Titan Comics PUBWATCH: April/May 2022

Titan Pubwatch Banner from Shades Of Magic: The Steel Prince #2

Every little PUBWATCH I do, never seems enough for you, you don’t wanna lose it again, but I’m not like them (those other comics publishers)….

Maybe when you finally, get to love somebody, guess what:

A picture of singer Justin Timberlake with the words "It's gonna Be" on top and "May" on the bottom in large white capital letters

Silly jokes aside, this new Titan PUBWATCH includes a look at the Free Comic Book Day Doctor Who title, the latest Cowboy Bebop adventures, and a new Rivers of London story!

Titan Comics News and Announcements

May and June 2022 Release Schedule

Below is Titan’s current (as of this writing) release schedule for this month and the following month. Please note release dates are always subject to change.

May 2022

    • Gun Honey Vol. 1: May 3rd
    • Bloodborne Free Comic Book Day 2022: May 7th
    • Doctor Who Free Comic Book Day 2022: May 7th
    • Rivers of London Deadly Ever After #1: May 11th
    • Minions Mini Boss #2: May 11th
    • Peanuts: It’s a Dog’s Life Charlie Brown: May 17th
    • The Official Horizon Zero Dawn Coloring Book: May 24th
    • Peanuts Boxed Set: May 24th
    • Blade Runner 2029 Vol. 3: Redemption: May 24th
    • Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf: May 24th

June 2022

    • The Michael Moorcock Library: Elric: Bane of the Black Sword: June 7th
    • Negalyod: The God Network: June 7th
    • Life is Strange Vol. 6: Settling Dust: June 7th
    • Blade Runner Origins #12: June 8th
    • Cowboy Bebop #4: June 8th
    • After Alcatraz: June 14th
    • Blade Runner Black Lotus #1: June 15th
    • Rivers of London Deadly Ever After #2: June 15th
    • Minions Vol. 5: Super Banana Games!: June 21st
    • Doctor Who Origins #1: June 22nd
    • Minions Vol. 6: Mini Boss: June 28th

Time for Some New TARDIS Adventures (Part 1)

The Fugitive Doctor, a Black Woman, is walking through an abandoned spaceship, and looking over her shoulder where a Weeping Angel is behind her.
A preview page from the upcoming Doctor Who: Origins #1, by Jody Houser and Roberta Ingranata.

May is turning out to be a big month for Doctor Who fans. We have the Ruth Doctor (now called the Fugitive Doctor) making her comic debut in the Free Comic Book Day title — We’ll have a review of that title later on in this PUBWATCH. We also have the announcement of a new Doctor Who comic series featuring that Fugitive Doctor…and if that wasn’t enough, only a few short days ago as of this writing, we have the face of the Fourteenth Doctor that will take over later this fall!

But let’s get back to that comic news right now. (This is a comics column after all.) The Free Comic Book Day title sets the stage for a new Doctor Who series starting next month, Doctor Who: Origins. As the title implies, we will get the backstory for this Fugitive Doctor and her work with The Division. We have a look at some of the interior art from the debut issue, where it looks like the Fugitive Doctor has an encounter with a classic villain from the modern era.

Cover collectors will also want to pick up the variant cover from the debut issue, which will feature a glow-in-the-dark Weeping Angel cover.

Doctor Who: Origins debuts on June 8th.  And as for that other Doctor on our TV screens, no debut date is set as of yet, though the hope is we’ll see their face in the final Jodie Whittaker special this autumn.

Time for Some New TARDIS Adventures (Part 2)

Martha Jones, a Black Woman, is facing some skeleton like creatures who do not appear friendly.
Interior art from Dan Slott’s upcoming Doctor Who special from Christopher Jones and Matthew Dow Smith

As if this new Doctor Who series news wasn’t enough to tickle TARDIS fans pink, we also have the first of three specials from Dan Slott coming this summer.  We have a look at some unlettered interior art from artists Christopher Jones and Matthew Dow Smith, which features the Tenth Doctor and Martha and some unbelievable tales that will hopefully save Martha’s life.  (Whatever Martha’s face-to-face with above…well, that doesn’t look pretty.)

This special, which features variant covers by Adam Hughes, debuts on July 6, 2022.

New Bloodborne Series Revealed

A masked white man stands over a tentacled creature with multiple eyes, ready to attack it.
The cover to the upcoming Bloodborne: Lady of the Lanterns #1 by Junggeun Yoon

Titan’s other Free Comic Book Day title, focusing on the Bloodborne universe, also sets the stage for a new series. Bloodborne: Lady of the Lanterns #1, written by noted horror writer Cullen Bunn and featuring art by “Sex” artist Piotr Kowalski, features quite the timely story.  New hunters face a danger that is too small to their naked eyes: a pandemic that has gripped their city. Bonds of family and faith end up tested as the smallest of villains provides the gravest of threats.

We have a look at the cover for the debut issue above, drawn by Junggeun Yoon.  Bloodborne: Lady of the Lanterns #1 drops on July 27, 2022.

Gun Honey Volume 2 Details Revealed

A White woman, dressed as a showgirl, is standing backstage atop a crate holding a rifle. She is looking through the curtain with a surprised look on her face.
The cover to the upcoming Gun Honey: Blood for Blood #1 by Adam Hughes

Last PUBWATCH, we shared the news that Hard Case Crime’s Gun Honey was coming back for a second volume titled Gun Honey: Blood for Blood, and we now have a look at one of the covers above, courtesy of Wonder Woman and Catwoman artist Adam Hughes. Artist Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau, known for his work at Marvel and DC, will provide another one of the covers.

With this cover reveal, we also have a release date for the Gun Honey: Blood for Blood debut issue: August 24th.

While you wait for the new series, you can read the first volume of what Ed Brubaker called “the finest kind of pulp noir,” available now.

Titan Enters the World of Manga

Manga is one of the most popular media out there, and it comes as no surprise that Titan joins the manga publishing world with their new imprint, Titan Manga.  The debut title from Titan Manga this summer will be the cult classic from Takashi Okazaki, Afro Samurai. Originally published in serialized form from 1998 to 2002, and later becoming an anime featuring Samuel L. Jackson, the volumes are reprints of the English translations from 2008 and 2009.  Get ready for a futuristic feudal Japan where a young samurai (the title character) fights to avenge his father’s death.  This volume was the first to blend Eastern and Western culture, celebrating Asian pop culture and American hip-hop.   Volume 1 of Afro Samurai drops in August 2022, with volume 2 following two months later in October.

Titan Manga also is partnering with Stonebot to bring the classic Kamen Rider series to a new audience.  The partnership will feature reprints of earlier series Kamen Rider Kuuga and ATOM: The Beginning.  If the second title sounds familiar to you, that’s because it was the basis for legendary series Astro Boy.  Kamen Rider Kuuga, which was first published in Japan in 2014, will get its first English translation. Finally, Titan and Stonebot will publish a new original Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider Zero-One, which is based on the 30th anime series in the franchise.  The first of these titles will come in October with ATOM: The Beginning. Kamen Rider Kuuga will follow in November, and Kamen-Rider Zero-One will come sometime this fall or winter.

What I’m Reading

We celebrate Free Comic Book Day with a new Doctor Who story, check in with the crew of the Cowboy Bebop, and have some mystical adventures along the Rivers of London.

(Note that our reviews may contain spoilers, so proceed carefully!)

Doctor Who: Free Comic Book Day Special 2022
Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt (letterer), Jody Houser (writer), Roberta Ingranata (artist), Warnia K. Sahadewa (colorist), Richard Starkings (letterer)
May 7, 2022

The Fugitive Doctor, a Black Woman, stands in front of a tie-dye background. She lowers her glasses, stares at the reader and smiles
Doctor Who Free Comic Book Day Special 2022 by Jody Houser and Roberta Ingranata

One of the most memorable characters from Jodie Whittaker’s tenure in the TARDIS was Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor, a regeneration whose presence generated more questions than answers. With the news that Whittaker was leaving the series, many feared this Doctor would remain a perpetual mystery. But no longer.  The Fugitive Doctor has a new life coming in comics this summer, as reported above.  And Titan’s Free Comic Book Day offering provides introduction to what we can expect.

We have the Fugitive Doctor working for The Division, on a mission that heads to 1962 and interrupts some playtime looking for a renegade named Monstario the Devourer.  And she finds him (and some friends) hanging out in a kids clubhouse, masquerading as toys. It isn’t long before Monstario ends up in captivity and the kids deem the Doctor cool enough to join their clubhouse.  And then a year later, we see the TARDIS again, with a very familiar face.

The Fugitive Doctor’s introduction on TV had viewers musing that William Hartnell’s Doctor was not the true first face of the Doctor, just the first we saw on TV.  The setting of 1962 confirms it, opening up intriguing new paths to explore.  Now there isn’t much characterization to this Doctor, so there’s an assumption that the reader has seen the Fugitive Doctor on TV. I’m hoping more of this backstory comes forward in the main series, but what is here provides fine prequel to what we can expect next month.

Artwork is well-executed, though there is a timelessness to the children. Without text calling out that it was 1962, you would have not known otherwise.  Monstario and his associates are fun and colorful, certainly fitting the look of children’s toys. I always love Roberta Ingranata’s background work in Doctor Who comics. She leans hard into the cosmic side of the Doctor’s travels, providing some amazing space backgrounds.  While the color work on the Doctor’s suit is rather muted from what was seen before, combining light pastels with red for Monsrario mixes sweet with sinister quite effectively.

I’m glad that we have another chance to explore this Fugitive Doctor’s origins, for I have a suspicion it is going to shake up canon in some exciting ways.

Cowboy Bebop #3
Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt (letterer), Emilio Lecce (colorist) Lamar Mathurin (artist), Richard Starkings (letterer), Roman Titov (colorist), Dan Watters (writer)
April 27, 2022

Spike, Faye, and Jet are jumping through space.
Cowboy Bebop #3 by Dan Watters and Lamar Mathurin

The race is on to get back to Cylene and make the trade the Bebop crew needs for the vest, whose powers certainly tempt Faye and the others. (Spike’s temptation? The rare noodles they are trading for the vest. But it’s okay, they had extra.) They have competition on their trail from the Motuur Twins, stellar bounty hunters in their own right. Will this mission go down as expected or will the Bebop crew end up short yet again

Most of this issue is that chase, but there are also several pages devoted to explaining the origins of this vest.  These moments are a fine combination of script and art, using the metaphor of the noodle bounty to explain just how the vest works.  It’s complicated quantum physics made simple, and that’s no easy feat.  Of course, the Syndicate has to make an appearance, and thankfully that appearance is fleeting — no Spike-Julia-Vicious love triangle here.

Design in this series has been a highlight. And this issue is no exception.  The mod cyberpunk Cowboy Bebop continues to shine on the page, from the backgrounds to the character design. You can tell Lamar Mathurin did his homework, but also doesn’t hone 100 percent to it.  There’s enough room for individuality, particularly in some steampunk design elements.

Mathurin also knows how and when to use detail effectively to show perspective.  He pulls back on it for worm’s eye shots, while leaning into it to give a sense of person and place. If there’s any black mark against his work, it’s a few cheesecake shots of Faye from behind that don’t contribute to the action of the moment.  The pencils and inks are only half of this story. Colorwork stays true to previous issues and what we expect from Cowboy Bebop. 

This series continues to show just what might have been for the Netflix show.  And while it’s bittersweet, the opportunity for continuing these stories in comics is one this creative team does not take lightly.

Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After #1
Ben Aaronovitch (creator), Jose Maria Beroy (penciler), Celeste Bronfman (writer), David Cabeza (inker), Jim Campbell (letterer), Andrew Cartmel (script editor), Jordi Escuin Llorach (colorist)
May 11, 2022

Two pink-haired women in Victorian attire stare at a book, which glows and has tentacles coming out of it.
Rivers of London Deadly Ever After #1 by Celeste Bronfman, Ben Aaronovitch, Andrew Cartmel, Jose Maria Beroy, and Daniel Cabeza

The TV series Once Upon a Time combined modern times with fairy tales, showing that when the two worlds collide, neither will be the same. This new Rivers of London series, Deadly Ever After, is certainly that show’s heir apparent.

For sisters Chelsea and Olympia, a camping trip turns ominous after some magic berries leads them straight into a modern version of Little Red Riding Hood. The key to understanding these strange doings comes from a 19th-century fairy tale book the little girl (in a red hoodie, naturally) holds. Now there’s only one person in London who can get to the bottom of this mystery: Peter Grant. The question remains: can Peter and his team get to this book before it unleashes even more trouble?

Combining fairy tales and modern storytelling sometimes results in a cheesy end product. But writer Celeste Bronfman manages to combine the two without one overtaking the other.  This marriage gets help from the art, which incorporates small touches to refer to these fairy tales. The girl in the red hoodie, whose grandmother was attacked by a ravenous wolf-man is Little Red Riding Hood.  An actor filming a royal movie quitting that film to film a documentary on amphibians (dressed for the part) is the Frog Prince. These get the point of the main conflict across without being tacky.

The solicit does end up giving away some of Chelsea and Olympia’s backstory and their connection to this magical book they receive, which is a shame. It spoils some of the mystery around the sisters that would help heighten tension.

When it comes to the rest of the artwork of this series, colorwork remains a highlight. Jordi Escuin Llorach uses saturation to switch from Victorian times to modern day well, which I imagine will be more useful as we dig deeper into this story and jump back and forth between times.  And the rest of the artwork leans well into detail without it overtaking the story.  Perhaps most welcome is the continued representation throughout the series, showing a diverse London that really looks like modern-day London, featuring lead characters who are Black men and women.

Missing the adventures of Emma Snow and the rest of the Once Upon a Time world? This may be no Storybrooke, but this could fit the bill quite nicely.

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Kate Kosturski

Kate Kosturski

Science publishing nerd (and librarian) by day, comics nerd by day and by night. Also published at Geeks OUT and Multiversity Comics (where she is also the social media manager for the site). Originally from New Jersey, now of Connecticut and New York City. Raging feminist your mother probably warned you about. Body positivity and LGBTQ+ advocate. Lover of good whiskey, football (American and otherwise), baseball (New York Mets in particular), Doctor Who, Lego, Funko Pops, and knitting. Find her on twitter at @librarian_kate

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