WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week – The Manhattan Projects #5 – First contact gone WRONG!  Just when you think things look bad for the poor Earthlings, evil Oppenheimer goes all murderer and cannibal.  Wait, cannibalism is within a species, so maybe we should just say that Oppenheimer goes into devour mode?  And then later there is some intergalactic genocide.  This series is awesome and shows what can happen when you let Jonathan Hickman off the leash.  Hickman’s FF is great and all that, but it’s 80% of The Manhattan Projects.  Read it!

Most Anticipated This Week: Hmmm… Light week again…

1. Rasl #15 – Talk about being “late to the party”!  I had a buddy turn me on to Rasl, I track down issues #1 – #14, inhale them and the series ends with #15.  On a positive note, the rest of you have no excuse since the series is finished now.  I’d avoided Rasl because Jeff Smith’s Bone was too “kiddie” for me and I made the mistake of assuming that Rasl would be kiddie too.  Not so.  It has Tesla, conspiracies, secret weapons projects, murder, sex, nudity, and all the other good stuff.  Honestly, I do wonder how Smith will wrap up the entire story in this final issue, but I’m still looking forward to it.

2. Sweet Tooth #36 – Why are all my good comics ending?  Sweet Tooth ends with #40 and the last issue was a MAJOR step toward resolving things.  Given the demands on Jeff Lemire’s time, who knows when the next time we’ll see him as writer and artist on his own monthly series!  So, let’s enjoy these final issues as we learn how the world ended and whether there is any hope for the remaining survivors.

3. I Zombie #28 – Another final issue.  This hasn’t been the best series, but the art (Mike and Laura Allred) has been consistently good and I think it’ll probably read pretty good in trade.  I’m just eager to see how it all finishes.  And, it’s worth seeing Mike Allred draw a sexy zombie one last time.

4. Mind Mgmt #3 – Finally!  A comic that isn’t ending!  Mind Mgmt has been a huge breath of fresh air and the first two issues have been stellar.  I’m fairly confident that writer/artist Matt Kindt can keep the streak alive this week.  Now we just need more people to buy it so Kindt doesn’t have to resort to doing superhero comics to pay the bills.

5. Harvest #1 – This new 5-issue series from Image features AJ Lieberman as the writer.  The last time we saw Lieberman, he was writing the excellent Cowboy Ninja Viking (I still miss that series).  Harvest looks to be a very different type of story that involves revenge and human organ trafficking.

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Manhattan Projects #5 – Great art with vibrant colours and Frank Quitely-esque detail work meet a script filled with a rapid-fire barrage of wild ideas, huge scope, and an irreverent sense of humour, plus a really cool ending/plot development.  This is basically Jonathan Hickman completely unrestrained and the result is some fun comics.  Sure, the character death doesn’t hit as hard as it should given our lack of investment and knowledge of the character, but the way Hickman has it play out, it’s damned cool regardless.  At this point, I’m in love with this book and every single issue is a treat.

Most Anticipated: Hawkeye #1 – I’m still one of those folks that thinks that Matt Fraction does more good than he does bad.  So when I hear a reunion of Matt Fraction and David Aja on a street level character, I get excited.  And hey, apparently Kate Bishop is in a starring role.  That’s great.  I’m really looking forward to this one, which is surprising given how apathetic I usually am about Hawkeye.  Now give me a goddamned Black Widow book already.

Avengers vs. X-Men #9:  I don’t feel any shame in saying that I’ve actually been finding AvX kind of fun and a breezy, enjoyable read.  It’s certainly miles above last year’s summer event offerings by Marvel and DC.  The series has really changed things up since the Phoenix arrived and I’ve been digging the descent of the Phoenix Five as they gradually lose control and their character flaws take hold.

Sweet Tooth #36:  It’s the final arc of Sweet Tooth and Jeff Lemire starts giving us the answers he’s promised since issue 1.  Last issue started to pull back the curtain and, presumably, this month we get to see what’s behind it.  Can’t wait.

Animal Man #12/Swamp Thing #12:  Yes, these are two different books, but it’s a direct crossover between two books that have felt like sister titles since day one.  Both these titles started as two of the best of the new 52 and, a year later, that holds true.  Both books really hearken back to Vertigo’s glory days and bear those tonal roots proudly.  And hey, it’s a crossover by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire, DC’s two hottest writers.  This is an easy purchase

Invincible Iron Man #522:  I love the new status quo that Matt Fraction has cooked up, with Tony and Ezekiel being forced labour for the Mandarin, and the unique relationship that’s developed between the two.  Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca are positioning me to be very sad come October – I don’t want this run to end; and that’s only partially due to the fact that Greg Land is waiting on the other side.