This Wednesday, comic shops across the nation will open and allow wonderful comic book readers, like yourselves, to buy the newest books to read, enjoy, and put into bags and boards. The staff of Comic Vine is going to try and make it a little easier for you and pick out the some of the essential reading for this upcoming week. Let's get right down to business.
Tony's Picks
ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #1
(Marvel)
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by David Lopez, David Navarrot
Wolverine’s back! But it’s not the Wolverine you might have expected. Laura Kinney, previously known as X-23, is stepping out of the shadows of her past and embracing the legacy of Wolverine. As seen in the weekly WOLVERINES series, she took it hard when Logan died. This is a way to further honor the man was was sort of like a father to her. Not a perfect father by any means but they did have some moments. Plus the fact she’s cloned from him and all that stuff.
Since she was first introduced, Laura was a heavy character. She had been through a lot and it’s been great seeing her deal with everything while also growing as a character. What does Tom Taylor have planned for her? We’ll have to wait and see. With art by David Lopez and David Navarrot, this looks like it’s going to be a great looking book with lots of action.
BATMAN #46
(DC)
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo
What is Mr. Bloom up to? Last issue, we saw him make his move against some of Gotham’s upper class. It’s a good thing ‘Batman’ is there but then again, didn’t Jim Gordon just get fired? While all this is going on, we’ll get more updates on Bruce Wayne and his new life with Julie Madison as well as a look at what Duke Thomas is up to. He might be getting in a little over his head.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are continuing to leave us hungry for more. There’s no telling what will happen next and even if we’re waiting for Bruce to somehow return to who he was before, Gordon as Batman is getting more and more interesting.
SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN #1
(DC)
Written by Max Landis
Art by Nick Dragotta
Do we really need another retelling of Superman’s life? That was my first question upon hearing about this series. Having Max Landis write the story with Nick Dragotta doing the art (there’s a different artist for each issue) was intriguing. I like Superman, if not more, than the next person. With so many versions of his history, I just wasn’t sure if we needed to see it again.
Getting a chance to read this first issue, I can say this is a good move. There’s something about seeing the struggle as Clark first starts to develop his powers. Plus the fact we get to see Ma and Pa Kent, who have been unfortunately killed off early in the New 52 Universe. This is a great chance to forget everything else going on. You can just dive in and not worry about other story lines. It’s pretty great seeing the focus placed on Clark Kent instead of Superman.
SECRET WARS #7
(Marvel)
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Esad Ribic
It’s understandable that some will have gripes over this story still going on despite the fact that Marvel has already unleashed its All-New, All-Different Marvel titles. It’s not like they could wait and not publish anything and I’d actually rather see this series be told in the way the creators wanted.
Jonathan Hickman has a big story he’s telling. Esad Ribic’s art has been fantastic. We may be seeing a lot of what’s going on in the Marvel Universe “eight months” after the ending of SECRET WARS but there’s still a lot we don’t know about. There’s a few characters’ fates we’re still waiting to find out about. Maybe the answers will be in this series, maybe not. Either way, I’m loving what’s been going on and can’t wait for the rest of this series.
DESCENDER #7
(Image)
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Dustin Nguyen
The wait is over. Have you caught up on the series’ first six issues?
The second story arc begins here. The first arc set things up and gave us some shocking moments. Despite the conclusion to the first arc, there’s still some questions we have left unanswered. We can’t have them all at once. This issue is said to be a new jumping on point for readers but you’ll want to the be sure to read the first arc at some point.
Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen are giving us a really cool sci-fi story. I always find sci-fi comics leaving me wanting a little more. It just seems they never fully capture what they’re trying to deliver. Lemire and Nguyen have found the right balance and even though it hasn’t been that long since issue #6, I’ve been dying to see the story continue.
ALL-NEW HAWKEYE #1
(Marvel)
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Ramon K Perez
What?!? A new #1??? Again?!?!
Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of our system, what matters is Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez are back. In their first arc, we saw the mess they got themselves in trying to save some kids that were being experimented on. With an ending that seemed to journey into their present, we weren’t sure what to expect. Seeing the preview pages, it looks like things haven’t gone to well for Clint but they’ve gone pretty well for Kate. What exactly happened between them? That will be part of the fun of this arc—getting the answers to this question and more.
Honorable Mention: UNCANNY AVENGERS #2
Mat's Picks
ALL-NEW ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #1
(Marvel)
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Adam Kubert, Mahmud Asrar
Honestly, I'm most excited for this book because Miles Morales is on the team and I think he's the cat's pajamas. Ok, he's not the ONLY reason that I think this book is something you need to pick up, but he's a big part of it. This team has a really cool lineup with a mixture of experience and inexperienced superheroes coming together as a team.
I think Mark Waid writing this team is really a good fit as well. There's a lot of characters here that have an element of fun to them and Mark Waid is great when it comes to fun to read books that tell some great stories.
There's also two artists on this book, which can be good or bad depending on how they're used. However, I am excited to see what Adam Kubert and Mahmud Asar have to bring to the table on this new series.
SLASH & BURN #1
(Vertigo)
Written by Si Spencer
Art by Max Dunbar, Ande Parks
Almost a month ago, we talked to the creative team behind SLASH & BURN about the series and now, it's finally here! In case you missed it, Vertigo is knocking it out of the park with these new series. Each one has been a ton of fun and this week, it's SLASH & BURN's time to shine.
Essentially, the book is about a pyromaniac firefighter, and from there, who knows where we'll be headed, but that one sentence alone has me interested. Also, it's Vertigo, and I normally give their books a try, no matter what. Yes, I know I'm a fanboy.
Anyway, I'm really excited for the creative team as well. I loved Spencer's work on BODIES. Dunbar did some great work on THE MOCKING DEAD. Parks did the inking on one of my favorite series from 9 years ago: THE IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN. SLASH & BURN could easily be a win.
ULTIMATES #1
(Marvel)
Written by Al Ewing
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
If you're one of those fine folks that's been coming to Comic Vine for quite some time, then you know I'm quite the fan of the Ultimate Universe, rest in peace. While the end of the Ultimate universe was pretty rough, there was still a lot to love there.
Unfortunately, the characters in this book all seem to be 616 characters and the title and logo for the book are the only things that have to deal with the 1610. That's fine though because this book is dealing with one of my favorite villains in comics: Galactus. Spoiler alert: He's probably going to try and eat a planet or 10.
I am really excited to see how Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort tackle this team, which isn't really made up of A-listers. In fact, more than half of this team may be completely unfamiliar to the average reader. It's an interesting team line-up with a great creative team behind it.
BIRTHRIGHT #11
(Image)
Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Andrei Bressan
If you've been missing out on BIRTHRIGHT, then I feel bad for you. You're totally not being filled with as much excitement and wonderment that you should be filled with. This issue is starting off a new arc and while it may not be an ideal place for new readers to jump in, it's a good place to jump on if you're interested in the book. Then, you can go back and catch up.
It looks like we'll be learning more about how Mikey went down his dark path and became the person he is today. There's a giant chunk of missing time in his life and I can't wait to see what twists and turns writer Joshua Williamson has for the reader. On top of that, we get more amazing art from Andrei Bressan who has been the real stand-out talent in this book. If you love fantasy films from the 80s, then this is right up your alley.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR: GREEN LANTERN #1
(DC)
Written by Tom King
Art by Evan Shaner
Color by Chris Sotomayor
Darkseid War has been pretty crazy and in the last issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE, we saw many members of the Justice League get god-like powers. How is that going to affect Hal, considering everyone around him became a god?
We get to see Tom King write another one of the Green Lantern Corps (he's also writing Kyle Rayner in OMEGA MEN) and Evan "Doc" Shaner is doing the art, so creative team-wise, this looks like it's going to be a pretty fun issue.
Where's all of this going to leave Hal in terms of what's going on in the Darkseid War story? Judging from the cover, we're going to see something pretty crazy here.
That's it for this week. Let us know what you're looking forward to.
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