Each and every week, I, “In the year 2099!” Henchman 21 and “In the year 2099!” Empress Eve read a lot of comics. Seriously you guys, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. I mean, it is possible”¦ theoretically. Naturally, we look forward to some more than others. I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of our pull lists, grab some comics, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of July 9, 2014. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

Hope you all had a nice three-day weekend in the U.S., but it’s time to get back to work. And by work I mean reading comics, which would be a pretty awesome job if that’s all you had to do. And deep in the comics salt mine, we’ve got a lot of great titles this week, including the return of one of a series that I loved in my formative years. Also, we’ve got one of my favorite new series, a comic based on a book that’s also been turned into a TV show, an interesting new series, and more! So, get back to work, you slackers, it’s time to clock in to The GoD List!

Henchman 21

Spider-Man 2099 #1 (Marvel Comics – $3.99) Awwwwwwwwww, HELL yeah! 13 year old me is jumping for joy at a new Spider-Man 2099 series, and if you’re not with me on this, I don’t even care. I’m going to buy a billion copies of this series to keep it afloat. Okay, maybe not a billion, but certainly at least one. Sure, this is a total nostalgia trip for me, but there’s still a quality creative team behind this book with original Spider-Man 2099 creator Peter David handling the script and rising star Will Sliney on the art. If you’re wondering what the story is, basically the Spider-Man of the future, Miguel O’Hara, is trapped in the present day, and now he has a chance to stop the evil corporation that messed up his life from ever becoming evil. David understands these characters having created them so many years ago, and it’s exciting to see him get another chance to tell their stories. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this since it was announced, and I cannot wait to read this. If you’re like me and loved those original Spider-Man 2099 comics, I’m sure you’re just as excited as I am.

The Strain Volume 1 Hardcover (Dark Horse Comics – $29.99) Are you excited for the FX adaptation of Guillermo del Toro’s & Chuck Hogan’s The Strain? Well, get a jump on the story by reading the comic book adaptation of the original novel (or you could read the book I guess, but I ain’t here for novel recommendations unless they are of the graphic variety). David Lapham (Stray Bullets) and Mike Huddleston (Butcher Baker, The Righteous Maker) bring the series about a vampiric virus and the doctor trying to stop it before it becomes an epidemic to the comics page. This new hardcover collects the first 11 issues of the series, and since I haven’t read the book before, this is all new to me. For me, I’m intrigued to see Huddleston’s art on this, as he is a tremendous talent and I’ve loved his work in the past. I’m also a big fan of Lapham, although it is a little funny to think of him adapting a book written by someone base on an idea by a third person. There’s a point where you wonder if there have been too many spoons in the pot of this particular story. If you’re a fan of the novel and haven’t read the comic series, and want to see another take on the story, this should be of interest.

Magnus Robot Fighter #5 (Dynamite Entertainment – $3.99) I talked about the first issue of this series, and now that a few more issues out, I want to talk about Magnus: Robot Fighter again. First off, this series is hilarious. Writer Fred Van Lente is aware that the premise of the series is more than a little ridiculous, and he runs with it. Magnus: Robot Fighter is about a guy who awakens to find himself in a world where robots are the dominant life form, and humans are the servants. Somehow, Magnus can beat the crap out of robots, but he still doesn’t know how he got to this world or exactly what is going on. He’s got a human bounty hunter/reality TV star after him, and boy does van Lente get a lot of mileage out of that. The art by Cory Smith is powerful and dynamic, and this has turned out to be a monstrously fun series so far. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend tracking down the first few issues.

Grayson #1 (DC Comics – $2.99) Spinning out of Forever Evil, I guess the former Robin, Dick Grayson, is pretending to be dead or something so he can infiltrate an evil organization on Batman’s direction. Now, normally, this wouldn’t be something I’m interested in, but because Grayson #1 is being written by Tim Seeley, I’m at least interest. Seeley started out writing Hack/Slash for Devil’s Due and Image, and is currently writing one of my favorite titles on the stands, Revival. Seeley is also writing part of Batman Eternal, so he’s already familiar with the Batman characters somewhat, and he is a writer who should be able to handle not only the action needed for the series, but also the character moments, while still keeping the series a little silly and fun. This is described by DC as a “super-spy thriller” and that sounds interesting enough for me to check out the first issue.

Empress Eve

I’ve been working 18-hour days for a while now, so at this point, I barely even know my own name and the one thing I read for review was Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes: Firestorm, an original prequel novel to the upcoming film. BUT, as far as comics go, I know there’s one that I’ve been waiting for — Star Trek #35!

Star Trek #35 (IDW Publishing – $3.99) The omnipotent Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation makes his way into IDW’s ongoing Star Trek series in the reboot universe! Star Trek #35 launches a 6-issue arc that promises to reveal some familiar faces of the Trek universe, including the crew of a popular Trek space station.