Image Previews Picks: December 2021

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton vol. 1

Trigger Keaton’s action stardom was only equaled by his potential to act like a jerk to everyone around him.  It’s why no one was surprised when he wound up dead with a pool of potential suspects a mile wide and deep.  Taking up the task of solving Trigger’s murder are the titular six sidekicks, former stuntpeople who all had an axe to grind with the man and are maybe doing this so they can finally step into the limelight themselves.  Considering that this is coming from a writer whose last projects involved a host of oddball assassins trying to protect another assassin and a former basketball player turned vampire hunter, one has to wonder if Kyle Starks is playing it safe or just holding his cards close to his vest.  I’m certain that the latter is the case and that he and artist Chris Schweitzer are saving the really crazy stuff for those curious enough to give this a look.  Which is something that I’m very willing to do in the hopes that this will be able to live up to its potential in the way the unjustly ignored “Assassin Nation” was not able to.

Spawn:  The Scorched #1:  Once again it’s time for me to talk about how mystified I am regarding the resurgent popularity of “Spawn.”  I can understand people getting hyped for seeing Todd McFarlane actually illustrating (parts of) comics again with #300 & 301, but were people really just waiting for more versions of Spawn after all these years?  That’s the only conclusion I can draw here from the outsize successes of “Spawn’s Universe,” “King Spawn,” and “Gunslinger Spawn’s” reported first issue sales numbers.  Now we’ve got the “Spawn” team book featuring Vanilla Spawn, Redeemer, Gunslinger Spawn, Medieval Spawn, and She-Spawn.  I’d laugh at this if it wasn’t destined for commercial success.  In short, it’s the 90’s all over again and I doubt McFarlane’s writing now is any better than it was back then.

Nocterra:  Blacktop Bill Special:  Who is Blacktop Bill and how did he get that name?  I’ve got no clue, and that’s not just because I’m still waiting on the first volume of this series to hit print!  I’m guessing that he’s kind of a big deal or else co-creators Scott Snyder and Tony Daniel wouldn’t have set out to dedicate a whole special issue for his origin.  Also, Daniel only co-writes (or just co-plots, the solicitation isn’t clear) this issue as Denys Cowan gives this series some of his gritty style.

Stray Dogs:  Dog Days #1 (of 2):  The series that billed itself as “Lady and the Tramp” meets “Silence of the Lambs” was a surprise hit earlier this year.  You know what that means:  Time for a spinoff and/or sequel to keep the momentum going!  Writer Tony Fleecs and artist Trish Forstner have opted for the former as we’re getting a two-issue miniseries of short stories about the main cast.  The collection of the original miniseries is on my “to buy” list as while the premise sounded intriguing, its commercial success tells me that the creators have (likely) done something right.  So anyone who read the miniseries and liked it will be wanting to pick this up as it’s done by the same creative team.

Leone:  Notes on a Life:  Carmine Di Giandomenico left “The Flash” and a successful career at DC to create his own comics.  This is the result of that and it screams “Passion Project.”  It’s the true-life story of the title character, an Italian immigrant who came to the U.S. and discovered jazz in the process.  You’d think that’d be his calling, but the solicitation text tells us that he left the country again to save lives.  Di Giandomenico illustrates this OGN and co-writes it with Franchesco Colafella.  If you’re a fan of the creator’s work, then you’re probably going to want to check this out.  Me?  I’m only familiar with Di Giandomenico’s work from his time at Marvel, and it was generally all right.  Not good enough to get me to consider picking this up without some strong word-of-mouth, however.

Time [Squared] Omnibus:  Howard Chaykin enjoys more infamy than actual fame these days for the way he trolls progressives with his takes on race and gender in his comics.  Back when most of the comics in this collection were published, he was an avant-garde force to be reckoned with.  I imagine that Chaykin has a fanbase devoted enough to keep buying his comics today because they were so impressed by his work way back then.  As for me, I read through the first volume of “American Flagg” several years back and wondered what all the fuss was about.  That means this omnibus isn’t for me.  That said, if you did read the first two volumes of “Time [Squared]” when they came out, then you’re going to want to pick this up because it includes a new story “Hallowed Ground 0” to complete the series.

Copra:  Round Six:  Still need to pick up vol. 4.  Which I’ll do once I can find it at a deep enough discount.

Killadelphia vol. 3:  Home is Where the Hatred Is:  Right now, volumes one and two of this series are sitting on my “to sell” pile.  No, not even the promise of Vampire Thomas Jefferson is enough to get me to check out this volume.  That’s because the first two volumes’ story of Vampire John and Abigail Adams just wasn’t as fun or surprising in the way that I hoped they’d be.  Speaking of titles that didn’t quite live up to my expectations…

A Man Among Ye vol. 2:  I was all set to enjoy a story about female pirates in the golden age of piracy.  Writer Stephanie Phillips and original artist Craig Cermack did a good job of burning through my goodwill towards that premise with a story that offered no surprises and really wasn’t all that different from the male-driven pirate stories I’ve read in the past.  However, things can always improve in vol. 2 and it even has a new artist, Josh George, to hopefully add some visual pizzaz.  If I could give “Killadelphia” two volumes, then I think I can give this series the same fair shake as well.

The Old Guard:  Tales Through Time:  Here’s another series that decided to take the spinoff route between volumes.  Unlike “Stray Dogs,” creators Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez opened this series up to a host of new creators including but not limited to:  Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, Jason Aaron, Vita Ayala, Matt Fraction, Nicola Scott, and Rafael Albuquerque.  It’s a very strong lineup and it bodes well for the anthology’s hit-to-miss ratio.  It’ll also be interesting to see how well this sets up the title’s announced-but-not-solicited third and concluding volume.

What’s the Place Furthest From Here? #2:  Billed as a double-sized second issue.  For the same price as the first one, too.  I wonder if this will catch on…