For new releases 4-13-22!
We know we missed last week, but don't worry, we are resurrected this week and back with your Weekly Round-Up, our top 4 picks of the week! Let's get into it!
Lauren’s Picks
Honorable mention: West of Sundown (from last week)
Since I missed out on it last week, I picked up West of Sundown this week and hot diggity DAMN is this a cool vampire story!!! I adore the aesthetics of it and it’s fun to see what it’s like for a human helping a vampire to go through their moral turmoil. And you cannot beat the covers!! Definitely go check this out if you haven’t already!
Now, for this week’s books…
DC Comics
Writer: Michael W. Conrad and Becky Cloonan
Artist: Rosi Kampe and Becky Cloonan
Colorist: Marissa Louise
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
The Trial of The Amazons event continues and the trial has started! I really enjoyed seeing how the different individuals of each Amazonian tribe started coming together before the trials, and how the “chosen one” for each tribe in the trials worked together so.. Easy, almost. It’s great to see how each “chosen one” was chosen for a reason- they are quality leaders that demonstrate the values of compassion, empathy, and battle-readiness first and foremost, aside from any and all politics. Cloonan’s writing doesn’t hit as hard for me as Stephanie Williams’ writing has ever since she started Nubia and The Amazons, but it’s still solid enough to propel the story forward and write the characters well. I wasn’t the biggest fan of all the art in this issue, but that doesn’t mean it was “bad”- just not my cup of tea. Overall, this is still one of the best events I’ve read in years and I sure hope it’s not the last Amazonian one!
Image Comics
Writer: Scott Synder
Art: Tony S. Daniel
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Andworld Design
Blacktop Bill is one of the greatest villains ever. There, I said it- and he’s barely been around a year or two! For me, his creepiness yet gray area make him so fun to read and make him half the reason this series is still one of the best. It makes it even more interesting that (spoilers for the series) the team now has to work with Bill- even after all he’s done to them and their loved ones. I LOVE all the action in this issue and how phenomenal the art is, and the way the art only further highlights how fucked up this world is. Specifically, how even the good must become “bad” in some way to achieve their supposed-great goals. The final scene of this issue will only heighten the stakes and leave you with more questions you want to be answered, in the best way possible. Read Nocterra!
Vault Comics
Writer: Tres Dean
Artist: Sebastian Piriz
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Jim Campbell
This series has been the most beautiful surprise! Kaiju, monsters, quality family drama, and solid representation? You can’t ask for much more than that! Check out my full review on The GWW and why it received a 9.5/10 from me! https://thegww.com/we-ride-titans-3-review/
Image Comics
Writer: David M. Booher
Artist: Zoe Thorogood
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Original Story by Joe Hill
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with David M. Booher on my Sunday morning show, Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Show, and he wasn’t kidding when he said this issue would continue with the pain! Between the narration and the art, this story gets you to sink into your emotions and… well, drown in them a bit. Ever watched or read The Perks of Being A Wallflower? While this is an entirely different story than that, the emotional affect of Rain is so similar to The Perks of Being A Wallflower. Rain is beautiful, majestic, heart-wrenching, and doesn’t hold back on showing what grief and trauma really do to a person. Even the best people end up making questionable or immoral decisions, and even us as readers will at times justify them because… well, if we felt that horrible, we’d want to do the same thing, right? I can’t recommend this one enough. Go pick it up!
You can find Lauren, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bi, at all her links here:
Joe’s Picks
Image Comics
By: Various
Anthologies can be very hit or miss, but overall I thought this was a solid read. A nice balance of some fresh content from creators I enjoy, some more backstory to the ever expanding Massive-Verse that started in Radiant Black, and some interesting stories from creators I haven't heard of at all before!
Special shout-out to Wyatt Kennedy and Luana Vecchio though, between their story in here and Bolero going on at the moment, (which you absolutely need to check out if you haven't already, that series is something special, so well done) I can't wait to see what they do together next, from the rest of their story in this series and beyond!
Also "Gospel for a New Century", the name for their story, gets my attention immediately, such a captivating name to me. Great, intriguing setup, gorgeously smooth and vibrant art as always from Vecchio, very excited to see where this in particular goes, as well as what future issues of this in general are like!
Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Zack Kaplan
Artist: Wilton Santos
Colorist: Jason Wordie
Letterer: Jim Campbell
I've got to be honest, there are some comics where I see the cover and it intrigues me, and then I read the solicit and go "Ooh this sounds like my kind of thing". I don't read many Dark Horse comics (although side note I did finally check out the first series of Black Hammer and that is as fantastic as I've always heard) but I'm glad I checked out this one as it was a great read.
Not a whole lot to say about it, but it's only 4 issues, so I'm interested to see what it does with the premise, and how it hopefully delivers a nice satisfying story in that time. Also I noticed Jim Campbell lettered this, which was a nice surprise as he also lettered my favorite comic, Alienated published by Boom! Studios.
Nice sci-fi feeling premise which will always pique my interest, with some well teased mystery and plot threads that I'm excited to see how they are explored over the next few issues.
Image Comics
Writer: David M. Booher
Artist: Zoe Thorogood
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Original Story by Joe Hill
What I love most about this series is how quickly it stepped up for me. I liked the first couple of issues, I thought they were good, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't enjoying it as much as some other people were. Then #3 came along and hit me hard. Like, my god. This issue continues that thread in honestly spectacular fashion.
For a while I couldn't put my finger on why, but despite seeming like a typical post apocalyptic story, this series has quite a refreshing feel to it to me. It must be partly to do with how fantastically Booher has been nailing the emotional beats in these last couple of issues. It doesn't feel sensationalised, this isn't actually about the world after this catastrophic event. It's just a story about our one main character on a journey. And it's done so well.
Not to even mention Thorogood's artwork and O'Halloran's coloring. It's just so grounded, so real, so plain almost. But in a good way? Just the simple grief of everyone that was left behind, after the Rain.
Definitely worth checking this series out if you haven't already!
DC Comics
Writer: Becky Cloonan & Michael Conrad
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Sarah Stern
Letterer: Becca Carey
Just such a joy to read. It's series like this, Robin, Nightwing, and others that I have so much fun reading each and every month they come out. I think what I like in particular about this series is the pacing. It feels so action-packed and fast-paced, so chaotic in a way I just love but never in a way where the issue feels too short. Often an issue will be all of those things but feel like it was over too soon. This is absolutely not that.
I adored Corona's artwork on Middlewest and The Me You Love in the Dark (very much worth checking out if you haven't already) so I've been really enjoying his art on this series. Not to mention with Stern's coloring, it's just so rich, vibrant, dynamic and just feels like it really pops in a fun pastely way which I'm really into.
Great stuff, another great issue of one of my favourite DC titles at the moment!
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 on Twitter for (albeit shorter) thoughts on comics he loves.
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