Milo, aka “Bane of Kings”, runs down the Top 5 Comics to look out for on 23 October 2013.

Welcome back to another interesting week for comics this week. We have Daredevil leading the charge, but there’s also two brand new Image series kicking off this week, along with the aftermath of Forever Evil and the war against the Court of Owls being dealt with over in DC Comics. Of course, these aren’t the only five comics coming out this week, so if you want to get the full rundown, head over to ComicList. Also, for my full pull-list, in case you’re interested, see Comixology.

DAREDEVIL #32

Story: Mark Waid | Art: Chris Samnee | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $2.99

• The Man Without Fear – Trapped in a nightmare situation!
  
• Something final is building in Daredevil’s life – and building fast!

WHY? I think it’s safe to say at the moment that Mark Waid’s current run on Daredevil is right up there with my favourite comics that I’m currently following. We have Batman and Green Arrow over at DC, whilst Marvel brings Daredevil, Thor: God of Thunder and Hawkeye to the table to make the Top 5. Whilst the wait between each issue feels longer than one month and despite the epicness of last issue I’m actually struggling to remember what happened. Normally this is why I drop a comic from my pull-list (for example, Uncanny Avengers and Green Lantern suffered these fates), but Daredevil is one of those comics that I’m not going to drop as long as Mark Waid remains on the title. Maybe even longer, because this character has quickly risen to be one of my favourite of the Marvel-verse. The cover for this issue teases Daredevil standing against an angry mob, which should be very interesting to witness unfold. Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing what this issue can bring and as Daredevil has been landing Pick of the Week status since #26 when I started following it, I’m fairly certain that it’s going to be there again this week. Looking forward to it.

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE #24

Story: Geoff Johns | Art: Ivan Reis, Joe Padro | Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $3.99

A “Forever Evil” tie-in! THE JUSTICE LEAGUE IS DEAD! But who’s at the top of the food chain now? And what does BLACK ADAM have to say about it?

WHY? I’m following Justice League of America so it only makes sense if I read Justice League for the Forever Evil tie-ins as well, right? Plus, I’ve been following this book in print since #19, having since read Volume 1 as a trade and Volume 2 digitally, and so far Geoff Johns has been rather mixed with this book. Volume 1 was great, but Volume 2 was poor – however he’s impressed in the run-up to Trinity War as well as delivering a pretty solid event. The first few issues of Forever Evil have looked promising as well and with this issue looking set to have a focus on Black Adam – as if we remember from Justice League of America last week, Shazam is currently trapped in the prison with various other Justice Leaguers so it’ll be interesting see how Johns handles the character without Billy Batson. It was done well in the character’s Villain’s Month book, so it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out here.

 

PRETTY DEADLY#1

Story: Kelly Sue DeConnick | Art: Emma Rios | Publisher: Image Comics | Price: $3.50

KELLY SUE DECONNICK (Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel) & EMMA RÍOS (Dr. Strange, Osborn) reunite to bring you an all-new ongoing series that marries the magical realism of Sandman with the western brutality of Preacher. Death’s daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father. Her tale of retribution is as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage. 

WHY? Any new Image book I’ll do my best to check out and with two new number 1s that I’m picking up this week, things are set to get very interesting. Whilst I haven’t encountered Kelly Sue DeConnick of Avengers Assemble and Captain Marvel before, any series that compares itself to the “magical realism”, or something similar  of Sandman will instantly have my attention. And a series focused on Death’s daughter looks interesting as well – I can see myself liking this book, and with the fact that I’m only following Rocket Girl and Lazarus from Image (I’m not quite caught up on Saga or The Walking Dead yet) and reading East of West in trades, I could always do with more books from this publisher. And hopefully, Pretty Deadly will deliver. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out because hopefully I could find something awesome here.

TALON #12

Story: James Tynion IV | Art: Emanuel Simonson | Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $2.99

Lives hang in the balance as Talon rushes back to Gotham City to stop the Court of Owls from taking apart his life once and for all! But will Batman stand as his ally-or stand in his way?

WHY? The January Solicits revealed, along with Tynion IV’s twitter page, that he will be departing the series in December, replaced by Snyder’s co-writer of Batman Annual #2 with Jorge Lucas coming on from the art. Whilst I’m gutted about this as Talon was one of the first few comics that I started following in print (following on from reading Batman in digital before switching to print around #14) and aside from the artists, I’ve enjoyed the book so far. It’s consistently fun and entertaining and Tynion IV always knows how to deliver when it comes to stories like this. Jorge Lucas was impressive in The Court of Owls Villain’s Month book however, so I’m looking forward to seeing how things can play out.

VELVET #1

Story: Ed Brubaker | Art: Steve Epting | Publisher: Image Comics | Price: $3.50

ED BRUBAKER and STEVE EPTING redefined Captain America with the ‘Winter Soldier’ saga… and everything they’ve done so far has been leading to VELVET! When the world’s best secret agent is killed, Velvet Templeton, the Personal Assistant to the Director of the Agency, is drawn off her desk and back into the field for the first time in nearly 20 years… and is immediately caught in a web of mystery, murder and hi-octane action. Sexy and provocative, with a dark twist on the spy genre, this EXTRA-LENGTH first issue by two of the industry’s best-selling creators will knock you out!

WHY? Another new Image title, but this one is from none other than Ed Brubaker, whose work I have encountered before – in the form of The Man Who Laughs and I really enjoyed it. With titles such as Zero helping fill my spy/espionage kick, Velvet could also find itself added to the ranks mainly because that cover is just so awesome. Plus, extra-length first issues for regular prices of $3.50 (for Image books anyway) for Image books are always good to see. Whilst I’ve listed Daredevil as my Projected Pick of the Week for this week, if anything on here has a chance of upsetting it, it’s Velvet. So we’ll see how this plays out for sure.