Free Comic Book Day is in nine days! Busy, busy, busy. Gonna be fun! Keeping it short and sweet today. Only nine nominees. And, as always, you are also welcome to nominate any of the fine, fine comics you read this week.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #26 – Part one of a new two-part story arc. "The Nocturnes." Still in the 1950s. No more hot rods. We have moved on to the deep south. It was great. The first issue of every American Vampire arc is always awesome. Cause you never know what you’re gonna get. Totally new setting. Totally new characters. Fantastic story. It was all American Vampire. And it was the best book of the week.

AVX VS #1 (OF 6) –  I said last week that I turned my brain off, willingly or unwillingly, when I read Avengers vs. X-Men. The intro page to Versus #1 gave me official permission! Fight! Iron Man vs. Magneto! Fight! Thing vs. Namor! It’s almost like Cosmic Madness! I was disappointed in the declared “winners.” Think the fix is in! I did think the Thing/Namor fight was the better of the two. But c’mon, seriously, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. I most certainly did. Fight!

DAREDEVIL #11 – The last part of the "Omega Effect" trilogy. All three issues were good. Liked that the story really fit right into current Daredevil and Punisher continuity. Looking forward to the next issue of both of them. Megacrime!

GOON #39 – Talk about never knowing what to expect! A parody of the comic book business. It was great. You should absolutely read it. And in the back Eric Powell talks about how Marvel and DC dominate the market. And we need more good creator owned comics. Hey. I’m up for any good comic. I don’t care who the publisher is. Heck. You might even feel that I don’t nominate enough DC and Marvel comics. I do like my “indies.” But, alas, the Goon’s the only non-DC/Marvel book on my list today. And I repeat, we do indeed need more good creator owned comics. More good comics, period! 

MOON KNIGHT #12 – Last issue! And it’s a sentimental nomination. I grade the series out as a B. Enjoyed large parts of it. Thor sticking the hammer to Count Nefaria this issue was great. And it did have lasting consequences. Echo is dead. And semi-sadly we say goodbye to Moon Knight once again. Although it did say Moon Knight will return in… The Age of Ultron. Whatever that is. So we know that Moon Knight will be back. But the larger, more important question is, when will I get more Cowboy Ninja Viking!

NEW AVENGERS #25  – AVX tie-in. Commenting on all the AVX tie-in’s. Thought NEW AVENGERS #25 was the best. Was Iron Fist based. K’un Lun. But I like Iron Fist. And it was the correct Iron Fist tone and art style. And it added to the overall AvX story. Easy nomination. UNCANNY X-MEN #11 wasn’t bad. Did say right at the beginning, these events take place during AvX issues #1 and #2. And they did. And while they expanded on the story, gave us some insights, some background, some reasons, we got nothing new. So, it was pretty good, I liked it, but no new information. SECRET AVENGERS #26 was unreadable.

I VAMPIRE #8 – Rise of the Vampires conclusion. Andrew Bennett was dead but then popped up on the very first page more powerful than ever! And they told us to read JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #8 to find out what happened. What happened was Andrew Bennett changed his mind!?!? I Vampire #8 – Excellent once again. JL Dark #8 – You gotta give us more than that. 

SUPERCROOKS #2 (OF 4) – It’s moving a little slow and it looks to be a four-issue mini-series so it better get moving. But it is good and I expect a very climactic conclusion from the one and only Mark Millar. 

ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #9 – Great. In so many ways. Continues to go big. Probably has a bigger scale than any other comic today. It is a global war. Plus Xorn turned into a black hole! Just a great series and another great issue.

The podcast is back this Sunday! Talk to you then. 

See ya!

Rusty