Amazing Spider-Man #595 - The lead-up to Amazing Spider-Man #600 begins here, as Spidey tangles with Norman Osborn's Dark Reign! Following immediately on the heels of 24/7, Spider-Man's world has become more messed-up and stressful than ever, and the fact that his biggest enemy is in charge of the world and the Avengers is only the icing on a really dangerous cake. Now faced with hard choices about family and friendship, Spider-Man knows exactly what he has to do to save the world and that is, he's going to have to kill Norman Osborn. But will Norman's brother Ozzy stop Spidey or will Ozzy be too busy sueing Tony Stark over copyright infringement?



Avengers Initiative #24 - Norman Osborn has disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D. and shut down Camp Hammond. That leaves the Shadow Initiative out in the cold...stuck in Madripoor with no means of escape, hunted by an army of Hydra agents, including Wolverine's old foes, Bloodscream and Roughhouse. They have no idea if Norman even knows they're out there, or if they're better off if he doesn't. And there is something about Mary.


Avengers Invaders #11 (of 12) - On the other side of history, chaos reigns. Evil has won (making you think this is a DC/Final Crisis crossover) and the Fourth Reich now rules the world. Only the combined might of the Avengers, The Invaders and the mysterious new heroes Electro, The Challenger, The Silver Scorpion, The Black Widow, the Black Avenger and Captain Terror have a hope of setting the world right.



Elektra #3 (of 5) - A fatigued and badly wounded Elektra is out of H.A.M.M.E.R. custody and on the run, and Norman Osborn wants her neutralized. There's nothing for him to do but send his best anti-Elektra operative, Hawkeye. Does a wounded Elektra even stand a chance? This is a rematch, if you know who Hawkeye is. But does Elektra know?


Hood #1 (of 5) - You may know him as the tough-talking crime boss who's organizing the villains of NYC while wheeling and dealing with the likes of Loki and Dr. Doom. But what about the pregnant girlfriend, addict cousin, and institutionalized mother that we met back in his debut mini? And what price is he paying for his rapid climb up the ranks of crime and power? And does it involve him being naked and oiled up for Dormammu?


Ghost Rider #35 - Trials And Tribulations - PT 3 - Johnny Blaze has come to a monastery in Japan, just wanting to be left alone as he waits patiently for the end of the world. But when a local biker gang of Tribbles begins terrorizing the town, Blaze realizes that his work as Ghost Rider isn't quite done yet.


Guardians Of Galaxy #14 - War Of Kings - The savage battle between the Shi'Ar Imperium and the Kree Empire explodes across the universe. The Guardians of the Galaxy know they've got to stop the war before it shakes the cosmos apart at the seams, but will any of these heavy hitters listen to a rag-tag bunch of self-appointed galactic protectors who spend half their time quarreling amongst themselves?


Immortal Iron Fist #26 - Trapped in the mystical and secret eighth city of monsters, Danny and the Immortal Weapons have to make the prison-break of a lifetime with Davos waiting to meet them outside. But will he help them run...or shove them back to their deaths? And Fat Cobra turns evil.


Incredible Hercules #129 - Herc & Amadeus drop dead. Marvel heard that cheap death sells comics, and they're more than happy to oblige. And now, they're off to find and bring back Hercules' slain father Zeus to counter Hera's power, could you think of a better plan? While hobnobbing among the most famous Marvel deceased characters, Herc and Cho learn the terrible secret why some of these guys keep coming back to life and why Pluto, Lord of the Dead, is fighting-mad about it and mad they regulated his planet to being a dwarf. Will Pluto take on the IAU directly? I wouldn't blame him if he did.



Marvel Apes - Grunt Line Special - Evolution got ya down? When teenager Roy Reyna finds he can transform into the super-powered simian Ape X, it's more fun than a barrel of monkeys until H.A.M.M.E.R. agents capture him. The next thing Ape X knows, he's in a secret prison being interrogated about some strange Ape Universe. He doesn't have the answers they want, and they don't believe him. But they'll break him, one way or another. Ape X's only hope is Jane Potter - a young journalist working for the Front Line newspaper, hungry for her first Big Story and then there are her co-conspirators: Gorilla Girl, and the Gibbon. All this banana bunch has to do to save Ape X is break into the secret government facility known as Project Pegasus. Mix in some bad puns and big guns, the Red Ghost's Super-Apes and a sinister cyber-simian called Ooktron, and the fur really flies. But escaping from Project Pegasus is no joke and on this front line everyone is expendable.



Moon Knight #30 - Down South - Pt 4 - The little Mexican town of El Paso Del Norte is getting crowded. First, there's Moon Knight, whose current alter ego, Jake Lockley, is playing bodyguard to a young woman who's in the crosshairs of virtually every assassin South of the Rio Grande. Then, there's the Zapata Brothers, a duo of outlandish assassins that's determined to collect the bounty. And then there's the Punisher, who's crossed the border on the trail of some Russian Mobsters. Then there is the phantom predator known as Toltec, who's got his sights on everyone.


Ms Marvel #39 - Carol Danvers is dead. Moonstone has taken on the mantle of Ms.Marvel. And the only hope for the forces of good is Machine Man? This could be funny.


New Avengers #53 - Who will be the next Sorcerer Supreme? And will he or she survive the initiation? What does Mephisto have to do with all of this? The Avengers fight a battle that they know will shape the future of the Marvel Universe for years to come or could cost Bendis his job.


Nova #25 - The Nova Corps rushes to the front line of the terrible conflagration between the Shi'Ar Imperium and the Kree Empire - and gets decimated. To save them, Richard Rider must wrest control of the Nova Force from no less than the Worldmind itself.


Runaways 3 #10 - Molly Vs Wolverine. The Rematch. When Runaway Molly Hayes responds to the X-Men's psychic invitation welcoming all mutants to a new home in San Francisco, she declares it 'Moll-ifest Destiny' and heads to the Headlands to investigate. But when she finds herself back-to-back with Wolverine, cornered by a villain with a vendetta, she might find being an X-Man isn't just secret clubhouses and cool-looking costumes. And will Molly beat the crud out of Wolvie yet again?


Spider-Man - Short Halloween - Halloween is coming early this year as Spidey is knocked out during the Greenwich Village costume parade and an intoxicated reveler (named Joe Quesada) in a Spidey costume takes his place.


Squadron Supreme 2 #11 - An all-out war between the new and old Squadrons Supreme.


Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #6 (of 6) - With his mission a wreck and Fury hot on his trail, can Wolverine pull himself together (literally & figuratively) to do what he does best before Hulk pounds him into oblivion doggy-style?


War Machine #6 - When Jim Rhodes returns home he comes face-to-face with American Eagle as two visions of America clash with earth-shattering results that may irrevocably change War Machine and the nation he loves. Also: What the heck does Rhodes' mom have to say about all of this? Will she make Jim cut her a switch?


Wolverine #72 - Logan and Hawkeye have finally reached their journey's end, after going out of sequence in issues, and made it to New Babylon, and delivered Hawkeye's secret cargo of strawberry daquiri mix. But the completion of their mission has come with a great price and Logan is out for revenge on the man responsible for the annihilation of the world's super heroes, the President of the United States. Watch as Obama and Wolvie go mano-a-mano and toe-to-toe in an all-out gore-fest of a battle.



Wolverine First Class #15 - Wolvie Vs Thor. Kitty Pryde's got a crush, and she's depending on Wolvie to help her get the hook-up. But what can she really expect him to do when that crush she has is on Thor?

Wow. Big Marvel week for me.

I'll be getting The Initiative, Ghost Rider, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Fist, Hercules, Nova, Short Halloween (SNL writers!!), and possibly picking up Moon Knight and Amazing Spiderman.

Avengers/Invaders, Ms Marvel, Wolverine

GoTG #14
Nova #25

Might look at some others to see if any interest me.

Wolverine, New Avengers, Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk, Avengers/Invaders.

Tis, can anyone give me a quick rundown of WAR OF KINGS (Key & cool moments)

Guardians of the Galaxy, Herc, and Nova.

And X-Men Legacy. One good X-book anyway.

Elektra & Ms Marvel for me.

A lite week from Marvel, glad I have 5 DC books to also pick up.

Not sure why these aren't on the list, but I'll be picking up X-Force and Legacy this week.

New Avengers #53
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5

"Damn it all to hell."

The NA are intercepted in New Orleans by Madame Masque. She gets beat. Daimon Hellstorm and the Hood fight it out. The NA intervene before Hood goes totally demonic. Spider-Man has an awkward moment with Luke concerning his previous "relationship" with Jessica Jones. And, of course, the Eye of Agamotto disappears to whoever is the next Sorceror Supreme. The next Sorc appears in the chaos on New Orleans, wanting to know what's going on: Brother Voodoo.

Fun issue. Good action, good dialogue. Daimon was particularly fun to read, and the art continues to be good.

The Hood #1 of 5
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5

"That's how all you men began. You fell into crime, it wasn't your calling. But the Hood, he started out as a criminal, then he got powers. He learned the underworld from the ground up--it makes a difference."

One of the few Dark Reign minis a care about makes it's launch. It's mostly a continuation of elements from the original MAX series, which is cool because I just read it. Anyway, the Hood pulls a job, has some issues with Dormammu and some other issues with his baby mama and then is attacked by one of the people who want to kill him: White Fang, the wife of the cop he killed, outfitted with Stark weapons.

I think this could be fun. I like the Hood and Jeff Parker has been doing a good job in Exiles and i'm glad to see Kyle Hotz working on the character again. I'll definately buy the next issue.

Avengers: The Initiative #24
Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5

Taskmaster: So, uh, which personality are you?
Mary: You know the naughty girl? Who likes playing rough with the boys and using her sexuality to get what she wants?
Taskmaster: Yeah?
Mary: Not that one.

The Shadow Initiative is confronted by two HYDRA guys i've never heard of. Taskmaster, knowing they're beat, offers the team as new members of HYDRA. Of course, it's a rouse to get on-base. The SI manage to win when Typhoid Mary switches to a more vicious personality (but later ditches the team). Back on base, the Gauntlet tells Norman about what the SI is and tells him to go save them. Norman complies, sending H.A.M.M.E.R. and Ant-Man to Madripoor. Afterwards, he offers Taskmaster the position of leader of the Initiative. Oh, and Komodo has powers again.

I didn't like this so much, mostly just because I had hope for Hardball and Komodo being together. Guess not. The artwork is okay but the coloring is just too grainy to be good. I'd love to see where the series picks up now, though.

Runaways #10
Story: 4/5 (Part 1), 2/5 (Part 2)
Art: 2.5/5 (Part 1), 3/5 (Part 2)

"No matter what that guy said...your parents loved you. Because super-villain or not, anyone who could raise a kid as good as you couldn't have been all bad."

Two stories here. The first has Molly checking out the new X-Men place in San Francisco. Her excitement quickly dwindles when she finds out the X-Men are no longer a "real" superhero team, that she still has to go to school and that her tour guide here is Wolverine. Later, Molly and Logan are captured by a villain who was tortured by her parents. Molly once again has to face the fact that her parents were supervillains, and decides at the end to stay where she is.

Second story has a game of "Truth or Dare" with the older kids (because in a house paid for by successful supervillains, the only entertainment is grade-school games). Naturally, it devolves into a fight against Nico's magic gone wrong and ends up being a pretty lame story i'd rather not acknowledge.

The art was better in the second story than the first, mostly because the frist's made the older girls look like they were wearing too much makeup.

Good week for Marvel.

This is something I'm looking forward to seeing being played out, if only because Taskmaster is one of the main reasons I read Initiative each month, and it gives me reason to believe that he won't be leaving in the near future.

Then again, given the record of past Initiative leaders, maybe I should be feeing hesitant about his promotion.

Also, I'm guessing this issue takes place chronologically before the Guardians of the Galaxy arc featuring Star Lord and Blastarr at 42, and it's real nice to see two series I enjoy on a monthly basis managing to tie things together the way they have, especially in such an unexpected manner. It gets even better based on recent solicits I've read where Komodo ends up having to help re-conquer 42.

Speaking of Guardians of the Galaxy:

"That hurt. You hurt me."

Warlock faces off against Vulcan, and Warlock manages to cause Vulcan some trouble before his guard show up to help. Warlock still manages to cause trouble, but escapes, only to later learn he's been 'Witchmarked' so that he can be followed anywhere.

Meanwhile, Star Lord's team tries to reason with Black Bolt, only to continue to fail. Things go REALLY bad when Martyr starts getting violent and tries to take Crystal hostage, even after Crystal tries to argue that perhaps there's something to the Guardians arguments. Star Lord isn't too happy about this, and has the whole team teleport out.

Trouble is, Martyr brings Crystal along against Star Lord's orders, and so at the end of the issue we have both members of Vulcans guard and the Inhumans beaming into Knowhere for separate reasons. Suffice it to say, fur is about to fly.

AND

Old Man Logan

"My name isn't Logan, Bub..."
SNIKT!
"It's Wolverine."

After a flashback where (presumably) president Red Skull is standing in his trophy room of dead hero memorabilia, remembering the day he lead the Super Villains to take over the world (it's suggested that the US is really all that's left and they completely wrecked the rest of it), the bodies of Hawkeye and Logan are brought into him, where it's soon discovered that Logan isn't dead (duh!). He quickly kicks the hineys of Skulls henchmen, and then takes on Red Skull himself.

After taking a few punches that wreck the trophy case, Logan defends himself from a sword attack using the Mighty Shield, the proceeds to beat back Skull with said shield and decapitate him. Looking for a way out, he dons the Iron Man armor Skulls stored there (Helmet, chest piece, arms and boots) and uses it to basically blow up the White House and fly home with the money that Hawkeye thought he was going to get paid for the run.

Unfortunately for Logan, who drains the suit of power entirely to fly home, he learns as he arrives that even though he has 2 weeks left, the Hulk Gang got bored, came for its money, and killed his family.

What comes of it is a two-page spread of the sound effect I'm guessing is assumed we've been waiting to read (I know I have!) and Logan getting ready to go kick some serious @$$.

And now we wait for the Giant-Size special to see the conclusion!

While I pretty much expected this to be coming, it's not quite how I imagined it to happen (which is a good thing, to be honest). Looking forward to the finale!

AND

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

Wolverine manages to find Betty and put a collar on her to keep her from hulkifying, after which he goes after Bruce. Sneaking past airport security by putting soap shaped into a grenade into someone's bag then leaping over the metal detector, he catches Bruce on a plane and gets a collar on before he can do anything. Since Wolverine wants to kill Hulk, not Bruce, and Bruce doesn't want to go Hulk, Bruce jumps out of the plane. Wolverine follows. Wolverine cuts off the collar so that Bruce will go Hulk, and they both land only to be encountered by Fury, who lets them both go (something to do with them having Betty) leaving the two of them to walk off into the sunset or something.

I have to say, the conclusion was a bit lackluster, but I did enjoy the ending quotes. Somehow, they made the issue worth it. Don't know why.

"Being P***** all the time. It's bad for your soul."
"I ain't got a soul. Was ripped outta me a long time ago."
"I thought you grow everything back."
"&*&^ you, Banner."

AND

X-Force

Part of Messiah War, stuff happens, Stryfe takes people out, and Apocalypse seems ready to do something. Didn't feel like there was a whole lot to report.

No one wants to talk about Amazing Spider-Man? Well, for those curious, we're getting more Goblin babies! This time it's Harry and Lilly are having a kid. For those who don't know, Lilly is actually Menace, so this kid are going to have two times the gobliny goodness as any other goblin baby out there.