The year is ending, and so are a whole bunch of Image series! As we look ahead to December solicits, six of our top ten are the last issues of their respective series. It feels a little early to be wrapping up the year, but that’s solicits baby! Come back next month as Image rises again from the ashes in the new year, 2023.
As always, you can see the full solicits on the Image Comics website.
10. It comes in all colors!
Before we get to the many series finales, let’s start with a new series. Sort of. “Radiant Pink” is the latest of Image comics’ Massiveverse, a shared universe of super sentai style adventures. Each series follows a different hero with a different creative team, so if you want to know who the next big comics creators are, this is the place to find them. I’m particularly excited to see Emma Kubert as artist here! The young talent wowed me with her first creator-owned comic “Inkblot.” It’ll be cool to see her collaborating with some more veteran creators,
RADIANT PINK #1
WRITER: Melissa Flores, Meghan Camarena
ARTIST / COVER A: Emma Kubert
DECEMBER 07 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99The newest entry into the MASSIVE-VERSE, RADIANT BLACK’s shared superhero universe! Life is good for Eva. Ever since teleporting superhero RADIANT PINK (her secret alter ego) started guesting on her streams, her view count has skyrocketed-and fame and fortune are surely close behind. But when a charity appearance is interrupted by a squad of mercenaries hunting for the Radiant that powers her, Eva will find herself very far out of her comfort zone. Join streaming superstar MEGHAN CAMARENA (RADIANT BLACK), rising-star writer MELISSA FLORES (THE DEAD LUCKY), and third-generation comics artist EMMA KUBERT (INKBLOT) for a galaxy-hopping thrill ride from the world of RADIANT BLACK! A perfect entry point for new readers to the line-and the perfect new series to handsell to those hooked on ROGUE SUN, RADIANT RED, THE DEAD LUCKY, and C.O.W.L.!
9. Tiny deities
Here’s a finale though. Kyle Higgins is the glue that binds the greater Massiveverse together, but he always has a lot of projects going. If you like the “Radiant” books, but want something more trippy, here’s a series that is about to wrap up!
ORDINARY GODS #12
WRITER: Kyle Higgins
ARTIST / COVER A: Frank William
DECEMBER 14 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99SERIES FINALE The God Machine awakens. Lines are drawn. The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance. And Christopher makes one final, impossible choice.
8. Laid to rest
This is the final issue of poet Chrissy Williams’ comic about old people forced to kill each other for sport. Williams’ writing style is an unusual fit for comics, but that makes “Golden Rage” unlike any other book on the stands. This is the last issue, but the solicit seems to be promising us that the geriatrics of “Golden Rage” will return… the ones who survive.
GOLDEN RAGE #5
WRITER: Chrissy Williams
ARTIST / COVER A: Lauren Knight
COVER B: Margaux Saltel
DECEMBER 07 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99MINISERIES FINALE All things must end, and the first series of GOLDEN RAGE is no exception. Life, death, love, and hip problems-GOLDEN RAGE has it all. Join us for the FINAL ISSUE OF THIS SERIES with cake, a wake, and the frenzied preparation of domestic munitions.
7. Centuries of magic
It’s here, the last issue of this series. I think I’ve had if not every issue in this column, than most of them. That’s because this might be a perfect comic. It’s a creative idea, executed thoughtfully. It balances tones of just about every human emotion. The art makes your eyes pop. And this last issue looks at not the immediate ramifications or even the story as it plays out through a mortal life. Here, we can see centuries of wishes and what they’ve left of the Earth.
Continued belowEIGHT BILLION GENIES #8
WRITER: Charles Soule
ARTIST / COVER A: Ryan Browne
COVER B: Paolo Rivera
DECEMBER 28 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99MINISERIES FINALE The monumental ode to worldwide wish fulfillment completes its story with an exploration of THE FIRST EIGHT CENTURIES after the moment eight billion genies appeared on earth. We’ll see how the last remaining wishes get used and discover the fates of the characters we met at the Lampwick Tavern all that time ago. What’s our wish? That you’ll see us through, all the way to the end.
6. God as my witness, he is broken in half
Another series that I’ve maybe over-represented! I have no regrets. If “Eight Billion Genies” isn’t the best book Image has published this year, “Do A Powerbomb!” definitely is. Pizza Rat is a wrestler in this comic, and his finisher is called the New York Slice. Good shit! It’s also the story of failure and redemption, death and resurrection, family and betrayal. All of the best drama of wrestling drawn by the incomparable Daniel Warren Johnson. Yeah, you should be picking this up.
DO A POWERBOMB #7
WRITER / ARTIST: Daniel Warren Johnson
COVER A: Mike Spicer, Daniel Warren Johnson
COVER B: Matias Bergara
DECEMBER 07 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99MINISERIES FINALE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE FINAL ISSUE OF THIS SERIES!!! Lona Steelrose and Cobrasun must face the ultimate challenge on their path to resurrecting Lona’s mother! Will they be successful?
5. Game of Hyperspace Thrones
A lot of people try to blend sci-fi and fantasy, but comics are a visual medium that can best sell bold ideas. And bold ideas are exactly what you’ll find in “Starhenge,” a dense book of cosmic mythology and struggle. I couldn’t explain much about this world to you, ‘cause it’s so weird. But I sure do like looking at it. If you want a familiar story in an unknown world, “Starhenge” is pretty freaking cool.
STARHENGE: DRAGON & BOAR #6
WRITER / ARTIST / COVER A / COVER B: Liam Sharp
DECEMBER 14 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99MINISERIES FINALE In the shocking conclusion of STARHENGE: BOOK ONE, King Arthur is killed after Gwynn sabotages Merlin’s plans. Merlin goes mad and flees, transforming into an Elk. Can Taliesin, Amber, and Daryl offer any hope for the future of magic?
4. Goodbye human planet
Something about “Shirtless Bear Fighter” just gets me. It makes me laugh. Even the solicit for this issue literally made me laugh out loud. “The Earth is dead. Long live Bearth!” Basically, this looks like a redux of Grant Morrison’s “Justice League: Rock of Ages” but instead of Apokolips, it’s a bunch of bears, and instead of the Justice League, it’s one guy with no shirt. They shoulda brought some more bears.
SHIRTLESS BEAR-FIGHTER!: 2 #5
WRITER: Jody LeHeup
ARTIST: Nil Vendrell
COVER A: Dave Johnson
COVER B: Rossi Gifford
DECEMBER 14 / 32 pages / FC/ — / $3.99The Earth is dead. Long live BEARTH! Can Silva’s underground resistance take Ursa Major down before he can shut the door on humanity for good? And where is Shirtless Bear-Fighter? Plus! Silva embarks on a special mission to save Shirtless’s birth mother from none other than…THE SELF-CARE BEARS!
3. Escape to a happy ending
I’m happy to report that this comic freaking rules. Confidentially made by a pro creative team, this series has a kickass premise. When you are trapped in an endlessly looping romance story, the only hope of escape is earning a happy ending. That means that every issue can explore a different sub-genre or setting of romance. “Love Everlasting” is good because it’s well-written and well-drawn, but it’s great because of how complete each issue’s story reads.
LOVE EVERLASTING #5
WRITER: Tom King
ARTIST / COVER A: Elsa Charretier
COVER B: Amanda Conner
DECEMBER 07 / 24 pages / FC/ / $3.99END OF STORY ARC “TRAPPED BY LOVE” Joan slips outside of the Romance world. She meets her second Everlasting, a woman who, like Joan, sees this warped world for what it is, but unlike Joan knows why it is there. Can Joan get the answers she needs before she falls back into the trap of love?
2. Game preserve
I wanted to rep one exciting first new issue, so how’s this? A new series drawn by the great Caspar Wjingaard. The most metal artist in comics musta been watching that Predators movie with Adrian Brody and co, because this comic sounds like a similar premise. Earth has been conquered by aliens who like to hunt people for sport. Earth is one big hunting ground. Can a plucky human turn the tables to become the hunted? I think yes! More importantly, I think Wjingaard will draw the everloving shit out of it.
Continued belowALL AGAINST ALL #1
WRITER Alex Pankadel
ARTIST / COVER A: Caspar Wijngaard
COVER B: Sean Phillips
COVER C: Martin Simmonds
COVER D: Christian Ward
DECEMBER 07 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99Writer ALEX PAKNADEL (DC vs. Vampires: All Out War, Giga), artist CASPAR WIJNGAARD (HOME SICK PILOTS), and letterer HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU present a primal vision of humanity gone terribly wrong. In All Against All, it is the distant future. Earth is long gone, but a race of alien conquerors knows as “the Operators” have preserved its most savage animals in an artificial jungle environment they barely understand. With no bodies of their own, the Operators move from world to world, harvesting bodies for the organic exosuits they use to wage their endless wars. Ignored and underestimated by his captors is the habitat’s sole human specimen, Helpless. However, when their efforts to find and harvest an apex predator intensify, he gives them far more than they bargained for. Featuring variant covers by artistic powerhouses as SEAN PHILLIPS (RECKLESS), MARTIN SIMMONDS (THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH), and CHRISTIAN WARD (BLOOD STAINED TEETH)!
1. Who still wants to live forever?
A moody and restrained horror mystery from the funniest guy in comics and a talented noir artist? You can feel the breakneck pacing from the first issue of “Stillwater.” This was never an endless soap opera, but a contained story with a beginning and end. And now we’ve arrived at it. I’ve love every page of this immortality thriller, and now that it’s wrapping up, now is the time to check out the complete series!
STILLWATER BY ZDARSKY & PÉREZ #18
WRITER: Chip Zdarsky
ARTIST: Ramón K. Pérez, Mike Spicer
COVER A: Ramón K. Pérez
DECEMBER 28 / 40 pages / FC/ M / $4.99SERIES FINALE After all these years, the town of Stillwater is no longer still. The Eisner-nominated series reaches its epic, extra-length conclusion!
