Dark Horse Penguin Picks: June 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Adabana vol. 1
A small town is rocked by the double murder of a student and a ramen shop owner, but it looks to be an open-and-shut case after a classmate of the student confesses to the crime. The catch is that the culprit’s public defenders are convinced there’s more to the story here and they’ve also got a reporter on their side to find out what actually happened here. That’s the setup for this new manga series from the publisher. Thankfully, manga from Dark Horse that don’t have the support of a film/TV/anime adaptation behind them don’t feel as rare as they used to. They’re not so common, however, that I feel I shouldn’t support the latest one that arrives. This does sound like it’s got a decent premise for a crime/murder mystery series, and it’s also only three volumes long, so it sounds like there won’t be any problems with publishing the whole thing. So give this a look when it arrives in August and hopefully it’ll convince the publisher to do more titles like this – the fight never stops!
Rocky Horror Show #1: The cult film classic to end them all finally gets a proper sequel after fifty years. Why? If not now, when? This sequel picks up seven years after the events of the film with Janet now having fallen into a life of sin and vice. Things change when she gets an invitation from her old sweetheart Brad to attend his cabaret bar and finds out that some secrets from their shared past are refusing to stay buried.
On one hand, this feels like a big deal. A sequel to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show?” It’s cult status has been legendary for decades, which assures a built-in audience. On the other, how many of those fans have been clamoring for a sequel, let alone one in comic form? This does seem like the kind of project well-suited for the publisher – they built their name on selling stuff that sells itself – but there’s also this nagging feeling that this project may be a decade (or three) out of date to get the audience you’d expect it to have. Still, if you’re not into this you can always go in for some shock treatment. Magdalene Visaggio writes and Noemi Vittori illustrates.
Cat + Gamer vol. 8: For seven volumes now, gamer Riko Kozakura has been grinding her skills in becoming a proper cat owner. Now she faces her greatest challenge as [goes to check solicitation text]… uh, huh. There’s no mention of any “final boss” of cat ownership there. Which likely means this final volume will likely be just another cosy, low-key charm of a read as Musubi and Soboro get up to shenanigans that Riko will have to sort out herself. Which is just fine as that’s what I’ve been coming to this series for over the course of its run.
Riptide: A marine biologist is drawn into a secret organization to decode whale calls that may point to a secret civilization, the Ceto, that lives at the bottom of the seas. This will lead him into a conflict filled with secrets, betrayals, revenge, moral dilemmas, and nukes, all from creator Alex Vede. I’m not familiar with him, but Dark Horse believes in him enough that this will be the second graphic novel of his they’ll publish in 2025 after “Yucatan 1512.” Yeah, it sounds like a more violent and melodramatic take on “The Abyss,” but it might be worth checking out to see if the publisher’s faith in Vede is in the right place.
Rowlf & Other Fantasy Stories: This latest dispatch from the Richard Corben library is a collection of three werewolf stories, with one of them inspired by “Beauty & The Beast.” That’s not the interesting thing about this collection. The interesting thing is that none other than Hayao Miyazaki is providing the introduction to it! Yes, the director of such anime classics as “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind” is writing the introduction to the latest collection of comics from a man whose work would, to put it charitably, seem to be at odds with the legendary director’s sensibilities. So while I’m curious to see what Corben’s werewolf tales are like, I’m dying to know what it is about the man’s work – in these stories no less – prompted Miyazaki to introduce this volume.
Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England HC: Or, “The Last Witchfinder Story,” as it sees the title character summoned to stand against the demonic forces of Morgan Le Fay in order to preserve the last sanctuary on Earth. I haven’t felt the need to keep up with every Mignolaverse entry ever since they transitioned to putting them in hardcover form. This one would also appear to merit the same treatment as it’s only three issues long and will still retail for $25 in hardcover. However, while the final fate of the Witchfinder is a solid narrative hook, this miniseries has also been billed as artist Ben Stenbeck’s last Mignolaverse story (for now, at least). Stenbeck has always been one of Mike Mignola’s most accomplished collaborators and if this is going to be his last work in this universe, it would be a shame not to see what he conjures up for it. Either in print, or just buying all three issues on Kindle.
Those Not Afraid: Two serial killers find out that their respective body counts are close to breaking the state record for this kind of thing. Woe be to anyone who crosses their path as they try to break this record, and then see how far they can go beyond it before they’re stopped. This is from writer Kyle Starks, and it sounds like the kind of crazy good time you can expect from the guy who gave us titles like “I Hate This Place” and “Where Monsters Lie.” Patrick Piazzalunga illustrates.