Pick of the Week: Ms. Marvel #1/The Mighty Thor #1

MS. MARVEL #1: Another all new number one issue of a comic that we just had an all new number one issue of not all that long ago, Ms. Marvel #1! If you're sensing a theme this fall, it would be that all of the Marvel books have really low numbers after the Battle of the Worlds (or something like that).

I'm just happy that one of my favorites, Kamala Khan has returned from the year's big event and is even more awesome as she has joined the Avengers.  I can't really keep up with which formation of the Avengers (New? All New? Shiny New? Standard?) she is in, but it does include the latest incarnation of Captain America (Sam Wilson) and Thor (Jane Foster) as well Nova, Iron-Man, Vision, and Miles Morales Spider-Man.  I think Peter Parker Spider-Man is running around in a different book (or five).

Written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa & Adrian Alphona, Ms. Marvel looks to be continuing its streak of awesome fun!

THE MIGHTY THOR #1: Did the secret that caused Odinson to be unworthy of Mjolnir get revealed in a book I didn't read? If so, someone please let me know what it is! What was revealed in the main Thor book during the Wars of Secrets and the Battles of Worlds, was the identity of the woman behind the hammer.  IF YOU DON'T KNOW AND DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW AND GO PICK UP THE TRADES! If you do want to be spoiled because you want to pick up Issue One today then continue reading after the photo below.  (Also if you don't want to know, you should probably avoid the internet in general.)

I was a little disappointed when Jane Foster was revealed as the woman behind the hammer.  I can't really put my finger on the reason why, although I really liked the Shield Agent (whose name is currently escaping me) and it might have been nice to have a truly new female character added to the mix as the lead.  However, I trust Jason Aaron's writing to bring me around to why Jane will be the best Thor.  The art by Russell Dauterman and  the coloring by Matt Wilson set a beautiful backdrop for Jane's fight for her life and for the realms.


Bonus Picks: Spider-Woman #1, The Beauty #4 , Lumberjanes #20 (There are a lot of great comics out this week!)

Picks of the Week: Paper Girls #2, Monstress #1 and Rasputin #10

Some weeks it is too hard to settle on one awesome comic to pick.  It's one of those weeks and Image is dominating my pull!

Paper Girls #2: This book and its damn cliffhangers! You guys are killing me!!! Can we bump up the publishing schedule so that I am not waiting a month to find out what is happening next? If you didn't check out the first issue, Paper Girls follows four girls who deliver the local paper and have stumbled upon creatures of a currently unknown origin who seem up to no good.  With so many WTF moments and an ending scene that had me screaming for it not to be the last page, this is a can't miss comic. This Goonies meets X-Files story is written by Brian K. Vaughn, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colored by Matt Wilson and lettered by Jared K. Fletcher. 

Monstress #1: The preview pages for the comic resulted in me adding this to my pull list.  A mystical story following a teenage girl's capture and seeming enslavement by a group of witch nuns is both fascinating and troubling. The first issue fully captures the feeling of war and the helplessness of the defeated.  It's not an easy read, but a worthwhile one.  Written by Marjorie Liu, drawn by Sana Takeda and lettered by Rus Wooten, with a first issue weighing in at 66 ad free pages for $4.99, this is one to pick up from your LCS. 

Rasputin #10: I really should pay more attention to issue counts, but I always think in groups of six for trade publishing purposes.  So I assumed that I had at least two more issues after this one.  I have loved this series.  It's one of those rare comics that I picked up based on the title alone.  The story of Rasputin has always been intriguing to me.  The actual comic has not disappointed and I am sad this is the last issue.  The creators have done a beautiful job blending fact and fiction.  This is the Rasputin I want to believe exists.  Written by Alex Grecian, drawn by Riley Rossmo, colored by Ivan Plascencia, and lettered by Thomas Mauer, this journey through Russia should be taken!