Major Spoilers Staff Picks for April 10, 2013

IT’S NEW COMIC BOOK DAY! Before you head out to your local comic shop, take a look at the books members of the Major Spoilers staff are looking forward to this week.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #19
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: Marco Chechetto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: • Spider-Man is Doctor Octopus!!! There! Now, that we’ve got that off our chests…
• The mysterious being known as SLEEPWALKER stalks Spider-Man in the waking world, while something far more horrible has invaded his dreams!
• And what nightmares will the Superior Spider-Man’s dreams unleash on the world?

GEORGE: Oh my God! It’s Sleepwalker. That’s all I need to know. I am buying this issue. Have I ever read a comic book with Sleepwalker before? Heck no! But I had a Sleepwalker Marvel trading card when I was 12 (or some such ridiculous age) and I thought it was the most mysterious thing. I’ve never had the chance to buy a Sleepwalker comic book before. I am not missing this opportunity! Sleepwalker is really awesome, right???

BATMAN #19
Writer: Scott Synder
Aritst: Greg Capullo
Publisher: DC
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Who would cause Bruce Wayne to use a gun?

STEPHEN: So many good books this week, how can I pick my top three?

ZACH: I swear that every time a new issue of Batman is set to release I believe that I’m not going to buy it, but then I remember how great the Synder/Capullo team is and I just have to keep reading. This issue starts a two-part story before the next big arc begins, but I don’t anticipate any drop in excellence.

FEARLESS DEFENDERS #3
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Will Sliney
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: WARRIOR WOMAN joins the Defenders! Who is she? And why is she back from the dead? Plus! A city of silent superheroes. And: Defenders vs. Doom Maidens!

CHRIS: This has become one of my new favorite books from Marvel. It takes characters I’ve never been introduced to before and shows me why they’re awesome. Lots of strong female leads in this one, and I hope it stays that way.

G.I. JOE: THE COBRA FILES #1
Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Antonio Fuso
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: A SNAKE IN THEIR MIDST! Her name is CHAMELEON-and she used to be a COBRA agent. Now she’s made her way into the G.I. JOE team-the honest way. But even with the best of intentions, does she have what it takes to fight on the side of the angels? FLINT thinks she does, and he’s willing to gamble the lives of this teammates on her… Unfortunately, with the Crimson Twin called TOMAX pulling the strings, no bet is a sure thing.

GEORGE: Man, I am all about G.I. Joe right now. I’m not sure if it’s because the G.I. Joe Convention rolled through Indianapolis this past weekend (finally picked up a Firefly action figure!) or due to the recent release of G.I. Joe: Retaliation. In any event, Cobra Files rounds out IDW’s threefold launch of new Joe comics. Special Missions was pretty decent – here’s hoping The Cobra Files can up the ante.

HAWKEYE #9
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: David Aja
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: More ladies, more problems. Featuring: The Girlfriend, the Work-Wife and the Ex-Wife.Plus the tracksuits are back and aim to kill.Good luck, Hawkeye.

CHRIS: What more can be said, bro? It’s awesome! Buy it and love it, bro!

ROB: Matt Fraction has a way of making characters I really only tangentially knew and making them not just relevant, but more than worth reading as a leading character. This series has been fantastic and should continue to be for some time to come.

STEPHEN: We’re reviewing this issue on the next Dueling Review podcast (it has its own feed now), and I’m so looking forward to what continues to fallout from Hawkeye’s last outing with the mystery woman.

1 FOR DOLLAR MIND MGMT #1
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Matt Kindt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $1.00
SOLICITATION: Just in time for the first collection, the sold-out MIND MGMT #1 is back in print-for $1! Now’s your chance to catch up with Matt Kindt’s brilliant tale of lost memories, the Mind Management psychic spy agency, its most infamous defector, and the journalist who uncovers their incredible secrets

CHRIS: Hey, it’s a dollar and I’ve heard good things. I think Zach likes it and he’s young and hip. That makes me young and hip too, right?

SAGA #12
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Artist: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Prince Robot IV makes his move.

ROB: Prince Robot is back! Also, last issue ended on a serious down-note and really want to see the full reaction of the cast. Besides, it looks great and the whole epic is really becoming something awesome.

STEPHEN: With all the hubbub swirling around the digital release of this issue, I’m sure more than a few people are going to grab this book simply for the scandal factor. To those, I say, “GOOD!” Welcome to the world of Saga… you’re welcome.

SAUCER COUNTRY #14
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Ryan Kelly
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Arcadia finally learns the “truth” about the alien invasion-but what she chooses to do with that information will change the world forever! Don’t miss the FINAL ISSUE of this mind-bending series!

GEORGE: Alas, Saucer Country. We hardly knew ye. This series started out with a bang, sagged in the middle, but has been rounding to home with confidence. This series seems like another sad sacrifice to whatever behind the scenes shenanigans has DC hemorrhaging writers, with Cornell already writing a Wolverine title for Marvel (also out this week). Saucer Country was a unique book, and while I’ll be glad to get any answers to the many mysteries raised in this series, I’m sorry to see it go.

SEX #2
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Simon Cooke’s journey into the underbelly of Saturn City continues. Think about it… how repressed would YOU be after waging a war on crime for the entirety of your adult life? What happens when the superhero power fantasy finally ends? Find out by buying more SEX!

RODRIGO: I’m actually not that interested in this story, but I need to have a quota of comics with provocative covers because of a promise I made myself when I was 17 Re: Living Away from Mom and Dad.

THE COLONIZED #1
Writer: Chris Ryall
Artist: Drew Moss
Cover Artist: Sim, Dave
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
SOLICITATION: Part 1: “Minutemen in Black” – In this all-new miniseries, a spaceship crashes into a separatist camp and manages to reanimate the dead as well! It’s aliens vs. zombies vs. militiamen in a carnage-filled tale from the co-creator of Zombies vs Robots! And if that ain’t enough, covers for this series will be by acclaimed Cerebus creator, Dave Sim!

RODRIGO: When I saw the title “The Colonized” I was hoping this would be a big alien war book. As it turns out, it is. But zombies are involved… I know that the staff picks are a place for us to tell you what we’re reading, but today I am using this entry to tell you what I’m definitely not reading.

THEREMIN #1
Writer: Curt Pires
Artist: Dalton Rose
Publisher: Monkeybrain Comics
Cover Price: $0.99
SOLICITATION: Time travel is real and scientist/inventor Leon Theremin just discovered it. The journey from scientist to super spy is shorter than you think. It all starts here.

The first chapter in the new series by Curt Pires, creator of the critically acclaimed “LP”, and art sensation DALTON ROSE, the creator of “PHABULA” and artist of “SACRIFICE”.

STEPHEN: By the time you read this, I will have already read this, thanks to comiXology. So looking forward to seeing more of this series.

ZACH: Monkeybrain has been hitting it out of the park with all of their titles recently so picking this up isn’t even a second guess. Then they throw in time traveling and a secret spy for under one dollar, how could you not pick this up?

X #0
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Eric Nguyen
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Three crime lords in the decaying city of Arcadia have received photographic death sentences from the mysterious “X Killer.” Their cunning defenses won’t stop Arcadia’s vigilante from making sure each one of them suffers. From the pages of Dark Horse Presents.
* Duane Swierczynski (Punisher, Godzilla) and Eric Nguyen brutally relaunch Dark Horse’s classic vigilante!
* Super Violent!

RODRIGO: After Harvey Birdman was cancelled I didn’t hold much hope of seeing this character again… Seriously though, this looks like a gritty crime vigilante book, if the story is decent and the art is decent I’m willing to pick it up.

X-TREME X-MEN #13
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $2.99
SOLICITATION: Part 4 OF X-TERMINATION – FINAL ISSUE! With the rift into the AOA widening, the only chance might be to step into the void—but at what cost?Kid Nightcrawler makes the ultimate sacrifice

ROB: Well, there’s two words I didn’t want to see, but I’m still excited to pick this up and follow what’s left of the story. Hopefully the characters land somewhere interesting after this.