4. Quantum And Woody #5 By James Asmus And Ming Doyle (Valiant)
Ming Doyle's had an amazing 2013 she did an amazing job on the Brian Wood/Image series, Mara, about a volleyball star who discovers she has superpowers (if you've not read it, the trade paperback is out soon and is well worth picking up) and drew a great issue of the Marvel Infinite Series, Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon with Brian Michael Bendis. Now, she joins writer James Asmus on one of the best new titles of the year, Quantum and Woody. If you've not heard of it before, Quantum and Woody is basically the Odd Couple if they were related and had superpowers. And a teenage clone girlfriend of the Walter Matthau character, Woody, who used to belong to an evil organisation that killed their father. And a pet goat called Vincent Van Goat. In this issue, the two brothers have escaped Edison's Radical Acquisitions (ERA) and in the calming aftermath have decided to move in together as they adjust to their new situation their gauntlets bind the two so that if they're apart for longer than a day, they die. But Woody has no job, no means, a barely legal girlfriend and a goat in tow, and doesn't even seem all that interested in being a superhero! Eric on the other hand is dangerously close to losing his government job and is struggling to tolerate his adopted brother's care-free attitude to the massive changes he's wrought upon his life, while working on his superhero alter-ego, Quantum. This issue has a ton of great gags that Asmus effortlessly weaves into the story so that the jokes don't become the story, they enhance it, while Doyle's wonderful facial expressions perfectly compliment the humour, making it work especially well. It's a character-heavy and plot-light comic that sets up a larger storyline by the end, but when the characters are this enjoyable to read about, it works really well. Vincent Van Goat alone steals every scene he's in thanks to Doyle's subtle line-work and Asmus' perfect comic timing. Issue #5 is the beginning of a new arc so if you missed the first one, now's a good time to jump on, especially as the title is very accessible being quite new and Valiant include a summary of the series so far on the inside cover as well. Quantum and Woody continues to be a hugely entertaining and funny series that everyone who loves clever, funny superhero comics should have on their pull-lists.