I great week of books.  The summer event Blackest Night finally officially starts and some of the best books out there all come out this week.

Monthly Comics

Agents of Atlas #8 – The team takes on the Hulk as Woo and M-11 go on some quest.  I just don’t think this series is my cup of tea.  To the drop pile it goes.

Blackest Night #1 – The War of Light rages on as the Blackest Night falls upon the universe and the Black Lanterns rise.  This looks like THE must read of the summer.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps. #1 – Some interesting background and introduction to some of the members of the Blue and Yellow Lanterns as well as the Orange Lantern.  We also get the first glimpse of the Indigo Lantern.  A good introduction for folks new to Blackest Night and some new info for the vets.

Captain America #601 – Another “retro” tale of Bucky and Caps time during World War II.  Pretty decent story.

Dark Avengers #7 – The Dark X-Men take on the rioters as the Dark Avengers sit around and cry about lack of action.  Emma begins to question Norman’s real intentions as more is revealed as to what those exactly are.

Dark Reign: Mr. Negative #2 – Mr. Negative takes on the Hood’s gang.  I think this is a 3 issue limited series that really could of been done in 2.5 or 2 issues.  It is kind of fun to see a “negative” Spider-man.  Overall, not bad, but not great.

Deadpool #12 – Hawkeye/Bullseye vs. Deadpool, what’s not to like?  Also with an ending that comes out of nowhere.  Always a fun series.

DMZ #43 – How does a man deal with the death of his family in the middle of the DMZ?  Brian Wood explores, love, loss, and revenge in this second part of a three issue arc.

Fables #86 – Now that the “Great Fables Crossover” is done with we can move onto the promising storyline being set up involving Mr. Dark.  This issue tells us his story and introduces us to the Boxers.  The series quickly bounces back from the poor writing that was the previous crossover.

Incognito #5 – Xander and Ava make a run for it.  A decent series, but it doesn’t quite feel like it holds up to Brubaker’s other works.  Still better than a lot of what’s out there.

the Mighty Avengers #27 – The team checks out their new headquarters as USAgent and Quicksilver hang out in China and evaluate the latest threat.

New Mutants #3 – The newest series re-introduced into the “X” family of comics is off to a much quicker start then other recent launches, referencing just enough canon to help satiate the die-hards but not becoming too bogged down for the newly introduced.  The team takes on Legion and his many personalities.  So far so good.

Punisher #7 – A bunch of D-list super villains are back and gunning for the Punisher.  I think the best thing about Dark Reign is it’s focus on the villains that have lurked in the background for so long.

Timestorm 2009 – 2099 #3 – This has been a fun mini-series for those of us who remember the original Marvel 2099 line.  If you weren’t a fan of the original line, not sure how much you’d enjoy this.

the Unwritten #2 and #3 – This new series holds up to it’s first issue as fantasy and real life are woven together in this fantastic story.  I’d imagine when this is over thesis can be written about it’s layers.  For fans of literary history of Mary Shelley, John Milton and the Villa Diodati, this is a must read.

the Walking Dead #63 – Wow, just when you think Kirkman couldn’t get any more twisted.  This tail of survivors of a zombie apocalypse takes a turn as we learn maybe zombies aren’t the worst things out there.

X-Factor #46 – Peter David keeps putting out one of the best “X” books on the market.  He’s weaving an interesting tale tied into somewhat established “X-Men” continuity and history without it being forced. He fills each issue with just enough surprises and teasers to get you to keep coming back for more.

X-Men Forever #1 – I have the second and third issue sitting around and I’ve been waiting for this second printing to finally hit the shelf.  Now I can read them and decide for myself.

Graphic Novels

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? – A tribute to the death of Bruce Wayne/Batman (not that it’ll last long).  I’ve read a lot of praise for the couple of issues this graphic novel collects.  I figured I’d give it a shot.