April 6th, 2022

Caroline's Picks:

X-Men Red #1 - Ororo vs (fake) Ororo, who will come out on top? The council that sits at the Great Ring of Arakko has gathered together to discuss a matter of great importance. It is time to decide what they want for their future: if they want to fight for Amenth or stay on their newfound home and start anew to build the society they dream of. And while some of them think it doesn’t matter what they want or say Ororo makes sure that everyone gets their voice heard, that everyone is represented in this new world of theirs. Even for people like Magneto the change is odd at first, but he seems to be invested in making a change and starting a new home and life on this new planet for mutants. But not everyone is here for some peace and quiet, in times of change there is always someone trying to make their world a reality, and this time around Vulcan is back for blood, vengeance, and everything else that he deems rightfully his. But he isn’t the only one who feels their dissent for the chosen path of Arakko growing, everyone seems to have their own opinions on what happens next.
  
The Ocean Will Take Us #1 - There’s something strange in the waters of Almanzar Bay, a few weeks ago a young student went missing out there, pulled under the water in the blink of an eye. Casey is the new kid in town. His mom just got a new job working at Triton Oceanic, pretty much everyone's parents work there if they live in town. Alamzar is a pretty unassuming town and high school is exactly the same as everywhere else, but Casey’s new neighbor Piper still makes sure to give him the rundown. Stoners, AV kids, punks, hippies, nerds are all the norm and as per usual the Jocks run the school and the swim team is where it's at. Turns out our Casey ̶i̶s̶ was the star of the team back home in Hawaii. Now he has to prove himself in the open waters to everyone, including himself.
  
Strgrl #1 - I think neon sci-fi might be my favorite sub-genre and the bold colors used for the palette of the book remind me of something we might see from Jen Bartel or in an anime. Behemoth is big on taking artists and authors from other countries and getting their work published in the US which can tend to lead to clunky dialogue once translated, but if you are a fan of manga then this book is going to be perfect for you. After the cosmic war the STRGRL organization has disbanded, now all that's left to protect our galaxy are a few rogue (and superpowered) fighters banded together who call themselves ‘The Moon Gang’. While on a mission to investigate a gravitational disturbance they find a cosmic gem but someone else is there to stop them from completing their mission. The battle that follows is wild and so fun, seeing all the powers and abilities on display has me excited to see what the rest of the series will bring.
  
West of Sundown #1 - Vampire stories are always something that I venture towards. I like to see the different interpretations by authors and how they explain their existence in society. This time around we go for subtlety. Miss Constance Der Abend has awoken once again, oddly enough she was buried underground with a string attached to a bell to call for help once she wakes. A decade later and she’s still kicking around with the man who dug her up, Dooley O’Shaughnessy. After a good decade in New York of feasting on the vile members of the upper class and causing endless amounts of scandal she’s been found. Hunters have set her home ablaze and if she is to continue living she must return home, to the soil where she was reborn from, or face permanent death for the first time in a very long time. The journey will be treacherous, with unexpected difficulties and hunters at every step. But Dooley must get Miss Constance home against all odds.
  

Diarra's Picks:

She-Hulk #3 - I’m not going to stop reviewing this book until they start flying off the shelf! If you haven’t started the series, the cover featuring Jack of Hearts is a bit of a spoiler. At the end of the first issue, Jack crashes into She-Hulks living room seeking aid, but he can’t seem to remember exactly why he is there. As shocking as the entrance, the real mystery is how Jack is alive. The last time Jennifer saw Jack, he was losing control of his power and nearly drained She-Hulk of all her gamma radiation. Jack became a ticking time bomb and was left with the inevitability he would fill with radiation and destroy everything around him. The Avengers help get Jack off world so he could explode in peace, and they mourned their fellow hero. Jack remembers that much, but whatever happened to keep him alive has changed Jack completely. I can’t wait for the next issue and hopefully our heroes can get some answers!
  
Batman: Killing Time #2 - This series is all over the place in the best way. Some people don’t care for Tom King’s method of jumping back and forth in time, and this series is no different. I find it helps with quick character development, and with all the big players in this series it just adds to the suspense! Croc robs a bank and not for greed, for love, but motive doesn’t matter to our favorite caped crusader. Batman kicks his butt all the way to Arkham, but that might’ve been the plan all along. At the same time across town, Riddler and Catwoman team up to commit a jewelry store heist. As soon as Gordon tells Batman which vault was hit, he springs into action. Between Batman’s alarm and our thieves’ particular ruthlessness, we know it was something pretty important. As Batman investigates things just get more complicated, and he decides to pay Croc’s girlfriend a visit. Despite Catwoman’s advice against it, Riddler can’t help but leave a clue, and now the Bat is hot on their trail.
  
Batman Beyond: Neo-Year #1 - The Batman: Urban Legends anthology has been an awesome read for people who don’t want to commit to a whole series. Some of these else world stories are broken up in parts, but a one-off in issue #7 titled “Wake” was so good it inspired this new series! In Wake, Bruce Wayne is murdered, leaving Terry to face his toughest foe yet. We love the futurist cyber Gotham of the Batman Beyond universe, but advanced tech is hurting Gotham more than it’s helping. This has forced Terry to do a couple things the old school way, plus Bruce’s killer torched the Batcave so he doesn’t have many crime fighting gadgets left. We don’t usually find Terry McGinnis in single issue, but this week we got a double dose of Batman Beyond. The reader favorite series, Batman: White Knight, dropped a new #1, Batman: Beyond The White Knight
  

Stone's Picks:

Batman Beyond Neo-Year #1 - Bruce Wayne has been murdered by the same city he swore to protect. Now, Terry McGinnis is all alone continuing to fight for his city. No longer able to rely on his mentor, it’s time for the Bat of the future to come into his own as the one and only Batman. Definitely read the story featured in Batman: Urban Legend #7 that shows Bruce and Terry's final conversation together before he died as well as the revelation of what’s happening to Gotham. I can tell this series is going to change the character of Terry in a defining bold new direction that I’m eager to explore.
  
Batman Beyond the White Knight #1 - Sean Murphy is back in his element. Many years have passed since the events of Curse of White Knight. Bruce has been serving out his prison sentence, occasionally helping the guards to quarrel any rambunctiousness within the prison. Harley has been raising the kids and they’re in there teenage years where trouble is bound to happen. All the while, Derek Powers has taken control of Bruce’s company and is using Terry McGinnis undoubtedly as a pawn for a more nefarious purpose. Murphy hasn’t lost a beat with this intro into the continuation of his amazing White Knight universe. With all this Batman Beyond love happening I hope something big will be happening with the character in the future.
  
Spider-Punk #1 - Hobie Brown is Spider-Punk, and he’s rocking out in this brand new series by Cody Ziglar. Spider-Punk, with the help of Captain Anarchy and RiotHeart, takes on Kraven and a bunch of Nazi-Punks. The Spider-Band can handle that right? What happens when Taskmaster drops in to audition for the Spider-Band? This was a fun comic. The story felt perfectly paced with a great blend of fighting and story. The fighting was fast and stylistic. Drawn and colored in a way that fits the whole punk aesthetic. This was flying off the shelves so don’t miss out on this exciting new spider series!