Chew #36
Written by John Layman
Art by Rob Guillory
Colored by Rob Guilory
Lettered by John Layman
Covers by Rob Guillory
Image Comics
Release Date: September 4, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Chew #36 is about the family. Toni Chu is a Cibovoyant for NASA and is able to see the future of any living thing she digests. She needs to help her sister Sage who is a Cipropanthropatic, a person who can see the memories of anyone nearby eating the exact same thing.

Sage, after eating a unique dish at a restaurant, sees the murder of a man at the hands of the person sitting in the booth behind her. Problem was it was Don Federico Biscotti who put a hit on her.

Aliens: Inhuman Condition
Written by John Layman
Art by Sam Kieth
Colors by Sam Kieth, John Kalisz
Cover by Sam Kieth
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Cover Price: $10.99

On a distant frozen world, “artificial persons” are manufactured by mega-conglomerate Weyland-Yutani. These formidable new security synthetics, designed for combat, test their mettle against a hive of deadly Xenomorphs.

Socialization Specialist Jean DuPaul, who teaches the synthetics empathy, sees her ever-more-human android students sent to their destruction and learns that the most savage species in the universe is man.

Aliens: Inhuman Condition tells the story of Jean DuPaul and Bear, an unlikely duo in that Bear is an inanimate object – a fluffy, pink teddy bear to be exact. DuPaul lost her husband and daughter, and all she has left of her family is Bear, the stuffed synthetic play-thing that was to be her daughter’s.

Written by Eisner and Harvey Award-winner John Layman (Chew, Detective Comics), Inhuman Conditions sees DuPaul traumatized after losing her family during a Xenomorph attack. She’s eventually rescued by a task force of androids – but the damage is done.

DuPaul’s world view has been shattered, forcing her to see reality differently than her co-workers at the Weyland-Yutani manufacturing plant. She confides in Bear (think Steven Spielberg’s Artificial: Intelligence) and begins to see the Androids she teaches social skills to as living, breathing, human beings.

A few days ago, we reported that the current writer/artist of Detective Comics, Tony Daniel, would be leaving the title after the #0 issue that is scheduled for this September. Well, in a surprising turn of events, DC Comics announced both a new writer and artist for the title. Chew co-creator John Layman will be taking over the writing duties while Batman: The Dark Knight art collaborator Jason Fabok will be taking on the art. This truly is an interesting turn of events.

While an excellent writer, the last book I expected to see Layman on was Detective Comics. Detective is usually known as the darker of the two mainstay Batman books, and while I’m sure the creator of the quirky detective comic book Chew has a sense of darkness in him, the majority of his work I’ve read has quite a bit of humor, which is not something commonly found within the pages of a standard Detective comic. Another interesting note here is that it will be the first DC comic that Layman has written, and it’s at the same time one of the most high profile comics and characters from the company. Good for him, honestly, I love Layman’s work and I can’t see what he’s got in store for my favorite character. It is just a little odd, though. Especially when you consider the pairing of the artist.

Each and every week “Americana Assassin” MK2Fac3 and “Midwest Marauder” 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 June 20, 2012. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

Whhaaaaat?!!? You remember me, right? Well, I apologize for the lack of fac3 (faceless?) time on these here websites. A lot has changed recently and Tuesdays and Wednesdays have become even busier for me recently, what with the new job and all… (pausing for congratulatory high fives), so I’ve been away for like a week or something and some have said that I phoned in the previous week’s, but to those people (HENCHMAN!!!), I say this, “I’m back, BABAY!” And there have been some truly amazing comic books over the last few weeks. Did you guys read Creator Owned Heroes? I may be jumping the gun a little bit since it’s only been one issue, but I honestly think it could be a game changer. And while this week may not be jam packed full of potential game-changers, there’s some really good stuff to look forward to. So, follow me past the break, so that we can talk about all the great comics that are coming out this week. This is The GoD List, after all.

Mars Attacks #1
Story & Lettered by John Layman
Art by John McCrea
Colored by Andrew Eder
Editor: Denton J. Tipton
Covers 1-55 by Norman Saunders
Retail Exclusive Cover by John McCrea
Retail Exclusive Cover Colored by Andrew Elder
San Diego Comicon Exclusive Cover by Matt Frank
Box Set Cover art by Zina Saunders
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 20, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Mars Attacks #1 was a very different sort of animal. Sure, you can guess by the title that there are creatures from the planet Mars and that they’re attacking, but beyond that, it’s really not like what you’d expect at all.

John Layman takes the old Mars Attacks formula and turns it a little bit askew from what we’re used to. And it works like a charm!! I know you’re sick of my saying this, but I try to NEVER give away spoilers, but this story is told from an unusual point of view. There’s also an unusual narrative within the book, one that makes you want the LAST issue (or close to it) to get here as quickly as possible.