Welcome back to Soliciting Multiversity! Dark Horse knocked it out of the park last month, with a great list of solicits for November. Will they keep it up with another quality month’s worth of comics in December? I’m happy to report it is so! But don’t take my word for it, take my many words for it below! (For the full list, look here.)
Hellboy Goes To Hell
After a long break caused by his unfortunate demise, Hellboy is back to follow his adventures in the afterlife–and not the good afterlife, either. Also returning is Mike Mignola himself to full scripting and art duties, and this is solicited as a full ongoing, not a series of minis. I doubt we’ll be getting one every month in the long run, but this is something I am definitely looking forward to, and from what I hear, Mignola is in no hurry to bring Hellboy back to Earth.
In other Mignolaverse news, “B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: The Return of the Master” wraps up and “B.P.R.D.: 1948” reaches the half-way mark at #3.
30 Days of Macabre
Steve Niles’ crossover begins between his two most popular series, “30 Days of Night” and “Criminal Macabre.” In the new 4-issue miniseries “Criminal Macabre: Final Night–The 30 Days of Night Crossover,” Cal McDonald goes on the hunt for Eben, the vampire antihero of his smash-hit IDW series “30 Days of Night.” According to Niles, only one franchise will survive!
Darth Vader Hunts Jedi
I don’t follow the Star Wars comics much (not since “Rogue Squadron”), but this one looks fun. Following up on John Ostrander and Haden Blackman’s previous “Star Wars: Purge” one-shots is a two-issue miniseries by Alexander Freed about Darth Vader hunting down Jedi on a hostile planet soon after the birth of the Empire.
That’s not all going on for “Star Wars” this month: new issues of “Agent of the Empire,” “Dawn of the Jedi” and “Lost Tribe of the Sith,” as well as a “Star Wars Omnibus: Infinities” trade collecting three “What If…?” style stories based on alternate versions of the original Star Wars trilogy.
Number 13 Spins Out of DHP
There was a slight omission from this column last month: “Number 13” #0, collecting the three installments originally published in “Dark Horse Presents” #2-4. Perhaps I assumed you already have those issues of DHP, because you damn well should have them. In this story, a young boy known only as Number 13 wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland trying to remember who he is, where he is from, and why he seems to be the most powerful being around. Coming up in December we’ll finally get to move on from the major cliffhanger we were left with at the end of #0. (By the way, you still have time to pull #0, too.)
It’s A Hardcover Life For Superhero Girl
Faith Erin Hicks, creator of “Friends With Boys” and “Demonology 101” brings her latest project to Dark Horse: a full-color hardcover collection of the entirety of “The Adventures of Superhero Girl.” Originally published in Halifax, Nova Scotia’s local free paper, “The Coast,” and as a webcomic, “Superhero Girl” follows the misadventures of a low-budget, up-and-coming superpowered heroine, who finds battling supervillians almost as challenging as trying to live a normal urban lifestyle. While Hicks has already self-published the first half in black-and-white, this new hardcover collects the entire story so far (all 100 strips) and has been colored front-to-back by Cris Peter. The original strips are still available here if you’d like a free preview.
Aang Is “Promised” a Treasury Edition
“Avatar: the Last Airbender–The Promise” was originally published as three 6” x 9” 80-page paperbacks. For a few dollars more, you can get a hardcover collecting all three books in a massive 9” x 12” treasury edition, with a bonus sketchbook! Scripted by Gene Luen Yang under the supervision of “A:tLA” creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and illustrated by Gurihiru, “The Promise” sees Aang and friends reunited to try to stop a new war building between the Fire and Earth kingdoms. Surely a must-have for all the benders out there.
Continued belowResident Alien Trade
The book everyone here at Multiversity couldn’t stop talking about gets a trade collection of its first arc! Find out how a stranded alien explorer ends up covering for a small town’s doctor and helps investigate a country killing spree. It’s a title that turns the “X-Files” on its head–the alien is the one solving the mysteries! Snap this up so you can follow along with the next installment appearing serialized in “Dark Horse Presents.”
Alabaster: Wolves Collected
I almost suffered the tragedy of passing this book up, thinking it was just another Buffy knock-off. However, Greg Ruth’s hauntingly beautiful covers drew me in, Steve Lieber’s art blew me away, and Caitlin R. Kiernan’s fascinating albino monster-hunter proved to be something far more than what I had expected. Not only is she named “Dancy Flammarion,” she has an angel for a traveling companion and a mandate to murder the monsters that seem to litter the Deep South. However, we quickly learn that Dancy isn’t happy doing an angel’s dirty work–but can she defeat these abominations without its help?
And Many More!
That’s not all, of course: four issues of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and related titles; more issues of such titles as “Massive,” “Ghost,” “Conan,” “Goon,” and “The Strain;” hardcover adaptations of “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Hound of the Baskervilles;” the fourth volume of “The Manara Library;” “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” “Trigun” and Hiroaki Samura trades; classic horror comic reprints; “The Art of Bioshock Infinite” hardcover; a few one-shot collections of stories originally told in “Dark Horse Presents;” and of course, the flagship anthology itself comes out with another killer installment, including the return of the Comics’ Greatest World character “X” and new installments of “Resident Alien,” “Mind MGMT,” and “Alabaster.” We’ve barely scratched the surface here, so be sure to check out the full solicits to see what I couldn’t cram in.
Coming up next: Image!
