I am an unabashed fan and reader of Marvel Comics’ X-Men, but I am also a collector. As a consequence, I’ll go out of my way to track down variant covers of issues from most titles in the X-franchise. A quick disclaimer before we go on, I know the interior pages are identical, I know the book will not command the price I’ll pay for it going forward, and I know I can get a high resolution digital version of the cover image on my computer that will be far more accessible long term. I seek this stuff out because I want it in my collection. It’s OK if you want to consider it a disorder, disease or other malady; synonyms are really just variant covers for words.

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Spinning out of the annual Vengeance pay-per-view, the action continued on WWE’s Monday Night Raw in Austin, Texas. The show seemed to suffer from some poor choices with its use of air time, but overall it was an entertaining show. A lot of ground work was laid for the next big event, November 20th’s Survivor Series, and the return of the Rock. Tonight’s Halloween edition of the show should continue to move things in that direction, but the real treat will be special guest stars, The Muppets. When the Rock and Muppets are mentioned together I can’t help but think of Derek Jeter.

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Recently Dark Horse Comics provided MLD with digital copies of many of their upcoming comics. I don’t read many Dark Horse books on a monthly basis, so this offered the perfect opportunity to sample a few series and find out what they’re all about. It’s also always interesting picking up single issues of titles that you’re unfamiliar with in this era of writing for trades, especially when it isn’t the debut issue. Every single issue might be someone’s first, so can these books stand on their own? Having said that, I’ve done no research on these books beyond reading them, so I’ll be coming into most of them as a completely new reader. Spoilers will follow.

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Last week, we spent some time talking about Geoff Johns and Jim Lee’s Justice League #2. Regardless of what people think of DC Comics’ New 52 relaunch or this retelling of the first meeting of their greatest heroes, the book is gorgeous. Justice League #1 was a top seller and there’s no reason to think the second issue won’t be near the top of the list as well. It may even be the best selling title since Chris Claremont and Lee’s X-Men #1 from 1991, which made it even more surreal seeing them on the shelves together last Wednesday.

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Marvel’s X-Men: Regenesis began in full this week with the introduction of the new ongoing series Wolverine and the X-Men from writer Jason Aaron and artist Chris Bachalo. Aaron detailed the split within in the X-Men that serves as the foundation for this series over the Summer in the pages of X-Men: Schism and Bachalo is an artist whose work I actively seek out on the shelves. This is a fun book in every sense of the word, but the fun comes as a sharp contrast to everything the X-titles have focused on in recent years. I don’t need my X-Men to be serious all the time, but this book might push the limits of quirkiness for some readers.

Spoilers for the debut of Wolverine and the X-Men will follow.

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