Dark Horse Penguin Picks: April 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, Series IV #1
Even though I have yet to listen to any of the podcasts or watch the animated series spun off from it, I’ve enjoyed the series of “Origins” comics that Dark Horse has been publishing for this franchise. At least, I was before they decided to take a two-year hiatus from publishing them to focus on overpriced hardcover graphic novellas, another of which is featured in these solicitations, as the future of “Critical Role” in comics. This was especially annoying after vol. 3 left off on the “Origins” series first inter-volume cliffhanger. So it’s good to see that writer Jody House, supervisor Matthew Mercer, and new artist Noah Hayes are coming back to finish things off.
Because there’s not going to be any more “Origins” comics after this one, right? I mean, you don’t take a nearly two-year hiatus from a particular title because it’s selling well. Regardless of why it took so long to produce vol. 4, I’m just glad that it’s finally happening.
William of Newbury #1: Michael Avon Oeming is back with a new series that appears to be a spiritual successor to his “The Mice Templar” series from a while back. You may recall that title being compared somewhat unfavorably to the “Mouse Guard” comics which were coming out at the same time, but have since ceased to be an ongoing concern. “William of Newbury” is an anthropomorphic series which takes its inspiration from real-life events in 12th Century England, during a time that was colorfully known as “The Anarchy.” William is a neurotic monk, fearful of the outside world but committed to dealing with the evils that plague it despite his brother’s fear for his soul. Oeming’s always been a great artist and a solid writer as well. It just remains to be seen whether or not this series will be good enough to warrant whatever pricey collection Dark Horse decides to put it in.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution #1 (of 4): Described as a prequel to the recent Netflix series, it’s actually the story of the first team-up between Skeletor and Hordak. Back when they were aspiring avatars of evil rather than the fully-formed big bads we came to know them as from their animated series. While I’m sure you already know if this is going to be of interest to you, be advised that this miniseries has THREE credited writers – Tim Sheridan, Rob David, Ted Biaselli – which, absent of any indication of who was responsible for what, is an eyebrow-raising detail if not cause for concern. It does have only one credited artist, Daniel HDR, which is good to know.
Lester of the Lesser Gods #1 (of 3): This is a new miniseries co-written by Eric Powell based on an unproduced animated short he was working on from almost a decade ago. It’s about “Lester, the larping bastard son of the Odin, wanders the post-apocalyptic wasteland after thwarting Satan’s attempt to bring about the end of days” which is a premise that sounds ripe for some quality insanity if nothing else. As for who’s co-writing this with Powell, it’s a name that I would’ve been hard-pressed to guess beforehand: Lucky Yates, a veteran voice actor best known for being the voice of mad scientist Krieger on “Archer.” It’s an odd-couple combination that I hope works, if only to live up to the last project I read from Powell as a co-writer – the great “Big Man Plans.” Gideon Kendall illustrates.
The Witcher: Corvo Bianco #1 (of 4): Dark Horse has been publishing “Witcher” comics for a while now and all of them have taken place off to the side of the books and video games they’re based on. “Corvo Bianco” is different in that it’s being marketed explicitly as a follow-up to the “Blood & Wine” expansion of “The Witcher III” which was the game’s official end point. In fact, the solicitation text mentions that Geralt has settled down with Yennefer (which is correct) at Corvo Bianco and is enjoying the simple country life. We all know that can’t last for long and that veteran CD Projekt Red writer Bartosz Sztybor and Italian artist Corrado Mastantuono will have the title character get back to his monster-hunting duties in short order.
Will this be any good? Probably given that Sztybor has already written previous “Witcher” and “Cyberpunk” comics for the publisher and that Mastantuono is being billed as an Italian comics legend. It’s also worth considering that talk about the development of “The Witcher IV,” or whatever Geralt’s next videogame adventure will be called, has become louder as of late. So it’s possible that this comic could serve as a bridge between the two. That’s just speculation on my part, however.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – The Codex HC: Wherein a monk scribe returns to his home after securing his freedom from the vikings that captured him only to find his brother missing and documents marked by a strangely familiar language. A language he recognizes from his time with his viking captors and one of their wise men who is also a member of Those Unseen. I’ll get around to playing “Valhalla” one of these days; though, it’s interesting to note that they’re still producing comics for it after all these years. You’d think they have moved onto ones featuring the recent “Mirage” game, you know.
Cat + Gamer vol. 5: No mention of anything drastically different from previous volumes in the solicitation text for this one. We do have a great cover, though, featuring original cat Musubi next to new cat Soboro which warms the cockles of my cat-loving heart.
Den vol. 4: While I was mixed after reading the first collection of Richard Corben’s seminal fantasy series, it was clearly a hit given how often it was out of stock at my favored online comics retailers. You’d think that would be incentive enough for Dark Horse to get subsequent volumes out faster, but something appears to have gone wrong there. Though vol. 4 is advance-solicited for June here, Amazon lists it as arriving in October. Vols. 2 & 3 are also listed as arriving in July and September, respectively. So either the publisher is wrong, or the retailer is wrong and history has shown you can make a decent argument for either being the case. We’ll just have to wait and see when vol. 2 comes out; yet, my money is on later rather than sooner.
Subgenre HC: Writer Matt Kindt and artist Wilfredo Torres’ miniseries about a man who is either a private investigator in a cyberpunk world trying to solve a triple murder and a wandering barbarian in a fantasy world where magic exists. Or maybe he’s another guy who’s having a psychotic breakdown. Kindt’s work has been very hit-or-miss in my experience and if I’m going to find out if this latest miniseries is any good it’s going to be when it’s on sale. Not when it’s being sold as a $30 collection for 120 pages.