Complain about massive event crossovers all you want--and you will, because like me, you're a comics fan who uses the internet on a regular basis--but they occasionally do have some good, lasting effects. For example, every once in a while, a crossover gives birth to a legitimately great series, mixed in amid the forgettable miniseries and abysmal ongoings that inevitably spring up in each crossover's wake.

Starman was launched on the heels of Zero Hour. Hitman was launched after the god-awful Bloodlines. And now, we have The Order, sprung off the conclusion of Civil War and with the potential to stand alongside the aforementioned greats.

How can it be so good so soon? Because Matt Fraction, that's why. (Props due to Chris Sims of the Invincible Super-Blog, who coined the phrase "Because Bob Kanigher" that inspired "Because Matt Fraction." Holla.) Fraction is beyond a "rising star" anymore--he's entering the top echelons of writing talent in the industry with his work at Marvel. Punisher War Journal is big-screen spandex mayhem, Immortal Iron Fist is kooky kung-fu brilliance, and The Order is like The West Wing, but with superheroes.

I think Fraction himself may have made that comparison at one point, and that's because it's apt--to paraphrase some patriot or another, the two things you never want to see made are sausages and superhero teams. The Order's central hook--basically, the superhero team as administrative machine, with all the media and politics that implies--lends itself perfectly to a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to fulfill the true committment of the Initiative and the fallout from Civil War.

These are legislated, controlled superheroes, carefully trained and deployed, run like a cross between a baseball team and a rock band. Though the superhero action is fun and plentiful--rendered to perfection by Barry Kitson--it's the sausage-making that creates the most compelling draw.