November 18th, 2020
J.R.'s Picks:
You Look Like Death: Tales From The Umbrella Academy #3 – Who knew vampires loved amusement parks so much? Klaus’s adventures in Hollywood (and the space between life and death) continue. Vivian continues to use Klaus to channel famous celebs through her to land big time gigs but, other than being generally awful, there’s something far more nefarious lurking under her surface. The Shivers is active as well, forging a new beginning after taking over the vamp gang territory in Hollywood. Thoughts of revenge aside, he now seeks Klaus to temporarily revive his dead wife so The Shi9vers can apologize. Obviously, things will go awry. All the humor and absurdity you love from Gerard Way is within these pages so grab up the series now.
A Dark Interlude #1 – A strange tale made stranger and deeper by its unique choice of narration vis a vis meta-storytelling. Beginning with a letter written by the narrator apologizing for plagiarism and murder, the story continues to show a magical being doing battle with monsters in a world made of the fears of humanity. Every generation, a storyteller is born unto the world to defeat the greatest fear of humanity and craft a story from it. The narrator was this hero until they killed the muse and their mentor. What then transpires is a look into how the narrator’s actions affected the victim’s family, publisher, and legacy. Plus William Shakespeare looks like he’s the main villain. An extremely well-told and unique story that you’re not gonna find anywhere else.
Barbalien Red Planet #1 – Jeff Lemire is a treasure and should always be treated as such. Another character prolife of a Black Hammer regular that once again requires no prior reading into the universe to enjoy its fantastic message. Barbalien is essentially a stand-in for Martian Manhunter with his alter-ego being Mark Markz. Being a cop in 1984, he’s sent to break up a protest against the government’s handling of the AIDS epidemic. Being a gay man himself, the conflict inside of him is intense as he’s forced to arrest the mass of people whose beliefs he shares. Arrest them he does though. On top of the political strife Earthside, Barbalien is going to have a lot of trouble coming to him form Mars as well. A brilliant first issue with a powerful message of our history that we should all learn from.
Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity #6 – This series has been great so far and continues to be greater as the mystery deepens. Harley goes to visit her former roommate’s parents as they grapple with the loss of her to the Joker. While there, Harley gets a call from her brother informing her that their abusive mother just died. A cutback to the Joker has him reminiscing on his first murders which were vigilante in nature, that is until he was compared to the Batman on the news. After another of Joker’s victims is discovered by the GCPD, Harley knows he’s trying to send her a message she doesn’t want. The color transitions in this book somehow make it feel more like a police procedural and need to be experienced for yourself: pick all the issues of this one up if you haven’t already.
Diarra's Picks:
Indigenous Voices #1 - Marvel Voices have been killing it with issues highlighting under represented comic characters. This issue focuses on Indigenous voices, show casing Native American authors, illustrators, and their amazing stories. Echo: Hitting Back tells of Maya Lopez’s time in Hell’s Kitchen and how a trickster, we love to hate, takes her far from home. Mirage: Multifaceted highlights Lopez’s youth and her time with the X-Men. Silver Fox is a heart wrenching of colonization and the strength of the native people who to fight back. Media representation is so important, and the Voices series is just the beginning!
Sea of Sorrows #1 - Harlow knows about a big score, and gathers a bunch of, “God damnit, I’m in!” guys. The treasure? Gold bars. The trouble? They are at the bottom of the ocean in a sunken submarine. Harlow recruited the best diver he could find and the mission is a success. The diver finds more than gold on that ship, but doesn’t alert the team. Though he keeps it quiet, what he saw on the submarine still haunts him on the surface. Blissfully unaware, the crew celebrates their new riches, unaware of the dangers that swim below them.
Faithless II #6 - What a crazy end to an arc (and that connecting erotic variant)! Faith is finally getting answers to the questions she dared not ask. Like, who were he new friends/lovers before they met her? All the spooky gets put on the back burner while Faith rushes to make the deadline for her last eat painting. Turns out, that painting might be the key to this all. We know dark arts are at play and that creepy old lady has given Faith more than a hint to that fact. But can Faith just turn and walk away from the people who make her so happy? How can she go back to the life she threw away? Guess we’ll figure it out in the next arc!
Stone's Picks:
Star Wars Bounty Hunters #7 - Valance has been sworn to protect a young girl named Cadeliah and the two narrowly escape from the unbroken clan syndicate. Now they are on the run from two hired guns. With no other options, Valance takes the girl to a former love interest at a hidden rebel base who also holds a mysterious red crystal. It doesn’t take long for the hired guns to locate Valance and the girl, bringing their troubles to the rebellion's door. If they plan to hide amongst an army, perhaps an army of super battle droids can weed them out.
Sea of Sorrows #1 - In the deep depths of the North Atlantic Ocean there lies the remnants of a German submarine. Within its confines is a vast treasure left over from World War I. The only people who know of it’s existence are a small crew and a handful of men that may be involved in some shady dealings. The only diver they have, Nick Shoals, is their ticket to a fortune. Nick could care less about that as he simply enjoys the quiet of the ocean - it’s like nothing that can be experienced on the surface. Yet there is something lurking in these waters that will disrupt the quiet Mr. Shoals so enjoys.
Dark Knights Death Metal #5 - As the Darkest Knight makes his way toward Perpetua, Wonder Woman and the crew do battle with a colossal version of Batman that is made from Gotham city itself. As the beginning of the end starts, the only one with any answers to stopping both Perpetua and the Darkest Knight is Lex Luthor. With the help of my main man Lobo, the heroes have a way to construct a machine that will help restore everyone’s memories from all the previous crisis events. Now everyone will know the truth about what happened and if Lex is right, the truth is the key to defeating these villainous gods.