It all comes full circle!
Did you get the news? Not only is the Walt 5-year anniversary bringing in amazing artists like Christian Ward, Jonas Scharf, and Filipe Andrade, but Omar from Near Mint Condition is coming to Deutschland! (Will he learn more German in one day than me in one year?)
This is especially wild for me, because I discovered WCS through his channel, and now I’m part of the team! So technically, Omar is the reason you’ve had to read all my silly lil bits every Friday. Thanks, Omar, I can't wait to meet you. (He’s also the reason many of us read Batman Year Two, so… I guess no one’s perfect.)
On to the singles!
This week is insane, so many #1s that I couldn’t pick just one from each publisher. So I’m going commando.
Everything Dead & Dying #1
I'm putting my reputation on the line to say that I think this will make waves!
This is by soon-to-be megastars Tate Brombal (from House of Slaughter and Batgirl) and Jacob Phillips (the SON of Ed Brubaker's partner in crime Sean Phillips). I knew Jacob from colouring his dad books and I know his debut as solo artist That Texas Blood was the talk of the town a few years ago, but, excuse me for using an insufferable meme, I wasn't familiar with his game.
The story is a queer-western-zombie-apocalyps
I read an advanced copy of this and was very much surprised with the carefully constructed tone and characters. It's a comic that breeds and just for the first issue, seems like a very interesting reversal of a classic comic-trope. I was a big fan of The Walking Dead when I was a kid and for the millions of copies we got in its aftermath, I feel like most of them always missed the mark. And I'm not comparing this title to that exactly, but I think it's very much a good example of how there's always new facets to the genre if you allow it to go beyond it.
And it's too early to tell of course, but I just loved the vibe so much. There's something about the despairing feeling of things being there but not being the way you want them to be that speaks to me on a human level. This is a story of a guy not always allowed to be or have and when he finally did, it became a nightmare. But aren't nightmares way better than nothingness? At least it's something right? Well, let's see.
Adventures of Superman: The Book of El #1
More PKJ? PleaseKJ! (Dude, I need to be arrested or something)
Phillip Kennedy Johnson is continuing his run on Superman with this new minisseries. That's right. If you have not read his time on Superman and Action Comics, DC recently collected in the beautifully designed Superman by Phillip Kennedy Johnson Omnibus Vol. 1 HC.
This was very much a Superman the legend book. It was epic and high concept, and took Kal-El jo space for the Warworld Saga, a very pulpy classic adventure. Including the origin of the new super-twins and even linked to a very undertalked Superman and the Authority miniseries by Grant Morrison himself. I love my Waid Superboy adventures and Metropolis shenanigans from Joshua Williamson (I kinda even prefer?) but I got to admit that this period brought such a fresh a bold energy to the title. It was a proper sci-fi book with EC Comics vibe.
I'm glad that he gets to continue telling his story without having the burden of being the main writer on the main books and I feel like we might be In for an all-timer with this. And I'm also glad to have Osul-Ra and Otho-Ra back since they feel a bit ignored in the other books right now (maybe because PKJ has a plan for his babies?)
What's going on at Marvel?
Ultimate Hawkeye #1
As we step in close to the Ultimate Endgame at the end of the year, one character from Deniz Camp incredible Ultimates series is getting its own one-shot. Lakota Nation's very own Charli Ramsey is one of the multiple cool and relevant reinventions Camp is doing in the main book. Think of this Hawkeye as a charged Green Arrow with less money but even more tenacity. I think what Camp is doing with these characters will only grow in popularity in retrospect, especially if they stuck the landing in a few years. Absolute sometimes gets all the credit but let me say it… I think Ultimates is the best of the bunch. And this looks to be an incredible sampler, co-written with Taboo, who is a fresh name that has some really underrated work under his belt like the Ghost Rider: Kushala Infinity Comic. I wish we had space for every character to get a spin-off honestly.
Imperial War: Nova – Centurion #1
Spin-offs are not something missing from the Jonathan Hickman Marvel Cosmic reboot Imperial. And now is time for my boy, your boy, Peter Quill's boy, everyone's boy honestly… Richard Rider to gain it's one-shot. Last week we speculated each one-show would lead to a new series and indeed they announced them on Comic-Con. This is giving Nova fans what they prayed for, a new ongoing titled Nova: Centurion, that is also already up for pre-orders on Manage Comics. Also there is Planet She-Hulk with Black Panther: Intergalactic, Exiles and Imperial Guardians coming soon. If I had the power to make anything happen over at Marvel, a lot of these titles would be my pick so thank you Hickman. We promise to read G.O.D.S next time ok?
Battleworld #1
Talking about Exiles… Marvel is revisiting the Secret Wars Battleworld concept with this new mini by Christos Gage and Marcus To. It's promised to be a big salad of some cool versions of characters we saw in the past like Maestro Hulk, King Thor from the Jason Aaron run, Star Brand (!!!) and Days of Future Past Storm (!!!!). I'm not gonna lie, I usually ignore the Marvel legacy series because they make me feel like I'm geriatric (just kidding kinda!) but this one looks really cool and with actually something new to say (Last jab I promise). And for movie synergy titles, this seems to be the best way to go with the inevitable slew of Secret Wars revisiting I'm sure we're about to get.
The Undead Iron Fist #1
One more Marvel stuff and I'll promise I'll stop!
Look who 's back. Danny Rand!
After dying and getting replaced with a new Iron Fist, it seems that we're retconning things again. You're dead. You're back. You're dead again. I honestly don't know, but I'm counting my blessings because we have Iron Fist back on the shelves and anytime this happens, I'll check it out. Jason Loo wrote a story on the 50th anniversary issue last year and now he gets a chance to get the legacy of Danny back on track. One that I think has been shadowed by some really weird twitter misconceptions because of the Netflix show. He's a cool character dudes, just give it a chance.
Guys, I think that's it.
Very hard month to pick stuff to talk about because we also have a new Casey Jones mini over at IDW Turtles, a one-shot from Kieron Gillen called Closer that I'm very excited about and new Red Band Marvel Zombies (are zombies back?).
And finally, the Valiant Beyond reboot reaches X-O Manowar - I have been diving into the 2012 comics (the previous reboot) this last week and I'm soooo excited for this you guys have no idea. I'm hunting the classic material like a mad men now.
Well, you can check everything in FOC here. Remember, our pre-order closes on Saturday at 4pm and if you have any questions shoot Heiko an email and he'll surely tend to all your FOC-needs.
We also have a recent new price model with even more discounts, a lot of good news over on the Big Books side, the Beyond the Panels firing new stuff regularly (thank you so much for your support with the Eisner specials!!) and the big 5 coming soon (with Omar!!)
Wow, what a time to be a Walter (do we even have a fanclub name? Should we make a Tumblr?)
See you,
Math
