October 6th, 2021
J.R.'s Picks:
A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance #1 – A subdued first issue that creates an tense atmosphere through seemingly normal events and builds to a dramatic reveal. The currently nameless protagonist has to make it out of Vancouver to a small house on the outskirts. After walking in the rain, his cigarettes get wet and so he goes from to a convenience store to find his brand. While unsuccessful there, he accidentally runs into a man who drops a bag of lightbulbs, isopropyl alcohol, and Drano. Once our protag arrives at his destination, he finds a horrible scene involving all the things that fell out of that bag and he puts two and two together. A fantastic first that leans heavily on the silence of itself and phenomenal art from Araujo.
Dirtbag Rapture #1 – Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a comic with so many captions. Though this book is almost entirely exposition, there is a great story in here along with some funny moments. When Kat was a law student, she had a bender full of booze topped with a DMT-laced joint. Somehow though they’re both nonlethal, the weed and DMT killed her and when she woke up, she had the ability to see ghosts. Thus, she helps them to the afterlife so they can move on. The coolest part of the book was how she moves the ghosts: she creates a mind hotel in which they stay inside her conscious. Otherwise, this is your typical paranormal helper story which is unfortunately bogged down by exposition for a concept we’re all too familiar with.
Darkhold Alpha #1 – Holy hell, this magical event from Marvel is going to be cool as shit judging by this first issue. Waking up from a nightmare in which Chton conquered the world, Wanda makes haste to Latveria where Dr. Doom has uncovered the Darkhold for himself. After reading it and understanding Wanda’s vision could come to light if he doesn’t do something, Doom travels to the demon dimension to try and singlehandedly stop the invasion. Thinking rationally, Wanda assembles the team that’s supposedly destined to stop Cthon which includes Iron Man, Spider-Man, Blade, Wasp and Black Bolt. Doom returns after getting his shit kicked in which paints an ominous picture for what happens next…great story from Orlando that’s sure to blow up in a super cool way.
Deadpool Black, White & Blood #3 – I’ve been loving all these anthology series the Big Two have been cranking out and this issue continues to kick ass. Jay Baruchel and Paco Medina take Deadpool to a nunnery filled with Nazi drug dealers trying to sell stolen penguins. Takashi Okazaki kills it with beautiful linework of Deadpool and Bullseye teaming up to take on ninjas, shark, zombies and more! Then, to top it all off, Stan Sakai THE Stan Sakai draws a cool short story in which Deadpool tries out all the weapons of the ages to find his best one. Love seeing Wade Wilson boiled down to his best bits and these creators are doing an excellent job with it.
Diarra's Picks:
Chicken Devil #1 - Mitch is just an average Joe who starts the day like he does everyday. He eats breakfast with his wife and two kids, then heads off to work at the chicken restaurant he owns, not a care in the world. That all changes when he arrives at the restaurant and finds his business partner standing over a destroyed fryer. What is explained as a simple equipment malfunction quickly escalates to finding out his partner has been running drugs through the restaurant. Now they owe a local drug dealer over a million dollars and Mitch is scared for his life. A failed attempt at an escape leaves Mitch at rock bottom and the Chicken Devil is born!
A Righteous Thirst For Vengeance #1 - This issue doesn’t answer a lot questions, but Remender leaves us anxious for the next issue. We follow a man on his travels, we know where he is going, but we don’t know why. He interacts with all different sorts of people on the bus, and he seems to be a pretty stand up guy—stoic, but caring. Finally, he arrives at his destination to find Mary Sullivan, but instead he finds her body in a very gruesome manor and high tails it out of there (unfortunately leaving something behind at the scene). Who did this? Why was he there? What does he know? And more importantly, when is the next issue??
Dirtbag Rapture #1 - This series is definitely going to be full of uncomfortable laughs…oh and ghosts. A close call with death leaves Kat Garcia with the ability to see and speak with the dead. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much choice in the matter and once ghost start figuring out she can see them, they start asking for help with unfinished business. Kat’s no dummy and finding it hard to live a normal life, decides to turn this into a business. While enjoying a night out and some mind numbing drugs, she is approached by Hannah, another lost soul (or so she thinks). Yeah, turns out Hannah is a straight up demon and she informs Kat the world is about to end. I can’t wait to see where this series goes!
Stone's Picks:
Darkhold Alpha - What about madness invites self-restraint? With the fate of the world being threatened by a chthonic evil from another realm, the only solution is to form a new team. Like so many before it, Darkhold creates the opportunity to usher in a new team in Marvel's ever-expanding catalog of team-ups. The roster is solid, but after they perform the deed needed in order to enter the Other-Realm they become something else entirely. The designs for these characters is awesome and it would be great to see the new look Spidey is rocking make its way into his video games as an alternate outfit. Doom is in this and, as usual, steals the show. The story was good, but when Doom was on the page it was great!
Deadpool Black, White & Blood #3 - A race to complete a contract and the explanation to how Deadpool got his weapons. Those are the stories that grace the pages of this third issue of this Deadpool anthology. The Story by Stan Sakai I felt fit the least compared to the other two, but it might be my favorite. It’s whimsical and provides one of the most family friendly versions of Deadpool I’ve seen. That is of course in terms of him not saying a single curse word because he does still do what Deadpool does. The Austin Powers reference in the 2nd story was well received. Dr. Evil knew what he was doing when he requested these bad boys.
Out #1 - If you’ve seen The Strain then you will have seen something very similar to this, and for me that's not a bad thing. Prisoners of war are taken to a German castle in the mountains where they are detained. At the same time, the Germans are losing the war, forcing them to resort to occult like behavior to give them the edge. I’ve always enjoyed history and World War II is one of my favorite parts. Yet it’s always fascinating to see an elseworlds take on the subject. The main character is a code talker, but in the eyes of some of his compatriots he is seen as a possible spy for the enemy. That’s unfortunate for him since team work makes the dream work. Guess he’ll just have to settle for trying not to die at the hands of whatever the hell that was on the last page!
Caroline's Picks:
Deadpool Black, White & Blood #3 - Another fun bunch of Deadpool one-shots in the books this week! First up, Deadpool wants a penguin, and if you get in his way things won't go well for you. Throw in some Nazis pretending to be nuns (and a bit too much dialogue, let's be honest) and the two are united at last. Next we have Deapool vs Bullseye. Which then swiftly becomes them vs mob goons, ninjas, money's and sharks with lasers. Who's going to wind up the victorious assassin after all that? And finally we adventure with Deadpool as he attempts to find his perfect weapon that won't try to kill him.
The Nice House on the Lake #5 - The penultimate issues before the first arc wraps up and we have to wait until March next year for more and boy oh boy does this issue deliver. We left off learning that none of the residents can harm or kill themselves. Finally realizing just how trapped they are everyone decides to work together to try and understand the rules and reality that they now live in. Finally the other black glass house is brought up and it's adventure time for the 'family' but they definitely did not expect what awaits them on the inside.
A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #1 - Boy did I not see the twist at the end of this issue coming, which is my favorite type. This is a beautiful comic that is mostly pictures and physical exposition with nominal speech bubbles done very well. Small moments of a man's day, none quite seeming more important or unique than the last. All throughout the story I was left more curious about our main character and his life but after the ending of the issue I am vastly more interested in what comes next for our unnamed man.
Out #1 - Set in Nazi Era Czechoslovakia 1944, we open on a coffin being dug up and a light murder done on top of it. We then find a group of prisoners being transported to a new camp and we get introduced to Nacona, our Comanche code breaker and main character. Outside of being ostracized for being a Native American he's also treated like a traitor because he can speak many languages, including German. Once in the camp the current prisoners share their plans to try and escape while the Nazis being a special religious ceremony with the coffin. What happens next very well might change the state of the war.