December 28th, 2022

Caroline's Picks:

Once Upon a Time at the End of the World #2 - Maceo and Mezzie have set off on their big adventure. Or really Maceo is still tagging along with Mezzie while she constantly tells him to go home before he dies. But Maceo has packed a rather large suitcase and locked the door behind him, so there’s no turning back now. And they make a pretty great team, where Mezzie has all the survival skills of an experienced Apocalypse traveler, Maceo is bringing his own skill of fun and frivolity to the end of the world. He’s been stuck in his tower for so long with no company but everything he needs to live. It’s no wonder his idea of a necessity is a pogo stick. Yet for some reason Mezzie still can’t bring herself to really send him home, maybe some company wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen to her. And who knows, maybe bringing Maceo with her won’t be the worst thing that ever happened to her, she might even manage to smile once or twice. Maybe she really can find something good in this forsaken place.
  
Timeless 2022 #1 - Kang has spent his entire existence searching for one prize: the mission moment. And still no matter how hard he works or where he jumps in time he is unable to reach it. Yet still he presses on with his mission destroying whoever and whatever he wishes in an attempt to gain any and all information and access to that moment. But now his destructive past-present-future is catching up with him. Myrddin, a wizard whose sole purpose is to defeat Kang and find the Missing Moment for themselves, has found his way into Kang's flagship. Even worse for Kang they've brought a team of heroes with them all specially engineered to end Kang. What follows is an epic battle throughout several points in time and space, each highlighting some of Kangs greatest victories and most horrifying feats. Yet despite everything Kang does to come out victorious one note persists throughout the issue, the Missing Moment is not for him.
  
Star Wars The High Republic The Blade #1 - With the High Republic TV show starting to develop I'm getting more and more excited for this Era of the Universe. It is still so unknown in the greater history of the Star Wars Universe but the series overall has done a wonderful job in laying the groundwork for some of the developments of the Universe in the ‘current’ time. This series follows a pair of Jedi siblings who trained together in the temple and are now doing the work of the Jedi together. Porter Engle is a Jedi who is probably the most talented lightsaber user there has ever been, with plenty of force tricks always up his sleeve. The fights we are going to see this man dazzle during are going to be incredible and something I hope we see on screen one day. His ‘sister’ Barash Silvain seems to be more in line with the force users who are likened with wizards than physical threats. She’s much more calculated and non-combative than her ‘brother’, using the force to sense lies and not particularly caring to wield any weapon. Their next adventure is guided by The Force, Barash feels it when she chooses. Hopefully it will keep them safe for what's to come.
  
Sandman Universe Dead Boy Detectives #1 - The next chapter in the expanded Sandman Universe is here, and after the season 2 announcement I'm more than ready to jump back into their world. This time around we’ve got a witch who's been held captive, not unlike Death in the main series, and is slowly biding her time and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Meanwhile we’ve got some spooky boys keeping us company, Edwin and Charles. They’re working the cases only someone like them can, helping out kids who can see them with their problems and fears. But while out on their latest case the boys run into the unexpected, more kid ghosts like them! All of these ghosts are from Thai religion and mythology and the fact that they’re popping up in the United States means something is seriously wrong in the land of the living and the dead. Now that they’ve got some help in the form of ghost friends and a new ghost doctor nothing can stop them from helping as many people as possible, except maybe a witch.
  

Diarra's Picks:

Tales From Earth-6: A Celebration of Stan Lee #1 - Back in 2001, Stan Lee decided to take a stab at some famed DC characters and Earth-6 was born. These aren’t the reprints, but rather some of our favorite authors and illustrators, using those versions of our heroes to create this anthology. From Superman to Sandman, the JLA gets a total makeover…and it works! What if Aquaman was made of water, or the Flash got ‘her’ powers as a parent’s dying wish? These questions will be answered and more, and I’m definitely sticking with this series. I still haven’t experienced Lee and Morrison’s original run, but I can’t wait to see if they really captured his vision of Earth-6!
  
Dead Boy Detectives #1 - I’ve been hoping for a new DBD run since their appearance in the last season of HBO’s Doom Patrol, and we are off to a great start. Charles and Edwin are our Dead Boy Detectives, who formed this partnership in the afterlife, but staying young forever is finally getting to them. Edwin hopes this new case will cheer Charles up, and it is working for the time being. Unfortunately, this won’t be an easy “who dunnit” because the killer they are hunting is a ghost buster! Well more like another angry spirit, but the guys have to be extra careful with this one. Worst of all, they have no idea what trouble is waiting to unleash hell if they don’t hurry!
  
Nice House on The Lake #12 - It’s been a year since this sci-fi horror hit the shelves and has not disappointed! The first six issues are in TP and I’m sure the rest will be dropping soon. After a group of friends get invited to a weekend getaway things quickly fall to shit. On day one they find out this won’t just be a weekend trip because the outside world has been destroyed. As if that wasn’t enough to ruin a vacay, they find out the friend who invited them is from another world and knew this would happen! Some are thankful to be saved while others feel trapped, but they have to work together if they want to get out of this prison disguised as an oasis. This book had me from the first issue and Tynion delivers all the feels in just 12 issues.
  

K's Picks:

John Stewart Emerald Knight #1 - John Stewart has made his grand return as the hero clad in green makes in an all new issue! Hal Jordan has always taken the spotlight as Green Lantern, he's charismatic, strong, and at times his hope could feel boundless, depending on the story. John Stewart is more my speed, but Hal Jordan will always be that guy. John just has that cold and serious tone I wished Hal would take more often. Esak is a great character out of the New Gods and it really felt like a sure fire threat for any new readers. I really enjoyed how the panels became old fashioned when Esak showed up in his younger years. It was a nice and a really informative read, especially since my knowledge on the Green Lanterns Corp isn't as vast as say Batman or the Flash. Hopefully, this puts John back on the map front and center!
  
Lovesick #3 - The latest and gory-est issue is here! Lovesick has really terrified me with how things feel very real and possible. Dominatrix ladies slicing up a group of murderous incels titled "The Bloodcels" is a reach, two arms length even, but I wouldn't doubt all the crazy red room underground gore. The Red rooms in question were something always shrouded in rumor. Yeah, there are gore message boards but I'm quite surprised at how clouded in mystery these rooms turned out to be. I have to give it up again to the style and writing. There's a lot of framework for things really hitting the fan again, and I genuinely don't see the story ending well for Domino at this rate. Beaten, bruised, and hunted by her former followers, we're reminded by how cruel and monstrous people can really be. With the limited time we have with each issue it makes sense why things turn up so quickly, so I'm really excited how more wild things can get!
  
Riddler Year One #2 - This is probably going to be the best limited run DC has put out this year! OK that's maybe a slight reach but I really love a good slow burn series. With only six issues ,I figured we'd be blasting through the story but the pacing has been more than great! After watching the latest Batman movie I wondered how this bumbling nerd becomes the charismatic puzzle-solving, clue cracking mad man he is. Things (so far) seem so impossibly off from his movie depiction, so I'm more than excited to see what exactly in this origin kicked it off. I also really love how Edward is portrayed as someone who is lost and hopeless. They really make you want to root for his come up, even if that come up will eventually lead to him encountering the fist of the Bat. Also, Carmine Falcone is straight referenced in this issue and now I'm really hyped to see what role he's going to play in the story going forward.