MAJOR PUBLISHERS
MARVEL COMICS
Week 5 in "Blood Hunt"
BLACK PANTHER: BLOOD HUNT #1 (OF 3) by Cheryl Lynn Eaton and Farid Karami: So, yeah, SPOILER: T'Challa has been turned. Happened in Blood Hunt #1, I believe. He's still the king of Wakanda, so that's kind of a problem, unless the rest of the ruling clique boots him out somehow. Because he's serving a different king now. And what does that mean for his connection to the afterlife (the ghosts of his predecessors he occasionally visits)? Will that make a difference? These are all interesting concepts to explore, so what seemed to me a bad idea at first may prove pretty interesting.
“Long live the king! Literally! While T’Challa has always been the height of human excellence, steering such a legendary character as he navigates a supernatural battlefield populated with gods and monsters—all while adapting to a form and newfound powers unfamiliar to him—has been a treat,” Eaton said. “T’Challa’s royal status is not just Wakandan in nature, but vampiric as well. And I can’t wait to explore both of those bloodlines. No pun intended!”
“Once I read the script, I was delightfully surprised about where the story was going and how cool the tone and atmosphere were,” Karami added. “The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes animated series was my introduction to most of Marvel's super heroes, and Black Panther was my favorite character there. The chance to draw T'Challa as a vampire battling other vampires and some African mythological demons in such an epic yet dark tale has been a dream come true.”
MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT #1 (OF 3) by Bryan Hill and German Peralta: Marvel makes a stab at reviving this concept every so often (sometimes as Nightstalkers), probably for copyright reasons. At least this time there's a genuine emergency to deal with. The most frequent members are Blade, Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch and Morbius. Some of them are already involved in this event in other ways, so I'm curious to see who will form the lineup. I doubt we'll see Frank Drake or Hannibal King after the events of Nightstalkers #18. Both were later revealed to be alive (or undead), but unavailable for various reasons.
"FINALLY the world realizes I'm a ‘horror guy’ and I'm grateful,” Hill said. “Working with Blade has been a blast, and what I'm doing with MIDNIGHT SONS is maybe even more ferocious than that. This event is really exciting, the hype is real, and what I have planned for this will hopefully satisfy fans of action...and terror."
“I’m really excited to be part of this crossover, especially because I love the mix between super heroes and horror—the possibilities are infinite,” Peralta shared. “In this particular case, I have the chance to draw the coolest Marvel characters, it's one of the highlights of this project—Blade, Ghost Rider, and of course, a lot more that I can't mention! It's always a pleasure to be in front of a new challenge when you’re free to play using inks and different kinds of textures to create some dark environments and characters. I hope the readers enjoy this as much as I do.”
This week in "Fall of X":
MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE — X-MEN: THE WEDDING SPECIAL (ONE-SHOT) by Kieron Gillen, Tini Howard, Yoon Ha Lee, Tate Brombal, Wyatt Kennedy, Rachael Stott, Phil Sevy, Stephen Byrne, Emilio Pilliu and Jenn St. Onge: So I finally accepted Magneto's redemption. I went along with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy being semi-reformed. But nothing will ever get me to accept Mystique and Destiny as anything but the mass-murdering sociopaths they have always shown themselves to be. They get no sympathy from me just because they're gay, or mutants, or women. "Ruthless, selfish, genocidal killers" outranks all of that.
But oh, Marvel is now saying Mystique and Destiny are swell, and we should celebrate "one of the most beloved and longest-lasting gay couples in comic book history." I'll give you "longest-lasting" — Destiny has been established as the Irene Adler of the Sherlock Holmes stories in the late 1800s — but "most beloved"? By whom? Not by the X-Men, surely, whom they've tried to murder multiple times over the years.
My core beef is that this redemption is unearned. They were utterly bad, now they're utterly good, because a writer waved his magic wand. So I'm not buying it. (Literally.) YMMV.
"They've been through hell, mainly at my pen," Gillen said. "Finally, giving these two a happy day? How can I say no?”
Take Nancy Reagan's advice, and just say no.
Anyway, other stories in this issue include tales starring Betsy Braddock and Rachel Summers; Wolverine, Anole, Pixie, Indra and Bling; Rogue and Gambit; and Mystique, Destiny and Emma Frost.
RISE OF THE POWERS OF X #5 (OF 5) by Kieron Gillen and Luciano V: This concludes the two central "Fall of X" miniseries. I imagine there will be repercussions to be explored before "From the Ashes" begins.
Cover B makes my Homage Sense tingle, but I don't know what it reminds me of. And is it me, or does Cover D seem to be using Sophie Turner photo reference?
WOLVERINE #50 by Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, Larry Hama, more: It's "Sabretooth War" Part 10 — the final chapter of that saga, Percy's last issue of Wolverine, and the final issue of this book. I'm guessing Wolverine will win, since Wolverine will be revived in a few weeks. But I'm also guessing there won't be a final resolution, because Sabretooth is a popular villain (I'm told). So not reading these 10 issues saved me from wasting a lot of time.
This week in Spider-Man:
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EPIC COLLECTION TP VOL 10 BIG APPLE BATTLEGROUND
- EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #4 features the comic book debut of the Spider-Woman from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
- JACKPOT/BLACK CAT #3
- SPIDER-BOY #7: Guest stars Captain America, Miles Morales, Peter Parker, Squirrel-Girl, Thor and what looks like (from the cover) a Super-Adaptoid Ant-Man and Wasp. That seems pretty unlikely, so maybe it's just Ant-Man and Wasp in green armor. For some reason.
- SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE #4
This week in Star Wars:
- STAR WARS DARTH MAUL BLACK WHITE RED #2
- STAR WARS JANGO FETT #3
This week in Ultimates:
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #5 by Jonathan Hickman and David Messina finishes the origin of the Ultimate Green Goblin, and begins the advent of Ultimate Doctor Octopus.
You know, we've discussed on this board how every writer has a Galactus story they want to tell. It's never better than the original, and really can't be, but every young writer takes a swing at it.
But I think they also all have a "Norman Osborn goes crazy, again, and becomes the Green Goblin, again" story. You'd think that they'd have beat that dead horse enough. But nope, it keeps happening.
Elsewhere at Marvel:
HELLVERINE #1 (OF 4) by Benjamin Percy and Julius Stegman: Fresh off Wolverine, Percy writes this new series about the Wolverine/Ghost Rider amalgam. As Jeff of Earth-J said somewhere else about this title, "Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a comic book fan." I felt that way about "Weapon H," too.
Percy told Bloody Disgusting, “When the Hellverine appeared in the Ghost Rider/Wolverine crossover -- Weapons of Vengeance -- we lit a fire. A hellfire. Readers really responded to the killer concept of Logan with a flaming skull and flaming claws on a flaming motorcycle, which is as heavy metal as it gets. So, we're giving them more sulfur-scented mayhem in this miniseries that will thrill and terrify.”
AVENGERS ANNUAL #10 FACSIMILE EDITION reprints the issue where Rogue, in her first appearance, steals Ms. Marvel’s powers. (The Carol Danvers version.)
DC COMICS
This week in “House of Brainiac”:
POWER GIRL #9 by Leah Williams and Eduardo Pansica: Czarnians take over Power Girl's neighborhood and take Crush hostage. First: Power Girl has a neighborhood? You'd think the whole planet would be her neighborhood. Well, it's worth posting this just for Cover A, which will make Jeff of Earth-J happy.
This week in Batman:
- BATMAN: DARK AGE #3 (OF 6) seems to be popular on this board.
- BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND BOLD #13 has five stories: Nightwing & Deadman, Booster Gold & Jurassic League, Artemis, Batman & Guy Gardner, Batman Black & White.
- BATMAN THE KNIGHT TP
- DETECTIVE COMICS #1085
- HARLEY QUINN #40
- PENGUIN #10
Elsewhere at DC:
DC PRIDE 2024 #1 (ONE-SHOT) is this year’s gay-themed anthology.
GREEN ARROW #12: This was supposed to be the last issue, but the title’s been upgraded to ongoing.
IMAGE COMICS
GROMMETS #1 (OF 7) by writer Rick Remender (Deadly Class, The Scumbag) teams with co-writer and Emmy Award winning comedian Brian Posehn (The Secret History of the War on Weed), artist Brett Parson (Tank Girl), and colorist Moreno Dinisio (Black Science): The series title is skateboard slang, because this book is about skaters. Coming-of-age dramedy, I imagine.
“I spent the first 11 years of my life being humiliated in competition team sports… but that all ended the day I rode skateboard," Remender said. "I spent the summer of 1984 skating from morning to night. Soon all my friends were there with me. Life became more fun than it had ever been before,” said Remender. “The fun wasn’t based on winning; the competition was healthy, you were always backed up by a pal giving you support, telling you to keep at it until you nailed the trick. My skateboard was everything: it was how I got around, it was how I identified myself, it was how I spent all my free time before and after school, on every weekend, and most importantly... it was ours. The kids owned this sport.”
Posehn added: “Like my old pal, Rick, I too sucked at mainstream sports and that led to my love of skateboarding, which I also sucked at. But that's the beauty of the sport, it didn't matter how good I was. It was the most fun I’d ever had and no one in my crew gave the slightest shit if I couldn’t ollie, it wasn’t about one-upmanship. Skater kids were different, funny, smart and they hated what I hated: Mainstream sports, mainstream music, Camaros, tough guys and misogyny. It was less of a sport and more of a lifestyle. We were misfits before it was cool.”
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON #2 (OF 4)
Elsewhere at Image:
Image is releasing reprints this week of a lot of first issues, with no price attached, leaving it to your LCS how much it wants to charge you. They include:
- IMAGE FIRSTS ADVENTUREMAN #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS BIRTHRIGHT #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS CRIMINAL #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS CURSE WORDS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS DEATH OR GLORY #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS DESCENDER #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS FIRE POWER #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS GEIGER #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS GIDEON FALLS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS HACK SLASH #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS I HATE FAIRYLAND #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS ICE CREAM MAN #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS KILLADELPHIA #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS MIDDLEWEST #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS MONSTRESS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS NEO NOIR
- IMAGE FIRSTS PAPER GIRLS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS SCUMBAG #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS SEX CRIMINALS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS SPAWN #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS STRAY DOGS #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS W0RLDTR33 #1
- IMAGE FIRSTS WALKING DEAD #1.
DARK HORSE
CRITICAL ROLE VOX MACHINA ORIGINS IV #1 by Jody Houser (Stranger Things, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins) and Noah Hayes (Goldie Vance, The Avant-Guards): This isn't in my wheelhouse — I had to look it up to see it has its origin in a webseries and animated show — but it's a first issue and DH sent me two press releases. So here's a preview.
“I'm excited to head back to Exandria and continue the adventure alongside Vox Machina,” said Houser. “The stakes have never been higher, so we'll see if splitting the party was a good idea ..."
WILLIAM OF NEWBURY #1 by Michael Avon Oeming (The Victories, Blue Book): A raccoon monk fights supernatural evil in a medieval world. It's "loosely based on real events in 12th century England during what was known as 'The Anarchy,' a time where the country was beset with plague, civil war and demons." I did not know that.
"William of Newbury wrote the first history of England,” said Oeming. Another thing I didn't know. “Which included accounts of the undead rising from graves and demons flying in the air. I love weird history and William personified it. Come and have some spooky fun with me; Newbury is a safe place to be scared!"
This week in Star Wars:
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES PHASE III #6
- STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES — SABER FOR HIRE #2
IDW PUBLISHING
GODZILLA MECHAZILLA 50TH ANNIVERSARY #1 by Rich Douek and Andrew Griffith features the history of Mechagodzilla.
STAR TREK CELEBRATIONS #1 by Vita Ayala, Hannah Rose May, Steve Orlando, Magdalene Visaggio is a gay-themed Star Trek special.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: BEST OF SLASH by various: Best of Slash, and I don't mean the Guns N' Roses guitarist. The art's too cartoony for my taste, but maybe it suits yours.
VALIANT
This week in Valiant "Resurgence":
BLOODSHOT BLOOD OF HEROES TP collects Bloodshot (1993) #0-7, Eternal Warrior #5, H.A.R.D. Corps #5 and Rai (1992) #0. That's the first series, from the Long Before Time.
RAI: THE BOOK OF THE DARQUE #1 (OF 2) by Dan Abnett & Emilio Utrera: I thought Darque was a present-day bad guy, but somehow he's also a future bad guy too. Maybe that's already been established somewhere and I missed it. I read all of the first iteration of Valiant, spotty stabs at the second, and haven't read any since. So I've missed some stuff.
Here's a supporting article: Valiant Resurgence at Bleeding Cool.
MORE COMICS
A WITCH'S GUIDE TO BURNING HC by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly): In this world's mythology, when a witch is burned she simply forgets her past and her powers and becomes ordinary folk. Which, of course, happens to the protagonist, who must be aided in her quest to return to her former status by various odd allies. Interesting text/illustration combo.
ARCHIE MILESTONES JUMBO DIGEST #24 JUGHEAD SUMMER SPLASH
BLOOD AND FIRE #1 by Aaron Wroblewski and Ezequiel Rubio Lancho (Red 5 Comics) is the story of a samurai during the “Warring States Period,” or Sengoku-Jidai, of 16th Century Japan. I'm not crazy about the rough-ish artwork, but I have no doubt I'll come to appreciate it, as it's as gritty as the period it describes.
CLASSIC ILLUSTRATED is releasing three titles this week:
- CLASSIC ILLUSTRATED: BLACK ARROW TP
- CLASSIC ILLUSTRATED: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT TP
- CLASSIC ILLUSTRATED: DEERSLAYER TP
DEATH RATIOD (ONE-SHOT) by Mark Russell and Laci (AWA): Is a black comedy about a future ruled by social media, where enough "dislikes" and "thumbs down" can get you killed. I swear I've seen this premise before, maybe even with live actors, but I don't remember where.
FIRE IN THE MADHOUSE #1 (OF 4, Blood Moon) by Elliot Worth and Hernan Gonzalez (Blood Moon): A bunch of billionaires hide out from the apocalypse (that they no doubt caused) but are infected by a deep-ocean parasite that takes over their bodies. Schadenfreude, ahoy!
JOHNNY VIABLE GN by Steve Aylett (Floating World Comics): I can't understand the solicitation, so I'll quote it: "Adventures in merit! Are you burly? Purple? A lamprey? All are welcome in the Viable world! That's right kids! We understand your fab new generation! It's a young thing! A different thing! Hey it'll probably kill you! It'll smash you open man! Or mangle your stupid legs! Look out! Look out, dammit!"
I'm guessing this is old comics with new dialogue, because that sure looks like 1950s artwork. Possibly Reed Crandall.
LIFE IS STRANGE FORGET ME NOT #3 (OF 4)
MARGUERITE VS. THE OCCUPATION ONE-SHOT by John Luzar and Kasey Quevedo (CEX) is about a 17-year-old French girl who returns home in 1944 to find Germans occupying her bombed-out home, and decides to take it back. Sounds like a tall order, but teenage girls can be quite ingenious in comic books!
MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS BOOK TWO TP by Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics) is the follow-up to her premiere GN (at the age of 55, after re-learning to draw after being paralyzed by West Nile virus), which won three Eisner awards. There was a wrangle over rights that slowed this second book.
I didn't see the first book, but l love this art. It's somewhere on the border between amateurish and professional, between comix and comics, and the sort of stuff my friends and I drew when we were teens. It looks fun. So I'll probably get both volumes.
Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth said: “I am as thrilled today with the completion of My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two as I was in 2015 when I read this uniquely executed and groundbreaking work for the first time. Emil has spent years honing this concluding volume to her exacting standards and those of you who have been excitedly anticipating it will not be disappointed. The full range of Emil’s skills that made the first volume such an aesthetic triumph — the dense, multi-layered story, the dazzling draftsmanship, the seamless combination of text and drawings — is on full display on every page of this book.”
NEXUS NEWSPAPER STRIPS VOL 2 #3 (OF 5) BATTLE FOR THUNEWORLD: Comic-strip collectors alert!
PROJECT CRYPTID #9: Ahoy Comics collectors alert!
RIVERS OF LONDON STRAY CAT BLUES #1 (OF 4, Titan)
SEVEN YEARS IN DARKNESS YEAR TWO #1 (OF 4) by Joseph Schmalke (CEX). The first series, which I did not read, seems to have left 59 surviving apprentices at the Academy of Black Magic. This series focuses on a talented sophomore named Honey, and something that wants to eat her soul. Sounds like a typical sophomore year of college to me.
SOULMATE (ONE-SHOT, Advent) “introduces Bion and Taryn Montgomery to the Advent Universe in this special Valentine’s Day release.” This is so late they should have just waited until Valentine’s Day of next year.
THE FIRST AMERICANS #1 (OF 8, Critical Entertainment) by Christoper Reda and Tadd Galusha purport to tell the story of the first people to arrive in North America about 14,000 years ago. Since there's active debate about who those people were, and there were very few newspapers at the time, this is entirely invented. I mean, moreso than most comics.
TORPEDO 1972 #3 (Ablaze): I sure wish somebody would collect (and translate) Torpedo 1936 (Enrique Sanchez, Jordi Bernet). Until that happens, I guess this effort by Sanchez and Eduardo Risso is the next best thing.
VIC ARGAS: SPECIES NEGOTIATOR #1 by Colleen Douglas and Jesus C. Gan (Advent): "On Hancox, the one to start the negotiation is the one to control how it ends. For Vic Argus Species Negotiator, money is not the sole object, rescuing the client isn't either, He's there for the terms, because on Hancox, you can eat your enemies." I found some individual panels and illustrations, but no preview. Vic looks a bit like a vampire, and can open his mouth extremely wide to reveal gigantic needle-like fish teeth. I'm not sure what the point of any of this is. Horror comic, maybe?
WHISPER OMNIBUS VOL 3 TP: Yes, it’s the original First Comics series, now being reprinted by ComicMix.
ZOMBIE TRAMP DELUXE EDITION VOL 2 TP: This was Action Lab’s biggest-selling title before some sort of falling out over rights. And I don’t think Action Lab exists any more. Now Zombie Tramp is being published by Still Ill with creator Dan Mendoza.
Apropos of nothing, I loved the Action Lab logo, which was a Labrador Retriever. In action. Punny!
Replies
HELLVERINE - Makes about as much sense as "Gwenpool."
Well, it's worth posting this just for Cover A, which will make Jeff of Earth-J happy.
I got that one already. (I posted it back on March 1 when it was first solicited. Note dedication/signature.) I do think I missed one, however, and now I dread having to go back to find it. Plus I found several other O.T.S.S.E. poses I need to post one of these days.
There is an episode of the first three years of "Black Mirror" with a premise very similar to that of "Death Ratio'd".