I’ve come around to thinking that a really good week of reading comics should include a number of things:

1. A nice selection of your monthlies, whatever they may be.
2. One book that you’ve been reading over a long period of time.
3. Reading a classic book for the first time.
4. Re-reading an old favorite.
5. Reading at least one book that makes you want to punch an innocent bystander, leading you to buy another comic to read just to make you feel better.
6. Not enough time to get around to everything, leaving you with a guarantee of awesome books for the week to come.

My week had all of these! Here are the highlights, some of which only need to be explained with a panel.

Ronin: This book has been sitting at the top of my reading list for the longest time, and I have no idea why I never got around to picking it up. While I just started it, I’m realizing that I’m glad I waited because I feel like I’m at a point as a comics reader where I’m going to really appreciate it. And while we’re on Frank Miller…

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: I actually read most of the Sin City books a few years back, but after following the Booze, Broads & Bullets bloggery last week, I was completely inspired to do some serious rereading.

Heartbreak Soup: I’ve been taking my time with this as a part of getting into the work of Los Bros. Hernandez. Whenever I pick it up, I feel like I’ve given myself a gift.

Some delicious Agreeable Comics: I’m sad to say that I have a real hard time following webcomics on a regular basis, so when I found out that floppies of She Died in Terrebone and The Loneliest Astronauts were up for sale, I picked them up right away. I love me a good detective story, and Kevin Church and TJ Kirsch are totally delivering with Mr. Sam Kimimura. Contrary to my prior assertion, I actually have been able to follow the Astronauts from the start, but I still loved having it in my hands and reading it all at once. The first installment of this comic features what is one of the top ten funniest lines I’ve seen in a comic, which is too filthy for me to write here, so it was love at first sight. Church n has set up a premise with unlimited possibilities, and it’s clear that he’s going to exploit the hell out of them, to say little of Ming Doyle’s incredible art. Also (SPOILER ALERT!!!!), I just watched Moon the other day, and I’ve become utterly convinced that Dan and Steve are clones of each other. The only drawback to the floppies is that they’re short, so it leaves you wanting more, which basically means that my one critique is also a compliment.

Joe the Barbarian: I’ve been unsure about this book, but I’ve decided to stick it out because I’m a Morrison zombie, and Sean Murphy’s art is blowing me away. We’re being led to believe that half of the narrative is taking place within a child’s diabetic fever dream (or are we?), but I think I’m struck by the fact that every time I read an issue, all I keep thinking about is “someone really needs to get that kid a candy bar or something…”

Captain America: Who Won’t Wield the Shield?: There is one panel in this book that explains why it’s so fantastic and why Marvel is basically winning right now, as far as this guy is concerned:

I swear to you people, I will say those words at my own wedding someday because I will be telling the story of how I met my wife and this will have been the first thing I said to her, whoever she is.

Battlefields: The Firefly and His Majesty, Part Two of Three: Both comics and war were basically invented so that Garth Ennis could make comics about war, and if you disagree with on this me then everything you believe about anything is 100% wrong.

Avengers vs Atlas #4: I could tell you that I think Jeff Parker is starting a renaissance in superhero comics because I do, and I could tell you that Gabriel Hardman is awesome, because he is. Or I can just show you this and make you all understand:

Finally…

I read Brave and the Bold #33 and this happened and then I tried to read Crossed: Family Values #1 and I found myself lying on the floor of my comic shop in the fetal position, sucking my thumb and crying for my mother. So I picked up Yotsuba%! Volume 1 to counteract the effects of one comic that annoyed me and one that traumatized me for the rest of my life. It’s totally doing the trick.