Each and every week “Sheikie Baby!” MK2Fac3 and “Rowdy Roddy” Henchman21 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 March 14, 2012. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

Wednesday is THE DAY for new comics, and as per usual, Henchman21 and MK2Fac3 are here to tell you about all the books that they’re looking forward to. It’s another mirror image week where Henchie McHencherson and SK6Factory3 switch things up while one picks three singles and one collection, while the other does the opposite. I don’t know how much you know about how mirrors work, but that’s the way it goes, dollface. We’ve got a lot of books like Saucer Country, Queen Crab, Avengers Assemble, Saga, The World of Flashpoint featuring Batman, Womathology again, and so much more! Honey child, it’s a big week! Anyway, I don’t even know why I’m writing this, so I’ll see you back in a minute when we get to the meat of The GoD List!

MK2Fac3

ISSUES:

Saga #1 (Image Comics – $2.99): Oh man, I don’t even know where to start on this. Firstly, I suppose, it’s Brian K. Vaughan’s triumphant return to creator-owned comics at Image! That’s a huge freaking deal! The guy who has written fabulously original comics like Y: The Last Man, The Runaways, and Ex Machina is back! How could you not be excited about this? I certainly can’t come up with anything so let’s move on to the artist: Fiona F’ing Staples, y’all. She’s seriously an amazing artist that I think a lot of people that may have been all about BKV may not know of, so it’s nice to see her on such a high profile book so that she can’t more eyes on her fantastic work. And seriously, the official solicitation from Image Comics calls this book a meeting of Star Wars AND Game of Thrones? Dim Sum, that’s like a magic coalition of awesome! There’s honestly no reason not to pick this up. The creators are awesome and if you can’t find it in stores, you can always find it on Comixology. To me, that’s the whole reason why digital comics exist. Anyway, back to the book, it’s a whole bunch of pages with no ads, so you’re getting a massive deal for this book that’s sure to be another legendary BKV run. How could you not want this!?

Saucer Country (Vertigo Comics – $2.99): Okay, okay, okay, I really have no idea what this comic is about, but I really don’t care. This comic could be about turtles racing in space from Mars to Earth’s moon and I would buy this. Wait, that sounds pretty awesome. Okay, I got it, this book could be about a reborn Justice League in a completely different universe than we’re used to while they fight a ridiculous looking Darkseid and Batman runs around town without his mask on telling everyone that he’s Bruce Wayne, and I would still read this as long as the two creators were telling that story. Paul Cornell who has won my heart through episodes of Dr. Who, or comics like Knight and Squire, Action Comics and the currently outstanding Demon Knights is taking the writer’s role of this comic which tells a story about a female democratic candidate who is running for president while she is plagued with a rough personal life and a possible alien abduction. It’s touted as a story of a journey, and in my opinion no other artist should be on this comic book other than Ryan Kelly. Now, that’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of amazing comic book artists out there that could actually do this story justice, it’s just that Ryan Kelly is at the top of my favorite artists list and he should be on every comic book that exists because I want to see more of his art. If you don’t know what I’m talking about for some ridiculous reason, you need to check out Local, New York Four, New York Five, Cocotte and Funrama. Do it, seriously do it. If you don’t love Ryan Kelly I don’t want you to read my words ever again. We seriously can’t be friends and you can’t come to my birthday party next Saturday. Anyway, make sure to pick up this book even if you don’t like politics in your comics because Cornell and Kelly are two creators that I’ve been dreaming of seeing together, and if you like good comics, I’m sure you’ll like this.

The Shade #7 (DC Comics – $2.99): I feel like not that many people are reading this amazing book. Now, I don’t check into sales and all the hoopla that the comics industry spews out, but I do know that this is a rather difficult book to get a hole of, and I think that’s because of the fact that stores aren’t ordering enough copies because again, I don’t think many people are reading this book. And that’s a freaking crime. James Robinson, in my opinion, is at his best when he’s writing a super awesomely unique solo character like The Shade, Starman and the Flashpoint tie-in The Outsider. I honestly imagine that he has a blast doing these comics, because I have a blast reading them. The Shade is a suave, super-powered villain-hero that reminds me of a combination of James Bond and CM Punk, which is pretty b.a. if you ask me. And as much as I love the story (I freaking love the story), it’s enhanced to the highest degree by the caliber of artists that are on this book. The first story arc featured the great work of Cully Hamner, then we saw a one and done flashback issue from Darwyn Cooke, now we have Javier Pulido, and we still have the likes of Frazer Irving and Jill Thompson to look forward to. This is like a who’s who of amazing artists that don’t do a lot of interiors, so if you aren’t reading this book, you a really missing out and you should feel ashamed of yourselves. Oh, your LCS doesn’t have a copy? The first issues are out of print? No excuse! Go to Comixology and buy them. I haven’t been this mad about sales since Xombi… I’m still bitter that you weren’t reading that.

COLLECTION (Sort of?):

Okay, so there a decent amount of collections coming out this week and Henchpants72 will be talking a lot about them in a moment including a crappy recolored edition of Batman: Year One, but first let me tell you about a couple of things. First and foremost, I mistyped last week when I suggested that you pick up Womanthology last week. I didn’t mistype when I told you to pick it up, you should absolutely still do that, but it comes out this week, not last week, so go back there and check what I said about it then. Seriously, give Brenda Kirk money, she’s good people. And as much as I want you to buy Womanthology, I need to tell you about this original graphic novel that’s coming out this week.

Queen Crab (Image Comics – $12.99): All you need to tell me to get me excited about a comic is, “Hey, Jimmy Palmiotti is doing a creator owned comic that tells a full story in one shot.” I’m like, “Okay, I heard Palmiotti, creator owned, and full story and I’m already sold.” Jimmy Palmiotti continues to be one of the most unique voices in comics whether it’s in creator owned books like Queen Crab, Trailblazer, The Tattered Man or mainstream books like Power Girl, The Ray or All-Star Western, the man can rock out a really interesting and fun book. This book though, based on some glances and not a full read, wreaks of old school horror comics, Metamorphosis and The Fly. I can’t wait to sit down and read the whole thing because it seriously looks like it’s going to be a fantastic read. The art looks fantastic and above all else, I have the utmost faith in Palmiotti to give me a great comic.

Henchman21

Well, since the fine MK2Fac3 is talking about all the books I’m excited about this week, I’m sticking with mostly trades this week. And it is a good week for trades. But first”¦
 
ISSUES:
 
Avengers Assemble #1 (Marvel Comics – $3.99): Marvel has been doing their best over the last few years to bring their comics in line with their movies. If you’ve read Iron Man or Thor lately, you’ll know what I mean. And with the Avengers movie coming out, it’s time for them to publish a book with the same team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that people will be seeing on the big screen. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, and Black Widow team up to fight a brand new Zodiac. Now, the question with this book is, do we need another Avengers book? We already have three main Avengers books, mini-series, and a big honkin’ event on the horizon, so another book may seem superfluous. I say, sure, we can always use another, so long as it’s good. The good news is that Avengers Assemble teams up writer Brian Bendis with artist Mark Bagley, who have teamed up many times in the past, most notably their record breaking run on Ultimate Spider-Man. The bad news is that Bendis and Bagley already have a series coming out (Brilliant) and that book has gotten very bad in terms of coming out on time. We know that Bagley is an artist who can meet a deadline, and I’m not entirely sure what the hold-up has been. My guess is that Marvel will put a big push to get this book out on time and we won’t see too many delays. Also, I hope that Bendis finds his old Avengers groove back with this series. We’ll just have to read it and find out.
 
Game of Thrones House Stark Coffee Mug (Dark Horse – $12.99): This isn’t a single issue. Or a trade. Or even a book of any kind. It’s a coffee mug. You drink out of it. And it is awesome. That is all.
 
COLLECTIONS:
 
Avengers Children’s Crusade Hardcover (Marvel Comics – $34.99): Is this really out this week? The last issue just came out last week. That is the quickest turn around on a collection I have ever seen. Seriously, I have never seen a collection come out so quickly after a series has just finished. What’s that? You think I should actually talk about the series. Well, I guess I can do that. Avengers Children’s Crusade is basically the next Young Avengers series and is all about the youthful heroes search for the Scarlet Witch, who may or may not be the mother of two of the YA members. From there, the series descends into a series of fights between the Avengers, the X-Men, Dr. Doom and many more. Sadly, the series ends with a bit of a whimper, but the lead up to the end was full of twists and turns and fantastic art from Jim Cheung. Cheung is one of the best superhero artists working today, and has a spectacularly clean style and nails any action scene that is given t him. I’m willing to be that more than a few people were waiting for the trade on this one, seeing as how it took at least eighteen months for the nine issues of this series to come out. The art makes up for any weaknesses the story may have.
 
Batman: Year One Deluxe Edition Hardcover (DC Comics – $24.99): What, you’re telling me you’ve never read Batman: Year One? Get out. No, seriously. Until you’ve gone out and bought this and then subsequently read it, I don’t want to see your face around here. You think I’m joking? You think I can’t find you? I don’t think you know who you’re messing with. I’ll wait”¦
 
“¦Okay, you’ve bought it? Good. Have you read it? Also, good. Well apparently you shouldn’t have bought this. According to Year One artist David Mazzucchelli, DC did a bad job recoloring the original art and then printed the book on paper that isn’t suited for the best presentation of the work. Also, they reproduced the work from corrupted digital files which in the end make this not the best edition of what is a seminal work of comics. If you haven’t read the story before, you owe it to yourself to read it, but make sure you can flip through this edition before you buy it. I haven’t seen it, so it may not be that bad, but it’s worth a bit of warning before buying this. Constant vigilance!
 
The World of Flashpoint Featuring Batman (DC Comics – $17.99): There are three trades out this week collecting all the various miniseries from DC’s Flashpoint event, but this one features three of the best series to spin out of the event. The biggest draw here is the Knight of Vengeance series written by Brian Azzarello with art by Eduardo Risso. The story features a unique take on Batman, with the Caped Crusader being played by Thomas Wayne (Bruce’s father) as he tracks down a decidedly different Joker. The story is fascinating and disturbing and pushes all the right buttons and the art by Risso is some of his best ever. You also get the very good Deadman and the Flying Graysons, Secret Seven, and Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager. Deadman was one of the biggest surprises for me, because I wasn’t expecting much from it, but I ended up enjoying it. Secret Seven was a bit of a disappointment because George Perez was supposed to handle the art on the series, but only ended up doing one issue. Still, the series was fairly interesting and is basically a big set up for the current Justice League Dark series. I didn’t read the Deathstroke series, and I don’t remember hearing much about it, but to be fair the other three series are worth picking this up.