It doesn’t take a lot for me to get excited at new Image release but holy crap, I don’t remember a more exciting month! Most of it comes from releases a long, long time in the making. But even beyond that, wow. Image has a reputation for being the publisher that will produce the best work for the best in the comics biz. April 2020 will prove why. This is a murderer’s row of writers and artists, holding nothing back, and putting their best ideas onto pages. And that’s what comics are all about people! I’m hype!
As always you can get the full list of solicitations on the Image Comics website.
10. Riddles in the dark
Folks, I got a bad case of Hickman fever, and I think it’s incurable.
Hickman has been rocking it over in “X-Men,” and he absolutely killed it with “Black Monday Murders.” I’m positive I will find something to like with his latest, done in collaboration with Mike Huddleston. But this is a Hickman book, so I’m treating every word as a riddle to be solved. This solicit claims that manners are “the outward manifestation of one’s innate character, and attitude towards death.” And we know this is about the world’s most polite assassin so… he has a formal relationship with death? A friendly one? I need some more lines so I can read between each and every one of them.
Decorum #2
WRITER: Jonathan Hickman
ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B: Mike Huddleston
APRIL 15 / 48 pages / FC/ M / $3.99There are many assassins in the known universe. This is the story of the most well-mannered one.“Manner is personality—the outward manifestation of one’s innate character and attitude toward death.”
9. Don’ you go rounin roun to re ro
My new year comic resolution was to read more OGNs, and this one looks pretty cool. From what I can tell, it’s a pretty straightforward crime story, taking place in an Irish bog. I do love me some across-the-pond-crime-capers, and this one looks pretty dark. But it also sounds like a focused, low-key, perfect story for a done-in-one. An ongoing about two people on the run in a bog might lose momentum. But as a graphic novel, you get everything at once. It’s like the difference between a night at the movies and a binge watch on Netflix. I prefer the former. Make popcorn for this one.
Bog Bodies OGN
WRITER / COVER A: Declan Shalvey
ARTIST: Gavin Fullerton, Rebecca Nalty
APRIL 22 / 96 pages / FC/ M / $12.99An Irish gangster on the run after a job gone wrong stumbles upon a young woman lost in the Dublin mountains. Injured and unarmed, the unlikely pair must try to evade their pursuers and survive the desolate bog that has served as a burial ground for unspeakable murder throughout history.DECLAN SHALVEY (INJECTION, SAVAGE TOWN) and GAVIN FULLERTON (Bags) deliver a cold and poignant story of crime, survival, and regret.
8. The 66th Estate
“Bitter Root” is totally rad, and I’ve got no reason to think that “On the Stump” will be any different. It’s one of the many politically themed books coming out of Image these days, and of the lot of them, Chuck Brown and company have got the perfect command of tone to make a satire that is biting and funny. It’s hard to concoct absolute mayhem with a heart, but I think this series is going to thread that needle nicely.
On The Stump #3
WRITER: Chuck Brown
ARTIST / COVER A: Prenzy
COVER B: Sanford Greene
APRIL 22 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99Jack and Anna hit a speedbump, Thunder Bearer’s sinister motivations are revealed, and Abe pushes the power of the press to the extreme.
7. Unbroken eye contact
It’s nuts to me that this was where many of us first met Chip Zdarsky. The dude went from “funny artist” to “guy who wears Garfield costumes at cons” to “funny writer” to one of Marvel’s best. The delays have kind of frozen Sex Criminals” in amber, preserving the Zdarsky we remember while he is also writing an excellent, serious run of “Daredevil.” And with only a couple of issues left, who do we have drawing the XXX-rated variant cover? Why, none other than “Blackbird’s” Jen Bartel. As the solicit says, it’s too late to stop now. We’re seeing this series through to completion.
Continued belowSex Criminals #29
WRITER: Matt Fraction
ARTIST / COVER A: Chip Zdarsky
APRIL 22 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“THE END,” Part Four Well it’s too late to stop now, gang.
6. Beyond destiny
The first issue of “Undiscovered Country” was dense and hard to parse. The second and third issues were similar. This is a series that you’re going to have to read and re-read, to draw any meaning out of it. But the series also gave a literal roadmap as to where it’s going, a map of the new anarchic states of America, with titles for each mysterious region. Issue #6 is going to mark the end of the cast’s time in the lands of the Destiny Man, ending the Mad Max desert apocalypse, and taking us into new territory, both geographically and story-wise. Judging by how exciting the initial approach through the wind-wall was, I got a feeling that the transitions between arcs are going to be epic.
Undiscovered Country #6
WRITER: Charles Soule, Scott Snyder
ARTIST: Daniele Orlandini, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Matt Wilson
COVER A: Giuseppe Camuncoli
COVER B: Sean Murphy
APRIL 15 / 36 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“DESTINY,” Part Six It is time to leave the zone of the Destiny Man and see what other secrets the former US holds for Charlotte Graves, her brother Daniel, and the rest of the team. Not all will survive, not all will leave—but they just might learn why they’ve been brought to America, and the prize that awaits at the end of their journey through the UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY!
5. Kate vs Cate
Of all the “hot girl(s) fight demons” comic series, I think that “Exorsisters” is my favorite. It’s got a killer style, hook, mythology, it just brings something fresh to a very well-trod genre. At the center of that is Kate and Cate Harrow, two sisters with a complicated relationship to say the least. And how do you kick off chapter two in their adventures? By setting them head to head. One sister wants to be queen of Hell. One sister wakes up in a world where none of this magical tomfoolery never happened. It seems like the two of them are on a collision course, forced to choose how to move forward. Drama!
Exorsisters #6
WRITER: Ian Boothby
ARTIST / COVER A: Pete Pantazis, Gisèle Lagacé
COVER B: Brenda Hickey
APRIL 01 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99EXORSISTERS returns for a second arc! In this issue, Cate finds herself in a world where her mother saved her instead of selling her soul, while Kate has taken over Hell as its new ruler. Has Cate lost her “sister” again?
4. Nasty habit
I love a good serial killer story, so what’s better than a mysterious town full of ’em!? I seriously liked the original run of “Nailbiter,” which never took itself too seriously; a problem with these kinds of stories. Instead, it was a pulpy, baroque mystery with lots of memorable characters. I’m thrilled it’s coming back. There’s still a lot more story to explore in the worst town in America. If you like Mindhunter but wish it was more goddamn silly, go catch up on this series!
Nailbiter Returns #1
WRITER: Joshua Williamson
ARTIST / COVER A: Mike Henderson
APRIL 01 / 40 pages / FC/ M / $3.99
JOSHUA WILLIAMSON & MIKE HENDERSON’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED HIT HORROR SERIES RETURNS!Sixteen of the world’s worst serial killers were all born in the same small town…but Agent Finch and Sheriff Crane solved and buried that mystery. Didn’t they? Violent copycat murders imitating the infamous Buckaroo Butchers have begun in Portland, Oregon, and if Finch wants the killings to stop, he’ll have to team up with the daughter of the Nailbiter himself. A brand-new mystery begins in this EXTRA-LENGTH FIRST ISSUE!
3. Let’s get ludicrous
When did they original tease “Ludocrats?” Was it a decade ago? (Evidently, it was 2015, so approximately a century ago). Whatever. It’s a new Kieron Gillen #1, which puts it on my list. It’s got kind of an old sensibility, more madcap than maudlin, and that sounds like a fun change of pace for Gillen. It’s also got Tamra Bonvillain on colors, and she don’t mess around. I wonder how essential this is going to feel? But then I crush those feelings and get myself hype to enjoy a silly series from a writer who tends to lean serious.
Continued belowThe Ludocrats #1 (of 5)
WRITER: Jim Rossignol, Kieron Gillen
ARTIST: Jeff Stokely, Tamra Bonvillain
COVER A: Jeff Stokely
APRIL 01 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99The Ludocrats! The aristocrats of ludicrous! A collision of the ornate fantasy of Dune and an M-rated Asterix & Obelix! Baron Otto Von Hades and Professor Hades Zero-K are here, and they’re going to save us all have a nice time. KIERON GILLEN (DIE, THE WICKED + THE DIVINE) and JIM ROSSIGNOL (Sir, You Are Being Hunted) write! JEFF STOKELY (The Spire) draws! TAMRA BONVILLAIN (Once & Future) colors! Clayton Cowles (BITTER ROOT, DIE) letters! The universe screams in pleasure, writhing, finally satisfied, complete, joyous!
2. Hadouken
If there’s something I love more than a good serial killer stories, it’s martial arts stories. Blame my high school English teacher, who seized upon the Kill Bill mania, and got me into the original David Carradine Kung Fu. So a new Shaolin-themed series was bound to get my attention. But this is more than that.
Because first of all, look at that creative team. Robert Kirkman! Ever heard of him? He’s wrapped up “Walking Dead” and “Invincible,” two finales that shook the whole industry. And “Oblivion Song” is swell, but it’s not the signature hit we’ve come to expect from him. So then, you pair him with Chris Samnee? Yes! Samnee’s seminal work on “Daredevil,” pushed the envelope on how art could drive the story in modern comics. His action scenes in that series, and later “Black Widow” were unlike anything else in comics. (I know there are plenty of artists who take the lead on storytelling, but read “Daredevil” #25 and try to tell me this guy isn’t drawing on a whole different level!)
And then on top of all that, it’s an OGN. I think that’s rad. What a cool way to kick off a book. Instead of slowly proving what they are all about, Kirkman and Samnee are busting out a whole arc’s worth of plot to whet our appetite. I hope it works, and I hope it starts a trend where lots of ongoings do supersized arcs like this!
Fire Power by Kirkman & Samnee, Vol. 1: Prelude OGN
WRITER: Robert Kirkman
ARTIST / COVER A: Matthew Wilson, Chris Samnee
APRIL 29 / 160 pages / FC/ T / $9.99ALL-NEW series created by ROBERT KIRKMAN (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, OBLIVION SONG) and Chris Samnee (Daredevil)!Owen Johnson’s journey to China to learn about his birth parents eventually leads him to a mysterious Shaolin Temple. The students there study to rediscover the Fire Power, the lost art of throwing fireballs. A power they claim will be needed soon to save the world. Will Owen Johnson be the first person in a thousand years to wield the FIRE POWER?Whet your appetite for adventure with the PRELUDE OGN, just in time for the debut of the new ongoing series with FIRE POWER #1 on Free Comic Book Day the following week!
1. Come on forget your friends
Look, the last thing I want to do is be a gossip rag and speculate on where Matt Fraction has been. Suffice to say, I want the best for him, and I hope he gets the chance to produce fulfilling work- and there’s not been too much from him in a while. So no pressure on the guy but… I hope this is his triumphant return! Fraction was always an interesting writer, doing messy, glorious work for Marvel, and then rocking the whole comics industry with “Hawkeye.” He went on to have a brilliant run of it with Image, creating “Sex Criminals” (another industry-shaking book) and “Ody-C.” His recent DC work has shown that he hasn’t lost a step. Is this going to be a magnum opus from a guy who arguably has written a bunch of them?
And then there’s the Dodsons! Terry and Rachel Dodson are a power couple if there ever was one, doing fabulous work that spans decades, companies, and genres. The last time Fraction was putting out a lot of new material, he worked with artists who were arguably lesser known, and every single one of them became a superstar. The Dodsons are already superstars, so what do you think is going to happen if this book is any good? I can’t imagine But I can imagine this series becoming a classic, because it looks fabulous.
Continued belowAdventureman #1
WRITER: Matt Fraction
ARTIST / COVER A: Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson
APRIL 29 / 64 pages / FC/ E / $3.99A CATACLYSMIC ADVENTURE DECADES IN THE MAKING!In this WILDLY AFFORDABLE TRIPLE-LENGTH FIRST ISSUE, revisit how the legend of the greatest pulp hero of them all, ADVENTUREMAN, ended in a heartbreaking CLIFFHANGER with our hero facing execution at the vile hand of his ultra-nemesis BARON BIZARRE on the eve of the MACABRAPOCALYPSE…or did it?!? Eighty years after his apparent demise, single mother Claire and her Adventurefan son Tommy seem to be the only two people alive that remember the thrilling ADVENTUREMAN sagas…but from that memory burns THE SPARK OF RESURRECTION! WHERE HIS STORY ENDED…HER STORY BEGINS! This sense-obliterating, earth-shaking, imagination-quaking adventure that spans generations comes to you from MATT FRACTION (SEX CRIMINALS, Hawkeye) and TERRY & RACHEL DODSON (RED ONE, X-Men/Fantastic Four)!!!
