Being a comic fan is great and all, but the experience can definitely take a bit of a toll on your wallet. From the variety of collectibles to movies and video games, there are so many different comic book related products out there that are so very, very tempting. However, the actual comic books come first and foremost! But which ones are worthy of your hard-earned money? Luckily you for, the Comic Vine staff is here to help you out. We've looked over the latest list of new releases and we'll highlight the ones that we believe will be worthy of your attention. Once you've finished seeing what we recommend and why, go to the comments section and tell the world what your list of essential comics is for this Wednesday.
Tony "G-Man" Guerrero's picks
SECRET AVENGERS #8
I’ve mentioned it before, SECRET AVENGERS is my favorite Avengers title. It has some great characters, plenty of action, and the occasional moments of laughter. In some ways it feels like the tone is similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe but there’s a lot that goes beyond what we’d expect to see in the movies. Like M.O.D.O.K.
M.O.D.O.K. have been rejoicing over his appearance here. At the end of the previous volume, we saw M.O.D.O.K. make a deal with Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. The question is, what’s his true plan and can he really be trusted? Ales Kot is doing some cool and strange things in the title and this issue is supposed to give us M.O.D.O.K.’s origin. Don’t we already know it? Perhaps there’s more going on than we’re aware of.
I’m also a huge fan of Michael Walsh’s art. It fits the tone perfectly and I would’t want anyone else drawing this series. He captures the tone and action in a way that sucks you in to the story. He conveys the mood, action, and humor at all the right moments.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #19
Dun dun dun! This is it. (Hopefully). We’ve been wondering what the heck happened to Richard Rider (Nova) since we saw him, Star-Lord, and Thanos seem to meet their final fate in the THANOS IMPERATIVE. Star-Lord and Thanos came back but there’s been no sign or explanation what happened to Nova. We’ve waited and waited but we’re finally getting some answers.
In the comics, Gamora has been wondering what happened as well. She tried finding out before but Star-Lord managed to avoid answering. Now, not given a choice, Gamora is going to get the answers and we’re all on the edge of our seats waiting to get any sort of glimpse of hope for the return of Nova. Brian Michael Bendis and Ed McGuinness are about to make a lot of people either happy or ticked off.
HARLEY QUINN: FUTURES END #1
The FUTURES END comics have been all over the place. Some have tied directly into the weekly FUTURES END series and others have given us seemingly random future possible stories. With Harley Quinn, we’re told that she and Joker are finally going to get married. That alone seems enough of a reason to check this out.
We haven’t seen Joker since he fell to his…fate in Death of the Family. Joker and Harley getting married seems so wrong and weird but so is a lot about those two. The fact that his issue is also by the regular creative team of Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Chad Hardin, and Alex Sinclair makes it even better. A lot of these FUTURES END books have a different creative team that makes it feel even more disconnected from the regular series. I have had the chance to read this issue and it was exactly what you would hope for—a blast.
Visit Crave Online for 2 more preview pages.
C.O.W.L. #5
You know I’m a sucker for comics that bring in real-world ideas and combines them with super-hero action. Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel have been exploring the idea of a super-hero union in Chicago in the 1960s. Having it set in Chicago is another plus for me. There’s a lot of interesting ideas and we just saw in issue #4 that C.O.W.L. went on strike. What does that mean for the members or the city when trouble erupts?
Rod Reis’ art is also fantastic. He’s created amazing visuals and has established the tone for the series and characters. It has the sophistication the story requires and combines the elements of the real and super-hero world nicely.
Check out our interview with Higgins and the expanded preview for this issue.
Mat "Inferiorego" Elfring's picks
ARMOR HUNTERS #4
It's the final issue of this summer event! Anyone else as excited as me? I hope so! ARMOR HUNTERS has been nothing short of pure awesomeness wrapped up in epic-radness. Made up adjectives aside, writer Robert Venditti has done wonders with the event thus far, and while I'm a little worried, I've been really loving the ride. This book is fantastic on its own, but such a great addition to the X-O MANOWAR series. Valiant is just killing it with these books. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Aric and Earth.
BOOSTER GOLD: FUTURES END #1
I love Booster Gold! He makes time travelling fun! However the real reason to be super-pumped is because there's Tiger-men on the cover. I'm going to jump right to conclusions and say that Kamandi will be in this issue, and boy howdy, do I enjoy some Kamandi! Booster hasn't been around much, aside from JLI and his appearance in All-Star Western, which I hope we find out what happened in this issue, so I'm pretty pumped with Booster having his own book. However, it's hard to tell what's going on with any of these Futures End titles because they're a roll of the dice, but considering the creative team behind this issue, I'm excited.
Go to USA Today for 2 more preview pages.
Honorable Mention: SAGA #23
Gregg "k4tz" Katzman's picks
DEADPOOL #35
Wade Wilson is finally reunited with his daughter and the series is reunited with artist Mike Hawthorne! The first development means this book can once again hit us with a good amount of emotion between the laughs and violence. The preview below is proof of this. On one end, we have vampires finding a way to attack Deadpool during the day and there's silly banter that's sure to make you at least smile. On the other end, we have Deadpool trying to be a father and you can see it's such a struggle for him. He even won't take off his mask because he doesn't want his own daughter -- a girl he'd do anything for -- to be afraid of him. The relationship here has me totally absorbed and I'm looking forward to seeing how co-writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn will continue to handle it.
Hawthorne's return to the book is worth celebrating. The guy's able to handle whatever kind of tone the co-writers throw his way and he gives the characters so much expression. Whether it's a ridiculous amount of gore or heartbreaking facial expressions, he's able to make it work. This series may have started off with an arc that's pure action/comedy, but it has added so much substance since then. Seriously, you need to buy this if you like the Merc with a Mouth.
GHOSTBUSTERS #20
When I was a child, I adored the Ghostbusters (or the "Go-buh" as I would call them when I was especially young). Aside from enjoying a repeat viewing of the movies every now and then, my interest in the franchise faded. IDW's series, however, reminded me why I was once so passionate about the franchise. Sadly, this issue brings writer Erik Burnham and artist Dan Schoening's amazingly entertaining story to an end. Luckily for us, they're ending with Mass Hysteria!, a story which has felt like an organic follow-up to the movies. It's well-written, looks wonderful, and a whole lot of fun. If they're going to end this title, I'm glad it's with such an engrossing storyline and I'm excited to see how it'll finish. But hey, at least we know this creative team will return for a Ghostbusters/TMNT crossover. How awesome is that?!
ALIENS: FIRE AND STONE #1
Earlier this month, Dark Horse brought us back into Prometheus' setting, and now they're bring the horrifying Xenomorphs front and center! As you'll see in the preview, writer Chris Roberson's first chapter wastes no time getting the aliens back into the pages and we're hit with just the right amount of tension and frightening panels. That kill on the very first page is a shockingly effective way to welcome us back into the franchise and it looks like artist Patric Reynolds and colorist Dave Stewart have a great handle on the book's dark and gripping narrative. If you're a fan of the sci-fi franchise, you should absolutely have this one on your motion tracker radar.
Honorable Mention: HARBINGER OMEGAS #2
Corey "Undeadpool" Schroeder's picks
BATMAN ETERNAL #25
After a character building, solo focused divergence issue, we're ready to get back to the main storyline and it looks like things are going to go absolutely insane. There is definitely an obvious direction they could go in, but whether or not they go in that direction, and combine two major Pre-52 storylines in the process has yet to be seen. We've got Team Baternal helmed by Scott Snyder on the writing, and they're always a welcome presence along with R.M. Guera who, while not someone I'm terribly familiar with, seems to have a dark, grim style that'll work well for this storyline.
Check out GeekMom for an additional preview page.
NEW AVENGERS #24
Last issue left off on one of the BIGGEST combination cliffhanger/reveals in a LONG time, and that's coming from a long, proud tradition of Jonathan Hickman's storytelling in this series. The cover may give away some of what happened, but the true consequences of it will be felt across the Marvel U, conceivably, for years. This has potential to start a storyline that's a very, very big deal. Valerio Schiti returns on visuals and, with the new emphasis on Namor, I can't think of a better artist to return.
MAGNETO #10
Magneto and Red Skull have been two of the Marvel Universe's most dominant villainous forces from the last several years, though despite his occasional, tenuous teamups with Skull, the two of them have always had an obvious problem with motivation. Last issue introduced that rivalry again, and I doubt this issue will solve it based on what AXIS will bring, but it's still great to see previous storylines and motivations brought to the fore. Cullen Bunn has shown that he knows a thing or two about a thing or two about writing a villain (or two) and series artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta has displayed an incredible talent for drawing the gritty, motivated version of this erstwhile hero.
Honorable Mention: CHEW #43
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