Occasionally (like maybe once or twice), people ask me what to read in the comic world. This is where I respond in a digestible, debatably effective fashion.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have returned to Earth.

Scratch that. Make that three. The fourth seems to have already gotten started.

That's what's happening in Jonathan Hickman's (Manhattan Projects) new monthly series, East of West. At 4 issues in, it's tale of an otherworldly Earth is as ambitious as it is intriguing. It's a big story with a big cast that is only slowly starting to piece together the events that catalyzed the End.

Loving the world Hickman is creating. A science fiction western in a gritty post-apocalyptic future where the country is split into the Seven Nations; a barely recognizable America after a bloody Civil War that leaves pieces feeling somewhere between a wasteland, Tatooine, and China. I hadn't seen any of Nick Dragotta's work previous to East of West, but I'm paying attention now. Frank Martin's colors and lighting are also a series highlight, adding incredible depth to each and every panel.

What's more, these covers are absolutely fantastic.

If you're new to the comic scene and want to give a new monthly series a whirl, I'd highly recommend picking this series up. It may take an issue to get your bearing in this new world, but stick with it and you won't be disappointed.