Perhaps because Marvel were worried that we'd be bored otherwise, the House of Ideas is putting out a star-studded week of new releases this week, with the special Deadpool #900 issue, a new Spider-Man anthology series (Web of Spider-Man), the one-shot Iron Man: Iron Protocols (written by Surrogates creator Robert Venditti!) and the collected edition of long-running-but-that's-only-because-it-was-horribly-delayed-in-the-middle Ultimate Wolverine Versus Hulk, as written by Lost's Carlton Cuse.

IDW keeps the big name action going: The publisher puts out Star Trek: Countdown (the surprisingly enjoyable prologue to the JJ Abrams movie, starring the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation.) Also, there's Star Trek: Crew (Another surprise, as John Byrne follows the early career of Number One - from "The Cage" - and makes it work.) Plus Seduth 3-D from Clive Barker (as previewed yesterday) and Left Undead, a new take on that old "cop-killed-then-brought-back-by-voodoo" idea from Lost writer Paul Zbyszewski.

If you'd rather read some George Lucas-inspired comics, Dark Horse has a special #0 issue prologue for Star Wars: Invasion, as well as the deco noir of Dean Motter's Mister X: Condemned.

DC, meanwhile, corners its own version of the horror market, with the massive Absolute Death slipcovered collection of Neil Gaiman's goth avatar of release, a new collected edition of Judd Winick's vampire story Blood And Water, and the fun House of Mystery Hallowe'en Annual, showcasing some of Vertigo's current and upcoming series.

All of that, however, is just an appetizer to the Act-I-Vate Primer, a hardcover collection of work from the self-styled "premier webcomics collective". Offering 16 original stories by some of webcomics' brightest and best, it's easily the best of a strong bunch this week.

As usual, you can see the full list of everything reaching comic stores tomorrow here and then find your local comic store here. Just remember to support the internet in your analog purchases, if you know what I'm saying.

Unsurprisingly, there aren't that many big-ticket items being released the day before Christmas, but that's not to say that a visit would be entirely without value for any last-minute shoppers; Image Comics are putting out not only a more=beautiful-than-it-has-any-right-to-be Spawn: Book Of The Dead handbook, but also a paperback collection of the first seven issues of classic 1980s SF series American Flagg for the Communist-loving American Imperialist in your life. Marvel, too, are going for the patriotic angle with their Captain America: Theater of War: America First! special and, sadly, that really is the title. More expensive and filled with colorful characters and the least-expected Black Panther ever is the hardcover collection Ultimates 3: Who Killed The Scarlet Witch?, which also manages to spoil its first chapter with that title. Well done, Marvel!
Dark Horse manages to get in on the ideal last-minute present for the geek in your life game with Star Wars: Rise Of The Sith Omnibus, a collection of stories about everyone's favorite abusers of the Force, while aesthetes and noir fans alike will find value in the first issue of Mister X: Condemned, a new series by series creator Dean Motter. If you'd rather relive one of the greatest hours of television ever made in comic book form - and, really, why wouldn't you, aside from that whole "Because it was a great television episode" thing - then IDW release the first issue of a three-part adaptation of the "Smile Time" episode of Angel, but I'd be much more comfortable pointing you in the direction of the first issue of Boom! Studios' Farscape, the official continuation of the TV show by creator Rockne S. O'Bannon that is sure to make many a yuletide bright.

(Of course, if you just can't leave the store without a Christmas-themed comic, there's always Army of Darkness: Ash's Christmas Horror...)

If none of those seem like your flavor of comic candy canes, then check out the complete list of this week's new comic releases to find something that won't seem like a lump of coal... and then the Comic Shop Locator Service will guide you to your closest four color Santa. No need to thank us - We're just elves in the grand world of comics.

Marvel Comics, in its questionable yet infinite wisdom, is obviously pushing an Obama line with the release of the first issue of Adam: Legend Of The Blue Marvel - a series about the one black man that can save the world. They've even got a series about a potential McCain victory: Ultimatum (written by now-former Heroes producer Jeph Loeb) about disasters raining down on the Ultimate version of the Marvel Universe. No such political editorializing in their other big books of the week, which include the first in a series of paperbacks collecting Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's run on Daredevil , the oneshot Iron Man: The End, and the first issue of a series teaming up X-Men/Spider-Man.

Not to be outdone, DC are pulling out their big guns for this week as well - and I'm not talking about Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom (which is, I promise, about an alien who tries to kill Superman to impress a prospective boyfriend. Admit it; that's kind of awesome), Adventure Comics Special Featuring The Guardian or even the completely enjoyable Superman Vs. Brainiac collection of stories from the last seventy-odd years. No, it's the new/old Sandman: The Dream Hunters (which sees P. Craig Russell adapting Neil Gaiman's prose story from ten years ago into comic strip form) and the paperback collection of the much-much-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be Teen Titans Year One that both need a place on your shelf. The latter, in particular, is astonishingly beautiful and should be owned for the art alone:



But that's not all! Dark Horse unleashes Gigantic's first issue as well as a sumptuous hardcover collection for Dean Motter's Art Deco-inspired Mister X (Again, worth it just for the art; illustrators include Motter, Jaime Hernandez and Dave McKean, amongst many others), and Image are putting out the first volume of Liquid City, an anthology of stories from South-East Asian comic creators (You can find out more about the latter here; preview pages look promising).

(Of course, it's not all good news; the last chapter of Batman RIP? Delayed from tomorrow until November 19th at the earliest, apparently.)

So, when you get too bored waiting for a new leader of the free world to be announced, why not check out the complete list of this week's new comic releases (and then the Comic Shop Locator Service, to find your closest safe haven)? Go in, buy whatever takes your fancy, safe in the knowledge that the Florida recounts will still be going on by the time you leave.