On The Pull 31/10/2018

New comics are due to hit the shelves on Wednesday so here’s a look ahead at some of the books we’ll be picking up this week.

Matt C: I had something of a measured response to the first issue of Heroes In Crisis, but I'm pretty confident any qualms will soon dissipate with issue #2. The art and writing in the debut chapter were of a quality that can't be denied, so it would be a foolish move to even momentarily consider bailing on it at this stage. Elsewhere at DC, the writer of Heroes In Crisis, Tom King, is persuading me to pick something I would have normally let pass me by - Batman: Secret Files #1 - due to his involvement. He's doing an astonishing job of convincing us all that he has the best grasp of who Bruce Wayne/Batman is right now, so his name attached to this one-shot requires its inclusion on my list. With nothing from Image, my attention then turns to Marvel, who have the third instalment of the delightful West Coast Avengers, alongside the latest issue of Marvel 2-In-One (the Fantastic Four book the relaunch of Fantastic Four should have been). Both series utilize humour to help push the storytelling forwards, implicitly aware that humour can act as a gateway to relatable emotion when handled correctly. In the True Believers corner this week there's What If Legion Killed Magneto? #1 and What If The Fantastic Four Had Different Super-Powers? #1. Perhaps not the most important questions being asked in this day and age, but still well worth reprinting the answers.

Jo S:  I'm back on form with a splendid haul of treats (and maybe a few tricks too) to look forward to for my Halloween pull-list this week. Plenty of creepy spookiness on its way, starting with Bone Parish: Cullen Bunn writing a kind of drug mafia dynasty war but with a darkly supernatural edge is working really well for me, there's a level of originality in this which pushes it above the average. Ice Cream Man from Image has been a real surprise too - each issue is a discrete story, wherein an encounter with the titular vendor of dairy-based delights generally ends gruesomely. Issue #8 wraps up the second arc and I really hope this won't be the last serving. Still on the Halloween theme, the first of my two new starts this week will be Vertigo’s Hex Wives; a story of witchcraft doesn't usually cast a spell on me, but Joëlle Jones is my No.1 favourite artist right now, and her name alone on this would have me waving fivers under the nose of my local comic book store staff. Staying with DC a little longer, the Bat makes a double appearance, in the delightfully psychedelic Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams #2 and then in Heroes In Crisis #2. The latter gave a nicely twisty issue #1 with a mystery or two mixed with a devastating tragedy, this will certainly be a talking point for the PCG team. Finally, I'm hopping up and down with excitement at the incoming West Coast Avengers #3 - the first two had me squealing ‘brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant’ at anyone who would listen (and a few who wouldn't) and I can hardly wait for the next.