This week's comic book expectations

Marvel's "Dark Reign" is settling in and "Final Crisis" has crashed to it's demise. I mean conclusion. Either way, this week is certainly slower than the last few, but it does have its share of charm.

From DC, Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #3 headlines the week. Suffering from months of delays, "Final Crisis" will have long since finished by the time this tie-in concludes. Still, seeing as the events take place a 1,000 years in the future anyway, I'm willing to bet the events of "Final Crisis" proper don't tie in too closely. In case you've forgotten (how could you have not? It's been months!), Superboy Prime's Legion has just attacked, and Prime himself just snapped the neck of the final Green Lantern, making his ring travel back to Oa, where Sodam Yat resides. Despite all this, Superman's plan is still to try and reform Prime, since stopping him would be darned near impossible. Meanwhile, Brainiac-5 has just summoned the other two Legions and confusion ensued. That about covers it, enjoy the show.

Speaking of the Legion, Adventure Comics #0 reprints the first story featuring the Legion of Superheroes. It also contains an "Origins and Omens" backup story, which likely contains buckets of details on the upcoming Legion reboot. All that, and it costs just a dollar.

Finally from DC, I am awfully curious about The Mighty #1, written by Peter Tomasi. The basic story for this first of 12 issues is a fairly familiar one: The world of "The Mighty" has just one superhero, who was given his powers during World War II... sound familiar? But, I do trust Tomasi's writing, it looks like Tomasi is going to be giving this book a decidedly human tone. It should be worth taking a look.

From Marvel, the Dark Reign premieres continue this week with Agents of Atlas #1 and Secret Warriors #1. It should be interesting to see what plans Marvel has for both groups, seeing as their respective purposes for existing were both closely tied-in with "Secret Invasion." My prediction is both groups keep that event-driven tone for a while longer and serve as resistance to Norman Osborn's plans. "SW #1" also marks the return of Nick Fury to monthly books, a character who was sorely missed by many.

By the way, I'm watching "Spider-man and Friends" in the background right now, and Ice Man just said "No more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time for Mr. Ice Guy!" You don't get great writing like that anymore.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Cable #11 begins a new two-part story, and yes, Nathan and the kid are still trooping around in the desolate future. But, if you're not reading this series, you're really missing out on some great character work by Duane Swiercynzski. The man is really making me feel exhausted right along with Nathan, mainly because Swiercynzski keeps creating supporting characters and situations that would seem perfect for Nathan to raise the kid in, only to steal it away. Oh well, I guess that's necessary to keep things interesting. Still, last issue's tragedy and surprises had some real weight to them, so I am excited to see what this two-part story brings.

Also this week, Black Panther vol. 2 #1 debuts with its new female Black Panther. Who is she? I can't tell you, hell, that's Marvel's whole hook here!

Anyway, that's about it, I'm off to watch tonight's episodes of "Scrubs." Surprised I didn't say some comic book-related show? I do have other interests, you know.