MAJOR PUBLISHERS
MARVEL COMICS
STAR WARS: A NEW LEGACY #1 (ONE-SHOT, $6.99) is by writers Charles Soule, Jason Aaron and Kieron Gillen and artists Ramon Rosa]nas, Leonard Kirk and Salva Espin.
Marvel says this one-shot anthology is a 10-year celebration of their second run with the Star Wars franchise. (The first was 1977-86, which is not being celebrated. Sad.) I don't know why that's needed, but hey, there's money to be made. I stopped reading Star Wars comics when Dark Horse lost the license — there's only so much running in place I can stand — so this isn't for me. But for big Star Wars fans, it's probablly a different story. Especialy since a new Star Wars #1, written by Alex Segura, is on the way. Here are the stories, per the solicitation:
- From Darth Vader to Grand Moff Tarkin, the Empire’s most powerful gather on Alderaan to honor Emperor Palpatine in a thrilling story from New York Times best-selling Star Wars author Charles Soule and acclaimed Star Wars artist Ramon Rosanas! During this lavish Imperial event, Doctor Aphra and Sana Starros stage a daring heist, not knowing that Valance is hot on the trail! And a Sith artifact threatens to spoil the party for everyone! It’s a collision course of comics-originating characters including Darth Momin, Chanath Cha, Rik Duel, Commander Zahra, the Tagges, and many more, from the fan-favorite to obscure!
- What ever happened to Scar Squadron? Also known as Task Force 99, this elite group of stormtroopers led by Sergeant Kreel answered directly to Darth Vader and were among the deadliest threats Luke, Leia, and the Rebellion faced throughout Jason Aaron’s pivotal run. Discover where their dark path led as Aaron revisits them alongside fellow Star Wars superstar Leonard Kirk.
- Kieron Gillen returns to the dark side with a story set during his acclaimed run of Darth Vader where he introduced breakout star Doctor Aphra! Joined by Salva Espin (Star Wars: Dark Droids — D-Squad), enjoy Vader and Aphra’s troubled dynamic once more and gasp at a perilous game between Aphra’s old crew: 0-0-0, BT-1 and Krrsantan!
“This is the monumental moment we’ve been waiting for: celebrating a decade of the re-union of Marvel Comics and Star Wars!” Editor Mark Paniccia said. “We’ve got a great package here with some of the most influential Star Wars comic writers in recent history along with amazing art. It is so cool to spotlight as many of the Marvel-created characters as we could. Longtime and new fans alike will get a kick in the thrusters with this!”
STORM: LIFEDREAM #1 ($4.99) is by writers Angélique Roché, John Jennings, Curtis Baxter & Brittney Morris and artists Karen S. Darboe, Edwin Galmon, Alitha Martinez & Charles Stewart III
Marvel says this book is part of their celebration of Black History Month and a celebration of Storm's 50th anniversary. (Since there's no Russian History Month or German History Month, I guess the 50th anniversary of Colossus and Nightcrawler will go unmentioned.) Storm gets plenty of exposure these days, so again, not exactly needful. But Storm's a great character and this story promises to cover the highlights of her career in case you haven't read decades of X-Men comics, like some people I know (Cough.)
WHAT IF GALACTUS TRANSFORMED SPIDER-GWEN? #1 ($3.99) is by Kalinda Vasquez and Daniel Picciotto. WHAT IF I'd still be bored with this exercise?
X-MEN #131 FACSIMILE EDITION (OF 12, $4.99) is by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Marvel is releasing facsimiles of The X-Men #131-141 and Uncanny X-Men #142. (Many moons ago I checked the indicia, and The X-Men became Uncanny X-Men with issue #142. The GCD also says the name change happened with that issue. But Wikipedia says it happened with issue #114! I don't know how they arrived at that number. Maybe a typo?) These 12 issues take you through prime Claremont/Byrne territory that concludes with "Days of Future Past."
DC COMICS
ABSOLUTE MISTER MIRACLE BY TOM KING AND MITCH GERADS HC (MR, $125.00): If you haven't read this Tom King (probably-not-in-continuity) epic, it's high time you did. Even if you didn't like Heroes in Crisis. This is set, of course, back when "Darkseid is!" Because now he's "Darkseid was!"
DC POWER: RISE OF THE POWER COMPANY #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99) is written by Brandon Thomas, Vita Ayala, John Jennings and Zipporah Smith, with art by Ray-Anthony Height, Caanan White, Kelsey Ramsay and Charles Stewart III. Fringe groups who believe "Waller was right" are growing, and Josiah Power assembles his own team to defend Black and brown communities. (I'm not sure how those two things are related. That's just what the solicitation says.)
Also available is DC POWER 2024 HC ($19.99), which collects stories from 2024 that star Black characters. The "DC Power" in the logo is rendered in the same style as the one in the DC Power: Rise of the Power Company one-shot, with the same lettering style and African tricolor, but the reprint collection doesn't include any stories about Josiah Power. So don't be fooled: The two books aren't connected outside of both being Black History Month offerings.
DC'S LEX AND THE CITY #1 (ONE-SHOT, $9.99) is a Valentine's Day special written by Brendan Hay, Sina Grace, Dave Wielgosz, Charles Skaggs, Callie C. Mille, Maggie Tokuda-Hall and more, with art by Howard Porter, Serg Acuna, Stephen Byrne, Lisa Sterle, Leslie Hung and more.
GREEN LANTERN #19 ($4.99) is by Jeremy Adams, Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert. This issue launches a new storyline and status quo, as once again Lanterns are given the mandate "to patrol the galaxy, fight crime and stop the rise of 'fractal' Lanterns throughout the universe." This, to my mind, is where Green Lantern joins the "All In" initative, as the previous issues have been devoted to tying up loose ends of the pre-All In era.
LIMITED EDITION: THE UNTOLD LEGEND OF THE BATMAN #1 ($12.99) reprints the three-issue, 1980 miniseries by Len Wein, Jim Aparo and John Byrne (with a Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Giordano cover) that weaves the origins of Batman's career and gear through a new story about the Dynamic Duo investigating the theft of Thomas Wayne's Bat-suit from the Batcave. Much of this has been changed by various reboots, but man, what a killer creative crew.
STATIC: SHADOWS OF DAKOTA TP ($19.99): Milestone alert!
SUPERMAN: LEX LUTHOR SPECIAL #1 (ONE-SHOT, $3.99) is by Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira. A key piece of information is in Luthor's lost memories. Can the Justice League get Lex's meoires back, and more important, does Lex want to get his memories back? (I'm guessing he gets his memories back. There's a movie later this year where Luthor is still a bad guy.)
IMAGE COMICS
BLOOD TRAIN (ONE-SHOT, $7.99) is by writer and television showrunner Adam Glass (Suicide Squad, Supernatural) and artist Bernard Chang (Batman Beyond, X-Men).
This is the first issue in Image's new horror imprint, Ninth Circle Comics. The plot involves five twentysomething friends boarding a train from China to Russia; two women and three men. None of which seem to have any overt romantic connections, and two are siblings. The solicitation says "magazine trim," which I take to mean is magazine size.
I hope so, because my bleary, aging eyes had trouble figuring out what was going on here and there. It's an artistic tour de force for sure, and Chang clearly poured heart and soul into every panel. But sometimes the storytelling got lost on me.
On the writing side, I had similar issues. Who are these kids? The solicitation tells me they had been backpacking across Asia, and were taking the Trans-Siberian Railway home. It would have been nice if that had been mentioned in the story! Also, the Trans-Siberian Railway runs from Moscow to Vladivostok, but in this story they board the train in Beijing, which is, as you know, the capital city of an entirely different country. According to a Brittanica map they could take the Trans-Mongolian Railway from Beijing to Ulan-Ude in Irkutsk (Remember your Risk board!) and then switch trains at the station there. Which defeats the plot.
What's the plot? Well, you have to figure this out on the fly, but apparently the Chinese surreptitiously infect one of the five Americans with a super-vampire virus in the Beijing train station, which, when it reaches the West, will somehow cause World War III. Since the five will have to switch trains in Ulan-Ude, the virus won't be making it to the West by train. (Unless the Russians are in the habit of honorig the tickets of lethal, insane super-vampires.) And since the Trans-Siberian Railway only goes to Moscow, we are still in not-going-to-the-West territory.
And I'm still fuzzy on how this will start WWIII anyway. If a horrible virus breaks out in, say, Wuhan, China, and eventually makes it to the West, and in the process kills millions, including a lot of Americans, Chinese and Russians, will that start World War III? Because that happened with COVID-19, and I don't remember anyone trying to start a nuclear war over it.
And why would the Chinese do this anyway? And if so, why go about it in such a random manner? And why would their allies, the Russians, try to stop them? Which is something we have to infer when Russian Special Forces descend on the train and try to find and kill "Blood Zero." So the Russians, apparently, know about the plot, have a cute nickname for the virus and even have a device that locates the infection. Pretty handy!
As I say, you have to infer most of this, because the story explains almost nothing. It does spend loads of time on the fivesome's juvenile banter, which I assume is meant to be characterization and make us care about them. (It had the opposite effect on me. But then, I was rooting for everyone in The Blair Witch Project to die. These Kids Today™ are so bloody annoying!) It feels to me like the writer just wanted to get some Americans into a Train to Busan situation, and didn't spend a lot of time on the sketchy plot to get them there.
Worse, when one of the five Americans goes full super-vampire (after many pages of her NOT telling her friends she's infected with something, or seeking medical help), the other four suddenly become superheroes — not only fighting off Russian Special Forces, but making the quick and implacable decision to kill one of their own. (They could have just let the Russians do it, but then the Americans wouldn't be the heroes.) Would that have even occurred to me when I was in my 20s? Would I have had the intestinal fortitude to do so? Would I be able to pick up and operate a Russian automatic weapon? Or would I just run and hide? (I think you know the answer.)
Normally when I don't care for a book I don't get into details as to why. I usually just say "I didn't care for it" and move on. This time I whinged on and on because I really wanted to like this book, and I have to wonder if it's my own inadequacies that led to my bewilderment. I do have retinal issues, and maybe my reading comprehension skills are crippled by that. And I read the story on an iPad instead of "magazine trim" print, which may have affected would I could see. I kinda hope someone else will pick this up and test my reactions against their own.
Also, the vampire virus is transmittable (unclear how), so there could easily be a sequel if any of the survivors are carrying it. Now, here are the creators:
“As I grow older, much of my writing is inspired by my fears, not just for myself but for the well-being of my children,” said Glass. “Many of the experiences I cherished as a young adult have become increasingly challenging for Gen Z. When our college-aged kids excitedly announced their plans to backpack through Europe by train just as the war in Ukraine was unfolding, I was filled with concern. As I dwelled on the potential risks, the recent lockdown due to COVID-19, and my growing unease, the idea for Blood Train took shape. From the moment I conceived the story, I knew I wanted to collaborate with one of my favorite artists, Bernard Chang. Bernard, a remarkable artist, and a passionate world traveler, immediately embraced the project. We poured our hearts into this creation together and hope you will find it as thrilling as we did in bringing it to life.”
“I'm excited to collaborate with my brotha-from-anotha-motha, Adam Glass, on Blood Train,” said Chang. “Storytelling has always been the driving force behind my work, and having this opportunity to work with one of the best writers in our industry is not only inspirational, but instrumental in crafting great comic book stories. Adam and I got to work on Teen Titans comics for over two years, so we’ve developed a good rhythm together. He dribbles right, and I cut backdoor for the layup. From an artist’s perspective, that’s worth its weight in creative gold. I hope readers will see that passion dripping from the pages of Blood Train.”
CRIMINAL VOL 1: COWARD TP (NEW EDITION, MR, $9.99) and CRIMINAL VOL 2: LAWLESS TP (NEW EDITION, MR, $16.99) are by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. These two books, the first of eight set in the "Criminal" universe, will be the basis of the Amazon Prime series showrun by Brubaker and starring Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold), and Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones). If you've never read these books — despite everyone you know who's read them raving about them, including me — maybe now's the time.
"Preparing for the wider world to discover Criminal as a TV series, Sean and I wanted 2025 to be a big celebration of Criminal, and I couldn't think of a better way to start that off than redesigning the entire series from the ground up, with these amazing new covers that Sean has created. Our next step in the celebration is still a surprise ... but expect to see it announced soon, too," Brubaker said. "Running the Criminal TV show was a life-changing experience, but it also made me appreciate the comics more than I ever had, at the same time, and I can't wait for new audiences to discover this wide world of crime that Sean and I have spent all these years building."
There will new printings of the remaining books as well:
- Feb. 19: Criminal Vol. 3: The Dead and The Dying
- March 19: Criminal Vol. 4: Bad Night
- April 23: Criminal Vol. 5: The Sinners
- May 21: Criminal Vol. 6: Last of the Innocent
- June 18: Criminal Vol. 7: Wrong Place Wrong Time
- July 23: Criminal Vol. 8: My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies
DUST TO DUST #2 ($3.99) is by co-writers Phil Bram and J.G. Jones, with Jones on art. And, brother, that art is STUNNING. I have to say that it's pretty slow going, with the actual plot not yet in evidence (I know what it is through the solicitations), but Jones' sepia-wash art is so awesome that I sometimes forget there is a story and just linger over the panels. It's like the '30s are springing from the pages of LIFE magazine and dragging me 90 years into the past. Jones has always been a quantum leap above other comics artists, and with this series he's showing us just how good he is.
Here's a game you can play: It's clear he's using Cate Blanchett photo reference for one of his two main characters, the intrepid WPA photojournalist. Who are the other characters modeled after? I'm thinking a young Eli Wallach for the troubled sheriff, but that doesn't feel quite right. The other main characters feel familiar, too, but I haven't placed them. Maybe "flinty, determined Depression-era Americans" is such an archetype they just feel familiar!
ICE CREAM MAN #43 (MR, $3.99) is by series regulars W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran, and guest creators Grant Morrison, Patton Oswalt, Zoe Thorogood, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jeff Lemire, Geoff Johns, Deniz Camp, and more.
Why so many creators? Because this issue is composed of one-page horror stories. One-page stories have their limitations, of course, but I can't argue with the quality of story and art. I have never read an issue of Ice Cream Man before, but if this issue is indicative of what I'm missing, tahat will have to change. It's been optioned for a movie, too, so I guess I better get crackin'.
“Ice Cream Man #43 came out cooler than I could have ever imagined. I'm not sure I've ever seen a collection of creators of this caliber in one place before — some of the best of all time!” said Prince. “We've got TWO Grant Morrison stories, and ones from Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire, Zoe Thorogood, Deniz Camp, Frank Barbiere, and many more. And we'll even have a horror story from one of the funniest people on Earth: Patton Oswalt. Though don't be fooled—his one-pager is terrifying. Your Ice Cream Man truck drivers, artists Martín Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran, and myself, are so stoked that these legends said 'yes' to playing in our ice cream world. The result is, I think, one of the most special issues of comics I've ever beheld.
"How lucky are we? That some of comics' most beloved writers agreed (or one may say were tricked) into contributing to our issue of one-page horror stories," Prince said. "Our MO has always been compression — getting a full story to fit one floppy. But this is a whole new level, and a whole new challenge. We hope that you like our little stories, and hope even more that you appreciate our guests and their amazing brains."
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THE SEASONS #1 ($3.99) is by Rick Remender (The Sacrificers, Grommets, Deadly Class) and Paul Azaceta (Outcast by Kirkman and Azaceta). I did'n't have time to get to this one, so I'll just spring the PR on you:
"Summer, Winter, Spring and Autumn are the Seasons Sisters, the daughters of the world-renowned Seasons Detectives. Ten years ago, their famous parents disappeared. Left to raise themselves, the sisters formed an unbreakable bond. Now that bond is tested as the sisters fall prey to sinister forces. The youngest sister, Spring, is the last hope of saving them from a fate worse than death. Will Spring be able to piece her shattered family back together before it’s too late for them all? Kicking off with a double-length premiere issue, Remender and Azaceta weave an elevated tale of whimsical horror unlike anything ever experienced in comics. The Seasons promises to be the perfect new read for fans of Brubaker & Martín’s Friday, Young & Corona’s Middlewest, Tynion IV & Dell'Edera’s Something Is Killing the Children, and boundary-breaking horror in all forms."
"Paul and I have worked tirelessly to create a world unlike anything we've ever done before," said Remender. "Inspired by Miyazaki, Windsor McKay, and Tintin we wanted to make something that was delightful, poignant, and heartfelt. We hope you find the Seasons sisters as charming as we do. And the Ringleader and his imps as devilishly terrifying. Paul and Matheus have delivered one of the most spectacularly vibrant comics you're going to see in the modern marketplace."
Azaceta added: “I’m having so much fun on this book. I think we took a big swing with it. We challenged ourselves and I couldn’t be happier with the result. The kind of project is what excites me about comics and what drives me to push my art in new directions.”
DARK HORSE
THE ART OF DEAD SPACE HC (200 pages, $49.99) gives an in-depth look at the 2008 game and the 2023 remake.
"The Dead Space remake was a labor of love for the entire Motive team,” says Jo Berry, Senior writer on Dead Space. “This art book allows us to showcase not just the work of our incredible artists, but the choices behind the scenes that shaped this remake."
“The Dead Space remake was a passion project for us at Motive Studio,” says Mike Yazijian, Art Director of Dead Space. “This artbook showcases the visual development of the game, from early explorations to final renders of our characters, monsters, and environments.” .
INTO THE UNBEING VOL 1 TP ($19.99): Four scientists and a dog explore a strange, gigantic stone monolith that appears to be a featureless human head. Once inside, it is clearly a working body as well, with both organic and inorganic material performing bodily functions. They try to forge their way to the natural egress (ahem), but the going is hard, and they're not alone in there. I read it and enjoyed it, with my one complaint being that they clearly intend for this series to continue ("Part 1" was part of the four-issue miniseries title), so the story doesn't end so much as it just reaches a stopping point.
MAGIC ORDER LIBRARY EDITION VOL 1 HC (MR, $59.99), by Mark Millar (Civil War, Kingsman), artists Oliver Coipel and Stuart Immonen. It collects the first two "Magic Order" miniseries in the oversized hardcover library format. Magic Order will soon be a Netflix show, if you want to bone up. I'm considering it, despite my indifference to most Millar material. The art's really nice in the preview.
"It's always exciting to see one of your books on a shelf," says Millar. "But The Magic Order being collected into one of these beautiful library editions has me so excited I've already cleared a space on my shelf in anticipation. I created this in my day job as a franchise within Netflix for live action, but the visual scope of this series was so exciting that I talked the team into making this a comic book too and was lucky to get the two best artists of their generation to draw the first two volumes. This series is my own personal favourite work in a 30-year career so to have it collected into something this grand is something I'm looking forward to more than any of you."
Star Wars Adventures: There are no less than five Star Wars: High Republic Adventures books at Dark Horse this week. Five!
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES — ECHOES OF FEAR #4 ($4.99)
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES — SABER FOR HIRE TP ($19.99)
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES PHASE III #14 ($3.99)
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES PHASE III ANNUAL (ONE-SHOT, $7.99)
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC PHASE III ADVENTURES — DISPATCHES #4 ($3.99)
IDW PUBLISHING
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 2024 #6 ($4.99) in troduces new ongoing artist Juan Ferreyra. Jason Aaron continues as writer. I don't have the warm fuzzies many do for the turtles — born too soon — but I assume I'm an outlier.
“Getting to be the artist in TMNT makes me super happy and excited on so many levels. The first one is exciting for the little Juan that lives in me,” Ferreyra said. “I was a big Turtles fan when I was 11-12 years old, I used to draw them all the time. In fact, when I told one of my best friends that I was going to draw the TMNT comic next, he told me that one of his first memories of me drawing was when he saw me drawing the Turtles and how amazed he was at how I was able to draw them so accurately.
“The other level is the grown up Juan and the opportunity that I have to give my take on TMNT for a full arc and working with one of my all time favorite writers. Working with Jason for a full arc on anything would’ve been a dream come true, so when they told me Jason would be writing it I had one of the biggest smiles I’ve had in a long time. The most amazing thing is that all of that was before I started drawing anything, and now that I’m halfway through the first issue I can tell that it is way more satisfying and fun than what I could have ever anticipated!”
Aaron spent the first arc shining a spotlight on each Ninja Turtle while building up the new threat. With these upcoming issues, the award-winning writer is eager for fans to dive into his grand plan for the series. “The first arc of this new TMNT series featured issues that focused on the individual brothers in different situations, different spots around the globe, gradually bringing them back together to face a new villain who’s taken root in New York City. With issue #6, that all comes to a head, as the Ninja Turtles are back together and finally make their return to New York, only to find that much has changed in the city they used to call home,” teased Aaron. “With this issue, the real story begins, so I’m super excited to have the great Juan Ferreyra coming on board not just for this issue but for the long haul, as the Turtles get ready to face their next great challenge. “
BOOM! STUDIOS
HELLO DARKNESS #7 (MR, $5.99) is a horror anthology by various writers and artists.
I've been enjoying the new EC horror anthologies at Oni, and Creepshow at Image, so I thought I'd give BOOM's horror anthology a try. In for a penny, right? So I got the first six issues.
It helped my decision that the covers are so good. If you haven't seen them, they feature a sort of mascot to the book, an edgy hot chick that the second-issue text page tells me is named Darcía, who never appears in the interiors. She was created by Paolo Rivera, known for his work at Marvel (primarily Daredevil and covers), at Dark Horse (Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.) and at Valiant. Darcía has what is likely a tattoo below her left eye that resembles the one on Joseph Michael Linsners's Dawn, only it's blood colored. (And may well be blood, for all I know. Maybe she's like Mads Mikkelson's Le Chiffre in Casino Royale.) Her dark hair turns red toward the end, which — as the cover to issue #3 shows — is actually blood that can be wrung out. She's usually depicted extinguishing a light. (Hello, darkness!)
In most cases, the artwork on the various stories isn't up to the level of the competition, but the stories are genuinely disturbing. In fact, "disturbing" seems to be the point of most of them — often the narrative ends at a particularly horrifying suggestion and leaves the rest to your imagination. There are also one-page illustrations by the likes of Tula Lotay and Jenny Frison (which are very nice), a page of one-panel horror cartoons by Robert Hack (which is a genre, I think, to which his work is best suited) and a text page in the back. I don't always read text pages, but I do here, as they are usually brief and informative. There is no letters page, which doesn't bother me, as I've never been much of an LOC-page guy.
Defying horror anthology traditions, there are two continued stories. One is "A Monster Hunter Walks Into a Bar," by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera. There have been only three five-page installments (every other issue), and it isn't moving very quickly, so I have little to say. Garth Ennis and Beck Cloonan provide "The War," which begins with four New York couples at a party (who, unfortunately, all use British expressions like "what's on order") discussing whether nuclear war could really happen over Ukraine. It's by Ennis, so I'm enjoying it, and that's all I'm going to tell you. I'm curious enough about where it's going that I'll continue to buy Hello Darkness at least until "The War" ends.
Sadly, the Jenny Frison variant cover is apparently too naughty to put on the internet. But here are the rest, and a link to a PREVIEW.
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
SILVERHAWKS #1 (Dynamite, $4.99), by Ed Brisson (Batman Incorporated, Predator) and George Kambadais, is based on the 1986 Rankin/Bass cartoon that ran for 65 episodes. Marvel published seven issues of SilverHawks in 1987-88 under its kiddie imprint Star Comics. I have to note that the SilverHawks closely resemble Darkhawk, which Marvel began publishing in 1991. There might also be a little "Rom: Spaceknight" in the design of both. (Marvel also published Rom, of course, from 1979 to 1986.)
I didn't watch the cartoon, but I did read the Wiki and this first issue, and it appears that this new comic book is following the same basic plotline as the original opening TV episodes. That is to say: "Grizzled space cop Stargazer and the team he assembles ... deal with the galactic threat unleashed by the escape from Limbo of Mon*Star and his mob." Weirdly, though, it's incredibly violent, which I don't think was the case with Saturday morning cartoons in the 1980s. Even more weirdly, the artwork is still in the Saturday-morning-cartoon vein, making for some cognitive dissonance. This seems aimed at those who might have nostalgia for the original cartoon, and want to see an updated, ultra-violent version — which doesn't seem to me like a large subset of the comics audience. But I guess it could be.
"When Dynamite launched ThunderCats I immediately began to pester Declan [Shalvey, ThunderCats writer] about the possibility of a SilverHawks book," said writer Ed Brisson. "When Nate reached out to me to write ThunderCats: Apex, my first question was 'When are you doing SilverHawks?!?'. I am very excited that this book is happening and that I'm privileged enough to be involved. I couldn't ask for a better collaborator than George. So, strap in, because I'm about to pour all the love I have for the SilverHawks into this baby. I'm going to make you all love it too!"
TITAN
WELCOME TO GHOST MANSION VOL. 1 TP (192 pages, MR, B&W, $12.99) is by Nebukuro. A freelance slacker buys a condominium whose only tenants are ghosts. So "her new property is a rollercoaster ride of psychic phenomena." Well, I've enjoyed Ghosts (both UK and U.S. version), so maybe I should give this a try. Is there a closeted gay military man? I think there's a rule you have to have one of those.
MORE COMICS
ALLEY OOP AND THE ZAN OF ZORON TP (Manuscript Press, $19.99): Comic strip collector alert!
ALLEY OOP VERSUS THE NIGHTLINGS TP (Manuscript Press, $19.99): Comic strip collector alert!
BABS #5 (OF 6, Ahoy, $3.99) is by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows. I've been enjoying this Red Sonja parody immensely. But then, I usually enoy anything written by Garth Ennis immensely.
BADGER: MAD MONKEY SHOCK 'N' ROLL #1 (OF 5, 1First Comics, $6.99): There's no preview for this on the internet, and not much of a description. But it's by Mike Baron and Val Mayerick, so if you're a Badger fan, you'll probably want this.
BIG BIG BANG COMICS GN (Cosmic Lion, $25.00): I don't normally comment on Big Bang Comics, but this one seems to have a new publisher (Cosmic Lion) and is a 100-pager with all-new stories and art by Michael Fitzgerald Troy, Sam J. Royale, Kerry Callen, Don Simpson, Milo Trent, Jason Foster, Mike Madrid, Jason Quinones, James Smith, Evan Quiring, Kasey Bouchard, The Q Method, Steven A. Wilcox, Bill McEvoy, Todd Blackwood and Jim Rugg. If you're not famliar with Big Bang Comics, they do derivative characters in old-fashioned styles. For example, "Knight Watchman" is the '50s Bob Kane-style Batman in everything but name. "Thunder Girl" is Mary Marvel done in a '40s style reminiscent of C.C. Beck. And so on. I think there's a place for this, and since nobody's suing, I guess the big publishers agree.
FLASH GORDON VOL 1: ESCAPE FROM PLANET DEATH TP (Mad Cave. $17.99) is by Jeremy Adams and Will Conrad. It looks great, but I really want an HC!
GALAXY OF MADNESS VOL 1 TP (Mad Cave, #17.99) is by Magdalene Visaggio and Michael Avon Oeming. I normally don't address collections where I've already mentioned the individual books, but this one 1) gives me a chance to use the phrase "swashbuckling archaeologist" again, and 2) Diamond provided a preview.
JADE WARRIORS HC (Alpha Comics, $34.99) is by writers David Campiti and Michael Buckley, and artist Mike Deodato. I mention this book for, again, two reasons. 1) Mike Deodato, whose work is awesome. And 2) I see these elite female assassins adhere to the elite female assassins code of showing a lot of butt and underboob. Well done, ladies. I'm sure that is quite a boon in your profession.
KILL TRAIN #1 (OF 5, Mad Cave, $4.99) is by Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and Martina Niosi.
Another train story? Diamond provided a preview, so let's talk about it. The premise is that New York City, in an effort to control the burgeoning population, routinely picks a subway car at random and slaughters everyone on board. Which is a great reason not to ride the subway, but apparently that thought never occurs to our hapless victims. But that's OK, because on one such Kill Train, a single mother going through a nervous breakdown becomes a hero, and looks damn good on the cover doing it. How do you do it, single mom undergoing a nervous breakdown? I guess the book will tell us.
BTW, does the protagonist on Cover B look vaguely familiar to anyone else? It feels like I've seen that image before, possibly an actress on a movie poster.
LEGEND OF KAMUI VOL 1 TP (Drawn & Quarterly, MR, $39.95) is by Shirato Sanpei. The solicitation says this is a very important book by a very important Japanese creator. That's on the internet, so it must be true. Anyway, it follows an outcast child in 17th century Japan who turns to ninja-ry to survive. As you do. Here's a PREVIEW.
LITTLE STOOGES #1 (American Mythology, $4.99) is by writers Pete Alvarado and Joe Kubert, and artist Norman Mauer. Did you know there were comics about Moe Jr., Larry Jr. and Curly Jr. in the 1970s? Well, there were! And here they are! I don't expect they'll be good, but I'm kind of amazed they exist at all.
THE MAMMOTH TP (Mad Cave, $17.99) is another collection of a series I've already mentioned. But there's a nice preview.
PANTOMIME TP (Mad Cave, $14.99): Same as above.
THE PEDESTRIAN VOL 1 TP (Magma Comix, $19.99): Same as above.
POWER LORDS #1 (OF 3, Oni Press, $4.99) is by Dennis Culver, Mathew Hudson and V Ken Marion. It's the latest entry in the "Nacelleverse" of books featuring B-list toys.
SNDN VS VBM #1 (American Mythology, $4.99) is a "team-up" of Amerian Mythology's two horror "stars," the Killer Santa from Silent Night, Deadly Night and the Bloody Miner from Valentine Bluffs Massacre. VALENTINE BLUFFS MASSACRE REMEMBRANCE #1 (American Mythology, MR, $4.99) is also available this week.
WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME? TP (Drawn & Quarterly, MR, $22.95): I think I've already listed the HC on this, but it's worth mentioning again. From the description and PREVIEW it's a black-as-pitch sci-fi dramedy about a married couple who don't ever leave the house any more and can't be bothered to remember their kids' names. Is it a dream? Are they a science experiment? Could this really be their lives? I kinda want to read this, but even I don't have an unlimited comics budget. I hope one of y'all will recommend it, to give me the excuse!
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Marvel says this one-shot anthology is a 10-year celebration of their second run with the Star Wars franchise.
Geez, has it been that long already?
(The first was 1977-86, which is not being celebrated. Sad.)
Just wait two more years and it'll be time for the 50th.
I don't know why that's needed...
Don't you?
...but hey, there's money to be made.
See! You knew.
BIG BIG BANG COMICS GN
I remember when this was solicited. Being a fan of the original Big Bang Comics, I was excited at first, then I read the entire solicitation. I don't think this is going to be what you think it is. I think it will be more along the lines of artists' own, updated versions of those characters. I didn't even pre-order it. I'll let you know if I erred.
LITTLE STOOGES #1: Did you know there were comics about Moe Jr., Larry Jr. and Curly Jr. in the 1970s?
I did not. But I've read many of the Dell/Gold Key ones of the '50s/'60s and I'm inclined to agree with you that they won't be very good.
DC POWER: RISE OF THE POWER COMPANY #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99)
Hmm... so we are having a Power Company one-shot. Probably a reboot in the current continuity. This may be good, particularly given that Vita Ayala is one of the writers. Brandon Thomas I know little of, but he seems to have written good comics as well.
I don't have the warm fuzzies many do for the turtles — born too soon — but I assume I'm an outlier. - I don't either, although I did enjoy the original series. I do like to dip my toe in their universe from time to time though, like Last Ronin, but I rarely stick around very long.
SILVERHAWKS- Somehow I never saw this cartoon.
WELCOME TO GHOST MANSION VOL. 1 TP...A freelance slacker buys a condominium whose only tenants are ghosts. - I hope the first part of this book is explaining how a "freelance slacker" can afford a condo.
I remember when this [Big Big Bang Comics] was solicited. Being a fan of the original Big Bang Comics, I was excited at first, then I read the entire solicitation. I don't think this is going to be what you think it is. I think it will be more along the lines of artists' own, updated versions of those characters. I didn't even pre-order it. I'll let you know if I erred.
Please do! I'm not likely to buy it, but I knew there had been discussion of these books before, so maybe some people here liked it.
Hmm... so we are having a Power Company one-shot. Probably a reboot in the current continuity. This may be good, particularly given that Vita Ayala is one of the writers.
I'm inclined to believe this will be better than the first go-round with Power Company, because I'm getting the idea that it will be a team that is recruited from existing mythos, rather than all being created all at once. Of course, I could be wrong.
I do like to dip my toe in their [TMNT] universe from time to time though, like Last Ronin, but I rarely stick around very long.
If you see something that's really good, let me know! I tend to ignore TMNT.
I hope the first part of this book [Ghost Mansion] is explaining how a "freelance slacker" can afford a condo.
Probably the same way the characters on Friends could afford their spacious New York City apartments.
ATLAS ARTIST EDITION No. 2: AL WILLIAMSON: Like Atlas Artist Edition No. 1: Joe Maneely, this collection is printed on glossy paper. (I would have prefered the more "absorbant" stock of the Atlas Comics Library series.) OTOH, it is twice as thick as the Maneely edition.
BIG BANG COMICS: This is, as I thought, a tribute drawn in (what I call) "neo-underground" style by a variety of artists. For a supposed "tribute," I cannot think of a worse choice. It is, however, "treasury" size. And speaking of treasury editions...
UNTOLD LEGEND OF THE BATMAN: I didn't glean it from the listing above, but this is a treasury edition as well (with both a regular and a "shiny" cover). I have this series in multiple formats already, but if I didn't, a TE would be kinda neat. (This is just the first issue.)