I cannot stop thinking about the new Spider-Man movie
What a blast that was. Some of its highs made me wonder if that’s the closest Marvel Studios has ever come to comic greatness. Cretton shot the hell out of those swinging scenes, and Tom Holland took one thing from each of his No Way Home buddies to calibrate his Peter Parker performance to perfection. And SADIE SINK…
I’m not spoiling that for you. Relax. I would not break that trust.
Well, good cape fun at the ol’ movie theater. Nothing better to balance that out than a week full of indie crime comics. I promise. You wanna be there for them.
One more Spidey thing before we dive in: Marvel announced Spider-Woman is getting a new solo series by none other than Dan Watters, the man behind the current Nightwing run and the critically acclaimed Batman: Dark Patterns. I want to talk more about that and my love for Jessica when the FOC comes, but what we do have on FOC RIGHT NOW is Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1, a one-shot that not only begins the Watters run but also features a backstory by legend Ann Nocenti.
Spider-Woman 50th Anniversary Special #1
BY THE WAY: Did you see that Ann Nocenti not only reposted our lil’ arrival announcement for her Daredevil Omnibus but also wrote a sweet little paragraph about it?
Yeah, we all went crazy. I did not NEED to go to the hospital. I just needed some breeze and some water, and I was right back in my right mind.
Okay. Let’s FOC.
So no one told you FOC was gonna be this way?
TA-TA-TA.
Well, I’m telling you right now.
Six Of Us #1 is Tom King’s murder-mystery Friends parody. Yeah, he’s Mister Miracling Joey. Actually, better than that, I truly loved the first issue. King, I’m sure, is using all his Hollywood adventures to craft a story about six actors who went big after their sitcom became the number-one show in the world. It’s a one-for-one Friends anecdote with an opening-song parody and all.
There’s a rich universe to be explored here, and King is really good at leaning on our familiarity and using that to twist our expectations. This is an open opportunity for what is arguably his greatest strength and, ironically, also his most criticized feature in everything he does: character work. (Cue half the Wonder Woman fanbase lifting pitchforks.)
(Well, uhn, if King was worried about fanbases, he would not have picked Friends to mess with.)
The characters here mismatch their archetypes at the same time as they get drunk on them, and it’s just great to watch it unfold. A look into Hollywood through the lens of a group insanely beloved for what they truly never really were. With love comes money. With money comes death.
Also, a big part of the puzzle is, for sure, Archie, something King has been meddling with quite frequently recently, even though it seems that kinda slipped under the radar fast.
So, let’s NOT be on a break, and let’s order this ASAP.
Six of Us #1
Brubaker’s Criminal, but make it more Kirkman, please.
Rick Remender is serving us a crime story with a side of magic. In some ways, Hammerfist #1 starts the same way a lot of books do today. We have a lone-wolf type of man, a killer for hire, reminiscing about the many ways life can fail you while being the boogeyman that comes with bad decisions. He will punish bad guys, but it’s all about the money, really. And he’s tough, a fuck-you-for-even-asking kind of Punisher-ass lead we have seen a bunch of times.
Then Remender takes a turn toward the occult, which leaves our lead in a situation way over his head and fists. A very fun concept: taking a protagonist so sure of how the world works and seeing him fall flat on his face. And, in a way, narratively, Remender takes us, an audience that makes assumptions from the first page about where this is going, then drifts left as fast as possible.
Plus some horror and a rock glove that looks like it comes straight from hell. Steve-effing-Epting on art duties. What fun we have.
Hammerfist #1
New Vertigo title
I’ve been a big fan of the new Vertigo, especially how the line doesn’t seem to be resting on familiar rocks and is instead pushing for weird and truly funny stuff like Bleeding Hearts and End Of Life.
Black Tower: The Raven Conspiracy #1 might be my favorite first issue so far.
Ram V and Mike Perkins bring all that sweet “Dark Horses” British-spy conspiracy agency and set it in a world of werewolves and mythic things.
Oh, how good it tastes. An exhilarating first issue full of action and top-tier world-building. The central thing here is the idea that magic, especially in America, has basically died. In a metaphorical sense, of course, but in a palpable sense as well. It’s such an interesting prospect to have as your beginning thesis, especially when what follows is an uncovering of the hidden things and people that would very much like that to be true.
Ram V was simply born for Vertigo. And I have a feeling he is about to write something really special in these pages. (Did you know we have an exclusive cover for his Detective Comics Omnibus?)
Black Tower: The Raven Conspiracy #1
Quick bites
The Forever Home #1
Our friend and rock star Christian Ward is releasing The Forever Home #1 with an insanely cool premise about a couple hiding from the apocalypse in this weird house that freezes time. I cannot wait to read that one. It reminds me of a mix between The Nice House on the Lake and Ward’s own Spectregraph, a deeply underrated, horrifying book.
DC quick bites
DC is releasing its cleverly titled Next Level: One Shot #1, a one-shot about Deadshot. I just love this freaking title. I’m a simple man.
There’s a facsimile of Action Comics #1, always worth talking about.
Batman and Poison Ivy crossover starts with Batman: Bad Seeds - Sunset #1, co-written by Matt Fraction and G. Willow Wilson.
Marvel Mangaverse: Web of Blood #1
Marvel is revitalizing its manga universe with Marvel Mangaverse: Web of Blood #1, commemorating 25 years of the Japanese-inspired version of the Marvel Universe. I read all of this universe for my Marvel Library overview in our free fanzine? That means you have to read the article so it’s all worth it.
Not to be frowned upon either, and I’m sure very inspired by a little movie coming out in December, are these two crossovers: first, the brand-new miniseries Black Panther / Namor: Doomed #1 by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan, spinning out of Chip Zdarsky’s Avengers event, Armageddon.
Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment #1
The other is the reprint of the classic story Triumph and Torment by legends Roger Stern and Mike Mignola in SINGLE-ISSUE FORM, with brand-new covers by Peach Momoko, in Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment #1.
Last but not least, Kieron Gillen writes Alien vs. X-Men #1 with Geraldo Borges. Following Hickman’s underrated Avengers vs. X-Men.
All books on FOC today
...can be found here. I talked about too many books to make a joke with Heiko or Mykola here, so just the usual: our preorders run until 4 p.m. on Saturday, and you can email those guys if you have any questions about how to preorder or use Manage Comics.
Actually, Heiko and Mykola should do a Six Of Us, but with only the single-issues department? We can call ourselves Three Of Us!!!! But not, like, killing or anything weird. Just, like, normal Friends stuff. I’m open to interpersonal drama and shenanigans as well.
See you.
