Tons of great comics hit the stands last week, I bet you want to know which ones we liked the most? We’re a little late this week, but here are our picks for the best comics to hit the stands last week.

Fly past the cut for our opinions, and let us know which titles you liked the most!

Amazing Spider-Man #551

[Gongonzabar Farbin]

It’s a Brand New Day for Spider-Man and he still can’t seem to catch a break. After the infamous reboot titled “One More Day”, Spider-Man has returned to a more familiar web-swinging, joke-cracking, knuckle-bruising pillar of bad luck. Now being released three times a month, Spider-Man battles a whole new set of villains while his Peter Parker alter-ego tries to find his way in this life full of woes and misfortune.

February’s story arc is written by Marc Guggenheim and drawn by Salvador Larroca. Throughout the second Brand New Day arc, Spider-Man must battle the all new supervillain Menace, who just happens to resemble the Green Goblin, all while teaming up with the all new superhero Jackpot, who also just happens to resemble Mary Jane. The February storyline seemed a little slow for me at first but this third issue really wrapped up nicely. The guys Spider-Man have really spent a lot of time transforming Spider-Man from the slightly darker Straczynski Spider-Man back into the happy go lucky Spider-Man we knew from the Stan Lee days. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the Straczynski run, and although I disagree with the way Marvel has retconned the past two decades or so of storyline, this new direction they are taking Spider-Man seems both promising and exciting. So if you’ve ever been afraid of picking up Spider-Man because of the hundreds upon hundreds of back stories, the Brand New Day storyline is not a bad way start off. This book is definitely worth picking up, especially if you liked the movies(even though the third one wasn’t the greatest movie ever). So give it a try, you might like it!

Checkmate #23

[Gongonzabar Farbin]

What happens take an international spy agency and stick it in the DC universe? Why, you’d get Checkmate of course! Checkmate is a comic book that mixes the superhero world of the DCU with international politics and a sophisticated espionage agency. It’s hierarchy of leadership consists of both humans and “metahumans” whose title’s correspond to different pieces of the game Chess. Tasked with “identifying, isolating, and eliminating metahuman threats on a global and political level”, Checkmate employs a lethal arsenal of sophisticated technologies and superpowers to carry out their tasks.

With Issue #23, Checkmate discovers one of their undercover “pawns” has possibly blown his cover within a religious cult known as Kobra. While the undercover agent is able to contact the Checkmate agency to alert them of his status, he is unable to relay any vital information before being captured. Checkmate must then organize a rescue mission to extract both the agent and the information he possesses. After formulating many extraction scenarios, Checkmate has determined that it is unable to perform the mission without suffering heavy casualties. So, what happens when your gun is too small for the job? You have to get bigger guns! Checkmate then enlists the help of one of DCU’s biggest and most deadliest weapon, Superman. Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann and interiors done by Joe Bennett, Checkmate continues to deliver an exciting, sophisticated spy story every month.

Immortal Iron-Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death

[Greg]

I admit that I have a pretty huge soft spot for the pulp era. Throwbacks to this bygone time of ridiculous stories and snazzy dialogue are something that I’d kill to see more of. Something else that I dig? Fraction and Brubaker’s run on The Immortal Iron Fist. Don’t laugh, by turning down the camp and turning up the mythology, the duo have turned Iron Fist into one of the most interesting comics to hit the stands each month.

As you can probably guess, I was ind of predisposed to liking this one-shot. This collection of flashbacks follows the Golden Age Iron Fist and his pulp gang as they are stalked by the titular green myst of death, the Prince of Orphans. The writing does a great job of capturing what makes pulp great - characters talk like Phillip Marlowe, Kung-Fu masters shoot chi-powered bullets, and you can never tell who is friend or foe. The art team also did a great job on this one-shot. Mike Allard’s art style would be right at home in the 1940s as it is; however, it’s the colorists that put the finishing touches on the whole deal.

If you’ve been following Immortal Iron Fist, you’d better have grabbed this special. It does have ramifications in the current storyline. Pulp fans might want to grab this and a few issues of the Iron Fist monthly. Fraction and Brubaker continuously deliver what can only be described as a modern pulp karate classic.

Runaways #29

[Greg]

Runaways has, without a doubt, been my favorite current comic series for some time. Brian Vaughan’s take on teen superheroes has done what I never thought possible – made teen superheores endearing. Most comics about younger characters just end up condescending and annoying. Instead, the Runaways are realistic teens. They talk like teens, they have real problems, they screw up like teens. Hell, the single fact that the kids don’t even wear costumes makes them more interesting than most comic book characters today.

I was a little worried when Vaughan left the book, but they added the one other writer who I knew could write these characters – Joss Whedon. Whedon’s run has been ridiculously slow, but it has been consistently good. The change in setting to the late Victorian age, thanks to some wacky time travel, was a brilliant idea. Steampunk supers, how could it not be good? I’d totally love to see a new series starring the Marvels of the early twentieth century. I’ll be a little sad to see Whedon go after the next issue, but I think the series will be safe in Terry Moore’s hands.

Coming Up Next Week

Here’s what we’re buying next week:

[Greg]
Jack of Fables #20 (I buy Jack by the issue and Fables by the trade, how weird?)
Fall of Cthulhu #10
Captain America #35
Criminal 2 #1
House of M: Avengers #5
Marvel Zombies 2 #5
Thor #6
X-Men #208

[Gongonzabar Farbin]

Batman #674
Captain America #35
Criminal 2 #1
Daredevil #105
Fables #70
Jack of Fables #20
New Warriors #9
Thor #6
Xmen First Class #9

Do you have a particular comic that you want us to cover? Do you want to share your opinions on what you bought this week? Tell us in the comments section below!

Greg gets his comics from Gary’s Comics and More. Farbin buys his at Acadiana Book and Comic Shop. To find a comic dealer near you, call 1-888-COMIC-BOOK. Shipping lists can be found at Diamond Comics.