WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: East of West #1 – I don’t think I understood much of what was going on, but it was a VERY intriguing world and it had A LOT of interesting things going on.  If it’s possible for a comic book to have charisma, this issue had it.  It’s surprising because in many ways, I’ve gotten to the point in my comic reading life where I simply have no patience for bad and confusing comics.  Yet East of West #1 was confusing and I STILL can’t wait for the next issue.  I’ll call that “charisma” since I can’t think of another way to quantify it.  All sorts of cool things in this one: apocalypse, alt-future, alt-United States, alt-Civil War, Old West, Four Horsemen, etc.  Great art too.

Most anticipated this week: 1). Fashion Beast #8 – This series has been pure quality all along, but it was the last issue that really leapt out and reaffirmed that Alan Moore truly is better than most other comic book writers.  Even an 1980s discarded screenplay from Moore is compelling.    Fashion Beast has a nice and interesting surface level story, but also allows you to dig deeper – if you want to – and enjoy layer after layer of thought provoking storytelling.

2). Uber #0 – Wow–the top two books on my list are both from Avatar Publishing, but that’s fair since they usually don’t publish trash.  Uber is written by Kieron Gillen and promises a story where superheroes first arose in Nazi Germany.  We’ve seen that type of “What if?” story before, but Avatar usually allows creators to push the envelope a little more, so this should be interesting.

3). Age of Ultron #4 – Marvel “events” are a billion times more fun when you aren’t reading all the regular ongoing titles and don’t have to worry about why Iron Man’s armor has changed or how the happenings in the event intersect with Wolverine’s third-tier solo book.  I’m actually enjoying the events of Age of Ultron.  The only downside is that the art is pretty horrid.  I think Bryan Hitch is on a personal mission to ensure that nobody ever cos-plays as She-Hulk ever again.

4). Bedlam #6 – Another quality issue of the Nick Spencer/Riley Rossmo ongoing.  I don’t love this series, but it is quite good.  Spencer has a pretty disturbed sense of humor and this title about a reforming serial killer allows him to explore that aspect of his personality a little bit.

5). Last of Us: American Dreams #1 – Based on the upcoming video game, this will probably suck.  But I’m kinda intrigued by the post-apocalyptic setting of Last of Us and this title is supposedly a prequel to the game.  As long as you don’t expect high art, this might be mildly entertaining.  However, I really don’t understand the PR strategy: Spend $50-100MM developing the video game and then have the game’s first exposure be via a licensed comic book?  Why not launch this comic AFTER the game?

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Hugo’s Top Picks

Pick of the week: East of West #1 – A cool world, a great premise, intriguing characters with superb art from Nick Dragotta, what’s not to like? This first issue did close to everything right to make sure readers were hooked and I can definitely say they got me as well.

Most anticipated this week: 1) Abe Sapien: Dark and Terrible #1 – A new series by Mike Mignola that will play along with Hellboy in Hell and B.P.R.D starring one of the most fascinating character of the Mignolaverse? Color me very much interested.

2) Thanos Rising #1 – This miniseries could very much become a big bomb or a rousing success, but considering the team behind this, the latter seems more likely. With Simone Bianchi bringing some atmospheric and moody art and the way Jason Aaron has toward writing divinity and huge concepts like in his Thor book, I am eager to see how this will go.

3) Harbinger Wars #1 – Valiant has been very successful toward making me care for their books with their good concepts, their great writers but also with their artists. With their very first big crossover/event being out now, this will be the very first test to see if they can actually take advantage of their big universe or if they will follow most events templates. With Dysart as the writer, though, it seems unlikely that it will disappoint.

4) All-New X-Men #10 – This series has been a huge surprise for me, making me care about the X-Men much more than usual. With the extremely talented Stuart Immonen drawing this, there is now way I cannot be eager to read this.

5) Winter Soldier #17 – While the story is good, but not great, the art by Nic Klein is astounding here. Being a huge fan of Bucky, this title is still in good hand and I cannot wait to see where this will go.