It's getting sunnier and warmer! Spring is in full swing and May is just around the corner. That means it's time for another round of comics look aheads! If you're looking to start a new series, or find a graphic novel or one-shot that's right for you, we've combed through the catalogues to find what we think are some really stand out titles. Read on and find out what caught our eye this month!
Free Comic Book Day Reminder!
This is your friendly reminder that Saturday, May 4, 2024 is Free Comic Book Day! We'll have more information available for you in a separate blog post in a few days. For now, mark your calendars and save that date!
Reviews and Recommendations
This month's reviews and recommendations feature the return of an old favorite series alongside some brand new and fantastic looking books. Write-ups are courtesy of Nick, Max, Elise, and Sloane! As always - if you do see something you want to order just reach out to us via the subscription update form, or send us an email and we'll get your order processed. Also let us know if you read a review that really sparked your curiosity next time you're in the shop! Feedback is always appreciated and welcome.
The Whisper Queen
Image Comics
By Chip Zdarsky (writer) and Kris Anka (artist)
Back in the before times of August 2019, Chip Zdarsky and Kris Anka put their collective heads together to give us a peak into a beautiful and gay as @#$% fantasy world with their comic The White Trees. While the comic series was only a tiny 2-issue series, it offered a glimpse into a clearly gorgeous fantasy world featuring a trio of gay war haunted heroes that Kris Anka absolutely drew the hell out of (both in and out of their clothes). When the second issue came out Chip and Kris promised more to come.
And now it’s #@$%ing here. The Whisper Queen picks up where The White Trees left off, with a trio of (probably also gay) women being sent to hunt down and apprehend their counterparts from The White Trees for their part in the king of Blacksand’s murder before the assassin known as The Dark Whisper finds and kills them first.
I seriously cannot recommend this book enough. Don’t believe me? They’re reprinting The White Trees as a one-shot that combines the original 2-issue mini just in time for you to pick up The Whisper Queen. So go do that!
- Nick
The Boy Wonder
DC Black Label
By Juni Ba (w/a/ca)
As the store’s resident Batman fan, I feel obligated to admit that my favorite Batkid is…
Cassandra Cain.
That being said, I am Batman Beyond excited for this new miniseries!
To me, Damian Wayne is a solid example of all things great about Batman. Damian presents a deeply complex character that does everything to be good, but is shackled by his name and upbringing. I know there’s a decent amount of controversy around the kid, but I think he’s neat and, when written well, truly encapsulates what it means to be a Robin.
Juni Ba (Kayin and Abeni, Monkey Meat) is presenting a new character study in this upcoming mini. Utilizing an art style that evokes a mix of The Secret of Kells and the Batman Animated Series, the story is a new take on Damian’s early days as Robin. Freshly acquainted with the Batfamily, Damian and the other Batkids are left to their own devices as they fight off a new threat to Gotham!
- Max
Ain’t No Grave
Image Comics
By Skottie Young (writer) and Jorge Corona (artist)
Listen, sometimes you need a Pulp Western by these dudes.
These Dudes right here.
Absolute Dudes.
Let me tell ya.
Skottie Young? Strange Academy? The Marvel Baby variant guy? I Hate Fairyland?
This guy.
Love this guy.
AND the other guy!
Jorge Corona?? Feathers? The artist of that one Batgirls run that I really liked?
LOVE this guy.
Skottie Young AND Jorge Corona? The Me You Love in the Dark? Middlewest?
Love when these guys do a thing together.
One Word.
YES.
Need I say more?
(I’m so sorry I wrote this in a fugue state)
Goofs aside, I'm thrilled. A Del Toro inspired macabre western fantasy about a Cowpoke returning to her old ways after her life is taken away from her? AND she’s fighting DEATH??
SIGN ME UP!
- Max
Burning Maid
Scout Comics
By Roberto X. Molinari (writer) and Luca Panciroli (artist)
I like Joan of Arc in a very neurotypical way. I think most of us grew up with an older brother recounting the Mark Twain Joan of Arc biography to us when we were barely old enough to read, right? And who among us didn’t cry watching La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928) deep in the original covid lockdown and think about it for weeks? All I’m saying is when you tell me there’s going to be a Historical Horror comic about Joan of Arc’s ghost, unaware of her eventual sainthood, filled with searing rage I maybe definitely wanna read more about that. I couldn’t find a ton of information about this creative team and their plans for this series but my curiosity is peaked and even though I’m not sure where exactly this story will take us I am more than happy to let Joan lead the way as she takes revenge on the men who condemned her and who knows who else.
- Elise
Mugshots
Madcave
By Jordan Thomas (writer) and Chris Matthews (artist)
Set in Brighton in 2008, this story starts when a young woman is kidnapped and killers, cops, gangsters, and con artists all converge in a clash violence that threatens to take the city’s underworld down in a blaze of violence. Action? Crime? Family? Stylistic monochromatic art? Check, check, check, and check! The preview pages of the art for this book are so fun and gorgeous and the main character is a self-proclaimed bastard after my own heart. It’s being written by Jordan Thomas (Weird Work, Man From Maybe, Xino) with bold, high contrast art from Chris Matthews. Thomas describes him as drawing inspiration from “Parker, The Long Goodbye, Point Blank … and John Constantine … He tries his best.” And if there is one thing I am, it's a Constantine lover and apologist. This book is about the intersection of family and power at its core and I cannot wait to see what it has in store for us.
- Elise
Big Summer Blockbusters - Marvel’s Blood Hunt
Alrighty folks. Here it is! Marvel’s big summer thingy. Blood Hunt kicks off with a preview during this year’s Free Comic Book Day (so be sure to visit the shop on May 4th to grab your copy!) and follows a vampiric invasion / blotting-out-the-sun around the world that sends heroes scrambling to protect the innocent and avoid biting it themselves (yes vampire pun intended; look the ad copy for all of this was full of them so expect a little to make it in here). The Avengers, Blade and Bloodline, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Clea, and Tigra(!?) look like they’re going to feature prominently in this crossover. Here’s a quick rundown of the series along with it’s side-stories and one-shots that we know about so far:
- Blood Hunt (5 Issue Mini)
- Dracula: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Union Jack the Ripper: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Blood Hunters (4 Issue Mini)
- Black Panther: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Strange Academy: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt (3 Issue Mini)
- Venom #33 (Tie-In)
- Vengeance of the Moon Knight #5 (Tie-In)
- Avengers #14 (Tie-In)
- Doctor Strange #15 (Tie-In)
- Amazing Spider-Man #49 (Tie-In)
Expect more tie-ins as this event moves on through June, July, and August. We’ll do our best to keep this list updated as it expands. As with any mega summer crossover, we recommend reading whatever minis and tie-ins that catch your interest or intersect with your favorite heroes, so be like Dracula and follow your heart on this one. That said - if you decide on grabbing everything under the blotted out sun, please let us know the earlier the better so we can adjust our ordering to compensate for your vampire comic blood lust.
There, I kept the vampire puns to a minimum.
-Nick
One-Shots & Graphic Novels
Looking to sate your need for comics, but maybe not ready to pick up a new series? This month we've got a one shot dedicated to Mystique and Destiny finally getting their wedding in print, some graphic novels for how to bake bread and bind your chest, and a couple of fun one-shot graphic novels that promise quite the enjoyable read.
X-Men: The Wedding Special
Marvel Comics
By Kieron Gillen, Yoon Ha Lee, M. Louis, et al. (writers) and artists TBA
I know it’s not normally like me to write about an X-book, but look at this cover and tell me you’re surprised by this one.
Growing up I read Chris Claremont’s original run of Uncanny X-Men, and even though it was never explicitly stated, from basically their first appearance together in 1980 you could tell Destiny and Mystique were a couple. Claremont has gone on record as saying this was his intent, but the comics code of the time prevented him from showing it more than he did. (It took nearly forty years for Marvel to allow them even an on-panel kiss, in 2019.) Claremont also intended for the two of them to be Nightcrawler’s biological parents – another slow burn that was finally properly revealed in last year’s X-Men Blue: Origins. The book was achingly sweet, and a cathartic resolution to a decades-long storyline that many thought had been retconned out of existence.
After how well that amazing issue went, I’m doubly excited for the Wedding Special. The book’s main story will be written by Kieron Gillen (who you just know will knock it out of the park) and various other vignettes and shorts will cover the rest of the wedding. Whether you’ve been a fan of the couple for decades or have only following them since X-Men Blue: Origins, this collection of superb sapphic superhero stories is going to be a must-read in the lead up to pride month this year.
- Sloane
Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding
Dutton Books
By Maia Kobabe and Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier
From the author of the wildly successful auto-bio comic Gender Queer and a University of Michigan professor specializing in trans health comes an informative guide useful for anyone considering binding for gender affirmation. Originally published as an online only ‘zine, this print version of the comic contains twice as many pages, and focuses on an evidence based approach to binding safely. Dr. Peitzmeier’s team interviewed more than two dozen transmasculine and non-binary people about their experiences with binding and combined them with easy to follow health and safety instructions and Kobabe’s clear and joyful art. The resulting book is a great starting point for anyone looking to incorporate the practice into their gender presentation.
- Sloane
Let’s Make Bread!
Ten Speed Press
By Ken Forkish (writer) and Sarah Becan (writer + artist)
If this book is anything like its predecessors Let’s Make Ramen! and Let’s Make Dumplings! you’ll have to act fast to grab a copy while there’s still some on the shelf. Sarah Becan’s ultra-popular Let’s Make series takes advantage of the visual medium of comics to not just teach recipes, but also the underlying food science in a digestible (see what I did there?) and easy-to-understand way. This volume she’s working with Ken Forkish, the author of Evolutions in Bread and Flour Water Salt Yeast for everyone from the first time bread maker to the experienced baker.
As a former professional baker myself, I know that a lot of the process of getting good at a recipe is baking it again and again, and visually checking your dough at each step of the process to be sure it’s coming out correctly. While it can be difficult to tell if your dough matches a written description of what it’s supposed to look like, Becan and Forkish’s visual troubleshooting guide is super handy for figuring out what changes you need to make and what you need to work on. A perfect gift for the home cook in your life.
- Sloane
The Singularity TP
Image Comics
By Matthew Groom & Bear McCreary (writer) and Various (artist)
I’m sure you’re wondering why Bear McCreary, famed composer of such works as God of War Ragnarok and Battlestar Galactica Season 1, has a writing credit on this upcoming book. Well, dear reader, it’s because this title is an EXPERIENCE. In addition to the graphic novel, there is a full concept album and concert series being released around the same time.
Projects like this get me so hype. I love when artists come together around a singular (ha!) idea to create a cross-disciplinary experience for an audience. I also love stories that convey simple ideas through complex abstractions. The story revolves around a man, Blue Eyes, who can’t stop being reborn. Tumbling life to life, universe to universe, trying to catch up to the mysterious figure that reoccurs in each. That’s not all, the creative team is stacked, including writer Mat Groom (Supermassive, Inferno Girl Red, Self/Made), artists Ramón K. Pérez (Stillwater, Deep Cuts), Danilo Beyruth (Deep Cuts), Matias Bergara (The Scumbag), Rod Reis (C.O.W.L.), Eleonora Carlini, Helena Marsellis, John J. Pearson (The Infernals), creative director Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black, Moon Man, Deep Cuts), and more!
You can read more about the entire experience on Bear’s website.
- Max
Lunar Boy
Harper Alley
By Jes Wibowo (writer) and Cin Wibowo (artist)
As someone who cries when I even think about The Tale of Princess Kaguya I have high hopes for this book. A sad and lonely boy from the moon calls out to the moon to take him home only to have the moon hear him and agree to bring him home just when he thinks he has found something worth staying on earth for? Tear my heart out, why don’t you??
After Indu is discovered on the moon and adopted by his mom he lives a happy life on her spaceship until she must return home. On earth he doesn’t fit in and doesn’t feel understood by his new step-family. When he calls out to the moon he isn’t expecting them to agree to take him back and as the day draws closer Indu must decide if the friends he has made and the family he has found are enough to keep him on earth. Lunar Boy is a story about culture shock and blended families and just how isolating being a kid can be.
- Elise
And that's it for our May look aheads! Next month's look aheads should be up by mid May for June. Thanks for reading, and if you saw something you wanted to add to your pull (or want to start a subscription for the book), use our handy little google form and submit that request!
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