This week's comic expectations

As I said in the last post, this is a relatively slow week on the shelves. Still, it may be an important week for DC to show what they're made of.

With all this "Countdown" hoopla, DC has been taking it on the chin for having absolutely no control over their universe's (or should I say, Megaverse?) continuity. Everything is just a mess, and this is after a whole Crisis and 52-part mini-series that was supposed to clean up continuity. This week there are a few books that can either show that DC has a handle on this continuity, or not:

1 - Justice League of America #13: After last week's horrible piece of writing in the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, in which Ollie was killed for seemingly no damn reason just because of DC's mandate that they wanted one of those two characters to die, there really should be a big chunk of this issue devoted to the team mourning him. Especially since their leader is Dinah! However, with this new "Injustice League" story just beginning (which doesn't look promising), I'm guessing the JLA is going to basically ignore Ollie's passing.

2 - Wonder Woman Annual #1: Supposedly, this is the final chapter in the "Who is Wonder Woman" story, and it's guest-starring Donna Troy and Wonder Girl. I'm hoping that DC does something clear to either explain how Donna is with Diana and in the Multiverse at the same time, or something clear to show that this is a flashback story. Otherwise, there are just going to be a lot of confused readers.

3 - Teen Titans #51: The second part of the "Titans of Tomorrow" features a future team of Titans coming back to the present, with Connor and Bart Allen on the squad. Now, not that I've been the biggest fan of every issue tying into Countdown, but I am really hoping that the explanation for how Connor and Bart are alive somehow ties into this big climactic "Final Crisis" we've heard so much about. Otherwise, we have yet another giant DC development (like Sinestro Corps War) happening outside of this ever-so important Countdown storyline.

There you go, DC, there's your test. Pass it, please.

There's not much to speak of on the Marvel side. The Immortal Iron Fist drops twice this week, with the Annual and issue #9, which goes to show how much faith Marvel has in this book's ability to sell in big numbers. But, the stories have been strong, with Ed Brubaker making Danny Rand a readable character, and issue #9 marks the beginning of a fun-looking storyline, featuring an all-immortal fighting tournament.

Sub-Mariner #4 comes out this week. It's a book I remember being very high on, but it feels like it's been forever since issue #3, so I don't even remember why I like it so much. This is what happens when you read as much as I do... much too much!

I'm also excited about Ultimate Fantastic Four #46, a book that I still think is pretty irrelevant, but was very strong last issue. The FF (as well as all of NY) is caught in a Utopia built by Psychoman, and only Reed Richards and the Silver Surfer know the truth and want to be saved. It was a five-part arc that was only really good last issue, but still I hope for a strong ending.