Dark Horse Previews Picks: August 2020
While it looks like Dark Horse is playing catch-up with its single-issue solicitations here, they’ve got plenty of new collected editions on offer here. Including one that tickles my fancy enough for…
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition vol. 1 HC
Seeing “Blade” reissued in this format just warms my heart. While it was great to see that the omnibus editions sold well enough for them to fully reprint the series in that format, giving it the deluxe treatment is some next-level stuff. Currently the only other Dark Horse manga to be reprinted in this format are “Berserk” and “Hellsing” (the latter still forthcoming), so it says something about “Blade’s” commercial viability that the company is giving it a go in this format. While I’d like to think that this is down to the title’s overall quality, it’s a virtual certainty that the title’s recent anime adaptation raised its profile enough for Dark Horse to do this. I’m glad that they were able to, even if I’m just the teeeeeeensiest bit disappointed that they weren’t able to do it entirely on their own terms.
BANG!: Matt Kindt’s latest miniseries turned into a bit of a hit. That could be down to the writer’s increased profile through his work at BOOM!, Wilfredo Torres’ stylish art, or the story. Which is about how a science fiction writer’s books may hold the key to either saving or destroying the universe, and how a secret agent with extra memories, an octogenarian crime-solver, and a man who uses drugs to stay ahead of disasters tie into it all. All of these could be possible reasons for this title’s success. The most likely, however, is the one I haven’t mentioned yet: The plug Keanu Reeves gave the series prior to its launch, which made it onto the cover of the first issue. I may not have liked everything that Kindt has done, but I’m not going to turn down a recommendation from John Wick himself.
Frankenstein Undone: I started writing this by going, “Yeah, I’m in the tank for Mignolaverse projects…” until I thought about this some more. The last Frankenstein miniseries was all right, even with Mike Mignola flying solo on writing duties and Ben Stenbeck providing his usual excellently moody art. So I’m not really sure if I need a miniseries that explains how he went from Shelley’s classic story to the Mignolaverse. Especially if it’s being co-written by Scott Allie, who has yet to deliver a truly memorable story in this universe even though he’s been involved in some of its most pivotal. Well, maybe I just need to buy this and let its (expected) mediocrity convince me that I don’t need to buy every Mignolaverse project that comes along.
Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Vol. 1: The anime from famed director Masaki Yuasa was very well received, so I’m not surprised that it was licensed for an American release. What did surprise me was that Dark Horse was the company that picked it up. Mainly because as a Shogakukan title, you’d expect Viz to have first dibs on it. I don’t know why they passed on publishing a title that had a well-liked anime adaptation behind it, but their loss is Dark Horse’s gain. As for what this series is about: Eizouken is a three-girl anime club that is long on love and talent for making animation, but short on the funds and actual technology needed to do so. Will the former overcome the latter? Or are we about to see the making of Anime’s answer to “The Room?” I’m going to find out — and I hope that Carl Horn handles the localization for this series since it seems like the kind of oddball title that would be right up his alley.
Mob Psycho 100: Reigen: It would appear that “Mob Psycho 100” is doing the business for Dark Horse. How can I tell? Well, vol. 5 is already back on the publisher’s schedule following the shutdown, and they’re publishing this spinoff volume focusing on supremely confident psychic fraud Reigen. Despite being a liar and a crook, Reigen has actually been a tough guy to hate in the main series. Partly because the people he’s swindling are either just plain dumb, or as crooked as he is. Mainly, though, it’s because he actually has Mob’s best interests in mind as he’s exploiting the boy’s talents. You wouldn’t think someone like him would be capable of steering the protagonist on the path of “good” but somehow Reigen has managed it. So giving him a whole volume to himself to see what kind of trouble he gets up to, along with Mob’s psychic-obsessed classmate Tome, sounds like a very good time to me.
Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles vol. 2: Is there more to this series than seeing cute schoolgirls eat different kinds of ramen? Vol. 1 really didn’t do anything to convince me that there was. I’m sure that there are plenty of readers who would go for something like that, but I’m just not one of them.
Starship Down: Justin Giampoli, co-writer of “Rome West,” and prolific artist Andrea Mutti teamed up for this miniseries about the finding of a spaceship that was buried under Siberian ice for thousands of years. Now everyone from Russian Intelligence, the U.S. Navy, and even the Vatican want a piece of it for themselves. I’m sure it’ll all work out fine without any backstabbing, covert military strikes, or intrepid scientists firing up the spaceship for themselves. Not that any of those things are mentioned in the solicitation text, I’m just guessing here. Even without them, this still sounds like a promising read.
Tomorrow: Legendarily uneven writer Peter Milligan teams with artist Jesus Hervas for a story about a computer virus that jumps species and wipes out all the adults on the planet. Musical prodigy Oscar Fuentes is determined to reunite with his sister in the midst of the chaos that ensues, but is that even possible as gangs of teenagers duke it out for control of the new world order? I’ll give this a shot, because even though Milligan’s track record over the years is hovering somewhere around 50%, well… those are still good odds.
Witchfinder vol. 6: Reign of Darkness: Sir Edward Grey teams up with American adventurer Sarah Jewell to take down Jack the Ripper. I said when this miniseries was originally solicited that co-writer Chris Roberson’s writing for the Mignolaverse has a lot of fanboyishness to it. Putting Sir Edward against Jack the Ripper is just one example. Even so, there’s a liveliness and wit to his writing that you just don’t see in Scott Allie’s. He’s not quite as good as John Arcudi, though. Even though this is the “Mignolaverse” it just hasn’t been the same since Arcudi left.
X-Ray Robot: A miniseries written and illustrated by Mike Allred about a scientist who comes face to face with his robotic future self who is capable of X-raying dimensions to stop a threat that wants to take all life in the multiverse back to its pre Big Bang state? SOLD!