SETH’S PICK :: PRETTY DEADLY #3: It’s the end of the year, so I can finally say it: Image produced my favorite monthly comics in 2013.  What I appreciate the most is that their creators can, by and large, keep to themselves and tell the stories they want without having to allot time to company wide shenanigans (crossovers and events, I’m looking at you).  The results are books like Hickman and Dragotta’s East of West, Dingess and Roberts’ Manifest Destiny, Brubaker and Epting’s Velvet, and Remender and Scalera’s Black Science (issue two is also out this week!) – all exciting comics that warrant your monthly attention.

Then there’s Pretty Deadly, the incredible new supernatural western series from Kelly Sue DeConnick, Emma Rios, and Jordie Bellaire.  This series shouldn’t be celebrated just because all of the book’s talented creators happen to be female.  We should celebrate this book because it represents the creators’ best work of their careers.  It’s also, more importantly, a riveting and layered comic book experience.  DeConnick’s writing, which I’ve long been a fan of, is lyrical without being overwrought, poetic without being overly expository, and soulful in its delivery.  Rios’ art is full of fragility and fright.  She captures the vulnerability of  small animals with the same confidence as she does the horrific rage of the daughter of Death himself.  Bellaire, who may well be 2013’s most prolific colorist, doesn’t merely match the tone of the writing and art, but stretches her palette more here than you may have seen in her other works.  It’s early enough in this series to be able to pick up the first two issues at cover price, and I’d encourage you to seek them out.  This is a fine comic book, and one I hope you’ll pick up before the end of the year. 

RICO’S PICK :: UNCANNY X-MEN #15: Kris Anka drawing X-ladies out on the town? Sign me up! The only thing that could get me to read an X-comic faster would be X-Men playing baseball. This issue is also an Inhumanity tie-in.

PHIL’S PICKS: Heroes has been doing the weekly picks for a good couple of years now, with Andy, Justin, Karla, Rico and Seth filling you in on what is cool, new or exciting in next week’s releases.  There are a few reasons I don’t contribute, here sorted from shortest to longest:

1)      I hate me some typing.

2)      You would quickly tire of me saying buy Uncanny X-Men Annual 11 and Waid and Samnee’s Daredevil.

3)      I’m six months behind on my comics reading (to wit, Remender’s Captain America has been great, but I just finished reading #8) .

4)      I don’t have anything to add to the computed cacophony of comic thought and opinion; in fact, the more I avoid online comics news and views, the better I feel about myself, life, and you, the loyal Heroes customer. So really, everybody wins, and how often  does that happen? (more…)

SETH’S PICK :: MANIFEST DESTINY #2: It recently dawned on me that Image Comics is currently producing the monthly comics I’m most excited about.  Between East of West, Pretty Deadly and Black Science, there are plenty of interesting new titles from the company.  Add to that list Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts‘ Manifest Destiny.  This is one of those seemingly obvious concepts that writers everywhere are kicking themselves for not thinking of first.  It’s a new take on Lewis and Clark exploring the vast acreage obtained in the Louisiana Purchase.  While rooted in history, this series diverges from it by pitting the legendary explorers against an array of monsters and beasts that defy imagination (think buffalo centaurs).  In case you missed the sold out first issue, there’s also a second printing available this week.  In other words, here’s a perfect opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a very promising new series. 

ANDY’S PICK :: RICHARD STARK’S PARKER SLAYGROUND: Fans of Darwyn Cooke rejoice!  A new Parker book has arrived just in time to be added to our Christmas Wish List (hint) This is a no-brainer for anyone who picked up the first three books in this hard-boiled, beautifully rendered Crime fiction adaptations.  This is a true marriage of an author’s prose novel and a talented cartoonist determined to adapt these stories to a new medium, but keep the tone and the spirit of the work intact.  The plot: Parker– a career criminal (and not the nicest guy in the comics)- breaks into an abandoned Amusement Park in order to escape capture after a heist goes wrong.  But someone observes Parker trespassing and that’s when things get really scary for all involved (just look at that amazing cover!).  Darwyn Cooke is an artist who deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon him.  This Parker series belongs in everyone’s hands.  It is as good as you’ve heard.

RICO’S PICK(S) :: AMAZING X-MEN #2 & VELVET #2: I couldn’t pick just one book this week. Here are a couple of second issues following up a pair of great number ones. Hop aboard these two book now! Aaron and McGuinness or Brubaker and Epting, it’s a win-win.

ANDY’S PICK :: CAPTAIN EASY VOLUME 4: This is the fourth and final volume of the over-sized collection of Captain Easy full page Sundays beautifully written, drawn and colored by the great Roy Crane.  This is one of the most influential strips of all time.  Crane successfully blended fast paced globe trotting adventures with a big foot comedic art style  like no other strip had ever done–before or since. Crane left the successful Wash Tubbs/Captain Easy strip in 1943 to start his own feature Buz Sawyer.  By that time, the world had changed; WWII forced the newspaper strips to face the realities of war and real violence. The days of the lickety-wop deliriously fun escapades in a world filled with damsels in distress, tiny European kingdoms, a perpetually Wild West and maps that led to buried treasure were over. However, all those delightful staples of the depression era  world of the dangerous– but always reliable–Captain Easy are on display for all to enjoy. This four volume collection is the ideal series where any modern reader can get an understanding and appreciation of the scope and history of the Adventure strip.  How important is Crane and the Sunday Captain Easy? If Roy Crane did not directly  influence your favorite cartoonist , believe me, the artists who influenced your current favorites were influenced by Crane and his marvelous work. Besides all that–Captain Easy is a blast to read  PICK UP ANY VOLUME; Need a recap? Easy gets into trouble, then he punches his way out and then, he gets into trouble…Plus there are beautiful girls and Tigers– lots and lots of Tigers.

RICO’S PICK :: DEADPOOL ANNUAL #1: One-shots, anthologies, and annuals, these are the odd ball comics I’m always drawn to. Retailers and publishers alike have trouble selling them on a consistent basis though because of the inherent uneven nature of these things and an inability to please everyone. This annual of a title I don’t read on a monthly basis grabbed me because of the great creative team. Start with a hilarious and brilliantly executed take on the old Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck – wabbit season/duck season cartoons by the mighty Tradd Moore and Jordie Bellaire. Add a story by Thrilling Adventure Hour creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and finish it off with great art by Evan “Doc” Shaner and Veronica Gandini. It seems like a perfect formula for a really fun comic book to me.