So you are DC Comics. You’ve just signed Mark Bagley to an exclusive contract, which gives you access to quite possibly the speediest and most reliable artist in the industry. You have a recent history of putting out weekly comics. What do you do?

It’s obvious. Put him on your next weekly series with a very talented writer in your stable by the name of Kurt Busiek, and make the weekly about your biggest three characters; Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. And name it Trinity.

And lo, that is exactly what’s happening. Says Busiek:

‘52’ came out of ‘Infinite Crisis’ and itself was a repercussion of a big crossover. ‘Countdown’ is leading into a big crossover. Each time DC does a weekly, they want to do it differently. ‘52’ was about a world without the heroes, ‘Countdown to Final Crisis’ is building up to an event about the heroes and ‘Trinity’ is about the heroes. Front and center.

Jonah Hex. A hideously scarred bounty hunter, Hex is pretty much the epitome of the hard-bitten bad-ass cowboy all us kids wanted to be when we grew up.

Well, I did. Minus cutting out people’s tongues and the torture that got him where he is now.

Hex is not a nice man; if you’ve done wrong, he’ll come after you — if someone cares enough to pay him. With no bounty on your head, it’s fine — but if someone wants to pay, you’re as good as dead.

This issue isn’t the best in the series — with Hex’s format being one-and-done (for the majority of the run) this one isn’t a great one for story; but it is a good one for giving a taste of the character himself. A who-gives-a-damn fellow who would as much as spit on you as look at you.

Read this one; if you don’t like it don’t buy it — but keep a lookout for Jonah Hex in future weeks. There’s always some entertainment between the covers.

Not a big fan of the Justice Society. I’m not one that holds the Golden Age of Comics in reverential awe; but a few characters stick out and grab my attention.  Hourman is one of them.

So when I saw this issue of JSA Classified featuring Hourman, I had to pick it up.

Hourman is pretty much a unique concept — he pops a pill and gets the generic superpower battery for 60 minutes. One a day plus Zinc has nothing on his Miraclo.  I like the fact he has to be judicious when he takes ‘em, although it’s a bit sketchy on whether it’s a 24-hour timer or if it’s just “the next day” — but really, that kind of nitpicking I leave for the Simpsons Comic Book Guy.

This issue deals with Hourman rescuing his wife; the rest of the JSA is off battling evil or golfing or something, and Liberty Belle and Hourman decided to have a working vacation — but then Belle got kidnapped. So off to the rescue goes Hourman, but he only has an hour.

The powerset applies itself to the medium perfectly — the use of (mostly) nine-panel pages gives the book a sense of urgency, and the fact that I dig Hourman means that I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Of course the other books in the series that I’ve read have been quite shit.  So pick and choose.

Get thee hence and pick up the trades of Y: The Last Man.

Don’t argue, just do it.

Brian K. Vaughn is one of the more underrated scribes working the comic beat today (even though he does write for a little TV show called LOST you may have heard of). His Doctor Strange: The Oath is, in my mind, the definitive spin on the good doctor, and he created one of the best properties for Marvel since Cable and Deadpool rolled out in the 90’s: The Runaways.

Those things? They pale to the epicness of Y: The Last Man. It is what it says, Yorick is the last known male alive on planet Earth, and the book ostensibly is about his searching for his girlfriend-slash-fiancee in the aftermath.

There’s pitfalls, romance, intrigue, action — just about everything you could want in a story.

So go read it.

After 52 and World War III, when DC announced that there was going to be a 6-issue miniseries featuring Black Adam, I was skeptical.

This is a guy that killed a country. A country. Killed it stone dead. Almost every man, woman and child within the country died because of this man. Regardless of the reasons, it takes some balls to make Teth-Adam the focus of a miniseries.

The miniseries deals with Black Adam’s quest to return the love of his life, Isis, back to the land of the living. Really, that’s touching; but Kandaq is dead. There are some good character moments within — if you can get past the whole mass-murderer thing, this would be a good comic. Ignore 52 and WWIII and it’s rather enjoyable.

The reveal of Black Adam’s new word is priceless. I did like that. Won’t spoil it for you. (And for those that don’t know, Black Adam is one of the Marvel Family group of enemies. DC’s Captain Marvel everyone knows as Shazam, Mary Marvel, etc. They have a magic word that they say to transform into their powered state. The word to this point has been Shazam – but Captain Marvel changed Black Adam’s after the Kandaq thing).

Get the trade — there’s some good bits, and a betrayal at the end that would make you feel sorry for Adam . . . if he wasn’t, y’know, a genocidal freak.

Superman Prime. Apparently was “Superboy Prime” until something to do with a lawsuit from the creators of the character.

I haven’t quite figured out what makes him so much more badass than the other Supes out there. This is the guy that reality-punched his way through the last Crisis; this is the one that received a Sinestro Ring, and kept most of Earth’s heroes tied up — hell, he was winning!

Anyway, Prime and Monarch are going at it in this week’s issue of Countdown to Final Crisis – there’s some good bits in here: Jason Todd getting a costume, Donna Troy becoming a Queen of sorts; Monarch and Prime throwing down — this could very well be my favorite issue of Countdown yet.

The Sinestro Corps War has started me reading the Green Lantern books. And they are quite enjoyable, the Green Lantern book and the Green Lantern Corps book — the “base” book, Green Lantern, has Hal and John as the two Lanterns we follow; and in this issue, John makes a very important choice.

Seems the Lanterns are having a bit too much freedom now that there is a license to kill with one of those Power Rings; so the Guardians figure that creating the Alpha Corps – a cosmic internal affairs division – will set things right.

Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to work as well as they think it will. But I’ll be along for the ride; this is well worth the money spent.

Here’s some titles I think you should try out. These books aren’t getting the love in the sales column, and they really should. Some of the books have been written about here on The Bleed, some haven’t (but are on The List).  The following are in no particular order:  Note: This will only mention series that are still releasing issues. Some of the books from the past few months that I’ve gushed over will not be included because of that caveat, like Potter’s Field.

1. Atomic Robo - Red 5
2. Fall of Cthulhu - BOOM!
3. Criminal - Icon
4. She-Hulk - Marvel
5. Clockwork Girl - Arcana Studio
6. Hybrid Bastards! - Archaia Studios Press
7. Dan Dare - Virgin Comics
8. G.I. Joe - Devil’s Due Publishing
9. Blue Beetle - DC
10. Immortal Iron Fist - Marvel (Yes, I know. But this is a title that needs to be #1).

I remember the Authority.  I remember when Warren Ellis brought the team out of Stormwatch, bringing the Wildstorm imprint a superhero team with a twist.

I remember when Mark Millar brought a sense of irreverence to the team; having them fight authority and the status quo when necessary. I also remember the censorship that Millar’s run suffered under.

Both of those runs were brilliant examples of what comics could be.

Now? The Authority is just a shell; a reminder of what was a great comic series, drug out past it’s prime like a stripteasing Elizabeth Taylor.

Shadowpact, along with Blue Beetle, are two of the better DC comics out there (that I’ve found — still working on my knowledge of the DC universe). Like the Blue Beetle, it has a small readership. Also like the Blue Beetle, it’s a lot of fun to read.

This issue (#20 for those keeping track at home) is probably not the best to start up buying it on — Blue Devil is in hell fighting for redemption, Nightshade, Ragman and Nightmaster are in what is (apparently) a shadow dimension trying to find their way home. Detective Chimp, Zauriel, and Enchantress are nowhere to be seen.

Although a bit confusing for a first time reader, the issue is entertaining. Nightshade flirting with Ragman, Nightmaster finding out new ways to use his sword (called the Nightblade, natch) and Blue Devil finding an apparently long-lost companion in a very weird bit.

I recommend this title, but maybe not this issue, if that makes sense. I’ll pick it up when a new arc starts, maybe it’ll be a bit more comprehensible.