Also this week...

AGENTS OF ATLAS #2 - Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk continue their unexpectedly enjoyable romp with the D-list 1950s characters.  There's a lot of "Here's how this fits into continuity" stuff which won't appeal to everyone.  But then again, if you're in the market for a story bringing back the original Marvel Boy, you're probably the sort of person who wants to reconcile it with his apparent death in Fantastic Four several decades ago.  Incorporating it into the plot is the right approach for this book's audience.  Parker also recaps the Gorilla-Man's frankly ludicrous origin story and actually manages to pull it off, which is an indication of how the book has managed to walk a fine line between revelling in absurdity and keeping up its mystery plot.  Fun.  B+

UNCANNY X-MEN #478 - Part 4 of Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan's 12-part "Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire", and it's increasingly clear that Brubaker has given a lot of thought to striking a balance between the decompression demands of the trade, and the monthly format.  The result is a story where the overreaching plot is moving rather slowly, but there's plenty of incident along the way to ensure that each issue tells a satisfying story in its own right.  This may sound like an obvious solution to the problem, and perhaps it is, but it's a pleasure to see somebody actually doing it, and making it work.  I confess that I'm not particularly bothered about the fate of the Shi'ar Empire, which has never particularly engaged me.  But the story is still delivering consistently entertaining little stories each month, so even if the bigger picture doesn't much thrill me, the monthly still holds my interest.  B+

There's more from me at If Destroyed, and if you're desperate for more Article 10 columns, you can always hunt through the archives on Ninth Art.

Next week, the Magician arc concludes in Ultimate X-Men #74 (a mere two weeks after they gave away the ending in this year's annual - and no, it's not running late).  Wolverine: Origins #6 begins a new arc with Omega Red and Jubilee.  In Chris Claremont's continued absence, there's more water-treading in Exiles #86 and New Excalibur #2.  And the utterly superfluous Claws miniseries ships its second issue.

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