Rob's Picks:

Fort Psycho #1 - GI Joe meets The Prisoner in this fascinating new military thriller from Mind MGMT writer Matt Kindt! Under threat from the global terrorist organization The Seven Seals, governments around the world created SAW, a paramilitary force given seemingly unlimited resources and absolutely no restrictions. After ten years of warfare and an operation that ends with thousands of civilian casualties, the mercenaries are finally held accountable and imprisoned inside their former headquarters, Fort Cyclone. Our story begins with Jason, the newest inmate, arriving at the facility and discovering that his fellow war criminals live a surprisingly comfortable life behind the walls, although they are quick to remind him that comfort doesn’t make it any less of a prison. The GI Joe-inspired aesthetic and military genre conventions are immediately recognizable, but Kindt uses them to explore much heavier questions about morality, guilt, and the consequences of warfare. The framing of Joes versus Cobra also makes it easier to strip away the assumptions we bring to real-world conflicts, even as the prisoners’ stories and differing attitudes toward their actions inevitably invite comparisons. Kindt takes his time establishing the world, giving readers plenty of lore and context without ever making the issue feel bloated. The main mystery arrives relatively late, setting up what looks to be an espionage thriller centered around a double agent hiding somewhere among the prisoners. With its strong character work and intriguing premise, Fort Psycho #1 is an excellent start to what could become a very compelling series.

Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1 - Tank Girl is back on the stands in glorious color, bringing some much-needed anarchy to this summer’s reading! Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin’s punk icon originally emerged from the alternative culture of zines, and this special collects a story that first appeared in Deadline Magazine all the way back in 1990. In Summer Love Sensation, Tank Girl heads to England to visit her grandparents, bringing along her mutant kangaroo boyfriend Booga for what should be a relaxing vacation. Naturally, things go completely off the rails, leading to increasingly ridiculous adventures involving everything from a church party to the fountain of youth. The humor is crude, absurd, and relentlessly corny, but that’s exactly what makes the book work so well. Martin and Hewlett’s anarchic style has aged surprisingly well, especially compared to some of the outsider comics from the same era that relied on shock value without much substance behind it. Tank Girl could be violent, vulgar, and cynical without ever becoming genuinely mean-spirited, giving the character an energy that still feels refreshing decades later. If you’ve always been curious about Tank Girl but never knew where to start, this is an excellent introduction to the character and her unique brand of chaos. For longtime fans, it’s an even better nostalgia trip, bringing back a classic story with everything that made Tank Girl so memorable in the first place.

The Deadman #3 - GO TO HELL! With Deadman! Boston Brand’s hunt for a soul-devouring demon finally takes him and his new sidekick Bobby straight into the underworld, and the creators of Ice Cream Man are clearly taking the opportunity to get as weird as possible. W. Maxwell Prince and Martín Morazzo have leaned into the series’ esoteric nature from the beginning, but this issue pushes those instincts to their absolute limit as the pair descend through their own twisted interpretation of Dante’s Inferno. Each chamber of Hell brings a completely different visual and narrative style, with the book constantly shifting its prose, layouts, and artwork to match the environment. Some of the experimentation can become a little too abstract at times, but there’s something genuinely impressive about DC allowing a mainstream superhero comic to get this strange. Even the humor finds ways to connect with the reader, particularly during a sequence involving the existential horror of an endless commute. The real payoff comes during the confrontation with Lucifer, where all of the surrealism finally feeds directly into the larger story. Boston learns something that completely changes his understanding of the cosmic order and gives the series a fascinating new direction moving forward. Deadman has become one of the most distinctive books on the stands, blending horror, comedy, philosophy, and superheroics into something that feels unlike anything else coming out of the Big Two.

Solo's Picks:

Queen In Black #2 - The invasion of Earth is heating up as the heroes prepare for one final stand, but the odds of survival are looking incredibly grim! Hela and Knull have augmented their forces beyond anything the Avengers could have anticipated, forcing Earth's heroes to split into two groups, with one heading into the light to confront Knull and the other venturing into the darkness to take on Hela. The setup immediately creates a sense that something is going to go horribly wrong, especially with the strong implication that two heroes may have already been corrupted. If that’s the case, this entire plan could fall apart before the final battle even begins, and I’m extremely interested to see how that plays out in the next issue. I also continue to be impressed with how well MJ has been written throughout this event, especially in her role as Venom. Her characterization has done a great job establishing why she belongs in this role and should hopefully win over anyone who still has doubts about her. After the drawn-out Venom-Verse storyline, I honestly didn’t expect another symbiote event to grab me this much, but Queen In Black feels fresh, visually striking, and genuinely unpredictable. Marvel has found a way to make the symbiote mythology feel exciting again, and I can’t wait to see how this final confrontation unfolds. Pick it up today!

ChaChu #1 - A woman searching for her missing uncle finds herself caught in a bizarre conspiracy involving a missing A-list Hollywood star and a handler willing to do anything for a paycheck! ChaChu marks Iman Vellani’s first independent comic after making her writing debut with Ms. Marvel, and I have to say she absolutely knocked this one out of the park. The story immediately throws readers into Leila’s perspective, using clever exposition and strong visual storytelling to establish the mystery without bogging things down. The artwork is gorgeous throughout, but one of my favorite sequences comes when Leila and her uncle are driving toward Las Vegas, with the paneling doing an excellent job of making the journey feel visually distinct. The book also gets particularly creative with its layouts, especially during a page where Leila recounts the events of her day through her journal. Those little choices give the series a personality that makes it stand out from other crime mysteries on the shelves. I was especially impressed by the writing, as Vellani seems much more confident here than in her earliest Ms. Marvel work. There’s already a strong hook, an interesting cast, and plenty of unanswered questions, making ChaChu one of the most promising new mysteries this week. If you’re looking for a crime thriller with a Hollywood twist, definitely give this one a shot!

Ben 10 #4 - Ben 10 enters a terrifying new arc with the arrival of one of the franchise’s creepiest villains, Zombozo! If you grew up with the original series, you probably remember Zombozo as pure nightmare fuel, and the Man of Action team clearly remembers those childhood fears because this new version is absolutely horrifying. His unsettling grin before draining the happiness from his victims, those jagged bloodied teeth, and the increasingly obvious Pennywise influence make him feel much more threatening than his original counterpart. I’ve really enjoyed how this series has gradually separated itself from the source material, and this issue continues that trend by making some noticeable changes to the status quo. Even the outfits have been updated to show that several days have passed, giving the world a greater sense of progression than the original show usually allowed. The biggest change, however, may be the direction of Ben’s alien discoveries. In the original series, new aliens were introduced relatively sporadically, but this issue makes it seem like discovering and cataloging new extraterrestrial life could become a major part of the ongoing story. That reminds me more of Alien Force than the original Ben 10, and I’m extremely excited to see where the team takes that idea. The book has continued getting better with every issue, and Zombozo is exactly the kind of villain this darker take on Ben 10 needed. Grab it today!