The Shaolin Cowboy #1 by Geof Darrow & Dave Stewart and published by Dark Horse Comics
aIt doesn’t matter how brave or determined an individual cell is if the rest of the cells don’t also pull their own weight

Sean’s Picks:
Rob's Picks:
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
James' Picks:
Metal Society #1 by Zack Kaplan, Guilherme Balbi, Marco Lesko, and Troy Peteri, published by Image/Top Cow
I really connect with Zack Kaplan's work (and not just because he's a fellow Kaplan, I swear!). He's got a knack for coming up with terrific sci-fi ideas that are detailed and engaging and also accessible. I've really enjoyed his past work like Join the Future, Eclipse, and just recently, Break Out (and he's got an upcoming Vault book that I'm very excited about). So I think he's got another winner of an idea here in Metal Society. I've read the first issue of this new miniseries and I really enjoyed it. The concept is that humanity was wiped out and robots/AI became the dominant life form on Earth. But, ten years ago, the robots decided it would be interesting to actually start bringing back humans as a species. So they're growing humans to do the work that the robots don't want to do. All of this history and story is framed around a robot vs. human boxing/MMA match. We meet the (enhanced) human competitor and her robot opponent, and start to get a really good look at the weird new society that human have been brought back into. I wasn't really familiar with the work of artist Guilherme Balbi, but I was really impressed with this first isue! I thought it looked great. Really nice linework and character design, and very strong storytelling. The action and dramatic moments all worked very well. Balbi was very nicely complemented by very strong, grounded color work from Marco Lesko, and Troy Peteri provided excellent lettering that was additive to the story. So if you're looking for a fun new sci-fi read, I'd definitely recommend Metal Society.
Deadly Class has been a staple of my modern comics reading experience. I think it first came out in 2013 - 2014(?) which was around the time I met a lot of my closest comics friends. So I tie Deadly Class to a really positive time in my comics life, also when Twitter felt like a more fun, less toxic place. Anyway, all of that is to say that I'm going to really miss Deadly Class when it's done, but I feel like the buzz around the book has ben more muted in recent years, and I kind of associate the book with another era. But I don't want to take Deadly Class for granted, nor should anyone else. It's a really remarkable comic, starting as a story about a secret high school for assassins, but becoming so much more. It's a story about love, friendship, betrayal, adolescence, self-discovery, integrity, and a whole lot more. Of all of the big Rick Remender Image books of the last decade or so, this one always fet the most personal to me and maybe that's why it resonated with me the most (though I also loved Low and Black Science, a lot). The self-loathing and depression experienced by Marcus Arguello (the main character) hit me pretty hard in recent years, as I could very much understand and appreciate those feelings (as I went through challenging times). I know I haven't been that specific about this book, but it's a really special book. It's violent, vulgar, absurd, heartbreaking, and so many more things. It's also hilarious and really moving. And it's one of the most visually distinctive books I've read, thanks to the extraordinary, groundbreaking illustration from Wes Craig, and the bonkers atmospheric colors from Lee Loughridge (and also Jordan Boyd for a significant period of time). Craig's visual style is kinetic, but that word doesn't even begin to do it justice. It's like some combination of speed metal and ADHD on the page, with some of the coolest, most visually innovative design, layout, and storytelling I've seen. And the colors from Loughridge and Boyd have been an atmospheric explosion and those colors feel like a character in their own right. Anyway, Deadly Class is an extraordinary, really special book. I'm clarly not saying "start reading with 2-3 issues to go" but I'm saying seek this book out and read it, you'll absolutely be blown away.
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
James' Picks:
Asadora vol. 5 TPB by Naoki Urasawa, published by Viz Media
Asadora is a current manga from Naoki Urasawa, which is really all you need to know. But let me give you a little more detail. Urasawa is the legendary creator behind Pluto, 20th Century Boys, and other amazing stories. Urasawa's art is wonderfully engaging and he's an incredible storyteller. His stories have big, epic scope, but never at the expense of chracter growth and development. Asadora tells the story of a remarkable girl (now teen) who survived a deadly storm that might have been a Kaiju attack, and grows up to become an ace pilot. And is just generally awesome. It's an incredibly engaging story, and I guarantee you'll love it.
Comics creator extraordinaire Matt Kindt is going to be launching a new imprint at Dark Horse and I’m beyond excited by this announcement. Kindt has, for many years, consistently been one of my favorite creators in all of comics. He’s got a huge imagination, is an incredible artist, and a phenomenal overall storyteller. And I particularly love his specific, weird sensibility. He takes his stories to all sorts of unusual places, regardless of whether he or another talented artist is drawing the comic. I’ve loved his work in MIND MGMT, Dept. H, Black Badge, Divinity, Super Spy, Ether, Bang!, and many other series.
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
James' Picks:
West of Sundown #1 by Tim Seeley, Aaron Campbell, Jim Terry and Triona Farrell, published by Vault Comics
I've read the first issue of West of Sundown and I can tell you that it's a very fun read. If you're looking for engaging, entertaining new horror, this is a great place to start. This is set in the 19th century, but feels very accessible to me. It concerns a vampire who awakens in the midst of the Civil War, and the soldier who digs her up from where she's buried. We move to 10 years later, and this soldier is her attendant, helping her find meals where she can, based on the unjust high society of 1870's New York City (spoiler, there are plenty of bad people to dine on). But there's a threat to them as well, and they leave New York and head back to her ancestral home in the Southwest. This story (from Tim Seeley and Aaron Campbell) was very engaging (and the dialogue really worked for me) and I also very much enjoyed the art. I didn't know Jim Terry's work before but he does a good job working in a slightly exaggerated, gritty style that works well for the sometimes gruesome setting. There's violence, but this isn't a splatter comic. Terry's has a great art partner in Triona Farrell on colors. The colors feel appropriately muted for a sometimes grimy 19th century story, but absolutely do a great job accentuating any violence and bringing the story to life generally. I really enjoyed this and will be curious to read more.
The Junction is available everywhere beginning tomorrow, April 5th.
James' Picks:
Astro City is a really great, special series and I’m thrilled it’s back. When I was first really getting into comics as an adult, Astro City was one of the first comics I read, and it was a great entree to superhero comics and comics generally. Astro City was sort of a response to the grim and gritty comics of the 80’s and their less good, more cynical successors. At least, that’s how I read it. That’s not to say that bad or dark things don’t happen in Astro City. But it’s a complex, fully realized world that’s bursting with great stories and great ideas. So, a boring question to me is “what would it be like if there were actually superheroes in the REAL world.” That question just doesn’t interest me, and thankfully that’s not the question that Astro City asks. Instead, Astro City asks a far more interesting question which is “what would it be like to actually live in a world full of larger than life superheroes?” What would it be like to be a cop or a call center operation, or just someone living in a city full of colorful super people? And the wonderful team of Kurt Busiek writing and Brent Anderson has done that skillfully, over many years. Always with amazing covers from Alex Ross. Anywa, this book is always a treat, and this week you can both (1) catch up on the first few arcs of the story in a new paperback collection, and (2) read the start of a whole new story. I plan on doing both!
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
Rachel's Pick:
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
Rachel's Pick:
The Wrong Earth: Trapped on Teen Planet #1. Written by Gail Simone with art by Bill Morrison, Walter Geovani, and Rob Lean, colors by Andy Troy, and lettering by Rob Steen
Honestly, the reason why I picked this up is because it was written by Gail Simone, whose work I love. The first couple of pages gave me pause as it focuses on some corrupt, violent cops chasing down a seemingly innocent man. Lately, this is the last type of thing that I want to read. Thankfully, the tone very quickly lightens, especially once we and the characters are whisked away to Sun Valley, a 1950’s era all-American town that looks just like Riverdale from the Archie comics I devoured in my youth. Simone’s irreverent, witty, and occasionally fourth-wall breaking humor was exactly what I needed this week. The art is great across the board, especially the Sun Valley section, which was done by Bill Morrison. If you need some escapism, pick up The Wrong Earth: Trapped on Teen Planet.
Welcome to a new feature we're trying out here at Panel Patter, "This Looks Cool!" It's a chance for us to highlight an upcoming series we think Panel Patter readers might be interested in checking out and putting on their advanced pull lists.
I have loved the Marvel "Grand Design" books so far. Ed Piskor did three whole volumes about the X-Men, and Tom Scioli did an amazing volume about the Fantastic Four. Marvel is really working to bring in visionary independent artists to tell the stories of their greatest characters, in a new way. The newest addition to this collection will be Hulk: Grand Design from creator Jim Rugg. I mostly know Rugg from the incredible series of Street Angel comics. Street Angel is Jesse Sanchez, a homeless teen who defeats bullies, solves crimes, and has all sorts of incredible adventures on her skateboard. Rugg is an exceptional story teller and these stories always have a ton of heart in addition to as-kicking action. I think he'll be a great choice to take on the Hulk.
JAN220934(W) Jim Rugg (A/CA) Jim RuggThe acclaimed Grand Design franchise continues! Writer/artist Jim Rugg follows in the tradition of Ed Piskor and Tom Scioli by unfurling the full saga of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, from the very beginning to the present! Witness the biggest moments in the Hulk's history through the eyes of a single visionary storyteller!
RATED TIn Shops: Mar 16, 2022
Some short reviews of this week's comics by ROB and SEAN
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
James' Picks:
Welcome to Catch it at the Comic Shop, where the Panel Patter team looks at what's coming out at your favorite store or digital device this week. Each one of us that participates picks up to five items due out this week, with a little bit about why we like them. (NOTE: We use solicitation material for this, so if we miss creators, please talk to your publisher!) Sometimes we might only have a few items to share, other weeks, keeping it to five will make for hard choices. Here's what the team wanted to highlight this week...
James' Picks:
Crowded is a really fun comic, set in a ridiculous world (basically our own) that I wrote about previously. This is a fantastic comic and I'm excited to pick up the next (and final?) arc. It's got hilarious dialogue and great characterization, and gorgeous, hilarious, action-packed art from the always great art team of Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, and colorist Triona Farrell. Here's what I said previously about the world of Crowded:
The government allows Reapr (a crowdfunding assassination app) to exist. It started when some cabinet members were assassinated and it was traced back to a crowdfunding campaign. The government couldn’t stop it, it became popular. They tried everything but couldn’t shut it down. Anyone can start a campaign on anyone, and if you get a second person to fund it you’re in business. Anyone can collect on a campaign by killing the target. But after the campaign is over, you can’t start another one against the person. Law enforcement couldn’t stop it so now they just allow it and penalize it with red tape. In Crowded, everyone is trying to kill Charlotte Ellison (Charlie). Someone has started a Reapr campaign against her and the total is quickly over a million dollars. Charlie finds Vita on Dfend to hire her as a bodyguard. Charlie lives entirely in the gig economy. She drives for Muver and Drift. She rents out her car to people on Wheelsy. She rented an old dress out to someone on Kloset. She walks dogs on Dogstroll. She babysits on Citysitter and loans money on Moneyfriender. She tutors calculus. She spends time with folks on Palrent. And everyone wants to kill her. All sorts of craziness ensues.
Welcome to a new feature we're trying out here at Panel Patter, "This Looks Cool!" It's a chance for us to highlight an upcoming series we think Panel Patter readers might be interested in checking out and putting on their advanced pull lists.
Did you read East of West? If not, stop what you're doing right now and go read the entire 45-isue story. East of West (written by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Nick Dragotta and colors by Frank Martin) is one of my favorite comics ever and was on my list of favorite comics of the decade. Dragotta has an amazing, kinetic style, with some of the coolest visuals I've literally ever seen in a comic. He's a master of action, and tension. His style feels manga-influenced but is immediately recognizable as his own thing. But I don't think I'd seen any comics work from Dragotta in a little while, so I'm thrilled to see him return, even if this is just a short series of a few issues. The premise sounds very cool. Also, this book has letters and design by Rus Wooton, covers colored by Frank Martin, and edits by David Brothers. That's a fantastic team. Get this comic!
JAN220084(W) Nick Dragotta, Caleb Goellner (A/CA) Nick DragottaThe highly anticipated follow-up project from critically lauded EAST OF WEST artist NICK DRAGOTTA!
This ALL-NEW, EXTRA-LENGTH LIMITED SERIES teams artistic dynamo DRAGOTTA with rising-star writer CALEB GOELLNER (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures). When his megacorp power plant falls under attack by terrorists, the super-scientist who revolutionized and controls all energy on Earth sends his ultimate creation (and an adequate employee) in to destroy his most monstrous secrets.In Shops: Mar 23, 2022
A couple of years ago I kept reading the same few people reviewing the movies I was watching on Letterboxd. One of them was a guy named Carl...