This Week's Essential Comics: 1/12/15
A bunch of brand new comics are going on sale this week and we want to make sure you're prepared. From Star Wars returning to Marvel to some DC digital titles, we're going to put a lot of good stuff on your radar. After reviewing the latest list of new releases, the Comic Vine staff has highlighted what they're looking forward to the most and they'll tell you why those issues are worth purchasing. Once you're finished seeing what they recommend, go ahead and create your own list in the comments. You just may motivate someone else to pick up a new comic, after all.
Tony "G-Man" Guerrero's picks
STAR WARS #1
Hello, my name is Tony and I love Star Wars. I know, a lot of people say that. I won’t go into the details. That’s not what this area is about. But with STAR WARS returning to Marvel, it’s a time for new and old readers to be excited. Let me be clear, we’ve had some really good STAR WARS comics over the years (at Dark Horse). We’ve also had some that weren’t so great. With Star Wars and Marvel under the same roof, it makes sense for the two forces to come together.
We’re at an interesting moment in Star Wars fandom. We’re finally getting some new official material with the upcoming movies and while it’s unfortunate that the Expanded Universe content is being pushed aside, we now have stories that fall under the official brand.
I haven’t really touched upon the actual issue. Marvel gave us a chance to read it early. You can read the review. It was pretty much exactly what I’d want for a first issue. Let’s hope it’s the first in a very long series. Even though this series begins right after Episode IV, there’s a lot or room for stories to be told. We’ve seen many novels over the years. There’s about three years between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Let’s see this time period fleshed out. Han may be a good and noble fella but I want to see how his friendship has grown with Luke in order for him to risk his life on Hoth to try to find him (for example). It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #2
I enjoyed the first issue despite having a little confusion over Phil Coulson’s backstory here compared to what we’ve seen in Marvel Comics so far. It makes sense that S.H.I.E.L.D. would try to incorporate superheroes into some of their missions. As skilled and knowledgeable the agency might be (when it hasn’t been corrupted or is fighting an evil faction within themselves), there are some situations where superpowers will just come in handy. The missions are about stopping whatever evil force is out there and protecting mankind, right?
The first issue did introduce us to some of the characters from the televisions series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is that forcing things a little? Maybe. But with Mark Waid writing, you would assume he’ll maintain the comic integrity we expect. If the whole idea of S.H.I.E.L.D. and superheroes wasn’t enough, we’ll get to see Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) appear.
SILVER SURFER #8
Dan Slott and Mike Allred are continuing the crazy adventures of Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood. The two are forming a strange relationship and even though the Surfer has spent time on Earth, it’s great (and fun) to see him learning from a human. Slott is also taking the two to areas of the Marvel Universe we (and the Surfer) haven’t seen before. Space is a big place so there should be lots of new, strange, and wacky places to see.
Art by Mike Allred and colors by Laura Allred will always bring a smile to my face but combined with Slott’s writing of big action with a healthy sprinkle of humor, it’s a safe bet you’ll be highly entertained when reading the issue.
Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring's picks
AMAZING X-MEN #15
Dear Christopher Yost,
You had me at "Gem of Cyttorak." I miss Juggernaut. I don't miss the Colossus/Juggernaut mix em' up though. Ok, so this story isn't really all about Cain Marko, since there's been a couple people attached to the Gem of Cyttorak (including J2, whom we'll never see again). I haven't been reading AMAZING X-MEN since the second arc, but this one really excites me and is enough to bring me back in. I'm pretty pumped to see where Yost takes this story and who else might get the powers of the Juggernaut. I'll be honest. I haven't been this excited for an X-Men story in quite some time.
GHOSTED #16
GHOSTED normally makes my essentials picks because it's a fun story that mixes actions, adventure, and a tiny bit of horror. It's a really good book and one of my personal favorite on-going series. What makes this particular issue exciting is that Jose Juan Ryp, the artist from CLONE, another amazing series, is doing the art for this issue. Prepare yourself for the most detailed issue of GHOSTED yet. This guy is a madman on art. If you've been on the fence about this book, which you really shouldn't be, then this is the place to jump on. All we know is a wedding is coming up, but we also know there's a 99.9% chance of ghosts.
MORTAL KOMBAT X #3
This is going to feel a little weird because as I write this, I'm reviewing issue #2 of the series, which I thought came out on Tuesdays. Anyway, MORTAL KOMBAT X found a home on Sundays now. The book is a lot of fun, violent, and blew my expectations away for this book, since I didn't have the highest of hopes. Look, things with the "Mortal Kombat" label on them, that aren't the games, tend to stink. Heck, even some of the games do, but this book is the opposite of that. MORTAL KOMBAT X is awesome. Plus, it's 99 cents. If you don't give this a try, then I'll be sad, and so will everyone else.
Honorable Mention: MANIFEST DESTINY VOLUME 2
Gregg "k4tz" Katzman's picks
DEADPOOL #40
Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn and Scott Koblish's "lost" issues are always hilarious. It gives the co-writers a chance to let loose with all kinds of absurd fun and Koblish has this phenomenal ability to create a style that's always a perfect fit for the script. These issues also give the series a chance to tease upcoming plot points and, if you haven't heard by now, Wade Wilson will die in issue #45. That means if you want to have all the facts going into his final (for now) story, this one will probably have a mandatory detail or two that you shouldn't miss. But you were already reading the series anyway because it's awesome, right? If so, cool, we're best friends. If not, now is the time to fix that mistake. Oh, and Val Staples' coloring has been terrific in this series, but this issue offers one hell of a twist: he's using crayons! Bet you didn't expect that, right?
INJUSTICE: YEAR THREE #16
Many of us are still disappointed Tom Taylor decided to leave the series, but Brian Buccellato's first chapter (#15) showed a lot of potential. When a series switches writers, you can usually see a noticeable change. Whether it's the direction of the story or the way the characters are written, you can often tell there's a new writer handling the title. In this case, it was a nice transition and there was no jarring difference. So yeah, when it comes to INJUSTICE, "more of the same" is definitely a good thing. Oh, and did I mention Wonder Woman is attacking Sinestro in this one and, based on the preview, it looks like she's going to wreck him? That alone should make this $0.99 chapter worth a read. We also spoke with Buccellato about the series, so don't forget to check that out.
RAI #6
Valiant focuses on quality over quantity. The publisher may not have dozens of new titles every year, but the ones it does release tend to offer a specific tone and genre. Basically, it has something for everybody. And, more importantly, many of them are excellent and backed by passionate creative teams. We all have our favorites, but for me, RAI is a great way to escape my reality and jump into something amazing. Matt Kindt's story is character-driven sci-fi at its best. There's a great focus on the leads, the world is constantly growing, and it always manages to entertain. Clayton Crain's pages are every bit as elaborate as this science fiction setting. They may be a little too out-there and crazy for some of you (you can't please everyone), but man, I think these pages are consistently gorgeous and stunning. The amount of work put into each drastically different setting and unique character is phenomenal. $3.99 price tags may be off-putting to some, but considering the writer and artist are going all-out, I think every issue has been well worth every single penny. Read RAI. Your brain and your eyes will thank you for it.
DEEP STATE #3
Because one can never have too much sci-fi, I'm also recommending BOOM! Studios' DEEP STATE. Sure, the story is familiar (shadowy government organization attempts to hide the truth -- be it moon aliens or something else -- from the public!), but Justin Jordan's a very good writer, so that prevents it from feeling generic and it ends up leaving an impression. This could have been loaded with exposition as we learn about this world and the two characters, but Jordan keeps things moving and makes sure the narrative is always exciting or interesting. We're only approaching the third issue and I'm legitimately hooked. What other big conspiracies will he address and how elaborate will they get? How much more will he reveal about the two leads? How will the situation with the moon alien(s) come to an end? One of the great things with a brand new series is you have no idea what to expect and I'm very anxious to see what it'll deliver. So, bring it on, DEEP STATE. Fans of sci-fi and horror really need to consider this giving this one a look. Yeah, you can draw many parallels to other franchises, but that doesn't stop it from being a gripping and entertaining story.
Go to CBR for another page.
Honorable Mention: DEATHLOK #4
Corey "Undeadpool" Schroeder's picks
SPIDER-VERSE #2
Spider-Verse's titles may be a tad labyrinthine in determining exactly what is the "core" series and what are the tie-ins, but despite holding the name of the series, SPIDER-VERSE is a two issue series of side stories. Got all that? Good! Because we're getting another cavalcade of creators giving us more Spidey-Stories and if last issue is any indicator, it'll be a deep, wide variety. I loved the last book's use of action, darkness and, most especially, humor but I was also impressed by how they threaded the needle on direct title tie-ins along with standalone stories that could be enjoyed with little knowledge of the events of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
DAREDEVIL #12
When he's not reinventing and reinvigorating old rivals, Mark Waid has excelled at bringing new and interesting characters into the Man Without Fear's world and after last issue's shocker of an ending, things have quickly became personal for a new death-defying rival. It sounds like we'll be getting more of both this issue as the newly powered Owl is set to return and Murdock still adjusting to life in San Francisco. With Chris Samnee bringing his consistently excellent visual style to the issue, it's sure to be a fantastic read.
AVENGERS #40
It looks like we've got some confirmation on what we're hurtling toward with a Secret Wars banner splashed across the cover of this issue, and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that as it likely means that we'll not get much of a deeper explanation on how it all came to this. I'm also not ENTIRELY sure that's a bad thing as Jonathan Hickman has still managed to stick a huge amount of emotional resonance in an epic, far-reaching story with massive in-world consequences. Whether the other relevant books will skip ahead or things will go back to enough of a status quo by the event's end isn't terribly relevant as much as the story we're getting remaining as good as it's been, and the fact that we're getting more of Stefano Caselli working with Hickman is a great sign of things to come.
Honorable Mention: CAPTAIN MARVEL #11
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