What better way to celebrate a new presidential term than reading a comic book about a mutated assassin mowing down zombified ex-presidents with a machine gun?

God bless America.

Deadpool #1

Written by: Brian Posehn & Gerry Dugan
Penciled by: Tony Moore
Edited by: Jordan D. White

Pop some extra batteries into your night light and check the settings on your pacemaker, 'cause this week Cynthia and Eric review Ghosts #1!

SpooOOooky!

Written by:
Geoff Johns
Joe Kubert
Gilbert Hernandez
Paul Pope
Cecil Castellucci
Mary H.K. Choi
Al Ewing
Neil Kleid

Art by:
Rufus Dayglo
Gilbert Hernandez
Phil Jimenez
Joe Kubert
Jeff Lemire
John McCrea
Amy Reeder Hadley

Cover by:
Dave Johnson

Variant Cover by:
Brendan McCarthy

Witness Heroes and Villains's Cynthia Gerriets' ovaries grow three sizes in this, the A-Babies vs. X-Babies edition of Talking Comics!

Heroes and Villains's Cynthia and Eric discuss Tony Stark's less glamorous side in this edition of Talking Comics.

Finally, an Iron Man poor and self-destructive enough for Eric to relate to!

Ultimate Comics: Iron Man #1

Written By: Nathan Edmondson
Illustrated By: Matteo Buffagni
Colored by: Andy Troy
Lettered By: VC's Joe Caramagna
Edited By: Sana Amanat

• Daishin Stephenson (photo)

Arizona author Barry Graham has teamed with artist Vince Larue to produce Dark Heat, a graphic novel. ($148 pages, $16, pub date Sept. 26, 2012, www.barrygrahamauthor.com)

Summary from publisher:

From the macabre minds of writer Barry Graham and artist Vince Larue, Dark Heat is a contemporary hybrid of crime thriller and ghost story, set against the bleak desert cityscape of Phoenix, Arizona.

Gary Scott is a newspaper reporter who thinks he's seen everything. But when he investigates a series of grisly and bizarre killings - starting with a dog, then people, moving closer and closer to Gary - he realizes that this is like nothing he has ever encountered. Even the cops are terrified, and so Gary must work alone to find the truth, as everything he believes in proves to be false, and his reality comes apart.

Dark Heat is a tale of horror both physical and psychological, a slide into panic in which nothing is ever as it seems, and what is real is always worse than what is imagined.

Author bio:

Barry Graham is an author, journalist, screenwriter, poet and blogger whose dark and gritty urban novels have received international acclaim and whose reporting has helped more than one corrupt politician leave office. His nonfiction has been published in a diversity of magazines and newspapers, including Harper's, Flaunt, Parabola, Las Vegas Life, The Arizona Republic and Scotland on Sunday. His blog, "Illusory Flowers in an Empty Sky", contains reporting and commentary on politics, critical theory, the death penalty, urbanism, sustainability, books, boxing, films and Zen practice.

Cynthia and Matt take the reigns this week and deliver up a review with an extra helping of spooky sauce, just in time for October!

Thrill to the sweet sound of Matt's nervous laughter! Gasp at Cynthia's description of a dude gettin' his freakin' heart ripped out of his chest! Experience sheer terror as a disembodied Batman head demands that you "don't lean in your chairs!".

Ghost #0, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Phil Noto, is available in stores now!

Go snag one from Tucson's Best Comic Book Store®, Heroes and Villains!

In this issue our heroes Eric and Arnie rave about everyone's favorite dragon-punching, Watchmen-inspiring, zen vigilante: Peter Cannon (a.k.a "Thunderbolt")!

Brought to you by the Best of Tucson® Award-Winning comic book and game store, Heroes and Villains!

For your heroes, and the cover of "Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt," go below the jump!

This week our heroes discuss Michael Avon Oeming's The Victories, which Eric describes as "a cookie full of shards of glass".

This week, Eric & Arnie pull back the curtain and show us the seedy underbelly of the comic book industry...on Twitter.

Also, they talk about a rad little comic called Hero Worship, written by Zak Penn & Scott Murphy, featuring artwork by Michael DiPascale.

More comics should be about killing Nazis, and thankfully, it appears First X-Men delivers on that concept. In fact, shouldn't we be suspicious of any comic that doesn't involve dead Nazis? Something to think about. Also, Eric and Arnie almost wear matching shirts this week, in case you're keeping track of these things at home.