Comic Picks of the Week for Delivery 2/15/23

Every week, tons of new books hit the stands, each with potential. Some live up to that potential. We pick the ones we think have the best shot at heating up. Here are the picks of the week for delivery this Wednesday

Hey Wednesday Warriors. Incredibly small week this week. There are five weeks this month and it really feels like this week is the fifth. Anyway, here is what is on tap.

New #1’s
Last Barbarians #1 – Image – Brian Haberlin’s art is always top notch. To be Classless is a whole new low… You’d think in a fantastic world full of giants, magic, and flying fish, it would be a world of possibility. But you’d be dead wrong here! Sylv is a jack of all trades; she can fight with the best of them, pick most pockets, and even cast a third-level spell or two. It’s too bad for her that if you aren’t a member of a guild, you are persona non grata: completely outcast from adventuring. That might be fine, except she has her disabled seven-foot-tall brother to take care of. If she can’t find a job to support them both, they’ll be dead in a ditch in a matter of weeks. So now her only hope is a quest from a sketchy cleric who promises only a true hero can save the day. Sylv has a lot of skills…and she’ll need them all to survive this hero’s journey

Torrent #1 – Image – Michelle Metcalf is the world’s most happy-go-lucky hero, CRACKERJACK, until tragedy forces her to cross the line from hero to vigilante.

Nightcrawlers #1 – Marvel – Mashups madness. Ten years into a twisted future, MR SINISTER unleashes his private army of assassins: THE LEGION OF THE NIGHT. Meet WAGNERINE, commanding this killer crew of brainwashed hybrids, each one a genetic mix of NIGHTCRAWLER and another one of Marvel’s most murderous mutants! Mysterious forces seek to break Sinister’s control over these fatal fanatics – to turn them AGAINST HIM. But who are they? And what are their true motives…? Enter MOTHER RIGHTEOUS… and a meeting of the most powerful players in the Universe…

A Foulness In The Walls – Aftershock – Cullen Bunn is one of the most prolific writers in comics. Higher priced one shot. After a tragic loss, George hopes to rebuild his life. He moves to a new house. He gets a new job. He starts dating the girl of his dreams. Sometimes, though, guilt can be as malevolent as an evil spirit. Sometimes, ghosts follow you. Something is rotting in the walls of George’s new house. Something hungry, a story of loss, rot and hunger.

The Exiled #1 – Whatnot Publishing – Wesley Snipes, a genre-bending Sci-Fi Noir described as ‘Seven meets Blade Runner.’ The Exiled follows hardboiled detective Niles ‘Roach’ Washington as he pursues a serial killer who is using mysterious, ancient tools to rip the spines from his victims. When forces outside and within the police department attempt to discredit him for his theories, Roach’s instincts keep pushing him forward. With enemies on all sides, Roach wades deeper into the conspiracy and uncovers a secret 5000 years in the making

One and Done
Avengers End Times Marvel Tales – Reprints the Avengers Lord Gouzar story from Avengers #31-34, Gouzar appearing in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

Chilling Adventures Presents Betty The Final Girl #1 – Archie Horror – Veronica has invited Betty to her luxurious mountaintop chalet for a cozy weekend of skiing. But their girls weekend is interrupted when Archie shows up and whisks Veronica off on their own snowy romantic adventure. What could go wrong at a fancy remote cabin in the mountains all by herself? Betty’s mind races and she can’t tell fact from fiction as she suddenly realizes she might not be so alone. Is Betty believing too much in the horror movies she’s watched, or is someone (or something) really out to get her? Find out in this BRAND NEW horror anthology one-shot that’s equal parts Scream and When a Stranger Calls.

Small Press Pick of the Week
Masters Of The Universe Masterverse #1 – Dark Horse takes over the license for the MOU Universe with a new series

Pick of the Week
Lazarus Planet Dark Fate – In a week that is as small as this one, a book with multiple first appearances is the best shot at a potential long term winner. Xanthe makes their appearance here.