As we begin the month of August, there are many comic books hitting shelves that should catch readers’ attention. Let’s take a look at some of the comics to excite fans for the week of August 1st, 2012.

One of Marvel Comics’ big releases is X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance HC which collects the storyline running through several X-books in 1997. Operation Zero Tolerance saw Bastion and Henry Peter Gyrich as they attempted to hunt mutants across America. The cover price is listed at $75. Some first issue highlights are Hawkeye and First X-Men. The solo Avenger will be guided by Matt Fraction and David Aja who are known for their work on Immortal Iron Fist. First X-Men comes to us from the minds of Neal Adams and Christos Gage. Avengers vs. X-Men, Marvel’s big event of 2012, drops its ninth issue. Young hero and rising star Miles Morales’continues his adventures in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #13 which is also a tie-in to the Divided We Fall storyline.

Over at DC Comics, the DCnU is celebrates its first birthday. Nine of the original “New 52” books have hit the twelfth issue in their respective series. While they have all had varying degrees of success, it’s still worth taking note. Those books are Action Comics, Animal Man, Batwing, Detective Comics, Green Arrow, Justice League International, Red Lanterns, Stormwatch, and Swamp Thing. Animal Man, Batwing, and Swamp Thing standout as some which have received great praise from readers. For the fans of digital comics, both Action Comics and Detective Comics, DC’s formerly longest running series, continue their combo pack deals offering the digital version along with the print copy.

If you’re looking to pick up a collected edition to catch up on some of your favorite characters, DC has you covered. The first eight issues of Action Comics are collected in Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel in hardcover format. Superboy’s newest adventure, Superboy Vol. 1: Incubation, presenting the first seven issues in trade format is also available.

Image Comics also has releases of new issues from some hot young series as well as an older one. Writer Jim McCann teamed with artists Rodin Esquejo and Sonia Oback’s in Mind the Gap #3 are keeping readers in suspense in their mysterious tale. Thief of Thieves #7 from the minds of Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, Shawn Martinbrough, and Felix Serrano is another hit from the indie publisher. The long-running series Spawn, hits its 222nd issue as Todd McFarlane has reclaimed his spot as writer and joins artist Szymon Kudranski and colorist FCO Plascencia.

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, collectively referred to as “DnA,” present Hypernaturals #2. They are joined by artists Brad Walker, Tom Derenick, and Steven Downer. Published by Boom! Studios, Hypernaturals hopes to pull readers into its futuristic superhero story.

These are just some of the comic books available to begin this month of August 2012. Head out to your local comic shop to pick these up as well as browse the rest of the releases. Happy reading to everyone.