This Week's Comics: Aug. 1, 2012

"Hurm...."

Here's a list of comics shipping this Wednesday, from a great online resource called ComicList.

They keep an ongoing and accurate listing of what's coming each week, the next week and well into the future, as well as shipping changes and cancellations.

In what I'm not even going to pretend isn't a shameless plug, check out the ComicList and then go see our good friends at D&J Hobby in Galax. If Darrell doesn't carry it — ASK FOR IT!

This week's books include DC's phenomenal horror/superhero sagas Swamp Thing and Animal Man, as the stories in both books begin to merge into one epic. These books have been two of the biggest surprises of DC's "New 52" initiative, and are worth checking out.

Also from DC this week is the second issue of Before Watchmen: Nite Owl. The overall quality of this series of prequel books has been superior, especially Comedian and Ozymandias, which is no surprise given the caliber of creators involved. I'm enjoying them all the more for the thoughts of Alan Moore pulling out his beard in righteous indignity over DC daring to write new stories about characters they own.
I mean, the audacity! Don't they know he's a genius? Just ask him.

Marvels Avengers vs. X-Men event rolls on with issue #9, in which the mutants find themselves corrupted by the all-consuming power of The Phoenix, even as they try to remake the world into a better place.
(They should have asked Spider-Man about that whole "great power/great responsibility" thing. No one ever listens to Peter...)

Also shipping is the first issue of Marvel's promising new Hawkeye solo series, sure to get some attention for its gritty feel and the character's wider exposure from The Avengers movie.

But in what's sure to be the must-buy book of the week, Boom! Studios is releasing Garfield #4 today. I hear there's a shocking revelation in this one...

!!SPOILER ALERT!!


Garfield also hates Tuesdays.

Brian