Ugh.  I’m running out of vacation–and discretionary income.  Rebirth is partly to blame for both, thanks to bigger weekly bags and bills.  Also to blame: my love for the heroes of my childhood and my having the constitution of a totalitarian state.

DC and me!

Oh, there’s other stuff, too.

• Black Hammer #2 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand Re: #1: Jeff Lemire nailed it: he delivered Essex County with superheroes. Finally.  A nice way to follow up Plutonia, which lived in that realm, for sure, but leaned more on the kids than on the capes.  Lemire lets loose here, trusting his instincts, as he fans the flames of familiarity, forging, with Dean Ormston and Dave Stewart’s beautiful balance between fantastic and rustic, something unflinchingly fresh.  I’ve been down on Lemire’s “doing what he does” to decidedly disappointing degrees (Descender/Sweet Tooth, Trillium/Hawkeye, Bloodshot: Reborn/Moon Knight); here, however, the antecedent doesn’t drown out the current–it enlivens it.

• Briggs Land #1 (Dark Horse): Just I&N Brian Wood’s as good as it gets.  His Black Road–also out this week—is a solid book: it has a Massive feel to it, and satisfies for that; but I’m hungry for more, you know, with the final course of the perfectly plated Starve having been served up far, far too soon.  Expectations are very high for this one.  Hey: This is a Briggs deal, I&Nmates!

• Batgirl and The Birds of Prey #1 (DC)
• Batman #5 (DC): I&N Demand Re: #4: Fear has a new number: 27.  Through four issues, Tom King’s got Batman doing things by the numbers–in more ways than one; oh, add ’em up yourself–but this one’s let him down.  Aww, snap!  The personification of Gotham makes for many wrinkles that King’ll most assuredly irony out by arc’s end.  It might take a miracle, man, to put this kid down.  Does Batman have it in him?  I can’t wait to see how this rounds out!

• Nightwing #3 (DC)
• Suicide Squad #3 (DC)
• Superman #5 (DC)
• Black Road #5 (Image)
• The Wicked & The Divine #22 (Image): I&N Demand A monthly bright spot–not only because of Matthew Wilson’s way cray-cray colors.  OK, mostly because of Wilson’s way cray-cray colors.  Sure, Gillen’s greatness shines here, too; and McKelvie’s impeccable consistency is absolutely ambrosial.  Thing is, when I think WicDiv, I get most excited about the prospect of Wilson’s wielding his nonpareil palette in yet another innovative way.  (He’s also killing it over on Black Widow and hammering home The Mighty Thor, which are out this week, as well.  But if you’re a Wilson enthusiast, you already know that!)

• Black Widow #6 (Marvel)
• The Mighty Thor #10 (Marvel)
• Mockingbird #6 (Marvel): I&N Demand Re: #5: “There’s a gift store?”  Damn right, there is–and it’s well stocked with Mockingbird!  Thank you, Chelsea Cain for your quirky chaos, which is clearly a clever way to, at the same time, mask and amplify your obsessive control over the story you’re telling.  High praise: reminds of James Ausmus’s recent run on Quantum & Woody.  Concern: these big-event tie-ins more often than not murder momentum.  I’m gonna go into this one singing, “We will, we will Mock you!”  So good or bad, I’m covered!

• Backstagers #1 (BOOM!)
• Red Team: Double Tap #2 (Dynamite)
• The Joyners #3 (BOOM!)
• Klaus #7 (BOOM!)

Avery’s Picks of the Week

• My Little Pony: Friends Forever #31 (IDW)
• Powerpuff Girls #2 (IDW)
• Strawberry Shortcake #5 (IDW)

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott