Dark/Mighty Avengers thoughts (spoilers)

Batman gets a break this week (while Heath gets recognition), and several flavors of Avengers step up. (Hey, if we can have a rainbow of Lantern Corps, why not 31 flavors of Earth's Mightiest Heroes? Remember the United Nations of Justice Leagues several Crises ago?)

I hate to admit it, but I enjoyed the hell out of Dark Avengers #1 - I intended not to buy any 32-page books for $3.99 (#1 may have been longer), but if Bendis and Deodato keep it up, I may have to make an exception. SPOILER ALERT: Osborn certainly has stones to outright replace Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Hawkeye for his new Avengers team. Love him or hate him, you have to admire the gumption. Typical snappy banter from BMB - loved the brief exchange between Ares and Moonst--sorry, I mean Ms. Marvel. And the art was beautiful - highly recommended book, even if the higher price point grates. (UPDATE: Excellent interview with Bendis at Newsarama.)

Mighty Avengers #21 was 180 degrees different in tone, as you would expect from a Slott book - this looks to be the BWA-HA-HA Avengers. The final line-up is about as absurd as you're going to get, with - SPOILER ALERT - a little old (Scarlet Witch, Pym/Wasp, Jarvis), some updates (Vision), some legacies (Stature), and some oddballs (Amadeus Cho and USAgent), plus a few more. I'm not sure if I'll stick with this after the first three-issue arc, despite the $2.99 price, but I think I'll enjoy while it while I stick with it.

Batman and Final Crisis #6 (SPOILERS)

There are spoilers right from the get-go, so be warned...

This was just weird, for so many reasons, such as:

1. Batman using a gun (and with an extremely weak rationale) - didn't we just go through this at the end of Infinite Crisis with Alex Luthor?
2. He shot Darkseid in the shoulder? Oh yeah, he's dead all right - no doubt about it. (Geez Louise...)
3. Darkseid calls the Omega Sanction "the death that is life" - so by "killing" Batman, he's giving him life? (Maybe he'll be reborn in Damian's body like Ra's wanted to do.)
4. This is how Batman's going to die? Really? I don't buy it... Jonathan Kent went in a much nobler fashion.
5. Remember, Grant has been telling us for - well, forever now - that Batman is the most prepared mother------ on the planet. Don't count him out.

Several guesses/predictions:

• Maybe Darkseid absorbed Batman's life essence through the omega beams to save his own life, and Batman will be restored in Final Crisis #7.
• Miracle Machine - hel-lo?
• Superman (or the Flashes - Flashi?) will go back in time (maybe with the help of Brainiac 5) to alter time so none of this happens. (And maybe take that awful Raven mini-series with it - and Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom while you're at it.)
• If we're loading up the cosmic U-Haul and moving to an alternate Earth, it may be one with its own Batman. (And, with any luck, no Raven or Superman/Supergirl mini-series.)

That's what I've got - any thoughts?

UPDATE: Wizard has a fantastic interview with Grant Morrison here. (Ignore the "Final Crisis #7 available now" at the bottom of the page.)