Buy This! - November 9th 2011

Every Monday Seth picks out three items from Previews that are due to ship on Wednesday and directs you toward your best bets for a quality purchase. Some times it's a single issue of a comic, other times a massive omnibus edition of a beloved series, and occasionally a figure or shiny bauble that caught his eye. Read on to find the three items you shouldn't leave your comic shop without this week.

Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #3

I've been digging the heck out of this book and I'm suffering from a paralyzing fear it's going to be cancelled. People seem to have their heads lodged firmly up Animal Man's toochas while this is the Jeff Lemire book that really grabbed me. It's a fun, mayhem-fueled romp through the new DCU with Hellboy-esque elements and some solid art courtesy of Alberto Ponticelli.

Sure it's not as heady, highbrow, or creepy as Animal Man but in my opinion this is the funnest book out of the new 52. The characters and ideas being bandied about here are just fantastic. From the tennis ball-sized base they operate out of to Father Time reanimating as a pre-teen Japanese schoolgirl, this book is full of Morrisonian concepts, nearly to bursting. Do yourself (and me) a favor and pick this up.

Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft - Special Edition hardcover

This is enough to make me wish I didn't already own this book in the original hardcover format. The packaging is gorgeous, it's filled with extras and it's oversized.

If you've never read Locke and Key then pick this up. The story centers around a family who moves into a mysterious mansion after the murder of the father. The concepts and characters as written by Joe Hill and drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez are fascinating, crappy, and energetic. I always describe the story as Goonies meets Lost and I find that seems to barely do the series justice. You could spend 100 bucks far worse than by picking up this book at your local shop. Or just grab it on amazon where it is selling for a measly 63 clams.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ultimate Collection hardcover

I've never read the early Eastman/Laird TMNT stuff so this will be a great way for me to discover it. As a kid I was mildly obsessed with the cartoon but from all accounts I've heard this series is far different from what it would later become.

I can't seem to turn up all the info on this book I'd like to though. For instance I'd like to know if it's an oversized hardcover or simply standard tpb sized. At any rate it features the first 7 issues plus a one-shot and some bonus material. If you're like me and you've never had an experience with the early careers of everyone's favorite mutant reptiles then this is a good a place as any to start.