Image Previews Picks: November 2019
Above-the-Board Recommendation
Undiscovered Country #1
What if The Wall got built? What if it wasn’t just between the U.S. and Mexico? What if it was built to encompass the entire United States? That’s the premise of this new series from co-writers Scott Snyder and Charles Soule, and co-artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniele Orlandini. The fun begins when a global pandemic sends a group of researchers over the wall into a country no-one outside of it has seen for over thirty years.
If the premise for this series is anything to go by, I’m expecting that most of the team will be clubbed to death by political allegory within the first issue. Were I a betting man, I’d say that “Undiscovered Country” represents the creators’ efforts to take a topic that’s as racist as it is divisive and try to turn it into a positive. Camuncoli and Orlandini are an easy sell after their work together on “Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith.” It’s harder to picture how Snyder and Soule will work together, though I’m betting that the latter will be able to run with any over-the-top ideas the former throws his way.
I’m also assuming that the two writers teaming up in the first place is an effort on their part to make sure that the series actually comes out on a regular basis. The setup sure sounds more like Snyder than Soule, though I doubt he could deliver a monthly series what with his DC commitments and all. Soule, on the other hand, has shown himself to be prolific as hell over the years. As well as being a writer who can deliver a certain level of quality to whatever project he delivers. So yeah, I think this sounds like a country worth being discovered in November.
Family Tree #1: This is Jeff Lemire’s latest series about how the bonds of family can be tested in the strangest of ways. Only this time it’s about a mother who’s trying to save her daughter… as she’s being turned into a tree. Now, I’ve already read through Lemire-written titles like “Animal Man,” “Royal City,” and “Sweet Tooth” which found interesting ways to examine familial relationships. This, however, really gives me pause as I decide whether or not to check it out. I mean, will future generations look back at this and say that “Lemire truly didn’t jump the shark as a writer until he did that series about a girl who turns into a tree?” The only thing that gives me hope here is that Phil Hester is providing the art. He’s shown in “Swamp Thing” and “Green Arrow” that he’s a hell of an artist and he may be the one who can make the (frankly silly) premise of this series work on a visual level.
Killadelphia #1: I only knew Rodney Barnes as the writer of the “Lando” series that was inspired by “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The solicitation text to his new series helpfully lets me know that he’s also a TV writer with credits as diverse as “Wutang: An American Saga,” “Marvel’s Runaways,” and “American Gods.” Knowing this, I’m a little more optimistic for this story of a small-town beat cop who comes back to Philadelphia to bury his detective father. Of course, it wouldn’t be a series if the cop buried his father and went back. No, he’s about to find out how his father fell prey to the city’s seedy underbelly… which is full of vampires! Given how the solicitation text talks about how the city, once a shining beacon of liberty, has now fallen prey to corruption, poverty, unemployment, and brutality I’m betting that the vampires are also kind of a metaphor here. “Spawn” artist Jason Shawn Alexander finds a much better use for his talents by illustrating this new series.
Moonshine #13: It took a while for this series to come back, and I’m sure that break isn’t going to help its flagging sales any. I did get around to reading the second volume during this hiatus and… I actually wound up liking it more than I was expecting. So when the solicitation for this new issue tells me that mobster-turned-werewolf Lou Pirlo is going to have to hustle New Orleans to get enough scratch to afford a cure it sounds like something I should be reading.
Section Zero vol. 1: There is No Section Zero: “What if Jack Kirby had created ‘The X-Files’” is the hook offered by the solicitation text for this new series. It sounds odd to say this, but this series about a secret organization looking into unexplained phenomena sure sounds like the kind of random miniseries DC would’ve published without a second thought in the late 90’s/early 00’s. It even has a creative team which fits that kind of bill too: The former “Superboy” creative team of writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett. If that sounds like your idea of quality nostalgia — and I’m still undecided if it’s mine — then this should be right up your alley.
Redneck vol. 4: Lone Star: The gang heads to Mexico… for reasons currently unknown to me. While I’ve picked up the first two volumes, I’ve been slacking and haven’t picked up vol. 3 yet. So I guess I’ve got until November to do so if I want to be current with this series. Which, after the experience of the first two volumes, is something I should’ve done before now.
Deadly Class #42: Hey, I just noticed that this arc is titled “Bone Machine.” Huhuhuhuhuhuh…
Farmhand #’s 9-11: Something must have gone awfully wrong in creator Rob Guillory’s life for him to solicit THREE issues of this series (and re-offer the first collection) for November. Whatever it is, I hope he’s doing better now. That #10 advertises itself as the end of the current arc also means he should be expecting my contribution towards his recovery once vol. 2 arrives.