5 Awesome Comics You Must Read This Week (9 October)

1. The Private Eye #4 By Brian K. Vaughan And Marcos Martin (Panel Syndicate)

The fourth issue of Brian K Vaughan and Marcos Martin's digital comic, The Private Eye, was released on Tuesday and if you've never heard of the comic, first of all its superb, and second it's set in a future where privacy is everything so everyone - literally everyone - wears masks when out in public. The story follows PI, a kind of private investigator who's also a lot like a paparazzo, as the death of a client sends him on a wild journey of survival as he's hunted down by assassins in gas masks and joined by his client's sister who employs him to help her track down her sister's murderers. But bigger plans are afoot involving a shady organisation and a decommissioned space shuttle... Most comics readers are familiar with Vaughan whose Y: The Last Man series is frequently recommended to people who don't normally read comics, and his follow-up series Ex Machina is equally as fascinating. Recently he's gained widespread acclaim with his Image series Saga with artist Fiona Staples, but I think The Private Eye is the best thing he's writing right now. It's a futuristic sci-fi detective noir with a fast-paced story and Vaughan's usual bantering characters, and has lots of interesting ideas on modern life amid such rapid technological advancement. But while Vaughan is the most famous name on this title, Marcos Martin's art is by far the best thing about the comic. It is simply eye-poppingly gorgeous, brought to vivid life by the tremendous work of Muntsa Vicente. The comic is presented in horizontal format, designed for ideal viewing on a tablet or computer screen as this is a digital only publication, and this allows Martin to try some really exciting layouts with different kinds of panels making up each page. The strange world PI, Raveena and Melanie inhabit is brought to glorious life by Martin's imaginative character, mask, and city designs, and this issue has page after page of ridiculously good art €“ Melanie's car in particular is awesome! I could write page after page about why this is such an amazing comic but really I just want you to read it and find out for yourself. Like I said, this is digital only and it's also experimental in that it's free to download, however you're encouraged to pay to read the comic and, when the work is this damn good, I feel like it's only fair the creators get something for their effort. You can read all of the issues in pdf format for free, but be cool guys and throw a few bucks their way. Anyway, The Private Eye has no set schedule and comes out sporadically but when it does come out, it's always worth reading and celebrating and it's definitely my pick for comic of the week. Check it out at www.panelsyndicate.com. * Those are my picks of the week - yes, no Marvel! But I'm sure that'll change before long. What're your favourite comics this week? Let me know in the comments below!