For new releases 2/9/22!
ITSSSS FEBRUARY EVERYONE! The "month of love", or whatever you call a month with insane social obligations and MORE candy! Jk Jk... however you celebrate the holiday of love, or however you don't, we hope you are staying safe and healthy! We are back with your Weekly Round-Up, our top 4 picks of the week! This week definitely felt bigger than any of the last month; comics are picking up and we can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds! Let's get into it!
Lauren’s Picks
Aftershock Comics
Writers: Erica Shultz & Van Jensen
Artist: Aneke
Letterer: Cardinal Rae
Editor: Mark Marts
Logo Design: Gary Bedell
This is the indie series I was missing at the very start of 2022! A fantastic psychological and political thriller that challenges what we see and believe in our society. I absolutely love stories where we journey with a journalist attempting to find the truth and Bylines in Blood is NO exception. I love that our main protagonist, Satya, is flawed as heck, yet she still is working to do the morally and ethically right thing. It’s great to see a flawed woman lead be written in a similar vein to how flawed male leads often are; messed-up, problematic, yet we can’t help but empathize with them. Somehow, we see the good, but without the “mother role” so often given to flawed women lead’s to make readers empathize with them automatically. Side characters like Tom add that nice relatable touch that many of us need to insert ourselves into this world. Overall, this book is dark, funny, brutal, and a breath of fresh air, and this is one indie you NEED to add to your pull!
BOOM! Studios
Writer: Casey Gilly
Art: Joe Jaro
Colorist: Joana Lafuente
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Designer: Grace Park
Editor: Elizabeth Brei
Assistant Editor: Gavin Gronenthal
As a huge fan of the BTVS show, this book is like a warm hug on a winter evening. Ever since I originally finished the TV series, I never found a book or comic that felt like that show did. For me, nothing else quite got the characters, world, and feeling of BTVS right. Well, it’s finally here! In this dystopian AU, every character feels exactly like they did back in the BTVS show- just older, more weary, and more determined than ever. I’ve been a huge fan of stories that age up beloved characters (ex: Catwoman: Lonely City) and Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer is now on that list. This issue is hilarious, it’s heart wrenching, it’s action-packed, and it’s the motivation I needed to believe in the Buffy franchise again. If you’re a Buffy fan, you HAVE to read this series!
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterist: VC’s Cory Petit
I had no idea until I picked it up, but this is a Devil’s Reign Tie-In! If you’ve been reading that event (which you SHOULD be!), then you know that OUR Moon Knight, Marc Spector, is currently in prison. You know who isn’t, though? His spiritual brother, Hunter’s Moon! In this issue, we get to hang out with Hunter’s Moon and IT. IS. A. TREAT! Cappuccio pulled NO punches on the art of this issue. I can’t say more without spoiling it, but let me just say- this might be my favorite issue so far. It goes further into the lore of their god, Khonshu, and the results are absolutely mind-blowing. I am SO excited for more Moon Knight!
DC Comics
Writer: Tee Franklin
Art: Max Severin
Colorist: Marissa Louise
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Everyone, please join me in a circle of sadness, because my FAVORITE SERIES HAS ENDED! :( :( :( and we STILL don’t even have a release date for Season 3 of the HQ animated series yet! What am I supposed to do now, DC??? HUH??? If S3 isn’t ready, that’s okay, just let this creative team write more!! :D
Seriously, this finale was absolutely perfect for a near-perfect series! If you watched my award show for last year, then you know this was my favorite series of the year. It not only captures the tone of the HQ animated series perfectly but Franklin and Severin add so much MORE to this world. This last issue tied up all ends beautifully, but not without ripping my heart out first. Seriously, I’m pretty sure these sapphics now have my heart forever and I have NO intention of getting it back.
A HUGE congrats to Franklin, Severin, Louise, and Esposito on a MAGNIFICENT series. DC, I’m serious, call this team back to do more ASAP. Like, right now. <3
You can find Lauren, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi, at all her links here:
Joe’s Picks
DC Comics
Writer: Mariko Tamaki / Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Max Raynor / Fernando Blanco
Colorist: Luis Guerrero / Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Ariana Maher / Rob Leigh
A weekly schedule makes everyone very wary of what the run is going to be like, but this has been so good so far! I'm loving the exploration of the twist at the end of #1050, it's something that seems really obvious now but I had never thought of. They're just one of those characters that I always find really interesting and love their costume whenever they show up. Good art, interesting story intrigued to see where it goes.
But honestly, that main story has slowed down a bit, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means at the moment for me the backup is really shining. I've loved Rosenberg's work so far with Tyler Boss on What's the Furthest Place From Here, and I'm loving it here. His character work, his use of the surrounding Bat villains (and a couple of heroes), and the art has a somewhat rough retro tone that is perfect for this story set in the past. Good stuff all round!
Image Comics
Writer: Kyle Higgins & Megan Camarena
Artist: French Carlomagno
Colorist: Mattia Iacono
Letterer: Diego Sanches
In the days with increasing amounts of limited series and comic runs getting canceled too soon, it's nice to have a series you can reliably have to come back to every month.
I know in the beginning it was compared to Invincible a fair bit, but reading through the first compendium now I can definitely see that. It's just… good. I'm loving the characters, the ideas, and I'm very excited to see where it all goes.
This was a solid origin issue focusing on Radiant Pink, good writing, good artwork, nice insight into the character, just generally a good read.
DC Comics
Writer: Becky Cloonan & Michael Conrad
Art: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Sarah Stern & Ivan Plascenia
Letterer: Becca Carey
This series has been so much fun! First of all, I just adore the artwork. It's so bright, vibrant, kinetic, and just so full of energy! It makes for a really refreshing read each time a new issue comes out. I loved Corona's work on The Me You Love in the Dark, and then later in the year when I finally read Middlewest, both with Skottie Young (both absolutely worth reading, by the way) I just think his style is so good.
I'm interested in the story and very excited to see where it goes, and I love the whole dynamic between the Batgirls themselves and between them and Babs. I can definitely see the criticism but it hasn't affected my enjoyment of the book. This felt like more of a slower issue, but that ending was very intriguing! This has just been such an all-around refreshing addition to my pull list ever since it started a couple of months ago!
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Alessandro Cappuccio
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Cory Petit
This was a fairly quiet week for new comics, but this was definitely a stand-out, what an epic issue! I don’t have a whole lot to say about it, but man Cappuccio’s incredible artwork, along with some stunning coloring by Rosenberg just absolutely blows me away every single issue, and even more so this time!
Loving the story and the characters MacKay is building up, everyone working on this just proving time and time again why it is one of Marvel’s best books at the moment!
Absolutely worth checking out if you haven’t already!
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: beacons.ai/friendlynbhdbi
You can follow JoeLovesComics over onTwitter for (albeit shorter) thoughts on comics he loves.
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