It’s the end of the year! Okay, well… kind of. It’s currently only September as of writing, but because this is Soliciting Multiversity, where we take a look at what the future holds for each major comic book publisher, we’re going to looking ahead to how Image Comics will be closing out 2016 with their December solicits.
Now, this is going to be an interesting one. See, publishers generally send their solicits to news sites and retailers with the solicit text and cover images separately so they can be displayed like how we’ve been doing it for months here. Image has decided to shake things up by presenting their solicits in magazine form that you can download for free from their website. Mostly it seems they’ve done this to make my job all the more annoying.
Still, let’s get to the solicits!
10. “Peter Panzerfaust” Rides Off… Again
Well, this is somewhat embarassing. At the beginning of last month’s Soliciting Multiversity for Image, I talked about how glad I was to see “Peter Panzerfaust” returning after being gone for so long and how I couldn’t wait to see where it went from there. Turns out, it was coming back just to finally release the last two issues of the series. Whoops? That’s my bad. Still, seeing this series finally come to a close is almost as good as seeing it come back.
PETER PANZERFAUST #25
STORY: KURTIS J. WIEBE
ART / COVER: TYLER JENKINS
DECEMBER 21 / 48 PAGES / FC / M / $4.99
SERIES FINALE
“NEVERLAND”
The grand finale of Peter’s journey and the one interview John Parsons has been building toward: Wendy Darling. The woman who knew Peter as no other reveals her secrets, and the mystery behind the man will finally be revealed. A double-sized issue of intrigue, love, and heroism, and a final goodbye to Peter Panzerfaust.
9. There’s A Brunch Variant!
I love “Shutter” a lot, but I don’t actually want to talk about “Shutter” too much here. I want to talk about the brunch crossover that’s celebrating Image’s 25th anniversary (jesus, Image is older than I am) by combining some of Image’s founding characters like Savage Dragon and Witchblade. This is so deliciously ridiculous (pun intended) that I cannot wait to see what this is actually going to be like.
SHUTTER #25
STORY: JOE KEATINGE
ART / COVER: LEILA DEL DUCA & OWEN GIENI
IMAGE COMICS 25TH ANNIVERSARY BRUNCH VARIANT: BRANDON GRAHAM
DECEMBER 28 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
SPECIAL TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY BRUNCH-RELATED CROSSOVER EVENT
A story twenty-five issues in the making! Kate Kristopher comes face-to-face with the force behind every single moment in SHUTTER thus far for a showdown unlike any other, including: the creation of the universe! The end of the universe! An explanation for all existence threatens to wipe out everything that ever was and only Kate can stop it! But why doesn’t she want to?PLUS: A brunch twenty-five years in the making! Kick off 2017’s Image Comics’ 25th anniversary as founding heroes including (but not limited to!) SAVAGE DRAGON, WITCHBLADE, GLORY, and SHADOWHAWK unite with INVINCIBLE and the cast of SHUTTER for what may prove to be the most delicious crossover event of all time! Don’t you dare miss the terrifying biscuits-and-gravy secret no one will see coming!
8. The Beginning Of The End For “Drifter”?
Sometimes it’s hard not to read into solicit texts too much. With all the hyperbole and aggrandising in order to market a comic, it’s hard to take stuff at face value. Which brings me to “Drifter”. The solicit tells us to prepare ourselves for the beginning of the end of the series. Is “Drifter” beginning to wrap up? Is this it’s final story arc? I honestly don’t know, but I’m going to keep an eye on this one.
Continued belowDRIFTER #15
STORY: IVAN BRANDON
ART / COVER A: NIC KLEIN
COVER B: DAVID RUBIN
DECEMBER 14 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
NEW STORY ARC
Ghost Town is destroyed. The planet Ouro is coming apart at the seams. But even with the world breaking around him, all Abram Pollux can think of is revenge on the man named Bell Emmerich.
Prepare yourself for the beginning of the end in IVAN BRANDON and NIC KLEIN’s brooding sci-fi epic DRIFTER. All mysteries will be solved. All questions answered. All scores settled.
7. A Very Elephantmen Birthday
I’ve never read “Elephantmen” even though it does seem like a comic I would probably enjoy, but I wanted to point out something cool from this month’s solicits: Image has started noting when comics hit their milestone issues. From the looks of what is noted in this month’s solicit, Image is counting these milestones in increments of 25, but I still think it’s a cool thing to keep readers aware of. Comics can be cancelled so quickly these days that celebrating a comic hitting its milestone is a celebration of the readers who support it.
I’m very into this.
ELEPHANTMEN #11
STORY: RICHARD STARKINGS
ART: AXEL MEDELLIN
COVER: BOO COOK
DECEMBER 28 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
“UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL,” Part Three
ELEPHANTMEN celebrates its seventy-fifth issue with the explosive story of an old soldier who has had enough.
6. This Cover Tho
I got nothing to say about “Spawn” ’cause I don’t read it. Never picked up a single issue. I have no clue what’s happening within the pages of this comic. But you know what I do know? I know that this cover is fucking badass and I just wanted to take a short interlude here to show off this cover. Seriously, this cover is so cool that the comic’s variant cover is just the same cover except in black and white. That’s when you know a cover is cool.
Maybe I should start reading “Spawn”…
SPAWN #270
STORY: TODD MCFARLANE
ART: TODD MCFARLANE & FRIENDS
COVER A: FARAZ SHANYAR
COVER B: BW VARIANT OF COVER A
DECEMBER 28 / 32 PAGES / FC / T / $2.99
Al comes face to face with the underbelly of the drug
world as it touches the lives closest to him
5. A First For Image’s Soliciting Multiversity: Merch Solicits
I feel like this is something I don’t do very often and it’s what sets Image apart from other publishers, especially Marvel and DC. I try to focus on the beginnings and endings of series here, of new #1s and major new story arcs, but every so often I do like to take a look at what merchandise Image is offering for their comics. This month, it’s this sweet statue inspired by Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera’s “Black Science”.
Might want to get your pre-orders in fast if this interests you, though, because being limited to 500 means this is going to disappear quick.
BLACK SCIENCE LIMITED EDITION 11-INCH STATUE
DECEMBER 7
Limited to 500
$149.99
Based on the Sci-Fi hit series by RICK REMENDER and MATTEO SCALERA, designed by Bin Li & Squid Kids Ink.
Made of polystone resin.
4. A Comic I’ve Been Waiting Years For
Ever since I saw that David Rubin cover, I knew I had to get my hands on this adaptation of “Beowulf”. It feels like it’s been forever since I first saw that image and it blew my mind, but Image is finally releasing the English translation of the graphic novel by Rubin and Santiago Garcia just three days before my birthday.
I never knew Image thought this much about me. This is going to be the best birthday ever.
Continued belowBEOWULF HC
STORY: SANTIAGO GARCÍA
ART / COVER: DAVID RUBÍN
DECEMBER 14 / 208 PAGES / FC / M / $29.99
SANTIAGO GARCÍA and DAVID RUBÍN unite to bring forward the myth of Beowulf, which has endured for a thousand years and inspired an epic poem of the same name, became a foundational piece of English literature, and inspired generations of authors, from Tolkien to a good number of Hollywood screenwriters.BEOWULF tells of the tale of a Scandinavian hero in lands that would become what is now Denmark and Sweden: A monster, Grendel, has arrived in the kingdom of the Danes, devouring its men and women for 12 years until Beowulf arrives to save them.
GARCÍA and RUBÍN faithfully follow the original story for a new version that is neither revisionist nor postmodern, but captures the tone and important details of the poem, translating its potent, epic resonance and melancholy into a contemporary comic that isn’t standard swords and sorcery or heroic fantasy fare, but rather an ancient story with a modern perspective that remains respectful of the source material.
3. Countdown To Apocalypse: T-Minus 12 Months
This is it. The beginning of the end of the world. My favourite of Jonathan Hickman’s comics is actually looking to wrap up its story and I can’t wait to see the places this is going to go. I don’t know how long this year is going to last (is it going to be a year in story over a number of story arcs? is it 12 issues over 12 months? who knows?) but I’m going to be savouring every page of this final year of “East Of West”.
EAST OF WEST #30
STORY: JONATHAN HICKMAN
ART: NICK DRAGOTTA & FRANK MARTIN
COVER: NICK DRAGOTTA
DECEMBER 28 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $3.99
NEW STORY ARC
The final year of the apocalypse begins! Armies rage! Nations at War! A family fights to be reunited.
2. Maybe The Best Solicit Ever
This solicit text is a roller coaster of emotions and I want to ride it again. It opens with with the mysteries of rock ‘n’ roll and the things that slipped through the cracks during the height of the drug- and alcohol-fueled world of the music industry in the 70s and how those mysteries have come back to haunt the present. Alright, I’m in immediately. Then it has a plucky and unlikely duo set out to solve this mystery at all odds, a dynamic that I’m in love with. Then it brings up conspiracies and demonic possession.
Guys, I think I’m already in love with this comic.
ROCKSTARS #1
STORY: JOE HARRIS
ART / COVER: MEGAN HUTCHISON
DECEMBER 14 / 40 PAGES / FC / M /$3.99
SERIES PREMIERE
Fan-favorite JOE HARRIS (SNOWFALL, The X-Files) and mega-talented newcomer MEGAN HUTCHISON deliver a new ongoing series exploring rock ‘n’ roll’s untold mysteries and secrets!“NATIVITY IN BLACKLIGHT,” Part One
When a pattern of unsolved “groupie” murders from the 1970s resumes in present-day Los Angeles, nobody makes the connection except Jackie Mayer, a rock nerd with a strange connection to music’s urban legends and lost history. Together with muckraking music writer Dorothy Buell, they soon uncover a vast conspiracy involving a legendary band, demonic possession, and sacrifices to the dark gods of rock.
1. The Pat Benatar Song That Was Never Released
I kind of don’t have a whole lot to say about this, honestly, because I feel like I would be simply repeating myself and many others. Put it this way though: Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr are a comic book creative team I would follow to the ends of the Earth. I loved what they put out with “Batgirl” and I’m incredibly excited to see what they’ll do when given free reign over a world of their own creation.
And it’s glampop Mad Max, to boot. I can’t wait for this.
MOTOR CRUSH #1
STORY: BRENDEN FLETCHER, CAMERON STEWART & BABS TARR
ART: BABS TARR & CAMERON STEWART
COVER A: BABS TARR
COVER B: CAMERON STEWART
DECEMBER 7 / 40 PAGES / FC / T+ / $3.99
The team behind the critically acclaimed revamp of Batgirl returns with an exciting sci-fi action-adventure series! By day, Domino Swift competes for fame and fortune in a worldwide motorcycle racing league. By night, she cracks heads of rival gangs in brutal bike wars to gain possession of a rare, valuable contraband: an engine-boosting “machine narcotic” known as Crush.
Featuring Part One of ISOLA: PROLOGUE by BRENDEN FLETCHER and KARL KERSCHL!
