Apparently, this issue isn't the original first issue -- not the one Keith Champagne intended. It was an editorially-mandated prelude, and Champagne's story really starts in issue #2. While that may or may not be true, this is still an awful first issue. And you know what might make it even worse? Those zombies and jaguar men on the cover? They don't even appear in this comic. They knew enough to stay away.

If this is the best Scott Ian and Sam Keith can do, then two issues is far too long for this series. Maybe as a six-page story in a "Bizarro Comics"-style anthology it would have worked. Because this just doesn't.

Sadly, without Jane Austen's prose (reduced here to mere highlights, as if this comic were little more than an extended trailer for something much better), and without an artist with the visual panache to make up for what's missing, this particular entry in the Marvel Illustrated line is a failed experiment from the House of Ideas.

Basically, it comes down to this: "Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D." might work as a comic book series -- and I'm looking forward to reading it that way -- but if this first episode is an indication of the general quality of the Marvel Motion Comics, then this is a new age doomed to failure. Or at least ridicule.

This is scheduled to be a five-issue miniseries, with more comics planned if this first one finds an audience. While I'm all for creators producing as many comics as they want, and I have a predisposition toward anything superhero or zombie-related, I don't think this is a comic worth reading. I certainly won't be back for more.

So while the title of this comic may be promising -- "The LAST Phantom"? That means this will be the last time we have to read a comic this hideous?-- the "#1" on the cover, along with the announcement that this will be an ongoing series, promises that more of this kind of thing will come our way. Perhaps the series should be retitled: "The Last Phantom For Now, Sure, But It Will Make Your Eyes Bleed."

But this series was a hell of a way to get to that point, and it will take a while before its stench of sad desperation disappears from the Ultimate comics that follow.

Checking in this week, it seems that it hasn't gotten any better at all. And with Lois' clumsy "journalistic" narration, it's possibly worse than ever.

And worst of all, it's not even funny.

"Black Terror" #1 is what happens when you take a silly public domain character and try to make him as "cool" as possible. But just because you yell, "this is serious!" over and over, that doesn't make it so. And it definitely doesn't make it any good.

Because if this issue teaches us anything, it's that while sex may be a whole lot of fun, it's bad for the universe. That's why we have vampires. To remind us of exactly that.

Even hillbillies from the future can't save this comic. And if they can't, maybe nothing can.

"Cable" is like "Doctor Who," if the Doctor jumped to a new time 10 minutes into each episode, without resolving anything. And that's not a particularly effective way to tell a serialized story, even if this series is building its own larger temporal mythology.

At least it's over.

I don't know if this fall's presidential race has whet your appetite for political superhero comics or not, but it's safe to say that no matter what you're in the mood for, this comic probably isn't going to satisfy you.

For the love of the saintly, gorgeous, and dead Bea Arthur, I hope not.

At least this comic doesn't end with a "hey, btw, there's a new series featuring this character coming out soon, and this was just a teaser" threat/promise, the way the Solomon Grundy comic did. But it's just a matter of time until someone gives Deathstroke something to do, and when that happens, I hope it's something with more imagination that this issue demonstrates.

The humor's unfunny in its obviousness and the action feels grafted on from some other type of comic. No, this is indeed a stupid comic, and it's by far the worst thing I've seen from either Adam Beechen or Trevor Hairsine.

When Virgin Comics began its line of comics based on Indian mythology, this is the type of stuff everyone feared. But Virgin was able to avoid this level of quality by putting together professional-looking projects and taking the mythology in a new, intriguing direction. Arcana's "Rama, the Legend" falls into every trap Virgin avoided. It's a tonally inconsistent piece of ridiculousness, bound in the cloth of sincerity. It tries so hard to make this story "cool" for a 21st century Western audience and it fails in every way. It's only worth may be as a slice of camp absurdity, like those unintentionally hilarious educational films of the 1950s.

But at least there's a bit of humor here, and a hint at a larger plot. It's too much of the old stuff and not enough of a new approach, but maybe that's what fans of the original film are looking for. Me, I'd appreciate something that stretched the concept a bit more. Or at all.

At least Scott Kolins will be doing the art on those issues as well. (And, sadly, the writing too.)

So if you like that kind of groan-inducing humor and heavy-handed attempts at pathos, then "X-Factor" #44 might be for you. It not only has tampon jokes, but it has a super-sexy seduction scene that turns into bad news for the good guys. Maybe that makes it worth reading? No it doesn't. Not for me.

But with Yost and Weaver on the job, the future looks as bleak as the present.

Hopefully, we'll see Johns and Manapul bring Conner Kent back to the front of this book next month. And hopefully they won't just drift away from the character when Paul Levitz comes in to do his long-awaited return to the Legion. But the sad fact is that the two-part Superboy Prime story didn't work, and this series has lost some luster because of it.

It's a good thing all those people lined up in the cold probably only bought it for the cover.

There's certainly no reason to read "Astonishing Tales" #5 unless you want the Hickman story, but that might be a good enough motivation for picking it up. Then again, that's the only story that might end up collected somewhere down the road -- the X-Men stuff tends to find its way to the reprint shelves, and Hickman will surely become a big enough name at Marvel to deserve more reprint attention -- and at $3.99 an issue, buying this just for Hickman story may not be your best bet.

This isn't an offensively bad series, but it's not a good one either.

And maybe that's okay for a Batman story, but in a world where Batman's incorporated, hopping around the globe on adventures, this opening issue feels regressive, inert, and not particularly worth reading.

Remender and Olliffe have one more issue to wrap up this bland Starro two-parter, and if this series is going to survive under Dan Jurgens it has to become more than just a time anomaly-of-the-month kind of series. It needs to have a real story, with real stakes, even if those stakes are at a cosmic, temporal level. Even though "Booster Gold" is about the infinite possibilities of time, it feels too small, too insular, and too pointless.

(Check out CBR's preview of this issue to see Clay Mann's art is more to your liking.)

That's what this is, except less comfortable.

This issue also ends with a lesson learned, and a bit of insight into Deadpool's character on the final page. If that's what you're looking for. But like most everything else about this issue, it falls a little short. It's not enough.

This story feels like a situation where O'Neil and March were called in to produce some filler before the really "important" stuff starts coming out in 2009. "Last Days of Gotham" may lay important groundwork for future stories, or it may be a way to give O'Neil a victory lap after a long and storied career with the character, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels inessential and unimpressive, and that's too bad.

Maybe it will serve a larger purpose. Maybe this whole seemingly fill-in issue has some relevance to the world of Gotham and the current adventures of Dick Grayson and his pals. But it doesn't feel like it will. So all it has to rely on is its own internal strength, its power to affect the reader within these twenty-two pages. And on that level, the story just fails, even if the art has a bit of charm.

That's true. But after four issues of fighting, I still don't see a reason to believe. Not at all.

Could Stuart Immonen come along next issue and help put an exclamation point on the Millar run? Sure. But as the climax of a multi-arc storyline, this issue is merely a half-hearted ellipsis.

"Fathom" #8 may stumble over the lesser details (like dialogue and figure drawing) in its dash toward something vast and awe-inspiring, but at least it tries to underscore the action part of its cheesecake action nature. Still, after reading this issue, I'm in no hurry to come back for more.

The only reason I'm even giving this issue one and half stars is because Freddie E. Williams III is a competent superhero artist. The story, with its wildly inconsistent tone and faux-relevance, would warrant a zero.

"Garrison" may yet have plenty of twists and turns and revelations. But after the first issue, I can't say that I care.

If you just look at the pictures, you can find a lot to enjoy in "Green Arrow/Black Canary" #29. Maybe that's for the best. Because the dialogue? Well, it quotes Tim Gunn in the epilogue. That's witty, right?

Tomasi has proven that he's good at juggling a variety of characters in a boiling pot of superhero melodrama, but this isn't a strong start for "Emerald Warriors," even with the heat turned up in the final pages.

It settles for the cheap thrills of seeing guys draw stuff they were once famous for drawing. And that's really it.

As a final issue, though, this story does suffer from that way it concludes. And maybe it's because this is a movie-tie in (even if it doesn't say so explicitly, and isn't a direct tie-in) and maybe it's because this is the kind of classic story that ends where it began, with all the sound and fury signifying practically nothing, but this isn't a strong ending for a four issue story. It's not a particularly satisfying wrap-up. In the end, it was little more than a showcase for a redesigned Whiplash, but, in the end, we aren't clamoring for more of him.

If you haven't read an Iron Man comic in a while, and you are jazzed about the character after seeing the movie, this isn't the comic for you. The one for you is "The Invincible Iron Man," written by Matt Fraction. That comic is everything this one is not.

No, this isn't about beginnings or triumphs. It's about kicking the ball away because the clock is winding down and its time for someone else to play.

Is that kind of thing really on par with "Fables," never mind "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"? That's a rhetorical question, and I wouldn't be able to hear you answer anyway, but I assure you that the answer would be "no."

Ms. Marvel #39
Posted Sat, May 30th

It's not that this is a terrible issue, it's just that this kind of story has been told better before. And these characters have been better written and better drawn before. "New Mutants" #4 is just a bottom-of-the-barrel 21st century Marvel comic, no matter how much the fans of the Claremont days might be glad to see their old favorites back in action.

How about a surprise or two? Nope. Not here. Just the conveyor belt of ugliness, both aesthetic and moral, dumping graphic narrative on your doorstep.

If there's a bright spot here it's that Tucci has set up this series to be as much about Sgt. Rock's struggle with the systems of war -- the commanding officers and their petty narrow-mindedness seem to be the primary antagonist, even in the aftermath of a German-led slaughter. That's not an uncharacteristic approach for a war story, but it's the only interesting thing going on here, and such conflict might allow Tucci to provide new shades to the Sgt. Rock character. But that's pure speculation, as there's little in issue #1 to indicate that the remaining issues will be worth your time.

And if the comic isn't supposed to be funny, I don't know what virtues it offers. I like that David is trying for something other than superhero slugfest, but this comic just doesn't have enough interesting character moments to make me want to read issue #28.

"Squadron Supreme 2" #5 is a great disappointment, and unless Chaykin and Turini can inject something new (besides retreads of the same old characters) to hold reader interest, I can't imagine that this series will stick around for very much longer.

This issue has a few interesting moments, particularly between Alan Scott and Clark Kent, but, overall, "Superman" #676 is not worth the three bucks.

It's excessively tedious, and after 11 issues of this kind of stuff, I can't say I'm much looking forward to the finale. It would have to be pretty spectacular to make up for the drudgery of the bulk of this series.

Imagine Patrick Warburton saying those lines, and you can imagine the potential charm. It's the only thing that's vaguely interesting about this comic.

If the tone of the Alex Ross "Project: Superpower" spin-offs strikes your fancy, this comic might be something you'd like. But for the rest of us, its camp is only entertaining for so long. Not long enough for a 22 page comic. And certainly not enough for an eight issue series.

The series may be over, finally, but its legacy lives on. In the "next issue" box at the end of the comic, we're warned to "keep watching the DC Universe for more Shazam!" No thanks.

Ultimately, the fun promise of the first issue hasn't been lived up to yet, and I can't imagine that I'll stick around for eight more issues hoping it will.

Maybe the tone of Remender's story would have been better served by an artistic team who could either play it straight and subtle, or even more off-the-wall. But, as released, this comic just doesn't live up to the standard set by Remender's better work. Not in this first issue of his run, anyway.

Except the character has to go on to join the "Thunderbolts," as he did a few months back. And I suppose that makes as much sense as anything else in this issue.

I like all the parts of "X-Men Noir" far more than the whole, and every bit that sounds good in theory doesn't seem to work in execution. Maybe it's Calero's art that ruins any goodwill I might have toward this comic, but I found the first issue to be utterly disappointing, and I don't know that I'll stick around to find out if the series rises above its premise.

Carey and Eaton are better than this series gives them an opportunity to be, and even if this particular issue isn't painful to read, it's utterly insubstantial, like the figments of Rogue's imagination.

The art, as always, is excellent, but it's just not enough to save the flawed concept of the issue. The story ends with Catwoman waking from her imposed dream state, though, so I have faith that Pfeifer will get the series back on track in no time.

Ultimately, this is a comic that doesn't do anything to move the Cloak and Dagger characters forward in any meaningful way, and it doesn't even reaffirm the best parts of their previous stories. It's just a competently-crafted, inconsequential episode. Like so many other one-shots.

I should also note that this, and every, issue of Countdown to Adventure includes a new installment of the adventures Forerunner. Remember her? That sensational new character who popped up in the early issues of "Countdown" and then kind of disappeared? Well, she doesn't do much here either, other than run around through the multiverse and scowl. You're not missing anything.

Ultimately, this is just a standard, old-school Daredevil/Captain America team-up -- something out-of-continuity that would have seemed right at home in a mid-80s issue of "Marvel Fanfare." It seems exceedingly safe, offering little in the way of a new perspective on any of the characters involved, and for the five bucks "Dead on Arrival" costs, you can dig through the back issue bins and get a whole lot of actual "Marvel Fanfare" comics instead, if that's the kind of thing you're into. If not, you won't find much here to interest you, anyway.

There is a bit of fun at the end of the issue which bodes well for the finale next month -- some random violence that highlights the absurdity of the comic. But it's not enough to save "Dead of Night" #3, especially with its $3.99 price tag. There's nothing here you haven't seen in any original Sci-Fi channel movie, except for maybe the "Preacher"-like bit in the final two pages. But who watches those Sci-Fi channel movies, anyway? So maybe you haven't seen stuff like this before. Still, this comic probably isn't worth picking up.

The story's a mess, but it does have its satirical elements, and between Huston's on-the-nose sadism and the 1980s Epic Comics-style painted artwork of Lan Medina and Brian Heberling, there's a certain campy charm to this series. It's about as subtle as "Small Soldiers" combined with "Terminator," but in a comic called "Deathlok," subtlety's probably not something you'd expect anyway.

I suppose it's no surprise that a video game spin-off series ends up lacking so much substance, but then I remember "The Sky Pirates of Neo-Terra" from last year, and how much soul and charm and freshness that series had. "Dragon Age" doesn't reach that level. Not yet, anyway. After this first issue, it's just a mild disappointment. But a good-looking one.

These are the gods of the Marvel Universe and they spend their time acting like characters from a third-rate television soap opera. But even "Heroes" has some characters that you might care about, or find interesting on some level. "Eternals," in the hands of Charles and Daniel Knauf, doesn't even have that. All it has is the painterly art of Daniel Acuna, doing some of the best work of his career on a comic that's nowhere near as good as it looks.

Since nobody cares about Mike Miller, one might think that the creators could do anything with him, completely free from the burdens of corporate fealty. But no, it's just another comic that's exactly what you'd expect from something called "Final Crisis Aftermath" and distributed five months after the main series concluded. That is, it's what you'd expect assuming you didn't expect much at all.

I realize that a series called "Final Crisis: Revelations" shouldn't be subtle, but it would be nice if it were more than just gnashing teeth and zombies of Darkseid.

If you're a big fan of the Howard Mackie/Danny Ketch era of "Ghost Rider," you might find something worthwhile here, but I'd recommend sticking with the current "Ghost Rider" ongoing instead. There's little here to appreciate, sadly.

Sim ends up with a collection of underdeveloped, lightweight pseudo-parodies that fail and several legitimately interesting comments on the history of photorealist art and comic strips. Had he devoted the entire comic to his digressions on Alex Raymond and Al Williamson and attempts to replicate that style, "Glamourpuss" might be worth reading (if you're interested in the artistic process), but he sabotages the better parts of this comic with limp, irrelevant parodies. This certainly isn't "Cerebus," and it certainly isn't like any other comic you've ever read. But that certainly doesn't make it any good.

And that Ladronn cover sure is sharp.

No one who has been reading "Green Lantern" since Johns' run began is going to skip this issue, but, for the first time, you could. You should. Even if you know you won't.

That pretty much sums up "Guardians of the Galaxy" #5: it's like other comics you have read in the past, except not quite as good. In space!

Spears's finale does make the story worth a look, though, and Tim Green's art makes it a clean read. Sadly, I can't say the same about the Iron Fist back-up.

Stuart Moore has done excellent work in the past, but the swiftly moving culture of Iron Man seems to have passed this story by. It's not a bad four issues, but I certainly wouldn't recommend seeking the story out.

And for all the scene-shifts between various PG-13 romantic dramas, this issue is just another story of the android Amazo getting a new robot body. McDuffie and Benes are just retelling the same old story -- the same story that began this new series less than two years ago: Red Tornado is sad, and Amazo can beat people up. It's almost as if someone at DC said, "hey, remember how well those first few Justice League issues sold, back in 2006? Let's do that story again, we'll sex it up even more, and we'll sell millions of copies this time!" I'm not cynical enough to believe that was the real thinking behind this issue, but it sure feels that way, and that's just as bad.

Even though McDuffie has been on this series for years, it still doesn't feel like he's had a chance to tell a real story. It's been all event tie-ins or character introductions -- the Tangent characters! Milestone! -- and nothing in terms of small stories that matter or larger stories that have a chance to evolve. If "Justice League of America" is supposed to be the flagship superhero team book of the DC Universe, then it's not living up to its responsibility. At this point, it's little more than a "JLA Classified" comic. One mediocre story after another.

If that's the level of wit we can expect from even an "Entourage" writer, then I'm not looking forward to more.

This isn't Millar or McNiven's best work, and with two more issues to go, I suspect it won't have time to turn itself around.

Perhaps Swierczynski's experience as a novelist has given him a fondness for slowly-developing stories, or perhaps not, but there's little doubt that pacing is main the weakness in "Punisher: Frank Castle" #68. It's not that every Punisher story has to zip ahead rapidly from beat to beat, it's that this particular story doesn't have any major beats at all. It's just all murmurs, like a made-for-tv crime drama, but with more cursing.

This is far from Howard Chaykin's best work, and it's not even comparable to the batch of Elseworlds stories he wrote in the 1990s (although it treads similar ground with its slightly-off-kilter reimagining of classic archetypes). With Chaykin's history as an iconoclast and Checchetto's slickly capable storytelling, "Squadron Supreme" has a chance to be something interesting, but it just isn't. Not yet.

I don't reject the premise of "Grounded," but this wasn't a strong start. It certainly wasn't deftly handled.

In Roy Thomas's version, nothing means anything. It's just another step along the inevitable path of blandness.

(For a glimpse at Dazo's art, check out the CBR Preview of "Thunderbolts" #130)

Ultimately, "Trinity" might prove to be a complex diversion from the continuity-heavy DC mainstream, and the final victory of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman may illuminate the importance of those characters within their fictional universe. But as of issue #21, there's not all that much to recommend this series. At fifty-two issues costing three bucks each, "Trinity" seems like a gigantic investment that's not paying off.

Ultimate Fantastic Four" #53 reads less like a Fantastic Four story than like a late-period Chris Claremont X-Men tale. It's overburdened with insignificant detail and lacks the human moments that would make it worth reading. For all of Mike Carey's cleverness (and there are a couple of clever twists in the plot), there's just not much of a Fantastic Four story here. The essence of the main characters remains, but their struggle feels as artificial as it looks.

If you're looking for something staid and lifeless, "Ultimate Origins" #4 has everything you need. And it sure looks nice.

Loeb seems willing to explain the inconsistencies between this series and the previous ones, and Joe Mad is attacking these pages with ferocity, but it's not enough to make this series very good. It makes something like "Countdown: Arena" seem like a complex exploration of the superhero genre in comparison.

Ultimately, this comic reads like a concept from 1992, when the way to make a comic more interesting was to load a couple extra rocket launchers on a character's back. I hope Pak and Manco take the series farther than they imply in "War Machine" #1, but after one issue, it really just seems like an armored Punisher riff, and that's just not enough.

Like Millar's other recent Marvel work, "Wolverine" #66 certainly isn't dull, but it's so absurdly campy as to render itself meaningless. It's an insubstantial daydream of a future world where cities of today have been replaced by "Paste Pot Creek" and "Pym Cross." It wears its cinematic and comic book influences too openly, flaunting them at the expense of originality. This may be the most interesting comic of the week, but only because of the absurdity of its failures.

All in all, we get yet another baby step in the overall (frankly uninteresting) saga of the maybe, possibly, sort-of mutant messiah Hope, and lots and lots of characters created by Rob Liefeld yelling at each other and blasting away. Even Clayton Crain's crazed artwork can't quite save this from mediocrity.

None of it amounts to much. It's Claremont playing the same old tunes with an artistic partner who provides a vaguely nostalgic look. But it's pleasant and inoffensive enough. It's sweet in its own way. If that's all you're looking for.

The rest of it? Kind of faulty. But fun in its own way.

I'm always glad to see a long-lost work find a home, and it's nice to see Dynamite bring this story to the public. I just wish it were a better comic book than it actually is.

"Action Comics" #875 tells a story clearly based on the narrative machine set in motion by Geoff Johns, but unless Greg Rucka does something special with it -- takes it in a surprising direction -- then this comic will lose its status as a central book in the DCU. It will be that lesser series about which everyone will say, "yeah, it's fine, but when is that Superman guy coming back?"

After ten issues, "All-Star Batman" is still a mess. It's inconsistent from issue-to-issue and the plot is little more than a series of violent incidents with nothing to tie them together other than the bombast. But it's still kind of a fascinating mess, and I have no idea where it's headed next, which, by my estimation, is a good thing.

But, for me, there's just a bit too much emphasis on the corny jokes and the sit-com quality gags and not enough skewering of the DC Universe itself. It is a six-issue series, though, so perhaps Giffen is saving all of his good stuff for later. I'm sure he can do better than the Mauve Lanterns.

I've been a regular reader of Busiek and Anderson's "Astro City" since the very first issue hit the stands, but the "Dark Age" arc has gone on for too long, and the freshness of this series has worn off years ago. Busiek and Anderson are top-notch comic book craftsmen, and they can still produce solid storytelling even when the story has grown stale, but I hope for better comics from them once this arc has ended.

The Haney/Aparo story may be enough to make this book worth a look, but you can surely find that story reprinted elsewhere, or buy the original issue for less than the cost of this rather expensive collected edition.

Pierce does have a kind of righteous indignation that might make future issues a bit more interesting, as he turns from being a leader to being a vigilante when his leadership fails to solve the problems. Perhaps Van Meter and Hamner can develop this into a more layered origin story that the first issue indicates. There are still five issues left in the series, plenty of time to make this story into something that matters.

Although the appearance of a giant flying pirate ship on the final page does hint at something better.

"Blackest Night: Batman" isn't as strong as Peter Tomasi's other "Blackest Night" crossover this week ("Green Lantern Corps" #39), but it's a fine supplement to the big Geoff Johns event. It's Black. It's Night. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it takes the storyline seriously. It works. But it's nothing special.

So when we read about these American soldiers defying the odds to defend their position on the Rembrechtshof Dam as the struggle with the inequity of war and the lessons of brotherhood, it's an effective piece of storytelling. This comic isn't much more than you'd expect, based on its title, but it's a professionally-produced tale that might be worth your time.

Giorello's art is lush enough for a visit, but there's not a lot here to make me come back for more.

It's very good work that seems wasted here, in this Elseworlds Hell's Kitchen. But Coker's work is good enough to keep me coming back for more, and the story might develop into something special by the end. It's happened before in the short life of Marvel Noir.

Yet, the fragmented story is bit of a mess, like something that burst out of the mental recesses of the world's most enthusiastic Keith Giffen clone. Still, the Bachalo art makes it all look like it's worth your time, even if it may not be.

"Dark Wolverine" #75 does what it needs to do to make Daken a character who isn't a total waste of space. It's not a story I'm particularly interested in, but I'm certainly curious to see how this unique Dark Avenger plays this twisted game of his.

There's almost enough here to get me to come back for Volume 2, but just barely. And unless the tightly-wound world of "Deadman Wonderland" opens up a bit and lets some life inside, I don't think I'll make it much beyond that.

But the series feels too reigned-in after the first issue. As it stands now, it's just a dark, Loa-ridden version of "Doctor Strange," and I don't think that's enough to keep readers for much longer unless Remender really starts cutting loose. Which he's more than capable of doing.

It's still too early to condemn this series, and the Knaufs do seem to be heading somewhere: the Deviants are scheming, the Celestials may not be what they seem, and the Eternals are trying to hold everything together while dealing with their very human problems. But after two issues, it's still all promise -- a lot of talk with no sense that anything significant will happen soon -- unless you believe the imitation Stan Lee in the "next issue" box, which I, understandably, do not.

Even with the flaws in Van Lente's script, I'd like to see him tackle the ongoing "Eternals" series. He would be a great match for the dream-like wonder of Acuna's artwork. As long as he can cut down on the painful gags and one-liners.

Really, though, the fun of this series is that Joe Casey tries to keep everything zipping along at the speed of contemporary culture. Scenes begin and end briskly, and we jump from location to location with no time for reflection or introspection beyond the most superficial. But that fits these characters, that fits this comic, and if he had CrissCross back on the pencils and inks, it might look like a comic you wouldn't want to miss.

"Flash: Rebirth" #3 isn't a run-of-the-mill superhero comic, but for every great moment we get a few that don't work at all. It's certainly not a lumbering, slow comic, but its speedy pace comes at a price: we don't know what its racing toward, or why any of it really matters.

I will say that Kitty Pryde's sacrifice is not what I expected, and it works quite well -- it's emotionally effective and consistent with what has been established in previous issues, and yet still surprising. Her sacrifice (and you all realize that she's been missing from the other X-Men books, so this isn't a spoiler, right?) is the heart of "Giant-Size X-Men" #1, but with everything else going on in the story, that heart is a bit obscured. It's too much sound and fury, ultimately, and Whedon's attempt at a grand climax overwhelms itself. Except for poor Kitty Pryde, who handles the whole thing with dignity.

So when a major player in the DCU dies in this issue, the effect is diminished. It's just another ant succumbing to the tortuous flames of the children. It's supposed to be meaningful, if the final splash page is any indication, but it doesn't feel that way.

Marangon has ambition, though, and that you can feel in "Hellcyon" #1. He introduces plenty of locations and a bundle of characters in this first issue, and that probably leads to the lack of depth. He may yet give this visually-fascinating world a soul, a heartbeat, that would make it seem like more than just a chance to draw the cool stuff he likes to draw. It's the future. Anything's possible.

Kath

The story beneath the surface is worth reading, but the surface is distracting more often than not.

Johns was never able to develop this series in a way that reached the heights of his achievement on the more tightly-focused (and shorter-titled) "JSA" series, but if you're looking for good, old-fashioned comic book superheroics with more characters than you can shake your crotchety old stick at, you could do a lot worse that "Justice Society of America" #25.

Shooter's "Legion" has the potential to become something special: a straight-ahead superhero action book, with compelling characters. It's a classic formula, and it has been proven to work in the past. Shooter just hasn't quite pulled it off here. Not yet.

I hope there's more to this series than just the fairytale world tour. In the current DC Universe, Madame Xanadu seems to have some dark secrets, and that would imply that this series is headed in that direction. It could use a little more darkness. Even the violence and beheadings on the final pages are too light and airy to have any real impact. Nimue is just a spectator in her own life still, and unless she becomes something more, quickly, "Madame Xanadu" might become another unfortunate casualty of the Vertigo line, and that would be too bad.

Nothing about this issue has any character beyond its concept as "World War Zombie Hulk." Unlike the previous three issues, it just wallows in its premise and never does anything interesting with it. Looks like the Marvel Zombie train is starting to stall again, even after an attractively vicious three-week ride.

When this series began, I raved about its ambition. It's difficult to make the "one-joke" Metal Men into something fascinating, and that's what Rouleau seemed to be doing at the beginning. But, by the end, he just couldn't pull it off. If you haven't read any of the earlier issues, "Metal Men" #8 will leave you completely scratching your head. And if you have read the earlier issues, you'll be left thinking, "this is how it ends?"

In "The Mighty Avengers," Bendis has created a potentially interesting mix of characters, but he hasn't done much with them yet. I hope "Secret Invasion" provides an opportunity for Ms. Marvel's overt Avengers to show how dynamic an interesting they can be. Because, as of issue #11, I'm not very impressed.

In his text piece, J. T. Krul seems to have ambitious plans for this series. And its natural questioning about notions of appearance and reality, and what people think vs. what they do -- well, that could lead to some interesting possibilities. But this zero issue doesn't make a convincing case that he'll pull it off.

This comic has a lot going on, and even if Benson's script falls short more often than not, there are a few Deodato images that make it worth a glance. If you decide to buy it, at least you get a lot of pages for your four bucks.

The recent "Death of Marc Spector" arc cleared the way for a new kind of "Moon Knight" comic, and Mike Benson has started to take advantage of the opportunity to tell stories that feel different from the ones that came before. Unfortunately, they are just generic crime stories, and that's barely an improvement.

Other than the hideous and embarrassing Greg Horn covers, I've enjoyed the "Ms. Marvel" series. Brian Reed has done a good job with the character, and I'm always looking forward to seeing more from him. But this one's just not worth the four bucks.

But this is still clean, straightforward storytelling, from the pencils of David Baldeon to the sincere dialogue. "Nomad" #4 feels like a bit of a throwback to simpler times, and that's not an inappropriate feeling. This is, after all, a story of a girl without a world. A girl who is coming to terms with who she is and who she needs to be. It's a classic story, told without pushing any boundaries at all -- even the safe-as-Wonder-Bread Young Avengers show up to lend a hand, to endorse this new Nomad as a young hero worth watching. And she might well be, even if this series is more nice than interesting.

For the rest of us, though, it's just a well-produced, if ephemeral, diversion.

I can't believe that the stores are flooded with Deadpool comics, but they are. And this is one of the better ones.

Except for the scene depicted on the cover. Despero's head on a pike makes for a great image, even if Borges presents it in a less-dynamic way than Andrasofszky does. But the scene offers one of the few surprises in the issue, and Vril Dox talking to Despero's head makes for a bit of vicious comedy. It's the highlight of the issue, without a doubt.

If you're reading "Blackest Night" and you want a tie-in to bide you over, you could do a lot worse than this one. Unless, of course, you take "Blackest Night" seriously. But why would you want to do that?

"S.W.O.R.D." #1 is a lively opening issue, setting up a variety of conflicts in a comic book version of that Heather Locklear show about L.A.X. but in space, with super-heroes, and fondly-remembered Marvel U.K. bounty hunters. Gillen could have a lot of fun with this premise, and he seems to be setting things up well. And with less Sanders and more McKelvie, the comic just might work.

Unfortunately, beyond the appeal of the art and the high-concept charm of the plot, there isn't much actually going on here. Sure, the team fights back against the hunters and we get plenty of blood and explosions, but there's nothing surprising about a single second of it.

In the larger scheme of the Zod/Superman/Brainiac/Krypton/Earth story, this is a fine issue. It serves its purpose, mechanically so. The narrative equivalent of a dishwasher.

This is a fine issue, overall, cleanly presented by Robinson and artist Javier Pina. But it's probably of little interest to anyone who's not already a fan of Mon-El. Or a fan of Daxam highlight reels.

Ultimately, this series has to do a better job making me believe that Superman would put himself in this situation. It has to make me care about Kal-El's plight and the affect on those around him. Even the twist ending of this issue merely offers the promise of more political maneuverings, and that's just not enough.

All-in-all, a middle-of-the-road DC superhero comic that has a bit of intriguing strangeness around its edges. Not a bad little slice of comics.

But when the Golden Age Angel is running around punching people and looking for information, and the Golden Age Human Torch is fighting Namor over Coney Island? It's just a series of events. Brubaker doesn't add enough value to these events, doesn't do enough to sell why these characters should matter, and that makes "Marvels Project" #3 just a decent version of 2009 nostalgiacore, possibly worth a read, but nothing that demands your attention.

And it should be better. It's supposed to be "Top Ten," after all.

Unfortunately, all of those interesting ideas are pulled off in the most mundane ways possible. If you put "Trinity" #12 next to a generic DC book published 15 years ago, I don't think you'd find much difference.

Land's artistic choices are distracting and harmful to the story, and they turn what could be a 3 to 4 star X-Men issue into something significantly less.

"Unknown Soldier" #11 isn't a bad issue at all, but it's middle-of-the-road 21st century Vertigo, and this series could use a bit more cutting loose. It could use a bit more personal drama, and a bit less social message. You can see Dysart striving for that, but it's not quite working fully. Not this time.

And though slow and steady may win the race in the cartoons, in the genre of superhero action comics, it just ends up stalling out. And readers lose interest, no matter how much you make a character look like a popular movie.

Aaron Lopresti's art is perfect for a Wonder Woman series, and Gail Simone seems perfectly suited, as well. Now it's just a matter of moving the story forward and creating a core struggle that we can care about. Enough with the side trips to faraway lands. Let's see what Simone and Lopresti can really do.

I like the look of this series, and anytime a guy with razor wings shoots a giant robot in the eyes, I will stand up to take notice, but the good and the bad cancel each other out, and we end up with an issue that ends up in the middle of the stack. That may be part of Apocalypse's plan as well.

If you're looking for old-fashioned mutant drama without a whole lot of continuity nonsense, this might be the X-title for you. It doesn't explain a whole lot, but things move forward in a straightforward manner from point A to point B. There's not much depth here, but if all you want is a perfectly fine comic about a bunch of young mutants having ancillary adventures, you can't go wrong with "Young X-Men."

All three stories in this issue are basically just preludes to the upcoming "Last Stand of New Krypton," but they do their job well, providing context, and a reason to care about what might happen next. And with Tellus and Quislet and the whole Legion gang back in action, the events on New Krypton should be a heck of a lot more interesting than they have in recent months. If this prologue is any indication, we won't have to suffer through the likes of "World of New Krypton" this time around.

The story leads directly into next week's "Action Comics" #871, so if you're picking that up, you will probably want to get this one first, as it seems that Robinson and Johns are setting up the Guardian to be the street-level operative as the Kryptonian battle for the sky rages inevitably in the future.

"The Gauntlet" continues next month, with the return of yet another of Spidey's old enemies. (The whole premise of "The Gauntlet" is that these musty old characters get "leveled-up" to challenge the web-slinger as part of a larger, devious, supervillain scheme.) I don't know that Waid and Azaceta really made Electro much more interesting than he used to be, but it was fun watching them try. All-in-all, this is a solid issue of what has become a dependably enjoyable series over the past two years.

If you've been on the "Brand New Day" bandwagon, you won't want to miss this issue, since it's filled with stories that aren't just filler. If you haven't yet sampled this new direction in which Spider-Man's been headed, you could do a lot worse than this comic. It's worth a look.

This issue was good enough to make me want to read more about the adventures of the Taskmaster and his junior Dark Avenger squad. Too bad it's barreling towards a series conclusion in a few issues. But if the series that replaces it is as good as this one, I'll have to give it a close look.

It's far from perfect, with awkward attempts at wedging emotional moments into the rapid-pop scheme of events, and Daniel's final image, with the gargoyle-like Dick Grayson Batman, feels like an out-take from the Ed Wood theater hour. But at least there's plenty of other stuff going on to distract us from the weaker moments. Plenty of stuff that may or may not build to something significant in future issues, but at least it isn't boring.

The story ends with the promise that Dick knows who the Black Mask really is, and the villain's use of an Aristotle quote is surely a clue, if you're interested in trying to figure out such things. But this issue, like Daniel's run so far, isn't about subtlety or narrative gamesmanship. It's about telling a gung-ho, punchin' and kickin' Batman tale, and it's not a bad one.

This is a well-crafted first issue (even though I have one minor complaint: I found the "handwriting" font to be distractingly difficult to read), and I'm curious to see how Ennis handles Sutton's dilemma.

"Big Hero 6" #1 surprised me, offering more fun than I had expected, and I'll definitely stick around to check out the next issue.

"Black Panther" #12 doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is: an overblown, stuffed-to-the-gills action comic. The political stuff going on in Wakanda is all background, it's all texture, for what is just a bunch of guys and gals pounding on each other with visually spectacular powers. I respect that. It's one of the things superhero comics do best.

In the final pages, the Blue Lantern Flash story and the Captain Cold and his wily gang of Rogues stories parallel each other, with Johns and Kolins cutting back and forth between them as they quote from "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and march toward their destiny: a new "Flash" series, after a brief pit stop in "Blackest Night" #8.

So the Booster Gold feature, good. Blue Beetle, not so much. Not yet, anyway.

"Brightest Day" #3 opens with the Anti-Monitor and closes with a doorway through Hawkman continuity, and we get a whole lot of tension in between. It may not have done much more than put its characters in motion, but "Brightest Day," as a method of story delivery, seems like it just might work. And it might end up being the best of the year-long superhero experiments so far.

The title of this comic is ridiculously long, and the idea of Captain America in Iraq is equally ridiculous (isn't he supposed to be off fighting other superheroes in some kind of Civil War, or traveling through time in his brain?), but this issue tells a powerful -- if familiar -- story about war, duty, struggle, memory, and forgiveness. It's good.

A typical, innocent teenage girl who has the power to kill with her bare hands and doesn't seem to know it. Matching red uniforms. Strange futuristic technology. It's a decent start for a new series, although it's still just the promise of pending quality at this point. But the first issue makes me want to read more, just like it's supposed to.

"Clandestine" #5 certainly isn't worth picking up if you've ignored the first four issues, and if you were waiting for the trade, you have to ask yourself what you're looking for. Are you looking for a fully-developed exploration of a superhero family? Then this won't be the series for you. Are you looking for a fast-paced, overwhelmingly packed narrative involving a huge cast of characters drawn by Alan Davis? Then this is right up your alley. And, man, does Davis know how to draw.

Bendis and Deodato have done a solid job on this series since it launched, and this is another fine installment. Nothing extraordinary, nothing particularly shocking -- unless you take the Molecule Man's fantasies for reality -- but well-told. And more dominoes are placed in the Dark Reign lineup, ready for their inevitable fall.

Still, this is a good, if not the best, "Dark Reign" spin-off so far, and both Diggle and Raney surely have more twists and turns in store for us.

Still, Nathan Fox drawing the weirder side of the Marvel Universe seems a whole lot more palatable than yet another take on the Avengers, dark or otherwise.

And though the plot doesn't really matter, we do get a shocking moment in the final scene. It's so shocking that it can't possibly amount to anything, because it would change the course of "Dark Reign" and "Siege" so radically that it couldn't possibly occur in the pages of "Dark Wolverine." But it's a surprise nonetheless. A good one.

But for all that, there's still not a whole lot here beyond a typical extended battle scene. In the context of the series, that might be enough. But for a single issue, it's a bit thin on content, even if it's heavy on style.

But right now, that's based more on faith than actual evidence.

I'm sure Giffen will explain all of these strange plot events and shocking "deaths" within the next three issues. I'm sure Chimera will be some whacked-out crazy comic book fan with mental powers who has created constructs of his favorite characters or something along those lines. But until the inevitable explanation comes along and playtime is over, I'll enjoy this series for what it is: a giddy "Secret Wars"-style romp in the fields of DC and Wildstorm, where anything can happen because it's all just an imaginary story anyway. But, as the man once said, aren't they all?

I don't know why this is labeled as a "Dead of Night" comic, since it has nothing to link it to the previous, poorly-received series, and I assume the "Devil-Slayer" concept will pop up sooner rather than later. But so far it's just a decently written Iraq war comic with a bit of devilishness at the end. I hope Keene has something a bit more unique planned for the next few issues.

David Hine will be back with more Batman two issues from now. I'm curious to see what he does with the world of Gotham City next.

"DMZ" is perhaps too reliant on the insubstantial Matty Roth, but at least its about something. It's not an allegory, but its thematic concerns about the convergence of media, business, and the military are relevant today. Deep and meaningfully relevant, not relevant in a way that will seem dated in a year. Brian Wood isn't afraid to play around in the world of ideas, and he clearly has something to say about them. His authorial voice is stronger than his protagonist's, though, and therein lies the main fault.

Issue #1 hits the stands this Wednesday. Until then, check out http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=1872&disp=table>CBR's preview of what lies inside.

Still, it's a near faithful reproduction of the kind of thing you might see in a "Doctor Who" serial with an unlimited budget, and though Tennant's Doctor doesn't translate perfectly to the page, Tony Lee captures his voice about as well as he can, given the restrictions of the medium. It's a good complement to the series, even with a new Doctor in the TARDIS on television. It gives this series a kind of immediate nostalgia. And that's okay.

The Knaufs have a fascinating premise to work with -- space-god resistance fighters vs. even bigger space-anti-gods, against a backdrop of average American life -- but they need to avoid their tendency for the slow burn in "Eternals." With Acuna's considerable help, they have begun with a good first issue, but I'd like to see it move beyond mere exposition and set-up and into something worthy of Kirby's legacy.

This is a good comic by a very good creative team, and if you're like me and you haven't given "Exiles" much of a chance before, I think this might be the series for you.

It's also never dull. And that may be exactly what Millar and Hitch are reaching for. Maybe not being dull is enough.

Out of all four "Final Crisis Aftermath" series, this is the only one that's gotten better every issue. It's gotten to the point where I'd actually recommend it, especially if you like your supervillains goofy and your protagonists bumbling. It doesn't seem to be aiming for anything more than that, and why should it? It knows what it is, and it embraces it on every page.

Johns and Van Sciver are working with primal, archetypal situations here (and there's a new Impulse thrown in for good measure), so while some of it may seem clichd it's still satisfying. And maybe this is what Barry Allen needs for his rebirth into the DCU. Stripped down to his core, just him vs. his nemesis. With a gang of speedsters by his side.

All in all, it's a fine precursor to the soon-to-launch Johns/Manapul "Flash" series, with a nice balance of story and information -- the kind of thing these "Secret Files and Origins" comics were meant to deliver.

The mystery at the center of this story isn't bad at all. And there's a genuine creepiness to the forbidden experiments and haunting presence -- and that damned cat -- at the Dosvidanya Projekt. The narrative's a bit underdeveloped, and the characters are a bit shallow right now, but there's hope. Because even if it continues to skim the surface of its own story, at least it will look nice along the way.

Hopefully, Tischman can take the story in a surprising direction over the remaining five issues, because Vertigo superhero comics are few and far between, and this one hasn't yet lived up to its potential.

"Green Lantern Corps" #49 is a solid installment in such a series. It hasn't skipped a beat with the departure of Peter Tomasi. The Corps marches on.

And the dead guy on the ghost horse was just one way to get the message across.

Even a ridiculous, giant monster battle comic should have some internal consistency.

If it's primal, savage, beautifully-illustrated fisticuff fun you're looking for, "Hulk" #8 might be just what you need.

Ultimately, this is an inconsequential story set in the obscure corners of the Marvel Universe, so the only reason to read it is because of the way the story is told. But that's really the only true reason to read any comic, and at least this one is told with some of that Steve Ellis style.

The timeline in this first issue is a bit too fragmentary, and the pieces don't fit together as well as they might, but Madison seems to have an intelligent take on the Huntress. This is not a rote retelling of a familiar origin. I've read plenty of Huntress stories in the past, and this is the first time I've gotten a sense of the complexity of her character. "Huntress: Year One" #1 might not be perfect, but it's interesting enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.

By the end of "Immortal Iron Fist" #25, the Immortal Weapons are headed for freedom, rescuing all the other prisoners along the way, but the corrupt first Iron Fist has a few more tricks up his sneaky kung-fu sleeve. Once again, Swierczynski and Foreman make this comic a fun read each and every month.

Moreso than most Marvel "events," this feels like a "Crisis." A crisis with a sense of humor about what it is, yet playing it all with straight-faced glee. The glee that accompanies a line like, "Avengers Smash!"

"Justice League of America" #29 ends with a lead-in to some kind of epic Shadow Thief story. I have no idea who's writing that one, because even though the DC website says "Dwayne McDuffie," we know better than to trust the reliability of that.

Honestly, though, I can't get enough of this comic. This issue isn't as riotously campy as the first installment, but it's an entertaining read, full of self-important proclamations and characters who pose and ruminate while standing atop piles of defeated villains. It's goofy and silly and kind of wonderful. But it's not very good.

And James Robinson ties it all together with a six-page text piece on Damon Runyon, Mac Raboy, and Mort Meskin. Because why not?

"The Last Defenders" was a refreshing change from the rest of the Marvel line, but at the end of the day, it's not a satisfying story on its own. I'd like to see Joe Casey do more with this team, and finish the story he began here, but until that happens, "The Last Defenders" isn't strong enough to stand on its own.

I don't know how this issue fits into the larger scheme, or, at least, how it compares in pace to all the others. But I liked the feel of this one. And even if it didn't make me want to rush out and get caught up right this minute, it certainly made me interested in reading more. Matthews and Cariello are doing some nice work here.

For your $3.99 you also get a couple of Golden Age Whizzer reprints -- for no apparent reason, except the Whizzer appears in the opening Miss America sequence -- and those, like many Golden Age Marvel Comics are terrible in a bland, unfunny way. But no one's getting this comic because they have a hankerin' for more old-school Whizzer. I don't know why they're getting it, but if they are, they'll find a lot to like in the Miss America story. It's better than it has any reason to be.

"Mister X: Condemned" demonstrates that Motter's style has aged well. Actually, it seems ageless, probably because "Mister X" has always existed outside the comings and goings of each decade's comic book trends. It's a classic story with a classic look. Motter has created his own off-beat, stylized cityscape, and even when it engages with contemporary culture (as in issue #3's introduction of the "Internette," a row of female telephone operators who find the answer to any question posed to them) it does so in it's own unique way.

My seven year-old son and my four-year old daughter enjoyed listening to me read "Mo and Jo" to them, although even they admitted that it wasn't quite as good as the other Toon Books -- all of which are perfect for kids their age.

Cue ominous "Lost" music, and the white words "Nemesis: The Imposters" floats through the screen.

This may not be your father's Avengers, or even your Avengers of a couple of years ago, but Bendis still knows how to tell a good story and Philip Tan's art captures the anxiety and uncertainty needed to pull it off. Plus, this issue might enhance your "Secret Invasion" experience, if you're really into Skrulls.

But "New Avengers: Reunion," like any good Clint Barton story, has far more hits than misses, and the conflict between its two lead characters creates more than enough explosive energy to propel this series forward.

Because it really doesn't matter. It's a Deadpool mega-epic. So not mattering is its very purpose. But at least in knows how to have fun.

If you've been avoiding comics from Virgin because you feared they might be inaccessible to Western readers, you needn't worry. "Project: Kalki" #1 is a good example of a mythological world that transcends geographic boundaries. It's worth a look.

This isn't a fast-paced series, and that may be to its detriment, but what has been set up seems to work well. After two issues, "Punisher" is primed for a frontal assault on the Marvel Universe, and I'm sure the results will be explosive.

Still, it's Rick Remender on the Punisher, so it's mostly good. Just not as good as what we've been seeing lately in the ongoing series. We've learned to expect that kind of thing from an Annual, and this issue doesn't do much to alter that preconception.

The issue ends with a preview of the upcoming Jason Aaron/Steve Dillon "PunisherMAX" #1, and the new KingpinMAX is different from what you might expect. Honestly, it may be the best part of the entire issue. But the Campbell and Pastoras stories are certainly worth your time as well.

For my first exposure to an actual Red Sonja comic, this was a pretty good one. I'm not necessarily interested in finding out what happens next, but I appreciate the artistry involved in the creation of "Queen Sonja" #6. These guys seem to know what they're doing.

"R.E.B.E.L.S." #1 is a good start, a fun space opera story that seems ready to launch from Earth at any moment. Bedard has a strong grasp on the Vril Dox character, and if he can add depth to the supporting cast, this could be a DC revamp that deserves to stick around for a while.

The characters still need to be defined a bit more -- with so many of them, it's difficult for any of them to stand out, personality-wise -- and the plot may be getting a bit too convoluted, but "R.E.B.E.L.S." is still quite a good series and one that deserves your attention.

With one more issue go, this series looks to be heading toward a nice, tidy wrap-up. But Abnett and Lanning may yet have a few more twists up their sleeves

"Secret Invasion" continues to be a better-than-average event, but it's starting to show some weaknesses. But if Bendis can hold it together for the next five issues and tell an actual story in this one series, this still has a chance to be one of the best crossovers in Marvel history. It's still a heck of a lot of fun.

This issue also contains brief previews of some upcoming comics, like "Secret Warriors," "Agents of Atlas," and "War Machine," but the previews are too short to give you more than just a hint at what's to come. And that's what this comic is all about, teasing its way toward the future, but what it sets up isn't half bad, and now that I've seen Osborn's board of evil in all of its dysfunction, I'm curious to see where "Dark Reign" is headed next.

But that's only a small part of an issue that's mostly about Bullseye preparing to stab Daredevil in the face. And Diggle and Tan are good with Bullseye, and with stabbing. And the final page features, well, not really a surprise, but an exclamation point. "Shadowland" doesn't evoke the superior Bendis or Brubaker runs on "Daredevil," but it does have its own Shooter-era Marvel kind of appeal. It's "Gang War 2010," but with more superheroes, and I'm willing to give that a read.

In look and attitude, this comic seems less like something that's a sequel to a Morrison/Millar series and more like something that could have launched as part of Marvel's "Tsunami" line earlier in this decade, but this would have been one of the better comics from that largely ill-fated bunch, and I look forward to reading more of Felber and Robinson's take on the "Skrull Kill Krew."

With Robinson joining team Johns, I don't think that will happen this time, but we'll have to wait and see. This issue, however, offers some hope that things might be different this time.

Readers looking for a classic superhero romp, with a bit of an emotional underpinning, could do a lot worse than this recent "Superman/Batman" arc. It's not outside of continuity, but it's also not caught up in the whims of the "Countdown/Final Crisis" mentality. It's plot-heavy, slickly drawn superheroics, and sometimes that's enough.

"Teen Titans" #58 may not astound you, but it's a good superhero comic, and its another step in the right direction for McKeever's run on the series.

Ravager -- Rose Wilson, daughter of Deathstroke -- makes a fascinating protagonist, and I'm curious to see what McKeever does with her throughout this six-issue series. Will she merely find that her morality is stronger than that of the "Terror Titans" and fight the group from within? Or will McKeever add more subtle shading as she explores her own sense of right and wrong within a society that's become deeply compromised? I'm hoping for the latter, but I suspect we might get nothing more than the former. Either way, I'll be reading the entire series because even though it's nothing groundbreaking, its good, solid superhero comic book storytelling. And I can respect that.

It's bad enough that Zatanna and Wonder Woman give up so easily and resign themselves to the knowledge that Barbara Gordon will be shot in the spine and they won't be able to stop it (which really doesn't make sense for characters who have been repeatedly shown to defy the whims of fate time and time again), but the obviousness of the storytelling, and the, as I said before, tacky nature of the way the story is told, well, it doesn't give Cliff Chiang and Trish Mulvihill the narrative they deserve.

Langridge tackles "The Muppet Show" #2 with sincerity and with heart, but I hope the first issue was a more accurate taste of what's in store for the rest of this series.

The art is so good on both the Shield and the Fox stories in this issue that I might keep picking up this comic just for the visuals. The stories are a bit tepid, a bit conservative, but with Rudy and Oeming around, that's less of a problem than it might be.

Overall, I like this approach to the Spirit -- this longer-form storytelling in an overtly pulpier world. It works, and it doesn't seem to demonstrate the need to rely on trying to out-Will-Eisner Will Eisner, which is good. Because that would be impossible.

But the legacy of the Ultimatum Wave looms. And it seems that Peter Parker will have to face the reality of that sooner, rather than later.

(See Madrox go "boom" in CBR's preview of "Ultimate X-Men" #100.)

And it's good.

"War Machine" is still far from a top-tier Marvel series, but this issue proves that it refuses to let itself be overlooked. It won't sit quietly in its little corner and play nice with whatever time it's given. No, Pak and Manco's "War Machine" will cry out for your attention with its explosions and big guns and ridiculously extreme plot twists, and, surprisingly, it might be worth a look.

It's better that way.

I don't think it offers much to a regular Marvel reader, and since Van Lente has the practically impossible task of telling stories set during the Claremont/Byrne years (arguably the best X-years ever, which makes you wonder why you shouldn't just go back and reread that stuff instead), he may not pull it off in the end. But, as a first issue, it's a pleasant little inoffensive hug of a comic book.

One-quarter of the way into "Second Coming," this is the best installment so far.

I try to imagine how this story would work without the Clayton Crain art, and it's just impossible. Even Steve Dillon, who provides the art for the Cable-and-Hope backup story, a capable artist if there ever was one, wouldn't be able to give this "Necrosha" tale the demonic edge it needs. Crain was born to digitally paint this kind of story, a story full of twisted steel, circuitry, death, and sadistic smiles. This is his showcase, and he isn't afraid to show us what he's got.

Cebulski and Camuncoli have produced a nice little first issue here, and though I didn't have any particular interest in the Illyana Rasputin storyline when I began this issue, I'm intrigued enough to come back for more.

And it was fun while it lasted.

I'm not giving up on this series yet. Even if it is nothing more than a sum of its influences, it's still a comic that feels like nothing else in the Vertigo line -- or any other line, to be sure. If Lapham can move the story away from the Tarantino and the Lynch, and into Lapham-esque territory, then the comic might be really worth reading.

But after four issues, it's still difficult to tell exactly what status quo will develop. Guggenheim is putting a lot of faith in the readers to care about what happens next, and without clearly-defined characters to ground the series, I'm not sure that they will.

Maybe because of the lack of hype, or the lack of gigantic crossover event significance, I seem to forget how good "Young X-Men" is sometimes, but whenever I sit down to read an issue, I close the comic totally satisfied. "Young X-Men" #9 is straightforward mutant superheroics, done with a bit more artistry than you might expect, and now that the series has established itself, I think it will only get better.

I liked how this issue began, and it felt like a good place to dive into the series. I just wish that the story for this one issue had been something I hadn't yet seen before.

Ever since Johns got back on track with "Action Comics," and especially since Gary Frank has come on board, I've enjoyed this comic every month. This is probably one of the weaker single issues from the duo, but it's still a slick, well-told Superman story, and it's only the middle of a larger Brainiac story that has yet to unfold. It's a story that may or may not include an important part for the long-forgotten Ultra, the Multi-Alien, who appears in a few panels this month. Johns and Frank are always worth reading, and if they unleash Ultra onto the populace there's going to be no way you can ignore them.

The art is certainly good enough to make "Agents of Atlas" worth reading, and issue #2 has some nice moments (particularly in the scenes with Gorilla-Man in the present day, and with Marvel Boy in the flashbacks), but Parker hasn't kicked this series into gear yet. It's still just idling in the superhero parking lot, looking pretty, making a sweet purring sound, but not going anywhere. But it is a nice-looking ride, and it's sure to be a thrill once Parker decides to take it for a spin through the Marvel Universe.

Until the characters become more than quirky concepts, mashed together, I won't be able to call this series anything more than very good. Very good is often enough, though.

This final installment of Zeb Wells's three-part story may not have any long-lasting affect on the Spider-Man franchise. Dr. Rabin and his Mayan menaces may never be seen again. None of that really matters. What matters is that for three weeks in a row, we got to see Chris Bachalo's Spider-Man. And it was a treat.

"Amazing Spider-Man" still isn't a great comic. It's a bit too simplistic, and some of the changes have been shoehorned in without much elegance (like Harry Osborn's new status as a restaurateur, or Peter Parker's one-note roommate, Vin) but I'm reading and enjoying "Amazing Spider-Man" several times a month, and this Anti-Venom arc looks to be one of the best so far. So while it isn't a masterpiece of the genre, it's a comic that's far better than it's been for years. It has certainly moved near the top of my stack each time it comes out.

Amazing Spider-Man #601
Posted Mon, August 10th

"Amazing Spider-Man" #623 continues to prove that this series is one of the best classic superhero serials on the stands. No matter how "new" it looks.

I doubt anyone who's not intimately familiar with the past two or three years of DC comics would be able to make any sense out of this comic, but the same could be said for a lot of superhero comics these days. And at least this one is intentionally funny.

There's nothing ambitious about "Astonishing X-Men" #33, but Ellis and Jimenez show how easy it is to make engaging superhero comics, and to make comics that don't feel bogged down, clunky, or overly chatty. Well, I suppose it is easy. If you're Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez.

If you can get past the ridiculously high price for so few story pages, you'll find a lot of interesting ideas and fantastic visuals packed into this comic. But its brevity adds to its feeling of incompleteness, and I don't know what Ellis has planned for the second (and final) issue, but I hope it does more than just provide intriguing windows into alternate superhero realms.

But it's too good to skip, even if its nothing more then a well-told superhero story of two titanic teams tussling.

This issue might be considered a prologue to the upcoming "Batman R.I.P." storyline, but, in fact, every Morrison Batman story since "52" #30 has been the prologue. It's all a single story, with clues to the larger picture planted along the way. Have you been paying attention the whole time?

Much of "Batman" #676 is spent laying groundwork, and guiding the reader through what has already been implied in previous issues, but it is a good comic nonetheless, and it sets things up for what will be one of the most memorable "Batman" stories in history: "Batman R.I.P."

I wish Morrison had a better artist joining him on this strange journey, but "Batman R.I.P." is shaping up to be a classic. The more we learn about the Black Glove, the more we appreciate Morrison's earlier work on this series, as small moments from months ago, or even years ago, matter more in retrospect. Morrison's "Batman" has re-engaged my interest in the Batman mythos, and I'm eager to see how he's going to tie the Black Glove reveal into the "death" of Batman. Because even though I've been "sure" of the Black Glove's identity about half a dozen times, I really don't know what Morrison has planned.

"Batman" #681 is a good issue, and important one, but it also puts an end to the speculation and gamesmanship that has sustained the series over the past six months, and in that regard, it comes with a hint of disappointment as well. But mysteries cannot linger forever, and even while wrapping up some of these, Morrison has left the door open for more to come.

Maybe he's the id to Dick Grayson's ego and the Batman super-ego. Maybe things will get a whole lot more internal before "Batman and Robin" reaches its conclusion. Or maybe Morrison will just continue to tell engaging, off-kilter stories about the Batman family, regardless of whether or not he has an artist who brings out the best in him.

This story from Batman's past feels like it could have been written thirty years ago (although it would have been told in one or two issues instead of three), and Garcia-Lopez gives it a classic look that places it in that late-Bronze Age period as well. But in this era of Tony Daniel's "Battle for the Cowl," stuff like this looks refreshingly new and vibrant. It's the veterans coming back for one more swing at the pitch, saying, "no, youngster, it's supposed to look like this," and slamming it over the fence with ease.

It's a bleak vision of the world, and a bleak vision of Batman's life. But it's closer to the truth of the character than most other Batman tales. It looks, and feels, raw.

"Batman R.I.P.: The Deluxe Edition" may have its flaws, but it has its charms as well, and the manic, cagey story Morrison tells is certainly worth your attention.

This series lost its way for a while, but now it's headed in a much stronger direction. And if Norton stays on for an extended run, this could be the kind of series that's worth paying attention to. Like the Mike Parobeck/Rich Burchett "Batman Adventures," or the Mark Millar run on "Superman Adventures," this is a comic that's all about old-school action with a bold graphic style. Or, it is now.

"Buck Rogers" #9 doesn't push the envelope or challenge any conventions, but it tells a good-hearted romantic adventure in the sleek but imperfect future. With jetpacks and sky-sleds and something called "genius bombs."

"Captain America" has been good since Brubaker launched this new series, and this issue is no exception.

But there's that moment near the end of this issue that makes it seem like something bigger is on the horizon. I have no idea what Brubaker has in store for the future of the "Captain America" comic books, but he's earned our trust after four years of excellent stories, and though this issue is completely action-free, it still packs its own kind of punch.

"Reborn" may be just the next chapter in the ongoing Brubaker/Cap super-saga, but like the other installments of the over-arching story, it's a good one.

The superhero spectacle of this conclusion might seem out of place in the more grounded "Captain America" run. Not that the main series, with its skull-faced supervillains, conspiracies, crazed Eisenhower-era refugees, and mind control victims is all that grounded in reality, but there's more bombast in "Captain America Reborn" than in the entire run of the main series under Brubaker. But it's the good kind of bombast, the kind that fits the explosively dramatic return of a legend.

"Captain Britain and MI: 13" may have an unwieldy title, but it's a book I'll be reading as long as Paul Cornell sticks around. This was a solid conclusion to an excellent opening arc.

It's probably futile to review a comic book so close to cancellation, but "Catwoman" readers know how good this series has been, and if you dropped the series somewhere along the way, you might want to check out the last few years of the comic and see what you've missed. This isn't one of those comics that's limping to the finish line. It's not a mercy killing. "Catwoman" is a good comic book, standing tall even as it faces its demise.

"Daredevil" has turned a corner with this story arc, and if you haven't been reading it lately, now is the time to take another look.

This is a stranger, less realistic direction than we have seen in "Daredevil" for years, but it's in keeping with his pulpy roots and the crime-meets-kung-fu direction Frank Miller made famous in the 1980s. I know I'm enjoying it.

Well, it doesn't actually end with that, but that happens near the end. The actual end is a splash page of Elektra. And that doesn't bode well for Matt Murdock either.

Perhaps this one-shot is meant to set up future Black Tarantula episodes, or maybe it will lead into some major Daredevil events a year from now, but it stands on its own as a story about a tormented man trying to do what needs to be done. Sure, it owes more than a little to Miller and Mazzucchelli, but there are far worse creators to emulate.

"Dark Avengers" #2 may lack the perversity of the Ellis-era "Thunderbolts," but its still a deranged look at the Marvel Universe, and that makes for a fun, if very dark, romp.

Things are falling apart, just like they should. And this series continues to make its mark.

Yes, it's a meaningless comic book on its own, but it establishes the players for the cosmic game which will soon occur. It's exactly what "Countdown" failed to be, and at fifty cents, how can you pass it up?

I've read plenty of Daniel Way comics, and I can't say that I've ever been a fan of his work, but his "Deadpool" is worth reading. It's a gleefully mad romp through the more ridiculous fringes of the Marvel Universe.

If you're buying this issue for the "Batman R.I.P." tie-in, you'll be disappointed, but you might find a lot to like here anyway. Come for the misleading advertising, stay for the Nguyen.

I assume Matty Roth will take the spotlight again next issue, as Wood is unlikely to abandon his protagonist completely after so many issues. But I certainly didn't miss Matty during this arc. Not when Wood had such a compelling story to tell.

Between the gorgeously-textured period detail, the acerbic dialogue, and the grotesquely beautiful inhabitants of his cruel world, this may be Chaykin's best work in years, at least as a writer/artist. It's certainly a return to his roots, and longtime Chaykin fans -- and unprudish neophytes -- will find a lot to enjoy in "Dominic Fortune."

"Doom Patrol" #3 is a good little comic, a twisted psychosexual tale of weird superheroics from the first feature to the last. It's better than you probably expect.

IDW has declared its plans to reprint some classic D&D comics in addition to producing its original comics based on the property. Most of those "classic" D&D comics are about the same quality of the Alex Irvine/Peter Bergting attempt, from what I remember. But the John Rogers story in this issue bodes well for the future of the IDW D&D relationship. It looks like a comic that has appeal outside the gaming fanbase, and it looks like it will be plenty of fun.

The issue ends with a radical shift to the El Diablo status quo, and as this series races towards its conclusion next issue, one wonders what kind of El Diablo will remain standing in the end. After four issues of world building, Nitz has unleashed an earthquake, and "El Diablo" may well end as powerfully as it began.

Millar gives Reed Richards all the hero moments in this issue. Not only does Reed get to pilot his "billion dollar a second" super robot armor, but he also gets to reject the gorgeous and brilliant ex-girlfriend and take his wife on a time travel getaway. It's that last scene that works best, as Reed and Sue Richards watch, through a restaurant window, as they bumped into each other for the first time, thirteen years earlier. There's a simplicity, a sense of wonder, and a sweetness to this comic that shine through the veil of sleaze. Maybe that's the point.

This comic promises something major. Now we have to see if Millar can make it work.

This is Hickman's first shot at a core Marvel series, and he plays it relatively safe, but it's a promising start, and I'm curious to see how far he'll push the boundaries of this historically conservative series.

"Hothouse," though, is a good story all by itself. It tells of a quarantine in the Baxter Building, as an exploration into a pocket dimension has led to a kind of alien bacteria hiding out in the Thing's crevices. But there's a more sinister agent at work in the story, and as the house-bound heroes (and, importantly to the story, Franklin and Valeria Richards) begin turning on each other. It's a classic sci-fi set-up, with each character becoming increasingly paranoid and vengeful, but Bates provides excellent characterization and allows the members of the team to express their true thoughts about one another. There's nothing particularly surprising here, but Bates writes all of the characters well, and paces the story perfectly. It's far from the "Cosmic" implied in the title, as it's a very inward, twisted family melodrama, but it's a good one.

Paul Cornell is one of the most inventive writers working in the superhero genre today, and if you missed this series in single issue, consider picking up the inevitable trade paperback collection. It may not look like one of the best Fantastic Four story you've seen in years, but it sure reads like one.

The first three issues of "Final Crisis" have set the stage, as advertised, and after a short break for some ancillary series and one-shots, "Final Crisis" will return with a new focus, I'm sure: the heroes are assembled, now they need to figure out what to do. As much as I've liked "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Identity Crisis," they were designed as continuity fixes first, and stories second. "Final Crisis" is, above all, a story. And it's unfolding a bit differently than the other two series, but I think it's much better for it.

If you've been enjoying "Final Crisis," this will illuminate new facets of the struggle between light and darkness. If you've found "Final Crisis" difficult to comprehend, I don't think you'll have a clue what's going on by the end of this issue.

"The Flash" #1 is a faced-paced, dynamic relaunch for a series that has something to prove: that bland old Barry Allen can be interesting in a superhero universe that has radically changed in the past few decades. It's off to a nice start.

(The cover illustration has absolutely nothing to do with the contents of this issue, but you can get a sneak peek at Tony Moore's interiors in CBR's preview of issue #35.)

How can we not feel compelled to keep reading?

This is a good start, and though we know where it's headed -- Green Hornet and Kato, zooming down the Chicago back alleys in the Black Beauty -- the journey is as important as the destination. And it's worth watching what happens to young Brit and young Kato next.

"Green Lantern" is the kind of superhero comic you can count on, month in and month out. It's what an ongoing DC comic should be, and I look forward to it each month.

Sinestro's Hitler haircut might be a bit much, but "Green Lantern Corps" #35 is a salvo in a cosmic war, and it's suitably epic. And we're not even close to "Blackest Night" yet. That bodes, and it bodes well.

And the world marches on, with Constantine as its mad, cynical, secret guardian.

The rest of this issue, drawn by regular series artist Luca Rossi, shows that this series has changed plenty since last time I checked in. First, and most noticeably, the characters aren't in the house anymore, and the long-form mystery has blossomed into a full-on war with goblins, and witches, and time travel, and flying killer robots. Not what I expected to find at all, and though I don't know what's at stake and who all the players are, I know that my curiosity is piqued. I might just have to check out this series again, even if Brendan McCarthy isn't around each and every month.

It may seem like I'm mocking this comic in my review -- and I am -- but it's a mockery tinged with love. This comic is pretty much all I ever need from a "Hulk" series, and as long as each issue is this much fun, I'll be sticking around for a long time.

In the larger "Fall of the Hulks" context, this story might have some deeper meaning, and the ominous words between the characters might have more relevance, but as a single issue, it's pure spectacle. In a good way.

I know the realities of comic book production require fill-in artists, and I know Aja was unable to produce pages because of personal matters (his wife recently had a baby, apparently), but when this story arc is collected in a fancy hardcover, this particular chapter will remain as a blemish on an otherwise exemplary story.

So the character moments are in place, the Iron Fist legacy moments are here, the story follows consistently from what has come before, and Danny Rand is doomed. And the kicking? The kicking is spectacular. And it has to be, because this is an Iron Fist comic.

Travel Foreman may draw some panels that look strange to you, and Duane Swierczynski may not write the same stories as Brubaker and Fraction, but "The Immortal Iron Fist" is still a good comic, definitely worth your time.

"The Immortal Iron Fist" continues being exactly what it is: a supernatural martial arts comic. It embraces that role and while it may not have regained the heights of the sublime Brubaker/Fraction era, it's still very good. And if you're looking for a Marvel comic that's not tethered to the event or "Reign" de jour, then this comic might be for you.

"Immortal Iron Fist" #24 is another good installment of Swierczynski's best Marvel series, and though the internet was abuzz with the news that this series was headed for cancellation (information that turned out to be erroneous), this series seems to have a long life ahead of it. Or it deserves one, anyway, because it's still a comic worth reading.

Hopefully, we'll see more of these characters in the near future, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing someone of the caliber of David Lapham take the Iron Fist family in a new direction. But for now, this is a comfortable reminder of the good old, relatively recent, days.

(If you'd like to see what issue #1 looks like, CBR has a 14-page preview.)

I don't know if this series is doing well or not, but it deserves to be one of Marvel's top sellers. Like Hercules himself, it's smarter and more nuanced than you'd expect. And it will punch you in the face if you don't believe it.

This is really the Pak and Van Lente show, however, and they continue to deliver excellent characterization set firmly inside the Marvel mythology. And unlike many superhero comics that focus on characterization, Pak and Van Lente don't skimp on the plot, either. This is a comic about grand adventures and epic battles, and based on the spash page at the end of issue #129, the epic grandeur is just getting started.

Jam-packed with story, complex themes, and strong characters, "Invincible Iron Man" is the Iron Man comic you've been waiting to read, whether you knew you were waiting for an Iron Man comic or not. This is the one. Especially if you can forgive the ever-shifting faces.

The problems with the art aren't enough to sink the issue, though. Fraction's Tony Stark is still an exciting character, always thinking five steps ahead of everyone else and his relationship with Pepper Potts is believably human. This is the best Iron Man comic on the shelves, without a doubt -- maybe the best version of Iron Man ever -- and I'll certainly keep reading every month.

Fraction, and artistic collaborator Sal Larroca, haven't done anything shockingly new in this series, but it's a very good portrayal of the Iron Man universe in all of its sleek beauty and moral uncertainty.

This is just a middle-of-the-arc issue, but it's a good one, and if Larroca has truly abandoned his celebrity photo reference approach to the visuals, its look will finally start to match the quality of its writing.

So while the issue may feel a bit decompressed, and while it may seem like a long way until this story wraps up, there's more than enough here to keep me coming back for the next installment. And once it's collected, I suspect I will enjoy it even more.

Oh, and there's a cliffhanger at the end. So now we have to come back to the theater next week (or the comic shop next month) to see how our hero could have unbelievably -- yet thrillingly -- survived.

"Irredeemable" isn't some radical deconstruction of the superhero myth, but it's a series in which Mark Waid isn't bound by any corporate demands to protect the icons. And he takes advantage of that. Anything could happen to these characters, and that gives them the kid of life so often lacking in superhero comics. That, along with the powerful, efficient unfolding of the story, makes it worth reading every single month.

The tone is fun, the situations fraught with peril, and Roberson gives these characters strong personalities through their dialogue in this issue. I've stuck with this series just for Allred's art, but now I'm interested in what happens next -- and how. "I, Zombie" is turning into another quality Vertigo series, by the looks of things.

So I guess that's what makes "Jack and the Box" work so well for young readers. Like a jack in the box toy, there's an element of scary surprise inside this book, and two out of two kids in my house seem to love it.

As a spiritual sequel to this summer's movie, or as, perhaps, a deranged counter-argument, "Joker" works quite well. It's a beautifully ugly graphic novel, suitably so. But it's certainly not perfect, although I'm sure the Joker wouldn't have it any other way.

It's nice to see this series evolve into something with its own internal continuity -- it makes the stories matter more in the larger scheme of things. And it looks like Gray and Palmiotti have a massive adventure planned for this six-parter. Things can't possibly go well when two of your heroes face a firing squad at the end of the second chapter. But for all its existentialism, "Jonah Hex" has been a series about the hope that comes from never giving up, and now that "Sixgun War" is underway, I certainly won't be giving up on this comic any time soon.

It's rare to see a mainstream superhero comic deal so explicitly with religion, but Johns doesn't preach any particular doctrine. He seems more interested in exploring notions of faith and power and wish-fulfillment than he does in trying to promote or undermine anyone's belief system. In the previous "JSA" series, Johns emphasized Mr. Terrific's lack of faith -- the character was one of the few avowed atheists in comics, maybe the only one. In a DC Universe in which Heaven and Hell literally exist and gods and demons walk the Earth, it's difficult to maintain an atheistic outlook, and in this issue, Mr. Terrific admits that he has seen things science cannot explain and though he wishes he could believe in a higher power, he cannot. "Something inside won't let me," he says. It's difficult to read this as a pro-religion moment, since in Mr. Terrific's world, higher powers clearly exist, and he's silly to pretend they don't. And the insularity of Johns's exploration -- the idea tha

But it is worth reading. Certainly.

If it doesn't, then how about a Blazing Skull solo title?

Casey and Jim Muniz (who provides some really nice pencils here -- clean and expressive) tell Richmond's story with a wink, but they tell it well. It's easy to overlook these kinds of miniseries starring third-rate heroes and tenth-rate villains, but "The Last Defenders" deserves a read. It's a good series that doesn't feel quite like anything else on the Marvel shelf these days, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Even with a bit of artistic inconsistency, this is a good issue, and it shows how well Levitz can juggle the plotlines and the character beats and still move the story forward at top speed. Forget the sluggishness of the history lessons of "Adventure Comics." This is Paul Levitz really writing the Legion. This one counts. And it shows.

But at least Greene and DeZago are producing some very nice work for the Marvel Adventures line for the time being. It may not be complex, sophisticated graphic narrative, but thankfully it's no Barack Obama vs. the Chameleon either.

From what I've experienced over the past few years, any sort of holiday-themed issue from Marvel of DC seems not only skippable, but a disappointing waste of time and talent. "Marvel Heartbreakers" doesn't suffer that fate. It's a charmer.

Luckily, this comic doesn't wallow in such negativity. It shoots it in the face.

Like everything else in the Marvel Universe, "Mighty Avengers" is embroiled in the impending "Siege" and the legacy of Norman Osborn's rule. But given what Slott has been constructing over the past year, the series fits nicely into that larger tapestry. And it stands firmly on its own. It's good, solid, classic superhero action and adventure, in the old-fashioned "Mighty Avengers" mold.

As quiet and understated as this story is, Milligan and Campbell measure it off with great care, and it's definitely the best Moon Knight story I've read in a long time.

But I don't really know where this series is headed, and that's its charm. We'll just have to buckle in to the back seat of that Barracuda and enjoy the ride. Even if it launches us off a precipice.

For all the criticism Bendis gets for decompression and slowly unfolding storylines (and I've shared in the whining about such things), "New Avengers" #59 proves that he's skillful at pacing a single-issue story while building in structural elements and character bits that will pay off down the road. It's just good, solid superhero comic book storytelling, from both Bendis and Immonen.

I'd like to think Arcudi will break out of this obvious structure that he seems to have undertaken, but, even if he doesn't, we'll still get to look at Eric Canete doing his thing for the next three issues. We could do a whole lot worse than that.

There's an emptiness at the core of "The Plague Widow" that has kept it from being one of the best arcs in the series, but perhaps the emptiness is one of loss, of sorrow. Because that's what the Plague Widows themselves feel, and as they stand strong amidst the attacks and manipulations by the vicious men around them, they cannot afford to feel much emotion beyond that. Although the rage is growing, as the finale of this issue establishes, and that may help bring an emotional charge to this story. So the horror of the conflict will matter more to the reader. So their fate, whatever it is, will resonate.

Johns and Tomasi may be doing something more ridiculously epic in the various "Green Lantern" and "Blackest Night" comics coming out this year, but Abnett and Lanning have held their own with this war in the realm of the Marvel cosmic. Really, it's the classic DC/Marvel dichotomy, with the former company delighting readers with extreme sci-fi ideas and iconic heroes, while the latter company makes even a space battle seem like a down-to-Earth street fight. Abnett and Lanning make that street-fight-in-space feel like it matters, and that's no easy feat.

As I said when I reviewed the last issue, Lethem, Rusnak, and Dalrymple's "Omega the Unknown" is worth checking out. The collected edition is due in September, and though the ending might frustrate some readers with its lack of narrative closure, it will make a great single volume, full of the kinds of strangeness and unease that are the precise opposite of most traditional superhero comics today. I wouldn't be surprised to see the "Omega the Unknown" collection popping up on my end of the year Top 10 list.

Especially if you get Kyle Baker to make fun of it.

While the MAX series stumbles around in the wake of Garth Ennis's departure, this Marvel Universe-centric "Punisher" takes confident aim at its target. In the hands of Remender and Opena, this series knows what it needs to be, and it's very good at being just that.

I don't know where this series is headed next, but it's supposed to officially change its name to "Franken-Castle" with issue #17. The monsters are here to stay. Now it's just a matter of keeping it so that we continue to care. And don't become numb to the joys of the series.

"Punisher War Journal" is a good Marvel book, every month. And with Chaykin on board as the artist, it's now reaching its peak -- aesthetically and dramatically. I can't imagine anyone deciding to start buying this comic now, during part four of a six part arc, but if you've skipped this series before and find yourself liking the work Matt Fraction has done elsewhere, I think you might want to check out some back issues, or pick up a collected edition or two. I think you'll find a lot to like.

"Punisher War Zone" #6 is a cynically gleeful comic, and it makes no apologies for it.

In other words, its Jason Aaron's version. His mark on the character. And like Steve Dillon, he has his own dirty, elegant, ugly, beautiful simplicity.

And if he can use his yellow ring wisely. Yes, the protagonist of "R.E.B.E.L.S." ends up as a member of the Sinestro Corps by the final page of this issue. And that should offer some interesting story possibilities. And with Clarke on art, you know it will look great.

This first issue just establishes the setting, really, and doesn't go much beyond it. Presumably, the remaining three issues will show the human resistance to the alien threat. But Hickman's other work has avoided cliche, and I hope this one will, also. We've seen alien invasion stories a million times (this summer's Marvel mega-crossover is founded upon it, of course), but I think if anyone can provide a fresh spin on that stale old story, it's Jonathan Hickman. And he's off to a good start here.

This series still has a rawness to it that's charming, but it also has a deeper structure than the first issue would have led you to believe. Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford are making a mark in the comic book world with this series, one issue at a time. It's a good-looking one.

Writer Matt Sturges, who replaced the over-worked Bill Willingham a couple of issues ago, continues his apparent mission to push this comic into absurd territory, which I find absolutely enjoyable. He's the guy who wrote the gorilla on gorilla action last issue, and here he juggles the warring supervillain factions with a subplot about Vandal Savage's secret plans and the reveal of an even bigger (much, much bigger) threat from off-planet. This doesn't feel like the comic Willingham started, and that's a good thing. Willingham seemed interested in exploring the "Lord of the Flies" dynamic of immature characters on an inhospitable world. Sturges, on the other hand, seems interested in turning it all into a frenzy of explosions and heat vision, gigantic girls and falling martians. Restraint is not what this comic is all about, and that makes it worth a look. Enjoy it for what it is.

"Secret Invasion" #1 offers just about what you'd expect, but it's well-executed and offers a solid launching pad for what could turn out to be an excellent little gigantic crossover event.

Although a few interesting moments in this issue, like the Thor/Captain America meet-up, are shortchanged because of the escalating battle, Bendis seems to have kicked it into high gear now, racing toward the fast-approaching finale. If you've had the feeling that "Secret Invasion" has been moving slowly since issue #1, I think you'll be pleased by this issue. I know I was.

As "Secret Invasion" proper comes to a close, and after having read every single "Secret Invasion" crossover and spin-off, I can safely say that Joe Pokaski and Tom Raney have produced the best spin-off of all. They've tied their tale into the Skrull invasion, but it has been a story about all the things that make the Inhumans such a fascinating part of the Marvel Universe. This is good stuff.

"Secret Invasion: Thor" #2 is little more than an extended fight scene, but it has enough humanity to add a meaningful subtext to the bombast. It's a "Secret Invasion" story, but it's a good one, continuing the noble rebirth of Marvel's favorite hammer-wielding god.

Hickman's doing a lot of nice things on this series, and it's an excellent look at the secret side of the Marvel Universe. The look of the comic will just take some getting used to.

And though we got away from that for a few months we're back in the thick of it again, and when you get a final page where Nick Fury says, "Hell's comin' -- and I'm comin' right behind it," that's a series that I'll follow anywhere. Even if I don't want to know where it's headed.

It seems that, after years of a single extended narrative that began with the launch of "New Avengers," ran through "Civil War," "Secret Invasion," and "Dark Reign," we're finally getting the denouement. And it looks to be nasty, brutish, and short. Which is just fine with me, as long as it looks this good.

As a story, it probably works better in conjunction with the other two companion Avengers issues released this week, but as a comic -- and as a finale to a short burst of a series -- it serves its purpose well. It gets the characters where they need to be, and it does it with a bit of flavor. It's the citrus sorbet of the comic book world.

"Skrulls vs. Power Pack" #1 is the kind of comic that we should see more often. It's a lot of fun, no matter your age.

In my previous reviews of this series, I've mentioned how much my son would like this comic, and how much my daughter did like it. I'm flying solo on this review, and I can safely say that I like "Sky Pirates of Neo Terra" quite a bit. Video game tie-in or not, it feels fresh, alive, and full of the kind of energy that comics so rarely capture in these days of serious superhero melodrama and earth-shaking events. No, this is a comic about fathers and sons, life and death, great adventure and the potential for tragedy, but it never loses sight of the fact that it's telling a story. One full of wonder. Imagination, unleashed.

This comic is certainly kid-friendly, but if you're a longtime Marvel fan, you might enjoy it even more. Unless "Secret Wars" is some kind of sacred cow in your life. In which case you should probably save up for the "Secret War Omnibus," instead.

This issue concludes with an unforgettable image -- the kind of situation that everything from "Secret Invasion" onward has built towards. And because Bendis makes the moment feel earned, and because Maleev makes it all look sad and powerful and charged with tension, it's a strong cliffhanger. This is good comics, whether or not it works when delivered on iTunes.

The lead-time on this series has distanced it from Marvel relevance, what with "Secret Invasion" long forgotten by now, but it still has artistic relevance. It still has excellence within it. It's worth more than a glance.

"Spider-Woman" #7 ends with a validation of the character and her place in the larger superhero universe, and though it may not have been originally planned as the end of her series, it's a fitting one. As she flies up toward the reader in the final double-page spread, she's ready to take on Marvel's new Heroic Age.

There's plenty to enjoy about "Squadron Supreme 2" #1 without thinking about all of these layers of meaning. It's a story about government conspiracies and strange superhumans. And it's got more than its fair share of Nick Fury, which is never a bad thing. If you felt like Straczynski's version of the Squadron stumbled and then finally collapsed in the lead-up to "Ultimate Power," as I did, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what Chaykin's doing here. He's revitalized it, but not in the way I expected.

Thanks to Gates and Igle, Supergirl the character and "Supergirl" the comic are important parts of the Superman universe once again. This isn't an innovative, revolutionary take on the comic book medium. It's just a good comic. A good Supergirl comic. And that's all it needs to be.

"Supergirl" #39 is a worthy addition to the overall Geoff Johns-driven Superman mega-story, and Gates propels the Superwoman mystery along nicely. Now that "Action Comics" and "Superman" have turned their attention to the third-stringers of Metropolis, it's nice to have "Supergirl" maintaining its newfound consistency as a comic worth reading.

Like "The Sinestro Corps War," Geoff Johns has created a small crossover event in "New Krypton" that's mostly told within a few similarly-themed titles. It lacks some of the grandeur of "Sinestro Corps," but it's no less effective as a story structure. "New Krypton" may end by changing the status quo of the DC Universe, or the Kryptonians may just end up back inside a glorified mason jar, but no matter how it ends, a good Superman Family story is being told along the way. And it's been a while since we've had one of those.

After all, not only is Superman back (or at least directly told that he has a problem), but the Superman Squad is around to help. And wherever the Superman Squad goes, I'm sure to follow, particularly if Chris Roberson is leading the charge.

$40 is kind of steep for less than 200 pages of Bronze Age reprints -- though the stories aren't retouched or recolored, which is a good thing, because you can experience them the way they originally looked, unfiltered, not traced by digital hands -- but this is one of the most satisfying single volumes of Superman reprints available. Superman is a great character, maybe the greatest character, but he doesn't have a whole lot of single volume collections that work as a self-contained, satisfying whole beyond "All-Star Superman" volumes 1 and 2. This, though, is an exception. A good one.

"Sweet Tooth" may unfold a bit slowly for some readers accustomed to page after page of visual excess and heroic declarations, but if you can settle in to the Lemire rhythms, you'll find a story that lingers. This is a series unlike anything else on the shelf right now. It has its own feel, its own look, and it deserves your time and attention. Like Sweet Tooth himself, it might be bit odd, but it's damn endearing.

"The Alcoholic" isn't a perfect graphic novel -- and I don't know that there's all that much about it that wouldn't have worked as a straight-up prose story -- but Haspiel's art is dynamic and bold, and Ames's unique narrative voice makes it worth reading for sure.

It's certainly the best version of the Subs outside of Edmund Hamilton, Paul Levitz, or Keith Giffen, and it's, by default, the best version of the Inferior Five since the Silver Age. But sometimes it's enough just to put these kinds of characters together and have fun with the possibilities that arise. And that's what we get in this issue. It's broad. It's dumb. And it's the greatest Inferior Five/Legion of Substitute Heroes team-up in the history of comic books.

"The Mighty" is about something, and that makes it better than your average superhero tale. And if it's given a chance to continue for the long term, I suspect it might become something even more.

"The Mighty" #4 proves that this little series isn't going to be a watered-down Superman Elseworlds series, and as long as Tomasi, Champagne, and Snejbjerg keep taking this comic in unexpected directions, this is a comic worth following.

The series concludes here, but it keeps a window open through which future stories might drift back in. I don't think that's likely to happen -- and Chris Samnee will be doing bigger and higher-profile things soon enough ("Siege: Embedded" is but a taste of what he's capable of) -- and these twelve issues of "The Mighty" will make a handsome collected edition. Nothing revolutionary. Nothing that will change the way you look at the world. But this has been a good story, told with some surprises, and plenty of craft.

"The Order" may have looked too conventional or too marginal to survive as a monthly comic, but its readers know that it was one of the most interesting takes on classic superheroics in the last few years. If you missed this series, it's a bit late to jump on board now, but at least you'll have a couple of nice trade paperbacks to dive into.

This isn't a bad story by any means -- in fact, I think it's the best thing Straczynski has ever written -- but the best parts of "The Twelve" belong to Chris Weston. He makes this series worth reading, in all of its sordid, pathetic unraveling.

But for all my criticisms, this is still a good series, a good series that's still young. And it has a edgy darkness that's easy to overlook among the Potter pastiches. Children die here. Prisoners are torched. It's violent and harsh, even when its about winged cats and the ghosts of legendary heroes. And the discord between the fantasy trappings and the violent reality keep this book interesting.

Plus: army men vs. dinosaurs! The concept still has its appeal, forty years after Robert Kanigher drove it into the ground.

"Thor" has some newfound life, thanks to Gillen and Tan, and if you've given up on this series, now might be the time to check back in. Nah, it is the time to check back in.

"Thor" is maybe more interesting without Thor around. At least with Gillen and Tan doing their thing.

Jeff Parker has taken this series in a fun new direction without losing the viciousness at its core. It's good, it's weird, and it has just enough Man-Thing to go around.

This issue has been a long time coming (issue #4 came out last fall), but it jumps right back into the action as if no time has passed at all. And that's how it should be. That's how this series operates. Full speed ahead. On the page, if not on the publishing schedule.

The status quo may have changed in the Ultimate universe in this post-"Ultimatum" world, and Peter Parker may now have ridiculously long hair and work in a food court, and Bendis may have lightened the tone a bit, but this is the same good-Bendis Spider-Man series that explores the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko implied notion of a teen hero with social problems. Bendis has taken the continuity in a different direction from the original, but he's accented the emotional trials of Peter Parker, the thrills (and scares) of teen superherodom, and made this a solid read each month.

This may not be an astounding, stand-out issue, but that's not how this series works. It works by being very good every single month, and no matter how you feel about the rest of the Ultimate line, this comic is always worth reading.

The 133 issue run of "Ultimate Spider-Man" has been Bendis's masterpiece at Marvel. More streamlined and cohesive than his Avengers work, more emotionally true than his work with the Daredevil character, and more resonant than his "Secret Invasion." He ends it with dignity, letting the characters actions speak for themselves, letting the weighty moments sit on the page, letting us watch as tragedy unfolds. I'm sure Bendis and LaFuente will do excellent work on the new series, and Bendis and Immonen conclude this one about as well as could be expected. It's just unfortunate that they had to end it at all.

The bottom line is that "Uncanny X-Men" hasn't been this good in years, and as an antidote to the Skrull-heavy Marvel mainstream, it's worth your time.

I'm having fun reading this comic every month, and though I don't know much about some of the characters and I don't know what's going to happen next, I'm eager to find out, even if Greg Land's art isn't my thing.

We also learn, through fragmented imagery -- flashbacks or hallucinations? -- that this Unknown Soldier might share more in common with previous incarnations than just the name and the bandaged look. There's something deeper going on here, and Moses begins to sense it, even if he can't connect the dots just yet. But such a nested structure, with a larger mystery wrapped around the more immediate personal conflict, bodes well for the future of this series. Dysart has a grand story to tell, and I hope that this series lasts long enough for him to tell it.

For a war comic, there's not much fighting in this story. The violence that occurs is swift and lethal. Instead of battle, this comic emphasizes the moments before and the moments after. Those are the moments where the characters really struggle with right and wrong. And those are the moments worth reading about.

This is some of Pelletier's best work, and Abnett and Lanning haven't written anything as sharp as this in years. It may be nothing more than another space battle featuring Marvel characters who can't support their own series, but when it's done well, that's enough.

But "Wednesday Comics" #3 is still one of the best releases of the week, because the quality of its best strips (as few as they are) more than makes up for any weaknesses in the other strips. And even the underwritten, uninspired strips tend to look wonderful. This is an art project, largely, and there sure are plenty of pretty pages to gawk at, even if you skip the word balloons and captions.

Still, like every issue of the series, issue #12 is certainly a good comic. Hawkman climbing inside a T-Rex's mouth? Batman's tragic kiss of death? Barry and Iris Allen reunited? Yeah, you certainly get your money's worth, sometimes with a little bit of style thrown in as well.

Mayor Fury finds himself released from prison in this opening issue, but there are more mysteries inside, as a shadowy figure smashes the sheriff's car and pulls the mayor

"Wolverine" #67 may have its story flaws and gaps in logic, but it is worth checking out. Even if the story is too much of an artificial contrivance, McNiven and Vines are producing one of the best-looking mainstream comics today. That, alone, would get me to buy it.

Marvel seems to be positioning this series as the central title in the world of Wolverine -- much like "Invincible Iron Man" took the reigns from the fading "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. series -- and that's a good thing for readers. With Jason Aaron and Ron Garney telling stories about the X-Men's most popular character we'll get a whole lot more than an expensive movie tie-in from "Wolverine: Weapon X." We'll get good stories, well told. And this is just the beginning.

Simone isn't trying to do anything revolutionary here, but she is telling the type of straightforward Wonder Woman tale that we haven't read in quite a while. And it's nice to see.