Hahahaha, I’m so smart. This week’s BOOM! Bar requires almost no input from me, your host! Except for all that behind-the-scenes organisational hell… but that’s normal. I’m counting it a win.
Why am I home free this week? Because everything’s but the below’s already assigned! Hurray for long-term planning!
The week of Wednesday the 29th sees six releases from the BOOM! network. Two single issues (though one is a ✨Special✨); three softcover longer releases; one hardcover collection. Only two of the six are licensed books (Labyrinth Special and Regular Show softcover Parks and Wreck collection).
The weirdest thing about this week is that Hi-Fi Fight Club, which releases its final issue—four of four—does so under… an entirely new title. HFFC is now “Heavy Vinyl,” which makes no sense to me at all. Maybe they took Nola’s title criticism really seriously? Who can say! Anyway, if you were interested in that title, that’s what it is titled now. Weird.
Here’s what my Jim Henson expert, Annie Blitzen (late of WWAC’s own DC by the Numbers), has to say about Jim Henson’s 2017 Labyrinth Special (Archaia):
This anthology is a charming exploration of some of the nooks and crannies that abound in the setting of Labyrinth. “The Right Steed For The Right Deed” follows plucky Sir Didymus searching for just the right steed for his knightly exploits. The real steed was inside him all along, or something like that. “Into The Bog” touches on the social implications of the Bog of Eternal Stench. “The Wrong Toby,” written by acclaimed author Delilah S. Dawson, is just a fun little exercise in goblin foolishness and a nice tribute to David Bowie. “Beauty Or The Beast” expands upon the character of… Toby, the infant. “Run, Goblin, Run” is another exercise in goblin foolishness and social climbing. The book is a fun read for a fan, but those unfamiliar with the source material should really just watch Labyrinth, because it’s honestly a really good movie.
Amen to that.
Death be Damned (BOOM! Studios, creator-owned, whole story (four-issue collection)), Bad Mask (BOOM! Box, creator-owned, OGN), Regular Show (Ka-BOOM!, licensed, collection of ongoing anthology monthlies) and The Woods (BOOM! Studios, creator-owned; final-but-one volume of eight book collection) are all lined up for review or feature analysis here at Women Write About Comics. So don’t go away.