This post is late. This post is beyond late. In fact, I'm actually writing it on a Tuesday and back dating it for Saturday just so I don't mess up my naming convention. To add a little more fuel on the lateness fire, this post consists of comics for last week and the week prior. I spent some time in New Jersey recently, and it forced me to put my mail on hold until I got back to Virginia.

Since I'm so late, let's just get to the pull list and commentary then...

• Superman #693: I like Mon-El, so I'm anxious to see him in the JLA soon, but this issue pretty much sums up most of what's wrong with James Robinson's writing and the entire New Krypton storyline. We're allowed a look inside Project 7734, but not really. it doesn't show us much. Mon-El is tortured, but then is helped by the Parasite to escape. Once Mon-El breaks through to the other side of a portal, General Lane's headquarters is in ruins due to Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Mon-El then leaves to be a hero again.

  What? First of all, not only do we have to buy four monthly titles to read this giant crossover, but a key turning point (Luthor and Brainiac escaping) isn't even in those books. It was in Adventure Comics. This issue did nothing to further along the story. It just allowed Mon-El to escape and acted as yet more filler. Argh!

• Superman: Secret Origin #2: This book is really just a Cliff's Notes of Superman's origin. It cleans up some stuff, but mostly acts as a reference. I like it a lot, but I dislike the handling of a young Lex Luthor. Lex has always been a prideful tragic villain. This take on him turns him into an evil bratty child bent on world domination. Geoff Johns seems to losing some of his comic genius mojo.

• Blackest Night #4:Speaking of Johns losing his mojo, we come to Blackest Night, which has pretty much done nothing in four issues. The first issue was great and shocking, but the story hasn't really progressed any since then. This issue introduces Nekron as the main bad guy, but after four issues of space zombies and fights, it really didn't move the story along much. It seems like all Johns is doing is reintroducing heroes he likes to the world - such as the Atom and Mera. I'm not really sure where this is headed.

• Green Lantern #47: Johns does much better in the GL book. In this issue we get some of the color guard together to battle Black Lanterns on Korugar, including zombie versions of Abin Sur and his sister. This story is much better than the main Blackest Night arc because of the actual emotion involved.

• New Avengers #58: If ever there was a misleading cover in comic books, it's this one. I was expecting the return of the Hood in all his glory to reclaim his criminal empire. Instead, we get more Dark Avengers and the attempted surgery of Luke Cage. I feel this series has been lagging as Bendis gears up for Siege.

• Nova #30: This book has had its ups and downs, but thirty issues into it and I'll be honest... it hasn't really lost its novelty. Most of the stories are still fresh. In fact, last issue I complained about turning Ego bad already, since I really thought the writers kept dragging out the last "Ego takes over Worldmind" storyline. However, the writers have learned from their mistakes as this issue quickly concludes a second attempt by Ego. This book is fun space cop fare at it's best.

• Guardians of the Galaxy #19: This issue was horrible from just about every angle. They cleaned up a horribly convoluted storyline by using time travel, a cosmic cube and killing off a bunch of characters. It brought a lame end to a terrible arc, and as a result, it's been dropped from my pull list. Maybe I'll grab the trades if it starts to pick up again.

• Superman: World of New Krypton #9: This series has been pointless.

• Captain America: Reborn #4: Cap skipping through time finally ends, and the Red Skull's plans succeed. Next issue is going to be very interesting.

• Nova #31: Nova one week after the other? I'll take it. This issue was even better than the last with Darkhawk guest-starring in the aftermath of War of Kings. It leaves a hell of a cliffhanger too.

• Doctor Voodoo #2:People. Buy this book. The first two issues have been phenomenal. Finally we get some magic back into the Marvel universe.