This Week's Essential Comics: 11/24/14
New comic book day is nigh! This Wednesday, a swarm of new issues will go on sale and sometimes it can be pretty difficult trying to decide how to spend your budget. Well, we're here to help you out! The Comic Vine staff has reviewed the latest list of new releases and each of us are going to highlight which comics we're really excited to read. We'll tell you why we think the comics are worthy of your time and cash and, if possible, we'll provide a preview, too. Once you're all set seeing what the staff recommends, don't forget to post your own list of "essential comics" in the comments.
Tony "G-Man" Guerrero's picks
SUPERIOR IRON MAN #2
AXIS is changing how we see the heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. Some of them are working and others just feel weird. It may be debatable whether or not Tony Stark is being a villain in SUPERIOR IRON MAN. Either way, we’re getting a different look at Tony Stark and Iron Man.
From the first issue, we can see that Tony is going down a more selfish path. We have to assume that it’s not something that will last forever. It might be feel wrong seeing Tony not in the role of a pure hero but Tom Taylor is giving us something different. Mixing up the direction of the character is keeping us on our toes since we’re not sure what will happen next. Yildiray Cinar’s art has been great seeing more of Iron Man vs Daredevil will be fun.
DEATHSTROKE #2
We’re still reeling over the last page of the first issue. It’s hard to say what will happen next and whether or not this is a permanent change. What we do know is Tony Daniel has cranked up the action and suspense in this new volume. It seems like with each series Daniel works on, his art just keeps getting better.
If you check out the preview pages for this issue, you’ll see just what Tony Daniel is cooking up for us. The action is over the top and exactly what we would want and expect from Deathstroke. It looks gloriously violent.
SECRET AVENGERS #10
What is the “Great Culling”? Looks like we’re about to find out. Ales Kot has been weaving a strange and mysterious tale in this series. We’ve started seeing MODOK’s plan unfold and how it relates to a lot of the recent events in this volume. We still have a lot of questions about what will happen to Nick Fury Jr and what’s up with Black Widow. Based on the cover, it looks like we’ll finally have a confrontation between Hawkeye and Coulson since Coulson flipped out a little and took off.
Michael Walsh has been doing a remarkable job on the series. It’s refreshing to see the same artist on a title without any catch up breaks. Walsh has a great style and stays true to the characters in his depiction of them. I look forward to this book every month.
MADMAN IN YOUR FACE 3D SPECIAL
Do you like 3D comics? Let’s be honest, this is a bit of a novelty. I’m a sucker for 3D mainly because my father collected them. It might be none to some that I’m also a huge Mike Allred/Madman fan. The idea of a 3D Madman comic is fitting for the character. This is an oversized issue featuring a ton of never-before-seen 3D pin ups by many great artists including Sean Murphy, Jenny Frison, Jae Lee, Paolo Rivera, Marcos Martin, and many many more. We’ll also have some classic Madman stories now in 3D along with a brand new story by Mike and Laura Allred.
If you like 3D comics and/or Madman, you must get this. 3D glasses included.
Honorable Mention: ODYC #1
Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring's picks
GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #1
You had me at Ben Templesmith. Seriously. I'll buy most of what he draws because his artwork is so haunting. Luckily, this new series written by Ray Fawkes, whom I also like, is about mystics in Gotham. When we learned this book was about Jim Corrigan, I was completely sold on the series. BATMAN ETERNAL has showed us Gotham's mystic side could hold its own because there's a lot of cool concepts and characters within the mystical side of Gotham. I couldn't be more excited to see Templesmith's take on these characters though. This is the first time in a long time I've been really excited for a Bat-related title, even though the book has nothing to do with Batman.
THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #17
NOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Why am I so upset, with the all caps and the extra "O"s? That's because it's the last issue of SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN, my favorite series at Marvel has come to an end after 17 issues (I'm assuming this upcoming issue is going to be rad) of laughs, laughs, and yet more laughs. Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber gave some B-List villains a ton of love in this series, and it showed. I highly suggest picking this series up in trade and grab this last issue from the store shelves.
Honorable Mention: SCARLET SPIDERS #1
Gregg "k4tz" Katzman's picks
TMNT/GHOSTBUSTERS #2
IDW's volumes of TMNT and Ghostbusters (RIP) really are something special, so you can only imagine the level of joy I experienced when it was announced the writers behind these titles would join forces for a crossover. It's an '80s dream come true that's full of awesomeness. The debut chapter of the limited series did not disappoint and it was every bit as entertaining as I hoped it would be, so this second chapter is obviously going to be the first new comic I read. If you're even remotely interested in both of these franchises, do yourself a favor and read the first issue. Tom Waltz and Erik Burnham write some really enjoyable banter and I can't get enough of Dan Schoening's energetic and animated artwork. It may not have a mind-blowing plot or compelling material (just yet, that is), but it's a lot of fun, looks great, and feels like pure fan service.
DEATHLOK #2
If Marvel wants a new solo series that's heavy on action and deals with espionage, it looks like Nathan Edmondson is the publisher's go-to writer and understandably so! The guy's doing solid work with Black Widow and Punisher, and it looks like he has a good idea for the new Deathlok, too! Making the new and insanely dangerous cyborg not aware he's a killing machine is a cool twist and really brings more emotional weight to the story. What'll happen when Henry Hayes finds out he's basically a terminator who's being manipulated? The poor guy thinks he's saving lives, not taking them! Will he even find out anytime soon? The first chapter definitely caught my interest and I'm really curious to see where things will go next. Plus, I'm really hoping we get a proper rematch between Black Tarantula and Deathlok. That has so much potential and Black Tarantula is a very underused character.
TMNT #40
Bebop and Rocksteady versus the heroes in a half shell and Old Hob's mutants? More of Nobody and Alopex? And it still has lively and fantastic art by Mateus Santolouco and Ronda Pattison? Yeah, this really should be an obvious purchase for any Ninja Turtles fan! This may not be the best jumping on spot, but the publisher has been producing nothing but impressive and totally captivating comics from the new TMNT universe and it's looking like this is going to be an action-heavy and incredibly fun issue. Seriously, this is mandatory reading if you're even a casual fan of the franchise. IDW's doing phenomenal stuff with this franchise and this latest story is proof that they can build a big plot while also fleshing out characters and delivering a whole lot of action. Month after month, it's clear the creative team behind this series goes all-out and it really shows.
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES #1
Some reboots feel like a blatant cash grab and fail to remind us why a certain movie was so memorable in the first place. Luckily, that wasn't the case with the new take on Planet of the Apes. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was surprisingly good and the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was amazing. Seeing as BOOM! Studios is currently winning me over with its work on another iconic movie franchise, RoboCop, you can bet I'm going to pay attention when the publisher jumps into the new Apes universe. This series aims to explain what happened during the decade between the two movies and, considering just how good the latest movie was, my expectations are way up there. This will address the fall of man and the rise of the apes, and, as much spectacle as that can produce, I'm really hoping it'll thrive because of character and strong dialogue. Yeah, this is a franchise that looks good and has fun, but it's all about delivering a strong and emotional message. Here's hoping this comic is a worthy addition to the movies' new mythos.
Visit CBR for another preview page.
Honorable Mention: ALIENS: FIRE AND STONE #3
Corey "Undeadpool" Schroeder's picks
NEW AVENGERS #27
Just a week later, we already get some followup on one of the hottest, most significant books in Marvel's current run. Jonathan Hickman looks to be checking in with the interdimensional Black Priests, vicious antagonists that arrive with certain incursions and with Szymon Kudranski bizarre, hyperrealistic style, this one is shaping up to be simply incredible. I'm also hoping that we finally fill in more of the blanks as to what brought the world to the point it's gotten and while we got a ton of great characterization from Tony Stark last issue, more background would certainly help contextualize everything.
CATWOMAN #36
Last issue gave us a new creative team on this title and it was a much-needed breath of fresh air in terms of both the book's voice and content. While we're introduced to some new characters apropos of very little, but the REAL story is focusing on Selina Kyle's rise to crimeboss, uniting the families of Gotham under her banner owing to her criminal parentage. It's hard to put a fine point on exactly what Genevieve Valentine changed or is doing differently, but whatever it is gave us the most compelling issue of Catwoman we've had in some time and Garry Brown's visuals are just understated enough to make the bombast stand out all the more.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #6
Whirling out of the feverish AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10, three of my favorite Spider-Verse denizens find themselves under one issue and stuck in the year 2099! The most sci-fi intensive spiders try to find answers any possible way to stop the Inheritors under the creative direction of series regulars Peter David and Will Sliney. While Spidey 2099 hasn't been the most consistently enthralling book, this was too good of a lineup of creators and characters for me to pass up and might just get me back into the title overall!
Honorable Mention: BATMAN ETERNAL #34
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