Each week, MK2Fac3 and Henchman21 read a lot of comics. Seriously, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. They look forward to some more than others, I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of their pull list, grab some issues, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of June 15, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here. This week, expect to see some X-Men, a Batgirl, Alex Ross art, Vikings, Capes, and Fables! So hit the jump and see what’s our most anticipated books of the week are!

MK2FAC3

ISSUES

Batgirl #22 (DC Comics – $2.99): Until writer Bryan Q. Miller’s run on Batgirl winds up in August, I guarantee you will see this comic picked by myself or Mr. Hench below me, so be prepared. This week’s issue of Batgirl includes Stephanie Brown’s first official Batman Incorporated mission in the city of Londinium London, England, where she meets up with England’s Squire! And if you’re not familiar with Squire, first I feel bad for you, and second she’s the sidekick to the British Batman, Knight! Squire is one of my favorite characters, and her costume is phenomenal, and Pere Perez’s art is beautiful, so seeing Pere Perez draw a Bryan Q. Miller-written Squire is a dream come true! Seriously, when I took a nap yesterday, I literally dreamed about Pere Perez drawing Squire. And that cover from Dustin Nguyen?? OHH CHILD! Color me excited!

Kirby: Genesis #1 (Dynamite Entertainment – $3.99): When I picked up last month’s Kirby: Genesis #0, I really didn’t know what to expect. Although, a Jack Kirby-inspired comic written by Kurt Busiek with art from Jackson Herbert and Alex Ross was intriguing enough to convince me to give it a purchase, and oh my gooses was I glad I did. The story is about two teenagers that discover a world of characters that are coming to Earth. Characters that Jack Kirby created, but never used. This… is absolutely amazing. It’s a crazy concept, but it actually works, and although I wasn’t sure that the creators were the right ones to take on the task, I was presently proved incorrect when I sat down to read the zero issue. Excellent work, and I’m sold for the series. Expect to see it show back up in this list, because this is my most anticipated new series of the summer.

Northlanders #41 (DC/Vertigo – $2.99): Another mainstay of the GoD List is one of Brian Wood’s passion projects, and it deserves all the attention it can get. Seriously, this is right up the alley of the readers of Geeks of Doom. It’s an amazing book about Vikings, to be put simply. Brian Wood and his team of artists create perfect issues every month about tales of the Scandinavian North, and I can’t get enough. Also, DC/Vertigo has given Northlanders the proverbial axe, so the series will be wrapping up at issue 50, which is horribly depressing news for a longtime reader like myself. However, those of you that might not have read Northlanders should know that every story line is different, and it just so happens that issue 41 is the start of a new story arc, so you can come in now and read it until the end of the series! Good news, right? Forget about all the number one super hero issues coming in September for a moment and read some honest-to-God great works of realistic-fiction with Northlanders.

Honorable Joke Mention In Honor of Green Lantern’s Release This Friday

Fame #13: Ryan Reynolds (Bluewater Productions – $3.99): In honor of this Friday’s Green Lantern movie coming to theaters, I thought it would be nice and timely to pick a comic that’s sort of based on the star of the film, Ryan Reynolds. I’m not too sure if you guys are familiar with Bluewater Productions, but they’re kind of the ridiculous side. Usually written and drawn terrible, these comics usually take an unauthorized biographical look at some sort of celebrity, popular writer, or politician. And this issue is no exception. What better time than this week to take advantage of the studio’s hard work? The only problem with trying to leech off the possible success of Green Lantern is that this cover looks absolutely nothing like Ryan Reynolds, but at least the cover is green! I know I’m being hard on Bluewater, but I will most definitely be reading this upcoming book.

COLLECTION

The Li’l Depressed Boy Vol. 1: She Is Staggering TP (Image Comics – $9.99): I’ve heard absolutely nothing but good things about this series, firstly from one of our Comics of Doom hosts, Justin Vactor, and reviews from other sites that I read did nothing but praise the series. Unfortunately, by the time I found out about how good this series was, it was too late and the first printing of the book had sold old. Beyond that, issue after, the comic continued to be unavailable locally, so my great hope was the trade paperback, and here it is! This week, this apparently amazing book from S. Steven Struble and Sina Grace hits stores and at a value price of under ten dollars! Can you be that? No, you can’t.

Henchman21

ISSUES

Uncanny X-Men #538 (Marvel Comics – $3.99): Well, I guess we only have six issues to go after this one, but we’re not really into full on countdown mode yet. We are in the middle of what has been a fun quasi-sequel to Joss Whedon’s X-Men run as we see the return of the aliens from the Breakworld and a possible resolution to Kitty Pride’s phasing dilemma. Writer Kieron Gillen hasn’t been on the series long, but he has already impressed me with a grasp of the characters and world of the X-Men. The art for this issue is by Terry and Rachel Dodson, who are the good art team on the book. I hope when this is relaunched that the Dodson’s are at least part of the art team. I’ve said it with other books that it’s a great time to be an X-Men fan, and this book is just prime evidence to that fact.

The Cape Legacy Edition (IDW Publishing – $5.99): I’m buying this largely so I don’t have to hear Comics of Doom host Justin Vactor complain about it anymore. The Cape originally came out a few months ago, and I heard some good things about it, so I decided to pick up this special edition. The special feature here is that you get the original short story by Joe Hill that the issue is based on, as well as notes by the writer of the issue, Jason Ciaramella. It’s the Joe Hill pedigree that has me most excited; I’m a big fan of his own series, Locke & Key, and I’m hopeful this series is in a similar vein. We’ll see if this gets me excited for the forthcoming The Cape mini-series.

Cinderella Fables are Forever #5 (of 6) (DC/Veritgo – $2.99): The continuing adventure of Cinderella as she tries to hunt down Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz while trying to locate the shadow Fabletown. Does that sound crazy enough for you? This Fables spin-off series is as much fun as the James Bond movie that it takes its title from. The art by Shawn McManus has similarly captured the feel of the Fables universe while establishing his own feel. I can’t wait to see how the series wraps up with the next issue and I hope this isn’t the last we see of this team.

COLLECTION

Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 4 The Crooked Man and the Troll Witch (Dark Horse – $49.99): If you haven’t seen any of the previous Library editions of Mike Mignola’s landmark series Hellboy, you should track them down and buy them right now. Not only do you get one of the best series of the last twenty years, you get that series in one of the most beautiful packages released by any comic company. The Library Editions are big, sturdy, and built to last. The stories in this collection are Hellboy stories that I have not read before, and represent some of the last Hellboy stories drawn by Mignola. Hellboy is one of the best series of all time, with the lovable working class monster hunter of a hero and the always atmospheric art of Mignola (and others). This is material that deserves the high quality production of these library editions, I just hope there isn’t as big of a wait for the next one, or that we can get the BPRD series in this format.