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.

BATMAN #2 (DC Comics)

I am a big fan in general of Batman, as anyone who has been to my apartment can attest, and like any other Big Fan, I have Ideas and Opinions about how things should be. Not every Batman story is to my liking, which is going to have to be okay because apparently DC isn’t going to give me an editor position even though I sent Mike Marts a very sexy letter. Luckily, the relaunched Batman, featuring Scott Snyder on words and Greg Capullo on drawrins, scratched exactly that kind of itch that I have held in my heart ever since I first saw the Batsymbol as a young boy and muttered, “Yes, Father. I shall become… a nerd.”

First, it helped that the opening scene where Batman fought his amassed foes inside Arkham Asylum was basically a reproduction of the 1960s Batman TV show theme, which made me so very, very happy. Second, it featured some great interactions between Bruce and his ersatz family. Finally, it had a great hook at the end. Basically, I have been waiting a month to get to read Issue 2 and this week I can! And so can you! This is socialism at its best! [Ed. Note: May be untrue.]

FEAR ITSELF, THE ENDENISTENING

This week, Fear Itself, one of my favourite events in recent comics history (it’s up there with Spider Island and Schism, so, needless to say, I was very pleased all summer) comes to an end with Issue #7, and not only is it completely on time like the rest of the event has been, but it looks like things are going to blow up and scream and maybe even sadly whisper. Matt Fraction has tried a different kind of pacing in the event, and to me it’s been wildly successful. I’ve loved seeing it play out at a pace that wasn’t all ”let’s hit things and blow them up!” and I can’t wait to see where it ends up.

Speaking of Matt Fraction, this week brings what I believe is an end to the Fear Itself tie-in story inside The Invincible Iron Man, which featured Tony Stark straight up destroying his sobriety in a last ditch effort to make some super-weapons to save the Earth. I’ve seen some criticisms that have said Tony giving up something he’d spent so much to achieve should have had more lead-up, and to that I say, this was literally talked about in the first issue of the comic over three years ago, and that is a hell of a lead-up. It was even foreshadowed by the series’ Point One issue! To me, it’s been a big summary of the entire series’ progress to date, an emotionally massive event that kicks off the next big phase of the series. Tony’s been busy building superweapons, and soon he’s going to have to deal with what he did when that’s all over. It all starts here.

My other favourite Fear Itself tie-in, Journey Into Mystery, also wraps up its event arc this week, and I honestly have no idea what is going to happen. I think Kid Loki is going to make it through. I really don’t know. So far, the series has been him assembling his team and beginning Operation Asgardian Storm, and I just want you to sit for a minute and appreciate how brilliant those three words alone are. Seriously, I can’t read them without laughing. Now that you’re done, remember that there is absolutely zero way that things aren’t going to go absolutely horribly in some way. How boring a comic would it be if everything just went well?

Now, don’t get me wrong: I love the idea that this kid is basically running circles around everyone in the whole world, but he’s still a kid. Here and in the other Thor-family titles, we’ve seen him get scared, embarrassed and even cry. He’s not invincible, as much as he likes to pretend he is. It’s a source of great humour in a series with such dark aspects to it, but it also means that when things go south, this isn’t the God of Thunder responding. It’s a kid who’s bitten off more than he can chew. He’ll be scared and probably alone and what Kieron Gillen is setting up is absolutely wonderful.

FEAR ITSELF, YOU DIDN’T THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY THE END, DID YOU? (Marvel Comics)

Seriously, it is actually illegal to have an event without some kind of fallout, and so you knew that The Fearless was going to happen. Sure, it could be just another fallout book. OR it could be a book where the new Red Skull and Valkyrie face off, written by Matt Fraction, Chris Yost and Cullen Bunn! And drawn by Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier! Yes, that is right: this book has insane talent coming out of it, and if you liked Fear Itself you’ll probably want to check it out. The consequences from Fear Itself as they happen to the bulk of Marvel‘s heroes will take place in Aftermath: Battle Scars, but this looks to be a globetrotting Indiana Jones-esque adventure story and doesn’t that sound cool?

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.