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I have to say flat out, I owe Brian Bendis an apology. Not for my overall distaste for most of what he's ever done, but for my skepticism toward his current epic.

Secret Invasion #3 is damned good. Not only is it damned good, but it answers all those, like me, who had certain criticisms of issue #2. Where the second installment stayed squarely in the Savage Land, making Bendis' storytelling in the midst of an enormous invasion seem extremely short-sighted, this third issue jumps from venue to venue with a pace that would have seemed frenetic if not for concise and sharp writing. And while this issue improves upon all of the second issue's shortcomings, it manages to keep adding layers to the intrigue this story presents.

The thing I always gave Bendis credit for here is the ability to make the reader feel unsure of themselves at all times. He proved successful in this issue during a scene involving Yellow Jacket giving orders to the members of the Initiative. While we already knew Yellow Jacket was a skrull from issue #1, even the reader could not be sure in this third issue whether the Yellow Jacket we see here is the skrull YJ with bad intentions or the real YJ with genuine intentions. Not to spoil anything here, either, but Bendis keeps the reader even more off balance in this third issue, when Tony Stark is told flat out that he is a skrull operative. Is he? Isn't he? I have my suspicions.... but I'll save that for a longer post in the very near future. For now, all that needs to be said is Bravo, Bendis.

This issue's story was a broad stroke that was desperately necessary in the grand scheme of things in order to keep the reader thinking big-picture, and Bendis delivered.

Moving on, let's stay in the Marvel Universe, where I picked up a pair of X-Men titles this week. The first was very strong, Cable #4. And, if you're not reading "Cable," you're missing out. If you're an X-Fan and you're not reading "Cable," you're insane. This is good future-setting cat-and-mouse action, featuring a very vulnerable feeling Cable, protecting the little squirt he believes with all his heart to be the savior of his people, getting chased by a truly chilling Bishop, who believes that little squirt to be the anti-christ.

The strength of this issue in particular, though, was the appearance of old-man Cannonball. Not only does Sam provide us readers with a Cliff's Notes version of the last 50 years, but he then does his darnedest to stop Bishop. You can guess how that showdown turned out, but suffice it to say that Bishop's decent is continuing. And, that may be what I like best out of this story -- Bishop is becoming a Grade-A X-Men Villain, something we seem to be lacking lately. Bishop truly believes he's acting in the world's best interest... he should form a support group with Magneto.

Unfortunately, the second X-Book of my week was just about as bad as it gets. Young X-Men #3 is gaining speed driving down that road that leads to cancellation. If you read the first two issues, you know that Cyclops, for some reason, gathered a group of young mutants, most former students, for the mission of tracking down and killing the former New Mutants, who have become the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Yes, it was as dumb to read as it was for you to read that last recap sentence. The only saving grace of the books were the clear signs pointing toward Cyclops not actually being who he claimed to be.

Well, in this issue, we see Cyclops and Donald Pierce (this arc's big baddie) in two different places at once, so we know Pierce is not posing as Scott Summers. We also saw Sam Guthrie and Roberto D'Acosta talking about how they shouldn't be doing what they're doing so the X-Men are coming after them. We also heard Cyclops give a young mutant a speech that boiled down to "I used to be afraid to kill too. Get over it already."

These first three issues of this series have been, without a doubt, the three worst issues to start an ongoing series I have ever had the misfortune to read. If all of this dreck doesn't make sense by the end of the story arc, this book should be canceled and Marc Guggenheim should be sent to the stockades.

Hell, after reading "Young X-Men," I thought I would be in a bad mood for the rest of the night... until I read Geoff Johns' Justice Society of America #16 and peace returned to the land. Johns' writing here is as sharp as ever, beginning this tale of the enormous God-like Gog from the Third World walking the Earth.

Johns has been promoting for months that Gog's presence would splinter the JSA, and here we start to see why. Gog is nothing but friendly to all he meets here, curing the disease of an African village and explaining that the Gog that was running around killing people was insane and not doing his bidding. And already we saw several characters believe him much more than the others.

Particularly strong here is Damage's side of the story. Predictably a loudmouth skeptic for most of the book, something happens toward the end that even silences him (though I will NOT spoil that!). All in all, Johns suddenly has this book, which at one point felt too bogged down by Kingdom Come to move, returned to a state of wonder. I can't even guess where he's headed with the story or how it can be resolved, but I sure can't wait for a month to pass.

Finally this week, a debut: Trinity #1. Did you give it a try? If you did, you were likely not disappointed. As advertised, the book was split into two halves, with Kurt Busiek telling the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman side in the first half and Fabian Nicieza telling a backup tale in the back. As you may have guessed, the front half was much better than the back half.

Busiek opens the story with Bruce, Clark and Diana meeting in public, and immediately takes the time to establish their individual personalities -- personalities which felt more genuine than simply trying to fit the characters into their stereotypical expectations. And, not only does Busiek have a handle on the characters, he immediately presents the readers with a circumstance for them all to meet -- one dire enough to deserve a big sweeping book like this. While the idea of three characters having similar ominous dreams is nothing new, it doesn't change the fact that when done right, it can set up a story very nicely.

The back end was, actually, very closely related to the front end, something I was not exactly ready for. Basically, Nicieza introduces us to a couple of B-list villains, and the idea that they are looking to steal the "power" of these dreams the Trinity is sharing in order to use for themselves. I don't know how dreams have power, but whatever. The problem here was, after reading half a comic book's worth of familiar characters with a lot of energy, the backup story has unfamiliar characters and no energy. That said, there is certainly potential for their side of the story to be an interesting one, given that we know at some point both halves of the story are going to intersect.

All in all, "Trinity" may be worth getting on board for. If for nothing else, aren't weekly comics just fun?