Dark Horse Previews Picks: December 2017

The Art of Metal Gear Solid V hasn’t even hit stores yet, but Dark Horse is apparently convinced that it’s going to do good business for them.  How good?  So good that they’ve announced that The Art of Metal Gear Solid I-IV will be arriving next May.  If you read that and thought that they’d have trouble cramming all the artwork for those games into one volume, then you’d be right.  This will be a two-volume slipcase set that will be a massive 800 pages in total.  The title is also something of a misnomer because it’ll also include art from the Playstation Portable game “Peace Walker” as well.  Which is fitting since the game was somewhat overlooked as a PSP release (and subsequent downloadable title on the PS3 and 360) but still managed to be a pivotal chapter in the overall “Metal Gear Solid” storyline, deeply informing the events of “MGSV.”  No mention of whether we’ll see art from the first PSP “Metal gear Solid” game “Portable Ops” here.  Which is also kind of appropriate since that game gets no love at all these days.

American Gods vol. 1:  Shadows HC:  Read the original book, haven’t seen the TV series, undecided as whether or not to pick up this adaptation.  Not that it’s lacking for talent, however.  P. Craig Russell is writing and handling the layouts while Scott Hampton provides the majority of the art.  Also along for the ride by providing additional artwork (it says so on the cover) are Walt Simonson, Colleen Doran, and Glenn Fabry in addition to his covers.  The big question here is how much original creator Neil Gaiman is contributing to this series.  His name’s on the cover and he’s credited as a writer in the solicitations, but is that just because he wrote the original book?  In any case Dark Horse recognizes that his name sells comics and even if it wasn’t there the talent contributing to this collection is impressive.  It’s an appropriately pricey collection, however, at $30 for the first nine issues.

The Art of Ratchet & Clank HC:  Where the first four games (and change) of the “MGS” series are getting a massive two-volume collection of their artwork, it’s hard not to feel that “Ratchet & Clank” are getting the short end of the stick here.  For the eleven-game (and counting) series, it’s getting a 184-page retrospective for $40.  While “R&C” haven’t quite had the same level of influence and prestige of the “MGS” series, the comparison between these two editions still feels striking.  Then again, the “MGS” collection was put together by a Japanese publisher and they can usually be counted to throw in everything and the kitchen sink when it comes to these kinds of books.  With “R&C” I’d be interested to know who was driving its publication:  The games’ developer Insomniac, Dark Horse, or was this a genuine co-production on their parts.  Still, you’d figure that the history of “R&C” and its art would add up to more here.

Empowered & Sistah Spooky’s High School Hell #1 (of 6):  As solicited this will be the longest “Empowered” spinoff to date.  While “Unchained” showed that creator Adam Warren can keep a high bar for the quality of spinoffs from his signature work, I’m just a teeny bit concerned about this one in particular.  Mainly because its setup sounds far more depressing than comedic.  Sistah Spooky and best frenemy Empowered find themselves trapped in a hellscape based on the former’s awful high school life.  You know, the one where Spooky was tormented by her beautiful blonde classmates on a regular basis to the point where she sold her soul for hotness and power.  Seeing a character relive high school torments doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time.  Then again, the art is coming from Carla Speed McNeil who has plenty of experience in illustrating the torments of high school kids in “No Mercy.”  Let’s hope that the end results here are more dark comedy than just plain dark.

Groo:  Play of the Gods:  The previous “Groo” volume, “Fray of the Gods,” was a rare satiric misfire for the team of Aragones and Evanier.  It tackled the pitfalls of religion in a general, non-specific way that didn’t add any particular insight into the subject or come off as especially funny.  Well, the creators aren’t done with religion, or gods specifically, yet as this volume has the title character being watched by them to… lust for cheese dip?  There’s no actual information on the story Aragones and Evanier are going to tell here so it’s really hard to speculate as to whether or not it’s going to be any better than the last one.  Unless you’re one of the converted, like me, then it sounds like this one can be safely skipped.

Hellboy:  Krampusnacht:  In what is clearly an act of cosmic scale-balancing, after the Image solicitations revealed that Todd McFarlane (and friends!) would be giving us a “Spawn vs. Krampus” story in December, we’re getting a “Hellboy vs. Krampus” story in the same month.  The two projects could not be farther apart, quality-wise, in my eyes if only for the fact that seeing Mike Mignola’s name attached to a comic actually makes me want to check it out.  That said, this one-shot also features incredibly rare interior art from Adam Hughes.  Come to think of it, interior art from him was still pretty rare even before he gained fame as a cover artist.  Anyway, given that this is also being written by Mignola, it’s hard to see how these creators could screw it up.  So if you can only buy one Krampus-related “versus” comic this Christmas…

Incognegro:  A Graphic Mystery:  This is the first release from Karen Berger’s “Berger Books” line.  It’s also a reprint of a graphic novel that was originally published by Vertigo ten years ago.  Why would you kick off a line with a reprint?  Well, consider its subject matter:  Set in America in the early 20th Century, it’s about a reporter by the name of Zane Pinchbeck whose brother is accused of murdering a woman in Mississippi and he’s sent to investigate.  What I haven’t mentioned is that the victim is white, and the accused is black.  Zane, however, is something of a special case as his skin is light enough to pass for white, which is the only way he’s going to be able to investigate and uncover the truth.  If anyone was hoping that this story had become less relevant in the intervening decade, then they’re going to be sorely disappointed.  As for me, I didn’t get around to picking this up when it was first published.  That’s not a mistake I’ll make again when this new edition comes out next February.

Rebels:  These Free and Independent States:  Brian Wood and Andrea Mutti’s original series about one soldier’s experience during the Revolutionary War was a good read.  Even if the main story felt like it got crowded out by the one-off tales told alongside it.  This time around Wood and Mutti look to put the focus entirely on one character, John Abbott, son of original series protagonist Seth Abbott.  The period being explored is also significantly different, as the year is 1794 and Congress has just authorized the building of America’s Navy.  John signs up and finds himself dealing with fresh aggression from Britain, intense political division at home, and of course PIRATES!  Assuming he survives all this, the War of 1812 is also in the offing as well.  What I’m saying is that even if there isn’t a revolution going on, there’s plenty of stuff for Wood to dig into here.  Which should make for a satisfying read so long as he can keep the focus squarely on John.