Last night's ep was one of the worst Smallville finales to date - Normally, their finales are some of the few things they do reliably well - in part because there was too much going on, and almost all of it made very little sense. Magical kryptonite can split Doomsday in two! Jimmy finds out that Clark is "the red and blue blur" (Yes, Clark actually said, "Jimmy, I am the red and blue blur," making you realize just how stupid that term is)! Lois ended up in the 31st Century!

(Also, Oliver Queen is a dick. Seriously, I'm sure that his purpose in this show is to turn up, be a dick, and leave. Shooting Clark with a kryptonite arrow just to make sure that he doesn't get hurt? Really, Oli?)

At least JImmy's death seemed important at the time; his being murdered by Davis may have been more for shock value than anything else (Although, is it wrong that I liked that Davis without Doomsday is still a psychopath? I mean, it kind of goes against the whole "I am tortured and trying to rebel against the purpose I was created for" thing, but still; yay for pointless murders), but the cliche of his having just enough life left to save the day and kill Davis made this fanboy just a little bit happier with the whole mess. Of course, Jimmy had to save the day, because this is Smallville, where Clark Kent stands around while other people get things done and then mopes that he can't save the people he loves.

This time, though, Clark doesn't just mope; he decides that, because Davis was human when he killed Jimmy, that human emotions are bad and therefore, he'll embrace his kryptonian side to become a better hero. Which, you know, doesn't make sense, but does make for a season finale cliff-hanger (As did the final scene, where Zod apparently came to Earth in a desperate attempt to make people continue to care about the show). Oh, Jimmy. Is your sacrifice truly in vain? Apparently so; not only does Clark's "Clark Kent is dead" moment completely fail to convince in any way whatsoever - Come on, do you really think that it'll last any longer than the start of next season? - but it seems that there's a baby brother Olsen out there ready to take his place, and this one's the right age to make all that Superman Mythos fans happy.

With eight years under its belt, last night's finale just made the show seem much, much older; everything seemed like it'd been done before, and none of the shocking changes are going to stick. It's a shame; the start of this year felt much fresher than the show had in years, but by the end, everything had become the old, familar melodrama with the future of the world at stake yet again. Here's hoping that next year's the final year we have to go through these particular motions.

What would be the most ridiculous Hallowe'en tie-in book of the week? It's a tough one, I have to admit. I'm actually cautiously looking forward to IDW's Ghostbusters: The Other Side (the first issue comes out tomorrow). The spooky goings-on in their Grant Morrison's Doctor Who are even more tempting: It's the first of two collections of Morrison's short run on the Marvel comic version of the series from the late '80s, with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy versions of the character. Image's kid-friendly Dear Dracula also has plenty of potential to be charming, and who can resist something called Hulk Monster-Size Special?

Luckily, DC come through with a truly goofy-sounding series called, I shit you not, Superman and Batman Vs. Vampires and Werewolves - and tomorrow's first issue is just the first of six issues of the crazy.

But if the ooky and the spooky aren't for you, don't worry. DC also has James Robinson's Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen oneshot, while Marvel wants you to try paperback versions of the revamped Spider-Man (in Spider-Man: Brand New Day volume 1) and their latest space saga (in Annihilation: Conquest volume 1), as well as the first issue of their "Will Storm get a divorce from the Black Panther?" series X-Men: Worlds Apart. For our money, Storm's best appearance is in this week's hilarious issue of Marvel Adventures: Avengers. If Jeff Parker was going to write the Avengers movie, we'd be in line for tickets right now.

The star of the week isn't a monster, unless you happen to have fallen for his faux right-wing pundit schtick. Yes, Stephen Colbert doesn't just get to guest-star in this week's Amazing Spider-Man, he also has the long-delayed third issue of his very own Tek Jansen series materialize in stores as well. Get them both and compare which version captures the coy cheesiness most appropriately.

All the Colbert you can stomach and more can be found in the complete list of this week's new comic releases here, which is only a gateway drug to the Comic Shop Locator Service's cruel helpfulness to find where to spend all your money. We're claiming no responsibility for any of this, of course.

Introducing the panel, Action Comics writer Geoff Johns said,

We've all kind of started to work together on Superman... we're all working in tandem to get the Superman universe lined up like we did on Green Lantern, get all the characters on the same page so we can go and tell crazy stories... We had a huge summit that we worked on all three books all the way through December 2010.

The first crazy story to spin out of that summit is October's New Krypton, which Johns teased with this high concept pitch:

Kandor is grown on the planet Earth, and all the Kryptonians decide 'Hey, cool, this must be new New Krypton' and Superman says 'No, it's not,' and chaos ensues.

More important than stories, according to the writers, is the characterization. Johns again:

We don't really want to change anything about Superman like saying, he's gonna have a kid. It's not about changing stuff as much as it's about exploring character... We want to get to them on an emotional level... [For example, the story 'Last Son'] was really about, Superman can never have a kid. He and Lois may love each other, but they can never have a kid. The House of El will end. How do they react to that?

Superman writer James Robinson admitted that part of that effort will include making sure that characters like Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen will return to the versions everyone knows, instead of superpowered giant turtles fighting evil gods: "The [supporting] characters have lost their way a bit," he said, before saying that Jimmy Olsen should be the third most important character in a Superman comic, after Superman and Lois. Johns agreed, and added that there are also plans afoot to use Lois more often: "If Superman married her, she's gotta be the coolest woman in the world."

The most important revelation from the panel may have come from new Supergirl writer Sterling Gates. When asked whether he will bring a more consistent characterisation to the Maid of Steel after an erratic few years where she's been portrayed as confused, evil, stupid, slutty and almost continually unheroic, he said that he saw her as one of the strongest characters DC Comics has, and feels that she's been mishandled recently. "Can we officially say that she's not a slut?" Johns asked, to the applause of the audience. So, now you know: Supergirl isn't a slut.

That's Mary Marvel's job.

Famous names: Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Jamie Grant

Crunchy goodness: 5

Elevator pitch: What if instead of Superman's supporting cast "grounding" him as usual, they catapulted him into a psychedelic supernova made of cheese?

The shit: Lex Luthor, in prison, lectures Clark Kent about his hatred of Superman, never realizing whom he's talking to. Luthor is vain, deluded, petty — and more magnetic than he's ever been.

Design breakthrough: Superman's trappings look alien and cool for the first time in years. His Fortress of Solitude is huge and over-the-top, containing the Titanic, a space-shuttle and a baby sun-eater. The headquarters of PROJECT is trippy and shiny. And Jimmy gets to wear a crazy iridescent rainbow coat. It's futuristic and colorful.

All Star Superman Review