by Mike Favila, Editor

Can you believe it’s almost the end of the year already?  I know it’s only November, but it’s not too early to get a jump on getting your favorite reader some hot new reading. Though there have been a lot of good releases this year, I’ve put together a few of my choice favorites.

Mara

Volleyball? Dystopian future? Powerful teenage god? Bing bing bing! What else could you ask for? Though I do tend to love all of Brian Wood’s slightly anti-authority work, I was really thrown for a loop with Mara. Here, Wood somehow makes a direct connection between the military industrial complex and people that obsessively follow a team. How much blind devotion do you need to really be invested? It sounds confusing, but reading it together in one straight shot makes you really connect to our protagonist’s alienation. If you’re looking for something different, Mara definitely fits the bill.

Nova

I usually don’t go in for teen hero titles, but Nova is just a blast. Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness put together an amazingly fun and breezy book. I pick it up, read through it and start all over. Sam is always constantly balancing the two halves of his life. In one moment, he’s saving the universe. In the next, hiding his helmet while doing his chores. Even when he’s running into Thor, you never forget that he’s just a boy. This title is a great example of everything Marvel is doing right to bring in new readers that may have just started reading comics from watching the movies or hearing from their friends.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Consequently, you almost can’t read Nova without reading it’s other spacebound counterpart, Guardians of the Galaxy. Brian Bendis writes hilarious stuff that just makes me excited for the coming movie, and McNiven’s art is amazingly detailed without being distracting. Obviously they are setting the bible for where the Marvel Galactic titles, but it never feels like a chore. I really grew up with Jim Valentino’s version of Guardians in the distant future, but my lack of familiarity with these characters didn’t stop me from immediately being invested in their journey. I’d read that Bendis put a lot autobiographical stuff he had with his parents into Peter Quill (Star Lord). Though it’s funny, you can tell that there’s a real emotional core behind the adventures. Even if I’ve never really connected the Ultimate titles he’d written, Guardians of the Galaxy is a true high point.

Indestructible Hulk

This is, by far, my favorite Mark Waid comic. As readers, we’ve spent so many years with Banner trying to suppress the Hulk that nobody ever asked: Why bother? Hulk signs up as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent (ugh, that’s a lot of punctuation) and puts himself is situations where Hulking out is used to maximum effect against bad guys in places where Hulk can smash to his heart’s content. Though I understand the torture and the heartache is the crux of Banner’s character, it’s as though nobody’s ever considered how fun being Hulk could really be. 200% awesome. Get Indestructible Hulk and be a part of the ride.

Saga

I know I chose Saga last year, but good God, is it amazing.  The mix of contemporary dialogue, hot chicks with wings talking about the equal importance of breastfeeding AND oral stimulation,  bounty hunters that hallucinate their dead bounty hunter girlfriends, and spaceships in the shape of a tree would be nothing without the emotional resonance of Brian K Vaughn’s storytelling.   Fiona Staples’ amazing and unique artwork make me want to hunt it down, buy all of it, and cover a wall with it.  In the back of comic, they post up passionate and hilarious letters and pictures from the fans, with a lot of people dressing up in character and talking about how it’s changed their life.  Every year, there’s at least one comic I try to get my wife to read. (Habibi by Craig Thompson was last year’s pick.)  This year, my pick is Saga.

Pick up your reading list and head to the store with ComicsOnline.com and Weird-Girls.com for all your gift idea needs and for everything geek pop culture!