Welcome back to Conskipper’s New Comic Day Picks for the week of April 28, 2021!
Plenty of issues to choose from this week for long-time fans, new fans, and people who want to start reading about their favorite heroes again, with a number of new starts.
–Miles Morales: Spider-Man (Marvel Comics): Luckily, the last time Marvel decided to unleash a “Clone Saga” on fans, the internet was in its infancy, saving Marvel a lot of social media headaches. While the memories of the original Spider-Man “Clone Saga” may not be the fondest for all parties involved, the return to the concept seems to be a more welcome one. Saladin Ahmed and Carmen Carnero give Miles Morales his own Clone problems in issue #25 of their series and we finally see the full extent of the Assessor’s plans. This issue also serves as yet another excellent jumping on point for fans of the newest Spider-Man.
–Action Comics #1030 (DC Comics): Philip Kennedy Johnson and Daniel Sampere begin their “Warworld Rising” storyline, beginning a new chapter in Superman’s life and powers. One of the perpetual critiques of the Man of Steel concern his seemingly limitless powers, so a weaker Superman may prove to be more relatable, especially against major threats such Mongul and a variety of other extraterrestrial challenges.
Action Comics #1030 also contains a Midnighter backup story by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, and Michael Avon Oeming, further sweetening the pot for fans.
-X-Men Legends #3 (Marvel Comics): For nostalgic mutant fans, no series has delivered more satisfaction than Marvel’s new X-Men Legends title. Issue #3 reaches even further back than the initial 1990’s story with a new arc starring the original X-Men: X-Factor. And if that wasn’t enough to whet the appetite of long-time fans, the new story will once again pair one of the original creative teams of Louise and Walter Simonson! The Simonson’s story will pick up directly before 1989’s X-Factor #43, allowing collectors to slip this issue right in-between #42 and #43 in their long boxes. Let’s hope Marvel takes the same approach in the future for other non-mutant titles, inviting back other classic creative teams to some of their most popular titles.
-Robin #1 (DC Comics): The Robin with the biggest chip on his shoulder, Damian Wayne, stars in his own series, taking up a new mission and adventure, away from Mom and Dad (who just happen to be Batman and Talia Al Ghul). Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov will guide the impetuous Wayne on his journey, and as Williamson said in January, he believes that “Gleb is the perfect artist to tell this story as we show readers Damian’s growth, in a new adventure that navigates his legacy, his connections to Batman, Talia Al Ghul and kicks off an important story in the DC Universe.” With a solid Nightwing series already on stands, Robin seems like another promising Infinite Frontier comic that is sure continue the winning streak.
-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back-The 40th Anniversary Covers by Chris Sprouse #1 (Marvel Comics): Variant covers; the comic industry (and fans) can’t live with them, and can’t live without them. The multiple covers give some budding artists a chance to make a name for themselves, but they can also do damage to a collector’s wallet. So this time around, Marvel decided to make an entire collection of the elusive Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Covers by Chris Sprouse. Not only does this collection allow people to get a look (and own) all of the artwork, but the covers tell the entire story of the film, with each one capturing an iconic moment or character from the greatest Star Wars film of all time. And speaking of variants, we decided to include the one variant cover available for the issue by Noiyoshi Ohari below!
That’s it for this week, so please keep supporting your local comic sellers everywhere, in a safe fashion.