Stormwatch has the potential to be the best book of the DC Comics New 52 Relaunch. It combines the old school superheroes of the DC Universe with the crazy, forward thinking concepts of the Wildstorm Universe into one book. Members of Stormwatch have powers like the ability to talk to and control cities, and the ability to mold and control all media. Its brilliant ideas like that mixed with Martian Manhunter that makes this book rock. It is also its greatest weakness.

Stormwatch #2 picks up right where the last issue left off. Midnighter is trying to recruit Apollo to join him, and not Stormwatch. The Swordsman fights the moon, who wants to attack the Earth.

Yes, you heard me right; the moon is the enemy in this book. We learn that team leader Adam One was born at the beginning of time at old age, and has been aging backwards. While Martian Manhunter proves himself a badass in what I will name his greatest character moment in his entire history.

It’s all these moments and more that make Stormwatch so much fun to read. So many concepts explode in these pages that it boggles the mind. It’s almost too much. Paul Cornell, the writer, is a veteran of Doctor Who, a television show that confuses and delights in one hour more than most shows do in an entire season. So you can see where his writing style comes from. Sadly, what works well in an hour television show, doesn’t work as well in twenty pages of sequential storytelling.

New week, new comics from our friends at Marvel. This time around there’s some very cool and interesting titles hitting stores tomorrow. Among the ones we’re looking forward to are S.W.O.R.D #4, Dark X-Men #4, Punishermax #4 and the debut of Hit-Monkey, the monkey hit man. Yes, that’s right, a monkey hit man. How can you possibly not read that one?

As always, check out covers from some of these books after the break. New comics hit stores tomorrow. If you don’t know where to get comics in your area, use this handy guide to find a store near you. Check out all the comics below.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #620 (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #620 DEADPOOL VARIANT
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: JACKPOT #2
ANITA BLAKE, THE LAUGHING CORPSE – EXECUTIONER #4
DARK AVENGERS POSTER BOOK
DARK TOWER: THE BATTLE OF JERICHO HILL #3
DARK TOWER: THE BATTLE OF JERICHO HILL #3 ZIRCHER VARIANT
DARK X-MEN #4
ENDER’S GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL #5
HIT-MONKEY #1
MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #20
MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN #2
NEW MUTANTS #10
NEW MUTANTS #10 DEADPOOL VARIANT
PUNISHERMAX #4

With the success of Siege#1 last week (it sold out) Marvel is dropping all new books this week to try and continue the momentum they’ve started in January. This week, we’re particularly excited to read Psylocke #3, Strange #3, S.W.O.R.D. #3 and the latest Invincible Iron Man.

And, as we always say, be sure to click through for some cover art from some of these new books. The overs are pretty cool. See you at the comic’s shop on Wednesday.

Comics On-Sale:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 SOMETHING IS COMING VARIANT (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 RHINO IS COMING VARIANT (GNTLT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 VILLAIN VARIANT (GNTLT)
ANITA BLAKE, THE LAUGHING CORPSE – EXECUTIONER #3
BLACK PANTHER #12
BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #3
DARK X-MEN #3
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22 ZIRCHER COVER
MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #19
NATION X #2
PSYLOCKE #3
PUNISHERMAX #3
REALM OF KINGS IMPERIAL GUARD #3
S.W.O.R.D. #3

Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! We’ve got a lot off good issues to get through, so let’s get to it. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

S.W.O.R.D. #1 – Marvel Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artists: Steven Sanders, Jamie McKelvie
Score: 9.0

Spinning out of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s seminal Astonishing X-Men run, S.W.O.R.D. is the new title focusing on the organization entrusted to ensure that alien invasions are kept to a minimum. The Sentient World Observation and Response Department’s co-commander, Abigail Brand, has enough on her plate as it is, but having Henry Peter Gyrich – yes, THAT guy – as your co-commander simply can’t be a good thing.

After making a name for himself with the critically acclaimed Phonogram series, Marvel thought that writer Kieron Gillen would be able to handle the launch of a new, ongoing series that has a lot of ties to it, and boy were they right. The juggling parallels between what Agent Brand must endure and the various plot threads that Gillen must keep going wasn’t lost on me; in fact, I’d say it only added to the story’s flow. Imagine Men In Black done up right.

So new that he could be considered a rookie, artist Steven Sanders is anything but. Sharp, clean pencils fill this issue from cover to cover, and while his interpretation of how Beast looks takes a little getting used to, ultimately it’s nit picking on an otherwise near-perfect comic. His rendition of Gyrich, especially, should be noted, as the character has never looked more dick-ish.

About as entertaining as an issue can be, this first issue manages to draw you in with quirky moments – Beast’s lovesick commentary, Lockheed’s binge drinking – and stunning revelations – hello, Kitty! – made this an incredibly easy selection for our Pull of the Week.

OTHER PULLS:

Normally, this info comes to us on Monday and we get it out to you then. Unfortunately, we got it a bit late and had a full plate at the site yesterday, so we’re it to you today instead. You’ve still got plenty of time to figure out what comics you want to buy, so don’t worry.

Also, remember that Wednesday is a holiday so new comics will be most likely be coming out on Thursday this week. If so, be sure not to show up at your local comic store demanding new comics on Wednesday and then wondering why you’re not getting what you want. Plus, being demanding makes you seem like a douche, so probably best to avoid that anyway.

Anyway, here’s a list of all the new Marvel titles hitting stores this week. Of course, we’ve also got some cool preview art for some of these titles as well, so check those out after the break.

Welcome to The Pull List Comic Reviews! First off, a huge thanks to John Carle for covering the column last week, he did a fantastic job. Make sure you check out The Flickcast’s podcast this week where he was also a guest-host! The dude’s everywhere. Okay, on with the comics. As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Lobo: Highway to Hell #1 (of 2) – DC Comics – $6.99 US
Writer: Scott Ian Artist: Sam Keith
Score: 8.5

You’re sitting there, asking yourself “How in all that is holy is Lobo: Highway to Hell the Pull of the Week?” Believe me, I’m asking myself that very same question. You see I’ve never dug Lobo. I’ve read a good chunk of his various issues over the years and I’ve never seen the attraction to the character, but seeing as variety is the spice of life, I figured I’d give this a shot. The premise sounded interesting enough…

Lobo’s chillin’ at home when he receives a message – in the form of slain dolphins – from the big bad himself: the Devil. Even though the Main Man has been banished from Hell for quite awhile now, he figures it’s time to go on a road trip and pay a not-so-friendly visit to his old pal, Beelzebub. Along the way everyone’s favorite Czarnian runs into more violence, mayhem, booze and floozy “women” than he can shake a stick at, but what happens when he finally comes face to face with the cutest evil… waitaminute… CUTE?!?

He hasn’t had a starring role since 2007’s Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious, so when DC Comics dusted the mothballs off of the character, they decided to get a fresh take on him. Enter Scott Ian, the guitarist for the band Anthrax. Ian’s first foray into comic writing is pretty decent, but it’s how he handles the title character that blew me away. There was just enough here to add weight to the usual aloofness that the character normally projects, which clicked beautifully. While the big payoff will be next issue’s finale, so far this has been a very enjoyable ride.

The Maxx creator Sam Keith, who had both writing and artistic duties on the aforementioned 2007 mini-series, makes his return to the character. Bringing his distinctive style that is every bit as manic as Lobo is, the art looks great, even while juggling different levels of detail throughout the issue. From what I could tell, the creative team looked like they catered to each other’s strengths, culminating in a fun romp that became our Pull of the Week.

Marvel is at it again and bringing back some characters to spin the X-Men in a new direction.This time, its Cable and Hope dropping by for a short run and you know that wherever they go, trouble follows. Need more info? We can oblige by bringing you this official Marvel press release.

Yes, we get a lot of those. And yes, we like to share. Of course, be sure to check out some preview pages from this new comic after, you guessed it, the jump. Check it out!

Marvel is proud to unveil your first look at X-Men: A Girl Named Hope, from Duane Swierczynski and Steve Dillon, beginning the return of Cable and Hope to the X-Men! Running as interconnected short stories (appearing as bonus content) through Psylocke #1, Dark X-Men #1, X-Men Legacy #230 and X-Force #22, X-Men: A Girl Named Hope begins the most shocking change to the X-Men you can imagine!

Will Hope save or damn mutantkind? What is Cable’s agenda? The answers begin in X-Men: A Girl Named Hope!

This is a week full of great comics and comics collections. And because we care about what you read, here’s some great books to check out.

The highlight of this week for me is Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus.  This collects the entire run re-imagining the “kung fu billionaire” Danny Rand as done by Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker and David Aja. This is easily the best superhero comic being published by Marvel Comics today and you can get the entire, and in my opinion too short, run in this big Omnibus.

Another collection to check out this week is the totally brilliant Captain Britain and MI-13: Hell Comes to Birmingham. Written by longtime Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell and drawn by Leonard Kirk, this book explores the mysticism of England, while taking off in the midst of Secret Invasion,  making this book the highlight of that entire event for me. Unfortunately, this book is coming to an end with issue 15 with a battle to the finish with Dracula! Seriously, you won’t be sorry if you pick up this book.