Welcome back to Conskipper’s New Comic Day Picks for the week of May 19, 2021!
Four #1 issues lead the way this week, with Marvel scooping up the lion’s share of the releases, although the Dark Knight Detective also found a way to crack the top five.
–Shang-Chi #1 (Marvel Comics): Gene Luen Yang and Dike Ruan return to the world of Shang-Chi for a new on-going monthly title after their successful mini-series relaunched Marvel’s premiere martial artist into the mainstream. The new monthly series is the first one since his Master of Kung-Fu glory days, and this one features more from Shang-Chi, his family, and a cavalcade of Marvel guest stars. Being the new leader of the Five Weapons Society is no easy task, especially when all of your spandex-clad friends think you have turned to the dark side! This is an excellent series for old school Kung-Fu fans and newer fans looking to read up of Shang-Chi before his big MCU debut.
–Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (Marvel Comics): Following in the footsteps of Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley’s “passage of time” accurate Spider-Man: Life Story, comes the all-star team of Mark Russell and Sean Izaakse just in time to celebrate the FF’s 60th Anniversary. Fantastic Four: Life Story begins in the same era as 1961’s Fantastic Four #1 and launches the team into space in the time of the Cold War and the Space Race. Future issues will examine each decade as the team faces all of the threats they faced over the course of 60 years of stories, with a realistic approach to the aging heroes. Russell is well-known for reworking older concepts such as The Flintstones, Exit Stage Left: The SnagglePuss, and The Wonder Twins for DC, and fans have been waiting for his take on Marvel’s First Family. Izaakse’s fine artwork is the perfect compliment to Russel’s approach to the team. A fitting celebration of 60 years of the Fantastic Four!
–Heroes Reborn #3 (Marvel Comics): Heroes Reborn is back for its third issue in three weeks, and time sure flies when you are having fun. And speaking of speed, this issue puts the peddle to the metal with Squadron Supreme’s speedster, Blur, rocketing through the Dread Dimension in order to save his soul from the charged-up hexes of the Speedster Supreme, the Silver Witch. A back-up feature also takes us inside the macabre Ravencroft Asylum, where a new inmate named the Phoenix resides. Jason Aaron is joined by artist Federico Vincentini for issue three, continuing to change up the artistic style to suit this week’s story. For long-time fans of the Squadron Supreme (and Sinister) and their connections to the Avengers, this series keeps on delivering the bombastic Marvel storytelling that we have come to expect. Can’t wait for next week!
–Legends of the Dark Knight #1 (DC Comics): The original Batman anthology returns this week in the form of Legends of the Dark Knight. The original series (which debuted in 1989) was famous for giving established and upcoming talent the chance to expand on the Batman mythos, without the shackles of on-going continuity issues. Following the same tradition, Issue one of the new series kicks off with Darick Robertson writing and drawing the first three-issue arc, and introduces another villain to Batman’s already extensive rogue’s gallery. With anthology comics coming back in a big way this year, the return of one of the best showcases for top industry talent arrives at the perfect time.
–The Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1 (Marvel Comics): With Al Ewing’s character-defining arc about to come to end, Ewing, co-writer Alex Paknadel, and artist Juan Ferreyra tell a story featuring a prehistoric Hulk that ties into the current “Green Door” mythos. The one-shot takes place ten thousand years ago, in the Fertile Crescent, where a young man must make sense of the ominous door. Fans of Ewing’s run on The Immortal Hulk should be sure to pick this one up, as new clues to the conclusion of his storyline that he set up in the very first issue are coming to fruition. As an added bonus, writer Davis Vaughan makes his Marvel debut in a back-up story, as Bruce Banner must face a challenge unlike any he’s previously encountered.
That’s it for this week, so enjoy your comics and keep supporting your local comic shop in a safe fashion.