On the recommendation of Shawn M., I picked up the first issue of Wolverine: First Class, and he’s right - it’s great. Although Wolverine gets first billing, it’s Kitty Pryde who is technically the star of the show. The comic charts her early days at Xavier’s, with gruff loner Logan as her mentor. Its simple, easy-going fun you can count on - a rarity in a comic industry so devoted to crossovers its tends to forget about satisfyingly singular stories.

I also picked up two more issues of Joe Hill’s Lock & Key, and man, is it creepy. The story follows the Locke family as they relocate following the brutal death of their patriarch. The youngest son Bode has found a doorway to the spirit world as well as a sinister woman locked in well claiming to be his - and his father’s - echo. All of this is further linked to Sam Lesser, the disturbed young man who shot Bode’s guidance counselor father - and just escaped from a mental institution. It’s creepy stuff, but after reading Hill’s first novel Heart-Shaped Box, I highly recommend it.

Finally, I got Guardians of the Galaxy, a spin-off of my current fav Nova. The book follows a proactive group of Marvel’s spacers - and Nova’s supporting cast - including Star-Lord, Adam Warlock, Quasar, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and my personal favorite, Rocket Raccoon, as they try to stop the next Annihilation-level event before it happens. The first issue was solid enough, right down to a telepath forecasting the team will be betrayed and killed in nine month’s time. Unfortunately, the end was too confusing - the team departs on a second mission, there is mention of an alternate reality, and then they return, and the issue ends with Captain America frozen in an asteroid. Are you wondering what exactly just happened? So am I. It’s not really an effective hook for next issue - its just plain confusing.

Alrighty - this week starts with the end of Countdown to Mystery with the eighth and final issue. I’ve been hooked since the beginning, but lately I’ve started to loose interest. Steve Gerber’s death passed the final issues to Shadowpact writer Matthew Sturges. I saw the seventh issue in the comic book store last week - Kent V. Nelson tried to get rid of the helmet - again - and left it with Maddie, his magic store confidant. Once she tried it out, she was basically a bullseye for demons everywhere. Hopefully Nelson can save her, but seeing how he hasn’t gotten his act together in seven issues straight, I’m not so sure this is going to end well.

Ahead of the Raven series, Teen Titan Cyborg now has the first of his six issue mini-series hitting the shelves this week. There’s nothing else to report - I just like Cyborg, I think he’s an under-utilized member of most post-Wolfman incarnation of the Titans, and I’m glad to see him with his own book.

Justice Society of America #15 also hits stands - as everyone tackles Kingdom Come’s Gog in a violent showdown. Seeing how this confrontation began with Sandman impaled on Gog’s staff and ended with the arrival of Obsidian and the Kingdom Come version of Alan Scott, this is one book which never fails to get better and better - even after I swear its reached perfection.

I gotta give Amazing Spider-Man #560 credit - it has a cool cover Andy Warhol would be proud of. With Peter shooting pictures for the paparazzi, Dan Slott just might be the right writer to bring Spider-Man back to where he needs to be.

I’ve recently heard good things about the Incredible Hercules - who took over for the Incredible Hulk post-World War Hulk. The last issue has the world’s strongest man forming a Godsquad to fight against the Secret Invasion - and the very deities they worship. I’d recommend giving it a read.

Mighty Avengers #14 sees the debut of Nick Fury’s Howling Commando in yet another Secret Invasion tie-in, but I’m not so sure all the suspense can really supplement the time between Secret Invasion installments. The series is doing well so far, aside from some pacing issues, but Mighty Avengers has seen those same pacing problems all along its existence.

X-Men: Divided We Stand #2 highlights a few characters I’ve been wondering about since the last pages of Messiah Complex and beyond - namely Beast and Forge, and long before that, Vulcan and Havok. It’s good to see Marvel hasn’t forgotten about these characters, especially since the last two haven’t been seen since the end of Emperor Vulcan.

That’s it for this week. It looks like a mildly interesting week for comics - we’ll see what hatches in the next weeks for both Final Crisis and Secret Invasion.

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Rundown: Not So Brand New
2. Comic Rundown: Fan Favorites Week
3. Comic Rundown: Nova Still Rocks and Captain Marvel’s a Skrull
4. Comic Rundown: Mr. Freeze Strikes Midwest
5. Comic Rundown: Grant Morrison Writes Everything

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