Dark Horse Penguin Picks: May 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
The Legend of Luther Arkwright HC
Bryan Talbot is a legend in the comics industry. While he may be best known these days for his “Grandville” series of graphic novels, or his contributions to “The Sandman” and many other titles from the late Vertigo imprint, it was his multiversal sci-fi epic “The Adventures of Luther Arkwright” that made his name. Over a decade later he published a sequel, “Heart of Empire,” that surprised everyone with how good it was and further cemented his reputation. You’d think he’d stop there, but now he’s gone and turned the “Arkwright” saga into a proper trilogy with this volume.
All you need to know about the title character is that he’s a being of immense psychic power capable of traversing the multiverse. For “Legend,” Talbot has decided to pit him against someone even more powerful than he is for the fate of all reality. It’s a very simple premise that I wouldn’t think much of if this was coming from a first-time creator. Coming from Talbot, all I can say is, “BRING IT ON!” because I’m sure he’s found a way to make this setup compelling both visually and narratively. It also means I’ve got four months (this is advance-solicited for June) to refresh my memory on the finer points of the first two volumes in case there are any callbacks here.
Murder Inc.: Jagger Rose #1 (of 6): It’s taken a while but Bendis and Michael Oeming are finally getting around to telling us more of the story of the America that’s still controlled by organized crime. Vol. 2 left off with newly made man Valentine Gallo deciding that it’s time for one family to control the entire country. So it’s a little odd that the title of this miniseries implies we’ll be seeing things from the perspective of his assassin friend Jagger Rose. There’s also the fear that this will represent more of what we got from the previous volume: Lots of style and good ideas, not a lot of narrative meat tying it all together. Which has been true of a lot of stuff that Bendis has given us in recent years. I’m still interested, and there’s also the promise of seeing what role the Pope is going to play in this story as well.
Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea #1 (of 4): Hyperborea is a relatively unexplored setting within the Mignolaverse. The most I can tell you about it off the top of my head is that it’s where Gall Dennar, he who wielded the sword that turned Howards into a badass in the present day, hails from. This leaves me a little curious as to why I should care about its fall. Or Miss Truesdale, who is also a member of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra and whose fate is tied to that setting by a vision from its leader. Will she be able to change the history of Hyperborea, or is her presence the last thing needed to cement its fall? Mike Mignola writes this by himself while Jesse Lonergan provides the art. Normally picking up a Mignolaverse title would be a no-brainer for me, but not so much these days as their quality hasn’t been enough to justify the hardcover editions they’re being published in.
Maskerade #5: Kevin Smith’s vigilante series gets upgraded from a miniseries to an ongoing. Good for him, and co-writer Andy McElfresh and artist Giulia Gualazzi. I’d be excited myself, except that I’m waiting for the first volume to be collected in softcover rather than hardcover. Or maybe I should just buy the single issues and save myself some money that way. Yeah, that’s what I should do.
Castle Full of Blackbirds HC: The title story from the best Mignolaverse collection in recent memory, “The Return of Effie Kolb and Others,” introduced us to Sarah May Blackburn. She has powers she’s not sure how to use, and while they did help out Hellboy, Sarah was urged to seek out the Linton School for Girls to learn more about them. Mike Mignola writes this miniseries by himself again with Angela Slatter providing the art. I could complain AGAIN about how nearly all Mignolaverse titles are being issued in hardcover collections, but I think I’ll see about taking my own advice and pick up the four issues of this miniseries in digital form.
Cold Iron: Written by Andy Diggle, which is something I haven’t had cause to write for a while now. The man who gave us “The Losers,” a fun but abridged run on “Hellblazer,” and the best parts of “Thief of Thieves,” is back when an aspiring singer-songwriter living on the Isle of Man finds herself caught in a conflict between worlds. Nick Brokenshire provides the art for this four-issue miniseries, which I have less of a problem paying for as it’s being issued in softcover.
Emanon vol. 4: Emanon Wanderer, Part Three: Another manga title that was put on hiatus by the publisher makes its return. If you’re wondering why I didn’t give this the Above-the-Board recommendation, it’s because Kenji Tsuruta and Shiinji Kaijo’s series has generally been just alright. The art is always lovely, but the storytelling has yet to really grab me. While I’m glad that we’re finally getting more of this series, I’m still left wishing that we could’ve got a volume in another series that has been on hiatus at the publisher for far longer. (Still haven’t given up hope on “Eden: It’s an Endless World” yet…)
Groo: Gods Against Groo: Is this the end of the “Groo & Gods” trilogy, or do Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier plan to make it a quadrilogy? For their sake, I hope they quit while they’re behind. Maybe this will be the volume to finally do justice to the concept of gods in Groo’s world, but I kind of doubt it. If anything, I’d love to see the series get back to doing one-off stories with members of the series’ supporting cast again as they did with the last genuinely good “Groo” series, “Friends & Foes.”
Spy Superb HC: $40 for a 176-page hardcover collection?! I know I expressed some interest in this holy-idiot-as-spy miniseries when it was first solicited, but I really don’t like creator Matt Kind THAT much. Maybe I’ll save the money I was going to spend on this and check out his demonic cat miniseries “Hairball” instead.