We’ve all been off at the Birmingham International Comics Show this weekend, so there ain’t much to look at, but you do at least have a few Capsule Reviews – but not many because, well, it’s been a pretty poor week for releases, hasn’t it? Seb and Julian have important things to say about Supergirl #34, Top 10 Season 2 #1 and The Authority #3 inside!

Review: Supergirl #34
What’s this? A decent Supergirl run? Surely not? Well, previous runs have flattered to deceive, so let’s not get our hopes up too early, but this is a promising start for Sterling Gates. For arguably the first time, the title seeks to align itself with the other Super-books, and place Kara firmly within Robinson and Johns’ world rather than on the periphery – and so Jamal Ingle does a decent facsimile of Gary Frank’s Action style, while the reason for Lana Lang’s appearance in Superman is explained by a neat few closing pages. Having Kara be a hero that the public are actually kind of annoyed by feels like a smart bit of commentary on the way the character has been handled since her introduction, so here’s hoping Gates can rectify that. [SP]

Review: Top 10 Season Two #1
I wasn’t even aware this book was out until I saw it, but my initial reaction was one of apprehension – surely nobody but Alan Moore is allowed to do a sequel to an Alan Moore book? Then again, the first volume did promise that a second “season” was forthcoming, and it’s not as if Zander Cannon and Gene Ha aren’t the people best-placed to tackle any follow-up. As it happens, this is… alright, yeah. It’s nice to see the characters again, and the tone of the original is largely maintained – save for an apparent absence of Mooreian playful wit. Ha’s artwork is customarily excellent, although I’d rather have seen a reversion to the finely-picked, detail-packed stylings of the first book, rather than a progression of his more recent painted style. [SP]

Review: The Authority #3
There’s a nice fake-out this issue, as the Midnighter’s clash with Eidolon stubbornly refuses to stick to established comic book conventions. The bionically enhanced assassin is unique amongst his teamates in having retained all of his abilities, but they’re no use to him when faced with a problem he can’t just kill. The bulk of the plot is devoted to set-up, with the other surviving fragments of the Wildstorm universe starting to impinge on the title. With the team divided, it’ll be interesting to see if they’re up to the challenge of making their mark on events. [JHa]

Shamelessness: Columns!
This week’s plug: My latest column at Den of Geek, “Minx: The Leftovers” which posits that even if Minx is gone, there are still some titles worth checking out. [JHu]