Image Advance Arrivals: February 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Void Rivals vol. 1: More Than Meets the Eye
I, like a lot of other readers, rolled my eyes when this series promised the start of an incredible shared universe when it was first solicited back in April. We’ve heard that kind of promise before, and while I’m in the tank for Robert Kirkman, even I had my doubts about his ability to deliver on that promise. Flash forward to the present day and we’re now all aware of what this shared universe is: The home to the Transformers, G.I. Joe, and this new series from Kirkman and “Oblivion Song” artist Lorenzo De Felici that takes place within it.
While the Hasbro properties are the star attractions here, “Void Rivals” exists as a means of showing that you don’t have to do a story focused around them. You can set it within this universe and just have Jetfire show up in the first issue to blow everyone’s minds. Whether or not that’s the extent of the Transformers/Joe influence in this first volume remains to be seen. The basic premise of “Void Rivals” is that two combatants on opposite sides of a galaxy-spanning war have found themselves stuck on a planet and having to work together to survive. That’s a solid premise that I can see Kirkman and De Felici using to tell good stories, with the licensed stuff there to add some spice. If nothing else, it’s got John and Myron interested, so expect our thoughts on this alongside the first volume of “Transformers” next year. However, before that we have…
Free Comic Book Day Energon Universe Special: Showcasing “Void Rivals,” “Transformers,” and “G.I. Joe,” of course. All of the major creators for the currently published titles are featured here, so you know that the shorts featured here will have some relevance to their parent titles. Some more than others. I say this because it’s already known that we’re going to find out what Megatron has been up to since the start of “Transformers.” So there’s that.
One Hand #1 (of 5): Detective Ari Nasser is about to retire and he’s left behind a solid legacy. Which includes taking down the notorious One Hand Killer not once, but twice. Which is why he’s disturbed to learn that another murder has been committed with all of the hallmarks of that signature killer. We’ve seen this kind of story before and this time it’s brought to us from writer Ram V and artist Laurence Campbell, who is taking a break from the Mignolaverse to illustrate something that seems more suspenseful than actually supernatural. While I haven’t disliked anything I’ve read from Ram V in the past, he’s not at the point where I can trust that he’ll be able to deliver a fresh take on this familiar plot just by seeing his name attached to it.
Saucer Country: The Finale: This is interesting. Not so much for the comic but why this specific comic exists. Created by writer Paul Cornell and artist Ryan Kelly, it was originally published through Vertigo before it was canceled. Some people were upset, I was disappointed… because I expected something written by Cornell to be a lot better than what I got in the first volume. It then got a second lease on life as “Saucer State” over at IDW for one miniseries. Now there’s “The Completed Saucer Country” being published through the Zoop crowdfunding platform with a final chapter by the creators. That would be “The Finale” solicited here. Why is Image publishing it? Likely to appease the slim cross-section of fans who have read all of “Country” and “State” and don’t want to pay $60 to find out how the story is going to end. They’ll likely be a little put out by having a single issue next to the paperback(s) on their shelf, but that’s still better than the alternative.
Monstress #49: Advertised as the start of a new story arc. Which, uh, sure. I love this series, but issue #50 is out next month and that seems like it would be the better place to start a new storyline… Then again, that’s only true of series that aren’t telling an incredibly dense fantasy story where you really need to remember what’s going on from volume-to-volume in order to get the most out of it. So I guess getting a bunch of people to jump on the series at issue #50 would be something of a cruel joke. Funny, but cruel.
Fire Power by Kirkman & Samnee vol. 6: Epilogue: By all rights this should’ve been the Above-the-Board Recommendation for this month. It’s the wrap-up to Robert Kirkman’s latest ongoing series where the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Except that this series never quite lived up to the “‘Invincible’ But With Martial Arts” that it hinted at becoming back in vol. 1. I’ll get it because I’ve followed the series this far, but I’m only expecting to be reminded of how good the writer’s signature series were rather than how good this series was.
Radiant Black vol. 5: The previous volume left off with Nathan and Marshall being told by the robot which embodies Existence that only one of them could be Radiant Black. And that they were going to have to choose who it would be. While it seemed like that question would drive the action in this volume, that turns out not to be the case as this is the first part of “The Catalyst War.” An event so big that the series had to publish two issues each month in order to tell it. I don’t know the specifics of what to expect from this arc, but my gut tells me that the giant alien fleet we’ve seen pop up in previous volumes may have something to do with it. Here’s hoping that the conflicts, personal and galactic, take this series to the next level.