Image Advance Arrivals: August 2023
(With Image leaving Diamond, the title for this column had to change. I forgot about finding a new one until it came time to post this, so it might change in the future if I think of something better.)
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
What’s the Furthest Place From Here? vol. 2
Yeah, I’m glad to see that this volume exists too. Writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Tyler Boss’ series about one group of kids trying to find their pregnant and missing friend was one of my favorite series of 2022. Its kid-centric worldview provided a unique spin on its post-apocalyptic setting while the extra pages each issue had gave us the chance to luxuriate in the vibe the creators were offering. I was all set to see what the series had to offer from here, and that’s when the solicitation of new issues became erratic over the past year.
This makes it clear that “What’s the Furthest Place From Here’s” publication future is not assured. So picking up a copy of this volume would certainly go a long way to ensuring that Rosenberg and Boss are able to continue telling stories about these kids. Along with delivering a vol. 3 that collects issues 7-9. That’s right, the solicitation for vol. 2 indicates that it’s only collecting issues 10-13. I don’t know what’s up with that, but it doesn’t matter. I’m still buying this volume when it comes out and so should you!
Sacrificers #1: Rick Remender is writing a new series and it has as uplifting a premise as you could expect. From him. It is the future and we are in a utopia! That’s right, everything is great thanks to the efforts of the five major families. All it costs everyone else is one child per household. No points for guessing that someone is going to want to burn this system down. I’m getting a more epic vibe from the solicitation here compared to Remender’s last title, “A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance,” so the spare, focused thrills that drove his best short-form series likely won’t be on display here. This series is also featuring art from Max Fiumara, who was one of the few artists whose work I didn’t appreciate on “B.P.R.D.,” but I can at least say that his art has improved in recent years. Then again, the quality of the art didn’t get me to stick around “The Scumbag” and “Low” (which gets an omnibus collection in these solicits), so it’ll come down to Remender not turning this series into a depressing grind from the jump as it always does.
The Schlub #1: Artist Ryan Stegman tries his hand at (co-)writing with Kenny Porter for this series about Roger Dalton, a mediocre dentist, who swaps places with the world’s strongest (and best-looking) superhero. Will this give Roger the chance to be the hero he always knew he could be? Or will he just use his power to take out his inadequacies on the world itself? My money’s on the latter because this series is called “The Schlub.” “Beef Bros.” artist Kenny Porter provides the art.
The Cull #1 (of 5): The “Jessica Jones” team of Writer Kelly Thompson and artist Mattia De Iulis come together again for this miniseries about five teenage friends who decide to shoot a film on a forbidden rock near where they live. Only… someone hasn’t been entirely honest about why they’re shooting this film in the first place. This is being billed as “Something is Killing the Children” meets “Goonies” and only half of that analogy really works for me. Fortunately, I liked Thompson and Iulis’ work on “Jessica Jones” enough to give this a shot once it’s collected.
That Texas Blood: The Enfield Gang Massacre #1 (of 6): I only made it through one (deeply mediocre) volume of “That Texas Blood.” To my surprise, it wound up persisting through three more… well, the start of a fourth volume, at least as issue #20 is advertised as one and nothing has been heard from this series since. Until now as we’ve got what looks like a stand-alone miniseries about Montgomery Enfield and his gang facing down an aging Texas Ranger and the forces of justice he’s assembled to bring them in. Dead or alive, I would imagine. Artist Jacob Phillips delivers a striking cover for this first issue, reminding me that I do enjoy a quality Western story from time to time. Maybe I’ll give this miniseries a shot and see if writer Chris Condon has improved at all from that first volume.
Kaptara: Universal Truths #1 (of 6): How do you know when a creator has finally made it in this industry? When they leverage their fame to make a return to one of their titles that folded before they became famous. Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie did it with “Phonogram” and now Chip Zdarsky is doing it with original artist Kagan MacLeod for “Kaptara.” What is “Kaptara” you ask? It bills itself as a space comedy, but it’s also “Masters of the Universe” with the serial numbers filed off. Chances are that you already know if this is your thing, and have also been waiting years for this moment. Congratulations to you. As for me, I’ll be waiting over here for John Layman’s current series to blow up so he and Afu Chan can give us more “Outer Darkness.”
Local Man: Gold Special: This series about an extreme Image 90’s-style hero and his far less glamorous present gets a one-shot where the two finally meet. Crossjack (the 90’s hero) is blasted into the present by a cosmic event to meet Jack, who just wants his younger self to go back to where he came from. This is all well and good, but what really intrigues me is that this one-shot is promising appearances by characters from other Image Comics. While Cyberforce is to be expected, Street Angel is a little more out there, and we’re clearly meant to go “What the hell?” when Boof and the Bruise Crew are mentioned. For me, though, the real head-scratching guest star is coming from “Love Everlasting.” Which means that it’s either Joan or the Masked Gunman, and I have no idea how they’d even work outside of their own story? Congratulations co-creators Tim Seely and Tony Fleecs: It looks like I’m going to have to start buying this series so I can see how this crossover is going to work.
Undiscovered Country #25: Vol. 4 is sitting in my “to read” pile and this issue is advertised as marking the start of our party’s final leg of the spiral to the center of America. Before they can begin, however, they finally re-establish contact with the outside world. I’m sure that our heroes are in for more good news than they can stand. Right? Nah. If anything, the news will be bad and come with some kind of ticking clock to ratchet up the tension for this final(?) arc. I’d like to be wrong, because finding out just what happened to America has been interesting enough without the addition of artificial tension like that.
Arrowsmith vol. 1: So Smart in Their Fine Uniforms: Huh. I should’ve realized that a paperback edition of this would be coming down the line. Oh well. I’m fine with buying future volumes in the softcover format vol. 2 was first published in. No matter how long it takes them to arrive in the wake of original artist Carlos Pacheco’s passing.
Cla$$war: An early work from writer Rob Williams, and artist Trevor Hairsine, two creators who went onto bigger things at both Marvel and DC. This miniseries is about a superhero who discovers the truth behind American power and threatens to expose it to the world. But not before burning the word “LIAR” onto the president’s forehead on national TV. As one does in such a situation. IIRC, this came out around the turn of the millennium, if not relatively close to 9/11. So it’s very possible that this reads as a time capsule of a very specific time in our country. One that almost comes across as quaint by our current divided standards. Anyway, Williams and Hairsine’s work since this series has me curious to see how they started, so I’ll be picking this up when it arrives.
Plush: Writer Doug Wagner and artist Daniel Hillyard previously gave us “Plastic” and “Vinyl,” a couple of miniseries about serial killers going after even worse people. For this latest miniseries, they’ve decided to focus on an even less savory group: Furries! I kid. Well maybe not about this particular group of furries, who protagonist Devin Fulcher stumbles upon eating another attendee at a furry convention. Things go downhill from there, I would think. “Plastic” was good twisted fun, while “Vinyl” couldn’t make up its mind as to whether it wanted to be a horror title, a comedy, or both. So it should go without saying that I hope “Plush” is closer to the former than the latter (and yet I said it anyway…).