5 Graphic Novels You Should Be Reading This Weekend!
Animosity Vol. 1
The world is plunged into chaos as the newly-intelligent Animals fight humanity, and simply fight each other, for their own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. In the midst of the turmoil is Jesse, an 11-year-old girl, and her dog, Sandor, who is devoted to her and her protection. One year after the incident, Jesse and Sandor begin a cross-country journey to find Jesse’s half-brother, Adam, who is living in San Francisco.
Wonder Woman (2016-) Vol. 1: The Lies
Heroic. Iconic. Unstoppable. Armed with her Lasso of Truth and imbued with the power of the gods themselves, Princess Diana of Themyscira-known to the world as Wonder Woman-is one of the greatest superheroes in history.
But who is she…really? Not even Wonder Woman herself knows for sure. Diana’s links to both the Amazons and the Gods of Olympus have been severed. Her memories are a tangle of contradictions that even her lie-detecting lasso cannot untangle.
To solve the riddle of her origin, she must embark on her greatest quest of all: finding a way back to her vanished home. To get there, she must team up with her greatest enemy, the feral beast-woman, Cheetah. Will this unlikely alliance shine the light of truth on Diana’s darkest secrets, or bury them-and her-forever?
Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy Vol. 1
BOOM! Studios and DC Comics team up to bring together Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy for the ultimate friendship-fueled crossover event. Written by Chynna Clugston Flores (Blue Monday), and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me) Jenna Ayoub, Maddi Gonzalez, and Kelly & Nichole Matthews (Toil and Trouble), this is a run-for-your-life-from-skeletal-monsters mystery that leads to lifelong friendship! When a teacher at Gotham Academy goes missing, it’s up to Olive, Maps, Colton, Pom, and Kyle to figure out what is happening and how to get her back. With only an outdated birthday invitation as the clue, they find themselves in the middle of the woods with no idea of where to start. With the sudden appearance of the Lumberjanes—April, Jo, Mal, Molly, Ripley and Jen—who are on the hunt for their missing Camp Director, all clues point to an abandoned cabin with more secrets than cobwebs.
Glitterbomb Vol. 1: Red Carpet
Farrah Durante is a middle-aged actress hunting for her next gig in an industry where youth trumps experience. Her frustrations become an emotional lure for something horrifying out beyond the water…something ready to exact revenge on the shallow, celebrity-obsessed culture that’s led her astray. Fan-favorite JIM ZUB (WAYWARD, Thunderbolts) and newcomer DJIBRIL MORISSETTE-PHAN (The Ultimates, All-New Wolverine) tear into the heart of Hollywood in GLITTERBOMB, a dramatic horror story about fame and failure. The entertainment industry feeds on our insecurities, desires, and fears. You can’t toy with those kinds of primal emotions without them biting back…
Moby Dick
The great American novel, now a graphic novel! A masterful adaptation of the timeless literary classic, faithfully and beautifully rendered by an award-winning artist. In striking black-and-white illustrations, Chaboute retells the story of the great American novel in which Captain Ahab strikes out on a voyage, obsessively seeking revenge on the great white whale that took his leg. Foreword by John Arcudi. A literary classic, adapted by award-winning artist Christophe Chaboute.
THUNDERBOLTS #7 is new this week!
“CAUGHT RED-HANDED” STARTS NOW! Operate in the shadows long enough, someone is going to shine a light on you. Bucky didn’t think that person would be his best friend, Steve Rogers. Captured and separated from his team, Bucky is on his own. Where do his loyalties lie? Steve wants to know. Only Steve has secrets of his own. Plus, an original Thunderbolt returns! How will Songbird react to the reunion of her former team?
Johnny Bravo, Billy & Mandy, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, Cow & Chicken and Codename: Kids Next Door join the struggle as the Super Secret Crisis War rages on in SSCW Vol. 2, featuring comics by Louise Simonson, Derek Charm, Erik Burnham, Erica Henderson, Kate Leth, Troy Little, Ivan Cohen, Paulina Ganucheau, Jim Zub, Jorge Monlongo, Scott Peterson, Ryan Jampole and Lea Hernandez, part of the @idwcomics crossover sale!
Dungeons & Dragons Legends of Baldur’s Gate Character Designs by Max Dunbar, Cover by Sarah Stone
Preview the first issue HERE
A bunch of DnD comics from idwcomics including jimzub’s incredible current run are on sale right now for 99¢ an issue on comixology.com
(via idwpublishing)
WAYWARD #1 is on sale TODAY! Check out these fun character sketches and then head to your LCS and snag your copy.
A comiXologist Recommends:
Mike Isenberg recommends Wayward #1
As frequent anime convention attendees in the late 1990s, my friends and I had a theory that the primary export of Japan was Crazy. With a mix of its own ancient folklore and a hodgepodge of external cultural and religious influences, the collective Japanese imagination seems to constantly produce work that could never have existed anywhere else, and that often seems wild and bizarre to foreign eyes.
Wayward #1’s protagonist, Rori Lane, has one such pair of foreign eyes. Half-Japanese by birth, she begins the story traveling to Japan for the first time, moving there as a young adult to live with her mother and get a fresh start after her parents’ rough divorce. What she experiences on her first night, however, goes well beyond culture shock and jet lag, and deep into the territory of the truly bizarre and supernatural.
Written by Jim Zub (jimzub) and drawn by Steve Cummings, Wayward is a supernatural action/adventure story steeped in Japanese folklore. Just beneath the shadows of Zub & Cummings’ Tokyo is a world of mythical yōkai, mysterious and mischievous monsters of Japanese legend.
The book’s art is a pleasure to view. Cummings’ line art is crisp and dynamic, and the colors (supplied by Zub and John Rauch) make each page really pop. The action sequences are fluid and exciting, and Cummings’ deft hand with facial expressions gives the characters a significant level of depth and relatability.
Wayward #1 also features some great back-matter from Japanese folklore scholar Zack Davisson, including an overview of yōkai mythology throughout Japanese history and a short essay profiling the legendary roots of one of the monsters featured in this issue. It certainly isn’t required reading if you’d rather just focus on the gorgeous action/adventure comic preceding it, but I found all of it really fascinating and informative.
Definitely recommended for fans of supernatural action/adventure stories like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, or just anyone who wants to see feral, cat-like Japanese girls tearing into legendary turtle demons. And really, who doesn’t? If the chief export of Japan really is Crazy, then lock me in the nut house because I love this stuff.
Mike Isenberg is an Associate Production Coordinator at comiXology, and the co-writer of FIRST LAW OF MAD SCIENCE. He lives in Harlem with his cats, TESLA AND EDISON
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