Norman Osborn has fought the Skrull menace on home turf and won a victory for all of humanity, or at least that’s how the media portrayed the events, according to creators at Marvel‘s Dark Reign panel yesterday at New York Comic Con.

After the Skrull Invasion, the citizens of the Marvel U looked to Osborn as a hero, allowing him to gain control of the initiative and form a Dark Illuminati. Osborn wants support as he vies for power and offers to help the shadow group, comprised of himself, Emma Frost, Dr. Doom, Namor, Loki, and The Hood.

“The media is a big part of Norman’s war,” said New Avengers scribe Brian Michael Bendis, who indicated that his control over the media’s image of him will be central the theme of Dark Reign — Marvel’s non-event following Secret Invasion that will take place in several different books. Unlike previous cross-over events, Dark Reign will not have a self-titled series at all.

On Tuesday I received in my inbox an email asking me, “What is this mysterious image?” Marvel didn’t want to tell me much, only that I would have to wait for in-depth interviews “on all the major announcements being made” at Marvel’s “jaw-dropping presentation at the Diamond Retailer Summit.” Well, answers to the mysterious image, and more, have definitely got me excited.

First off, the image to the right is a teaser for the upcoming Marvel Noir. “The Marvel Universe meets Film Noir next year in three limited-series re-imagining Marvel’s most iconic characters in the 30′.” The three titles will be X-Men Noir, Spider-Man Noir, and Daredevil Noir.

“The Noir line came together in one of our editorial meetings,” explains Executive Editor Axel Alonso, who will also be helming Daredevil Noir. “We had a couple of promising pitches that re-imagined Marvel characters against a Noir backdrop so we figured why stop there? If you imagine an icon like Spider-Man or the X-Men or Daredevil as a product of the 30’s, the story possibilities are endless.”

Yeah, I’m a little behind again, but one small week and one big week combine together so nicely. Lots of good books over the last few weeks, including a return of a favorite series, and an interesting new series. Here we go…

PULL LIST 08-06 & 08-13-08 Criminal #4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer #17 Final Crisis #3 Invincible Iron Man #4 Ultimate Origins #3 Secret Invasion #5 Secret Invasion: X-men #1 Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2 Batman #679 Chuck #3 Zorro #6 Welcome to Hoxford #1 Atomic Robo: The Dogs of War #1

Criminal #4
Starting out this week, we get one of my favorite series, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip‘s Criminal. This issue starts a new arc, dealing with Jacob, who it turns out we met before in one of the previous stories. He’s the creator of a comic strip that has shown up in the book before, but he also has a past as a counterfeiter. His life kind of sucks; he has crippled legs, he suffers from insomnia, he’s very isolated, but all that changes when he’s pulled into a violent exchange. This is a set up issue for the rest of the arc, so there’s not a lot of action here, but Brubaker brings his usual skill to the story. It’s hard to talk about this series when everything is so consistently good. I would like to highlight the coloring by Val Staples in this issue. The use of color in this issue is very effective in showing the characters emotions, and I thought it was really well done. If you’ve been looking for a good time to check out this series, give this issue a shot. If you like good crime drama, this is the book for you. —5 out of 5

Mighty Avengers #5
Woo, it’s finally out. And I’d say it was worth the wait. Frank Cho draws a tremendous beat down between femme-Ultron and the Sentry, while the rest of the team works on a plan to stop her, and she works to launch the United States nuclear weapons. Brian Michael Bendis does a great job with the characters in this issue. Ares in particular gets his issue to shine. I also think the Bendis reached a good amount of the thought bubbles, as I’ve found them too numerous to the point of distraction in previous issues, but he made good use of them here. I only hope that issue 6 doesn’t take as long to come out. But I’m not holding my breath. —4 out of 5

PULL LIST 10-17-07 Mighty Avengers #5 Fables #66 Marvel Comics Presents #2 Wasteland #12 Maintenance #5 Powers #26 Scalped Vol. 1: Indian Country

Fables #66
Woo, again, as the storyline makes some forward progress. Flycatcher begins to create his new kingdom in the heart, and proves that he can be a tough ruler as he banishes Bluebeard and Shere Khan, which is all part of his plan. This puts into motion a bigger plan to attract the attention of the Adversary, and what do you know, there should be a good showdown next issue. I’ve complained a bit recently that the story has taken it’s time to get to some action, and it looks like my request has been answered. This is another great issue in a continually great series. —5 out of 5