After signing up for Jinxworld I soon found how addicting some threads known as ‘megathreads’ could be.  Essentially megathreads are casual threads where a certain group regularly meet and talk, like you would with a group of friends at a bar or at a restaurant.  One of these ‘megathreads’ was one centred around DC comics and at that time seemed to be the only place that company’s comics were discussed which did make sense since Jinxworld was a fan message board of a Marvel writer.  In that thread I met so many nice people and got to reading so many comics I previously would not have dreamed of trying that I will always have fond memories of it.  I was basically a new start to the ‘proper’ DCU and they welcomed me with open arms and providing fantastic conversation about comics and other matters.  Most of the people who made the thread truly great are sadly no longer posting as like with many things life and other things get in the way.  There are a select few who are a solid group but the heyday of the thread is well and truly gone and it may sound sad but it does get me down a bit.  Once of the best people I met who does still remain was Andrew Goletz who I would learn after a few months was the same Mr. Goletz who wrote the ‘Life Of Reilly’ articles I mentioned last week, talk about a small world.  Like me Andrew was a huge Spider-Man fan and we started a connection with that and soon discovered we got along very well.

It was like any other day in the DCU thread when Andrew suddenly asked who would be interested in a ‘fun, one time only’ comic anthology centred around the theme of hope.  Perhaps he had a brief moment of insanity, was drunk or was being blackmailed but it was a crazy offer most of us seemed too good to pass up.  Most of us bit his hands off and so the Gathering (name courtesy of future art director John Coker I believe) was born.  The rules were simple; you write two pages on hope and just go for it.  I was excited and waited to see who I would get as an artist for what would be my first ever printed comic story.  By luck I would get a great artist in Brent Peeples who some of you may know from the Image series ‘Last of the Greats’.  To my shame I didn’t know his name right away but after some quick research (Google) I found out this guy could draw the phone book and make it look great.  I knew immediately what I wanted to go with my story and got to writing it.  Like I said last week I never really had much ‘training’ or ‘learning’ when it came to creative writing but comic scripts are written in a specific way and I learnt how to write them simply by reading other examples.  In the modern day of comics most collections come with special features like a movie would be and they may take the form of sketches or covers but another extra included is the script.  Thanks to my sizable collection and the internet I read many different writers scripts to try and see what suited my own style best.  I soon learned there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to write a comic script as nearly every writer did theirs differently.  Some went overkill on the detail and others took a very laid back approach.  I chose to take elements from several writers like JMS and Neil Gaiman and incorporate them with my own style and that evolved into how I write my scripts today.  I also got great tips from fellow editors and Gathering contributors James O’Callaghan and Erica Heflin.  In fact there was an element in Erica’s script I liked so much I soon incorporated in to all my future scripts (with permission of course) so thanks Erica!

So I knew how to write a script it was just what to write about was the question.  I had an idea several months previously of a novel about the survivors of a post-apocalyptic world that had survived an alien invasion and some already worked out the first few chapters and characters.  I decided to adapt a portion of the prologue into the two page story and adjust it somewhat so that that despite their near extinction hope remained in the spirit of the human race.  The final image was something I had in my mind when I first passed the idea by Brent and without telling him what it was he said ‘hey it would be cool if there was a baby born at the end’ and I was like ‘Yes!   I thought that too’ It was a great experience.  So the story was drawn and the volume was printed and the story looked amazing.  Brent knocked it out of the park and then we all knew he was going places.  On my part the story was perhaps too heavy on dialogue and images but Brent sold it and made me look much better than I was which the job of any artist is really.

Vol. 1 sold well and got a lot of critical acclaim and it was because a lot of the stories were bloody good.  Most of us had only been published in this volume alone but the quality of the whole thing was so high it got the attention of creators like Gail Simone and magazines such as Wired.  Then Andrew (after another night on the booze no doubt) said ‘hey let’s do another one.’  Success grew and more eyes were drawn to us and two volumes became three which became six and then we were doing one shots and then we were going to go monthly and it just kept growing and growing.  The Gathering and GrayHaven gave something back to the industry I feel by giving those who perhaps did not have a chance to be published room to show off their work.  It was a high risk to sell a comic with no big names involved but I feel it paid off as we got some of the best hidden talent in comics doing stories for us on both sides of the page.  In the first volume alone we had two creative teams that just clicked to an amazing degree.  In comics when a creative team clicks it shows and it goes all the way back to Stan and Jack but GrayHaven had their own great teams in their first try with the duos of Ray Goldfield and Kent Holle and Doug Hahner and Donal DeLay.  These teams worked so well together I wanted more from them immediately and the latter team’s story was so popular it won a poll for best story in the first two volumes allowing them to work on a one shot entitled ‘My Geek Family’ comic this year.

We had a bit of a dark horse on our hands and more opportunities to do stories came my way.  I pride myself on being able to beat any deadline to bits and although I may not be the best Gathering writer I wanted to be the most dependable.  My next story came in Vol. 3 of the anthology simply titled heroes.  Although we were doing well people assumed we were going to the familiar comic genre of superheroes too soon so the comic took a little while to get going in comparison to Vol. 1 and 2.  In truth Vol. 3 looked at heroes in many different forms be they policemen or firemen or even family members.  Only two stories off the top of my head actually featured super heroes and one of them was mine.  Sadly I’ve interacted with one of my former comic writing idols in the past and got personally insulted by that person.  It wasn’t a pleasant experience and I won’t dwell on it but I wondered how someone who idolized a superhero would feel if their hero wasn’t all that great?  The story ‘My Day With Commander Cosmo’ was born and I attempted to make it funny.  Comedy is hard to write and deliver as people’s sense of humour is so subjective but I knew if I could make at least SOME of the audience laugh I could stand proud.  I got another lucky draw with artist Nathan Lee James who was brilliant at doing close up expressions similar to legendary artist Kevin Maguire and again he made the story that much better.  One of my favourite things he did was when I had made the joke in the story that Commander Cosmo met the boy in the story by mistakenly flying smack dab into a lamppost.  Something Nathan did was set up that joke several pages earlier by showing the bent lamppost in the background and it worked brilliantly and I thought ‘damn I should have thought of that!’  Nathan had added to the story and made it better which is an invitation I regularly make to artists but most of them don’t follow and here it was done very well.  I worked with Nathan on another Commander Cosmo story parodying the time where Superman renounced his citizenship and again he knocked it out of the park.  I hope to work with him again one day and hope he finds the success he deserves.

The next volume I worked on was Vol. 6 which was the second instalment of Horror the Gathering had offered.  The first volume had been so popular critically and financially Andrew not only decided to do two sequels but also do a Horror on-going entitled ‘Tales Of The Abyss’ which would feature fewer but longer stories than the Gathering and basically would be Grayhaven’s flagship book.  Again I turned to several novels I had generated ideas from and one was a horror themed story entitled ‘The Station’ about a crew who go to investigate the status of a missing crew following weeks without contact.  As opposed to Vol. 1 where I merely took the prologue of one story I basically crammed a whole novel into 5 pages.  There is a long history to the production of this story I won’t go into here but it eventually was drawn by David Aspmo who delivered it quickly and brilliantly.  When the book came out some websites had picked mine as one of the highlights (along with pro Sterling Gates unbelievably in one case) which knocked my socks off.  Speaking impartially Vol. 6 is a brilliant comic from start to finish so for my story to be held in that regard was a highlight to me.

Just before we went to print on Vol. 6 another change was happening to GrayHaven.  Things were getting so big that Andrew could no longer do it alone.  I had volunteered for some minor help here and there but never really thought much of it.  A few weeks before Vol. 6 went to print Andrew e-mailed me and asked if I liked to be an editor on the Gathering.  Although I had wanted to write comics for a long time editing them was something that had never crossed my mind.  Would I be any good?  Would I let Andrew down?  He had done so much for me and I feared that I would let him down; in all honesty I still fear that on a daily basis.  Despite this I found myself saying yes.  Now I had scripts to edit, rules to enforce, art to approve, artists to recruit and basically do anything Andrew wanted me to which ranged from making the tea and settling problems.  The first Volume I edited was Vol. 8 the sci-fi volume.  This was like a crash course in editing as some of this book had already been approved so I was just to come along and keep the plates spinning.  Well the plates kept spinning and some crashed to the ground as daily I worked on the great beast which was the Sci-fi volume to make sure it didn’t all go horribly wrong.  I have more than a few funny stories about this one which I’ll save for now but it was a memorable time.  I then immediately had to edit the following Volume ‘Fairy Tales’ which I came in at square one so thankfully had more control over.  Less smashing plates on this one but still lots to learn and I like to think I did an okay job.  Sci-fi is on sale now (buy it on this very site!) with Fairy Tales to follow next month (buy on this very site!) so I must have done something right.  I am now currently editing the third (and final) Gathering Horror volume before the Tales anthology launches.  Glad I’m not editing that one (wait….I am?) in all seriousness it’s another experience beyond anything I’d ever dared dream and I hope I do more good than harm.  In my brief career as an editor I like to claim all the good things and blame all the bad things on someone else (joking of course….except not really).

Back to writing!  The next volume I was involved with writing wise was Vol. 7 the ‘Myth’ volume.  By now the Gathering was running a lot of stuff and we couldn’t wait around for stories any longer.  People now expected us to act like a real company and produce comics when we said we would produce them (its insanity!) so rules regarding deadlines were made stricter.  One rule made was that if the art on the story was late the whole story would get cut without exception.  One of the early causalities to this rule was my Myth story.  I had started to write my scripts well in advance (just completed my first two 2013 scripts the other day, huzzah!) so I often don’t know who I’m going to be working with art wise considering I like to keep a year ahead writing wise.  My artist on the Myth story failed to meet deadline or the one after that or the one following that.  My story was scrapped which is a shame because I was quite fond of it.  Still the security of the company and the future of GrayHaven is more important than my story so I didn’t cry or protest.  It’s one of those things and while I hope that one day the story sees print I 100% support Andrew’s decision and wouldn’t ask him to change it for anything.

Still I haven’t ended up too badly as I have stories coming up in Fairy Tales, Horror 3, Adventure, Mystery, Dark, Young Reader’s among others.  I’m beginning to think the one spiking Andrew’s drink is myself but I will neither confirm or deny it.  On one day where I made the dose especially high (oops) he also told me something that would change possibly everything.  I was getting my own one shot and I could tell whatever story I wanted.  The opportunity blew me away and I was puzzled as to why I deserved it.  I hadn’t won a poll like Doug and Donal and to me there are probably more deserving people.  Still I wasn’t going to turn him down (I have done on other things for the record like the idiot I am) and so the opportunity to publish Sparks, an idea I came up with close to ten years ago becomes more of a reality with each passing day.  Then Andrew said he wanted Cassandra James who had only previously worked on Gathering stories with Gail Simone and Sterling Gates to draw it and she said yes.  After breathing in a brown paper bag for a few minutes I just found myself being amazed by how things had developed in such a short space of time.  Sparks in scheduled to be published in September, a mere 6 months from my typing this and that day will be both one of the strangest and the best in my life.  I don’t care if one person reads or one million this idea has been with me longer than most and I can’t wait to see it all come to life.  A year ago I would not have believed you if you told me any of these things were possible and it all results from a series of wonderful coincidences.

I do find it strange that there are so many little things that have brought me to where I am.  A cartoon on a black and white TV, trying out a new Spider-man title by a new writer on a whim, reading the right articles, signing up to a message board and posting in one specific thread, saying yes.  One little thing, one different choice and I may not be here typing these words.  I am a big believer in fate and if you read the stories of many successful people their success often derives from a series of chance decisions that could have easily led them down a different path.  I do not think I am successful but I’m very proud of what I’ve done so far and I’m very proud to be a part of GrayHaven and what it stands for.  I may not be the best writer but I like to think that with a mix of dependability and good stories I’m a valuable contributor.  All I can do is write the stories and hope that someone enjoys them when they are printed.  I’ve learnt some lessons, made some friends and had a dream come true.  No matter what happens I doubt I will ever forget that feeling of receiving Vol. 1 in the mail and seeing my name on the back and inside that comic.  That moment to me was priceless and for that I am forever grateful.  I’ve lived the life of an Irish fanboy but I have a long while to go yet.  This time last year I would not have believed my position now only 52 weeks later.  What will next year or next month or even tomorrow hold?  Time will tell.

I just hope you’re all along for the ride.  See you at the finish line.

* Thanks to Andrew Goletz for inviting me to write something for the site and for doing more and putting up with me more than anyone ever should.  Thanks to those of you who read these very lengthy articles.  Thanks to my friends at Jinxworld, the real ones and you guys know who you are.  Thanks to everyone who supports Grayhaven, please continue to do so I know some of the stuff coming up and you won’t regret doing so.

Ed Note: It’s been particularly interesting to me watching people who worked on our earliest volumes just two years ago hone their craft and get better and better. Glenn is not just a talented writer. He’s a work horse. Driven by a desire to be perfect he is always open to suggestions on how to improve and as an editor has gone above and beyond in enforcing deadlines and sometimes stepping outside the lines for the betterment of the books. Above all though, he’s a great guy. There are a lot of talented people in the industry and I think we’re finding quite a few ourselves here in the pages of The Gathering.  But Glenn is also just a nice person. One who wears his passion on his sleeve and always steps up to help someone else. Anyone else. It’s been a pleasure to see him recap his personal journey here the past year and I can’t wait to get back to creating more comics with him.

RAY GOLDFIELD/Editor:

DANGER CLUB #2/Image – Landry Walker and Eric Jones, the creative team behind popular kids’ comic “Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade”, deliver a much darker take on kids with superpowers in this compelling new series that asks “What if the most powerful people left on Earth were all teenagers?”. In the aftermath of a crisis that took the Earth’s heroes out of commission, the teenage sidekicks find themselves with a world to protect in this post-apocalyptic superhero take on Lord of the Flies.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #9/DC – Jim Lee returns to the DCU’s new flagship book, and he brings with him the promise of a major new adversary for the league and an expanded roster, including Flashpoint fan favorite Element Woman and returning-from-limbo Atom Ryan Choi. The first arc by Johns and Lee was blockbuster superhero action of the best sort, pitting the just-formed Big Seven League against Darkseid. It would make a pretty good template for a JL movie, and I’m hoping this second arc follows in that direction.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS #3/Image – Easily the strangest concept for any major comic on the stands right now, and also one of the best reads, this post-WW2 sci-fi thriller is Jonathan Hickman in his element. Fusing real-world scientific legends like Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer with a world-spanning conspiracy thriller and some truly out-there sci-fi action, Hickman and his frequent collaborator Nick Pitarra are delivering something truly unique.

THE SHADE #8/DC – Jill Thompson joins James Robinson for this special “Times Past” issue of the Shade, as Richard Swift delves deep into his family history. This has been one of the biggest surprises of the new DCU, as Robinson has been delivering a deep, involved saga spanning generations with some great new characters and art by some of the best people in the field. This is a book that has struggled to find an audience in singles, but any fans of Starman or The Golden Age owe it to themselves to jump on board and catch up with Robinson’s latest magnum opus.

THE SHADOW #2/Dynamite – Dynamite has been having something of a renaissance recently, with very strong pulp debuts from David Liss on the Spider, and Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell on Pulp legend The Shadow. As one might expect from Ennis, he doesn’t sanitize the character at all, bringing him back to his violent pre-WW2 roots. The book is tense, creepy, and maybe a bit politically incorrect at points. And all together, it adds up to one of the best crime books on the stands so far.

ANDREW GOLETZ/Editor:

THE ACTIVITY #6/Image- Nathan Edmondson and Marc Laming offer up a flashback issue detailing what life was like for one of the team before they became involved. This book has been absolutely stellar. Fans of games like Modern Warfare would enjoy this take on the evolution of global warfare

CATWOMAN #9/DC- The book was met with controversy in its first issue for showing the sexuality of the title character who’s used sexuality to help achieve her goals for ages in comics, tv and film. Those critics missed the point and fans that passed on this title have been missing out on DC’s best book not written by Scott Snyder…a crime/heist/super hero hybrid that also happens to feature a strong independent female lead. This issue also ties into the big ‘Night of the Owls’ story.

DANCER #1/Image- The second Nathan Edmondson title to chart for me this week. Illustrated by Nic Klein, Dancer tells the story of a ‘retired’ assassin and his ballerina companion who are stalked by a sniper through the streets of Milan. Edmondson knows mystery and intrigue and this book is sure to please.

DANGER CLUB #2/Image- What if all the super heroes in the world suddenly disappeared after leaving the Earth to battle some great threat. Now only their young sidekicks remain. Violent, intense super-heroics presented in a way that I haven’t seen before.  By Landry Walker and Eric Jones

JUSTICE LEAGUE #9/DC- How do you tell an exciting super hero team comic that will sell boatloads? Put the most popular and classic members of the team and have two of the most popular creators work on the book. Jim Lee returns to art duties this issue that also expands the team roster. This is how you tell ‘big budget’ super hero comic stories.

MARC LOMBARDI/Editor:

BIRDS OF PREY #9/DC – I love that Duane Swierczynski has not only taken characters I normally wouldn’t have cared about and created with them one of my favorite comics, but he has also created a character (Starling) who is probably my favorite in the DCU. Yes, more than Superman. I KNOW!!!! This one is a Night of the Owls tie-in and we’re also going to learn more about the secret man in Black Canary’s past. Travel Foreman on art is a fantastic pairing.

DANCER #1/Image – Anything that Nathan Edmondson writes is an automatic read for me. The premise behind this series is that of a retired assassin and his ballerina counterpart trying to escape from a ruthless sniper, and it has “full of win” written all over it. With art by Nic Klein (VIKING), this is a spy thriller that is going to have me loving every moment. Between this series and The Activity (and what he was doing with Grifter), Edmondson is going to be the next really big name to come out of Image.

MONDO #2/Image – The legendary Ted McKeever is an acquired taste for some, both with this writing and his art. I missed out on so much of his stuff in the late 80s/early 90s but have loved virtually everything of his that I’ve come across (Eddy Current, Metropol, Meta 4) and Mondo is no different. Well, let me rephrase that because it certainly IS different. Following the exploits of a man named “Chicken$#it” who falls victim to the same mutagentic process that turned regular old chickens into what could be food for an army, the first issue gave us the origin of MONDO, a yellow hulking beast. This second issue of a three-issue oversized-format mini-series is a bundle of anticipated entertainment.

SAGA #3/Image – Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples are building a world that is part Firefly, part Star Wars and part Alice in Wonderland. The first two issues not only met but far exceeded my already sky-high expectations. The gorgeous art (especially the vivid color pallate) and the snappy dialogue have so far made this series so damn fun and visually spectacular that I can’t imagine being let down by a single issue. This issue finds our heroes amidst a village of mutant ghost teens who may or may not hold the key to helping Marko survive his wounds from the previous issue.

WONDER WOMAN #9/DC – The fact that this new version of Wonder Woman is so deeply rooted in Mythology is the most appealing thing to me about this series. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are doing a masterful job of weaving a horror story in the guise of a superhero tale. With Wonder Woman in Hades (and seemingly dead as of last issue), I have no idea what to expect with this one. I almost wish that this and Birds of Prey came out in different weeks because it’s too much awesome to handle in one week.

GLENN MATCHETT/Editor:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ENDS OF THE EARTH/Marvel- How is Doc Ock’s master plan affecting the rest of the world? Find out here! I kind of bought this on a whim thinking it wouldn’t really factor into the main story too much but it had a great set up in the previous issue of Amazing so I’m sure it won’t disappoint. I’m curious to see a little international flair to the Marvel universe and what the heck Kangeroo is doing amongst it all.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #9/DC- Jim Lee returns to the flagship title and he’s bringing a brand new villain with him. In this new arc the Justice League face off against a new foe who we’ve seen mentioned since (I believe without checking) issue 3 or 4 in the ‘back up’ segments of Justice League. I’ll be interested to see where this is all going and what exactly writer Geoff Johns is building up to here. Been enjoying this book a lot, just pure fun on a big epic scale and to me that’s exactly what a Justice League title should be.

JAMES O’CALLAGHAN/Editor:
DANCER #1/Image – Nathan Edmundson has been doing some great work recently, between his other creator-owned comic, The Activity (also at Image) and his now finished run on DC’s Grifter. So his new series about a retired assassin and his ballerina companion sounds like something I just don’t want to miss.

DAREDEVIL #13/Marvel – Daredevil is going to pop up on my list a lot. To the point where even on the weeks it’s not out I’ll like start each choice with “BUY DAREDEVIL!”. But it’s a comic that’s worth annoying people about. Mark Waid is crafting the most fun run Daredevil has had in, god, I don’t even know how long, without ignoring recent runs and also without caving to the belief that to make Daredevil a readable comic, Matt Murdock must be miserable 24/7.

FANTASTIC FOUR #605.1/Marvel – I’m not a fan of the .1 comics. I think most of them have missed the point of what they’re supposed to (and can) accomplish more often than not, been horribly placed between issues of story arcs and in general just been really bad issues of otherwise brilliant comic runs. But even saying that, Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four is a series that makes me excited for a comic I’d otherwise be worried about reading. I don’t think he’s written a bad Fantastic Four (or FF) comic yet. I don’t see him starting now.

SHADOW #2/Dynamite – I’m not too familiar with the original run of The Shadow, having only ever seen the character in the 90‘s movie, but even I thought Garth Ennis would be an odd fit for this considering his tendency to get a little weird and violent with anything superhero related. Surprisingly though the first issue of this new series was a lot of fun and from what I can gather, very much in line with what the character should be like.

WINTER SOLDIER #5/Marvel – When Captain America was taken over by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting in 2005, Cap went from a character I could only stand in secondary roles to being the comic I awaited most each month. Now, while I still love Bru’s current Cap, it’s former sidekick Bucky’s series that gets me most excited. Bru has made Bucky one of the most exciting characters to come out of Marvel in a long time, and made him and Black Widow one of the most enjoyable couples in superhero comics. Also, Monkeys with big guns! MONKEYS WITH BIG GUNS!!!

And that’ll do it for another week. Looks like JUSTICE LEAGUE #9 and DANCER #1 are the books the team agrees on the most with SHADOW #2 and DANGER CLUB #2 also getting multiple mentions. Enjoy your comic day, let us know what you think in the comments section and see you next week.

Fill up that comments section, folks.

Ray Goldfield/Editor:

BATMAN #9 (DC) – Night of the Owls has justifiably propelled Batman to the very top of the DC charts, and this huge-scale Gotham crossover is just getting started. This issue is one of the core chapters, by event architect Scott Snyder, and will likely have a lot of major reveals and action. On the surface, Gotham coming under attack by Owl-themed Zombie cultists may not sound like the perfect Batman story, but so far it’s been the highlight of the entire New 52.

FAIREST #3 (Vertigo) – Fables has really been finding its groove again lately, with a strong storyline in the main book and this new spin-off. Bill Willingham has tied together multiple mythologies including Arabian Nights, Sleeping Beauty, and the Snow Queen in this first arc beautifully illustrated by Phil Jiminez. For anyone who’s fallen out of the Fablesverse, this arc is a great place to jump back on.

GARFIELD #1 (Boom) – This may have hit some of your stores last week, but a Diamond issue means it’ll be coming to many areas on Wednesday. And that just means I get another chance to try to convince you all to pick this up. Written by Mark Evanier, the writer of the Saturday Morning Cartoon Garfield and Friends, it’s likely to be a fun callback to the days when Garfield wasn’t all about Coffee and Spiders. I, for one, can’t wait to see what adventures America’s favorite fat, lazy cat gets up to with Evanier at the helm.

MYSTERY IN SPACE #1 (Vertigo) – The third of Vertigo’s oversized Anthologies, after Strange Adventures and The Unexpected, these have always been a mixed bag with some amazing stories. Some of the most talented creators in comics, including Mike Allred, Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, and Andy Diggle tell original sci-fi stories, and it definitely looks worth picking up.

PUNISHER #11(Marvel) – Greg Rucka has been writing what may be the best 616 run on Punisher ever. This issue, picking up after the events of The Omega Sanction, is a done-in-one focusing on Punisher and his new “protege” Rachel Cole, who played a key part in the crossover. Rucka is pulling off something few other writers have – managing to tell a gritty, crime-centric Punisher story in the superhero-filled environs of the mainstream Marvel U.

Marc Lombardi/Editor:

BATMAN #9 – (DC)-It’s been a very long time since a Batman comic was one of my most anticipated DC titles month in and month out, but Scott Snyder has done just that. I’m really interested to see how Night of the Owls impacts the entirety of the new DCU or even just the Batman family, even if I’m not picking up every single issue. I can especially appreciate DC’s approach to this mini-event by not making every tie-in required reading in order to stay informed on the overall plot.

DEMON KNIGHTS #9 (DC)- This has been a roller-coaster series in terms of emotional impact. It makes you laugh, it makes you think introspectively, it makes you cheer and it makes you sad. I’ve really grown to love and enjoy a number of these characters who I otherwise never heard of prior to this series’ reboot. I’m very interested to see where this title goes now that the first storyline has passed and the group, in a sense, has officially been formed.

MORNING GLORIES #18 (Image) – The “P.E.” storyline that deals with the events that took place during the “Woodrun” at Morning Glory Academy and the consequences of actions taken during the last few issues is drawing near to what is certainly going to be an epic conclusion. This issue looks to focus on Jun, the most secretive & mysterious of the “Glories” and possibly the biggest badass of the bunch. I wonder if there’s more to meet the eye with Jun and I bet this is the issue where we really learn something unexpected about our quiet, understated hero. Joe Eisma’s art, by the way, has been getting better and better with each passing issue.

SKULLKICKERS #14 (Image)- This is arguably one of Image Comics’ most underrated titles that is deserving of considerable praise. It’s probably page for page the most entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny comic being published today. Jim Zub & Edwin Huang have created characters and a D&D-style universe that is as hysterical as it is exciting. This particular issue promises to reveal the history of Baldy’s gun, and maybe even a little bit of Baldy’s origins, which after over a year we still know so little about. I love this comic and can’t wait to see what comedic twists and turns are in store!

THE WALKING DEAD #97 (Image)- Something to Fear! Something to Fear! SOMETHING TO FEAR!!! This is where it begins. This is the sort of thing that Robert Kirkman does extremely well, and that’s the comic book gut punch when you least expect it. I anticipate fantastic things over the nest four issues beginning with this one. Thank goodness it’s going on a schedule of a new issue being released every three weeks because I wouldn’t be able to contain my excitement otherwise. I’ve been waiting for this issue the way Marvel fans have been awaiting the Avengers movie (which was incredible, by the way)!

Glenn Matchett/Editor:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PARALLEL LIVES (Marvel)- I first read this OGN a number of years ago and enjoyed it a great deal. Opinions may very as how you feel about the Peter/MJ couple dynamic but if you’re a fan (like me) this is a must read. It gives a lot of background to both characters relationship and adds a lot of extra dimensions to the character of Mary Jane Watson. It’s by legendary Spider-Man writer Gerry Conway and previous regular Spidey artist Alex Saviek so if you’ve neer read this before and are a big Spidey fan I’d say its well worth checking out.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #7 (Marvel)- It seems like the title has turned into one featuring rotating creative teams but the talent they are bringing on board seems to be top notch. this month features a tale from husband and wife duo Katheryn and Stuart Immonen. This month Spider-Man shares his title with She-Hulk so I’m expecting a very light hearted tale with some great art by the former USM artist. The bar for Spidey/She-Hulk team ups was kind of raised with Dan Slott’s excellent team up between the two in She-Hulk’s former solo title but I don’t think this one will disappoint.

BATGIRL #9 (DC)- I’ve been enjoying this book a lot. It offers something very different from the Bat titles I usually enjoy because as we all know Barbara and Bruce are two very different people. There was a lot of controversy around this book and I think Gail Simone has made it into a very enjoyable title. This month the title ties in to the epic Night of Owls crossover. I’ll be very interested to see what Gail adds to this story and what kind of Talon will be featured. I’m assuming this Talon will be assigned to take out Barbara’s father Commissioner Gordon so if we get some father/daughter interaction all the better. Should be a really enjoyable tie in to a great story.

BATMAN #9 (DC)- Speaking of Night Of Owls the book that started it all continues its epic 11 part story as Bruce fights back against the Court Of Owls. The ending to last issue featuring the steam punk Batman armor was a fantastic moment and I can’t wait to see what happens next. This may be the best comic on the stands today and I literally can’t wait to see what this new chapter delivers.

James O’Callaghan/Editor:

BATMAN #9 (DC Comics) – Scott Snyder’s excellent (and in my opinion, best) take on Batman kicks into high gear as the long awaited Night of the Owls storyline continues. Unlike most huge stories, and even crossovers, this story seems like it’s going to be dealt with really quickly. No need to sit around for 6 months waiting to find out what happens over the course of 40 tie-in books. All you need is this book. The tie-in’s look promising, and are completely stand alone too, which is always nice. Snyder as usual proves that he knows what he’s doing here, and is crafting a very original tale for the Dark Knight. Something that after 70 years is very difficult to manage.

HIGHER EARTH #1 (BOOM! Studios) – I’ll be honest, I don’t know that much about this comic, but I try to give new first issues a shot. Sam Humphries is a name I’ve been hearing pop up a lot, partly due to his taking over Marvel’s Ultimate Comics Ultimates from Jonathon Hickman. This series from BOOM! is a sci-fi story dealing with two people trying to “find their destiny” while dealing with an empire of a hundred alternate earths from alternate timelines all dominated by the Higher Earth. The solicitations I’ve read sound fairly vague on specifics, but I think it sounds promising enough.

HULK #51 (Marvel) – Easily the best Hulk book on the stands right now, this run often gets overlooked because of the fact that it was born from a Jeph Loeb storyline. And unfair thing to start with because Loeb’s run was fun as hell. Jeff Parker’s run on the book has been pretty much consistent excellence though. And definitely shouldn’t be ignored. Right now, anyone looking for a book about a gamma irradiated monster smashing things thanks to the Avengers movie, this is it.

PUNISHER #11 (Marvel) – I love The Punisher, but I don’t think most writers do a good job of him in the regular Marvel universe. After reading Ennis’s Punisher MAX, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever be able to take the character seriously in a solo book in the regular Marvel Universe ever again. The book was just perfect. Then Greg Rucka started his run and has been blowing me away ever since (doesn’t hurt that he killed off a Spider-Man villain I loathed fairly early on too). Future Punisher writers need to look to this as how to do the character right in a world full of superheroes. This issue picks up after last issues crossover with Daredevil and Spider-Man, so it should be a great jumping on point.

WOLVERINE #306 (Marvel) – Cullen Bunn had a hard journey ahead of him taking over Wolverine after Jason Aaron’s stellar run on the character. But an issue in and already he’s doing a bloody good job. And I do mean bloody. Granted, I’m not thrilled at aspects of the opening storyline as they’re things I think get done to death with this character, but considering the villain in question it’s something I’ll allow this once.

Seems like BATMAN is the unanimous choice for everyone this week (a GrayHaven first). PUNISHER also gets a couple mentions and there are some pretty great choices from all our team. Give some of them a shot.