Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

Preacher is The Godfather of comics. Its brazen, over-bearing, and loud tone leave a distinct aftertaste when you finish reading. The characters are mean and hateful. The locations are gritty and gross. Preacher is the sum total of all the dark corners of America combined into a tale of the problems of religion. It is a series that is not for everyone, and will turn some people off of comics forever. However, if someone asked me what my favorite comic book series of all time was, I would be hard pressed to not choose Preacher.

Preacher was a mature and violent comic book series published by Vertigo in 1995. It lasted sixty-six issues as the main characters blasted and hunted their way through America on their quest to find God. Oh, by the way, their quest was not metaphorical; it was literal.

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News from the personal Twitter account of D.J. Caruso that he will be directing a big screen adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic series Preacher will probably be taken as both good and bad by the more hard core fans. On the one hand, its nice to see that perhaps Preacher will finally be making its way to the big screen after many stilled attempts at adaptation as a movie or a TV series.

The cynics out there will probably have a problem with Caruso as the choice to take on the project. Sure, his track record might not install confidence that he’s the right man for the job. However, if you’ve ever seen his first film Salton Sea, you will know he has talent and therefore, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here.

To be honest, I’m more concerned how screenwriter John August is going to fit all of Preacher into one two and a half hour movie. My guess is he won’t even try and will probably just use the first major story arc as the basis for the film. Whatever he does end up doing, I’m also a fan of August so I’ll be very interested in how he pulls it off.

No word on if this deal is completely done or pretty much anything else. Still, when we see things like this we feel compelled to bring them to you. So, we did. Now, what do we think of this and if it does go forward, who shall we pick to play the important roles?

Buffy’s got a brand new bag, Superman makes his pitch for “World’s Greatest Detective” and the Sentry gets to the heart of the matter in this latest edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #32
Dark Horse Comics – $2.99 US
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Georges Jeanty
Score: 9/10

While the ongoing war against Twilight hits a lull, Buffy and Xander take the break to examine the Slayer’s new power set, much to Dawn’s chagrin. Meanwhile, Giles – along with Faith and Andrew – find themselves in Twilight’s grip and Willow makes a horrifying discovery.

Best-selling author Brad Meltzer – no stranger to comics – kicks off the “Twilight” story arc with this issue in a round-about way. Twilight himself doesn’t factor into the story much, but Meltzer took the “maximum fun” approach in setting up the pieces via tiny revelations sprinkled throughout the issue while focusing on Buffy’s new powers. The result is an incredibly enjoyable read that’s sure to please virtually any fan of comics or comics-related media.

Artist Georges Jeanty continues to pump out the work that has become the glue that holds everything together for this series, and this latest issue is no different. The scenes involving Buffy and Xander, especially, were a hoot, and how could you not love Buffy hovering in mid-air while asking the General to step outside? If this issue doesn’t symbolize having fun while making a comic, I don’t know what will.

Other issues came close – it was a really good week for comics – but this issue took home the Pull of the Week title thanks to an offering that was part major story arc launch and part open love letter to comics; it’s been quite some time that a comic has made me smile this much.

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Who is Jackie Estacado? What is The Darkness? What powers does it have? How is it connected to Jackie? All of these are questions for anyone who might find themselves picking up The Darkness Volume 2 #78 on comic store shelves later this month. With thirteen years of history to the character, one of the most intimidating things for a new reader is to dive into an established series for the first time. Unlike such iconic characters as Superman, Batman or Spider-Man, The Darkness hasn’t reached a level that everyone, comic fan or not, knows the character’s origin, or even the most important facets of it. But Top Cow is doing something to remedy this problem.

Later this month, Top Cow Productions is publishing The Darkness Origins Volume 1. The first rare six issues of the first volume of this series will be reprinted and packaged together allowing readers to relive the beginning of The Darkness.  According to Top Cow’s official info on the book:

“The Darkness Origins Volume 1 tells the story of how mafia hitman Jackie Estacado was blessed and cursed on his 21st birthday when he inherited the power of The Darkness. Readers will learn how the elemental force of The Darkness gives Estacado access to an otherworldly dimension and control over the demons who dwell there. This volume collects the origin of Estacado as the current bearer of The Darkness, and introduces classic characters such as the Angelus, Butcher, and Sonatine.”

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As you probably know from last week’s episode of The Flickcast, I’m a fan of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion’s Preacher comic book. It was one of my picks of the week. I’ve also followed it through its various television and cinematic incarnations to its present home at Columbia Pictures in the hands of director Sam Mendes and writer John August.

During last week’s show, I mentioned that the script for the film was in progress and now, thanks to an article over at MTV Spashpage, we know even more about the script and that progress. According to the article, Mendes was being interviewd about his other upcoing film and also decided to take a few questions about Preacher. About the current state of the script and August, Mendes said: “He’s doing pretty well. “He’s about halfway through. There’s a long way to go yet, but I’m very, very hopeful. I think it could be amazing.”

When asked about the possibility of sequels or a franchise, Mendes was quick to point out his desire to make the first film a complete story. “You have to try and get one really good and then, if you’re lucky, you can make a second or a third,” said Mendes. “You can create something that’s going to run. But I think that there’s certainly more than enough for one good movie and plenty left over.”

No casting has been announced for the film as yet nor does it have a release date. But when there is more on this movie, rest assured we’ll bring it to you.

Last week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt had to go it alone and discuss topics such as Predator and Robert Rodriguez news, blockbusters like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, the fate of TV shows like Dollhouse, Lost and Sons of Anarchy and lots more.

This week, Christina is back and the trio hits the ground running with discussions on the box office success and relative merits of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the latest G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra trailer, the upcoming District 9, produced by Peter Jackson, the appeal of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, renewals for some of the team’s favorite shows like Southland and Heroes, J.J. Abrams taking on an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower and the potential box office for Star Trek’s opening weekend.

Plus, the team makes more cool picks this week including one of Matt’s favorite TV shows, Party Down from Rob Thomas and Paul Rudd, Christina’s pick of the very funny Hot Fuzz featuring Simon Pegg of this Friday’s Star Trek and Chris’ picks of the comic book Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon and the movie The Player, directed by Robert Altman, written by Michael Tolkin and starring Tim Robbins.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter or via email. Thanks for listening.