For the first time in as long as I can remember, I’ve picked no new series in my Image solicitations column. Image is an exciting publisher offering new series from superstar creators, fame-os making their first foray into comics, and young guns trying to make the big time. This month, we’re not looking at any of that. April is all about returning favorites. There are so many excellent ongoings running at Image right now, we’re taking the month to just revel in them. You’ll notice I’ve got a #1 issue on the list. That too is a trick! It’s the beginning of an exciting sequel series. Sometimes the next new thing is shiny, but for now let’s focus on all the good work being done by our favorite people!
As always, feel free to check out the rest of the solicitations on the Image website.
10. Colour out of space
Starting with something spooky, “Infinite Dark” has managed chills and thrills on multiple levels. There’s the existential horror of humanity becoming an unsustainable species. That’s big scary stuff. But the story goes even bigger with the Entity Beyond the Stars, which brings the story into downright Lovecraftian territory. But then there’s the almost David Fincher-like murder mystery that drives the core of the plot. Man, this book is bleak.
INFINITE DARK #5
WRITER: Ryan Cady
ARTIST: Andrea Mutti
COVER A: Nick Robles
APRIL 10 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99The passengers of the void ship Orpheus survived the end of the universe, station-wide sabotage, and even the machinations of an Entity from beyond the stars. All that’s left now is to survive each other.
9. Time after time
Brian K Vaughan gives good comic, and Cliff Chiang also gives good comic. You know who else gives good comic? Superstar colorist Matt Wilson. And no book lets Wilson stretch his arty talents like “Paper Girls,” which is ending. This means one of two things. Either you really appreciate the reminder and are going to put issue #27 onto your pull list right now or you’ve missed this series entirely. Well I’ve got good news for you. You’ve got a great read ahead of you, and the story is almost done. You’ve got some good comic ahead of you, and enough time to catch up before the final issue drops!
PAPER GIRLS #27
WRITER: Brian K. Vaughan
ARTIST: Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
COVER A: Cliff Chiang
APRIL 03 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99PART TWO OF THE FINAL ARC! Will KJ ever see her new love Mac again?
8. What goes down, must come up
It’s no secret that we here at Multiversity love us some Jeff Lemire. We shower him with awards, accolades, and kudos like we’re trying to make it rain. When “Descender” wrapped up, there were some tears, we’re not embarrassed to admit it. But from “Descender’s” ashes rises a… sequel series!? Called “Ascender?” Oh this is a happy day indeed. This is the comic series that comic creators recommend when you ask them if they’ve read anything good lately. You’d definitely do right to catch up on the original run (32 issues) to get ready for this triumphant sci-fi return.
Continued belowASCENDER #1
WRITER: Jeff Lemire
ARTIST / COVER A: Dustin Nguyen
APRIL 24 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“THE HAUNTED GALAXY,” Part One Powerhouse creative team JEFF LEMIRE and DUSTIN NGUYEN launch an all-new sequel series to DESCENDER with the launch of ASCENDER! Set ten years after the conclusion of DESCENDER’s storyline, magic has taken the place of machinery and the rules are very different indeed… Mila, the daughter of Andy and Effie from DESCENDER, spends her days exploring the lonely wilds of the planet Sampson and trying to stay out of the clutches of the evil disciples of the all-powerful vampire witch known only as Mother. But, like her parents, Mila doesn’t like to play by the rules, and when a certain robot pal of her dad’s shows up, nothing will ever be the same! With all the scope and heart of the sci-fi classic DESCENDER, LEMIRE and NGUYEN reunite to take readers on an unforgettable fantasy quest!
7. The end of the beginning of the end
If you’ve been reading Wicked Intervention, my page-by-page breakdown of “Wicked + Divine,” you’ll know that the last arc has been blowing me away. I didn’t volunteer to do a deep diving annotation column because I don’t like the work of Matt Wilson (him again!), Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen, and Clayton Cowles, but all of them, seriously all of them, are doing their career best work on this arc. ‘Okay’ has been a technical masterpiece and a tour de force in comic creation form. Also it’s a helluva ending, and it’s making a lot of people cry. Showy comic technique and salty tears are why people like WicDiv.
THE WICKED + THE DIVINE #43
WRITER: Kieron Gillen
ARTIST / COVER A: Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson
COVER B: Jason Latour
APRIL 10 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“OKAY,” Part Four Jamie, this is the last time we have to do big crowd and fight scenes. I swear, we can get through this. Two more issues after this, and then we can have a sleep.
6. Are you there god? It’s me, Man-Eaters.
My favorite thing about this consistently shocking series is the many ways it subverts comic book storytelling. Chelsea Cain came from novels and if she’s gonna do a comic, she’s gonna use the medium for all that it’s worth. The team fills each issue with posters, TV broadcasts, charts, graphs, photographs, and weirder artifacts yet that sit side by side with regular comic book art. So this issue- all artifacts! It’s a maybe hilarious, maybe terrifying guide to puberty/felinethropy. It’s gonna be lit.
MAN-EATERS #8
WRITER: Chelsea Cain
ARTIST / COVER A: Lia Miternique
APRIL 24 / 28 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99“MAN-EATERS PRESENTS: WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME AND CAN IT BE STOPPED?” This mock guide to female puberty features personal stories, advice, illustrated charts, inspirational tips, and other topics of interest to teen girls-on-the-go who like witchcraft and advanced calculus.
5. A wizard on a rainy day
It didn’t take long for the melancholy and beautiful “Middlewest” to do the creepy carnival thing. That was already on top of farmer-wizards and the sapient wind/father/monsters and the bridge trolls and all the other fantabulous worldbuilding that Skottie Young and Jorge Corona have brought to their series. That all looks to come to a head with #6, which brings the many disparate threads together into a rocking season one finale.
MIDDLEWEST #6
WRITER: Skottie Young
ARTIST: Jorge Corona
COVER A: Mike Huddleston
APRIL 17 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99A messenger arrives with news of the storm brewing in Abel and Fox’s wake. Maggie’s carnival has changed its schedule to stay ahead of the tempest as Abel’s debt is paid and he’s offered the chance to choose his future.
4. Through the fire and flames
Every issue of “Murder Falcon” drops my jaw. Twice. The first time is usually followed by me shaking my head and whispering “that is so fucking metal.” The second time often involves me absentmindedly wiping tears away with the back of my hand. Those are the main two modes in every issue of “Murder Falcon.” A journey into hell to retrieve the axe of khaotica or something equally groovy. And then a meditation on life and loss and growing as a person. “Murder Falcon” is my everything,
MURDER FALCON #7
WRITER: Daniel Warren Johnson
ARTIST: Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer
COVER A: Mike Spicer, Daniel Warren Johnson
COVER B: Erica Henderson
APRIL 10 / 32 pages / FC/ T / $3.99To save the world, Jake and Murder Falcon must find the fabled Horn of the Dead. How metal is that?!
3. A swamp romp! It’s a romp in a swamp!
A mark of a good franchise is its flexibility. The characters, concepts, and themes need to endure beyond the original iteration. You see this a lot in superhero comics, but less so in the indies. Can you imagine “Walking Dead” written by anyone other than Robert Kirkman? Or “Saga” without Fiona Staples? With this issue, “Rat Queens” is discarding most of its creative team and give the writing duty to letterer Ryan Ferrier. Anyone who knows about the behind the scenes drama knows that the idea of “Rat Queens” has survived a lot of crazy shit. If it can stay popular despite a creative team shift, Hannah, Dee, Violet, Braga and Betty are gonna be in comics forever! All hail the queens!
Continued belowRAT QUEENS SPECIAL: SWAMP ROMP (ONE-SHOT)
WRITER: Ryan Ferrier
ARTIST / COVER A: Priscilla Petraites
APRIL 10 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99Dragons. Monsters. Tricksters. The Rat Queens have seen—and slayed!—it all. But when a dying man of great wealth hires our heroes to exact revenge for the murder of his prized unicorn, Betty, Hannah, Braga, Violet, and Dee are suddenly thrust into a quest that may bring them face-to-face with a mythological creature thought only to exist in bedtime stories. This is Palisade’s urban legend, and it will end with either death or a mass fortune. Featuring the all-new RAT QUEENS creative team, RYAN FERRIER (Death Orb, Criminy) and PRISCILLA PETRAITES (Brilliant Trash)—who will be taking the reins of the ongoing title starting with issue #16!
2. There is no ethical consumption
No comics out there are quite like “The Black Monday Murders.” Sure, there’s plenty of witchy, culty dark fantasy out there. And I can count on a few comics to lob some criticism at the capitalist monolith. And “Black Monday Murders” does both of those things very well and at the same time. But what no one else is doing is treating form and format like Jonathan Hickman’s singularly dense series. Every issue will take as many or as few pages as it damn well wants to. Some issues are crammed with backmatter, letters, and esoteric scriptures. Some just have straight-up stories. And with issue #9, we’re going into answers mode and every five dollar issue will have three times as many pages as whatever you can get from your favorite superhero publisher. Hickman unleashed!
THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS #9
WRITER: Jonathan Hickman
ARTIST / COVER A: Tomm Coker
APRIL 24 / 64 pages / FC/ M / $4.99“WHAT ABOUT WYNN” The last arc of THE BLACK MONDAY MURDERS begins with the origin story of the world’s greatest witch. Every issue of this last arc will be double-sized!
1. If you got the money, honey we got your disease
There was some good buzz surrounding this sci-fi series when it was announced, but I was not prepared. The creators have approached a somewhat familiar story (a computerized, programmed being is slowly gaining self awareness) with uncommon confidence. The characters are fascinating, the video game setting is rad, and this issue promises to take us to the jungle so that the protagonist can unlock the secrets of her existence. It’s gonna bring her to her sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-knees, knees. And it’s gonna be trippy as hell. This is the can’t miss Image books on the stands right now folks. Don’t miss it!
SELF/MADE #5
WRITER: Mat Groom
ARTIST / COVER A: Marcelo Costa, Eduardo Ferigato
APRIL 03 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“LEAP OF FAITH” Deep in the forests of Brazil, Amala is on the cusp of exposing a shocking secret about the nature of reality. But the final step is the hardest… and it will cost her everything she holds dear.
