Every week, Comics! The Blog goes through the list of new releases and we tell you which comics to plug into your mind hole. Your mileage may vary.

OPTIC NERVE #12 (Drawn and Quarterly)

The New DC whatnow? Look, I’m just as excited about the relaunch as anyone, but the real star of this week will be the long awaited return of Optic Nerve! Adrian Tomine’s series about irregular, everyday life has always had an erratic shipping schedule, but it’s been a rough go waiting for this one to hit since the last one arrived in early 2007. This time around, Tomine returns to the “multiple short stories” format that appeared in the first four Drawn and Quarterly issues, and brings a splash of colour to the mix - a first for Optic Nerve.

If you’re a fan of awkward slice of life stories with a touch of dark humour, definitely try and pick this book up along with your other selections this week.

BATWOMAN #1 (DC Comics)

Another book that’s been a long time coming - but again, for the kind of art we’ll be seeing, the wait will be more than worth it. After a brief run in the pages of Detective Comics, Batwoman has been kept in the background, in preparation for this series, which has seen a few delays - the first due to some deadline issues, and the second due to this new launch. In the end, it’s all going to be worth it, because a lot of new eyes will be on the book and the art will look gorgeous. Here’s hoping the book will stick around for a few years.

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 (Marvel Comics)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. Those are the requirements, right? Well, sort of? Granted the most important thing to get right about Spider-Man is the whole “with great power, comes great responsibility” thing, and even though he’s appeared for just a handful of pages, the new Spider-Man Miles Morales seems to be more than up for the job. He has great power, and he’s using it responsibly. Really, isn’t that all we should ask? This week, his stories begin, and I really can’t be more excited. I want to see how the whole Spider-Man thing works for someone given a bit of different circumstances. Really anything can happen from this point. Anything. There are stories that have never been told, and what’s more, there isn’t even expecation from different characters because… well, they’re new. They’re different. Let’s see where they take us.

PIGS #1 (Image Comics)

Nate Cosby returns to comics with a book that looks like The Losers meets communism! If I lost you on any part of that sentence, we can no longer be friends. Because seriously? Everything about that should sound amazing to you. Nate Cosby was the editor that gave us Thor: The Mighty Avenger. He’s the guy that pioneered some amazing looking recap pages. He is responsible for all the radical sound effects in the pages of Incredible Hercules. He is a guy who gets it, and when he announced he was leaving Marvel last year, I was fairly crushed. But he’s got a few things coming up that sound amazing, like this book (co-written by Ben McCool). It’s got an awesome concept. It’s got a cover by Jock. And it’s going to be rad. Get it.

MARK TWAIN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY (1910-2010) HC (Fantagraphics)

What, you thought Mark Twain was dead? Feh! Shows what you know. Turns out, he’s just been off having awesome adventures and he’s given these memories to Michael Kupperman to adapt into a graphic novel. Yes, the guy responsible for Snake n’ Bacon and the adventures of Edison and Twain (the last of which involved a space ship with a basement that was a haunted house). What’s not to love here?

These are just five of the many great books being released this week! You can find the full list of comics being released here. If you have any other recommendations, let us know in the comments below.