This Week's Picks: Absolute Green Arrow Hunts a Killer, Plus Miles Morales Faces His Father's Past

Every book in this week's lineup is waiting on a reveal. Absolute Green Arrow finally names its killer. Miles Morales learns what his father's old secrets cost. Batman runs out of allies and turns to one of his oldest enemies. The Avengers lose the public's trust, and Doctor Doom takes his ambitions to the Formula 1 grid. The common thread is consequence. Somebody always pays.

Absolute Green Arrow #6

Pornsak Pichetshote made his name using horror to examine trauma and power in Infidel, and Absolute Green Arrow has become the best showcase yet for that instinct inside DC's Absolute line. Issue #6 pulls Green Arrow, Black Canary, Solomon Grundy, and Hector Hammond into one violent convergence, and one of them does not walk away. The mystery of the Green Arrow Killer finally gets an answer, along with a few twists that recast earlier chapters. Rafael Albuquerque, who co-created American Vampire with Scott Snyder, draws brutality with a scratchy, kinetic urgency that never turns into spectacle for its own sake. The book earns its bleakness scene by scene instead of leaning on shock. DC has extended the series by six issues, and after this finale-style chapter you can see why. There is more story here than a twelve-issue plan could hold.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3

Bryan Edward Hill relaunched this series on a sharp premise. Miles has spent years escaping Peter Parker's shadow, and now he has to face his own family's. Part three of "Sins of the Father" lets Jeff Morales' S.H.I.E.L.D. past close in on Miles' friends and family. The new villain interferes with Miles' powers, which strips away the improvisation he usually leans on. The question of what role the Kingpin played in all of it gives the arc a street-level menace the book needed. Nico Leon keeps the acrobatics readable even when the action gets chaotic, and the classic costume suits a story about roots. Hill writes legacy as a liability instead of a gift. That makes this the strongest hook the relaunch has produced.

Detective Comics #1114

Tom Taylor has a gift for writing Batman at the edge of his resources, and this chapter of "Bad Seeds" pushes him past it. Dawn is coming to Gotham, and daylight will bring destruction. Batman has no allies left and one option, Mr. Freeze. Pairing Bruce with a man whose entire tragedy is built on loss is a smart choice, and it gives the two of them real emotional friction to work through while they cross the city. Jeff Spokes draws the issue, and Mikel Janin supplies the cover. The premise is simple and desperate, which is exactly how Batman crossovers work best. Gotham has to survive the sunrise, and the only person who can help is someone Batman has spent years locking away.

Dark Knights of Steel II #4

Tom Taylor and Otto Schmidt return to their medieval DC Elseworld, and the sequel is a twelve-issue high-fantasy epic about a peace breaking down between the House of El, the House of Wayne, the Kingdom of Storms, and the Amazons. Issue #4 puts Amanda Waller's bid for the throne at the center. She has recruited a murderous squad to remove anyone in her way, and the tagline promises the Suicide Squad taking aim at the crown. Casting Waller as a court schemer is a natural fit. Her specialty has always been manipulating power from behind it. Schmidt's linework gives the fantasy world weight and texture, Arif Prianto's colors keep the kingdoms visually distinct, and Wes Abbott's lettering holds the court intrigue together. A traitor is hidden among the League, and this issue closes in on how deep the rot goes.

Avengers: Armageddon #5

Chip Zdarsky closes his five-issue event with "Darkness Before the Dawn: The Fall of the Avengers." The previous issue tore the world apart and turned humanity against its heroes, and this finale deals with the aftermath. The story centers on David Colton and asks a question every superhero book eventually faces: what does great power cost, and who gets stuck paying? Zdarsky has proven he can write the team as people with doubts and grudges, not just a roster of powers. Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar share art duties. The issue also points toward Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto's upcoming Avengers #1, so it works as both an ending and a launchpad.

Iron Man: Racing Towards Doom #1

This one-shot is a Marvel and Williams Racing team-up, set during a Formula 1 season in the Marvel Universe. Doctor Doom wants Latveria to win, and Iron Man joins real Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon to stop him. Black Widow, Captain America, and other heroes pile in, so the stakes run well beyond the track. Ethan Sacks writes and Greg Land draws, with a cover by Phil Noto. It is a fun, high-speed change of pace, and Doom makes a perfect villain for a sport built on obsessive engineering and national pride.

This Week's Full Release List

Everything else shipping to shelves this Wednesday, condensed:

The Beat's Top Picks

• End of Life #9 (DC/Vertigo) — Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh, with colors by Chris O'Halloran. A giant-sized brawl gives way to Eddie's collapsing personal life.
• Forever Home #2 (Oni Press) — Christian Ward and Sami Kivela. A family shelters in a refuge where one minute inside equals about twenty outside.
• The Forged #14 (Image) — Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann, and Mike Henderson. The penultimate chapter of the mech and space-war saga.
• Hello Halloween #2 (BOOM! Studios) — A horror anthology with Jeffrey Brown, Bill Crabtree, Robert Hack, Lauren Assour, Morgan Beem, and more.
• The Patron #3 (Ignition Press) — Christian Ward and John J. Pearson. A murder mystery about art and scarcity.

Also Worth Your Time

• Arrivals #1
• Deathstroke, The Terminator #8
• Exquisite Corpses: Rascal Randy #4
• The Folk of Dooney Hollow #2
• The Fury of Firestorm #7
• Ofiusa #2
• Nightwing #143
• Six of Us #2
• Twilight Zone #11
• Wonder Woman #38

New #1s and One-Shots

• Amazing Spider-Man Halloween Special #1
• Cyberpunk 2077: Jayks Case #1
• Filthy Lambs #1
• The Last Starfighter: Beta #1
• Mirka Andolfo's Sweet Paprika Black White & Pink Halloween Special #1
• The Punisher / Black Widow #1
• Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – Nightmare on Nevarro #1
• Terrorbytes Halloween Annual #1
• Thundercats #1

Graphic Novels and Trade Collections

• American Vampire Book 3
• Astro Quantum
• Batman by Darwyn Cooke: The Absolute Edition HC
• The Beauty Book 3
• Blade Epic Collection Vol. 1: His Name Is Blade
• Bleeding Hearts Vol. 1: Out-Break
• Bring on the Bad Guys: Origins of Marvel Comics Villains
• Chef's Kiss Again
• Come Again
• Creatures & Corridors
• Creepshow: Tales of Suspense and Horror Deluxe Edition Book 2 HC
• DC Finest: Doom Patrol – The End Sanctifies the Means
• Diana HC
• Don Quixote: A Graphic Novel Adaptation HC
• Dorian Gray Graphic Novel HC
• Dracula Book 3: The Count
• Ghost Rider Epic Collection Vol. 4: To Slay a Demon
• Godzilla IDW Library Collection Vol. 7
• Gumshoe
• Huck Vol. 1: All-American (Dark Horse Edition)
• I Can't Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex HC
• Lost Fantasy Vol. 3
• M1 Monster Racing League Vol. 1
• Moon Deer HC
• Mortal Thor Vol. 2: Come at the King
• Nirvana Is Here
• Once & Future Omnibus
• Plants vs. Zombies Vol. 26: Certified Zomboss HC
• The Primal Hunter Vol. 2 GN
• Psylocke: Ninja – Rise from the Fall
• Red Roots Vol. 1
• Scott Snyder's Dark Spaces Casebook
• Spectre by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol. 2 HC
• Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Book 3: Time Upon a Once
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Booyakasha Books Vol. 2
• Toxic Avenger Vol. 3: Toxie Goes to Washington
• Transformers UK Compendium Book 2
• Venom Epic Collection Vol. 8: Shadows of the Past
• Wandering HC
• We Only Find Them When They're Dead Complete Collection
• Wytches Pledged Edition Vol. 1
• X-Men: Age of Krakoa by Kieron Gillen Omnibus HC
• You Wish Vol. 3: Crunch Time GN

Start with Absolute Green Arrow if you want the week's most unsettling mystery, Miles Morales if you want a hero forced to answer for his family, and Detective Comics if you want Batman at the end of his rope. None of these characters get to walk away clean, and that is what makes them worth reading.

The Multiverse Comics Podcast — with Stephen, Jason, and Scott — is available wherever you get your podcasts.