Adjusting to the fact I’m not down the street from the comic book shop anymore, I’ve taken to catching up on my graphic novel reading. On this week’s plate: Annihilation Book 1 and Justice Society of America: The Next Age.

Let’s be clear about crossovers: we don’t like them gumming up the big characters we know and love, but we do it when they bring new life to old ones. That’s what Annihilation so succinctly succeeds in doing. While doom and gloom was mounting elsewhere in M.U. during Civil War, Annihilation was probably the crossover a lot of people were waiting for, and it caught a lot of us totally unaware. The crossover brings together Marvel’s galactic good guys for an epic thrashing with a Herculean helping of humor. That’s right - humor. Where was that in Civil War when Tony Stark was cloning Thor? Nowhere to be found. The single funny thing I saw during that crossover was a sign reading “Mark Millar licks goats” in Nextwave. But there’s plenty more of it in Annihilation. From Drax the Destroyer’s pint-sized companion Cammi ripping on Quasar’s fashion choice to newly-minted bad-ass Nova kicking bug butt in outer space, there’s plenty to like in this under-the-radar hit. The first collection includes Drax the Destroyer 1-4, Annihilation Prologue and Nova 1-4. Though the re-development of Drax from big green brute to a wise-guy more befitting his Arthur Douglas namesake slows the pace at first, each issue is better than the next, culminating in a completely unforgettable and un-put-down-able conclusion.

Though I’d recommend waiting for the latest reboot of Justice Society of America to hit paperback trade, the first collection is definitely worth purchasing. Brad Meltzer’s revamp of Justice League of America had a confusing plot but quite a few good moments. By contrast, Geoff Johns’ Justice Society of America is nothing but great moments. The first storyline sets up several characters last seen in Kingdom Come while also solidifying a bold new team that reminds us just why the Justice Society comes before the Justice League in every way.

Next week I’ll have reviews of the new Alex Ross trade, Justice.

Speaking of the DC side, this week has the All-New Booster Gold journeying back in time to stop Max Lord from killing Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. This comic book resurrection probably won’t last (it sounds a lot like the temporary fix Emerald Knights in the pre-Geoff Johns Green Lantern books a while back), but at least it pairs Blue Beetle with his frequent buddy Booster Gold, and should be a good read for an issue or two.

Catwoman #75 ties into Salvation Run as Selina Kyle, a former Outsider, finds himself adrift on a planet filled with supervillians! Some of the promo art for Final Crisis shows Selina standing next to Martian Manhunter and Joker, and possibly playing a darker role in the story in general. The previews mention a possibly devilish deal going down in the pages of this book, so I guess we’ll see!

And if Shawn M’s latest webcomic got you wondering about the webslinger’s new status quo, be sure to check out Amazing Spider-Man #547, which picks up Brand New Day written by She-Hulk writer Dan Slott. Like Shawn, I’m none too pleased about the changes made, but I’m willing to bite if only to see what Dan Slott - a funny writer on She-Hulk - has up his sleeves.

Cable and Deadpool #49 now finds Deadpool and company (minus Cable) traveling to the Savage Land for a team-up with Kazar! This is the penultimate issue of the series before Cable starts up just solo in a few months, so be sure to pick up what could be one of the last Merc with a Mouth tales for a while!

New X-Men #46 is the Messiah Complex’s 12th part, which find all the players assembled in place for a powerful throw-down that the fate of all mutantkind hinges upon.

For more X-Men adventures, I’d also like to point out a favorite RPG of mine, X-Men: Children of the Atom, has just re-opened. Run by AJ, X-Men: Children of the Atom lets you create your own mutant and stand against the tide of extinction. Though it has quite a complex storyline, it doesn’t have a complex learning curve - members just write their character’s actions in a series of Yahoo! Group posts. A definite most for anyone looking for some role-playing action! For more details, check out either the main site here or the Yahoo! Group here.

See ya next week.

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Book Rundown: Warlock, Winter and Winick
2. Comic Rundown: Cliffhanger Culture
3. Comic Book Rundown . . . And Backtrack
4. Comic Rundown: I Hate Marvel Zombies . . .
5. Comic Rundown: Color Coded Werewolves and Stale Candy

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