Mike's Picks of the Week:

Ultimate Human #4 - Warren Ellis and Cary Nord has been delivering a great series and this week brings the final issue. Ellis has crafted a story that plays to his strengths, and Cary Nord has been on fire. Last issue delivered a nasty Ultimate version of old Ellis standby Pete Wisdom and this issue promises to deliver the action.

GTA4 - The Grand Theft Auto series goes next gen. Seriously what more do you need than that?

Larry's Pick of the Week:

The famous Boudin sourdough. San Francisco sourdough is arguably the most famous in the country, and while some folks in Oregon will give you a hard time about where and when their Mother sponges came from, even the most grizzled partisan will allow that the Boudin starter is as old as the territory, with each loaf using a bit of the mother dough from 1849. The starter dough they use to make the bread has been in constant use since 1849. When you eat a slice of Boudin's, you're eating bread literally as it was in 1849. The same stuff. I've been known to have some Santa Cruz Extra from Alfaro's in a pinch, but they're owned by Sara Lee, so... c'mon. Perfectly pleasant corporate-owned bread, or time-travelling sourdough from the Barbary Coast? The choice is clear. www.boudinbakery.com

Ash's Pick of the Week:

I'll be in Arizona this week and far, far away from my comic store when this week's books, hit, but were I not, I'd be hitting up Comics Conspiracy's Geoff Johns signing for DC Universe 0. Geoff Johns has done a great job of cementing himself as one of the modern DC architects, and considering that this 50-cent tome was cowritten by Grant Morrison, I don't think that there's a reason for any superhero fan - even the staunchest Marvel Zombie - to not pick this book up. It's a key lead-in to DC's Final Crisis, and for half a buck, you couldn't NOT get a finer looking book, considering the array of artists on this issue. I wish half a buck would always go so far every time I go into a comic book store!

Erin's Pick of the Week:

Glamourpuss #1: First of all, dear readers, let me point out that I am FINALLY catching a series that I'm interested in at the very beginning and this is terribly exciting for me. Dave Sim's website promises smart, provoking thoughts on fashion, a monosyllabic spy/super-heroine and fabulous shoes. Maybe I'm playing into a stereotype here, but I want someone to agree that Vogue is a messed-up concept for magazine but do it using a character in incredible clothing drawn in a 1950's fashion ad style. Ah, the dichotomy of modern girliness. Bring on the lipstick and social critique, Mr. Sim!

Rich's Picks of the Week:

Local #11 by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly - In the next to last issue of this series, the scene shifts to Toronto and the lead character, Megan, who we've been following since she left home as a teenager, is now 30. It's always a bit of a wait in between issues for this excellent book, but I feel like that only helps to accentuate the time that passes in between issues within the story.

Dororo Vol. 1 Vertical continues its mission to release never-before-in-English manga from the late, great Osamu Tezuka. It seems like there's a new one every week. This one was originally published in Japan in 1967 and is about a young boy named Hyakkimaru whose father made a deal with some demons and sold them 48 of his son's body parts. Now a teenager and tricked out with prosthetics, Hyakkimaru travels the Japanese countryside with his young sidekick Dororo, retrieving each of his body parts from the 48 demons who now own them. It sounds like a weird Samurai video game. Unlike a lot of the releases we've seen from the Tezuka canon the past few years, this one is wall to wall action.

Julian's Picks of the Week:

Elephantmen: War Toys #3 (of 3): Richard Starkings has proved that there are few things that are "impossible" when you have the talent and love to back a project up. Hip Flask, Starking's Comicraft's mascot was little more than that: just a mascot. It existed in out of context pin-ups by artists from the likes of Ian churchill and Joe Madureira until a few years ago Starkings, with the help of Joe Casey and Jose Ladronn created not only a backstory but a mythology and world for the character. The result turned out to be a mix of pulp, sci-fi and action and excelling in each one of those like no other book at the time. Following up Hip Flask, Starkings presented the world with the ongoing Elephantment and the Elephantmen: War Toys mini series and each one has been an enviable product that surpasses your average tights comic quality wise by far. Everyone looking for a comic that falls outside the tedious guidellines of the medium should give this book a shot.

Iron Man: Man, oh man. I vaguely remember reading Captain America books in the early 80s that had Iron Man as a guest star. Then... maybe a few late 80s Avengers issues when the character was part of the team? Understandably, when the movie was announced I wasn't thrilled. I was ready to categorize it along with Daredevil and Catwoman as sub-par action movies. Then Jon Favreau was announced as a director and my first thoughts were "really? Monica's ex-boyfriend? the guy directing a 'Jumanji' for a new generation?" Expectations went from low to non-existent. Then the posters came out and looked good. Then the teaser came out and looked fantastic. Then the trailer came out and I'll be seeing this on opening night and I'm ready for it to be my favourite action movie of the year.