New comics come out on Wednesdays. So why is my weekly list of new-comics recommendations running on a Thursday? I blame the avalanche of gaming news, screenshots and trailers tumbling out of Gamescom. I briefly found space, however, to recommend some comics.
These are the ones I think you should consider buying, either in shops or on your favorite digital device, all new or newly-re-issued this week.
Comics You Should Consider Buying (from comics shops)
Daredevil #3 The first issue of the new Daredevil was one of the year's best new comics. I am optimistic about the second one. Official summary: "Given his recent past, Matt Murdock has a lot to answer for and Captain America is doing the cross-examining. Daredevil's quickly learning that burned bridges with his friends and former allies aren't easy to repair particularly when Klaw, the Master of Sound, is on his tail!"
Legion of Super-Heroes #16 This is the last issue of Legion of Super-Heroes, until the series is re-started again next month (with minimal alterations to continuity, or so the powers-the-be-claim). There are other DC Comics series ending this week, including the current Justice League of America, Power Girl, Superman/Batman and Zatanna. But it's in Legion where we're promised a Legion tradition: the death of a Legionnaire. At this point, has any member of the Legion of Super-Heroes not been killed (and maybe restored to life)?
WE3 Deluxe Edition A hardcore collection of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's acclaimed three-issue series about the daring escape of a dog, a cat and a bunny who have been turned into deadly bio-weapons by the U.S. military. This volume includes a few new story pages.
X-Men Schism #3 Schism has been my favorite Event Comic of the summer, possibly because it feels more character-driven. It's basically a story about two heroes who disagree about what to do in a crisis. That's it. Official summary: "The events of Schism #1 have launched the world into turmoil, and the all-new Hellfire Club is ready to take advantage of the chaos. But when the survival of the mutant race is on the line, just how far will the X-Men go? Once a line is crossed, there's no going back."
Comics With Video Game Connections (new this week in comics shops)
DC Universe Online #14 Official summary: "It's a tale of tragic proportions as an unexpected character falls in the line of duty...but who and how will forever change the course of the series."
Resident Evil (trade paperback collection) Official summary: "The terrifying world of Resident Evil returns in this title, as the dedicated agents of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance face off against Virus-spreading bio-weapons both in space and on land. The Joint Nations Space Station has gone offline; BSAA Agent Mina Gere investigates and is confronted by a crew of flesh-eating bio-weapons. Veteran mercenary Holiday Sugarman is sent to remote Grezbekistan; when his team is wiped out by G-Virus infected militiamen, he must face G-Prime - alone."
Sonic Universe #31 Official summary: "Inside Job,' Part 3. Scourge the Hedgehog, evil doppelganger to Sonic, is half-way to his goal: put together a gang and bust out of Zone Jail! But first he'll need to win the loyalty of two of the most dangerous members of the Destructix. If he can survive that, the rest is easy: fighting an army of Zone Cops and rival inmates!"
And Over On The iPad/iPhone/Droid/WebBrowser…
The ComiXology Comics app and website offer a fresh batch of new and old digital comics this week (and as of this week, Marvel's are available on Comixology's website, instead of just on iOS… but still not on Droid). Highlights this week include more vintage 1990's Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle Batman comics and the first collection of Jeff Smith's terrific all-ages adventure Bone as well as the first collection of the original series he did after that, Rasl. Plus, they're selling the 20 X-Factor, X-Mem and New Mutants comics that accounted for the late '80s cross-over Inferno. I never read it. Was it any good?
Best Comics I Read Last Week
I finally finished the full 15-issue run of Captain Britain and MI: 13 that I downloaded to my iPad earlier this year. I'd heard good things and understood that fans of the series thought Marvel cancelled it far too soon. Writer Paul Cornell followed that book up with a terrific run on Action Comics that turned Luthor into the book's protagonist. That's where I discovered Cornell. I grabbed the Captain Britain comics to see how good this guy tended to be.
Captain Britain turned out to be worth the hype. It's a book about an odd collection of heroes, the least interesting of whom is the patriotic lead. The possibly-cursed sword-swingers, vampire, vampire-killer, and mystics in the Captain's crew are the real stars, struggling to make sense of their abilities while dealing with the successive England-threatening problems of alien shape-shifters, evil spirits and Dracula. Each of those conflicts spans several issues and crackles with unusual plot twists. Some of them are cheap. There's an over-reliance on apparent hero deaths. But as you're getting to the end of the run and see a story turn on whether Dracula's moon-launched space-ship is or isn't full of vampires who have or haven't been invited to England—lest they burn up upon entry into British airspace—you'll know you're reading a series worth your time.
Track the run down. It's only a couple of bucks an issue on ComiXology's iPad app. It's an enjoyable 15-issue read. It may not be a classic worth repeated re-reads, but it's a fun run to go through at least once.
Tell me what you're reading this week and which great comics I'm missing.
You can contact Stephen Totilo, the author of this post, at stephentotilo@kotaku.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.