Let’s hope that you didn’t spend all your money at San Diego Comic-Con, because this week’s pull list has plenty of awesome offerings that will make this a Comic Book Day to remember. With a classic hero team-up from Mark Waid and Paul Smith, a one-off from the wonderfully weird Matt Kindt, and an in-depth look at the worst family in all of comics from Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, there’s enough here to tide you over until next week. So, let’s cut to the chase and get to this week’s pull list!

Top Picks

The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #1 | Mark Waid and Paul Smith

IDW Publishing and DC Entertainment join forces with a pulpy pairing of Dave Stevens and Will Eisner’s classic characters, The Rocketeer and The Spirit, for a humorous, rollicking outing from the equally excellent pairing of Mark Waid and Paul Smith. With murder, mayhem and mirth to spare, the duo is obviously having a great time with these heroes, evidenced most clearly by Smith’s art on the high-flying fisticuffs between the Rocketeer and the Spirit and Waid’s spot-on one-liners (e.g., after a long flight, The Spirit proclaims, “I haven’t been this stiff since they buried me”). Though this is only a four issue mini-series, it’s already shaping up to be one of the most electrifying, enjoyable reads of the summer season.

Mind MGMT #13 | Matt Kindt

Issue #13 marks the start of Kindt’s “most surreal arc yet,” as he kicks off a series of one-shots in the humdrum workaday stasis of suburbia. Focusing in on a sleeper agent known as The Home Maker, Kindt spins a twisted yarn about Mind Management trekking outside the city to a hometown just like yours. Given the one-shot nature of this story, it’s a great hopping-on point for new readers, and helps to flesh out the increasingly unnerving narrative. If you’re not already on the Mind MGMT train, then buy a ticket and take the ride because this book, much like MC Hammer, is too legit to quit.

Lazarus #2 | Greg Rucka and Michael Lark

So far, Lazarus gives off a very Alias-meets-Dark City vibe without the eye-rolling, faux-grit campiness of the latter. Issue #2 takes us a bit deeper into the world of Forever Carlyle and her dysfunctional family at their Puget Sound compound. The Carlyles aren’t sitcom dysfunctional; they’re the kind of violent, megalomaniacal psychopaths that would give the Lannisters a run for their money. Lark’s stellar artwork makes this mostly expositional issue feel exciting even when Rucka is doling out plot point after plot point, which is an impressive feat considering it’s a necessary evil. Rucka continues to deepen the mystery surrounding Forever and what it means to be a Lazarus while pulling off a fair bit of world-building for this dystopian thriller. Most of all though, Lazarus succeeds in making us want more as soon as we reach the final page, which is the mark of a comic well done.

Pull List

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What’s on your pull list? Let us know in the comments below!