Dean’s Top Picks

Best Of The Past Week: Wolverine and the X-Men #1 – This was a really strong week for Marvel as either Amazing Spider-Man #672 or Secret Avengers #18 could have been the pick here.  But, in the end, it was impossible to resist the great job that Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo did on this kick-off issue for a new era for the X-Men.  Anyone who reads WCBR knows that Bachalo is one of my favorite artists, so it’s not surprising that the lovely detailed and fun art was a high point of the issue.  Then you combine that with the fun story that Aaron weaves as Logan and Kitty have to get the new school approved by the New York State Board of Education and you have a really fun issue.  I know a lot of people associate Jason Aaron only with Scalped, but the dude is really funny in a dry and black sort of way.  He’s shown that humor on PunisherMax and Wolverine, but from the jabber online, I get the impression a lot of folks just expect grit from him.  And I loved the back matter that included a course catalog for the new mutant academy.  Trust me….this will be awesome.

Most Anticipated This Week: Uncanny X-Men #1 – It isn’t too imaginative given the pick above, but this should also be a harbinger of what’s to come.  Wolverine and the X-Men was fun, and…..it should be fun since it’s basically set at a high school.  Uncanny X-Men is the “Cyclops book”, so that means it is a serious “NO FUN” zone.  Hopefully Kieron Gillen is up the task of giving us a good story since he may not be able to resort to much humor.  A little concerned about the Carlos Pacheco art since I haven’t liked anything he’s done in a long time.  Still…..Uncanny is what got me started in comics, so it has to be the pick here.

Other Picks: American Vampire #20, Swamp Thing #3, Animal Man #3, Sweet Tooth #27, Giant-Size Elephantmen #1, Hack/Slash #9, Witch Doctor #4, Infinite Vacation #3, Amazing Spider-Man #673, Avengers Academy #21, Six Guns #1