Also this week, plenty of first issues that I don't have time to review in full...

HERCULES #1 - A five-issue miniseries from Frank Tieri and Mark Texeira.  Set to be another of those books that gets released with minimal publicity and is quietly forgotten about, but it's actually not bad at all.  Hercules has signed up to do a reality TV show re-enacting the twelve labours, and the producers are planning to screw him over.  Meanwhile, his arch-enemy from the Greek myths turns up to annoy him, which is at least an eminently logical choice.  Texeira's art is a good match for the character, and it's all quite good fun.  B

OMAC PROJECT #1 - The first of many, many Infinite Crisis tie-ins, and it really reads more like Countdown to Infinite Crisis #2.  Apparently Checkmate has gone bad, which I'm sure would mean something to me if I had any idea what Checkmate was in the first place.  A minor Batman character is greatly perturbed by this, and various people react to the death or disappearance (depending on their point of view) of Blue Beetle.  Frankly, as somebody with only a tenuous grasp on DC continuity, I haven't got a clue what's meant to be going on here.   C+

SEVEN SOLDIERS: KLARION #1 - One of the most obscure Seven Soldiers characters, Klarion The Witch Boy was a minor Demon character from the early 1970s.  This is, of course, a ground-up reinvention, with Klarion as one of a whole village of pleasant if slightly puritan witch people, who think it's perfectly natural to raise their dead and use them as farm labour, since it's a religious thing.  An exercise in world-building, and a very successful one at that.  Once again, the tie-ins to the other Seven Soldiers miniseries are there if you're looking for them, but aren't going to cause any problems to readers who don't want to bother with them.  Another excellent first issue.  A+

SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #27 - The final issue of the series, although since it's being replaced by Spider-Man: House of M and then again by the new Spider-Man book, it's perhaps a slightly strained definition of "final."  Anyhow, it's one of the single-issue character stories that Paul Jenkins did so well with before he was required to start writing six-part superhero stories and things went a bit downhill.  Fortunately, this is a real return to form for the final issue, with D'Israeli's colours bringing Mark Buckingham's art to life. It's very, very obviously been held back for four months while the dismal "Sins Remembered" was running - it's a Christmas story, for god's sake, and this is April!  But at least it allows this version of the book to go out on a real high.  A+

SPIDER-MAN: BREAKOUT #1 - Yet another New Avengers tie-in, in the renewed spirit of inter-title continuity which seems to have made a comeback of late.  This is the third Spider-Man title currently running a story tying in with New Avengers, the others being Amazing Spider-Man and Toxin, which might perhaps seem like overkill.  Anyhow, the tie-in is that after the prison breakout in New Avengers #2, some of the villains stay behind in New York to have a gang war.  Much better than it sounds, actually, since Tony Bedard is writing, and he's always at least readable.  There's a genuine story here about the villains, and while it really doesn't feel like a Spider-Man story - these guys aren't even from his rogue's gallery - it's nonetheless a solid superhero story.  B+

There's a new Article 10 on Monday at Ninth Art.

Next week, there's the delayed final issue of X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, which at least gets it off the books.  And there's also the final issue of X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong.  Meanwhile, the Wolverine: Soultaker and X-Force: Shatterstar miniseries continue, and Exiles #63 gets to be the only ongoing title for the week.

If you're feeling really generous and want to give Marvel some money in exchange for a glorified advert, there's also the House of M Sketchbook.  Personally, I won't be bothering.

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