Image Previews Picks: February 2018
Netflix bought Millarworld last month and the “Kick-Ass” comics are coming to Image until the streaming company figures out this whole “publishing comics” thing. There’s going to be a new “Kick-Ass” series featuring an African-American mother of two who is also a veteran of the Afghanistan war. While having a minority protagonist for the next iteration of this commercially successful series would normally be a good thing, I have one reservation. That would be the fact that Millar is such a cynic that he’s doing this only because he wants the progressive plaudits and can turn them into sales along the way. “But Jason,” I hear you say, “We know you really don’t like Millar’s work so aren’t you just reaching for another reason to hate on him with this?” I’ll admit that might be true. Except even when Millar is trying to be progressive in his work, he can still find a way to spoil it with his trademark crassness. So we’ll see if anyone cheering the new announcement about the protagonist for this new “Kick-Ass” series is doing so after its first arc is over.
VS #1: Good news everyone! In the future, war is no longer horrible! In fact, it’s become a spectator sport where superstar soldiers march into battle for fame, profit, and glory (of their sponsor nations). I, for one, cannot wait for this glorious new era where war has now been regulated to such a degree. Suck on that, Hideo Kojima! This comes to us from writer Ivan Brandon, who has done a few series for Image (“Black Cloud” and “Drifter”) that I have yet to check out. The real draw for me here is that Esad Ribic of “Secret Wars” and “Thor: God of Thunder” fame is doing the art here. Even if Brandon’s scrip turns out to be just “fine” Ribic’s art should make this worth the price of admission. Though, I hope the artist has cleared his Marvel schedule enough to allow this series to come out without delays.
Death of Love #1 (of 5): It’s been a few solicitations since his last title was announced so it makes sense that we’re getting a new series from Justin Jordan in February. While I’ve never really been a fan of his work outside the “Luther Strode” series, this one at least has an amusingly demented premise. Philo Harris makes one bad drunken decision and winds up with the ability to see cupidae at work. Believing that love sucks, he decides to go after them all — with a chainsaw! Sounds like the perfect anti-Valentine’s Day story. The art is from Donal Delay who I have not heard of before and whose name sounds vaguely pseudonymous.
Twisted Romance #’s 1-4 (of 4): Also in time for Valentine’s Day is this miniseries anthology written by “No Mercy’s” Alex De Campi and with art from four different artists — including her collaborator on that series Carla Speed McNeil. Expect stories about a business dedicated to breaking up couples, a photographer’s assistant who falls in love with a shy Hollywood actor, a starship captain who captures a pretty space pirate, and a dragon who provides a home for a princess who refuses to grow up. As with the above-mentioned series, most of the stories here don’t sound like the conventional fare you’d expect for the holiday. Which is fine by me and De Campi’s involvement gives me the impression that these stories will turn out all the better for it.
Multiple Warheads: Ghost Throne: The first volume of “Multiple Warheads” was the kind of thing you’d expect from creator Brandon Graham. Imaginatively stunning visuals propping up a thin plot and characters. While that volume was billed as a “vol. 1” it didn’t leave me anticipating the release of a second one. To my surprise, it turns out that “vol. 2” was being serialized in the pages of the “Island” anthology Graham put together with some of his friends. When that anthology ended, it apparently left the story unfinished. Hence this one-shot. If you were following “Multiple Warheads” in “Island” then you’re going to want to pick this up. Everyone else can just wait for the eventual paperback collection.
The Wicked + The Divine: 1923: Yeah, that collection with all of the “WicDiv” one-shots is probably going to be a thick one by the time they finally get around to doing it. This is the longest of them at 56 pages and one that throws down the comics-prose hybrid gauntlet at Jonathan Hickman. I have a feeling Hickman won’t respond to it because he’s already hip-deep in his own projects (and maybe even plotting out his first DC series, possibly). Still, this sounds like fun as it catches us up with the gods in the Roaring Twenties in the middle of an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. I’m committed to waiting for that collection of all the “WicDiv” one-shots, but hearing about installments like this one make it awfully hard.
Moonshine #7: Well, it’s been a while since issue #6. Given how the first arc of this series didn’t exactly set the world on fire, I’m betting that sales for this issue are probably going to be pretty disappointing. Unless the five variant covers this issue will have manage to prop it up and postpone the sales drop to issue #8. As for the content of the issue itself, disgraced mafioso Lou Pirlo was bit by a werewolf in the last arc and is now hiding out in New Orleans with his new girl Delia. Now he’s a target for the kind of hunter that likes going after big supernatural game. That sounds like a promising start for an arc which could improve on the first one. Assuming that Azzarello and Risso stick to fleshing it out and keep the stylistic digressions to a minimum.
Sacred Creatures vol. 1: From Pablo Raimondi, whose art I loved when he was working on the “Madrox” miniseries and latter-day “X-Factor” run with Peter David. His “Books of Doom” miniseries with Ed Brubaker was pretty nice too. Now he’s working with legendary inker Klaus Janson on this series about an expectant father and college grad who finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy to unbalance the scales of supernatural power in our world. There’s not much to go on here, except for the art and the length of this volume. It clocks in at a whopping 312 pages for $23. It’s almost like we’re getting three volumes in one. Now I’ll just have to find out if Raimondi and Janson have packed enough story into this volume to match.
Black Science vol. 7: Extinction is the Rule: In which we’re told that the Eververse is collapsing under its own weight and the Dimensionauts have to head to its center in order to save it. This description of vol. 7 does not take into account that vol. 6 left off on two different cliffhangers across two different realities. So I’m kind of curious how we’re going to get from these cliffhangers to the main plot of the volume. In only four issues too. I don’t doubt that Rick Remender has a plan for that, I just hope that he doesn’t forget to include some hope and maybe a little triumph for our protagonists along the way.
Lazarus X+66: Not the next volume of “Lazarus” but a series of one-offs exploring different characters and places from its world. Co-creator Greg Rucka is still in the driver’s seat, but he’s only co-plotting the stories here. His fellow co-creator Michael Lark only provides the cover(s), with the talented likes of Mack Chater, Justin Greenwood, and Steve Lieber handling the art. This may not advance the main story, but Rucka and Lark have created a fascinating world over the course of “Lazarus’” first five volumes and this looks like a great way to get to know it better. Being solicited here along the same lines is the third “Lazarus” sourcebook Vassalovka. Readers of the series will know that family is home to the Dragon who managed to hand the other Lazarii their asses at the end of vol. 5. What kind of family could create such a monster? Read this and find out.
The Walking Dead #176: In which we’re promised an audience with a different kind of Governor. Well, it’s not like she can be as bad as the last one featured in this series…