Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest” of what’s coming your way in the now-available July 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. SAY YOU WANNA REVOLUTION?
I remember saying, upon hearing the news that Hasbro would be combining their various properties into a single universe, that they should get Tom Scioli to plan it out because “Transformers vs GI Joe” is one of the best stories either property had ever been involved in. I don’t think Hasbro was listening to me specifically, but I would hope the clear truth of that idea impacted somebody, because now that the event is upon us, I see “Transformers vs GI Joe” co-writer John Barber is involved. Which could be either here nor there in terms of whether this turns out to be a good book or not; after all, Cullen Bunn is also on-board. But what sold me on checking out this series was this video, by Barber, pitching the concept.
Sounds kinda cool, doesn’t it?
IDW REVOLUTION #1
Written by John Barber & Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Fico Ossio
Published by IDW PublishingTHE REVOLUTION BEGINS! Explosions rip across the Earth-and all signs of blame point to OPTIMUS PRIME and the TRANSFORMERS! G.I. JOE refuses to go quietly-and they assemble heroes big enough to stop the invaders! ACTION MAN and M.A.S.K. fight for humanity-but where do ROM and the MICRONAUTS stand? Celebrating more than a decade of stories by IDW and HASBRO, this unprecedented bi-weekly event draws everything together-and leaves nothing standing. The REVOLUTION is here-TAKE A STAND!
9. THE CEREBUS/HELLBOY CROSSOVER YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
Just to be clear: THIS IS NOT A CROSSOVER BETWEEN HELLBOY AND CEREBUS!!! (Although Hell, their current joint residence, is a big place and Cerebus has been known to cross over with other independent comics creations and you never know…)
(Other than the fact this is not a Hellboy/Cerebus crossover.)
It does happen to be the first Dave Sim “Cerebus” comic in over 10 years, which is something worth noting. No matter what you think of Sim as a man, I don’t think his control of craft as a cartoonist is deniable. Take a look at what he can do on the page. Take a look at the LETTERING in those later issues of “Cerebus”. Not even as letters making up words, because that might lead you into ideas calculated to drive sensible people mad, but just as glyphs and forms on their own. Horrible cartoonists can’t do that. Good cartoonists can’t do that. Dave Sim is an exceptional cartooning technician, and for that reason, new Dave Sim is worth taking note of.
Continued belowCEREBUS IN HELL #0
Written by Dave Sim
Illustrated by Dave Sim
Published by Aardvark/VanaheimThe first new Cerebus comic since 2004! Where has Cerebus been since he died twelve years ago? Is he in hell? Purgatory? Limbo? Some strange 1980 disco with links to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Henry Kissinger? Some ancient Greek disco with links to Plato, Socrates, Aristotle? Some 1990s disco with links to The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays, and Oasis? Is he stuck inside his own Cerebus Online Disco Twitter-feed? Well, wherever he is, he deserves it, so feel free to laugh at his misfortune! This one shot leads into the Cerebus In Hell? 4-issue mini-series in 2017 celebrating Cerebus’ 40th-anniversary!
8. FROM THE NERVE CENTRE!
Mentioning “The British Invasion” to a comics fan leads them to think, not of The Beatles, The Stones, or The Who, but of Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, and the like. In the early 1980’s, DC Comics sent editors Dick Giordano and Joe Orlando over to London to headhunt the cream of British talent. That talent was already on display in the British weekly sci-fi comic “2000 AD”, and had been assembled there by, among others, editor-in-chief Steve MacManus. MacManus’ time as Tharg’s main edit droid has been thought of as the title’s real Golden Age, and finally, MacManus is putting out an autobiography covering his time in comics. More than just a book for “2000 AD” fans, this is something all comics fans should check out.
THE MIGHTY ONE: MY LIFE IN THE NERVE CENTRE
Written by Steve MacManus
Published by Rebellion/2000 AD1973, a twenty-year-old Steve MacManus joined Fleetway Publications in London as a sub-editor on one of the UK’s top adventure titles, Valiant. Within six years, he would rise to become editor of the company’s most celebrated weekly, 2000 AD, shepherding it through its ‘Golden Age’ as he commissioned numerous hit series such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sláine, Bad Company, Rogue Trooper, Nemesis the Warlock and more, ensuring its place as the most influential comic Britain has ever produced. For many he remains the definitive editor of the multi-award-winning SF anthology. Now, in this warm and witty memoir, MacManus lifts the lid on the fiercely creative environment that was British comics in the 1970s and ‘80s – from the hugely successful launch of Battle to the controversial censorship of Action, from the brief life of Starlord to the stellar rise of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd, he details the personalities at play and the corporate politics and deadline battles he and others engaged in on a daily basis. With keen insight, MacManus reveals how against all odds 2000 AD defined comics for a generation and became a global phenomenon – one that would spearhead a revolution in the graphic arts that is still felt today.
7. SHOOTING FOR THE MOON
Every month there’s at least one book on this list that I had zero idea of before putting this list together, and this month, that book is “Moonshot”. Like all anthologies, I’m sure there are going to be hits and misses with me (or at least, that’s how these things usually go; this could be an all-hit or all-miss exception, certainly) but even only one hit can cancel out a whole lot of misses. Plus, the subject matter of giving voice to a non-white perspective is one that always deserves a signal boost at the very least.
MOONSHOT: THE INDIGENOUS COMICS COLLECTION
Written by Michael A. Sheyahshe & Various
Illustrated by Jeffrey Veregge & Various
Published by AH! ComicsThis award-winning collection of 13 short stories presents some of the finest comic book and graphic novel work on the continent. Moonshot brings together dozens of creators from across North America to contribute comic book stories showcasing the rich heritage and identity of indigenous storytelling. From traditional stories to exciting new visions of the future, Moonshot is an incredible collection that will amaze, intrigue, and entertain!
6. WALKING THE LUNAR BEAT
I’m a sucker for science fiction in general, but I definitely have a soft spot for science fiction from independent or smaller voices. Moon over Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, as it were. I’ve written about my enjoyment of the comic “Titan”, which falls squarely into the former category, and I’m hoping for a similar sync-up between Tom Gauld’s story and my sensibilities on this book as well.
Continued belowMOONCOP
Written & Illustrated by Tom Gauld
Published by Drawn & Quarterly“Living on the moon …Whatever were we thinking? …It seems so silly now.”
The lunar colony is slowly winding down, like a small town circumvented by a new super highway. As our hero, the Mooncop, makes his daily rounds, his beat grows ever smaller, the population dwindles. A young girl runs away, a dog breaks off his leash, an automaton wanders off from the Museum of the Moon. Each day that the Mooncop goes to work, life gets a little quieter and a little lonelier.
As in Goliath, Tom Gauld’s retelling of the Bible story, the focus in Gauld’s science fiction is personal—no big explosions or grand reveals, just the incremental dissolution of an abandoned project and a person’s slow awakening to his own uselessness. Depicted in the distinctive, matter-of-fact style of his beloved Guardian strips, Mooncop is equal parts funny and melancholy. Gauld captures essential truths about humanity, making this a story of the past, present, and future, all in one.
5. SHINE A LIGHT
The first book from Ulises Farinas’ partnering with Magnetic Press, “Light” is a book that I just have a feeling we’ll be talking about again when it comes to awards season. Not that that’s the only reason to pick up a book or not; what good does being able to tell someone you read a book before them if you ended up HATING it? But I don’t think that will be the case with “Light”. It may not be told in traditional comics style (one wordless image per squared-off page), but that just puts it more in the category of Gregory Benton’s “SMOKE” than your average OGN, and no one can convince me that “SMOKE” isn’t good comics.
LIGHT HC
Written & Illustrated by Rob Cham
Published by Magnetic PressA pair of adventurers embark on an epic quest to collect five magic gems from deep inside the Earth and bring them to the surface to return color to the world. On the way they carry fire-lit torches through secret places and endless passages, swim in crystal-clear waters, encounter strange beasts, and meet strange and mysterious hermits! Writer/artist Rob Cham creates beautiful and vivid illustrations that gradually evolve from black and white subterranean worlds to bright colorscapes. This inspiring all-ages story recalls retro video games and role-playing games, creating a one-of-a-kind mythos of magic lands and mischevious creatures.
4. DEFINITELY GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BOAT FOR THIS…
Jaws is, hands down, one of my top five favorite movies of all time. Maybe even top three. Not just horror or adventure or whathaveyou, but across genres, top three. So I’ve seen it a lot. A LOT. And despite the hours I’ve spent looking at a great white shark on screen, my fascination has not diminished. Neither has my gut reaction to being eaten by one. I know its something that’s not going to happen, but every time I’m in water where my feet aren’t touching solid land, even for a split second, I can’t help but have the thought of a great white swallowing my up from below race through my head, even in the aforementioned split second. That particular terror is very nimble and elusive, let me tell you. And so, knowing that, when I ran across the cover for “Carthago” in Previews, it grabbed my attention like Bruce the Shark grabbed Quint and would. not. let. go.
Then I realized we weren’t talking about a great white here. As impressive as those creatures are, it looks like Humanoids is going prehistoric with the shark in this one: a megalodon. They say Bruce was a 25-foot eating machine in Jaws; the grinning beast on this book’s cover is THREE TIMES that size! And I don’t care what you say, he is grinning on that cover.
Laugh at Sharnado or any other SyFy Channel shlock with sharks or whathaveyou, but I get the feeling we aren’t going to be laughing when we read “Carthago”. And I am completely on board with reading “Carthago”. Just not on board any boat. I’m reading this bad boy on dry land, miles away from either ocean.
CARTHAGO HC
Written by Christophe Bec
Illustrated by Eric Henniot, Milan Jovanovic
Published by Humanoids Inc.The megalodon, the prehistoric ancestor of the great white shark, was the most ferocious predator of the seas, an 80 foot killing machine extinct for millions of years. But when divers drilling in an underwater cave are attacked by this living fossil, oceanographer Kim Melville discovers that this creature may not only have survived, but thrived, and is reclaiming its place at the top of the food chain.
3. READY PLAYER ONE
We talk a bit about this in episode 312 of Robots From Tomorrow, but I think there’s something to the idea that up until recently, there was a sizable gap when it came to advertising video games and what those games actually looked like. Nowadays the in-game video looks better than what we could ever imagine, but in olden days, this tended not to be the case. It was an unwritten rule or understanding among us gamers that the packaging was going to write checks the game itself would probably not be able to cash; the only question was how close would the game come to the initial expectation that packaging created. This art book compiles tons of ATARI artwork from the late 70’s and early 80’s, showing science fantasy artists going full-bore with whatever concept the company gave them and daring the games to catch up. In some ways, it was a better time to be a gamer because it kept you investing more and more of your imagination into the gameplay to make those 8-bit graphics come closer to the more-real-than-real experience promised by the cover art. I’m no looking to give up on 21st century gaming, but I’m looking forward to reminiscing on my 20th century experiences with this book.
Continued belowTHE ART OF ATARI
Written by Tim Lapetino
Published by Dynamite Entertainment“Get in the action with Atari!” Since its formation in 1972, Atari pioneered video game technology and built today’s multi-billion dollar industry, developing arcade games, home video systems, and personal computers to entertain millions of children and adults with fan-favorite games like Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, and Yar’s Revenge. To usher in the new era of electronic entertainment, the company hired an array of talented illustrators to emblazon game cartridges, boxes, magazine advertisements, and more with mind-blowing visions of fantasy and sports thrills, science fiction and adventure, that elevated pixelated gaming to the realm of high art. Art of Atari is the first official retrospective of the company’s illustrative accomplishments, spanning over four decades and cultivated from museums and private collections worldwide. Whether you’re a fan, a collector, or new to the world of Atari, this book offers the most complete collection of Atari artwork ever!
2. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING
I know, I know…ANOTHER Artist Edition. But seriously, how could I have turned this one down? With the sheer wattage of artist involved? Chris Sprouse, Kevin Nowlan, J. H. Williams III, Rick Veitch, Hilary Barta, and more! Can you afford to get original pages from those guys? If you can, then feel free to skip on to the next entry because the rest of this one is for financial mortals. Are they gone? OK, you know the drill with these AE’s: original art pages scanned in color for faithful as-they-are reproduction at 100% size. THE closest you are EVER going to come to having one or any of these pages in your hands to look at and pour over like original art should be looked at and poured over. Oh, and the stories are written by Alan Moore, who I’ve heard from some people wasn’t that bad of a comics writer, all things considered.
AMERICA’S BEST COMICS ARTIST EDITION HC
Written by Alan Moore
Illustrated by J. H. Williams III, Gene Ha, Chris Sprouse, Art Adams & Various
Published by IDW PublishingAlan Moore was the braintrust behind America’s Best Comics, one of the most acclaimed imprints in the history of comics. Comprised of four main titles: Tom Strong, Top10, Promethea, and the anthology Tomorrow Stories, the ABC line paired Moore with the finest artists in comics. This volume will present a beautiful overview of the ABC line, including complete stories from Promethea #10 (Eisner Award-winner for best issue of the year) and Top 10 #7. Additionally, a fine selection of shorter stories featuring Tom Strong, Jack B. Quick, Splash Brannigan, and Greyshirt will be included. Plus a stunning gallery section. The best stories by the best artists in the best format!
1. CEREBUS AND LOVE & ROCKETS? IS IT THE 1980’S AGAIN???
If it were, I’m not saying that would be the worst thing ever, comics-wise. But it is still 2016, which makes this news even more exciting: Los Bros Hernandez are going back to putting out “Love & Rockets” on a thrice-yearly pace! At magazine-size! The way God intended! I’ve loved getting comics from this particular clan of cartoonists (I’m including Mario in there as well) any way and format I can get them, but there is something to be said for seeing their work at 8.5×11 inches. Especially in black&white, the linework just pops. Or the spotted blacks just sink into your field of view the way they can’t quite do at 6.7×10.3.
Continued belowLOVE & ROCKETS (VOLUME 4) #1
Written by Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez
Illustrated by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez
Published by Fantagraphics BooksThe comic book event of 2016! Love and Rockets is back as an all-new, ongoing comic book series (Vol. IV for those keeping track at home)! On Jaime’s side: What do you do when none of your old punk friends want to be punk any more? And just who does the evil Princess Animus think she is? (Hint: She doesn’t know, she has amnesia.) On Gilbert’s side: Family drama takes center stage when a Fritz discovers a grandchild she didn’t know existed! Old fans and new fans are sure to enjoy the most diverse cast of characters in comics, including Maggie, Hopey, Pipo, Fritz, Tonta, Baby, and many more! Plus other surprises! Grrrowl!
Well, that was fun! Be sure to check out the Robots From Tomorrow July 2016 Previews episode later 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.
