Image Previews Picks: June 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Junkyard Joe vol. 1
“From the explosive pages of GEIGER comes JUNKYARD JOE!” is what the solicitation text tells us. I’m still wondering why we’re getting a story about the combat robot Geiger fought in the final issue rather than another volume of his series. Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank have established that these stories are part of a larger universe – the “Unnamed” fighting the “Unknown War” so the hope is we’re going to get some insight into that. I don’t know how or if it’s going to all fit together, but the fact that I can’t immediately predict how it’s all going to work is the main reason I’m putting it up here.
As for “Junkyard Joe” itself, he’s more than just a combat droid. He’s also a comic strip character! Created by recently retired cartoonist Muddy Davis based on hazy recollections of a metal man who saved his life during the Vietnam War. Those memories are about to come into much sharper focus after Joe shows up on his doorstep with warnings of an impending war. Which has to go better for them than the last war they took part in, right? Okay, I’ll stop now…
In Hell We Fight! #1: There’s a certain charm to the solicitation text for this debut issue in how it casually lists the ways in which Hell sucks. Demons try to torture you. Monsters want to eat you. There’s a stunning lack of indoor plumbing. It’s impossible to get ice cream. Which is why three damned teenagers (and their tagalong demon friend) are going to hijack a demon lord’s delivery truck in order to make things suck a little less down there. Based on this setup, I’d be interested in checking this out regardless of who was creating it. However, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that this comes from the demented mind that gave us “Chew” and “Outer Darkness,” John Layman. That’s enough to sell me on this, though the art from Jok (not Jock, Jok) looks pretty sweet too.
Void Rivals #1: The team who brought us “Oblivion Song,” writer Robert Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici, are teaming up to bring us a brand new series about two civilizations at war. Their planets have collapsed into a thing called the Sacred Ring that now sits around a black hole. It’s during this conflict that two soldiers, from opposite sides of this war, crash-land on a mysterious planet and have to work together to get off of it. Assuming they can survive the dark forces on it. As “Oblivion Song” was fine, I’ve got no issue with seeing whether or not Kirkman and De Felici can deliver something better with this new series. And it’s going to have to be better because the solicitation text also tells us that this is the start of a new shared universe. Since nothing can just be one ongoing series these days, right?
Battle Chasers #10: Calling this series “long-awaited” really undersells the fact that people have been waiting over two decades for this series to be continued in comic form. If you’re wondering what took so long, the fact that creator Joe Madureira is only writing this issue as opposed to drawing it tells you everything you need to know. In his place is artist Ludo Lullabi who (in the preview images) delivers solid work while managing to maintain stylistic consistency with Madureira. Still, after two decades I imagine the remaining fans of this series will just be glad to have this issue at all. Now let’s see if the two issues that are supposed to follow it will ship on a monthly basis.
Klik Klik Boom #1 (of 5): Writer Doug Wagner (“Plastic,” “Vinyl,” “Beware the Eye of Odin”) is back with another high-concept series. This time the protagonist isn’t a serial killer (yet), just a mute girl who communicates via polaroid photos who has been raised by her doomsday prepper grandfather. Until he’s murdered and she heads into the big city – New York City – for the first time to get some revenge. Sounds like fun. Let’s see if artist Doug Dabbs is up to the high standards set by Wagner’s frequent collaborator, Daniel Hillyard, as well.
Nocterra: Nemesis Special: This series is no stranger to special one-shot issues. This is the first time they’ve offered up one in the middle of an ongoing storyline, though. “Nemesis” is the story about a Ferryman who learns the origin of light and darkness in this world and who dies immediately thereafter. I may have made that last part up, but we’ll see if it doesn’t come true at the end of this issue. Scott Snyder writes this issue, as he has done for everything related to “Nocterra” while Liam Sharp is the guest artist this time. Fingers crossed that he pencils this issue as opposed to painting it.
Copra: Round Seven: I was considering giving the “Above-the-Board” recommendation to this volume. Then I realized that I’m likely going to have to go re-read vol. 6 (at least) to refresh my memory as to what’s going on here. While the series has been fun in its “What if You Could Put Any Superhero You Wanted Into the ‘Suicide Squad’” approach, it has also been telling one big story over many years across all these volumes. So it has acquired a bit of a “barrier to entry” you could say. I think it’s worth overcoming, even after all these years.
Saga #66: End of the current storyline. I’m sure that cover is a metaphor, but I can’t rule out actually seeing it in the context of the issue itself.
