Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: 27 #1 – This was really unexpected.  The solicitations made it sound like more of a band book, but I was hooked as soon as we saw the protagonist try to get his powers back by going to an eerie  dungeon/lab for a bizarre ritual involving a “scientist” who was disturbing, tattooed and naked.  How desperate would you have to be to let that dude do anything to you?  Runner-up: Lady Mechanika #1

Most Anticipated: Velocity #3 – It’s a shame this isn’t coming out more regularly, but it isn’t to be missed when it does show up.  The story is pretty good, but Ken Rocafort’s art is the main attraction for me.  He’s on my “buy whatever he draws” list.  Dude is really, really good.

Other picks: Amazing Spider-Man #650, Chaos War #4, Atomic Robo: The Deadly Art of Science #2, Strange Tales #3, Uncanny X-Force #3

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Fables #100 – A landmark collection packed with content, this was more graphic novel than single issue.  Best of all, it paid a lot of attention to building up for the future.  Here’s to another hundred issues!

Most Anticipated: Amazing Spider-Man #650 – I’m loving Big Time.  The sheer amount of comic book that you get for $3.99 is awesome, the art is awesome, and the story is all kinds of fun.  Hell, it’s not even a story anymore: each issue is just a giant chunk of Peter Parker’s madcap life.  That’s more than enough reason to get pumped every two weeks.

Other Picks: Batman & Robin #18, Brightest Day #16, DMZ #60, Green Lantern #60, Superman #706, The Unwritten #20, Wolverine #4

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Red Robin #18 – Red Robin was really fun. I enjoyed it and recommend it. Red Robin, hunting bad guys. In Russia. Tricking people. What more do you want?

Most Anticipated: Batman and Robin #18 – This book has: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, and a lady with a hole in her head. Lunatic Gotham, written by Paul Cornell. I’m going to be reading this first.

Other Picks: Green Lantern #60, Batman #705, and…despite issue #15’s sucktastic performance, I’m still buying Brightest Day #16, although my tolerance for further crapulence from this series is gone.

Joe’s Top Picks

Best of the Past Week: New Avengers v2 #7 – Bendis’ relaunched New Avengers title has been missing the mark a bit with me since it started earlier this year, but he and Stuart Immonen have gotten right back on track with this action-less epilogue to the first story-arc.  Lots of people complain about the writer’s wordy comics, but it’s that fact that drives this issue to great heights.  By the time I finished this, I was reminded why I love the New Avengers: because it feels less like a super-team and more a clubhouse for Marvel greats to get together and interact.  New Avengers #7 had that in spades and I loved it.

Most Anticipated: Uncanny X-Force #3 – There are a lot of contenders for the most anticipated this week.  While it was tough trying to decide which of them to pick, it came down to a knock-down, drag-out brawl between X-Force and Thunderbolts.  I have to admit, X-Force might have won based solely on my love and addiction to the X-Franchise.  Remender is writing the best X-Men title on the market right now, and Opena is making every last bit of it look beautiful.  Can’t wait for Wednesday!

Other Picks: Thunderbolts #151, Avengers Academy #7, Amazing Spider-Man #650, Brightest Day #16, Green Lantern #60, Wolverine #4, X-Factor #212, Supergirl #59, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: American Vampire #9 – This is becoming the Scott Snyder award after his win (for me) with Detective #871 last week, but it is impossible to ignore the artistic and story excellence of AV.  Endings to story arcs are very difficult to pull off and this was an outstanding one.

Most Anticipated: Lady Mechanika #1 – With art and story by Joe Benitez the #0 issue was very promising and featured a steampunky, attractive cyborg-ish lady who is trying to figure out her role in the world.  Definitely interested in seeing where this goes and enjoying more of Benitez’s art!

Other picks: 27 #1, Starborne #1, Batgirl #16, Red Robin #18, Chaos War Ares #1

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Sweet Tooth #16 – This was an issue that proved that Jeff Lemire can right the loud issues just as well as the quiet ones.  The action flows and so does the excitement, leading to an issue that was downright thrilling.  Really cool layouts are the icing on the cake, making this an easy pick of the week.

Most Anticipated: Fables #100 – Yeah, this is another great week for comics, with the second issues of THUNDER Agents and Superboy coming out, not to mention a new installment of Matt Fraction’s Thor.  But I simply cannot deny Fables #100, an absolute behemoth of a floppy and a landmark achievement for not only a Vertigo comic, but a creator-owned comic, period.  I can’t wait to see what Willingham and co. have in store.

Other Picks: Superboy #2, THUNDER Agents #2, Thor #618, New Avengers #7, The Flash #7

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Adventure Comics #521 – I had totally expected Brightest Day #15 to take this week’s crown, but the intense suction happening there caused me to dump even WCBR’s spoiler-free policy to trash it, leaving Adventure Comics #521, a pretty classically-styled Legion story to take the lead.

Most Anticipated: Batgirl#15 –  While I am always eager to see the Man with the Plan (Red Robin) and the Detective Comics Annual is tempting, I have to say, the cliffhanger ending of Batgirl #15, leaving her framed for a crime she didn’t commit, has the out-of-the-gates tension that will drive Batgirl #16 to the top of my pull list. Bryan Q. Miller delivers consistently satisfying stories and I’m waiting to see how my next exposure to Nguyen and Fridolfs works for me on Batgirl.

Other Picks: Red Robin #18, R.E.B.E.L.S. #23, Detective Comics Annual #12, Queen Sonja #12

What We’re Looking Forward To In November

Dean

There is a LOT to look forward to in November. For one thing, there is a lot of neat stuff in the Spider-Man world as Amazing Spider-Man kicks off its new “big” story line Big Time written by Dan Slott with art by Humberto Ramos. This is also the end of the thrice-monthly ASM with a rotating team of creators, so it should be interesting. Also in the Spidey-world, we get Spider-Girl #1 by Paul Tobin. This is not Mayday Parker (who could never find a stable audience) but Arana of Young Allies fame. If you like teenage drama, it should be fun. Finally, we get Osborn #1 by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Emma Rios (who are both really good) to see what Marvel’s favorite villain has been up to since Siege ended.

A few other things in Marvel that I’m looking forward to. She-Hulks #1 launches in November with art from Ryan Stegman. Stegman is a very gifted artist and he draws a mean She-Hulk, so this should be good. Although Invincible Iron Man has had slow pacing, the current story arc, Stark Resilient wraps up this month and Matt Fraction seems to have this title headed to a very good climactic battle. For all those Punisher fans who HATED Franken-Castle, you get plain, old, normal Punisher in the Blood #1 from Rick Remender. And finally, there is yet another X-book with Generation Hope. The idea for this book is to have Hope running around with all the “new mutants” who have had their powers come alive since Second Coming.

Over at DC the big news is in the Bat-books as we get 2 new Bruce Wayne titles: Batman, Inc. by Grant Morrison and Batman: The Dark Knight by David Finch. If you’re into Batman, these are going to be must reads. And….after much waiting and delay, we get Batwoman #0 by JH Williams, III. I am really excited for this book and eager to see if it can maintain the quality that Williams and Greg Rucka established during their run on Detective Comics last year. Also, just to prove it isn’t all about new Bat-books, we also get a whole new creative team on the venerable Detective Comics with Scott Snyder of American Vampire fame teaming up with Jock and Francesco Francavilla on what is sure to be very well done series of Dick Grayson stories.

Not a whole lot going on over at Image, but folks might want to take a look at Utopian #1 by Marc Guggenheim. The story is: “What happens after the heroes win and the world is saved?” Image has become the go-to publisher for many creators to do interesting things, so this has promise.

 

 

Alex

While I’m as excited about all the Grant Morrison stuff as the next guy, the Batman title that really has my eye is Detective Comics #871 by Scott Snyder and Jock. It’s an utterly fantastic creative team and Snyder’s promise of a realistic, CSI type Batman has me curious. Of course, there’s also Batwoman #0 by JH Williams III to consider, which anyone with a pulse should be excited for.

Outside of Batman, I find myself confronted by two relaunches of titles I’m either completely unfamiliar with and/or indifferent to. Yet I’m picking them both up. They are THUNDER Agents #1 by Nick Spencer and CAFU and Superboy #1 by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo. In both cases, it’s the creative teams that have me excited, crewed as they are by exciting new talent with writers that have proven track records outside the superhero realm.

At Marvel, it’s all about Spider-Man’s Big Time. Now bi-monthly with a steady, and good, creative team, I’m happy to be back aboard with Amazing Spider Man #648 and #649 with Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. Hopefully big times are also good times. Meanwhile, Thor #617 by Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry has my attention as well, with its seeming promise of a reincarnated Loki. Fractions other book, Invincible Iron Man #32, also isn’t to be missed as it concludes the excellent slow-burn of “Stark Resilient” in explosive fashion.

Finally, it’s a big, but sad, month at Vertigo as two excellent titles reach their conclusions. Madame Xanadu #29 goes out with a bang as main series artist Amy Reeder returns for the farewell. Meanwhile,  Unknown Soldier #25 is sure to end things in bloody and tragic fashion, as Joshua Dysart’s fictional tale directly collides with a real world villain of the worst kind. On a happier note, Fables #100 is a giant-sized book of excitement featuring a mega-powered duel; it’s also a landmark for Vertigo, an imprint for whom longevity isn’t common.

 

SoldierHawk

So I’ve been harping on it since it was announced months ago, but my pick for November is, without question, Batwoman #0, the prelude to the new Batwoman ongoing series written and illustrated by J.H. Williams III. I’m quite literally X-ing the days off my calendar until this comes out. Kate Kane/Batwoman are fantastic characters and–perhaps even more importantly–she has a fabulous supporting cast surrounding her. Even leaving all that aside… MORE J.H. WILLIAMS III ARTWORK! That alone will be worth the cover price.

I’m also really, really looking forward both to the first Kill Shakespeare Trade (which collects Kill Shakespeare issues #1-6), and to issue #7. This series has been a gem (albeit a slightly rough one in spots) since its launch last April, and issue #6 set some very interesting plot points and characters into motion. I’m waiting with baited breath to see how this is going to play out, and what other famous Shakespeare creations might throw themselves into the mix.