MARVEL
Hulk #3 – Averaging about three panels per page, the issue is a quick read. And being about a fight between the unknown new red Hulk and this stupid new Abomination calling itself A-Bomb, it’s not really much of a story. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness offer all flash and no substance.

Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide – The regular Incredible Hercules writing team of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente provide the reader with an excellent tale of Hulk and Herc from the past, aided by the art of Hercules veteran Bob Layton and talented newcomers Reilly Brown and Eric Nguyen. Also included is a reprint of Tales To Astonish #79 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Bill Everett.

Mighty Avengers #12 – Secret Invasion tie-in. By Bendis & Maleev, it shows what Nick Fury has been up to since Secret War.

New Exiles #5 – I’ve stood by Chris Claremont for a long time, and defended him when people said he’d lost it… but this is indefensible. The new Gambit is just stupid, we’re no longer looking at realities that are just a little bit different, but are completely and illogically shuffled. And this issue, which should have been good since Morph was a lead, fell flat due to another tale that dealing with a ludicrously unrelated reality, unnecessarily convoluted subplots, and simply horrendous art by Roberto Castro. New Exiles, you’re off my list. If the mood hits me I’ll just pull out some quality Winick or Bedard back issues.

She-Hulk #28 – She-Hulk hits Cleveland… and Cleveland hits back. More quality storytelling by Peter David.

Thor #8 – Thor and Odin continue their talk while Don Blake catches up to Jane Foster, and the fate of Sif is revealed. The momentum of the series is building, but to what is the question.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #53 – Another well-written issue with cringe-inducing artwork, I still wonder why Reed couldn’t have broken the cycle at the end.

Uncanny X-Men #497 – Damn hippies!

Wolverine: First Class #2 – Another god issue by Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito, this time dealing with Sabretooth’s penchant for giving the gift of a beat-down on Wolverine’s birthday every year.

X-Force #3 – Bastion plans to make things worse for mutants, and X-Force doesn’t even know that he’s involved yet. The art by Clayton Crain is clearer than it was in the two Ghost Rider series so either the scripts are better at describing things or he’s getting better.

X-Men: First Class #11 – The Continuiteens! Really, I cannot do justice to this issue by describing it. It is on par with an Adam Warren level of meta-bizarreness, not something you’d typically expect in an all-ages title. And it is wonderful. Jeff Parker, Nick Dragotta, and Colleen Coover out-did themselves. Check it out if you like your comics interesting and weird.

Young Avengers Presents #4 of 6 – Paul Cornell provides impressive dialog while Mark Brooks’ penciling is as good as usual in a story focusing on the new incarnation of Vision and his friendship with Stature.

DYNAMITE
Army of Darkness/Xena #2 of 4 – More fun with multiple Bruces… Bruce times three if you can believe it.

IDW
Transformers Spotlight: Grimlock – Grimlock wakes up angry… and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Wait, Grimlock is always angry. Well, Scorponok isn’t going to like him but it’s good for the readers. I just wish the coloring was better, there are three colorists on it and it came out about a month late so I think there were some behind the scenes problems. Still, Simon Furman’s story rocks.

VIRGIN COMICS
India Authentic #12 – Swapnil Singh provides the art on the issue focusing on Andhaka, the third son of Shiva. The art is a little cartoony, but it is possibly my favorite because the movements and poses are so fluidly smooth. Good tale, too, though I’m going to have to learn to read Deepak Chopra’s introductions after the issue instead of before.