It's Monday and you know what that means? Time to take a look forward into the future... Wednesday to be precise. Each Wednesday, a whole bunch of new comic books come out and finding out which books you want to read could be a daunting task. Luckily, the staff of Comic Vine is here to help you out to figure out what books you should be checking out. Here's this week's essential comics.
Tony's Picks
BATMAN EUROPA #1
DC Comics
(W) Matteo Casali, Brian Azzarello (A) Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jim Lee (CA) Jim Lee
It’s finally happening. The comic that was originally scheduled for 2011 is coming this week. This four-issue Batman miniseries sounds pretty nuts. Getting the chance to see Batman on a mission away from Gotham (and without the Justice League) fascinates me. The premise is he’s been infected by some strange virus and needs to figure out who’s responsible has the makings of a good, but slightly typical, mystery. What pushes it over the top is Batman needing to team up with Joker. I’m curious to see what Matteo Casali and Brian Azzarello have planned. I’m always excited for the chance to see Jim Lee’s art. Waiting for this series has been tough but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
TOKYO GHOST #3
Image
(W) Rick Remender (A) Sean Murphy, Matt Hollingsworth (CA) Sean Murphy, Dave McCaig
I’m a sucker when some of my favorite creators give us a new book in a world they’ve come up with. The first two issues have been pretty different from each other. Now that Led and Debbie have arrived in Tokyo, we’re getting a look at a different part of the world. With the first issue so heavily focused on the technology of the time and how people have become slaves to it, getting the chance to see the flip side, where the tech doesn’t work or exist. I have no idea where Rick Remender and Sean Murphy are taking this series, but I’m having a blast watching it unfold.
I HATE FAIRYLAND #2
Image
(W/A/CA) Skottie Young
There’s no denying the strangeness and beauty of I HATE FAIRYLAND. Many current comic readers mainly know Skottie Young from his Marvel variant covers. I HATE FAIRYLAND may feature cute characters and contain Young’s art, but it is clearly in an entirely different place. There’s a reason this is a Mature Readers comic. Gert is an adult trapped in a child’s body and has been stuck in Fairyland for close to thirty years. She’s angry and is taking it out on everyone. Now there’s a huge assassin that’s been set on her. Things are likely to get pretty messy.
PRETTY DEADLY #6
Image
(W) Kelly Sue DeConnick (A/CA) Emma Rios
The first arc of PRETTY DEADY by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios was a strange and hauntingly beautiful journey. We’ve been waiting for a bit, but Deathface Ginny is back! We talked to both creators back in January about this arc and now it’s finally time to get our hands on the new arc. One of the cool things about the first arc was the time period. With the story moving forward, I’m intrigued to see how it compares and what the vibe will be like compared to the first.
MIGHTY THOR #1
Marvel
(W) Jason Aaron (A/CA) Russell Dauterman
Thor is back. No, not that one. The current one. The first volume had quite a bit of mystery to it. The main was the identity of the new Thor. Now that we know along with the fight for survival she’s going through in her human guise, we’re seeing a new balance to the dual identity aspect of the hero. The new angle is every time she becomes Thor, it’s slowly killing her. How can this be? Don’t worry, it’s explained in this issue. If that wasn’t enough, there’s a war brewing and things aren’t looking too good for Asgard.
Honorable Mention: MS. MARVEL #1, VADER DOWN #1
Mat's Picks
WRATH OF ETERNAL WARRIOR #1
Valiant
(W) Robert Venditti (A/CA) Raul Allen
There's one person at Valiant whose work I've really been following and that's Robert Venditti. His work on X-O MANOWAR has been outstanding and his recent event BOOK OF DEATH was a phenomenal read. Now, he's taking on one of my favorite characters in the Valiant line-up: Eternal Warrior. I've been pretty excited about this as this is a really cool character and there's lots of potential to build a great story and series here.
ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #2
Marvel
(W) Nick Spencer (A) Ramon Rosanas (CA) Mark Brooks
Issue #1 of ASTONISHING ANT-MAN was very promising, silly, and awesome. Nick Spencer and Ramon Rosanas delivered another amazing issue with this new volume. Moving forward with the second volume, Scott has a whole lot more to deal with with the Hench App and Darren Cross still being Darren Cross, but the last issue left Scott Lang in jail, so where do we go from here? As long as this book stays with the same tone, it'll be on my list, month after month.
RED THORN #1
Vertigo
(W) David Baillie (A) Meghan Hetrick-Murante (CA) Choong Yoon
What do we call what Vertigo is in the midst of? Is it a relaunch, a new wave? Whatever it is, Vertigo is doing an awesome job of it. Every book that has come out thus far has been wonderful and this is another series I'm really excited about. We're dealing with mythology, good and bad, and giant beasts. David Baillie and Meghan Hetrick revealed more about RED THORN in a recent interview. Being that it deals with something involving myth and lore, that's a bit up more alley and if it's something that interests you, pick it up for sure.
HUCK #1
Image
(W) Mark Millar (A/CA) Rafael Albuquerque
Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque are working on a book together at Image? Sold. I'll give that a shot, regardless what the book is about. Anyway, the solicit for HUCK does sound pretty cool as it's about a person with powers who does one good deed a day and the people around him keep his powers a secret. One day, this little secret gets released and the book goes from there. That sounds pretty awesome to me and it has a stellar creative team behind it. Like I said, I was sold when I found out who was on it.
EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #2
Marvel
(W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Humberto Ramos
I'm not the biggest X-Men fan and the past few years with this team has been a bit tough to follow for someone who isn't a month-to-month constant reader. However, although Lemire and Ramos' X-Men book is steeped in X-Men continuity, I found the first issue to be really awesome. This team has a cool line-up, including a couple of my favorites: Old Man Logan and Nightcrawler. Plus, Storm is in the leadership role and Jean Grey seems to want nothing to do with being a team member. It was an awesome start and I cannot wait to see where Lemire and Ramos take it next.
That's it for this week! Let us know what books you plan on picking up this Wednesday when you head down to your local comic shop!