Another week to jump into the world of comics! Whether you are looking to get into comics for the first time, back after a long time, or simply looking for new series to read this article is here to help. Let’s take a look at Ongoing New Comics Starting New Arcs, New Series Debuting, and Graphic Novels being released. Also make sure to check out this week’s Pick of the Week!
Ongoing Series Starting New ArcsÂ
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Description: Meet the Marvel Universe’s New Fabulous Foursome: THE FANTASTIX! Wait. What?! Who are these imposters? Why are they in the Baxter Building?! And how is it that they own the lease?! A strange new turn in the Fantastic Four’s legacy! A secret side mission for the Thing! All this and a special appearance by one of the FF’s oldest foes!
Why Start Here: It took a few issues but the Fantastic Four are now fully back in the Marvel comic universe proper. This issue looks to begin a new arc as Dan Slott sets off to create new villains for Marvel“s first family. One thing that Slott has done steadily with his career with Marvel is creating characters that stay around for some time like Silk. Perhaps the team of the Fantastix will follow suit.
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Norm Rapmund
Description: The Joker“s back””and he wants to turn Batman and Robin into a punchline once and for all! The original Clown Prince of Crime returns to stalk Neo-Gotham in part two of “The Final Joke”“! Can you guess what happens when he encounters Barbara Gordon for the first time in decades? And when Robin gets caught on a video feed for the first time, no one“s more delighted than The Joker.
Why Start Here: You have one of DC“s most accomplished current creators writing the greatest comic book villain of all time? Although the Joker officially returned the last issue this is when the return takes full shape. Batman Beyond has been a rather underrated and under talked about series as of late, but hopefully bringing in a character like the Joker can change that.
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Jackson Herbert
Description: The Silencer better get a snowplow guy on the horn quick, or she’ll “Die Another Snow Day” in part one of this new epic! The first year of the series builds to this, so expect all the loose ends to get tied up. As the Leviathan War approaches its fateful conclusion, Talia’s true goal stands revealed-and it means bad news for everyone in THIS Multiverse. And when a blizzard cripples South Carolina, Talia takes advantage of the snow job to put her plans into place. Can Silencer put this scheme on ice, or will she get a fatal dose of frostbite instead?
Why Start Here: With more and more of the New Age of Heroes titles being canceled it is hard not to wonder if one should start reading a title that may not be around for much longer. Silencer though comes off as a character that will most likely be around even if her title isn“t. She fits perfectly into the Batman world so the Outsiders series coming up in the future there is a great chance she could pop up there or other Justice League titles.
New Series Debuting
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Mike Henderson
Description: DEAD MEANS DEAD. The writing’s been on the wall for months now… Logan is dying. And he ain’t getting any better. Sick from the Adamantium coating his skeleton, his search for a cure has led to nothing but dead ends. But for once he’s actually trying to leave this world with some unfinished business… Can Logan take his last breath without slaughtering the X-Men again? Not if Mysterio has anything to say about it…
Superstar creative team ED BRISSON (OLD MAN LOGAN, UNCANNY X-MEN) and MIKE HENDERSON (DEADPOOL VS. OLD MAN LOGAN), with covers by DECLAN SHALVEY (MOON KNIGHT), is putting this old dog out of his misery with a bang!
Why Start Here: Sure Marvel is milking the return and now death of Wolverine/Logan for everything that it is worth. Ed Brisson has been doing some strong work as of late including his run on Old Man Logan so there is hope for this series. Also, this might be one of the few ”˜Death Of“ stories that follows through with its premise.
Writer: Eve Ewing
Artist: Kevin Libranda
Description: When a group of world leaders is taken hostage by one of Spider-Man’s old foes, Riri Williams will have to step up her game. And she’ll be stunned when someone from back in Sweet Home Chicago enters her life… CHAMPIONS artist Kevin Libranda joins award-winning poet Eve Ewing, as Ironheart steps boldly out of Tony Stark’s shadow to forge her own future!
Why Start Here: Riri Williams has been a character Marvel has been trying to make work. She certainly had moments in Bendis“s run on Iron Man, and know she is getting her own series.Eve Ewing is new to comics but having a poetry background helps a great deal as it requires a great deal of story compression and visual style. Â
The Warning #1
Writer/Artist: Edward Laroche
Description: An enormous machine slowly materializes in a major West Coast city. Who sent it””“and why””“is a mystery, understood only by the malevolent beings gliding silently toward Earth through the inky vastness of space. In response, a multinational combat brigade called Gladiator Two-Six is deployed. Outfitted with next-generation military science and weapons, they’re tasked with stopping any extraterrestrial threat that emerges.
Why Start Here: Â Edward Laroche is doing something that is rare in today“s comic world and that is being the artist and writer of his own series. Image has had success with series like Extremity as of late so there is hope this will work as well. Laroche is new to Image but not to comics. His previous graphic novels Almighty and Waveform were both well received and no doubt helped to get this book greenlit.
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming, Dave Stewart, Michael Avon Oeming
Description: Pressure is mounting within the bureau to uncover the Soviets’ secret plans, but a suspicious cover-up leads one agent off the radar in search of answers. Meanwhile, demonic Soviet occult leader Varvara pushes her team to follow her own whims, and Hellboy is sent on the mission that would lead to his infamous misadventures in Mexico. But even more clandestine plots are at work-both inside the B.P.R.D. and out. Three Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. storylines interwoven into an espionage saga!
Why Start Here: Hellboy is to Dark Horse as Spider-Man is to Marvel or Batman is to DC. His character and would have made up a huge part of the Dark Horse line, and nearly all have been great. There are been plenty of Hellboy mini series and each has done a fantastic job of building on past series while still being new reader friendly.
Graphic Novels/Trade Paperbacks
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Description: It“s a new beginning for the Amazing Spider-Man! Peter Parker“s life is turned upside down when a revelation from the past puts his job, relationships and whole life in jeopardy! And as if that“s not enough, Spidey must deal with an alien invasion (with a mysterious twist), a new roommate (who“s secretly the villainous Boomerang), new wrinkles in his love life ”” and a dangerous new enemy! But are you ready for”¦Peter Parker vs. Spider-Man? Someone out there is impersonating Peter”¦but why? Be here as NickSpencer and Ryan Ottley kick off a brand new era in Spider-Man“s life!
Why Start Here: After Dan Slott ended his epic run on Spider-Man the question became who would take over. Nick Spencer has his detractors but his sensibilities have worked well for Peter Parker, and he is doing something many Spider-Man fans have been wanting for years by bringing back the Marijane and Peter relationship. Also Ryan Ottley was born to draw Spider-Man.
k Label Edition
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Description: The complete 12-issue run of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is collected in a new trade paperback as part of the Black Label line! Witness the Man of Steel in exciting adventures featuring Lex Luthor, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Bizarro and more! Plus: Superman goes toe-to-toe with Bizarro, his oddball twin, and the new character Zibarro, also from the Bizarro planet.
Why Start Here: All-Star Superman is in the top echelon of best Superman stories ever, and perhaps one of the best comics period of this century. This Black Label Edition is not adding more to the story that was not there outside of a new label, but why mess with what is not broken. This is one of those stories that anyone should read even if they are not Superman or superhero fans.
Writer: Garth Ennnis
Artist: Goran Sudzuka
Description: So these two FBI agents walk into a warehouse…
Special Agents Shaw and McGregor handle the routine cases nowadays, which is just the way Shaw likes it. She’s pushing 40, a borderline burnout, the ghastly memories of her last investigation still clinging like shadows. McGregor is younger, more dedicated, hanging onto some measure of idealism whatever the world might throw at him.
When two fellow agents go missing inside a Long Beach warehouse, Shaw and McGregor are sent to investigate. But what they find waiting is far from routine, as the local police have already discovered to their cost. Before the night is out, our heroes will encounter terror beyond their most appalling nightmares-in a place where the night may never end at all.
A new kind of horror story for modern America, written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys, Crossed) and drawn by Goran Sud uka (Y: The Last Man, Hellblazer)
Why Start Here: One thing Aftershock has done well as a publisher is mixing their line with new talent as well as comic veterans. Garth Ennis is one of the greatest writers of his day and this is one of the best series he has done in some time. If you ever read Preacher you know he can do horror and this may be even more disturbing. There is a sequence in this series that will stay with me forever. If you are the type of person who likes to see boundaries pushed this is a fantastic series to read.
Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Jorge Coelho
Description: Brian Wood, the visionary writer behind DMZ and Briggs Land , and Jorge Coelho (Venom, Rocket Raccoon) present a provocative vision of a future where justice is crowd-sourced and lethal. It’s been decades since the RoboCop program first began. Corporations have taken over the schools and the government.and law enforcement is the biggest private contract of all. Traditional police forces no longer exist as all citizens are encouraged.and rewarded.to spy on their neighbors. There is only one authority on the streets: ROBOCOP. Collects the complete 5-issue series.
Why Start Here: When it comes to licensed books it can be easy to skip right over them. When a writer like Brian Wood is behind one there is a reason to pay attention. For those who are fans of the Robocop franchise and want to see it evolve in an interesting way that is true to the original this is a solid read.
♦Pick of the Week♦
Writer: Â Mike Carey
Artist: Â Peter Gross
Description: To be born a slave is a fact, not a fatality. And facts can be changed. In the country of Ossaniul, there is a fortress that is as disproportionate as it is inaccessible: the Highest House. Its masters, the noble family of Aldercrest, reign over a veritable army of slaves. At the bottom of the ladder, young Moth performs the most thankless tasks and has little hope of living past childhood. Until the day he meets Obsidian, a mysterious prisoner of the House who whispers to him in his sleep. If Moth does what he asks, Obsidian will give him fortune and glory. And there’s every indication that Obsidian can make good on his promises. Will Moth accept the offer?
Through a subtle alternate history, The Highest House takes us to a fictional country reminiscent of the Balkan kingdoms of the 16th century. Mike Carrey and Peter Gross (Lucifer, The Unwritten) draw from this context a captivating fantasy narrative that reflects on the human soul, the corrupting power of slavery, and the inequalities of class, all from the different perspectives of the House’s many inhabitants. Both immediate and timeless, The Highest House is a multifaceted fantasy sure to stay with readers long after the final page has turne
Why Start Here: Much was made about Batman Damned…for many reasons…but one of those was how it was using an oversized format. Personally, I feel The Highest House did much more with that design so the simple turning of the page felt like a different experience. This is a book you will want to read in physical form if you can. Outside of being a gorgeous book, it is a type of story we do not get that much anymore One that feels equal parts historical fiction and fantasy. It does wonders building this fascinating world that feels that world with agreat characters. This is one of the best comics of the year and needs much more attention than it got.
Author Profile
- A fan of all things comics. Growing up on a healthy diet of 90's Batman and X-Men cartoon series ignited a love for the medium that remains strong today.
Latest entries
