Mike’s Picks:

Nemesis #1

Although this territory has been tread a bit by Mark Waid in Irredeemable, Mark Millar gives us his take on the inverse scenario: the most powerful person in the world is pure evil.  Given the level of violence seen in his latest run on the Ultimate Avengers, and that this is an Icon book, the splatter level should be on 11.  Making this book a must have is the fact that Steve McNiven in on pencils, which after their team up on Civil War and Old Man Logan, bodes very well for the look of the book.

Scalped #36

Go ahead and just assume whenever there is a new Scalped book coming out it will make my list.  My favorite book of the last few years, this issue begins a new arc that delves into the character of ‘Shunka’, Red Crow’s right hand.  Red Crow gets into it and Shunka is sent in to clean it up.  I can’t heap enough praise on the execution of this title, from the writing to the art to the characterization, this is a book where the creators are at the peak of their craft.

Mike’s Picks:

American Vampire #1

Even though there is a glut of Stephen King comics these days, I remember when it was a rarity, and to get something like King and Bernie Wrightson’s “Cycle of the Werewolf” was a real rare gem.  The good news is that there seems to be a good balance of quality and quantity now that the King floodgates have been opened.  American Vampire looks to keep that trend going with an anthology style book brining you different takes on the archetype from the turn of the century.

Jughead #200

Why not?  Written by Robot Chicken’s Tom Root, this milestone issue has Jughead trading his famous metabolism for a mega cheeseburger, and needless to say, hilarity ensues.  I’ve always been a cursory fan of these books in the same way I can’t not watch ‘Saved By The Bell’ if it comes on at 2 am.  This is lighthearted fun, and it’s a good break from all the Deadpool books.

Thursday = Productivity at work is going to tank

New Series

• Uncanny X-Men #462 – 465
• American Terror: Volume 1
• BloodRayne: Plague of Dreams #1 – 3 (Complete Series)
• Ninja High School Vol. 2 #1 – 3
• Grimm Fairy Tales: The Piper #1
• HeadHunter #1 – 3 (Complete Series
• Last Blood: Volume 1

New issues from Marvel

• Daredevil #85 – 87
• The Incredible Hulk #91 – 95
• X-Men #171 – 174
• Fantastic Four #536 – 539

New Issues

• Midnight Kiss #4 – 5 (Complete Series)
• Breakdown #4 – 6

Worth the money:

Amazing Spider-Man #624

As we get deeper into the ‘Gauntlet’ event, it is now clear this storyline turned out to be a tad different than I original imagined.  Unlike a 6-issue Sinister-Six storyline, this methodical approach to redefining Spidey’s classic list of villains is starting to feel a bit overly decompressed.  Waid is one of the better Spider-man writers and does a great job of handling this very special “they took our jobs” issue where Parker gets a taste of that 10% unemployment.  While you may or may not care for the 2.0 versions of these classic arch-enemies (and for the most part I do not), it’s the handling of the everyman Parker that makes this book work and has really been the saving grace since the OMD reboot.  The throw-back art by Paul Azaceta is very stylish and works well in most areas.

Save your receipt:

Ultimate Comics New Ultimates #1

Talk about putting a silk hat on a pig, what a waste of incredibly rendered Frank Cho art.  This guy is one of my favorite artists working today and his ability to draw T & A is legendary.  So much so, in fact, it seems that Jeff “I used to be a good writer” Loeb is relegating his script to serving Cho fastballs right across the plate and letting him draw everything in his wheelhouse.  Unfortunately, other than that, there is nothing here of note.  Same old dysfunctional group we saw Loeb do in Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum with the same lazy soap opera plots and navel gazing narrative that is just not entertaining.  If Ultimatum was supposed to wipe the slate clean for a new start, it’s ironic that the very author of that series doesn’t seem to get that point.  It’s sad that Marvel has seen fit to give the worst writer in comics two of the best artists (Cho & Adams).  If this was just a pin-up book, I would rate it higher.

Conan is still kicking massive ass!  Here are the Dark Horse Releases for March 10, 2010.

• B.P.R.D. King of Fear #3 (of 5), $2.99
• Buck Rogers Wilma Keychain, $12.00
• Conan The Frazetta Cover Series #4 (of 8), $6.99
• Creepy Trading Cards Set, $14.95
• Gantz Volume 9 TP, $12.99
• Hellboy Volume 9 Wild Hunt TP, $19.99
• POP Wonderland Volume 3 Alices Adventures In Wonderland HC, $16.99
• Solomon Kane Deaths Black Riders #3 (of 4), $3.50

Here are your offerings from Image this week.  As a special note, while browsing retailer sites we found the Image release list differs from what retailers are saying is hitting stores this week.  So who is right, Image or retailers?  Guess we will know this Wednesday.

IMAGE:

• Elephantmen #24, $3.50
• Fallout Toy Works #4 (of 5), $3.99
• Jack’s Knack: Book Three of The Blue Forest Series HC, $12.99
• Orc Stain #3, $2.99
• Savage Dragon #158, $3.50
• The Walking Dead #71, $2.99

RETAILERS:

• Cyberforce Hunter Killer #5 (of 5)(Cover A Kenneth Rocafort), $2.99
• Cyberforce Hunter Killer #5 (of 5)(Cover B David Finch), $2.99
• Cyberforce Hunter Killer #5 (of 5)(Kenneth Rocafort Sketch Cover), AR
• Elephantmen #24, $3.50
• Jersey Gods #11, $3.50
• Kabuki Volume 1 Circle Of Blood TP (New Printing), $19.99
• Savage Dragon #158, $3.50

Here are all the goods that Marvel is shipping to stores this week.

Check out what Image has in store for us this week!