This was a really light week for me. I only had 7 books. Overall, it was a rather good week with an average grade of a B+. DC took Publisher of the Week and Book of the Week with American Virgin #15. Marvel had the Shit Book of the Week in X-Men #199.

DC
DC had a great week with a high A-/low A average. They were the Publisher of The Week and they had the Book of the Week in American Virgin #15. I love DC more and more each week.

American Virgin #15 - I saved this book for last. I tend to do that when I'm excited about a book. I always like to go out on a positive note. I made the right decision with this one. It was amazing. This book is so great. More people should definitely be reading it. I love the way that they are filling Adam's character out and I love where it's going. The art was good as usual. I like Becky Cloonan's work on this. A+

The Spirit #6 - I liked this issue a lot. It was really great. I'm always so happy to get this book every month. This was a particularly good issue. The story was really cool and the art was beautiful. A

Robin #162 - This was really awesome. I'm so glad that I started reading this. As a matter of fact, today I picked up the Robin One Year Later trade. I can't wait to read it. This story was excellent and a lot of fun. Does anyone know who the shooter at the end was though? I have no clue. It doesn't matter.

I've been reading this book for 4 issues now and each month I make rude comments about Freddie Williams II's skill as an artist. This issue was the worst so far. In the past, I had called on Freddie Willaims I to change their name. This month, I'm requesting that they go back in time and prevent her birth. The art in this book is ASTONISHINGLY bad. I don't even know what else to say. I can't wait until I can post scans of it. It should be Thursday or Friday.

Overall, very good. Beechen saves Willaims again. A

Countdown #49 - This was good. I'm enjoying this. The art kind of sucked in this issue but I do like where the story is going. I also enjoyed the History of the Multiverse backup story. The joke that Red Arrow made about the Karate Kid was funny.

I have a few nitpicks:
1) What's up with stretchy Jimmy Olsen? I checked the wiki and it says that he does that from time to time, but what the fuck? Why do I want to see that? Who cares?
2) When did Black Adam get the Shazaam powers back? I thought he was wandering the earth trying to figure out the word. Where was this settled?
3) Killer Croc needs to go. He is such an unbelieveable character that he pulls me out of every story that he appears in.
4) The Pied Piper transfers all that money to a charity named "Homeless Children's Fund". I've never even heard of a charity with such an uninspiring name. I've worked with a lot of non-profits and they always put a lot of effort into marketing. No reputable charity would have a name that dumb. It would be like starting a charity for the families of soldiers that died in a war and calling it the Dead Guy Fund.

Overall it was very good. I'm just a bit surly and anal today. B

Marvel
Marvel had a really light week as well. They had the Shit Book of The Week in X-Men #199. They had a B- average.

Captain America #26 - This was a good issue. I loved the stuff with Falcon. I like that he's playing all of the sides of the fence. He's registered, still dealing with the unregs, independently patrolling Harlem, and still working with Nick Fury. That's the story of a man with a lot of balls in the air. I loved the Bucky stuff. It was great. I loved watching him beat the shit out of that idiot. I love the outsider feel of his character. He's the antithesis of the Falcon more or less. I love that he's going to try to kill Tony Stark. For Christ's sake, he's a drawing of a fictional character and I want to kill him. I don't love the Red Skull stuff, but it's got to be in there I guess. The art was ok. I have enjoyed it more in the past. Ironically it seemed rushed. It has been almost 3 months since #25 came out.

I have a few nitpicks:
1) Bucky and Rick Jones look too much alike. I thought that the Bucky scene was a continuation of Rick Jones' storyline at first.
2) It was a bit of a letdown from the last one, but I think it didn't feel as bad as it would've been if they hadn't waited 2+ months to release it.
3) Why did they hold it back? I fail to see anything in here that was effected by other events that have come since.

Overall it was very good. I love this book and I expect a lot from it. B+

X-Men #199 - I'm not really sure what to say about the story in this book. I'm either warming to it or I'm going to drop it. I need time to consider this. I need no time to consider the art. Chris Bachalo sucks ass. He really does. This was horrible from start to finsh. The full page spread of Iceman making out with Mystique was just yuck on so many different levels. His pencils have all of the appeal of cattle molestation. D

Criminal #6 - I have been looking forward to the start of the new arc for a few months now. It was worth the wait. I loved this. This is the first installment in the Lawless storyline. It was a setup issue. Brubaker is so good though that I don't even mind the setup issues. I love that all of these stories will shift the protagonist but still be rudimentarily interlocking. The art was great as usual. A