This is a wild month of new books at Image, and I don’t want to waste one minute before getting right to it.
10. Furthering my guilt and anxiety, one issue at a time
The premise of “Destiny Gate” – you mess up big enough and you get to start over again or fuck up the lives of those you love – is one that, when I first read it, made my blood pressure spike a little bit. It is both the dream and nightmare of anyone who ever made such a big mistake that they wish there was a reset button on the day. It’s a hook that will certainly get me to read the first issue and, perhaps, beyond.
DESTINY GATE #1 (OF 4)
WRITER: Ryan Cady
ARTIST / COVER A: Christian Dibari
COVER B: Rahsan Ekedal
COVER C: Giuseppe Cafaro
OCTOBER 11 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
MINISERIES PREMIEREWriter RYAN CADY (HAUNT YOU TO THE END, Batman) and artist CHRISTIAN DiBARI (REVOLVERS, MAGDALENA: REFORMATION) present…
Life, for the most part, is the product of the decisions you make. For some, a “wrong” decision or two (or more) leads to a crossroads on the other side of the Destiny Gate. Do you fight for a chance to survive and to start anew, or do you succumb to your inner demons and end it all for you and, worse, yours?
In this opening tale, we meet Mitchell Slate at the height of the Great Depression. Down on his luck and heading home to a disappointed and desperate family, Mitchell’s train ride veers off the rails and transforms into a macabre and darkly fantastical journey into his own fragile soul.
9. I’m not crying, you’re crying
“Four years ago, while my daughter was hospitalized, I came up with the idea of a story about a girl who’s battling depression and finds out she’s the sole hope to save the world. That she would find a way to endure and to save everyone she loves. It was meant to be uplifting and cathartic. Now four years later, my daughter is in a place where she could help write that story. To inspire others going through similar struggles. As a father, I’m proud. As a comic book writer, I’m inspired. As a human being, I’m moved.”
That quote from Ethan Sacks doesn’t need my bullshit commentary.
A HAUNTED GIRL #1 (OF 4)
WRITER: Ethan Sacks, Naomi Sacks
ARTIST: MARCO LORENZANO
COVER A / COVER C / COVER D: Joe Quesada
COVER B: Fico Ossio
COVER E / COVER F: Jeffrey Edwards
OCTOBER 11 / 40 pages / FC/ — / $4.99
MINISERIES PREMIERECleo, an adopted 16-year-old Japanese-American whose depression drove her to near-suicide, is trying unsuccessfully to reintegrate back into her old life. But her struggles are just beginning as she encounters an increasingly terrifying succession of ghosts. Is she losing her grip on reality…or is the explanation much worse?
8. Blind spot
We all have blind spots in our reading, books that have sat on our shelves for years and years, or that recommendation we’ve just never touched for whatever reason. “I Kill Giants” is that for me; countless people have told me about it, and I have sincerely meant to read it for 15 years now.
Luckily, there’s a 15th anniversary edition coming out in October, so I get yet another chance to rectify this wrong.
Continued belowI KILL GIANTS 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION TP
WRITER: Joe Kelly
ARTIST / COVER A: Ken Niimura
OCTOBER 04 / 300 pages / BW/ T+ / $19.99An Eisner Nominated, International Manga Award-winning fan-favorite! Barbara Thorson is your new hero. A quick-witted, sharp-tongued fifth grader who isn’t afraid of anything – not the principal, not bullies, NO ONE. Why would she be..? After all, she’s the only girl in school who carries an ancient Norse warhammer in her purse and kills giants for a living…
At least, that’s what she’ll tell you…but where does the fantasy end and reality begin in the heart of this troubled girl? And what if she’s telling the truth?
Brought to life with unexpected tenderness by JOE KELLY and KEN NIIMURA, I KILL GIANTS is the quirky, bittersweet story of a young girl struggling to conquer monsters both real and imagined as her carefully constructed world crumbles at the feet of giants bigger than any one child can handle.
Collects I KILL GIANTS 1-7
7. Wait, what?
When prepping for these columns, sometimes I get pulled in by a cover, or a creator, or a solicitation that just sounds insane. This is one where the solicit sold me on its sheer weirdness. Read it, then tell me you’re not interested. I dare you.
NIGHTS #1
WRITER: Wyatt Kennedy
ARTIST / COVER A: Luigi Formisano
OCTOBER 11 / 56 pages / FC/ — / $4.99
SERIES PREMIERE
A NEW ONGOING SERIES PREMIERE FROM WYATT KENNEDY (BOLERO) & NEWCOMER LUIGI FORMISANO!Supernatural creatures exist among the common folk, and America is comprised of just 31 states. It’s 2003, and Vince Okonma has lost his parents and moved in with his secret mercenary cousin and his video game-making roommate when he befriends “the greatest vampire who’s ever lived.” And that’s just the first 20 pages. Welcome to Florida.
A new vision of urban gothic adventure starts here! Youth is wasted on the young…
6. Drop D&D
Gerry Duggan has been a cast member of the Nerd Poker podcast for many years now, which is a Dungeons and Dragons actual play podcast, and so when you see a book from Duggan with the word ‘Paladin’ in the title, you get a sense for the type of book it probably is.
I am also a giant sucker for comics about music, and so the tale of a guitar tech that leads into some sort of fantasy world, in which the solicit name drops Time Bandits, seems squarely and directly up my alley.
THE PALADIN OF AXES
WRITER: Gerry Duggan
ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B / COVER C: David O’Sullivan
OCTOBER 25 / 72 pages / FC/ — / $6.99GERRY DUGGAN & DAVID O’SULLIVAN of ANALOG fame reteam on the perfect comic book to celebrate Halloween.
It’s the first appearance of HECTOR SMALLEY, a guitar tech known as THE PALADIN OF AXES. He’s working for the world’s biggest rock band, and when he and the whole band are killed in a plane crash, it’s unexpectedly just the beginning of his bad times.
It’s a sad tale of working yourself to death—literally. Equal parts Evil Dead and Time Bandits, this horror comedy will put a smile on your face on one page and punch it off on the page turn. Throw your horns in the air for THE PALADIN OF AXES!
5. I am writing this as my back hurts
I’m writing this on a weekday morning, with my back tweaked because I slept a little funny last night. My kid is watching Netflix in the room next to me, while my tween is still in bed. Is there any question that I will be reading a book about dealing with getting older?
MIDLIFE (OR HOW TO HERO AT FIFTY) #1
WRITER: Brian Buccellato
ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B: Stefano Simeone
OCTOBER 11 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
SERIES PREMIERERUBEN KWAN is a 50-year-old firefighter who’s been afraid of fire his whole life. Instead of running into burning buildings, he pushes papers, living in the shadow of his father—who died a hero on the job. After 25 years in the LAFD, he’s firmly in the middle of an unremarkable life…until his new wife gets pregnant and a random act of courage reveals that Ruben is FIREPROOF!
New York Times-bestselling writer BRIAN BUCCELLATO (NO/ONE, The Flash, Chicken Devil) teams up with star artist STEFANO SIMEONE (THE LAST DAYS OF BLACK HAMMER, RADIANT BLACK) to tell the totally relatable (sometimes cringey) story of a middle-aged dad who’s about to find out that his new powers have major strings attached.
4. Still shocked by this
There have always been instances of comic creators from the more personal, indie world doing some work on mainstream properties. However, in the last few years, a couple of these have really surprised me. Tillie Walden being a part of “The Walking Dead” world is one of the most shocking, and the fact that she is creating a trilogy of OGNs set there is one of the cooler and least expected pairings in recent memory. I’m so down with this.
Continued belowCLEMENTINE, VOL. 2 (TPB)
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A: Tillie Walden
OCTOBER 04 / 296 pages / BW/ / $14.99“A triumph of the zombie genre.” -SHANNON WATTERS (Lumberjanes)
FROM THE WORLD OF ROBERT KIRKMAN’S THE WALKING DEAD!
TILLIE WALDEN’s acclaimed trilogy continues!
Clementine and her new friends are rescued by an island community led by enigmatic doctor Miss Morro. But just as Clementine’s scars are finally beginning to heal she discovers dark secrets that threaten to tear her new life apart.
Can Miss Morro be trusted? What about the rest of the islanders? And just how far will Clementine go to protect the ones she loves?
3. Wait, another one?
Remember what I just said about Tillie Walden and “The Walking Dead?” Well, Zoe Thorogood and “Hack/Slash” is even more of a bonkers pairing than that one! No offense to Tim Seeley or “Hack/Slash,” but this seems, on the surface, like a truly bizarre place for the writer/artist of one of the most acclaimed and personal books of the past five years to wind up. Again, I am so here for it.
HACK SLASH: BACK TO SCHOOL #1 (OF 4)
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A: Zoe Thorogood
COVER B / COVER C / COVER D: Tim Seeley
OCTOBER 18 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
MINISERIES PREMIEREHACK/SLASH returns with an untold tale and critically acclaimed cartoonist ZOE THOROGOOD at the bloody helm!
Slasher hunter Cassie Hack is only just getting used to her man-monster partner, Vlad, when she’s drawn into a new case involving a murderous bunny mascot, dead kids, and an entire squad of maladjusted teenage serial-killer hunters!
A completely new chapter in the beloved, long-running series that’s perfect for new readers and old fans alike, just in time for Halloween.
2. What in the what?
A few years ago, there was an OGN adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula that licensed the image of Bela Lugosi for the comic. That was weird. Now, we’re getting, via Skybound, apparently the newest place for licensed comics, a number of miniseries based on the Universal Monsters. It doesn’t appear that the likeness of Lugosi is specifically involved here, though the design for Dracula is obviously indebted to his appearance.
Now, it should be noted that I am a Universal Monsters superfan who has seen every single Universal Monsters film, has the box set, used to draw pictures of the monsters during grade school, etc. But even I’m not really sure what this license means. It doesn’t appear that these are new adaptations of the films, but they also seem to be hewing pretty close to the source material. Even though I’m not entirely sure what these are, I’m in. I’m so in.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: DRACULA #1 (OF 4)
WRITER: James Tynion IV
ARTIST / COVER A: Martin Simmonds
COVER B: Joshua Middleton
COVER C: Sketch Cvr
OCTOBER 25 / 32 pages / / — / $4.99
MINISERIES PREMIERETHE BIGGEST NAMES IN COMICS RESURRECT THE MOST ICONIC MONSTERS!
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH creators JAMES TYNION IV (W0RLDTR33, Something is Killing the Children) and MARTIN SIMMONDS reteam to tell a new tale of the monster who started it all!
When Dr. John Seward admits a strange new patient into his asylum, the madman tells stories of a demon who has taken residence next door. But as Dr. Seward attempts to apply logic to the impossible…his surrogate daughter Lucy begins to fall under the spell of the twisted Count Dracula!
1. A match made in heaven
In almost any other month, that Dracula book would’ve taken the top spot here. However, Daniel Warren Johnson on Transformers is one of those things – like Patrick Stewart as Professor X or Doritos as a taco shell – that once you hear it, it is so perfect that it is almost impossible to uncouple the pairing in your mind. Of course this is who should be writing and drawing a new Transformers book. Why has it taken this long to happen? Of course we’re buying this, what is wrong with you?
Continued belowTRANSFORMERS #1
WRITER: Daniel Warren Johnson
ARTIST: Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer
COVER B: Mike Spicer, Daniel Warren Johnson
COVER C / COVER D: Ryan Ottley
COVER E: Cliff Chiang
COVER F: Orlando Arocena
COVER G: Bryan Hitch
OCTOBER 04 / 40 pages / FC/ — / $4.99
SERIES PREMIERETHE ALL NEW TRANSFORMERS ERA STARTS HERE!
Superstar creator DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON (DO A POWERBOMB, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth), alongside ENERGON UNIVERSE showrunner ROBERT KIRKMAN (VOID RIVALS, INVINCIBLE), reimagines Hasbro’s robots in disguise for a brand-new generation.
Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies—the Decepticons.
As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope of survival is Optimus Prime.
Discover THE TRANSFORMERS like you’ve never seen them before!
For the full solicits, check out the Image site.
