Picks of the Week for the weeks of 01/15/14 and 01/22/14. These are usually the best comics week in and out, picked by our staff and their impeccable taste.
Gate-way #1 – This was a really interesting book looking at the afterlife in a different kind of way. Jake, an undercover cop, gets into a shootout over a drug deal gone bad and ends up shot. He wakes up in an alley in a part of town he doesn’t recognize and things get weird. Some other cops show up and kill one of the Russian mob that he shot, but the guy has crazy eyes, fangs, and roars like a monster. They put him down and take Jake off to Hopetown where he finds out that he is dead and this is like Purgatory. There are also some double-dealings going on in the background that set the stage for some interesting stories in the new world. – Aaron Clutter
Constantine #10 – I’m not going to lie: This is not only my pick of the week (which is a very welcome surprise to me as a reader and reluctant fan of this series), but also a vast improvement over the last several issues. It’s starting to actually be a good read. I really hope Fawkes can keep up the momentum that he just found, because if he continues to write Constantine in a way that actually makes me simultaneously love and hate the character, he’s really doing his job. – Jeff Hill
Velvet #3 – Spy comics seem to be all the rage now, with newcomer Kot and master writer Brubaker fulfilling the quota for comics on secret agents (shout-outs go to Matt Kindt as well) and double crosses. Partnered with long time artist Steve Epting, Velvet serves to keep comics about spies interesting month in and month out. I can say I am in for the long run on this one. – Julien Loeper
Eternal Warrior #5 – Valiant has put out some great comics recently, but none so far reaching as Eternal Warrior. This book follows Gilad, a warrior who has lived for thousands of years. This issue, the story jumps ahead to the year 4001 A.D. where Gilad is old and has spent his time defending a small village and having a family, of which, his grand daughter seems to be the only one left. Things change when a mechanical nuclear powered buffalo rampages through the village killing many people. Gilad must head out to find out what is happening. This is a new story arc and is a really good story so far. – Aaron Clutter
Batman and Two-Face #27 – Though it had some tough competition with Batman #27 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, this title yet again proves that it is (if you forgive the terrible pun) the darker half of the two main Bat titles coin. Peter J. Tomasi’s excellent characterization continues (he’s unparalleled, as far as I’m concerned) along with Patrick Gleason’s beautiful yet dark images of Gotham’s favorite citizens. This issue is plugging right along in a sort of back-and-forth narrative style. We get more of the retold (and slightly altered, although thematically unchanged) origin of Harvey Dent, the man destined to become Two-Face, and it is all sorts of excellent. – Jeff Hill
Deadly Class #1 – Remender just dropped a loaded bomb on to the comics world. This is a signifier of everything that is cool. Child Assassins with unique talents, punk rock attitudes, killer action sequences by Wes Craig, and just a real sense of craftsmanship and hard work to it. This is a comic that wears its heart on its sleeve, and does so unabashedly. This is what I would personify as cool, and I cannot wait until the next issue comes out. – Julien Loeper
good stuff!