Welcome to Comicosity’s Hot Five. Hot Five is a short 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!

BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1
Written by Jamea Tynion IV
Art by Freddie Williams 
Published by DC Comics/IDW Publishing – $3.99

DC Comics and IDW team up for the crossover you never saw coming as two of the greatest entertainment icons meet for the first time! In Gotham City, a series of deadly raids leads Batman to believe he’s up against a group of highly trained ninjas known as the Foot Clan! Somehow, they’ve crossed over to another dimension and are determined to take advantage of the situation while looking to get back home. But they haven’t come alone: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo are hot on their trail. Get ready for excitement as heroes and villains from both worlds clash and team up in an epic battle that threatens the very fabric of reality!

Why It’s Hot: As someone born in the late 1980s, and growing up through the 1990s, Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles both played huge roles in my childhood. I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard. The original TMNT cartoon, and the Michael Keaton Batman movies were on regular rotation in my household for a long time, and as I’ve gotten older my appreciation for the characters hasn’t waned a bit. Just the idea of Batman fighting the Foot Clan, and meeting Mikey would make 5 year old Johnny just as excited as it makes 28 year old John.

GWENPOOL HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1
Written by Gerry Duggan, Charles Soule, Christopher Hastings & Margaret Stohl
Art by Danilo Beyruth, Langdon Foss, Gurihiru & Juan Gedeon
Published by Marvel Comics – $5.99

• AN ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL!
•  She-Hulk throws a holiday party and invites the entire Marvel U!
•  Deadpool teams up with both Hawkeyes – Kate and Clint – to…stop a pickpocket?!
•  Ms. Marvel takes on her most dangerous threat yet: the holiday blues!
•  And then there’s the reason for the season(al special): GWENPOOL!
•  Yup, you read that right – Gwen. Pool. C’mon, you know you’re curious.

Why It’s Hot: Spider-Gwen, and Deadpool have been two of the most popular characters over the past few years, and what started out as a variant cover joke has led to combining the new characters. From there Marvel enlisted a talented creative team to make a Merry Marvel Holiday Special starring Gwenpool, and some of Marvel’s most popular characters. If that sounds ridiculous, and crazy you’d be absolutely correct. Sometimes crazy can be a really good thing, and at the very least this issue will be fun.

NEW ROMANCER #1
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Brett Parson
Published by DC Comics/Vertigo – $3.99

Fired from a cushy job in Silicon Valley, Lexy becomes a coder for New Romancer, an Internet-dating app that’s seen better days. To create fake profiles, she plunders characteristics from history’s most notorious lovers. Using little-known writings by Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer, Lexy pushes the boundaries of coding and accidentally unleashes history’s greatest lover: Lord Byron. Online dating meets courtly love in this paranormal rom-com by Vertigo veteran writer Peter Milligan and rising art-star Brett Parson (Tank Girl).

Why It’s Hot: Over the past few months I’ve been heaping copious amounts of praise on DC for how they have revitalized the Vertigo imprint. Every single one of the new series has been good, and most have been great. I don’t expect New Romancer to be any different with classic Vertigo scribe Peter Milligan at the helm. Catfishing, dating apps, computer programming, romance, and Lord Byron. Sounds like it has the potential to be another great series from Vertigo.

SCARLET WITCH #1
Written by James Robinson
Art by Vanessa Del Rey
Published by Marvel Comics – $3.99

Witchcraft is broken – and the SCARLET WITCH is on a journey across the globe to fix it. From the back alleys of Manhattan, to the serene Greek Isles, to the bustling streets of Hong Kong, Wanda will have to face down her foes and find out who her true friends are. But as Wanda solves magical crimes and pieces witchcraft back together, the most important question remains: Who is the mastermind that broke it in the first place? Written by Eisner Award winner JAMES ROBINSON, with covers by Eisner Award winner DAVID AJA with the first issue drawn by fan-favorite VANESA DEL REY!

Why It’s Hot: The Scarlet Witch has arguably had more of an impact on Marvel Comics in the past decade than almost every character. From her fall from grace in Avengers Disassembled to “No More Mutants” in House of M, her relationship with members of the Young Avengers, being a part of the Avengers Unity Squad in Uncanny Avengers, and the truth about her lineage coming out. Wanda has been through a whole lot. Despite all of this, and being portrayed by Elizabeth Olson in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Scarler Witch hasn’t had her own solo series since a miniseries in the 90s. That’s about to change thanks to James Robinson and All New All Different Marvel. Robinson, who has penned some of the great stories of the past 20 years, has returned to form over the past few years, and is ready to tackle the mystical side of the Marvel Universe. Each issue will see a new artist join Robinson, and extremely talented Vanessa Del Rey has been tapped to set the tone. This series has true potential to be special.

WE STAND ON GUARD #6
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Steve Skroce
Published by Image Comics – $2.99

MINISERIES CONCLUSION

The smash-hit miniseries reaches its epic FINAL ISSUE with explosive battles and shocking revelations… but how will things end for the Great White North?

Why It’s Hot: We Stand On Guard hasn’t gotten the attention that most BKV comics receive, but that doesn’t mean the miniseries hasn’t been great. BKV, and artist Steve Skroce have taken a fascinating concept, and built a lush world around it to explore in only 6 issues. The fact that they were able to pull this off in such a short amount of time is an astonishing feat.Even if the series isn’t as appreciated as other BKV comics, it still has the distinction  of bringing Steve Skroce back to comics. For many who are newer to comic books, Skroce has been a revelation, and for those who remember his comic career it is hard to argue that he’s not better than ever.

ALSO RELEASED THIS WEEK: Grayson #15, Secret Wars #8, Star Wars Annual #1, The Ultimates #2, The Violent #1