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.

“When I was a kid growing up, I never could decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.”  - Green Lantern #75

Some heroes are born, and others are made.

In the mid-90s, Green Lantern wasn’t selling well. So DC Comics did the unthinkable, they created a storyline where Hal Jordan went crazy, became a super villain named Parallax, and destroyed the Green Lantern Corps. While that story line was pretty bad, the issues that followed were pure gold.

We were introduced to Hal’s replacement, Kyle Rayner, a twenty-something graphic artist who couldn’t hold a steady job, and flirted with all the ladies, a screw-up. Kyle received his ring not because of his ability to overcome fear, but because he was in the right place at the right time. Kyle was more creative with his ring than any other Green Lantern because of his artistic mind. The only trouble was with no Green Lantern Corp around anymore, Kyle had no training. Here was Kyle Rayner, a screw up, in possession of the most powerful weapon in the universe, and he has no idea what to do with it.

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One of our favorite comic book companies will be showcasing a whole bunch of stuff during next week’s San Diego Comic-Con. Top Cow, probably most well known for Wanted, will be bringing lots of exclusives and their talent to the show so we can all meet and enjoy.

Here’s all the info you could want on this from the official press release from the company.

TOP COW UNVEILS 2010 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVES

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 14, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. is proud to announce their exclusive offerings at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, which includes an exclusive wraparound cover variant to the publisher’s most ambitious project-to-date, Artifacts.

Attendees of the convention have a chance to grab the following exclusives at the Top Cow booth #2629:

ARTIFACTS #1 WRAPAROUND SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON VARIANT
Exclusive SDCC variant cover art by Michael Broussard and Sunny Gho of IFS
(W) Ron Marz (A) Michael Broussard (I) Rick Basaldua, Sal Regla (C) Sunny Gho of IFS
Price: $10

Thirteen mystical Artifacts, including the Witchblade, the Darkness and others, guide the fate of the Top Cow Universe. For centuries, it’s been whispered that bringing together all 13 Artifacts would herald mankind’s destruction. But a mysterious figure has been manipulating events, laying plans to put Armageddon into motion.

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Even though San Diego Comic-Con seems to be dominated by movies and tv programs these days, it was originally all about the comics. This should be obvious by the fact that ‘Comics’ is right in the name.

To help keep that alive we wanted to make sure people knew about the comics companies that will be attending the show this year. To keep that going we bring you the Top Cow schedule of events for the Con, direct from their official press release.

TOP COW AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 2010

Top Cow Productions, Inc.’s race to Artifacts will include a stop at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, the world’s biggest and most exciting popular convention, from July 22nd – 25th.

Top Cow will once again storm into the convention and set up shop at booth #2629. Among the goods to prepare attendees of CCI 2010 for the race to Artifacts will be exclusives, preview books, free goodies, variant comics and trade paperbacks, including free copies of Artifacts #0 as well as other comics, posters and bookmarks (while supplies last).

Attendees are invited to join Marc Silvestri (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia), President Matt Hawkins, and Publisher Filip Sablik for an exciting and lively multimedia presentation about Top Cow’s plans for 2010 and 2011 in comics, film, television and much more. Be the first to hear announcements and updates on film projects including Witchblade, Magdalena, Alibi, Wanted, and The A-Team.

Plus announcements on new comic projects with creators including Ron Marz (Artifacts), Jeff Katz (American Original, Freddy vs. Jason), Phil Hester (The Darkness) plus surprise guest directors, screenwriters, producers and more! The panel will be featured in room 9 from 1:30-2:30pm under the title Top Cow: “We Create” Multimedia, on Saturday, July 24th.

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Our friends at Top Cow have sent us their list of comic solicitations for May, 2010 and because we know you are comics fans and also enjoy some Top Cow titles, we’ve included them for your advanced planning needs. And we’ve also got some cool cover images for you as well. Be sure to check those out after the jump.

Meantime, take a look at the comics coming in May from the official press release:

VELOCITY is off to the races!

MAY 2010 CHECKLIST

Velocity #1 Ron Marz/Kenneth Rocafort $3.99
Angelus #5 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $2.99
Pilot Season: Stellar #1 Signed Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Bernard Chang $19.99
Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box #4 Rob Levin/Bryan Edward Hill/Alessandro Vitti/Tommy Lee Edwards $3.99
Pilot Season: Hardcore #1 Signed Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Brian Stelfreeze $19.99
The Darkness #85 Phil Hester/Sheldon Mitchell/Aaron Campbell $2.99

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Our friends at Top Cow have sent us over a whole bunch of their upcoming new comics solicits for the upcoming months. There’s a lot of stuff to choose from and its har to make a choice, really. We may have to just go out and get all of them.

Check out the full list below, complete with descriptions, from the official press release. Of course, we also have some great artwork from these upcoming books to share with you as well, so enjoy that after the jump.

JANUARY 2010 CHECKLIST

The Darkness: Shadows & Flame One-Shot Rob Levin/Jorge Lucas $2.99

Angelus #2 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $2.99

Angelus #1 Signed Edition Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $14.99

Pilot Season: Stealth #1 Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Sheldon Mitchell $2.99

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 LBCC Variant Mark Waid/Kenneth Rocafort/Eric Basaldua $10.00

Tracker #3 Jonathan Lincoln/Francis Tsai $2.99

Tracker #1 Signed Edition Jonathan Lincoln/Francis Tsai $14.99

Witchblade #134 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic/Michael Ivan $2.99

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Our friends at Top Cow have announced their comics for October and through the miracle of the modern Internets, we can bring you the list right here. Check out all the solicitations for October coming from Top Cow via their official press release. And also, don’t forget we’ve got cool cover art for some of these books after the jump as well so check ‘em out!

Witchblade #131  — Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic/Chris Bachalo/John Tyler Christopher
Witchblade “War of the Witchblades” Set — Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic
Pilot Season 2009: Declassified — Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri
Tracker: First Look San Diego Exc — Jonathan Lincoln/Francis Tsai
Berserker #4 — Rick Loverd/Jeremy Haun/Dale Keown
Berserker #2 Keown “Rage” Edition — Rick Loverd/Jeremy Haun/Dale Keown
Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #4 — Mark Waid/Kenneth Rocafort/Joe Benitez
Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 SDCC Variant — Mark Waid/Kenneth Rocafort
The Darkness/Pitt #3 — Paul Jenkins/Dale Keown/Eric Basaldua
Darkness Accursed Volume 3 TPB — Hester/Broussard/Blake/Lucas/Oeming
Top Cow Bible TPB — Marc Silvestri/Top Cow’s Finest

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