Each and every week “The Best There Was” Henchman21 and “The Best There Ever Will Be” 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 October 19, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

This week on The GoD List, “The HenchFac3” trade war stories and colds after a rough and tough experience in Gotham City. Gotham City Comic-Con was a dark and rainy couple of days before it turned into New York Comic-Con on Saturday, but NYCC provided us both with a lot of excitement for this week’s new comics. And what are these new comics that we are excited about? Well, I’ll give you a hint… there will be zombies, heroes, marvels, and other stuff that I can’t come up with right now. But don’t you worry! We’re back in action like the con crud after two pills of extra weak pain reliever! Also, Henchy didn’t use enough hand sanitizer this weekend.

MK2Fac3

Guess who’s back in the mother f’in house!? It’s me, it’s me, it’s H.F.C.! BANG!

ISSUES

Batman Odyssey, Vol. 2 #1 (of 7) (DC Comics – $2.99): I was going to attempt to avoid picking any straight up DC Comics books this week, even though some of my favorites from the relaunch (Batman, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, and DCU Presents) are all coming out this week, but that was until I was reminded that the greatness that is Neal Adams’ opus of insanity was being released on this, the most glorious of Wednesdays. “Oh, you must be a crazy person, Mr. Hunter!” you may be exclaiming as you read these words and the look to the skies for an answer, and I’ll look down and whisper, “Yes.” I am indeed an insane person, and this book satiates my intense hunger for ridiculous comics. This book is unlike any Batman story that has come before (in case you’re wondering, this is a pull quote that’s dying to be used, DC Comics), and Neal Adams’ hulking hero faces the most bizarre of experiences. In the first volume… Hell, I actually have no idea what happened in the first volume, but let’s see if I can remember… Ra’s Al Ghul is apparently responsible for everything that has happened in Batman’s life. Deadman is hanging out with Batman. Deadman also possessed The Joker’s body, so he’s hanging out with Batman as The Joker. Talia Al Ghul is totes trying to hook up with Batman. Batman carried around guns when he was younger. There’s a weird alternate universe (!?) Batman who is hairy and dresses kind of like Huntress that hangs out with an ape looking Robin. Batman gets really mad at people and it’s hilarious. Batman is narrating the comic while shirtless, but is talking to a person that’s apparently not us. And Batman punched a whale, I think. Anyway, for those of you who are hard-lined about your Batman, read Batman by Scott Snyder (which is seriously awesome), but for those of you, like me, that want to read a hilarious, over the top, insane comic that stars Batman read Batman: Odyssey. In case you couldn’t tell, this comic doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But really, who cares? It’s amazing.

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (of 6) (IDW Publishing – $3.99): What got me to want to read this comic was the name. That’s all I needed. Star Trek: The Original Series characters boarding the starship Enterprise to cross worlds over into the DC Universe to team up with The Legion of Super-Heroes is possibly the best way to get me to buy a comic book. Unless, of course Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey featured guest art by Sheldon Vella. That might actually be the best way, but nonetheless, this feeds the need to geek in a way that I never thought was possible, but it makes total sense. The premiere sci-fi group from the DCU (screw those green guys) teaming up with arguably the best sci-fi franchise of all time, I mean what could be better? Well, it could be better if it was written by an amazing writer. But oh wait! It totally is! Chris Roberson (Superman, iZombie, a bunch of Stan Lee comics) will be writing this book, and that’s just fine because he’s amazing, as well. And y’know what makes this so good? Both the Legion and Star Trek have a history of not only telling surface stories of space and really cool aliens, but they have the unique perspective to focus on society, growth, and tolerance. It’s not just about space ships and laser beams (although those are also awesome), it’s about us. The human race. I have no doubt in my mind that Chris Roberson will tell a really good story about the two teams meeting up and fighting monster-ish things (The Borg is supposed to show up at some point), but I also have faith in him to tell a much larger story, and I cannot wait until to pick this up.

Key of Z #1 (of 4) (Boom! Studios/Evil Ink! Comics – $3.99): Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert wrote a comic that I absolutely love when they told the story of Kill Audio, and I fully expect them to do the same with Key of Z. This comic is a zombie story, but it’s not a story about surviving the zombie apocalypse. It takes place is New York City, if that place were to be struck by a zombie outbreak, they’d all be screwed. New York Comic-Con took place this past weekend, and it was a nightmare trying to get down 34th to Penn Station, now imagine if they were all trying to bite you! I actually just thought of that and got really scared. So, no. There’s pretty much no hope at survival at all. This is a revenge story. This is a comic about a man who has everything he loves taken away from him and how he copes with that loss. I picked up an early copy of this book at NYCC, and I’ve yet to read it because I wanted to talk about all the things that were exciting me about the book before I read it. Whenever I’ve read the solicitation of this book, or heard the creators talk about it, to me, it sounds like a western take on The Warriors (one of my favorite movies) with zombies, and that is right up my alley. It has a lot of potential for zombie fun, while still having the ability to go for some real life moments. Which, that sounds like a pretty solid four issues to me. I can’t wait to read it.

COLLECTION

Okay, so by now, you know me pretty well in an arbitrary sense, so you know that I like to break the rules. And if you don’t know me yet, Hi, my name’s Hunter, and I like to break the rules. And since I like to break the rules, and I’m not acting as Fake Henchman21 this week thus picking the Marvel Book 15 Love, I’m ignoring the collections that are coming out this week, and telling you about one that I just so happen to be reading…

Hack/Slash Omnibus Vol. 1 TPB (Image Comics – $29.99): Look, I know I’m late getting on the Hack/Slash train, but I’m seriously loving this comic book. You probably already know all about it, it’s a comic about a girl named Cassie Hack whose mother killed her schoolmates because they were being mean to her daughter. So, when she was found out, the elder Hack killed herself by shoving her head into a boiling pot. But instead of staying dead, she came back to life to continue her assault on the student body. It was this instance that lead to Cassie make the ultimate decision by double killing her mother which lead her on a life mission to rid the world of this kind of phenomenon. The phenomenon of The Slasher. The concept of the slasher is pretty simple. Base it off of any slasher movie, and there you go. Michael Myers gets shot six times by Dr. Sam Loomis and falls off the top of a house? No big deal, Myers goes on to kill a bunch of late night orderlies at the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. So, it’s that kind of horror mentality in a comic book. Normally in horror comics, we see zombies, cults, and elements of the supernatural that tend to lie on the spooky side, but not Hack/Slash. This comic embraces the insanity of the genre and makes it work for itself. The cliches from the slasher horror films are all over the place in this book, and they’re welcomed with open arms. And all of that would be great on its own, but Tim Seeley and his team of artists, letterers, inkers, and colorists band together to not only use the tropes, but to also do so in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It’s awesome, action packed, bloody, and hilarious. I love slashers, and I love Hack/Slash. Perfect October reading.

Henchman21

Fear Itself comes to an end today, which means there are about a dozen or so tie-in issues coming out today, which may excite some of you. I’m kind of just glad to see it come to an end. There are things to be genuinely excited about though, including the end of an era for the X-Men, the return of one of my favorite books, and a team up book I never expected to see. Here we go.

ISSUES

Uncanny X-Men #544 (Marvel Comics – $3.99): This is the last issue of this volume of Uncanny X-Men (don’t worry, just like every X-Men that has ever died, it’ll be back). Spinning out of the events of X-Men: Schism, the X-Team has been split in two, with one group following Cyclops and the other following Wolverine. This issue looks like it’s going to tie a bow around the whole series and set up whatever is coming next. I’m really looking forward to the next X-Men paradigm and I’m excited to see how writer Kieron Gillen ties everything together. I’m not super excited by the art of Greg Land, but I’ll manage. This is a pretty important issue, we’ll just have to see if it lives up to its milestone status.

Deadpool Max 2 #1 (Marvel/Max – $3.99): I never expected to enjoy the first Deadpool Max miniseries as much as I did, but I straight up loved it. This is the Deadpool series for those who say they don’t like Deadpool, but secretly do. It’s also the Deadpool series for people who say they like Deadpool and actually do. Written by David Lapham, with art by Kyle Baker, Deadpool Max is unlike any other book Marvel is putting out. It’s weird, hilarious, and totally bat-crap crazy. Baker’s art is totally unique and fits the story to a T. I never thought that I would enjoy this book as much as I do, but if you want a fun comic book that will make you laugh and still has that Marvel feel to it, pick this one up.

Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes #1 (of 6) (IDW Publishing/DC Comics – $3.99): Now here is the book I never thought I would see. I mean, who expected a team up between the Star Trek universe and DC’s Legion of Superheroes? But when you think about it, it makes a weird kind of sense. They’re both from the future. They both travel around space fighting weird aliens. They both feature main characters that spend most of their time trying to get busy with said aliens. So when you think about it, the team up seems natural, or at least less un-natural. Writer Chris Roberson is quickly making a name for himself on a host of different books, and I think he will do well with this series. I really like the Star Trek universe, and I kind of like the Legion, and I’m very curious to see how this crossover goes.

COLLECTION

Unwritten Vol. 4 (DC/Vertigo – $14.99): There are too many great Vertigo series going on right now that I can’t say which one is best, but The Unwritten is certainly up there with the best of them. The Unwritten is the story of Tommy Taylor, a guy who may or may not be a Harry Potter-type character from a series of fictional books. Through the previous three volumes, Tommy has discovered some secrets about his past, and has become entangled in a plot to stop him from learning anything more about his past. There are also vampires, long lost fathers, and Choose Your Own Adventure style issues. The whole series is like a dissertation on English literature, but never have I felt stupid just because I don’t catch every single reference. Writer Mike Carey has created a whole world of characters and set forth a mystery that keeps the reader entertained at every turn. I’m looking forward to finding out where the story goes in this volume, and I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.