Writer: Dan Slott

Art: Stefano Caselli, Steve Uy

Colours: Daniele Rudoni, Steve Uy

With the Civil War over, Captain America dead, and World War Hulk swept neatly under a large rug, Stark’s vision of a superheroe in every state is fully underway with Avengers: The Initiative, in which we join a group of new recruits as they train alongside Yellowback, Justice, War Machine, She-Hulk (initially) and the Louis Gossett Jr. drill instructor facsimile Gauntlet.

Like the excellent Runaways, this series is aimed at the younger end of the market, but it’s surprisingly well-written stuff. A sudden shock at the end of Issue #1 opens up endless storytelling opportunities, and will no doubt have great repercussions on the series. Dan Slott successfully integrates the obligatory World War Hulk crossover without slowing the book down, tying in several plots to the big guy’s arrival. The Initiative’s pace stalls not once.

The recruits themselves are the usual blend of newcomers and old faces. It’s nice to see ex-Avenger Rage and nineties embarrassment Slapstick reinserted back into the fold. One of The Initiative’s primary problems is an abundance of new characters, far too many to allow room for characterisation. Unlike the aforementioned Runaways, no new character has grabbed me so far, but this will hopefully change as the series finds its focus, and the less interesting recruits are pronounced K.I.A.

2008, Marvel

Writer: Warren Ellis, Paul Jenkins

Artist: Mike Deodato Jr., Mark Silvestri, Marc Guggenheim, Leinil Yu

Colours: Rainier Beredo, June Chung, Dave McCaig, Frank D'Armata

Okay, so it's another year, another reboot for the Thunderbolts, a series that has always been enjoyable but never exceptional. With sales magnet Warren Ellis on board, and a line-up that consists of more readily recognisable villains such as Venom and Bullseye, the Thunderbolts look to be getting the recognition they've long deserved. 

Unfortunately, this isn't your daddy's – make that slightly older brother's – Thunderbolts. At times 'Faith in Monsters' is reminiscent of Peter David's run on X-Factor; bar a few familiar faces, the book's tone and premise is too different to be justly considered part of the same series.

Excluding his work on Stormwatch and The Authority, I have always had a problem with Ellis' mainstream superhero work. Like Ed Brubaker, Ellis will happily jettison characterisation and continuity for the sake of a moment of inspired dialogue or novel violence, whereas a writer such as Allen Moore will always find the middle ground between what he hopes to achieve and the sensitivities of the franchise concerned. With Thunderbolts, more than ever Ellis has the freedom to get down and gritty without compromising the creative confinements of the Marvel universe. Bullseye is a despicable, unmanageable psychopath, while Venom has a penchant for munching on human heads.

Dir: Peter Berg

Script: Vince Gilligan, Vincent Ngo

Cast: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Eddie Marsan

Formerly a hot property which numerous studios fancied making but could not conceive the special effects on a feasible budget, Tonight He Comes' decade-long journey from screenplay to screen has attracted an equal share of interest and scepticism. Several name changes later and Hancock has made it to celluloid; unfortunately it's difficult to believe that this tepid effort derived from the same script that had the likes of Tony Scott and Michel Mann interested.

Eighty year-old amnesiac superman John Hancock, his name taken from a signature request, is not your average hero, or arguably even a hero. His reckless attempts at "dogooding" have resulted in millions of dollars worth of destruction, the death of Walter the gray whale and a thoroughly contemptuous public. When public relations consultant Ray Embey (Bateman) offers to help Hancock win back the public's favour, our indestructible orphan takes a voluntary stint in a prison that isn't nearly highly security enough, fully aware that it won't be long before the public forgive him in exchange for his aid.

Will Smith does something special with what is an unabashed, by-the-numbers star vehicle. In a film that takes some questionable turns, Smith is the one element that preserves integrity throughout, sustaining the restrained, brooding angst of a discarded orphan whose self-loathing negates his desire to earn acceptance from the helping of others. Jason Bateman, so enjoyable in Juno, and Charlize Theron, whose looks will always work against her acting abilities, are both wasted as the insipid couple that take Hancock in.

2008, DC

Story: Brian K. Vaughan

Pencils: Scott McDaniel, Rick Burchett, Scott Kolins, Marcos Martin

Inks: Karl Story, John Lowe, Dan Panosian, Drew Geraci

Colours: Roberta Tewes, John Wright, Pam Rambo, Tom McCraw

With Y: The Last Man having reached its conclusion and Brian K. Vaughan receiving all manner of acclaim for his work on Lost, DC clearly saw dollars in this mixed collection of Vaughan's earliest superhero work.

Vaughan has stated in the past that he is more comfortable writing for his own characters, and that is entirely evident in his depiction of Batman in 'Close Before Striking,' in which Bruce Wayne's heel alias Matches Malone is found dead. It's a forced story, both in its inconceivable – and perhaps more vitally, uninteresting – plotting and characterisation. Batman has always been portrayed as only marginally saner than the lunatics he opposes, but here he is uncharacteristically unstable to the point of schizophrenic.

Despite the Bat-title, the book also includes the Wonder Woman story 'A Piece of You' which frankly should have never been republished. The earliest of Vaughan's works in False Faces it does nothing but demonstrate Wonder Woman's incongruous position in the DC Universe.

Writers: Ty Templeton, Steve Gerber

Pencils: Juan Bobillo, Frank runner, Roger Langridge

Inks: Marselo Sosa, Steve Leialoha

Colours: Nester Pereyra, J. Brown, Frank Brunner

The Duck returns just six years after his last series, which, for a character plagued by numerous legal battles, ownership squabbles and the weight of a rancid Lucas-produced 80s movie hung round his neck, isn't at all bad. But then Howard has always been more an obscurity than a prospective franchise, fuelled by an ingenious tagline ("Trapped in a world he never made!") and, well… the fact that he's an anthropomorphic duck coexisting alongside Spider-man, the Avengers, the X-Men et al.

Ty Templton, who has written countless cartoon books in the past, has a word heavy urgency about his composition that is delightfully refreshing. He manages to cram as much plot, topical themes and oddball characters into four issues of Media Duckling as would take many other writers eight. The result is an unsurprisingly irreverent tale that takes jabs at everything from celebrity culture, YouTube (referred to as MeTube here) and blogging, to illegal immigration, George W. Bush, and the multitude of MODOK clones that A.I.M. has spawned in the past.

Juan Bobillo’s art has improved greatly since his work on She-Hulk (who also features in this book) though this is due in some part to Nester Pereyra’s luminous colours. The inept scientist / duck hunter twins Bradley and Patton are especially enjoyable, looking somewhat like Kane & Lynch minus the Kane.

Dir: Timur Bekmambetov

Script: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Chris Morgan

Cast: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Konstantin Khabensky, Marc Warren, Terrence Stamp

I must confess to having had a difficult time reading Mark Millar's superhero satire Wanted the first time around, and further difficulty in reviewing it. How could I objectively rate a book that excels in storytelling and artistic prowess, has a one-off universe that is second only to that of Moore's Watchmen, is witty, ingenious and startlingly original… and immoral to the point that I felt genuinely sick while reading it?

Though Russian director Timur Bekmambetov's American debut has a first act that is practically lifted directly from comic to big screen, his film takes a series of turns that will not only surprise those familiar with the source material, but gives the film a disposition of its own. The Fraternity, a group of super-charge assassins that take their hit list from the Nostradamus inspired Fates, who read individual's destinies form a magic loom (no, really) are less morally vacuous than their costume-clad comic counterparts, arguably the good guys in an clandestine kind of way.

Enter bored office drone Wesly Gibson, who is integrated into the Fraternity when his father Mr. X is assassinated by rogue agent Cross. James McAvoy is the antithesis of the action hero, and intestinally so; diminutive and pallid, it is his transformation into a superhero that is the film's strength, as Wesley literally has his new perspective on life beaten into him.