This week’s P&P are brought to you by David Brothers, who likes to think Brand New Day is off to a pretty good start, and Ernie Estrella, who thinks it’s unspectacular, to say the least. Let’s hear what you think in the comments!

PICK: Amazing Spider-Man #546

One More Day is over and Brand New Day is here. Regardless of your opinion of the retcon, we’re stuck with the new status quo. How is the first issue of the new Spider-Man?

Pretty good. Dan Slott and Steve McNiven take the reins first and do a solid job of introducing and reintroducing some old friends and new enemies. The new bad guy has a stellar design. He’s visually striking and interesting based on that alone, never mind the somewhat bloody intro scene that tells us exactly what kind of man he is.

The supporting cast, which is basically the reason I picked this book up, is great. I’d forgotten how much I liked Harry and the dynamic he brings to the book. It’s good for Peter to have a best friend. There’s a bit of thematic doubling going on with Harry’s girlfriend’s best friend being a shy, bookwormy, good-looking person, but hey, that never hurt anyone, right?

Brand New Day gets a tentative thumbs-up for me. Spider-Man was my first and remains my favorite hero, and this was a fun book. Plus, Zeb Wells and Mike Deodato’s Osborn backup story? Excellent. Give it a shot. B+ -David

PAN: Amazing Spider-Man #546

So what exactly do we have here? Joe Quesada wanted Spider-Man more interesting because being married is a drag, okay, I’ll bite. So Peter gets rid of the wife rather conveniently, he’s at war with J. Jonah again, and Aunt May is up walking around and is getting out of that tiny house. Peter’s back to his wise-cracking amateur hour at the Comedy Cellar with Charlie Brown luck. Been here a dozen times and done that! This is the first round out of your prize fighter after being heavily scrutinized? This was it? The careful thing that must be avoided when reading this issue is that feelings from One More Day don’t carry over into my opinion of Brand New Day. I want to like this issue because of Dan Slott, and to a degree, I’m willing to side with Quesada but this feels like a mini-series flashing back instead of the present day. We have rather quiet art by McNiven who is under-utilized here–not one double splash page–one conflict after an overload of conflict, back-up stories about supporting characters who in one issue have become all more interesting than the lead, and now I have to shell out the dough three times as much each month for this? Not likely, especially if it’s unspectacular. D+ -Ernie

PICK: Punisher War Journal #15

At this point, I’m fairly certain that Matt Fraction and I grew up reading the same Marvel comics. From Domino joining GW Bridge’s new Six Pack last issue and the new addition to the team in this issue (can you say “Assassin Nation Plot?), this book is beginning to feel like a long-lost family reunion. That’s the b-story. The a-story is Punisher versus Kraven on a boat full of animal-themed villains, most of which are distaff Spider-Man villains. Kraven’s legacy-obsessed ramblings provide a nice counterpoint to a particularly pissed and somehow offended Frank Castle. Both are hunters of men, but Castle considers Kraven a jumped-up amateur who is wasting his time. This is a fun, if light, issue that is half superheroic action and half moving pieces around to set up a new arc. Scott Wegener’s art is a definite high point. The facial expressions he draws are just too good. B -David

PICK: Scalped #13

A cop’s job is not a simple one and on the reservation, an easy day for Bad Horse is when he only has to deal with one person dying. Unfortunately, this is no easy day for him. Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera do it again and again and this time there’s emotion pouring off each page, there’s tension in each panel, there’s action and reaction, and this is what you hope for when you throw your good money down each week. This is a great jumping-on point for those shameful folks who didn’t pick up the first year of Scalped but believe me, after this issue, you’ll want to catch up. False hope doesn’t exist in the pages of Scalped; this is best read of this week, hell, any week for that matter. A+ -Ernie

PICK: Spirit #12

Damn you, Darwyn Cooke. Damn you, J. Bone and Dave Stewart. Damn you all for doing such a great year of the Spirit. I didn’t think anyone could capture Will Eisner’s charm in these pulp tales of Denny Colt, but they did. They did it so well you can hear the saxophone wailing in between the panels and what a way to go out guys, a story about Sand Saref, about knowing true love and about letting that love go. Now we all have to deal with letting you guys go. A+ -Ernie