James' Picks:
Clementine Vol. 1 OGN by Tillie Walden, published by Image Comics
I liked The Walking Dead comic but wasn't particularly a huge fan, nor did I ever watch the TV show. However, it is a measure of how much I love Tillie Walden's work that I'm incredibly excited for this comic. Walden is a creator of incredible skill, talent, and compassion. Spinning is an incredible memoir of her years figure skating as a kid. Are You Listening is a remarkable story of a drive through a surreal very dark night. And On a Sunbeam is an absolute masterpiece - a story of young queer love in a heartbreakingly beautiful, sad, weird universe full of surprises. Clementine is a character that originated in The Walking Dead videogame, and is now going to be the focus of a series of graphic novels by Walden. She's a teen making her way through the world of zombies. She lost part of a leg, and I'm not sure if that happened before or during the zombies. And in this graphic novel, she meets up with an Amish teen. All of this sounds interesting enough but mostly I'm excited for more Tillie Walden comics.
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen was a hilarious 12-issue series, and one of my favorite comics of 2019. That book was an absolute joy to read each issue because each issue was jam-packed with clever storylines from Matt Fraction and incredible visual humor from Steve Lieber. Lieber is an absolute master of humor in comics that does not exist at the expense of storytelling, but rather it is part of the storytelling. And Fraction is hilarious. The prior series was about, well, I'm not exactly sure what it was about. Someone was trying to kill Jimmy Olsen, and he was hiding out for a while. And he also got married in Gorilla City? There was a lot going on. I'm sure this comic will also be a delight to read.
Rob's Pick:
The Airless Year by Adam P. Knave, Valentine Barker, Diane Barker, and Frank Cvetkovic, published by Dark Horse Comics
A young woman struggles with the same things we all do--trying to get her hands around all of the things that make up her life. But it's scary and overwhelming! This is her journey, mostly within reality but also a bit of a fantasy world that she creates for herself. Negotiating that world and trying to understand just how hard that can be-and doing it anyway--is the crux of this story from two creators I know well, Adam and Valentine. The pain we see here is very real, very fresh, and never actually goes away, either, and that's what makes this work. There's no magical happy ending to life. Valentine's distinctive, angular work really makes the art stand out and the colors help flesh out the world nicely, too. This is a great book to give to the teen in your life who needs to hear the message it contains--and that might mean your own inner teen, too.
Sean’s Picks:
Gabby and Trudy are in need of a Medium to fix what broke after issue one. The ranch is most definitely haunted and the ghosts are most definitely scary-AF ..after sundown. Before sundown, our dynamic duo begin the quest to uncover answers for how to navigate through the situation of inheriting a haunted ranch. After catching an advance of the second issue, what was assumed with issue one is solidified with number two. This is a slasher style remix take the horror-comedy genre that I am paying very close attention to. And stay for the “post credit scene” because you don’t wanna miss the Kyle Starks Gab and Trud short. You’re welcome.
The sword swinging cowboy is back at it again. And although I won’t be able to tel you exactly what’s happening, what I can say is that this is a beautifully weird and visually stunning story of a man and a lizard. At its core, that seems to be what this is. Expect same Shaolin shenanigans. Get same results. The floating giant jellyfish escorting a man baby, skeletons chasing the Shaolin while shooting from a moving car, a pigeon with a pocket knife in a duel, and narrative provided by said lizard ..this comic is weird, it’s explosive, and that fight with a pocket knife armed Pigeon goes on for a hilariously long time. I’m having a blast reading this comic and I don’t care if it doesn’t completely make sense. Sometimes comics don’t need to. Just give me great art and a wild ride. I’ll take a look.
The collected edition of Maria Llovet’s story of a dollhouse who hunts, traps, and turns children into dolls will finally be available thanks to Ablaze publishing this week. Are you familiar with Llovet’s work? This book will be a pleasant reminder that her illustrations are exquisitely sensational. Are you not? Then grab this book and prepare yourself for a psychedelic visual ride through the dollhouse with many doors ..but no sunlight.
Earth-Alpha and Earth-Omega have vastly different worlds. And with those worlds come deftly differing ways of proving a point, or teaching a sidekick a worthy lesson. Waid shifts seamlessly in this one off story in the Wrong Earth universe that tells a story of the teaching skills of The Dragonfly ..and Dragonflyman. It’s hilarious. Trust me. The gags and the now-expected silliness with these two dim-witted do-gooders are here with another one shot from guest creators Mark Waid and Leonard Kirk.
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