The Colonel's Picks for October 16th, 2013

The 2013 New York Comic-Con has come and gone, leaving exciting announcments and surprise reveals in its wake for the fan community to chew on heading into next year. Whether it's Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham returning to Marvelman or the upcoming Jim Steranko and Jack Kirby Artist Edition volumes, 2014 is gonna be a kick-ass year for everyone but my wallet. Luckily, the pile this week is pretty thin so maybe I can start saving now. Here's what I'll be checking out today at my LCS of choice!

Imagine Agents #1 (Boom!)

The concept alone makes this new series by Brian Joines and Bachan sound like a winner: one part Men in Black, one part Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, this comic stars the Agents of I.M.A.G.I.N.E. as they try to wrangle out of control imaginary friends from their equally combustable young creators. Boom! has a great track record with kids comics that transcend their intended age group, so if you just want a fun comic, give this one a try.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine #1 (Dark Horse)

Dan Jolley and Leonard Kirk revive reformed convict Travis Clevenger for a new action packed romp. The rights to Jolley's creation Bloodhound finally reverted to Jolley from DC last year and now the story can commence without any of that pesky editorial interference or mandatory tie-in issues starring Firestorm. If you like films like Walking Tall, this series is right up your alley. Kirk is a hell of an artist by the way, and was really strutting his stuff on Peter David's X-Factor run until recently.

Star Trek: Khan #1 (IDW)

It's the shocking origin of Khan Noonien Singh presented in the form of a lovely comic book by Mike Johnson, Claudia Balboni, and Paul Shipper. This isn't your daddy's Khan either, this is the sexy new version based visually on actor Benedict Cumberbatch. It's Khan, so I'm sure there will be some Eugenics Wars and some rising to power and all that good stuff.

Letter 44 #1 (Oni Press)

Charles Soule (there's that name again) and Alberto Albequerque blends history, space travel, and West Wing-style intrigue in a new series from Oni Press. President Elect Stephen Blades walks into the oval office on his first day on the job and discovers a letter left by his predecessor revealing the truth behind the U.S.A.'s forays into space travel. Mums the word on extraplanetary affairs like this one, but can President Blades keep a lid on the coming threat from beyond the stars?

And before you return to your regularly scheduled web browsing and forum chattery, be sure to check out Mr. Arnold's Halloween Countdown and Mr. Bearden's Missives on Marvel History. And if audio stimulation is more your bag, then check out the latest CoH Podcast, Episode #51, where the gang takes a look at war comics in the modern era!

"Excelsior!" oops. . . .I meant "Cheers."