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.
Vertigo probably wins covers this week but I’ll get to those last. To start us off let’s go with a simple character cover for “Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor” #2. The art isn’t a spectacular action sequence or an impossibly complex artistic composition. It’s just a beautifully done rendition of David Tennant’s Doctor and it’s wonderful.
I let the amazing Brandigirlio pick this cover. She likes horror and dark stories but she also really likes cats. This cover has just about everything she likes about comics and it’s also a great piece of art to boot.
Allison Strejlau does the cover for “The Regular Show” #14 in the style of M.C. Escher and I picked it because it’s fun.
The first Vertigo winner this week is “Dead Boy Detectives” #8. It should be no surprise to long time Comic book fans that Mar Buckingham rocks the cover picks this week. The colors, the trippy windmill, and the snow-scape make this one another home run from Buckingham.
I think the cover for Vertigo’s “Bodies” #2 is cool. I like how the bars of the prison cell become the negative space of the cover. The composition is not the usual schtick for my favorite cover artist Francesco Francavilla but that only means Francavilla hasn’t shown us all of the tricks in his bag.
The three panels picks for the week come from books with great moments too good to be spoiled. In an attempt to tease rather than spoil, here are some pages that should peak your interest without ruining the story.
How about a masked Superman asking for help from Shazam over in “The New 52: Futures End” #18? Superman has been facing off against Rampage for the last two issues. He isn’t doing so well here when he gives in and asks for help. What’s the former Captain Marvel doing in the future of the New 52?
Charles Soule’s “Letter 44” continues to boggle and intrigue with contemporary sci-fi. The political wheels spin against one another on Earth whilst the military and science teams in space continue to hope for survival against an Alien threat. That threat is becoming increasingly hostile. The altruistic hopes of the science team seem to be lost as the First Lady of the United States tries to keep her husband’s presidency out of a tailspin by offering herself up as barter. If you aren’t reading this book you are missing out.
More questions with subtle answers this week as “The Guardians of The Galaxy” reveal how Star Lord and Thanos escaped the Cancerverse. Only half of the story has been told and I’m already happy. If the next issue has the same level of action and fantastic art, I don’t think I’ll care how Thanos escaped too.
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, is it better to Burn Out or Fade Out?