First off, “Dark Avengers: Ares” puts the spotlight on the war god Ares, who Norman Osborn has tasked with leading an elite military unit into the heart of battle. Over the course of two incarnations, Bendis has made Ares into a far more interesting semi-anti, quasi-super-hero than his DC counterpart. This mini-series, written by Kieron Gillen, could be interesting, especially if it plays up the military angle well enough.

Okay, “Dark Reign: The List – Punisher” had me until the very last line. So far, Norman succeeded in taking down Hawkeye and putting Namor through quite a bit of anguish. Now he’s putting all the Dark Avengers and the entirety of HAMMER into one single goal – kill the Punisher. The odds looked pretty even – and the solicitation boasts “Somebody will die. Somebody will.” Bu the last line of the blurb is, “Plus, a preview of the next exciting chapter of Punisher.” So somebody will die . . . that’s not Frank Castle. Way to build suspense, Marvel.

There’s also a listing in Marvel’s solicitations for the release of “Marvel Holiday Spectacular #1.” That’s right . . . Marvel is releasing a Christmas comic three days before Halloween! Don’t get me wrong . . . I love Marvel and DC’s Holiday Spectacular – I always go the comic book store just to pick them up . . . but come on! At least wait until after Thanksgiving to release a Christmas comic one-shot!

For something a little bit more seasonally-appropriate, check out “The X Necrosha One-Shot”, which has the X-Men’s answer the Blackest Night written all over it. The Black Queen has returned, along with 16 million previously dead Genoshan mutants. With Selene now holding the keys to life and death, somehow I’m guessing this wasn’t the mutant return the X-Men were hoping for. The story officially begins in New Mutants #6, also out this week.

To see what’s cooking in DC’s witches brew, check out Page 2.

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