Dark Horse Previews Picks: December 2022
Hmmmm… In light of recent events, I think I’m going to have to re-title the next edition of this.
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Delver vol. 2
I thought that the first volume of this series offered an interesting perspective on the fantasy trope of a dungeon crawl, with some surprisingly intense action to go along with it. It just needed some better art to really make it stand out. The series is returning with its second volume in February, so we’ll see if artist Clive Hawken has stepped up his game by then. In the meantime, co-writers MK Reed and C. Spike Trotman are set to continue the adventures of Merit and Clem now that they’ve emerged from the Dungeon to find out that their hamlet of Oddgoat has now become a bustling town. How does this change things for them? Will they seek their fortune in the Dungeon again? Does the talk of empire and colonization in the solicitation text suggest that “Delver” is going to turn into a series with a Message? We’ll see about all of these, though I’m most interested in checking out how the economics of dungeon crawling have changed for our protagonists.
Air vol. 2: The first volume of the reprint of writer G. Willow Wilson and artist M.K. Perker’s Vertigo series is still a month out from publication. If nothing else this shows that the publisher is committed to republishing (at least the first half) of this series.
The Art of Peter Bergting HC: One of Mike Mignola’s most frequent collaborators gets an artbook chronicling his thirty years of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror illustrations. While I’ve generally liked Bergting’s work, I felt it suffered in comparison to another contributor to another frequent Mignola collaborator, Ben Stenbeck. Specifically, I never thought that Bergting’s work on “Baltimore” was equal to that of his predecessor. That said, this artbook looks to cover the full breadth of the artist’s career, so maybe there’s work there that will change my mind. It will be interesting, at least, to see what kind of work Bergting has delivered outside of his collaborations with Mignola.
Assassin’s Apprentice #1 (of 6): You know the drill: A kid finds out he’s the bastard offspring of royalty and heir to an ancient power as well. This is based off of a book series of the same title from writer Robin Hobb, who’s credited as a co-writer here along with Jody Houser, who’s no stranger to adapting work from other media. Ryan Kelly provides the art and you have all the ingredients for what looks to be a serviceable adaptation/spinoff. I’m bringing this up because the kid who’s heir to this power is named Fitz. Why does this matter? That’s because I spent the entire summer catching up on an anime about a race of people who were royally screwed over because another royal with power named Fitz felt bad about it and thought they deserved to die. It was really good… even if it took some 55 episodes to REALLY get there. What I’m saying is that, in spite of this superficial connection, I’m not expecting this to be on the same level as “Attack on Titan.”
Avatar: Adapt or Die: Like all collected editions that Dark Horse solicits, this is advance-solicited by two months. Which means that this “Avatar” comic will be arriving in February. Call me crazy, but I have this feeling that if the publisher was serious about publishing this book at the best time, they’d crash it into stores in December. Just a thought, really.
Blade of the Immortal: Deluxe Edition HC vol. 8: Almost there… though, I imagine anyone reading this for the first time is going to find the wait between volumes 8 and 9 particularly brutal. That’s because this collects vols. 23-25, which means that it cuts off during the first half of Manji and Shira’s final battle. For anyone who’s concerned about that, let me just assure you that the wait will very much be worth it to find out how it ends.
Breathers: Continuing Dark Horse’s partnership with publisher It’s Alive! comes this miniseries from creator Justin Madison. The premise is simple: The air has become poisonous and humanity is still trying to survive in spite of this. In this setting we get stories about a detective battling his past demons, a mother and daughter fighting to stay together, a mask salesman trying to make up for past sins, and a pair of siblings trying to find out how the apocalypse came about. The cover suggests that you should brace yourself for a low-key bummer of a read, but this still strikes me as being different enough to be worth a look. That it’s priced at a reasonable $30 for 464 pages certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Groo: Gods Against Groo #1 (of 4): It’s been a while, but Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier are back to finish the trilogy they started with “Fray of the Gods” and “Play of the Gods.” This miniseries picks up where the last one left off as a version of Groo has now joined the Pantheon of Gods as the God of Frays and Cheese Dip. I’d say that hilarity ensues, but those previous two miniseries lacked real satiric bite compared to previous on-target stories like “Mightier Than the Sword” and “The Hogs of Horder.” I can’t see this being any different, but I’m never one to turn down new art from Aragones.
The Legend of Luther Arkwright HC: Bryan Talbot’s “The Adventures of Luther Arkwright” was a groundbreaking story that inspired a generation of (mostly British) comic book creators from Alan Moore, to Neil Gaiman, to Warren Ellis. His sequel, “Heart of Empire,” wasn’t as groundbreaking but was much more well-loved than you’d expect for a follow-up to such a seminal work. Now Talbot is back with the third (and likely final) installment in the Arkwright saga as the title character sees himself pursued across the multiverse by a far superior adversary with the survival of humanity hanging in the balance. I may not have the same respect for this series that others do, but “Grandville” made me a believer in Talbot’s greatness. I’ve got a few months, so I’ll likely see about re-reading the previous volumes before picking this up.
The Lonesome Hunters: “B.P.R.D.” and “Harrow County” artist Tyler Crook flies solo with this story about an old, retired monster hunter who finds himself forced back into the game. This is after his path crosses with that of a young girl and monsters invade the tenement where he’s living. Now he’s on a road trip with the girl to find the source of these monsters and maybe even earn a measure of peace in his old age. This doesn’t sound bad, just really familiar. Which means that your interest in this is likely going to be proportional to how excited you are about Crook writing and illustrating his first miniseries.
Mind MGMT: Bootleg HC: The original series ended pretty definitively, which means that this doesn’t feel like a necessary follow-up right from the jump. Not helping matters is that everything creator Matt Kindt has done since hasn’t been on the same level. Sure, this boasts art from talented people like Farel Dalrymple, David Rubin, and Jill Thompson, as well as Matt Lesniewski, but a big part of the appeal of the original series was in seeing how Kindt used so many stylistic tricks of the comics form to draw you in as a reader. It’s something that has been missing from comics that he hasn’t illustrated himself and just one more reason I’m going to be passing on this story. The fact that it’s just as expensive for only a little more than half as many pages as previous “Mind MGMT” volumes doesn’t help either.
Murder Inc. vol. 2: Versus America: Or, “The United States vs. Murder Inc.” if you remember what this volume was originally published as. Vol. 1 left off with Valentine Gallo deciding to embrace the life his mother laid out for him, and now he gets to experience the consequences of that choice in this volume. It’s been a while, but I remember this volume being more of a showcase for artist Michael Avon Oeming’s work than Bendis’ writing. The story did take some interesting twists and it did leave off on a satisfyingly nihilistic direction as Valentine tries to take control of his life for once. All that is for naught, however, as there’s been no follow-up to this series since. Is there reason to be optimistic in that area? Actually, yes…
Pearl vol. 3: …because if this volume is any indication, Bendis does have the intention of following up on his previous series with Dark Horse. Granted, “Pearl” isn’t the series that I was really hoping he’d follow up on. Vol. 2 was kind of a mess with the title character finding out more about her mother’s Yakuza heritage and the story jumping all over the place as she decides what to do about it. The volume ended with a reasonable amount of closure, so I’m not sure where things are going to go in this volume. However, the solicitation does ask, “WHO IS THE GHOST DRAGON OF SAN FRANCISCO?” so I guess that’s a start. A better question from me would be, “WHEN ARE THE ENDO TWINS GOING TO GET THEIR OWN MINISERIES?”