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.

GHOST #1 (Dark Horse)

The original Ghost was, I dunno, a series that existed. I don’t know much, if anything, about it. I think the lead character was a ghost. Blessedly, Dark Horse’s revival and reboot of the series has been its own beast entirely, a modern noir about crime, supernatural murder and the disgraced or downtrodden fighting for a voice. The first revival miniseries came to an open end, with the discovery of the titular hero’s past, setting up a jumping-on point for more adventures. This is the beginning of those adventures.

After all, one villain might be down, but Chicago is still corrupt, there are still bad people, and the heroes are still working through some stuff. The title doesn’t just name the character, but describe that ethereal, sinking feeling of despair at the world, while presenting an optimistic fight against all that. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Christopher Sebela and Ryan Sook are premiere creators being given a wide berth to get weird and tell some stories. That’s always something to check out.

MIDAS FLESH #1 (Boom!)

Hey, you know that Adventure Time comic? You know how it is a constant delight that seems as indispensable as its source material? And you know how its creative team - Ryan North, Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline - work perfectly in sync to tell smart, fun stories? Well hey, they’ve got a new series and it is nutter butters insane.

Midas Flesh takes the classic story of King Midas and uses it as a jumping off point for crazy sci-fi. The original story of King Midas has always carried a level of stark horror, the idea that this simple, selfish wish could turn into something awful and threatening, that one’s most heartfelt desire could be poisonous. Take that, kids!

This series extrapolates the mechanics of the Midas touch (an entire planet consumed by a terrible wish) and the themes (oh god noooooooooooooooo), in a classically sci-fi way. There are spaceships and space archeologists, and maybe even a space dinosaur. There’s an evil empire. It’s a fun extension of the universality of those old stories, and the adaptability of current genres to let loose with weird, fun ideas. Also, it’s existentially terrifying.

PRETTY DEADLY #3 (Image)

What’s that? Another Kelly Sue DeConnick comic out today? (Hint, there’s actually another one, too.) Well, that’s always an occasion to celebrate, and when that comic is Pretty Deadly, that rule only doubles. DeConnick‘s series with Emma Rios, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles is creepy, elegant and viscerally violent, drawing inspiration from ghost stories, fairy tales and spaghetti westerns while melding those influences into something that feels unique. It’s easy to see the Leone influences here, for example, especially in the way Rios alternates extreme close-ups and wide, gorgeous shots in her panels, but the Man With No Name never felt like this. This is new.

In short, it’s possibly my favourite new comic, with tales of a wild west that borders another plane entirely. It’s got big, easily iconic-looking characters representing different philosophies and archetypes and provides beautiful ways for them to crash into each other and draw blood. This is a must-read comic. You absolutely must read this comic.

TEEN TITANS GO! #1 (DC)

Amidst the Things That Are Happening(tm) of The New 52, a significant bright spot for DC in 2013 has been its digital-first offerings, which are varied in style and tone - exactly what a line of comics should be. Among the line, one of the newer offerings is exceptionally promising: Teen Titans GO!

Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprise for people who have fallen in love with the show, which blends whimsy, action, humour, musical numbers and a shockingly callous attitude towards life. In short, it’s amazing, and given that the previous Teen Titans series it’s based on had its own excellent comic (confusingly, also called Teen Titans GO!), it should be no surprise that this one is great, too.

In short: Sholly Fisch, Merrill Hagan, Ben Bates and Jorge Corona capture the spirit of the series in sequential art - the bright colours, the visual humour and background sight gags, the Loony Tunes-esque exaggeration - slap an amazing Dan Hipp cover on it and call it a day. There is a pizza monster. It is amazing.

THE WAKE, PART 1 (TPB) (Vertigo)

With The Wake, it’s impossible to feel like you’ve got your feet safely on solid earth. On one hand, it’s because this is a story that takes place at the bottom of the ocean, in the water, where it’s literally impossible for the characters to safely put their feet on solid earth. Of course, far more holistically, that feeling of instability and fright is the series’ bread and butter. Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy are constantly changing the direction of the book without harming its fundamental premise, that of an undersea “research” station being menaced by an ancient marine evil.

The metatrope with horror stories is that they always hit the same beats. Best friend bites it, macguffin, whittled down one by one, etc. The Wake is constantly upsetting those tropes, carving its own niche and refusing easy category. It’s a lot of different ideas weaving together to keep the reader guessing, and because of that, it’s even scarier. Add to that Snyder‘s taste for myth-making and Murphy‘s brutal, slashing art, and this collection of its first arc is something that you should probably buy for someone on your Christmas list. Hint, hint.

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.