It's a surprisingly good week for books this week, with a lot of unusual projects making their debut at the stores. How unusual?

Well, take Marvel's Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers, for example. It's a book about the superheroes of the animal kingdom, whether they're teleporting dogs, firebreathing dragons or frog versions of Thor. It's one of a number of first issues from the self-styled House of Ideas this week, with the others including Dark Reign: Young Avengers (wherein Doctor Who's Paul Cornell takes on Marvel's answer to the Teen Titans) and GeNext United (continuing Chris Claremont's alternate future tale of the X-Men's children).

But can anything really eclipse what may be Marvel's most eagerly-anticipated hardcover collection? No, not World War Hulk or X-Men: Manifest Destiny (although both are released tomorrow.) I'm talking about Secret Wars II, the seemingly-endless, seemingly-cocaine-fueled 1980s excess of Marvel Comics' then-boss Jim Shooter trying to write a story about the meaning of life. Seriously, if you can spare the $99.99, you owe it to yourself to experience it.

By comparison, DC has little to match up... But that's not to say that The Unwritten (which we previewed yesterday) and a new edition of The History of The DC Universe aren't worth picking up. And Superman: New Krypton Volume 1 catches you up on the current crazy status quo for the character, that sees him abandon Earth in favor of his own race.

Elsewhere, IDW launches a new Angel series, Not Fade Away, for the Whedonites, while also putting out Astro Boy Movie Prequel: Underground for those looking forward to this fall's revival of everyone's favorite atomic Pinocchio.

Similar nostalgia will be found in the Flash Gordon 75th Anniversary Special hardcover from Ardden Entertainment. But I'd rather draw your attention to Boom!'s Unthinkable - which Alyssa reviewed this weekend - and The Unknown, which offers up the start of a story that feels more than a little Fringe-esque in all the right ways, as the world's greatest detective decides to investigate what happens after death, considering she's only six months away from her end.

No matter what you're looking for, chances are you'll find some variation of it in this week's complete list of comics shipping to comic stores, and the Comic Store Locator will help you find where your closest store is, so you'll know just where to find your goodies. Just don't be too embarrassed to ask for that book with the frog God Of Thunder.

The issue continues the New Krypton storyline that brings 1,000,000 Kryptonians to Earth... some of whom don't have the best intentions. Here we've got highlights of what Earth is doing about this secret invasion, and the bad luck that poor Supergirl is having with her returned parents.

Supergirl #35 [DC Comics]

Superman's lonely future was revealed by DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio, in an interview with the LA Times' Hero Complex blog:

Superman has been the star of "Action Comics" for its entire run, essentially, and he will be leaving it and handing it over to new characters. The only time he hasn’t appeared in the book, I believe, was after “The Death of Superman,” in those years. So this is a lot of fun for us. I think that’s going to get people excited and scratching their heads and wondering what’s going on. In his own book, "Superman," there will be a dramatic turn as the hero leaves Earth and it seems like he’s leaving for good. We’ll follow his adventures in space more so than his adventures on Earth, and that’s a big and exciting thing.

So what could be behind Superman's decision to leave Earth - and, presumably, his wife Lois Lane? The seeds are already being planted in the various Superman comics being published by DC. In the current "New Krypton" storyline, readers have not only seen 1,000,000 Kryptonians adopt Earth as their new home, but the US Military viewing this as a potential alien invasion and making plans to take care of the problem. The man in charge of the planning...? Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane - and to make matters worse, he's inducted Lex Luthor to the cause, as well. As we heading for a showdown that will make Superman feel as if he's no longer wanted on Earth - and betrayed by the woman he loves? Suddenly, that looks more than a little bit likely...

(It's worth noting that this isn't the first time that Superman has abandoned Earth - he last did it in 1988's Exile storyline - which followed a period where Superman was absent from his own comics. Everything old is new again, apparently.)

We've got an exclusive preview of this week's issue of Supergirl tomorrow that will shed some more light on the military plan against the Man of Tomorrow, so stay tuned.

DC sends Superman into space and gives Batman his last rites [Hero Complex]

The final part of "Brainiac," the latest storyline from writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank, manages to offer a new beginning of Kal-El at the same time as the end of the world for Clark Kent: As a result of defeating the newly-revamped Brainiac (now an alien who's spent years stealing cities from other planets), the fully-populated Kryptonian city of Kandor ends up in the Arctic - leaving the planet Earth with thousands of brand new Supermen and Women, all with powers and abilities the equal of Superman's — at the same time as Pa Kent dies of a heart attack in Smallville.

This isn't the first time for either thing to happen, of course (in fact, both Pa's death and new Kryptonians on Earth have been seen fairly recently in Grant Morrison's alternate universe All Star Superman), but poor Pa Kent has managed to stay alive in mainstream comics since the 1986 revamp of the Superman franchise. (Sure, he's since died in Smallville, but come on; it's Smallville. Like that counts.) And with the exception of Supergirl and the Phantom Zone criminals, the rest of the Kryptonians have managed to stay away for that length of time as well.

But while these new plot developments may not be wholly original, the timing of both leads poor Clark into something DC is calling New Krypton, a storyline running through the Superman and Supergirl series for the next few months, showing that without the folky wisdom of men and women like the Kents, great power doesn't lead to great responsibility... and that that may be a problem. Just guessing.

Action Comics #870 makes it to stores today; Superman: New Krypton Special is released on October 22nd.

[Action Comics #870]

DC may have missed Superman's birthday, but they're making up for it by giving him the best belated gift he could have wished for: The return of his race. Starting in October and spinning out of current events happening in Action Comics, the Last Son of Krypton will find himself surrounded by more Kryptonians than he knows what to do with.

As part of a storyline called New Krypton that will begin with a 48-page special issue of the same name before running through the monthly Superman, Action Comics and Supergirl comics, DC's Man of Steel will discover that defeating Brainiac leaves him with 100,000 Kryptonians freed from their miniaturized prison and looking for somewhere to live.

The nine-part story ("years in the making," according to the solicitation copy), which will last until the end of the year, is written by Geoff Johns (writer of last year's awesome Sinestro Corps War storyline in Green Lantern), James Robinson and Sterling Gates.

DC's October 2008 Solicitations [Newsarama]