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

First up, I apologize for skipping out on last week’s list. If you’re looking for excuses, I have them, but they’re not becoming of an aspiring professional. You want to write for a living? Folks could generally give a shit about the bad things that may or may not have happened to you - they just care that they have a hole in their schedule, and that you caused it. So let’s not do that again, shall we? Onwards.

BLACK SCIENCE #1 (Image Comics)

Rick Remender makes his long awaited return to creator owned comics with this title, exploring the idea of “black magic” through a scientific lens. A former member of The Anarchistic Order of Scientists has figured out how to work some black science, and has punched a hole through the barriers of reality. As you can guess, things go incredibly well.

Remender has always been at his best and brightest when he’s been working on his own projects, and while his Marvel output lately has been great, I’m far more excited to see him cut well and truly loose in a world under his completely control. The last time this happened, we got books like Fear Agent (the ending of which is still one of the best comics I’ve ever read), and paired with Matteo Scalera (one of his many artists on Secret Avengers) and Dean White (the stunning colourist on his Uncanny X-Force), this title stands a chance to be even better than that - which is high praise indeed.

THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED #1 (IDW Publishing)

This series is one of the many I have yet to experience - and now, thanks to IDW, I’m getting a chance to try it out.

The Maxx was originally an ongoing series published through Image - specifically their Wildstorm devision. When Wildstorm moved from Image to DC several years ago, so did the collected editions. Over the years, as DC has moved further and further away from fostering creator owned content, focusing on their own brand, these volumes have fallen out of print. It was a shame, because right as I decided I might want to explore the series, I couldn’t get access to it. Until now.

The story follows The Maxx across two planes of reality - a world recognizably like our own, where he is a homeless man living in a box, and the Outback, where he’s the heroic Maxx, guardian of that world’s jungle princess. That’s a pretty strange concept to start with, and knowing Sam Kieth, it probably gets weirder from there. I know I’m game to try it out, at least - and quite a few of my file customers are urging me on. We’ll see how this grand experiment turns out shortly.

AVENGERS ARENA #18 (Marvel Comics)

How does it all end? I’ve been champing at the bit to finally see this series end, not because it’s a bad book, but because I want to see how it all comes together in the end. The series itself has been rife with twists and turns, deaths arriving only to be overturned (because: super hero comics, you guys!), alliances formed only to be shuddered quite violently. Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker have built things to a fever pitch here, so much so that this will be the first comic that I read this week. And you guys: a new Hawkeye is out this week. Speaking of which…

HAWKEYE #14 (Marvel Comics)

Has it been a while? Yes, yes it has - but from the look of the solicitations, things look to be settling into a monthly schedule. I’m thankful for this - waiting more than four weeks for a new issue of this book is beginning to hurt a little - but I begrudge the extra time this series takes when we get issues like… well, like every issue of Hawkeye, really. Did you know they have a sign language issue coming up in February? That’s a thing that’s going to happen. And in this issue, we’re getting our second taste of Kate hanging out on the west coast with Lucky, solving some crimes straight Rockford style. (Side note: James Garner was a swag looking motherfucker. Watch any episode of The Rockford Files for proof of this.)

Annie Wu (who put together those amazing romance covers in the pages of this comic in the issue entitled “Cherry”) is now taking care of Kate’s stories, allowing Aja to focus on a more manageable deadline. I’m excited to see the results of this back-and-forth, and whatever end game will eventually result. As for now? I’m just glad this will mean we still get a high quality comic book at a more frequent pace. What’s not to love?

PRETTY DEADLY #2 (Image Comics)

You have no idea how hard it is to push past my impulse of writing “this book is pretty deadly” and just leaving things at that. NO IDEA.

The second issue of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios’ amazing revenge western comic hits the stands this week along with a second printing of the first issue. All those who missed out on the first round now have a chance to read this great, atmospheric read - a perfect companion title for those who are just coming back to comics with Neil Gaiman’s return to Sandman (and you better believe I am hand-selling the hell out of this book to those customers). I know James and I are waiting patiently. Or, you know, we will be if this week’s comics actually ship to our region on time. God dammit.

These are some 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.