A small week! Praise the comic gods! Let’s look at the unbelievably small mix of books I’m getting in another edition of The Pull, headlined by a genuine headliner!

Book of the Week: East of West #45

Obviously the final chapter of a comic that made my favorite comics of the decade list is going to end up as my book of the week, but I have a feeling this could end up being one of – if not the – best comic of the year right at the wire. There’s a ton of ground to cover here given where Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin and Rus Wooton have been building, and I imagine we’re going to have an incredibly fulfilling, destructive and potentially heartbreaking conclusion to this story. I’m here for it.

Also, and I just want to put this into the world even though I try not to control the stories of the stories that I enjoy, I really need Balloon to die. I cannot reemphasize how much I want that specific result. The artificial intelligence that has guided the life of maybe Antichrist Babylon is a bad parent, total trash and he needs to get exploded with a vengeance. Give it to me Johnny Hicks and Nick Dragotta. I need it.

Regardless of Balloon’s ultimate fate, I am 100% onboard here and this will assuredly be the first comic I read when I return from my time away. I can’t wait. Especially if Balloon dies.