Normally with my weekly recommendations, I try to find a theme that links everything together, something that will not only you the readers some understanding of the comics themselves but also something fun! However this week the only thing that connects the issues I’ve chosen is the fact that you all love reading comics! They are amazing in their own right but at the same time, they all are just absolutely crazy. From a vampire sheriff to an ice-cold caper, to a fantasy world heroine with a dirty mouth there is nothing holding back these comics this week!

DC

Batman One Bad Day Mr. Freeze #1

• Written by Gerry Duggan
• Art by Matteo Scalera

DC has been putting out these “One Bad Day” one-shots, which are stories focusing on certain Batman villains. They are all meaningful and deep in their own right, but all have also been very unexpected in their story. Each character has had a story that you wouldn’t normally see that character in. However, this story about Mr. Freeze blew everything else that came before it out of the water. The last few one-shots have both been very brutal and graphic. more than I would have expected, but this one with Mr. Freeze told a story about how Freeze really is and that his wife might have been a victim even before she was frozen. The store takes place in the past, and we see Dick Grayson back in the role of Robin and his kind heart won’t stop until he can help Freeze and his wife. This story is powerful but also very sad, with Robin, the reader AND Mr. Freeze himself finding out exactly how some people can be.

Marvel

Blade Vampire Nation #1

• Written by Mark Russell
• Art by Dave Wachter & Miso Suayan

Now, this book is a one-shot issue so you can just grab this book and enjoy some vampire action! However, I will say that his story was first set up in the pages of Avengers, that the vampires have made their own nation and Blade is their sheriff! This issue is weird but in a way that intrigues you and makes you want to continue to read further. This comic sets up a new status quo for not only Blade and the vampires but for the world. It starts off as a story about an assassination attempt but ends with ramifications that will ripple through the entire Marvel comic universe. It’s a really fun read that will make you want to know more about Blade!

Independent

I Hate Fairyland #1

• Written by Skottie Young
• Art by Brett Bean

This comic is absolutely as savage and over the top as the first run and I couldn’t be happier about it. This comic isn’t deep or asks any insightful questions besides “what happens if a young woman is trapped in a fairy world as a child for a long time” and the first volume answers that perfectly. However, this new volume takes our protagonist Gert and gets her out of Fairyland and back to living her best life like she WASN’T just trapped for decades in a happy crazy cartoon land where she didn’t age and went insane. This comic is defiantly for adults because of the sheer level of over-the-top bloody violence the main character dishes out to the world. Skottie Young is known for his art but I truly believe that his storytelling is what will make him a legend. I have been in love with his stories lately and this one is no different. Be careful who you let read this book but if you can handle the ride, it will be one you won’t want to miss.

Collected Re-Release

Die (Collected Volume)

• Written by Kieron Gillen
• Art by Stephanie Hans

Die is one of those series that just sticks with you and you go back and read it every year or so. Gillen takes the reader on a crazy journey of madness and emotional damage. This is a story about teenagers who are taken into a role-playing game but all but one returns. Over thirty years later they are forced back into the game where things have changed. This comic touches on post-traumatic stress and survivor’s guilt like no other comic I have ever read before. Having to relive their trauma as adults we see these hurt individuals have to step up or get out of the way in this journey to get back home, again. Die is one of my favorite comics and it deserves to be read and enjoyed on your shelf. This is the first time the entire series is collected in a nice big hardcover and you can bet I will be getting this myself.