5. JACK OF FABLES VOL. 1: NEARLY GREAT ESCAPE (DC Vertigo)
Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Art by Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy; Cover by James Jean
$14.99 | 128pg | Softcover

Spin-offs rarely work because of that old "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" theory. Just ask Joey or the Ropers. But when the genesis of the spin-off is a series as great as Vertigo's Fables series then its worth taking a look. This volume collects the first five issues of a series that focuses exclusively on Jack, he of "and the beanstalk" fame. Jack is a wandering spirit and a bit of a scoundrel. Having already conquered Hollywood he now sets off hitchhiking on a journey across America where he meets other hidden Fable characters like him.

The book is written by Matthew Sturges with help from Fables creator and writer Bill Willingham and for consistency sake James Jean, who has done every Fables cover since the beginning, is on board for this series as well.

_____________________________________________________________________

4. ACTION PHILOSOPHERS #8 SENSELESS VIOLENCE SPECTACULAR (Evil Twin Comics)
Written by Fred Van Lente; Art by Ryan Dunlavey
$2.95

Action Philosophers continues its mission to tell the story of history's greatest thinkers. Each issue features three stories and issue 8 includes: "Immanuel Kant: Epistemological Attorney" in which Kant must defend God in court against charges of not existing; a battle between G.W.F. Hegel and Arthur Schopenhauer; and a Peanuts style tribute, "You're a Good Man, John Stuart Mill". See the preview below for a taste of that story and prepare to become infinitely smarter as a result.

_____________________________________________________________________

3. DAREDEVIL #94 (Marvel)
Written by Ed Brubaker; Art by Lee Weeks and Stefano Gaudian; cover by John Romita Sr.
$2.99 | 32 pgs

Daredevil is consistently one of Marvel's best titles and this issues provides a one-shot story perfect for jumping on to the series. Since marrying Milla, Matt Murdock has taken over the role of Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen, been accused of being Daredevil, gone to prison, and now has been on the run. Can the two lovers reunite and get past all of these obstacles to their relationship? Oh yeah and that whole Civil War thing that has spanned the Marvel Universe has made being Daredevil a target of government sanctioned superheroes. Things like that definitely get in the way of a relationship.

Ed Brubaker is one of the best writers in superhero comics these days and Daredevil couldn't be a more perfect title for his crime-writing sensibilities. Plus classic Daredevil artist John Romita sr. provides a terrific romance-style cover.

_____________________________________________________________________

2. AYA (Drawn & Quarterly)
Written by Marguerite Abouet; art by Clément Oubreri
$19.95 | hardcover

Set in the Ivory Coast of Africa in 1978, Aya is the rare story about Africa that is actually a light-hearted comedy. Abouet wanted to avoid the typical issues of famine and war normally associated with the continent that she grew up in and tell the story of a 19 year old girl dealing with every day troubles with friends and family. Aya recently won the award for Best First Album at the Angouleme International Comics Festival and is now being released in the US, even as it's sequel has already come out in France.

_____________________________________________________________________
1. D'AIRAIN AVENTURE #1 (IDW Publishing)
Written by Ashley Wood and T.P. Louise; art by Ashley Wood
$4.99 | 32 pgs

Ashley Wood is a unique and prolific comics creator. It seems like almost every week something comes out with his name on it. His new series D'Airain Aventure promises to follow in the footsteps of his previous works like Popbot (utlilizing some chracters from that series as well as others) while breaking new ground by pushing the standards of how words and pictures are normally used in comics. This looks like it will be a comic that goes all over the place but will look really good while it potentially loses itself up its own ass.