Welcome back to Conskipper’s New Comic Day Picks for the week of May 26, 2021!
This week sees some momentous conclusions as well as some brand new starts and takes on established characters.
–Black Panther #25 (Marvel Comics): Ta-Nehisi Coates concludes his character-defining run on Black Panther with the conclusion to the “Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda” storyline. Lasting over five years, Coates has set a new standard for the character, and coincided with T’Challa’s pop culture renaissance. Joined by a number of artists over his five year run, original artist Brian Stelfreeze returns for the conclusion (who illustrates an epilogue in the final issue) as well as Daniel Acuna. While it is sad to see Coates depart from Wakanda, the character has never been in a better place before in terms of the narrative growth T’Challa has experienced, and that is all due to Coates fantastic body of work.
–Black Widow #7 (Marvel Comics): Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande return to Black Widow with a brand new story arc entitled “I Am Black Widow”. Issue #7 sees Natasha don a new suit and set up shop in a new locale. She also has some new allies and a new perspective after Thompson and Casagrande’s initial arc. Natasha may have some new allies, but she also has a new villain to contend with in the form of Apogee. This issue also boasts a creative, nine frame cover by Adam Hughes. This is also the perfect story to rope non-comic fans in who may want to learn more about the character before July’s Black Widow hits theaters.
-Batman: Black and White #6 (DC Comics): The final issue of the new Batman Black & White series arrives in comic shops this week with another impressive list of writers and artists telling stand-alone tales of the Dark Knight. Scott Snyder reunites with his All-Star Batman collaborator John Romita Jr. (perhaps Romita Jr’s last work for DC since his return to Marvel) for a historical look at the Batman. Batman: Universe and Future State: The Next Batman‘s Nick Derington writes and draws a story about two long-standing gangs whose ties to Gotham go back quite a long time.
Infinite Loop’s Elsa Charretier and Pierrick Colinet team up for a psychological horror story and long-time Mignolaverse and Rumble writer John Arcudi and artist James Harren take on one of Batman’s oddest opponents, Clayface. And last but not least, writer Brandon Thomas and artist Khary Randolph tell a topical story about one of Gotham’s most impoverished neighborhoods and how those people end up being taken advantage of by the Mad Hatter.
Batman Black & White is the perfect entry point for lapsed comic readers, and for those who want to see established talent and rising stars share their unique visions of Batman, his villains, and his environment. Let’s hope it doesn’t take so long next time to get another six issue series in this format.
-Young Squadron #1 (Marvel Comics): Jason Aaron’s Heroes Reborn event series has been providing fun and excitement to Marvel fans over the last few weeks, and now we are starting to see and expansion of the story through spin-off’s like this week’s Young Squadron. This one-shot tie-in imagines three of the most popular heroes in recent years as brand new crime fighters called Kid Spectrum (Sam Alexander), Girl Power (Kamala Khan) and the all-new Falcon (Miles Morales). Inspired by The Squadron Supreme of America, the Young Squadron take on a reimagined Deadpool. Jim Zub and Steve Cummings have fun with this story and set up potential future stories featuring the three friends and allies (on this world or Marvel Universe proper).
-Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom #1 (DC Comics): DC Future State’s version of Mister Miracle returns in the first of six issues by Brandon Easton and Fico Ossio. The new mini-series explains how Shilo Norman became the new Mister Miracle, combining elements of all the previous versions of the cult comic characters. Easton and Ossio do a fine job in the first issue of hooking readers into the the new story and establishing Mister Miracle as a character that people are going to want to see a lot more of.
That’s it for this week, so be sure to keep supporting your local comic shop in a safe and responsible manner.