Mortlake on the Schuylkill

All-Star Superman #1 (Morrison and Quitely), DC

I enjoyed Morrison's compressed story-line. He assumes we know the backstory and will be smart enough to put together those threads he doesn't tie up for us. Some marvelous images here, and the penultimate panel skillfully brings the issue to a close on the best possible note.

Birds Of Prey #88 (Simone; Bennett and Jadson), DC

The Calculator's henchmen torture Savant for Oracle's identity; Dinah and Ollie carry out a mission together; Helena is made a capo; Barbara seems to be opening up to the world. I read this title for the characters, and Simone is developing them and their relationships nicely. I still haven't forgiven Savant for his mistreatment of Dinah way back in issues #59-60 (gratuitous leg-breakings were involved). I might accept that he's reformed and worth idenitfying with if, in the face of his present difficulties, he protects Barbara's secret identity.

Sea of Red #6 (Remender; Dwyer and Sam), Image

A return to form after the previous exposition-laden morass. Everything we thought we knew about three of the central characters gets turned on its head. I like the paths that all of the new information opens up for future developments.

X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 (Brubaker; Hairsine; Justice), Marvel

Brubaker's exploration into the origin-time of the All New All Different X-Men feels right, and I look forward to seeing where he will go next. Reading (or re-reading) the Giant Size X-Men Annual #1 is essential. Hairsine's art is uneven, with some strong work interspersed with some wretchedly poor images. There's a panel showing Nightcrawler looking at a picture of the team from the good old days that is miserably executed. The lapses are especially noticeable because Brubaker's fine story should be matched by exemplary artwork.

Craig Thompson, Blankets: An Illustrated Novel, (Top Shelf, 2004)
X-Force volume 1: New Beginnings (Milligan and Allred), Marvel TPB
X-Statix volume 3: Back From the Dead (Milligan and Allred), Marvel TPB