As always, click on the images to view full size preview images.

5. X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX #1
Written By Ed Brubaker; art by Mark Silvestri
Marvel
$3.99

It's been a while since we checked in on the X-men franchise - it's still going strong and publishing a shelf full of comics each month, in case you were wondering. The latest event to spin through that whole shelf full of books is starting up now and it involves the search for the first new mutant baby to be born since an event called M-Day reduced the mutant population of the world to below 200. Hoping this child will be the hope for the future, the X-men race to find it before their enemies get to it first.

This is the jumping-on point for a story that's going to involve every major X-men character and will most likely introduce a few changes here and there to the current status quo of some of the X-books. If you've been following them recently then this event may or may not pay-off on some of the previous events that have built up to this like House of M and Endangered Species. If you're an old-school X-men fan from the '90's you'll be pleased to know that Mark Silvestri is handling the art for this issue. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't find any preview art to show off the Silvestri goodness.
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4. MW
By Osamu Tezuka
Vertical
584 pgs | $24.95

The late Osamu Tezuka is often referred to as the Walt Disney of Japan, having created such memorable and influential manga as Astro Boy and Buddha. One thing that set him apart from Disney though is that Walt never did many homoerotic stories about serial killers. MW is one of those anti-Tezuka books that stray from his usual territory of cute characters and light, slapstick humor and into some pretty dark and weird stuff. Originally published in 1976, it is the latest in line of lesser known but great works that Vertical is re-publishing and re-packaging for Western audiences.

The story is about a young man named Yukio who, as a boy, was exposed to a chemical called MW that was created by the US government and hidden in a Japanese archipelago. The chemical impairs Yukio's moral judgement and leads to him becoming a serial killer who dresses himself up as one of his female victims and falls in love with a priest. Yes, that's pretty un-Disney.

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3. IMMORTAL IRON FIST VOL.1
Written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction; art by David Aja and Travel Foreman
Marvel
160 pgs | $14.99

One of the big surprises of the year has been Marvel's revamp of longtime B-list character Iron Fist into the star of his own hit series. Best known as the "white guy" in the old Heroes for Hire comic with "black guy" Luke Cage, Iron Fist has always been a product of the 70s with his chest-baring jumpsuit and kung-fu trappings. But a lot of what made Iron Fist dated has come around to being cool again. All he needed was a new story hook and a creative team that could deliver. Said creative team is Marvel's current star writer Ed Brubaker (the guy who killed Captain America and who wrote the 5th entry in this week's list) and new rising star Matt Fraction (Casanova, Punisher War Journal). Plus David Aja on art and a team of guest artists who jump in to handle the books various history scenes. And that's where the new hook comes in. By making Iron Fist the latest in a long line of Iron Fists, we get a bunch of cool scenes like this one with the Iron Fist of 1227 AD.

The hardcover collection of this book came out a couple of months back but this is the somewhat more affordable softcover edition.

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2. KYLE BAKER'S SPECIAL FORCES #1 (of 6)
By Kyle Baker
Image Comics
32 pgs | $2.99

Special Forces is the latest creation of award-winning cartoonist Kyle Baker (Why I Hate Saturn, Nat Turner) and in the tradition of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (with maybe a little bit of Bill Murray's Stripes) he aims his satirical wit at our generation's own war. Inspired by the true story of the U.S. army recruiting an autistic teenager, Baker imagines an army division made up of an autistic boy as well as mental patients and violent felons all making up our last line of defense in Iraq.

Check out some amazing images from the book here. And an interview with Baker here.

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1. PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP: TRIAL OF COLONEL SWEETO AND OTHER STORIES
By Nicholas Gurewitch
Dark Horse
96 pgs | $14.95

This book I'm sure needs no introduction to anyone who's reading this site. If you know how to find the funny on the internet then I'm sure you've come across Nicholas Gurewitch's sublimely hilarious Perry Bible Fellowship. Now, for the first time in book format, is a collection of Gurewitch's 3 panel strips including such instant classics as those pictured here.