Comics Previews for 6/24/2020

Welcome back to the Weekly Comics Previews Blog! Each week I preview 10 new single issue comics that are coming to comic shops. It's just a quick take on a small sampling of the comics coming out each week. This post covers 10 single-issue comics that are coming out on New Comic Book Day, Wednesday, June 24, with the exception of the DC books that come out tomorrow, Tuesday, June 23.

Before I dive in this week, I want to talk a little bit more about the Eisner nominees that were announced recently. You can see the full list of nominees online. I'll just share some highlights from the Best Limited Series and Best New Series categories, since I covered the Best Continuing series nominees last week.

Two Jeff Lemire books are on the Best Limited Series list, Ascender and Sentient. I recently listened to an interview where he shared his secret to being such a prolific comics writer: finding artists with an insane work ethic! Dustin Nguyen is the artist on Ascender and Gabriel Walta is on Sentient.

Naomi by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker and Jamal Campbell was also nominated for Best Limited Series. Brian Michael Bendis is, of course, the hugely popular writer and creator of Miles Morales, Jessica Jones, et. al. over at Marvel. Now he's doing his thing at DC. Jamal Campbell's art is great. He's currently working on Far Sector, which is the "New Animal" Green Lantern.

Once & Future by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora was nominated as Best New Series. I read the first two issues, and I felt like the dialogue and premise were a bit cheesy. Perhaps it makes more sense if you are British.

Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Del'Adera was also nominated for Best New Series. Is this series Eisner worthy? I'm no sure about that. Do I love it? Yes. Yes I do.

Congrats to all the nominees. I’ll announce the winners when they come out.

 

I do have some sad news before I get to the list: No more DC 100-page Giants! DC has shifted to a polybagged 4-pack, which in and of itself is fine I suppose, but they’re charging almost $9.00 for these things. What is the sense in this? Walmart shoppers are not going to say, “why don’t I go ahead and drop 9 bucks, or if you’re lucky enough to live in a sales tax state, almost 10 bucks on these 4 random DC comic books. Maybe we should have known the 100-page Giants couldn’t stick around forever. 5 bucks for 100 pages really was the best deal in comics, and I guess it wasn’t sustainable, which is just sad!

 

But enough lamenting! Lets look at what’s out this week! This was an odd week because there are so many books out compared to the last several weeks, it sort of feels like a flood, and at the same time, there’s not too many REALLY BIG (i.e. overhyped) books. Marvel is gearing up for their big Empyre crossover, but besides that, it doesn’t feel like there’s too much new energy in comic shops quite yet. Nothing against the books that are out, cause there are some real gems here. I think a lot of creatives and publishers are really chomping at the bit, so I expect a lot of great stuff to be announced very soon.

 

Without further ado, here's this weeks list:

 

1.          Immortal Hulk no. 34 by Al Ewing and Butch Guice

This series is ending! Al Ewing announced on Twitter that the series will only be going to no. 50, so we’re counting down. the issues now. As for content, expect more monster/horror goodness and hulk smashing things, I’m sure.

2.          Holler no. 1 by Jeremy Massie; $5.99

This is a slice of life story about a grunge musician in the 1990s. As we all know, “grunge” is a media creation. However, an indie comic about music and coming age sounds soothing and nostalgic and just perfect at the moment! There is a great preview of this book over at IndieGoGo. It’s Alive! is the small publisher that puts out Nick Cagnetti’s Pink Lemonade, as well as Justin Madson’s Breathers. I’m hoping to check this one out.

3.          Ash & Thorn no. 1 by Maria McCourt and Soo Lee

If you really want to talk about diverse superheroes, how about two little old ladies?! Totally unsure whether they can pull this off, but it’s great that they’re trying! Ahoy Comics are a good value because they always like to pack in the extras. I will grab this one if I see it.

4.          Dead Body Road Bad Blood no. 1 by Justin Jordan, Ben Tiesma, & Mat Lopes

This is an action crime series from Skybound. We all need an ongoing crime series since Criminal is on indefinite hiatus. This is a continuation of a miniseries that came out in 2014. The art looks good, although the original series was drawn by Matteo Scolera, which seems like some big-ish shoes to fill, so we will see if this team is up to the task.

5.          That Texas Blood no. 1 by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips

In a very similar vein, this new series features Phillips on art duties. He is the colorist for Criminal. As for the plot, I guess there’s a lost casserole dish, which leads to some violence and there’s probably lots and lots of black and/or red ink on the page!

6.          Thor no. 5 by Donny Cates and Nic Klein

I have neglected this series a bit, but I know there are a ton of fans out there, both of the character (of course), but also of this creative team. Donny Cates, as I’ve mentioned on the podcast, jumped over to Marvel a couple years ago as part of a wave of new talent. Nic Klein I’m a bit less familiar with, but David Harper did interview him, so if you want to know more, you can check that out over at SKTCHD.com.

7.          Locke & Key no. 1 Facsimile Edition by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Good timing for IDW to put this out as fan interest peaks with the show out now. Gabriel Rodriguez's art is brilliant and imaginative. In addition to Locke & Key, back in 2014 he drew the remake of Little Nemo in Slumberland, and I have to say he really did justice to the source material while taking it in an exciting new direction. For anyone who missed Locke & Key no. 1 the first time around, now is your chance.

8.          TMNT Jennika no. 3 by Brahm Revel; $4.99

Issue 3 concludes the miniseries. The idea of a female turtle has been tried before and failed. I think Jennika is going to stick around and it’s because of the great story and great art by the teams that IDW has brought on to these books, including Brahm Revel. This book looks brilliant. It’s not just well-drawn it is visually inventive. For more Brahm Revel work, check out Guerillas which is available as a 700+ page omnibus!

9.          John Constantine Hellblazer no. 7 by Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell

I had to call this one out, because of the interest it’s generating. In particular, the iFanBoy podcast hosts have called out some recent issues. DC is always experimenting with imprints and the Sandman Universe books have been well-received, between this and The Dreaming, which got an Eisner nod.

10.      Archie & Friends Geeks & Games no. 1; $2.99

Here at the WinMorr Games network, we’re all about the intersection of comics and gaming culture, and this seems like the perfect example of that. Archie Comics is a company that’s been doing their thing year in and year out, and they’ve also  innovated a lot in recent years. Props as well for putting out some books at $2.99! At that price, there's not much to lose, so why not check it out?

As usual, I want to call out a few  items that are a bit more pricey.

Fire Power TP vol. 1: Prelude: $9.99

Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee are launching their a ongoing series with an OGN. It was supposed to be timed for Free Comic Book Day, but it’s coming out now! Everybody is watching to see how this works. I’ll be picking this up and checking out the new series.

Green Lantern 80^th Anniversary Super Spectacular; $9.99

I’ll keep calling these deluxe “Super Spectacular” issues out as they come. Any fans of Green Lantern will no doubt appreciate this one. I think it takes DCs now-standard approach for these.

Kaijumax Deluxe Edition HC vol. 2; $59.99

Silent Invasion: Abductions; $16.99
              I found some Michael Cherkas comics in the quarter bins a few months back, and I thought they were great! Silent Invasion is his most well-known work. Apparently this is volume 3 in the series, but it’s a new edition.

Come on back next week for some great comic, including:
Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics no. 4

King of Nowhere no. 3

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Comic Book Archive

All-America Comix no. 1

Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica no. 11 (OMG It's BACK!!!!!)

 

Thanks for reading. Read more comics and stay safe healthy. Have a great one. I will see you next week.

To support this effort and the WinMorr Games network, purchase a graphic novel or trade paperback at www.bookshop.org/shop/comics. You can also email me at WinMorrGames@gmail.com. Thanks for reading! Read more comics; stay safe and healthy; and I will see you next week!