Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

The story of the Yellow Lanterns is the story of how a slew of plot devices and some incidental uses of color eventually coalesced over the course of decades and countless comic book writers into the Sinestro Corps and the War of Light.

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New Avengers/Transformers #1
written by Stuart Moore, art by Tyler Kirkham

This book, of course, will be awesome. Stuart Moore is an excellent writer. I’m not the biggest Kirkham fan, but the preview pages I’ve seen are just what’s needed for this book, so no complaints there. It features the New Avengers prior to Civil War, which means we get Captain America alive, Iron Man in pre-douchebag mode, and Spider-Man all running around on the same team. AND Transformers. And I think Doctor Doom is the Marvel villain that’ll be hanging out with Megatron, which should be utterly fantastic, as he may well be my favorite Marvel villain.

What better way to celebrate the new Transformers movie and the 4th of July (actually the 5th, since most shops should be closed tomorrow) than a book about giant robots hanging out with superheroes and supervillains? The answer of course is THERE IS NONE.

X-Men #200
Written by Mike Carey, art by Humberto Ramos & Chris Bachalo, cover by David Finch

Just look at that David Finch variant cover. Beautiful, no? I imagine that the gatefold variant we have showing will be wildly overpriced in your local shop, but if it’s not, that’s definitely the version I’d get.

As for the book itself, Mike Carey’s been writing some strong X-Men stories lately, if not as epic as Brubaker’s space opera in Uncanny. And with the arrival of last week’s Endangered Species crossover/prologue-to-the-real-crossover, this book is the big kickoff to not only that, but what may well be an important story for the upcoming fall crossover, Messiah CompleX. If you’re planning on following the X-stories for the next few months, this is a book you definitely don’t want to miss. And hopefully, if Carey’s previous work is a good indicator, we’ll even get some good storytelling out of it.

To be perfectly honest though, I really just want to own that cover. Awesome.

Tomorrow, the DC/Marvel juggernaut churns on with the final issue of the current Flash run (#13 – with promises of importance, for some reason), an issue of The Incredible Hulk, and so on… But the choice find of the week will be the Tick 20th Anniversary Special Edition #1. As we’ve mentioned before here at Powet, there’s a crapload of creators contributing 1 to 2 pages of material for the book, which should make it approximately 2,000 pages thick. Give or take.

I’m not going to bother saying anything more to push this. Any and all Tick fans – just keep an eye out for this one. Non-Tick fans – feel free to cover yourselves in chocolate and lie down on an anthill.

Boys #7
written by Garth Ennis, art by Darick Robertson

DON’T FORGET, NEW COMICS ON THURSDAY THIS WEEK.

So anyway, I think I’ve made it clear I’m not a big fan of this series. That said, there are a lot of people out there who ADORE this book, and I definitely don’t begrudge them that. There is, after all, a lot to like about this book. It takes a good hard look at what people do with power, and how people with superpowers might behave. And it thumbs its nose HARD at all such aspects.

What’s worth mentioning is that this book has been on a bit of a hiatus for the last few months because DC dropped it like it was on fire. Apparently they didn’t like the Superman analogue having a gerbil in his butt. Or something to that effect. Regardless, not only has the book begun again, but the trade of the first 6 issues is coming out on the exact same day, letting people get caught up with what’s already been released all in one fell swoop.

It’s a solid book, and honestly, if you can handle graphic violence and the sex, you might want to give this one a good try. You’re not likely to be disappointed.

Criminal #6
written by Ed Brubaker, art by Sean Phillips

Captain America #26 comes out this week, following up on his almighty death from last issue. Last week was the closing (of sorts) to the year-long “Rise & Fall of the Shi’ar Empire” in Uncanny X-Men. Daredevil dares to be a devil. Or so I presume. What do all of those books have in common with Criminal? Writer Ed Brubaker.

This guy is in the absolute top tier of comic writers today, and while he’s banging out some popular hits on the mainstream Marvel titles, what’s slipped under too many radars is that he’s been writing one hell of a book in Criminal. The first five issues were a single storyarc, and they were simply fantastic. The story started about a heist that went bad, and then it went worse, and then it went even worse. I cannot recommend these issues enough, and if you haven’t read them, you can buy them now for real cheap in trade paperback.

This week, we begin a new storyarc with a new main character. Phillips and Brubaker are starting (almost) over from scratch, so if you skipped the first 5, then forget it, it’s fine – you have a second chance to start fresh with this book. Here’s the promo text:

Twenty years ago, Tracy Lawless traded the crime-ridden streets of the city for a life in the military, and it’s a decision he’s rarely regretted. But now he’s walking out of the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq and back into the world he grew up in, to find out who killed his brother Rick, and why. But truth is one of the few things uglier than family history, and the only thing Tracy has in his favor as he unravels the twisted strands of the criminal life his brother led, is that no one knows who the hell he is. And what they don’t know, just might kill them

Ultimates 2 #13 comes out this week. I’m telling you this, because I can see how you might miss it, or not even be expecting it. If you’ve been buying the series, then – much like me – you’re probably more than a little relieved to be seeing it end. I’m not even looking forward to it. I’m just looking forward to being done with it. So, now for something I am looking forward to…

X-Factor #19
written by Peter David, art by Khoi Pham

Peter David has been toiling along on this title, diligently writing interesting stories and absolutely wonderful character interactions, despite getting shafted with a rotating cast of artists that won’t stop. A recent high point of David’s work on the book includes leader Jamie Madrox (AKA, the Multiple Man) accidently bunked up with both M and Siryn on the same night, after getting drunk and hooking up with one, while a somewhat horny multiple of himself went to bed with the other.

This issue, unfortunately, will likely be a little light on such shenanigans. However, it does seem to be working hard on story points. I will warn you – the stories David tackles deal intimately with the fallout of House of M (“No more mutants”, remember?) and Son of M (Quicksilver can use crystals from the Inhumans to give former mutants their powers back – if you missed it, consider yourself caught up. Oh yeah, and he’s a little crazy now). If you have zero interest in the subject matter, this is still a pretty great book. It’s really well written, and it’s a great example of why a Peter David book is generally a pretty sure bet. And if you do have an interest in the material, then I can’t really imagine why you wouldn’t be reading this book already.

That said, last issue tied up a kind of meandering storyarc where Jamie was out collecting rogue multiples of himself (one had become an agent of SHIELD, one had become an agent of Hydra, one got himself shot to death by a bunch of cops right in front of him, and so on, and so on), so this issue should be kicking right into story material. Don’t be a jerk; jump on now and catch a great book before it’s gone.

Nova #2
written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, art by Sean Chen

My surprise delight last month was issue #1 of Nova. Having read Annihilation I was definitely looking forward to the series. After all, it was the same team that wrote his lead-in book to Annihilation, and that was probably my favorite of the four that were made. While this book wasn’t as deep on story as I expected, it was one hell of a thrill-ride, all the way through. Sean Chen doesn’t have a long resume of work, but I was definitely pleased with his work here. He showed some gorgeous spacescapes, his aliens were nicely alien looking, and he did some great, great action sequences. Even better, the book was written very clearly, in a way where someone who didn’t read Annihilation could pick it up and run with it.

If you missed the first issue, you missed one of the better new series to come out in the last couple years. It’s a crapload of fun and excitement, and it’s a lot of fun to read, if for no other reason than that the Worldmind that Nova’s constantly dealing with is kind of an arrogant prick. Issue #2 lands this Wednesday, and with Nova’s newfound galaxy-class power levels, it looks like he’s about to come face to face with a post-Civil War Iron Man, which I can only hope results in Iron Man getting turned into toothpaste.

Your store may have another copy of Nova #1 lying around, so grab it if you can, and grab issue #2 while you’re at it. This book kicks ass.