Wow we’ve made it a whole more year with my look at Dark Horse’s solicitations and I hope to keep this going for more years to come. We’re back to January and Dark Horse is starting thing off very big with the return of “Fight Club,” the launch of their long planned James Cameron’s Avatar comics and much, much more. Let’s jump into this.
10. More Lore
I’ve admitted to not being much of a gamer in the past and that still holds up here but I know that this particular game has a very long history and a very loyal fan base with a huge lore that has lots of room to dig into. Jody Houser is a RPG nerd and that’s going to come in so handy with this series and that alone almost has me ready to buy this blindly.
Starcraft: Soldiers #1 (OF 4)
(W) Jody Houser, Andrew Robinson (A/CA) Miguel Sepulveda
On sale Jan 23rd
Jody Houser (Stranger Things, Star Wars) joins Blizzard Entertainment writer Andrew R. Robinson (Overwatch Anthology) for issue #1 of StarCraft: Soldiers, the latest addition to the StarCraft expanded universe. Newly graduated Lieutenant Shivani Singh wants to defend the Dominion on the front lines, but it will take more than good grades and confidence to survive on the edge of zerg space.
9. The Fad Continues
A director’s cut in comics is such a strange concept to me because I don’t see comics having a director. I always see it as a full team effort so when these things come out and completely cut out the colorist, I find that incredibly odd. I don’t entirely get it and I don’t know what the goal here is. With a movie, a director’s cut is usually just a longer version with the things that the director wanted to include but didn’t. You don’t completely cut out the editing or the light work. It’s just such a weird concept to me but this will be for someone and “Black Hammer” is great any way.
Black Hammer: Director’s Cut #1
(W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Dean Ormston
On sale Jan 16th
The Eisner award-winning hit Black Hammer gets a special first issue director’s cut edition presented in black in white.
This deluxe, director’s cut showcases high res, uncleaned scans of Dean Ormston’s beautiful inked line art from the first issue of the award-winning Black Hammer series, with Todd Klein’s lettering overlayed on top, and also Jeff Lemire’s original script, and a high res scan of the original cover.A must for collectors and all Black Hammer fans!
8. The Weird Pick Of The Month
One of the things I’ve noticed in doing this over the years is that with Dark Horse there’s always some really out there non licensed thing I like in every month’s solicitations. This is this month’s pick. “Differently Morphous” has a pretty cool concept to me and even though I don’t know this creator’s work, I’m really interested in checking it out.
Continued belowDifferently Morphous HC (advance solicit)
(W) Yahtzee Croshaw (CA) Ethan Kimberling
On sale Mar 20th
A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret.
After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country’s magical history-and magical citizens-to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.
On the trail of the killer are the Ministry’s top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.
But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness . . .
Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer Yahtzee Croshaw (Mogworld, Jam, Will Save the Galaxy for Food).
7. Yes, This Was A Comic Book Too
And the comic book was much, much darker. The Jim Carrey movie was a comedy and it made the character into more of a cartoon character, which worked for it in the 90’s. In the comic book though, the wearer of the mask was incredibly violent and Stanley became pretty unhinged with this power. It’s very different but when the movie came out, the comic did borrow elements from the movie and become a little more comedic. I wonder why this is being reprinted in 2019. Maybe a movie reboot is on the horizon. With the success of Deadpool, it’s possible another studio is looking to cash on a comedic rated R comic book character? We’ll see.
The Mask Omnibus Volume 1 (advance solicit)
(W) John Arcudi (A/CA) Doug Mahnke
On sale Mar 20th
The bestselling comic trilogy that inspired the blockbuster film The Mask is collected in this omnibus edition of gruesome hilarity!
A weird mask of unknown origin and power is discovered and imbues its wearer with limitless cartoon character invulnerability that takes the nerdy Stanley Ipkiss, the police, the mafia, and the monstrous mob muscleman Walter on a colliding violent path of homicidal mayhem, lunacy, and destruction!
Collects The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Back!
6. The Unexpected
“She Can Fly” reminds me a lot of Cantwell’s now ended show Halt and Catch Fire in that both are not at all what they seem on the surface. This comic has so much else going on than what is in the solicit information and that’s a good thing. It’s a beautiful story and I’m really excited that the trade will be out soon so more people can read this.
She Could Fly (advance solicit)
(W) Christopher Cantwell, (A) Martin Morazzo, (C) Miroslav Mrva
On sale Mar 6th
An unknown woman flying at fantastic speeds and spectacular heights suddenly explodes mid-air. No one knows who she was, how she flew, or why. Luna Brewster, a disturbed 15-year-old girl, becomes obsessed with learning everything about her while rumors and conspiracy theories roil. Will cracking the secrets of the Flying Woman lead to the liberation of her troubled mind?
By Christopher Cantwell (co-creator/showrunner of AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire) and artist Martin Morazzo (Ice Cream Man) with color by Miroslav Mrva.
Collects the four issue critically acclaimed series in a deluxe softcover edition.
“She Could Fly is a modern-day masterpiece… It’s heartbreakingly beautiful and honest to its core.” – Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
“Full of unexpected pleasures . . . masterful, joyful, poignant . . . A must-read” – G. Willow
5. The Edition This Story Deserves
By the time this article goes live, it’ll be almost Halloween and this is the perfect comic book to read at this time of the year. However, you should absolutely wait and get it in this big library edition. It’s what Ian Bertram’s art deserves. It’s absolutely phenomenal.
House of Penance Library Edition (advance solicit)
(W) Peter J. Tomasi (A/CA) Ian Bertram
On sale Mar 27th
A horrific story of a haunted house and one woman’s mission to wash away the blood curse of her husband’s invention from claiming her own life and soul.
This is a tale about guilt, ghosts, and guns . . . of how fortune brings misfortune, as a grim and determined woman oversees the construction of a house twenty-four hours a day for twenty years with the simple motto of keep busy building or get busy dying
Collects six issue run of House of Penance in a deluxe, hardcover, and oversized format with a new cover, sketchbook extras, and more.
“House of Penance is a creepy disturbing tale of madness that fans of Poe and The Shining would enjoy.” -Outright Geekery
4. The End Of A Masterpiece
I’m a huge Victor Santos fan and “Polar” is one of my favorite stories of all time. It’s the kind of dark, crime story I adore and Santos has such a unique style that it’s tough to look away. I always felt really drawn to his art and I’m excited to see this story end on Santos’s terms and I’m excited to see what this upcoming movie looks like.
Continued belowPolar Volume 4: The Kaiser Falls HC (advance solicit)
(W) Victor Santos (A/CA) Victor Santos
On sale Mar 20th
The final installment in the Polar quadrilogy! Victor Santos (Mice Templar, Filthy Rich) delivers an epic finale to his espionage action adventure! Part one is now a major motion picture! An indomitable, yet aging spy assimilates to retirement in Miami, until a rookie assassin locates him and challenges him to his crown. Living a simple life down in the Miami sunshine gets complicated when Black Kaiser’s housemaid has some problems involving a local gang. However, resurfacing to maintain the peace, puts him right in the new adversary’s cross-hairs. Buckle up because Black Kaiser’s last ride is going to get rough!
3. So This Is Finally Happening
I was at the panel at NYCC when this was announced and that felt like an eternity ago. The weird thing about James Cameron’s Avatar is that it always felt like such an after thought. It made a ton of money and won so many awards and visually at the time it was really ahead of the curve. However, Cameron just didn’t do anything. He made all these plans that more was coming and he had all these ideas and it just went nowhere. Anything we got came so much later and the movie just didn’t make the cultural impact that other movies did. You watch that movie now, you don’t remember what exactly made this such a thing. Like I said, it was the visual element. No one had done this but now we’re at a point where every single summer movie is a visual spectacle. I just don’t know who this is for and I think the ship sailed on this being a thing a very long time ago.
Avatar: Tsu’tey’s Path #1
(W) Sherri Smith (A) Jan Duursema, Dan Parson (CA) Doug Wheatley
On sale Jan 16th
Tsu’tey, proud warrior of the Omatikaya clan, betrothed to Neyteri, has his life turned upside down by the arrival of Jake Sully of the Sky People.
Reveals events only hinted at in James Cameron’s Avatar!
o James Cameron’s masterpiece comes to comics!
o Written by award-winning novelist Sherri L. Smith!
2. A Multiversity Favorite
We here at Multiversity Comics are big fans of Curt Pires and have been for a very long time. “Wyrd” is something we’re all really excited for and something I hope a lot of people check out. Pires is an incredibly good writer with a lot of great ideas. I’m excited to see what this book looks like. It could be an early contender for the best of 2019.
Wyrd #1
(W) Curt Pires (A/CA) Antonio Fuso
On sale Jan 30
There are problems, cases, too strange for US law enforcement to solve. Pitor Wyrd is the one who solves them-for a fee, of course. An unaging, invincible detective with a penchant for the strange, Wyrd is the one the government calls when things go very badly and very strange.
This issue: Crimea. A failed attempt at recreating a certain US supersolider. A monster roaming the countryside. A trail of bodies.
1. They Keep Talking About Fight Club
I thought the first rule of fight club was that you don’t talk about fight club???? Okay, then. I am fascinated by the discussion around this story because the alt right types have totally missed the point of all of this and most reasonable people realize what this story is actually saying. I always found it really interesting that Palahniuk chose the medium of comics to continue this story but I think because the movie is so famous that people who would want more would be more attached to something visual, which is what comic books provide. Honestly you can’t go wrong with Cameron Stewart on art to deliver that visual element the movie fans would probably want. I didn’t read “Fight Club” 2 but I just find the thing very interesting and noteworthy and “Fight Club” 2 did really well for itself so there’s a big audience here.
Continued belowFight Club 3 #1
(W) Chuck Palahniuk (A) Cameron Stewart (CA) David Mack
On sale Jan 30
Marla Singer is about to deliver her second child, but the daddy isn’t her husband-it’s Tyler Durden, who’s very invested in his heir, and the world he’ll inherit.
Marla, her first son, and her husband-the unnamed narrator in the novel, who now goes by Balthazar-live in a rundown motel with sketchy neighbors. In the FIGHT CLUB 2 graphic novel, Tyler transformed Project Mayhem into Rize or Die-now, as a road to paradise presents itself, a new group has implemented a ruthless and deviant plan to fine-tune mankind, leading Balthazar to forge an unlikely alliance . . . with Tyler Durden.
Chuck Palahniuk writes the sequel to the sequel to Fight Club. Chuck Palahniuk & Cameron Stewart reunite!
Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments and read the full solicitations over at The Outhousers.
