This is a huge release week for comics, especially in the Marvel Universe. On Wednesday, we are going to see a new story arc in Fantastic Four, an epic battle in Hulk and the start of the Runaways/Young Avengers‘ Secret Invasion tie-in. If that isn’t enough, we are going to see the end of Joss Whedon’s run on Runaways. And over on DC, the continuation of the major summer event Final Crisis

At the top of my “must-read” list this week is going to be Secret Invasion: Runways/Young Avengers #1. If you read Runaways, you’ll know why. First, you have the Runaways, who just scream teen drama (see the preview of Runaways #30 below for more info). Add to that the Young Avengers, which comes in a close second to Runaways in the teen drama department. Not to mention the fact that when these two groups teamed up in Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways, it made for one very compelling storyline. By all accounts, the series is sure to feature all the great writing that has been constant in both these series. There will also be plenty of action, as the teams are apparently going to be fighting one of the advance Skrull forces in Manhattan. The mini-series is only 3 issues long and if you are looking for a little more story to go along with Secret Invasion, this would be a great mini-series to pick up.

Speaking of Runaways, Joss Whedon’s run on that book will be ending this week, much to the sadness and relief of everyone who loves this series. I won’t lie, Whedon writes this comic beautifully. However, with his tendency to be extremely delayed in his writing, this book has been forgotten by a lot of people who are sick of waiting months between issues. As it stands though, Runaways #30 is sure to be a great end to the current time-traveling arc. How are the teens going to make it out of 1907? And will any of the super-powered friends they made in 1907 be coming back with them? And will all the Runaways make it out alive and will some of them stay behind? All these questions will be answered in the conclusion of Dead-End Kids. More importantly for this series is how it is going to change when Terry Moore takes over writing the series in August. Will the writing be as wonderful as Joss Whedon has provided? Probably not, but at least we will get the book once a month without delays (hopefully).

Next on the list of “must-buy” this week is Fantastic Four #558. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch are starting their second arc in the series and with the way the first arc went, I think we can suspect great things in the upcoming months. The new arc somehow involves the New Defenders, whoever they are and, according to Marvel’s site, their appearance on Earth has something to do with the extinction of mankind. Expect some impossible situation in which the fate of the world is at stake, only to be solved by Mr. Fantastic in the last issues (what, you were expecting something else from Fantastic Four?). Also, it appears that someone has freed Doctor Doom, so look for the return of the team’s arch-nemesis. Doesn’t look like this arc is going to revolutionize the Fantastic Four in anyway, but since Mark Millar is writing it, you can expect whatever the arc is, it will be top quality writing. Oh, and Bryan Hitch is an amazing artist, too.

To wrap up Marvel this week, we have Hulk #4. If you have been reading this series so far, you’ll know that basically, all we’ve seen is Red Hulk and all we know is it isn’t Banner and it is probably someone from his past. In this issue, we finally get to see our jolly Green Hulk come up and fight with Red Hulk. Maybe we will also find out the secret identity behind Red Hulk and where he came from? Who knows, but it will be worth checking up just to see 2 Hulks fight. I mean, seriously, how can that not be cool?

Finally, over at DC this week, Final Crisis #2 comes out. I’ll admit that I was not overly impressed with issue 1. Compared to Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Final Crisis is nothing to write home about (yet). Hopefully, in this issue, the story will progress a little more and things will look up. DC needs this to be a hit really bad, and so far, it doesn’t look like it will be. Expect something big in this issue and in the rest of the series. I don’t think Grant Morrison will let us down.

That’s it for what I am looking forward to this week. Check out Mike Rapin’s post to find out more comic goodness coming out this week. And don’t forget to stop by your local comic shop and pick up some books!