Huge week.  And, yes, this counts as narrowing it down.

• Veil #1 (Dark Horse): Greg Rucka’s killing it with Lazarus and has Cyclops in his sights.  On the strength of the former and in anticipation of the latter, I’m thinking that this one’s a no-brainer.
• Trillium #7 (DC/Vertigo): Through six issues, Jeff Lemire has insisted that we turn the page on our own expectations.  As excited as I am sad, knowing that–including this one–only two issues of Lemire’s head-spinning layouts are left!

Trillium #7

• Wild Blue Yonder #4 (IDW): One of our favorite books of 2013 is back–finally!–to bust some more blocks!  Super excited for this high-flying action adventure from the fine folks at Noble Transmission.

Wild Blue Yonder #4

• Clone #15 (Image): Clonetopia?  Yeah, probably not.  David Schulner and Co. have made it clear: happy endings end rather quickly in Clone–often after a single page turn.  And what terrific page turns they are: artist Juan Jose Ryp’s attention to detail is astounding–not unlike the great Geof Darrow, no?
• Jupiter’s Legacy #4 (Image): If I’m remembering correctly, I thought #3 was all right–certainly enough for me to ignore my oath to pass over any Millar material no matter how shiny.  We all know by now that Mark Millar’s not concerned with our experiences as readers of his fine material; he’s too busy generating new ideas like…
• Starlight #1 (Image): Of course I’m going to give Mr. Millar another opportunity to frustrate the hell out of me.
• Velvet #4 (Image): Brubaker and Epting are taking their time, doing their thing, which is near-perfect cinematic slow-burn espionage.

Velvet #4

• Loki: Agent of Asgard #2 (Marvel): I’ve never been a fan of Thor’s corner of the Marvel Universe.  Al Ewing, however, has convinced me to extend my visit to a tidy right angle.
• Magneto #1 (Marvel): Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun) writing one of my favorite characters?  Yes, please.
• Moon Knight #1 (Marvel): I was crushed after the most recent–and mostly crazy–run of Moon Knight–by Bendis and Maleev–came to a close.  Now, Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey are in charge of the lunatic in white.  Can’t wait.

Moon Knight #1

• Uncanny X-Men #18 (Marvel): Maybe–just maybe–#17 was a hint; maybe it was the nudge I need.  See: at the end of the issue, Cyclops kicks David Bond off the team because the new mutant fails to live up to expectations.  Maybe–just maybe–I should finally cast this book aside because it hasn’t lived up to my expectations.  Then again, Marco Rudy’s art looks ridiculously good.  So, another possibility: Fate has kept me around long enough for this!
• Afterlife With Archie #4 (Archie): The series has been so good for so many reasons.  In fact, #3 was our #5 book of January–and deservedly so: Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s storytelling–a brilliant balance of Archie and Afterlife–is top-notch, and Francesco Francavilla’s art is a perfect fit.

Afterlife With Archie #4

• Archer & Armstrong #18 (Valiant): #17 was a rare sideways step for Fred Van Lente.  It certainly wasn’t what we were hoping for from one of our favorite books of 2013.  Wouldn’t you know: I liked #0.2014 a lot; in fact, it turned out to be one of my favorite origin issues, like, ever.
• The Auteur #1 (Oni): Game-time decision.  Yeah, not too sure I need another “deranged” book.
• Day Men #3 (BOOM!): A Millaresque release schedule without–so far, anyway–the Millaresque payoff that, generally, makes it worth the wait.  I’m going to have to pull #2 to bring myself up to speed.  Yeah, that’s always a bummer.
• Evil Empire #1 (BOOM!): Another game-time decision.  I’m not familiar with Max Bemis or Ransom Getty, so I’ll give it an earnest flip and see what happens.
• Quantum and Woody: Goat #0 (Valiant): Maa.

Quantum and Woody: Goat #0

• Rover Red Charlie #4 (Avatar): #3 was…  Oh, I’m going to save it for a future post.
• The Twilight Zone #3 (Dynamite): Has been surprisingly good.  Certainly Straczynski’s best work–of the current batch, anyway.  The shine, however, was taken off a bit after I read Sidekick #5.  Seems Straczynski’s borrowing from himself–and he sure as heck isn’t being subtle about it!  Sure, I’ve seen creators who have borrowed from themselves, usually from past work, but this is just silly: Sidekick and Twilight Zone are concurrent titles, for goodness sake!  OK.  OK.  Wait a sec.  Is this the Twilight Zone?  Oh, well.  Still want to see how this plays out.

The Twilight Zone #3

What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

Turning pages,

Scott