HOT FIVE (ish): Week Of October 24, 2018

Welcome to Comicosity’s Hot Five(ish). Hot Five(ish) is a short(ish) list of the top books we think you’ll want to be checking out. Be they new title launches, key issues or just continuing stories from some of the industry’s most acclaimed books, this list is your guaranteed gold in the comic market.

On a personal note, I want to give a shoutout to my dad who shares his 61st birthday with #NCBD this week. The man is one of my favorite people in the world, and one of my best friends. He’s not a comic book reader, but he has helped feed my nerdy interests for as long as I can remember, and has waited in line with me for almost every superhero movie since Batman Returns.

One last thing for my fellow sports fans, as the World Series gets started this week… GO DODGERS!

ACTION COMICS #1004
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Ryan Sook
Published by DC Comics – $3.99

Superman confronts Lois Lane and wants answers: Where is Jon Kent? What happened during Lois’ trip into space with Jor-El? Why didn’t she contact the Man of Steel when she returned? And most importantly, does she still love him? Or is the world-famous reporter looking to let Clark Kent down easy? Lois and Clark’s relationship gets redefined in this issue illustrated by acclaimed artist Ryan Sook!

Why It’s Hot: Lois Lane and Clark Kent are the best couple in all of comics, and their relationship is a big reason why Superman is my favorite character. Of all the Superman comics I’ve read in my life this issue, and how Bendis handles Lois and Clark’s relationship, is going to go down as a prime example of why I love these characters. When art of the great Ryan Sook is added into the equation this issue quickly becomes an early standout for the Bendis Era of Superman.

BLACK PANTHER VS. DEADPOOL #1
Written by Daniel Kibblesmith
Art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Published by Marvel Comics – $3.99

VIBRANIUM BULLETS AND REGROWING LIMBS – EVERYTHING YOU WANT FROM A COMIC IS HERE!
Deadpool’s teamed up with, taken down or taken a beating from just about every hero in the Marvel Universe. And no way is the Black Panther going to miss out on his turn. From Late Show writer Daniel Kibblesmith comes a hilarious romp through Wakanda as Deadpool goes on the hunt for the world’s most valuable resource: Vibranium! When a beloved figure of the Marvel Universe becomes collateral damage in a fight between Deadpool and the Wrecker, the heroic Deadpool sets out to obtain a fragment of Vibranium that could save the victim’s life. But his unconventional methods – ranging from poaching to dismemberment – don’t sit well with the King of Wakanda, and Deadpool’s about to learn that you don’t bring a sword to a claw fight!

Why It’s Hot: When this comic was first announced I noticed a lot of people virtually rolling their eyes, and I wondered why. You have two of Marvel’s most popular characters who have starred in a few huge superhero movies meeting each other for a miniseries event. Some think that Deadpool is overexposed with the countless number of miniseries with his name in the title over the past several years. It’s true that there have been a lot, but what you don’t hear on the otherside of the conversation is that they are usually really well done. In fact, some of the most critically overlooked Big 2 comics have been Deadpool minis (*cough Deadpool V. Gambit cough*). With this creative team I fully expect another solid story that will be well worth reading. This is the type of comic that’s going to have a long shelf life in collected form, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being one of the most profitable comics of 2018 in the long term.

BOOKS OF MAGIC #1
Written by Kat Howard
Art by Tom Fowler (Pencils) & Jordan Boyd (Colors)
Published by DC Comics – $3.99

From the SANDMAN UNIVERSE #1, it’s the return of Neil Gaiman’s magical morality fable in an all-new series written by Kat Howard (Roses and Rot, An Unkindness of Magicians) and drawn by Tom Fowler (DOOM PATROL)!

Timothy Hunter may be destined tobecome the most powerful magician in the universe, but he’s still a London teenager, and having magical abilities complicates things more than it helps. It’s not like he can use magic to pass his exams, stop being bullied or convince his cute friend to date him. And while Tim’s trying to live his life, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his power will eventually corrupt him into becoming a merciless mage. Oh, and those are the good guys. Luckily, his new substitute teacher is more than she appears, and may be able to help Tim discover the mystery behind the Books of Magic…

Why It’s Hot: Tim Hunter is back, and the comic book world is a better place when the character regularly appears. If you don’t know Tim Hunter he can best be described in 2018 as a more adult oriented Harry Potter who was around before Harry Potter was an idea in JK Rowling’s head. If that excites you then make sure to jump on board this comic early, as this is an ideal jumping on point for the character. This comic looks good, reads well, and has potential to be the best comic to come from The Sandman Universe set of comics.

DEAD KINGS #1
Written by Steve Orlando
Art by Matthew Dow Smith (Pencils) & Lauren Affe (Colors)
Published by Aftershock Comics – $3.99

NEW SERIES! Sasha never saw his younger brother…until the secret police made him disappear. Sasha Vasnetsov left Thrice-Nine-the dirty folklore world that limps along in the wreckage of a Technomagic War-thirty years ago and never looked back. But word that the secret police have sent his brother Gena to a work camp for the socially degenerate drags him back, with a promise to free Gena and return him to their mother before her fiftieth birthday. The only problem? Sasha isn’t a fraction of the tough guy he tries to be, so if he’s going to break back into Thrice-Nine…he’ll need help. Sasha’s only hope is Maria Kamenaya, a former Technomagic Warrior with hundreds of enemy kills to her name, betrayed by the country that made her when her honor conflicted with their agenda.

Thrice-Nine took Sasha’s brother, and it took Maria’s heart. This quest is how they get both of those things back, in the steaming, lawless land of decapitated states…the land of DEAD KINGS.

Like True Grit set in the world of Final Fantasy, DEAD KINGS is unrelenting with its passion and thrills, massive in scale and unflinching as it peers into the underside of the obligations that drive us all: to family and country. It’s a classic Wild West revenge cast against a haunting, awe-inspiring vision of a future where we’ve mortally wounded the world, and the prisoners are the only ones left to run the penitentiary.

Written by Steve Orlando (Batman/Shadow, Crude, Midnighter, Virgil) and drawn by Matthew Dow Smith (October Girl, Suicide Squad, X-Files) DEAD KINGS continues Orlando’s in-depth ex-ploration of retribution in all its dark, complex forms. Having burst forth from the restrictions of the modern world’s flesh and bone, Orlando and Smith create a whole new world of iron-and-oil fantasy, paths walked by a redemption-fueled older brother and the abandoned, rusted out, vindictive tool of a bygone war that protects him-this is us AFTER the World Wars of Mechs and Magic, broken hearts and busted fists included, a world you would ONLY find at AfterShock!

Why It’s Hot: Steve Orlando making his Aftershock Comics debut with a big, sprawling, high concept, universe building, creator owned title? Yeah, that’s a recipe for a HOT comic here in 2018. Everything else, including the great Matthew Dow Smith art, is sweet icing on this delicious comic book cake.

LODGER #1
Written by David & Maria Lapham
Art by David Lapham
Published by IDW Publishing – $3.99

A handsome drifter murders his way through the midwest while hiding in plain sight as a travel blogger, leaving families in shreds and body bags in his wake. Ricky Toledo was fifteen when she fell hard for “Dante”-until he killed her mother and got her father sent to prison for it. It’s three years later, and Ricky will stop at nothing to get revenge. Lodger is a dark, grimy, psychological thriller-a game of cat and mouse between a broken young woman and a serial killer-and like all the best crime noir… a twisted love story.

A new series from Eisner Award winners David and Maria Lapham!
BLACK CROWN’S first black and white miniseries!
Don’t miss a special variant cover by Bill Sienkiewicz!

Why It’s Hot: The minds behind what is arguably the greatest crime comic ever in Stray Bullets are bringing their new project to Shelly Bond’s Black Crown at IDW. These legendary creators teaming with one of the hottest imprints in all of comics is a big deal. Every comic that has come out under the Black Crown banner has been more than good, and that trend continues here.

ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:

* Amazing Spider-Man #8
* The Backstagers: Halloween Intermission #1
* Bloodborne #6
* Cold Spots #3
* The Flash #57
* Infinity Warps: Arachknight #1
* Infinity Warps: Soldier Supreme #2
* Judge Dredd: Toxic #1
* Justice League Odyssey #2
* Moon Knight #200
* Old Lady Harley #1
* Return Of Wolverine #2
* Scarlet #3
* Shadowman #8
* Spider-Geddon #2
* Spider-Girls #1
* Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #1
* Titans #28
* Vampironica #4
* Wonder Woman #57
* X-Men Black: Juggernaut #1
* X-Men Red #9

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