Well I called it before I even had this in my hands. It is so damn good to see Mike Mignola draw interiors again. There is no way I couldn’t make this my Pick this week after reading this gem of a first issue. Hickman writing Avengers is one thing, but Mignola drawing his baby again? Can’t beat that.

First off, it is surprising how little Mignola has changed as an artist considering how long it’s been since he did interiors. (It also helps that most of his replacements for the ongoing story has artist who draw very similar to him.) His style is always deceptively simple and then you realize how he can set the tone and mood with these simple designs. Then the action kicks in and he can put so much energy into these sequences. It doesn’t hurt that Mignola has always had the greatest colorist of our generation in Dave Stewart to help him out. Mignola sets the tone with his pencils but Stewart perfects it with his choice of colors. Considering how most of this is set in a dark atmosphere he uses a variety of dark green and purples for the action. I always notice the colorist in every book I read but with Dave Stewart you have to take your time with the pages.

A lot of big books came out this week but hopefully everyone will notice this release. Mike Mignola is back as an artist and the world is much better off. Even if you don’t know what is going on story wise, Mignola always makes it easy to follow and almost make ANY issue a starting point. This is definitely one of the best looking issues of 2012 (just in time too) and I can’t imagine making anything else my Pick of the Week. Go out and get this!