Matt on some of this week's books.

Hm. Apparently having a kid puts a damper on the amount of time one can spend reading comics, and an even firmer damper on the amount of time one can spend writing about reading comics (especially for no pay). Here's some of what I read, typed with a dozing kid on my lap.

(Also, don't forget that I reviewed a bunch of this week's books in advance last week. If, you know, you're interested in such things.)

● Justice League of America #21 is apparently an Important Book because Libra appears and does some stuff that sure seems almost exactly like the stuff that The Mockingbird was doing in the run-up to Infinite Crisis. You are supposed to know this because it says "SIGHTINGS" on the cover. I'm not sure how effective this branding is going to be, as the logo is eminently ignorable, not to mention ugly and nonsensial.

Dwayne McDuffie does his traditional underrated terrific job with the character moments, but ... I can't shake the feeling that I've seen it all before, very recently. Carlos Pacheco is one of my favorite superhero artists of the last decade, and it looks like someone has given him a stern talking-to about not giving Superman squinty eyes. Now they all have the creepy Gary Frank Thousand Yard Stare, but whatever. Good book.

● Every time an issue of Justice Society of America comes out, I realize that I have no recollection whatsoever who half the characters are or why they're doing what they're doing. Sometimes this is because I am dumb, other times because I have not been reading DC Comics since the dawn of man, and still other times just because there are nine billion characters in this book. Issue #15 manages to be confusing for all three reasons at once, and winds up borderline incomprehensible as a result! Nicely done, fellas.

● Incredible Hercules #117 is the best Secret Invasion tie-in yet, even though it took me well over an hour to read it in between my child's fussing sessions. The script by Pak and Van Lente is sharp, the plot is both clever and relevant to the crossover as a whole, and the art is terrific superhero stuff. I really like this book, and this might be my favorite issue yet.

● The Flash #240. Huh? Soooo ... this is some sort of Final Crisis tie-in, maybe? There are Darkseid references, anyhow, and some sort of banner-branding of "The Dark Side Club" on the cover? I have no idea. In fact, I have no idea what the higher-ups at DC are even thinking anymore. Anyhow, I'm completely in the tank for Freddie Williams II's art, so I liked this, even with the crossover perplexity and Tom Peyer's not-as-clever-as-it-thinks script. (When Peyer nails one, he NAILS it. The rest of the time, he's Joe Casey with a much better interview persona.)

● Mighty Avengers #14 makes me sad that Marvel thinks that their clever metafictional marketing gimmick actually needed to become a character. I don't know why -- this issue is perfectly fine, with some legitimately clever twists in the Secret Invasion plot -- but it does.