November 2nd, 2022
Caroline's Picks:
Hell to Pay #1 - Fans of the series Eight Billion Genies should give this one a try, it shares a writer and I’ve yet to be disappointed by anything by Charles Soule. Hell is real, not like an alternate universe type of thing but a physical location that you can go to. Turns out they’ve got a whole established society among the demons, rather reflective of our own, and they’ve even got money. As per usual keeping human souls as slaves eventually causes a rebellion and somehow a man escapes back to the living world. With six hundred and sixty six Hellcoins coming along. Those coins can do dangerous things in the living world, each can summon one demon and the summoner gets one wish. Though with demons the deal never really is what it seems. These coins are dangerous, so dangerous that a secret ‘Shrouded College’ has hired 2 assassins to search for the ones that remain and bring them back. Now they’ve got one last job, one last coin, to grab and then their deal is done. Easy enough.
Night of the Ghoul #2 - Just as Forest is making some headway with Mr. Patrick their conversation is abruptly interrupted. His son’s been doing some snooping and got caught. Now they’ve got to get off the hospital property before Dr. Skeen calls the cops on them, or worse. But Forrest was never good at letting things go, and he feels like dropping this makes his more than a failure. So he leaves his son and heads back inside for one last chat before he gives up. He definitely wasn’t expecting what happened next. Once again we are seeing the story and history of the Ghoul develop in tandem between ‘current time’ and the timeline of the movie Mr. Patrick made. It’s a unique way to make the reader more knowledgeable and reliable than the actual characters in the story. We’ve already learned what's to come for the world, now we watch in horror as Forest tries his best to stop it.
Old Dog #2 - Jack in this feels oddly similar to fresh out of the ice Captain America. He doesn’t know what's happened the last few years, important political and personal events have been completely missed. And though his body has been healed there’s only so much he can do to keep up with this new world. He’s got plenty of questions, hopefully an old friend can get him some answers. After he does smoothing for him of course. Round 2 for work comes soon enough for him though, this time Jack is on a mission to protect an information asset for the Black Circle. He’s got to keep him alive until his flight takes off. Should be easy enough for a seasoned veteran like himself. But things are never as easy as it seems, and just as Jack is getting uncomfortable watching from the roof it’s time for him to jump into action. He does his mission, and he does it well. The problem is that his mission isn't necessarily the one the other half of his team shares.
Behold Behemoth #1 - The latest horror series from Boom! is off to a bang. Grey seems to be slowly losing his mind. His older brother was just killed, he keeps losing large chunks of time, his meds aren't working, and he’s been having these intense half flashback-half hallucinations that interrupt his awareness of the world. We get these splits between his memory, though slightly altered, and his real life as a social worker and how the two compare. His parents death and the subsequent abuse he and his brother suffered at the hands of foster parents mirrors what his latest case is going through. And when he sees a black eye on Wren something snaps, the world turns, and next he knows he’s waking up in the bathtub. Over and over again we see these flashes of what seems to be a fantasy style world featuring Grey and zombie-like creatures. Could this be the potential future for our world? Or is Grey just going crazy and losing his mind and creating new memories in its place?
Diarra's Picks:
Batman & The Joker: Deadly Duo #1 - It’s a pretty normal night in Gotham as Batman investigates a bloody crime scene with Agent Bullock. All evidence points to the Joker, so Batman hits the street and when he sees a pasty-faced, green haired dude carrying a severed head, he goes in for the take down. Our caped crusader quickly realizes this isn’t the lanky, mentally ill nemesis he is used to, this is someone else...something else. Bats has to deploy drones to mega-taser this thing just to get him down, but that’s when GCPD shows up to dick measure. Bats tries to warn the swat team the area isn’t safe, but they ain’t taking no stinkin’ advice from a friggin’ vigilante. As they move in to arrest Batman and “Turbo Joker”, he springs awake and flees the scene, but not before causing an explosion that leaves dozens dead and injured. With no one left alive to say ‘I told you so’ to, Bruce heads back to the bat cave to do some investigating. A blood sample of the unstoppable prep reveals Joker DNA, but also that of a dead transient man, which doesn’t help much. No time for research or recuperation, the bat signal has been lit, but Bats knows everyone with access is out of town so he approaches with caution. There he finds a gift box with Commissioner Gordon’s appendix inside, and the real Joker pops up to see if he liked his gift. Bats subdues his purple clad foe with ease, but Joker won’t give up Gordon’s whereabouts so easily. You see Joker wants this beefy copy cat stopped too, so he proposes a team up. With Gordon’s life in Joker’s hands and monster on the loose, Bats reluctantly agrees and The Deadly Duo is born! If you thought two Jokers was bad, there are more suped up clowns to come!
The Ones #1 - It seems every mythos has a proverbial “The One”, waiting for the day they are called to action and that day has come. Wilson, this generation’s ‘Keeper of the Prophecies’ and wearer of cool t-shirts, has gathered five individuals who were bestowed the title of The One...& one’s bff, and a random graphic designer who is sure this is a mistake. He then explains that the true The One has been born, and he is the antichrist who will bring the end of days! One person dips once she realizes they’ve been brought there to kill a baby, but the more diplomatic members of the group decide to talk it out. Most also don’t want to murder a baby, so they decide to keep an eye on the child until he is a teen (the age all kids begin to act like hell spawn). The meeting is adjourned then the story jumps to six years in the future where the apocalypse is clearly underway. They gathered like the prophecy foretold, but until they figure out how to stop the apocalypse, their days will be spent fighting hell spawn! I love a good band of misfits with the odds stacked against them, and I’m pumped to see where this goes!
Quick Stops #1 - Dark Horse and Secret Stash Press have teamed up to bring us tales from the Askewniverse, and this anthology is off to a great start. I think I swooned enough after Secret Stash published their first comic, also written by Kevin Smith, back in September, Maskerade. I even referenced my Bluntman and Chronic poster, so imagine how pumped I was to see this series was coming out! Now let’s dive into this issue that opens with Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck’s character in Chasing Amy) at “Chronic-Con” answering questions, on the podcast Bluntman Beyond, about his hit comic Bluntman & Chronic. They begin taking audience questions, when Holden notices the guy is wearing a t-shirt from a small New Jersey comic shop, and anecdotes of vandalism and inside jokes ensue. Then the fan finally gets to his question, “How did you come up with the idea for Bluntman & Chronic?” and suddenly we are back at the Quick Stop. In classic black and white, we are introduced to the two loiters that inspired Jay and Silent Bob. After hitting a joint of some of their infamous home grown, they transformed before his eyes! He returned home and drew what he remembered from the trip, and it’s been history ever since. With three issues left and a wealth of lore to pull from, there is no doubt this series will be a blast from the past that I’m urging everyone to pick up. (Dogma is my favorite so fingers crossed!!)
K's Picks:
Tiger Division #1 - Tiger Division may be the most anticipated series of 2022 for a number of reasons. The character designs, art, or just the idea of a Korean super team all looked like something I could sink my teeth into. Artist Crees Lee really displayed top tier choices which really made for some insane detail and a weird sense of warmth and charm on the pages. I can really appreciate the direction and style, and on a story note there's a lot going on here. There's no real warning as you're thrown head first into this world with no idea who these heroes are. There's nothing wrong with that; if anything I love that I want to know more about the team. There's a badass caped robot for crying out loud - I'm intrigued! Hopefully we get to find out more about these guys and what they can really do in the next issue of Tiger Division!
Deadpool #1 - Everyone's favorite chimichanga snacking, katana wielding, masked mutant is back and on a roll! I have to address that Doc Ock wears octopus undies and its about time someone brought up the fact that there's only four mechanical tendrils! A great issue - simple, fun, straightforward, and goofy as all hell, which you'd expect. It's downright awesome how this is also connecting to Absolute Carnage, and bringing back one of my favorite villains, The Harrower. The concept of creating perfect Carnage(s) using Deadpool's healing factor is such a cool idea, and one of those things that got me cheering for the baddie!
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 - I can't count on my fingers how many times I laughed out loud while reading this issue! Guardians of the Galaxy has always had a sweet spot in my heart. From the comics to movies I've never felt so connected to a team, especially one with a wise-cracking raccoon. There's a sense of humor delivered here that's so well-timed that I could easily see this working as an animated episode. There's a greater celestial-like being threatening the universe and one interview gag literally set the bar for great humor for the rest of this run. All and all the funniest and coolest book this week. I may be a little biased because it's Guardians, but everyone should still give this one a shot!