WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Batman #20 – Magical things can happen when you ask Greg Capullo to draw gloppy villains like Clayface.  Some artists draw the villain like a man dipped in oatmeal, some make him big an scary looking, but nobody does gloppy and oozy as well as Capullo.  Mix that together with a romp of a story and you’ve got a good issue that serves as a nice palate-cleanser before an 11-issue Year Zero storyline.

Most anticipated this week: 1). FF #7 – Honestly, I didn’t have much hope for FF when Matt Fraction took over as writer, but I’ve found FF to be really enjoyable.  Probably 95% of my enjoyment is due to the Mike/Laura Allred art team, but still, sometimes a smart writer simply stays out of the way.

2). Vescell #8 – It hasn’t been coming out regularly , so I don’t remember what the story in Vescell really was about beyond it involving a private investigator, his girlfriend who was banished to limbo and his sexy fairy partner who will lose her wings if they “you-know”.  I do remember enjoying the series though and in a very light week, that’s enough to be #2 on the list.

3). GI Joe: Special Missions #3 – Even though Paul Gulacy’s art has been really stinko, just read it fast and pay attention to the story.  Chuck Dixon rarely tells a lousy Joe story, so just don’t look too closely at the faces and you’ll enjoy yourself.

4). Dream Merchant #1 – It’s a new series by Nathan Edmondson from Image, so it’s worth checking out.  It also appears to have nothing to do with the military or the CIA, so it’ll be fun to see Edmondson stretch his legs a bit.

5). Age of Ultron #8 – AoU isn’t “great”, but it’s been generally enjoyable.  We’re close enough to the end that I’m curious to see what the point of it all was.  Wouldn’t it be funny if this was the series that “changed everything” since nobody is talking about it?

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Hugo’s Top Picks

Pick of the week: Thor: God of Thunder #8 – Was there any other pick worthy of that spot? While there were some good comics released that week, none were as satisfactory as the epic story of time-travelling and god butchering of the god of thunder as told by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina. Whenever this title comes out, it makes for a good week for me.

Most anticipated this week: 1) Fatale #14 – A new issue of this title superbly written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Sean Phillips? Yes please! With each issue seeing release, we get more mystery, more noir-writing and more references to the mythos of H.P Lovecraft, which this comic is really good at doing.

2) FF #7 – I dig Michael Allred’s art, as I really like the pseudo Kirby take he has on most of everything in this series. With Matt Fraction somewhat aloof, yet funny and honest writing, this series has been a joy to read and I am always eager to open up an issue featuring the replacement FF.

3) Bloodshot #11 – With this title still caught in the whole Harbinger Wars crossover event, it has still given us some good exploration of the character and action. With this issue here to further explore the Harada protocol introduced in the second issue of the main event, I am curious to see how they will show us this particular angle.

4) X-O Manowar #13 – This title had started as one of my favourite Valiant title, yet it has struggled a little bit ever since this arc has begun. It remains an enjoyable comic, yet I really would like to see the story and the narrative kicked up a notch. This issue will show us if such a thing is possible, to say the least.

5) Wonder Woman #20 – I like this title, yet I have to admit being disappointed in the use of Orion so far. The struggle between gods and the whole story revolving around the new born baby of Zola is interesting, yet I am always waiting for a cool moment with one of my favourite DC creation of Jack Kirby. If we get more with the Dog of War, I’d be mighty pleased.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: All New X-Men #11 – I didn’t think this was a great comic, but to win pick of the week sometimes you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your buddies.  Last week just wasn’t a stellar week for comics.  Still, it’s nice to give some love to All New X-Men which has been as good as any Big 2 superhero series that isn’t Batman.  Stuart Immonen’s art is fantastic!  He just keeps getting better and better.

Most anticipated this week: 1). The Walking Dead #110 – After a few calm issues (including last issue), I’m sure Robert Kirkman is about to turn up the heat again.  The action probably won’t explode in this issue, but we’ll probably start to glimpse the rough outline of the iceberg that our protagonists are headed towards.

2). Chin Music #1 – The idea of a hard boiled gangster dude being hunted by demons isn’t exactly the type of story I love, but have you seen the preview art from Tony Harris?  Holy hell!  It looks like it’ll be a lovely comic to stare at.

3). Batman #20 – Last issue of Batman was probably the first issue of the series that I haven’t really loved.  It just felt like a random Clayface story and that was kinda a downer after so many epic issue (or as close to epic as you can get with a ~70 year old character).  Now that my expectations are properly calibrated, I’ll bet I enjoy this issue a lot more.

4). Uber #1 – I really liked the zero issue because the emphasis was unique.  Uber does explore the non-novel concept of the Nazis developing superbeings during World War II, but the comic is much more interested in being a war story than any kind of “deconstruction of the superhero mythos.”

5). Creepy #12 – Always room for black-and-white horror anthologies on my list.  Creepy hasn’t had an issue that was aces in a while, but it’s always very solid because the creative talent is top notch.

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Hugo’s Top Picks

Pick of the week: Dial H #12 – How can I not love this book? It’s got everything I’m looking for in a comic, with great characters, heroism, a sense of mystery and playfulness, amazing concepts and much more. Nelson and Roxie have really grown as characters and if the rumors about this series imminent cancellation are true. I’d be sorely disappointed. I want to know more about Open-Window Man and the fact that I just typed that sentence means a lot about the comic in general and its quality.

Most anticipated this week: 1) Thor: God of Thunder #8 – Was there any other possible choice for this spot? With Esad Ribic and Jason Aaron at the helm of this grand tale of heroism, divinity on a cosmic scale, I cannot stress enough the quality of this title. If this issue is as good as the rest, we’re in for quite a ride.

2) Suicide Squad #20 – I love this concept: Villains working as a team for the government to get out of prison. Having read John Ostrander’s initial run of this concept, I’d be glad to see Ales Kot get close to the brilliance of that author, as this title sorely need a shot in the arm. With Patrick Zircher on art, it will surely look good, but I really want a quality title that brings back the old days of this amazing concept.

3) Uncanny Avengers #8 – While it had a rocky start, this title really began getting good at issue #5. Now that Rick Remender has his entire cast, a regular artist and a direction for the title, I have to say I love it. With storylines that continues the excellent one from Uncanny X-Force, I am curious to see where it will all lead.

4) Justice League of America #3 – I want a quality title with characters like Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and the like. While I’m still not sure if this title will reach the height that Geoff Johns had reached with previous titles, I really want to see if he can achieve just that with a bunch of characters in sore need of a good spotlight.

5) Chin Music #1 – Tony Harris is a wonderful artist. Just for his art, I’d buy the book, but the concept in itself actually sounds quite neat too. Crime, mixed with magic and demons in the prohibition era. It would be really nice to see such a thing see some success and I am eager to see if the potential is there.