BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #2: I’ll just say I’m not a huge fan of making sense of sixty-plus years of continuity in a comic book, though I am a fan of Paul Cornell, and leave it at that.

DARK X-MEN #2: I’m not quite as in love with this issue as I was the last, which was a pitch-perfect kick-off good enough I thought this should be an ongoing series. However, you’ve still got Paul Cornell’s endless invention on display, and I’m always a big fan of when villains as heroes doesn’t sell short the idea that they’re still awful people. So yeah, not an A+ like the last issue, but still better than it has any right to be, given Cornell and Leonard Kirk’s excellent work.

DEATHLOK #2: Lan Medina’s art continues to be well defined and rather beautiful, especially when paired with Brian Heberling’s colors, but I just can’t get past Charlie Huston’s script. It’s got some fascinating concepts in it, but so far, it’s so dense I can’t quite hook into the characters, or why I should care about what’s going on. I think this is going to collect well, and Huston is a solid enough writer that he surely has the whole thing well planned out in advance, but as individual issues, it’s not quite hooking me right off the bat.

ENDER’S GAME: WAR OF GIFTS SPECIAL: The more I read of the Ender’s Game universe, the more I want to read. And each of these specials really fleshes out the world of the series by focusing on something specific. In this issue, we get religion, and it pays off with a sweet, sad story that shows how the Battle School isn’t all bad, and sometimes religion isn’t bad either. I want to read Orson Scott Card’s books after reading these comics, and that speaks highly, I think, to the level of adaptation going on. Pick ‘er up.

GHOST RIDERS: HEAVEN’S ON FIRE #5: How to make a second Ghost Rider movie work: Step One, hire Jason Aaron to write it. Step Two… There is no step two. Honestly, I could have cared less about GR before Aaron was writing him. The series was great. This mini is better. If you haven’t been reading it, go back and find the issues, read the whole thing, and get ready to have your ass kicked by awesome.

INCREDIBLE HULK #605: I’m going to pretend that Greg Pak coming back on this title a few issues ago was a reboot (which, essentially, it was, but without the new number one), and say that this issue is easily the best of an already excellent title. For those of you who haven’t been picking it up, a de-powered Banner is traveling around with his son, Skaar, who wants to kill the Hulk. Banner is (supposedly) training Skaar to kill the Hulk… Except maybe he’s not. Layered, textured, and tons of fun, not only does Greg Pak have perfect mastery of the Hulk and all his supporting characters, but he knows how to craft an issue of a comic that continues a story, but feels complete in and of itself. That takes skill. Oh, and Ariel Olivetti’s art is ridiculously good.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #21: God this is satisfying. Like most of the other titles this month, it ruins the end of Cap Reborn (which, of course, I’m ruining by telling you this ruins it), but boy oh boy, the way Fraction makes this work, and his reasons for bringing all the heroes together are nothing short of brilliant. Who would have thought a comic where the lead character is unconscious the entire time would be this thrilling, and this fun?

NATION X #1: I’m a fan of these story collections the X-Office has been doing each time our merry Marvel mutants change their status quo, to help flesh out the world. But, like most short story collections, not all of them hit. It’s like an episode of SNL, though: rather than judge them on every sketch, if you eek out one or two good ones per show, in my eyes, you’re golden. So the real star here is James Asmus’ story with Mike Allred, showing a Wolverine/Nightcrawler road trip that’s fun, poignant, and has some classic moments all in its few pages.

NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #3: Hey, guess who really likes the torture scene in Casino Royale?

PUNISHERMAX #2: Jason Aaron is no stranger to crazy, over-the-top action, and if anything, he trumps the eyeball squeezing scenes of the first issue in spades. However, the real star here is Steve Dillon, who perfectly parallels The Punisher and The Kingpin is a series of witty panels. I may lack the emotional complexity of the Garth Ennis run, but these two guys are forging their own classic Punisher story, and it’s well worth the ride.

S.W.O.R.D. #2: With the first, more jokey issue out of the way, issue two manages to trump it in almost every way. The Sorkin-esque banter is well balanced with the more actiony elements; we find out more about Gyrich’s evil plan; and things ramp up in danger to an alarming degree. Plus, long-neck Beast has been toned down this issue, as Steven Sanders gets more comfortable drawing the characters. Pick ‘er up.

SPIDER-MAN & THE SECRET WARS #1: I’ve been really curious about how this project was going to work out for a while now, and I think, now that I’ve read it… It was in a way that’s completely obvious given that Paul Tobin is writing it, and also rather surprising. Basically, like most of Tobin’s work, it’s a tightly written character piece, focused on the relationship between Spider-Man and The Hulk, played out over the course of the story, using action as a backdrop. That’s the surprising part, if anything: that Secret Wars barely matters for the story Tobin wants to tell, and I would say that’s a good thing. Bringing a little emotion and depth to an event that, while fun, was all about selling toys, is an interesting challenge, and one that I’m definitely checking out issue two for.

UNCANNY X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #6: I don’t think the First Class books are really known for their insane, hardcore, cosmic style battles, but after this issue, maybe they should be. As insane and over the top as any mainstream continuity X-Men book.

WAR MACHINE #12: Greg Pak gives James Rhodes a new status quo, and a gangbusters ending, just in time for his series to end. Too bad, too, as it felt like it was just getting started. For those of you who missed it, all twelve issues read as one mega-story, and this’ll read great in the trade.

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #3: Fred Van Lente’s lead story on the origin of The Rhino wins for week’s best use of sound effects as art. The back-up story by J.M. Dematteis wins for most terrifying description of just how much Aunt May is getting nailed on her honeymoon. I’m not usually faint of heart, but I had to stop reading the last story several times to quell my vomit.

WHAT IF? WORLD WAR HULK: I can’t believe it took an entire issue and a half of these new What Ifs for Uatu to show up. I’m all for tweaking the formula, but the “What if Thor Entered World War Hulk?” story is easily the best one so far. Fun, funny, and an actual story (rather than a butt-load of exposition), it doesn’t make the issue worth picking up, necessarily, but it is delightful nonetheless.

WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK: As always, a solidly reliable Noir-ish script from Stuart Moore. In fact, take away the claws, and this could easily have been a Wolverine: Noir one-shot. Solid story, definitely not for younger readers.

X NECROSHA: THE GATHERING: This issue is very similar to the Dark X-Men mini that recently ran, in that it’s basically Selene walking up to people and convincing them to join her team. However, all of the stories and art are solid, and I always like reading more about Blink. Not essential reading, but for X-devotees, and people curious about how the dead heroes and villains returned in X-Necrosha, this adds a large piece to that puzzle.

X-MEN FOREVER #13: This is like fan fiction – but the best possible fan fiction ever, written by a classic X-Men writer, drawn and colored and lettered professionally. And just like the best of fan fiction, it pays off all those fun “hey, what if–” moments with silly glee. I dunknow, I like this, leave me alone.

X-MEN NOIR: MARK OF CAIN #1: This issue really gets going with the killer last page, which hits the Noir/X-Men crossover elements perfectly. The rest of the issue starts slow, but has some nice money moments throughout, and of course, Dennis Calero’s pitch perfect art. The dude was born to draw Noir books. Just sayin’.

DARK AVENGERS #11: Sigh. I just have a soft spot for the Molecule Man, I’m sorry guys. And I really think Bendis has hit his groove with this title, mixing his patented naturalistic dialogue with action, perfectly complemented by Mike Deodato’s moody art. Plus, in this issue, we get some painted pages by Greg Horn, and I don’t know the last time I saw interior art by the guy, but it looks great. This is a great looking comic, lots of fun, and I’m going to be a little sad to see it go (assuming it does, in fact, go after the upcoming Siege event).

DARK REIGN: THE LIST – AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: Adam Kubert draws an amazing Spider-Man (no pun intended), but I guess you wouldn’t expect anything less from the guy. First off, I’ll say its a smart move by Marvel to use Mr. Kubert on specials and short runs, rather than promising he can deliver a monthly book. That’s another win in Mr. Wacker’s column, in my book. And this book looks great. Reading wise, Dan Slott turns in another near perfect Spider-Man script, perfectly melding character moments, old-school fun, and good story. Except, and I’m going to get back on my soapbox now that we’re done with this “List” event… Basically nothing happens. In the grand scheme of things, I mean. The one List book that had a major event was The Punisher, which by all accounts was, I think, a high mark for Rick Remender, The Punisher, and Marvel in general. Not that every issue of The List needed to hold up to that standard, but I wish there was some sort of moving the story forward, that something had happened. There is a minor victory for Peter Parker towards the end of this book, and its a nice moment, but honestly, is Parker leaking a video on the internet really going to show up as a plot point in any other book?

It’s frustrating, because I would really, really like ASM: The List to be the biggest and baddest part of this mini-event, but it just can’t be, because… You can’t have Spider-Man win that big. Spidey can’t actually reveal Norman’s true villainy to the world, because that would mean Spider-Man was revealed as a world-wide hero. There’s ways around that, sure, but Spider-Man works best when everybody hates him. So he can’t win that big, he has to win, but kind of lose. And he can’t kill Norman, because he doesn’t kill. Plus, we got to save that for Siege, right? My point is, as a fan, I still think of Osbourne as Spider-Man’s villain, and I feel like Spidey needs to take him down, but given the character, and the layout of the Universe, that just can’t happen. So instead, I’m frustrated.

Anyway, great looking issue, solid read, if you want some pretty Kubert art, pick it up.

DEADPOOL: MERC WITH A MOUTH #5: This title is growing on me, but veeeery slowly. Not to sound like a broken record, but considering you’ve already got Deadpool and Headpool in the book, it seems unnecessary and repetitive to even include the Deadpool double narration boxes. I’d rather just see those two bicker and be done with it. I also like how The Gisch is filling out the supporting cast with fun riffs on previous DP continuity. I’m curious to see where this goes after this arc, and hopefully, it can forge its own way, and move out of… Way’s… shadow.

INCREDIBLE HULK #604: You know that feeling when you take a deep breath and let it out, and how relaxing and refreshing that is? That’s what having Greg Pak back on the Hulk is like. A breath of fresh air, or at least air you’ve breathed before that feels fresh again. Or something. Anyway. Banner, Skaar, and Warbound vs. The Leader? What’s not to love? Pak keeps adding his own take to the Hulk mythos, and shows why he’s the best writer of the character since Peter David. Love this series, pick it up.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #31: Dan Slott and Christos Gage bring it all together to end out the best arc of this title in a good long while. Classic Avengers action, classic avengers moments, great fun shout outs and good actions pieces. My only caveat is that the art seems a little crowded, but that’s a quibble when its so much fun to just see heroes being heroes, and all working together to save the day. Fun.

NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #3: As nice as it is to see Sean McKeever back at Marvel, working in high school (where he excels), this just isn’t grabbing me. It ain’t bad, by any means, its a well crafted comic book, but I guess I just don’t care enough about Rikki Barnes yet. Ah well.

PUNISHER #11: Tony Moore and Rick Remender working together is a-okay with me. And this Frankencastle storyline gets to an insane, over the top start, as you might expect. Love it.

REALM OF KINGS: Abnett and Lanning have one of the most complex, yet easy to follow road-maps for their cosmic books I’ve ever seen. And it all kicks off in spectacular fashion in this one shot. I thought they couldn’t take the action and danger to another level. I think I was wrong. Love these books, love the direction of them, and I love the focus that’s happening throughout. Great stuff.

REALM OF KINGS INHUMANS #1: On the other hand… There’s a killer last page to this issue, but otherwise, it’s one of the more snooze-worthy Inhumans mini-series in a while. Granted, the characters are in a place where they’re all miserable, and for the first time in a long time, they have a real status quo that can’t immediately be broken, but it feels like the backbone of this cosmic universe has moved on to Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy.

THUNDERBOLTS #138: Jeff Parker makes his debut on the title, and while I love the Parker, this won’t knock anyone’s socks off. However, he continues the feel of the past few issues well without missing a beat… I’m just looking forward to him maybe blazing his own path. And maybe bringing in a few A-Listers. It feels like this title needs a new mission statement, and soon.

WAR MACHINE #11: The little title that could keeps chugging along, and though I THINK it’s canceled already, Greg Pak has made a fascinating uber story that has done a lot to build up Rhodey’s character, and define his supporting cast. It’s too bad this won’t be around in the long term, because in Year Two, it feels like it could have gotten quite good.

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #7: I’m totally loving this storyline, with Logan caught in the world’s most disturbing lunatic asylum, scared and fighting for his life. Sure, it’s not the most original story of all time (it’s been done in Buffy, for one), but I’m completely caught up in the mystery, and can’t wait to find out how Wolvie ended up there. Kudos to Jason Aaron for turning in another solid arc.

X-MEN LEGACY #229: Speaking of little engines, I still don’t get what this title is about (other than secretly The New Adventures of Rogue and Gambit), but Mike Carey, as always, chugs right along with a solid story that pays tribute to Generation X, one of the much beloved, much forgotten pieces of X-history past.