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..
Rob's Picks:
A
con man turned into a dog and his (literally) demonic daughter are on the run
and might destroy the world in the process. If that premise doesn't catch your
attention, I don't know what will. Panel Pal Rafer Roberts (Archer and
Armstrong) is perfect at comedic comics and magical work, and teamed with
Norton and Louise's amazing art skills, expect plenty of pugs and purple. This
may be hard to find, but will be well worth checking out.
Merry
Men TP by Robert Rodi, Jackie Lewis, Marissa Louise, and co, published by
Oni Press
Robin
Hood, former lover of King Richard, just wants to live in the small community
he's formed with other queer men, far from the prying eyes of Richard's brother
John, who is a bigot. But when other men are oppressed for their sexuality, can
Robin let injustice stand? Rodi, Lewis, and Louise put a new spin on a familiar
tale, picking up on the idea that some who went on the Crusades did so to be free
to express their love of men away from society. Robim Hood always helps the
oppressed, so this works well. It's a great story I'm glad to see collected.
Defenders
Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing, Simone Di Meo, and others, published by Marvel Comics
Marley
was dead. No wait, it's Dr. Strange who is no longer alive, and Bruce Banner
wants answers. Normally I steer clear of event comics, but damn it, Al Ewing is
unbelievably good, the Immortal Hulk is the best comic out there, and I am a
total mark for all things (classic) Defenders. It looks like the non team may
be reforming, and that makes this definitely worth a look.
I've sort of become the Biblical or Biblical-adjacent Panel Patter contributor, so no surprise that I am interested in this. It's a fantastic concept - Noah and his family didn't have the only ark. Noah's ark was for the creatures of the natural world, but a demon or the devil (maybe?) told this wizard Share to gather up two of all of the unnatural creatures of the world. I read the first volume and really enjoyed it, so I'm excited to read more. It's an engaging, smart, occasionally funny story.
So, I'll read literally anything Giant Days. If you don't know, Giant Days is a story about three women at university in England and their time over the years. It's sweet, hilarious, and really moving. This issue seems to focus on one character, Ed, and his visit to his new girlfriend's home of Australia. It's not necessarily a great place to start if you haven't read the story, but I'd recommend going out and catching up on this book. I promise you'll love it.
So, the Black Panther movie was amazing, you and I and everyone knows this. One of the best parts of the movie was Michael B. Jordan's performance as Eric Stephens/N'jadaka/Killmonger. He was sympathetic, vicious, understandable, ambitious, and ultimately consumed by revenge and pain. Anyway, I don't know anything about the history of the character in the comics, so I've got no issue with Marvel deciding to align the character in the comics more closely with the movie. I don't really know the creative team, but I'm excited to check this out.
So, I can't say I have any particular interest in Martian Manhunter (though I think he's a fine character and I've enjoyed him in a number of Justice League stories, including the current one). But the creative team and the concept are really what draw me in here. Orlando is an excellent writer, who brings style and interesting perspectives to his work. And Rossmo is a fantastic artist that has a style that's instantly recognizable and works perfectly for the weird and supernatural. Finally, I'm excited about the format. Knowing a story will only be 12 issues is actually a comfort for me, and it means that the creative team has in mind a very specific story they want to tell. I didn't particularly care for The Vision or Mister Miracle either as characters, and those books ended up being spectacular.
I'm excited for this one. The work Geoff Johns did on Shazam was one of the things I enjoyed more in the New 52 era. And Johns and Eaglesham have previously worked together years ago on the terrific JSA. Johns is an excellent writer of old-timey characters, and Shazam certainly fits that category. I really like Eaglesham's work. It's a very classic superhero style, and he's an excellent storyteller. He also did some work early in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run that I really enjoyed. I'm glad to see him back, and interested to see Johns' work that he's back to working just on the creative side as opposed to also being an executive for DC.
