Because of last week’s annual conference for ComicsPRO, it was a monster couple weeks of comic news. And because I was at ComicsPRO, I wasn’t able to cover it in last week’s edition of Comics Disassembled, as there was no Comics Disassembled to be found. That’s why this week’s edition is an (almost) all ComicsPRO edition, as I wanted to make sure I hit the big news from that event. While I’ll cover two quick items from this week, this look at ten things I liked or didn’t like from the past two weeks of comics will turn its attention to that banner event, and it’s all led by a personal favorite.

Skate Ali, Appealing!

While it may have been somewhat lost in a sea of buzzy announcements during ComicsPRO, I’m going to crown Skate Ali as the title I’m most excited about coming out of the event. This Dark Horse series is from the elite creative team of Sam Humphries, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Natacha Bustos, and Joshua Reed, and as the write up at The Beat says, this five issue mini “takes place in a near-future Los Angeles, where skateboarding has become illegal, and follows a young rebellious girl as she competes against a clan of rivals — who are armed with magic.” Hook it to my veins, my friends. Hook it to my veins.

This feels like a relative to the Sega Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio (or Jet Grind Radio for us folks in North America), with rebellion, genre fusion, and a fizzy feeling of youth at its core. Not only that, but look at that cover from Bustos, an immense talent who somehow merges the energy of Scott Pilgrim with that aforementioned video game into a piece of art that immediately burrowed its way into my heart and mind. Pair that with its concept, its creative team, and the impossibly gifted talents who will be providing variant covers — that’s Joe Quinones, Sweeney Boo, Emma Rios, Jamie McKelvie, and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, which is just insane — and I am all the way in.

Standard “I wish this was more than five issues” complaints apply, but you take what you can get, and greatness comes in all kinds of forms. But if you’re asking me which comic will be great from the endless wave of announcements that came from ComicsPRO, Skate Ali is right there at the top of the list. I’m all the way in.

Oh, one last thing: Hell yeah on that logo. I love that it’s both a sticker and a skateboard. No notes!

DC Comics, Dropping Hammers

If I have one complaint about DC’s ComicsPRO efforts, it’s that there were so many notable announcements that it made it hard for any of them to stand out. Do I favor something like the reveal of what Absolute Green Arrow is, which is a slasher horror story that merges Scream, Halloween, and Green Arrow together into a bonkers book from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Rafael Albuquerque? Maybe! That sounds pretty incredible! Or will my attention be drawn to an incredibly appealing trio of Next Level titles in Barbara Gordon: Breakout from Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan, The Deadman by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo (which legitimately caused one retailer to gasp out loud during DC’s presentation), and Teen Titans from Kyle Higgins and the terminally underrated Daniele Di Nicuolo? I’m not going to lie, those are sounding pretty good! But surely I must favor all the news about DC’s 40th anniversary celebration for The Dark Knight Returns? That’s so enormous!

It’s hard to choose, and honestly, that’s me cherry picking. That wasn’t even all of it! Absolute DC is getting its first crossover? The Bat Fraction era is doing the same? More details came out about the next wave of Vertigo books? How is one to choose? The truth is, I don’t have to. It’s all awesome, and it spoke to the heat of DC and, frankly, their incredible decision making that they could stroll in there and have a 100% hit rate.

I’m going to pick anyways, though: Absolute Green Arrow could not be more exciting to me. That book sounds so insane and unique and perfect that it both expands the Absolute universe and exemplifies what makes it so special. I talked to Pichetshote about it at ComicsPRO, and trust me when I say there’s more than meets the eye with this. While I enjoyed all this news, Absolute Green Arrow’s arrival this May is one of my most anticipated events in comics this year.