A pair of returning classics highlight what Image is doing in November. Let’s get to it!
10. Off the grid
Szymon Kudrański is an artist whose style either instantly works for you or isn’t your cup of tea. His work has always walked the edge of dark/broody, and this story, which sounds like a less hopeful “Sweet Tooth,” seems like a good fit for his particular brand of art.
BLOOD COMMANDMENT #1 (OF 4)
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B / COVER C / COVER D / COVER E: Szymon Kudrański
NOVEMBER 01 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
MINISERIES PREMIERELiving an isolated life in a shadowed valley surrounded by mountains and a thick forest, a father and son are terrorized by a dangerous supernatural presence. Only the father’s dark secrets can save them…or damn their souls for all eternity!
Being a single father can be tough, but for Ezra Connolly, it’s a duty he doesn’t take lightly. Living off-grid, away from prying eyes, in the heart of forest country, he spends his days teaching his teenage son Wil survival skills. But Wil has questions, questions Ezra fears to answer—about his past, and about why they never leave the valley before sundown…
A four-issue horror miniseries from the creator of the breakout hit series SOMETHING EPIC and the artist of SPAWN and Punisher. SZYMON KUDRANSKI serves us a story about survival, sacrifice, and hope.
Early praise for BLOOD COMMANDMENT: “All my heroes growing up were writer/artists. It’s the purest form of our medium. I now add SZYMON to this list of greats. This is Exceptional.” —Mark Millar, Kick-Ass, Wanted
“BLOOD COMMANDMENT is the type of storytelling I yearn for. The depth of a human story coupled with the genre-bending horror that keeps me up at night! I love this book!” —Rodney Barnes, Killadelphia, Star Wars: The Mandalorian
9. Time is up
In the modern paradigm of creator-owned comics, 29 issues is practically 100 issues, and so with Declan Shalvey and Rory McConville’s “Time After Time” wrapping up in November, we should celebrate the books endurance for over two years. Time travel stories are my jam, and yet, I’ve fallen way behind on this book, for reasons all my own and not due to the comic at all. It’s impending closure is a great reason to catch up. Plus, Joe Palmer returns!
TIME BEFORE TIME #29
WRITER: Rory McConville, Declan Shalvey
ARTIST / COVER B: Joe Palmer, Chris O’Halloran
COVER A: Declan Shalvey
NOVEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
SERIES FINALESeries co-creator JOE PALMER returns for the final issue of TIME BEFORE TIME, where time runs out for everyone.
8. Counter
If rumors are to be believed, “Geiger” and its associated books were supposed to be part of Geoff Johns’s never realized ‘Killing Ground’ imprint for DC. Regardless, “Geiger” has succeeded at Image and is now getting a two-issue prequel story by Johns and Gary Frank. Johns has honed his storytelling over the years to the point that you can pick up a book of his and, by page 4, can tell it is him. That’s a tough thing for any writer to do and, whether his particular brand of writing is for you or not, it’s interesting to see Johns going the creator owned route after so many years of company-owned IP.
GEIGER GROUND ZERO #1 (OF 2)
WRITER: Geoff Johns
ARTIST / COVER A: Gary Frank
COVER B: Bryan Hitch
NOVEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99
“MINISERIES PREMIEREThe saga of THE UNNAMED continues! GEOFF JOHNS and GARY FRANK return to the apocalyptic world of GEIGER for a special explosive two-issue origin epic. What happened to Tariq Geiger in the days after the nuclear bombs first dropped? How did mankind survive the UNKNOWN WAR? Who is the mysterious Russian scientist Dr. Molotov and why is he hunting Geiger? And how does this tie all the way back to the American Revolution? Get ready to put on your hazmat suit and find out!”
7. A second volume? In this economy?
Continued below
I admittedly slept on the first volume of “Syphon” but, after reading up on it (including our own Alex’s micro-review of #2), I’m excited to check out volume one before the sequel drops in November.
SYPHON VOL. 02 #1 (OF 4)
WRITER: Arish Akanda, Mohsen Ashraf
ARTIST / COVER C: Thomas Hedglen
COVER A: Jeff Edwards, John Kalisz
COVER B: Josh George
NOVEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99
MINISERIES PREMIEREThe Ringo Award-winning series returns!
After defeating Antonio, Sylas struggles to navigate life, love, and the moral ambiguity of his newfound power. His physical and emotional limits are tested as he pushes the boundaries of his abilities. As his powers grow, so do the consequences of his actions, leading him to face a monster of his own making.
6. No, not the Ed O’Neill movie
Everything old is new again, and so this former Youngblood member/frequent part of the early Extreme Studios crew is getting a new series. This zero issue is acting as a reintroduction to the character, as well as a chance for the new creative team of Joe Casey and Nathan Fox to get their feet wet with the character. Sometimes, these relaunches are quite interesting (like the “Prophet” and “Glory” books from 2012) and sometimes, they fall flat (see every time that Rob Liefeld has tried to do these himself), but Casey and Fox are a great team, and this should be an interesting refresh.
DUTCH #0
WRITER: Joe Casey
ARTIST / COVER A: Nathan Fox
COVER B: Ian Churchill
COVER C: Jim Rugg
NOVEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99From the combustible creative team of CASEY and FOX—THE ORIGINAL DUTCH IS BACK! It’s been thirty years since he served as the ultimate superhero soldier. Now his new life is shattered by an old enemy from the past. Will Dutch answer this newest call to action? And coming next year—the mayhem continues in the all-new DUTCH #1!
5. Sounds like a better version of X
There’s always an appetite for some Twilight Zone/Black Mirror type stories, and an app that goes wrong is as fertile ground as any for a story set in 2023 (if you wonder why, well, look around you). Maria Llovet has emerged as a powerhouse over the past few years, specifically on “Faithless” with Brian Azzarrello, and her artwork is enough on its own to pick this up.
CRAVE #1 (OF 6)
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B / COVER C / COVER D: Maria Llovet
NOVEMBER 29 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
MINISERIES PREMIERECRAVE, a mysterious app that promises to make your desires come true, spreads among the students of an elite university who use it as a hookup app.
David, a top student, engages in a game of seduction with the unattainable Alexandra. But as requests to the app escalate and wreak havoc on campus, David and his friends’ only chance to stop this spiral is to find out what really lies behind Crave.
4. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
There’s really no good time to launch a nine-month long Christmas story, so November works as well as any. James Tynion has become one of the most successful creators in all of comics, and so any series he launches is going to create a buzz. Add in Joshua Hixon’s stunning artwork and a Christmas meets horror plot, and you’ve got a stew going.
Continued belowTHE DEVIANT #1 (OF 9)
WRITER: James Tynion IV
ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B: Joshua Hixson
COVER C: Martin Simmonds
COVER D: Andrea Sorrentino
COVER E: Sean Phillips
COVER F: Christian Ward
COVER G: Lee Bermejo
NOVEMBER 15 / 48 pages / FC/ — / $5.99
SERIES PREMIEREAs snow falls over Milwaukee in 1972, a blood-stained Santa Claus commits unimaginable atrocities against young men. Fifty years later, a troubled young writer interviews this so-called “Deviant Killer,” who still maintains his innocence from behind bars. And as Christmas approaches once again, the past returns, wielding a sharpened ax. Eisner-winning writer JAMES TYNION IV (W0RLDTR33, THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH) and acclaimed artist JOSHUA HIXSON (The Plot, Children of the Woods) unite for a pitch-black holiday horror story.
3. I’ve got petrol on my head, don’t call me a petrol head
Rob Williams and Pye Parr are both 2000 AD mainstays, which is always a plus in my book. They also have created this book that evokes the Wacky Races of my childhood, but with fewer bad jokes and more dystopia tossed in. Racing and comics goes together like peanut butter and chocolate, so this looks amazing.
PETROL HEAD #1
WRITER: Rob Williams
ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B / COVER C: Pye Parr
COVER D: Laurence Campbell
NOVEMBER 08 / 48 pages / FC/ — / $4.99
SERIES PREMIEREJUMP STRAIGHT INTO THE NON-HUMAN RACE WITH 42 ROBO-GORGEOUS LAUNCH-ISSUE STORY PAGES! In a climate crisis-ravaged future metropolis, an old, grumpy, obsolete, smoke-belching, cigar-chomping, HOTROD-RACING ROBOT is one 12-year-old girl’s only hope. Together, can they outrace the chasing Robo-Cops with an invention that might just save humanity?
2. Sigh
Read the solicit below, and then come back to me. I’ll wait.
You back? Cool.
I don’t know what to make of this weird solicit. On one hand, I am all for a Jewish revenge story where Neo-Nazis get their asses handed to them. Fuck Nazis in all their forms, always and forever. But on the other, why do we need a comic co-written by Rick Remender, Andy fucking Samberg, and a member of Fall-Out Boy? That seems like two too many writers.
Also, the bowling-ball wielding hero was already done in Mystery Men. I can’t imagine this being better than Mystery Men.
THE HOLY ROLLER #1
WRITER: Joe Trohman, Andy Samberg, Rick Remender
ARTIST / COVER A: Roland Boschi
COVER B: JH Williams III
COVER C: Brett Parson
COVER D: Keron Grant
COVER E: Brian Level
COVER F: Mike Hawthorne
COVER G: Rafael Albuquerque
NOVEMBER 22 / 48 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
SERIES PREMIEREEveryone was sitting around wondering when comedy legend ANDY SAMBERG (SNL, Palm Springs) would join super-star writer RICK REMENDER (DEADLY CLASS, LOW) and Fall Out Boy’s multi-talented JOE TROHMAN to write a comic about a vigilante hero who smashes people’s faces with a bowling ball—and everyone’s dreams have come true! With art by the fan-favorite ROLAND BOSCHI (THE SCUMBAG, Wolverine)!
To care for his ailing father, pro bowler Levi Coen is forced to quit his dream job and return to his hometown, which he soon discovers has been overrun by Neo-Nazis! With only his bowling ball collection to defend himself, Levi becomes THE HOLY ROLLER, a trick bowling ball-wielding Jewish superhero battling to liberate his home and bowl a perfect game against crime!
Kingpin meets Inglourious Basterds meets Batman (that old chestnut) with equal parts action and humor in this special introductory issue with 42 full pages of story! Two issues for the price of one! Three writers for the price of one! Same great low price!
1. Yo Joe!
As long as he wants to, Larry Hama should be doing “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.” This is now the fourth publisher to put out this title, and it has become one of the more consistent books in all of comics. New artist Chris Mooneyham should bring a different twist to the visuals of the book for the new publisher and, hopefully, the series will keep going for a long, long time.
G.I. JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #301
WRITER: Larry Hama
ARTIST: Chris Mooneyham
COVER A: Andy Kubert, Brad Anderson
COVER B: Andy Kubert
COVER C: Brad Walker
NOVEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99
SERIES PREMIEREA new era for G.I. JOE starts here…but one Joe won’t survive THIS ISSUE! The legendary LARRY HAMA is joined by new series artist CHRIS MOONEYHAM (Five Ghosts) and cover artist ANDY KUBERT (Batman, X-Men) to continue one of the longest-running titles in comics history!
For the full solicits, check out Image’s website.
