Also, I remind you that until Tuesday, August 17, if you mention the code words "Doctor Light," Brian's Books will give you 15% off of all DC hardcovers.

Top Recommendation of the Week:

Fables #28
writer: Bill Willingham
artists: Tony Akins and Jimmy Palmiotti

After The Adversary nearly destroyed Fabletown last issue, you'd think that the story would go full throttle toward taking the war back. Instead, Willingham chooses to go back to The War, The Big One, Dubya Dubya Two, accomplishing two things.

First, regular readers get to be forced to stretch out their speculations over a couple more months as to who exactly The Adversary is (my money: Gepetto). Always importantly, the second accomplishment is a change of pace that could pick up some new readers who wonder how someone can write something like "Gepetto is The Adversary" in all seriousness.

For you newbies (and I welcome you), Fables is the flip side of Shrek, putting beloved fairy tale characters, myths and legends into modern day New York, where they have hidden for centuries after all their homelands have been conquered. Normally hidden, let us say, for in this World War Two tale, Willingham makes it clear that a few "mundandes" have stumbled across the secrets of one Bigby (or Big B.) Wolf. It makes sense that this nominal villain of fairy tales, clearly a hero in Fables, would not stomach an Earthly dictator grasping across Europe for the world.

Willingham has laid it out like a standard war comic. Duffy, an old veteran, entertains the still youthful Bigby in his parlor, reminiscing about the bond they shared on the battlefield and handing over his scrapbooks before he dies. Akins and Palmiotti illustrate the scene warmly, with Bigby looking a bit like Bruce Willis in jaunty mode, and make a subtle nod to why fables shouldn't mix with mundanes. Though Duffy gives Bigby a verbal slap on the nose for it, it clearly pains the Wolf to see his old friend old and dying.

The scene shifts back, as a cast of characters (with real character) take shape behind enemy lines. How Bigby got selected for this mission waits to be revealed in a later issue; for now, Willingham strikes a balance between the tension of a platoon trying not to be captured by the Nazis and their slow realization that this "civilian" in a natty white suit is not quite human.

Taken on its own, this issue works as a wartime horror story, so new readers have no need to worry about what came before. (Though we do recommend the trade paperbacks.) Suspenseful, cleanly drawn and well told, Fables #28 also draws a natural conclusion for longtime readers. If the characters we've come to know and love over the past 27 issues (and a special) exist in this world, why not other darker literary creations?

Maybe this question throws a whole monkey wrench in the identity of The Adversary, but for now, we don't have to care. Instead, we've got a ripping good yarn to read, and that's worth a look.

Runners-Up:

Action Comics #818 It's exactly what the title implies. Big, bold action with Superman cutting back on being the smart alec of previous issues and being a hero. Yes, two weeks in a row I recommend a Chuck Austen book. I feel so dirty. Don't worry, I bag on Rob Liefeld later, so I haven't completely sold out. This isn't a fantastic book, but it's a solid one, and right now of all the Superman titles, Action is proving the most enjoyable. Go figure.