Hi there folks! Welcome to our pretty-late July 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 September, 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's reviews are all from Isaiah and Selena! 

The Least We Can Do #1

Image Comics

Loland Zanfardino (w) Elisa Romboli (A)

Tune in this month as the dynamic duo that brought us Alice in Leatherland and A Thing Called Truth bring us a world that mixes high fantasy and distopian future states in a new series,The Least We Can Do. With vibrantly illustrated panels and beautiful linework, we are dropped into the colorful world of a military occupied and socially oppressed United Kingdom chock full of magic and intrigue. We are brought into the story just as a young woman must make difficult decisions in order to fight for revolution. Realizing she can't do this on her own, she endeavors to find, impress, and join the local rebel forces in order to fight the dreaded Eden Army. This really gives me Star-Wars meets classic high fantasy vibes and I for one can't wait to see what comes of it. 

- Selena

Shock Shop

Dark Horse Comics

Cullen Bunn (W), Danny Luckert, Leila Leiz (A)

Horror is most effective when it builds off of everyday experiences. Cullen’s stories often explore domestic, human conflicts by taking them beyond their logical extremes and into their paranormal ones, and Shock Shop’s the newest addition to his list. It features two short stories told across four issues. It’s got a slightly older feeling grunge-y art style which always appeals to me. 

- Isaiah

Briar #1

Boom Studios

Christopher Cantwell (W), German Garcia (A)

What if Sleeping Beauty Never got her happily ever after, and instead had to fight for it herself? That is exactly what this four issue limited series from Boom! Studios asks. In this world, Sleeping Beauty doesn't awaken to her true love's kiss, instead she finds herself in a brutal post apocalyptic fantasy world that is entirely different to the one she fell asleep in so long ago. I am looking forward to reading this dark retelling of a classic story from the same studio that brought us BRZRKR, Something is Killing the Children, and We Only Find Them When They're Dead. I think that anyone who was told one thing about the future when they were young only to grow up and find the world a particularly colder, lonelier, and harder place will identify with this story. 

- Selena

Fun One-Shots and Nice-to-Haves 

Selena and Sloane found a bunch of fun trades this time around, so I’m a turn the keyboard over to them now to fill you in on what looks good in the one-shots and OGN department this September!

Steam Reverie in Amber

Seven Seas Entertainment

Kuroimori (W&A)

I know we tend to focus on the new comics coming out in these reviews but I just couldn't help shining a spotlight on the graphic novel Steam Reverie in Amber by writer and illustrator Kuroimori who has contributed to Final Fantasy art. In addition to beautifully rendered scenes of airships in the sky, this full color steampunk art book and Manga collection will include all 22 major arcana as removable tarot cards! This book follows the Tomeship, purveyor of books and fresh coffee across the pillowy skies of a world wedged somewhere between past and future. Only those with the gearform scar on their hearts can see the beautiful ship.

- Selena 

Play Like a Girl

Balzer + Bray

by Misty Wilson (writer) and David Wilson (artist)

Never one to back down from a challenge, when 7th-grader Misty is told by the boys in her town that she can’t play on the football team, there’s only one thing she can do – sign up! This autobiographical comic by husband and wife team Misty and David Wilson follows Misty’s struggles as she discovers playing football is harder than she thought. Not only does Misty face challenges on the field, but off the field as well. She struggles to fit in with the popular kids, who think playing a girl playing football is weird, and even her best friend doesn’t understand why she’s doing it. I love a good auto-bio comic, and as someone who also didn’t always fit in in middle school, for similar-but-different reasons, I’m excited to read this one once it comes out.

– Sloane

No Kidding

Fantagraphics

by Vero Cazot (writer) and Madeline Martin (a.k.a. Marguerite Sauvage; artist)

No Kidding follows two women – Jane, who at thirty-five has decided she doesn’t want to sacrifice her life, health, or identity to have children, and Lucy, who has accidentally become pregnant early-on in university, and despite her boyfriend’s wishes is considering abortion. The book explores the pressures faced by women around motherhood and pregnancy through a series of short, humorous comics. The tone choice helps keep an often too-serious subject from getting too heavy. The cutesy but well rendered art by Madeline Martin (a pen name for Marguerite Sauvage, Eisner award-winning artist of Faith) helps keep the things light, and after Vero Cazot’s poignant yet positive look at life-after-mastectomy in About Betty’s Boob, I trust her to handle the book’s subject matter well. –Sloane

F*ck Off Squad (Remastered Edition)

Silver Sprocket

by Dave Baker (writer) and Nicole Goux (artist)

In far-off Los Angeles, a group of wannabe skater-punks must learn to navigate social media, relationships, and growing up. Messy, disaffected, and deeply Scott Pilgrim-esque, the book perfectly captures the irreverent tone of adolescence and early adulthood, both the highs and the parts that are low-key shitty. Characters fuck up nearly constantly, often maliciously, but as teenagers they’re sympathetic. They don’t know any better, they’ve never done this before. The art by Nicole Goux oscillates between a fun ‘alternative comix’ style common to Silver Sprocket books, and breathtaking double page spreads, and it gets bonus points for including multiple queer characters. Maybe I’m biased by my own experience, but I feel like no good coming of age story is complete without some gay shit.

Originally published as a series of mini-comics, this new edition includes updated art, an extra mini-comic not present in the original, and a couple other bonus goodies. As one of the folks that missed the original printing, I’m excited to get my hands on this new edition.

- Sloane

Aaaand that's it for this month! Apologies if this one was a little shorter than normal. August was a pretty busy month for us, and we wanted to get caught up and ahead, so we took a bit of extra time publishing this one. We'll be back later this month for another look at what's in store for you comics fans in October. 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.