August 24th, 2022
Caroline's Picks:
WYND Throne in the Sky #1 - My absolute favorite all ages series is finally back with the next arc in the series and I couldn't be more excited! James Tynion IV wastes no time starting the series off with a flashback of a major reveal about Oakley’s family and then follows it up with a summary of everything that's happened up to this point in the series to help remind readers of just how much has transpired since we first arrived in Pipetown. The gang is still traipsing around the woods trying to find the Faerie Capital and despite a delicious bug breakfast all the humans are still hungry. Cue a conveniently placed bed and breakfast in the woods, but this is an all ages book so nothing bad happens besides some friendly eavesdropping by Wynd. Turns out things have gone from bad to worse in the past few days for everyone. War between the humans and Faeries is imminent. Wynd and his friends have no choice but to continue on forward despite the dangers and constant fear of attack, they have more allies than they realize and if used properly they’ll be able to make their way to safety and bring peace to their world. All they have to do is avoid the Vampyres and Weirdblood’s alike out for their blood. This was a fabulous first issue for the new arc, it did a wonderful job of reminding us of the transpired events, showed us several new locations for the series and left us with a cliffhanger that has been in play since the end of the last arc.
Star Wars Hyperspace Stories #1 - We are finally getting more Dark Horse Star Wars series again! And it's set during the Clone Wars period and I’m always down for more expansion of the adventures of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme. First of all I'd like to point out that once again it seems like the Wookie is going to be the most intelligent member of the squad as Senator Yarua makes a quick and intelligent decision right off the bat to put things in their favor. Because yet another diplomatic mission for the Republic led by Senator Amadala has gone awry, once again General Grievous is here to ruin the day. This is another all ages series so don’t expect too much violence this time around but we do get to see some lightsabers in action and Padme kicking some butt to save her fellow hostages. The fight between Obi-Wan and Grievous is as good as ever, though I had no doubt it would be, I thoroughly enjoy watching them spar across every form of Star Wars media and the comics are no exception to that. The issue wraps up like a 30 minute tv show: problem solved and tied up with a neat little bow, ready for the next adventure to begin. Only this is Star Wars, and the breadcrumbs are everywhere and things are never really over when they seem to be.
Damage Control #1 - After teasing and involving Damage Control in the Ms. Marvel show practically every episode there really is no surprising that Marvel is dropping a new comic series about them. Add together She-Hulk (the newest show to drop), Moon Knight (one of the most popular shows to drop) and Jimmy Woo (the most fun government man) and you’ve got the trifecta of recently very popular characters from the MCU coming together in the comics, how convenient. This also means they’re most likely bringing Damage Control to live action and this new series is the perfect way to create even more hype while having potential openings to slide this iteration into the ongoing universe. Gus’ is a new intern for Damage Control, it's his first day and already off to a heated start: he has to deliver an ice cream cake before it melts. IT seems like none of his tasks are going his way, but help is always around the corner when he needs it. The heroes we meet and the little two panel shots of all the people we already recognized being teased as working with damage control is more than enough to keep me interested for the next issue.
End After End #1 - Vault does some of the most unique indie series out there, I like to give almost all their first issues a try and this next one did not disappoint. If you read Barbaric or Engineward then I highly recommend you give this one a try too. The End after End is where you when you die, a new take on the moments we have between life and death, where you're dead in our world but not in theirs. I love this creative team's take on purgatory, or the place we go after we die but before we ‘move on’. This world is a high fantasy environment a la Lord of the Rings or a D&D campaign: think swords and shields, magic, fairies, monsters, and stuff like that. They have one goal in this world, to stay alive and get their fearless leader face to face with the enemy. If our main man can survive that then his old guide will tell him everything he needs to know about being in the End After End and how to survive until his final death occurs. But there are secrets waiting and wars to be fought, after all the End After End Never Ends.
Diarra's Picks:
Tales of the Human Target - With 6 issues remaining in the Human Target series, the creators treated us with this one shot of tales from before the series even began. You see, in the first issue of the main series Chance is poisoned and will be dead in 12 days. With 12 days to solve your own murder there isn't much time for flash backs, but this issue we see Christopher Chance’s first encounters with some of the big players in the main run! While chasing clues, Chance speaks with Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, and Fire, but we learn in this one shot they’ve all met before. Tom King doesn’t stray from his “timey whimey” writing style and as those three work on separate investigations, Christopher Chance is the key to each. This was a great issue to get us pumped for the second half to this tale with issue 7 dropping in September! And who doesn’t love to see Booster Gold hatch a plan, even if you are a lame-o who isn’t reading the main story, you’ll still get a kick out of this!
Wynd III #1 - The much anticipated third arc it finally here! Don’t let this YA rating fool you, this has been an awesome fantasy for all ages…and I’ve been suggesting it to everyone who has been in the shop looking for Heartstopper! So when we last left Wynd and his friends they were on their way to the Faerie kingdom. In their world, humans and magical beings are not allowed to coexist, even the different magical races stay to themselves after the leaders of each group decided it was for the best. Wynd is a magical creature who was adopted by humans and they hide his true identity from the other humans, but when the King of the human world decides to abandon the treaty everything changes. The Prince doesn’t share his father’s hate for non humans and a plan is hatched to sneak the Prince out the city to warn others. This is a pretty intense undertaking for a group of teens, but outside of the human city Wynd is finally able to test out his magic. They meet friends and foes along the way, and Wynd is stronger than anyone ever imagined…he might even be the key to stopping the war! The biggest obstacle on their journey has been the Vampire Nation and after a recent encounter they are even more eager to capture Wynd and his friends!
Minor Threats #1 - Since the Eisner Award winning series Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire hit the shelves in 2016 it’s been a hit and fans can’t get enough of the tales from this universe. Lemire has always held these characters near and dear, but who better to invite to the creative team than the hilarious Patton Oswalt! Oswalt was the first writer to expand the Black Hammer world in 2021 with Black Hammer: Visions, and now he returns to Twilight City for a new arc! Frankie Follis aka Playtime is a retired villain and former sidekick to her mother the Toy Queen. It wasn’t getting busted that made her go straight, but the hope of one day regaining custody of her daughter. Unfortunately, Frankie is having a hard time finding a job as metahuman, especially one with a criminal record. Despite her better judgement and with limited options, Frankie gets a job bartending at the dive bar Grinder (a notorious meta villain hangout). Even though she has given up the life, it’s nice to be around old friends, but then the news breaks a sidekick has been found dead. Now heroes are shaking down villains without probable cause and Frankie is disgusted by the abuse of power. She knows this won’t end until the killer is found, so she dons her Playtime suit once again to catch the person responsible! Mike Mignola even graced us with a variant cover, what more reason do you need to pick up this issue!?!
K's Picks:
A.X.E. Judgement Day #3 - Things have gone from terrible to downright insane. The Progenitor has decided to judge everyone on earth within the next 24 hours. Conflicts are rising amongst the Avengers and the Eternals and with judgement day finally commencing, the next course of action has been extremely difficult. There are a lot of cool developments here. There are a lot of cool developments here, like how the Deviants are just able to walk into Krakoa despite not being mutants. I'm interested in what role they will play against the Progenitors judgement? As interesting as all the Deviant stuff is, the whole ordeal with the Progenitor is the most insane part. We were warned pretty early on that its creation was a insane idea. With the possibility of absolute extinction injected in to the minds of everyone on the planet, it's going to take everyone to work together to pass the test!
Damage Control #1 - A hilarious and a downright nostalgic feeling comic! Maybe it's the art style or the writing style but I get the vibe of an Adult Swim show with a Marvel spin. We start off with this office style conversation between our MC Gus and the head intern of Damage Control, Bart Rozum. We learn that Damage Control has changed to handle more affairs than just cleaning up Super hero messes. We' re led into an comically deceptive office space that now hosts many everyday super hero occurrences. There's a mixed bag of just heroes who have no business in coffee shops or stores just doing their thing, like Ghost Riders just chilling in an elevator. Read this comic!
Minor Threats #1 - You ever think about what those lame D-list super villains are up to when they aren't getting pushed around? Maybe they're walking the streets trying to make that next hit, or maybe they're hanging out at some bar. One thing is for sure, that kind of lifestyle has never left Frankie's life. Playtime was a girl roped into the villain life by her mom, but after one big blunder she's spent the rest of her years trying to leave that behind and be normal. Unfortunately for Frankie, she could only land a job at a bar for supervillians because of her criminal record. This wouldn't be an issue if trouble didn't always come looking for her, and one faithful day she's lost all hope of forgetting her past. I really enjoyed the direction and art for this one. The writing feels natural and for the most part I really enjoy how Frankie realistically has no other choice but to clear her name. It works really well and I highly suggest the first of Minor Threats!