For quite a few people out there, Mondays are a bit of a downer. However, here on our corner of the internet, it's a day worth celebrating because it can only mean one thing: preparing for glorious new comics! Every week, we here at Comic Vine will gaze upon the mighty list of new releases and we'll each pick the ones that we're really, really, reaaaaaally excited to check out. As always, there's more than a handful of promising titles coming out, so once you're done seeing what we've selected, be sure to chime in with your own "essential comics."
Tony 'G-Man' Guerrero's picks
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #4
Let's be honest, when this series was first announced, many of us were a little skeptical. Another series with Batman? Personally, I got burnt out on the team up of the World's Finest in their pre-New 52 series. Then Greg Pak arrived at DC.
Pak has captured the essence of these characters in their current incarnations. Of course we've had the big question of how we could be seeing the first encounter between Batman and Superman when it seemed there was no recollection in JUSTICE LEAGUE #1. Answers will be revealed here as we see the finale to their crossover with the heroes of Earth 2.
And we can obviously expect some more crazy awesome art by Jae Lee.
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SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #19
The Superior Spider-Man vs Spider-Man 2099. What makes this more incredible is the fact that there were hints of this long ago and Dan Slott made it easily happen.
There's a lot at stake in this storyline. Besides the future of Miguel O'Hara being in jeopardy, the present day is facing a huge threat. In the continuing story of Otto Octavius as Spidey, we're seeing his arrogance really coming to bite him in the rear.
Ryan Stegman continues the art duties which means we can expect more of his action-packed art style.
And what's up with that cover? That doesn't look too good and the issue promises some "major developments."
HAWKEYE #13
It's been a bit of a wait but HAWKEYE has returned. Fans have been a little frustrated waiting so long since the last issue but we should keep in mind that we had a few issues released very closely to each other, as well as the annual.
You might recall previously, one of the residents in Clint's apartment building was murdered. What will this mean for Clint, the other residents and the Bros?
Matt Fraction has been showing us a different side to Clint. It's not always happy times and you never can tell what the vibe of the story will be. With Clint's (former evil) brother, Barney in the picture, we have a new unknown thrown into the mix.
David Aja's art will give us more of what we've grown to love. We may have had to wait a bit for this issue but rather than grumble some more, let's rejoice in the fact we're getting another new issue.
Honorable: ZERO #2, THE X-FILES SEASON 10 #5, JLA #8
Mat 'Inferiorego' Elfring's picks
ANIMAL MAN #24
It's hard to think about a whole new week of comic books when I just spent a whole week at New York Comic Con, but there's quite a few really cool books coming out this week, and the first is ANIMAL MAN. This has been a stand out series from DC. Writer Jeff Lemire has done some really cool things with this series, even moreso with the past story line.To top it all off, artist Rafael Albuquerque jumps onto this issue. His art on AMERICAN VAMPIRE is wonderful, and I can't wait to see how he handles Animal Man. A lot of nutso things have happened with this series, including the Totems dying and Brother Blood being in control. I'm super excited to see where this series is headed.
FOREVER EVIL: ROGUE'S REBELLION #1
One of my favorite Villains Month book was THE FLASH: ROGUES. Writer Brian Buccellato and artist Patrick Zircher made a Rogues fanboy really happy. When I found out this same exact team was doing the Rogues mini-series, I got super, duper excited. This team handled the relationship of the rogues really well.I can't wait to see this team take on the Crime Syndicate. This team can be a bit dysfunctional, but in the end, they are by far the most interesting villain team in comics. This is going to be pretty cool.
Check out IGN for the rest of the preview.
Honorable: X-O MANOWAR #18
Gregg 'k4tz' Katzman's picks
BATMAN AND TWO-FACE #24
So long, five stages of grief, and hello, an all-new story! Peter J. Tomasi's initial arc on this book proved that, when given proper space to let a story grow, he can present something truly special. Issue #24 is the beginning of a 5-issue tale and it definitely sounds intriguing. According to UPROXX's preview, Ra's al Ghul has allegedly taken the bodies of Damian and Talia and this forces the iconic hero into an unexpected alliance. Additionally, Tomasi is going to reveal Carrie Kelley's New 52 origin. To be blunt, her inclusion hasn't exactly felt organic so far, so hopefully this will allow her to grow on us and not make us feel like she was merely put into the picture to help deal with Damian's absence (you still miss him as well, right?).
There's a lot of interesting elements in here and the potential certainly exists for this to be a more than solid story -- and that's not even getting into how terrific Patrick Gleason's illustrations are. Hopefully this will be every bit as epic as the Nobody arc!
Go to UPROXX to read the last preview page.
BLOODSHOT AND H.A.R.D. CORPS #15
Here they come to save the day! Sorry, couldn't help it. Christos Gage and Joshua Dysart took over Bloodshot's book last issue and they did a more than thorough job showing us who the H.A.R.D. Corps are and what they do. Now, it's time to see just how well they operate when everything hits the fan at a gazillion miles per hour as they rescue Bloodshot. You can't just break into one of Harada's facilities and expect to stroll away, after all.
To make matters even more fascinating, Bloodshot -- a character who is usually thrown through the meat grinder because he can take it -- has seemingly lost his wealthy amount of powers which the nanites can offer. We have yet to see what abilities still remain, but it'll be great to see Bloodshot focusing on surviving instead of "guns blazing because I can take it, brooooo!"
Oh, and I suppose it's worth noting that Gage and Dysart are talented writers and there's no good reason to believe they'll be anything less in this upcoming issue. If you've ever contemplated checking this title out, now is absolutely the time to do so.
Jen 'MissJ' Aprahamian's picks
LIBERATOR #4
The animal activist series wraps its four-issue arc this week, closing out Volume 1. Things have been progressively getting more dangerous and more exciting for Damon and Jeanette, and they're about to hit a very dramatic climax. LIBERATOR is an essential for animal lovers and vigilante fans, and it's been blending real-world situations with high action sequential art since the first issue. Bonus: a smashing cover by Chris Burnham and Rod Reis.
LETTER 44 #1
Aliens. Government cover-ups. Suspense. I'm sold. Charles Soule and Alberto Alburquerque are going to take us on a fascinating trip with this thrilling new series that blends science and political intrigue. We got to see a sneak preview (sans gorgeous colors, which this week's debut will feature) at San Diego Comic-Con, but this one's the real deal. The high concept is exciting, and I trust Soule and Albuquerque to absolutely deliver on the execution; it's an essential for science geeks and conspiracy theorists as much as it is for fans of tightly-written dramas.
NOWHERE MEN #6
Image publisher Eric Stephenson has been building out a fascinating new world full of rich, exciting characters (with correspondingly killer illustrations courtesy of Nate Bellegarde) in NOWHERE MEN. The sixth issue is out this week, and if you haven't launched into this carefully crafted mystery yet, you'll be able to catch up fairly quickly -- it closes out the first volume and will be out in TPB soon. It's an essential if you're into the unique, science-driven stories and thoughtful, complex mysteries Image has been developing a reputation for lately. After all, science is the new rock 'n roll.
Corey 'Undeadpool' Schroeder's picks
BATWOMAN #24
Unless there's some (HIGHLY unlikely) 11th-hour intervention, this will be the final issue from series architects J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman and by all accounts the much-anticipated throwdown between Batwoman (at the behest of the DEO) and Batman will commence. Series regular Trevor McCarthy will be on art and since this seems like it will be a much more grounded issue, I think that's the right call to make. Whether or not the battle ends or continues under the new creators is immaterial at this point, and whether or not it was the originals' final issue, it likely still would have made my list because this has been one of the absolute unsung heroes of the New-52 and an amazing read every single time.
INVINCIBLE #106
We're in for some downtime, having just completed some of the most heart-wrenching yet intense storylines in series history, but Kirkman and Ottley never rest of their laurels merely because the characters aren't going a mile a minute or in global peril. These issues are the ones that really define the characters and make those action storylines resonate so much more than simply watching superpowers smash into each other. On their own, they are sometimes not the best issues, but when taken into the rich tapestry of the Invincible universe and storytelling, they're some of my favorites.
NEW AVENGERS #11
This was a real toss-up between Avengers and New Avengers, but I've always liked New just a LITTLE bit more. After an absolutely stellar issue of Infinity, I'm anxious to consume whatever content Jonathan Hickman decides to write about the goings-on of the event. Mike Deodato's art has been an absolutely inspired vision since he began with Hickman on this series, and I can't wait to see what he pulls off next. Apparently the Illuminati will be traveling to an Incursion World, and I'm hoping that fills in some of the blanks that have been previously left about what, exactly, those worlds are. Plus more Thanos, and that's a big plus.
CBR has 1 more preview page.
Honorable: Avengers #21
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