It’s been an entire year since we last saw a new publication from TKO Studios, the company that brought the Netflix trademark binge to comic books. Though not as striking and punch-packed as Round 1 from the publisher early last year, the second round of titles had promise. At last Round 3 is on its way, and pre-orders are now available. So what does the next incarnation of TKO hold? First, none of the original series will see their sequels just yet. But you will have the option to check out three new mini-series, and two new concepts: an illustrated prose horror book and three TKO “shorts.” Check out previews for all below.
IDW Publishing, Dynamite, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics are getting into the holiday spirit this week for Valentine’s Day this Friday.
IDW Publishing has three books featuring the subject of love: Star Trek: Year Five, Transformers, andNapoleon Dynamiteeach with a romance tale. DC Comics has its annual giant-sized issue for February, too. This time it’s DC’s Crimes of Passion #1. The 80-pager features ten stories by some good teams of writers and artists, including a Bat-story by writer Steve Orlando with fantastic artwork by Greg Smallwood. And there’s even a Green Arrow and Black Canary team-up. The Star Trek cover arrives in two variants, one (above) matching last year’s wraparound kids Valentine format that featured Kirk.
You need to think a bit to see what’s happening with Dynamite’s special Valentine’s Day covers, except maybe for the cover to Death to Army of Darkness#1 by Sebastian Piriz with its big red heart front and center. Dynamite is presenting an odd assemblage of homages to Marvel Comics’ The Amazing Spider-Man covers of the past featuring Mary Jane Watson, which by themselves don’t scream chocolates and roses. But if you collect homage covers, check out Piriz’s homage to the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, Lynne Yoshii’s Vampirella/Red Sonja #6 (matching The Amazing Spider-Man #59), and Sanya Anwar’s covers to Dejah Thoris #3 (matching The Amazing Spider-Man #601) and Red Sonja #13 (an homage to The Amazing Spider-Man #42’s final panel). So along with Dynamite, Marvel Comics gets its own piece of Valentine’s Day attention (whether they wanted to or not). Note: These are just variant covers for the holiday, not Valentine’s Day stories inside.
Check out more of the covers for this week’s books below. and a preview of DC’s Crimes of Passion:
The first major variant comic book cover event of 2020 launches tomorrow as the landmark 750th issue of Wonder Woman arrives at comic stores everywhere. As with last year’s Detective Comics Issue #1000, DC Comics will feature a set of decade-inspired cover art variants plus a sketch cover version, joining an incredibly rendered Joëlle Jones standard cover with Wonder Woman holding the Earth on her shoulders (which might be the best of all), all available in most comic book stores. Nearly 40 other variants will also be available if you’re willing to track them down, from retailer incentives to artist and store-exclusive issues.
Look for homage covers by Joshua Middleton (1940s), Jenny Frison (1950s), J. Scott Campbell (1960s), Olivier Coipel (1970s), George Perez (1980s), Brian Bolland (1990s), Adam Hughes (2000s), and Jim Lee and Scott Williams (2010s).
The first story features writer Steve Orlando and artist Jesus Merino wrapping the Year of the Villain arc. DC announced previously that a story by writer Scott Snyder and artist Bryan Hitch will basically reboot the DC universe timeline, establishing Wonder Woman as the first DC superhero. Other stories were created by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott, Gail Simone and Colleen Doran, Marguerite Bennett and Laura Braga, Mariko Tamaki and Elena Casagrande, Kami Garcia, Phil Hester, and Ande Parks, Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Riley Rossmo, and Vita Ayala and Amancay Nahuelpan. Readers will also find pin-up art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Ramona Fradon, Bilquis Evely, Travis Moore, Liam Sharp, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.
So which is your favorite cover? Check out the final covers and original cover artwork below:
The Silent Seven–a mysterious crime organization from the 1920s-30s, from the time of Miss Fury and… The Shadow? Batman and Robin encounter Professor Pyg and his transforming “Dollotron” masks as the villain crashes a New Year’s Eve party. This is the Robin named Damian, Bruce Wayne’s son, a 13-year-old raised by assassins. Batman must forge a relationship with his son as The Shadow appears out of the past and looking for answers.
DC Comics and Dynamite Comics have partnered for a blend of the past and the present as Batman and The Shadow collide in a new crossover series, arriving at comic book shops today with The Shadow/Batman Issue #1. The Shadow: The World’s Greatest Mystery. The Batman: The World’s Greatest Detective. What if they encounter The World’s Greatest Evil? As they protect New York, and ancient evil surfaces. Can they work together to save their city?
Writer Steve Orlando (Batman/The Shadow, Justice League of America), artist by Giovanni Timpano (The Shadow, Transformers), and colorist Flavio Dispenza (Eclipse), come together to craft an action-filled noir story and a crossover of worlds and characters forged in comics’ Golden Age. DC Comics’ key hero and Dynamite’s classic pulp character are an obvious team-up opportunity.
Check out a preview of Batman/The Shadow, Issue #1, below courtesy of the publishers, as well as a look at another giant release of variant covers–a showcase of comic art talent–from Issues #1 through #3:
Try as you might to come up with the most off-the-hook crossover and you still won’t be able to predict any of the crossovers coming your way this month. Beginning next week DC Comics and corporate brother Warner Brothers are uniting the two improbable worlds of DC Comics and Looney Tunes. Based on idea from Francesco Francavilla in 2010, Elmer Fudd will meet Batman in a dark noir story. But Wonder Woman taking on the Tasmanian Devil? Yosemite Sam teaming up with Jonah Hex and Foghorn Leghorn? Marvin the Martian meets the Martian Manhunter? Wile E. Coyote teams up with Lobo to take on the Road Runner? And a team-up of Bugs Bunny and the Legion of Superheroes?
Yes, April 1 is long past. Don’t adjust your screen. You don’t need to pinch yourself. This is really happening. And we have previews of two of these crossover issues for you below. Plus we have standard cover and variant cover images for each wacky pairing.
DC Comics is also re-releasing the DC/Looney Tunes 100-Page Super Spectacular from the year 2000. Steve Rude supplies an all-new cover featuring Superman and Bugs Bunny, each the icon of the respective franchises.
Each issue is a single-issue special–unfortunately these aren’t being released as monthly titles. It all starts on June 14 with Legion of Super-heroes/Bugs Bunny Special #1, written by Sam Humphries with artwork by Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna and a variant cover by Ty Templeton. The Legion of Super Heroes always thought they had taken their inspiration from the 21st Century’s Superboy. But when they try to bring that hero into their future time, the team discovers to their surprise the caped champion isn’t who—or even what—they expected! Also on June 14, Martian Manhunter/Marvin the Martian Special #1, written by Steve Orlando and Frank Barberi, interior and cover art by Aaron Lopreski, and variant cover by Stephen DeStefano. Martian Manhunter tries to halt Marvin the Martian’s determination for world domination. J’onn is conflicted with his own Martian identity as he attempts to stop the hapless, determined Marvin from blowing Earth to bits in order to gain a clear view of Venus.
It really comes down to one thing. Is the art of Ryan Sook, the superb cover artist for series like Justice League Dark, good enough to cause you to spend $7.99 for an 80-page comic book? Let’s come back to that.
As you may know, Vertigo is an imprint of DC Comics, known for stories targeted at mature readers, including elements of stepped up violence, sexuality, horror and just plain controversial subjects not easily absorbed by the mainstream audience. Mystery in Space is a classic comic book series beginning in the 1950s, known for great sci-fi stories including stories featuring Adam Strange. Suspense and intrigue were key to the original series, and they often had the feel of Twilight Zone stories.
Along with titles like G.I. Combat and Worlds Finest, DC has been making the best of grabbing readers through a little bit of nostalgia, and the title and classic cover of the one-shot anthology Mystery in Space #1, in the style of the original 1950s series, is step one in reeling new readers in. As with short story anthologies, the challenge is whether a writer can really put together a narrative with a beginning, middle and end that can be compelling, exciting, and original, in just a few pages.
The new Mystery in Space is good. Good enough that it leaves the reader wanting more. Sure, not every entry in an anthology will be great or even good. That’s the beauty of an anthology–if it’s good there will be something for everyone. But there is no reason DC cannot continue churning out anthologies like this of classic themed sci-fi stories.
The book starts out with a bang, and the first story “Verbinksy Doesn’t Appreciate It” is a great story about a cyborg with an unwanted cybernetic arm and a classic storytelling session among typical guys in a bar. Written by Duane Swierczynski and illustrated by Ramon Bachs, the story blends alien abduction and The Matrix. Smart and dark, at 8 pages, Bachs conveys panic and emotion nicely.
Green Arrow: Year One and Adam Strange writer Andy Diggle joined forced with artist Davide Gianfelice on “Transmission.” Billions of lives are at stake in a Star Trek Voyager “Year of Hell” throwback, with a female ambassador taking on a computer that rules all like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Quick plot movement and a satisfying resolution highlight this as one of the best stories in the set, although it ends off the mark a bit. I’d love to see more books drawn by Bachs and Gianfelice. Gianfelice’s giant star map room is evocative of Data’s star room in Star Trek Generations.
Writer/artist Ming Doyle serves double duty on “Asleep to See You,” an account of two women pulled apart by time and space. At one level the life and times of a flight attendant of the future, it packs a surprising amount of emotion and delivers a classic Twilight Zone resolution of the happy ever after variety. A simple story, written in a simple style, Doyle proves you don’t need a lot of blatant sci-fi elements to have a successful sci-fi story.
Probably the weakest of the anthology is Ann Nocenti’s “Here Nor There,” which spends too much time with clever dialogue and not enough time with character development. Fred Harper’s unique style didn’t work for me, at least tied up with this story. Not awful, just one to read and then move on.
“The Elgort” is a story more fantasy than sci-fi, and I really liked the adventure story by writer Nnedi Okorafor and artist Michael Kaluta. Like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, it follows a girl flying across a strange land with varying levels of beastie threats. A little Avatar and a little Predator, this story has a cool feel and interesting voice.
Writer Steve Orlando provides a cool glimpse at a coming of age story for centaurs in some far away place in “Breeching.” Artist Francesco Trifogli illustrates a tale reflecting a culture not unlike Mr. Spock’s Vulcan race, struggling with the question “am I a man, or am I a horse?” Not a lot of resolution but themes of loyalty and conformity are well-played here.
Probably the most controversial of the bunch, “Contact High” covers a love triangle among three astronauts on a space mission, and the inevitable result when idle minds in tight quarters erupt against each other. A psychological mini-drama, Robert Rodi and Sebastian Fiumara tell their story effectively, with Fiumara’s art and need special effects renderings the better part of the team-up.
Kevin McCarthy and Kyle Baker’s “The Dream Pool” is full of action but the over-wordy story and big-eyed girl art put this at the bottom of the anthology. There’s probably a good story here but it feels like the creators would have been served by fleshing out the story and art better–it seems a bit rushed.
Sweeping colors, simple concepts and epic level weirdness puts Mike and Laura Allred’s “Alpha Meets Omega” among the best of Mystery in Space. Amazingly they deal, again in only a few pages, with the most heavy of concepts in a refreshing way, that will leave readers hopeful in the face of loss.
“Verbinksy Doesn’t Appreciate It” and “Alpha Meets Omega” really perfectly bookend the anthology, illustrating some good editing thoughts went into this compilation.
So, back to the first question: Is the art of Ryan Sook good enough to cause you to spend $7.99 for an 80-page comic book?
The answer is yes, as I hesitated before buying this issue, but Sook’s awesome blending of fantasy and science fiction with this seventeenth century Valkyrie with archaic or steampunk tools painting a star map inside the hull of her spacecraft, pushed me over the edge. Luckily what resides inside the covers does not disappoint.
