The art in Harbinger is not nearly as stellar as that of X-O Manowar - however, it still looks pretty (thanks again, in large part, to the coloring), and already a unified aesthetic for the new Valiant Universe is starting to make itself apparent. Its worth noting how effective (and subtle) the use of color is in the book's early scenes. Peter's vibrant yellow hoodie singles him out as, visually, the one bright spot in a world full of drab, unhappy people - and yet in reality, he's the darkest of them all. Josh Dysart has the start of an extremely compelling protagonist in Peter (Much more so than the character of Aric in X-O Manowar) - if he can convincingly redeem his actions over the course of time, Harbinger could well shape itself into a strong cornerstone of the exciting new Valiant run.

All in all, though, this is a solid read, and a great jumping-on point if you've missed out on the beginning of Animal Man (buy the trade, though - seriously, its good). If this issue was any indication, you'll be getting on-board just in time for some rather earth-shattering events, which are always exciting.

Speaking of looking excellent, it deserves special mention that Mikel Janin is back in action on the book after a 2-month hiatus. If this man isn't regarded soon as a superstar artist and a rising star of comicdom, then there is officially no justice in this world. His beautiful interiors are all that's kept me going on the book through the rough period, and now that we've got a bitchin' story to go along with it, the art seems to soar to even greater heights. JL Dark and Aquaman have long been the two prettiest books in the relaunch. Now, thanks to Jeff Lemire, Dark may soon be able to count itself among the best books in the relaunch as well.

Fernando Dagnino, on loan from Resurrection Man, does a decent job filling in on this issue (and using the artist from a book you're crossing over with is a tactic more books should adopt when fill-in artists are required), however his style doesn't really gel with the more dour and gritty tone of Suicide Squad. While the interconnectivity of a crossover is always a welcome distraction, I'll be more than happy to get back to the main threads in this book soon.

Dial H has serious potential - however, that potential hasn't been realized yet. With any luck, I'll be singing an entirely different tune in six months time, but until then, this is one that disappointed my (admittedly high) expectations.

That being said, though, Earth 2 is a riveting read, and a standout in an already terrific week of DC Comics. Between Earth 2, Dial H, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Action Comics, Detective Comics, Stormwatch, and so many others across all the weeks, its clear that while Marvel may rule the feature film arena at the moment, DC is the unchallenged king of the comic book throne.

Overall, if you're someone who was brought into comics by the New 52, and has grown curious about books outside DC's stable, my recommendation is to buy this book. If you're someone who's grown weary of Marvel's practice of maximum content at the expense of quality, then buy this book. If you're one of those who is an old-school Valiant fanboy that's uncertain about the new direction some of these characters are taken, then fear not, and buy this book. Am I making a clear enough picture, yet?

If you skipped out on this one due to the garish costume redesigns or slow-to-get-going first couple of issues, I'd heartily recommend giving this one another shot, if not now, than at least in September when the #0 issues hit.

All in all, an excellent read, although perhaps not as exciting as DC would like for it to be, although the groundwork is being laid for a potentially excellent crossover arc.

But I digress. Taken as a pure superhero story, without pausing to consider the subtext, Action Comics # 8 is fantastic. As has every issue thus far before it, it readily delivers on its title, providing motion and action in almost every scene. I would describe Grant Morrison's writing as many things, but before this book, "kinetic" would not have been one of them. Rags Morales' almost-realistic, yet still exaggerated art style has fit these stories to a tee. In fact, I would go so far as to say that in all 52 books of their relaunch, DC didn't find a more perfect writer/artist pairing than these two, on this project. Its slam-bang superheroic fun, and every comic fan owes it to themselves to be picking it up. Given a choice, though, I'd still rather you do so the old-fashioned way.

Its very fortunate that Justice League Dark's art has been so stunning thus far (both from Janin and Sampere - despite Sampere being a downgrade), because without that, the book might not be looking at a particularly long lifespan, and the premise deserves to be explored over a much longer period of time. Hopefully with the start of Jeff Lemire's run with # 9, we'll start to see the series live up to its potential. Until then, I'm still along for the ride, and hopefully you are too - we've got to support good ideas, even through the rough patches.

This is a little more straight-laced, down-to-business, 'I'm-writing-Superman-now-so-I-have-to-act-professional' Giffen, which is not at all a bad thing - its a side of him that desperately needs to be shown after the commercially disastrous, criminally underappreciated OMAC.

If there's any justice in the world, Saucer Country will be DC/Vertigo's next surprise hit. The writing is strong, the art is rock-solid, and the premise is pure gold. If you're a fan of science fiction, political drama, or just plain good comics, do yourself a favor and put this one on your pull lists while you can still get in on the ground floor.