Back to work and backed up already.  That’s right: I’m man enough to admit it: I’ve got comic book constipation.

• God Is Dead #1 (A gaggle of gluttonous gods looking to gang rape Mother Earth?  Avatar, the comic book equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah, gives Jonathan Hickman carte blanche and he wastes no time turning it rouge.  What’s not to like about this one?)
• Shadowman #10 (Excellent origin story.)
• Satellite Sam #3 (Fraction gets even sexier this time around, and Chaykin’s clearly up for it!  The latter’s art is spectacular, with plenty of layouts to shout about!  A real clinic in visual storytelling.)

• Quantum and Woody #3 (Goofy silly just got goofy good.  It’s the new E.R.A.: Edison’s Radical Acquisitions.  Now, there’s a movement I can get behind!)
• Trillium #2 (A fantastic follow-up to a near flawless first issue.  In fact, Lemire’s storytelling’s even stronger here: the art’s pure magic; and the spell, this time, spills over to the dialogue.)

• Uber #5 (The war ain’t lookin’ so good after the battle between H.M.H Colossus and Battleship Sieglinde, is it? (Unless you’re rooting for the Nazis, of course.)  The book, however, is lookin’ good and is reading even better–especially during the stretches of wild, wordless action.)
• Hit #1 (Surprisingly good.  Sure, it’s similar to Ennis’s Red Team; but it’s not mired in moral meditation and it’s boiled a bit harder.)

• Sheltered #3 (Brisson’s not taking any breaks and certainly isn’t cutting Victoria any, eh?)
• X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 (Not very good.  Probably unnecessary.)
• All-New X-Men #16 (Ugh.  I think I’m just about done.)
• The Mocking Dead #1 (Initially passed on it, but DerekNerd thought I should give it a shot, specifically because Fred Van Lente’s been hitting the mark every month over on Archer & Armstrong.  Well, DerekNerd was right–again!  This satirical send-up is irreverent as hell and lots of fun; and it proves one thing above all: no one–no institution–is safe from zombies Fred Van Lente!
• Deathmatch #9 (Boy, and I thought Jenkins killed it with #8.  He kicks it up a notch with a heartbreaking match between Melody Toon and Manchurian, who pulls the “trigger phrase” when he has to.  Oh, and he follows that up with a fight that doesn’t end like all the rest.  You are reading this, right?)

• Codename Action #1 (Interesting premise.  Worth a second go-round.)

Turning pages,

Scott