Rob's Picks:

Life of Wolverine #1

Jim Zub presents the story of Logan, the whole story, in this extra-large one-shot retrospective. With the end of the Krakoan age, it’s only natural for us to be taking a look back at the legacy of the X-Men, and few have more history to explore than Wolverine. Jean Grey leads a tour through memories fragmented by time, tragedy, trauma, and psychic manipulation. There is a whole lot of ground to cover in just 40 pages, but Zub pens a comprehensive biography spanning origins, enemies, world travels, world wars, stints in various factions and elite teams, and early encounters with legends like Nick Fury. This winding path through time is full of emotional highs and lows for Logan and the reader. The big picture perspective reveals a man who, despite trying to go his own way, has rarely been in control of himself. Circumstances, bad luck, manipulation, mind control, and the beast within repeatedly interrupt fleeting moments of freedom. This book makes a great companion to this week’s Wolverine Deep Cut #1.

Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor #1

The new Doctor and companion get their first comic! This four-issue series from writer Dan Watters (Destro, The Six Fingers) starts strong, nailing the unique tone, the specific blend of high concept sci-fi, horror, and humor that defines Doctor Who. The TARDIS has delivered the Doctor and Ruby to the 29th century, to an Earth that is almost entirely abandoned by mankind, except for the few holdouts who remain in the last shopping mall. The planet may be scorched by solar flares, but the mall-dwellers are a reasonably content group of scavengers, many content to go through the motions of working their “jobs” for the sense of purpose it gives them. Our heroes get into the spirit of things with a classic mall montage, showing a core duo able to find joy in the bleakest of settings. Of course, we can’t have too much fun before some classic Who baddies come out of the shadows. Artist Kelsey Ramsay (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds) gets plenty to work with in this book. So much personality can be read from these characters before they even speak, and the contrasting environments of the mall's sleek storefronts and rotten inner workings have an incredible atmosphere. This is exactly the kind of story Whovians crave.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #0

The Blood Hunt event has delivered a lot of surprises, none more pleasant than the many series it has resurrected. They’ve reopened the Tomb of Dracula, and this week saw the much-awaited return of Werewolf By Night. But the biggest and most hotly anticipated has to be Moon Knight. To take on the army of vampires overrunning the Earth, Hunters Moon set Khonshu free from their imprisonment in Asgard. While his servants begin their work cleansing the night, the moon god takes stock of their servants. This issue is a great primer for all new readers, laying out all the cast of characters that make up the Midnight Mission and where they all currently stand. The issue has segments from writers Jed MacKay and Joe Kelly, each doing a great job putting words in the mouth of an Egyptian god, but the team of Alessandro Cappuccio and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg steal the show. Cappucio’s impeccable framing combines with the interplay of dark and light to give this comic a one-of-a-kind look.

Solomon's Picks:

Absolute Power #1

DC’s newest event has finally hit shelves after quite a bit of build-up and it left me pleasantly surprised! What I initially thought would be a very bare-bones story contained a very interesting dialogue around the rising trend of misinformation and media manipulation. Amanda Waller has finally sprung her plan into action and is utilizing everything at her disposal: Failsafe, A.I., her influence over media networks, political connections, etc., to discredit and assassinate any Metahumans on Earth. She wastes no time in draining the heroes of their powers, disabling their resources, and flipping the public opinion almost instantly due to the hoards of misinformation she was able to generate. The illustrations provided by Dan Mora are incredibly striking and do such a good job capturing the tone that Mark Waid establishes. There were dozens of spectacular moments in this single issue and I hope the tone is matched through future issues. Definitely recommend this for everyone this week if you haven’t already grabbed it!

Free Agents #1

An interesting debut for a new story from Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, and Stephen Mooney. Free Agents opens up with an epic battle that quickly showcases the team's dynamic, displays their abilities, and establishes their role as a super team in this world. They are a group of veterans who have fought various wars on various planets and now find themselves stranded on Earth as “Free Agents” in the sense that they aren’t partnered with any of the traditionally recognized teams and operate on their own terms. After the battle, it shows the team going about their day as college students/young adults, trying to blend in with the rest of Earth's inhabitants. The cast is definitely a relatable bunch, and I can’t wait to see how the relationships continue to expand as that is definitely one of the bigger selling points here. The art was also another big selling point, as it’s very pleasing to the eye and the designs from the characters to background are all well illustrated. Come grab this today!

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1

Another year, another Spidey annual! This one is a little different, with it also containing the continuation of the Infinity Watch storyline. Spider-Man is dealing with the guilt of a man he watched die 24 hours prior and is in no mood to be “Friendly”. He stumbles into the bearer of the time stone, Overtime, and the two instantly find themselves fighting. A few minutes into the fight, Overtime realizes he can alleviate Spider-Man’s guilt if he prevents him from witnessing the death. The issue then focuses on Overtime attempting to save the man from an untimely demise by reversing time back to back and getting advice from Spider-Man in the process. I enjoyed this book, and any fans of Spidey or anyone who enjoyed the first part of Infinity Watch should definitely scoop this book up while they can!