HEATHER’S PICK :: GUARDIANS TEAM-UP #4: I am picking up these team-up books based on the pairings in each issue, much like I did with A+X (man, that Iron Fist/Doop pairing was amazing.  I need to go read that again).  This week’s team-up features two kick @$$ green ladies, She-Hulk and Gamora.  It seems that some intergalactic bounty hunters have been sent to New York to eliminate a green woman, but didn’t ask for further information to make sure they had the right one.  I guess some intergalactic species think all green people are the same…jerks.  That mistake is sure to blow up in their faces when confronting either of these ladies.  Written by Chew’s John Layman, whose quirky sense of humor I cannot wait to see take on one of my favorite characters and drawn by Otto Schmidt whose preview pages look amazing. This is sure to be a fun one-off story.

SETH’S PICK :: SPACE RIDERS #1: Space Riders is the comic Jack Kirby might have created had he been born several decades later and nursed on a diet of metal music. That’s not to say that it’s merely an homage to the timeless Kirby space epics. You can see all kinds of influences in the pages of this comic, but artist Alexis Ziritt and writer Fabian Rangel Jr. create their own unique world populated with eye patch wearing Captains, simian sidekicks and spacecraft shaped like human skulls. For all the nostalgia that Space Riders may conjure up, at its heart this comic is a perfect instance where two talented creators tell the kinds of stories they’ve always wanted to tell. Comics should be as joyous and enthusiastic as this one.  If you haven’t picked up on those feelings from a comic in a while, do yourself a favor and buy Space Riders #1 this week. It’ll remind you just how much fun comics can still be.  

MATT’S PICK :: BATGIRL: ENDGAME #1: I can say without reservation this comic book will be very nice to look at! Wicked-awesome good-girl-art French gentleman Bengal not only drew this book, but he also colored it! Please do your eyeballs a favor and pick up this comic! I believe the story should be pretty decent, as well – The Joker (or his minions) are featured within. It should prove to be a win/win for your weekly comic fixation. From what I gather, this is a stand alone book – it should be acceptable for the curious reader. I enjoy the ongoing series (which is also being released this week). There will be no shortage of Batgirl goodness available at Heroes on Wednesday! Lucky us!

JUSTIN’S PICK :: HOWARD THE DUCK #1: I’m a big fan of Howard. The guy’s on my business card, and indelibly inked onto me corporeally. Also, he’s in my heart and soul. A childhood love for that foul (see what I did there?) movie lead to a rekindled personal interest in the funnypapers. A lot of that had to do with the late, great Steve Gerber, the Duck’s creator and chronicler, and how his work provided a hitherto nonexistent intersection of comics and “comix”. Howard was the consummate outsider, but also a staunch everyman and rugged individualist. Personalities like that usually end up the most incisive of social critics. And that was Steve Gerber’s tack: Howard was his mouthpiece, his means of satirizing not only the insular culture of comics, but the pop culture abroad as well (even post Y2K, Gerbs was savaging his psychic surroundings…see Howard’s brilliant and underrated six issue MAX series if you don’t believe me). Howard WAS Gerber, and in other writers’ hands, well, he’s never been quite right.

Therefore, I do not envy Chip Zdarsky. Granted, people like me – fanatical Duck fans – aren’t a flock large enough to generate a blip on the radar (these duck puns are making me very ashamed of myself), but like Ty Templeton before him, Zdarsky is using high concept as his entry point, i.e. Howard the Duck PI. That’s fine, I’ll give him a fair shake; he’s demonstrated a singular enough sense of humor. He could do worse for collaborators: Joe Quinones may be drawing Howard with four fingers, but otherwise, he is a stellar artist, whose work is both elegant and entertaining, technically proficient without sacrificing storytelling. And our man Rico Renzi will certainly punch things up with his usual panache. Me? I approach the book with a strange mix of enthusiasm and trepidation. A lot of people saw that movie, and a lot of them sat through those credits. Will they all understand that there is soul behind the smartassery? That satire is the essence of what Howard is, or should be? Or do they just want a cuddly ducky with a cranky attitude to placate them for a few months, ‘til the next fad pops up?

ANDY’S PICK :: SUPER VILLAINS UNITE TP COMPLETE SUPER VILLAIN TEAM UP: Collecting GIANT-SIZE SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #1-2, SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #1-14 and #16-17, AVENGERS (1963) #154-156, and CHAMPIONS #16.

No, they haven’t formed a Union, but it makes you wonder if the Beagle Boys and other henchmen received benefits.
Is there anything more supery or villainy than Doctor Doom? What if ol’ Vic was united with an angry, angry, angry Prince Namor who had just been unceremoniously booted from the Mighty Marvel monthly rotation? Add to this volatile duo a Dash of Red Skull, some fighting-mad Magneto along with some Avengers who have been enslaved by Attuma and you have a crew tough enough to defeat the Fantastic Four, the Legion of Doom and even the one-time ’70’s super- group of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Sacco and Venzetti. Only the Champions can possibly save the day. Or can they? This volume is post Lee and Kirby Marvel at its silliest and fun and it makes for big time rainy day reading.

HEATHER’S PICK :: SPIDER-GWEN #1: There’s been a lot of criticism about the way female characters are treated in comics.  Strong women have gone awry in the wrong hands.  As a female reader, I don’t necessarily only read books with strong female leads created by women, but I do have a tendency to be drawn to those.  A team of all male creators on a female solo book will give me pause.  I say all this as an admission that I wasn’t originally all in on Spider-Gwen from the start like I was with the new Ms. Marvel.  I also don’t have an existing connection to this character like I did when the new She Hulk launched.  At the most, I was cautiously optimistic that given what I know of the creators, Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi that this would be a book that I would enjoying reading.

As for my Spider-Man background, I’ve read the early trades of Ultimate Spider-Man and some mini-series books here and there.  The best thing about a book existing in its own universe is limited prior knowledge doesn’t matter.  You don’t have to be aware of which Peter Parker girlfriend, Gwen or Mary Jane, you should like best.  Gwen is no longer about being a love interest.  She is simply the hero.

Spider Gwen is a good example that men can do a wonderful job on female heroes.  It’s refreshing to see a woman drawn with a slight figure that is appropriate in both proportions and age.  Robbi’s art as always is gorgeous.  Jason is bringing a fresh take to this character with original concepts applied to Spider-Man’s rogue gallery.  Rico’s coloring is the cherry on top of this sundae of a book.  Great job, guys! I can’t wait to swing along with you and Gwen.  

ANDY’S PICKS :: THOR EPIC COLLECTION TP TO WAKE MANGOG

Collecting THOR #154-174. It just doesn’t get better than this. These are super hero comics at their most fun and free-wheeling. You get Thor, the rest of the Marvel Norse Pantheon along with Mangog a villian who just sounds grouchy already, but now he’s been woken up and he’s wielding the Odinsword– a weapon so big it could jimmy the lock on the door of the fortress of Solitude. Plus Galactus vs. Ego the Living Planet (the loser has to pay for lunch), the return of “Him” (who’s Him? Why Him is Adam Warlock that’s who) and the whole series comes to a frothy boil with the origin of Galactus. It’s Lee and Kirby at their best. The dialogue is beyond a hoot, it is magical; a joy to read. Plus several issues of Kirby’s best issues are inked by the incomparable Bill Everett!

ITEM..Conan the Avenger. Well, it’s about damn time. I mean Tigra and Patsy Walker and even the Two-Gun Kid (well, sort of) were all members of the Marvel Superteam at one time or another. Let’s hope Jarvis can get our favorite Cimmerian to wear a shirt at the next meeting. And just wait until Conan gets a taste of of 21st Century Pale Pilsner. By Crom, the barkeep will be in grave peril. What? Oops…sorry wrong “Avenging” all together. But this series from Dark Horse has been quite good and is worth a look.

ANDY’S PICKS :: HELLBLAZER TP VOL 10 IN THE LINE OF FIRE: The classic run of everyone’s favorite unwashed misanthrope continues with the first eleven issues from the four year run of writer Paul Jenkins and artists Sean Phillips and Al Davison. Horror at its best.

THE ART OF JACK DAVIS! SC: This beautiful jam packed book features the best of the best of Jack Davis (perhaps the single most recognizable comic artist of the past 50 years!). This book has been out of print and in the past few decades has become a rather expensive collector’s item, but now it’s back and it’s very inexpensive. A must-have for any well rounded comic library.

LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES TP VOL 07: from Jaime we have the return of Maggie, Hopey and Ray. And if that wasn’t enough, Gilbert serves up Fritz as Morgan La Fey and then delivers a story about Luba’s mother, Maria. The brothers are peaking yet again. Don’t miss these great comics!

RICO’S PICK :: OUTCAST VOLUME 1: A DARKNESS SURROUNDS HIM: If you’re someone who waits for collected editions of great comics you should check out today’s first volume of Outcast. Writer of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman, has teamed with the brilliant art duo of Paul Azaceta and Elizabeth Breitweiser to tell a dark tale of demonic possession and exorcism. Shooting has already begun for a television show based on this one.

Paul is a featured guest at Saturday’s Charlotte MiniCon so now is the time to catch up on this comic and when you meet him you can tell him how much you love it! More info here.