Welcome to This Week's Essential Comics 2.0! No longer is it just Tony and me consulting about the week's releases. Now, every staffer (who has time, of course) will chime in with their own top 3 picks! Hopefully, this will give you all much more variety when it comes to narrowing down your options this Wednesday. Don't forget to post your own top 3 essentials, too!
My picks
Batman & Red Hood #20
And who said all comic book deaths are pointless? Batman is still struggling with the loss of his son, and this month will deal with his rage. Co-starring Red Hood, Todd seems to always get the short of the stick when it comes to his relationship with the Bat-family. Could this be the moment that helped push Todd towards the cliffhanger in RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS? Regardless, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason have been doing outstanding work with this one.
Additionally, we'll see more of The New 52's version of Carrie Kelley and you can get a preview of her role below.
Deadpool #9
It's the second part of an all-new story which already has way more depth than the 'Dead Presidents' adventure. So, if the overdose of action and comedy was too much for you in the opening arc, you might want to come back to Deadpool's world. With Agent Preston trapped in his head, there's a promising amount of character development, a few interesting plots slowly moving along (who's stealing his organs and why? What will happen with the demon?), and, as always, big laughs.
I mean, just look at the preview. Diving into Wade's head may be awesome, but it's also a great way to look past the chimichanga jokes and see who he really is.
Suicide Squad #20
I eventually dropped SUICIDE SQUAD because it just wasn't doing anything for me. Sure, I love the characters involved and that's what lured me to the book in the first place, but the story wasn't particularly engaging and, at the end of the day, a man can only afford so many comics. But now there's a new creative team taking over the book (Ales Kot and the crazy talented Patrick Zircher) and I'm thrilled to jump back on and give this new direction for the team and honest (Dead)shot.
Head on over to USA Today for the last preview page.
Tony 'GMan' Guerrero's picks
Batman #20
It's Batman vs. Bruce Wayne. Not really but as seen on the cover and preview, Clayface has 'evolved' and has become more of a threat. Last issue had a crazy opening sequence and even though we knew something was up, seeing the story fall into place is going to be interesting. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo know how to amp up the action so we can expect some cool things here. There's also the conclusion to the cool back up story with Superman by James Tynion IV and Alex Maleev.
Feast your eyes on Capullo's art below.
Justice League of America #3
Good things come to those to those who wait, right?
Geoff Johns and David Finch have kicked off the new Justice League series with plenty of twists. By now everyone should be aware of the real reason for the team's formation, even if the team members themselves do not. What we've seen so far is Green Arrow has managed to infiltrate the Secret Society of Super-Villains at possibly the cost of his life (uh huh). But remember how crazy that last page was? Who the heck was that familiar looking trio?
We should also be getting another Martian Manhunter back up by Matt Kindt. The one in last month's issue was great in showing us just what J'onn is capable of and the more we can find out, the better.
Go to IGN for the rest of the preview.
Uncanny X-Force #4
It's the end of the first arc. Sam Humphries has given us a new incarnation of the team with the help of Ron Garney. It's the end of the first arc and time to find out more. While Psylocke, Storm and Puck have been chasing after Spiral and fighting Bishop, there's also the…strange developments between Fantomex and Cluster. Why is Bishop chasing after the girl Spiral has taken under her care? More importantly, where's he been and why is he growling so much?
Enjoy the chaos below.
Mat 'Inferiorego' Elfring's picks
Threshold #5
Sci-fi books can be a tough sell to people who mainly read more Earthly books, but THRESHOLD should be on any sci-fi fan's pull list. Tom Raney's art is fantastic, and Keith Giffen's writing is fantastic. This is a whole new world of the DCU, which has become incredibly expansive since the reboot. In addition, the Larfleeze back-ups are a ton of fun.
Go to Man Cave Daily for the other preview pages.
Avenging Spider-Man #20
Every month, this book comes out, and I say to myself, "maybe I'll read it," but then I actually read it, and I'm all like "whoa! That was super-rad!" Every issue of this series has been super-rad. Most of the time, they're fun, one-shot issues, but this week, we get a two-part story featuring the Chameleon. What more could you want?
Check out the first few pages below.
Constantine #3
Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes have their mitts grasped tightly around the neck of the Dark of DC Comics, and I couldn't be happier. They're great at blending these Vertigo elements into the DCU. CONSTANTINE has had an incredibly solid start. We're only 3 issues in, but this world is expanding greatly, and I find myself enthralled by the world.
Visit CBR for the remaining preview pages.
Jen 'MissJ' Aprahamiam's picks
Chin Music #1
Prohibition-era Chicago, Steve Niles, and crime-drama-meets-supernatural? It's like someone at Image reached into my brain and fished around for "exactly what Jen wants to read right now."
There's an extensive preview below.
Thor: God of Thunder #8
Jason Aaron has made this book one of the absolute must-reads of Marvel NOW, and I'm psyched for part 2 of the "Godbomb" arc. Things got serious in the last issue -- time travel, God-Butchers, and Thor x3 -- and I'm expecting plenty of action as the timer ticks down. (If I'm wrong? I'll just move to the sun.)
CBR has the final preview page.
Twelve Reasons To Die #1
Remember that time Ghostface Killah wrote a comic? Yeah, that happened, and -- bonus -- it's accompanied by a full studio album. I have high hopes for Ghostface Killah's debut in this medium; he's a brilliant lyrical storyteller, and I can't wait to see what happens when there's art on the page.
There's no preview, but there is a teaser trailer!
Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment. This is the part where he shamelessly plugs his Google+ and Twitter page in hopes of getting a new follower or two.