WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Sweet Tooth #40 – I’m sad that this series is ending, but am pretty darn happy with the 40 issues that Jeff Lemire has written/drawn for the last 3 years.  There is something to be said for leaving us wanting more!  This was a very strong ending that wrapped up all the questions about the series and left no stone unturned.  What impressed me most is how this final issue was so much more optimistic than the series itself.  Very nicely done.  If you were waiting until the series ended to start reading, go to Amazon now and buy the trades.  It’s well worth the time and money.

Most anticipated this week: 1). Saga #9 – THIS is the best ongoing series being published right now – and I don’t think it’s particularly close either.  The story in Saga shows the power of science fiction to depict common, everyday problems that we’re all familiar with (young love, parenthood, etc.) and make us think about them differently because the characters are in space and have wings and horns and stuff.  If you’re not reading this you are missing out.

2). Batman #16 – It’s amazing to me how much I love the Snyder/Capullo/Glapion/Plascencia run on Batman but I simultaneously get no enjoyment from anything else that DC publishes.  Weird.  The Death in the Family storyline has been wonderful as this team has made Joker really, really frightening, so I can’t wait to see the next chapter.

3). Savage Wolverine #1 – This is a curious title.  It’s all about Frank Cho as the writer and artist.  It is a bizarre choice for Marvel.  If I had access to Frank Cho’s talents, I’d put him on a She-Hulks 4-issue miniseries and you’d have an all-time classic that would sell in perpetuity.  Instead they’re putting a guy who is known for drawing voluptuous women on a Wolverine title (???), and they’re doing that knowing that Cho doesn’t really do monthly comics.  So, there will certainly be a creative change pretty soon.  It’s a head-scratcher.  Still, I want to see Frank Cho drawing Savage Land ladies.

4). Fashion Beast #5 – Based on an Alan Moore screenplay that is a derivation of Beauty and the Beast, this series has been very strong.  It really shows the power of Alan Moore.  I mean, he wrote this ~30 years ago and the quality of his screenplay and the power of his name to attract quality creators to the adaptation has made this a very high quality series.  I wouldn’t say I LOVE it, but I respect the craft a lot.

5). Black Beetle: No Way Out #1 – I haven’t seen Francesco Francavilla doing interior art since the end of the Snyder/Jock/Francavilla run on Detective Comics at the end of the “Old 52”.  He was awesome on that story, but since then all I’ve seen from Francavilla is a lot of (great) cover art.  So, it’s very exciting that he’s back to interiors on a creator-owned title with a heavy pulp feel.

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week:  Sweet Tooth #40 – It may have been a great week for comics, but this was a clear winner.  It’s hard to give a beloved series a perfect send-off, but Lemire manages it.  This issue is a true accomplishment, rewarding in the utmost, and feels absolutely packed with content, but with great pacing nonetheless.  I can’t really imagine the series going out any better than this.

Most Anticipated:  Captain America #3 – Coming up with my list this week is extremely hard.  I’m only picking up 7 books, but all of them would normally find a spot on my weekly list.  But I’ve only got five spaces.  Alas.  As such, New Avengers and Daredevil are going to be the books to just miss the cut.  New Avengers because I don’t know what the hell to make of the book at this point and Daredevil because, I don’t know, the Superior Spider-Man cameo?  Whatever.

For the top spot, I’ll go with Cap; next to Thor, this is my favourite Marvel NOW title (even if it’s apparently somewhat divisive).  I love how different it is.  I love the Burroughs-tinged pulpiness of it.  I love the Lone Wolf and Cub thing Remender’s got going on right now.  There really isn’t much I don’t like about this book.  This is really, really great stuff by one of Marvel’s ballsiest writers.

Saga #9:  It’s Saga.  There’s really not much more to be said.  Great storytelling, great art, great characters, great universe.  If Saga is coming out, it’s going to make this list every time.

Batman #16 – This Joker story of Snyder’s has been fantastic.  I was really wow’d by Snyder’s writing last issue.  That whole bit about Joker’s eyes?  Amazing.  I can’t wait to see what Snyder has in store this month.  Bring it.

All-New X-Men #6 – The biggest surprise of Marvel NOW rolls on.  Bendis has really exceeded expectations with this book, which has turned out to be horribly, horribly addictive.  There’s just something special about this book, with Bendis feeling more exciting than he has in some time.  I really dig that cover too.

Indestructible Hulk #3 – Not as much as New Avengers, but this is a book where I really don’t think we’ve seen much of yet.  I can tell it’s a good comic and that it will be a good comic and it feels very polished, and yet it still feels too early to get a real read on it, let alone judge it.  That said, it’s a very slick comic, the potential is huge, and the creators clearly have a very firm vision.  So much as was the case with the second issue, I’m very intrigued by what Waid and Yu will offer this month.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Punk Rock Jesus #6 – There were other very good comics last week (American Vampire #34 was great), but they were “just telling a story.”  PRJ #6 had a much higher degree of difficulty because it was a true ending.  Endings are so hard because the reader can always think of things they wish would have happened instead, so I was very impressed that Sean Murphy wrapped PRJ without any obvious stones unturned.  PRJ also gets points for tackling challenging material and in a nuanced and thought provoking way.  It’s easy to say, “Organized religion sucks!”, but much harder to go through the layers that Murphy has.  It really makes something like an Aquaman or Hulk comic look trite in comparison.  This wasn’t just a comic book series, it was a serious piece of fiction.  There’s enough meat on the bone that PRJ could be used in college-level courses.  Can’t wait for the next time Murphy gets to tell his own story.

Most anticipated this week: 1). The Walking Dead #106 – It’s amazing how after 100+ issues TWD is back to being an absolute “must read right away” type of comic.  This series went through a rough patch where the group was just spinning it’s wheels in Arlington, but ever since Kirkman opened up the world to show us multiple settlements in the same area this series has been HOT.  Last issue didn’t even show us Rick and the Gang, instead focusing on little Carl and the Negan who is the most unnerving comic villain I’ve read in a long time.  This will be on my iPad shortly after the digital comics go live.

2). Star Wars #1 – I’ve read a LOT of novels set in the extended Star Wars universe and more than a few of the comics.  Generally stories set during the period of the original trilogy lack a little snap because we already know (generally) what happens to the characters.  Still, this series just feels different.  I’m very optimistic.  Plus, this is probably the last hurrah for Dark Horse and the Star Wars franchise before it flips back to Marvel in a few years (2015?).  That still gives writer Brian Wood two years to send Dark Horse out on a very strong note.

3). Sweet Tooth #40 – It’s so sad.  I looked in the January 2013 edition of Previews and there are more Green Lantern comics than ongoings left at Vertigo.  WTF!?!?  I’ve loved Sweet Tooth and will miss it.  This is the final issue and I’ll be curious to see how Jeff Lemire concludes this series after accomplishing so much in the penultimate issue last month.  It is very much set up for him to take a sentimental victory lap and he deserves it, although there is hope that we get something more out of the finale.

4). End Times of Bram & Ben #1 – This new series from Image just sounds cool.  After the Rapture, one non-believer is almost taken to Heaven by accident.  Of course, he is promptly sent back to Earth where he commences taking advantage of the end times.  Sounds like it could be a fun and irreverent time and the art looks sharp.

5). Superior Spider-Man #1 – I’m in the camp of people who aren’t happy with the direction that Dan Slott has taken the Spider-Man franchise.  I mean, if the solution to super-villains is Peter Parker’s super-memories, why not just have some telepath pipe that stuff straight into everyone when they check into The Raft?  Wouldn’t that fix all crime in the Marvel Universe and make all criminals realize that – Say it with me!!! – “with great power comes great responsibility”?  Still, even though Dan Slott’s star is dimming by the second, Ryan Stegman is a Grade A badass on art.  He’s always been wonderful and has only gotten stronger since he started inking his own work.  The thought of Stegman drawing a Spidey-like character and MJ makes me very happy!

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Fatale #11 – Possibly the best single issue of the series yet, this was just a great horror read that at times left me scared to turn the page to find out what lurked ahead.  I absolutely loved this book, even if it was, in some respects, a terrible tease.

Most Anticipated:  Sweet Tooth #40 – Whelp, I’ve been following this series in singles since the first issue and throughout, it’s been one hell of a ride.  It’s also the work that first introduced me to Jeff Lemire.  It’s but a gut-wrenching book that sort of redefined comic art for me, personally.  I’m sad to say goodbye, but I also realize that it’s time to put this one to bed.  Let’s see how Lemire leaves our cast as we say farewell to Gus and friends.

Thor: God of Thunder #4 – This is, for my money, the best book of Marvel NOW thus far.  Epic in scale, ambition, and artwork and filled with an atmosphere dripping in menace and malevolence, this is the Thor book I’ve always wanted to read.  People say Thor is heavy metal, but when they say that, they’re thinking of cheesy power metal shit.  Jason Aaron’s Thor is definitely heavy metal, it’s just closer to the death metal and black metal that would have the other heavy metal Thor fans holding their hands over their ears.

Fantastic Four #3 – Matt Fraction’s Fantastic Four has yet to do much for me partially because nothing much has happened.  It’s too early to judge this book.  That said, I felt the same way after FF‘s first issue, then it’s second issue whacked me upside the head and began delivering on its potential.  I’m hoping that serves as a sign of things to come in this issue of its sister title.

Animal Man #16/Swamp Thing #16 – Another installment of the epic crossover between two of my favourite DC comics by two of my favourite creators.  Don’t need to know much more than that.

Dial H #8 – Mieville fanboy that I am, I am very, very curious about this new villain, the Centipede.  It’s a really awesome concept that reminds me a bit of ideas briefly explored in Mieville’s novels that I look forward to getting better acquainted with.