The press embargoes are now lifted for both DC and Marvel comics product coming this November. There are a few notables in there, including some spoilers. Comments and spoiler warnings are discussed here. (I can do these columns every month if there’s interest; let me know.)

DC Comics

The big DC draw for me is, of course, Blackest Night. The solicitation text for issue #5 reveals the villain who is ultimately behind the Black Lantern Corps; you may want to avoid reading the text itself for that very reason. (If you’re familiar with most of the Green Lantern continuity in the past 30 years, you can probably guess who it is; I did. I’ll say no more here.)

Beyond that, there’s a large number of crossover issues this month. There are the expected Green Lantern #48 and Green Lantern Corps #42, but there are also Adventure Comics #4, Booster Gold #26, Doom Patrol #4, Justice League of America #39 (which is, I believe, James Robinson’s first issue as regular writer,) Superman/Batman #66 (which is a big surprise; that’s usually taking place “next to” continuity rather than in it; the writer(s) of the title can pick and choose what to use and what to ignore at any time,) R.E.B.E.L.S. #10, Teen Titans #77 and Outsiders #24.

In the collected editions, there’s a solicitation for Green Lantern: Rebirth Absolute Edition. That’s probably the best Green Lantern story I’ve ever read, so if you haven’t read it, it’s well worth checking out. It’s got the six issue miniseries as well as a variety of extra material.

Marvel Comics

First of all, a spoiler warning: the cover to Daredevil #502 spoils the end of Daredevil #500 which hits this week. I’ve seen the cover, and I’ve got to tell you: they weren’t kidding when they said Brubaker is ending his run with a whopper of a status quo change. If you’ve ever had any interest in the character, grab #500 this week.

Amazing Spider-Man has three issues shipping this month, starting with #611, a one shot co-starring Deadpool. Then #612 kicks off “The Gauntlet,” the story arc that promises to bring back most of the major Spidey villains not seen since the Brand New Day began. There’s also the final title in “The List” line of comics, this time about Spider-Man. Oddly, it looks like the first Spider-Man story that couldn’t be told with a married Spider-Man since Brand New Day may actually appear in Ms. Marvel #47 this November.

Kieron Gillen is writing three Marvel titles this month. He’s just coming off the Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter miniseries (which I passed on; I don’t know how it came out) and this month he’ll give us Dark Avengers: Ares #2 (of 3), the first issue of the new S.W.O.R.D. ongoing title, and Thor #604. I hear he’s well respected in the Indie world, but I’ve never read his stuff himself. These appear to be pretty prominent projects, though. The Ares series has been known to be a miniseries from the outset, but it looks like S.W.O.R.D. is going to be his indefinitely. Thor is solicited as the first issue of his six issue arc, in which Thor takes Dr. Doom head-on. The six issue statement makes me wonder if rumours of the upcoming “Siege of Asgard” are accurate, and they’ve already got another writer lined up to handle Thor in the aftermath of that event.

Iron Man is up for some shakedowns it seems, as well. This month features a solicitation for Invincible Iron Man #20 that starts the “Stark: Disassembled” arc that culminates in issue #25. There’s also a solicitation for Iron Man: Requiem that reprints (the Iron Man portion of) “Tales of Suspense #39” and “Iron Man #144” as well. The title of that one really makes me wonder how the current story arc is going to end. For those who haven’t been following it, since the Dark Reign started Norman Osborn has been after Tony Stark. The database of superhero secret identities for all registered heroes existed only in Stark’s brain. To protect that information, Stark’s been deleting his brain slowly and systematically. He’s currently down to “normal” intelligence, and not dealing with it well.

Deadpool is definitely on the rise in the Marvel Universe. Not only does he guest star in Amazing Spider-Men, he will get his THIRD ongoing series this November with Deadpool Team-Up #899.

There are a relatively large number of new first issues hitting in November, as well. Starting in time to be collected in TPB form in time for next May’s feature film, we’ve got Black Widow: Deadly Origin (by writer Paul Cornell and artists Tom Raney and John Paul Leon) and Iron Man vs. Whiplash four issue miniseries. The writing credits on Iron Man vs. Whiplash includes, believe it or not, Brannon Bragga and Marc Guggenheim, with Phil Briones on pencils. We’ve also got a seven issue Deathlok miniseries written by Charles Huston and pencilled by Lan Medina coming out, The Black Knight #1 one shot (which I think is a print version of a currently available digital comic), Dark X-Men written by Paul Cornell, Psylocke #1 (of 4), and Iceman one shot, Punishermax #1, and the new first issue that excites me the most: Strange #1, written by Mark Waid, with art by Emma Rios (who Waid brought with him from Boom.) This is about Stephen Strange now that he isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme.

Realm of Kings kicks off to follow War of Kings, with a one shot, two miniseries launching (RoK: Inhumans and RoK: Imperial Guard), and a pair of crossovers with Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. These guys have done so well with Marvel Cosmic so far, I’m on board for all of them.

There are notable collections here, too. If you ignored my earlier advice and didn’t pick up Incognito in its individual issues, you can (and should!) get the TPB in November. The most notable hardcover is War of Kings. I’ve been wondering how well the main series would read if you didn’t get the tie-ins, as they’re all pretty important to the main title. Marvel seems to have agreed. This hardcover includes, and I quote, “WAR OF KINGS #1-6, WAR OF KINGS: ASCENSION #1-4, WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #1-2, WAR OF KINGS: WARRIORS, WAR OF KINGS: WHO WILL RULE?, WAR OF KINGS: SAVAGE WORLD OF SAKAAR and MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: WAR OF KINGS.” In other words, everything but the Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in issues. That’s a 432 page oversized trim collection for $39.99 US. Given how gratifying that event was, I’d say that’s one of the most economical collections that’s going to come around any time soon.