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TOP PUBLISHERS
MARVEL COMICS
WOLVERINE #1: Logan goes feral again, but Nightcrawler tries to bring him home. Meanwhile, an "ancient force" awakens, which will become Wolvie's latest arch-foe. This is supposed to push Wolverine "to the limit," but of course that's not the first time we've heard that. Here are some creator quotes:
“When I was a kid, Wolverine was the coolest character in comics,” writer Saladin Ahmed said. “That hasn't changed a whole lot for me, so when Marvel approached me about a new solo Logan book, it was an instant YES. Logan is simultaneously a mythic hero, an abused animal, and a man of flesh, blood, and adamantium. Our story is about what happens when these parts of him all pull in opposite directions – and threaten to rip Logan to pieces that won't come back together again.”
“I could talk for hours about why I decided to take this relaunch, but you want my real answer? It's Wolverine. That’s it,” artist Martin Cóccolo said. “It's a dream come true for me, and I can't believe I get to tell my younger self every day that I'm drawing WOLVERINE. Saladin's exploration of the character and the story is incredibly exciting as a concept as well as visually engaging, and I can't wait for people to finally see it!”
Here's an homage to Wolverine #1 (1982):
Here's a preview
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #1 (of 5): After his ad hoc group helped save the world in "Blood Hunt" -- I'll have to take Marvel's word for it, as I didn't read it -- Cap creates an Emergency Response Squad. This miniseries will have a different globetrotting story and a different artist every issue, starring Captain America (Steve Rogers), Wasp, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Hercules, She-Hulk, Photon, Night-Thrasher, Lightning, Wonder Man, Shang-Chi and Lightspeed (Julie Power).
Also, there will be jackets.
Artists will include Cory Smith (Wolverine, Ghost Rider), Scot Eaton (Cable), Marcelo Ferreira (Moon Knight: City of the Dead) and Valentina Pinti (Immortal Thor, Blade).
“This is a great time to assemble!” writer Steve Orlando (Scarlet Witch) said. “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE is bringing a murderer's row of classic Avengers back to the Mansion, and classic comics storytelling is coming with it! A team of icons and new recruits alike, but heavy on the icons! And in every issue, a barnburner of an entire story packed into twenty pages! West Coast Avengers was the first comic book I ever bought, full stop. So, to be part of a return to form, heavy on personality, rich in action, is more than exciting--it's an honor! Starting this summer, Avengers Emergency Response Squad is always on duty!”
Here's a preview:
Elsewhere at Marvel:
BLOOD HUNTERS #2 (of 5): Dagger, White Widow, Elsa Bloodstone and Hallows' Eve go after ... Miles Morales! Surely to cure him and not for (gulp) a stake dinner! (Obviously, he's got to be cured sometime. He's too valuable an IP to be changed so drastically.)
SPIDER-GWEN THE GHOST-SPIDER #5: Is this an homage?
STAR WARS #50: Final issue!
VENOM WAR: WOLVERINE #1: Nope.
DC COMICS
"Absolute Power" Week 11
ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #6 (OF 7): Paradise Lost (the Wonder Woman Amazo) vs. Queen Nubia and the Amazons. Curious to see what the Amazo can steal anything from the Amazons. I wouldn't think so, but I've been wrong before.
Plus there's an homage to Catwoman #51 (2006).
Boy, those are some mean shoulders on Diana. And actually, every issue of Absolute Power: Task Force VII has had a mug-shot cover, but I just now noticed! Here are the first five:
GREEN LANTERN #15: Hal Jordan needs to re-charge his ring, but the Power Battery is a continent away. Fortunately, there's a Batplane handy ...
Elsewhere at DC:
BATMAN AND ROBIN #13: Dinosaur Island!
NIGHTWING UNCOVERED #1 (ONE-SHOT): Despite the title, it's a book of covers. There's also another homage to Detective Comics #38!
IMAGE COMICS
DEAD EYES: THE EMPTY FRAMES #1 (of 5): Writer Gerry Duggan (X-Men, Falling in Love on the Path to Hell) and artist John McCrea (Hitman, Mythic) bring us a taut crime thriller starring a Boston criminal who wears a mask with red X's over the eyes, hence the title. No, I don't know how he sees, either. And I didn't know there was a previous Dead Eyes miniseries in 2019 until after I finished reading -- Duggan tells you all you need to know in this first issue.
So Dead Eyes is a crook with a moral center. He threatens some dirty cops because they stole money from a sick friend of his daughter. So he's Batman there. But then he gets a line on some stolen artwork and arranges to get the reward, because he's a crook there. Interesting fella.
“The unkillable Dead Eyes is back!" writer Gerry Duggan (X-Men, Falling in Love on the Path to Hell) said. "We’ve never stopped working on Dead Eyes, and The Empty Frames has more tragical hilarious action than the first one. As always, McCrea, and colorist Mike Spicer really show off in this new volume and prove once again why they’re one of the best teams in the business.”
“I love drawing Dead Eyes!" artist John McCrea (Hitman, Mythic) said. "Gerry gives me a gritty, film noir world to sink my artistic teeth into, with just the right balance of humor and violence. And I get to work with my longtime collaborator, the amazing Mike Spicer. Plus the fantastic Joe Sabino on lettering duty ties everything up in a pretty, bloody bow. What more could a growing boy want?"
SEA SERPENT’S HEIR BOOK THREE: Skybound alsways gets excited about this series, and sends me tons of previews with each volume. These came in three bursts, and I have no idea if they're in the correct reading order or not.
TRANSFORMERS #12
DARK HORSE
GROO: MINSTREL MELODIES #1 (OF 4): The Minstrel is probably my least-favorite supporting character in Groo (all the rhyming can get tedious), and he's the POV in this one. I still loved it, because I love Groo. It's got everything you'd want: Extravagantly detailed crowd scenes, colossal destruction and Groo having an idea. Twice! (That last one was unexpected.)
MIDST: VALOROUS FARMER #1: I didn't have time to read this one, so the preview will have to do.
SUMMER SHADOWS #1: See above.
MORE COMICS
2000 AD PROG PACK (Rebellion / 2000AD): UK comics alert!
2000 AD PROG PACK (Rebellion / 2000AD): UK comics alert!
ANGORA NAPKIN: THE GOLDEN MCGUFFIN HC (Pegamoose Press): This "Cuddle Core" concept began life as a graphic novel by Troy Little, with this description: "Angora Napkin is a bubblegum pop band composed of three twenty-something girls, Beatrice, Molly and Mallory, who have to stop the undead from dominating the world when trying to get to their concert performance."
That begat a pilot for an animated show, which failed to sell. But here it is anyway:
Now we have a new Angora Napkin graphic novel, in which the girls open an "Existential Detective Agency." It really doesn't look like my thing, but here's a preview in case you're interested:
ARCHIE SHOWCASE JUMBO DIGEST #20 HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (Archie Comics)
Here's a complete story, drawn by Stan Goldberg. He's not one of my favorite Archie artists, but maybe he's one of yours.
CLUB NEPHILIM #0 (Devil’s Due): Angelic workers in a supernatural brothel overthrow their demon masters. It's rated Mature, and I assume will be pretty naughty. I am curious how angels end up working in a brothel -- isn't their boss sort-of all-powerful? -- so let's hope there's a story, too.
COMMANDO PRESENTS: RAMSEY’S RAIDERS VOL 1 TP (DC Thomsen): UK comics alert!
DARQUE’S SOULSIDE #2 (of 2): "Road to Resurgence" alert!
DEADLY TRAILS #1 (of 5, Blackbox Comics): All we're told is that a dead man named Clay is back for vengeance. From the covers, it looks like a cross between Ghost Rider and High Plains Drifter. Here's an INTERVIEW with writer Carmen Guasco where he describes it as "one cup of Western, two of horror, a dash of comedy, 50g of romance, blood, monsters, and topping of mysticism."
DEADWEIGHTS #6: Ahoy Comics alert!
ELISE & THE NEW PARTISANS HC (Fantagraphics): Famous French artist Tardi dramatizes the activist and singer Dominique Grange's account of the French student protest movements of the '60s and '70s. That's like 50 or 60 years ago, and I doubt they're particularly relevant. (France's problems these days, like in the U.S., come from the right.) But here's a lovely PREVIEW.
ETERNAL WARRIORS: LAST RIDE IMMORTALS #2 (of 2): "Road to Resurgence" alert!
FANTAGRAPHICS UNDERGROUND: READY AMERICA TP (Fantagraphics)
GOLDEN AGE CLASSICS: BLACK CONDOR & RAY VOL 1 HC (PS Artbooks): I'm really looking forward to this. It's possible this is a comprehensive collection of these characters' Golden Age stories. I'm deliberately not looking it up so it will be a surprise when it arrives. One of life's little pleasures.
HIGH ON LIFE #4 (of 4, Titan Comics)
HELLMAN OF HAMMER FORCE: THE EARLY ADVENTURES TP (Rebellion / 2000AD): UK comics alert!
IRON FIST WAR PICTURE LIBRARY HC PX EXC (Rebellion / 2000AD): UK comics alert!
JOE PINEAPPLE’S TIN MAN TP (Rebellion / 2000AD): UK comics alert!
JONNY QUEST #2
Note this Dark Knight Returns homage:
Here's a preview and a trailer.
JUSTICE WARRIORS VOL 2 TP: Ahoy Comics Alert!
KALEVALA GN (Ablaze): A graphic adaptation of the 19th-century compilation of epic poetry from Finnish oral folklore and mythology, The blurb says it's the inspiration for The Lord of the Rings, and WIkipedia says that's partly true. Amazon has a PREVIEW.
LIBRARY MULE OF CORDOBA HC (Ablaze): A story set in 967 CE, when the library at Cordoba was burned. I don't know if this is based on folklore or wholly invented, but it's about the head librarian trying to spirit away as many books as he can with a reluctant mule.
NEUROCRON TP (Invader Comics): An FBI agent finds more than she expected investigating a case in a "technoslum." Sounds like something William Gibson would write.
NINJAK VS. ROKU #4 (of 4): "Road to Resurgence" alert! This is the last of the pre-Resurgence titles. Resurgence #1 (of 4) ships next week! Here's a Dark Knight Returns #1 homage:
PS ARTBOOKS: BLACKHAWK VOL 11 SOFTEE, PS ARTBOOKS: BLACKHAWK VOL 12 SOFTEE, PS ARTBOOKS: MILITARY COMICS VOL 6 SOFTEE: Good grief! TWO Blackhawk collections, plus another Military Comics! Why can't they space these out a little?
PS ARTBOOKS: BLUE BEETLE VOL 1 SOFTEE (PS Artbooks): Finally! Jeff's so far ahead of me on Blue Beetle I'll probably never catch up.
QUANTUM #1 (Timebomb Comics): Not only is this a UK comics alert, but it's also a surprising book. This is a "a perfect-bound, 52-page, U.S. format, color anthology, featuring 5 ongoing tales set in worlds that are not our own. Major Rakhana (Steve Tanner and Pete Woods), WesterNoir - Moon Cursed (Dave West, Jemma West, and Joseph Parangue), Memphis (David Morris), Whatever Happened To The World's Fastest Man? (Dave West and Marleen Lowe) and The Clockwork Cavalier (Steve Tanner and Ed Machiavello)." All for a measly $7.99. OK, not that measly. But pretty big! And not the format you expect from UK comics.
RED SONJA: DEATH AND THE DEVIL #1: The books is narrated by a character named Bloodless who is chalk white, and wears well-used formalwear, like the various depictions of Baron Samedi I've seen in comics. Whether he is actually Death or not -- as the title implies -- is undetermined. Probably not. He can talk to the newly dead though, so he's at the very least a death-obsessed sorcerer.
Bloodless wants to meet Sonja, since in his eyes she is an artist of death and he's a big fan. He wants to partner up with her to watch her in action.
Well, there's plenty of that, as Sonja is currently engaged in a dangerous bit of hands-on poli-sci regarding the throne of Turan. The story gallops forward without a pause, and is interesting enough that I'll doubtless follow it.
The art's a bit underdeveloped for my taste, with all the heavy lifting is done with color. But it's not a deal-breaker.
Writer Luke Lieberman discusses the series in this trailer:
SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH GN (Blue Fox Comics): I've read this Lovecraft story a few times, but I don't remember if I have a graphic adaptation of it. Not sure I need one. Anyway, here's a PREVIEW.
SILVER AGE CLASSICS: UNUSUAL TALES VOL 6 HC: This is a really long-running Charlton title that I had never heard of before PS Artbooks began reprinting it.
SILVER AGE CLASSICS: MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS VOL 6 HC (PS Artbooks): So is this.
SOMNA COVER GALLERY (One-Shot, DSTLRY): Here's another book of covers, like DC does with its "Uncovered" series. I'm still not sure why I'd want one. But if you do, here's all 64 covers from DSTLRY's three-issue mini, which launched last year.
STARBLAZER VOL 1 TP (DC Thomsen): UK comics alert!
STRANGE TALES OF OSCAR ZAHN VOL 1 GN (Ten Speed Press): The adventures of a paranormal investigator, who is himself a floating skull in a trenchcoat. Above a trenchcoat, maybe? I'm not sure about the grammar. Anyway, this began as a Webtoon, with 100 episodes located HERE.
TIME WAITS #1 (DSTLRY): Chip Zdarsky writes this one, about a soldier from the future sent to our present, who changes his mind about completing his mission. Whatever it is. Of course, his corporate overlords aren't inclined to look up desertion kindly, and more agents are sent to force our protagonist to complete his mission. Whatever it is.
Replies
WOLVERINE #1: Wolverine #1? wasn't he up to, like, "900" a little while ago?
SPIDER-GWEN THE GHOST-SPIDER #5: Is this an homage?
More of a "swipe" really. (It's not obvious enough to be an homage.)
DEAD EYES: THE EMPTY FRAMES #1: Is that second cover an "over-the-shoulder stink-eye" pose? Close, anyway.
JUSTICE WARRIORS VOL 2 TP: It may well be "VOL2" but I believe this is an OGN as well.
PS ARTBOOKS: BLUE BEETLE VOL 1 SOFTEE (PS Artbooks): Finally! Jeff's so far ahead of me on Blue Beetle I'll probably never catch up.
Thanks to Gwandanaland.
Re: Dead Eyes. I assume that his mask has some sort of solid reticulate over his eyes. That doesn't diminish vision too much and makes it possible to draw a pattern over them. Also provides a measure of protection to the eyes, which is probably a nice bonus.
Re: Avengers Assemble. During "Blood Hunt" most of the core team was disabled early on. The ongoing was taken over by Steve Rogers and an ad hoc team that he created to fight Baron Blood and his group of vampires. A bit of a lackluster story for my tastes, but I suppose it was competent enough and serves the purpose of explaining why a backup Avengers team is perceived as a real need. It is not an absurd idea, and Steve Orlando did a nice Astonishing Iceman series last year. Maybe he is a good choice to write the Assemblers in an ongoing at some point.
But it will certainly be best with no uniform jackets.
Speaking of Justice Warriors Vol. 2, I overlooked a press release with some goodies. Here ya go:
Good animation. Feels like it is very heavy on satire and references that ought to be clear to someone who is not me.
Dead Eyes was originally called Dead Rabbit. There was a trademark issue with (this part I had to look up to refresh me memory) with a NYC bar. The bar had the rights to the bar as well as a Dead Rabbit character that they used in their own comics used for menus and promontional items (End refresher for me).This caused Image to recall all unsold issues of 1 and 2 from retailers. Most retailers of course ended selling them on eBay.
So the first two issues of the Dead Eyes series were just the slightly redone first two issues of Dead Rabbit. Honestly, Dead Eyes makes more sense to me than Dead Rabbit ever did.
Once you are aware of the "Dead Rabbit" name, those often free-flowing straps that Dead Eyes uses to tie his mask will remind you of rabbit ears.
There was also a nice, distinctive logo coming with that former name.