comics round-up 16th October 2008

Amazing Spider-Man #573
'New Ways to Die' finishes with a bang and a strangely political coda this week witht he face-off fanboys having been waiting to see for ages. FInally Spidey and Norman Osborn, sorry no, scratch that, Spider-man and The Green Goblin 1.0 square off in a fight to the finish while Osborn's towering mansion collapses around them. Meanwhile, the Scorpo-Venom and Anti-Venom finish what they started, only this time it's hardly a fair fight with Scorpo-Venom carrying a serum taken from Freak's blood. It's an excellent finale and we start to learn more about what is going on behind the scenes. There are hints of Harry being Menace, and definitely being up to something involving a dangerous chemical currently being tested on human guinea pigs. There's also a throwaway storyline features everyone's favourite right wing gun nut Steven Colbert. Enthralling stuff.

Mighty Avengers #19
Here we learn the back story of Mar-vell and how he came to be infiltrated by Skrull impersonators. Yawn- more action please Bendis.

Robin #179
This continues the search for a hero arc. Batman is definitely missing. We know that much will happen at the end of Batman RIP and Robin's shouldering a huge mission while Nightwing is distracted in New York with Harvey Dent. Robin's got school, Spoiler and all-out gang warfare to contend with, as well as the dreaded Red Robin. Great issue, full of action and fast moving plot heading towards to a potentially inevitable finale. Will Robin be Batman?

Uncanny X-Men #503
The Hellfire Club has been infiltrated by a mysterious woman. Pixie is still smarting after the vicious attack on her. The X Men are chasing a skilled Empath through the streets of San Francisco. And Cyclops and Emma Frost are getting it on in the depths of a sex club. All the strands are pulling together and closing in a web on the X Man leader, Cyclops with the mysterious reappearance of his long dead wife.