Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest,” where we try to summarize what’s coming your way from pretty much every other comic publisher besides Marvel, Dark Horse, DC, and Image.
It’s now time to check out the other 75% of the catalogue.
10. Epic Viking Fantasy
Comparisons to “Bone” shouldn’t come lightly so my eyebrow cocked a bit when I saw this. That being said, fantastic anthropomorphic epic adventures are usually a blast and if this has a tiny sliver of the modicum of the craft and prowess as “Bone,” it oughta be dope.
(Disclosure: Multiversity Comics includes a staffer who works for Titan Comics.)
Atlas and Axis
Written and Illustrated by Pau
Published by Titan ComicsBone meets Vikings!
When roaming warriors Atlas and Axis return home to find that their village has been destroyed by Viking raiders, they set off on a perilous journey across land and sea to save their friends!
9. Prodigal Space Daughter
Intergalactic dethroned queens and wacky caste systems. Magdalene Visaggio’s “Kim & Kim” was a riot and hopefully this new series maintains the momentum.
Vagrant Queen #1
Written by Magdalene Visaggio
Illustrated by Jason Smith
Published by Vault ComicsFormer child queen Elida was driven from her throne at age ten and forced to wander the galaxy, evading the revolutionary forces that wanted her dead. When an old frenemy claims to know the whereabouts of Elida’s long-lost mother, she is forced to return to her former kingdom and stage a rescue. Interstellar badassery by Eisner-nominated writer MAGDALENE VISAGGIO (Kim & Kim) with artist JASON SMITH.
8. Star Lost
LucasFilm hasn’t done much beyond the original trilogy in their expanded universe, though I appreciate how they’re telling those legends from different perspectives. This one follows two star-crossed lovers, one a high ranking Empire office, the other a hotshot Rebel pilot, as they fall in love and contribute to the fate of the galaxy. Claudia Gray’s YA novel is all right but if this has any of the kinetic energy of the old “Star Wars” manga, this should be a treat.
Star Wars: Lost Stars Vol. 1
Written by Claudia Gray
Illustrated by Yusaku Komiyama
Published by Yen PressThe Empire can be seductive, particularly if you’re an aspiring young pilot…Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree both know this very well when they enroll in Imperial Academy, eager to pursue their dreams. When Thane discovers the darker side of the Empire, though, and defects to the Rebellion, the pair’s lifelong friendship will be put to the ultimate test.Will Thane and Ciena’s relationship — or even they themselves — survive this galactic conflict…?
7. Common People Like You
I like the ambition in this one, though the solicit isn’t really telling us much. The change in perspective is always intriguing concept and my attention is piqued. I wonder what it’s going to actually be about.
Dismantlers #1
Written by Aria Baci
Illustrated by Ashley A. Woods
Published by Black Mask ComicsIn a galaxy where terraforming is the most common form of real estate development, a highly skilled team of “dismantlers” travels to failed sites and salvages what’s left of them.
But that’s not the hardest part of their job. Because relationships with each other can be even more complicated than transforming entire planets.
This is not a story of a prestigious Federation or of a powerful Empire, but of the menial laborers who make it all possible, the unglamorous characters who work behind the scenes of galactic expansion. This is a story of their pillow talk, their break room banter, and their totally unforeseen fist fights with the pirates who jack their job sites out from under them.
From artist Ashley A Woods (NIOBE: She Is Life) and next breakout writer Aria Baci comes an all new fleet of characters to fall in love with.
6. The Not Too Distant Future
Continued below
Really, at this point, with a story like this, I mostly just want hyper crazy art, sheer anarchy, and an unhinged approach to narrative. Otherwise, what’s the point?
2021: Lost Children #1
Written by Stephane Betbder
Illustrated by Stephane Bervas
Published by Titan ComicsFor fans of Akira, Domu: A Child’s Dream, Ghost in the Shell & Children of Men
Escape from New York meets the X-Men!It’s 2021. Detroit has seceded from the United States and its citizens are under the control of a madman with extraordinary abilities. The only hope of retaking the city lies with four super-powered children. But their powers come with a price – using them means aging prematurely.
Can they save the city before their powers use up their lives?
5. Batter’s Up!
Baseball season’s kicking up (let’s go Rockies!), which makes us want to dig out the ole Roger Angell collections and flip through the latest edition of Bill James’s book. We also get this. See you in the outfield.
The Comic Book Story of Baseball
Written by Alex Irvine
Illustrated by Tomm Coker
Published by Ten Speed PressThe official graphic novel adaption of The Beatles’ iconic animated film, “Yellow Submarine,” released to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of its release! Written and illustraded by Bill Morrison, Editor of MAD Magazine! The Beatles are recruited be the captain of the Yellow Submarine to help him free Sgt, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the world of Pepperland from the music-hating Blue Meanies.
4. What Was That?
Not that Nate Powell was never not an interesting cartoonist, but he truly turned in something special with the “March” Trilogy. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s learned, how he’s going to grow, and what more he can accomplish with this new horror OGN.
Come Again
Written and Illustrated by Nate Powell
Published by Top ShelfAs the sun sets on the 1970s, the spirit of the Love Generation still lingers among the aging hippies of one “intentional community” high in the Ozarks. But what’s missing? Under impossibly close scrutiny, two families wrestle with long-repressed secrets… while deep within those Arkansas hills, something monstrous stirs, ready to feast on village whispers.
National Book Award-winner Nate Powell returns with a haunting tale of intimacy, guilt, and collective amnesia.
3.A Whole New World
Si Spurrier does his best work when he’s left to his own devices. (I mean, it’s hard to defend him considering how badly a turn “Doctor Aphra” took.) He and Matias Bargara are crafting another fantasy world here, one which I’m sure will be visually gorgeous and overly ambitious.
Coda #1
Written by Simon Spurrier
Illustrated by Matias Bargara
Published by Boom! StudiosSimon Spurrier (The Spire, Godshaper) and Matias Bergara (Cannibal, Supergirl) present a broken fantasy world thatfs perfect for fans of Mad Max and The Lord of the Rings.
In the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world, a former bard named Hum (a man of few words, so nicknamed because his standard reply is ghmh) seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him…but is unwillingly drawn into a brutal power struggle which will decide forever who rules the Weird Wasteland.
Oversized first issue, with 40 pages of story content and additional backmatter at no extra cost!
2. The Man The Myth The Legend
Niki de Saint Phalle’s art was filled with color, life, and exaggerated expression. She created these enormous, monumental sculptures, their exuberant sensuality looming large over France. Seems appropriate then she gets a biography, and even better that it’s in comics form, for all the visual flourishes and capabilities it offers.
Continued belowNiki de Saint Phalle: The Garden of Secrets
Written by Dominique Osuch
Illustrated by Sandrine Martin
Published by NBMNiki de Saint Phalle knew art could save the world because art saved her. From madness, from violence. Even from herself. A comics biography of the famous and controversial contemporary pop-style artist.
1. Finally, More Hope
Look, it’s a new work written and drawn by Hope Larson, her first since 2012’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” Just get on it, okay?
All Summer Long
Written and Illustrated by Hope Larson
Published by Farrar, Straus and GirouxA coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel about summer and friendships, written and illustrated by the Eisner Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling Hope Larson. Thirteen-year-old Bina has a long summer ahead of her. She and her best friend, Austin, usually do everything together, but he’s off to soccer camp for a month, and he’s been acting kind of weird lately anyway. So it’s up to Bina to see how much fun she can have on her own. At first it’s a lot of guitar playing, boredom, and bad TV, but things look up when she finds an unlikely companion in Austin’s older sister, who enjoys music just as much as Bina. But then Austin comes home from camp, and he’s acting even weirder than when he left. How Bina and Austin rise above their growing pains and reestablish their friendship and respect for their differences makes for a touching and funny coming-of-age story. Available in softcover and hardcover editions.
Well, that was fun! And let me know what books YOU’RE excited for in the comments section.
