Each week, ComicsXF staff offer their recommendations for what to read. New DC books come out Tuesdays, everything else Wednesdays.
Tony’s pick: Avengers #1: Jason Aaron’s Avengers run was bad. Jed MacKay’s Moon Knight has been very good. Can MacKay make Earth’s Mightiest Heroes worth reading again? Fingers crossed, friends. Drawn by C.F. Villa (X-Men). ($4.99) Clark Urich breaks down why the Aaron run didn’t work.
Rasmus’ pick: Batman: The Brave & the Bold #1: Batman goes looking for friends in new stories written by Tom King, Ed Brisson, Christopher Cantwell and Dan Mora, and drawn by Mitch Gerads, Jeff Spokes, Javier Rodriguez and Mora. ($7.99) Previously, in BatChat …
Bonus pick: Titans #1: The Titans are back, and it’s time to eat lots and lots of waffles! … What? They only do that in the cartoon? The comics once had Deathstroke sexually assault a 15-year-old? Wow, that’s messed up. And we’re nostalgic for this? Yikes. Written by Tom Taylor (Nightwing, DCeased) and drawn by Nicola Scott (those variant covers where Nightwing shows off his butt). ($3.99)
Matt’s pick: The Vigil #1: The shipping vessel Eastwind was taken captive by pirates off the coast of Thailand. 24 hours after the crew had been taken hostage, before communications had been established or any demands made, the crew reported an intervention by a group of unknown individuals. Amid other bizarre claims by the crew are reports of an individual who changed his appearance at will and a woman who seemingly dodged bullets. Once the pirates were taken out, no attempts were made at rescuing the crew. There have long been rumors about rogue metahumans targeting weaponized illegal technology. With some hinting that they call themselves The Vigil. Written by Ram V (Catwoman) and drawn by Lalit Kumar Sharma. ($3.99)
Chris’ pick: Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea #1: One of the last followers of a failing Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra, the unassuming Miss Truesdale, finds herself on the receiving end of Brotherhood leader Tefnut Trionus’ final vision. Yeah yeah yeah, OK. But the important thing to know here is Jesse Lonergan is drawing a Mike Mignola story. Hook it to your veins. ($3.99) Lonergan was on WMQ&A once. Once.
Dan’s pick: The Giant Kokju #2: In which a giant monster continues to slam its genitals into buildings and public transportation to satisfy its primal urges and also climate change, and humanity’s only hope may be a 45-year-old mech suit. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Scott Koblish for Image. ($3.99) Check out our recent piece contrasting Kokju with Duggan’s X-Men.
Zack’s pick: X-Men #22: Mutantkind may be stronger than ever, but that just makes their enemies more determined than ever to tear them down. Go Orchis go Orchis go? Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Joshua Cassara. ($3.99)
Adam’s pick: X-Force #40: The new team of Colossus, Wolverine, Deadpool, Omega Red, Sage and Domino must contend with Beast’s plans, and the future. Also Quentin’s back. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Robert Gill and Paul Davidson. ($3.99) Previously, in X-Chat …
Anna’s pick: Marvel Masterworks Howard the Duck Vol. 2: When Howard finds himself lost on the island of his greatest enemy, Doctor Bong, Bev faces an ultimatum: Become Mrs. Bong or the duck gets fricasseed! But things soon get worse for our feathered friend when he undergoes a monstrous transformation. The world isn’t ready for Howard the Human. Collecting Howard the Duck #15-31 and Annual #1, by Steve Gerber, Gene Colan and Val Mayerik. ($75) What the Duck: A Podcast Most Fowl But with a W ‘Cuz He’s a Duck (That’s the Full Name of the Show).
Austin’s pick: Iron Man Epic Collection: The Crossing: Austin? You OK, buddy? You know “The Crossing” is widely considered the worst Iron Man story ever, right? Like it was one of the reasons Marvel was like, “Shut it down,” in 1996 and gave Iron Man, the Avengers and the FF to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld to do Heroes Reborn. Eh, what comics fan isn’t a masochist? Collecting Iron Man #319-324, Avengers #390-394, Avengers: The Crossing, Force Works #16-20 and War Machine #20-22. ($49.99) Gee, we haven’t covered Iron Man in a while.
Sean’s pick: 20th Century Men TP: What if the Cold War had superheroes? Well, it’d be even more f’d up and oppressive than it was in real life, turns out. Powerful alternate history courtesy of writer Deniz Camp and artist Stipan Morian for Image. ($24.99) Check out our coverage.
Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.
