Dark Horse Penguin Picks: February 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Helen of Wyndhorn #1 (of 6)
When a big-name creator shows up at Dark Horse these days, it’s usually for one of three reasons: They’ve been given their own imprint within the company (Kevin Smith, Stan Sakai, Eric Powell, Matt Kindt). They’re being published because of a deal with another publisher (Scott Snyder). Or they’re working on a property the publisher has the license to (Tim Seely, Jody Houser). Rarely do we see creators setting up shop at the publisher to publish their latest creator-owned series, but that’s exactly what the “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” team of writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely have done with “Helen of Wyndhorn.”
The title character is the granddaughter of a popular writer who created a Conan-esque character. He recently died and Helen has been summoned back to his estate, unwillingly. However, her resentment soon softens as she finds out that the adventures her grandfather wrote about may have had more truth to them than anyone could have suspected. We’ve seen this kind of premise before, but King and Evely are a strong enough team to wring something interesting out of it. The best parts of “Supergirl” are proof of that. My hope is that they’ll be able to avoid its worst parts so long as Helen doesn’t possess an interior monologue as insufferably overwritten as the protagonist of that series was.
Dawnrunner #1: Ram V has made his name in the horror and weird genres, as well as “Detective Comics.” Now he, along with artist Evan Cagle, is doing something that sounds more science fiction-y than anything else. It involves the invasion of our world by a civilization known as the Tetza over a century ago after a portal opened up over Central America. Now they rule the world and disputes are settled by gladiatorial combat in giant mechs. Which, sure, fine. I’ve got no problem with this except that the way it’s described here only makes it sound interesting for people already in the tank for the writer (or the artist).
Ghostbusters: Back in Town #1: Wait a second. Didn’t IDW have the licensing rights for “Ghostbusters?” Did they lose it and now Dark Horse is the official publisher of these comics? Or is this a special exception for movie-based tie-ins. Of which this is one as “Back in Town” seeks to bridge the gap between “Afterlife” and the upcoming “Frozen Empire.” David M. Booher writes this, and maybe Greg Pak does too, as his name is listed in the solicitation text, but not the cover included as part of these solicitations. Blue Delliquanti illustrates.
The Goon: Them That Don’t Stay Dead #1 (of 4): Eric Powell’s signature creation returns to Dark Horse, as part of his imprint Albatross Funnybooks, and to mark the character’s 25th anniversary. What does he have in store for Goon and Frankie? A new threat to shake the foundations of Lonely Street, just after the two have managed to get the various gangs of supernatural nasties back in line. While Powell has been publishing “Goon” comics on his own after leaving Dark Horse for a while, I haven’t been inclined to check them out given how he wrapped things up in the (previous? first?) final volume for the publisher. However, his other comics, “Big Man Plans” and “Hillbilly” have been pretty fun. So I’ll be keeping an eye out for other work the creator decides to put out here. Just not this.
John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando: Rise of the Sludge God #1: My first thought upon seeing this solicitation was, “How did they get John Carpenter to lend his name to a comic spinoff of Troma Films’ signature series?” Then I remembered that Troma put out the “Toxic Avenger” series and this is just very similarly titled. It’s about the commando(s) that fight back against an ancient sludge god that’s awakened in a CEO’s pursuit of clean energy, and said to be a prequel to the upcoming game from Saber Interactive. Michael Moreci writes and Alberto Jimenez Albuquerque illustrates, but it appears Mr. Carpenter is only lending his name to this particular take on this concept and nothing more.
Drifters Omnibus vol. 2: Collecting vols. 4, 5 & 6 of the series. Which is everything Dark Horse has published to date. This means the recently-published-in-Japan vol. 7 can’t be far behind. Right?
The Alternates: From the World of Minor Threats: It’s somewhat reassuring to know that the Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum-written “Minor Threats” miniseries was popular enough to spawn this spinoff. I say “somewhat” because I have yet to read it as I’ve yet to be able to pick it up at a price that feels right. This spinoff, coming from writer Tim Seeley and artists Tess Fowler and Christopher Mitten focuses on the title team, a B-list group of heroes who sacrificed themselves to save their world. Only they didn’t die, they just wound up in the “real” world instead of their “superhero” world where they’ve gone on to lead more complex lives than they could’ve hoped. Now they’ve been forced back into their own world and some are struggling to adapt. Which is where the drugs come in. Sounds promising, could be interesting. I imagine I’ll pick this one up… eventually.
Innocent Omnibus vol. 2: A timely solicitation if nothing else because vol. 1 is set to come out this week. I’ll be picking that up, to be sure, and this one as well when it arrives in April. Unless, you know, that first volume is entirely terrible. Which it’s not going to be. Right?
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken vol. 7: While the solicitation tells us that a full-length version of “Clutch That Machete With Strength” will be going in front of festival judges in this volume, that’s not the storyline that has me interested. That’s because we’re told that Mizusaki has asked Kanamori, of all people, to fill in for her at a fashion shoot. While Kanamori has the figure for it, her personality would appear to be all wrong for that kind of thing. Making matters worse is that Sowande, her rival at the student council, will also be part of this shoot. Though this would seem to be a terrible experience in the making for Kanamori, she’s shown in the past that she’s really good about adapting to any situation she finds herself in. Which is why I can’t wait to see her knock everyone dead (figuratively speaking) at that shoot in this volume.
The Legend of Luther Arkwright HC: Resolicited again, this time for June. All because you can’t rush greatness, right? No, really, you can’t.