Milo, aka “Bane of Kings”, covers the Top 5 Must Read Comics this NCBD from publishers like DC, Marvel, Valiant and Vertigo Comics.

It’s a bumper week in comics this week and there are no less than 14 titles on my pull, so narrowing it down to just five books was going to be no hard choice. However, I’ve managed it, and it’s a good selection indeed with books from a wide range of publishers. Of course, I couldn’t leave Scott Snyder’s excellent Batman out, but there are some other gems as well – such as the wonderfully dark and twisted Coffin Hill, and the fantasy/post-apocalyptic tale of Eternal Warrior, which doubles up as a superhero comic, from Valiant. It’s a wealth of releases and you can find the full list of comics coming out this week (and beyond) here, at ComicList, and if you want to know the 9 other books that I’m picking up this week then you can hit this link. Now without further ado, let’s get on with the show.

BATGIRL #28

Story: Gail Simone | Art: Fernando Pasarin | Cover: Alex Garner | Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $2.99

It’s a hazardous reunion between Batgirl and the former Court of Owls assassin Strix as they face off against the lethal new threat known as Silver – the man who knows the secret of Gotham City’s conspiracy of bats!

WHY? Gail Simone is putting out one of DC’s best series so far and this has the potential to be another stellar issue. Silver, a lethal new threat – has a disorientated worldview and views the Batfamily as vampires of Gotham, so naturally this should allow for a very interesting conflict indeed. Going to be very interesting times ahead for Barbara Gordon – especially now that for the forseeable future we’re out of constant tie-ins and crossovers like Villain’s Month, Zero Year and Gothopia.

BATMAN #28

Story: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV | Art:  Dustin Nguyen | Cover:  Dustin Nguyen| Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $3.99

This special issue, written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion with art and cover by Dustin Nguyen, will provide a peek at what’s to come in the weekly Batman Eternal series, with glimpses at some key characters in the series.

WHY? We take a leap from the ongoing Zero Year to look at a teaser into the upcoming weekly series of Batman Eternal, which will probably end up being many people’s decider on whether they’ll be on board for the weekly or not. This looks to feature Harper Row quite heavily so it’ll be interesting to see where DC takes her character – with all the directions pointing at her being a replacement Nightwing for Dick Grayson, whose identity was revealed to the world in Forever Evil. And whilst there’s no Greg Capullo this month – Dustin Nguyen is a worthy replacement.

COFFIN HILL #5

Story: Caitlin Kittredge | Art: Inaki Miranda | Cover: Dave Johnson | Publisher: Vertigo Comics | Price: $2.99

In the penultimate issue of the first storyline, we learn the nasty truth about the darkness that Eve Coffin unleashed in her hometown so long ago. But will Eve able to make the ultimate sacrifice to save what few friends she has left?

WHY? Coffin Hill is one of the best horror series around right now and Kittredge is doing a fantastic job with this book. Vertigo have some excellent titles that they can bring to the table and this one is no different – high quality, awesome, dark and entertaining. It comes highly recommended.

ETERNAL WARRIOR #6

Story: Greg Pak | Art: Robert Gill | Cover: Lewis LaRosa, Diego Bernard | Publisher: Valiant Comics | Price: $3.99

Long live the Eternal Emperor! The first glimpse into the Valiant Universe in the year 4001 continues here! The Eternal Emperor rules over a blighted landscape, the last hope of a desperate band of survivors. When an enigmatic force appears and threatens to destroy the last remnants of his people, he faces a horrific choice: travel an irradiated landscape in search to kidnap an innocent, or see his people destroyed. Welcome to the Valiant Universe of 4001.

WHY? Want some good fun superhero stories without the worries of constant crossovers, writer changes every arc and constant relaunches? Then Valiant Comics is right up your street. There was a new jumping on point in #5 so that makes Eternal Warrior a book that doesn’t require much catching up on – and it’s a fantastic series by Greg Pak.

SHE-HULK #1

Story: Charles Soule | Art: Javier Puldido | Cover:  Kevin Wada | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $2.99

JENNIFER WALTERS IS…THE SHE-HULK! A stalwart Avenger, valued member of the FF, savior of the world on more than one occasion, she’s also a killer attorney with a pile of degrees and professional respect. A 7-foot-tall drink of cool, emerald water, she’s tough enough to knock out Galactus with one punch (possibly?) and has a heart bigger than the moon. But juggling cases and kicking bad guy butt is starting to be a little more complicated than she anticipated. With a new practice, a new paralegal and a mounting number of super villains she’s racking up as personal enemies, She Hulk might have bitten off a little more than she can chew…but she just calls that that Tuesday.

WHY? Charles Soule is one of the best writers at DC Comics right now but his Marvel stuff I’ve yet to experience so She-Hulk will be a good experiment for me. At one of the few $2.99 Marvel titles you can’t go wrong in picking this up, with an interesting character in the form of She-Hulk – this book should shape up to be a very fun ongoing. And that cover art is awesome.