Image Previews Picks: May 2020

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

East of West vol. 10

Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s epic sci-fi western reaches the end of its road.  The story of how Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, fell in love, had a kid, and paid dearly for these things.  Oh, and he did it according to some religious scripture which has also prophesized the actual end of the world. So there’s that to consider too.  It’s a series that aimed for “mythic” and largely hit its mark each time thanks to Hickman’s always dramatic dialogue and Dragotta’s stylish and expressive art.  While I’ve been able to enjoy each volume on their own terms as they’ve become smaller and released farther apart, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it all reads from front-to-back given the rigorous planning Hickman invests into his projects.  As if it was part of the Message, you know?

Pulp:  The latest graphic novella from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.  As their previous efforts, “My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies” and “Bad Weekend,” were both offshoots from their “Criminal” series it’s probably a safe bet to assume this is too.  Even if it’s not mentioned in the solicitation text. If it is a “Criminal” novella, then “Pulp” will be the earliest story in the series, chronologically speaking.  It takes place in 1930’s New York as Max Winters finds himself embroiled in a scenario that feels like it came straight out of one of the pulp stories he writes. Bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from Max’s past are promised, along with the eventual revelation that Max probably deserves everything that’s coming to him.  It is a “Criminal” story after all.

The Goddamned:  The Virgin Brides #1 (of 5):  Well, I sure as hell didn’t expect to see a new volume of this series when I started reading through these solicitations.  “The Goddamned” is essentially “Jason Aaron’s Bible Stories” for all the good and the bad that implies.  You’ll get some darkly comic humor to go along with some interesting moral dilemmas, while also having to deal with his penchant for having characters act tough for toughness’ sake to the point of ridiculousness.  The good news is that his “Scalped” collaborator R.M. Guera is back to provide the art, which was the unquestionable high point of the first volume. Unfortunately the story, which involves two girls on the verge of womanhood learning the truth about the sanctuary they live in, sounds like Aaron gearing up to deliver more of the same kind of storytelling we got in the first volume.

That Texas Blood #1:  When the search for a missing casserole dish turns into a 70th birthday adventure that Texas Sheriff Joe Bob Coates may not live to regret.  While writer Chris Condon appears to be brand new to the comics scene, colorist/artist Jacob Phillips has some strong family ties to it. His dad, who also provides this issue’s variant cover, is none other than Sean Phillips.  If nothing else, I’ll likely give this series a shot to see how Phillips the Younger’s style resembles his dad’s. Also worth mentioning is that Sean’s variant cover implies that this series may have more of a horror or sci-fi bent than the solicitation lets on.

Dead Body Road:  Bad Blood #1 (of 6):  The first “Dead Body Road” was one of a few titles that helped cement writer Justin Jordan as a style over substance kind of guy in my mind.  I still have the original volume, so I guess I should re-read it to see if I should sell it off or give this new volume a shot.  It involves a former military woman mowing down a whole lot of mobsters in order to save her brother. Business as usual for Jordan, but we’ll see how it agrees with new artist Ben Tiesma.

A Man Among Ye #1:  It’s a series about female pirates!  Famous ones, in fact. Anne Bonny and Mary Read sail the high seas in the twilight of piracy’s golden age looking for fame, fortune, and maybe a little something to keep the good days going a little longer.  “Red Team’s” Craig Cermak provides the art, so that’s good. The writing is done by Stephanie Phillips, whose “The Butcher of Paris” miniseries will be collected by Dark Horse a couple months after this issue sees print.  If that turns out to be as good as I’m expecting it to, then picking up this series will be a no-brainer.

Die #11:  Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ series about fantasy gaming gone real and wrong comes back for its third arc.  As it opens half of the party is in power and the other half is running from said power. Good times, it sounds like.  That said, vol. 2 is on my “To Review” list and if you’re looking for a preview of that then here it is: Still not quite clicking with me.  Third time’s the charm, then? Speaking of third times…

Farmhand vol. 3:  Roots of All Evil:  Vol. 2 was a big step in the right direction for this series.  Creator Rob Guillory’s fantastically expressive comic/sinister art benefited greatly from the more focused storytelling on display there.  This volume looks to offer more of that as the Jenkins family tries to find the origin of the Jedidiah Seed that has proved to be the source of their wealth and misery.  What it should offer as well is more insight into Mayor Thorne’s motives which have just been a big bag of impenetrable mystery up to this point.

Death or Glory #11:  Well, that was quick.  This is the final issue of Rick Remender and Bengal’s series about an outlaw driver’s efforts to save her dad’s life.  Vol. 1 offered a surprisingly upbeat conclusion for a Remender-written series as a fleet of Glory’s trucker friends swooped in to save the day.  This being a Remender-written series, however, it’s likely that they’ve all been picked off before this finale, leaving it all down to Glory to deliver a happy ending.  Which she will, until the last few pages where the writer springs whatever downer twist he has planned for the ending on the reader.

Outcast #48:  This, on the other hand, I’m expecting a more unequivocally happy ending from.  Kyle Barnes has spent the previous 47 issues plagued by the demons who have sought to use his power, and his family for their own ends.  Does he die stopping them here, or die after living a happy life after stopping them. It has to be one or the other because I don’t think “Die early and fail to stop them,” or “Live on disgraced while in prison” are on the menu here.  Then again, they could very well be if Robert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta decide they want to make the series memorable by ending on a, “What the hell was that?!” kind of note.