Dark Horse Previews Picks: February 2022

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Ether Omnibus

Boone Dias is the kind of insufferable genius who doesn’t believe in fantasy.  Which is why he’s made it his life’s work to explore the otherdimensional fantasy realm of Ether in order to make sense of the rules and laws which govern its very existence.  Though his actions prove to be a never-ending source of frustration for his few friends there, Ether’s survival is ultimately in Boone’s hands when his chief rival tries to take over the world for himself.  This three-volume series comes to us from writer Matt Kindt and artist David Rubin.  Kindt said that he wrote the series as a way of dealing with his frustrations with the fantasy genre, and that’s how we wind up with a protagonist who’s likeable in spite of himself.  A better selling point for this series is the fantastic art from Rubin.  He’s one of the best artists working in comics today, and “Ether” allows him to really show off his skills as he gets to draw some incredible fantasy landscapes, characters, and situations.  The writing isn’t bad, but it’s the art that’s the real star of the show here.

Norse Mythology III #1 (of 6):  The Neil Gaiman adaptation bus keeps on truckin’ in these solicitations.  Veteran adapter P. Craig Russell returns to handle the duties here and is joined for this issue by David Rubin.  Who, if you’ve read what I just wrote about his work on “Ether,” sounds more than qualified to tell us a tale about how Thor and Tyr have to go looking for a magic cauldron all because a sea giant doesn’t want to throw a banquet for the gods.  Also solicited here is the hardcover edition of Norse Mythology II which promises more of the same, which was clearly good enough to warrant this third miniseries.

Manor Black:  Fire in the Blood #1 (of 4):  While we’re on the subject of miniseries that were good enough to warrant follow-ups, Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Tyler Crook’s miniseries about a family of sorcerers in crisis gets a follow-up.  The problem here is that while family patriarch Roman Black has taken a new sorcerer under his wing after she managed to do the impossible, the rest of his family sees her as more of a threat than a benefit.  So far, so standard.  I’d like to give this the benefit of the doubt, but after reading the first omnibus edition of Bunn and Crook’s “Harrow County,” I can’t say that they’ve earned it here.

We Only Kill Each Other:  In the days before WWII broke out, Nazi sympathizers were doing their best to steer America into an alliance with Germany and Adolf Hitler.  There was one group of individuals that wasn’t keen on seeing this happen:  Jewish-American gangsters.  In fact, they were willing to stop fighting between themselves to focus on fighting these Nazis on their home turf.  I’m certainly intrigued to know more about how this turned out.  That being said, this comes from writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Peter Krause.  While I’ve got fond memories of Krause’s work on “Irredeemable,” Phillips is also responsible for another series with an intriguing historical hook that ultimately didn’t deliver on its promise:  “The Butcher of Paris.”  Fortunately I don’t have to worry about paying full price for this as it’s a ComiXology Original and I can just wait for it to come on sale to find out if it’s any good or not.

Gantz Omnibus vol. 9:  Collecting vols. 25-27.  Not disappointed that this collection is in these solicitations.  Just disappointed that it’s the only manga in these solicitations.