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...
Mike's Picks:
The solicit for this book claims it is for fans of Octavia Butler, Sailor Moon, and biopunk. I’m down with two of those three, but I had to Google biopunk. I think I’m down with that, too. So I think I’m down with this book. It looks NUTS, and I’m intrigued.
There is no shortage of good reads this week, but I don’t think you get anything better for your money than the latest issue of Scrimshaw. Alterna’s cyberpunk/samurai/western series returns from hiatus this week and offers a gargantuan amount of action and sheer sci-fi insanity.
I recently caught up on this series after uncovering a few trades the were buried in a random box during my move over the summer. I tradewaited most of it, but I’ve caught up after getting re-hooked by a few trades and a fortuitous January TPB release. While this book reads great in trade because off the expansive storytelling, I’m not sure I can wait for another trade, so I’m jumping back in on single issues.
We’re in the home stretch of what I consider to be the best Superman run since Geoff Johns left the book ten years ago. What makes this ending special is that Gleason and Gray are back on interior art duties. That’s a team that I don’t think is topped very easily, and it will certainly make these next few issues very bittersweet.
James' Picks:
East of West #36 by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frakn Martin and Rus Wooton, published by Image Comics.
This is one of the best books out there and I'm thrilled it's back. Now is the perfect time to jump on! Kidding, you'll have no idea what's going on. This is one you need to read carefully from the beginning. It's worth it though, it's such a compelling world, and Dragotta and Martin's art is stunning and keeps getting better.
Extremity #12 by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer, published by Image Comics.
I've really enjoyed seeing the emergence of Johnson as a major talent. And he really is, this is a visually stunning, dark, sad, compelling story. I absolutely recommend going back and reading this ne from the beginning.
Black Bolt #11 by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward, published by Marvel Comics.
This is such a compelling book. It's been weird and sad and emotional and insightful. Ward is a stunning artist, his psychedelic work lends a dreamlike air to the story, and well suits the weird, cosmic Inhumans. I didn't know Ahmed before but I've really been impressed with his work and am excited to read more comic projects from him.
The Spider King #1 by Josh Vann and Simone D'Armini, published by IDW Comics.
I read this a few years ago when it was a Kickstarter and I really enjoyed it. This is Vikings vs. Aliens and I think it is as fun as it sounds. Vann's a solid writer and D'Armini brings a lot to the table artistically. His work reminds me of Andrew MacLean, which is a very good thing. This one is worth checking out.
Rob's Picks
Holy Shit this book. I had the pleasure of getting my copy directly from the creator at Emerald City on Kel McDonald's recommendation, and it did not disappoint one bit. The colors are amazing, the line art flows in a way I've only ever seen from Paul Pope, and the world Leong has created makes you stand up and take notice. On the surface, it's a science fantasy story, but scratch it a bit and you find a story that echoes the horrendous treatment of Native Americans in the early 20th Century, as children are denied their culture "for their own good." This is an early favorite of 2018 and a must read book in my opinion.
I think we're finally starting to see a generation of creators raised on awesome sports-themed manga bring those ideas to Western comics, and I'm here for it. In this one, a teen who joins a dodge ball team for reasons unclear, meets a group of quirky characters and finds oust that he's in waaaay over his head. Total manga territory, and totally good. No surprise Josh's script is strong and I'm digging Cara McGee's linework, which does a great job with faces and the emotional interplay between the characters, even if she's a bit still on the action panels. Looking forward to seeing how this one goes.
Only Aud Koch could make me swap out the Hernandez cover. Anyway, this continues to be so much fun to read, as Tini keeps the romp going as the improbable premise ("Hey son, come kill people with me since I didn't pay your tuition this term, and bring your boyfriend with you!" "Sure!") swings into its third issue and Hernandez shows off how much story he can tell just by the panel construction and character movements. What a great week for comics!
