HOT PICKS! On Sale This Week!

Scott and Dan pick the comics they’re most looking forward to this week …

Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension

Batman #40, DC. Jeez, are Batman and Wonder Woman gonna kiss? I’m really digging this whole Bat-soap opera. Then again, we know the wedding’s still on (click here). Tom King, Joelle Jones and Jordie Bellaire are keeping things verrrry interesting.

Star Trek: New Visions #20, IDW. I like these photonovels by John Byrne. The best of them really feel like extra episodes of the Original Series. This issue looks like a classic Season 3 scenario: The crew members each find themselves all alone on the Enterprise …

Amazing Spider-Man #795, Marvel. Spidey visits the Sanctum Sanctorum … and finds Loki. Dan Slott’s stretch run — with co-writer Christos Gage — forges ahead. Line art by Mike Hawthorne.

Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock #1, Marvel. I freely admit that I’m extremely poorly versed in the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. But, hey, Mike Allred’s here! He and writer Gerry Duggan will guide me through it. (That’s an Aaron Kuder cover, by the way.)

Rise of the Black Panther #2, Marvel. Black Panther vs. the woefully underutilized Namor, as Ta-Nehisi Coates, Evan Narcisse, Javier Pina and Stephane Paitreau retell T’Challa’s origin — just in time for the movie! Man, that cover by Brian Stelfreeze…

A Swamp Thing two-fer, DC. Swampy doesn’t have his own book right now, but he’s front and center in two one-shots this week. First, there’s the Swamp Thing Winter Special #1, featuring a main story by Tom King and Jason Fabok and a compelling backup: Len Wein’s final Swamp Thing script, illustrated by Kelley Jones. Second, there’s Young Monsters in Love #1, DC’s Valentine’s anthology — including Swamp Thing by Kelley Jones!

Scott Tipton, co-owner, Blastoff Comics, North Hollywood, Calif.

Aquaman by Peter David: Book One TPB, DC Comics. Everyone tends to forget that it was Peter David’s ’90s run that really turned the corner on Aquaman being treated more seriously and less like a joke for TV’s Super Friends. PAD’s clever conversion of Arthur to more of a barbarian-king figure was quickly picked up in other places like Grant Morrison’s JLA and the Superman and Justice League animated series. And besides all that, it’s good stuff, well worth reading.

Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale HC, DC Comics. Here’s another lost and underrated gem from the early ’90s: Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s reinvention of the Challengers for the then-still-new post-Crisis DC Universe.


Clue TPB, IDW Publishing. This adaptation of the classic board game by Paul Allor and Nelson Daniel was a pleasant surprise: engaging, funny, beautifully drawn and a little bit meta. Check it out. (Cover by George Caltsoudas.)

Author: Dan Greenfield

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