THE WEEK (JAN 23-29, 2013)

FEATURED REVIEW
Young Avengers #1
(Gillen, McKelvie)

Ever since Marvel announced that Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were taking the reigns on a new volume of Young Avengers, I've basically been hoarding any and all info concerning the new series because the Young Avengers is my favorite superhero team ever. I own all the original 12 issues, I've read every crossover and tie-in there's been, and I waited and waited for Avengers: The Children's Crusade to finish up. Now, Gillen and McKelvie are taking Young Avengers in an exciting new direction that -- if it's anything like Phonogram -- is going to be AMAZING.

REVIEWS

Avengers #3
(Hickman, Epting)

Captain America continues his mission to gather his Avengers recruits for an assault on Mars against Ex Nihilo to free their fellow heroes. Jonathan Hickman's concept-saturated Avengers stories already have a lot of readers scratching their heads...in a good way!

Before Watchmen: Minutemen #6 of 6
(Cooke, et al.)

I stopped reviewing all the other Before Watchmen mini-series because, to be honest, none of them had a lot of staying power. While the first few issues of each series were mostly enjoyable (except for Comedian, which has been a train wreck the whole time), they've slipped and fell into 'filler issue' territory. Darwyn Cooke's Minutemen is the exception to the rule, as Cooke's fantastic art style and nuanced writing have made this series immaculate. 

FF #3
(Fraction, Allred)

I love this series. You should love it as well. Matt Fraction and Mike Allred take readers on a journey to discover why a mysterious messenger has brought a message of the Fantastic Four's demise!

Green Lantern #16
(Johns, Mahnke)

Even though none of the "Rise of the Third Army" tie-in issues have featured a whole lot of the eponymous Third Army, Green Lantern has been the most enjoyable series through this GL-crossover, as Geoff Johns' Simon Baz has proved to be one of the most interesting new superheroes in a long time. 

Justice League #16
(Johns, Reis, Prado)

"Throne of Atlantis" continues this week. It's pretty much obvious that Ocean Master is manipulating everything, right? Then again, Johns has a way of making readers believe what he'd like us to see up until the twist.

Uncanny Avengers #3
(Remender, Cassaday)

Finally, finally, we get Uncanny Avengers #3 nearly two months late. It's unfortunate that such a great series -- which is still considered the flagship 'Marvel NOW!' title, I'm assuming -- continues to have such a broken release schedule. To be honest, I nearly forgot it was coming out this week, and I had to go back and reread the first two issues to make sure I knew what was going on. Other than the weird releases, Uncanny Avengers #3 looks like it's going to be a turning point in this first arc.

Extra! Extra!

Green Lantern Corps #16
(Tomasi, Pasarin)

Red Hood and The Outlaws #16
(Lobdell, TBA)

Supergirl #16
(Johnson, Asrar)

Uncanny X-Force #1
(Humphries, Garney)

Wonder Woman #16
(Azzarello, Chiang)