As always, “Five & Three” brings you my favorite things in comics this week. Every week I pick my five favorite covers and three favorite panels to create “Five & Three”. I like to talk about why I picked the covers and panels and welcome hecklers and trend setters alike.
Let’s start off the week in a hurry with the cover everyone is expecting, “Saga” #20 by Fiona Staples. I tried to fit in some of her panels this week but they were either to spoilerific or contained too much nudity. So, enjoy some wonderful Staples cover instead of wonderful Staples panels.
Next up is a really trippy cover for “Bad Dreams” #3 from Gary Winnick. Red 4 comics may not be the biggest publisher but they sure have some great stuff. If you’re shy with this one, go give “Atomic Robo” a try.
BOOM! Studios continues to put out great stuff. Look for some words from me on their new Cartoon Network book “Gumball” from their KABOOM! Imprint. For now though, check out this cool cover from “Deceivers” #6 by Jose Holder.
I’m enjoying “C.O.W.L.” so far but we’re only in two issues at this point. What I like the most about the series has got to be the covers. This is another amazing cover that pops right off the shelf. I’m always drawn to the image books because their covers look great.
How about another Image Comics cover brought to you by the great people behind “Peter Panzerfaust”? Issue #19 is another home run by Kurtis J. Weibe. Tyler Jenkins on art duties never disappoints. This is my second favorite book by Weibe though because “Rat Queens” holds a special place in my heart.
Onto the panels and first up at bat is the obligatory panel from the new Robert Kirkman book. Most of the readers will have expected something to show up but I’m not going for the crazy horror panels where a 10 year old eats his fingers and barfs demons… Instead of the obvious and spoilerific panels I went with this gorgeous and serene panel. Paul Azaceta sets up the serenity very nicely. The horror hammers home better after the palette cleanser and Azaceta’s cleanser is mighty tasty. It’s just barely summer and he made me nostalgic for the fall.
Oh Dan Slott, you’re so funny. Hanging the lantern for fans who complained about Spock’s dialogue all throughout “Superior Spider-Man” in issue #3 of “The Amazing Spider-Man” was funny. To some fans it was “REALfunny”…
Last for the week is Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, and FCO Plascencia making us all drool with anticipation for the final issue of “Zero Year”. This issue, #32, is the penultimate one and it does not disappoint. Each part of this creative team literally breathes life into a character that we all love but they make it seem familiar even though it’s new. They make The Batman seem fresh even though the character is celebrating his 75th year anniversary. I also think that colorists getting their due over at DC is something to celebrate so a tip of the hat to FCO Plascencia. Your colors bring us all joy and we’re glad you’re being credited like you should.
That’s it for the week. If you disagree with a pick, let me know in the comments or on Twitter @MarkAvo or on Instagram @TheMarkAvo. If you think I should’ve picked something else or if you have a pick in mind for next week, give me a shout out and let me know. If you’d like to check out more “Five and Three” comic book moments start with “Five and Three” from last week staring Geekshow Podcast’s Shannon Barnson. If you’d like more of me yammering on about art you can check me out on video with my buddies from the Salt City Strangers doing the deviantArt Podcast right here. Until next week, keep on shining no matter who you are because you’re a shiny person who reads articles by shiny robots.