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When I begin this list I try to gauge my excitement for this week’s books. There are those weeks I am super pumped for because the array of top-quality books is just too much to contain in one list. This is not one of those weeks. Now that’s not to diminish the books on this list but going into the week it was more of a struggle of putting this list together than in past weeks. On the flip side of that is the fact that weeks like this can often surprise you and books that were not on your radar can end up becoming you favorite. So with that, onto this week’s list.
(Editor’s Note: Solicitations are Provided by the Respected Publishers)
10. Prairie Gods #3
Writer/Artist: Shane Connery Volk
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Solicitation: No Man’s Land. Bill Roberts, a sprightly 124-year-old, tells Freddy Davis a story about his time in WWI. While on a night-time trench raid, a shell burst and knocked him unconscious. He awoke to find a creature injecting him with healing serum. When Germans attacked the creature, Bill fought them off and took the creature to get more of the serum for itself. Once onboard its ship, the creature revealed itself to be a human woman. Bill has never been injured or had an illness since.
Why it Made the List: In the opening I mentioned books that can surprise you and so far I would add this series to that list. I never knew of Shane Connery Volk before I read Prairie Gods but two issues thus far and I am impressed with his work. With the first issue, he did something you do not often see in comics and that is create a captivating car chase that took up the vast majority of the issue. For whatever reason car chases are hard to make exciting in comics so to give yourself that challenge as a creator tells me you trust what you can do as a storyteller.
This has been a series of anthology tales that are closely connected similar to books like Ice Cream Man. Now this issue we are getting a story that takes place in World War Two, and yes I am a forty-year-old white dude so I am into World War Two history. I fit that trope quite well. I am always on the lookout for comic book writers/artists to be aware of and Shane Connery Volk made that list. Any time I see his name I am going to give it a shot until there is a reason not to.
Writer: Christian Ward
Artist: Fabio Veras
Publisher: DC Comics
Solicitation: HARVEY DENT’S GREATEST TRIAL BEGINS! After years of internal conflict, both halves of Harvey Dent have reached an uneasy peace. In DC’s new Two-Face series, Harvey uses his skills as an attorney to resolve the conflicts of Gotham’s weirdest and most dangerous criminals, starting with Victor Zsasz. When Zsasz is accused of murdering a fellow member of Gotham’s underworld contingent, who better to prove a criminal’s innocence than someone who’s been on both sides of the law?
Why it Made the List: We are in a weird time. Personally, I have not been a fan of the majority of Batman books, although that is changing with some of the shifts in creative teams. However, books centered on Batman villains have been quite good over the last few years. We had those One-Day specials that gave us some great issues, the Penguin series was good, and to spoil this list a bit you will see yet another book about a Batman villain later down the line. So can Two-Face #1 keep that going?
I believe it can with Christian Ward as the writer. He is probably better known for his work as an artist but he has written and drawn a number of quality books already including some centered in the Batman universe. Also, Two-Face is my favorite Batman villain. The sheer tragedy of his character gives you so much to work with on top of his iconography like the infamous two-sided coin. So a lot going well for this book before issue one begins.
8. Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #4
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Jonas Scharf
Publisher: Titan Comics
Solicitation: CONAN OF CIMMERIA is haunted by shadows, living nightmares connected to a mysterious eye symbol etched in BLACK STONE.
An unspeakable evil looms over the Hyborian Age and every age connected to it… and it will take more than a lone barbarian to stop its relentless march upon time, space, and sanity.
Why it Made the List: Does every character need an event surrounding them? Probably not but a character like Conan makes a lot of sense. I mean he’s been around forever and eventually, you will need to do something new. At the very least this series has been something new for most characters involved. Sure it is great to see Conan work with all of these different characters but honestly the insanity just starts there. Credit to Jim Zub who has been writing a ton of Conan and still finding new ways to keep those stories exciting.
The art of Jonas Scharf has been great as well. This appears to be the last issue of this event and I do wonder how everything is going to be wrapped up by the end. Credit to Titan because since they have gotten the Conan license they have not looked back. If they were to make something like this a yearly thing I would not be against it. Maybe people who have a longer history with the character than I do are not a fan of it, but as someone who considers himself a moderate Conan fan been enjoying what they are doing.
7. Dick Tracy #6
Writer: Michael Moreci, Alex Segura
Artist: Geraldo Borges
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Solicitation: THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR DICK TRACY STARTS HERE — THE PERFECT JUMPING-ON POINT!
Still reeling from the fallout of the bloody gang war that gripped the city, Detective Dick Tracy has little time to recover as he confronts a series of grisly murders. With bodies piling up, a newly deputized Pat must grapple with his new path, and Tess makes a startling discovery — all kicking off the must-read second arc of one of the most acclaimed new series of the year!
Why it Made the List: Hey look another Mad Cave book has made the list. This week is indicative of why my respect has grown so much for them as a publisher because they have found the right balance of licensed books and original tales. It’s been a while since we had a great Dick Tracy comic and you get the sense that Michael Moreci, Alex Segura, and Geraldo Borges made it their mission to change that.
This is a Dick Tracy comic that is not afraid to be a Dick Tracy comic in how it embraces what made this title one of the most popular Comic strips of all time, and yet it never feels dated. Credit to Geraldo Borges who is able to design a world that fits that mold as well as the colors of Mark Englert who help make the atmosphere pitch perfect. This is the start of a new arc so if you have yet to read this you have a great opportunity to jump and give it a try.
6. ‘Patra #4
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Scott Kolins
Publisher: Dark Horse
Solicitation: Patra ends her first exciting arc of horror and death by confronting her fears and meeting the maniacal Jeremy Jones in a final battle for the lives of two innocent young girls that Jones holds captive. Only then will ‘Patra learn that Jeremy is just the first part of a terrifying odyssey she must undertake, involving countless other monstrous terrors, in order to ultimately unlock the secret of her very existence.
Why it Made the List: If you told me this time last year that James Robinson and Scott Kolins would be teaming up for another series I do not think in a million guesses I would have been able to guess this would have been the book they would do. Now that’s more due to my lack of creative thought because clearly Robinson and Kolins are capable of much more than I gave them credit for. (Or maybe it is just because I want them to just do more Starman) Reading this you can see their love of the horror genre with shoutouts to greats like Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre to just name a few.
Kolins’s line work here is incredible as the world has this sketchy-like design to add to the uneasiness. Unlike a lot of horror comics that feel inspired by past greats, it never feels reductive of what came before. The supernatural element helps separate itself from other slashers of a similar ilk. This is the last issue so probably not the best jumping on point, but if you are a horror fan and missed this check it out in trade.
5. Absolute Superman #2
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Rafa Sandoval
Publisher: DC Comics
Solicitation: The Lazarus Corporation sent their most battle-hardened crew of Peacemakers to locate the mysterious fugitive interfering with their mining operations — but they weren’t expecting one motor-mouthed, iron-willed woman to be the one to finally get the cuffs onto him!
Why it Made the List: So far every book in the Absolute universe has made this list. I am hoping that does not change. Reading the first issue of Absolute Superman it felt like the book that was playing the long game the most. Jason Aaron appears to be using a similar story design he did for Thor: God of War where we have consistent shifting timelines that move between Krypton and the present day. So far too Superman seems the most charged by this world, although we have yet to get a lot of time with him as a character.
I do hope this issue helps change that so we can better see how all these different changes impact Superman as a hero. It did end up on a bit of a cliffhanger in how one of Superman’s most connected allies is brought into his world. That too will change a great deal. The first issue gave us a lot of questions that were asked and it has me intrigued to see how those will be answered.
4. X-Men #8
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Ryan Stegman
Publisher: Marvel
Solicitation: “RAID ON GRAYMALKIN” PART ONE! With one of their own incarcerated, the X-Men move on Graymalkin Prison in order to free their teammate. But it’s not just one team — in Alaska, Cyclops’ X-Men scramble a rescue mission, while in Louisiana, Rogue’s X-Men move to strike out on their own sortie. Doctrinal rivals each with their own objective, will these two fractious teams find themselves at cross-purposes? After all… an “X” is made by two lines crossing.
Why it Made the List: An X-Men crossover already? Of course, it is the X-Men after all. That’s not why exactly this has made the list because of all the X-Men team books this is the one I am enjoying the most. I did not expect that going in but the combination of the characters and story that have clicked rather well]. Before you as, yes a lot of that is because of the fun ways they have used Juggernaut. I am a sucker for a human cannonball. Also, Cyclop’s storyline has perhaps been the most intriguing since the Age of Krakoa ended. The ending of the last issue gave us a major cliffhanger and has me wondering where exactly the X-Men will be going.
Will that tie into this X-Men event? It seems most likely and while crossovers can massively hurt the wallet when they work they can be something special. Thinking of storylines like X-Cutioner’s Song and Endangered Species that hold a special place for me in my X-Men fandom. So far the X-Men line has felt rather separate so intrigued to see how it can tell one cohesive tale and bring them all together.
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #4
Writer: Juni Ba
Artist: Fero Peniche
Publisher: IDW
Solicitation: As a new district attorney takes office in New York City, stoking backlash against the acceptance and political progress mutants have been striving for, Nightwatcher is on the hunt for the Mutant Town crime boss Lao Ban. The only lead to Lao Ban is already trying to escape the city, though, and there’s no guarantee he’ll give up the intel Nightwatcher needs. If Nightwatcher can’t persuade him to turn on Lao Ban, the trail will go cold… and they aren’t the only one who’s been tracking down Lao Ban’s loose end.
Why it Made the List: As we are in the last month of the year it has me wondering who should be considered some of the Top Creators of the year. One that would qualify for me would be Juni Ba for not only his work on this book but also for his series The Boy Wonder. I like the way he approaches the superhero genre which is very character-centric. Jennika is a character with many vocal fans so happy they are getting a book that is taking her in such a fulfilling direction. This feels in a similar spirit to where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated as you get this overtly gritty take on superheroes inspired by Vengange.
By no means is it a parody but it certainly is saying a lot regarding what that type of direction can do for a character if left unhinged. With the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hyper-focused on specific Turtles, this has also done a lot of heavy lifting of what the general world is looking like right now. So if you are a Turtle fan and have been missing this you probably want to change that.
2. Poison Ivy #28
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Marcio Takara
Publisher: DC Comics
Solicitation: There is something stirring in the world — a primordial force that has been reawakened by the one and only Pamela Isley, and another that is very unhappy about the former’s return. Ivy’s fight against the Order of the Green Knight sends her down a strange and horrifying path where she discovers that her actions have had a far wider-reaching impact than she ever dreamed.
Why it Made the List: I told you this was coming when Two-Face #1 made the list earlier. Right now when it comes to DC so much focus has been focused on the new comics or the new teams. I understand that but let us not forget the books that have been here the entire time. Well…maybe not the entire time but the last few years. Kudos to G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara who have made this so consistently good for so long. We now have a compelling team of characters surrounding Poison Ivy who have been developing their own stories as well. Love how they have been using Killer Croc for example.
They are not trying to make Posiion Ivy a straight-up hero but rather leaning into what makes her a compelling character in the first place. Her heart has long been in the right place and the more the world gets messed up the more her point rings even truer. This arc has just started last issue so it is a great time to jump into this series and experience some of the crazy body horror Takara has in store for me. So be warned if you are squeamish.
1-The Ultimates #7
Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Juan Frigeri
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Solicitation: WHO ARE THE ULTIMATES? A NEW STORY ARC BEGINS! Perfect jumping-on point for the uninitiated! The aftermath of the explosive last issue — including the loss of a major member! Join the Ultimates in their secret HQ as they regroup and launch their bold new plan to change the world!
Why it Made the List: For a very long time Fantastic Four was my favorite Marvel book and it was not close. With this hitting number one yet again, it is as close as ever. I would have loved to be a comic fan in the 60’s being able to see the Marvel universe be built from the ground up month by month. Some of the best to ever do it coming up with characters that would become icons in pop culture for generations. That is not possible but what I love about this series is that it is the closest we could ever get to the feeling using a world we are already familiar with. They are not overtly beholden to what came before so we can get a completely new take on Hulk, Hawkeye, and She-Hulk in a way that is more than making those characters darker.
It is a creative curiosity with a purpose. That fills me with a type of excitement I did not think would be possible for a Marvel book because you are seeing people wonder what the Marvel Universe would look like if it was created in 2024 rather than 1960. Oh, and the story has been fun and entertaining as well. Cannot forget that part. I have no idea what the plans on for the Ultimate Universe but I hope they stick with it because if done right what is being built here could last for some time.
