Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest” of what’s coming your way in the now-available April 2016 Previews catalog. Having already taken a look at what Marvel, Dark Horse, DC, and Image have lined up for us, it’s now time to check out the other 75% of the catalog.
Before we jump into the things you should keep an eye out for, a quick reminder. As one-half of the Robots From Tomorrow podcast, I go through the whole Previews catalog each and every month with co-host Mike Romeo, talking about things that catch our eye and quicken our pulse. If you listen to those episodes, you should still read this column because there will not be a 100% overlap, and if you don’t listen to those episodes, they are a great way to hear Mike & I go into further detail about some of the things I’ve spotlighted here.
That said, let’s dive in!
10. FOR THE MAGICAL DELINQUENT IN YOUR LIFE…
Our list starts off this month with a Black Mask debut! Girl groups are making a comeback in the comics zeitgeist, be it Vaughan & Chiang’s “Paper Girls” or Thompson & Campbell’s “Jem & The Holograms”. Given Black Mask’s punk aesthetic, and knowing what I know about how simultaneously thoughtful and take-no-prisoners writer Katy Rex can be when it comes to telling engaging stories, I have little doubt that people will be adding “Jade Street Protection Services” to the list of comics to keep an eye out for in 2016.
JADE STREET PROTECTION SERVICE #1
Written by Katy Rex
Illustrated by Fabian Lelay
Published by Black Mask ComicsIn this new series that mashes The Breakfast Club with Sailor Moon, Kai, Saba, Noemi, Divya, and Emma are (bad) students at Matsdotter Academy, an elite private school for magical girls. When they all meet for the first time in a totally unfair detention, these punk rock witch delinquents cut class and discover the fates Matsdotter has in store for them are even more sinister than they suspected. With JSPS, the creative team of writer Katy Rex, penciler/inker Fabian Lelay, colorist Mara Jayne Carpenter, and series cover artists Annie Wu and Kiki Jenkins channel Black Mask’s edgy, subversive sensibility into a whipsmart adventure for delinquents young and old.
9. IT *IS* A TUMOR!
Oftentimes, a story protagonist has only their wits to get them through whatever hardship a story throws at them. Especially in detective fiction, where it’s up to the main character to piece together clues and other seemingly unrelated bits of information into a coherent timeline of events in order to figure out who the guilty party is. But what if you’re a private investigator, someone whose entire job and livelihood depends on your mind…and you can no longer trust it? Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon follow up “Elk’s Run” with “Tumor”, an OGN about just that very scenario. Originally released in 2006, the story is getting an 10th anniversary HC edition this month from Oni Press.
TUMOR: 10TH ANNIVERSARY HC
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Illustrated by Noel Tuazon
Published by Oni PressPrivate investigator Frank Armstrong barely scrapes by in the Los Angeles underbelly until “the big one” hits his desk. Locate and retrieve the daughter of a drug kingpin, and he can finally afford more than the one-dollar meatloaf. Unfortunately, the job offer arrives just as the symptoms of his fatal, late-stage brain tumor intensify. Frank must find the target and keep her safe while time collapses, family turns into foe, and the specter of his murdered wife resurfaces in the eyes of a mobster’s daughter.
8. JUST YOUR AVERAGE SCI-FI-PI-HAUNTED-MOON STORY…
The second Black Mask Comics book on our list this month, and the first of two books focusing on shenanigans on one of Jupiter’s moons. (I don’t make up these coincidences, I just roll with them.) It’s a Steve Niles horror book, so that should get your interest right there; although to be fair Niles handles the sci-fi aspects of the story as well as anything else. It’s a sci-fi story drawn by Christopher Mitten, which should also pique your interest. I particularly like seeing Mitten draw hi-tech settings because the waver and scratch of his line really gives the tech he draws a distinct feel. He doesn’t skimp on the details or the setting like other artists might, but he doesn’t try and tighten things up to a Terry Austin degree simply because a scene is taking place on a spaceship cabin rather than a dingy bar. But remember the whole “Niles horror” thing I mentioned earlier? Mitten still gets to cut loose on that as well.
Continued belowTHE DISCIPLES VOL. 1 TPB
Written by Steve Niles
Illustrated by Christopher Mitten
Published by Black Mask ComicsThe crew of the Starship Venture, who blur the line between private eye and bounty hunter, have been hired by a high-ranking Senator to retrieve his teenage daughter after she’s run off to join a mysterious religious cult on a moon of Jupiter. When they arrive on the once-colonized moon, though, they discover it abandoned. And haunted. Collects issues #1-4.
7. THE SHADOW FALLS ON THOSE CLOSEST TO HIM
It’s Matt Wagner writing and drawing The Shadow. Yes, I know he’s done it before. But still… IT’S MATT WAGNER WRITING AND DRAWING THE SHADOW!
THE SHADOW: THE DEATH OF MARGO LANE #1 (of 4)
Written by Matt Wagner
Illustrated by Matt Wagner
Published by Dynamite EntertainmentLegendary creator Matt Wagner returns to both write and draw an all-new tale for the first and most famous of all pulp heroes, The Shadow! Following his critically-acclaimed work on The Shadow: Year One and Grendel vs. The Shadow, Wagner once again lends his masterful talents to unveil “what evil lurks in the hearts of men.” In a storyline that is sure to rock The Shadow’s relentless crusade against crime, Dynamite is proud to bring readers The Death of Margo Lane, a five-issue series written and drawn by Wagner and colored by his talented son, Brennan Wagner. For years, Margo Lane has served as The Shadow’s faithful “friend and companion,” the closest and most intimate of all his many agents. But when will that proximity to The Shadow’s dark and violent world take its ultimate toll on her? And what effect will his lover’s loss have on the driven and brooding Master of Darkness? This series presents a powerful and resonant tale in the sort of pulse-pounding pulp style that only Matt Wagner could deliver!
6. WANDERING NO MORE!
I always get this series confused with Coleen Doran’s “A Distant Soil”. Both were sci-fi comics created, written, & drawn by female cartoonists. Doran’s started in the mid-1980’s and is still continuing, although looking to finally wrap up sometime in the next year or so. Wood’s ran 21 issues from 1993 to 1997 and is now being collected in a hardcover edition by the folks over at Dover Publications. Dover has had several of their reprint books show up in this column, so you can bet that this book will be just as good of a repackaging as those earlier efforts. I’m looking forward to finally reading this and hopefully putting an end to my confusion over the two series.
Continued belowTERI S. WOOD’S WANDERING STAR HC
Written by Teri S. Wood
Illustrated by Teri S. Wood
Published by Dover PublicationsThis much-praised space drama follows the far-flung adventures of Casandra, daughter of the President of the United Nations of Earth and the first terran accepted into the Galactic Academy. Casandra discovers to her woe that Earth isn’t the most popular of planets and joins the outcasts working on Wandering Star, the Galactic Alliance’s prototypical spaceship. When the Bono Kiro, the Alliance’s longtime enemy, makes a sudden reappearance, Casandra and her misfit crew just might turn out to be the galaxy’s last hope. Sure to delight the legions of fans of the series, this beautiful hardcover edition collects all 21 of the original comics for the first
time.“Wandering Star is a beautiful story, written years before its time. Space epics were not in vogue when Teri Wood wrote and drew this story. She didn’t do it for fame, or money, she did it for love. And, she crafted her story without the influence of today’s trendy tropes. That’s the perfect combination for timeless fiction. Since its completion, Wandering Star has sat squarely in the company of the most beloved works of fiction, waiting for its time. Thanks to this omnibus, the time is now.” — Terry Moore
“Simply one of the best sci-fi comics ever written.” — Overstreet’s Fan Magazine
“[Wood’s] science-fiction series shows her clear vision of story and character — and excellent ability to delineate both.” — Comics Buyers Guide
“Good science fiction turns on a compelling ‘what if’. In this case, it’s ‘What if the Earth wasn’t the center of the civilized universe?'” — Comics Worth Reading
“No one should be allowed to write a first book this good. A cross between Anne McCaffrey and Jim Starlin; humanistic yet still plot-oriented.” — Cold Cut Distribution
5. HE PICKS UP A BUS AND HE THROWS IT BACK DOWN…
It’s an oversized collection of James Stokoe “Godzilla” comics for 10 bucks. If I need to tell you more than that to get you excited, then you aren’t going to get excited no matter what I tell you.
GODZILLA TREASURY EDITION
Written by James Stokoe
Illustrated by James Stokoe
Published by IDW PublishingAn extra-large all-James Stokoe Godzilla extravaganza! Featuring the first issues of Godzilla: The Half Century War and Godzilla in Hell, as well as all of Stokoe’s assorted Godzilla covers over the years, this is the perfect place to get familiar with the master of monster’s work!
4. ALL THIS NEEDS IS GERALD McRANEY AND A GIORGIO MORODER SCORE!
That line can come off as sarcastic, and it’s probably a little more glib than it should be, but I mean it with the best of intentions. “The Cloud” looks like it’s in the same vein as The Never-Ending Story, but when you have a young boy riding a flying canine, you’re not going to be able to dodge that comparison. But if you go over to this USA Today preview, you will see that there’s more to this than that slice of concentrated 80’s YA fantasy. And I love this quote from writer Zachopolous: ““We need strength and patience and good friends to follow us when we choose the longest and most difficult of all the roads,” the writer says. “And this journey will be full of loss but hope will always shine like the North Star, helping us find our way home…But in the end our book is not a lesson. It is just the story of a winged wolf and his young master who will be born thousands of years after we press the red button.”
THE CLOUD HC
Written by K. I. Zachopolous
Illustrated by Vincenzo Balzano
Published by Archaia Publishing“WHAT IS A WISH?”
That is the question the boy must answer for himself as he and his wolf, Cloud, embark on a grand voyage to find the boy’s father and return the wish that was stolen from him. The Cloud is a beautiful, and at times, heartbreaking journey of a reluctant hero forced to outwit a cast of colorful characters: a thieving girl, bizarre creatures from the Great Before, and the Mad King. It’s a quest of self-discovery where the boy will learn that not all wishes can or should come true.
Fans of Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet or the beloved children’s fantasy The Never Ending Story will delight in The Cloud. A grand adventure story filled with unexpected allies and enemies alike, The Cloud beautifully examines themes of strength, bravery, love, and loss.
3. NOT ALL TEAM-UPS ARE VERSUS!
When I first heard of this crossover I thought it was a joke. Not because it shouldn’t exist, but rather that it seemed like such an obvious idea there was no way DC would let it happen. This is the company that killed a 1930’s Superman/Rocketeer crossover, for God’s sake! But, thankfully, someone decided to let the loyal “Lumberjanes” and “Gotham Academy” readers have a little slice of awesome that is this crossover.
LUMBERJANES/GOTHAM ACADEMY #1
Written by Chyna Clugston-Flores
Illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
Published by BOOM! StudiosWhat’s to Love: We adore DC’s Gotham Academy and it’s been on our wish list to have them somehow meet the Lumberjanes. From the great characters to the fun stories, we saw a world in which these two groups could coexist. Fast forward and here we are-the crossover event we’ve dreamed about and can’t wait to bring to you!
What It Is: Something sinister is happening at a mysterious building deep in the woods, drawing the Lumberjanes and the Gotham Academy kids separately to investigate. Is it a weird cabin? An abandoned asylum? The two groups band together to find out what exactly is going on. Featuring a connecting subscription cover by Brooke Allen!
2. A TITANICALLY EPIC DREDD STORY!
I find myself hesitating every time I put a 2000 AD book on this list because I don’t want you, the reader, to think that said book is getting on here JUST because it’s from 2000 AD. Yes, I co-write the Multiver-City One column, and yes, I think that comic and its entire line is criminally underappreciated here in the States. But I try and hold off with mixing those comics with this list until there’s something that I think really stands up to the scrutiny. “Titan” is just that kind of book.
Rob Williams has been making in-roads in US comics with writing “Martian Manhunter” and being tapped to pen the upcoming “Suicide Squad” series at DC, which is great news. But his work on Dredd, and particularly here with Henry Flint, is outstanding. This volume collects all three of the ‘Titan’ arcs and is very new-reader-friendly without feeling like it’s talking down to you. The action is white-knuckle, the stakes are high, and the body-count is higher. If you want to know what Thrill-Power really is, then get this book!
JUDGE DREDD: TITAN TPB
Written by Rob Williams
Illustrated by Henry Flint
Published by Rebellion/2000ADRob Williams and Henry Flint’s runaway hit story – collected together for the very first time! Justice Department has lost contact with its penal colony on the moon of Titan – a big problem considering that it houses over a thousand law-breaking ex-Judges, many of them with heavy grudges. Now Judge Dredd must team up with SJS Judge Gerhart – a man who holds him responsible for ‘Chaos Day’ – and battle a formidable army led by one of the most dangerous ex-undercover Judge’s ever. An extraordinarily powerful collection that pushes Dredd to his very limits.
1. THE END?!?!
There’s no shortage of good comics this month, so why does this licensed crossover book get the top slot? Because Tom Scioli makes this feel like something as far removed from the auto-pilot licensed comics we’re used to seeing as possible. And this is coming from a publisher (IDW) that has put out some great licensed books, so the bar Scioli has to clear to make that statement true is pretty high. But he clears it effortlessly. And then blows up the entire stadium while walking away & putting on a pair of mirrored aviator shades in slow motion. I’d love to get into this series in greater detail, but for now, all I can say is that Scioli (& John Barber) pushes all the toys you love so far from the continuity you know and into this fever dream of a story that it ends up being more reverential than anything you could have hoped. This series is the dream-log of a kid playing with his Joe & Transformer toys, if that kid was hopped up on pixie stix, Kirby comics, Joseph Campbell, Apocalypse Now, and more than a few drops of acid.
And now it’s coming to an end.
G.I. JOE VS TRANSFORMERS #13
Written by Tom Scioli & John Barber
Illustrated by Tom Scioli
Published by IDW PublishingTHE END IS NIGH! Final battle erupts-the forces of G.I. JOE and the AUTOBOTS head-to-head (or head-to-toe, depending on the size difference) with the DECEPTICOBRA alliance! The fate of the universe hangs on every decision!
Well, that was fun! Be sure to check out the Robots From Tomorrow April Previews episode this week and hear us talk about these books and a whole lot more. And let me know what books YOU’RE excited for in the comments section.
