Milo, aka “Bane of Kings”, runs down the Top 5 Comics that you should be looking out for this Wednesday, featuring Annuals from DC Comics, the return of Sandman and the penultimate chapter of Infinity, as well as the return of Ron Marz to Witchblade.

It’s the extra week of the month, and you know what that means – we’ll be hit with a lot of annuals from DC Comics. Swamp Thing, Green Lantern, Action Comics, Nightwing and Aquaman all get Annuals this week, making it an expensive week if you’re invested in all of those series. Elsewhere across the board, we see the return of Neil Gaiman to the masterpeice Sandman with a new Sandman: Overture mini-series with art from JH Williams. Also – Ron Marz returns to Witchblade in what looks set to provide a great new jumping on point for readers. If you want the full list of new releases out today, head over to ComicList, and if you want to see the full list of comics on my pull-list today, you can check out Comixology. Also, remember to let me know what comics you’re picking up in the comments below.

AQUAMAN ANNUAL #1

Story: John Ostrander | Art: Geraldo Borges, Ruy Jose | Cover: Paul Pelletier| Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $4.99

Aquaman must reunite with The Others to investigate whether or not their recently deceased member Vostok has returned from the dead. If he has, he is definitely not the same Vostok they remember… 

WHY? The second Aquaman book in two weeks, this Annual sees the return of the Others in what looks set to be a very interesting issue written by John Ostrander, who has impressed in the past with Aquaman #19. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the return of the Others and this has the potential to be a very awesome Annual. Certainly worth checking out if you’re an Aquaman fan.

INFINITY #5 (of #6)

Story: Jonathan Hickman | Art: Jerome Opena | Cover: Andy Kubert | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $3.99

The Avengers Universe. The Heroes of Earth rally to defeat Thanos. The war for Earth begins.

WHY? The penultimate chapter of Infinity sees the war for Earth begin. Jonathan Hickman has been weaving an incredible event that beats Battle of the Atom in quality and even in artwork. Last issue was mainly focused on Thor so it’ll be interesting to see how this book plays out. One thing’s for sure though, I can’t wait. This has the potential to be super awesome

NIGHTWING ANNUAL #1

Story: Kyle Higgins | Art: Jason Masters | Cover: Tony S. Daniel | Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $4.99

Robin and Batgirl grew up fighting side by side . . . but with Dick Grayson about to embark on a new crimefighting quest and Barbara Gordon no longer fighting under the Bat, is there anything left between them?

Following the “Batgirl: Wanted” epic, this is the story of a twosome with nothing left to lose, fighting for the only thing they can: each other!

WHY? It’s dark times for Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, both of whom started out as the original Bat-family members, Robin and Batgirl. Now, Dick’s identity has just been revealed to the entire world in the events of Forever Evil, and Barbara is no longer carrying the mantle of the Bat. Added to this, we’ve got the amazing cover there by Tony S. Daniel, whose artwork I find to be really incredible. It’s a shame that he’s not doing the interior but it’ll be interesting to see how this Annual plays out.

SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1 (of 6)

Story: Neil Gaiman | Art: JH Williams III | Cover: JH Williams III | Price: $4.99

Twenty-five years since THE SANDMAN changed the landscape of modern comics, Neil Gaiman’s legendary series is back! THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE heralds New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman’s return to the art form that made him famous, ably abetted by artistic luminary JH Williams III (BATWOMAN, PROMETHEA), whose lush, widescreen images provide an epic scope to The Sandman’s origin story. From the birth of a galaxy to the moment that Morpheus is captured, THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE will feature cameo appearances by fan-favorite characters such as The Corinthian, Merv Pumpkinhead and, of course, the Dream King’s siblings: Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.

“People have often asked me what happened to Morpheus to make it possible for him to be captured in THE SANDMAN #1,” Gaiman said. “And now they get to find out. And finding out, they get to learn secrets of the Endless that I’ve kept to myself for 25 years. Family secrets. And I should warn you: one of the Endless dies on page five.”

The first issue of this 6-issue, bimonthly miniseries features a stunning double-page interior foldout. 

WHY? Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite writers and I’m going to read pretty much anything that he puts out apart from maybe the Miracleman stuff because of the hefty pricetag. But I’m certainly not passing up on this prequel to the main Sandman series, even if I’ve only read the first Volume (and loved it). An added bonus is the artwork of the incredible JH Williams III, who’s one of my Top 5 current artists in comics at the moment. This looks set to be very interesting indeed and could well end up being not just my favourite comics of the week, but of the year. Really looking forward to this one.

WITCHBLADE #170

Story: Ron Marz | Art: Laura Braga | Cover: Marc Silvestri | Publisher: Top Cow Comics | Price: $2.99

RON MARZ RETURNS TO WITCHBLADE! Sara Pezzini has been a cop, a mother, a girlfriend, and a private investigator. She is none of those things anymore. The only thing tying Sara to her past and preventing her from forging a new chapter in life is the Witchblade. But with everything else gone, who will Sara Pezzini be if she gives up the Witchblade?

WHY? Having heard good things about Ron Marz’ run on Witchblade before despite not reading a single issue, with #170 billed as the perfect jumping on point for newcomers there’s no harm in checking this issue out. It’ll be interesting to see how Witchblade plays out as well – the concept looks pretty intriguing and the preview looked pretty cool. I’ll certainly give this issue a go.