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Soliciting Multiversity: Image’s Top 10 In April 2015

By | January 21st, 2015
Posted in Columns | 5 Comments

It’s that time again where we look into the future of the comic book industry and assess and analyse what will surely be the greatest and best selling comic books of three months away based on naught but covers, the creative team and a brief synopsis of the issue. It’s a complex, secret process that Multiversity has honed over five years that has predicted the best comics ever released just by looking at their solicit text.

Nah, though, this is really just where I peruse Image Comics’ solicitations for April 2015 and talk about the ten things that interest me most. With April being the month where the first wave of books announced at the latest Image Expo are being rolled out, there’s a lot of first issues to talk about this month.

So, before we get into that, some honourable mentions:

  • “Birthright” #6, “Deadly Class” #12 and “Nailbiter” #11 all prominently feature a ‘NEW STORY ARC’ line on the solicitations. While I can only speak to the quality of “Nailbiter” personally, I’ve heard great things about the other two, so April might be a good month to jump on board with these three.

And… actually, those are pretty much the only other titles of note. Everything else seems to be continuing rather reasonably, so just keep on keeping on, everyone.

10. This Is Not The Cover You’re Looking For

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’ve only actually read the first however many issues were in the first Omnivore Edition of “Chew”, so I have literally no idea what’s going on in the comic right now, but this solicit really tickled my fancy. With Marvel and DC routinely throwing out comics with elements and characters omitted for the sake of ~spoilers~ only for it to rarely actually matter, so when something like “Chew” pulls it, that’s when I’m really interested to see how spoiler-y it can actually be. Also, I just really liked that placeholder by Rob Guillory.

So, yeah, beware of ~spoilers~ for “Chew” if you haven’t caught up or read it yet.

CHEW #48
STORY: JOHN LAYMAN
ART / COVER: ROB GUILLORY
APRIL 15 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99
We can’t show you the CHEW #48 cover because it’s too spoiler-y, so here’s an unfinished picture of Caesar Rob started for the CHEW #43 cover. NOT ACTUAL COVER!

9. Punks Are Good People Too, You Know?

Starting out strong with another comic I haven’t read enough of, “Punks” is something that I should be 100% into, but I just never got around to actually getting into it. Still, this is something that is seriously cool as “Punks” is bringing out a special in April that is promising to donate 20% of profits to the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund, a great cause and one that Multiversity has supported in the past. This is definitely something worth checking out, even if just to support the CBLDF.

PUNKS THE COMIC – CBLDF SPECIAL
STORY: JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
ART / COVER: KODY CHAMBERLAIN
APRIL 8 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $4.99
EVERY RULE OF THE COMIC CODE WILL BE BROKEN IN THESE 32 PAGES. To say thanks for the assured mutual destruction, 20% of all profits will be donated to the CBLDF. Help support an amazing cause and be seduced by the innocent. Or corrupted by the corrupt. Either/or.

8. Because What Other Comic Has “Mega-Churches”

This is an interesting one. On the one hand, I think the idea of a heist comic is something that’s pretty cool and not something I see all that often and I think it could be cool to see how the tropes of that genre could play out in a comic where the passage and portrayal of time works differently from film or TV. On the other hand, I’m worried in how the solicit text seems to portray the church and religion as the “bad guy” in the scenario. I can’t handle “Richard Dawkins: The Comic”. This’ll be an interesting on to check out, but I hope this doesn’t turn into a heroic atheist stickin’ it to those religious sheep or anything like that.

Continued below

THE TITHE #1 (of 4)
STORY: MATT HAWKINS
ART / COVER A: RAHSAN EKEDAL
COVER B: RAHSAN EKEDAL

APRIL 15 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $3.99
A heist story unlike any before! Mega-churches are being robbed for millions of dollars by a crusader hacker group known as Samaritan who is giving the money to causes they deem more worthy. This modern day “Robin Hood” is being pursued by two FBI agents who actually admire their quarry but want to stop the theft before it escalates.

7. A Trip To Die For

If you know me, then you probably know I’m a huge fan of the recent surge in horror comics being released. Alex De Campi is a writer whose name I’ve seen attached to that surge, but none of her work has ever crossed my path before and I’m really interested in checking out her work. Which brings me to “No Mercy”, where she and Carla Speed McNeil are bringing one of my favourite horror tropes to the forefront: taking a bunch of privileged kids and putting them through hell until they prove themselves. It’s a tried and true method of filling a horror cast with characters you immediately like and want to see survive, characters you grow to like as the develop and those assholes you can’t wait to see die horribly. Though I’m also a little worried about this series potentially buying into the “foreign countries are inherently scary” trope that plagues the horror genre in its Central American setting, I’m hoping for good things from this.

NO MERCY #1
STORY: ALEX de CAMPI
ART / COVER: CARLA SPEED McNEIL
APRIL 1 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $2.99
It was just a trip, before college. Build schools in a Central American village; get to know some of the other freshmen. But after tragedy strikes, a handful of once-privileged US teens must find their way home in a cruel landscape that at best doesn’t like them, and at worst, actively wants to kill them.

6. Because We Don’t Have Enough Batman-Like Books

Somehow, Tood MacFarlane is a creator who almost completely passed me by. Sure, I know who he is and what he’s done, but having never read “Spawn” or his run on “Spider-Man”, I haven’t really encountered much else of his work. So I’m surprised that he’s helming a whole new ongoing seeing as I hadn’t really seen anything by him in my time actively reading comics (which will be about four years this September, for context). However, this isn’t actually a book that has jumping up and down with excitement. Especially not with solicit text which takes five paragraphs to really only say one thing: hey, what if Superman were really more like Batman? It’s an idea that I think if anyone can make not awful, it’s Mr. Spawn himself and having Clayton Crain, an artist I really love, aboard at least has my interest piqued. Though, that has to be the most generic white guy Crain has ever drawn.

SAVIOR #1

STORY: TODD McFARLANE & BRIAN HOLGUIN
ART / COVER: CLAYTON CRAIN
APRIL 1 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $2.99
What if the MOST DANGEROUS man on Earth was also the one trying to do the MOST GOOD?
The world is real. The people are normal. And then he appears!
A man appears with no background, no memory, and no place to call home. But he has powers. Powers that seem resemble those we learned about in Sunday School. Could it be?! Is it possible that this man is much, much more than that? Is it possible that he is our “SAVIOR” in the flesh? And if he is, then why doesn’t he know who he is or how he got his powers?
Strip away the spandex and trappings of the traditional comic superhero and ask yourself the simple question of, “How would I react if GOD suddenly appeared in front of me, but everything we had been taught about him seem out of whack?” What you would have left, beyond your own doubts, is the presence of a man who has to deal with the fact that his appearance in the world is seen as both a blessing and a curse.
Some will see him as a hero; a messiah. Other will see him as an enemy because there isn’t room for a person with god-like powers to disrupt the status quo of what we already believe. Some will rally behind him. Others will denounce him. But none of us will be able to ignore him.

Continued below

5. Mark Millar Presents: Not Quite The Superfriends

So, here’s the thing I have with “Jupiter’s Legacy”: I’m really not a fan of Mark Millar, but I am a huge fan of Frank Quitely. I decided to check it out when it started mostly to get my fix for Quitely art, but I was surprised by how restrained Millar’s writing was in not playing into the problems I usually have with his writing that turned me off to things like “Kick-Ass”. I’d say that, even though I’ve yet to read #5 as of writing, I’ve enjoyed the series so far. So the fact that April is the start of Millar’s prequel series, “Jupiter’s Circle”, with artist Wilfredo Torres is something I’m actually interested in, even if it’s just to see whether I can still enjoy this world without Frank Quitely’s art. We’ll see for now, but until then that Goran Parlov cover is just super sick.

Also, April sees the release of the first collection of “Jupiter’s Legacy”, collecting all five issues so far, for anyone who wants to catch up on that before jumping in on this.

JUPITER’S CIRCLE #1
STORY: MARK MILLAR
ART: WILFREDO TORRES
COVERS A / B: FRANK QUITELY
COVER C: BILL SIENKIEWICZ
COVER D: GORAN PARLOV
APRIL 8 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.50
The most celebrated superheroes in mid-century America seem to have it all — fame, riches, adoration — but tensions simmer beneath the glossy surface, threatening to crack open the secrets behind their public AND private exploits. Before the family dynasty in JUPITER’S LEGACY began, there was JUPITER’S CIRCLE — a story about a team whose personal dramas collide with super-powered spectacle!

4. Not To Be Confused With Upcoming EATPRAYLOVE Comic Adaptation

This is a book that, sadly, doesn’t give much of an impression just from the solicit text, but one that I really took an interest in when it was announced at Image Expo. I’d highly recommend checking out Image’s full write-up on the announcement, but the cliff notes are that it’s a time-jumping sci-fi that follows a girl on the run from a society in the future. And with Eric Canete, you know it’s going to look amazing. Keep an eye on this one.

RUNLOVEKILL #1
STORY: JONATHAN TSUEI & ERIC CANETE
ART / COVER: ERIC CANETE
APRIL 15 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99
Sought after by elements from her violent past, fugitive and assassin Rain Oshiro has just 24 hours to escape a barricaded city while trying to evade a military force determined to either capture or kill her.

4. Like Close Encounters Meets The Thing

Kurtis J. Wiebe is a writer who has continually impressed with everything I’ve read from him, from the excellent and underrated “Grim Leaper” and “Debris” to the ever fantastic “Peter Panzerfaust” and “Rat Queens”. Johnnie Christmas is an artist who blew my mind on “Sheltered” and I have waited since the announcement of that series’ finale for his next series.

I love psychological horror. I love horror in space. Let’s do this.

PISCES #1
STORY: KURTIS J. WIEBE
ART / COVER: JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS
APRIL 29 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.50
Former fighter pilot Dillon Carpenter found everything he wanted when he returned from the Vietnam War. A loving partner, a dream career training with NASA to travel through space, and soon, he will learn, a prime candidacy for a secret mission, one that will forever change the world: First Contact. But as Dillon prepares, his war trauma returns and he’s haunted by dark visions of his future. There is but one constant; the voice whispering from the stars.
A sci-fi psychological body horror series from the writer of RAT QUEENS and the artist of SHELTERED.

2. Love Is Better In Zero G

The first thing I heard about “Kaptara” when it was being announced at Image Expo was that it was described as ‘gay “Saga”‘. Before I heard anything else about the book, I was immediately on board. Then I found out it was being written by Chip Zdarsky, whose work I have been loving on “Sex Criminals” and if I wasn’t on board before that, I was then. I cannot wait for this book as I hope it’s just as funny and heartfelt as “Sex Criminals” is just… y’know, in space. Or, sorry, ahem… in spAAAAAAAAACCCCCCEEEE!

Continued below

KAPTARA #1
STORY: CHIP ZDARSKY
ART / COVER: KAGAN McLEOD
APRIL 22 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $3.50
A space expedition goes horribly wrong because if it didn’t there would be no story! Reluctant explorer Keith Kanga and his crew crash land on KAPTARA, a world filled with danger and weird danger and dangerous weirdos! And if he can’t survive, then Earth, the place where YOU live, is doomed!
Join CHIP ZDARSKY (Sex Criminals the Duck) and KAGAN McLEOD (Infinite Kung Fu) as they put the “fi” back into “sci-fi” and pretty much disregard the “sci” part in this epic story of punching and love!

1. Finally! The Strode Has Come Back To Comics!

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

LEGACY OF LUTHER STRODE #1
STORY: JUSTIN JORDAN
ART / COVER: TRADD MOORE & FELIPE SOBREIRO
APRIL 1 / 48 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
Luther Strode returns.
For five years, Luther Strode and Petra have been on the run. Now the time for running is over, and the Murder Cult is going down. The road to Cain starts here.
JUSTIN JORDAN (SPREAD) and TRADD MOORE (All-New Ghost Rider) bring back Luther and Petra for their final adventure. The last chapter in the hit trilogy begins NOW.
Special double-sized issue!

For the full list of Image Comics’ solicitations for April 2015, head over to their website.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

Alice W. Castle

Sworn to protect a world that hates and fears her, Alice W. Castle is a trans femme writing about comics. All things considered, it’s going surprisingly well. Ask her about the unproduced Superman films of 1990 - 2006. She can be found on various corners of the internet, but most frequently on Twitter: @alicewcastle

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