Some weeks I blab, and other weeks
there’s just SO MUCH stuff to talk about.
(And I also saw something in the Berlin subway I’d rather forget, so I’m cranky.)
I just want to give a shout-out to the new DC Next Level books.
I feel like I didn’t vocalize enough how good the Firestorm book was last month (I read the advanced copy one day later!).
And I also kinda fell in love with the Lobo, Deathstroke, and Batwoman books too. 2 out of 3 of these characters I flat-out HATED (you can easily guess the two).
So... those are good books!
Oh no, I blabbed.
The subway trauma wasn’t enough. YOUR MOVE, BERLIN (pls don’t).
Zatanna #1
More DC books!!!
Jamal Campbell is back with Zatanna after his HUGELY successful run last year.
Zatanna has basically become a blockbuster character for DC over the last few years. That is based solely on the quality of the material. (No Marvel Rivals needed, you see?)
It’s not overwhelming to get into her story, and basically everything you pick up with her name on it will be at least good (most of it incredible).
Petar is writing a Beyond The Panels article as we speak (or is he sleeping now? I don’t know Petar's schedule, but I hope he gets 8 hours!). So be on the lookout for that.
(Sorry for the Rivals shade, no one is happier than me that people care about Elsa Bloodstone.)
Swamp Thing 1989 #1
If you haven’t checked out Rick Veitch’s run on Swamp Thing in the ’80s, please go do it NOW.
Of course, we all talk about Alan Moore, as we should, but that subsequent run was just as good.
But here’s the thing: he didn’t get to finish it. There was a controversial storyline he wanted to do involving some religious figures that got canned faster than Flash when he has a date (censored, it got censored).
Now those scripts are finally seeing the light of day. (Well, amen to that.)
“Ahead of its time” is not enough to describe how Veitch was.
So now it will live on our shelves and not in leaked scripts being shared on Reddit.
A big win for expression and art!!!
M.A.S.K. #1
New Energon title alert!
M.A.S.K. is the new toy on the playground. And all the kids are gonna envy you so hard!
I’m not gonna pretend I know anything about M.A.S.K. (I’m just a ’90s baby, ok?), but what I do know is this...
Dan Watters is writing it. And his Batman: Dark Patterns and his current run on Nightwing are incredible stuff (like, out-of-the-ordinary incredible stuff). So that alone makes me interested.
That, I think, has been the strong selling point of Skybound’s adventure with Hasbro. It pairs good A-list creators with stuff they genuinely care about. So it’s not a “Get this I.P. and do whatever” situation.
Transformers I was expecting to enjoy, but making me care about G.I. Joe? Good job, guys.
And most importantly, they did send us an advanced reader copy, AND I just thought it was rad.
(Yes. I'm using RAD. I don’t care if the kids mock me.)
Ultimate Impact: Reborn #1
The new Ultimate Universe is over.
Well, kinda. (We all saw it coming, c’mon.)
It’s continuing in the 616 universe. Why is that?
Miles Morales, after his adventures in 6160 in last year’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, brought home some origin boxes. It’s a nice idea, and I am hopeful it will be executed well.
Those were created by Iron Lad to give people back the powers Maker stole.
That means we are gonna have some new characters popping up in the regular line.
We already saw an MCU-inspired new Wonder Man, and now I see another one that looks SO MUCH like Kamala Khan (I am indeed freaking out, ok?)
It’s a nice idea. And I’m hopeful it’ll be executed well.
My quick shout this week is for Hidden Springs #1. It’s an adorable little book about Hollywood senior citizens who find a kaiju baby destined to destroy the world. But he’s so damn cute. Think The Iron Giant meets Pacific Rim meets Cocoon. I love all of this stuff, so I loved reading this.
Check out everything on pre-order here:
Your deadline for ordering your books is Saturday at 4 pm. Heiko will sort everything out for you, so if you have questions, send him an email.
See you next week,
Math
