SITUATION:

It’s a heavy-hitting week from several of the independent publishers this week. Image is rolling out perennial sluggers Fatale and The Walking Dead, and IDW is likely to show strongly in sales charts with the latest My Little Pony. Yes, that book has a huge audience. With this in mind, we tried to dig deep. This was a week where I was glad to have a crack team of reviewers who help me determine what is and isn’t good. The Fuse was going to make this list until I read Mike Sains’s Advance Review, so it lost its spot to the title you’ll find below.

Overall, I think you’ll be pleased with this week’s selections, so here are the books that made this week’s ADVANCE SCOUT!

w) Kel Symons
a) Mathew Reynolds
Image Comics
$2.99

1. “The Mercenary Sea #1″

While Mike hated The Fuse, he simply raves about The Mercenary Sea. Using phrases like “singular vision” and “effortless subtlety,” he says it far better than I could, so be sure to check out his Advance Review here.
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“Manifest Destiny #4″
(w) Chris Dingess
(a) Matthew Roberts
Image Comics
$2.99

2. “Manifest Destiny #4″

Manifest Destiny is a title we regularly rave about here on Capeless. Its breathless combination of historical fact with supernatural fiction works to create a narrative that is both compelling and even mildly educational. This book is terrifying on a level that can only be accomplished through taking elements of the world we all learned about in history class and juxtaposing them with everything you thought was hiding under your bed as a child..
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“City: The Mind in the Machine #1″
(w) Eric Garcia
(a) Javi Fernandez, Tommy Lee Edwards
IDW Publishing
$3.99

3. City: The Mind in the Machine

There is a great deal of talk in tech circles these days about both surveillance and the growing amount of automation pushing into the lives of global citizens. A title like City, which looks to explore what happens when the surveillance state becomes both literally and figuratively fused with the human experience is certain to be fascinating and likely to be more than a little frightening.
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“Abe Sapien #10″
(w) Scott Allie, Mike Mignola
(a) Max Fiumara, Dave Stewart
Dark Horse Comics
$3.50

4. “Abe Sapien #10″

Whether you’re a new entry to the Hellboy universe or a savvy veteran, you won’t be able to find a better entry point than the character-driven adventures of Abe Sapien by Scott Allie. What’s most remarkable about the series is that, despite years of backstory attached and mini-arcs within the larger run of the series, Allie manages to make each issue feel self-contained. What’s more, the stories confront not only the ghouls that go bump in the night, but the darkness that haunts even the most well-intentioned of hearts.

Pick this title up. It’s the sort of book that will scare the dickens out of you but leave you feeling richer for it.

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ANALYSIS:

It’s a pretty creepy selection this week. Perhaps it’s just pre-Valentine’s Day fever, but I think we’ve managed to pick some books that will definitely make you long for someone to curl up next to, even if it’s only so you don’t have to be alone after reading them.

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Thanks for checking out ADVANCE SCOUT! Be sure to check back next week for more recommendations, and don’t forget to share the link below!

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Josh Epstein is the Publisher for the Capeless Crusader website. He also hosts the weekly Infinite Crossover podcast in cooperation with Fanboys Inc. He’s a lifelong comic nerd, and “Superman” is the first word he ever read aloud. He is also an actor, singer, and resident of a real-world Smallville. contact: joshuadepstein@gmail.com Twitter: @CrusaderZero6