Superman: Kingdom Come Special One Shot: the first true Alex Ross created follow up story to the original epic Kingdom Come is here. Earth-22’s Superman isn’t sure where or if he belongs on the Earth he now calls home. He has a talk with Lois Kent and Norman McCay. Ross’s pencils, inks and paints are as powerful as ever and his words tell quite a story as well.

Action Comics #871: We begin to see into the minds of a few of the many new Kryptonians on Earth, including Zod’s soldiers and the new Nightwing and Flamebird. Also a dozen or so Kryptonians dogpile on Doomsday - yes you read right, Doomsday.

Captain Britain and MI-13 #7: Keeps getting better and better. Blade and Lady Farsworth start to hit it off (or at least he stopped staking her for now). Captain Britain finally has his long lost wife Meggan in his sights, or does he? All this plus the Black Knight goes berserk?

Titans #7: I wasn’t impressed with the Sins of the Father arc. This one interests me much more. We finally get some resolution on the Match/Jericho situation. I’d already figured out that it had to end with Jericho going nutzo - as it was exposed in DC Decisions that his mind retains a residue of the people he possesses - and he’s posssessed some BAD people. So I knew where it was going, yet I still enjoyed the ride more than the previous 6 issues. This issue takes a big jump up my list. I loved the artwork too.

Manhunter #36: This is a great title that was resurrected from cancellation due to fan interest - but I hear it is in trouble again. Not only is it an interesting story with an intelligent, heroic female protagonist, but it also is an unpredictably fascinating story and even has a positive somewhat realistic (for comics at least) portrayal of a loving relationship between Obsidian and his boyfriend.

Booster Gold #14: More Starro. Since when is Chronos twins? The Starro 2 parter seems like a filler story designed to establish a cryptic relationship between the female Chronos twin and Booster. But even a filler story on this title is pretty damned good.

X-Men: Magneto: Testament #3 of 5: This miniseries does an excellent job of telling the horrific story of what happened to the family of one of Marvel’s mightiest mutants - Magneto. It is a beautifully told tale unlike any other comic I’ve read. It is a testimonial to the excellence of every book higher on my list that this is so low on my list this week. It is a wonderful albeit sad book.

Green Arrow and Black Canary #14: OK, Conner Hawke’s alive, with a healing factor based from Plastic Man’s DNA, but forgot he is a pacifist and how to shoot a bow. Looks like a new heroic Identity for Green Arrow II, the name is linked to the bow.

Enough politics for the moment - here’s the comics I read this week. I also picked up Twilight to see what all the fuss is about. I’ll let you know what I think.

Secret Six #3: The Six are up to their ears in enemies as they transport a priceless artifact made by the devil (of the DCU - Neron) himself - a “get out of Hell free” card.

Plus, how hot is Catman?!

X-Men Manifest Destiny #3 of 5: Mystique is still gunning for Iceman - or is she. Raven’s manipulations have always been Machiavellian, but I suspect she might actually be doing something to help him live up to his almost limitless potential. I’ve long suspected that Bobby is an underachieving Alpha mutant (his power level has been hinted at by a number of writers over the years, but then overlooked again and again).

The mysterious Graymalkin is the X-Men’s latest LGBT member, Then he and Anole can hookup and be a new dynamic duo known as the “Gray and the Green”

Graymalkin’s dad caught him in the barn with a boy, beat him half to death and buried him alive, where his latent mutant power kicked in leaving him alive but imprisoned for 200 years. The poor kid is gonna have some serious issues.

Justice Society of America #20: Starman’s outfit was engineered by THREE Brainiac 5’s! Looks like there’s more to Legion of 3 Worlds than Superboy Prime and the Legion of Supervillains… Can’t wait to learn more.

Avengers: The Initiative SPECIAL One Shot: Emotional roller coaster. Lets hope this is just a roadbloc on the highway of love for Hardball and Komodo. I like them together.

With Halloween and Alternative Press Expo this weekend - I didn’t have time to get my choices up until now. More on A.P.E. later…

Lots of good stuff this week and I was able to read it in a timely fashion for a change. As always, beware spoilers in commentary after the cover gallery.

Superman: New Krypton One Shot: I especially loved Gary Frank’s gorgeously penciled sequence - Jonathan Kent’s funeral. I haven’t seen such a beautifully drawn solemn occasion since John Byrne’s chronicling of of the X-Men mourning Jean Grey directly after the Dark Phoenix Saga. Some interesting developments as Kandor starts to adjust to life on Earth or is it vice versa. I’m still waiting for explanation of Supergirl’s happy reunion with the father she recently thought sent her to kill Superman - anyone got one???? Also, Supes may have lost his father, but his dead father-in-law isn’t quite as dear or departed as Clark might like.

True Believers #3 of 5: I wish this wasn’t just a miniseries. It feels monthly to me. This is an “idea” book and it needs space to tell us a story. I understand miniseries like Wanted and War heroes that are just illustrated screenplays, but not EVERY untested idea needs to start as a mini.

The New Avengers #46: How did the Red Hood and his ilk find out about the Skrull invasion? And where did he get his daemonic power - as in which demon?

Secret Invasion #7 of 8: Its pretty much a battle royale. And someone REALLY should have told Luke Cage’s wife Jessica Jones that Jarvis was a Skrull. She might not have thought him a suitable mid-battle babysitter had she known. PLUS who shows up when things get epic? Uatu The Watcher!!! (or as my bf, popapathy calls him the big-baby-headed-man-in-a-toga - my Marvel Select Uatu scares him)

Final Crisis #4 of 7: Things get worse. A petty criminal with a family and the right powerset may be pivotal. Turpin needs to moisturize. And Barry Allen must kiss the world to freedom.

X-Men Legacy #217: Hmmmm Wolverine’s son and Miss Sinister could be the new blood that the Hellfire Club has been sorely lacking since their initial recruits were slaughtered. Dacosta was never going to step into the role. But I could see Daken growing to be a great villain. Much more interesting than if Logan can save/redeem him.

DCUniverse Halloween Special One Shot: Cute stories, great cover, narrated by my favorite dead elongated detective Ralph Dibny and his lovely dead wife Sue.

She-Hulk #34: Jen and her best Sh’iar (don’t ask) gal pal Jazinda are joined by the OTHER Lady Liberators to bring aid to an impoverished and corrupt nation stricken by an earthquake. Plus Russia’s Winter Guard.

Runaways #3: I’ve enjoyed all the previous incarnations and this one is interesting me thus far. i AM definitely warming to the overly stylized art.

Birds of Prey #123: Joker face to face with the woman he crippled… And I can’t spoil it - read for yourself. These Platinum Flats baddies are pretty creepy. I’ll be glad to see them put down.

Ms. Marvel #32: This felt like the first 20 minutes of the Iron Man movie in drag.

Thunderbolts #125: Secret Invasion filler issue - nothing happens here that isn’t in Secret Invasion - except that it plays like a Norman Osborn propaganda film.

Final Crisis - Submit: The arrival of the endangered family of an obscure yet conflicted supervillain with JUST the right powerset to carry on Metron’s “circuit” was a bit too coincidental.

X-Factor #36: STILL LOOKS LIKE IT WAS DRAWN BY DAMNED MONKEYS!!!! No more Larry Stroman! New art team!!! I suppose that is the one good thing about the short artist runs that on most titles. When someone sucks, sometimes you can ride it out.

I’ve been meaning to get this up for days. Sorry the day job has been taking too much of the day lately. I’ll try to get some previews etc up this week. Here are last weeks picks a bit late (I didn’t even have time to read them until Sunday). I’ll try to get this weeks up more promptly.

I remember noticing this on the shelves last year but had a lot of titles to buy at the time with very little cash, so I decided to save it for a later trade paperback purchase. And I’m glad I did. There is very little I enjoy more than reading an entire epic comic storyline in one sitting. I expected it to be dark and violent and wasn’t disappointed. I was amazed at how effortlessly Ellis’ weaves superheroes, history and politics together with the visuals of Juan Jose Ryp to create an intricate 4-color tapestry of of blinding violence and thought-provoking ideas.

Below are some of the wraparound covers and excerpts from a excellent review by Sarah Jaffe from Newsarama’s Best Shots

Black Summer might hit too close to home for a lot of American superhero fans. It doesn’t give as much distance from reality. When John Horus kills the president, he names off issues that are far too real, though he never names the president. There’s no alternate history here except for the introduction of the Seven Guns, biomechanically enhanced superheroes who’ve fallen apart a bit after years of being, well, superhuman.

Like many books these days, Black Summer deconstructs the idea of superheroes. What is a superhero’s duty? To government? To the people? Are they outside or above the law?

In the end, it’s a story about the futility of larger and larger weapons, and so it’s an incredibly violent comic to illustrate the uselessness of violence to combat violence. It switches from fairly talky flashbacks to sections long on action, depicted in gorgeous multipage silent spreads of explosions, dripping bright red blood, and the kind of gore one sees more often in horror comics.

The book illustrates the violence graphically because that’s its point—violence begets violence, and it’s not the sanitized type that we often see in superhero books. The violence doesn’t evoke much of an emotional reaction in the reader since it’s pretty much all done to characters that are introduced solely to be killed, or to ones that were hard to like in the first place, but there’s a visceral gut-clenching reaction to those first panels of John Horus’s bright white uniform spattered red.

Ellis has his characters quote the Constitution and base their reasoning in real American history. The name “Guns” was chosen for a reason, because after all true Second Amendment believers really do want their guns as arms against government intervention. This country was founded on a right to rise up against your rulers, and Ellis reminds us of that many times throughout.

The point, in the end, is that no one person or even group of people, no matter how ‘enhanced’ they may be, has the answers. All they can do, as the remaining Guns realize, is help: not try to change the world, just try to improve their little corner of it. It’s both a cynical answer and a deeply democratic and hopeful one.

via Newsarama

Action Comics #870: I great finale to a story that not only made Brainiac scary again but also introduced 100,000 Kryptonians to the Antarctic. But I don’t know if I buy Supes just leaving Brainiac alone in the swamp trusting him to be defeated by a fear of microbes. I know his dad was dead and all, but I think he’d have called for the JLA while transporting the cities? You’d think the citynapping of Metropolis would have already have had them on the case.

X-Men: Magneto Testament #2: Continues a very personal telling of the events that made Magnus into Magneto. Testament combines history with Marvel fiction in a way I’ve never seen. I’f you aren’t reading it and consider yourself a 4-color connoisseur. Start!

Secret Six #2: The Secret Six’s new monthly is off and running. With the cat distracting the bat, the rest of the crew start off a cannonball run stye caper that just may be the death of them yet. Another MUST READ!

As usual, GayComicGeek has a concise review of something that he makes me want to read… so I share his review of Tony Smith’s Flaming Arrow and the pigeon.

War Heroes 1 & 2: I missed these in past weeks but picked them up. I’m a big fan of Mark Millar’s words and Tony Harris’ pictures so once I heard about this I knew I had to pick it up. I’m still not EXACTLY why this was included… but here’s some odd eye candy. Nice staff sergeant.

New Avengers #45: Sit back and enjoy M-Day from the Skrull point of view as the Skrull Queen finally witnesses the power of the Scarlet Witch.

Secret Invasion: The Initiative #17: Mutant X is a redhead. Jocasta’s back. and the Skrull Kill Crew now has a teleporter in Devil-Slayer. Time to take it on the road.

Madame Xanadu #4: Nimue’s journey through the ages continues in the court of Kubla Khan. But she’s on her own again next issie, despite her attempts to charm the Phantom Stranger.

Fantastic Four #560: WELL this arc FINALLY makes sense to me now. Major revelations explaining how the New Defenders are lead by a Dr. Banner and how to mug Galactus.

1985 #5 of 6: Our hero Tobt has reached the Marvel Universe, but can he get past Jarvis? This miniseries heats up with a last page new arrival that could rock our world to the core.

X-Men Legacy #216: Charles and Emma take a leisurely stroll through his memories as she helps him remember the sins of his past.

The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California: I picked this up on a lark and it was an entertaining one-shot period tale of the 1920’s Iron Fist in Hollywood.

Captain Britain and MI13 #5: Blade the vampire hunter joins the team, but that isn’t good news for Spitfire unless she ENJOYS stakes through the heart. How do you get a traditional muslim family to allow their daughter to fight crime? Let them hold Excalibur for a sec.

Action Comics #869: Goeff Hohns and Gary Frank continue to take us on an epic jorney against Brainiac. Whats old is new again as this returns Brainiac to the arch-villain status he deserves. One thing… The Zor-El that Supes chats with doesn’t sound like the daddy Kara remembers (see this months image below from this week’s Brave and the Bold).

The Mighty Avengers #18: Ever wonder what basic training with Nick Fury would be like? Read this issue.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5: Oh oh, looks like Drax the Destroyer is of the kill-em-all-let-god-sort-em-out when it comes to uncovering Skrulls. That might be bad news for his teammates.

True Believers #3: The origin of Payback and the True Believers! What is a “Variant a?” What does Luke cage have to do with her mission?

Uncanny X-Men #502: Dazzler is on board, Pixie bails but has second thoughts, Wolvie gets deja vu as he cuts up Hellfire goons, the Red Queen looks like the White Queen? or does she?

Titans #5: This in-between issue was MUCH better than the previous arc. We have some quality art. Donna is back in her starry togs. I still don’t get why one of Raven’s half-bros has a costume and the other 2 fight in street clothes. It is a peculiar character design approach.

The Incredible Hercules #121: In this issue we meet a character who is essentially (or at least mythologically) Marvel’s Wonder Woman. Princess Artume of the Amazons is also the daughter of Hippolyta.

Birds of Prey #122: Oracle may think she has the crime lords of Platinum Flats on the run but she doesn’t really know who she’s up against. That changes with this issue’s cliff-hanger… it all comes down to Barbra Gordon face to face with the man who crippled her, the Joker.

Brave and the Bold #17: This issue supports the story I’ve been reading in Supergirl. Her father trained her to kill and wanted Kal-El dead. Kara seeks out Raven of the Titans to discuss their similar Daddy issues.

Secret Invasion: Thor #2 of 3: Donald Blake… delivers a baby as the Beta Ray Bill defends Asgard against the an invasion of “godkiller” Skrulls. Bad news for the Skrulls, the baby’s out and its fine, Thor’s back in the game next ish.

Batman and the Outsiders #11: Where’s Bats? I haven’t been reading R.I.P. so I dunno. The pink outfit and bat-mite were just too much for me. Everyone’s looking for the Caped Crusader, including his very own black-ops team.

Young X-Men #6: Attempts to wrap up the mess of issues 1-5 BUT… It looks like Pixie is not the only former New X-Man whose looking a bit more grown up. Check out the youth team’s only out and proud member… cute ‘lil Anole - definitely looking a bit less boyish. I bet he’ll have a hot time in San Francisco. They better give him a boyfriend now.

X-Factor #35: STILL LOOKS LIKE IT IS BEING DRAWN BY MONKEYS!!!!! His art was bad the first time around - dump Stroman!

X-Men: Magneto Testament #1: For the first time truely see what shaped Marvel’s most infamous mutant. This Marvel Knights tale is a seriously beautiful take on Magneto’s horrific origins as a Jewish youth in a Germany embracing Nazism.

NYX No Way Home #2: I will definitely have to pick up the trade of the first series. I don’t know who the hell these kids are but I am loving it thus far. I look forward to figuring out what the hell is going on.

Secret Invasion #6 of 8: Thor joins the fight, the heroes regroup with Nick Fury and Reed’s got a way to expose the Skrulls. All this and the Skrull forces are confronted by the heroes of Earth. But what EXACTLY was it in that syringe SkrullYellowjacket gave to the Wasp? and why does her presence please the SkrullSpiderwoman so much?

Final Crisis Revelations #2 of 5: Spectre - the Spirit of Vengeance, has to execute the Question because of a diety’s clerical error? Thank goodness Radiant - the Spirit of Mercy was able to deliver a holygram and tell Crispus to back off.

Booster Gold #12: Some fun twists and turns in this title. I’m glad Booster has his sister back. I’d still like to see Ted Kord back too. They just need to take him before max Shoots him AND fake his death, framing Max well enough to fool Batman. Easy as pie.

Ultimate X-Men / Ultimate Fantastic Four #1: OK things get interesting when a group of X-Men from the future (including a webslinging Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Rogue Captain X America (?) and a Phoenix that may be Franklin Richards) and promptly try to assasinate Mr. Fantastic.

Ex Machina #38: The story of trouble continues to unfold out of time on multiple fronts, yet still intrigues me. I have no idea what will happen next. If only the outcome of the election it is set against was as unclear.

Secret Invasion X-Men #2 of 4: The SuperSkrulls that were called in after the initial X-assault were more formidable than the initial ground forces. But that’s not a surprise. The mutants switch to guerrilla tactics. I’m just confused about ONE thing. We saw a feather-winged Warren flying costumed as Angel in the first half of the book, so who is the metal-winged Archangel who dives in with X-Force to save Pixie?

Secret Invasion: Inhumans #2 of 4: I’m enjoying watching the Inhumans kick some Skrullbutt, but since when can their elemental Crystal take being slammed into a stone pillar hard enough to shatter it and get up brush off some dust and jump back into the fray? I’d buy it if she had transformed the pillar into something to catch her - but she didn’t, she slammed in with full force and sound effects.

Deadpool #1: I picked this up for nostalgia, can’t justify continuing to buy it - but it was fun. Especially loved the career recap backup tale.

Secret Invasion: Runaways - Young Avengers #3 of 3: I love both teams of characters, but not much REALLY happened in these 3 issues. Xavin knocks out the Runaways to save them, both groups get separated, The fight some Skrulls, find each other, defeat a big bad and them rejoin continuity. Only thing of note is Hulkling taking his prophesied future a bit more seriously.

Green Arrow / Black Canary #12: Actual truth was a bit anticlimactic. Shado’s got a sick kid and Dr. Sivanna says he’ll help if she kills Green Arrow. She tries to do it in a roundabout way by pretending to be Ra’s etc and then her hitter ends up hitting Conner. I was hoping for a master plan to take over Green Arrow’s son and demoralize him beyond belief. Turns out it was all bad luck. Oh yeah and now Green Arrow has 2 fully grown sons.

Ms. Marvel (and her boobs) #30: Cover was a bit over the top in the rack department. Carol Danvers faces down a SuperSkrull that even the other SuperSkrulls fear. Its some kind of Hydra-manufactured abomination with whatever powers it wants. And Ms. Marvel kills it by… well that isn’t really clear.

Wonder Woman #24: Nemesis asks Hippolyta for permission to date her daughter. That alone should be worth the cover price. But it wasn’t. Then Wonder Woman meets with Hollywood executives about making a movie of her life to find that one of them is… Who is she? She never says, but she looked like the Queen of Fables to me.

Ultimate Origins #4: Aha, Nick Fury is over 90, Hulk killed Spidey’s folks, Hank Pym was a slacker genius, and the stone thing is an Ultimate Watcher… OK what’s next? Oh you say the most significant event of this generation? Coming Devastation? Is it the Ultimate Lila Cheney concert?

King Size Cable #1: Bishop chases Cable through time! Still? REALLY? Yeah. Cable laid a few amusing traps with the help of a descendent of Irene Merryweather, but generally a yawn.

Secret Six #1: This is how you start a new title. Monster mobsters-in-a-box, Catman naked and armed, convenience story robbery 101, stages of grief, cake, a stripper, a suicide mission and a warning from the Bat.

The Boys #22: The conclusion of The Legend’s tale, but his answers bring new questions to mind… The story of what is to happen with Annie and The Seven is still to come.

1985 #4 of 6: Still really enjoying this title, but the issues seem too short. It may be best read as the trade it will inevitably become.

Green Lantern #34: Again Geoff Johns can do no wrong. If you like Hal Jordan and are not reading this title, shame on you.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #18: I’m still unclear about what Dark Willow is up to. Why she hanging with vamp-boy? What would drive Wil to want the Bufster dead? We don’t find out this issue, but things in the future are definitely heating up.

X-Men Manifest Destiny #1: The Iceman story has some good twists. Looking forward to seeing where it’s going. It was the only story I really liked though. The Boom Boom / Meltdown story is kind of a throwaway. I didn’t like the portrayal of Karma. That character has been trough hell and back and I don’t see her losing control over the twins acting out. I did love David Yardin’s art.

Madame Xanadu #3: I missed this last week so it ends up on this weeks list. This 3rd issue deftly connects Nimue’s time with Merlin and Camelot with the Xanadu, the court of Kubla Kahn and the travels of Marco Polo.

Authority - World’s End #2: Definitely a post apocalyptic tale. But Lynch has a olan to tretore the world to what it was, only no one will listen. Isn’t that the way it always goes?

Titans #4: Not impressed with Trigon’s latest offspring or Winick’s writing. How did Changeling know “each weilding the power of a deadly sin” as he just laid eyes on them second before? Ok looked like something happened to raven’s belly when her half-bros tried to claim their birthright. And now she’s puking? A rosemary’s baby in the works for her?

Ms Marvel Annual #1: Meh. OK story. Ms. Marvel tries to arrest Spidey until they hav eto team up for the greater good.

Supergirl #33: I just picked this up to learn about Empress. Didn’t reveal that much. I keep wanting Supergirl to be a great title, but it’s just not. This was better than some recent attempts though.

Reign in Hell #2 of 8: I love Zatanna so want to get into this, but all the demonic crap is kinda boring me.

One of my favorite youTubers and mySpacers… the Gay Comic Geek has posted his review of the Marvel Team-Up Freedom Ring trade paperback. For those who don’t know, until he was killed off, Freedom Ring was a new gay superhero with the ability to alter reality with a 25 foot radius.

I’d been considering buying the trade paperback, but the violent way they unnecessarily killed the character really makes me not want to read it. Also I’m pretty sure I got the gist of his story from Crusader’s flashback montage in Avengers: Initiative. The the Gay Comic Geek and I see eye to eye on this one. Introducing gay characters isn’t progressive if they just become victims (Ok so Northstar ISN’T dead in Ultimate X-Men - they still crippled the freaking speedster - talk about cruel). I’m sick of it. I’m still REALLY hoping that the new Stonewall will be gay and become a model for a strong, heroic gay man.

X-Factor: Layla Miller #1: This is SOOOO good. We’ve heard the Summers Rebellion mentioned in whispers in X-title arcs involving the future, but now we get to see what it is about. Creepy, kooky and altogether spooky, Layla Miller “knows things” about the past, present and future of the Marvel Universe. For the first time we get a glimps of what that must do to her. I hope she sticks around in the future for a year or so - enough time for at least 12 issues of a new x-title set in this period with Layla, Ruby Summers and who knows who else… This seems more like Generation Next than anything from genius-turned-hack Chris Claremont.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 of 5: This actually tied Layla Miller for 1st place. With art by George Perez and words by Goeff Johns, Lo3W probably should have beat the Layla special but I was just so surprised at how much I loved Layla in the future that she got some extra points. Check out the comic book beefcake shot of Superboy Prime I HAD to post - its a few posts above.

True Believers #2: Best new book in ages. Its fun, entertaining and compelling. The potential for this concept (a superteam dedicated to “the pursuit of truth at all costs) is limitless in universe as currently screwed up as Marvel’s.

The Incredible Herc #120: The God Squad vs. the Skrull Gods. Nuff said.

Guardians of the Galaxy #4: The seeds of dissention have been sown as SKRULLS are discovered on Knowhere.

Uncanny X-Men #501: Still loving the new home in San Francisco, but I had some problems with a few things this issue… With Emma’s Astonishing comments on Oakland, she may not be the only one with a snobbish view of Oakland. Writed scripted Pixied gang attack there too. Pixie could handle N’gari demons, but not a bunch of masked wannabe thugs? How the hell did Pixie get all the way from Oakland to X-Men HQ after that beating? (we should have seen her ‘port in) and where is her friend? I like the red Queen… Madelyne Pryor I hope.

Birds of Prey #121: Things will be heating up with joker to stir the pot. Wizkid WAS a pain. I groaned when I saw his manga armor - glad he’s not going to be a feature. Not surprised Joker would murder a child crime prodigy in cold blood.

Justice League of America #24: Enough with Amazo already. They have been there, they have done that. The cover doesn’t match the story at all. it should be cover to next month’s issue.

Batman and the Outsiders #10: I’m confused. They keep calling the ugly critter whose bite either kills or bestows meta powers “the Parasite.” I can’t find anything in his wiki entry about him being transformed into a huge nasty looking monster?

Brave and the Bold #16: Cute story. I’m not really big on cute. Probably dropping this. Loved the initial Perez arc, but its over and its time to move on.

X-Factor#34: THIS TITLE LOOKS AS IF IT WAS DRAWN BY MONKIES!!!!! Especially frustrating with the amazing X-Factor Laya Miller special out at the same time. Lets cancel the regular series and give Layla her own title.

Young X-Men #5

SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!! READ YOUR OWN BOOKS FIRST!

Secret Invasion #5 of 7: The story is REALLY starting to take off with Norman Osborn’s manipulations of Captain Marvel back to our side, a Skrull telecast from friendly and fearsome faces, Agent Brand to the rescue, a brilliant strategic use of LMD’s by Maria Hill…

Agent Brand gets the biggest brain on earth back in the game and Clint Barton is massively pissed.

Action Comics #868: I just love this arc on Action. I can’t say for sure if it is Geoff Johns words or Gary Frank’s pencils or the magic combination of the two that makes it an instant 4 color classic. My psychic abilities tell me this storyline and the one following it WILL be released as a hardcover sooner than later.

Captain Britain and MI-13 #4: Better the Devil you know… Pete Wisdom made a deal with the devil and once the Skrulls are taken care of, he may regret it. Shades of Wanda…

First mutants everywhere, now no more Skrulls in England… Easily pluralized groups really should watch out for magic.

Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1 of 4: Damn it looks like them damn dirty Skrulls got a lot of agents replacing Inhumans. This first issue does a good job of setting up a feeling or suspense as situations begin to simmer to an epic boil.

Final Crisis: Revelations #1 of 5: I knew Dr. Light was going to buy it from the preview, but it felt good to read it. Lets hope he’s not transfigured to return as an evil being of pure light. I prefer him snuffed out by the Wrath of God. Which apparently has no power over “Libra.” He must work for or BE a more powerful Deity. Plus The Question may have some explaining to do next issue.

Booster Gold #11: Its Booster Gold as Killer Moth against Batman, Robin a Batgirl and he must win or they don’t exist. Or must he? Oops! This time traveling romp is a great read every month so try it if you haven’t. I don’t think Booster has really processed losing Ted again. His “dead” sister’s arrival might have something to do with that.

Astonishing X-Men #26: The art is breathtakingly penciled and finished and the dialog is in character and snappy even if it now lacks that Whedon quality. Warren Ellis is on a short list of writers who I’d be glad to see step in after Joss.

X-Men Origins: Jean Grey: We all know her origin and this didn’t really tell us anything new, but it is a lovely retelling of the events that brought the little girl who would grow to be Phoenix to the care of Charles Xavier.

Secret Invasion: X-Men #1 of 4: Cary Nord and color artist Dave McCaig have turned out a beautifully illustrated first chapter of Mike Carey’s the X-Men’s place in the Skrull invasion. Their take on Marvel Mutants is art.