Football season is coming to an end but the year in comics has just begun. Image Comics dropped some huge news this week at Image Expo and DC Comics kicked off Batman’s 75th anniversary with an oversized issue of Detective Comics. There were some great digital only comics by Monkey Brain and some new Marvel Now! books courtesy of the official comic publisher of Star Wars comics starting in 2015. This week in comics was so packed full of great content and great moments that many covers and many panels were passed over for these, my favorite things.
To start us off this week I decided to go with my favorite cover artist, Fracesco Francavilla. He has an all-star performance over in “Detective Comics” issue 27 with a short but amazingly cool Batman tale. He also continued his 2013 favorite work on “Afterlife with Archie” issue 3, but my favorite work by him was his cover to “Fantomex Max” issue 4. It’s distinctly Francavilla but reminds me of the covers to crime books from the 50’s and 60’s.
Next up is a variant cover to “Mind the Gap” issue 16 by Jenny Frison. I really like the dreaming, sleeping beauty set in a bed that looks like it is part of a set in a play. The choice of light coloring with reds and blues only adds to the dreamy feeling this cover has.
I absolutely loved “Black Widow” #1. Seeing as I’m a complete nut for anything Nathan Edmondson writes, I wasn’t at all surprised with the quality. I can’t wait to see him work with his “The Activity” co-creator Mitch Gerads on The Punisher this spring. Speaking of “The Activity”, does any ne know when I can expect another issue of that spot on military series?
The cover to “Fatale” issue 19 is the first cover in the last half dozen that I’ve loved. Every issue of “Fatale” is something I can’t wait to crack open but the covers, while serviceable, haven’t been blowing me away. This one, with its simplicity and guitar detail, did just that.
My favorite of the favorite covers this week is Three issue 4 by Ryan Kelly and Jordie Bellaire. This book has really changed the way I view one of my favorite graphic novels, 300. This cover was simply stunning and was one that literally leapt off of the shelf. Some may say it was the cold winter wind when the door to the comics shop was abruptly opened, but I think it was the fates making sure I didn’t forget to grab the latest issue of Three.
I had a hard time cutting down the panels this week so I looked for some outside support from my wife once again. Her taste is terrific and she really knows how to hone in on panels that have the spirit of the story they’re contained in.
The first one we picked was this action sequence to “Green Arrow” 27. Sorrentino continues to impress me and I can’t beg of DC more to keep him and Jeff Lemire on “Green Arrow” for a very long time.
The next one I picked came as a surprise to me when the brilliance of the panel was confirmed by my wife. I blushed a little bit but this single moment made her finish the “Bandette volume 1 Presto!” hard cover I’d bought for her in November. Now I’ll have to fight for my tablet as she finishes issue six. If you haven’t had a chance to pickup the analog version from Dark Horse please go read the digital one published by Monkey Brain comics. It was one of the best graphic novels released last year.
The last moment I picked this week comes from “Young Avengers” #15. I know their story will go on, and I know I can get more young Loki in his own series “Loki: Agent of Asgard”, but I’m going to miss the fun times, the funny jokes, and the fantastical adventure’s of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Young Avengers. That’s why picked this moment from the book when Loki just has to snap a picture of his friends leaving through Miss America’s star shaped door to another dimension. The look is one of a happy longing for times gone by.
That’s all there is for this week in 5 and 3, unless you’re into Batman! I loved the Batman anthologies so much this week that in honor of 75 years of The Bat I’ve written a very special 5 and 3 just for him. Tune in later today for that and tune in next week for more of my favorite things in comics. I’ll be here waiting for you and on Twitter @MarkAvo.