NB of the Week

Another small week brings about another run of the crops.

All-New X-Factor #1
Peter David returns to the Title of X-Factor but in a very different form. Having bought the name from Madrox, Serval Industries has made itself a superteam whose only purpose is to protect the company and it's interests. To start, that means stopping a group from experimenting on other mutants. Serval may claim to want to help people, but you already know ulterior motives are buried under it all.

Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man #3
Though the writing was great and the art was fantastic, this mini proved to be mostly unnecessary as not much with Galactus actually happened. Destruction everywhere and Miles' dad now knows he's Spider-Man (a big deal in itself but it doesn't help the Galactus story), but that's it. It ends leading into the main Cataclysm mini.

Earth 2 #19

On the Superman front, he reveals himself to the world as he uses the Washington Monument to destroy the White House. On the Batman front, his group find a hidden alien under the prison's floor. As they get to the secret room, they find a young boy (maybe teens). After he falls ill, Batman figures it's because of the Kryptonite he has. The boy is Kryptonian (Superboy?).

Cataclysm: the Ultimate Last Stand #3
Miles and Evil Reed (as they're calling him now that they are sending them to out Good Reed) enter the regular Marvel Universe and the Baxter Building to try and figure out how to stop Galactus. After Valeria walks in and realizes Evil Reed isn't her dad, she sends the two running back home. They didn't find what they wanted but Evil Reed, after seeing his other life and the daughter he doesn't have, begins to see the errors of his ways.

Savage Wolverine #14/#14.NOW/#1
Yes, all of those numbers are on the cover but this is the next issue and not a relaunch. Richard Isanove takes over as writer and artist for what may the best written story so far. Prohibition era Wolverine has friends that consider him family but what French mobsters (if there is such a thing) want his friends to shut down their store (which sells liquor) and they refuse, murder follows. And when friends of Wolverine are gunned down, the shit is about to hit the fan. Great, albeit cliched, story and amazing art. This was a great start to a new story in Wolverine's history.

100 Bullets: Brother Lono #7
Speaking of shit hitting the fan, if there's one thing you don't want to do to a character in Azzarello's 100 Bullets, it's piss them off. In this issue's case, that also includes torturing Lono (with such tactics as peppers in the eyes and pulling fingernails). Second to last issue and I can't wait to see how bloody it all ends and I can't wait to count the bodies Lono leaves behind.