Wednesday is new comic day and here are all of the comics in my pull list, each week I will explain which new releases I am snagging to show what I am looking for in comics. You might find something you want to pick up along the way.
Zdarsky Comic News #9
What isn't there to say about Chip Zdarsky News, it's witty funny, and weird just like Chip Zdarsky. My obsession with comics does not stop at the comics themselves but the dialog around comics, the culture, the releases, and how people share their work. For me, comics are the last bastion of curation vs algorithm. I love going into a shop and being hand-sold something new, seeing which comics are my shop's pick of the week, and finding out what my friends have been reading. So a comic magazine highlighting different creators and their upcoming works is perfect for me. Chip has been providing a free way to learn about upcoming releases, the magazine itself is a wonderful piece of art. It also helps that I've been falling down a Chip Zdarsky rabbit hole since I got back into comics after reading his Howard the Duck run The cover star of this new issue is Deniz Camp, a writer I am so excited to get into with his new #1 this week Assorted Crisis Events.
Assorted Crisis Events #1
Deniz Camp and Eric Zawadzki’s latest creator-owned work, published at Image. Deniz Camp has been having a hell of a moment this year, from his work on Marvel’s The Ultimates, being announced as writer on Absolute Martian Manhunter and being featured on the cover of Zdarksy Comic News. He is an up-and-coming voice in comics and I look forward to reading his work. I still have not read his Ultimates run, as I am not caught up on the Ultimates universe just yet. But I am very much looking forward to it. The other reason I am picking this up is because I am a sucker for anthological stories, I love science fiction short stories and I think these short premises is where the science fiction genre really shines. Listening to Deniz Camp on a recent episode of Off Panel hosted by David Harper was really inspiring I really like his philosophy as a writer and It seems his passion lies with his creator-owned work so I am incredibly excited to read this new #1.
Batman Dark Patterns #4
Case two of Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman's Batman series. When I first learned about Batman Dark Patterns. I fell in love with the premise, a series of self-contained Mysteries in the early days of Batman's career. As I have said I am a sucker for anthologies, Dark Patterns' slower pacing is a really satisfying format, spending three issues on a case at a time. The series gives new readers lots of jumping-on points, the anthological nature of the series is akin to a Batman the Animated series multi-part episode. The main reason I love this run is Hayden Sherman’s artwork. Also known for his work on absolute Wonder Woman which is endlessly creative and beautiful, his work in Dark Patterns is no different, This book has such a distinct look Sherman’s paneling is always so surprising and Batman has one of the most fun and simple designs I've seen in a bat book. If you're looking for a new jumping-on point for Batman this week, here is a great place to start.
Absolute Superman #5
DC’s Absolute Line has been incredible, and it's one of the reasons I am glad that I am getting back into comics right now. Each book has a very fresh take on some of my favorite characters. Jason Aaron has had such a fun take on Superman, trying to capture what has always made Superman great in a modern lens and taking swings you normally couldn't in a Superman book. Jason Aaron has managed to take up a significant part of my new collection, just because he is so prolific, I am reading his TMNT run from IDW, as well as his creator-owned series BUG WARS from Image. He has also done a lot of work at Marvel only recently making the move over to DC, Absolute Superman is one of the most fun books at DC right now and I can not wait to continue reading it.
Snot Girl #19
From Bryan Lee O’Malley creator of Scott Pilgrim, and Leslie Hung. O’Malleys work has been so influential throughout my entire life. Scott Pilgrim was one of the first non-superhero comics I read, and it spoke to me very strongly. It is a series that had a lot of influence on my art and changed as I reread it over the years, naturally when I learned O’Mally had a new series in 2016 I started reading it. Eventually becoming a trade waiter and read the first trade paperback, I loved it and wanted more. At the time I didn't know how to collect single issues and didn't read comics for a long time. Though I wish I did. In 2020 when Vol 3 of the trade paperbacks came out I was reminded how much I loved Snot Girl, and picked up the vol2 as well. I got back into comics reading some of the newly collected Scott Pilgrim at the time. Unfortunately, school got in the way and I never finished reading Vol 3. I have been picking up each issue of Snot Girl not only to support the series. After It was on hiatus for so long, but also in preparation for my complete reread of the series. I can not wait to read this issue, even though I can't just yet.
The Domain TP
Circling back around to Chip Zdarksy for my Trade paperback of this week, the Domain is a comic from the inside of another comic, Chip’s Public Domain series, has been a favorite among the comics world and I just picked up the first trade paperback last week. I am catching up with the series and don't want to miss out on this release. In the series Public Domain, Syd Dallas writes a fresh take on a classic character ‘The Domain’ and this is the comic they wrote. I love meta-fiction and storytelling that takes layered forms and I am so excited to read The Domain.
That is everything for this week's pull list, I usually don’t finish everything I pull right away but hopefully, some short reviews will be written by the end of this week. This week is so exciting and I can’t wait to pick these up.