it seems that jury is still out, or maybe they're just hung.

Harvest is a dark, twisted and interesting tale. A volatile mix of life, death, drugs and powerful people doing very bad things.

Lieberman is constructing a pretty involving story, keeping the kid-angst to an effective minimum and making us come around to liking Dane after the first issue painted him as such a walking catastrophe. It's redemption in progress, and the art from Colin Lorimer is greatly suited to it, with its very subtle colors within a mostly black-and-white look. It's a dark book both in subject matter and moody aesthetic, but Harvest is certainly a story worth your time to check out, should that pique your interest.

Sorry, Mr. Gates. I'll be happy to give you another shot at some point in the future, but you crapped out this time.

Pulido's artwork here is fantastic. Pop-art styling, funky layouts and even taking the time to illustrate Kate faces in her own dialogue boxes, which makes it feel like an indie-comic auteur's work, not the combined efforts of letterer VC's Clayton Cowles and colorist Matt Hollingsworth alongside Pulido. The artists that work on this book are mightily thorough and anything but workmanlike. I don't know what Hawkeye did to earn this treatment, but he's got it, and it works for him. And her. It works for all the Hawkguys.

Of course, next issue is bringing us Young Avenger Kate Bishop as a potential sidekick, so that might not stick as an idea. Then again, she's just a good archer, too. The lack of powers and lack of punisher-style gunplay could really make this a unique book. We'll just have to see how long this respectable restraint lasts.

The two of them are teaming up to intervene in some shenanigans involving the Ringmaster and a bunch of high-end criminals who are planning to rob other criminals by distracting them with a fancy circus act. While Fraction drops in some amusing bits (like a Daily Bugle headline that reads "EVERYTHING AWFUL Oh God Somebody Do Something"), the first time he's actually made me laugh out loud comes from Barton's perception of Ringmaster's appearance.

Fraction and Aja are just nailing it in this series, and it's a damn good time reading comics.

Anyway, this book has it all. Drama, pathos, yuks, bad romance, bad guys who always say 'bro.' What are you doing if you're not reading Hawkeye? Missing out, that's what.

Whether Burton or Bishop, Hawkeye continues to be one of the best titles Marvel cranks out. Fraction, Wu, Aja and Hollingsworth are a revolution.

Thus, there are some mysteries to be revealed that may turn out to be interesting, given Robinson's talent, but He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 is a bit disappointing.

Overall, it's got some spark with the dialog (something Giffen is good at), but it all feels kind of half-assed. Granted, it's hard to go full-assed at something like He-Man. They have a lobster guy named Clawful, you know, and a guy with a big fist named Fisto. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 is certainly a step up from the old cartoon as far as characterization, but that's not saying a whole lot.

Overall, DnA have given themselves plenty to work with here, and with this level of insanity, they could always work in more guest stars and superjerks and have a good time doing it. Here's hoping they don't drop the ball on Mr. Briedel and give him a cutesy name like Damnbulatory or Alchemica or something.

Humphries is taking a risk by not giving us the full scoop of his original series, trusting we'll be intrigued enough by the drips and drabs he dishes out and the plight of Heidi that we'll keep on going. So far, it works well enough, but with Heidi being the only likable character so far, it might wear a bit thin if its stretched out too long. It's fairly commonplace for new books to give us the what-for by issue #3, and that's often the threshold new readers will give a new series before deciding whether or not they're going to stick with it, so we'll see what happens then. The first two issues, though, are fairly imaginative with a breathless sort of pace to them, dropping us at the beginning and right in the middle at the same time. Humphries gets a vote of confidence.

The Hinterkind #1 may well lead to something good. But it just as easily could lead to nothing particularly special.

There's an "emo" style to Andrew, with the skunk stripe in his black hair, so if you're predisposed to hate that kind of thing, I, Vampire isn't for you. However, I hate vampires, but I kinda liked this, and this was second only to Hawk and Dove as the New 52 book of which I was certain I'd never want the second issue. Fialkov and Sorrentino have got me seriously considering it, and that's about the highest compliment I can give them.

The kicker is that this isn't some Elseworlds thing. It's set in the DCnU proper, and next issue even promises some Batman action. This means eventually, we could see Hawkman murdering the crap out of suckheads. How the hell is a horror book and a vampire revolution fit into the New 52 superhero world? It's enough of a question mark to tune in for #4.

I still hate vampires, but in this book, we're supposed to hate vampires, which I suppose is why it still has my attention. I'm looking forward to seeing how Batman responds to this murderous suckhead rebellion in full force.

But holy crap. Well done on pulling the wool out from under us, Mr. Fialkov, by building up this powerful, compelling, angst-ridden character and then turning him to dust. "Big ups," as the kids were saying 10 years ago.

There is actually some foreshadowing of the impending return of the Savage Hulk in Pak's Heart of the Monster swan song, as the Green Goliath is repeatedly refusing to let Bruce Banner out, despite Amadeus Cho pleading for him to get some help in figuring out how to end this wishing-well malarkey. For the most part, though, this is just packed to the gills with chaos, carnage and calamity, and it seems to be exactly what the Hulk needed after watching his ex-wife run off with one of his archenemies.

CRAVE ONLINE RATING: 8/10

So Pak's run comes to an end with the next issue. Will it turn out that Betty's wish was to separate Bruce Banner from the Hulk, and that's what will set up Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri's run starting with the new Incredible Hulk #1? Sounds like a plan, but with how crazy unpredictable Pak's swan song has been, it's better not to venture a guess at all.

On behalf of Hulk fans everywhere, we salute you, Mr. Pak, and you'll be missed.

Overall, this book is likely to be off-putting to people who like the character of Bruce Banner, but possibly inviting to those who just like to see the Hulk being a badass. He does beat up gamma sharks... but we know people have a low tolerance for gamma-animals, if the hostile response to Ang Lee's Hulk (or John Frankenheimer's awful The Island of Dr. Moreau, for that matter) is any indication. The fact that Aaron is basing his whole premise around them is a dubious portent of things to come.

For all the misgivings I have about where Aaron's Incredible Hulk is going, I'm not going to get all worked up into a nerd-rage about it - at least not right now with the holiday spirit and all. Here's the bottom line with this and most any run of comics - if it turns out good, hot damn, great. If it turns out crap, then it will eventually end and fade into obscurity as one of those chapters in the character's history we don't talk about. Every iconic character has some of them. Sure, it's annoying as all get-out in the short term when one of your favorite characters is going through a suck phase, or when you think it's a suck phase but everyone else seems to drool over it, but patience is a virtue. This, too, will pass.

There's nothing quasi about this profundity.

Infinity #1 isn't something that knocks us out with its first issue, because Hickman isn't that kind of writer. Hickman is a builder himself, and he's letting us see all the threads he's weaving first. Infinity is not a front-loaded book like most event books tend to be. Instead, Hickman is likely orchestrating it so, for once, the last issue of an event series is the one that knocks us out.

The stakes are very high in Infinity, as is the body count so far. We often complain about character death used as a shock tactic to try to make event books seem more important, but our faith in Hickman is strong enough that if he goes that way and kills someone we actually know, this story is thick enough with intrigue and legitimately-crafted cosmic menace that it will feel earned instead of forced.

Light broke through Hickman's heavy darkness in Infinity #4, and a whole new world of Inhumanity has opened up. Enemies are broken but not beaten. Anything remains possible, but for now, the dead are being Avenged.

Overall, the issue is pretty fun, with a dark swerve at the end that will likely shift the tone drastically. Still, some of us were worried that the Avengers Academy characters wouldn't resurface again without a claustrophobic trauma forcing them to kill each other for quite some time. At least this time, if they get killed, it will be by bad guys.

I liked this book at the start, and although Pan makes me nervous, I still want to like Infinity: The Hunt as a spiritual successor to Avengers Academy. Let's hope it earns it.

Overall, Inhumanity is interesting, it does what it needs to do to catch new readers up to speed, and it has me hooked to see what unfolds, and the first issue has prepared me to accept that the classic version of the Inhumans as created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee back in 1965 is probably gone for good. Now, your pizza guy could be an Inhuman, and oh, what a great point-of-view character he'd make for an Inhumans movie"

While this is a step in the right direction for DC, I'm afraid Insurgent doesn't seem to have much more going for it beyond that. Your mileage may vary.

The new Marvel NOW version of Iron Man could be really cool if the artwork was anywhere near as engaging as the story beats are. Unfortunately, it's not to be, so the series can't really get much better than noncommittal shrug of acceptance. All is certainly not right with it, but... eh, it's all right.

Iron Man in the Marvel NOW era has managed to be fairly entertaining despite Land and a general feeling of directionlessness, and hopefully, the space-faring fun keeps on keepin' on with it's Trekky self.

Perhaps it's strange that the two marquee Avengers " Iron Man and Captain America " are currently way out of their normal comfort zones in their respective books, but for Shellhead's part, it's still kind of intriguing. It's nothing spectacular or fascinating as yet, but there does seem to be some potential.

Iron Man #9 is mostly set-up, with a cute bad-merc story as its basis. The real verdict will have to come when we know what Howard's revelation is really going to be. The preview looks interesting"

Iron Man #10 is pretty solid and intriguing, but trepidations about where Gillen is going with all this are holding me back from fully embracing it.

The jury's still out on Iron Man #11 and these new ideas for Tony's origin. This issue in particular is all talk, but we're just not sure what to believe, and we don't really want to believe what we're being told - and that puts us right in our protagonist's jet-boots, which has to qualify as a success. Not quite enough to overcome trepidation, but maybe it can all work out in the end. Right?

Iron Man #17 is all talk, and artist Carlo Pagulayan portrays it completley straightforward, and it's just fine. We still have a lot to digest with this altered perception of the Stark family… and who knows? Maybe Arno will turn out to be evil Iron Man 2020, and this will all be a lot of hooey and malarkey being used to manipulate Tony. I'm sure we'll know the truth in seven years' time.

The art from Joe Bennett in this issue is top notch. The splash page of Iron Man flying over the remains of Mandarin City is gorgeous, and his fight against the Triads running around with Mandarin tech just looks cool, as does the interruption of the press conference that Tony will have a hard time pardoning. So Iron Man is moving forward, taking the space-baby weirdness of the last arc in stride, and giving us some trade dressing that's going to look great on the shelf. Seriously, the "Iron Metropolitan" logo is wonderful, and that's twice now I've referenced how much I like logos. That ain't par for the course, y'know.  I'm guessing the kudos go to Tim Leong, the designer.

We know Jonah Hex will be continuing on after the reboot, visiting Old Tyme Gotham City and all, but this story feels like a chapter near the end of the book. We'll have to wait and see what changes, if anything, in the story of this iconic and surly gunslinger. Let's hope it ain't much.

Perhaps I don't have the proper street cred to be steeped in 2000 A.D. lore (and feel free to condescend to me if you do and you have unkind things to say about this book), but it's a nice start, with a satirical Robocop-esque feel to the Mega City One society - complete with either incompetent or impudent security robots frustrating their owners

The backup story gives us a bit more on the Trinity of Sin build-up, as the Wizard's last act is to find Pandora and apologize for the Council of Eternity passing a foolishly extreme judgment on her for simple curiosity - something that makes us wonder if Black Adam might not have had good reason to kill them all. We also get our first glimpse of The Question, fighting street crime and spouting to himself about his search for answers. Still not sure if making Q into this eternally damned immortal is a wise direction, but we'll see.

Overall? Justice League #1 does its job in a workmanlike manner rather than with any spectacular flair that we may have hoped for. It sets up a new world where nobody knows each other, it lays the groundwork for a big sinister alien plot as well as an origin story for Cyborg, it gives us decent superhero banter and it has Batman in it. It's not enough to blow us away, but it's just about enough to make us want a little more before we decide whether or not we're down with this whole New 52 thing.

Hopefully, when #3 comes out, the fact that Parademons are attacking will get things down to brass tacks and less... this. It's really weird seeing DC ape the Marvel 'fear and distrust' themes they use for most of their heroes and try to apply them to the Justice League, who have traditionally been much more accepted and respected. It just doesn't feel right. That might just be a factor of newness and it's worth sticking out this first arc to see, but it could also mean the mark is being missed here.

Anyway, Justice League #3 is finally getting to what we wanted out of this book in the first place. However, it has yet to manage anything completely awesome, even though Wonder Woman's splash page was as close as it's gotten. Hopefully it'll keep getting better from here, and eventually get us jazzed about the heavy hitters again.

I don't know what it's going to finally take to get me to drop this title. I feel like there's some journalistic need to keep following it, at least until this first 'here's how we got together' arc mercifully ends, but this series isn't good. It's fair to middling, and that's sad, because it's supposed to be the damn flagship.

The book isn't awful. It's just as I've said previously - fair to middling at best.

At least the art's good. But the time has come to give Geoff Johns nothing to do but Aquaman.

And let's hope they're not really going to rehash the Voltron/Captain Planet six-kid Shazam-merge from Flashpoint as the official new origin. Please. If this is all a big swerve, and Mary or Darla is going to be the new Captain... er, Shazam, there might be a glimmer of some kind of hope for the story - but again, slim to none for formerly sweet little Billy B.

Overall, Justice League has become forgettable. Kinda the opposite of what it's supposed to be. I almost forgot to review it.

The arc is pretty clear - Billy's been mistreated his whole life, so he's mistreating the world, and when he realizes he's found a home, he might open up and stop being a little piece of crap we want to see get kicked in the junk. Much like the main story, where the Justice League stopped being actively annoying now that they're origin is finished, maybe Shazam won't be so frustrating by the time this story plays out. But so far, this story just feels like it's missing the mark in service of some edict suggesting that being earnest isn't cool enough to properly market this property.

Then there's the Shazam backup story that I've been hating on quite a bit, because I strongly disagree with Geoff Johns' notion that Billy Batson was "too perfect" and that he had to turn him into a brat in order to make him compelling. At least the worst of that might be over, because he's now being a jerk to even bigger (and one-dimensional) jerks, even going so far as to protect his foster brother Freddy Freeman from harm. He's still not a character I'm rooting for yet (which is supremely sad to say), but at least the edge is off. That, plus the fact that Black Adam still seems to be the ruthless bastard we remember, with Gary Frank bringing that presence of his to bear with a dark strength, helps make this one of the better issues of Justice League in quite some time.

Finally, a Justice League I can enjoy. At least until Bathole starts bothering me again.

Overall, Justice League #19 isn't particularly exciting, but it does set the stage for some potentially interesting developments. We'll have to wait and see if they actually develop.

Besides, the original Billy Batson would want me to give the new kid a chance and let go of all those bad feelings. That's why he was so great.

There's also the concern that DC is trying to jump through hoops Marvel's already been through, what with having a civil war between superheroes leading to a long reign of bad guys, but the jury's still out on that particular indictment. It's a comic tradition to take familiar concepts in new directions, so we'll let Johns and Co. finish their story before passing judgment on whether this direction is new enough to matter.

Then again, it could turn out this new Lobo is full of crap, and the "impostor" is going to hand him his ass. Time will tell.

Justice League 3000 #1 is a great way to give a much-beloved creative team free reign to do what they do without having their style crimped by the mandates of the New 52. It could get pretty brutal, as any story where Superman is an unstable jerkwad threatens to be, but I'd guess that Giffen/DeMatteis know that there's more entertainment value to be had in Superman/Batman bickering catfights than in yet another book wherein Superman gets all murder-crazy-go-nuts. That's what will keep this book interesting.

Overall, it's a pretty good new start, and Lemire has more than earned our trust that he'll be doing very cool things with the Justice League Dark - a name he actually introduces in this issue, and a name to which Constantine reacts very badly. That's fun.

Justice League Dark #15 is a pretty fun book, though, as it has complete license to get really, really weird out of nowhere. That's magic, folks.

Hell of a way for JLI to end.

And if the Super Buddies never existed... this book is just going to make fans sad.

This is a very strong first issue for Justice League of America #1, even though there's virtually no action in it beyond the vignettes for each hero. I'm hooked, and I want to see how this plays out.

Overall, Justice League of America #3 is not a bad issue, but it just feels a bit awkward, perhaps due to the pressure of deadlines, or perhaps because it's a book still finding its footing. There's no call to count it out just yet. There's a Trinity War coming, after all.

And just a side note - I know comic book costumes went apeshit with the midriff-baring costumes when Britney Spears first came to power and popularized it, giving comic folks a chance to be fleshy without being cleavagey, but doesn't it seem like that style has passed? Why is Stargirl still sporting that? Then again, I guess it's better that than having her holster up a whipped-cream shooting Katy Perry bra.

Not bad. The funky team dynamics and the mystery of the SSV will keep Justice League of America going for a while, likely going places we don't expect - although since the Doctor Light business carries over into Justice League #22, the crossover has already begun. Trinity War's a-tootin'. Put on your seat belts and lets get weirdly metaphysical.

Sure, Justice League of America #7.1 is actually a one-shot story about some guy with the same name, but the new origin by Matt Kindt (whose work I normally enjoy) assures us once and for all that the guy we used to like under John Ostrander and Gail Simone's pen is gone for good, and in his place is a completely generic and painfully boring lump they're calling Deadshot. The basics are sort of the same " mercenary with really good aim.

Johns co-wrote this story with Andrew Kreisberg, and it's decent enough. Nothing patently offensive, although the names Armando and Francisco still seem a little like... I don't know... swashbuckling Antonio Banderas character names to me. That's just me, though. Otherwise, it's a bit by-the-numbers, but it's fine that way. The art from Pete Woods is solid as well. There's nothing particularly exciting about this book, besides maybe the fact that Waller has a zoo full of botched human experiments and/or people who refused to play ball (including a prior 'Vibe,' a Thunderer of Qward, Pariah, a familiar face in Gypsy and apparently Darkseid's daughter), but hey, it's Vibe. The fact that he has a book at all is remarkable.

But that's probably just wishful thinking. From the looks of things, Justice Society of America is likely going to end with a shrug, and that's just kind of a shame. Let's hope Guggenheim proves me wrong.

Overall, Katana #1 is not a bad issue, really. I'm just not sure if there's enough here to get me to a #2. Your mileage may vary.

Giffen and DeMatteis are in fine form with their freewheeling piss-take on the greed-fueled MINE MINE MINE lantern, holding over the same tone Giffen had in Threshold, although not connecting at all with the fact that over in Green Lantern and GLC, he's apparently launching an all out attack on Oa. Maybe this is after that, maybe this is before that. We ain't know. What we do know is that if we can't have more Threshold, Larfleeze will hold us over for a while. Hopefully, DC won't see fit to meddle with the formula and will allow the veteran writers to carve out their own corner of the DCU this way. They let Scott Lobdell do it, for pete's sake. Maybe we'll get some resolution to The Hunted stories tied in with this book. Let's hope so.

The Shadow #3, by Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell, continues to only allude to the fact that one of its major villains, one General Saburo Akamutsu, is also a casual pedophile, whose appetites are catered to by his evil criminal mastermind partner Kondo. Thankfully, this is a Garth Ennis book about a guy who kills criminals, so the odds are good that we'll get a very satisfying murder-in-the-face of this guy, and with any luck, the newly introduced stinkbag Buffalo Wong will be involved as well. Overall, this series is a cool bit of World War II era intrigue, where the smooth, affable and erudite Lamont Cranston amuses himself with the manipulation of his dull-witted American handler one moment, and then righteously murders the wicked in the next with highfalutin declarations of justice being served. Campbell's art is decent enough, but nothing too special.

Hutchison's use of the Scarecrow as the magnet for Gale's expository dialog works better here than it did when he was using Toto in that role, and now that most of it's out of the way in the first issue, it's much less prevalent here anyway. Save for the Wicked Witch, but she's doing the villain monologue to her big ugly monkeys, so that's to be expected. There's not a great deal of depth to the story, but it's imaginative, fun, and a refreshing change of pace.

Manning's a proven storyteller, and it's nice to have some confidence in this book again. It's felt a bit blunt and unremarkable at times, but I still enjoyed the core concept enough to stick with it, and now we're focusing on gorillas with wings, which is inherently fantastic. Also, Borges has returned to handle the art for this arc, and he brings some striking visuals to the proceedings as well, bringing a presence to this installment, which is mostly expository set-up. It may only be for a few issues, but I'm certain they'll be issues I enjoy. Anything that invokes Gargoyles so strongly is aces in my book.

This is a seven-part series, so hopefully Willingham has enough time to craft a story that breathes. It's mildly interesting at the moment, but not particularly exciting. Perhaps that will change as the tale develops. We're likely to get Kato action in the next issue, after all, and the recent resurgence of Red Sonja makes me curious as to how she'll fit into a world like the one in Legenderry. Also, the Phantom could be really cool, too. The possibilities are fun to consider, but that goes with just about any reimagining of franchise characters in different settings. Willingham's job will be to make that translate into a good tale, and he may just do it.

It's Mike Mignola and John Arcudi turning in another swift, pulpy yarn that does what it aims to do " be an in-and-out adventure in the dark, murky side of the law. Kevin Nowlan's artwork is fairly bright and clean for a grubby story like this, but it works perfectly, from palooka to his creepy benefactor to the mad scientist to Lobster's scare tactics. The closeups are fantastic. It's a fun read, and although it's quick, I wouldn't call it light, what with all the shootings.

Loki: Agent of Asgard promises to be a very fun book, one where we root for a classic villain determined to recast himself in a different life and shed the trappings of the big horns. You can bet this will also be a blueprint for a future Tom Hiddleston solo film franchise, too.

Manning has made his hay in the short story realm, with books like Nightmare World made up entirely of 8-page stories, each with different artists and of vastly different tones, but given the fact that he had through-lines connecting all of those stories to a greater whole, he proved that you don't have to sacrifice the long arc to keep with self-contained short stories. He has an impressively economical way of getting into your gut and finding buttons to press to get your attention and twist your feelings around. Love Stories (To Die For) is the perfect vehicle for his brand of writing. I'm very much looking forward to more of it.

So, hey, if you've ever been curious about Magnus: Robot Fighter, and you should have, because it's called Magnus: Robot Fighter, maybe give the new Magnus: Robot Fighter #1 a shot when it comes out next week, and see if it's your bag, man. It's solid sci-fi stuff. Not super exciting as yet, but it has promise.

Manifest Destiny #1 promises to be some really solid storytelling, focusing on a time when the world was still a mystery to those who thought themselves above it, and a world which too often valued the pioneer spirit above basic human decency.

Manifest Destiny so far has been about as pleasant a diversion as a book full of gruesome unpleasantries can be. Time will tell it if unfolds into something more than that. The potential is surely there.

The jury's still out on Mara overall, though, but it's a #1 issue from Brian Wood. That means it's certainly worth giving a shot.

Overall, it functions as pretty much an issue of Previews rather than anything that really needed to exist. New people jumping onto this might be just as confused as ever with all the random jumps to various other characters. It's really nothing more than a meh as a whole, with some bits of intriguing work popping up here and there. I will be checking into all of these books, but this issue is mostly shrug-worthy.

Yeah, that's probably too much to ask. But don't doubt that Atwell could carry that film if it wasn't. Agent Carter is a fun treat which could lead the way for some female-led Marvel films (Captain Marvel seems a popular choice) and, if nothing else, it gives its title character the send-off she deserves. My only concern is that I'd hate to think that Marvel might've blown their Bradley Whitford wad, and now he won't be able to somehow make it into a future Marvel movie as somebody like Henry Peter Gyrich or The Master of the World or something.

Then again, it's Frank Tieri. It could get batshit insane in short order.

There's nothing inherently cheesy about the world of Eternia - it's a great blend of science and sorcery, a really colorfully interesting fantasy realm. If DC can manage to actually make a Masters of the Universe ongoing series that puts He-Man himself as far in the background as possible, we might just have a really good book on our hands. Even Fisto is cooler than He-Man. Keep that guy off-panel. Make his disappearance a back-burner mystery that Duncan, Mekaneck and Buzz Off occasionally give lip-service to as they struggle in the war against Skeletor's army and Hordak's legions. Masters of the Universe #1 is a great start - let's we can get more like this.

Men of War is a good effort in a good direction so far, and here's hoping it works well enough to justify more things like it, such as maybe a Lois Lane book set in the thick of the shit that is the awful American media - it'd be amazing if she could get herself embedded in Rock's unit, too. Fall in, DC.

Mighty Avengers is a really fun book, and you should read it if you like awesome super-hero action.

Overall, though, Mighty Avengers is jam packed with entertaining superhero action. Read it, support it, and make sure that nobody can make the dumb argument that non-white characters can't sell a book.

So check into Mighty Avengers, because it's a damn good time featuring a nice mix of very popular characters and folks you don't often see - including a Blue Marvel team-up with Hauptmann Deutschland, The Captain America of Germany. That happens in Mighty Avengers #4. You know you want to see that.

Al Ewing keeps things crackling with dialogue and well-thought-out storytelling, while Valerio Schiti gives us a very impressive look at just how capable White Tiger is as she tears through Power Man, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and She-Hulk with an almost stunning ease and a certainly kinetic look. Mighty Avengers continues to be the place to go for the more traditional, banter-filled, character-based superhero team action while Jonathan Hickman's main Avengers book deal with really heavy world-ending plots. It's a great, fun book and it's worth your time.

Mind The Gap #1 is definitely worth a look-see, and it has plenty of room to grow. No capes, no bombast and no standard comic-book fare, and that's a good thing. Just an interesting trip through the mindscape of a woman lost in the space between.

The art from Lan Medina is pretty great, dynamic and cool, and the script is compelling less because of Carnage and more because I can't wait to see how Flash and Kaine deal with each other. They don't cross paths until the last page here, and the story will continue in their individual titles. It's a crossover that makes sense, even if it's a smidge forced. Minimum Carnage Alpha is a good set-up for what's to come - which I hope involves the two new spider-dudes on the scene killing Kasady dead.

Anyway, if you're jonesing for some kind of JSA fix, Mr. Terrific is the only place to look in the New 52, and despite the new look, he's still pretty close to the Michael Holt you remember. Karen Starr might not be your Power Girl, though, and if that's going to be a problem - just wait a while. You know she'll get a cape eventually, and with any luck, maybe they'll start an underground Justice Society together. Wallace does pretty firmly establish that anything is possible in this high-minded man's life, and that's a decent foundation to build on.

The only thing that gave me pause about this issue was Mr. Knight referring to a hideout as just "a hide," which made me first think he was talking about someone's skin again, but that's so minor it's even beneath a nitpick, and I'm sure that's a thing in the UK or something. All in all, Moon Knight #1 is supremely entertaining and I hope Ellis gets a long run with this book.

It's a solid start, and that's coming from a guy who has never really liked vampires all that much. When done properly, though, just about any character can become interesting. Morbius The Living Vampire #1 has done that for its star.