I saw a conversation online the other day about the stat of Image. Folks were observing how different the company looked today than five or ten years ago. Instead of being a cool place to break into comics, it seems more and more like the place already big creators can go to try out their dream project. I don’t know what that says of the state of the comics biz, but for our purposes, that means that there are a lot of new books from returning and fan-favorite creators. And that means a lot of new number ones, which is actually pretty exciting! Let’s take a look.
As always, you can get the full solicits at the Image Comics website.
10. Spit you out into the dark
Speaking of the state of Image Comics, this is the kind of thing you rarely see. Back when “Invincible” was going strong, you’d see Kirkman use his clout to get these sorts of crossovers but since then, it’s been a rarity. So if you’re a fan of either book, or odd tonal matches, or cibopathic food detectives in space… this book is an oddity is what I’m saying, a comic book unicorn. If you didn’t know it was happening, well, now you do. And you should check it out!
OUTER DARKNESS/CHEW #3 (OF 3)
WRITER: John Layman
ARTIST: Afu Chan, Rob Guillory
COVER A: Afu Chan
COVER B: Rob GuilloryMAY 13 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
Our crossover concludes as CHEW’s culinary crazies and OUTER DARKNESS’s cosmic cutthroats go head-to-head in a gory, blood-soaked climax. Not a reboot, dream, or imaginary story. Witness the very last adventure of Tony Chu and the CHEW crew…in spaaaaaace!!!
9. On the Road Again
If I’m being perfectly honest, I’ve really recently gotten on the Justin Jordan train. I didn’t care for “Luther Strode,” so I thought he wasn’t my thing. How wrong I was! Not only is “Reaver” one of my favorite Image books right now, Jordan has totally won me over in his thoughtful and intelligent comments behind making this book. So now I’m going back and checking out all his other work, and how silly I was for sleeping on this guy. “Dead Body Road” is extremely low-fi, and for that it’s pretty cool. This new miniseries ought to be a grounded thriller from a talented creative team. I’ll be checking it out!
DEAD BODY ROAD: BAD BLOOD #1 (OF 6)
WRITER: Justin Jordan
ARTIST: Benjamin Tiesma, Mat Lopes
COVER A: Moreno Dinisio, Matteo ScaleraMAY 20 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
Bree Hale has left a lot behind in her life. Crime. The military. But she can’t leave behind her own family, and when the local crime boss puts a hit out on her brother, there’s nothing she won’t do to save him. Absolutely nothing. Skybound’s pulse-pounding action series returns, with writer JUSTIN JORDAN (REAVER, LUTHER STRODE) and artist BENJAMIN TIESMA delivering an explosive tale of revenge like you’ve never seen before!
8. A Coda is more pretentious than an epilogue
I’ve said it a hundred times. I love these two creators. I love this series. I love their solicits. I’m glad it’s ending. Except for the way in which it is not, and it’s gonna get a “Wicked + Divine” style coda/epilogue/finale thing. But it still rules that this special little book finally came together and gets to wrap up on it’s own terms. It’s never too late to become a Brimper.
SEX CRIMINALS #30
WRITER: Matt Fraction
ARTIST / COVER A: Chip ZdarskyMAY 20 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
“THE END,” Part Five Original Series Artist CHIP ZDARSKY returns for our FINAL ISSUE except for the one issue that comes next that’s like a coda or reprise or something classy like whatever the WICDIV guys called it.
7. A friend of ours
Jacob Phillips you say? Any relation to his “Criminal” collaborator Sean Phillips? They are father and son? That’s neat! Jacob was also the colorist on “Criminal,” and now he’s branching out with Chris Condon and doing their own grounded crime story. From what I understand, this is supposed to be less of a a sprawling epic, and more of one of those ‘inch-wide but a mile deep’ stories, focusing on the ensemble in a small American town. I love stories like that! “Southern Bastards” anyone? So I will for sure be checking this out, and prepare to let the phonetic accents wash over me.
Continued belowTHAT TEXAS BLOOD #1
WRITER: Chris Condon
ARTIST / COVER A: Jacob Phillips
COVER B: Sean PhillipsMAY 27 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
CRIMINAL colorist and first time solo artist JACOB PHILLIPS and writer CHRIS CONDON break onto the scene with a brand-new ongoing series! Like Paris, Texas gut-punched by No Country for Old Men, this mature neo-Western crime series kicks off when the search for a casserole dish leads to a dark and tense confrontation on Sheriff Joe Bob Coates’ 70th birthday.“CHRIS & JACOB pull off something remarkable here. A vivid and bright story that nails a thorough sense of foreboding and darkness. A shocking amount of talent for a duo so fresh to comics!” —CHIP ZDARSKY (SEX CRIMINALS, Daredevil)
6. Antediluvian
It’s kind of a cliche, but even Jason Aaron’s weakest work is better than some creators’ strongest. And I’d place “The Goddamned” among his weakest. It’s kind of mean, and tryhard. It’s got a good premise, but not much to say, despite deeply effective art by R.M. Guera. But Aaron has went and found god since the first volume. I’m talking of course of his definitive run on “Thor,” which had him going deep into his own spirituality and theology. So I hope he’s gonna take that energy and this book is going to come back with a new sense of purpose. Hallelujah.
THE GODDAMNED: THE VIRGIN BRIDES #1 (OF 5)
WRITER: Jason Aaron
ARTIST / COVER A: R.M. GuéraMAY 06 / 40 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
Writer JASON AARON and artist R.M. GUÉRA return to the stark and brutal world of THE GODDAMNED for the long-awaited second chapter of their biblical-noir epic.Genesis 6:4. “…the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men. And they bore children to them…” In the time before the Great Flood, the world of man is a place of wanton violence and unbridled depravity. But hidden high atop a mountain, there is a very different sort of world. One without men. Here, the holy sisters at a secret nunnery live in paradise, a new Eden, rearing their flock of orphaned girls to embrace their future as blessed Brides of the Sons of God. But when Sharri and Jael, two girls on the cusp of flowering, uncover what it truly means to become a Bride, they realize there’s only one way to escape the bonds of matrimony: run like hell.
5. It’s all about the game. And how you play it.
First it came out and broke our hearts. Then it split the party. Now the table is set and the teams decided and it’s time to play “Die” in earnest. ‘The Great Game’ usually refers to spycraft, specifically British spycraft during the height of the Imperialist Era, and more specifically the proxy war between Britain and Russia in Afghanistan (and India) in the 19th century. Normally I’d say don’t read too deep into it, be sometimes our dear Mister Gillen has more puns than sense. I’d expect him to squeeze as much meaning from this title as he can, like blood from a stone. “Die” is back! I’m hype. Let the real games begin.
DIE #11
WRITER: Kieron Gillen
ARTIST / COVER A: Stephanie Hans
COVER B: Ben OliverMAY 06 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
“THE GREAT GAME,” Part One Half the party is ruling a whole empire. The other half is on the run. Neither has it easy. There is nothing easy in this game, especially when the stakes get shockingly real. The most epic arc of DIE begins as it means to go on: messily.“A deliciously dark Phantom Tollbooth-like journey told through a lens of broken humanity and a deconstruction of the role-playing game’s roots. I am entranced.” —Matthew Mercer (Critical Role)“Wonderfully nerdy and emotionally complicated and…utterly beautiful.” —The Hollywood Reporter
4. The adventures of Kate and Cate
There’s not much to go on with this solicit, so I don’t have a ton to say. Just that this series is a shocking delight, and far too many of you are missing it. If this genre is remotely something you enjoy, go back and check out the first volume, and get ready for a manic, creative, and soulful story of a broken family and the demons whose asses they are obligated to kick. And then come back and enjoy my sub-Gillen-level pun work.
Continued belowEXORSISTERS #7
WRITER: Ian Boothby
ARTIST / COVER A: Pete Pantazis, Gisèle Lagacé
COVER B: Jenn St-OngeMAY 06 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99
Kate is taken over by the First Shadow as Cate, Gabriel, and even Heaven and Hell remain powerless to help.
3. My heroes have also been cowboys
And welcome back to Jacob Phillips, along with his dad Sean and their buddy Ed Brubaker. They’re doing their own version of Pulp Fiction, only this one is even more Elmore Leonard. That’s the most underrated kind of pulp! Plus I told myself that I’d read more Original Graphic Novels in 2020, and this is a creative team that always does minimum great work. (Sometimes they verge into exceptional). The topic and setting aren’t exactly a stretch for them, but they’ve never really done a western before. So this ought to be just the right amount of new creative territory, while delivering the kind of moody Americana we’ve learned to expect from these guys!
PULP OGN
WRITER: Ed Brubaker
ARTIST: Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips
COVER A: Sean PhillipsMAY 27 / 72 pages / FC/ M / $16.99
A gorgeous original graphic novel from the bestselling creators of KILL OR BE KILLED, MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES, and CRIMINAL. Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, finds himself drawn into a story not unlike the tales he churns out at five cents a word—tales of a Wild West outlaw dispensing justice with a six-gun. But will Max be able to do the same when pursued by bank robbers, Nazi spies, and enemies from his past?One part thriller, one part meditation on a life of violence, PULP is unlike anything award-winning BRUBAKER & PHILLIPS have ever done before. This celebration of pulp fiction set in a world on the brink is another must-have hardcover from one of comics’ most acclaimed teams.“Like Scorsese and De Niro, BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS are the unmatched masters of a certain kind of storytelling. A new title from the sharpshooters behind Fatale and Criminal is reason enough to go on living.” —Joe Hill (Locke & Key)
2. Suplexing here on Capitol Hill
Yo, I read the first issue of “On the Stump” and it is good. It’s exactly what’s advertised. One part pro-wrestling drama, one part political thriller. Chuck Brown absolutely nails the dialogue, an intersection between the entitled way fans talk about wrestling the differently-entitled way pundits talk about political horse races. Nothing about this issue surprised me in the least, because it was so true to its premise. So if that premise- politicians who need to fight for their bills in an arena- sounds like an entertaining satire to you, I promise that “On the Stump” delivers.
ON THE STUMP #4
WRITER: Chuck Brown
ARTIST / COVER A: Prenzy
COVER B: Sanford GreeneMAY 20 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
Jack and Anna are back on the same team again, just in time to fight their way out of a very unique situation. Thunder Bearer adapts his plans, and Abe recruits his nephew in his dangerous quest for knowledge.
1. And a bonny lass she shall be!
A lot of crime comics this month yar? A lot of 20th century Americana and the like. But some crime doesn’t happen on the land at all. Some crime happens on the seas. The high seas. I’m talking about pirates. If you don’t know the story of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, you’re in for a treat. A queer, polyamorous, murdering couple, whose adventurous history is shrouded in mystery is the perfect subject for a comic. And pirate comics! We deserve- no we need more of them! I know I’m ready to learn. And I’m lucky that my buddy is not only an accredited Pirateologist, but a contributor to this very site. Let him know that we need him to teach us all about the life of these larcenous lasses! Yo ho yo!
A MAN AMONG YE #1
WRITER: Stephanie Phillips
ARTIST / COVER A: Craig Cermak
COVER B: Stjepan SejicMAY 13 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99
High adventure on the high seas in the waning days of piracy, when men were men, and the best pirates were…women? Writer STEPHANIE PHILLIPS (Butcher of Paris, Descendent) and artist CRAIG CERMAK (Red Team, Voltron) bring to life the tale of Anne Bonny and Mary Read as they hoist the skull and crossbones, draw cutlasses, and seek a treasure that will make them legends. In an era when sailing with women was thought to be bad luck, Anne and Mary might just be the only people capable of saving the pirate way of life.
