Is It Wednesday Yet?

New comics this week!

(Note: the following are previews, not reviews. Unless stated otherwise, I haven't read these books. Recommendations are based on preview pages, solicitations and hype.)

Pick of the Week: Infinite Vacation #2 (Image)
I usually try to go with a new series or new-reader friendly jumping-on point as a pick of the wick, but there's just not a lot that excites me in that department this week. Infinite Vacation is Nick Spencer's weird story about an iPhone app that allows you to tap into alternate realities and trade situations with other versions of yourself. The mechanics of how this works are not clear and possibly make no sense if you think about them too much, but that's besides the point. It's like a Philip K. Dick thought experiment. The first issue was pretty cool and featured some really trippy art by Christian Ward. This is going to be a five-issue limited-series.

NEW STUFF

Birds of Prey #11 (DC)
This issue is a done-in-one story about Huntress going on a date with Catman and features art by guest artist Pere Perez. The solicitation text, which I'm assuming Gail Simone wrote, is actually hilarious: "...but can two hot-headed, red-blooded hunter-warriors on opposite sides of the law have a simple night out without trying to kill each other? Hint: No. No, they can't."

Hellboy: Buster Oakley Gets His Wish (Dark Horse)
A little done-in-one featuring mutated livestock, evil aliens and giant robots. Written by Mike Mignola, drawn by Kevin Nowlan.

Journey Into Mystery #622 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction's short run on Thor was basically filler to kill time before Fear Itself kicked in. Now that it has, Fraction's off the book, along with artist Pasqual Ferry, replaced by Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite, and it gets retitled "Journey Into Mystery." Fraction moves to a new Thor title that launches sometime this month also. To be honest, I've sort of lost interest. I'm gonna sit this one out.

Breakneck #1 (or 3) (215 Ink)
Buck #1 (215 Ink)
I don't know much about publisher 215 Ink, and it seems like the comic book store I go to rarely orders any of their titles. But a little while ago they put out a graphic novel called Brian and Bobbi that I thought looked pretty good. This week, they've got two new titles coming out. I think Buck is a one-shot. I can't vouch for the quality of any of these, but my interest is piqued. The 215 Ink website is here. You'll find a bit more info there, although the previews are unfortunately tiny and useless.

Butch Baker: The Righteous Maker #2 (Image)
Carbon Grey #2 (Image)
These two #2 issues are worth noting because they'll be shipping with reprints of the first issue, so it's still very easy to start reading without missing anything. I read and really enjoyed the first issue of Butch Baker. Carbon Grey I don't know anything about, but you can find more info and previews for both here.

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier Annual #1 (Marvel)
I have no idea what's going on in this title. There's a weird preview here.

Thor: Whosoever Wields This Hammer (one-shot) (Marvel)
This features reprints of Thor's early adventures with a new "framing sequence" by Christos Gage.

Red Robin #22 (DC)
This is the first part of a crossover with Gotham City Sirens and Batman this month. I've gotten so fed up with writer Fabian Nicieza's nonsensical plotting on this title that I dropped it from my pull list after the last issue. The only reason to keep reading is Marcus To's art, but he's taking a (much deserved) break this month, making this issue even less appealing. (Although, to be fair, I think guest artist Freddie Williams is all right.)

THESE OTHER FINE TITLES ARE ALSO ON MY PULL LIST:

• Batgirl #20 (DC)
• Batman and Robin #22 (DC)
• Flash #10 (DC)
• Superboy #6 (DC)
• Northlanders #39 (DC/Vertigo)
• Amazing Spider-Man #658 (Marvel)
• Casanova: Gula #4 (Marvel/Icon)
• Stan Lee's Starborn #5 (Boom)