Explosions! Gratuitous acts of murder! Stilt-Man! This week’s pull list features some stellar crime thrillers and more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan film (think Sixth Sense, not The Village). With so many rad books vying for your attention and shelf space, what’s your mild-mannered comic book reader to do? Never fear, because we have some seriously rad picks that will make an awesome addition to anyone’s list. ‘Nuff said – let’s get to this week’s picks!

Top Picks

Black Beetle: No Way Out #1 | Francesco Francavilla

Francesco Francavilla is a man on a pulpy, pulpy mission. The writer-artist’s Dark Horse four-part mini-series, Black Beetle: No Way Out, kicks off this week with a bang – both literal and metaphorical, as his superheroic sleuth must solve the mystery of a mass murder that left the majority of Colt City’s organized crime leaders dead. The hard-boiled mystery hits the ground running and doesn’t pause to catch its breath, a momentum which serves the sometimes wordy noir-influenced dialogue well. The only time I did find myself pausing was to admire Francavilla’s stellar artwork and innovative page layouts, which keep the action flowing and are often as dazzling as the narrative twists and turns on which Francavilla takes us.

Daredevil #22 | Mark Waid, Chris Samnee and Paolo Rivera

When you stop and think about it, Stilt-Man is a pretty ridiculous concept for a villain. An armored baddie with telescopic legs that he uses to commit high-rise heists? Too often, he seems like a relic of a bygone era or a weirdo rogue who slipped through the cracks and made his way into comics. However, when you put him in the hands of a writer like Mark Waid in a book like Daredevil, even ol’ Stilt-Man becomes fair game. Waid pumps new life into the colossal cutpurse, a tall order for anyone. Also appearing in this issue is the Superior Spider-Man, who comes to Murdock’s aid to lend a little Dare-Help in defeating the bad guys. Seems like a weird call, huh? Well, when you win your body weight in Eisner and Harvey Awards, then you can use whomever you damn well please. Except for Blow-Hard. Please, Mark Waid, please – don’t use Blow-Hard.

Batman #16 | Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion

“Death of the Family” continues this week in three different Bat-books, each adding their own terrifying batch of ingredients to this murderous layer cake that Scott Snyder and company are baking. Between Batgirl‘s wedding from hell and the world’s worst trip to the zoo in Batman and Robin, one would think that it can’t get much more brutal. Oh, how wrong I was. This week’s Batman is unrelenting in all the right ways as the Dark Knight fights his way through Arkham Asylum to find the Joker and put an end to his sinister plans. It’s always a party when the two of them get together, though, and Snyder does not disappoint, delivering a delightfully devilish and uncomfortably thrilling installment. The only thing better than the pacing in this week’s issue might be the art which evoked visceral reactions on par with the first time I read Locke and Key. The joke is on you if you let this book pass you by.

Pull List