It'd be wildly incorrect to say Cap hasn't had a good run since Brubaker. In truth, Cap's remained largely well served over the years, but I would argue he hasn't had a run *this* good since Brubaker. However you want to rank it though, the fact is Zdarsky is tearing it up on this book right now.

It's impossible to read this issue and not resent the corporate fuckery of Disney unceremoniously letting editor Devin Lewis go. But as far as what's on the page, MacKay, Devmalya Pramanik, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and co are still putting out arguably the best superhero comic on the stands.

The antagonism between Norman and his young pupils leads to some amusing exchanges, and I appreciate that this immediately jumps on a thread left by this week's ASM, making it feel pertinent to what's going on in the main title, rather than just a mini that may be mostly superfluous.

I continue to be happy with the fact that Marvel keeps resisting the urge to turn Norman bad again, instead allowing the sins free Norman to keep growing as a character. This mini gets off to a great start, with Norman coming in hot in his efforts to train the young Spider crew.

This was a cool crossover, one that looks to have some intriguing ramifications on upcoming storylines. I expect the ramp up to issue #1000 is going to fun. Kelly is slam dunking his way through this run.

Joe Kelly, along with Ed McGuinness and Carlos Gomez, sticks the landing nicely on Death Spiral. As a reader, I assumed that the identity of Torment might turn out to be a big reveal, but no, that isn't the case. But I liked his unique psychology and methodology, as well as his snazzy threads.

Worth the cover price just for Dan Slott and Marcos Martin's story, which is absolutely pristine, with the rest of the issue being top notch as well. A lot of care went into this, and it shows. I hope we don't go too long before another Marvel/DC crossover happens. These have been great fun.

In its own way, this take on the Dark Knight is every bit as comical and campy as the Adam West Batman. But because Scott Snyder and co never wink at the reader, instead playing every over the top moment as high drama, it works. The joy of this book is that it never concedes that it's preposterous.

The supreme, straight faced silliness of AB keeps rolling on, with a major death, and new villain intro taking place here. Nick Dragotta is back on interiors and it looks spectacular. As it has from the start, this book keeps walking the line of being both deathly serious and a parody of itself.

Writer Tim Seeley continues to put this messy murder squad through their paces, with the surprise last page appearance of a classic X foe promising an interesting continuation next issue.

I gotta say, it's a little bit of a letdown that regular artist Michael Sta. Maria is off this issue. Philip Tan is excellent in his own right but I say a lot of the appeal and personality of this book has been tied to the look that Sta. Maria established. That said, this is still a solid issue.

Continued thumbs up for this fun mini, with writer Josh Trujillo's clear affection for both Marvel's First Family and the OG PotA on full display. Andrea Di Vito's art is a perfect match, nailing the look of the FF and classic Apes. I just hope that there'll be more Marvel/Apes crossovers to come.

Nothing quite as gloriously nuts as last issue's chestburster homage, but still fun. It also has maybe my favorite line of the week as when, for the sake of the universe, Doom is compelled to enter the fray, and he sneers at the fact that Reed Richards "couldn't handle a single robust lizard."

Artist Ig Guara does a fine job on this issue, but I do hope that Javier Garron isn't done with this mini. I really would love to see him return and finish it. But in regards to this issue, more insane kaiju action is on the menu, with Gerry Duggan concocting more over the top, outlandish scenarios.

Solid end to this series. The highlight throughout has been the moody art of Alessandro Cappuccio and his pages in this finale, bringing Chris Condon's tough, terse script to life, don't disappoint.

Writer Ashley Allen and artist German Peralta continue to do right by Illyana, and the sibling dynamics that come with involving Pitor work well. I bet Marvel will do another Magik mini after this, to (sigh) get that new #1 boost again, but if it's gonna involve this same creative team, I'm in.

X-Men United may have been a bust for me this week, but this was a satisfying slice of mutant action. It's slightly irritating that this had to be relaunched with a new title rather than continue as Magik, but whatever. What matters is what's between the covers, and on that count, this is very good.

I do hope others are enjoying this more than I am, but my gut feeling is that this is going to have a short run. Again, what a shame that more people didn't support Exceptional. It was a cool book.

I don't know if it's due to the difficulty that comes with handling a sprawling cast, or if Ewing is just writing characters that she doesn't have a feel for, but everything feels so clunky and unnatural. Whatever the case, I'm not digging it. Maybe that's an outlier opinion, I don't know.

Exceptional X-Men was one of my favorite titles in the FTA era, so I was bummed it got canceled. It's doubly sad that Ewing's new X title isn't anywhere near the league of Exceptional. Ewing had such a wonderful handle on Exceptional's small cast of characters. Here, not so much.

Whatever the case, this has been a fun arc. Looking forward to seeing how it wraps up in next week's ASM, and whether we'll finally find out who's behind that Torment mask. Some guy, probably, if I had to make a guess.

Charles Soule scripts this chapter, with Javier Pina on art, which indicates that this originally was meant to be another DS tie-in with the now canceled Carnage title. It makes me wonder if that book hadn't been canceled if it would've served to lay more advance groundwork for DS and Torment.

Strong penultimate chapter for DS, dominated by the newly minted but doomed to fail partnership between Carnage and Torment. The psychology of Torment, with his obsession with order, makes him an intriguing villain, and the mutual irritation between Carnage and Torment makes for an amusing dynamic.

I love Jed MacKay's X-Men, and I'm stoked at the prospect of him writing the FF. And on top of that, MacKay's Blood Hunt was one of the best recent Marvel events, so everything about this sounds cool.

This annual has all the heart that's characterized Simone's Uncanny run, and it also expands on the lore of Haven House. Thumbs up for the outstanding art by Francesco Mortarino (w/ inker Elisabetta D'Amico). I loved Mortarino's work on NYX, so I'm happy to see him still in the mutant end of things.

I like that the emphasis is on these characters forming a found family and more often simply fighting to defend their new home than being on the frontlines of defending mutantkind as a whole. And the art is consistently some of the best in comics, with Luciano Vecchio on this issue.

The more this run goes on, and the more Gail Simone digs into these characters, the more I love it. It's found a good groove, leaning into the soap opera aspects of the X-Men. Much heavier on personal drama and angst than adjectiveless X-Men is, esp with all the emotional tumult of its younger cast.

Williamson just gets Tony and is able to give this a classic IM feel, while still charting new territory, and Carnero has the perfect style to pair with him. Shout out to the unexpected, and pretty damn neat, fusion of Mysterio tech and Iron Man armor that we briefly get in this issue.

Some characters are lucky to have one banger run after another. Others, not so much. Iron Man sadly falls into the "not so much" category, so when a creative team lands on this book and instantly locks in like Joshua Williamson and Carmen Carnero have, it feels special. Man, these two are cooking.

Ewing has been ingenious in giving Sigurd wins against these foes that feel earned and not like narrative cheats, and the book has looked gorgeous throughout thanks to primary interior artist Pasqual Ferry. And every one of Alex Ross' covers has been a keeper.