Maybe this isn’t as slow a week as I thought. by Matt Baume
It’s a slim week for new comic books, but don’t let that keep you from dropping by your local shop because there’s still just enough good stuff to make the trip worthwhile. Superhero nerds, get a load of the new Moon Knight series, and also a new Riddler series written by actor Paul Dano (I have yet to read an actor-written comic book that is actually good but maybe this is the one).
There is also, wonderfully, a Heartstoppers coloring book, which is just the most pleasant and gay thing imaginable. Fans of creepy kids will be happy to hear there’s a new entry in the Crumrin Chronicles series from Ted Naifeh. And I’m intrigued by Talli: Daughter of the Moon, an epic-fantasy adventure in the style of European bandes dessinées.
Whew! Maybe this isn’t as slow a week as I thought. Thanks to Phoenix, as always, for sorting through the new releases. See you in the funny pages.
Two Graves Issue #1
I’ve been thinking a lot about Angela Lansbury lately, since she just passed away, and how good Murder She Wrote was at communicating in every episode exactly what that week’s mystery was. Yeah, it was a little corny but that show was just so FOCUSED. A little of that discipline would go a long way with Two Graves, a generally intriguing new series from Catwoman’s Genevieve Valentine in which a young woman and a mysterious shrouded man drive across the country delivering death. Emilia, our heroine, has some kind of score to settle with a man who killed a lady who might be Emilia’s mother; her companion seems to have wandered into the story from The Sandman.
Perhaps we’re meant to wonder what brought these two together; perhaps we’re meant to wonder where they’re going with such urgency; perhaps we’re meant to wonder who knows about them. The book is stacked with puzzling questions, but it’s a little disorienting to not know which questions matter. Fortunately, the poetic dialogue and effectively unsettling art elevate what could have been, in less capable hands, a real mess. Readers who can muster up the patience to enjoy philosophical musings will be rewarded.
Rating: 🌠🌠🌠🌠 (4/5)
Writer: Genevieve Valentine. Artist: Annie Wu. Alt cover: Ming Doyle.
Publisher: Image.
Hell to Pay Issue #1
Sexy, pulpy adventure awaits in this fiendishly fun new series about a hunt for 666 coins purloined from hell. Two mercenary treasure hunters are bound by a promise to gather infernal artifacts, and in their arsenal is a wild assortment of weapons, schemes, and tantalizing bare flesh. And, marvelously, just when it seems things are looking up for our main characters, a couple of seemingly impossible twists make their lives even more hellish.
This story would work purely as a high-adrenaline heist adventure, but it’s made all the more enjoyable with the added chaos of demons and deals with devils. Not content to just be well-written, the book is also visually impressive with gorgeously choreographed action, genius color palettes, and some particularly clever panel layouts. My only complaint is that it’s not gay enough, but this is only the first issue and there’s plenty of time for that to change. If you’re impatient for more Black Flamingo, this series is your new obsession.
Rating: 🪙🪙🪙🪙🪙 (5/5)
Writer: Charles Soule. Artist: Will Sliney. Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg. Lettering: Chris Crank. Alt covers: Dave Johnson, Will Sliney, Mahmud Asrar, Mike Del Mundo.
Publisher: Image.
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