WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Picks

Best From The Past Week: Avengers #21 / New Avengers #11 – These two issue were the next “main” tie-ins for the Infinity event.  Honestly, I’m not sure how much sense Infinity would even make if you aren’t/weren’t reading Avengers and New Avengers.  But, don’t despair because both titles continue to be awesome.  Avengers by Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Frances Yu shows the Avengers, Ronan, Gladiator, etc. really taking the fight to the Builders whereas New Avengers by Hickman and Mike Deodato shows the Illuminati dealing with the Builders from a different part of the multiverse.  What’s super-cool about both of these storylines is how well they are tying up stories that Hickman started telling last year with Marvel Now.  This is how events should be: Based on months and months of well-planned storytelling.  Let’s just hope that the ending of Infinity isn’t just the kick-off to some lame new series that nobody really wants to read.  Infinity has been too good to be ended that way.

Most Anticipated:

1. Velvet #1 – This new Image series from Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting sounds right up my alley.  The teasers say that the story is about a female secret agent who is pulled back into the field after ~20 years when “the world’s best secret agent is killed”.  It sounds great.  Espionage, spies, etc.  No spandex.  No superpowers.  No Lovecraftian horrors.  Just spies and espionage….  It’s almost like this is the story that I WISH Brubaker and Sean Phillips were doing with Fatale….but that sucker has too much demon in it for me.

2. The Unwritten #54 – I haven’t loved this Unwritten/Fables crossover, but last issue showed some signs of classic Unwritten themes coming back into the series.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed.  I really want this series to soar again.

3. Pretty Deadly #1 – Another new series from Image.  This is written by Kelly Sue Deconnick (who I don’t really get as a writer, but many people do) and drawn by Emma Rios (who is spectacular).  It’s about Death’s daughter riding a pale horse and seeking revenge.  Sounds worth a look.

4. The Massive #16 – I really wish this series was more interesting than it is.  Brian Wood has created a spectacular world in The Massive, but I think we’re watching the wrong channel because the main characters aren’t always interesting.  But, there is so much potential that I keep holding out hope.  We get a new story arc this issue as Callum Israel and Gang run afoul of Viking whalers.

5. Wolverine and the X-Men #37 – One, how amazing is it that this series is up to issue #37?  How often does Marvel let any series get to this point anymore?  Two, this is the next chapter of Battle of the Atom and it’s been a pretty good event that is wrapping up shortly.  Stay tuned to see which time-displaced X-Men get to stay in the present and who dies (and is replaced by their time-displaced self).

Hugo’s Pick

Best From The Past Week: Six-Gun Gorilla #5 – There were some strong comics this week (along with some weak ones), but I have to give this week’s top pick to the one that impressed me the most: the tale about a man with a camera tumor in his brain accompanied by a gun-slinging gorilla by Simon Spurrier and Jeff Stokely. The themes were sound, the character work great and the artwork showed some great improvement over the previous issues of this mini-series. It was a pretty great issue and it deserves this spot.

Most anticipated this week:

1. Hellboy: The Midnight Circus – I feel this is cheating, but this original tale featuring Duncan Fegredo returning on artistic duty along with a story by Mike Mignola may turn out to be something great. This hardcover story has the potential to be pretty great and with me being a Hellboy fan, I cannot wait to read it.

2. Velvet #1 – Brubaker and Epting back together. That is all. The architects behind the story that reintroduced Bucky to the Marvel universe are back together for more espionage greatness and it definitely could be something great. If it has at least half of the quality that Brubaker is able to show in Fatale, it should be a good read.

3. Sex Criminals #2 – The first issue was a rather entertaining one, combining a very human approach to a much more stylized one. With his introduction issue, Matt Fraction made me want to know more about what could happen to Suzie and I hope we’ll see more of what made the first issue good here.

4. Young Avengers #11 – I rather enjoy the approach to storytelling and to characters that Kieron Gillen has in this series, with plenty of style and a knack for entertainment all the while. Combine this with the general experimentation of Jamie Mckelvie and it could very well be another fun issue in the quality streak this series has amassed.

5. Uncanny Avengers #13 – Despite the latest issue of this series, I still have hope that Remender can up his game and deliver the same kind of quality characterization and storytelling he possessed when writing Uncanny X-Force. With most of the players and conflicts in place as well as the return of Daniel Acuna on artistic duty, I am eager to find out if my hopes shall prove to be correct or if this series might be doomed to never truly satisfy me.