Catch It at the Comic Shop March 27th, 2019

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:

Mind MGMT Omnibus Vol. 1 TP by Matt Kindt, published by Dark Horse Comics
I love Mind MGMT so much and can't recommend it highly enough (full review here). It's a dense dive into a world of conspiracies, people with remarkable abilities, strange happenings like mass amnesia, and even weirder stuff. It's also the story of a woman finding herself and her strength. Matt Kindt's artwork and detail in this series are extraordinary. Now that the first 2 volumes are being collective into a paperback omnibus, this is another chance to pick this book up. 

Wasted Space #8 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie and Jim Campbell, published by Vault Comics
Wasted Space is a fantastic book and one of my favorite reads of 2018 (review here), and it continues to be a great series.  It's a funny and sad and moving and incredibly insightful scifi story written by the terrific Michael Moreci and drawn with scratchy delight by the wonderful Hayden Sherman. This issue concerns the continued adventures of a ragtag group that's on the run from all sorts of weird forces, and among their missions are destroy evil and kill god. This is a really ambitious, cool series and I recommend you go back to the beginning.

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #9 by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, Dave Stewart and Todd Klein, published by Dark Horse Comics
This book continues to be great. Jeff Lemire and a whole bunch of great artists are building up a whole new superhero universe - and this isn't even *really* a superhero story. This is a mystery, and a story of loss and regret. This is a dark, heartfelt, remarkable series of books. 


G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte #2 by Michel Fiffe, published by IDW Entertainment
I loved G.I. Joe toys, cartoons and comics as a kid. I haven't thought much about it in recent years, except for the entertaining-but-terrible movies, and the wonderful Tom Scioli Transformers vs. G.I. Joe comic. But when Michel Fiffe is involved in a project, it's going to get my immediate attention. Fiffe came to prominence with the extraordinary Copra (review here) and he's bringing that skill to the world of G.I. Joe. The first issue was a blast, so i'm very excited for more. Fiffe really channels that classic 80's energy, with his own unique, engaging and weird art style. 

Go-Bots #5 by Tom Scioli, published by IDW Entertainment
Speaking of Tom Scioli and great comics, Scioli is about to wrap up another transforming robot mini-series, this time based on the Go-Bots. I've been enjoying this series, as Scioli is an incredible illustrator and visual storyteller. This is a darker story than his Transformers vs. GI Joe, tbut it still has plenty of humor and action and fun.   


Rob's Picks:


Glow 1 by Tini Howard, Hannah Templer, Rebecca Nalty, and Christa Miesner, published by 
IDW
Once upon a time, a group of women from various situations were part of a wrestling federation that might have been unorthodox, but embodied the fun side of wrestling (if a bit stereotyped in ways we'd be less likely to accept today). This is the story of the time their director got them stuck in a match against trained professional women wrestlers, and with wrestling mark Tini Howard at the writing helm, readers are in for a treat. Tini does a great job juggling the huge cast and giving them their moments to shine, with special focus on the women who stand out on the show, such as Sheila the She-Wolf and Carmen, who comes from a family of respectable wrestlers. Templer and Nalty's artwork captures the likenesses of the actresses well without being traced (thank you!) and feels free to run smack dab into OEL Manga territory here. The exaggerations are so much fun and I laughed out loud repeatedly at the panels. It's perfect for the comedic scripting of Howard and a 5-star match of an issue.

Bad Luck Chuck #1 by Lela Gwenn, Matthew Dow Smith, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Frank Cvetkovic, published by Dark Horse Comics 
(Disclosure on this one: I consider Lela and Matthew to be friends of mine.)
Imagine bad luck followed you wherever you went. What if you could monetize it? That's what Chuck does, but some insurance companies are catching wise, and are on her tail. Add in her befriending a young woman whose successor beneficiary wants dead (i.e. wants her dead so she can have her money), and you have a rolling series of explosions, quips, and cops that's a fun-as-hell romp from start to finish. It's a little weird seeing Matthew's line art in bright coloring, but Fitzpatrick really brings out the details with her choices. Smith's pacing, details, and character work are as good as ever, making even "chatting at the station" moments visually appealing. I'm very much a fan of this style of story, and, even with a nod to my creator bias here, strongly encourage lovers of fun comics to give this a try today!


G.I. Joe: Sierra Muerte #2 by Michel Fiffe, published by IDW Entertainment
The Joes and Cobra battle for control of a scientist's research, even while the terrorist organization has problems of its own in this second issue of a short mini-series featuring Michael Fiffe, who's ability to make any property his own is very well known. I love his take on the Cobra Commander, a preening, vain man who should never win anything. The complication of Destro working his own angle is fascinating, too, and of course, it's fun to see all the Joes get a few good lines and scenes in (though perhaps a few too many Joes are here to really give anyone space). Fiffe has a very recognizable style, as much his own as Tom Scioli or Steve Rude, and watching him play with my old toys (literally!) has been a blast, and should be on your pull list.