Most Anticipated Comics of 2019

January 17, 2019 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — For a certain type of comics fan (which is, indeed, most of us) part of the fun of the hobby involves looking to the future. We ogle distributor solicitations the way some folks plan vacations, vicariously living out our forthcoming book purchases months in advance. Essentially, the excitement is as much in the anticipation as it is in the actual consuming of the story. This isn’t just a comics thing (people freaking love movie trailers and speculation these days, if you hadn’t noticed), but this is a comics site, so we’re going to go ahead and focus on that.

To that end, today we’d like to take a look at some of our Most Anticipated Comics of 2019. This is inherently tricky business. Books that have been teased but not solicited are liable to drop right off a publisher’s radar (remember that Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jen Bartel Storm comic? Yeah....). Meanwhile, some of the most prominent titles for 2019 are yet to be announced. Just think, Heroes in Crisis, Wonder Comics, and Immortal Hulk were all just glimmers on some whiteboard in Manhattan or Burbank at this time last year.

Anyway, knowing what we know now, here’s a list of the Most Anticipated Comics of 2019. Enjoy!

Top 10 Most Anticipated Comics of 2019

Age of Conan: Belit
Writer: Tini Howard
Artist: Kate Niemczyk
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: March 13, 2019
Why It’s Cool: Tini Howard is a rising star writer, earning her way to more interesting/higher profile comics and consistently making the most of them, and Kate Niemczyk is dynamic an artist as I’ve seen of late. It’ll be interesting to see how she handles slightly more serious IP, given that her two most recent books (Man-Eaters and Mockingbird) essentially featured a pop art aesthetic.

Assassination Nation
Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Erica Henderson
Publisher: Image Comics - Skybound
Release Date: March 13, 2019
Why It’s Cool: This book brings together two of the funniest visual storytellers in all of comics, with Kyle Starks (Rock Candy Mountain, Sex Castle, Mars Attacks) doing writing duties while Erica Henderson (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) does the art. This concept is also really funny...the former greatest hitman in the world hires the 20 other greatest hitmen in the world to be his bodyguards/investigate who’s trying to kill him. Expect laughs, and lots of ‘em.

Black Hammer ‘45
Writers: Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes
Artists: Matt & Sharlene Kindt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 6, 2019
Why It’s Cool: As noted in our Top Comics of 2018, Jeff Lemire’s Black Hammer line of comics is one of our favorite ongoing graphic sequential stories. Part of what we like about is that it’s enabled him to apply his sensibilities to so many different comics concepts. This one sees Lemire teaming with his friends Ray Fawkes and the Kindts to homage classic war comics like those of Joe Kubert.

Female Furies
Writer: Cecil Castellucci
Artist: Adriana Melo
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 6, 2019
Why It’s Cool: It’s a Fourth World book written by Cecil Castellucci, whose last DC project was the artful Shade, The Changing Woman. She’s teamed here with rising star artist Adriana Melo, who most recently collaborated on a Plastic Man mini-series with writer Gail Simone.

G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte
Writer/Artist: Michel Fiffe
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 6, 2019
Why It’s Cool: Hate to be simplistic about this, but this book is freaking Michel Fiffe (Copra) writing and drawing G.I. Joe. Instead of typing that again, I’ll just go ahead and refer you to my previous sentence. Michel Fiffe!

Invisible Kingdom
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Christian Ward
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics - Berger Books
Release Date: March 20, 2019
Why It’s Cool: It’s such a great mix of talented creators and high-minded sci-fi concept. It’s also being published by Dark Horse’s Berger Books imprint, which is one of the most thoughful imprints in comics.

Outsiders
Writer: Bryan Edward Hill
Artist: Dexter Soy
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: TBD
Why It’s Cool: Originally slated for late 2018, this book looks great. Dexter Soy is a fantastic artist, and Hill is fresh from doing career work on Marvel’s Killmonger.

Second Coming
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Richard Pace
Publisher: DC Comics - Vertigo
Release Date: March 6, 2019
Why It’s Cool: This book envisions Jesus returning to Earth and rooming with a Superman analog, exploring the idea that few of the world’s problems can be truly be fixed with superpowers. The opportunities for killer satire abound.

Sentient
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta
Publisher: TKO Studios
Release Date: Spring / Summer 2019
Why It’s Cool: These two creators have a sympatico sensibilities, and I can’t believe they’ve never before worked together. Also, I dig TKO Studios distribution/printing format.

War of the Realms
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Russell Dauterman
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: April 2019
Why It’s Cool: Jason Aaron has spent more than six years writing Thor, with a significant part of that building toward War of the Realms. Through in Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson—hands down one of the best art teams in comics—and you’ve got one highly anticipated comic.

Wonder Twins
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Stephen Byrne
Publisher: Wonder Comics - DC Comics
Release Date: February 13, 2019
Why It’s Cool: Mark Russell has risen to prominence taking quirky and discarded (and sometimes lame) characters and then using them to tell powerful stories rich with meaning. Stephen Byrne is also arguably the best artist he’s work with to date.

Original Graphic Novels

Are You Listening
By: Tillie Walden
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: September 10, 2019

Bad Gateway
By: Simon Hanselmann
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Release Date: July 16, 2019

Black Canary: Ignite
Writer: Meg Cabot
Artist: Cara McGee
Publisher: DC Zoom / DC Comics
Release Date: October 2019

Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America
By: Box Brown
Publisher: April 2, 2019
Release Date: First Second

How I Tried to Be a Good Person
By: Ulli Lust
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Release Date: June 11, 2019

Is This How You See Me?
By: Jaime Hernandez
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Release Date: March 27, 2019

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: May 7, 2019

Mister Miracle TPB
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 13, 2019

My Favorite Thing is Monsters Vol. 2
By: Emil Ferris
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Release Date: September 24, 2019

Superman Smashes the Klan
By: Gene Luen Yang
Artists: Gurihiru Studios
Publisher: DC Zoom / DC Comics
Release Date: TBD 2019

Individual Issues

Detective Comics #1000
Writers: Peter Tomasi, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Kevin Smith, Christopher Priest, and more
Artists: Becky Cloonan, Doug Mahnke, Dustin Nguyen, Greg Capullo, Jim Lee, and more
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: March 27, 2019

Doomsday Clock #12
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: July 2019 (maybe)

Saga #55
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: TBD

Seeds #3
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: David Aja
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 6, 2019

The Wild Storm #24
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: June 2019 (maybe)

Others Receiving Votes

Ascender by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen
The Banks by Roxane Gay and Ming Doyle
Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Jordie Bellaire & Dan Mora
Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky & Marco Checchetto
Dial H for Hero by Sam Humphries & Joe Quinones
Eve Stranger by David Barnett & Phillip Bond
The Forgotten Queen by Tini Howard & Amilcar Pinna
GLOW by Tini Howard & Hannah Templer
The Grand Abyss Hotel by Marcos Prior & David Rubin
Guardians of the Galaxy by Donny Cates & Geoff Shaw
Heathen Vol. 2 by Natasha Alterici & Ashley Woods
Incursion by Alex Paknadel, Andy Diggle, & Doug Braithwaite
Lazarus: Risen by Greg Rucka & Michael Lark
Little Bird by Darcy Van Poelgeest & Ian Bertram
The Magnificent Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed & Minkyu Jung
Marvel Action: Black Panther by Kyle Baker, Vita Ayala, Juan Samu & Arianna Florean
Naomi by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker & Jamal Campbell
Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wjingaard
Red Sonja by Mark Russell & Mirko Colak
Thanos (and Gamora) by Tini Howard & Ariel Olivetti
Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis
Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle & Isaac Goodhart
What’s the Furthest Place From Here by Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss
When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll
Wyrd by Curt Pires & Antonio Fuso

Check out more great lists about comics!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics of December 2018: Best Books at the Wire

January 04, 2019 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — While the focus has decidedly turned to year-end Best Of lists, we’d like to take a not-so brief look back at some of the best comics of December as well. The holidays are a busy time, wherein I know my own ability to read comics drops somewhat. Still! There was some excellent work being done in the last month of the year.

And that’s what we’re here to look at today. So, let’s get to it!

Shout Outs

It’s always nice when what are arguably the two flagship titles for Marvel and DC are on point, and that’s certainly what we got this month with Amazing Spider-Man #11 and Batman #60. Great individual issues within runs I enjoy.

In other Big 2 news, our sites personal favorite Marvel and DC books right now also had a strong month with Immortal Hulk #10 (what did we do to deserve this comic?) and Superman #6 (how is Bendis getting this run so right?). There was a reason these two ended up near the top of our Best Comics of 2018.

Phew, okay. Now that we have Big 2 business out of the way (for this section, more to come…), we can get to our favorite indie top comics of 2018, starting with Bitter Root #2.

Murder Falcon #3 is a book about metal and mourning that hits many of the same notes (sorry!) as this series first two issues...but it’s also so stylish, assured, and well-executed that those notes are still very powerful.

We have the writing duo of Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler as creators to watch in 2019, and a big part of the reason why is super smart creator-owned work. In December, they wrapped up one such series with Her Infernal Descent #5, a sad story of family and mourning and a tenacious mom mashed up with Dante’s Inferno. Highly recommend getting this one in trade.

This was a great year for upstart publisher Vault Comics, and they finished it out in pretty epic fashion, wrapping up two of their best series via Deep Roots #5 and Submerged #4. We’ve written a whole lot about both books, and you can find more on our Reviews Page.

Last but certainly not least is Mars Attacks #3 from the hilarious creative team of Kyle Starks and Chris Schweizer. This book has the duo’s trademark humor, as well as a really tight survival narrative used for wide-ranging satire on modern America. Great stuff.

Top Comics December 2018

5. Aquaman #43
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: Robson Rocha
Inker: Daniel Henriques
Colorist: Sunny Cho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
I’ve been reading a lot of Aquaman lately, namely returning to Geoff Johns’ New 52 run on the character before continuing on to the Jeff Parker and Dan Abnett runs that bridged that one and Rebirth. And you know what? I think for the first time since Johns revitalized the character, I can say that this book is doing something drastically new. There are no Atlantean Game of Thrones plots and no caught between two worlds conflicts.

What writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Robson Rocha seemed more interested in is an ethereal take on the character that speaks to his status as an almost elemental force within the sea...I think. It’s a little hard to tell after one incredibly intriguing issue. I am, to use a fishing pun (I know I’m a bad person), thoroughly hooked on what they’re doing. I also think that Rocha, who I’ve long felt is underrated, did his sharpest work yet on this opening issue. Overall, I can’t wait to see where all of this goes from here, and if the first issue is any indication, it will be filled with surprises.

4. X-Men: Red #11
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Roge Antonio
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Our number four overall choice for best comics of December 2018 is X-Men: Red #11, the finale to what has been the single best X-Men team book in a good number of years. We’ve written about this quite a bit (most recently in our Best Comics of 2018 feature...that again!), so we won’t go into our usual talking points about how Jean is a natural leader, the threats update the metaphor for 2018, the whole deal feels organized and rejuvenated, etc.

Instead, we’ll hone in on this one issue, noting that while the book seems to have ended a bit sooner than is ideal (writer Tom Taylor said on Twitter that he could have written it for years), the creative team really gave its all in putting together a finale that A. felt exciting, and B. spoke to the themes and concerns that had made this book so interesting throughout its run. It also did a great job incorporating much of the broader Marvel universe, which is always welcome but rarely easy for X-Men titles. RIP.

3. Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary #4
Story: Vita Ayala & Donny Cates
Script: Vita Ayala
Artist: Joshua Cassara
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Marvel Knights 20th Anniversary six-part mini-series has been strong so far, launching with an intriguing mystery (amnesia! sort of) as its premise, and giving a host of talented writers and artists (many of which are rising stars) a chance to kick interesting ideas around while also playing with beloved characters. This fourth issue, however, ranks so far as the standout. Written by Vita Ayala (with Donny Cates getting a story credit) and illustrated by Joshua Cassara, this story is a surprisingly one about family, oppression, and what it takes to be not so much a hero as a net force for good when faced with injustice and impossible odds.

I absolutely loved this story, which even in an alternate reality did a wonderful job of humanizing T’Challa, long one of the most difficult characters to do that with in all of Marvel Comics. The story worked hard to give all the character’s choices weight (a great tool to yield poignant results in any narrative situation) while not sugarcoating the oppressive situation a semi-memory wiped T’Challa was facing as a black man without identification going about his business (or trying to) in New York.

2. Long Lost Part 2 #5
Writer: Matthew Erman
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Publisher: Scout Comics
Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle’s gorgeous and disquieting story of two sisters returning to a disenfranchised hometown beset by dangerous magic is, sadly, approaching its end. Long Lost Book 2 #5 is the penultimate issue, and in it, the creators stop understating their story and let loose with incredible visual flourishes. Lisa Sterle (another rising star if ever there was one) really shines in this issue, literally covering the skies at times with psychedelic horror that doesn’t draw from any established tropes I’ve ever seen to unsettle the audience.

Moreover, I appreciate that this story wisely left so many questions unanswered. As I wrote in my review of Long Lost Part 2 #5, this story speaks to a lot of what people of my generation (ages 25 to 40 or so) are going through in this political moment, especially those of us who have left rural or suburban hometowns to proliferate in urban centers. In short, we cannot shake our ties to our pasts, even if when we try to return to them what we find feels unfamiliar and ugly. This story captures all of that beautifully, and I can’t wait to buy it for my friends and family in collected editions.

1. Doomsday Clock #8
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
This story took a little while to get going (made worse by the delays), but now that the action has begun in earnest, hoo boy is this a doozy. Perhaps most surprisingly, it also seems like it may be poised to live up to the incredibly lofty aspirations writer Geoff Johns set for it by using Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen characters (despite the creators publicly not wanting DC to revisit the IP they created for the company). While I don’t feel great about that disregard of Moore and Gibbons’ wishes, if I’m independently evaluating this story, I like it quite a bit.

It’s not entirely clear what it’s about just yet. This narrative, however, has become compelling and tense, using DC’s iconic superheroes to depict the vast complications of current global politics, which has become beset by a rise in authoritarian governments that rely on misguided populism. In this issue of Doomsday Clock, we see the Man of Steel himself brush up against some of those forces, being forced publicly by Vladimir Putin to take a basically take a side as Batman, listening from a Bat-Plane via radio or something, growls...Don’t take a side! It’s powerful stuff, and it seems poised to be even more provocative moving forward.

Check out our monthly lists, plus all of our Best of 2018 coverage, here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for December 26, 2018

December 21, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Happy holidays and Merry Christmas, everyone! And an early Happy New Year! This is a weird week for new comics. Diamond, the sole direct market comic book distributor, kindly gave employees a week off for the holidays. DC Comics isn’t releasing any titles (instead spreading its output across the five Wednesdays in January), and the offerings from other publishers are relatively sparse.

So, what does that mean for our beloved Top Comics to Buy for December 26 feature? What does that mean for commerce!? What does that mean for America??!? Relax. We’re still going to get it done (you are, after all, reading this right now...aren’t you?), but we’re going to do it a bit differently. Instead of our usual three sections, we’re just going to have one, and as you’re about to see, while there aren’t a ton of new books out today, there are still a few that very much demand some attention.

Let’s check them out!

Top Comics to Buy for December 26, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
X-Force #1
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Dylan Burnett
Colorist: N/A
Letterer: N/A
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
FROM THE ASHES OF EXTERMINATION!
Cable is dead...and now, the original X-Force team of Domino, Cannonball, Shatterstar, Boom Boom and Warpath. must hunt down the murderer of their former leader! The mutant militia are hot for blood...but when their target is the time-traveling younger version of their fallen mentor, is there a line they absolutely cannot cross? And what does Deathlok have to do with all of it? From Ed Brisson (EXTERMINATION, OLD MAN LOGAN) and Dylan Burnett (COSMIC GHOST RIDER), comes an all-new, high-octane mutant adventure! A reckoning will come!
Parental Advisory
Why It’s Cool: The Extermination mini-series was also from new X-Force writer Ed Brisson, and—X-Men: Red aside—that was one of our favorite X-stories all year. Not to go into spoiler territory, but this book seems to be growing from the ashes of what all happened in Extermination, which is exciting indeed. Brisson, for our money, also tells some of the cleanest stories in the X-offices these days, providing a nice counterbalance to the ongoing continuity chaos that drives the rest of the frenetic work being done by the new generation of X-writers.

Bone Parish #5
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Jonas Scharf
Colorist: Alex Guimarães
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
The war between the Winters and the Cartel continues its bloody rampage. With the terrible power of the Ash behind them, the Winters stand a decent chance. But Ash is not without its dangers, and some of them are already falling to Ash Madness…
Why It’s Cool: We’ve been digging this comic since Bone Parish #1, which caught us somewhat off-guard with its combination of creepy artwork, New Orleans setting, and drug trafficking drama. The plot has really accelerated as of late (which is saying something seeing as this is a comic that started with a woman using drugs that made her commune with the dead), and the preview for this issue makes it seem like all kinds of post-Christmas fireworks are in store. It is not to be missed!

Die! Die! Die! #6
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Co-Plotter: Scott M. Gimple
Artist: Chris Burnham
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Wow! I can't believe that happens in this issue! Or that! Or that, that and that!!!
Why It’s Cool: While Die! Die! Die! may be one heck of a logistical headache for our retailer friends out there—it never gets solicited, but instead just arrives each month unbidden—we’ve been liking the story and the artwork in this comic quite a bit. We’re not the biggest fans of gratuitous violence (which this book deploys liberally), but writer Robert Kirkman and co-plotter Scott M. Gimple strike just the right kind of over-the-top satirical tone as they go about the ample bloodshed. The entanglement of political power structures seems to hint at this book’s larger satirical ambitions, but for now we’re still largely content to sit back and take in all of Chris Burnham’s wonderfully-rendered absurd action sequences.

Go-Bots #2
Writer, Artist, & Letterer: Tom Scioli
Publisher: IDW
Price: $3.99
Cy-Kill and his Renegades declare war on human civilization... and they're winning. Go-Botics freshman A.J. Foster and cynical Go-Bot race car driver, Matt Hunter, along with their friendly Go-Bots Scooter and Turbo, flee for their lives as they desperately search for some way to stop the extinction of mankind and the dawn of the planet of the Go-Bots!
From the creative mind that brought you IDW's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe!
Visionary creator Tom Scioli unleashes his imagination on the bizarre, absurd, and wonderful world of GO-BOTS!
Why It’s Cool: Go-Bots #1 headlined our Comic of the Week feature when it made its debut last month, and with good cause: that debut was an expertly-rendered and whip smart comic that reeled readers in with nostalgia and then hit them with a story about subjugation and rebellion...rebellion by Go-Bots. It was an enticing hook, to say the least, and we’re really excited now to see where writer/artist Tom Scioli will take it from here.

Mars Attacks #3
Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Chris Schweizer
Colorist: Liz Trice Schweizer
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Price: $3.99
The Carbutt boys continue their trek to safety, this time with the help of the U.S. military, who plan on swatting the Martians like flies...until they see how big the Martian flies are, and, oh boy, there is gonna be a whole mess of trouble!
Why It’s Cool: Speaking of wonderful surprises, it’s only been two issues but writer Kyle Starks and artist Chris Schweizer are also doing fantastic work with Mars Attacks. This is one funny comic, first and foremost, but like Go-Bots and some of the other titles on our list this week, it also has ambitions that go beyond that, with Mars Attacks #2 hilariously painting a picture of the futility of untrained civilian gun enthusiasts crumpling in the face of a real oppressor. The preview for this next issue seems to promise more of the same, and, as such, this comic is not to be missed.

Other Comics Out This Week

Fantastic Four #6
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. 1956 #2
Man-Eaters #4
Marvel Action: Avengers #1
Superior Spider-Man #1
Uncanny X-Men #7

(This is literally it.)

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for December 19, 2018

December 17, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — December is a weird month for comics, given the disruption to shipping schedules and reading habits created by the holidays. This year, we saw publishers front load the first couple of Wednesdays to get more product onto shelves that are surely going to be browsed by a higher frequency of holiday shoppers.

And with Christmas on a Tuesday this year, the subsequent Wednesday has Diamond (comics lone distributor) giving its staff a week off. As a result, no publisher is releasing very many titles on the final Wednesday of the month. Ack! For the normal comics reader, this is all fairly dry discussion of what goes on behind the scenes. And who really cares about that?! All of us, but we shouldn’t, right? What we should really care about is the comics!

So, without further adieu, let’s get to this week’s releases!

Top Comics to Buy for December 19, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*

Livewire #1
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Raul Allen
Colorist: Patricia Martin
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Price: $3.99
ALL-NEW ONGOING SERIES! FOR THE FIRST TIME, LIVEWIRE TAKES CENTER STAGE!
Accomplice. Mentor. Savior. And now, Enemy of the State. Seeking to protect other vulnerable super-powered psiots like herself, Livewire plunged the United States into a nationwide blackout with her technopathic abilities, causing untold devastation. After choosing the few over the many, she must now outrun the government she served - and those she once called allies. With the whole world hunting her, what kind of hero will Livewire be...or will she be one at all?
Why It’s Cool: Livewire is easily one of the best Valiant characters to have never gotten her own series...but that changes this week. The publisher has also found the perfect creative team for this book, pairing rising star writer Vita Ayala (who has another book on our list further down) with one of our favorite art duos, Raul Allen and Patricia Martin, of Wonder Woman and Secret Weapons fame. For more, check out our Livewire #1 advanced review.

Captain America #6
Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Inker: Gerry Alanguilan
Colorist: Sunny Cho
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
"WINTER IN AMERICA" CONCLUDES...
...with a shocking turn of events that will send the Star-Spangled Avenger's life into a sudden dramatic tailspin you won't see coming!
Why It’s Cool: This first Captain America story arc from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Francis Yu has been fantastic, a slow burn that alternates big ideas about what America stands for (both past and present) with espionage and action sequences. Coates has done his best comic book writing to date within the first five issues of this series, and we’re excited to see what the end of this first arc brings, especially with the preview text promising dramatic surprises (although, doesn’t it always?).

Cover #4
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Mack
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Max is not having the best year of his career. Sales on his comics series are tanking, and his personal life is crumbling. Could it have something to do with his double life as a spy? Max learns the definition of "in too deep" as his worlds start to collide.
Why It’s Cool: This book is one of the best creator-owned titles in comics right now. We’ve written about it quite a bit in the past, but there’s just never been a look at what it feels like to be creator quite like this one. There’s also something really effective being done with tone here, via the way the aesthetic of the artwork switches depending on what’s happening. When a certain character comes into the protagonist’s life, for example, that character is met with an explosion of color; conversely, when the character flashes back to times in his life he maybe doesn’t remember so well, the figures take on an entirely different (and simpler) shape. Basically, every page of this comic is an utter treat, and we continue to strongly recommend it.

Friendo #3
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
It's time to request a clean-up on aisle seven as Leo and Jerry's attempt to rob a hypermarket goes stomach-churningly wrong. Luckily, a mysterious corporate benefactor is on hand to help them with a new mission and an offer they can't refuse. Meanwhile, the owner of the hypermarket chain is in no mood to put up with Leo and Jerry's antics. Enter 'Zaj c the Cremator', a brutal assassin with a predilection for bunny ear headbands. Leo and Jerry's lives are about to become a whole lot more complicated.
Why It’s Cool: Friendo is a series loaded with bleak near-future ideas...and it just might be one of the most prescient looks at the coming (or maybe ongoing?) fall of America as a major global power. This issue also takes a turn into new genre territory, although it’s certainly been foreshadowed in previous issues. In Friendo #3, though, there’s an added layer of dread-inducing aesthetics. Prepare yourself, because this is one intense and provocative ride, one that may hit pretty close to home for the vast majority of American consumers—er, I mean readers. (Read reviews of Friendo #1 & Friendo #2).

Submerged #4
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Colorist: Stelladia
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Bound by chains of her making, Ellie sits in judgement before her most dangerous adversary. In order to break free and escape the Otherworld with Angel, she must dig deep within herself and use a weapon that has the power to destroy them all. Every secret of the Puente family will rise to the surface in the final issue of Submerged!
Why It’s Cool: Submerged has been a wonderful deep dive (sorry) into two separate thematic interests: family history and cultural mythology. In Submerged #3, the creative team did a fantastic job of upping each in almost equal measure. The end result has been one of the best-paced graphic stories we’ve read all year. We fully expect more of the same from Submerged #4.

Thor #8
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Mike Del Mundo
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
THE PRISON OF ANGELS!
After waging war in Hel, Thor finds himself a prisoner of the fearsome warriors of Heven. Can even the intervention of Valkyrie and Thor's deadly sister Angela help him escape the unescapable prison of angels?
Why It’s Cool: Every once in a while it’s important to take a step back and be grateful for the long-running books we sometimes have a tendency to take for granted. This week, we’re doing that with Thor #8. Jason Aaron’s Thor is currently the most impressive long-form run happening in all of superhero comics, and it’s not even close, really. There just isn’t another run that’s been this good for this long happening at DC or Marvel. This issue continues the march toward the War of the Realms storyline, which by all indications is going to be the finale for Aaron’s epic work on this character. Don’t miss it!

Others Receiving Votes

A Walk Through Hell #6
Amazing Spider-Man #12
American Carnage #2
Aquaman #43
Batman #61
Black Badge #5
Catwoman #6
Deep Roots #5
Extermination #5
Gideon Falls #9
Infinity Wars #6
Killmonger #2
Long Lost Book 2 #5
Middlewest #2
The Punisher #5

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase. He also writes comics and is currently working hard to complete one.

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

December 10, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Despite the name of this website (which is ironic!), I’m prone to Batman fatigue. It’s not that I don’t like the character. No, I think it’s pretty easy to make a case for Batman being one of the most compelling characters to ever grow from American fiction. It’s just that I don’t often see much new ground for stories about Batman to cover, so prolific are DC’s Batman releases. That said, I still fairly regularly find myself drawn into and torn up by well-done Batman stories.

This week ambushed me in that way. As you’ll notice shortly, two of our Top Comics to Buy for December 12 star the Dark Knight, while a third gets a recommendation in our new #1 comics section. So yes, this is a great week for all things Batman. It’s also a great week for Marvel’s (arguable) flagship character, Spider-Man, as Amazing Spider-Man hums right along and Miles Morales returns to Marvel’s pages just in time for his big screen review. Coincidence? Hardly. This is Marvel, and synergy is what’s for sale.

Now on to this week’s comics!

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Batman Annual #3
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Otto Schmidt
Letterer: A Larger World’s Troy Peteri
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
"THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PENNY!" Alfred Pennyworth has been Batman's most trusted ally and confidant since the Dark Knight first hit the streets of Gotham City. Now, witness Batman's battle for justice from Alfred's perspective and learn how harrowing that journey has been as Batman experiences one of the worst nights Gotham City has ever seen-a night that will push Alfred to the breaking point! Best-selling writer Tom Taylor presents an epic tale that promises to be one of the most Alfred stories ever told!
Why It’s Cool: This is an emotional and well-told Batman story that may have you tearing up within the first three pages. Taylor and Schmidt are a pair of creators deserving of much bigger stages, and hopefully incredible work like this will help them get there. This is also a self-contained story, so even readers who have been off Batman proper for a while, can still pop into buy this comic.

Amazing Spider-Man #11
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
J. JONAH JAMESON has a new job as a shock jock, but is the world ready for a pro-Spider-Man JJJ? More importantly, is Spider-Man ready? His post-secret-identity relationship with Jonah was already complicated, but this very public embrace may put him over the edge! Spidey's definitely not ready for the Enforcers to come at him harder than ever!
Why It’s Cool: If it weren’t for Immortal Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man might be our favorite book at Marvel right now (with apologies to Black Panther and Captain America). It’s just been so good since launching with a new #1 issue in July, and now it has artist Ryan Ottley rejoining writer Nick Spencer to presumably replicate the creative alchemy that made the first arc so special. It also has some momentum, with last month’s Amazing Spider-Man #10 ranking as one of our favorite issues of Marvel’s flagship Spidey title in many, many years.

Bitter Root #2
Writers: David F. Walker & Chuck Brown
Artist: Sanford Greene
Colorists: Rico Renzi & Sanford Greene
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
An evil force stalks the streets of Harlem as Berg and Cullen face off against a deadly creature that may be more than they can handle. Meanwhile, in Mississippi, a mysterious stranger unleashes furious retribution in the name of justice.
Why It’s Cool: The work of building this world and the way it works was set into motion so wonderfully by Bitter Root #1. Now, the creators are free to let us know more about their story and its characters. This is a visually lush and intellectually complex book, one that doesn’t flinch as it depicts monster hunters confronting ghoulish members of the KKK. In this second issue we learn more about the long-standing family dynamics at the heart of the relationships between our character. This book, simply put, continues to be an utter joy to read.

Detective Comics #994
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Jaime Mendoza
Colorist: David Baron
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Batman's strangest case begins as the new creative team of writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke take over DETECTIVE COMICS! Commissioner Gordon calls in the Dark Knight Detective when there's a murder at the Gotham City Aquarium-staged to look exactly like Thomas and Martha Wayne's crime scene, right down to the Playbill and pearls. How does this bizarre homicide tie into the shadowy monster that attacks Dr. Leslie Thompkins? This creature looks to wage a war on Batman-and it's using Joker Gas to do it!
Why It’s Cool: There’s so much Batman goodness packed into this first issue of the countdown to Detective Comics #1000, the comic that launched the character. It starts with a bizarre mystery and just gleefully builds from there. I didn’t quite know what to expect from this Tomasi/Mahnke run and hadn’t heard the kind of buzz one might expect for something like this, but this first issue is poised to build that excitement right back up.

Fearscape #3
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Letterer: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Having escaped the clutches of the Fearscape, Henry Henry tries to... Aha! You'll use my name, I see, but won't let me speak! That you would require solicitation copy for the third issue, after the genre-redefining brilliance of the first two, is nothing short of a personal insult. The work speaks for itself. Any tale of my exploits should not be hawked to those asleep at the wheel.
Why It’s Cool: This meta story of literary writers’ doubt barrels forward, with protagonist Henry Henry returning from the mythical storytelling Fearscape realm to the real world. This is a singular comic unlike anything else coming out today, and every issue is one to be poured over. This story brims in equal parts with braggadocio and imposter syndrome. For serious patrons of the art and would-be creators, this series continues to be a must.

Check out our reviews of Fearscape #1 and Fearscape #2.

Others Receiving Votes

Avengers #11
Black Panther #7
Cemetery Beach #4
Dead Kings #2
Electric Warriors #2
Hawkman #7
Lone Ranger #3
Murder Falcon #3
Oblivion Song #10
Outer Darkness #2
Redlands #9
Skyward #9
Supergirl #25
Superman #6
X-Men Red #11

Top Comics of November 2018: A body horror extravaganza

December 06, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — As the year winds down, some clear favorite comics have emerged for us, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, you’ll see that born out in the Top Comics of November 2018 (as well as in the Top Comics of 2018...coming at the end of December!). What have we liked the most this year? Apparently, it’s all things Vault, Immortal Hulk, and the start of what is fast becoming a madcap and epic Superman run.

What is perhaps more telling about the overstate of comics (and not just our tastes) is that outside of the regulars, our Top Comics lists have also featured a steady rotation of creator-owned comics, with books like Hot Lunch Special, Ice Cream Man, Seeds, and all things Jeff Lemire regularly finding their way into our top 5 section. This month is no exception, with the conclusion to the excellent body horror tale Come Into Me landing among our favorites. Anyway, did I mention we’ll have year-end lists (shameless, I know)? Because we will. Lots of them coming at the end of this month!

And now, onto the comics!

Shout Outs

I wrote an Amazing Spider-Man #10 review, so I’ll be brief, but this issue right here sums up why I like this new run.

I also wrote a Cover #3 review, so I’ll be brief again, but this is probably the best comic about making comics I’ve yet read.

I don’t get excited about anniversary issues with multiple stories/artists, but Avengers #10 (#700) made it count. For the first time since Hickman, it feels like we’ve truly started a new Avengers era.

The first arc of this book felt Twin Peaks-y, but with Gideon Falls #8, the creators have found new territory all their own—and the comic is better for it.

X-Men Red #10 makes me wish they’d have just transitioned this book into the new Uncanny title. It’s that good.

Writer Scott Snyder says his Justice League run will be quieting down next; if that’s the case, Aquaman Justice League Drowned Earth #1 was the perfect totally bonkers and grandiose adventure to go out on...for now.

As it speeds toward its third anniversary, Ta-Nahesi Coates’ Black Panther run has gone full-blown sci-fi epic...and it just keeps getting better. See, Black Panther #6.

I wasn’t crazy about the plot of this series, but New World #5 makes our list on the merits of Tradd Moore’s imaginative art alone.

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #7 sees Jeff Lemire teaming with Rich Tommaso to go full-blown Grant Morrison-meta, speaking to the nature of stories, storytellers, and the meaningfulness of the character who inhabit our minds.

One day, you just look up and all of a sudden your favorite comic at DC (Superman and Batman aside) is Hawkman. Hawkman #6 continues the best adventure this character has had in years.

Top Comics November 2018

5. Fearscape #2, Friendo #2, and These Savage Shores #2
Writers: Ryan O’Sullivan, Alex Paknadel, & Ram. V
Artists: Andrea Mutti, Martin Simmonds, & Sumit Kumar
Colorists: Vladimir Popov, Dee Cunniffe, & Vittorio Astone
Letterers: Andworld Design, Taylor Esposito, & Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Vault Comics
The trio of books from the creator collective White Noise Studio (via Vault Comics) cumulatively captures our no. 5 spot. We don’t usually like to give comics without at least an arc behind them top placement, but all three of these series have been so fantastic (track down more nuanced takes in our reviews section) that we just couldn’t resist.

4. Mister Miracle #12
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Tom King and Mitch Gerads wrap-up their meta sad superhero epic Mister Miracle...which may have spanned planets and generational warfare...or may have all taken place in Scott Free’s head as he grappled with sliding into middle-aged existence. The true nature of what actually happened here (or, rather, what didn’t happen) is deliberately obscured, and we like this 12-part maxiseries all the more for it. It’s probably below King’s earlier work on The Vision in our all-time sad superhero family rankings, but this is still a very good series nonetheless.

3. Superman #5 / Action Comics #1005 / Supergirl #24
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artists: Ivan Reis & Ryan Sook
Inkers: Joe Prado & Oclair Albert
Colorists: Alex Sinclair & Brad Anderson
Letterers: Josh Reed
Publisher: DC Comics
Immortal Hulk aside (more later), my other favorite thing happening in superhero comics right now is Brian Bendis’ dual run on Superman and Action Comics (plus Marc Andreyko’s ancillary run on Supergirl, which was also strong again this week). I know it’s not to everyone’s tastes, but I’ve found this run to get increasingly satisfying as its continued. Action Comics seems bent on touching as many corners as the Superman mythos as it can and updating them in ways suitable for 2018. Superman, meanwhile, is working hard to tell a tense adventure story that really leans into the hero’s role as a cosmic entity. Together, it’s turning into a clear new era for one of modern fiction’s oldest characters, brimming with ideas.

2. Come Into Me #4
Writers: Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Colorist: Niko Guardia
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
Publisher: Black Mask Studios
With a healthy body you feel nothing. Like it’s not even there. And with that, writers Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson pen one of the most relatable and poignant lines I’ve read about health all year. That line, like much of the rest of the excellent four-issue series Come Into Me, wouldn’t be possible without the nuanced interiority this story has aspired to and reached. It does all that with straight up solid writing and artwork, just good all around visual storytelling. That line is also noteworthy because of the larger metaphor it speaks to, one about complacency in the face of things going well. Indeed, what also makes this comic (and the miniseries it concludes) strong is its thematic interests.

The first and most obvious of these is the biotech angle, the one that involves a new innovation that enables consciousness to switch bodies. Look past that, though, and one finds subtler questions about empathy, ambition, data privacy, cooperation, and entrepreneurial tech values, all of which are applied with grand vision to a narrative apt for 2018. I, admittedly, have a tendency to extrapolate metaphors to be about the state of our country. But this story is about two very different people vying for control over one body in violent, chaotic, and untested ways, searching for a commonality as forces (perhaps beyond their control...at least in part) cause rot to set in. They work toward understanding even as reality makes it clear that two such disparate entities in one body might not be feasible. What could be more timely?

Oh, and I found the ending to be absolutely perfect here. To my mind, the best fictional storytelling leaves readers with far more questions than it does answers, and this series definitely does that, albeit quite grotesquely.

1. Immortal Hulk #8 & #9
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Joe Bennett (w/Martin Simmonds)
Inker: Ruy Jose
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
I just keeping waiting for Immortal Hulk from Al Ewing and Joe Bennett to ease off the excellence even a little bit...and it just doesn’t happen. Now here it is yet again making one of our top monthly comics lists. Something that’s becoming clear about this comic (and making it my absolute favorite superhero book right now) is that it also has an ambitious scope, one that spans beyond stringing together single issues (which it’s definitely doing, btw). In November, some of the scope became clearer, with the stories in Immortal Hulk #8 & #9 elucidating plot material with implications on both past and future chapters.

Ewing and Bennett have apparently set out to tell a structured long-form tale about the Hulk, one that spent its first few months re-inventing the character as a full-on monster, both for the man who hides him inside and those who encounter him outside, one that isn’t just born from anger but now seems to be some sort of supernatural entity, almost biblical in the scope of its malice. That’s all great, and maybe able to stand alone on those merits. What the team also did last month was absolutely nail the biggest horror moments, akin to a traditional superhero comic that figures out how to make both conversations and slugfests compelling. Issue 9 also gives me hope that there’s no shortage of stories for this book, showing once again how good this book is when it pulls over shared universe characters into the titular undead Hulk’s orbit.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of November 2018 plus more of our monthly lists here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Best New #1 Comics of November 2018

November 29, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — There are plenty of surprises among our Best New #1 Comics of November 2018, including a type of comic that we don’t usually feature. I’m talking specifically here of licensed books. Their inclusion, however, is a trend carrying over from October. Indeed, once again we liked some new comic interpretations of properties associated with other mediums, including Firefly, James Bond, and Go-Bots. What can we say? Good comics are (obviously) good comics.

In this month’s top five, we also have some usual suspects with a trio of new #1 comics from Image. Perhaps more notably, this month we’re also featuring a duo of books from DC Comics, which has maybe needed some new series for a while. And oh how they got them in November! Both new DC titles are fairly psychedelic in concept and aesthetic, refreshing for a publisher as traditionally straight-laced as DC.

Anyway, on to the comics!

Quick Hits

Ironheart #1 is a solid start for Riri Williams first solo book, with the artwork from the team of Kevin Libranda and Luciana Vecchio standing out for its clean lines and polished aesthetic. Ewing also writes teen chatting between the characters well.

The Sideways Annual #1 was delightfully Grant Morrisoned out. This title is set to end soon, and I’ll miss it.

Writer/artist Tom Scioli’s Go-Bots #1 came out this month, and you can read more about why we liked it in contributing writer d. emerson eddy’s Comic of the Week.

Greg Pak was a busy writer this month, helping to a launch a pair of new #1 licensed comics with Firefly #1 for BOOM! Studios and James Bond 007 #1 for Dynamite.

Bryan Hill and Leandro Fernandez keep the Vertigo rebirth going with American Carnage #1, an uncomfortably real-feeling story in which a disgraced FBI agent goes undercover in a white supremacist movement to investigate the murder of a former colleague. This is going to get a whole lot worse before its end...

The new age of Valiant heroes begins with Bloodshot: Rising Spirit #1. This book was strong, but the real headliner of the new line is next month’s Livewire #1 (advanced review here).

Donny Cates’ Web of Venom: Carnage Born #1 is the second auxiliary one-shot for his sinister Venom run, and it sets up the central character’s long-time foil Carnage to make a terrifying return soon. I dug it.

Speaking of Cates, he also wrote Marvel Knights 20th #1, the amnesiatic start of a six-part series honoring that bygone imprint. This comic was confusing but in the right ways.

As for Uncanny X-Men #1, this weekly book sets a tone for an unbound and intricately odd new era of X-Men, maybe? A lot remains to be seen.

Top 5 Best New #1 Comics of November 2018

Bitter Root #1
Writers: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown
Artist: Sanford Greene
Colorist: Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Image Comics
I’ve maybe written this two dozen times by now, but I loved David F. Walker and Sanford Greene’s collaboration on Marvel’s Power Man and Iron Fist from back in 2016, which was tragically cancelled before its time. I was pretty bummed out when that news came down. It was, however, tapered shortly thereafter with the announcement of Bitter Root, a monster hunter comic set during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance that aims to take on issues of race. I’ve had high expectations for the book, and, now that it’s here, I’m happy to report the comic meets and exceeds them.

Bitter Root is a sharp and kinetic book, powered in large part by Green’s singular artwork and the attention to detail he lends each character and every panel. As I wrote in my review, there’s been a plethora of new monster comics launched this year but none as confident as Bitter Root. The past collaboration between creators is evident, as this book arrives fully formed, wielding great strength right out of the gate. This is one of those Image Comics built to run for a long while, and you’ll want to make sure you’re there from its start.

Electric Warriors #1
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Travel Foreman
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: DC Comics
Steve Orlando is a favorite writer here, owing to the gravitas and thought he applies to all his superhero work. Orlando also has a keen interest in exploring DC’s vast continuity, and, to our minds, this often makes for comics wherein characters talk and act in compelling ways while moving through stories unique to the shared universe they inhabit. This is all a means of saying that Orlando is perhaps the perfect writer for this comic, which is set in an era following Jack Kirby’s Great Disaster, not all that far (relatively) from the start of the Legion of Superheroes (which we’d also like to eventually see Orlando write, but that’s a story for another day…).

Orlando isn’t the only great fit on this book, though. Artist Travel Foreman is one of superhero comics’ real visionaries, and he’s in full control of his powers here, creating a distant future steeped in psychedelic neon with designs that carve it out as at once separate from the modern DCU yet linked in logical ways. Add on an airtight plot with heavy themes like duty, family roles, and global coherence, and the result is one of the most intriguing and original DC comics in some time.

The Green Lantern #1
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Liam Sharp
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Publisher: DC Comics
I feel like the creative team sort of explains this choice. Grant Morrison is one of our favorite writers at DC, and in recent years, Liam Sharp has established himself as one of the publisher’s best artists, specifically doing so with his work on Greg Rucka’s Wonder Woman Rebirth run and the recent miniseries, Brave and the Bold, which starred Batman and Wonder Woman. What the duo is setting out to do here is somehow small scale yet cosmically ambitious.

The Green Lantern #1 seeks to reorient Hal Jordan as less of a military man and more of a beat cop, taking on galactic no-goodniks at an almost micro level before their villainy can flower into a threat with the potential to upend planets. Sharp’s artwork is trippy and complex, as psychedelic and imaginative as the other DC book on this month’s list, Electric Warriors. Oh, and this first issue does something I always like in superhero comics: it ends with a spread filled with snippets of what’s coming in future issues, including most notably for my tastes a renewed team up between Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen.

Middlewest #1
Writers: Skottie Young
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Publisher: Image Comics
Skottie Young and Jorge Corona had me at forlorn Midwestern coming-of-age comic that features magic and a talking fox. Okay, so that’s a mouthful, but my point stands. I was intrigued by the construction of this comic from the moment I first became aware of it, moreso because I know Young is from rural Illinois, which is where I went to college and also worked my first professional newspaper jobs and internships (once again, more on that is best saved for another time…).

I knew the veteran creator Young had the chops to deliver on this premise, but what comes as more of a surprise is Jorge Corona’s artwork. Corona was previously unknown to me, yet his work here is simultaneously evocative of Young’s general aesthetic while also distinctly his own. He also captures both the lonely feel of life in a flat state and the sense of magic Young’s script seeks to imbue it with. This, like Bitter Root, is a new Image comic that begs to be collected and followed from its beginning.

Outer Darkness #1
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Afu Chan
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: Image Comics
Finally, we end this month’s list with John Layman’s and Afu Chan’s new ghost story in space, Outer Darkness. As I wrote in my review of the first issue, John Layman describes Outer Darkness as the distillation of what I love the most. Science fiction, horror and weird shit. Well, I like those things too, so sign me up to journey into space with this one. The first issue was a fantastic read, and there’s every reason to believe that level of quality will continue.

Check out more of our many monthly lists here.

Top Comics to Buy for November 28, 2018

November 26, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Ohhhh, my stomach, I ate too much turkey and can’t write a proper intro for this Top Comics to Buy for November 28, 2018 piece. Just kidding. I’m actually writing this the night before Thanksgiving because I’ll be traveling tomorrow through Sunday, and likely won’t have any other time to complete it. Anyway, shifting gears...wake yourselves up from all that overeating, because there is (as always) another new wave of comics to discuss!

This week sees the conclusion of some story arcs we’ve really enjoyed in 2018, from Black Panther to Come Into Me, both of which have so expertly built to these finales, that we can’t wait to see what happens. We heap just a bit more praise on the Bendis Superman run, which is one of our favorite things happening right now at DC, and we also get to talk yet again about some of our favorite indie gems. All in all, this post-holiday week stands to be a good one!

Now, let’s get to those comics!

Top Comics to Buy for November 28, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*
Black Panther #6
Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Artist: Jen Bartel
Colorist: Triona Farrell
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
T'Challa and the Maroons renew their war against the Empire. But N'Jadaka is watching - and he knows exactly how dangerous the Black Panther can be. Witness at last the rise of Emperor N'Jadaka and the Exalted Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda!
Why It’s Cool: There’s a lot happening at Marvel right now, and as a result, Black Panther has flown a bit under the radar...even though it’s written by the winner of a National Book Award and carrying the same name as one of the highest-grossing superhero movies ever. This issue marks the conclusion of the relaunched comics’ best arc yet, at least under Ta-Nehisi Coates’ stewardship. Coates was a newcomer to comics when he started this run in early 2016, but he’s caught on fast. Simply put, this comic keeps getting better and better, and the scope of ideas in this first arc is nearly unmatched within mainstream superhero comics. Don’t miss it!

Action Comics #1005
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Ryan Sook
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Josh Reed
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
The murderous mystery of the Red Cloud uncovered! Clark Kent draws closer to revealing a secret crime family that has operated for years in Metropolis, but the family's enforcer-the mysterious Red Cloud-proves she's a match for even the Man of Steel with an attack that leaves Superman breathless. Don't miss the last-page shocker as we reveal the true face of the Red Cloud!
Why It’s Cool: We’ve been loving Bendis’ run on Superman, which has been grandiose and cosmic in the pages of Superman and more grounded in Metropolis in this title. This issue also features Ryan Sook, one of our favorites, and so we are absolutely there for it, especially after what he did in Action Comics #1004.

Come Into Me #4
Writers: Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Colorist: Niko Guardia
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
Publisher: Black Mask Studios
Price: $3.99
Part 4 of 4. The body degenerates, memories blur, and the flesh overloads.
Why It’s Cool: Writers Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler have rapidly established themselves as two of the foremost purveyors of body horror in all of comics in the past 18 months, and although they’ve done great work all around, Come Into Me stands out as one of their best titles. This week’s issues sees the duo concluding this story.

House Amok #3
Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Shawn McManus
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: IDW - Black Crown
Price: $3.99
Dylan and her family have all fallen down the rabbit hole of madness together, aiming their campaign to save the world at a brand new target and collecting more bodies and hidden microchips along the way. But as Dylan is plagued with the flu and the family's first grand move leads them down a nightmare road full of the dreaded ReArrangers, the Sandifers will stare conspiracy right in the face and hope it blinks before they do.
Why It’s Cool: This is a comic about a family plunging into shared madness together, which is a great (and surprisingly new) concept. It’s also being executed to perfection by rising writer Christopher Sebela and veteran artist Shawn McManus.

These Savage Shores #2
Writer: Ram V
Artist: Sumit Kumar
Colorist: Vittorio Astone
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
The untimely demise of a nobleman gives the East India a new angle in negotiations to build their trade route. A vampire hunter finds bigger prey than he had bargained for, deep within the royal reserve. Along These Savage Shores, where the hunt is eternal, and hunter and hunted move in shadow.
Why It’s Cool: After one hell of a debut issue with These Savage Shores #1, we’ve been dying to continue this story for over a month now. Finally, the second issue is set to arrive. This is a story that deals in heady themes and sinister tones. After an expert bit of misdirection in the first issue, we can’t wait to see where this one takes us next.

Others Receiving Votes

Amazing Spider-Man #10
Archie 1941 #3
Aquaman Justice League Drowned Earth #1
Catalyst Prime: Kino #11
DC Nuclear Winter Special #1
Die! Die! DIe! #5
Fantastic Four #4
Heroes in Crisis #3
High Heaven #3
Justice League Odyssey #3
Man-Eaters #3
Redneck #17
Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses #40
Uncanny X-Men #3
Wonder Woman #59

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Top Comics of October 2018

November 13, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — This month there are quite a few titles from spring and summer appearing for the first time, books that launched with promise, settled in, and just now landed really memorable issues. I’d certainly put Action Comics #1004 and Submerged #3 in that category, both of which come from series I’ve liked from the start and was just waiting for a marquee issue to celebrate.

Meanwhile, our Shout Outs for October is heavily weighted toward superheroes. I’m not sure how this happens (or why), but I will note our Best New #1 Comics of 2018 had more creator-owned books. This could all, of course, be happenstance. I should also note this wasn’t one of the stronger months for individual issues in recent memory, but a quick glance at November indicates that is soon to change.

And now! On to the comics!

Shout Outs

I pointed this out recently on Twitter, but we are, indeed, lucky to have National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates writing comics. His work on both Black Panther #5 and Captain America #4 was outstanding, continuing to establish him as a massive talent increasingly confident within this medium. Shout outs as well to artists Daniel Acuna and Leinil Francis Yu.

Coates, however, isn’t the only massive talent with two killer books in October. Jeff Lemire had Gideon Falls #7 and Black Hammer: Age of Doom #6, stellar works from great series. Props to Black Hammer guest artist Rich Tommaso and Gideon Falls’ Andrea Sorrentino for their contributions.

Tony Stark: Iron Man #5 was a pleasant surprise in a series that is consistently fits that description. Writer Dan Slott and artist Gang Hyuk Lim incorporate (heh) Tony’s ethically gray younger brother in a one-off that foreshadows repercussions for the main plot as well. I’ve just found the futurism and corporate politicking angles in this run intriguing, so far.

Shout out to Bryan Edward Hill and N. Steve Harris for concluding their run with Wildstorm: Michael Cray #12, which ends the story of the titular character, murdering his way (sympathetically!) through evil versions of the Justice League within Warren Ellis’ new Wildstorm Universe.

Mark Russell is at it again in Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special #1, which is set in the Vietnam Era, and told in a way that draws comparisons to now and leaves one feeling wistful for the integrity of Nixon and Watergate.

Not much to say about Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch’s Hawkman #5, other than carry on boys, what you’re doing with this character and book is refreshing and excellent.

Meanwhile, Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis’ Superman #6 was good, but Action Comics #1004 was better. Bendis’ dueling Man of Steel series are two of our favorite things at DC right now. More on that below.

Our other favorite thing at DC? Scott Snyder, James Tynion, and some of the best artists in the business ongoing Justice League epic, which reads like a really smart big budget epic touching every corner of the DCU. This month we get Atlantis, spread through a bevy of titles, including Justice League #9 and #10, Aquaman #41, and the Justice League Aquaman Drowned Earth #1 special.

Top Comics October 2018

5. Hot Lunch Special #3
Writer: Eliot Rahal
Artist: Jorge Fornes
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Price: $3.99
After Hot Lunch Specials’ first issue, I pegged it as a generational, Fargo-esque Midwestern noir, a comic that planned to deal in equal parts with a modern American immigration story and the sort of organized crime retribution that would be more at home in The Godfather. There is, to be sure, a fair amount of that stuff in this comic. Hot Lunch Special #3, however, serves up notice to readers that this book is headed for places they never expected.

Every issue of this comic so far has been great, but this issue pushes the book to a new level, one of organic storytelling (not a food pun) that has me excited to see how this all ends up. I don’t know how to explain it that much better without revealing the twists. So, I’ll just say that Hot Lunch Special is a must-read comic, last month and from here until its end.

4. Redneck #16
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Lisandro Estherren
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
From its start, Donny Cates and Lisandro Estherren’s Redneck has been a neatly-constructed vampire romp, filled with Robert Kirkman-esque twists and a down home Texan accessibility Cates has honed. This issue, however, does something I wasn’t sure Redneck could: it goes to emotional places that are welcome and justified.

In fact, in the parlance of this title, I’ll say I reckon’ Redneck #16 is a great representation of Cates’ biggest strengths as a writer. It has a scene in which Nazis are outlandishly thrashed in a prison (so cathartic) and another later on in which a son inadvertently/reluctantly comes out to his father, who meets the news with easy acceptance. I never get tired of that scene, and Redneck #16 nails it. There’s been a whole lot of blood in this book, but this is the first issue with a massive amount of heart (in retrospect that sentence was gross and I’m sorry).

3. Submerged #3
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Colorist: Stelladia
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
We wrote a Submerged #3 review, so we won’t rehash the many reasons we love this book too much, but we will note this issue made us even more interested in a title that has hooked us from the start. Simply put, Submerged #3 simultaneously takes us to the most fantastical places this story has gone while also rooting its stakes deeply in character. It’s a great mix for a wonderfully scary and introspective book steeped in personal experiences.

Like many of Vault Comics other books coming out right now, this one is very much a must-read title.

2. Immortal Hulk #7
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Joe Bennett
Inker: Ruy Jose
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Simply put, Immortal Hulk #7 is the best superhero comic right now. I am far from the only comic critic to say this. Hell, it’s probably comic book critic Twitter’s favorite title so effusive have we been with our praise. Not that that means a book is unimpeachable, but what writer Al Ewing and artist Joe Bennett are doing here is truly special.

They’ve taken a horror-laden approach to Hulk stories, which has been done before just not with this level of detail, imagination, and willingness to go to truly disturbing places. In this issue, the undead Hulk gets his comeuppance at the hands of the Avengers, who use a satellite from space to blast him into pieces somewhere in rural Iowa. Except, comeuppance is the wrong word. This title does a great job of making you feel sorry for everyone involved, which is perhaps the only correct way to handle stories about such a brutal, rage-driven figure.

1. Action Comics #1004
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Ryan Sook
Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Josh Reed
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
This issue hit me right in my personal life. In Action Comics #1004, Clark and Lois reunite after life has forced them apart. Now, my wife spent this summer in Washington D.C., covering federal immigration policy for the LA Times. Meanwhile, I was in California, working my own job, etc. In this issue, Lois and Clark pick up where they left off sweetly, almost as if nothing has changed, acknowledging that while neither can predict the future, their love is strong, even if their proximity must occasionally be distant.

I found it true to my own experiences with such reunions, especially in tone. I’ve also been a reporter for a decade, and I like Lois quitting the newsroom. I’m not advocating for superhero stories going too far into media industry weeds, but having the most-celebrated journalist on the planet give up the lousy daily newspaper grind to write books is a logical move. Books are, quite frankly, what everyone I know at daily papers now aspires to write. Mileage will (and should) vary based on your own connections with these classic characters; I only speak for my experience with the material.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of October 2018 plus more of our monthly lists here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for October 24, 2018

October 22, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — This is, admittedly, an odd week, because I’m writing this way sooner than I normally put this column together, due to leaving for Ireland tomorrow (which by the time you read this will be several days ago...which, ultimately, hurts my head). Anyway, this week’s group of books should be taken with the caveat that seismic shifts in the world could potentially occur between now and then, rending all these choices moot (but they probably won’t). Also, apologies to colorists and letterers this week, but those details are way too hard to find online before review copies make their way to me, so I don’t have those either. Gah, the pains of taking a vacation!

Anyway, this is a good week in that we get selections from two of the longest-running series at the Big 2: DC’s Action Comics and Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man. So, that’s always nice. It gives the week almost a classic feel. Meanwhile, we’re also getting some newness, too, coming in the form of Lodger #1, which seems the Laphams coming to Shelly Bond’s fantastic Black Crown imprint, and Mars Attacks #1, which sees the always-hilarious Kyle Starks writing that property. I know I’ll enjoy both, and I’m hoping that Lodger in particular finds a nice big audience and becomes a hit.

Now onward to the books!

Top Comics to Buy for October 24, 2018

Action Comics #1004
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Ryan Sook
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Superman confronts Lois Lane and wants answers: Where is Jon Kent? What happened during Lois' trip into space with Jor-El? Why didn't she contact the Man of Steel when she returned? And most importantly, does she still love him? Or is the world-famous reporter looking to let Clark Kent down easy? Lois and Clark's relationship gets redefined in this issue illustrated by acclaimed artist Ryan Sook!
Why It’s Cool: I only vaguely understand the concept of shipping, but I guess I ship Clark Kent and Lois Lane? I don’t know, who knows, does anyone know? I just like romantic love as a nice little accent to my stories, and this issue seems poised to have a great take on one of the longest-tenured and most-romantic (if done well) relationships in all of fiction. Plus, Ryan Sook is a favorite artist of mine.

Amazing Spider-Man #8
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
The heist of the century is ON! Who are the Thieves Guild of New York? Spidey might dying trying to find out.
Why It’s Cool: This ongoing Amazing Spider-Man run is absolutely a delight, a blast of the humor and minor pathos and battles with guilt that made me first love the character. Nick Spencer does Spidey’s voice very well, which goes a long way. The recent villain-heavy issues have been the funniest yet of this young run. Highly recommend.

Lodger #1
Writers: David and Maria Lapham
Artist: David Lapham
Publisher: IDW’s Black Crown Imprint
Price: $3.99
A handsome drifter murders his way through the midwest while hiding in plain sight as a travel blogger, leaving families in shreds and body bags in his wake. Ricky Toledo was fifteen when she fell hard for "Dante"-until he killed her mother and got her father sent to prison for it. It's three years later, and Ricky will stop at nothing to get revenge. Lodger is a dark, grimy, psychological thriller-a game of cat and mouse between a broken young woman and a serial killer-and like all the best crime noir... a twisted love story.
Why It’s Cool: I was in the room at SDCC when veteran Black Crown editor Shelly Bond unveiled this title for the first time, and her excitement was evident. Bond knows comics, as do the Laphams, who have put together one of the most interesting crime noir stories of all time with Stray Bullets. It is going to really be something to see what they all have come up with here together. It’s also worth noting that Black Crown’s last two books - Euthanuats and House Amok - have been absolute gold.

Mars Attacks #1
Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Chris Schweizer
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Price: $3.99
Spencer hasn't finished a dang thing in his life. So when he goes to visit his dad to see if maybe he can borrow some money, the last thing on his mind is global survival. Now Spencer and his father are on the run, trying to avoid being spaceray'd by a bunch of destruction happy Martians, heck bent on zapping them dead!
Why It’s Cool: Have you read Rock Candy Mountain or Sex Castle? Kyle Starks is one of the funniest original voices in comics. Mars Attacks also seems like a great fit for the work he does. Exciting to see what he and collaborator Chris Schweizer have come up with here.

Sentry #5
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Joshua Cassara
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Bob Reynolds and the Sentry are both dead...so it's time for something new to rise in their place!
Why It’s Cool: This book, initially announced as an ongoing, ended up being a mini-series that didn’t feature the same artist throughout, which is all kind of to really uncool, but a finale is a finale and we love Jeff Lemire, so we’re still excited to see how he ends things here.

Others Receiving Votes

Batgirl #28
Babyteeth #13
Cold Spots #2
Die! Die! Die! #4
Justice League Odyssey #2
Olivia Twist #2
Punisher #3
Redneck #16
Terrifics #9
Titans #28
Usagi Yojimbo #7
Wonder Woman #57
X-Men: Red #9
X-O Manowar #20

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for October 17, 2018

October 15, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — It’s a rare week that has a hands down winner for our most exciting book. We are, admittedly, quite pleased with what’s happening in comics right now, and that tends to show via indecision over which series ranks as a weekly favorite. This Wednesday, however, our choice is clearly Black Hammer: Age of Doom #6, which pairs writer Jeff Lemire and his frazzled, acid flashback of a character Colonel Weird with artist Rich Tommaso, who has been teasing some of the artwork from the comic for months. It looks—in a word—fantastic.

Close behind Black Hammer: Age of Doom, however, are a number of other enticing books, including the Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack creator-owned collaboration, Cover, which is quickly rising to the ranks of our favorite titles, as well. This is also just two Wednesdays out from Halloween, a holiday comics folk tend to bring their A games for, and this year that’s taken the form of some really great novelty comics, including this week’s Marvel Zombie one-shot from sinister Ice Cream Man mastermind creator W. Maxwell Prince. There is, of course, more info on all these books below.

Let’s take a look!

Top Comics to Buy for October 17, 2018

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #6
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Rich Tommaso
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99
After the shocking revelations in the last issue, Colonel Weird finds himself as a stranger in a strange land, where reality is ever changing!
Why It’s Cool: Black Hammer is easily one of our favorite ongoing things in comics, and recent issues have really pushed its plot forward, bringing some new light to some of the series long-running mysteries. This book features a guest artist as well as a plot that’s presumably a bit of a diversion. Still, with artist Rich Tommaso coming aboard for a quick arc, we’re super excited to see the results.

Cover #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Mack
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Nazi-hunters? Escape artists? Some M.I.A. for decades? Exactly how long have comics creators been part of the intelligence community? Follow the latest recruit from the Comic-Con circuit as he falls in with this mysterious crowd. The secrets he uncovers about its legacy will shock and delight, well, just about everyone.
Why It’s Cool: The books in Brian Michael Bendis’ creator-owned Jinxworld imprint are all love letters to craft that pair the veteran writers with uber talented artists he’s been collaborating with for years. The standout of the bunch so far, however, has been Cover, which sees an A List comics pro being recruited as a cultural attache for the CIA, which turns out to be a bit more dangerous than he expected. There have, of course, been comics about making comics in the past, but this one seems to have the greatest potential to become an iconic work. The second issue makes good on the promise of the debut, too.

Gideon Falls #7
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"ORIGINAL SINS," Part One...After the mind-blowing events of the first arc, Norton digs deeper into the mystery of the Black Barn, and secrets of his past begin to come to light. Meanwhile, Father Fred does some digging of his own and learns the hard way that some secrets should just stay buried.
Why It’s Cool: Of all the top-tier new horror comics launched in 2018—and, indeed, there have been more than a few—Gideon Falls is easily the most fully-formed. Credit that to Lemire and Sorrentino having worked together so well on past projects with the Big 2, including Green Arrow and Old Man Logan. Anyway, the point is this book is back for a second arc, and you better believe we’re excited about it.

Marvel Zombie #1
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Stefano Raffaele
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Years after an incurable zombie virus ravaged the world, a small colony of survivors is protected by the Marvel U's few remaining heroes, including Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Falcon. But when their last chance at salvation arrives, will they be willing to sacrifice their own humanity in the process? From the twisted minds of ICE CREAM MAN writer W. Maxwell Prince and Stefano Raffaele (Generations: Hawkeye) comes the next macabre obsession for fans of The Walking Dead and The Road!
Why It’s Cool: W. Maxwell Prince has been writing one of our favorite creator-owned comics for some time, that being Ice Cream Man over at Image. Ice Cream Man is a varied and excellent horror anthology, one just as adept at focusing one month on body horror as it is on existential crisis the next. As such, it seems like this one-shot return of Marvel Zombie will most certainly be something to pick up.

Skyward #7
Writer: Joe Henderson
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"HERE THERE BE DRAGONFLIES," Part Two...Willa's alone in the middle of the forest, surrounded by giant insects that want to make her dinner. But here to the rescue comes a badass group of sword-wielding... farmers?
Why It’s Cool: Come to watch humans in a minimal gravity world do battle with giant over-evolved insects, stay to enjoy the world-building and the slow evolution of this story into an odyssey that also looks at issues of extreme capitalism and inequality. This is a seriously great book, one I can’t keep recommending highly enough.

Others Receiving Votes

Archie 1941 #2
Aquaman #41
Batman #57
Black Badge #3
Cemetery Beach #2
Daredevil #609
Justice League #10
Justice League Dark #4
Low Road West #2
New World #4
Patience Conviction Revenge #2
Pearl #3
Quantum and Woody! #11
Submerged #3
Thor #6

Top Comics of September 2018

October 11, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — This month is one that has the potential to be infamous, in that it ended with an event—Heroes in Crisis—that saw one of the Big 2 (DC) embrace a sort of grit and darkness that feels outdated. Word is now coming out that in addition to being a viscerally uncomfortable book, Heroes in Crisis also undersold expectations. Really, it almost feels to me as if the larger line itself is working like an antibody to reject Heroes in Crisis, purging its anachronistic themes from a shared superhero universe that is now bent on being brighter.

But, hey, this isn’t a piece about Heroes in Crisis! This is, instead, a piece about the comics from last month that I really liked, and within it you will find talk of some of my usual favorites—Wasted Space and Immortal Hulk—as well as some discussion of comics I haven’t written as much about, including The Seeds and Supergirl. And because I can’t help myself: yes! Okay, fine. I found Heroes in Crisis disappointing, but I still enjoyed September holistically as another great month for comics.

Let’s take a look at why!

Shout Outs

Snotgirl #11. I’m just so happy this book is back. The art is phenomenal, even if the story has seemed to search for direction. Still, there’s nothing else quite like this comic, one of the most singular today. It’s like reading a guilty pleasure Instagram feed.

While I thought the opening arc of Jason Aaron’s Avengers run was maybe two issues longer than it needed to be, Avengers #7 & #8 are two of my favorite standalone Avengers stories in years, Avengers #7 for its biblical qualities and #8 because of its deep focus on team dynamics.

Relay #3. I’ve been enthralled by this book from its start. It’s, to be reductive, mind-expanding sci-fi brought to life with illustrations that oscillate from detailed and realistic to totally psychedelic. It’s a complex read, one I’m doing my damndest to analyze via reviews.

I’m all in on the SuperBendis run these days, and I liked Superman #3 and Action Comics #1003 quite a bit. Supergirl #22, however, was a fantastic surprise. This is a smaller title, but it’s bringing a welcome additional depth to Bendis’ larger aspirations.

September’s Wonder Woman #54 & #55 teamed one of my favorite rising comics writers, Steve Orlando, with one of my favorite underrated art teams, Raul Allen and Patricia Martin. The results were (unsurprisingly) to my liking.

DC Comics is in a bit of holding pattern in a couple places, waiting for new superstar runs to start (Aquaman, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.), but Justice League #8 & Justice League Dark #3 continue to establish its team-up book as a true flagship.

In Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5, some of this series’ mysteries become clear, and the team of Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormstron have more than built a satisfying resolution.

I continue to be impressed with the world-building going on in Skyward, a charming comic that’s clearly lasting for a long haul. Check out our review of Skyward #6.

Not to give too much away, but the last panel in The Wild Storm #17 is well worth your time, provided you’ve read The Authority...

Tom King and Mitch Gerads work in Mister Miracle #11 is once again excellent, featuring action, a future classic nine-panel grid of Darkseid double-dipping a carrot, and a promise that mysteries will be unraveled next month (maybe).

Top Comics of September 2018

5. Wasted Space #5 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, & Jim Campbell

This month saw the conclusion of Wasted Space’s first arc, and what a doozy. What I find most compelling about Wasted Space is that it lives a double life, both as a slapstick space opera and as a deep ideological exploration of culture and society. I’ve said this before but it’s worth reiterating: there’s a David Foster Wallace-esque quality to the ideas and concerns in this book, one that is especially evident in some of the lengthiest bits of dialogue as well as in the intelligence woven throughout.

Aesthetically, it’s a bright and vibrant comic with a quick plot and jokes that feel surprising yet never inappropriate. I’m a vocal proponent of Vault Comics, and, as such, I’m often asked where new readers should start. After this issue (and arc), my answer is now Wasted Space.

4. Doomsday Clock #7 by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank

This issue caught me off guard. In Doomsday Clock #7, there is more plot and action than in the first half of this maxi-series combined. Indeed, the first six issues here were almost introspective in nature, carefully building the individual concerns of different Watchmen characters as they moved from their world into the proper DCU.

In Doomsday Clock #7, our principals start to slam together, with a good deal of direct involvement from usual DC heroes as well. The result is a comic that almost serves as a mission statement for this entire event. It’s an entertaining read that has me more excited for the final five issues. There is a little bit of a bittersweet tinge to it, in that one can only imagine what it would have been like had this book kept to a monthly schedule, as well as what it would have meant for the larger DCU, too. Sigh.

3. Immortal Hulk #5 & #6 by Al Ewing & Lee Garbett

September brought us two new issues of my favorite Marvel comic, Immortal Hulk, and so I’m including them here together. It seems to me like these two books together took a deeper turn into the supernatural, opening the door for the titular undead Hulk to explore some darker, perhaps even supernatural spaces.

The glowing red visage of Banner’s demon father is the MVP of this new scary turn. Designed to horrific perfection by usual series artist Joe Bennett, the face is memorable and terrifying, a fitting personification of this book’s ambition to be a different, unnerving sort of Hulk story. I also like that this book is seemingly separate from the usual cash-grabby fray of crossing over Marvel titles. Indeed, it’s starting to feel like the publisher is actively separating prestige titles from gimmicky cash grabs, and discerning readers are better for it.

2. Batman #54 by Tom King, Matt Wagner, Tomeu Morey, & Clayton Cowles

Batman #54 was a comic that made me emotional. As I wrote in my Batman #54 review, I found this issue to be an all-time great Batman story, a father-son take on one of the most famous duos not only in comics but in the entire world. It’s also largely indicative of what I’ve liked most about King’s run so far: its humanity.

I think I’m far from alone in saying King’s Batman has been one of peaks and valleys, and I attribute this to a two steps forward, one step back journey he has Bruce on. King is trying to slowly humanize and grow a character whose owners have everything to gain by keeping him static. His solution seems to be a series of small pushes in lieu of any major leaps. This issue is one of the most blissful small pushes forward so far.

1. Seeds #2 by Ann Nocenti & David Aja (read our review of Seeds #1)

I didn’t know what to make of Seeds’ first issue. It was a blatantly creative comic, one that intrigued me and seemed to have something much deeper to say beneath the compelling visuals that made up its veneer. The first issue, though, withheld much about what the book intended to be about, and, as such, I withheld a bit of enthusiasm. After reading the second issue this has changed. I’m all in on The Seeds, to the point I now suspect that when the four-issue series concludes, it is likely to be praised as one of the best comics of the decade, if not longer.

This is a story that feels both impossible and real, that feels of our moment and also forward-looking. It’s thematic interests are disparate at first glance, ranging from sex between humans and aliens, the environmental death of the earth, and the bludgeoning impact of human reliance on technology. Look closer, though, and you’ll find a creative team that is almost unnervingly prescient. This is a comic book story that in my opinion is clearly laying out what should (or soon will be) easily the most pressing concerns of our time, and doing it with some of the finest art in the industry. Simply put, if you’re not reading this comic, you are making a mistake.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of September 2018 plus more of our monthly lists here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Best New #1 Comics of September 2018

October 04, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Some of our favorite newly-launched books this month have been a long time coming, including new titles from Vault Comics and the Vertigo Rebirth-leading Border Town, among others. The important thing, though, is that they’re here now and the response has been fantastic. As you’ll also see in a second (I’ll wrap this up quick, promise), September also brought us some interesting repurposings of old and celebrated franchises, specifically Archie and Sandman. I (obviously) don’t know what the future holds, but this to me is starting to seem like an era we’ll all look back on one day, shaking our heads at how good we had it with so many good ideas coursing through comics. It’s almost overwhelming.

Anyway, enough chatter...let’s do this!

Quick Hits

Faith: Dreamside #1 cover by Sibylline Meynet. — **Faith: Dreamside #1** cover by Sibylline Meynet.

I thought Batman: Damned #1 was...fine. Obviously, the actual comic got lost in all the hoopla over Batman’s gear gear, but this comic was...fine. I’m not always into excessively dark Bat-takes, but this one’s supernatural angle is...fine.

Heroes in Crisis #1 was also…fine. It was well-done, both in art and scripting, if a little thin. I’m in favor of starting major events with double or oversized debuts (or quick second issues) to give monthly readers extra substance and clarity, fully acknowledging that stories these days demand to be written for trade.

Jody Houser writing Faith continues to be an absolute delight with Faith: Dreamside #1, drawn by M.J. Kim. Every iteration of this book has just been so optimistic without ever feeling saccharine. It’s also as a whip-smart pop/geek culture satire, with jokes grown from an endearingly deep love and understanding of this space.

I liked Mark Waid’s Archie reboot a few years back, especially the insight into Archie history he gave us via back matter in early issues. Archie 1941 #1 has some of that in its DNA, as it uses the WWII time period for a well-done and serious take on these characters.

Vertigo Rebirth kicked off in September with the release of writer Eric M. Esquivel and artist Ramon Villalobos’ Border Town #1, a story about monsters, teens, and the complex politics of the U.S.-Mexico Border. A promising start. Read our full Border Town #1 review!

Another debut off to a promising start, Man-Eaters #1 from Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk is a satirical take on gender politics told with incredible wit and detail. As I wrote in my Man-Eaters #1 review, this is a great setup for a book with important things to say.

DC’s Sandman revival launched in earnest this month. Confession time: I skipped Dreaming #1 because its so directly tied to the classic series, which I’m reading now for the first time. Basically, I don’t want to spoil anything. House of Whispers #1, however, was intriguing and fresh, a perfect entrance point, I’d wager, for readers old and new.

Competition is fierce, but I think Phillip Kennedy Johnson writes the best dystopian America in all of comics. His Warlords of Appalachia was an August 2018 New Discovery, and now he’s joined here by artist Flaviano for Low Road West #1, treading similar America is hella broken territory in all new ways.

Top 5 Best Comics of September 2018

Cemetery Beach #1 by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard

As I wrote in my review for Cemetery Beach #1, I was a big fan of Warren Ellis and Jason Howard’s previous collaboration, Trees, and I’m pretty comfortable in saying that if you dug that book, you’ll likely dig this one too. I also think that if you didn’t quite connect with Trees, you might still find a lot to like about Cemetery Beach, which has all the deeply high-minded sci-fi supposing their first book did, with breakneck other-world action and a bit of a wink—or at least characters who are kind of funny.

This book reads to me like Warren Ellis writing a summer blockbuster, and I mean that as the highest of compliments. It’s a seven-part story, and my impression is that this narrative will largely be driven by twists. It’s also the type of comic that I’ve thought about often since finishing it early on in the month, doing that old-school periodical reader thing where I anxiously await the next installment. How quaint.

Cover #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack,

I’ve been enjoying the craft-heavy creator-owned books Brian Michael Bendis and his talented collaborators are putting out on his revived Jinxworld imprint, which is now at DC. Cover #1 by Bendis and David Mack, however, has easily been my favorite. As Bendis noted at Rose City Comic Con, there are plenty of movies about making movies or about rock music or about whatever other field of creativity. Comics, however, have largely not had the meta stories about what it’s like making comics.

This is, essentially, what Cover is setting out to do—along with telling a normal guy-becomes-a-spy story, based on experiences Bendis and Mack have had as attaches with the U.S. State Department. It’s a simple-yet-ambitious book, one that Mack brings to life with a beautiful watercolor palette that moves in and out of hazy focus as serves the clarity of the story. If this first issue is any indication, this is a series not to be missed. (Oh, and another Jinxworld debut, United States of Murder Inc. #1 by Bendis and Michael Oeming, is real strong, too).

Fearscape #1 by Ryan O’Sullivan and Andrea Mutti

It’s been a few years now since I’ve been a comic book fan whose reading choices are dictated by allegiance to character (okay, more than a few). I think this is a natural transition for readers who stick with comics into adulthood: we’re drawn in at young ages by appealing heroes who represent our aspirations, and we stay for love of the craft, paying more attention to the writers and artists than the long-standing often corporate-owned characters on the pages. I think this compulsive love of storytelling is a big part of what made Fearscape #1 resonate so strongly with me.

To put it in inelegant terms, Fearscape #1 is a writerly book about writing, about wanting to write, trying to write, failing to write...WRITING. It’s a send up of literary pretension that’s tonally-laden with that intangible drive that pushes artists to create. It’s a fantasy story with a beating heart rooted in a blowhard whose artistic skills are massively dwarfed by his need for validation. It’s deep and nuanced and unlike anything else in the industry. As I wrote in my Fearscape #1 review...I can’t recommend this book enough.

Friendo #1 by Alex Paknadel, Martin Simmonds

Like Fearscape #1, Friendo #1 is a new comic from Vault Comics, one of my personal favorite publishers in the indie game right now, and also like Fearscape, this is a comic bent on exploring nuanced ideas. Rather than the plight of the frustrated (and disingenuous) artist, Friendo immerses itself in larger ideas about the intersections of commerce, government, society, technology, and daily life.

This is somehow a comic that feels at once prescient and very much of this scary moment, told with great expertise by writer Alex Paknadel and artist Martin Simmonds. The debut issue does a fantastic job of laying track (presumably) for twists to come, and I can’t wait to see where they take this story. The solicit copy, for example, promises heavily involvement by a personalized marketing VR (the titular Friendo, I’m guessing), and so far we’ve only gotten the tip of it. Check out our Friendo #1 review here!

Ahoy Comics’ High Heaven #1 & Wrong Earth #1

Wrong Earth #1 asks: what if a dark and gritty ‘80s/‘90s portrayal of a hero (think Batman in The Dark Knight Returns) swapped earths with a campy Silver Age equivalent (think Batman in ‘60s TV show, Batman). In Wrong Earth #1—debut of new publisher, Ahoy Comics—this concept is executed to clever perfection by veteran creators writer Tom Peyer and artist Jamal Igle. Wrong Earth is, simply put, superhero satire at its finest. There’s a bit of Venture Bros. and a bit of Grant Morrison (who provides related prose for the book’s back matter), and the result is an absolute treat for savvy fans, folks who enjoy heroes but can get far enough outside to appreciate the inherent absurdity of continuity-beholden corporate comics.

High Heaven #1, meanwhile, is the second Ahoy launch title, and it’s a book that basically depicts the afterlife as an institution as broken as everything is in real life. Food is free but awful, everyone gets a mansion...or rather a dorm room with a fancy name, and life is dictated by attitude. The premise isn’t as intriguing as Wrong Earth but the deeper literary aspirations at the heart of the company are once again present. This one is again written by Peyer with art by Greg Scott, plus another host of back matter contributors.

Overall, these are dense and fascinating comics for folks drawn to strong and experimental stories. It’s fascinating (and quite welcome) to me that three of Vertigo’s defining editors now preside over eclectic new lines: Karen Berger with Dark Horse’s Berger Books, Shelly Bond with IDW’s Black Crown, and now Peyer with Ahoy Comics. As I say often, we’re in a second golden age...and as fans we can sit back and enjoy the output while the finances sort themselves out.

Check out more of our monthly lists here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

September 2018 New Comic Discoveries: Limbo, Wrestling, the High-Flying Potential of Berger Books

October 02, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Every month, I work diligently (by reading comics) to catch up with books I’ve heard quite a bit about but just haven’t had a chance to sit down with for whatever reason. This, I’m happy to report, generally leads to me finding new stories that I like a lot, as well as a good number of new writers and artists I was previously unfamiliar with, although that’s not the case this month. From Martin Morazzo’s artwork on Ice Cream Man to Dan Watters’ recent Vault Comic book Deep Roots, this month’s new discoveries feature creators I know and like.

What’s new (obviously) are the exact books they worked on. Our first entry, She Could Fly, comes from Dark Horse’s excellent Berger Books imprint, started and overseen by former Vertigo editor Karen Berger, who was at the helm there for that imprint’s greatest successes. Between this one and Seeds, it’s quickly becoming clear just how much potential an imprint like this one has. And with a collaboration from G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward coming next year? Oof, we’re in for some good comics.

Anyway, enough about future good comics! Let’s check out this month’s new discoveries!

She Could Fly #2 cover by Martin Morazzo. — **She Could Fly #2** cover by Martin Morazzo.

She Could Fly by Christopher Cantwell & Martin Morazzo

She Could Fly has one of the most intriguing first pages of a comic I’ve read in some time. It’s a simple page, three panels and 10 words. A woman flies high in the air as people watch below. She could fly. I saw it. With my own eyes. And on this page we get our first glimpse of our hero, looking shocked and enraptured, mouth agape and eyes wide. The book, really, only gets better from there. For someone who is ostensibly not a comic writer—not primarily, anyway, given his background in TV—Christopher Cantwell’s economic storytelling throughout She Could Fly does an incredible amount of work. There’s much character interiority, cluing readers in on fears and concerns and priorities, on what this world is like for the principal characters within it.

She Could Fly features extra-sized issues, 32 pages of story in each, yet never feels bloated. It’s a lean and relatively quiet series with varied interests, much like its Dark Horse Berger Books imprint mate, Seeds (another of my favorite comics right now) and like the second entry on our list today, Limbo. She Could Fly contains explorations of mental health (that’s the big one), media, physics, governmental versus private sector research, transcendental meditation, and christianity, which outwardly don’t seem to belong together but squint a bit and you’ll see the connections. Something that works well here is the aforementioned focus on mental health. The protagonist’s condition is unspecified (in back matter, Cantwell notes he’s dealt with primarily obsessional OCD), and the creators lean into her mental health problems to blur reality, leading to striking visuals and questions about what’s real.

I found She Could Fly captivating, a great use of the sequential graphic medium, almost like a novel in that it patiently developed multiple characters (and their priorities) while maintaining a deep focus on interior lives...and then slammed everyone together. It’s one of the most immersive comics I’ve read all year, due in large part to the art of Martin Morazzo, who just gets Chicago so damn right. I’m from that city, and Morazzo’s art nails every detail, street scenes to the insides of restaurants, all of which have a distinctly provincial feel. Also, one thing I’ve admired about Morazzo’s work in Ice Cream Man (see our July 2018 New Discoveries) is present again here: visuals seamlessly move between the horrific and mundane as Morazzo organically depicts monsters within an otherwise grounded world.

Tremendous work from all involved, She Could Fly makes good on the promise of the Berger Books imprint. It’s a comic that feels at once vital and urgent yet is also steeped in an assured command of craft. So glad I finally had a chance to catch up with this one.

Limbo #3 by Casper Wijngaard. — **Limbo #3** by Casper Wijngaard.

Limbo by Dan Watters & Casper Wijngaard

Limbo is a story of an amnesiac, inherently hazy. It’s also a detective story...in which a man who can’t figure out who he is seeks answers on behalf of others. There’s power in that, although the book isn’t all that interested in exploring it. Instead, this story ricochets between thrilling pivots, until Limbo becomes...well, something else, something different than you were expecting yet clearly telegraphed by the comic’s title. Most importantly though, Limbo is indie comics at its best, imaginative and unrestrained, using its creators’ interests in music and media and the occult to craft a story rich with aesthetic pleasures and suspense.

Set in the fictional city of Dedande (analogous to New Orleans), Limbo is pan-cultural, drawing from many mythos as it progresses (although it's most-rooted in voodoo). Familiar bits are brought together in interesting and unfamiliar ways as the creators use hard-boiled detective noir tropes to ground things. None of that would matter, however, if this story wasn’t so well told. Basically, Limbo is high concept, bordering at times on downright abstract, but it’s also an exercise in breakneck and successful plotting.

Watters voice is fantastic. In the tradition of Mike Mignola, he uses wry narration or blunt asides to let readers know, yeah, I’m in on the jokes, too. In one panel, the narrator explains how Sandy uses dance to contact the dead, and in the next he acknowledges Yeah, I know how that sounds. It’s a whole thing. Elsewhere, the hero tells a lecturing villain, You’re just monologuing now. No one likes a monologuer. It’s a time-tested writer’s trick, one I find endearing. Meanwhile, there’s a bit of Michael Oeming in Wijngaards art and a bit of Steve Lieber, both of which I mean as high compliments. Wijngaard’s work is so well-realized at times it transcends, stimulating other senses, specifically hearing. His use of colors is also vital to establishing mood.

It all adds up to a book I’d recommend to any and all fans of the comic medium. The complexity may be off-putting to some, but it’s a risk everyone should take. The reward for those who get into Limbo is massive.

Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia by Ed Kuehnel, Matt Entin, Dan Schkade, & Marissa Louise

**Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia #1.**

Shifting gears, let’s look now at Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia, written by Ed Kuehnel and Matt Entin, art by Dan Schkade, and colors by Marissa Louise. Whereas the two previous books on our list were almost topographical pastiches, Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia lives within a niche: professional wrestling. It extends deeper into comic book-y territory, however, by also adding a sci-fi angle. This, simply put, makes for a hilarious comic. There’s an obvious love of professional wrestling, an appreciation of its spectacle and hammy insularity, and it’s put to good use, be it for jokes or for more subtle, character-drive moments.

There are essentially two plotlines at work in Invasion From Planet Wrestletopia’s first issue: one about a cocky (and, to be fair, probably mishandled) wrestler who tries to distance himself from a promoter (not for the first time), and another about the titular Planet of Wrestletopia, a planet upon which culture and society is shaped entirely by pro wrestling. They do, of course, stand to eventually meet. More importantly, though, this space stuff allows for so many great gags (for example, instead of referring to a monarch as your highness on Planet Wrestletopia it’s your championess). It’s all very clever and a whole lot of fun. If you’re a fan of pro wrestling (lapsed or current) there’s just so much to like about this comic.

Check out Invasion from Planet Wrestletopia now!

See all our past months of new discoveries here. And check back to the site next week for our Best Debut Comics of September 2018.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for September 26, 2018

September 24, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — It’s a week of fantastic new indie #1s, with two powerhouse books debuting from Vault Comics, and the creative team of Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk rolling out Man-Eaters, the creator-owned follow up to their excellent Mockingbird title at Marvel a couple years back now. All three of these made our top comics to buy for September 26, 2018, along with a Big 2 #1, in Justice League Odyssey.

Now, the big omission from that list is probably Heroes in Crisis #1, a book I’ve been bullish on because of the accomplished creative team. I am, however, leaving it off here for a couple of reasons: one, the marketing has been overwhelming, so much so that you’ve presumably already decided whether to buy it; two, I think it’s going to need a couple of issues to clarify things before we can make any sort of evaluation. That second one is a continuing trend as superhero storytelling remains almost ludicrously decompressed, designed for sleak trade formats rather than monthly reading.

Annnnnnyway, enough! Let’s take a look at the top comics to buy for September 26, 2018.

Top Comics to Buy for September 26, 2018

Doomsday Clock #7
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
The critically acclaimed team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank continue the groundbreaking miniseries bringing the world of WATCHMEN to DC. In this chapter, the truth behind Dr. Manhattan's curiosity with the DC Universe is revealed as the planet teeters on the edge of the Super-War.
Why It’s Cool: Remember Doomsday Clock? Sure you do! And guess what? This issue is, simply put, the one where things start to happen. Finally, we get a much better idea of what this comic—and in a broader sense the secrets of Geoff Johns DC-reviving one-shot DC Rebirth #1—is all about.

Fearscape #1 (Read our review!)
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Lettering: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
The Fearscape is a world beyond our own, populated by manifestations of our worst fears. Once per generation, The Muse travels to Earth, discovers our greatest Storyteller, and takes them with her to the Fearscape to battles these fear-creatures on our behalf. All has been well for eons, until The Muse encounters Henry Henry, a plagiarist with delusions of literary grandeur. Mistaking him for our greatest Storyteller, she ushers him into the Fearscape. Doom follows.
Why It’s Cool: Short stories, novels, and even films do it all the time, but rarely have comics aspired to capture the insecurity and frustration of unfulfilled artistic ambitions, especially those related to writing. Fearscape #1, however, absolutely nails it, making a pair of wise choices: one, to have a protagonist who is massive talent in his own head, rather than a gifted artist waiting to be discovered; two, blending in fantastical abstract adventuring. This is a powerful book, a must-read for those interested in the art life.

Friendo #1 (Read our review!)
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Leo wasn't allowed toys as a kid, but now that he's all grown up he's going to take yours. He used to play by the rules, but then governments and corporations set fire to the rules and still expected him to behave. He probably would have if it hadn't been for his new friend Jerry. See, Jerry isn't human; he's a personalised marketing VR... and he's malfunctioning. Unhinged ultraviolence from Alex Paknadel (Arcadia) and Martin Simmonds (Punks Not Dead).
Why It’s Cool: Friendo #1 is such a perfect blend of so many of the forces giving shape to our culture, from social media, to the gig economy, to the increasingly-hard-to-identify nature of marketing. It’s delivered by a fantastic creative team, too, in writer Paknadel and artist Simmonds.

Justice League Odyssey #1
Writer: Josh Williamson
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Spinning out of JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE! When a cosmic menace threatens worlds beyond our own in the Ghost Sector, it falls to a new Justice League team to answer the call to battle! Cyborg, Starfire, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz and an out-of-his-element Azrael head to deep space inside a commandeered Brainiac Skull Ship. But as these wildcard teammates try to break through the impenetrable maelstrom imprisoning the desperate collection of planets, they discover something that nothing in the universe could have prepared them for: Darkseid...who says he's there to help?!
Why It’s Cool: This is the third book of DC’s red-hot new Justice League line, spinning out of the weekly event from May, No Justice, and, dare I say, this is the freshest of the three titles. It’s a cosmic book with a truncated yet interesting team, plus also heavy theological implications for dead planets. Read that again, if you must. It’s all pretty freaking cool.

Man-Eaters #1 (Read ou r review!)
Writer: Chelsea Cain
Artist: Kate Niemczyk
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
A mutation in Toxoplasmosis causes menstruating women to turn into ferocious killer wildcats-easily provoked and extremely dangerous. As panic spreads and paranoia takes root, the fate of the world rides on the shoulders of one twelve-year-old girl. Part Cat People, part The Handmaid's Tale, MAN-EATERS will have everyone talking.
Why It’s Cool: Writer Chelsea Cain is one of the sharpest satirical high-profile voices in comics, catapulted to notoriety by a successful career as a prose writer, a fantastic Marvel debut a few years back on Mockingbird, and an ensuing controversy that angered all the right people. We may not be getting her Vision book from Marvel, which was to be a sequel to Tom King’s seminal run on that title, but we are getting this unrestrained and imaginative comic satire from her and Kae Niemczyk. Don’t miss out.

Wonder Woman #55
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin
Colorist: Borja Pindado
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Then, two armies stand ready to annihilate each other, with Wonder Woman and Artemis caught in the middle, fighting for the souls of the exiled Amazons living in Bana-Mighdall! Does Diana possess the might and diplomatic prowess to convince her sisters to stop their march toward war? Who will fall beneath the flaming swords of Rustam? And more importantly, how does she make sure this doesn't happen again? Will Diana have to Occupy the Amazons?!
Why It’s Cool: This is the fifth (and, sadly, final) issue of Steve Orlando’s fill-in Wonder Woman arc, against which all future fill-in runs should probably be judged. Orlando’s time on Wonder Woman has been a treat, start to finish, and this final issue doesn’t disappoint, powered as it is by the fantastic art duo of Raul Allen and Patricia Martin.

Others Receiving Votes

Action Comics #1003
Amazing Spider-Man #6
Batgirl #27
Black Panther #4
Bone Parish #3
Extermination #3
Flash #55
Justice League Dark #3
Long Con #3
Marvel 2-in-1 #10
Punisher #2
Redneck #15
Sentry #4
Shanghai Red #4
X-O Manowar #19

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics of August 2018

September 11, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — August 2018 was the month of Jeff Lemire, who wrapped up the 14th and final issue of Royal City, the first arc of creator-owned hit Gideon Falls, a multi-year run on Valiant’s Bloodshot, and a big reveal in mysterious superhero nostalgia trip Black Hammer (which, by the way, he’s using to build a generational superhero universe from scratch). Oh, and Lemire did all this while also writing Sentry, The Terrifics, and probably more books I’m forgetting.

That’s not all. Just when Lemire was cresting on the strength multiple impressive and prolific comics runs, he used the platform his profile affords him to castigate a rage movement that bullies and harrasses creators from marginalized groups, an action for which he’s surely gotten blowback. Still, that kind of speaking out sparked the most wide-spanning conversation yet about why it’s important to denounce such tactics and such groups.

So yeah, item of business no. 1: hats off to Lemire. Item no. 2? A look at this month’s top comics, which, unsurprisingly, will also merit further discussion of Lemire. Now that I’ve set a new record for mentions of one creator during my intro...let’s do this!

Shout Outs

Shanghai Red #3 continues Christopher Sebela and Josh Hixson’s searing pioneer revenge epic. The colors in Hixson’s artwork are especially revelatory.

The penultimate issue of Steve Orlando and Garry Brown’s six-part father-son Russian revenge epic Crude took the book to new heights in both physical and emotional stakes.

Michael Moreci and Hayden Sherman’s Wasted Space is now ongoing, which is very cool because every issue has been stellar, including this month’s Wasted Space #4.

Action Comics #1002 was the most complete Bendis Superman issue since Man of Steel #1. Bendis is slowly building his Superman status quo, pulling in vital elements and reconstructing Clark’s life with updates for 2018. Plus, art by Pat Gleason!

Meanwhile in Supergirl #21, Bendis passes a cosmic story thread left dangling in Man of Steel to the creative team of Marc Andreyko and Kevin Maguire. Excited to see where in the galaxy it goes.

I liked The Euthanuats #1, with its poeticism and blurry line between life and death, but I loved The Euthanauts #2, which declared that this comic is primed and ready for a lengthy run.

Batgirl has a new creative team: writer Mairghread Scott and artists Elena Casagrande and Paul Pelletier. So far I’ve liked all of their work, which this month alone included half of Batgirl #25, all of Batgirl #26, and Batgirl Annual #2.

Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman are doing fantastic things in Venom, expanding their vision for a character that previously seemed outdated. Hell of a run taking shape here.

Another issue of Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, another spot on our monthly best of list. This book is just so good.

Finally, we got a two-issue Wonder Woman arc from Steve Orlando and Aco, high adventure that teamed Diana with Artemis and the new Aztek for mythology-meets-multiverse fun.

Top 5 Comics of August 2018

5. The Wild Storm #16 by Warren Ellis, Jon Davis-Hunt, & Brian Buccellato

The Wild Storm continues to be a wonderfully-complex slow burn of a comic, one with much to say about power structures, corporations, government, and the role of individuals within it all. Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt (with excellent Brian Buccellato colors) are really taking their time here, giving this comic a more weighty and realistic feel than past iterations of this universe.

It won’t be entirely clear until we get the final eight issues of this story, but I’m starting to suspect this book will land among Warren Ellis’ best work. In many ways, it’s the final form of so many ideas that he’s played with throughout his career, ideas that he’s able to explain through familiar character in a totally new universe that’s unburdened by past or present continuity. DC essentially told Ellis, You know those characters you’ve written on and off throughout your career...would you like to start from scratch and do whatever you want with them? He (obviously) said yes, and the end result is awesome comics.

4. Amazing Spider-Man #4 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin & Joe Caramagna

Cards on the table: Along with Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man is the first comic I subscribed to as a kid. I’ll always and forever have it on a pull list. That is to say, I was always giving Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s run on this book a shot, and, through the first three issues, I thought it was amusing, a light romp through all the qualities that make Spider-Man a beloved character, albeit a bit light on his central conflict: his guilt over passively enabling the death of his uncle.

Amazing Spider-Man #4, however, was the first issue to break through the shiny veneer of Ottley art and Spencer quips, showing that this creative team is interested in the core of the character and determined to get it right. This book broached Peter Parker’s central conflict and guiding philosophy in intriguing ways, while also continuing to double down on the strengths of earlier issues. As a result, I am one supremely satisfied long-time reader.

3. Batman #52 and #53 by Tom King, Lee Weeks, & Elizabeth Breitwesier

Batman #52 and #53 were part of the recently-concluded Cold Days arc, which is my favorite multi-part story that Tom King has told with Batman (I still like Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd, and Batman #37’s double date better as single issues, but I digress). The arc was drawn by Lee Weeks, who has emerged as maybe Tom King’s best collaborator on this run as well.

What makes the story work so well is how it speaks to comics collective obsession with Batman. In Cold Days, Bruce Wayne manipulates his way onto a jury of a Mr. Freeze murder trial because he worries he made a mistake as Batman, so shook was he after being left at the altar by Catwoman. He gives a 12 Angry Bat-Men kind of speech, wherein he questions the fallibility of his alter ego. Intentional or not, that speech had a meta context, raising questions about the way fandom venerates the character. Fantastic stuff.

2. Ice Cream Man #6 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran, & Good Old Neon

This comic somehow tells three self-contained stories in a single issue, doing so with little to no dialogue in a way that not only makes sense but will almost certainly haunt the vast majority of readers for weeks (at least, that’s been my experience). Really, if it wasn’t for the monster month of the creator who took the no. 1 spot, Ice Cream Man #6 would have been an easy choice for August’s best.

This comic is one of my favorite single issues of 2018 so far. The craft here is so impressive that I don’t want to think about it too hard, lest I lose motivation to ever attempt anything creative of my own again. Moreover, I have a pretty strong predisposition against stories steeped in cynicism or bleakness—and this issue is most certainly that—yet this book is so well-done I was able to overlook all that. Ice Cream Man holistically is one of the best horror books today, as well as one of the best explorations of what’s possible with the medium, in terms of form and structure. I can’t recommend it enough.

1. Jeff Lemire

Jeff Lemire landed in the top spot for a few different reasons, many of which we touched on earlier: the conclusion of his Bloodshot epic, the quiet way Royal City’s ending issue made my eyes well, the outstanding reveal on the last panel of Black Hammer: Age of Doom #4, and, of course, the way he stood up to Comicsgate, contributing in no small part to a roiling wave of similarly-prominent creators who did the same.

We should also note that Gideon Falls first arc ended in August (in excellent fashion), and that that book’s entire first storyline has been extremely well-done. So yeah, most months are solid for Lemire output, but August felt like a statement on his part about who he is and what he wants his impact on the industry to be: a disciplined and prolific creator with no tolerance for harassment, rage, bullying, bigotry, or dumbassitude of all kinds. Not bad...not bad in the slightest.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of August 2018 here plus more of our monthly lists here .

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, CA.

Top Comics to Buy for September 12, 2018

September 10, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — I spent this past weekend at Rose City Comic Con in Portland (which was pretty fantastic, as one might expect from a smaller-ish con in a cool city), and as a result I didn’t have as much time as usual to go over my advanced review copies for the week. Luckily, I’d had a chance to read some books in advance and some others while I’m there. That, plus the strength of previews, is what has given us our list.

You know what? For the second straight week I’m putting six comics in our Top Comics to Buy section (plus the new #1s and the 15 in the lower section). It’s my list, I make the rules, etc. I just find that dropping that last book down to others receiving votes is too thin a margin to really justify keeping it out. And, hey, what’s the hard in just one more tiny recommendation, right? Comics are too good right now.

Onward!

Top Comics to Buy for September 12, 2018

Archie 1941 #1 (of 5)
Writer: Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn
Artist: Peter Krause
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Publisher: Archie Comics
Price: $3.99
THE HISTORIC, GROUND-BREAKING MINI-SERIES STARTS HERE! Archie has been around for over 75 years and has been through many significant moments in time, but never before have we seen the characters take on real-world events as they unfold. WWII is looming and Archie and many young men from Riverdale are close to enlistment age. If you're a Riverdale teen, how would you cope with a looming world-changing event? Join the writing team of MARK WAID and BRIAN AUGUSTYN along with artist PETER KRAUSE for the all-new mini-series that is sure to have everyone talking!
Why It’s Cool: Mark Waid is a thoughtful writer with a vast respect for comics history...and this is a book steeped in thoughtful concepts and comics history. It seems like an ideal fit, a great way to look at the universality of being young and facing the churn of a tumultuous world.

Amazing Spider-Man #5
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Things look bad for Peter Parker......but GREAT for Spider-Man! The first arc of the epic new run on ASM comes to a climactic finish!
Why It’s Cool: We’ve been pretty effusive with our praise for this new Amazing Spider-Man creative team, which you can read about in this review of Amazing Spider-Man #4. Given that excitement, we are understandably psyched to see how they rap up their very first arc with Marvel’s flagship character. They've set up a pretty intriguing plot point, and we're excited to see how they pay it off and what kind of seeds they plant for the future in the process (ahem, more Mary Jane?)

Cemetery Beach #1 (of 7)
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jason Howard
Letterer: Fonografiks
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
From the creators of the acclaimed TREES graphic novels, which are currently being adapted for television, comes something completely different. A professional pathfinder, his only ally a disaffected young murderess, breaks out of a torture cell in pursuit of his worst extraction scenario ever: escaping on foot across a sprawling and secret off-world colony established a hundred years ago and filled with generations of lunatics. WARREN ELLIS & JASON HOWARD ignite a high-speed new action serial.
Why It’s Cool: This is a high-speed, high-concept action thriller with a ton of the usual big Warren Ellis ideas waiting just beneath the surface to be explored. Howard’s artwork is kinetic and crackling, and the team as a whole does a fantastic job, putting together one of the best debut issues all year. Read more here.

House of Whispers #1
Writer: Nalo Hopkinson
Artist: Dominike “Domo” Stanton
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
An all-new corner has been added to Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe! Welcome to the House of Dahomey, the houseboat of Erzulie Fréda, where the souls of Voodoo followers go when they sleep to beseech the flirtatious and tragic goddess to grant them their hearts' desires and counsel them on their futures and fortunes. When you arrive, you'll find a party is in full swing, filled with all kinds of fabulous and fierce folk, while fish fry and music blasts. From her bayou, Erzulie scries upon the mortal realm and sees four human girls open a mysterious and magical journal filled with whispers and rumors that, if they spread, could cause a pandemic unlike any the Earth has seen, with the power to release Sopona, the loa lord of infectious disease and cousin to Erzulie, who is currently banned from the human plane. But even the fearsome Erzulie cannot be of assistance when her dream river turns tumultuous, tossing her house from her realm and into another…
Why It’s Cool: This book had me at all-new corner has been added to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Universe...mostly because I’m a Sandman neophyte (who is very publically and shamefully making up for this on Twitter by reading an issue of that series every night). Not having a lengthy pre-existing relationship with the seminal series—but still wanting in on the fun—this book is perfect for me. I also heard Hopkinson and Stanton discuss their plans for the book at SDCC, and it sounds fantastic.

Long Lost Book 2 #2
Writer: Matthew Erman
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Publisher: Scout Comics
Price: $3.99
Thought. Void. Space. Hazel Patch. Piper is lost and must work with an unlikely ally to find a way home while Frances is reunited with Jody as she sheds new light on everything that has happened. Piper and Frances are fast approaching the end and as questions are answered, they are forced to make game-changing decisions.
Why It’s Cool: Long Lost is a hazy and haunting dream of a comic, one that deals in nostalgia, regret, the lasting effects of childhood damage, and the ongoing fade of America’s small towns...it’s also one of my favorite new comics discoveries this year. This book is clearly headed to a massively intriguing climax, and I for one can’t wait.

Wicked + Divine #39
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Colorist: Dee Cunniffee
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
END OF STORY ARC! A 2018 Eisner Award nominee for Best Continuing Series and Best Lettering by CLAYTON COWLES! "MOTHERING INVENTION": Conclusion-Well, it's the end of the arc, in just about every way you could define those particular words.
Why It’s Cool: Wicked + Divine is far into its end-game now, and so many plot points from its distant past are coming around to matter. The end of last arc was certainly heavy with revelations, and we expect the last issue of the penultimate arc of this fantastic ongoing title to be much the same. As always, here’s hoping for HBO or a similarly-prestige heavy network to tap this one for adaptation.

Others Receiving Votes

Champions #24
Crowded #2
Fantastic Four #2
Flash #54
Hawkman #4
Hot Lunch Special #2
Infinity Wars #3
Mech Cadet Yu #12
New World #3
Seeds #2
Supergirl #22
Wasted Space #5
Weatherman #4
Wildstorm: Michael Cray #11
Wonder Woman #54

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Best New #1 Comics of August 2018

September 04, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — I love any month wherein indie publishers sweep our top five best new #1 comics list, and this is (obviously) one of those months. I’m not sure how often this happens, but it’s always a treat. This month, simply put, brought one of the best crops of new creator-owned debut issues I’ve ever seen...two of which were even by the same writer!

What’s also great is the diversity of publisher among our top 5 best new #1 comics of August 2018, with books coming from usual suspects like Dark Horse and Image, and from other sources too, including AfterShock Comics, Scout Comics, and IDW’s Black Crown imprint. Yes, not only do we have a top 5 consisting entirely of indie books, we also have a list that features five different indie comics publishers!

The state of comics is strong, friends, strong indeed. We are truly lucky to be fans of this storytelling medium in such exciting times. Now then, let’s get to the list!

Quick Hits

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a big Marvel event as much as the first two issues of Infinity Wars, both of which came out this month. I attribute this to killer Deodato art and an increasingly strong overall state of affairs within the Marvel Universe.

The DC/Looney Toons specials were a delight, yet again. The Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special #1 and the Catwoman, Tweety, & Sylvester Special #1 don’t hit Batman/Elmer Fudd levels of greatness, but they’re both quite good.

In my Extermination #1 review, I wrote about liking it because it seemed like minor cleanup of X-continuity in preparation for November’s relaunch of Uncanny X-Men. If that’s what this series ends up being, count me in for all five issues.

After what he did with Mike Allred in Silver Surfer, Dan Slott has 100 percent of my trust when it comes to nailing the family dynamic at the heart of the Fantastic Four. The first issue did nothing to change that.

I’m currently working my way through the original Sandman for the first time (I know, I know), one issue per night, and the reason why is because I found the Sandman Universe #1 teaser issue so intriguing.

I loved Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins’ recently-concluded series Grass Kings. They’re back now, with a completely new book, Black Badge, and I’m all in. Read my review of Black Badge #1.

I have a new rotating gig writing the DC Round-Up for my favorite comics website, The Beat, and I got Pearl #1 with my first crop of books...and I loved it! Read my first DC Round-Up, in which I discuss Pearl.

Cold Spots #1 was appropriately chilling, promising more horror to come and living up to its title.

Leviathan #1 is one of those new books that brings together a creative union so perfect it seems like it's been going on for years.

West Coast Avengers #1 is a perfect use of every character in it, and a natural evolution of this franchise. I’m glad it exists.

Top 5 Best #1 Comics of August 2018

Crowded #1 by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Triona Farrell, & Cardinal Rae

As someone currently working a full-time job, plus three other work-for-hire writing side gigs that involve logging keyboard time fairly regularly at all hours (nights, weekends, etc.)...this late capitalist horror story about a young woman targeted by a crowd-sourced assassination app who subsequently contracts a defender via another separate app...well, it hit close to home for me.

My own economic and professional perspectives aside, Crowded #1 is simply a well-done comic. The pacing spares no tension, giving us just the right amount of info before throwing us into rapid action, and the bits Sebela and team reveal about their two lead characters are equal parts relatable and fascinating. What this book excels at most, however, is emphasizing the absurdity of what it’s like to work in 2018, extending the gig economy to a logical-yet-horrific extreme that should make every reader afraid, or at least introspective the next time they call an Uber.

Hot Lunch Special #1 by Eliot Rahal, Jorge Fornes, & Taylor Esposito

Hot Lunch Special, as I’ve said on Twitter, blends a generational American immigrant story with Midwestern crime noir evocative of Fargo. The result is a comic unlike any other on the stands today. Essentially, you come to this book for the mafioso murder/extortion plot line, and you stay for the touches of sincere graphic memoir—or maybe vice versa.

Even with severed appendages inside sandwiches appearing pretty near the story’s start, it’s to Hot Lunch Special’s credit it feels understated, as a good Midwestern story should. This is due in large part to the impressive work Rahal and Fornes do building character, particularly with the younger members of the family. An organized crime story is just so much more compelling when you start to tangle up those who are born into it, who maybe don’t realize the extent of the dirt and certainly didn’t ask for it. Rahal and Fornes know this well, and it makes for a great comic.

House Amok #1 by Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, & Aditya Bidikar

Annnnnd here we have another entry from writer Christopher Sebela, this time via IDW’s en fuego Black Crown imprint, which landed a book in last month’s Best New #1 Comics with another favorite of ours, The Euthanauts. The hits will likely keep coming for Black Crown too, what with the Laphams rolling out a crime noir book this fall about a nefarious shape-shifting travel blogger (I know, right?! sounds amazing). But I digress.

House Amok is visually rich with the work of veteran artist Shawn McManus, colored so effectively here by Lee Loughridge, one of the industry’s best at using different tones to establish flashbacks and mood. In addition to the stellar art, Sebela deploys a precocious narrative voice, a child writing about her literally crazed family in an innocent diary, trying to parse her own little healthy reality amid the violence the older relatives she’s supposed to trust continue to justify are perpetrate. Lyrical and dark, I’m all in on this comic.

Long Lost Book 2 #1 by Matthew Erman & Lisa Sterle

Speaking of lyrical and dark, our next new #1 is more of a continuation than a pure debut, but we like it so much we had to include it. And, hey, isn’t more of a continuation than a pure debut an accurate summation for nearly every new superhero #1 of the past two or three decades? Anyway, Long Lost is everything that’s healthy about indie comics right now rolled into one brilliant sequential graphic story.

In this book, readers find experimentation with form, effective-yet-subtle visuals that convey mood, patient characterization, and ideas that are mysterious and haunting. By design, much of the nature of this book is still to be revealed, yet the ride we’ve been on now through seven total issues has been thoroughly engrossing, incorporating ideas about the past, moving on, and sisterhood. Do yourself a favor: find and binge every issue of this comic. And do it while spending a long and quiet weekend somewhere, nostalgic and alone.

Seeds #1 by Ann Nocenti & David Aja

Ann Nocenti and David Aja’s Seeds #1 is the type of comic that will bug your eyes, expanding your consciousness and giving you occasion to slow down and run your hand over its pages and pages of stunning and provocative visuals. This book is probably best classified as near-future science fiction, a genre thriving in comics right now. Something about Seeds, however, feels different; as if these creators were given an actual glimpse of a future, complete with logical societal changes that are as of now impossible to predict.

Maybe that’s what makes Seeds feel so obviously brilliant—its world feels realistic, yet very much the product of the creators’ minds, sharp and visionary as they are. This is a four-part series, and after one issue I’m unequivocally on board for all of it. Nocenti and Aja are both towering talents who’ve contributed seminal works to mainstream superhero comic books, and now they’ve gone off-map. Be excited and afraid.

Check out more of our monthly lists here.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

August 2018 New Comic Discoveries: Long Lost, Warlords of Appalachia, and Mashbone & Grifty

August 30, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — I’ve had a pretty broad experience with America in my life. I was born and raised outside Chicago; I went to college in rural Southern Illinois; after college I lived in Texas on the U.S.-Mexico Border; after that I lived in the hip enclave of Austin; and recently I moved to Sacramento, an odd hybrid of the San Francisco Bay Area and California's agriculture-heavy Central Valley, an obscure city where America’s culture wars often collide.

And all of this is relevant to comics how? Well, it connects to the books in this month’s New Comics Discoveries, which as always are comics I’ve read after having them recommended to me a billion times. This month's selections give us a broad vision of modern America, too, using a range of genres—from dystopian sci-fi warfare to subtle horror to jokey over-the-top detective adventure—to take closer looks at different parts of America, at Appalachia or withering towns abandoned by their youth or neighborhoods called Little Mexico.

These are all books that when taken together speak to the diversity of the American experience today, so excellently reflected through comics. These stories all have something uniquely 2018 to say, and I highly recommend seeking them out and reading them.

With all that in mind, let’s get to it now: August 2018 New Comic Discoveries!

Long Lost Vol. 1 by Matthew Erman & Lisa Sterle

This haunting book from Scout Comics is bold, complex, experimental, and abstract in a way mainstream books are often afraid to be. Long Lost is a story I will pass to friends who generally prefer literary fiction to sequential graphic storytelling. Basically, this is an incredibly smart comic with a deep tonal range that spans everything from sheer terror, to the malaise of routine, to the way we justify to ourselves (and others) the challenges life has dealt us...the way we grapple the past into being okay rather than actually dealing with root causes of deep-seeded pains and dysfunctions.

Lisa Sterle’s art in Long Lost is fittingly subdued and minimalistic, saving its greatest flourishes for moments that accentuate either horror or the role of setting in the story. Matthew Erman’s writing, meanwhile, is poignant and rich with poetic narration. Its dialogue is also telling without feeling forced. I jotted a number of favorite lines (some are listed below), because the prose on the pages kept demanding it. Ditto for screenshotting favorite panels.

There’s just something Lynchian at work in how this story withholds orienting information and accentuates the horrors of the mundane. Yet, there’s never a full dive made into bleakness or cynicism. A main conceit of Long Lost is revisiting the past, which in part means having our protagonists return to the forgotten rural town where they grew up. That kind of narrative can definitely lend itself to pessimism, but Long Lost never tips that way. The relationship between the two central sisters gives it way too much heart, making for a complex and haunting book that is equally human and relatable.

Some favorite lines:

Mom has been “missing” since we were kids. It’s only now that she has finally disappeared like everyone I know.
I see Hazel Patch like...you would see snakes gathered in overgrowth, maybe sleeping beneath blackberry bushes. And also, This was it though. This was Hazel Patch, in all its glory. Barely here, existing for no other reason than pure stubborness. An aimless void where people never leave because there is no where else to be except here. Nowhere.
I’ve had this foggy thing going on in my head, been like that for about a year now—I dunno. And I broke my arm learning to juggle.
Yesterday I woke up in a place I thought I knew but...it’s gone. The world is different. Everything has changed and all I feel is dread.
I dunno...I kind of loved this place growing up...or maybe I didn’t. It’s been so long I can’t seem to remember.

Warlords of Appalachia Vol. 1 by Phillip K. Johnson, Jonas Scharf, Doug Garbark, & Jim Campbell

Warlords of Appalachia imagines our current political years from now, taking it to vast and bleak extremes by depicting a situation in which Kentucky is a war-torn Chechnya-esque territory that the rest of the world leans on the U.S. government to leave alone. This is, without question, a prescient comic about individualism, about the power of religion as a motivator to justify drastic action or fighting in times of great poverty, and about the dangers of substituting macho cult personality for an actual leader with courage and integrity.

In terms of its DNA, this is a war comic, and the action sequences written by Phillip K. Johnson and drawn by Jonas Scharf are clear and intense, very well-done. Yet, that’s not really what makes this such a compelling comic. This is a good comic because of the ideology that surrounds the combat, the reasons the people fight, be it because they’re career soldiers, religious zealots, or members of fedup and oppressed communities.

This is also the type of comic that both sides of our very real raging ideological war could read and relate to heavily, which I think is likely also part of the point...not that this story is making the flawed argument that our current politics have two equal sides, but to remind us that once any political stance is corrupted enough, the end goals of those who are doing the corrupting start to look the same. I’ve only read the first volume of this book, but I heavily suspects that's where this story is heading.

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Mashbone and Grifty #1 by Oscar Garza & Rolando Esquivel

Mashbone and Grifty from 5 Meats Comics was such a nice palate cleanser after the much heavier fare in the first two titles, but it’s still a great comic with a unique (and often hilarious) perspective. First about the funny: this is one of those comics that packs in visual and dialogue gags at a rapid clip, reminding of the work of my favorite funny-man in comics, Kyle Starks (whose Rock Candy Mountain was a previous New Discovery). To give you a sense of what to expect, this first issue is about a man who approaches our heroes because someone has stolen his cock (rooster) named Mango.

This book is super funny and also steeped in a Mexican-American perspective. At one point, a character asks why he has to do the dangerous undercover work in Little Mexico, and after another character tells him it’s because he’s Mexican...everyone goes silent and someone mumbles something about being uncomfortable. There’s also a funny interlude with a handy el dandy Spanish Glossary, plus a quick clip from Mashbone’s favorite movie, which uses an Indiana Jones type character (Dakota Dan) for a quick satire about immigration.

In other words, Mashbone and Grifty is a funny book with something unique to say, and if it makes you uncomfortable—good, because this comic is telling a ton of jokes-per-minute even if some of those jokes make you flinch.

Click here to check out Mashbone and Grifty.

See all our past months of new discoveries here. And check back to the site next week for our Best Debut Comics of August 2018 as well as our Top Comics of August 2018, too.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Top Comics of July 2018

August 09, 2018 by Zack Quaintance in Top 5 Comics

By Zack Quaintance — Maybe I’m suffering from recency bias, but I’m hard-pressed to think of a summer in my life (I’m 22 give or take...SEVERAL years) as good for comics as this. Seriously. There are top-notch stories being told at both major superhero publishers—with characters ranging from Mister Miracle to Captain America—while the creator-owned market hits unprecedented peaks for variety and quality.

Being in the midst of this wave is a blessing and challenge for writing lists like this. Obviously, I don’t lack titles, but it’s tough to narrow things down. I recently faced the same dilemma sorting the Best New #1 Comics of July. My answer is do it and spend the next month regretting choices. Act recklessly and then deal...that’s a strategy I’ve long employed.

Joking aside, I put a lot of thought into this month’s list, agonizing until I landed on the titles below. Sooooo—let’s do this!

Shout Outs

Batman #50 was a good comic with a messy release (the above variant cover is by Jae Lee). — **Batman #50** was a good comic with a messy release (the above variant cover is by Jae Lee).

Let’s start with a mess: Batman #50 and the spoiler fiasco. I didn’t get spoiled (thankfully), but I’m sympathetic to all who did. Regardless, this was a fine issue with a welcome twist, especially if as Tom King says, this is the run’s halfway point.

Have you all read IDW’s Black Crown imprint? You should. July saw the end of two early titles: Assassanistas and Punks Not Dead. Put simply, what a glorious wave of odd books, heavy on craft, humor, subversion. Can’t wait to see what Black Crown does next.

The darling of this year’s Eisners, Monstress, wrapped its third arc with a thundering crescendo and the most action in any single issue since the book’s debut. Perhaps most importantly, Monstress #18 also laid great track for future stories. Very well done.

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen concluded their sci-book Descender, a beautiful watercolor epic about childhood friendship. This issue was great (like the entire series), but it was less a finale than a continuation, setting up a sequel called Ascender that launches this fall.

Al Ewing and Joe Bennett continue to make The Hulk terrifying.

In Immortal Hulk #2 and #3, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett continued to strike a horrifying tone, telling a story closer to prestige horror than standard superheroics, leading to half of comics Twitter saying I don’t usually like the Hulk but I like THIS.

There’s a reason Incognegro by Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece is taught in schools: it’s a well-done historical mystery steeped in questions about race. Its sequel wrapped this month with Incognegro Renaissance #5, a worthy successor.

Sideways #6 gives its teen hero a defining tragedy, and ho man did it sting. Speaking of The New Age of DC Heroes, The Unexpected #2 and Terrifics #5 were both great too.

Apparently Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt’s phenomenal new take on old characters, The Wild Storm, is selling well (at least online), but not enough fans are talking about it. I wish that would change. It’s so good.

Finally, Flash #50 was an emotionally-satisfying conclusion to a long-simmering plot thread, one that also featured that page with the return of that character at the end.

Top 5 Comics of July 2018

Cates & Stegman seem bent on a character-defining run.

5. Venom #4 by Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman

I don’t want to go into the plot, except to note there’s an expert connection to Jason Aaron’s all-time great run on Thor, and that superhero comic fans love that type of thing. There’s also just a feeling of excitement around everything Cates is writing; he’s like an athlete having his first MVP season, entrenching himself as a lead voice at Marvel, even extending his exclusive with the publisher.

Which is all great, as is Venom #4. It’s still relatively early in this run, but Cates and Stegman have talked about doing a prolonged and character-defining stretch on this book. Also, like Immortal Hulk, this is another book that seems to have many fans reading a character they otherwise wouldn’t. No easy feat.

4. Wasted Space #3 by Michael Moreci & Hayden Sherman

Wasted Space, the frenetic space opera about addiction and cultism and 100 other things, just keeps getting better. People who write about comics often use that line, but in this case it’s true. Wasted Space is a complex comic with so many big ideas that the experience of reading it improves as more of its scope becomes visible. That’s been my experience, anyway.

I loved Wasted Space #3 (read my review of Wasted Space #3). The ideas and plotting that made the series so engrossing is still here, but this issue also (organically) ups the humor, especially when the big all-powerful gigantic enemy guy tells some rando he’d feel better about himself if he approached work with pride—hilarious. I don’t know if I can be clearer: you should all be reading this book.

Bold design choices elevate Gideon Falls to lofty creative levels. — Bold design choices elevate **Gideon Falls** to lofty creative levels.

3. Gideon Falls #5 by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino

Holy wow, the art in this comic is insane. I know that’s vague and non-descriptive, but if you’ve read it, you’re absolutely nodding along. The truth is it’s hard to to describe these visuals without using dude, did you see that language. The art is imaginative to the point one wonders exactly when Andrea Sorrentino disregarded conventions and straight up started doing whatever he wanted.

There are bold choices, to be sure, every one of which pays off, including red circles around details for emphasis, and arrows telling readers where to look. It could come off as proscriptive, but given how engrossing this story is, it instead feels helpful. I’ve liked this comic from the start (see my long-ago review of Gideon Falls #1), but Gideon Falls #5 somehow reaches new levels of creativity, storytelling, and absolutely bananas visual stimulation on every page. Absolutely bananas.

2. Wonder Woman #51 by Steve Orlando & Laura Braga

With Wonder Woman #51, Steve Orlando and Laura Braga tell a stand-alone story with a deep and nuanced understanding of this character, one that shows exactly why she’s been relevant all these years. It’s the type of small-scale story that plays to a hero’s essence, the type done ad nauseum with Batman and Superman but not nearly as much with Wonder Woman. This comic, however, helps to fix that.

It’s just so perfect. Aside from the adept characterization, it features an engaging and emotional narrative that speaks to Diana’s core values. It sounds cliche, but I teared up here at the drama and and smiled at the jokes. This is, to me, an issue we’ll be hearing new creators talk about on podcasts 10 years from now, citing it as an influence for the way they write/think about the character.

Read our review of Wonder Woman #51.

1. Saga #54 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Nothing will ever be the same. If you’ve read the issue, check out Why Saga #54 Hurts So Bad. If you haven’t, please read the issue and then click that link. There’s just no good way to discuss this without spoilers. Simply put, though, we’ll just note that this is the most consequential issue yet in the best series in comics.

That does it for our July list. Please check back to the site tomorrow for our new feature, Five Questions With Creators, which is being kicked off with writer Zack Kaplan, of Eclipse, Port of Earth, and Lost City Explorers!

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of July 2018 here plus more of our monthly lists here .

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, CA.

Top 10 Most Anticipated Comics of 2019

Original Graphic Novels

Individual Issues

Others Receiving Votes

Shout Outs

Top Comics December 2018

Top Comics to Buy for December 26, 2018

Other Comics Out This Week

Top Comics to Buy for December 19, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes

Top Comics to Buy for December 12, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes

Shout Outs

Top Comics November 2018

Quick Hits

Top 5 Best New #1 Comics of November 2018

Top Comics to Buy for November 28, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes

Shout Outs

Top Comics October 2018

Top Comics to Buy for October 24, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes

Top Comics to Buy for October 17, 2018

Top New #1 Comics

Others Receiving Votes

Shout Outs

Top Comics of September 2018

Quick Hits

Top 5 Best Comics of September 2018

Top Comics to Buy for September 26, 2018

Top New #1 Comics for September 26, 2018

Others Receiving Votes

Shout Outs

Top 5 Comics of August 2018

Top Comics to Buy for September 12, 2018

Recommended New #1 Comics for September 12, 2018

Others Receiving Votes

Quick Hits

Top 5 Best #1 Comics of August 2018

Shout Outs

Top 5 Comics of July 2018