August 5th, 2020

J.R.'s Picks:

Horizon Zero Dawn #1 – One of my favorite games ever makes its way to the page this week! This new series follows a story that takes place just after the original game. Talanah has left Meridian to follow a contract set after a black clawstrider. While out in the woods, she attempts to escape a pack of clawstriders but one gets the better of her. She awakens to a remote cave with her wounds tended to and supplies to travel. Who was her mysterious helper? Throughout the issue, techniques and actions featured in the game were used by characters which made for a super nice touch. Don’t worry too- Aloy makes an appearance herself too! A great read for fans of the video game.

Guardians of the Galaxy #5 – Man oh man. Al Ewing is becoming the go-to guy for game-changing stories and sci-fi twist. The Moondragon we’ve known on the team came to the 616 universe from a more perfect world along with her wife Phyla-Vell but there was always a hitch- 616 already had a Moondragon. The two come, uh, face-to-face so to speak (as much as telepaths do anyways) and hash out their differences, 616 Moondragon being more than pissed that alt-Moondragon has a lot less baggage than her. Meanwhile, Hercules has an incredibly great convo with Gamora about her loss and Rocket’s team unveils their grand rescue plan. A seriously great issue; get into this gem of a series while it’s still on low numbers!

Alien: The Original Screenplay #1 – Dan O’Bannon’s original vision for Alien comes to light with its building tension in this fabulous first issue. Did you know they wanted to call it Star Beast at first? Yeah, glad that didn’t leave the cutting room floor. The crew of the Snark awakens early from their hyper-sleep to discover a distress call from a nearby planetoid. Assuming its first contact, they make their way planet-side to investigate. What awaits them is indeed one of the greatest discoveries of man, but YOU KNOW it’s gonna get crazy. As a fan of the movies, I was interested to see the original take and I’m confident you will be too.

Giant-Size Fantomex #1 – YES. One of my favorite weird Grant Morrison mutant creations makes his way back to the comics with this well-done story. Fantomex was created in a laboratory called the World which exists outside of time by A.I.M. scientists hoping to craft the greatest metahuman being. Essentially, the most dystopian eugenics you could possibly imagine. Fantomex was dumped because he shared to close of a genetic material to another baby who he considered is brother. He returns every decade with teammates he tricked to be there in order to attempt to rescue him. You can’t rescue what doesn’t need saving though. Another great one from the team of Hickman and Reis. Featuring appearances by the Howling Commandos, Hellfire Club and the Humonganauts!

Diarra's Picks:

The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1 - Lindy has been having some pretty strange dreams recently, but she just chalked it up to extreme exhaustion. Between being over worked in the office/school and having a new born at home, Lindy is rightfully tired. The dreams are always the same, her roaming the halls of The Stratford House (she is working on her dissertation on Shakespeare so that makes sense) and she is always alone. Well, this time she runs into someone new. They claim to be a nightmare, and are pretty shaken up by the fact they were detected. The nightmare’s plan is to travel back with Lindy to the living world as she awakes. Something goes terribly wrong and now Lindy is stuck in The Stratford House and a nightmare is babysitting for her! The nightmare is happy to have escaped, but must go back for Lindy before it is too late.

Vampire: The Masquerade #1 - After decades of wars between the two, humans and vampires finally live in peace. That’s because the vampires have decided it would be better to masquerade themselves as humans. So not really peaceful unity, more like secret conforming, and all under the rule of Prince Samantha. The high ranking vampires take masquerading quite seriously. If a human finds out about a vampire they must be exterminated. One of these vampire exterminators is Darla, a hit man with a possible heart of gold. This possible heart of gold is put to the test when she finds a recently turned vampire girl who is lost and alone. While Darla works for vampire royalty and wants for nothing, not all vampires live the same life of luxury. A group of local vampires are on the hunt for a new blood source and head out to rob a blood bank. But in a world where vampires have to hid their true identity, the predators might soon become the prey.

Strange Adventures #4 - With the world’s eyes on Adam Strange, Mr. Terrific ramps up his investigation. Terrific heads to the planet Rann searching for the truth about Strange’s time there. While Terrific is away, we get to see into the time before Strange went to Rann. He reached out to members of the JLA, but they all thought it was a bit rash. It’s interesting to see his friends/colleagues steer him away from going, and treading lightly now that he is being accused of war crimes now that he is back. As the investigation deepens, the Rann government gets more secretive and a bit aggressive. Terrific returns to Earth and is greeted by a not so-welcome wagon.

Stone's Picks:

Fire Power #2 – While asleep, Owen Johnson and his family are stalked by ninjas in their own home. Before anything can happen Owen springs to action and what results is a silent fistfight to protect his family from this ninja menace. Can ninja training alone stand against the fire power that Owen wields? One thing is for sure, it’s clear that Owen's former friend Ma will do whatever it takes to retrieve Owen.  She wants him back at the temple where Owen sought the knowledge about his parents but only found pain and sorrow.

DCeased Dead Planet #2 – For five years as the world was engulfed by the living dead, a group comprised of expert magicians, deadly fighters, and demons has traveled the world looking for looking for survivors. While the jungle in Gotham (created by Poison Ivy) has been a place of refuge for many survivors, Swamp thing is able to hear the cries of another plant safe haven in Australia that seems under duress. With one team heading to look into that problem, those that remained have positive feelings of friends being reunited after being apart for so long. Sadly, it doesn't last, as those who have fought their friends and family for survival become overwhelmed with guilt after the beans are spilled by one moldy cybernetic being.

Transformers / My Little Pony: Friendship in Disguise #1 – The powers of Friendship and advanced robotic engineering collide for a rainbow filled and AllSpark infused adventure! The terrible Queen Chrysalis uses a spell to bring forth changelings from another world to combat Twilight Sparkle and the forces of good. What she ends up summoning  are both the Autobots and Decepticons straight from their planet of Cybertron to the domain of the ponies. Now it’s the Autobots and the good ponies Vs. the Decepticons and Queen Chrysalis in all-out brawl to save the harmony of the land and help return the Cybertronians back where they belong.