5. THOR #1
Marvel
Written by J. Michael Straczynski; pencils by Olivier Coipel, inks by Mark Morales
32 pgs | $2.99

It's been about 2 years since long-time Marvel Comics hero Thor "died" during a mini-series depicting the final war of the Norse Gods, Ragnarok. These days in comics, that's a long time to keep a character dead. We got teased recently in the now-infamous Civil War mini-series when Thor made a dramatic re-appearance only to turn out to be an out-of-control clone who ended up killing a B-list hero named Goliath. This time the Thor is back and he's the real deal, though with some possible changes. Hopefully the time away has done ol' Goldilocks some good.

____________________________________________________________________________

4. FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA - IRON MAN #5
Marvel
Written by Jeph Loeb, art by John Cassady
32 pgs | $2.99

Speaking of dead super heroes, Captain America is still dead. Can you believe it? One of the biggest oversights I've ever made in my little column here was not highlighting Captain America #25 a couple of months back even though Marvel warned everyone it was supposed to be a big issue. Who knew every news source in America would be interested in that one and it would sell out within hours? Well, Marvel is raising the red flags again about this issue of Fallen Son, their Captain America remembrance series. And once again CNN and others are reporting on it. I'm not sure if anything more than a funeral happens in this issue but you could do worse things than buy a comic that is drawn by John Cassady (Planetary, Astonishing X-men).

____________________________________________________________________________

3. THE FAKER #1
DC Vertigo
Written by Mike Carey; Art and Cover by Jock
32 pgs | $2.99

Writer Mike Carey describes this new 6 issue mini-series with this intriguing quote:
"Chock full of ruthless characters with hidden agendas, FAKER takes place during freshman year in college; the ultimate time of reinvention, where, if you’re up for it, you can lie, cheat and fake your way through almost anything." Sounds very much like my own college experience but I'll actually be checking this out for the artwork done by the singularly named Jock.

2. THE DAMNED VOL.1
Oni Press
Written by Cullen Bunn; art by Brian Hurtt
160 pgs | $14.95

Demon gangsters. Yeah, when you put it that way this series doesn't sound like much but when you actually see the book with it's prohibition-era setting and black and white art from Brian Hurtt that looks like a Cagney film on paper you can see why this book has gotten a lot of praise. Plus, when you think about it some more, a crime war between soul-trafficking mobsters is really kind of a cool idea. To find out more about this comic check out thedamnedcomic.com

____________________________________________________________

1. SILVERFISH
DC Vertigo
Written by David Lapham; art by David Lapham
160 pgs | $24.99

David Lapham is the creator of one of the best crime comics of the past couple of decades - his self-published Stray Bullets. But lately he's been dipping his feet in the more high profile waters of DC Comics. He did a 12-issue stint on Detective Comics last year and now he has his first original graphic novel from Vertigo.

16-year old Mia discovers some secrets that her stepmom has been hiding: an address book, a stash of money and a bloody knife. Mia confides in Daniel, but Daniel has problems of his own, like thinking he's been posessed by a demonic silverfish. Oh and he's also a murderer. Lapham writes stories about real people getting in too deep into dangerous situations and this looks like it will be a great bit of work from him to hold us over while we wait for more Stray Bullets to come out.

____________________________________________________________________________