Image Advance Arrivals: September 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation
Universal Monsters: The Mummy HC
Michael Walsh couldn’t do it. Dan Watters, Ram V, and Matthew Roberts couldn’t do it. James Tynion IV and Martin Simonds couldn’t do it, and Tynion won’t be able to do it again when he does it with Dani. What haven’t these creatives been able to do? Get me to buy a Universal Monsters comic in hardcover. C’mon, everyone, put these in softcover already. I can’t imagine they’re that great to keep in the format forever.
Or, better yet, get a creator who I like that hasn’t done a lot of comics for any of the publishers I normally read to take a crack at it. Such as Faith Erin Hicks, the great talent behind the “Nothing Could Possibly Go Wrong” adaptation, “The Nameless City Trilogy,” and the best story in the “Attack on Titan Anthology,” to name a few. She’s doing this take on the Mummy which has a woman with a haunted past drawn to an Egyptian dig site, where she’ll find something that will finally complete her life. I’m in for this, and in hardcover too.
Skinbreaker #1: Robert Kirkman is back with a new creator-owned series, and he’s brought one of the best “Batman” artist along with him, David Finch. They’re telling the story of an orc-ish looking people whose leader wields the mighty weapon known as Skinbreaker. Unfortunately this leader’s time is coming to an end and it’s up to his reluctant heir to step up, lest a bloody war of succession ensues. I’ve always been up for whatever Kirkman has done after “The Walking Dead” and “Invincible,” even if nothing has ever matched the heights of those two titans of creator-owned comics. I imagine this one will likely come within spitting distance of those as all the other titles have on their best days, but at least it’s going to look great with Finch drawing it.
Artificial #1 (of 4): It’s the future and there are robots, to satisfy all of your dating needs. That’s what fashion stylist Clara is hoping to find when she tries a new dating service, only for her robotic paramour to glitch out and become the stalker of her nightmares. This is the latest series from “Faithless” illustrator and “Crave” creator Maria Llovet and the latter series definitely benefited from a “Well, that escalated quickly,” mindset. Let’s see if she can bring the same energy to this title as well.
Good as Dead #1: It was night like any other on the Emissary Bridge, until one man driving across it stopped his car and proceeded to set himself on fire. Now the town of Port Lindon is abuzz with theories on why he did it, and whether or not any of its secrets will stay safe. This comes from “Stray Bullets” creators David and Maria Lapham and that’s enough to get me on board. I just hope it’s another one of their hard-boiled crime tales and not one of David’s surrealist adventures – looking in your direction “Young Liars.”
Additionally: This first issue will set you back $8 for its 48 pages. Not to put down the Lapham’s efforts, but that’s quite a buy-in for the start of this series. It’s not too late to cut that price in half and generate some goodwill for anyone looking to get in on the ground floor of this new ongoing series.
No Man’s Land #1 (of 4): It’s 1963 and a body has been discovered in the frozen no-man’s-land between the U.S.A. and Russia. You know what that means? It’s time for a member of the FBI to team up with a member of the KGB to find out whodunit and defuse WWIII before it starts. It’s a decent setup for this new miniseries from creator Szymon Kudranski who previously gave us the ISN’T CREATIVITY GREAT!!! hogwash that was “Something Epic.” The straightforward setup for this sounds a lot more promising, even as I hope the story is as creative as the homage covers featured here. Particularly the one styled after Frank Miller’s classic cover for “Whiteout” which brightened my day to see here.
Viking Moon #1 (of 5): Imagine “Vinland Saga” but instead of finding Native Americans, Thorfinn and company found werewolves instead! That’s the premise behind this new miniseries from writer Joe Pruett and artist Marcelo Frusin. Pruett is a name that I’m familiar with as he’s been around in the industry for quite a while. I can’t recall ever reading anything from him, or if he’s delivered anything that I’ve wanted to read. Frusin, on the other hand, is one of the best artists to ever grace the pages of “Hellblazer,” and this sounds right up his alley. So this should look great, regardless of how it reads.
Closer (One-Shot): Collecting the three-part story from the “IMAGE!” anthology by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Steve Lieber. Both of these guys are tremendous talents individually, so what did they produce together? A one-off about nothing less than the end of the world. Gillen said in his newsletter that there are no immediate plans to collect this, if it ever will be. I am going to read this, it’s just a question of whether I’ll get it in print or digital first.
The Department of Truth #0: Celebrating the series’ fifth anniversary as Lee Harvey Oswald and his new recruits work to make the Department great again *facepalm*. This, on the other hand, is almost certain to be reprinted in an upcoming volume of the series. It also features the first of a three-part story written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Joshua Hixson that will tell us the true story of Elvis in the “Department’s” world. Snyder’s biography in every project describes him as an unironic fan of The King, so he’s clearly the right person for this job.
Transformers #24: Optimus Prime vs. Megatron in a story that’s not just the end of the arc, but of Daniel Warren Johnson’s tenure as writer on this title and Jorge Corona’s stint as artist! I already mentioned in the DC solicits that Dan Mora is taking over the art on this series, and you couldn’t ask for a better replacement. But who’s taking over for Johnson? None other than his Skybound boss, Robert Kirkman, who’s obviously a huge “Transformers” fan himself. While the buildup to this finale was handled really well in vol. 3, it’ll be interesting to see if Kirkman can keep subverting expectations on this title the way Johnson has.
Assorted Crisis Events vol. 1: This is a place where time is having a crisis. Step outside your door and you may find cyborg soldiers on leave from WWIV, cavemen in the red-light district, Victorian-era debutants trying to figure out cell-phone data plans. We’re promised stories “both beautiful and ugly, tragic and redemptive, surreal and somehow all too familiar” which is promising a lot. Coming from writer Deniz Camp, I’m not sure if it’ll be able to deliver. However, people I like have said good things about the first issue, so I’m inclined to give this one the benefit of the doubt and check it out. If only to determine whether or not I should read any more comics from this guy.
Friday Deluxe Edition HC: Collecting writer Ed Brubaker and artist Marcos Martin’s series that asks, “What would happen if Encyclopedia Brown and Sally Kimball finally did it?” while mixing in some eldritch horror along the way. While there aren’t any extras advertised, you’re getting all three volumes in one edition at regular comics size, and I have no doubt that Martin’s art for this series will look just as good like that. It’ll also read well too, even though the middle is the best part of this story. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you didn’t already pick up this three volume series, you should give it a shot in this format.
Copra Round 8: The Death of Copra: This is the final volume in creator Michael Fiffe’s long-running homage to “Suicide Squad” and all of the other comics he grew up reading. I’ve been reading this too and while I’ve enjoyed it, I can’t say that it ever reached a point where I was jonesing for the next volume. That’s one reason this didn’t get the Above-the-Board slot, but we’ll see how my feelings towards it change after I re-read the whole series for the podcast after this comes out.
Love Everlasting vol. 3: Hey, the issues comprising this volume came out a while ago, didn’t they. We also haven’t seen any new issues since. Has something gone very wrong in the serialization of Joan’s romantic adventures as she finds herself flung from one unlucky situation to the next? I couldn’t tell you, but you’re probably not going to want to start reading this series until its fate becomes clear. As for those of us who have already started, we’re getting some Old West romance as we find out the Cowboy’s secret origin, and just how Joan got trapped in this situation in the first place. So even if things aren’t wrapping up, it does look like us regular readers are going to get some payoff to what’s been set up in the previous volumes.
The Power Fantasy vol. 2: The superhero series where the superheroes can’t actually fight each other, lest they destroy the world, reaches its second volume. As for what it’s about, the solicitation text is remarkably tight-lipped about that. I do seem to recall reading that we’re going to find out about the Second Summer of Love that wiped Europe off the map, had Eliza Hellbound sell her soul to save us all, and helped turn Jacky Magus into the sellout that he is today. If that’s the case, then expect lots of satisfying drama – both human and superpowered – as Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard prepare to take this series to the next level.