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.

DUCK TALES #5 (Kaboom!/Boom! Studios)

Sometimes, life is like a hurricane. For instance: this issue of Duck Tales marks the beginning of the end of Boom!s fantastic tenure as “Keeper of the Disney Afternoon”. But, at the same time, it’s the first part of a HUGE Duck Tales/Darkwing Duck crossover that features villains of all stripes from the Disney vault - including the motherfucking Phantom Blot. So yeah, the excitement that comes with this book is also tempered with the fact that it will all be gone soon. Is it too much to hope that these books will make a return at Marvel?

SHADE #1 (DC Comics)

James Robinson returns to The Shade in this mini-series, exploring the “villain” through time. It’s hard to argue against the fact that his Starman run is one of the best runs you’ll find in comics, and a lot of that (or I guess some of that - there were a lot of neat things about Starman) involved the characterization of The Shade. Before Robinson got a hold of him (and a lot of other characters in the series) he was just your typical run-of-the-mill plug and play villain from the silver age. During the series, he became so much more, what with his fondness for Opal City, and his general aversion to evil for evil’s sake. It’ll be nice to see this character back, and interpreted by so many different artists (a different one for each issue and era).

UNEXPECTED #1 (Vertigo/DC Comics)

After the success of this year’s Strange Adventures anthology, Vertigo is trying it again, nabbing a whole bunch of creators, and having them tell short stories featuring a bevy of new/forgotten characters. Just as Strange Adventures featured the premiere of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Rizzo’s Spaceman, this collection will premiere a new voodoo style ongoing - and will feature stories with the talents of Dave Gibbons, Brian Wood, Jill Thompson and more! You’re gonna’ want this.

X-MEN REGENISIS #1 and GENERATION HOPE #12 (Marvel Comics)

A beginning, and an ending. Kieron Gillen sets the groundwork for the new season of X-Men books with the Regenisis one shot, and he says good-bye to the kids of Generation Hope - or at least says good-bye to writing that title. I’m sure the kids will pop up in the pages of Uncanny X-Men every now and then, but man. I think I’m going to miss him on that title. (I haven’t read enough of James Asmus to know how his take will go, but I am more than willing to run with it.) But hey, if Gillen has to leave, at least he’s leaving with some swank ass art from Steven Sanders, his collaborator on the short-lived SWORD ongoing. (BEAST DOING SCIENCE!!)

Anyway, buy these.

BLACK METAL VOL. 2 (Oni Press)

BLACK METAL!!!!!

This series is a bit odd - but then again, anything springing from the minds of Rick Spears and Chuck BB is going to be plenty strange. It follows the epic metal infused adventures of twin brothers Shawn and Sam, who find out they are awesome mythical warriors, much like they hear about in their favourite metal songs. Now I’m not really a metal guy, but this series is just far too fun to get hung up on quibbles like that. Hell, anything Rick Spears has written is far too much fun to get hung up on quibbles like that. (Where’s the rest of Pirates of Coney Island, man!) If you don’t have the first volume, go out and get it. It’s printed in that Scott Pilgrim format, so a good chunk of story will run you just $12. (But you’ll probably have to wait a bit for volume three to ship.)

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.