And we’re back!
Two-ish months in and it already feels like a year’s worth of things have happened in 2018 (did January last like three months for anyone else?).
Over in the Oni Press corner, we’ve got some catching up to do, so let’s get going.
Things to look forward to:
Have you read Katie O’Neill’s The Tea Dragon Society yet? No? Get on that. Box art for the Tea Dragon Society Card Game by Steve Ellis and Tyler Tinsley has been revealed, along with a little more news of what we can expect from the game itself. This deck-building game promises to “let you bond with your very own tea dragon,” with gameplay taking place over the course of four seasons in which players draw cards that trigger effects and improve their decks. We’ve got an assurance that the art is just as gorgeous in the game as it is in the book, and a nebulous release date of Summer 2018.
Oni Press just announced a new series, The Long Con. Normally, “post-apocalyptic story starring a bunch of nerds in a convention hall” would make me raise an eyebrow and look elsewhere for entertainment, but the series appears to star a Black woman and an Asian man, and writer Dylan Meconis has spoken about wanting to represent the diversity seen in pop culture conventions. So . . . tentative excitement? This one’s up for grabs on July 11th, 2018.
And last, for Valentine’s Day, Oni Press offered some exclusive digital Kim Reaper valentines illustrated by creator Sarah Graley in their Shopify store. Each sheet of four valentines sold for $1, with the option to add on a donation to the True Colors Fund, a charity aimed at helping end homelessness among LGBT youth. The best part is that all the proceeds from the valentines, not just the donations, are being given to True Colors.
Onward to a choose-your-own-adventure of new comics and graphic novels!
If you’re in the mood for something gritty with an interesting style, read:
The Damned, #8
Cullen Bunn (writer), Brian Hurtt (artist/letterer), Bill Crabtree (colorist)
February 7th, 2018
Demon gangs in the prohibition era and a man who is doomed to resurrect over and over again. I’m a sucker for stories with strange genre combinations, but this one leans heavily on its male cast while the women are more like occasional side characters. While past issues I’ve seen have focused more on demons dressed in dapper suits, this one gives a good glimpse of unnerving backstory to its main lead, Eddie.
Made Men #5
Paul Tobin (writer), Arjuna Susini (artist), Gonzalo Duarte (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letterer)
January 17th, 2018
A descendant of Victor Frankenstein uses science to resurrect her dead partners and figure out who gunned them all down. The series has a great artistic style, and is fantastic at keeping you coming back through cliffhangers and a diverse cast of characters, but feels like it’s been trudging along a little slowly for a few issues. Worth checking out, though.
Dead Weight
Terry Blas (writer), Molly Muldoon (writer), Matthew Seely (artist), Fred C. Stresing (letterer)
April 25th, 2018
A surprisingly diverse murder mystery that takes place in a summer weight-loss camp, Dead Weight centers around Jesse, a Latina sent to weight loss camp when she’d rather be designing fashions all summer. The rest of the cast is fleshed out with teens of several ethnic backgrounds, races, and sexual orientations, illustrating quite well Oni Press’ active push for inclusivity. The ending is not quite what you might expect and hinges on the concept of body image as you would expect from a book like this, and it’s an entertaining read and not a kind of story that I’ve seen done before.
If you’re in the mood for monsters and ghosts, read:
Kaijumax Season 3 #6
Zander Cannon (writer/artist/letterer), Jason Fischer (color assist)
January 31st, 2018
Kaijumax has received great reviews throughout its run, and if you love fantasy melodrama centered around monsters, you’ll likely agree. Be aware that this is the finale of the season, so it’s probably best if you go back and read from the beginning to get the full impact of a rag-tag group of monsters just trying to live their lives.
Spectacle #5
Megan Rose Gedris (writer/artist/letterer)
February 7th, 2018
The cubism-type art crossed with Over the Garden Wall‘s art style is really one of the most interesting aspects of this series. The story is set in a circus, where Anna works as a psychic haunted by the ghost of her twin sister as they attempt to find the killer. If you’ve never read this one before, I’d recommend starting with Issue #1, as this isn’t a great series to jump halfway into.
Courtney Crumrin Volume 2
Ted Naifeh (writer/artist), Warren Wucinich (colorist)
January 24th, 2018
Written and illustrated by Ted Naifeh, of the Night’s Dominion series, it’s hard to be disappointed by the story of a little girl trying to navigate an ordinary school life and a magical world full of goblins and witches, and talking cats. If it sounds a little like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, it’s . . . only sort of a little like that.
If you’re in the mood for Rick and Morty, read:
Rick and Morty #35
Kyle Starks (writer), Magdalene Visaggio (writer), Marc Ellerby (artist), Sarah Stern (colorist), Crank! (letterer)
February 28th, 2018
It’s a Rick and Morty comic with a Szechuan sauce reference on an alternate cover and a dinosaur sex scene in the plot, which is more dinosaur sex than I really ever needed to see in my life. Whatever you’re expecting from a Rick and Morty episode is pretty much what you’re getting here.
