Each and every week, I, “So many books!” Henchman 21 and “Indeed!” 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 October 1, 2014. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

Congratulations people, all of the comics are out this week. Every. Single. One of them. Okay, it’s not that bad, but there is an embarrassment of riches out this week, and if you want to buy all the good stuff, you may need a small loan. And I’m not going to be any help to you this week, because I am not about helping you trim down your comic buying list. Oh no, quite the opposite. I’m going to list a lot of cool stuff this week that is totally worth your time, so get ready. It’s rapid fire GoD List time!

Henchman 21

Gotham Academy #1 (DC Comics – $2.99) Gotham Academy is the first of a batch of new series from DC (or new directions in the case of the upcoming Batgirl change) that exist on the periphery of the Batman world. I’m not quite sure what to make of Gotham Academy. It’s about Gotham’s most prestigious prep school and all the students that populate the school. It doesn’t seem to star any of the regular Gotham city cast members (which is cool because new characters are awesome), although Bruce Wayne may have a cameo or two. But then the previews talk about ghosts in the school, and all the weird students in the school, so it doesn’t exactly sound like any other Batman book, but that’s kind of a good thing. DC is trying something different with Gotham Academy, and I much prefer them trying something new than doing the same old thing. And this just sounds FUN and we know DC could use more of that. Gotham Academy is written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher with art by Karl Kerschl and that’s a solid creative team. Kerschl has a clean, animated style which should capture the youthful feel of the story. I want this book to succeed so that DC and other companies will keep trying new things so make sure you pick this up.

Adventure Time: Mathematical Edition Hardcover, Volume 4 (BOOM! Studios – $34.99) Mathematically awesome! BOOM!’s Adventure Time! comics capture the look and feel of the show and are great for kids, but this fancier and pricier edition is aimed more at the adult fans of the show, of which there are plenty.

Black Metal Omnibus (Oni Press – $24.99) The Black Metal Omnibus collects all three volumes of Rick Spears’ and Chuck BB’s crazy story of 2 brothers who go on a crazy adventure involving swords, demons, and of course, that sweetest of music, metal. It’s a fun story, and BB’s art is totally unique. Even if you’re bought this before, this new collection is at a larger size than the manga sized they were originally released in, so there’s good reason to double dip.

Moon Knight, Volume 1 (Marvel Comics – $17.99) This collects the six issues of Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey’s Moon Knight run and has some of the best issues that Marvel has produced this year. Ellis’ take on the character puts him in a place where Moon Knight can be used again by other creators (as Brian Wood and – are) and Shalvey’s art along with Jordie Bellaire’s color is a wonder. You should buy this on the strength of Bellaire’s colors alone.

Southern Bastards, Volume 1 (Image Comics – $9.99) This may not be as good a value as a lot of other Image first volume trades, since it’s only 4 issues, however, the four issues contained are incredible, and act as a tantalizing prologue for when the story really kicks in when issue 5 comes out. Jason Aaron is arguably the best writer working in comics today and this series harkens back to his early worked on Scalped. And artist Jason Latour captures the brutality and atmosphere of Aaron’s script perfectly. Seriously, this is going to be a classic series and you’ll want to get in on this.

Men of Wrath #1 (Marvel/Icon Comics – $3.50) Meanwhile, we’ve also got the first issue of Men of Wrath, which I think is Jason Aaron‘s first work to come out through Marvel’s creator owned Icon line. Much like Southern Bastards, Men of Wrath is a story of the Deep South, focusing on Ira Rath, a hitman with a horrible family legacy. I’m going to buy pretty much anything with Aaron’s name on it and I love that he has multiple non-superhero books on the shelves.

Thor #1 (Marvel Comics – $3.99) Yes, I’ve got one more Jason Aaron book to talk about, but honestly the story of Thor #1 is of course the debut of the new Thor, the Goddess of Thunder. This whole idea strikes me as the kind of crazy idea that made Aaron’s X-Men run so much fun, and it’s not like his Thor run has been what one would call conventional, and this is just another wild idea that I want to read. If you’re not up for what Aaron’s laying down at this point, we’re just looking for different things from our comics. The other reason to read this book is the art from Russell Dauterman, fresh off a truncated run on Cyclops. Dauterman is another great talent just gaining a following and he is going to be big. He’s got a classic superhero style that will do well on Thor and this is going to be an amazing comic.

The Fade Out #2 (Image Comics – $3.50) I think I completely missed this when issue 1 came out, but this is the next jam from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and is just as good as their other collaborations. The Fade Out revolves around a mystery involving a dead Hollywood starlet in the 1940s and the writer trying to discover what happened the night she was murdered. Great noir with a very classic feel to it.

Brides of Helheim #1 (Oni Press – $3.99) This is the second series of Cullen Bunn, Joelle Jones, and Nick Filardi’s Helheim saga, the story of a Viking warrior brought back to life as a pawn in the war between two witches. Jones’ art is beautiful and she’s going to have a great career. This is a great horror themed comic to get you into the mood for Halloween.

Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead #1 (DC Comics – $4.99) I haven’t read any Green Lantern comics for a while, but this big crossover between all the books has me interested, largely because of the New Gods. I just want to read a good Green Lantern story again, and this seems as good a place to start as any.

Silver Surfer #6 (Marvel Comics – $3.99) Buy this because it’s awesome and because this is the start of a new arc. Still the best Dr. Who comic on the stands.

Empress Eve

As Henchy pointed out, all of the comics are out this week. There’s a ton. And of course, he picked the ones I was going to — I mean, Black Metal, c’mon now. And the launch of Marvel’s Thor #1 featuring the must-talked-about, controversial new “female Thor” and umm, no, Thor didn’t get a sex change, it’s just that a woman is taking up the mantle now — the Goddess Of Thunder! Picks like these two are total Empress, but I still have a few to select…

Sherlock Holmes vs Harry Houdini #1 (Dynamite Entertainment – $3.99) HA HA HA HA!!!!! Just look at the name of this comic — I love it! This 5-issue miniseries has the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, teaming up with famed (and real-life) illusionist Harry Houdini, so why the title has them as “vs” I do not know. But, they’re getting together to, according to the solicitation, “to defeat a mysterious mystic dedicated to destroying Houdini’s career and killing anyone who gets in his way.” I would like to know why this mystic is so hellbent on ruining someone’s career that he’d kill anyone in his way — why not just kill the person who’s career you want to ruin? I guess we’ll have to see why in… Sherlock Holmes vs. [but not vs.] Harry Houdini!