Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest”, where we try to summarize what’s coming your way in the now-available January 2016 Previews catalog from pretty much every other comic publisher. Having already taken a look at what Marvel, Dark Horse, DC, and Image have lined up for us, it’s now time to check out the other 75% of the catalog.
That said, let’s dive in!
10. Not Just a Secretary
Dynamite must be doing something right with their James Bond license, because they’re continuing the expansion of his comic world. This looks like the Moneypenny from Skyfall, who was great even if the movie didn’t treat her all that well. They tapped Jody Houser to turn in the script with Jacob Edgar delivering the art. It’s a one-shot, too.
James Bond: Moneypenny
Written by Jody Houser
Illustrated by Jacob Edgar
Published by Dynamite Entertainment
By writer JODY HOUSER (Mother Panic, Faith) and new artist JACOB EDGAR, a never-before-told mission starring MONEYPENNY, friend of JAMES BOND, former MI6 field agent and bodyguard of M! On a ‘routine’ protection mission, Moneypenny discovers a complicated assassination plot that bears a startling resemblance to a terrorist attack from her childhood. Can she call upon her secret agent skills to stop the plot…?
9. Robots on the Run
Gotta admit, Michael Kennedy’s artstyle grabbed my attention for this one. Cyborgs and robots, mistaken identities and an on-the-run narrative all come together in this new miniseries.
Spiritus #1
Written by Tim Daniel
Illustrated by Michael Kennedy
Published by Vault Comics
A champion fighter convicted of murder, Kinju Dayal faces automated confinement: The transfer of her consciousness into a state programmed labor machine. But a ruthless underworld boss diverts Kinju into a vessel unshackled from its rigid programming. Only Federal Marshal Rueben Reveles stands between the armored warrior and sanctuary.
8. Worst Proposal Ever
With an animator’s eye, Konstantin Steshenko’s work has been lively, clever, and absurd. This one bears a resemblance to Jose Domingo’s “Adventures of a Japanese Businessman,” with its fixed perspective and grotesque sense of humor, and I’m curious to see how it’ll play out on the page versus the endless scroll on his website.
Screwed Up
Written and Illustrated by Konstantin Steshenko
Published by Adhouse Books
Jeremy is a constantly down on his luck guy who has the brilliant idea to propose to his ex at the place where they first met, a very public and busy subway platform in New York. Things do not go according to plan. And then things get horribly, horrifically worse.
7. A Swan Song
Jiro Taniguchi died earlier this year, meaning interest in his work rose exponentially. Taniguchi was a quiet and controlled cartoonist and this story about a man trying to learn more about his mother showcases some of his best talent. It’s nice to see this being offered again.
Continued belowVenice
Written and Illustrated by Jiro Taniguchi
Published by Ponent Mon
When Louis Vuitton decided to produce a series of deluxe travel books for the new century they invited only hand picked comic artists from around the world and placed them in settings unfamiliar to the artists to bring this vision to life. After his mother’s death, Jiro Taniguchi discovers a beautifully lacquered box which contains what appear to be old photos and hand-drawn postcards of Venice. One photo of Piazza San Marco catches his eye. It is of a Japanese couple feeding a multitude of pigeons in the square dressed in what looked like 1930’s styled clothes. Who were they? What relevance did they have for his mother? Armed with the contents of the lacquered box he travels to Venice to track down the places and events displayed in the images and to discover the identity of the young couple in the old photograph. With very few but well chosen words and his artist’s eye for detail, Taniguchi portrays the Venice of today in a most deserving light.
6. SPOON!
Just in time for the new TV show from Amazon, NEC is bringing out a new volume of “The Tick”! This one’s penned by Cullen Bunn (who must have figured out a way to bend the space/time continuum with all the books he’s writing) and Jimmy Z. Johnston with art by Douglas Paszkiewicz. There’s ninjas and color and just the overall weirdness we’ve come to expect from Edlund’s original creation
The Tick 2017 #1
Written by Cullen Bunn & Jimmy Z. Johnston
Illustrated by Douglas Paskiewicz
Published by New England ComicsAmazon is bringing The Tick back to TV this summer! And NEC is bringing The Tick back to comics in August with an all-new continuing color series! Written by Cullen Bunn (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, X-Men Blue, Harrow County) and drawn by Douglas Paszkiewicz (Arsenic Lullaby), The Tick and Arthur confront the dire menaces of ninjas and murder clowns, while also flashing back to blasts from The Tick’s heretofore unexplored past! Join us for fun as Bunn imprints The Tick with his own creative style of storytelling!
5. Not Your Everyday Slash Fic
This long running cult comic is finally getting collected in one handsome volume. Depicting a fantasy romance between Glenn Danzig and Henry Rollins, “Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever” is nothing but wild. The book comes with the header, Completely Ridiculous Edition, which should really clue us in for what’s in store. Microcosm also promises more bonus material than the last edition of this book.
Henry and Glenn Forever and Ever
Written and Illustrated by Tom Neely (and Others)
Published by Microcosm Publishing
Two myths. One legend. The greatest love story ever told has finally been released in graphic novel form, featuring 29 short stories about the domestic life of “Henry” and “Glenn” and sometimes their neighbors “Daryl” and “John.” Glenn deals with issues with his mother while Henry, “a loud guy with a good work ethic,” shows his darker side and indifference to a fan as he drinks black coffee and bonds with Glenn over their distaste for their own bands. These are two men who truly suffer best together. This book collects four serialized comics, adds even more never-before-published pages than the previous collective edition, and will have a spiffy hardcover.
4. Food Service Hell
Mimi Pond has been around for a long time, contributing cartoons to The New York Times, Adweek, and The National Lampoon. She also wrote the first broadcast episode of The Simpsons, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” so, I mean, Pond has clout. Drawn & Quarterly is releasing her first graphic novel since 2014 in a relatable memoir about food service and all the people servers have to deal with.
The Customer is Always Wrong
Written and Illustrated by Mimi Pond
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
The Customer is Always Wrong is the saga of a young naïve artist named Madge working in a restaurant of charming drunks, junkies, thieves, and creeps. Oakland in the late seventies is a cheap and quirky haven for eccentrics and Mimi Pond folds the tales of the fascinating sleaze-ball characters that surround young Madge into her workaday waitressing life. Told in the same brash yet earnest style as her previous memoir Over Easy, Pond’s storytelling gifts have never been stronger than in this epic, comedic, standalone graphic novel.
3. Arya’s Precious Little Life
Gaming girls and alternate dimensions, a showcase of brand new talent, echoes of Scott Pilgrim? I mean, what more could you ask for?
Continued belowArya #1
Written and Illustrated by Sofia Davila & Minjun Chen
Published by Antarctic Press
Antarctic Press proudly presents a shining showcase of new, strong female talent, with something unique and wonderful in every issue! On her way to get groceries, Anais is magically transported to a very strange world, where the only way home is to find the items on her shopping list. Meanwhile, Emi discovers new classmate Helen shares her passion for the handheld game Adventure Quest XXI, so they form a party-both for real and in the game-questing together in the name of teamwork, friendship, and XP!
2. She’s Back and More Accessible
Luke Pearson’s “Hilda” books are an absolute delight. And though the paperback versions aren’t as well put together or durable as their hardback cousins, they’re far more fairly priced and easier to access. Nobrow’s Flying Eye Books releases the fourth installment in paperback and it’s as much a joy and delight as the other books in the series.
Hilda and the Black Hound
Written and Illustrated by Luke Pearson
Published by Flying Eye Books/Nobrow Press
The fourth in Luke Pearson’s Eisner Award-nominated series of magical adventures starring Hilda, our favorite blue-haired heroine! in paperback! This time around, Hilda stumbles upon Tontu, a lost house spirit. Plunged into the secret world of the Nisse, Hilda discovers hidden passages that only the house spirits can navigate-and something has been ransacking them all! Check out the character that Guillermo Del Toro called “Plain smart and moving. John Stanley’s Little Lulu meets Miyazaki!”
1. What is This?
Yuichi Yokoyama’s something like a Michael Deforge of manga. His artwork is wild and abstract and far removed from the usual shōnen/shojo fair. It’s a trip; it’s wild, unpredictable, and maybe even exciting.
Iceland
Written and Illustrated by Yuichi Yokoyama
Published by Big Planet/Retrofit Comics
A new surrealist tale by the creator of neo manga, the critically-acclaimed Yuichi Yokoyama. His frenetic visual style contrasts with the taciturn pace of the story and dialogue as a group of friends wander the high-latitude areas of the strange icy Far North looking for someone.
Well, that was fun! And let me know what books YOU’RE excited for in the comments section.
