Headlining the week is Action Comics #866. Geoff Johns has really made this book worth reading and exciting again in the past 8 months or so, and this month's offering begins a storyline many of us have been waiting for -- the Brainiac story. Johns has a penchant for re-imagining has-been villains, so I'm eager to see what he has planned for Mr. Robot-Krypton-Hater.
Granted, not all of Johns' work has been perfect -- I'm still not thrilled about how he changed Hal Jordan's Parallax story -- but more times than not, his changes are made in the interest of fantastic stories to come. If you need an example, just look at the "Sinestro Corps. War." And, given how much pull Johns has in the DC Universe lately, don't be surprised if this new take on Brainiac someday turns into major trouble for the DCU as a whole, not just Metropolis.
But that's not all from Johns this week. He also teams up with Jeff Katz on Booster Gold #10. Now, I'm not going to go on and on about this being the best series not enough people are reading like I normally do. After all, this is the third-to-last issue for the current creative team, and who needs to jump on board with a bandwagon that may be coming to an end if the next creative team isn't up to snuff?
However, for those of us smart enough to read this series, it's been consistently fun. And, if you haven't been reading this series, hopefully this preview will entice you to pick it up in trade form: Booster and the ole' JLI was just about to faceoff with the full force of the "Time Stealers" when last issue ended, so this story should be one big fun slugfest. Also, you can kind of get the feeling that Booster and Beetle are coming to the same inevitable conclusion -- that the world might have been better if Ted Kord had died. The question for us, making us readers want to read on, is what sort of curveball is Johns leading up to here?
There's almost too much good DC to go around this week, though. There's also Salvation Run #7, the final issue of the mini-series. Now, we know how the last pages of this story are going to go: The villains will find their way home and Jo'nn Jo'nzz isn't going to make it home safely... that doesn't change the fact that it turns out this is the ONLY "Countdown"-related mini-series that has ended up mattering AT ALL. Hell, it's the only one that's not already getting ret-conned. And I, for one, am curious to see it all play out.
And don't forget about Green Lantern Corps. #25, either. When last we saw our group of ring-slingers, they were trapped by the mother of all black mercys, and Mongol is still very much on the loose. As far as I am concerned, this book has become just as relevant to the DCU as the main "Green Lantern" title.
Marvel doesn't have quite as much worth picking up this week, but there is a solid Skrull offering in Secret Invasion: Who do you Trust? The one-shot will skip around to several loose plot strings that began in "Secret Invasion #1," Including Captain Marvel's story, a look at more fights in the Savage Land, and a story of how Agent Brand survived her fall.
Of all the pain Marvel has caused by starting stories in their first issue of the main book and then forcing you to buy tie-ins, this one is the most cost effective and condensed, so it's not a bad choice if you're looking to get more of the Skrull story. Personally, I find myself now interested in Brand's story, and I think it's simply because I'm a huge Hank McCoy fan and the pair are now an item.
Skaar: Son of the Hulk #1 hits stands on Wednesday as well. Back when "World War Hulk" was wrapping up, I was actually really jazzed about this title. It was the one -- the only one -- that jumped out at me as being an interesting read, and "Planet Hulk" was so strong. But, a long time has passed since then. I don't even remember when "WWH" finished. And, other than getting ready to buy my ticket to "The Incredible Hulk" movie, I haven't really thought of the Green Scar since then. "Skaar" could have been a big seller for Marvel. Now, it has to work extra hard to win any sort of an audience.
Finally from Marvel, the X-Force: Ain't no Dog #1 one-shot. Now, I'm a reader of "X-Force." I think it's had an interesting dynamic and the villains involved have me interested. I like how detatched X-23 has become (from a literary appreciation standpoint), and how driven but conflicted Warpath is. From the solicitation for this one-shot, though, none of that will be included here.
Instead, we, apparently, get a solo Wolverine story. Like we don't get enough of those. Also, check out this solicitation:
Tonight, Wolverine flies solo—dressed in black and operating off the grid. And when the night is through, there will be mountains of corpses, and no one to answer to. What could be better?
How 1990's fanboy can you get?
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