Dark Horse Penguin Picks: September 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Innocent Omnibus vol. 1
What we have here is something much rarer than I’d like it to be in solicitations from Dark Horse. That would be the debut of a new manga series without any ties to film or TV. “Innocent” is the fictionalized story of Charles-Henri Sanson the executioner for the French Royal Family in Paris circa the 18th Century. The real-life Sanson performed over three-thousand executions, while the solicitations tell us that this version is determined to be the last executioner of his line.
This is subject matter and a setting that’s very much outside the norm compared to most manga. That’s what makes it interesting and I’m eager to see if mangaka Shin’ichi Sakamoto can deliver some compelling historical drama from this setup. It’s also good to see that Dark Horse is aware of how much of a hard sell this series might be and is publishing it in an omnibus format. Unlike “I Am A Hero” which came in two-in-one editions, this is following the lead of “Elfin Lied” and going the three-in-one route. Which should not only give us a good idea of how good the series should be by the end of this first omnibus, but at $30 for ~600 pages represents hands-down the best value for your money in these solicitations.
Masters of the Universe: Forge of Destiny #1: A prequel to the Netflix series “Masters of the Universe: Revelation” which also had a prequel in the Kevin Smith-written “Revelation” comic. So is this a prequel to the prequel? Probably not given how this is also described as a “Year One” series as well. Tim Seely writes, Eddie Nunez draws, and if you’re a fan of the writer…
Alternates: Flagged with the “From the World of Minor Threats” the way everything in the Mignolaverse is “From the World of Hellboy.” This tells me that Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum’s miniseries was a bigger success than I was expecting. Not big enough for them to come back and write this themselves as Tim Seely joins them as a co-writer. My guess is that he’s actually the lead writer and Oswalt and Blum came up with the general idea, much in the same way that Mignola is listed as a co-writer or plotter on every series from his universe.
This does have an interesting concept and I’m not sure about how much of a spoiler it is for the original miniseries. It’s about a bunch of B-list superheroes who sacrificed their lives to stop an alien invasion and wound up in a realistic alternate universe where they got to live more fulfilling lives. They’ve since been pulled back to their superhero universe where remnants of the alternate one have turned up in a drug. Some of these B-listers are out to stop it, and others look to succumb to it. Not a bad concept and it’s got a solid art team in the form of Christopher Mitten and Tess Fowler. Let’s hope that Dark Horse publishes it in a decently priced softcover instead of an overpriced hardcover.
Subgenre #1: Another month, another miniseries from Matt Kindt. This time it’s about a private eye living in a dystopic cyberpunk future (is there any other kind…) trying to solve a triple murder. When he goes to sleep, however, he becomes a barbarian warrior in a high fantasy world. Which version is the real him? Or are they both? Or is there another one? This is another overpriced miniseries from the creator in the same vein as “Spy Superb.” Overpriced in the sense that its three issues would set you back $24, while the hardcover will run you $40 – for all of 176 pages. This may have an interesting concept, and Wilfredo Torres providing the art, but I think the only way I’ll be picking this up is when it hits digital and then goes on sale.
Tear Us Apart #1: Actor Jay Baruchel makes his comic book writing debut, co-writing this miniseries with Van Jensen, while Alessandro Micelli provides the art. I liked Baruchel in “Tropic Thunder,” but that was a while ago. As for the story he and Van Jensen are telling here, it’s the same old romantic schtick: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl are part of a cult training them to be assassins, boy and girl decide to escape and live their own lives, boy and girl have to kill a whole lot of people to do just that. You know, the usual. I think I’ll pass.
Usagi Yojimbo: Ice & Snow #1: Stan Sakai and his signature creation return to their old publisher with a new miniseries. If you thought that this return would be marked by yet another solidly constructed and entertaining tale of the Rabbit Ronin, and his cousin Yukichi, in feudal Japan, you’re mostly right. You see, Sakai has decided that this return is a special occasion and he wants to make sure all of the title’s fans come to check it out. How’s he going to do that? Two words: Jei’s back.
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957: The conclusion (I hope) to the 50’s era of B.P.R.D. stories has been re-solicited. This collects all five issues which make up the story and features art from a lot of talented creators, including Shawn Martinbrough, Mike Norton, and Ben Stenbeck. It’s also being published in softcover which makes picking this up a no-brainer compared to…
Hellboy in Love HC: This collects the five-issue miniseries co-written by Mignola and Christopher Golden and by the Hellboy creator’s most avid disciple Matt Smith. Whose style has become a lot more appealing over the years. “Hellboy in Love” has the title character teaming up archaeologist Anastasia Bransfield to solve supernatural mysteries across the world, and maybe even finding a little romance along the way. It’s not a bad setup that I wouldn’t mind paying $20 for in softcover. Shame that this is $25 in hardcover.
Berserk Deluxe Edition vol. 14 HC: The end of the line for everything that was written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura for this series. As you may have guessed, this volume will include the “Berserk Official Guidebook” to pad out the collection as only volumes 40 & 41 are collected here. Will there be a vol. 15? Assuming that Dark Horse still has the rights to publish the Koji Mori-supervised continuation of the series, you can bet on it. This version of the manga has been selling like gangbusters for them and you can bet they’ll want to continue it… Sometime in 2025, I’ll wager.
The Great British Bump-Off: What happens when MURDER strikes the world of British competitive baking? They keep calm and carry on, of course, while trying to find the murderer. At least, that’s what Shauna Wickle is trying to do while also coming up with dishes to delight the judges. This comes to us from the “Steeple” (John Allison alone) and “Giant Days” (Allison and artist Max Sarin) creative team and while it’s not a new volume of the former, I’m expecting this to be just as fun in a different way.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth: The latest Lovecraft adaptation from mangaka Gou Tanabe. He was also responsible for the Eisner-nominated “The Hound and Other Stories” and “At the Mountains of Madness.” This latest collection will set you back $30, but it’ll be for 450 pages of manga which, while not as good a value as the first “Innocent Omnibus,” is still a better deal than anything you’ll find from Kindt and Mignola in these solicitations. Oh, and for anyone still wondering: No, I have not read any actual Lovecraft since the last Tanabe adaptation was published. I’ve got five months to remedy that, though.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken vol. 6: This latest volume sees the girls returning to their debut work to try and expand “Clutch That Machete With Strength” to a full-length work. While they’ve learned a lot since then, there’s one aspect of anime production that they haven’t tackled yet: Voice acting. Fortunately they’ve found an incredible talent to voice their protagonist. Problem is that she’s the biggest swindler in school. I recently started watching the anime, and it’s been an entertaining adaptation of the series so far. Nothing mind-blowing, but it was very cool to see the above-mentioned short actually animated. Seeing it revisited here should be a different kind of treat.