Top 5 Must Read Comics This NCBD! (12 March 2014)
Milo, aka “Bane of Kings”, looks at the Top 5 comics in this heavy week of releases, which are mainly Marvel dominated but include titles from DC and Valiant respectively.
It’s a great week for comics, and with some excellent titles coming our way it’s going to be very impossible to narrow it down to just five, but after much deliberation I decided upon the following ‘Must Read’ comics – based on what titles I am picking up. You can check out the full list here – and look at all the comics released this week here. So without further ado, let’s get stuck in.
AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #1
Story: Dennis Hopeless | Art: Kev Walker | Cover: Francesco Mattina | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $2.99
WHEN TEEN HEROES INFILTRATE THE MASTERS OF EVIL, WHO WILL BREAK BAD? Damaged by their experience in Murder World, five conflicted young superhumans go rogue and infiltrate the Masters of Evil, planning to bring the Avengers’ rivals down from within. But the longer the teens spend undercover, the more they descend into darkness, and as they start to build relationships with these multi-layered criminals, the line between good and evil blurs. What will happen first…joining the Masters for real, or getting exposed and killed? If you thought Murder World was dangerous, just wait until “Most Promising New Talent” Harvey award-winner Dennis Hopeless and acclaimed artist Kev Walker surround you with Evil!
WHY? The previous book, Avengers Arena was awesome. Lots of fun, and very entertaining despite being a Hunger Games ripoff, these are among the reasons why I’m checking out Avengers Undercover. the latest teen-hero book to be launched at Marvel along with the likes of New Warriors and the already ongoing Nova. But this should be great – the cover art from Francesco Mattina looks pretty awesome, and the premise sounds very cool in particular. And anything that’s $2.99 from Marvel is always a good sign – it’s a rarity these days.
BATMAN #29
Story: Scott Snyder | Art: Greg Capullo | Cover: Greg Capullo | Publisher: DC Comics | Price: $4.99
The ‘DARK CITY’ chapter of ‘ZERO YEAR’ reaches its conclusion in this amazing, extra-sized issue! Now, the next chapter of Zero Year is almost upon us, and we’ve saved the best for last! What corners of Batman’s past will be revealed? And how will they impact his very near future? Find out here!
WHY? Dark City hasn’t been as great as it really should have been from Snyder and Capullo but nonetheless it’s Batman, and that means that it’s still vastly superior to most of the comics on shelves right now. This should be a very good blockbuster final act of this current arc, and should set things up nicely for what’s in store. Plus, this is a trend with these picks now – but just how awesome is that cover? Seriously, Greg Capullo has totally pulled out his A-Game on this one and the price is worth it just for that alone. Plus all the extra content, of course.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
Story: Kelly Sue DeConnick | Art: David Lopez | Cover: David Lopez | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $3.99
Hero! Pilot! Avenger! Captain Marvel, Earth’s Mightiest Hero with death-defying powers and an attitude to match, is back and launching headfirst into an all-new ongoing series! As Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Carol Danvers, comes to a crossroads with a new life and new romance, she makes a dramatic decision that will alter the course of her life and the entire Marvel Universe in the months to come. It’s time to go HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER and more in the most super-powered comic around!
WHY? One of the series that I wished I could have followed in Marvel Now was Kelly Sue DeConnick’s original Captain Marvel – but thankfully this was one of the titles that was made available for a new reader and should prove a great read. I wasn’t too won over by her Pretty Deadly series and had to drop it after #4 – but DeConnick is nonetheless a good writer and this should be a very strong issue indeed.
HAWKEYE #17
Story: Matt Fraction | Art: David Aja | Cover: David Aja | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Price: $2.99
‘Rio Bravo’ – PART 4
The sense-shattering fallout of the Clint vs. the Clown — Clint Barton has been deafened! With the Barton Brothers this battered and bloodied, surely they’ll make easy pickins for the Bros, right? Bro? Seriously? If we do our jobs right THIS time, this issue will be the Dog Issue of Sign Language issues.
WHY? For the first time in a week with Batman being released, something else has overtaken it in levels of excitement and that award goes to Hawkeye. Matt Fraction and David Aja are putting out the best title on Marvel’s shelves with the conclusion of Daredevil (which comes out next week) and with a great cover like that one above this book should be a very awesome issue indeed. Looking forward to it!
UNITY #5
Story: Matt Kindt | Art: CAFU | Cover: Clayton Crain | Publisher: Valiant Comics | Price: $3.99
ALL-NEW ARC! START READING HERE! For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. First came UNITY… Now meet WEBNET! Coming off of the earth-shattering repercussions of their first mission, Ninjak is leading the newly formed Unity team right back into the trenches to face the Valiant Universe’s next colossal threat – the enigmatic Dr. Silk and his high-tech terror cell: WEBNET! With the fate of untold millions on the line, can this team of cutthroat heroes uncover Silk’s endgame – and his connection to Ninjak’s shadowy past? Move over, Harada – Matt Kindt and Valiant’s next superstar artist, CAFU (Action Comics), are about to bring the world’s next A-level enemy down on Unity with the force of a hundred hydrogen bombs.
WHY? Missed out on the first four issues of Unity but regretted it due to the hype it was receiving? Yep, me too. However, Valiant are providing readers a chance to get on board the series whilst it’s still in the early stages with a All New Marvel-Now esque jumping on point, so it should be a perfect place for newcomers to start on this book. Looking forward to seeing where things go from here for sure!
