As I slowly dip into more recent comics to pad out my endless list of must-buy classics, a few big names constantly crop up. Mark Millar is one of those names. In an attempt to both get into his stuff and try to somewhat get a handle on Marvel’s continuity so I could read Secret Invasion, I read Civil War, which I went on record as having liked it but not been wowed. Then I read the Superman Elseworlds tale Red Son, which is savagely brilliant. My interests finally piqued, I started picking up back issues of the titles he’s put out this year, which is no small task since the man apparently isn’t bothering to sleep or eat given the number of issues he’s written. Now that I’m finally caught up, let me try to explain why Mark Millar deserves every drop of praise he’s getting.

**spoilers and more after the break**

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OK, so the third trade isn’t out yet, but issues #11-15 have been out for months, and the trades don’t really offer more than variant covers for bonus material, so I couldn’t help myself. For all its issues getting to a firm starting foundation, Buffy Season 8 genuinely entertained me and kept me reading at a frenzied pace. Given that the series recently won an Eisner award, I assumed that the story picked up the pace a bit and introduced an actual plot to complement the wonderful characters and dialogue, which had been transplanted from the show effortlessly. Well, with a new arc comes a new writer, and I must say, not only did Joss and co. get things on track, they exceeded my wildest expectations.

**more after the jump**

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