THE WEEK (OCT 10-16, 2012)

Before I start, I want to just say how excited I am that Marvel is finally, finally, finally bringing back Young Avengers! Announced early on Tuesday, the second volume of the team's adventures will be written by Kieron Gillen of Uncanny X-Men and Journey Into Mystery. I absolutely loved the original run of YA, written by Alan Heinberg and drawn by Jim Cheung. The Young Avengers is hands-down my favorite superhero team, even when they were handed around Marvel's creative network like a village bicycle before returning to their creators' hands with The Children's Crusade. Seriously, if you haven't read any YA, do yourself a favor and read the original 12-issue run, the Presents series, and The Children's Crusade. You will not be sorry. And check out CBR's exclusive interview with Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie about their Young Avengers starting in January 2013.

Reviews
AvX: Consequences #1 of 5
(Gillen, Raney)
The fallout from Avengers vs. X-Men starts here! Even though Uncanny Avengers is also getting started this week, AvX: Consequences will act as a bridge between Marvel's main event this year, and 'Marvel NOW!' I'm ready to see what Kieron Gillen has in store for this first issue of this series, mostly because I want to read as much Kieron Gillen as I can before his Young Avengers run starts next year!

Green Lantern Corps #13
(Tomasi, CAFU)
"Rise of the Third Army" continues this week...there's not much to say about the whole event yet, because this will be only the second of 16 issues dedicated to the story. In Green Lantern #13, the soliders of the Third Army are only featured in a few panels, but that's okay because this even is about the RISE of the army and then the battle with the Green Lantern Corps. Peter J. Tomasi has not been impressing me as of late, so I'm interested to see where his branch of this crossover event will take us.

Superboy #13
(DeFalco, Silva, Lean)
Oh boy; Superboy is crossing over with The Ravagers. That might be the most boring hype-up I've ever seen. Both of these titles are so lacking in their current state, I cannot even begin to imagine the ridiculousness that will come from them crossing over. Wow. At least Kon-El will have to deal with Jocelyn Lure (the detective after Superboy who was instantly forgettable as soon as she was introduced) before heading off to find Caitlin Fairchild, so that might be something...

Team 7 #1
(Jordan, Merino)
I was impressed with last month's Team 7 #0, and I - like many other DC fans - want to know what's happened in the last five years between the emergence of superheroes and the current-day status quo. Team 7 is poised to give us a lot of cool confrontations and team-ups with various superheroes from all over the DCnU.

Dark Was The Knight
Batman #13
(Snyder, Capullo)
"Death of the Family" starts HERE! Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo kick off the five-month long epic return of the Joker to DC's 'New 52' universe. While most of the tie-in titles will get two or three months of crossover issues, Batman is gearing up for a full tale lasting the entirety of the event. Scott Snyder is a genius with Batman, and his "Death of the Family" will probably go down as one of the best Batman stories ever told. "The City of Owls" storyline is high up there, and the Joke is such a fascinating character that Snyder will definitely work wonders with this opportunity.

Batman and Robin #13
(Tomasi, Gleason, Gray)
The last arc of Batman and Robin was a big letdown, and last month's "Issue Zero" was just a rehash of Damian Wayne's life story. Peter J. Tomasi is very much dropping the ball with both of his helmed titles for DC right now, and Batman and Robin still has two months before it's "Death of the Family" crossover, so he's got some time to right the boat before delving into the Joker's madness.

Marvel NOW!

Uncanny Avengers #1

(Remender, Cassaday)

'Marvel NOW!' starts here! After the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Captain America sets up a new team, evenly populated by Avengers and X-Men. This is going to be the premier title from Marvel for a while, so I'm just glad it's Rick Remender taking the wheel. Plus, Havok is on the team. HAVOK! I know, I know...

Shadowy Happenings
Demon Knights #13
(Cornell, Chang)
The Demon Knights are down in Hell! Literally! Two months ago, Etrigan basically flipped a massive bird to the rest of his compatriots and transported them all down to Hell to answer to Lucifer. Of course, Jason Blood stays in Hell while Etrigan is on the mortal plane, so it will be interesting to see if they'll interact while the team is duking it out against the Devil.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #13
(Kindt, Ponticelli)
While Buddy Baker and Alec Holland are stuck in the realm of the Rot for a year, Frankenstein is battling the surge of Rot overtaking the planet! Frankenstein: AoS has been fantastic so far, and this crossover with Animal Man and Swamp Thing's "Rotworld" makes it even better. On top of all that, Franky is poised to join the Justice League Dark in upcoming issues.

The Phantom Stranger #1
(Didio, Anderson)
The Phantom Stranger strikes a deal with Demon Lord Trigon! And where there's Trigon, Raven will follow. Yes, it's the long-awaited reintroduction of Raven into the 'New 52' continuity! Recent interviews point to a Raven-centric, Teen Titans spin-off starting sometime next year, and this is where it will all begin!

Extra! Extra!
4-SENTENCE REVIEWS are no more, as they are being replaced by 'Extra! Extra!', the section of titles that don't get standard reviews and also don't fall into an specific category of new columns. This isn't to say that these issues are any less good (or bad, in some cases) than the titles featured under the standard REVIEW header, it just means that I found a way to more eloquently talk about them in four sentences better than I could in four paragraphs. It's lika a haiku - sometimes creativity comes out of restrictions.

Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan #2 of 4
(Straczynski, Higgins)

The First X-Men #3 of 5
(Adams, Gage)

The Ravagers #5
(Mackie, Churchill)