June 8th, 2022
Caroline's Picks:
Poison Ivy #1 - Y’all I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for this mini series. After constantly speaking about how I wish DC would give Ivy her own series it is finally here. And I'd recommend reading the set up/prequel for Ivy in the back of Batman 124 to give yourself some extra context before you start the series. Ivy has lost part of herself, after merging with her other half she’s been unable to properly connect with The Green and to her there is no fate worse in the world. She’s determined to get that part of her back no matter the lengths and sacrifices she has to make, even if it means sacrificing herself in the end. Eco-terrorist Ivy is back and she is no holds barred, it doesn’t matter who or what gets in her way. She’s going to save The Green and fix the Earth before it's too late, with as little pain brought to others along the way, it's not like she’s evil or anything, She’s just tired of people taking the Earth for granted, destroying ecosystems and leaving nothing but trash in their path. Human beings are after all an invasive species.
DC Pride 2022 #1 - There’s a little bit of something for everyone in the new DC Pride anthology book. Whether it's Damian being insanely overprotective of the Pride parade and everyone attending, a cute set of meet the parents dates between Jackson (Aqualad) and his new love interest Ha'Wea and characters wrestling with how to tell their family their hidden secrets about themselves despite knowing they’ll be loved regardless. Multiple different relationships and sexualities are explored and brought front and center with this book while trying to give the reader an understanding of their life in the pages given. My personal favorites from this one are the Anibia story showing a fight from her past with an older art style homage and of course the Harley and Ivy series. The art is consistently good throughout each of the stories as well, but I'd expect nothing but the best from DC for such an important issue.
Where Starships Go to Die #1 - Fifteen years ago the starship Daedalus launched into deep space in hope to find a new location for humanity to reside. In 2075, 15 years later, at the exact moment it was supposed to contact Earth with its finding and report the possibility of moving all of humanity it crashed landed into the sea. Now Captain Dlameni, the first person from Africa ever to go to space, is being recruited for a new mission. Kiara Katri needs a crew to help her salvage the wreck, to help her retrieve the core from the ship to bring clean energy to all those below the equator who have been forgotten since the war began. She’s hoping the offer of the ship and the possibility to go anywhere he wants in space will be enough to get him on her side. First though they’ll have to recover an old secret Nazi vessel to help determine if the Daedalus could even survive the crash. Hopefully there's no surprises waiting for them inside.
Quests Aside #2 - The bar is still as lively as ever, despite the polite altercation that happened last time we were here. But now Barrow has some extra weight on his back and a special request for a ‘friend’ to deliver a letter on his next trip out of town with some of his patrons, and with supplies running low it seems even his employees are getting a little restless before the night's big meeting is set to take place. But Krayn isn’t just there to reminisce about the good old days of fighting monsters and wars alike, no he’s after Barrow, desperate to get him back out into the fight and working together to fight for the world once again. But Barrow can only sit and pout for so long, after all the big meeting is tonight and he doesn’t want to keep everyone waiting for too long. After all his family needs him, and he isn’t planning on letting them down anytime soon.
Diarra's Picks:
Afterschool #1 - Image’s Skybound was started by Robert Kirkman with the goal in mind to ensure creators have and keep creative control over their work. Skybound X are the same folks that brought us Walking Dead and Invincible so you know they are about giving the people what they want! This time Skybound presents this four issue horror anthology and after reading this stand alone titled “Spineless”, I’m sold! This issue focuses around high schooler Nora, who hasn’t been adjusting well to her new school. Her parents have noticed she’s been a bit down in the dumps, and get her a new dog in hopes of raising her spirits. It works, and now Janie the pup and Nora are inseparably. It’s like all the anxiety she was feeling before just melted away, and Nora is finally making friends/having fun. I mean, that’s the whole point of service animals, but after Nora busts Janie having a cigarette in the kitchen, she realizes he isn’t a regular dog…he might not be a dog at all! With the tag line “The good die young. The bad die better” how can you not give it a shot?!
Poison Ivy #1 - “I don’t mean to brag, but you have to be really good at being this bad.” If you thought Dr. Pamela Isley had a couple screws loose before, you haven’t seen anything yet. If you didn’t read Batman: Fear State stuff you shouldn’t have any trouble figuring the plot out, but here’s a quick recap. Super villain, The Gardner, split Ivy’s soul in two, and places the ‘kinder’ half in a seed to be kept hidden away, which unleashes Ivy’s full power. She turns Gotham into her person Rainforest Cafe, and is known as Queen Ivy. In order to get back the woman she loves, Harley Quinn works with Catwoman and The Gardener to get Ivy whole again, but things don’t go as planned and it just leaves Ivy with resentment. The toxins that had once given her freedom are now slowly killing her, and she plans to take all of humankind with her. Now we catch up with Ivy on her farewell to humanity tour, as she drives across the country leaving toxic fungi in her wake. Ivy is dying and plans on taking everyone with her, but she might not want to reap what she sowed.
Quests Aside #2 - This is the best fantasy/adventure series I’ve read in awhile, and this is coming from a subscriber of Murder Hobo. No, this isn’t you’re elegantly told tale, like Monstress or Little Bird, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun! And if you play D&D, this series has been pure world fuel. I mean they have this amazing series of panels that are basically questers regaling us with tales/people describing failed rolls. Ok. So, Barrow, a retired adventurer turned tavern owner, was recently approached by the King with an offer to buy the bar. The bar’s central location makes it a perfect pit stop for travelers, and the King has made it clear he will have the bar, even if he has to do it the hard way. In a past life, Barrow and the King fought side by side, were friends even, but while the King chose power, Barrow decided to open this tavern so adventurers could have a safe place to rest/gather. This isn’t just a pub to Barrow (ironically, Barrow was cursed and can’t feel the effects of alcohol), he has built a family here, and he knows it will be hard, but he must fight to keep open! Buy This Book, Nerds!!
K's Picks:
Dark Crisis #1 - The last time we left off with the death of the Justice League; like, that alone had me pumped for the rest of the series! I'm honestly surprised by this one. The last issue had me interested but given my lack of experience with comics I was a little hesitant at first, but this issue blew all my doubts out the water. We start off with a memorial for the fallen, and a certain eyepatch wearing gentleman can be seen Stalking this event from afar. As we continue onward, villains all across are on a rampage taking advantage of the Justice Leagues absence and adding more work for the young heroes. Black Adam is gives as much information as he knows about the League - whether they are truly gone and if the darkness they fought still resides. This raises a few eyebrows given the fact that it's, well, Black Adam! Moving forward my favorite things about this issue come from Kal-El's attempt to recruit Wonder Girl and more young like-minded heroes, which failed somewhat. It added a lightness to this terrifying world which is quickly taken away when it's revealed that Deathstroke is leading an attack on all Titans! Through and through this is my favorite new release.
Afterschool #1 - So this is just the first episode of a pretty neat anthology and so far, a strong start. So ya know E.T.? Well, think that but you throw in John Carpenter's The Thing! I'm a huge fan of spooky body horror stories and this one doesn't fail to deliver that vibe. Nora is not so confident, to the point where she can't keep her hands steady at all. Unfortunately, a skill you kinda need if you want to get into med school. With this glaring issue her parents decide to buy her an adorable dog named Janie. Coincidently, Nora's life improved drastically once this dog was introduced. One night Nora wakes up to a thud and bang only to see her dog standing upright and smoking a cigarette?
Once the dog is out of the bag it's revealed that this pup is actually a spine stealing alien, one that simple wants to go home no matter what it takes. This story is outrageously funny, creepy, and a treat to read!
Chainsaw Man Vol #11 - Ok, I'm a full-on Chainsaw Man geek, straight up in my element and the same can be said about Tatsuki Tujimoto's work on this one! There's a lot of care and love put into this series and there's a reason why this is considered his magnum opus! Straight off of Fire Punch, this story has been a lot less bleak and that's to its benefit. Last we left off, Gun Devil has been killed and Denji went on a date, played some dance dance revolution and absolutely destroyed hoards of devils! It's honestly something you have to see. Afterwards, Makima goes back on a full assault with intentions to rip Pochita out of Denji's chest. Fortunately for Denji, Power came to the rescue and with a few encouraging words from Kobeni. Denji regained himself and faces off against every devilman under Makima's control! The final battle was probably one of the coolest twists I've seen in a while and had my jaw on the floor the entire time. From its art, to set pieces, to down right the hilarious dialogue, Chainsaw Man delivers and I can't wait for part two, and yes this is only the beginning!