WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: The Unwritten #41 – This wasn’t a perfect issue, but in a light week, it was the best thing I read.  That’s a nice thing about light weeks: they give a chance to highlight a really solid series that is usually a notch below the “best”.  The strongest element of this issue was it showed how much The Unwritten is attempting to be great with all of it’s complex plots and call-backs to old story lines.  Even if they don’t hit the ultimate goal of “greatness”, we should applaud the effort because we need a few comics that are striving for something better.

Most anticipated this week: 1). Happy #1  – This is a new miniseries from Image by Grant Morrison & Darick Robertson.  I’ll just paste the teaser blurb since Morrison wrote it and he’s a better writer than I am: “Meet NICK SAX–a corrupt, intoxicated ex-cop turned hit-man, adrift in a stinking twilight world of casual murder, soulless sex, eczema and betrayal.”  Sounds like a winner.

2). Rachel Rising #11 – A few issues back, this series answered a few big questions and has really turned the corner from the series’ beginnings.  Lots of creepy things are going on in this town and the art Terry Moore art is sublime.

3). The Sixth Gun #25 – I picked up the whole series on Comixology when they had one of their 99 cent sales and inhaled the previous 24 issues in a week or so.  What a mistake I’d made in not reading this all along!  A few of my comic friends with good taste love the series and I know a few other pros deeply respect the work too.  I can’t wait to see what happens to Drake Sinclair and Becky Montcrief as they try to keep the guns away from the forces of chaos.

4). Mind Mgmt #5 – This series has been so strong that each issue is virtually guaranteed a spot on this list.  Little by little, we’re starting to get an understanding of what Mind Mgmt is all about (and along the way we get to enjoy Matt Kindt’s art).

5). FF #22 – There hasn’t been a bad issue of FF or Fantastic Four yet since Jonathan Hickman started just wrapping loose ends 3-4 months ago.  Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley/Michael Allred have tremendous shoes to fill.

– Dean Stell

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Wonder Woman #0 – Honestly, this was the thinnest week for me in quite some time.  That said, Wonder Woman #0 was a lot of fun, with Brian Azzarello (of all people!) and Cliff Chiang doing a brilliant sort of silver age tribute that was equal parts bombastic and goofy.  It was a lot of fun and it managed to shed a little light on Diana’s character as well.  Also, the art was brilliant, as usual.

Most Anticipated:  Happy #1 – Quite often, Grant Morrison’s creator-owned work sort of functions as Morrison putting his own personal spin on a particular sub-genre.  For example, we had a Neverending Story type kids fantasy with Joe the Barbarian, a Homeward Bound-type animal adventure yarn with We3, and you might even argue that the Invisibles sort of functions as Morrison’s espionage comic.  With Happy, Morrison takes on another genre:  the gritty, hard-boiled, noir.  Of course, in Morrison’s world, this involves a flying blue horse.  While Morrison’s minis are hit and miss with me (I loved Joe and We3 while Vinamarama and Seaguy did nothing for me), I’m anxious to see what a Morrison “Criminal” comic looks like.  It also helps that it’s drawn by Darick Robertson, an artist I’ve always had a soft spot for due to his career-defining work with some of my favourite writers.

Punisher #16 – Alas, the final regular issue of Greg Rucka’s Punisher is here and it’s a damned shame you all didn’t buy it.  Now it’s been canceled so that the Punisher can be shuffled off onto a sure-to-be vapid Daniel Way Thunderbolts comic.  That’s really pretty sad.  Anyway, even with only 16 issues (and the upcoming Punisher: War Zone mini), Rucka has written what is probably my favourite 616 Punisher run of all time.  I’m sad to see it go and sadder still that the book’s cancellation seems to have spelled the end of Rucka’s time at Marvel.

Winter Soldier #11 – With 11 issues, Winter Soldier has proven to be an incredibly reliable title, giving us the same high level of quality with every single issue.  I love the villain Brubaker has created and the paranoid, Cold war atmosphere of this book.  This is a great one.

Invincible Iron Man #525 – While last issue was a bit of a transitional one, Matt Fraction’s Iron Man has nonetheless really turned it up over the last few months.  It’s clear Fraction and Larroca are going out with a bang and as someone who’s been following their run monthly since pretty near the beginning, every remaining issue is a big one.

Wolverine and the X-Men #17 – Yeah, I do think the AvX tie-ins have sort of railroaded this series (with the exception of that excellent Warbird issue).  That said, how could this issue be bad?  I mean, it’s a spotlight on Doop drawn by Mike Allred.  This HAS to be good, even if it has the AvX banner over top of it.  Again, it’s a Doop comic drawn by Mike Allred.  Come on!