Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest” of what’s coming your way in the now-available November Previews catalog. I’m excited to help you navigate the vast majority of what Diamond is offering via your LCS for the month of January 2024 (and probably beyond). Having already taken a look at what Marvel, DC, Image, and the Manga Previews sections have lined up for us, it’s now time to check out the other 75% of the catalog.
Let’s dive in!
10. Tales of the Lesser-Known Dark Knights
When you mention “Batman artists of the Seventies”, everyone thinks of Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. And they should, because those men’s legacy on the Caped Crusader is unassailable. But they weren’t the only ones who picked up pencils for the adventures of one Bruce Wayne. Twomorrows looks to shine the Bat-Signal light on some of the other Bat-artists of the Bronze Age. From other legends like Walt Simonson and Alex Toth, to the underappreciated Bob Brown, Irv Norvick, writer/artist Frank Robbins, and more.
BACK ISSUE #150
Written by Various
Drawn by Various
Published by Twomorrows Publishing
In Shops: March 13, 2024
SRP: $12.95
Back Issue #150 is our oversized 100-Page Super Spectacular sesquicentennial edition, featuring Batmen of the 1970s! Exploring the work of Bronze Age Batman artists Bob Brown, Dick Giordano, Irv Novick, Frank Robbins, Walter Simonson, Alex Toth, & Bernie Wrightson. Plus: revisit Frank Miller’s first Batman story! Edited by Michael Eury.
9. Art Calculated To Drive You BERZERK!
Say what you will about celebrity-driven comics (and I honestly can’t speak to the quality of BRZRKR specifically tho it seems to have some legs to it), Hollywood money can get some top talent on them to help carry much of the creative load when needed. And speaking just on the art side, Ron Garney brings Olympic weightlifter status as an artist in that regard. Doesn’t matter if you like the story he’s telling or not, I don’t think you can really argue about his talent in making it as dynamic and moody and entirely a comics-centric experience. And this lets you see and study his linework front & center without any color getting in the way (with apologies to excellent colorist Bill Crabtree).
BRZRKR: PEN & INK #2
Written by Keanu Reeves & Matt Kindt
Drawn by Ron Garney
Published by BOOM! Studios
In Shops: Jan 6, 2024
SRP: $6.99For those that couldn’t get enough of Keanu Reeves’ record-obliterating jump into the comics world, BRZRKR returns in a new format while fans eagerly await the Netflix feature film, the Netflix anime series, the novel, and more comic books!
In addition to enjoying the brutality in the refreshingly bleak black and white of BOOM! Studios’ Pen & Ink line, series artist Ron Garney brings some method to the mayhem with brand new exclusive commentary!
8. Near Dark Meets Ocean’s Eleven? Sign Me Up!
The first of two horror-themed Dark Horse comics for the month comes from a writing team I am unfamiliar with and an artist I am VERY familiar with. Given that comics is such a visual medium and experience, I’m more than willing to roll the dice on a book with that combo, especially if the premise sounds interesting, which this does.
OPERATION SUNSHINE #2
Written by Henry Zebrowski & Marcus Parks
Drawn by David Rubin
Published by Dark Horse Comics
In Shops: Jan 13, 2024
SRP: $3.99From the New York Times-bestselling hosts of the hit The Last Podcast on the Left and Black Hammer’s David Rubin comes this all-new humorous, horror, and action-packed comic book series that’s Near Dark meets Ocean’s Eleven. A group of young, alienated vampires known as “bugs” plot to steal a magical object from ancient monstrous vampires to turn themselves back to human. Along the way they uncover a sprawling monster underground, a top-secret plot run by the elder creatures, elite militant vampire slayers, and madness beyond imagining blocking their path to humanity.
7. Ripped From The Silver Scream!
Continued below
This book, however, is from a team I’m very familiar with. Hurtt & Bunn are back in your LCS with another eventual story to put on your shelves alongside their previous collabs Shadow Roads, The Damned, and of course The Sixth Gun. And since they’re bringing along frequent colorist Bill Crabtree, I can feel even less guilty about recommending BRZRKR specifically because he isn’t in it. Plus, it’s a horror book by a crew that knows how to do horror, so it’s got THAT going for it.
THE MIDNITE SHOW #2 (OF 4)
Written by Cullen Bunn
Drawn by Brian Hurtt
Published by Dark Horse Comics
In Shops: Jan 6, 2024
SRP: $3.99From the creators of The Sixth Gun and Manor Black comes this new supernatural horror series about monsters of the silver screen coming to life and wreaking havoc on a small town. Basil Saxon is a legend among horror fans. Over fifty years ago, he vanished during a freak accident on the set of the film that would have been his masterpiece. The cursed film — God of Monsters — was never completed and has never been seen. But when a film festival shows footage from the long-lost movie, classic horror monsters manifest to wreak havoc and terror on the unsuspecting populace. A ragtag group of misfits must band together to stop the most famous creatures of all time and send them back to the realm of celluloid nightmares.
6. The Story Above All Other Stories
When you look at the life of someone so integral to a given field, their history and that field’s history become intertwined. So as it is with Jack Kirby, so as it is with Osamu Tezuka. This book lets you learn about both Tezuka and manga history to a great degree, which is the type of scholarship multitasking I approve of. It also has godfather-of-manga-US-translation Frederick Schodt’s involvement, which is another feather in its cap.
OSAMU TEZUKA STORY LIFE IN MANGA & ANIME SC
Written by Toshio Ban
Published by Stone Bridge Press
In Shops: Jan 13, 2024
SRP: $36.95
This graphic-format biography of Osamu Tezuka-Japan’s “God of Manga”-looks at one of the twentieth century’s great creative artists (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Black Jack). It is also an anecdotal study of the evolution of Japan’s early manga and anime business and its heroes. A never-before-seen popular culture history of postwar Japan, it is sure to fascinate fans and anyone interested in manga, anime, and the potential of the graphic storytelling medium.
5. The Cat Came Back . . .
This does look surreal and imaginative, just as described in the solicit, but the preview pages I’ve seen also make it look . . . adorable? I’m not quite sure that’s the word I should be using because I don’t know if it will translate some of the vibe I get to other folks, but it’s a word that pops into my head every time I see certain pages, even if I wouldn’t necessarily think of them if I was asked to pick something adorable, if that makes any sense.
THE CAT FROM THE KIMONO OGN
Written & Drawn by Nancy Pena
Published by Humanoids Inc.
In Shops: Jan 13, 2024
SRP: $19.99This surreal and imaginative adult fairy tale follows a beautiful black cat through a fantastical world where he’ll survive impossible odds to make his way home. . . to his mistress’ kimono!
4. From The Tombs of History They Rise!
Halloween is in the rearview mirror, but horror comics thankfully never go out of season! Use this book to track down perennial favorites of the genre you may have missed as you count the days until the next Halloween!
Continued belowIT ROSE FROM THE TOMB!
Written by Various
Drawn by Various
Published by Twomorrows Publishing
In Shops: Mar 20, 2024
SRP: $31.95Rising from the depths of history comes an all-new examination of the 20th Century’s best horror comics, written by Peter Normanton (editor of From The Tomb, the UK’s preeminent magazine on the genre). From the pulps and seminal horror comics of the 1940s, through ones they tried to ban in the 1950s, this tome explores how the genre survived the introduction of the Comics Code, before making its terrifying return during the 1960s and 1970s. Come face-to-face with the early days of ACG’s alarming line, every horror comic from June 1953, hypodermic horrors, DC’s Gothic romance comics, Marvel’s Giant-Size terrors, Skywald and Warren’s chillers, and Atlas Seaboard’s shocking magazines. The full-color opus exhumes Bernie Wrightson’s darkest constructs, plus artwork by Frank Frazetta, Neal Adams, Mike Kaluta, Steve Ditko, Matt Fox, Warren Kremer, Lee Elias, Bill Everett, Russ Heath, The Gurch, and many more!
3. One Man Jam
The Jam is usually mentioned in the same breath as other 80’s indie comics as Larry Marder’s Tales From The Beanworld, Bill Messner-Loeb’s Journey, or Jim Valentino’s normalman: gems of the era that never really broke through to wider recognition. It’s collections like these that keep this material in the public eye and hopefully on the lips of comix readers. With creator Bernie Mireault’s unfortunate passing last month, it feels even more important to shine some light on his creator-owned contributions.
THE JAM URBAN ADVENTURE TP VOL 01 BEGINNINGS
Written and Drawn by Bernie Mireault
Published by About Comics
In Shops: Jan 31, 2024
SRP: $20.00
Gordon Kirby is one laid back individual… but when duty (or boredom) calls, he dons his homebrew hero outfit and patrols the streets and rooftops of Montreal as The Jammer! Collected here for the first time is the original five-issue storyline of Bernie Mireault’s cult favorite alt hero series The Jam: Urban Adventure, newly remastered and enhanced by Mireault himself. As an added bonus, the book leads off with a series of shorter pieces that appeared in New Triumph Featuring Northguard and The Jam Special.
2. Comix… With An X!
Scott Shaw! is probably the cartoonist with the biggest footprint in material you love that you’ve never heard of, although you may have mentally logged him in your brain as the guy who always has an exclamation point after his name (as this columnist did for years). In addition to his comic booking seen here, as well as co-creating Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew for DC, he’s spent decades working in animation and commenting on comics & comics history for various newssites. I’m really looking forward to finding out more about the man behind the punctuation mark, and this book looks like not only the second About Comics book on this month’s list, but the perfect book to help me accomplish that.
SCOTT SHAWS COMIX & STORIES ABOUT FANDOM & COMIC INDUSTRY
Written and Drawn by Scott Shaw!
Published by About Comics
In Shops: Jan 24, 2024
SRP: $30.00
For over fifty years, Scott Shaw! has been writing and drawing allegedly funny stuff for mainstream comics sold on spinner racks (including Sonic the Hedgehog, Captain Carrot, and The Simpsons), underground comix sold in head shops -and almost everything in between. Finally, here’s the first collection starring the award-winning cartoonist’s most notorious characters (including Scott himself!), with over 200 pages of offbeat stories, plus surprises and silliness from the depths of his archives!
1. More Real Than Photo-Real
The pen is not only mightier than the sword, it can be more real than the camera. Emotionally real, in any case. That’s one of the reasons I am drawn (no pun intended) to comix journalism like Vanni or the other books cited in the solicit copy. Photos are great and can do so much, but a drawing can do so much more, especially when paired with words on subjects like this.
VANNI OGN
Written by Benjamin Dix
Drawn by Lindsay Pollock
Published by Graphic Mundi – PSU Press
In Shops: Dec 20, 2023
SRP: $19.95
A village in the crossfire of civil war. A family searching for safety.In the tradition of Maus, Persepolis, and The Breadwinner, Vanni is a graphic novel documenting the human side of the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the “Tamil Tigers.” Told from the perspective of a single family, it takes readers through the horrors and life-changing decisions individuals are forced to make when caught up in someone else’s war.
Set in the northern region of Sri Lanka, which was devastated by the civil war, this graphic novel follows the Ramachandran family as they flee their home after the 2004 tsunami and move from one displacement camp to the next, seeking an ever-elusive safe haven and struggling to keep each other alive. Inspired by Benjamin Dix’s experience working in Sri Lanka for the United Nations during the war, Vanni draws on more than four years of meticulous research, official reports, and first-hand interviews with refugees. Elegantly drawn by Lindsay Pollock, it depicts heroic acts of kindness and horrific acts of violence, memorializing the experiences of the Tamil civilians against the forces that seek to erase their memory.
Be sure to let us know what books YOU’RE excited for in the Comments section!
