Amazing Spider-Man #569 guest-stars the Thunderbolts and their unhinged team leader - Normal Osborn. But “New Ways to Die” isn’t about the return of the Green Goblin, but instead, the return of Venom and its most prolific host, Eddie Brock. For the past few years, the Venom Symbiote has been possessed by (or possessing) former Scorpion Mac Gargan - I’m guessing this story takes care of that.

Grant Morrison’s obscure team of xenophobes guest-star Avengers: The Intiative #16 with the Skull Kill Krew. These characters have been getting some major hype from fans, although Bendis has admitted before they don’t have a large role in the Secret Invasion. Will they or won’t they? See the new gang’s debut here and find out.

Wakanda is one nation on Earth never conquered ever - but I don’t think they were expecting the Secret Invasion. Black Panther #40 features yet another heavy Skrull tie-in and Marvel is mum on the exact ramifications, save that they’ll pretty heavy ones for T’Challa and company.

Mighty Avengers #17 has another Secret Invasion tie-in, but this ones kind of cool - the return of Marvel Boy, the angsty Kree imprisoned and grilled on the pages of Illuminati. This marks the return of another fan-favorite - and perhaps a running theme for Marvel. Don’t believe me? Look who’s in the New Avengers below.

The Illuminati highlight New Avengers #44, with ANOTHER DARK SECRET. How many do these guys have lying around? They’ve already started Civil War and World War Hulk, and they’ve got another one kicking off Secret Invasion - and apparently one more on top of that!

It’s going to be a bloody brawl in New Warriors #15, when the current New Warriors meet their Intiative-sponsored predecessors. To top it all off, master manipulator Night Thrasher has to contend with SHIELD agents and Super-Skrulls alike - sounds fun to watch.

Nova #16 contains a Secret Invasion crossover, but this one sounds awesome - as Nova must both team-up and trust THE Super-Skrull - the same one who fought alongside him during the events of Annihilation. Again, another fan-favorite - and a bad-ass at that. Marvel’s really making the most of this week.

Terry Moore and Humbertos Ramos are also starting up a new Runaways book hot off their team-up with the Young Avengers in Secret Invasion. The book marks their return to Los Angeles after their time-traveling story arc with Joss Whedon. Will this book rise the standards of its predecessors? It’s a tough question, but one can only hope.

Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1 pits the heroine-who-might-be-Mary-Jane Jackpot against the Super-Skrull-who-might-Spider-Man in a knockdown brawl as the rest of Spider-Man’s supporting cast deal with the invasion of New York.

And speaking of THE Super-Skrull, She-Hulk learns her Skrull partner of the past month, Jazinda, is in fact his daughter! I’ve been wondering what Jazinda’s angle was since she appeared in the rebooted She-Hulk book months before Secret Invasion, and now we get to find out. Oh, and there’s also a Marvel Ape variant of She-Hulk “monkeying” around.

The Thunderbolts also find themselves going toe to toe - and tooth to fang - against the Skrulls in Thunderbolts #123, when the former supervillains are called to defend the nation’s capitol against Invasion. Billed as a major turning point for the Thunderbolts, this is a pretty interesting team already!

And in X-Men: Legacy #215, the recently revived Professor X tries to make peace with the X-Men - but starting with Cyclops might be a little easier said than done.

On the DC side, Will Pfeifer’s memorable Catwoman comes to a close in issue #82. Catwoman has long straddled the line between hero, villain and anti-hero, but never has it been as consistently good as Pfeifer’s long-running solo series. The last issue has Catwoman on the run from police, heroes and villains - and Selina Kyle will have to betray one of them in order to make a not-so-clean getaway.

DC Universe: Last Will and Testament underscores a quieter moment in the DC Universe, as Brad Meltzer and Adam Kubert highlight what the various players of Final Crisis do before the last epic battle - and quite possibly their last night alive.

Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge #2 also opens with the Flash villains telling Libra where to stick at, as they aim to take revenge on Inertia, the fellow Flash enemy who left them all accessories to the murder of Bart Allen. Unfortunately, the Flash - Wally West - is also looking from them with revenge on his mind.

Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 by Grant Morrison has Supes teaming up with a bevy of alternate reality counterparts on a mission to save Lois Lane after she is greviously wounded in an explosion. With Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman) on this, I’m anxious to see how it turns out - but Morrison only has two issues to make this series matter.

Justice Society of America #18 returns to the thick of things as the childlike Gog goes spreading good will all over the world, the Kingdom Come baddie Magog is born. The book also centers on Starman and Damage dealing with a new status quo on the team, and on Earth 2, Power Girl seeking help from an unlikey source after she is declared an imposter.

Reign in Hell #2 caps off the war in Hell between the forces of Neron and Lord Satanus, with the mystic heroes of Earth trapped in the middle. The book also features a back-up story with another one of my favorites, Trenchcoat Bridager Dr. Occult.

Well, that’s it for this week . . . but isn’t it enough? Nearly every that list is a must-have? What more do you want?!

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Rundown: Nova Still Rocks and Captain Marvel’s a Skrull
2. Comic Rundown: Crisis Management
3. Comic Rundown: Not So Brand New
4. Comic Rundown: Will the Crossovers Never End?!
5. Comic Rundown: Captain Cold and Puppy Skrulls

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