Some good comics this week. I’m playing around with a Best Comic of the Week mechanic right now. It’s a work in progress…

THIS WEEK’S COMICS

All-New, All-Different Avengers #4 (Marvel Comics)

This is probably my favorite depiction of the new Thor. Her sheer exuberance is really fantastic, especially considering her circumstances.

Cry Havoc #1 (Image Comics)

Cry Havoc is a werewolf heart of darkness which features some interesting facts about hyena (and human) sexuality.

Ghostbusters International #1 (IDW Comics)

The Ghostbusters have a cushy deal with the City of New York, but in Ghostbusters International they are looking at a much more profitable and therefore an incredibly questionable deal.

Also, what does the Tower card mean in Tarot? Is that supposed to be bad? Like, “Oh no! THE TOWER CARD”?

Hellboy: Winter Special (Dark Horse Comics)

I already had plenty of reasons to go back and read through Mike Mignola’s entire Hellboy universe. I didn’t need another. I just need to find the time…

Old Man Logan #1 (Marvel Comics)

This is probably my vote for comic of the week. When I saw that Lemire was writing this book with a character he’s already using in Extraordinary X-Men I was wondering how he would pull it off, but Old Man Logan‘s comparison between the current Marvel Universe that he is stranded in and the future he believes could still happen are really intriguing. Much like The Bride in Kill Bill or Arya in A Song of Ice and Throne, Old Man Logan has a list of people he needs to kill, and basically everyone left on his list would make a big wave if killed. This is really existing.

Prophet: Earth War #1 (Image Comics)

Earth War is the last of four ongoing series comprising the Prophet saga. Having never read any of the first three, I found the mythology and POV really interesting, but I was slightly lost.

Has anyone out there read any of the previous Prophet series? I know I’ve heard of the original series… Did it win a bunch of awards? Or am I thinking of something else?

Revival #36 (Image Comics)

Everything that happened with the Amish mother and daughter was golden. Who comes up with this stuff?

Saga #33 (Image Comics)

I think the way to make it big at Image is to create a huge over-arcing story with just a ton of moving parts. You have to be obsessed with the motivations of your characters and let them go where they naturally would. That’s how you get something like Saga (or The Walking Dead). That’s how you get good stories when you don’t have 50-75 years of published universe to work in. Great work, Brian K. Vaughan. Saga is one of a couple of comics that continue to define success for independent comics.

Suicide Squad Most Wanted: Deadshot and Katana #1 (DC Comics)

From what I’ve been hearing Deadshot is the main character and Katana is one of the lesser known members in the Suicide Squad movie. I’m sure DC wants to get its watchers/readers caught up on who these characters are and what drives them.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #54 (IDW Comics)

Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael are less the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than they are the Foot Clan now, and this change of identity is going to have some interesting consequences. Seeing a divide in the Mutanimals now that Hob has been found colluding with Hun, part of me wonders if this schism will lead to Mikey and a new crew (Slash, Mondo Gecko, and Sally Pride, for example) filling the role of the TMNT.

It also struck me that Kevin Eastman’s development of the original Eastman and Laird characters in this volume reminds me of Robert Kirkman’s development of characters in The Walking Dead. I read some of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics, but I’m starting to wonder if the characters had similar depth and high quality arcs in the original series. In other words, I’m wondering if Eastman is one of Kirkman’s influences. Can anyone who has read these series shed some light on the comparison?

Victorie City (Image Comics)

Victorie City has this interesting indie noir feel to it with a really unique art style. It might be worth taking some time to read.

BOOK CLUB: CIVIL WAR

This week I had the opportunity to read Cable & Deadpool #31, X-Factor #9, New Avengers #22, New Avengers #23, and Black Panther #18. The majority of these issues were fantastic. New Avengers #22 brought me to tears as Luke Cage and Jessica Jones had to decide what they were going to do in terms of registration, leaving me really excited for this year’s Luke Cage Netflix series. The next issue made me immediately want to read everything surrounding Spider-Woman as a double- / triple-agent loyal only to Nick Fury. Clearly the sum total is that I want to read the entire series of Bendis’ New Avengers and hisSpider-Woman mini-series. Those are definitely going in the book club queue. I’m a little annoyed that the repercussions of the marriage of Storm and Black Panther in Black Panther #18 are all but non-existent in current Marvel. By the time I started reading comics again in 2011, Black Panther no longer had his own title and Storm had been thrown into the background of the X-books. What happened?

It is insane that I already have a contestant for best new series in January already. Clearly, the comic industry does not have the same release constraints that the film industry does for new product released in the first quarter. Old Man Logan just feeds into this positive feedback loop created by Extraordinary X-Menand Jeff Lemire working for Marvel. 2016 is looking to be a fantastic year for comics, so fantastic that I started a sentence with a number despite it being a pet peeve of mine. Feel that power?