It’s the return of one of our favorite columns — or at least one of my favorite columns — our weekly look at this week’s new comics and graphic novels. It seems like only yesterday that we kicked this column off at our original stomping grounds, The Great Curve, but it’s actually been more than a decade. Yikes, does time fly …
Anyway, here are a few of this week’s comics that I’m planning on checking out. You can see the complete list of this week’s releases over at The Comic List, and I encourage you to share what you’re planning to get in the comments below.
comic books
Strange Adventures #1 by Tom King, Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner (DC): Adam Strange rockets back into his own title, courtesy of the Mister Miracle team of Tom King and Mitch Gerads, and the three best words you can see in a DC comic book these days — Evan “Doc” Shaner. This is a Black Label title, which I assume gives the creative team more freedom to do pretty much whatever they want to Mr. Strange, which should be good news for readers. There’s also a trailer you can check out.
Billionaire Island #1 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh (Ahoy Comics): Following his work on the recently wrapped Second Coming, Mark Russell has a new title coming from Ahoy Comics. Alex Dueben will have an interview with Russell about the new book tomorrow, which is about an island where the wealthiest people in the world move to in order to escape all the problems they’ve created. These sorts of things are real. Russell is a master satirist, and Pugh’s work complements it well.
King of Nowhere #1 by Maxwell Prince and Tyler Jenkins (BOOM! Studios): BOOM! has been on a bit of a roll recently, publishing some interesting creator-centric titles like Something Is Killing the Children, Once & Future, Folklords and Alienated, just to name a few. The company has been saying that publishers need to earn space on a retailer’s shelf and preaching a “quality vs. quantity” message that has resulted in the company putting out less comics each month. With a message like that. it’s important to deliver, and my eyes, they have been — I think I’m buying more BOOM! titles these days than I ever have. Part of that, of course, is the caliber of talent on these titles, and this one is no different — I’ve been loving Prince’s writing on the quirky horror series Ice Cream Man, and Jenkins’ stylish art really made Black Badge a can’t-miss series.
Outer Darkness/Chew #1 by John Layman, Afu Chan, Rob Guillory (Image Comics): This comic will somehow bring together the worlds and characters of Outer Darkness and Chew, two comics that couldn’t be more different, but are both written by the mighty John Layman. Let’s talk, though, about timing — given everything that’s going on in the world, the timing couldn’t be better for something Chew related to return to comic shops. How did Layman plan this? How did he know???
Strange Academy by Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos (Marvel): Doctor Strange does the unthinkable and starts up his own magic academy in the Marvel Universe. This sports a wonderful creative team in Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos, and features kids from places like Asgard, Weirdworld, the Dark Dimension and Otherworld, among others, learning to use their magical abilities and bringing on the teen drama. With the current X-Men regime not really interested in the “school” aspect anymore, this could scratch that itch. Plus the characters Ramos has designed look super cool.
graphic novels
Familiar Face by Michael DeForge (Drawn + Quarterly): Michael DeForge aims his surrealist brilliance at a world where people’s bodies and surroundings are constantly changing, thanks to a “nameless, faceless force.” The focus is on someone who works for the government’s department of complaints and has to listen to everyone’s issues with these system updates. Here’s an excerpt.
The Fire Never Goes Out by Noelle Stevenson (Harper Collins): The creator of Nimona and co-creator of the Lumberjanes (not to mention writer of the new She-Ra cartoon) returns with a new book that collects essays and minicomics about her life. “Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at her art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for her debut graphic novel, Nimona, Noelle captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with a wit, wisdom, and vulnerability that are all her own.”
Goblin Girl by Moa Romanova (Fantagraphics): This semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Stockholm-based Moa Romanova “grapples with gender, power and bad Tinder dates,” according to the Publishers Weekly review. I’m looking forward to checking this one out.