Hello ladies and gents! Here’s my picks for this week’s comics. I picked up:

• Sweet Tooth #22 (Vertigo, Jeff Lemire)
• Superboy #8 (DC, Jeff Lemire)
• Secret Six #34 (DC, Gail Simone)
• Avengers Academy #14.1 (Marvel, Christos Gage)
• Fear Itself #3 (Marvel, Matt Fraction)
• Amazing Spider-Man #663 (Marvel, Dan Slott)

Good haul this week; I don’t really like Marvel’s “.1” series of issues, but I picked up Avengers Academy for completion’s sake, and because I’m really liking this series. Fear Itself surprised me with some twists, but Secret Six was definitely this week’s pick. Check it out!

Here’s the reviews I did for ComicVine for four of the above issues. Spoilers abound, people!

Fear Itself #3

I’ve been reviewing Fear Itself since issue one, so I’ve had a little bit of time to absorb this series as a whole. This issue surprised the hell out of me due to the fact that the story’s actually getting somewhere, instead of relying on more set-up. Fear Itself is actually interesting me now, as opposed to just going through the crossover motions.

I really like how Fraction’s split up the story, using the Avengers as the “action” and Thor as the “story”, if you will. Thor getting to the bottom of the Serpent makes sense because of its ties to Asgard; hopefully the story will merge soon.

Secret Six #34

For me, the highlight of this issue was Bane’s “date”. Recounting his origin while at a carnival with his new beau just seemed a bit ironic: Bane never had a normal childhood, so showing him in a place of fun just serves to underscore how abnormal he really is. Dispatching a group of thugs while taking a butterfly knife to the hand is definitely one way to impress your date, and I wish Bane a fun time “mating.” I’d expect similar treatment if any of you took a knife for your date.

Well, maybe not on the first time out.

Superboy #8

I really like the Phantom Stranger, and seeing him assert his power over Psionic Lad was kind of a treat. I think people forget ust how much of a big deal this guy is, and an appearance by him usually signals something much larger on the horizon. Having him serve as the guidance to Superboy and his teen pals in this issue adds credibility to the threat at hand; he’s like Uatu in that respect. When he shows up, you know stuff is about to go down.

I like that they’ve called back to events of the first two issues that were previously left hanging. I know that they were going to come back eventually, but seeing them tied up and referenced to (with the “Editors Note” boxes, even!) was a good move.

Sweet Tooth #22

When I reviewed Sweet Tooth’s last issue, I said that it was a little too unbelievable that the gang has found somewhere safe to ride out the rest of the crazyness that’s consumed the Earth. It seemed a little too convenient that they’d find somewhere with food, shelter, electricity and running water that happened to be secure, as well.

This issue goes into that feeling, which is shared by some of the characters. After Gus and Jeppard’s bear fight in the last issue, they catch up with the rest of the gang and immediately question the fortunate situation they’ve found themselves in - with good reason.

Be sure to check them out, comment here if you like them, and follow me on Twitter. Thanks, readers!