AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617: I’ll keep saying it until you buy it… Amazing Spider-Man is one of the best comics on the stands right now. Joe Kelly continues The Gauntlet in style with an over-sized issue featuring two sweet, sad stories about The Rhino. And while I’m not a huge fan of 2.0 versions of villains, to cop a Spidey joke in this issue, Kelly’s script is good enough to make me look past it. And the back-up, featuring a repentant Rhino in and out of prison, is a poignant enough story to make the whole issue work. Pick ‘er up, friend-os.

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #3: Paul Cornell continues to weave a nice mix of flashbacks, detailing Natahsa Romanov’s history, with a fun super-spy story set in the present. It’s a chance to sell new readers on the character the way she’ll be seen in Iron Man 2, but darn if it doesn’t work, thanks to Cornell’s plotting. I wish the twist at the end of the issue wasn’t quite so obvious, but you take what you can get.

DARK X-MEN #3: Paul Cornell. Leonard Kirk. X-Man vs. The Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men. If you liked Captain Britain and MI13 (and if you didn’t, why not?) you’ll like this. Exceedingly well written and twisty, if the status quo wasn’t changing drastically in the Marvel Universe in three months, this would deserve an ongoing.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22: Much quieter than last issues gigantic moments, but still as good as Iron Man has ever been. Matt Fraction has brought Tony Stark to his lowest point (quite literally), and it’s still up in the air whether he’ll bounce back. More than anything, though, Fraction continues to build back the good will of the heroes of the Marvel Universe here, creating a backbone we’ve been waiting for. Not to get all Stan Lee on you, but: The Heroic Age starts here. If you aren’t already on board, for god sakes, why not?

MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #19: You can check out what I think about the end of the Marvel Adventures line, as well as my general thoughts about this title below under the Super Hero Squad review, but in the meantime, only two words you need to read to run out and buy this issue: Plant Man. Aw yeah.

NATION X #2: My usual party line with short story collections is that they’re a mixed bag, but I quite liked each of the four stories in this issue. You’ve got a sweet, sad story about Jubilee from C.B. Cebulski and Jim McCann; a fun adventure from John Barber featuring a few seldom used Grant Morrison characters; an actually respectful romance story about Northstar from Tim Fish; and a simple, tightly written and drawn Gambit story from Becky Cloonan. So what’s not to like? In fact, it’s nice to read something that’s just creators telling stories about characters, and not part sixty five of an over-arching cross-over, or a chance to launch a new series. It’s the X-Office giving some indie creators the chance to flex their muscles in the X-Men Universe. It’s a small, quiet issue, and I’d like more like this, please.

PSYLOCKE #3: …And with the last three or four pages of issue three, I’m suddenly totally into this series. It’s unfortunate the tapestry Chris Yost was weaving didn’t make sense to me until the end, as I really, honestly didn’t know why I should care about Psylocke’s quest for revenge until those last few pages. But those last few pages… Damn. Next issue should be a doozy.

PUNISHERMAX #3: There’s not a lot of stuff that makes me wince in shock, but damn if Jason Aaron isn’t figuring out a new, exciting way to make me feel squeamish in every single issue of this series. Steve Dillon’s art is perfect for the Punisher, as usual, and Aaron peppers his talky script with enough action beats to make the whole thing pace out well. I’m starting to get a little concerned that Frank Castle himself is little more than the force of nature he’s been through most of his titles (minus Remender’s current run, and Garth Ennis’ landmark run on MAX), but there’s plenty of time for Aaron to turn that around, and I’ll definitely be reading this title when he does.

S.W.O.R.D. #3: Breezy fun is how I’d describe this. My opinion hasn’t changed too much since the first issue… I’m still surprised by the tone, and the art style isn’t my favorite (particularly where Beast is concerned), but Kieron Gillen writes a fun, creative script that plays well with Marvel continuity, including guest stars galore. Regardless of the long term prospects of this book, the first arc will be fun to read in a collection.

SPIDER-MAN & THE SECRET WARS #2: I’m really enjoying what Paul Tobin is doing with this series… Picking specific points in time from the original Secret Wars series, and using it as a backdrop to tell stories about Spider-Man and his amazing friends. While this issue is a little less emotionally charged than the last, it’s also better paced and a lot more fun, as it keeps focused on one, very small side story off the main one involving Ben Grimm and Doctor Doom. Reading this makes we want to go back and read Secret Wars… Though I bet if I did, it wouldn’t be as good as this series.

STRANGE #3: Last issue I talked a little bit about how this felt like the way of doing a Dr. Strange TV series, and it certainly continues this issue, as Strange and his plucky assistant investigate weird doings down at the old beauty pageant. Emma Rios’ art is a perfect compliment to Mark Waid’s script, as usual, though the layout seems slightly more cramped than normal. And the central mystery is a little easier to figure out than the first two issues. But this continues to be an exceedingly strong mini-series, boosted by the clever focus on done-in-one stories. I’m not sure whether people are reading this or not (I’m going to hazzard a guess and say “not”) but if they were, they’d probably see it’s the most solid new idea for an ongoing series starring Stephen Strange’s character Marvel has hit upon yet.

SUPER HERO SQUAD #1: So this is the title that killed the Marvel Adventures line, huh? This is the murderer? Well, I’ll tell you what: for a killer, it’s an awfully cute one. And you could do worse than have Todd Dezago, creator of the awesome Perhapanauts writing it. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the last two Marvel Adventures titles, Spider-Man and Superheroes will be going away soon. Though there’s no word on what exactly will replace them, there’s a bit of a conspiracy theory that involves this ongoing title, based on the popular cartoon, is the reason they went away. I’m here to tell you: that’s totally okay.

As much as I loved MA: Spider-Man, MA: Superheroes, and the rest (Paul Tobin, Jeff Parker, et al did an excellent job on them), times change, and kids change with them. Being very, very far from a kid myself, I can’t tell you that this is one hundred percent true, but I’d imagine Super Hero Squad is far more in line with what an actual child (and not, say, a man-child at a comic-con with a child sized t-shirt) is looking for in a comic. It’s the same thing with Sesame Street, which found about five or so years ago that children were no longer learning the way they were teaching, and had to change to catch up to more progressive programming like Blues Clues.

So this is a comic for children (imagine that!) and viewed like that, it’s a lot of fun. The stories are nice and simple, there are cute in jokes for the adults reading along with the kids, and the animation style (or in this case art style) is cleanly done. As much as I’ll miss Marvel Adventures for its old school Marvel stories*, especially in comparison to the dark and gritty main Marvel U, I’m pretty sure those titles will continue in one form or another; and there’s certainly a place for the Super Hero Squad, as well. Comics for all, and all for comics! Hooray!

THE MARVELS PROJECT #5: Brubaker and Epting are certainly in their comfort zone here, telling what is essentially Captain America: Origins, with a few other characters thrown in for good measure. And on that standard, it works… Epting will probably go down as one of the best Cap artists of all time, and Brubaker writes him with a gravity and reverence, while still finding the essential humanity in Steve Rogers. These nostalgia trips may not be my cup of tea, but if they are, I have to imagine this book is your Lipton.

X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS: A solid script by Stuart Moore, all about the exciting adventures of Scott Summers after his soul is sucked into hell! Just kidding, it’s an origin story, as you may expect, though it flits through major events in Scott’s life, giving us a greatest hits tour until he becomes the man we know today. I don’t mind these Origins titles at all, but I’d rather see more of the prestige format origin stories, like Magneto Testament and Angel Revelations (one of the best looking series Marvel has ever released) than these breezy one shots. They’re not bad, they just function the same way a character recap does, versus taking a slow, careful lens to the X-Men and dissecting a very specific period in their lives. They serve essentially the same purpose, as they cut directly to the core of the character, similar to how their granddaddy Wolverine: Origin did, there just seems to be a bit more of creative leeway given to the creators with, say Testament and Revelations. Again, not a bad issue by any means (Moore knows his way around a comic script), and if you’re new to the X-Men this might be helpful to check out. But for everyone else, it’s not the most essential of stories.

*And this was the essential problem with the branding: people saw it as comics for kids, when in actuality Marvel Adventures out Ultimated the Ultimate line, providing mostly done in one stories that allow new readers to jump in at any point and get introduced to the awesome characters at Marvel. All those haters who said Marvel Adventures “doesn’t matter,” while simultaneously lamenting the decompression and darkening of the main Marvel U are the reason comics are dying. To be blunt.