Hi there folks! Welcome to our October look ahead blog. In the interest of helping folks stay up on new comic series and happenings well before they hit the shelves, we're delving into the catalogues each month to put forth reviews and recommendations, as well as notifications about new series for popular franchises and tie-ins for big crossovers. So if you were wondering what's new and fun coming out this October, read on and find out more!

Reviews and Recommendations

Looking for a new series or two to follow? Here are a few recommendations for new series courtesy of Team Phoenix! This month we've got reviews from Selena and Sloane all here for you. 

Hitomi

Image comics

HS Tak (Writer) Isabella Mazzanti (Artist)

In Feudal-era Japan, a young woman sets out on a journey of self discovery and revenge. Her goals are simple: become a samurai, and kill the man who brutally murdered her family in front of her, inexplicably sparing her life. This historical fiction is wonderfully illustrated in the rich colors and style of traditional Japanese woodblock printing by talented artist Isabella Mazzanti. About the series, she states. "Fighting to be your true self—that is Hitomi for me. Sometimes your hands are empty, the road in front of you dangerous, and you have no friends or family at your side. But there is a voice in your heart that says ‘go on, overcome your fears and dance with them, as the most beautiful flower that grows in dry, harsh soil, delicate yet resilient and strong.’”

-Selena

Harley Quinn: the Animated Series: Legion of Bats

DC Comics (Detective Comics Comics)

by Tee Franklin (writer) and Shea Beagle (artist)

If you were a fan of the original six-issue Harley Quinn: the Animated Series spin-off comic, you’re in for a treat! Harley and Poison Ivy are BACK, this time following the events of the show’s third season, Harley having found herself a new member of the (spoiler alert!) Bat-Family, and Ivy preparing for her new job as leader of the Legion of Doom! The original series was a treat for fans of the show and newcomers alike, with impeccable writing and tone-setting by Tee Franklin (author of GLAAD Media Award-winning Bingo Love), lots of humor, and just generally good vibes. LIke the show that it’s a continuation of, this book will be a great antidote for those of us who are sick of overly self-serious superhero media and just want to have an enjoyable, good read with characters we love.

– Sloane

Kaya

Image Comics

Wes Craig (Writer and Artist)

Get pumped! This month powerhouse writer and artist of Deadly Class, Wes Craig, brings us a new astonishing fantasy adventure to Image Comics. This is the story of Kaya and Jin, two siblings who must survive monsters and mutants to discover a safe haven after their village is destroyed. Crossing the desert together will be no small task, but it is paramount for Jin to discover the secret to overthrowing the all-powerful empire that destroyed their home.  Just from the sneak peak of a few pages this story has immediately hooked me. The art style is vibrant and punchy, and the story intriguing. Wes Craig commented "I'm putting every bit of heart, action, and fun that I can into each issue. Kaya, her brother Jin, and the strange world they live in are very real to me, and I think readers are gonna have a blast discovering it, month in, month out."

-Selena

Damn Them All

Boom! Studios

by Simon Spurrier (writer) and Charlie Adlard (artist)

It can be hard to get demons in fiction right. The kind that appear on heavy metal album covers or in books like Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s recent We Have Demons with horns and cloven hooves and forked tongues are overdone. (No offense, Scott!) We’ve seen them too many times, and like an old Halloween costume they just aren’t scary anymore.

Damn Them All offers a less ubiquitous take on demons. Similar to biblical depictions of angels, these demons are eerie, eldritch, and unknowable. They’re also maybe not the bad guys? Occult detective Ellie Hawthorne is tasked with tracking down 72 demons after her great uncle’s death mysteriously frees them, and sending them back to hell by any means necessary. Drawing more heavily on real-world occultism than we usually see in pop-culture, the book mashes up crime and horror tropes for what promises to be a brooding, intense, atmospheric experience. Simon Spurrier’s writing really shines through in the preview pages, and his narration and use of British colloquialism really pull you into the world of the comic in an almost hypnotizing way. I’m excited to see where this book takes us.

–Sloane

Eve: Children of the Moon

BOOM! Studios

Victor LaValle (W) Jo Mi-Gyeong

We don't often highlight sequel series in the reviews here, however this sci-fi adventure is perfect for both veteran and first time fans, especially if you enjoyed Little Monsters and What's the Furthest Place From Here. In this short sequel series, Eve is back at the world saving business. After successfully saving it once before from a deadly virus, she and her sister now face new challenges. This comic aims to explore that world more fully, and ask the questions, what if the world doesn't take too kindly to saviors? What happens the day after it's saved? And What kind of world are we leaving our children?

- Selena 

Fun One-Shots and Nice-To-Haves

Sloane found an absolutely delightful original graphic novel (ogn) this time around, so I’ll hand things right off to her!

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

Image Comics

by Zoe Thorogood (writer & artist)

This is without exaggeration the most excited I’ve been for a new comic in the previews in months. It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth is an autobiographical comic by Zoe Thorogood (the artist of most recently Joe Hill’s Rain, among others) about depression, her struggle to create as an artist, and six months of her life where everything just falls apart. Thorogood talks about how the book started as a single drawing that then spiraled out into a full project almost on accident, which is impressive given that every page that’s been revealed from this book so far feels so intentional. She uses impressionistic illustrations and creative panel layouts to create a surreal version of events that conveys exactly how isolation and creative burnout feel, if not what literally happened. For fans of gloomy autobio comics like Fun Home or creative explorations of mental health like Ellen Forney’s Marbles, this book promises to be a visually exciting must-read.

- Sloane

And that's it for this month's look ahead! We'll be back early next month for a look at what's in store for you comics fans in November. In the meantime, if you'd like to subscribe to any of these books, we've got you covered! Follow this link and let us know which comics you'd like to add to your pull list, or if you don't have one going yet, you can also start up a pull list in that very same link. For more details about our subscription policy, head over here.