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Soliciting Multiversity: Image’s Top Ten For September 2015

By | June 24th, 2015
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Welcome back to Soliciting Multiversity as we take a look at our Top Ten picks from Image Comics’ solicitations for September 2015. This month, Image organised their solicitations in a rather strange way: they’ve begun to organise titles based on what week of the month they will be published in. This has meant that a couple of title have had repeating entries this month, which is a little confusing. Still, this is a pretty big month so I want to skip straight to the honourable mentions for this month.

Honourable mentions:

First up, the following titles are beginning new story arcs this month so be sure to check these out: “The Fade Out” #9, “Invisible Republic” #6, “Revival #33” and “8House: Yorris” #4.

Next, the following titles are getting their first paperback collections this month at Image’s introductory price of $9.99 making it the best time to jump on if you missed them: “Descender”, “No Mercy”, “The Empty” and “Material”.

Also, these are books I really wanted to talk about, but there’s only ten spots and a bunch of new #1s this month took up most of the space. “Absolute Proof” by Alex Grecian, Riley Rossmo, ‘and friends’ is being collected in a series of three hardcovers starting in September. I haven’t read this one before, but it’s described as a cult classic so someone has to like it, right? Also, “Strange Girl” by Rick Remender, Eric Nguyen, Jerome Opena, and Peter Bergting is being collected in an omnibus. This is also a series I haven’t read, but I’ve universally found Remender’s best writing to be in his creator owned stuff (with the exception of “Uncanny X-Force”), so I think it’s worth a mention.

Now, onto the top ten!

10. These Rat Queens Are Deluxe!

This is a pretty simple entry so I’m not going to say much about it. “Rat Queens” is an excellent series and it definitely deserves the deluxe hardcover treatment, especially, as the solicit states, given the fact that it’s coming out in time for the holidays. Look for this on the Multiversity Holiday Gift Guide this year as everyone tells you get everyone you know hooked on this series.

RAT QUEENS DELUXE HARDCOVER VOLUME ON
STORY: KURTIS J. WIEBE
ART: ROC UPCHURCH, STJEPAN SEJIC, & TESS FOWLER
EARLY SOLICIT FOR A NOVEMBER RELEASE
NOVEMBER 25 / 304 PAGES/ FC / M / $39.99 / OVERSIZED

Collects RAT QUEENS #1-10 plus the never-before reprinted RAT QUEENS SPECIAL: BRAGA #1 plus extras all in an over-sized hardcover with a SILVER-FOIL stamped cover! A collector’s dream package just in time for Christmas!

9. These Southern Bastards Are… Hard? No, wait that doesn’t work…

With the news that “Southern Bastards” has been optioned for a TV adaptation at FX, this is going to be a very sought after book this holiday season. This book has been an incredibly strong showing from two incredibly talented creators and this book, much like the previous entry, will definitely show up on a number of gift guides this holiday season as everyone tells you to pawn the series off on everyone you know who hasn’t read it yet.

The bonus is that the cover design of the book looks simply gorgeous.

SOUTHERN BASTARDS BOOK ONE PREMIERE HC
STORY: JASON AARON
ART / COVER: JASON LATOUR
SEPTEMBER 30 / 256 PAGES / FC / M / $29.99

Welcome to Craw County, Alabama, home of Boss BBQ, the state champion Runnin’ Rebs football team and more bastards than you’ve ever seen.
SOUTHERN BASTARDS by JASON AARON (Scalped, Star Wars) and JASON LATOUR (Spider-Gwen, Loose Ends) gets a premiere hardcover, collecting the first eight issues of the Eisner Award-nominated (2015: Best Continuing Series) southern-fried crime series.
Collects SOUTHERN BASTARDS #1-8

8. Sadly, Not About The Devil May Cry Character

Now, this is an interesting one. At first, I included this here because Steve Orlando, current writer of “Midnighter” over at DC, is getting a lot of push these days because of that book and I thought it was interesting that he had a book coming out from Image already. Then, in an effort to get a little more information on what the book is actually about, I googled it and it turns out this graphic novel was something Orlando and artist JD Faith Kickstarted.

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The Kickstarter campaign for the book goes a little more in depth into how the book explores crimes against the LGBT people of Jamaica and how Orlando and Faith are creating something of an exploitation story around the exploration of those crimes. It sounds like it will be a very cool book and one worth keeping an eye on.

VIRGIL OGN
STORY: STEVE ORLANDO
ART: JD FAITH
COVER: ARTYOM TRAKHANOV
SEPTEMBER 9 / 96 PAGES / FC / M / $9.99

Betrayed, beaten, and banished by his own, an outed cop fights his way across Jamaica for revenge!

7. Because If You’re Going To Do An Autobiography, You Might As Well Be Honest About It

Sina Grace’s “Not My Bag” was a book we loved here at Multiversity and I am definitely excited to see more coming from him and Image. “Self-Obsessed” seems to be a collection of autobiographical strips by Grace and so not the single, cohesive story that was “Not My Bag” and more of a grabbag of different stories. This is going to be for those who want something with a quirky sense of humour and a deep sense of emotional heart in their stories.

SELF-OBSESSED TP
STORY / ART / COVER: SINA GRACE
SEPTEMBER 30 / 160 PAGES / BW / M / $9.99

Cartoonist SINA GRACE returns to his roots with his most personal and intimate work since the 2012 charmer NOT MY BAG.
Comes with FREE AUDIOBOOK download!

6. Are Image Allowed To Reference Iron Man?

And so we hit the first of September’s many new #1s from Image. This is the first time in a couple of months we’ve seen them push a bunch of new series so it’s nice to get back to a Top Ten that’s mostly new series. “Think Tank” was a comic that started off as a miniseries back in 2012 and went on to put out twelve issues and some special one-shots and not it is returning as an ongoing series! I didn’t read the original series, but this definitely seems like a good excuse to go back and explore that series before picking up this one.

THINK TANK #1
STORY: MATT HAWKINS
ART / COVERS A & B: RAHSAN EKEDAL
SEPTEMBER 23 / 32 PAGES / FC / T+ / $3.99

“CREATIVE DESTRUCTION,” Part One
An unknown enemy savages the technological infrastructure of the U.S. Panic and conspiracy theories spread as David Loren and his misfit science team continue work on the TALOS project, trying to make “Iron Man” suits a reality in California.

5. At first I thought this was about FTL, the Steam game, but it’s not and I’m sad.

So, if you’re anything like me then you’re probably going to read that “Faster Than Light” has Augmented Reality integration with its cover and want to try it. Well, I’ve saved you the trouble of trying and can tell you not to bother just yet. The AR integration only works with a physical copy of the comic and not just an image on the screen. This should come as no real surprise, but I still had to check.

However, outside of the AR gimmick, “Faster Than Light” still sounds like an interesting book. Namedropping both Star Trek and Gravity in your solicit is certainly a loft aspiration, but that introductory price of $2.99 makes me much more open to trying the book out for an issue than I would be if it were higher. Gee, it’s almost like the higher the cover price for a book, the more sure a reader has to be that they’ll like it before dropping the money on it.

FASTER THAN LIGHT #1
STORY: BRIAN HABERLIN
ART / COVER: BRIAN HABERLIN & GEIRROD VANDYKE
SEPTEMBER 9 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99
SPECIAL LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICE: $2.99!

In the very near future we discover the secret of faster-than-light travel. Suddenly the universe is wide open to us, but are we ready for it? With all the idealism of the original Star Trek and the grit and immediacy of Gravity, the story of humanity’s first thrilling and terrifying adventures to the stars takes flight! Every issue features Anomaly’s free cutting edge Augmented Reality app, which makes it look like interactive holograms are coming out of the book!
THIS AD IS INTERACTIVE! Download the free Apple or Android app at http://bit.ly/ftlar then point your device at this cover.

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4. And The Winner For The Coolest Title Ever Goes To…

I have no idea what “From Under Mountains” is about and I don’t care. It could be about literally anything and I wouldn’t care because “From Under Mountains” is such a cool title that I’d want to check it out anyway. Add to that the fact that Marian Churchland, who’s working with Brandon Graham as part of “8House”, is one of the writers on the series and that cover and I don’t care at all what this series about, I just know I’m excited for it. And that’s the power of a good title.

FROM UNDER MOUNTAINS #1
STORY: CLAIRE GIBSON & MARIAN CHURCHLAND
ART: SLOANE LEONG
COVER: MARIAN CHURCHLAND
SEPTEMBER 30 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99

MARIAN CHURCHLAND (8HOUSE ARCLIGHT, BEAST) co-writes with CLAIRE GIBSON; with art and colours by SLOANE LEONG. In the first issue of this new fantasy series, old feuds and new monsters rise up to haunt the isolated northern fortress of Karsgate.

3. It’s Like Stand By Me, But With Superheroes

Emi Lenox is an artist I’ve had my eye on for a while. As part of Art Of The Week, I love finding comic book artists who don’t have a huge following and giving them a little push and keeping an eye on their work as they progress. That’s why it made me so happy to see her name beside someone like Jeff Lemire on an image book. This will hopefully be the break Emi needs for people to really be exposed to her art and her cartoon-y and heartfelt watercolour style will definitely mesh well with Lemire’s writing as if he were drawing it himself. This is an exciting book and one I hope everyone checks this one out.

PLUTONA #1 (of 4)
STORY: JEFF LEMIRE & EMI LENOX
ART / COVER: EMI LENOX
SEPTEMBER 2 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99

A brand new heartfelt super-hero series by JEFF LEMIRE (DESCENDER, Hawkeye) and amazing newcomer EMI LENOX! PLUTONA follows the story of five suburban kids who make a shocking discovery while exploring the woods one day after school…the body of Plutona, the world’s greatest superhero. A dark and heartbreaking journey about friendship and coming of age all through the lens of the superhero genre.

2. Not To Be Confused With Tokyo Ghoul, Ya Big Weeb

Remember way back when, at the start of this column, when I said that I found Rick Remender’s writing to be almost universally more interesting when he’s working on creator owned books? This is the kind of stuff I meant. While the basic premise of the story feels a bit “Kids these days with the iPhones and their Google Watches and their computers, back in my day…” for me to really get behind it, it’s book that feels like it’ll definitely have more going on than whatever the hell was happening to “Uncanny Avengers”.

Add to that the fact that Remender will be working with the artistic maestro that is Sean Murphy – an artist I will buy books for because his name is on them – and colourist extraordinaire Matt Hollingsworth and you can guarantee the book will at least be worth looking at.

TOKYO GHOST #1
STORY: RICK REMENDER
ART: SEAN MURPHY & MATT HOLLINGSWORTH
COVER: SEAN MURPHY
SEPTEMBER 16 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.50

The Isles of Los Angeles 2089: Humanity is addicted to technology, a population of unemployed leisure seekers blissfully distracted from toxic contamination, who borrow, steal, and kill to buy their next digital fix. Getting a virtual buzz is the only thing left to live for. It’s the biggest industry, the only industry, the drug everyone needs, and gangsters run it all.

And who do these gangsters turn to when they need their rule enforced? Constables Led Dent and Debbie Decay. This duo is about to be given a job that will force them out of the familiar squalor of Los Angeles to take down the last tech-less country on Earth: The Garden Nation of Tokyo.

Bestselling writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS) and superstar art team SEAN MURPHY (CHRONONAUTS, Punk Rock Jesus) and MATT HOLLINGSWORTH (WYTCHES, Hawkeye) examine our growing addiction to technology while thirsting for a nature we continue to destroy.

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1. The Greatest Comic You’ve Never Read

Any other month “Tokyo Ghoul” would be getting the number one spot. The new creator book from Rick Remender that teams him with Sean frickin’ Murphy? It’s shoe in! But this isn’t any other month.

This is the month Image is publishing “Head Lopper”, the best comic you’ve never read. Unless you’re lucky enough to have read it. Then it’s the best comic you have read. But still, it’s the best comic.

“Head Lopper” was a story originally self-published by Andrew MacLean that got a lot of attention by being just genuinely a fantastic comic with a lot of energy, wit and action. It framed a simple story with intriguing characters and a world with a lot of mystery and to see it be published by an actual publisher makes me so happy that so many people will get to experience this amazing comic for the first time.

And, hey, if you don’t believe me, believe the pull quote from Matthew Meylikhov’s preview of the original issue back in 2013. Now that’s a recommendation!

HEAD LOPPER #1
STORY / ART / COVER A: ANDREW MACLEAN
COVER B: RAFAEL GRAMPÁ
SEPTEMBER 9 / 96 PAGES / FC / T / $5.99

Action. Adventure. Fantasy. Decapitation!

ApocalyptiGirl creator ANDREW MACLEAN brings this critically acclaimed indie hit to Image Comics! The dark humored quarterly adventure begins with a double-sized first issue, with eighty pages of story and a premium pin-up gallery for the regular price of just $5.99!

“HEAD LOPPER is what you’d get if Mike Mignola wrote an issue of Brian Wood’s Northlanders by way of James Stokoe’s ORC STAIN.” – Multiversity Comics.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

Alice W. Castle

Sworn to protect a world that hates and fears her, Alice W. Castle is a trans femme writing about comics. All things considered, it’s going surprisingly well. Ask her about the unproduced Superman films of 1990 - 2006. She can be found on various corners of the internet, but most frequently on Twitter: @alicewcastle

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