Each and every week “I Have Until Five!” MK2Fac3 and “Best In The World” 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 May 9, 2012. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

Everyone once in a while a man or woman looks at his or her floor and sees large amounts of comic books. This is when that man or woman knows that he or she has either a very unorganized system or a passion that overfloweth. Now, I may not be going anywhere with this, but I’m going to pretend like I am because comics are great, right? Well, yes they are, and some great comics are coming out this week. Oh you want to know what they are? Well we don’t give that information away for free! Oh no! This is The GoD List where you have to read the entire post before you realize all the comics that you should be reading, brohan, but you know what? I’m going to do you a favor, I’m going to give you a teaser! Here: Bats, Owls, Dragons, Mutants, Spiders, Students, Monsters, and Robots! Seriously, that is all you need in life.

So Marvel’s big Summer event Fear Itself is underway and it’s blowing up all over the Marvel Universe. We’ve got early looks at some of the biggest issues this Summer.

It all starts in May when Fear Itself #2 of 7 hits store shelves. Award-winning writer Matt Fraction and artist Stuart Immonen continue the mystery of who the Worthy are. Seven hammers have fallen to Earth each capable of seemingly endless power. The race is on to see who the Worthy will be and without the Asgardians who have left Earth, will the Avengers be able to save the day? Covers for this installment if the series were done by Steve McNiven and variant by Stuart Immonen. Early images from Fear Itself #2 and previews for other Fear Itself releases are waiting for you after the jump.

In July Fear Itself hits the shores of Utopia in Uncanny X-Men #540 & #541. Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Greg Land bring fear to the unsteady balance between humans and mutant-kind.

Fear Itself #1
Written by Matt Fraction
Pencils by Stuart Immonen
Inks by Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors by Laura Martin
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release date: April 6, 2011

There is a delicate line between the amount of realism that I am looking for in my fantasy escapism and Fear Itself, the newest event from Marvel Comics, straddles the line very closely. The series, written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen, is the next in a line of Marvel books that have taken a more “realistic” look at the world in comics. Marvel has prided itself by taking place in a world very much like our own. The President in our world is the President in the Marvel U. Problems in our world become problems in their world. They have examined many real world issues, such as drug use in Spider-Man, racism in Uncanny X-Men, and a host of other topics. However, I have to question just how much realism can exist in a fantastic world filled with colorful characters fighting against villains who can be blamed for all of society’s ills. How much realism is too much, and can real world issues exist in a world where they could be conceivably solved by the characters within that universe? I don’t just read comics for fun, I want my mind to be involved and I want the comics I read to inform the world around me. On the other hand, I still want to have fun while reading my comics, and I will admit that they are a form of escapism from the reality of my everyday life. So when reading this issue, I had to decide how much realism do I want, and how much do I just want to escape into a world where problems can be solved by an Ultimate Nullifier.

In what Marvel was calling a “major press conference” the company announced this its big event for next year. Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, and VP Executive Editors Tom Brevoort and Axel Alonso announced that April will see the release of Fear Itself, a 7-issue series written by Matt Fraction with art by Stuart Immonen. The series will see the biggest characters in the Marvel universe taking on a new villain, some king of god of fear. Aside from the seven issues of the main series there will also be a prologue issue out in March, which will be written by Ed Brubaker and feature art by Scott Eaton.

As with past events, the main story will be contained in the main miniseries, however, the story will spill into any number of regular series and special issues. Brevoort remarked that the number of tie-in issues would approach the number seen during Civil War. We can expect all the major players in the Marvel U to play a part in the adventure at some point, so be prepared for that.