As always, “Five & Three” brings you my favorite things in comics this week. Every week I pick my five favorite covers and three favorite panels to create “Five & Three”. I like to talk about why I picked the covers and panels and welcome hecklers and trend setters alike.
Another huge week in comic books makes my job at picking books even tougher. Without further ado, let’s get into the picks – I did my best.
My first pick is the return of “Sex Criminals” by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky. Issue seven marks a huge moment for fans of the book simply because they have a new issue. This book is hot and if you’re comfortable with a more adult themed story you should jump in now.
Next up is a shady cover to “The Shadow Master” #12. The cover is a literal representation of shadow and mist that surrounds The Shadow. It sets the perfect tone for the pulp inside.
I usually shy away from picking graphic novels because the variety in floppies is too great. In this scenario though, as I browsed covers on ComiXology, I knew I had to pick Ray Fawkes “The People Inside”. The story is about relationships and how they change and grow over time. The cover represents that in stellar form. It’s simple but on inspection, so very deep.
How cool is the cover to “The Remaining”? The whispy apparition in the clouds is terrifying.
Apparently Pere Perez and the people over at Valiant rock some “Sgt. Peppers”. This cover was fun, nostalgic, and my favorite of the week. My hat is off to the creators of “Archer & Armstrong”, but my headphones will stay firmly attached to my ears.
First up in panels for the week is a wonderfully important moment from “Original Sin” #7. What took down Thor and why is he no longer worthy? Well, you’ll have to read that to find out. That being said, it’s not only fans in this world that were stunned, Tony and Cap seem confused as well.
The New 52 is controversial with long time comic book fans. I personally can go either way depending on the individual book. Whether from rumored editorial oversight or simply a creative miss, some books struggle to find the popular audience that has kept them alive. Thankfully, the weekly “The New 52: Futures End” has not been one of those books. It’s been fun and exciting. It’s also been a weekly and an event book that I look forward to every issue. What causes the future to go bad though? Well, it appears we’ll soon find out.
“The Walking Dead” has been a love hate book for me. I’ve read the trades in the past and I keep up with the floppies through friends only to stay current. I haven’t been a big fan of the direction that the creative team was taking the book and there have been some rules breaking that Kirkman pulled off with a “whatever” attitude that frustrated me. I don’t want this to spoil anything but the panels below were the crucial point in spinning my slowly growing negative feelings toward the book. If “The Walking Dead” goes in the direction it is teasing…. Wow.
That’s all for this week. If you disagree with a pick, let me know in the comments or on Twitter @MarkAvo or on Instagram @TheMarkAvo. If you think I should’ve picked something else or if you have a pick in mind for next week, give me a shout out and let me know. If you’d like to check out more “Five and Three” comic book moments start with “Five and Three” from last week. Until next week, keep your voices down!