Rob's Picks:

Hello Darkness #1
BOOM! Studios launches a new horror anthology packed with all-new stories from an incredible roster of creatives. In "Contagion" by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Letizia Cadonici, a deadly urge spreads like a virus, causing children to commit cold-blooded acts of murder. The paranoid dread mounts as the bodies pile up and the questions of how and why go unanswered. Is this a disease or mass hysteria? A natural event or a man-made disaster? Dave Cook and David Cousens bring just as much gore and an extra helping of humor to "Stay In Your Lane." Former pro-bowler Old Dan still lives for the game, despite his glory days being long behind him. Dreams die hard, and Dan’s die harder than most, taking a whole lot of innocent folks down with them. It’s a short and sweet splatstick set-piece that should appeal to any reader of Creepshow. Perhaps the biggest highlight for this debut is a new "Something Is Killing The Children" side story, “A Monster Hunter Walks Into A Bar.” Erica arrives in a suspiciously quiet town and finds that just passing through isn’t an option. With snow on the roads and rumors of a mysterious killer, she sidles up to the bar for a quick beer before begrudgingly taking on her newest challenge. This book has some great single-page art and short asides between the macabre tales, and is capped off with part one of an all-new seven-part story from Becky Cloonan and Garth Ennis! This series has come out swinging with heavy-hitting talent. With Hello Darkness dropping the same week as Tynion’s "Nice House By The Sea" and the new "EC Epitaphs From The Abyss," it is a great time to be a horror fan.

BRZRKR: A Faceful of Bullets #1
Keanu is back with Jason Aaron for another BRZRKR one-shot, once again setting the bar for all other action books to clear. Having explored historical epics and pulp fantasy in the recent (and seriously amazing) "Poetry of Madness" and "Fallen Empire" stories, they set their sights on the wild west. When a wedding on the Missouri frontier becomes a massacre, a blood-spattered bride prays for a guardian angel. What she gets is our hero, and a long journey through the bloody plains of the west. Like the other recent books in this series, the writing is above and beyond the already high standard set by the original run. For a series that could easily get by on gorgeously rendered ultraviolence, the writing is wonderfully thoughtful. Hardly a page goes by without a shower of blood, yet it never gets in the way of the story or feels gratuitous at any point. If any of the recent BRZRKR stand-alone books get a follow-up, I hope it’s this one. It checks all the boxes for any fan of the series and for fans of gritty western revenge movies like "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and "Unforgiven."

Zatanna: Bring Down the House #2
Tamaki and Rodriguez got off to a great start with issue one, putting the spotlight on DC’s most under-utilized magician. This week, things escalate as we explore more of Zatanna’s tragic past, battle a demon in her immediately dangerous present, and meet a new cadre of sorcerers who may prove to be allies or enemies in the near future. Her Las Vegas residency hasn’t done much to prepare Zatanna for a fight with a manifestation of magical chaos, and it takes the help of another wizard to save her life, though her theater isn’t so lucky. Losing her job is the least of her worries as she is whisked away by the order of magicians once led by her father. This is no homecoming or an invitation to the wizarding world; Zatanna is no heir apparent. She stands accused of a great crime against the order: the murder of her own father! Things escalate in all directions, becoming stranger and more dangerous at every turn. It has taken so long to get a solo book for this one-of-a-kind character, and at only two issues in, this title is already proving to be worth the wait.

Solomon's Picks:

The Big Burn #1
A gripping debut from Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, and Lee Loughridge titled "The Big Burn" hit shelves this week and it blew me away! We follow an infamous pair of thieves madly in love, named Owen and Carlie. We witness the rise and fall of their career in a few short pages, watching as they raise the stakes with every heist, until one day their luck catches up with them and they find themselves stuck choosing between life in prison or selling their soul to the devil for their "freedom." Obviously, they take the deal, assuming it was the easy way out, not understanding what losing a soul would do to them. We then watch as Owen puts together a team of thieves and con artists in an attempt to steal their souls back. The first issue already plays around with some pretty interesting concepts, so on top of the intriguing storyline, I’m very interested to see how this team explores this world. Loved this title and definitely recommend this one!

NYX #1
A new X title hit the shelves and I was thoroughly surprised with this one! Brought to us by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Francesco Mortarino, comes NYX! This story highlights the daily lives of the mutants of New York, doing their best to move forward in a post-Krakoan world. With this first issue, we mainly follow Kamala Khan, who is now at E.S.U. and is still finding it difficult to adjust to her daily life as a mutant. She meets a few fellow mutants and hits the town, but the night is quickly ruined as they become the victims of a bigoted attack at a bar. The clever ways the story presents issues that mutants have historically struggled with or against—either through a school lesson or conversation—and then quickly having Kamala experience a slight taste of that leaves me with high hopes for the rest of this series. Absolutely loved this title. Give it a grab, especially if you’re trying to stay up to date with the happenings of the X-Men and mutants!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Inmate #1
The long-awaited reboot of IDW’s TMNT released this week and I absolutely did not expect to love it this much! Being completely honest: I didn’t want this "reboot" to follow the current trend of relaunching a franchise but making it "dark" or "more mature," but that’s exactly what the team gave us and it works out perfectly. Jason Aaron, Joelle Jones, Ronda Pattison, and Shawn Lee absolutely nailed everything about this book: from the engaging narrative, to the eye-pleasing illustrations, and the colors/lettering that give the book a special flair that’s always appreciated! This first issue follows Raphael, and we see him in a very unfortunate and humiliating situation: keeping the prison "clean" for the warden while also being imprisoned himself. After back-to-back complications, Raphael somehow, someway finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery within the walls of the prison. There are so many wonderful moments in this issue that I don’t want to spoil, but trust me when I say, this is definitely a run you’ll want to keep an eye on!