For new releases 12/08/21!
We are back with your Weekly Round-Up, our top 4 picks of the week! A new Marvel event has officially started, a new creative team is on the main Bat book, and SO much more! Let's get into it!
Lauren’s Picks
DC Comics
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Alright, so listen- I am a SUCKER for the world of Krypton. I really am. I love that they are exploring Krypton before it’s destruction and expanding on its mythos. Furthermore- BABY KARA! YES! As a Kara Zor-El fan, I’m THRILLED. I only hope that one day we’ll get to see her grow up on Krypton as a child, not just a baby. I had a great time with this book! The art style can be a major hit or miss; however, the mythos was enough to keep me engaged and having a great time. I started to think of the art like animation, so that helped me. Overall, another fun exploration from DC!
DC Comics
Writer: Ram V
Art: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
The Swampy-boi season finale is here and it’s a beaut! Just like this entire line! Ram V continues to kill it with the new best Swampy story out there. There’s something about the elegance of his storytelling that goes unmatched, even by past greats. The Mikes continue to make the world of this book hauntingly magical through the perfect balance of bright neon colors, dark shadows, and gruesomely gorgeous lines. With a perfect cliffhanger to end on, I’m in love with this run and so glad it got extended to 16 issues. Here’s to another 16 after that! (If Ram has the story for it, that is)
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Pencils: R.B. Silva, Stefano Caselli, Valerio Schiti
Inker: Adriano Di Benedetto
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterist: VC’s Joe Sabino
Designer: Tom Muller
If you know me, you KNOW this was gonna be on this list unless it was -that- bad. Hickman’s continuation of House of X/Powers of X continues to be a cinematic masterpiece. All rules are going out the window and everything is at stake. The ending to this issue proves just that- but will the stakes carry on after Inferno? With Hickman leaving, and us knowing that the X-Office wants to continue Krakoa, will any of the status quo actually change? This issue gives me hope that the status quo will change just enough to keep things interesting through this next phase. I am SUPER excited about the next slate of X-books that this event is setting up for! Hickman, we better see you back when this next phase is over!
DC Comics
Writer: Tee Franklin
Art: Max Sarin
Colorist: Marissa Louise
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
This issue released digital-first this week! Every single time an issue of this comes out, it’s my #1 pick! Why?? BECAUSE IT’S THAT GOOD, every single time! Not even Inferno’s shocking moments could top how much I love the humor, joy, chaos, and fun of the HQ Eat Bang Kill Tour series! #1: If you haven’t already, watch the show #2: if you’ve watched the show and not read this, you are doing yourself a HUGE disservice. I only wish that the show AND comic could continue together. This has been the perfect way to fill the waiting void between season 2 and 3 of the HQ animated series. I love how Tee incorporates so much things that are so HQ but have been overlooked over the years: normalizing sex, sex work, disabled rep, and so much more! Bring Tee on the show to write, animated show peeps! Max, Marissa, and Taylor bring it all together by keeping the visuals of the book as close to the show as possible, while still bringing their own creativity in. Get this book digitally and then in print in January as well!
You can find Lauren, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi, at all her links here:
Joe’s Picks
DC Comics
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Jorge Molina
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Wasn't sure what to expect but liked Williamson's other work in the past so was looking forward to seeing what it was like. Just a nice solid new Batman issue. Jumped off Tynion's run after Joker War, so the last Batman I read was the Death in the Family hardcover (which I would recommend, by the way, since it's oversized and includes A Lonely Place of Dying as well) and honestly this reminded me of that a bit, but with a modern feel to it. Some classic Batman action, with a nice mystery set up at the end that I'm intrigued to see where it goes. Especially with that slight twist at one of the characters involved.
It seems with the announcement of Shadow War this 4 issue arc is more or less a buffer between events, but if done well it could at least be an enjoyable Batman story in itself. I wasn't too convinced about the interior artwork from the cover but actually on the inside I liked it. It felt like a step down from Jorge Jimenez, but in a good way? His artwork is spectacular but it can be a lot to look at, this had the same nice colours but felt more low key, fitting the more toned down nature of the story.
Not going to blow you away, but coming off an event that's almost a good thing. Just a nice solid new Batman story. If you were looking for a place to jump on give it a try and see what you think.
Marvel Comics
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
I loved this! I jumped onto the Daredevil run around #25 when Elektra became Daredevil, and ever since then I have been loving it. It's been providing a refreshing street level aspect to my pull list, whilst still very clearly being a superhero book. This felt like the culmination of the Kingpin over the last few years, and I am very excited to see where it goes.
As far as event starts go I thought this was an awesome set up, I loved seeing the balance of superhero action and general politics involving Fisk and others. This was a lot of fun and the artwork was spectacular, looking forward to seeing how it develops over the next few months.
I agree with some saying that maybe it wasn't necessarily the most original idea, but I thought it was well done. There were a couple of threads at the end that I thought were very intriguing, depending on how it goes this could turn out to be a good series.
Image Comics
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Art: Tyler Boss
Color Assistant: Clare DeZutti
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
I am in love with this book. The style, the aesthetic, the idea, the plot, there's a certain intrigue to it all that I just absolutely love. The first issue felt very artistic, in that there was a lot of style. I thought that was one of the strengths of it, but this issue is where we start to see where the story is going.
Once I started thinking about it and reflecting on the issue, it reminded me of this classic post apocalyptic YA series I loved as an early teenager. Classic to me anyway. It had that same feel, the feel of these young adults exploring a strange new world, venturing into the unknown and us seeing all the conflicts along the way.
I understand the comments about the chapter breaks I've seen, how it breaks up the pacing of the issue, and honestly I did feel the same at first, but once I got into it that was again one of the things I loved about it. I think it's due to the dark sandy lighting of this world and the art style in general, but they continue to give it that proper indie film atmosphere which I think just works so well.
I loved the first issue so much that I was kind of nervous to see what this would be like, but it's already standing out as one of my favorite new series. Check it out if you can.
Image Comics
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Geoff Shaw
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: John J. Hill
This! This feels like the Crossover issue I've been waiting for all these months! For me at it's best this series has been fun and at worse it has got on my nerves. The first few issues were fun but not what I was expecting, then I started to fall off, issue 7 was fantastic and just perfect but it wasn't part of the main story. Tied into it, yeah, but not part of it.
But these past few issues, the "something is killing the comics creators" plot thread was something I was most intrigued by when it was teased at the beginning of issue 2, so I was so glad we were returning to it here. This arc has been getting better and better, gradually redeeming the book for me, and then this was another perfect issue. It simply ticked all the boxes.
It was genius in a way similar to issue 7, but actually part of the main story so it had that going for it. The whole sequence midway through the book, exactly the kind of clever metaness that only this series can utilise. So simple but so effective. I just loved that whole idea, it was so well done and built on a similar sequence from last issue in the best way. Then the ending, I burst out laughing because I thought it was so brilliant. Again nothing mind blowing but just so hilariously fun.
The art was great, the story is moving along nicely, I'm really intrigued to see where this is going to go, and I just appreciated how this felt actually well done in its metaness rather than just a "hey look it's that character you love!" reference which although fun can be cheap. This feels much more earned and I'm so glad to say it feels like an issue like this is one I've been waiting for all along. Loved it, check it out!
What were your top picks this week? Let us know what we missed! You never know; your recommendation could end up on our lists in the future!
Come find us both on Twitter and let's talk comics and good times :)
You can find Lauren, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi, at all her links here
You can follow JoeLovesComics over on Twitter or (albeit shorter) thoughts on comics he loves.
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