5. TITANS #1
Written by Judd Winick; art by Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund
DC Comics
$3.50 | 40 pgs

The Teen Titans that most people my age grew up on were the Marv Wofman/George Perez -era Titans from the '80's: Nightwing, Starfire, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Jericho. It was a fairly groundbreaking comic because it took the original Teen Titans and took them from being young, innocent sidekicks and turned them into older, sexually active teens with the appropriate level of hormonal angst.

Now, with this new monthly Titans book, the old team is back together and they're not really teens anymore. More like 20-somethings that fight crime, hang out at coffee shops, save the world and go out on bad dates. Written by former Real World cast member, Judd Winnick, think of this as sort of The Real World or Friends with superheroes. Expect some mature issues to creep in here and most likely there will be some awkward hooking up among cast members - I mean characters.

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4.AQUA LEUNG
Written by Mark Andrew Smith; art by Paul Maybury
Image Comics
$17.99 | 200 pgs

A new underwater adventure serial aimed at the younger crowd (16-up) boasts some stunning graphic styling from artist Paul Maybury. Written by Mark Andrew Smith, who previously brought us The Amazing Joy Buzzards, this 200 page first volume focuses on a young boy seeking to avenge the death of his father and claim his place at the throne of his aquatic kingdom.

Here's a pretty informative interview with the creators if you'd like to know more. Oh, here's another one.

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3. WILLIE & JOE: THE WWII YEARS
By Bill Maudlin
Fantagraphics
$65.00 | 600 pgs

During WWII, Bill Maudlin was on the front lines creating cartoons that showed the war for how it really was. Starting out as a light-hearted cartoonist poking fun at his officers via his characters Willie & Joe, Maudlin and his strip grew darker after seeing the horrors of war on the beaches of Europe. Soon, his strips no longer marched in step with military propaganda and began to irritate the top brass for being too direct and too real.

This new 2-volume hardcover set is the first of a series that will eventually collect everything Maudlin has drawn from 1940 all the way up to 1991. Some of the strips here have never been reprinted until now.

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2. WHATEVER
By Karl Stevens
Alternative Comics

Karl Stevens does a weekly comic for the Boston Phoenix that is a unique depiction of life in Boston. It's realistic, dreamy, sexy, strange and thought-provoking and Steven's photo-realistic art style gives it an art-school level of introspection that draws you right in to the almost non-sequitar nature of the scenes he shows. This new collection pulls together numerous strips that range in topics from politics, global warming, taxi cabs and dirty bathrooms.

Preview some of the strips here.

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1. KAPUT & ZOSKY
by Lewis Trondheim
First Second Books
$13.95 | 80 pgs

Maybe it's because I recently became a dad, but this week's highlight for me is a book that's geared towards the little ones. Lewis Trondheim, is an acclaimed French cartoonist who has appeared in Fantagraphics' anthology book, MOME, and has released numerous graphic "albums" in Europe like Dungeon (Donjon) and The Spiffy Adventures of McConey (Les formidables aventures de Lapinot). He also previously released a fun book called A.I.L.E.E.N. for this publisher, First Second, which was another great book for kids. Here he goes sci-fi again with thirteen short stories about a couple of hapless intergalactic villains who never seem to get it right. Trondheim knows how to get a laugh with an exaggerated facial expression and a cute character design and this book looks like it will be a delight to look at.

Read a preview here.