Here's what we'd actually like to put in your hands.

Armageddon wraps and clears the deck for Zdarsky's Avengers #1, Spidey gets a Halloween special with a costume tease, and Greg Pak relaunches ThunderCats. On the DC side, Absolute Green Arrow finally unmasks its killer, Absolute Flash brings in the Absolute Atom, and Bad Seeds rolls through Detective, Nightwing, Catwoman and Batwoman. We checked the list against Marvel.com, ComixNOW, Comic Book Club and our own distributor listings.

On the wall right now

These five are already live on the shop, and the covers link to the product pages. More of this week's books are still going up on the site this morning, so ask us if your box looks short.

ASM Halloween Special #1

Avengers: Armageddon #5

Absolute Flash #20

Absolute Green Arrow #6

Detective Comics #1114

What's new this week

• Avengers: Armageddon #5 (Chip Zdarsky with Frank Alpizar, Ario Anindito and Delio Diaz). This is the finale. The world turns on its heroes, and it sets up Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto's Avengers #1 on Nov 4.
• Amazing Spider-Man: Halloween Special #1 (Justina Ireland / Mike Hawthorne). Hallows' Eve goes for her biggest heist yet, and Marvel is teasing a new costume and some hidden Spidey secrets.
• Iron Man: Racing Towards Doom #1 (Ethan Sacks / Greg Land). It's an official F1 tie-in with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, and Doom is waiting at the finish line. Punisher Showdowns: Black Widow #1 (Benjamin Percy, Tom Waltz / Greg Land) opens a run of Frank-meets-the-MU one-shots.
• Doomquest #5 (Ryan North / Francesco Mobili): Doom wakes up as Sue Storm just as Galactus arrives. Also out: Uncanny X-Men #37 (Gail Simone), X-Men United #8, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3 and Marc Spector: Moon Knight #9.
• Absolute Green Arrow #6 (Pornsak Pichetshote / Rafael Albuquerque). The first arc ends and the Green Arrow Killer is revealed. The series has been extended to 12 issues, so this is a good time to catch up.
• Absolute Flash #20 (Jeff Lemire / Haining). Meet the Absolute Atom, plus another major DC character making their Absolute debut.
• Detective Comics #1114 (Tom Taylor), with Nightwing #143, Catwoman #92 and Batwoman #8 continuing Bad Seeds. Matt Fraction has called Taylor's Detective chapter one of the best Batman stories he's read. Wonder Woman #38 puts Diana face to face with the Matriarch.
• ThunderCats #1 (Greg Pak / David Cousens, Dynamite). It's a new ongoing where Lion-O turns into the Feral King. Arrivals #1 (Dark Horse) is the oversized, magazine-size tour of Hickman and Spencer's 3 Worlds / 3 Moons, with art from Huddleston, del Mundo and friends.
• Star Trek: The Last Starship #12 (IDW) is the finale. Also out: King Spawn #60, The Last Driver #3 (Sean Murphy), Creepshow #2, D’Orc #9 and Savage Dragon #282.

Must-pulls

• Avengers: Armageddon #5: the end of the event and your on-ramp to Avengers #1.
• Absolute Green Arrow #6: the payoff issue of the best-kept secret in the Absolute line.
• Detective Comics #1114: Tom Taylor on Batman during Bad Seeds. Read it even if you skip the rest of the crossover.
• ThunderCats #1: Pak on a new #1 is an easy hand-off for anyone who grew up on the cartoon.
• Arrivals #1: pricier and oversized, but it's the cleanest way into the 3W3M universe.
• Star Trek: The Last Starship #12: a strong series sticking the landing.

Collector notes from the counter

This isn't a buy list. It's what we're seeing and hearing.

• What sold last week: in Bleeding Cool's Wednesday-to-Friday chart (ComicHub sales from 120 to 150 stores, Oct 17), Venom #1 took the top spot, just ahead of Amazing Spider-Man #1001. DOOM All-On-One #1 and DNX #3 tied for third, and Teen Titans #2, Doom Patrol #2 and Transformers #37 rounded out the top seven.
• eBay heat (CovrPrice tracking via ComicsHeatingUp, week ending Oct 18, USD): the Detective #880 LEGO facsimile was number one (high $50, FMV $42 raw NM), followed by the Midnight Spider-Man #2 NYCC advance edition (high $100, FMV $78). X-Men #159 (the first vampire Storm) and ASM #149 (Ben Reilly, clone saga talk at Amazon) are also moving.
• Absolute Justice news: CBSI's Oct 16 hot list has Absolute Evil #1 (40+ sold, avg $23) and Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 (avg $27) climbing after the NYCC announcement. That's a reason to keep up with today's Absolute Flash and Green Arrow too.
• Date check: some online lists put Amazing Venom #2 and Alien vs. X-Men #2 out today, but our distributor has both for Oct 28.

FOC closes Friday at 11:30 pm

Here's what to lock before Friday night. Tap a title to reserve it, or browse the full Last Call (FOC) list.

• Absolute Flash #21 (Nov 18): Ray Palmer's Microverse arc continues.
• Absolute Batman Beyond Ark M #1 (Nov 25): Snyder and Tieri with Francavilla, covering Professor Pyg's origin and the Joker's Arks.
• Maximum X-Men #1 (Dec 2): a new series from Christopher Yost and Tony Daniel. Storm and Wolverine put together Earth's Mightiest Mutants after Armageddon.
• Venom: POV #1 (Dec 2): Ryan Stegman and Carlos Gómez retell Venom's origin from the symbiote's side.
• Infernal Hulk vs. Avengers #1 (Dec 2): the end of the March to Hulk War.
• Detective Comics #168 Facsimile (Nov 18): the first Red Hood. With the Det #880 facsimile running hot, this one's worth a call.
• Arrivals #2 (Dec 9) and DC’s Naughty List #1 (Nov 25). Detective #1115, Nightwing #144 and Catwoman #93 (Nov 18) are on the FOC list too.

Coming up

• Oct 28: Absolute Batman #25, Absolute Wonder Woman #25, Absolute Catwoman #4, Amazing Venom #2, Alien vs. X-Men #2, ASM #1002, Spawn #380.
• Nov 4: Avengers #1 (Zdarsky / Checchetto), Batman #15, Absolute Superman #25, Absolute Green Lantern #20.
• Nov 8: Vancouver Comicon at Heritage Hall, 11 am to 5 pm. Nov 14: VCON 44 at BCIT Burnaby.
• Nov 18: Midnight Spider-Man #2, Midnight X-Men #2, Midnight FF #2 and the DNX #5 finale.