Each and every week “King Cobra?” Henchman21 and “Diamond Dallas” MK2FAC3 read a lot of comics. Seriously you guys, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. I mean, it is possible… theoretically. 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 lists, grab some comics, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of September 28, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

There’s a lot of good stuff coming out this week like Ultimate Spider-Man #2, but neither of us picked that because it’s four dollars for 20 pages, and that’s ridiculous. We did, however, pick everything from All-Star Western to Rachel Rising, so if you’d like to see why we picked those and what else we picked, the you should continue to read this story. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. BANG!

MK2Fac3

ISSUES

Oh man, well, it’s a little difficult for me to branch out this week, so I don’t think I will. DC has a lot of books coming out this week that I’ve really been looking forward to, so instead of showcasing a variety of comics, I’ll just tell you about the DC books that I can’t wait to get my hands on.

All-Star Western #1 (DC Comics – $3.99): This book promises to be a sleeper hit of the DC Relaunch. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti were doing outstanding work on Jonah Hex prior to DC’s line wide relaunch, and I have no doubt that they will continue to be awesome on this book. All-Star Western is a comic about an old west Gotham City featuring the bounty hunter Jonah Hex as the lead role. From my understanding, the comic explores a time period rarely touched in one of DC’s biggest and most famous cities. How this will all play out? I’m not sure, but what I am sure of is that it’s going to be an awesome book. In addition to the Hex story, there will be a back up feature that focuses its attention on the variety of other western themed characters in the DCU. That all sounds great, right? So why is it going to be a sleeper? Well, simply because the majority of readers probably think there is nothing interesting in a western comic. Foolish, foolish readers. You should trust Palmiotti and Gray by now.

I, Vampire #1 (DC Comics – $2.99): I have no idea what I, Vampire is about. But from my understanding of the book, it’s about a group of vampires in the olden days of the DC Universe, and there’s some drama between different sects of the creatures of the night. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but it doesn’t matter at all to me. What matters to me is that Joshua Hale Fialkov is writing this book. If you haven’t learned by now that Fialkov is one of my favorite writers, then you’re probably not paying attention. He has impressed be repeatedly with books like Echoes, Tumor, and his run on Superman/Batman, so I literally have no doubt that his work alongside Andrea Sorrentino will prove to be a fantastic read and that I, Vampire will be on the top of my pull list each week that it is released.

Justice League Dark #1 (DC Comics – $2.99): It’s Peter Milligan writing the characters that he should be writing. That alone should be enough to get you to want this book, but if it doesn’t, can I tell you that Mikel Janin is one of the rising stars within the comic book industry? He’s got a style that’s similar to that of the great Frazer Irving, but he’s also has his own unique spin to that style. He was the artist on the first issue of Deadman and The Flying Graysons, and on that book, obviously, he blew me away. Janin is an artist that I will continue to keep my eyes on. And that cover by Ryan Sook? Please give me more! Oh, you want to know about the comic itself? Sorry, brother. Justice League Dark is basically the gothic/Vertigo answer to Justice League. Since the Relaunch kicked off, a lot of characters that we know from Vertigo have merged back into the DCU, and I for one can’t be more excited. This book stars Zatanna, Madam Xanadu, John Constantine, Deadman, and Shade the Changing Man. It promises to have a lot of magic and spiritually related villains and heroes, and should be a perfect fit for readers of this site. Also, it’s a perfect read for the Halloween season! I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on this. It may not be for everyone, but I’m certain that Justice League Dark is for me.

COLLECTION:

Lovestruck OGN (Image Comics – $16.99): I know nothing about this book, other than what I can tell from the solicitation, but this looks awesome. It’s a comic about love. And it’s not a love story. Love is a corporation and is exploited through commerce by a megalomaniacal Cupid who is the CEO of the corporation. That sounds so awesome! It’s written by Dennis Hopeless (whose names sounds like the lead singer of an American black metal band), and the art is by Kevin Mellon, who is proving to be one of my favorite artists as I continue to see more and more of his work. I have no idea how this book is going to play out, but the idea of the book is so incredibly cool that I wanted to talk about my excitement for it. I only found out about this book last night, so I won’t be getting it this week. But I promise you this, I will purchase this book, and you should, too.

Henchman21

ISSUES

Blackhawks #1 (DC Comics – $2.99): This is a big week for me in terms of DC books, and this may be the one I am most looking forward to. Writer Mike Costa has impressed me for the last few years with his work on GI Joe: Cobra, and since this is a similar style war comic, I expect him to be well suited for this series. Here, Costa is taking the concept of the Blackhawks, DC’s longstanding group of pilots and fighters, and updating the concept for the new DC universe. The description for the book makes it sound like DC’s answer to the Joe’s, and hopefully, it’s not too much of a rip off. There’s enough to the history of the Blackhawk’s that they don’t need to rip anything off. I don’t know if I’ve read anything by artist Ken Lashley before. The cover looks okay though, and if that work is reflected on the interior art, I think we’ll be okay. This will probably fall under a lot of people’s radars, but I think it’s one to check out. I should hate this book, since it’s named after one of my least favorite hockey teams, but if I can get passed that, you can too.

Brilliant #1 (Marvel/Icon – $3.95): Writer Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley reteam once again and I can’t wait to read this one. Brilliant is the story of a group of geniuses who are trying to figure out the secret of super-powers. Bendis is a great writer, as we all should know by now, and most of his best work comes when he is working on a creator owned series. The rest of his best work has come when he is teamed up with Mark Bagley, so right from the start this has the makings of a slam dunk. I have missed Bagley’s art the last couple of years when he was working at DC on JLA, and I couldn’t be more excited to read his work once again on a regular basis. With so many new series starting this month, don’t forget to check this one out.

Rachel Rising #2 (Abstract Studios – $3.99): The first issue in writer/artist Terry Moore’s new series was a bit thin on plot, but made up for it with Moore’s usual high standard of art. At this point, Moore is well known as a master of figure drawing, but what impressed me most about the first issue was Moore’s storytelling and ability to set a mood. And that mood is very important to this series, as it is about a girl coming back to life, and the mood is very important in setting up the horror and suspense sections of the story. This may end up being a series that reads better in trades, or all at the same time once it is finished, but I’m going along for the ride on this one from the beginning.

COLLECTION

Strange Tales II Trade Paperback (Marvel Comics – $19.99): You won’t find a better collection of writers or artists or writer/artists in stores this week. This is the second collection of Marvel’s Strange Tales (these issues have previously been collected in hardcover), and if you don’t know what Strange Tales is, I’ll lay it on you, Slim. Strange Tales is a Marvel anthology series that lets indie artists with very unique styles take on Marvel’s wide range of characters. Let’s run down some of the creators; Jeff Lemire, Jhonen Vasquez, Gene Yang, Harvey Pekar, Tony Millionaire, Alex Robinson and many more. There are too many great creators to list here, but trust me, this is a fantastic looking book and should be in every comics fans collection. The takes on these classic characters are unique and beautiful and are a wonder to behold. I loved both series of Strange Tales, and I hope Marvel will release a third series at some point, so buy this collection and help to make my dreams come true.