By Arpad Okay, Stefania Rudd, Brendan F. Hodgdon and Jarrod Jones. Comics that challenge us, slay us, beguile us — the comics we simply can’t wait to devour. That’s DoomRocket’s Staff Picks. From Image Comics’ ‘MCMLXXV’ #1 to Berger Books’ third thrilling issue of ‘She Could Fly’ #3, here’s what has our hearts set ablaze this week.
MCMLXXV #1
Image Comics/$3.99
Written by Joe Casey.
Art by Ian MacEwan.
Colors by Brad Simpson.
Letters by Rus Wooton.
Design by Sonia Harris.
JJ: MCMLXXV is comics delivered with the power of an enchanted tire iron to the head. It’s an ingenious paring of outright sass and sorcery, a pedal-to-the-metal burst of wonder. You’ll wonder where it’s been all your life. It’s that good.
Joe Casey, he of Accell, Sex and New Lieutenants of Metal, lets the fur fly with amphetamine-fueled energy. Ian MacEwan, an artist whose work inspires kind comparisons to Ed Piskor, Ramon Villalobos and Sanford Greene, meets the daunting task of hoisting an ambitious debut on his shoulders and aces it. Brad Simpson shifts hues from sepia-toned vintage cool to lightning-charged warlock warfare with zero fuss. Rus Wooton and Sonia Harris round it all out with Klein-level words and an impeccable eye for schematic perfection. This issue, from page, spine to staple, is a beauty. So embrace it.
Prepare for storytelling grandiosity of Roman proportions. Meet the hordes of expectation head-on and be dazzled. MCMLXXV is next-level Image, an urban myth with style to burn.
She Could Fly #3
Berger Books/Dark Horse Comics/$4.99
Written by Christopher Cantwell.
Illustrated by Martin Morazzo.
Colored by Miroslav Mrva.
Lettered by Clem Robins.
Edited by Karen Berger.
AOK: There is no better medium to authentically portray the voice inside than literature. Sometimes we feel our inner monologue instead of hearing it. To convey it as prose allows for the reader to experience it on a level beyond a voiceover; sometimes to speak it is too concrete. To read it, as we read every other part of the story, allows us to be it. Christopher Cantwell has been it, hid it, exposed it. To tell this story well is to tell his story. You should be listening.
And nothing brings uncontrollable emotion across like watching others undergo it. Martin Morazzo’s cartoonish style is larger than life. I’ve compared his knack for capturing anxiety on par with Junji Ito, and She Could Fly allows him to depict disquiet with as much gravitas than any of his previous work to date. You should be watching.
Read She Could Fly because it is important, it is powerful, it takes ideas that are crucial to humanity—like fragility, like empathy—and does them right and true.
Crowded #2
Image Comics/$3.99
Script & Design by Christopher Sebela.
Pencils by Ro Stein.
Inks by Ted Brandt.
Colors by Tríona Farrell.
Letters by Cardinal Rae.
BFH: While I’m sure you’ve all read and loved Crowded #1 as much as I did, I couldn’t pass up a chance to sing the praises of this tremendous new series one more time. For those of you still on the fence, take note: Crowded is one of the best new series of the year, and it’s absolutely worth catching up to it now while you still can. From its narrative and themes to its art to humor, this book started off like gangbusters, and that continues in this week’s second issue.
In that slam-bang fantastic opening chapter last month, Sebela, Stein et al. laid the groundwork for the exciting storytelling ahead. Both the characters and the world have a lot of potential thanks to Sebela’s great scripting. The artwork by Stein and the others is to die for, full of energy and witty detail. Of course, a great debut means nothing if there’s no follow-through, and thankfully Crowded is holding up nicely. This second chapter effectively expands on the first while setting up even more coolness for the future.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark #2
Dynamite/$3.99
Written by David Avallone.
Art by Dave Acosta.
Colors by Andrew Covalt.
Letters by Taylor Esposito.
SR: I don’t do too well with horror. There are exceptions, of course; if it’s anything set in an old timey-period or is otherwise super campy, I’m in. So you could only imagine my delight when Dynamite announced a mini-series featuring Elvira (yes, that Valley-voiced vixen of 1980s late night television programming), who in this exciting new series travels through time to rub elbows with the horror icons of generations long since passed.
In its crackerjack first issue Elvira had crashed the famous gathering in Lake Geneva, Switzerland where Mary Shelley first conjured her legendary tome, Frankenstein. In this second issue, Elvira will bump up to Edgar Allen Poe in Philadelphia, where he published his most well-known works, to battle it out with the menacing figure who promises to bring all sorts of malevolence to this wild mini-series. With our Mistress of the Dark’s patented one-liners and frequent breaking of the fourth wall, this issue (and the ones to follow) should entertain any horror fan, and be safe enough for those of us those who can only dip our toe in the horror pool—provided it isn’t too bloody.
What books are YOU looking forward to reading this week? Sound off in the comments below. Best answer wins a free set of DoomRocket stickers!
