Comic books and soap operas have a lot in common.

Both forms of media are serialized forms of fiction and both use many of the same tricks/techniques to keep folks reading and watching.

When I was a teen, I watched a ton of soap operas ... that is until I figured out that nothing really happens on these shows until Friday. The folks who write soaps are masters of stretching out storylines with useless stuff, and then on Friday someone gets shot or falls off a building or something like that -- causing you to hopefully tune in come Monday.

Similarly, comic books have a habit of padding a title with insignificant occurrences until the very last page. Creators usually save the last page for some earth-shattering event, and since I'm keenly aware of that, I often turn to the last page of a comic as soon as I pick it up. Yes, I know I spoil the story when I skip ahead like that, but, honestly, if the ending is good enough, I'll flip to the beginning and read the whole thing.

All that said, I though it'd be fun to present a "spoiler" edition of this column, by spilling the beans about what's on the last page of a few comics out right now. You've been warned:

Thunderbolts No. 126 -- Looks like Thunderbolts member Songbird has been caught by her evil teammate Bullseye, who holds a blade to her back and neck as he whispers "Say, 'kill me.'" Somebody's in trouble.

Fantastic Four No. 561 -- Doctor Doom is holding the charred carcass of a woman he just murdered. Is it the Invisible Woman? (Yep.)

Supergirl No. 35 -- There's a woman flying around with a big "S" on her chest, and it ain't Supergirl. Who is it? (I dunno.)

Kingdom Come Special: Magog No. 1 -- Starman says he's looking for a job and asks to borrow a shovel. (Seriously.)

Reviewed materials furnished by Heroes Aren't Hard To Find: www.heroesonline.com.