Image Previews Picks: September 2022
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Monstress vol. 7: Devourer
Am I excited for this volume? You damn well better believe it! Writer Marjorie Liu and artist Sana Takeda have created a beautiful, intricate, well-thought-out fantasy epic with memorable characters and a story that continues to surprise me with where it goes. My admiration of this series was re-ignited after I re-read the first five volumes ahead of vol. 6 last year, and I’ve been dying to read this one for a while now. Not just because I’m expecting it to be excellent, but because it also left off on a merciless cliffhanger that literally and figuratively poisoned one of the key relationships in the series. While I’m sure Maika and Zinn will survive the experience, I’m less certain about Tuya’s fate. As for tragic little fox-girl Kippa? The solicitation text tells us that she might be the known world’s only hope for the future. Which is either the start of her redemption, or a sign that everyone is well and truly screwed now. Whatever it is, I’m certain it’ll make for a compelling read.
Creepshow #1 (of 5): The TV horror anthology gets another comics series with a rotating cast of creators. If they continue to be as high profile as the teams featured here, I might have to pick this up when it’s collected. In this issue we have Chris Burnham giving us a story of what happens to some trick or treaters when they try to play a trick on the wrong house. There’s also a story from Paul Dini and Steve Langford, with art from John McCrea, about Shingo the birthday clown with an appetite for more than cake. Does this mean he has an appetite for human flesh? I bet it’s an appetite for human flesh.
Vanish #1: Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman previously worked together to give us an excellent run on “Venom.” Now they’re working together on a new creator-owned series about what happened to a boy, Oliver, who saved a fantasy realm from its greatest threat when he was a kid. After returning home and growing up, he’s now a paranoid, chain-smoking, blackout-drunk wreck, who gets nightmares every night. It isn’t until the emergence of a superhero team called the Prestige that Oliver sees a way to finally deal with the trauma that his adventure as a youth left on his adult self. My hope here is that Cates is going to find a way to tie all of the fantasy action here to Oliver’s mental health struggles in a way that feels as meaningful as he did in “God Country.” His other current Image series, “Crossover” (vol. 2 review forthcoming), is fun in a disappearing-up-your-own-ass kind of way, but I’m hoping that this will be legitimately entertaining in the way Cates’ breakout series was.
Flawed #1 (of 6): This new series from writer Chuck Brown and artist Prenzy is described as a cross between “Frasier” and “The Punisher.” That’s because its protagonist, Gem Ezz, works to solve the problems of Setham City in a peaceful way by day as a psychologist. By night, she takes a more direct and occasionally deadly approach, and it’s this kind of work that has put her on the radar of an immortal serial killer. Brown and Prenzy previously gave us the “What if Congress Operated by Wrestling Rules?” miniseries “On the Stump” which I wanted to like more than I did. They seem to be taking a less crazy swing with this new miniseries and I’m curious to see whether or not it connects with me better than the one that put them on my radar.
Onyx: Writer and former IDW exec Chris Ryall teams with “Locke & Key” artist Gabriel Rodriguez for this one-shot about a cyborg warrior named Onyx. She’s arrived in the near future on our planet, Nigeria, specifically, and finds herself working to fight off an alien presence that corrupts everything it touches. I seem to remember reading something like this back in the 90’s. The difference here is that this is a 96-page $10 comic that is billed as being “complete.” I imagine it’s “complete” enough to allow the creators to expand on the story if it turns out to be a big success. That said, I’m more curious to see what Rodriguez will do with this material as I’m almost exclusively familiar with his excellent fantasy/horror work on “Locke & Key.”
Follow Me Down: A Reckless Book: In case anyone’s wondering, I was spoiled for choice “Above the Board” recommendations here this month. Coming off “The Ghost in You” where we got to see Anna tackle a case on her own, we get to find out what Ethan was up to during that time. He was up north in San Francisco tracking down a missing person in the wake of the 1989 earthquake. This sounds like another Tuesday for him, but the solicitation promises that he’s heading, “down a path of darkness and murder in a case unlike anything he’s faced before.” Normally I’d roll my eyes at that kind of hyperbole, but considering this series’ track record, as well as creators Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ in general, I can’t help but feel a little concerned for the title character here…
Saga vol. 10: For the record, I found the wait for the new volume of “Monstress” harder than the one for this series. That’s mainly down to how I’ve always liked “Saga,” but never really loved it as much as fandom in general has. There’s also the fact that the surprise death which capped vol. 9 has been sitting there for so long that the emotional investment I had in it has basically worn off at this point. Still, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples know how to craft entertaining comics and I’m sure that they’ve got some clever surprises in store for Hazel’s new adventures. This will probably be another good entry in the series, but I’ll probably sandwich it in between “Monstress” vol. 7 and “Follow Me Down” if they occupy the same comics order.
The Mighty: I vaguely remember this. “The Mighty” was originally a superhero series published by DC Comics. Not as part of the DCU, obviously, but during this brief time in the 00’s when they’d allow creators to published creator-owned work through the company itself and not an imprint like Vertigo or Wildstorm. “The Mighty” comes from co-writers Peter Tomasi and Keith Champagne and artists Peter Snejbjerg and Chris Samnee and is about Alpha One, the world’s only superhero. To the majority of the population, he’s a hero who sets an example for everyone to follow. However, for police captain Gabriel Cole, his origins are a mystery waiting to be solved, with answers that no one is going to like. Part of me is tempted to pick this up because I remember liking Tomasi’s work on “Green Lantern Corps” and I know that Snejbjerg and Samnee can be counted on to deliver quality art. Then there’s the fact that I don’t recall Champagne having ever written anything good and the nagging feeling that if this series was really a lost gem then it would’ve been talked up more between its initial publication and now.