You gotta love the months that are full of fun debuts. There is never a month totally absent of new #1 issues, but it is rare that new stuff dominates one of my lists. But Image Comics is really going deep into their contact lists, finding old friends, and getting them to pitch new series. And I ain’t complaining. There are plenty of people who I am delight to see make a return to comics. And there are other books that I have no commitment to, but can’t wait to try. The truth is, I could use some freshness and novelty, so exciting #1 comic books is a great way for me to get my fix. You might feel the same way!
As always, check out the full solicitations on the Image Comics website!
10. Every one of them will get their day
In case you missed it last month: publishers can’t stop calling this book “Lady and the Tramp meets Silence of the Lambs” which is pretty enticing as far as “X meets Y” statements go. In actuality, I don’t know what that really means. What I do know is that this seems to be a murder mystery thriller from the perspective of dogs. I also know that I loved my cassette of the Oliver and Company soundtrack when I was a small child. I’m gonna give this book a look!
STRAY DOGS #2
WRITER: Tony Fleecs
ARTIST: Trish Forstner
COVER A / COVER B: Trish Forstner, Tony Fleecs
MARCH 24 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99Something doesn’t smell right! None of the dogs know what happens behind that door at the end of the hallway. All they know is there’s a punishment for sniffing around it. What secrets are hidden in the Master’s Forbidden Room?
9. Scared of your own
In a world where everyone’s shadow might be trying to kill them… that’s really all I know! But I cannot tell a lie, when I hear that I immediately want to know what happens next. So that has me in all on its own. I do find it telling that Image wants you to know that writer Joe Henderson is the “showrunner of Netflix’s Lucifer” instead of telling you that he’s “the writer of hit comic that we publish, Skyward.” The facepalm-y solicit text isn’t a strike against the book though! Murder shadows are cool.
SHADECRAFT #1
WRITER: Joe Henderson
ARTIST: Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela
COVER A: Lee Garbett
COVER B: Jock
MARCH 31 / 32 pages / FC/ T / $3.99Zadie Lu is afraid of her own shadow. She’s a teenager, so she REALLY should have grown out of it by now, right? But something weird is happening in her small town. Zadie could swear the shadows are coming to life. Watching her. Trying to KILL her. But how do you fight something you can’t even touch? And how does all of this tie into her FAMILY, of all things?
From the creative team that brought you the Eisner-nominated SKYWARD, writer JOE HENDERSON (showrunner of Netflix’s Lucifer) and artist LEE GARBETT (Captain Marvel). Join Zadie Lu as she ventures into the shadows to face her fears and discovers a legacy she never knew she had.
8. Reunion tour
Here’s one that really made an impression. A lot of comic readers I know picked up “Home Sick Pilots” #1, maybe on the strength of the cover or the premise. Maybe because Caspar Wijngaard is a talented lunatic. It could just be that comic creators loved this first issue and are raving about the series. It’s all of those things. Mark my words, “Home Sick Pilots” is going to be a sleeper hit. Get on it now before it gets too popular and you can be as cool as the emo skater ghosts in the story!
Continued belowHOME SICK PILOTS #4
WRITER: Dan Watters
ARTIST / COVER A: Caspar Wijngaard
MARCH 10 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99The Home Sick Pilots are reunited—but not for long. Who else knows about the ghosts? Who is killing for them? What has been crawling out of the VHS machine at night with blood on its rewindable mind?
7. Black in a snap
I’m usually quite skeptical of indie superhero comics. There’s plenty of superhero stories being told already; if you are going to write a new one for an indie book, you better have a great gimmick to draw me in. I don’t think that “have Kyle Higgins write the thing” counts as a gimmick, but it’s done the trick nonetheless. Higgins is a creator who I will always give a shot to. And then there is the art we’ve seen so far, by Marcelo Costa. You see those covers? Gorgeous. Excellent design. Yeah, I’ll be checking out “Radiant Black.”
RADIANT BLACK #2
WRITER: Kyle Higgins
ARTIST / COVER A: Marcelo Costa
COVER B: Diego Greco
COVER C: Rod Reis
MARCH 17 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99Yesterday: Nathan found an alien artifact that turned him into a superhero. Today? His dad says he has to get a job, so driving for rideshare company Drivr it is. Oh, and there’s also someone else out there robbing banks with powers like his. That’s probably important.
6. Kaiju quarantine
It’s not like there is a lack of books about pandemics, or books about kaiju. But sometimes I do this thing where I take the variant cover artist as a sort of endorsement. So is James Harren an enticing enough get for me? I mean, his “BPRD” work is pretty cool. I like that he is writing and drawing this. And then there’s Dave Stewart’s involvement, a colorist so good that we literally named our award for colorists after him. But no, what has me in a ferver is a variant cover by Tradd Moore. I feel like that’s a mission statement. You know when you see Tradd Moore on a book, it’s going to be grimy and funky and trippy and weird. Even if it’s just on a sight unseen variant cover.
ULTRAMEGA BY JAMES HARREN #1
WRITER / COVER A: James Harren
ARTIST: James Harren, Dave Stewart
COVER B: Tradd Moore
MARCH 17 / 68 pages / FC/ M / $7.99A cosmic plague has spread, transforming everyday people into violent, monstrous kaiju. Only the Ultramega—three individuals imbued with incredible powers—hold the line against this madness. Their battles level cities and leave untold horror in their wake. Now, the final reckoning approaches for the Ultramega…but is this a war they can even win?
Fight monsters and stand with humanity in this new Skybound original from the greatest artist of his generation, JAMES HARREN (RUMBLE, BPRD) and Eisner Award-winning colorist DAVE STEWART. Each issue is extra-sized, with a 60-page debut that can barely contain its giant heroes, creatures, and devastation!
5. Nine finger death punch
I suppose I’m just in a Chris Samnee headspace. I’ve been going back and reading his early 2010s Marvel work. The dude is a master. And honestly? Robert Kirkman is no slouch either. “Walking Dead” has become a real take-it-or-leave-it series for a lot of people, but I’ve also been re-reading “Invincible” and Kirkman has got it. He’s in fact, very talented. On top of all that, I’m an easy mark for this kind of martial arts tomfoolery. It doesn’t have to be complicated! A good creative team on a fun genre makes for a book that I wanna read!
FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #9
WRITER: Robert Kirkman
ARTIST / COVER A: Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson
MARCH 03 / 28 pages / FC/ T / $3.99The Serpent’s Omen moves in for the kill!!
4. I want to believe
If you don’t already know the deal: “Department of Truth” takes place in a world where reality is subjective: if enough people believe a thing is true,it becomes true, retroactively and forever… or until people start believing in something else. The titular department is there to make sure people don’t believe in harmful stuff (which yeah, is a moral minefield. That’s the point!). Early issues have focused on modern conspiracies- crisis actors in mass shootings, Obama’s birth certificate, Satanic QAnon cults… but this issue looks like it’s going classic 90s. That’s right, we’re talking UFOs, cattle mutilation, and finding the truth, which I am told is out there.
Continued belowTHE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #7
WRITER: James Tynion IV
ARTIST / COVER B: Tyler Boss
COVER A: Martin Simmonds
MARCH 31 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99It’s another deep dive into the Secret Archives as guest artist TYLER BOSS (4 Kids Walk Into a Bank) joins JAMES TYNION IV (Batman) and THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH to investigate sightings of flying saucers…and the strange men in black suits trying to cover up their existence. Hold onto your cows—the truth is out there!
3. Cruel Angel Series!
I know Guillem March has a lot of fans from his DC work. That alone is worth the price of admission for a lot of people. I mostly know him from reputation, so a funky creator owned book like this has me intrigued from the word “go.” Then you read the premise. What has me most interested is how low stakes it looks. This isn’t an adventure story, it’s a ruminative supernatural fantasy character piece. And frankly, I could use more comics like that on my pull list. “Karmen” #1 has earned a definite look from me!
KARMEN #1
WRITER: Dan Christensen, Guillem March
ARTIST / COVER A: Guillem March
COVER B: Milo Manara
MARCH 10 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99Spanish writer and artist GUILLEM MARCH is best known for his ongoing, extensive work with DC Comics on Batman, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn and has worked as an artist on several graphic novels including the English editions of Monika with Titan Comics and The Dream with Europe Comics. Here, he takes up his pen for an edgy new FIVE-PART SERIES about a highly unconventional angel named Karmen and the young woman she takes under her wing when a case of heartbreak strikes hard. Packed with surprises and metaphysics, this gorgeously drawn series deploys tenderness and humor as it dives deep into topics that matter.
2. The Champ
You may have heard we really like “Bitter Root” at Multiversity. It was our #2 series of 2020. The writer and artist led our best of lists as well. And need I say more? It’s good! You looking for a series with unmistakable style? You like fun and breezy mythology? How about an adventurous tone? And timeless themes? Do those do anything for you? Yeah, you know you should be reading “Bitter Root” if you aren’t already.
BITTER ROOT #11
WRITER: David F. Walker, Chuck Brown
ARTIST / COVER A: Sanford Greene
MARCH 24 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.992020 Ringo Award-winning artist SANFORD GREENE and his co-creators/co-writers DAVID F. WALKER and CHUCK BROWN return in BITTER ROOT: LEGACY, the third arc of the Eisner and Ringo Award-winning series!
As Earth is overrun by hideous creatures fueled by racism, a new evil force known as the Tree of Hate has literally taken root. The Sangerye family of monster hunters once again finds themselves divided, and fighting each other, as they confront their most dangerous threat ever. Family dysfunction meets steampunk during the Harlem Renaissance, and life on Earth will never be the same in BITTER ROOT: LEGACY!
1. When life gives you ferries
Woah. Wait what? Wow.There was a time when ‘demon-lookin’ babe fights evil’ was a dominant storytelling mode at Image. You still see books like “Witchblade” from time to time, but they don’t get pushed as prestigious or popular in the same way. But Image loves to push books by recognizable names, and there are few names more recognizable in comics than Scott Snyder. Which is to say nothing of the legendary Tony S. Daniel. What really grabs my attention though is how weird and granular the details sound. An apocalypse of darkness? A badass lady trucker? Abundant River Styx imagery? Wow. Woah. Yeah, wow.
NOCTERRA #1
WRITER: Scott Snyder
ARTIST / COVER A: Tomeu Morey, Tony S. Daniel
COVER B: Jock
COVER C: Bosslogic
COVER F: Frances Manapul
COVER G: Jorge Jimenez
MARCH 03 / 40 pages / FC/ M / $3.99“FULL THROTTLE DARK,” Part One
Ten years after the world is plunged into an everlasting night that turns all living creatures into monstrous shades, the only way to survive is to stay close to artificial light. Enter Valentina “Val” Riggs, a skilled ferryman who transports people and goods along deadly unlit roads with her heavily illuminated eighteen wheeler.
This March, legendary creators SCOTT SNYDER (Dark Knights: Death Metal, WYTCHES) and TONY S. DANIEL (Batman, Deathstroke) unveil horrors beyond any shade in this extra-sized first issue.
