TOP O' THE WEEK
X-MANHUNT: WEEK 1
"X-Manhunt" is a storyline that crosses over into seven X-titles in March, plus a one-shot finale. The throughline is the search for Charles Xavier, who has escaped from Graymalkin Prison. As the recent "Raid on Graymalkin" crossover showed, the various X-Men have different opinions about the ol' professor, all of them strong. I can't even guess what any given X-Man's position will be, as the ones in "Raid on Graymalkin" seemed sort of arbitrary to me. (In fairness, I haven't read "Fall of X" yet.) But I know I can count on this: The X-Men will fight each other. It's what they do!
Despite my cynical observations, I am curious to see where this is going, so I intend to buy and report as the seach progresses in a separate thread. I invite all and sundry to join me.
“We’ve mostly been keeping the various groups of X-characters separated from one another as we set up the post-Krakoa landscape,” Executive Editor Tom Brevoort said. “But it feels like now is the right time to send them crashing into one another. And who better to instigate this situation than the disgraced Professor X, who has intimate connections with almost all of our key players?”
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Each book included in the X-Manhunt crossover will have a "lineup" variant cover that is, according to Marvel, a connecting cover. They don't look connecting to me -- shouldn't the scale on the left just be on the first cover and not all of them? But I report, you decide.
Here are the books this week:
UNCANNY X-MEN #11 (MARVEL COMICS, $4.99) is by writer Gail Simone and artist Javier Garrón. "In this opening chapter, Rogue and her team of X-Men are forced to ally with their worst enemy in order to betray their most trusted friend!"
I guess the "trusted friend" is Xavier, but who is their "worst enemy"? Thirty years ago I would have said Magneto. Or Juggernaut. Or Apocalypse. Or even White Queen. Now they're all on the team.
NYX #9 (MARVEL COMICS, $3.99) is by writers Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and artist Francesco Mortarino. First stop for Xavier: New York. Don't get too attached to this book, though, as it's canceled as of issue #10.
STORM #6 (MARVEL COMICS, $3.99) is by writer Murewa Ayodele and artist Lucas Werneck. Next stop: Atlanta, where Xavier tries to find refuge in the Storm Sanctuary.
"Will Storm and the X-Men join forces with Professor X to prevent his return to prison by any means necessary, or will they fall victim to opposing views that will send X-Men against X-Men in a bloody brawl to the death?" It's the X-Men, so I'm guessing "bloody brawl." Also, because nobody demanded it, Maggot returns.
“The inspiration for the Vibranium Armor is mainly Ororo’s time as Queen of Wakanda,” artist Luciano Vecchio said. “A Dora Milaje armor base design with a recurrent shape motif of Ororo’s crown as part of the weapon handle and capes. Also a bit of Marvel Rivals vibes, with bulky accents.”
'ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM' WEEK 4
DOCTOR STRANGE OF ASGARD #1 (MARVEL COMICS, $4.99) is bywriter Derek Landy (Captain America/Iron Man) and artist Carlos Magno (Captain America). Doctor Strange figures to even the odds with Doctor Doom by becoming the first-ever Sorcerer Supreme of Asgard. Obviously, there are a few obstacles. Loki, for one. And did anyone ask King Thor's permission? I'm looking forward to this.
“It's been a daunting prospect, taking the reins of Doctor Strange and leading him into a new era,” Landy said. “To follow on from the last few years of stories, which have seen huge creative leaps from astonishing creative teams, would have been a terrifying prospect were it not for Editor Alanna Smith's primary instruction: move him to Asgard. Suddenly we're in new territory, where not only does Strange have to deal with Asgardian society on a street level, but he's also caught up in a murder mystery that he really doesn't have time for.”
"When I was asked to draw DOCTOR STRANGE OF ASGARD, I imagined the reader seeing the sorcerer immersed in the brilliant and magical splendor of Asgard with its colossal statues and fantastic architecture,” Magno said. “This time, to our pleasant surprise, Derek Landy and I are going to throw the reader into the dark side of the God of Thunder's homeland--showing it in a realistic way including its less glamorous side and depicting the dark, scary and snowy alleys and the evil that lurks in the shadows. Here, Doctor Strange takes us into the heart of evil, where his enormous power seems to have little effect on an Asgard the reader has never seen before. It’s a reflection of the world we live in today."
“Doing this is STILL a terrifying prospect, don't get me wrong, but at least I have Carlos and Espen [Grundetjern] on my team, making me look like I know what I'm doing. So that helps,” Landy added.
MOTHRA: QUEEN OF MONSTERS #1 (IDW PUBLISHING, $4.99) is by writer/artist Sophie Campbell and artist Matt Frank.
IDW has announced plans to expand the Godzilla franchise with at least three new titles, under the banner "Kai-Sei era." But that's still a couple of months off. This is just a "normal" IDW kaiju book, but it's better than normal. It's really quite good.
The premise is that Antra killed Mothra about 15 years ago, and the world has fallen into ruin. Our protagonist is a young (Japanese?) woman named Mira, a twentysomething whose parents and twin sister died on the same day as Mothra. She blames the Queen of the Monsters for the death of her family and the fate of the world, by failing to win that battle. She lives in the ruins of a major city (Tokyo?), hiding from giant ants, kaiju, etc.
Until her twin sister shows up, not only alive, but with the little Mothra fairy girls. They have a plan: Go back in time 65 million years and get a Mothra egg, not only saving the world, but restoring Mira's family. But what's the full story here? That sister was definitely squashed 15 years ago. Can Mira get over her Mothra-hate? And what will they face in the Jurassic era?
I love the art. Most of it's by Frank, which has a manga influence but is gorgeous (and also a bit gritty, as it should be). The couple of pages Campbell does are just as gorgeous and NOT gritty. It all blends together very well, and with the story.
CRUEL KINGDOM #3 (ONI PRESS, $4.99): The only announced creators this issue are writers Corinna Bechko (Green Lantern: Earth One) and Christopher Cantwell (Out of Alcatraz), and artist Kano (Gotham Central). Say, do you think the little people in the cage on Cover B ever went to Mothra Island?
SECRET SIX #1 (DC COMICS, $3.99) is by writer and actress Nicole Maines (Supergirl) and artist Stephen Segovia (Spawn). Amanda Waller has escaped and disappeared, and Jon Kent, Dreamer and Jay Nakamura go on the hunt. For some reason, which I'm sure will make perfect sense when explained, they recruit Black Alice, Cat-Man and Deadshot. That shouldn't cause any problems, right?
Anyway, we've speculated on this board that the Absolute Power writers were setting up a scenario where Super Son breaks up with Jay and starts dating Dreamer. If so, this seems the perfect vehicle for that story. If not, I dunno ... throuple? I doubt Maines is going to leave her character without romantic options for long.
MORE ITEMS OF INTEREST
MONKEY MEAT: THE SUMMER BATCH #1 (OF 5, IMAGE COMICS, $3.99): Evidently a previous "Monkey Meat" series slipped by me entirely unnoticed. It's a humor-slash-horror anthology by cartoonist Juni Ba. This series will have two stories per issue in a "summer-magazine style," whatever that is. (There are still magazines?) Here's some description, which does sound interesting:
"In Monkey Meat: The First Batch, readers visited Monkey Meat Island — where the infamous Monkey Meat Company’s wacky experiments and processed goods have taken their toll on the local, magical fauna. What was once a lush and magical island is now a hyper-capitalist hellscape wherein even demons have to pay rent. Now, in Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch, readers are invited to vacation on Monkey Meat Island for what promises to be an entertaining and gonzo escape. What could be more diverting than a vacation to a hellish West African fantasy island run by a corporation of questionable intent? Embark on a brand new set of adventures to amuse (and mentally scar) the whole family! Exotic locations, debt-collecting forest witches, and a superhero monkey suing the corporation that owns him. All these and more await our guests."
From the writer/artist:
“I’ve needed this! Monkey Meat is where I get to have fun, shed the corporate expectations and rules, and conceive comics that are cartoonish, experimental and infectious. Hopefully they are as enjoyable to read as they are to draw,” said Ba. “This is by far the comic I get the most requests to continue making, and I’m happy to oblige. This new batch goes for a more underground feel. Like a comic you’d find dusty and ruffled on the floor of a Senegalese dibiterie meat restaurant. Dig in!”
SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST-SPIDER #11 (MARVEL, $3.99) is by Stephanie Phillips and Paolo Villanelli. Marvel sent me a press release announcing "a new arc titled 'Ghost-Spider Beyond!'” It involves Loki, which is always bad news for anyone not named Loki.
"I envisioned a Gwen and Loki storyline from the beginning of my work on Gwen, so this arc feels like the culmination of everything we’ve been building toward,” Phillips said. “Taking Gwen to space has allowed us to explore some unexpected elements of her character, especially as her optimism and hope clashes with King Loki's nihilism. Paolo and I have worked hard to make this a unique sci-fi adventure — one that’s dark and very personal to Gwen."
SISTER IMPERATOR #1 (DARK HORSE, $4.99): I assumed from the title that this had to do with Star Wars, but nope, turns out "Sister Imperator" is a character in the Swedish heavy metal band Ghost's elaborate fictional narrative. I'm not really up on my Scandinavian head-bangers, so I have nothing to add.
STAR WARS: HYPERSPACE STORIES — QUI-GON TP (DARK HORSE, $19.99) is by writer George Mann and artist Andrea Mutti, and really is a Star Wars title! It launches a new line of original graphic novels featuring various important Star Wars characters. This one featrures Qui-Gon Jinn as he investigates the mystery of the Brotherhood of the Ninth Door. This was announced literally years ago, but delayed for reasons unknown (to me).
STAR WARS: JEDI KNIGHTS #1 (MARVEL, $4.99), by writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Madibek Musabekov, takes place before The Phantom Menace and features characters who were alive during that era, such as Qui-Gon Jinn, Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, Mace Windu and Yoda. Weirdly, the series will introduce a character that was designed for an '80s action figure line that never happened. Atha Prime, as he is called, will be the tyrant of a mysterious planet that thumbs its nose at the Republic.
“While developing the series, Marc discovered this deep cut — the antagonist from Kenner’s unrealized The Epic Continues toy line,” Editor Mark Paniccia explained. “We saw the original design and were immediately sold. What a cool character to bring into canon and what a perfect book to do it in!”
“I love the idea that the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy,” Guggenheim told Polygon in a recent interview. “But there are surprisingly few examples of that out there — mainly because the Jedi get sucked into the Clone Wars. I’m as much of a fan of the Clone Wars as the next guy, but I really craved seeing the Jedi doing their thing on a non-war footing. That’s the great appeal of this new Jedi Knights series: We really get a chance to see what the Jedi did before the Clone Wars and their eventual fall.”
ULTIMATES #10 is by writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri, and debuts Ultimate Namor and Ultimate Red Skull. I don't follow the new Ultimate Universe -- when it launched, I felt like I'd been there, done that -- but if I did, this would be the title I'd get.
USAGI YOJIMBO: TEN THOUSAND PLUMS #1 (OF 4, DARK HORSE COMICS, $4.99) is by Stan Sakai.
And what a lovely title! The "plums" are just the first two issues, though. The next two are a story called "Tablo."
“‘Tabo,’ is very personal to me,” Sakai said. “It was written as a tribute to my younger brother, Kenneth, a month after he passed away and was inspired by his struggles during his last days. I cherish the time growing up with him in Hawaii. When she saw how deeply I felt about this story, Emi (Fujii) volunteered to color it as she knew Kenneth and his gentle spirit.”
GOLDEN AGE OF REPRINTS
BATMAN #612 FACSIMILE EDITION (DC Comics, $3.99) continues the "Hush" reprints.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #30 FACSIMILE EDITION: Third and last appearance of the Justice League of America in B&B, leading into the first issue of the team's eponymous title. First appearance of Amazo.
COLLECTED WILL EISNER’S JOHN LAW HC (TITAN, MR, $24.99): The credits say author Will Eisner and artist Gary Chaloner. but I'm not really sure who does what here. I know that John Law was to be a title in Eisner's self-published line of comics that was dropped after Baseball Comics, Kewpies and Pirates failed to sell. The contents of John Law #1, which never saw print, were re-worked into stories for Eisner's "The Spirit," which I've read. So is some of that resuscitated in its original form here? Or did Chaloner lift from Eisner layouts? Or did he just do the best Eisner riff he could from scripts? Some of this is from the 2004 John Law reboot, which was all Chaloner.
I guess to know the answers to my questions, I'd have to read it. It might be the only way for me to ever see any "new" Will Eisner.
DC FINEST: PLASTIC MAN — THE ORIGIN OF PLASTIC MAN TP ($39.99) collects the Plastic Man stories published between August 1941 and July 1944 in Police Comics #1-36 and Plastic Man #1-2. I'm pretty sure I have all of these stories already in PS Artbooks or DC Archives. But if you haven't read them, I'll recommend them. Jack Cole wasn't a professional comedian — he was just some hungry young artist who wrote and drew what he thought was funny. Often it was. But I'd classify Plastic Man as more amusingly quirky than outright hilarious. Which was head and shoulders above most Golden Age material.
DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH VOL 1: A WORLD DIVIDED TP (MAD CAVE, $17.99) continues the cartoon that starred Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake and Lothar ... and is written by Dan DiDio.
FANTASTIC FOUR BY WAID & WIERINGO: IMAGINAUTS TP (MARVEL, $24.99): One of the best FF runs of all time.
FISHFLIES HC (IMAGE, $44.99) is by Jeff Lemire. I love Lemire's stories, but don't much care for his art I barely made it through Sweet Tooth, and didn't even try on this one. But Image sent a press release, so here you go.
“Fishflies was a true labour of love. In many ways it was a return to the terrain of Essex County, but with a supernatural twist," said Lemire. "It’s the story of a small town crime, a lonely girl and a monster, but it’s a lot more than that to me. Fishflies got me through some really hard times and Franny and Bug became my anchors and companions. The story took me places I never anticipated, and I’m really happy to be collecting it all into one complete graphic novel edition."
GUNSMITH CATS OMNIBUS VOL 1 GN (MR, DARK HORSE, $29.99) is a manga about bounty-hunting femmes fatale. The press release promised "the sleazy, crime-ridden world of Kenichi Sonoda's Chicago in the 1990s" and "a pulpy cult classic filled with sex, drugs, and a whole lot of car-chasing, gun-slinging girls!" That sound good to me, but I didn't get a review copy in time. Here's a preview:
HELEN OF WYNDHORN HC (DARK HORSE, $29.99) is by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely. This is basically, "What if Robert E. Howard actually lived the adventures he wrote about, and then his drunken niece came to stay with him?" Honestly, it's a surprisingly poignant story of trauma, coping mechanisms, alcoholism and generational mistakes, plus some sword and sorcery. Also, the art is gorgeous. Highly recommended.
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA DELUXE EDITION HC (2025 EDITION, $49.99): Somehow I neglected to get this collection when it first came out. Even though I read these stories in the original comics (more than once), I want it on the bookshelf. I shall correct that error now.
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN COMPLETE DAILIES VOL 3: 1938-1939 HC (HERMES PRESS, $60.00): Wait, I haven't started Volume 2 yet! Slow down!
SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE TP ($24.99): Waiting for an HC.
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Something weird has been happening with Dynamite's releases, which is easiily explained in that they are handled exclusively by Diamond. And as we all know, Diamond is in a bit of a fix these days. Anyway, eight books are listed this week, four of which have been listed before, and I posted previews of them then. For DARKWING DUCK #1 ($4.99), HERCULOIDS #1 ($4.99), SPACE GHOST #10 ($4.99) and TERMINATOR #5 ($4.99), see Comics Guide for week of Feb. 17, 2025.
MORE COMICS
ALPI SOUL SENDER VOL 6 GN (TITAN, 176 PAGES, B&W, $12.99)
BETTY & VERONICA: FRIENDS FOREVER — ONCE UPON A TIME (ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, $3.99)
BLADE FORGER #1 (OF 5, MAD CAVE, $4.99) is by writer Inaki Miranda and artist Roy Miranda. A mish-mash of a world (looks part medieval, part modern) has a tournament every five years to see which blade forger will control a scarce resource. Naturally, we follow a poor underdog in the tournament. I've never seen a Mad Cave book before, but I suspect they will benefit from whatever the new distribution paradigm is. They certainly are putting out a lot of books, and Lunar (who carries them) is becoming a major player.
HUGE DETECTIVE #4 (OF 5, TITAN, MR, $3.99)
KAFKA'S MANUSCRIPT TP (MR, FANTAGRAPHICS, $20.00) extrapolates from Kafka's unpublished works, I think, in a wordless graphic novel. You can decide from the PREVIEW.
MARVEL & DISNEY: WHAT IF…? MICKEY & FRIENDS BECAME THE AVENGERS #1 (MARVEL, $4.99) is by writers Luca Barbieri and Steve Behling, and artist Alessandro Pastrovicchio. Avengers #1, told with mice, ducks and dogs.
POWERPUFF GIRLS #8 (DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT, $4.99)
SHAZAM #21 ($3.99): Soon to be canceled.
TEEN TITANS GO! #1 (DC Comics $2.99) is by Sholly FIsch and Dario Brizuela. After cancellation, the animated Titans try on different genres in an effort to get re-launched. Could be funny.
TWO-FACE #4 (OF 6, $3.99): Turned into a 6-issue miniseries.
ULTRAMEGA BY JAMES HARREN #8 (OF 9, IMAGE COMICS, MR, $7.99) is extended for an extra issue.
WEB OF SPIDER-VERSE: NEW BLOOD #1 (MARVEL, $4.99) is another multiple-spider book that crosses over with another multiple-Venom book called Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1 on April 2. Just another book for me to ignore.
Replies
COLLECTED WILL EISNER’S JOHN LAW HC: The contents of John Law #1, which never saw print...
Actually, it did see print, in 1983, from Eclipse:
Then Gary Chaloner did his take on it in 2006:
The credits say author Will Eisner and artist Gary Chaloner. but I'm not really sure who does what here.
I think the new HC is simply a re-release of both projects together in the same package.
FANTASTIC FOUR BY WAID & WIERINGO: IMAGINAUTS TP... One of the best FF runs of all time.
Actually, there's one from the year 2437 I like better.
HELEN OF WYNDHORN HC is by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely. This is basically, "What if Robert E. Howard actually lived the adventures he wrote about, and then his drunken niece came to stay with him?" Honestly, it's a surprisingly poignant story of trauma, coping mechanisms, alcoholism and generational mistakes, plus some sword and sorcery. Also, the art is gorgeous. Highly recommended.
What he said.
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN COMPLETE DAILIES VOL 3: 1938-1939 HC
This was actually solicited for February 5. Still, if it actually ships next week I'll be surprised; it is rare indeed that a Hermes Press volume ships sooner than six months beyond the original solicit date.
SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE TP: Waiting for an HC.
In that case, you may have waited too long. (The HC came out in 2023.)
Something weird has been happening with Dynamite's releases, which is easiily explained in that they are handled exclusively by Diamond. And as we all know, Diamond is in a bit of a fix these days. Anyway, eight books are listed this week, four of which have been listed before, and I posted previews of them then.
Of these, I will be buying two (Herculoids #1 and Space Ghost #10). I'm pretty sure that these two, at least, are in my LCS already; I think they came last Wednesday, too late to put on the shelves.
I think the new HC is simply a re-release of both projects together in the same package.
That is a lot less interesting than what I had imagined.
Actually, there's one [FF run] from the year 2437 I like better.
That's what makes horse races!
In that case, you may have waited too long. (The [Superman: Space Age] HC came out in 2023.)
And I somehow missed it. Maybe relying on what InStockTrades tells me every Tuesday is not a winning strategy.