You know that feeling where time has ceased to have any meaning? Apparently, Image is soliciting comics for December! And you can tell they are feeling it too, because their December lineup has a distinctly Halloween flavor. In fact, they have been celebrating Halloween since early September. Four months of Halloween? That’s what we deserve to close out 2020. Here are ten books that I find exciting, intriguing, or at least worth a look.
You can get the full solicits on the Image Comics website.
10. Getting it together (for murder)
The thing I’ve always liked about “Nailbiter” is the old-school mystery box plot. The characters and the setting are really good, but the hows and whys are what keeps me coming back. We’ve seemingly resolved a lot of it… but the secret to mystery ongoings like this is that every reveal is just one retcon away from being unrevealed and re-revealed. “Nailbiter Returns” has been sort of masterful at this sort of thing, especially considering that this looks like it’s going to be the final word on the series. So when a solicit promises that “the Nailbiter dives into his past” and “he finally explains his connections to the mastermind behind the deadly game of death,” I take that seriously!
NAILBITER RETURNS #8
WRITER: Joshua Williamson
ARTIST / COVER A: Adam Guzowski, Mike Henderson
DECEMBER 30 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99Love is a dangerous thing. The Nailbiter dives into his past as he finally explains his connections to the mastermind behind the deadly game of death. But the truth comes with a cost, and not everyone makes it out of this issue alive!
9. Spiraling towards the center
Did any comic age more quickly and strangely than “Undiscovered Country?” The wall built around this fictional future America was supposed to be a metaphor for misguided and foolish immigration policies, but quickly became a more literal commentary for misguided and foolish disease protocol. Because the wall was part of a quarantine procedure for a disease that ravaged the world but the other nations responded much more rationally. And America is now balkanized into divided and absurd regions. Look, I don’t know if any of that sounds appealing to you, but I’m kinda hooked.
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #11
WRITER: Charles Soule, Scott Snyder
ARTIST: Leonardo Marcello Grassi, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Matt Wilson
COVER A: Giuseppe Camuncoli
COVER B: Mirka Andolfo
DECEMBER 16 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“UNITY,” Part Five Our team integrates further into the mysterious network of the second Zone of America. As they learn more about how this society came to be, will they themselves be changed as a result?
8. I thought Christmas came once a year
I actually could not tell you what the hell is happening in “Tartarus.” I know there’s a space prison. And an escape attempt. And cool fashion. Actually, that’s mainly what I’m here for, it looks amazing. I think the prison may be a whole planet? I know we got to kick a lot of guys because they deserve it. Look, sometimes you don’t need a comic to make sense, you need it to wash over you like this one.
TARTARUS #8
WRITER: Johnnie Christmas
ARTIST / COVER A: Andrew Krahnke
COVER B: Rico Renzi, Chris Brunner
DECEMBER 23 / 32 pages / FC/ T / $3.99“BARBARIAN IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY” Finally free, Surka follows her bliss…to apocalyptic destruction.
7. Still talking
Wow, that cover is furry AF. But OK, this is sort of some bonus Monstress. The series is coming back proper next month (in January) so in the meantime, where are getting a framing narrative where the series two leads (besides the titular Monstress) (unless you think Maika is the titular Monstress which, rude) open up to each other and tell a bunch of flashback-y stories, with a very dissonant tone from the rest of the dark dark series. That’s a good thing! This series wins awards for a reason. Doing something a little fresh and different in the world is a gift.
Continued belowMONSTRESS: TALK-STORIES #2 (OF 2)
WRITER: Marjorie Liu
ARTIST / COVER A: Sana Takeda
DECEMBER 30 / 24 pages / FC/ M / $3.99Once again bridging the gap between the fifth and sixth arc (which resumes January 2021), Part Two of MONSTRESS: TALK-STORIES follows Maika as she opens up to Kippa and recounts an important day from her childhood in Thyria.
6. Wizard dot com
I constantly have repped this book for the art. And I still do. But somewhere along the way, this story of tattoo wizards has gotten kind of awesome? You ever start by reading something ironically but then you accidentally get really sincerely into it? It’s happened to me, and I don’t even mind. It’s cool. It’s urban fantasy. And if you are interested in pushing the envelope on what can be done with digital art in comics, it’s that too.
THE MARKED #10
WRITER / COVER A / COVER B / COVER C: Brian Haberlin
ARTIST: Brian Haberlin, Geirrod van Dyke
DECEMBER 16 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“THE OMEGA TATTOO” Someone is using The Marked magic for their own purposes. Some seemingly good, some definitely not. The Marked must track down the source. Is it a Marked turned rogue or something much more dangerous?
5. The nice guys
Despite what the solicit says, you know exactly what to expect with this graphic novel. It’s written by Ed Brubaker. It’s drawn by Sean Phillips. And sure, Sean’s son Jacob is now also a credited artist, but that’s not going to wildly change the style. It’ll be grim and grounded, telling the story of people living on the fringes of culture. It’ll be brilliantly executed, an effortless work of sequential storytelling genius. It’ll probably be just a little bit sexist. And sure, they are claiming that their style is getting shaken up by writing a story about a morally upstanding guy, but that’s just window dressing. The world is still gonna be crap. And the comic will probably be really good.
RECKLESS OGN
WRITER: Ed Brubaker
ARTIST: Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips
COVER A: Sean Phillips
DECEMBER 16 / 144 pages / FC/ M / $24.99Sex, drugs, and murder in 1980s Los Angeles, and the best new twist on paperback pulp heroes since The Punisher or Jack Reacher. ED BRUBAKER and SEAN PHILLIPS, the modern masters of crime noir, bring us the last thing anyone expected from them—a good guy. A bold new series of original graphic novels, with three books releasing over the next year, each a full-length story that stands on its own. Meet Ethan Reckless: Your trouble is his business, for the right price. But when a fugitive from his radical student days reaches out for help, Ethan must face the only thing he fears…his own past
4. An inter-dimensional Bast, I mean blast
Emma Kubert went to a school named after her family. That’s gotta be weird. But not as weird as “Inkblot,” a comic that is tonally hard to quantify. Is it funny? Is it sad? Is it an adventure? Is it satirical? I mean, I like it. Genuinely. It’s unique, and the two creators (Kubert and Rusty Gladd) are young and have a different perspective on what comics should be. I don’t know that I understand this future, but I’m cautiously interested.
INKBLOT #4
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A: Emma Kubert, Rusty Gladd
DECEMBER 02 / 24 pages / FC/ T / $3.99In the time of ancient Egypt, Sorcerers roamed the sands in search of the End of the Earth. Lost, they turn to an ancient monster to be their guide.
3. Reviving revival
There was no doubt that “Stillwater” was going to be great. Chip Zdarsky and Ramón Pérez? In this economy? But then the first issue came out… and it was really good! Normally, I don’t much like the “Trojan Horse” style of storytelling where you introduce a story through a milquetoast white protagonist. But Zdarsky has such a thorough command of tone, it was clear that something was amiss from page one and sure enough, by the end of the issue we’re clearly in for a wild ride. Now, I’m normally not overly committed to format. Read issues or trades or digital, I don’t care. But with “Stillwater,” Zdarsky and Pérez look like they are doing something special with the Letters Pages, sort of like in Zdarksy’s “Sex Criminals.” So however you end up reading this series, make sure you get yourself a bit of that.
Continued belowSTILLWATER BY ZDARSKY & PÉREZ #4
WRITER: Chip Zdarsky
ARTIST: Ramón K. Pérez, Mike Spicer
COVER A: Ramón K. Pérez
DECEMBER 16 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99In the town of Stillwater, the Judge’s word is law. But what does the law mean when the townspeople decide they’ve had enough?
2. Nail-biting tension (the real life kind)
By the time the first issue of this series is out, the last issue will be solicited. So I feel like I need to rep it hard, even though I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. I don’t know what is happening behind the scenes. I thought this was going to be an ongoing, it’s a four-issue mini now. I thought it was going to be written exclusively by Sina Grace, now it is also being solicited with a writer credit for Omar Spahi. I don’t really care. This looks like the kind of real world story Image rarely publishes, and the creators have my deep and abiding trust. I will continue to rep it until I am given a reason not to.
GETTING IT TOGETHER #3 (OF 4)
WRITER: Omar Spahi, Sina Grace
ARTIST: Mx. Struble, Jenny D. Fine
COVER A: Jenny D. Fine
DECEMBER 09 / 36 pages / FC/ M / $4.99Sam and Jack’s BFF-dom deteriorates, Lauren’s band Nipslip teeters on the verge of a breakup right before their most important gig, and everyone’s dealing with the poor decisions they made while drunk. Add to that, Sam’s coworker Tim generously blesses the group with gifts of the psychedelic kind. What could go wrong? With another oversized issue bursting with extra story pages…a whole lot!
1. C, F, G, maybe an A minor if we’re lucky
To be honest, once I saw Caspar Wijngaard’s name, I was on board. Then I read the solicit and like, you don’t have to twist my arm to read a punk rock, 90s haunted house comic. That’s just science. So that premise written by Dan Watters (a dude who knows spooky fun) with Wijngaard is such a no brainer. Wijngaard has a kind of heavy metal sensibility usually, but then he shakes up his style with something like “Bloodborne.” This doesn’t look like anything he’s drawn before. It looks… fun! Light! Sort of a Stranger Things meets Hocus Pocus vibe. For kids insofar as kids like being scared stupid. I think this is gonna be great!
HOME SICK PILOTS #1
WRITER: Dan Watters
ARTIST / COVER A: Caspar Wijngaard
DECEMBER 09 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99The team behind LIMBO, DAN WATTERS (Lucifer, COFFIN BOUND) and CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Star Wars, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt), launch a brand-new ONGOING SERIES.In the summer of 1994, a haunted house walks across California. Inside is Ami, lead singer of a high school punk band—who’s been missing for weeks. How did she get there, and what do these ghosts want? Expect three-chord songs and big bloody action that’s Power Rangers meets The Shining (yes, really).
