Welcome back to Conskipper’s New Comic Day Picks for the week of October 21, 2020!
Halloween may be this Saturday but there are plenty of delightful treats at your local comic shop this Wednesday! Last week was heavy on Marvel titles, but this week offers a wide variety of comics from Image, IDW, Dark Horse, DC, and Aardvark-Vanaheim. The picks this week include some perfect tie-ins for the Halloween season, the return of a classic team to the comic (and characters) that made them famous, and the continuation or the start of some exciting new developments.
–Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #1 (IDW): This magazine format comic hits the stands after being delayed for several months, so it might not be on everyone’s radar, but it should be! TMNT co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird return to the comic and characters that made them famous, in a return to the more serious stylings of their original black and white depictions of the characters. The story takes place in a dystopian New York City of the future, with one surviving Turtle seeking revenge for his fallen family and friends. Eastman provides the pencils and inker Andy Kuhn is on hand to finish the artwork along with longtime Turtles writer Tom Waltz providing the scripts (Eastman and Laird are credited as writers as well). If you haven’t checked out the Turtles in years, this stand-alone story is your ticket back into their comic universe.
–Spawn #311 (Image Comics): This issue of Spawn kicks off a new three part story entitled “Cult of Omega” featuring the debut of Omega Spawn (with art by rising star Carlo Barberi). Spawn is the perfect comic for Halloween season and the devilish mayhem and action hasn’t slowed down since Todd McFarlane brought the character to the masses in 1992. This issue is also notable for the variant cover by McFarlane that pays tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, imagining the actor as Spawn with some touches that evoke the character that he brought to life on the screen: The Black Panther. Look for this issue to be popular with collectors and fans of Boseman’s work (which also comes in a black and white variant).
–Batgirl #50 (DC Comics): As reported by Conskipper last week, this issue brings an end to the series and also introduces a new Batwoman to the DC comic universe. The double-sized issue by writer Cecil Castellucci and artists Emanuela Lupacchino, Marguerite Sauvage and Aneke wraps up Barbara Gordon’s role in the just completed “Joker War” storyline that ran through all of the “Bat-Family” comics and also introduces Ryan Wilder. If that name sounds familiar, Wilder will also be the CW’s new Batwoman (so essentially DC Comics is beating the media arm of the company to the punch). This is one that may quickly increase in value as fans anticipate the character’s television debut. Either way, the writing and art is top notch in this one.
–Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb #2 (Dark Horse Comics): Mike Mignola and Zach Howard get to finally finish their sequel to “The Crooked Man”, one of the best Hellboy stories of all time. Issue one came out way back in February and was delayed due to the pandemic, so if you missed out on issue one, check with your local shop (as many keep copies of a shorter series like this one hand, or access it through Dark Horse Comics digital platforms. Last issue, Hellboy returned to the Appalachian wilderness to investigate new reports of paranormal activity in the place where he defeated the Crooked Man the first time. As one can imagine, there is trouble once again in the backwoods of Virginia. The art by Zach Howard is the perfect compliment to Richard Corben’s art from the original series and Mignola once again weaves an exciting supernatural tale the only way he can.
–The Vault of Cerebus #1 (Aardvark-Vanaheim): If an EC Comics parody comes out only days before Halloween, can you really keep it off the list? The first annual Halloween Special features a variety of spooky (and funny) tales from everyone’s favorite aardvark including Benjamin Hobbs’ sequel to “The Varking Dead” (featuring Batvark) and two seven-page Gammakpooz stories written by Cerebus creator Dave Sim. The eye-catching horror cover is bound to capture classic horror fan’s attention and is a perfect addition to any EC collection.
That’s it for this week, so grab some new comics and celebrate Halloween in a safe fashion!