Welcome back to Conskipper’s New Comic Day Picks for the week of February 23, 2021!
This week’s list contains something for everyone with a variety of genres represented. We have modern super hero excitement, historical horror fiction, pulp fiction, science fiction, and even a mash-up of genres featuring the original super hero.
–The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #18 (Marvel Comics): Saladin Ahmed and Minkyu Jung bring their fantastic run to an end with this oversized issue of The Magnificent Ms. Marvel. This issue also celebrates 75 solo issues featuring Kamala Khan’s adventures (with certainly more to come), the vast majority by only two writers: Ahmed and G. Willow Wilson. Over the course of this particular series, Ahmed and Jung have expanded on Khan’s universe with the same brand of high school angst that originally fueled the earliest Lee and Ditko Spider-Man tales. While it is sad to see this creative team end their run, it also gives those people late to the party a chance to catch up on the series through the collections. If you stopped reading after Wilson left the title, you need to go back and enjoy this “magnificent” version of the teenage Ms. Marvel.
–Two Moons #1 (Image Comics): John Arcudi and Valerio Giangiordano combine forces for Two Moons, a slice of genuinely scary historical horror fiction. The debut issue introduces a young Pawnee Union soldier named Virgil Morris (Two Moons) who is haunted by his shamanic roots, which find him facing natural and supernatural horrors. Arcudi is well known for his work on a variety of Mignolaverse titles at Dark Horse Comics, as well as his recent Image series Rumble. Arcudi always deftly combines horror with action and sharp dialogue, but Two Moons may be his most frightening story yet. Giangiordano’s detailed art certainly helps convey the horror, with his realistic human characters and some phenomenal demonic ones (as well as one of the most convincing ghosts ever seen in comics). Fans of intelligent horror comics such as Image Comics Infidel will undoubtedly enjoy Two Moons.
-Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy #6 (Dark Horse Comics): Skulldigger and Skeleton Boy is yet another hit spin-off from Jeff Lemire’s award winning Black Hammer series The final issue of Skulldigger brings an exciting conclusion to the noir super hero story, with Skulldigger and Detective Reyes having a final showdown with the devious Grimjim. Just like Black Hammer, Skulldigger is steeped in classic pulp fiction and early super hero motifs, so long-time fans will revel in the metafiction aspects as well as the character study. Tonci Zonjic’s art is well-suited for this series, having previously illustrated the adventures of Lobster Johnson for Dark Horse, another modern take on a pulp fiction hero. If you missed any of the issues leading up to this one, be sure to track down those back issues or put in a pre-order for this summer’s trade collection.
-Nuclear Family #1 (Aftershock Comics): Stephanie Phillips and Tony Shasteen expand on one of Philip K. Dick’s mind-bending stories in the first issue of Nuclear Family. Based on Dick’s short story “Breakfast at Twilight”, the comic takes place in America in 1957 during the height of the cold war. Korean War veteran Tim McClean is on a quest to protect his family in the atomic age, by any means necessary. And while some of his neighbors may believe he is a little crazy, when the first bomb drops, McClean is ready to spring into action, but what happens when the event you planned for actually comes true? Phillips is currently one of the busiest writers in comics (and you can read more about her other projects in our recent interview with her), so we are all lucky that she took the time to pen this very timely story about isolation and fear. Shasteen’s art is also engaging, from the mundane slices of suburban life to the horrors of nuclear war.
-Future State: Superman: House of El #1 (DC Comics): Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski wrap up their DC Future State title with a extra-sized one shot, that captures all of the excitement of their previous mini-series. Part Game of Thrones, part space opera, and all things Krypton are explored in this issue. This unique take on the bloodline of Kal-El and his legacy is one that we hope we see more of as Kennedy Johnson is well-suited for this type of story, especially after his The Last God series. Many of us are also looking forward to his take on the modern Superman in his upcoming runs on Superman and Action Comics, starting in March.
That’s it for this week, so be sure to support your local comic shop in a safe and friendly manner.