Batman #41 (DC Comics)

Runners Up: The Amazing Spider-Man #796 (Marvel Comics), Justice League #39 (DC Comics)

Tom King and Mikel Janin once again hit it out of the park with this week’s Batman. As Batman and Catwoman progress toward their nuptials, all of Batman’s work place romances seem to keep popping out of the woodwork. Here, Poison Ivy plots to give the Earth back to The Green, and while Batman and Catwoman slept, already got pretty far. Expect a bunch of cameos and some more expert art from Janin, there are some especially gorgeous splash pages, but that isn’t what set this one apart for me. As a long time fan of Batman, I have a confession to make; I don’t especially like Poison Ivy. Sure, I get how she is represents feminine nature against masculine industry. I get that she made a big splash in Batman: The Animated Series and became an essential part of Batman’s cast. I just think that she is rarely written to her potential. Here is an exception. King casts the Maiden of Mulch (yes, I made that up myself) as a massive, global threat. More of a Justice League level villain, but one who Batman alone has to contain. The key to making most villains function is to remind your audience how terrifying they should be, King is a master of this and has done it again.

Not to be forgotten, The Amazing Spider-Man is probably this week’s biggest buzz book. With some help from the ever solid Christos Gage, Dan Slott gets one step closer to the end of his seminal run with Peter Parker. Though thrown a bit off by a recent Venom crossover, the book was able to regain momentum pretty quickly. I won’t get into specifics (check out some news sites if you’d like some), but Slott is entering his final chapter by bringing in some of the heaviest hitters in Spidey’s long history. Mike Hawthorne backs up the action-packed tale with some great visuals. I was especially happy with his Anti-Venom, who appears as a nice inverse to our titular hero.

Christopher Priest and the underrated Ian Churchill bring us this week’s Justice League, and it might be the biggest sleeper book this week. As I’ve mentioned before, Priest’s JL is slick commentary on contemporary politics and feels almost like a more appropriate League to follow the aesthetic of  Batman v. Superman. That isn’t the only reason I’ve picked it though. Through a bunch of cameos, this seeming fill in is bringing the team much closer to the coming No Justice arc. I don’t want to say who shows up, but there is a Justice League Unlimited feel to this by issues end. That’s probably a good hint on multiple fronts. Churchill also gets to play with some big fight scenes and classic designs.