I got a chance to read the first 12 issues of WildStorm's Planetary this week, and I have to say that it's one of the best premises for a superhero comic I've ever run across. Essentially, Planetary is the cleanup squad for abnormal activity -- a team of superpowered archeologists who study spaceship crash sites, interdimensional hotspots, and the like. Generally speaking they show up long after the action is finished, and have to figure out what happened. They're the cataloguers of strange reality.

It's a great premise.

The execution seemed a little off to me, though, mostly because the team remains three ciphers who show up randomly to investigate sites without ever examining themselves or their own situation. This changes as time goes on -- we meet the series's Big Bads in issue 6 (a WildStorm evil anaolgue of the Fantastic Four) we meet previous members of the team in issue 9, and there's a twist in issue 12 that you'll probably see coming a mile off but which is good anyway. The plots are beyond excellent; I just wish a little more attention had been paid to character here.

Still, for superhero comics, you can't do much better.

Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories
Planetary: The Fourth Man