Image Advance Arrivals: September 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
The Forged vol. 3: The Abaddon Strike
There are collected editions of series where I’ve put their first issues in this spot when they were originally solicited. There’s also a new collected edition of a series whose first volume I did a podcast on with John. So why am I giving the Above-the-Board Recommendation to the third volume of a series that’s oversized, (arguably) overpriced, and whose first volume didn’t make the best impression? That’s because the second volume made a much better one with more intriguing plotting, better worldbuilding and characterization, and even a couple surprises. Can co-writers Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann, and artist Mike Henderson make things even better as the members of Forged Team Scimitar-3 take the fight to the aliens in a conflict that has one of them labeled as KIA? Odds are good, and that’s what I’d like to see.
Creepshow vol. 3 #1 (of 5): I know that the “Kaptara” team of writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Kagan MacLeod have their fans, but this issue also has James Stokoe contributing a story to this horror anthology. It’s about the mystery of a severed hand and one writer’s efforts to uncover the truth behind it. Sounds simple enough, but I’m curious to see how Stokoe applies his gonzo style to outright horror. He’s a real get for this horror anthology, which has boasted a lot of talented people contributing to its previous volumes. I should probably look into picking them up.
The Horizon Experiment #1 (of 5): An anthology series designed to promote different points-of-view on familiar genres in each issue. First up is “The Good Asian” writer Pornsak Pitchetshote and artist Terry Dodson giving us China’s answer to James Bond, running secret missions on American soil for his home country. It could be fun, and it’ll be interesting to see Pitchetshote deliver something that’s aiming to be purely entertaining without an obvious message. Yeah, no message at all…
Knights vs. Samurai #1: Does what it says on the tin, I would imagine. Okay, this is a new ongoing series from actor and “Count Crowley” writer David Dastmalchian and artist Federico Mele that sees Sir Charles “The Dragon Butcher” Ward lead a legion of warriors on a mission to the Far East to avenge an assault on some missionaries. What he finds when he arrives are some of the most skilled warriors he has ever seen, and that the reason he came here might have a few more wrinkles to it. The first two volumes of “Count Crowley” were good fun and featured some good art to go along with the quality writing. Even if the premise sounds simple, I’m willing to give Dastmalchian the benefit of the doubt that he’s got an interesting angle to pursue on this series about two kinds of old soldiers fighting it out.
The Moon is Following Us #1 (of 10): Sam and Penny Duncan love their six-year-old daughter Penny more than anything else in the world. Which is why they’re going to go to any length to get her back when she’s kidnapped. Even to fight alongside the magical beings that her daughter loved. If you were disappointed to hear that Daniel Warren Johnson wasn’t going to illustrate the second arc of “Transformers,” well, here’s the reason why. Interestingly, while he’s writing this miniseries, he’s only listed as a co-illustrator, with Riley Rossmo also credited as providing the art here. Rossmo’s a pretty solid stylist, even though there’s only one DWJ, but that won’t stop me from picking this up when it’s collected.
Crave: “Faithless” artist Maria Llovet’s sexy mystery series about an app that can grant your desires and the havoc it wreaks on one college campus gets a collected edition. It sounds pretty straightforward, but Llovet has shown she has style to burn in illustrating her previous series-of-miniseries and the hope is she’s going to use some of it to elevate this premise. Plus, I’m curious to see whether “Faithless” writer Brian Azzarello was either holding her back with the conventional morality displayed in that series, or if his oddball wordplay and sense of sleaze helped elevate that series too.
This collected edition is arriving at the right time as Llovet has a new miniseries Violent Flowers #1 (of 4) starting in these solicitations. When the Sentinel, a vampire charged with watching over all supernatural creatures is murdered, his sister Carnelia swears to get revenge. Which may prove harder than it first appears as she’s old, wrinkled, and forced to look after a human as well. As is so often the case, it’s hard to decide how excited to be about this new series from a creator who I know primarily from their art rather than their writing. Which is another reason why I’ll be picking up “Crave” when it arrives.
Local Man #25: Some history first: Way back in the 90’s, there were four Image titles that did a stunt called “Images of Tomorrow” where they published their 25th issues ahead of where they were in their current publication schedule. The titles in question were “Bloodstrike,” “Brigade,” “Supreme,” and “Stormwatch,” and of those four, only the latter two survived long enough to reach issue #25. Still, with decades of hindsight on their side, I’m sure that co-writers Tony Fleecs and Tim Seely have planned things out so that this issue will fit seamlessly into the chronology of “Local Man” when they finally get to issue #25. Assuming it sells well enough to reach that point, that is.
Ultramega #5 (of 8): James Harren’s “Pacific Rim” meets “Ultraman” series about one superpowered warrior’s fight against humanity’s kaiju overlords returns with the same oversized pagecount per issue and a definite end point. One wonders if Harren had to reconsider the scope of his story after the first volume and decided to try and wrap everything up in these next four issues. Even if the first volume was something of an uneven downer, that’s still better than leaving it unfinished. Better still that we’re getting more of Harren’s art, which is something that’s been sorely missed around here since the first volume was published.
Saga #69: Wherein we’re told that, “Old allies explore new positions.” Which, given the issue number, makes you wonder if that’s going to be a sex thing. Fortunately, writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples have come out and said that, “Yes, not only is it going to be a sex thing, but this is going to be the SEX ISSUE!” Which, given how explicit this series has become in the past, makes you wonder how they’re going to top themselves here.
Superstar: As Seen on TV: The graphic novella from writer Kurt Busiek and artist Stuart Immonen gets a new edition from Image. Superstar is a superhero whose power is driven by his popularity. The more popular he is, the more powerful he gets which is great for the times when he needs to save the world. He also doesn’t have to worry about losing popularity as his dad is a media tycoon who’s dedicated to keeping his son in the spotlight at all times. I’m sure there won’t be any conflicts of interest here, or any sense that this novella that was originally published in the 90’s will be in any way relevant to our present day. Nope, none at all, just another quality superhero story from Busiek and Immonen.
Void Rivals vol. 2: Hunted Across the Wasteland: The last time we saw Darak and Solila, they had escaped from her people and were headed into the wasteland that separates their worlds. I am sure of two things here: That they’ll both be fine by the end of their journey, and that they’ll meet some more Transformers along the way. Maybe even more than the one that’s mentioned in the solicitation text. Vol. 1 was perfectly fine, but after the reveal of the Energon Universe, it didn’t have any surprises up its sleeve after that. Will writer Robert Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici bring their A-game to this second volume? Or will they continue to remain in the shadow of DWJ and new artist Jorge Corona in their “Transformers” series? My money is on the latter, but I’d sure like to be surprised.
The Weather Man vol. 3: Once upon a time, Nathan Bright was beloved as a goofball weatherman on Mars. Then it was revealed that he was actually terrorist Ian Black, who had a hand in the incident that saw the Earth destroyed. Vol. 2 left off with seeing Nathan embrace Ian’s identity as he returned to the organization fronted by his old boss, only without any of his memories. Was this a bad idea, or the worst idea? We shall see as writer Jody LeHup and artist Nathan Fox’s crazy and entertaining sci-fi action-adventure series reaches its conclusion.
What’s the Furthest Place From Here? Vol. 3: There’s more coming after this volume, right? I mean, Rosenberg and Boss still have to give us a collection with all the issues they skipped over in vol. 2 and issue #19. So vol. 4 will be out next year. Okay?