WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week: Batman #20 – Magical things can happen when you ask Greg Capullo to draw gloppy villains like Clayface.  Some artists draw the villain like a man dipped in oatmeal, some make him big an scary looking, but nobody does gloppy and oozy as well as Capullo.  Mix that together with a romp of a story and you’ve got a good issue that serves as a nice palate-cleanser before an 11-issue Year Zero storyline.

Most anticipated this week: 1). FF #7 – Honestly, I didn’t have much hope for FF when Matt Fraction took over as writer, but I’ve found FF to be really enjoyable.  Probably 95% of my enjoyment is due to the Mike/Laura Allred art team, but still, sometimes a smart writer simply stays out of the way.

2). Vescell #8 – It hasn’t been coming out regularly , so I don’t remember what the story in Vescell really was about beyond it involving a private investigator, his girlfriend who was banished to limbo and his sexy fairy partner who will lose her wings if they “you-know”.  I do remember enjoying the series though and in a very light week, that’s enough to be #2 on the list.

3). GI Joe: Special Missions #3 – Even though Paul Gulacy’s art has been really stinko, just read it fast and pay attention to the story.  Chuck Dixon rarely tells a lousy Joe story, so just don’t look too closely at the faces and you’ll enjoy yourself.

4). Dream Merchant #1 – It’s a new series by Nathan Edmondson from Image, so it’s worth checking out.  It also appears to have nothing to do with the military or the CIA, so it’ll be fun to see Edmondson stretch his legs a bit.

5). Age of Ultron #8 – AoU isn’t “great”, but it’s been generally enjoyable.  We’re close enough to the end that I’m curious to see what the point of it all was.  Wouldn’t it be funny if this was the series that “changed everything” since nobody is talking about it?

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Hugo’s Top Picks

Pick of the week: Thor: God of Thunder #8 – Was there any other pick worthy of that spot? While there were some good comics released that week, none were as satisfactory as the epic story of time-travelling and god butchering of the god of thunder as told by Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina. Whenever this title comes out, it makes for a good week for me.

Most anticipated this week: 1) Fatale #14 – A new issue of this title superbly written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Sean Phillips? Yes please! With each issue seeing release, we get more mystery, more noir-writing and more references to the mythos of H.P Lovecraft, which this comic is really good at doing.

2) FF #7 – I dig Michael Allred’s art, as I really like the pseudo Kirby take he has on most of everything in this series. With Matt Fraction somewhat aloof, yet funny and honest writing, this series has been a joy to read and I am always eager to open up an issue featuring the replacement FF.

3) Bloodshot #11 – With this title still caught in the whole Harbinger Wars crossover event, it has still given us some good exploration of the character and action. With this issue here to further explore the Harada protocol introduced in the second issue of the main event, I am curious to see how they will show us this particular angle.

4) X-O Manowar #13 – This title had started as one of my favourite Valiant title, yet it has struggled a little bit ever since this arc has begun. It remains an enjoyable comic, yet I really would like to see the story and the narrative kicked up a notch. This issue will show us if such a thing is possible, to say the least.

5) Wonder Woman #20 – I like this title, yet I have to admit being disappointed in the use of Orion so far. The struggle between gods and the whole story revolving around the new born baby of Zola is interesting, yet I am always waiting for a cool moment with one of my favourite DC creation of Jack Kirby. If we get more with the Dog of War, I’d be mighty pleased.