As I’m entering the final month of my employment at Wizard’s Comics, I’ve finally been forced to look at the comics on the shelves and figure out what I actually want to read for the first time in a long time. Without the need to read for the shop, I can keep things down to a relatively slim list of interest, rather than the larger swath I cut in order to taste test for a larger audience. What follows is a look at what I’m actually bringing home with me this week. It’s not an indictment of any comics, so much as it’s a refined focus on the things that bring me joy specifically. To the side, you’ll see the full list of what I’m bring home. Below, I’ll be taking a look at a few things in specific detail.

Now, this isn’t (just) an excersize in self-importance - we want to hear what YOU’RE most anticipated reads are this week. Click here for the complete list, and either write a comment there, here or hit us up at Twitter @blogaboutcomics or @variantedmonton!

ANGELA: ASGARD’S ASSASSIN #1

This is coming home for two reasons. The first? I’m pretty much in the bag for Guardians of the Galaxy right now. I have been since… ooooh, Annihilation: Conquest started up quite a few years back, and lead to the formation of the team that you see in the movie. One of my recent joys has been sharing that content with my wife, and watching with glee as she gets deeper and deeper into the team. At this point, she’s read far more GotG content than I have, and that makes me smile. So awesome.

Anyway, the Angela character briefly appeared in the regular GotG book as part of the team before she cycled out into the Thor family of books where it was revealed that she was Thor and Loki’s long lost sister. Now, the hyper talented Kieron Gillen and Marguerite Bennett are taking on the character in a new solo series with Phil Jimenez and Stephanie Hans. Those talents by themselves would get me to check out a book. Them attaching their names to a character I was already interested in getting to know better is just gravy.

COMICS JOURNAL READER VOL 9: THE ZAP INTERVIEWS

A couple of weeks ago, Fantagraphics released a big slipcase filled with everything you’d want regarding Zap Comics. Zap was a title from the height of underground comics that made folks like Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton names at the forefront of the mind. It’s a seminal part of comics history, and as a student of the medium, I’m always looking to expand my knowledge of where the industry has been, and where it’s going, so I’m eagerly awaiting to sink my teeth into this collection.

ESSENTIAL KURTZMAN VOL 1: THE JUNGLE BOOK

Speaking of seminal works in comics, the past few years have been a treasure trove for those of us who have been waiting to get their hands on the work of great masters from times gone by. This series from Dark Horse will certainly be no exception. Along with collected works like the complete Eightball (coming out soon), and Zap, and the EC Comics Library Fantagraphics has been putting out, Dark Horse has been punctuating with titles like this. Harvey Kurtzman is one of the greats, and to finally get to experience a wider range of his work is quite exciting to me. Can’t wait to crack this sucker open.

PICK OF THE WEEK: JUST THE TIPS HC

Chip Zdarsky and Matt Fraction team up to deliver a book filled with dubious sex tips, poorly written erotica, and a myriad of other hilarious and mortifying things. Based off that alone, you already know whether you want this collection or not. So I’m just going to let that be.

WOLF MOON #1

I’m very interested in what Cullen Bunn has to say over at Vertigo. His work for hire stuff is consistently entertaining, but his creator owned work (or work on non-superhero characters in general) is always far and away some of the best comics I’ve read - so I’m very interested to see what he has to offer. Plus, this book has werewolves. So.