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Eric Arroyo recommends Head Lopper #1
Head Lopper is a rich and kinetic comic that explores the essence of sword and sorcery.
This opening story follows Norgal, the titular Head Lopper, to Scotland, where his profession of hired decapitator brings him into conflict with a towering beast. But his challenges only begin with feats of extreme violence, traveling through a world of corrupted morals and cursed with the heckling of a witch’s severed head.
Norgal is a mile-wide warrior of few words, and neither he nor cartoonist andrewmaclean has much need for those. MacLean depicts a battle of great combatants and greater stakes with precision and clarity; his streamlined art style breaks each beat of action down to its essential elements, yet never loses any dynamism in the process. Coupled with meticulously laid out panels, the visual storytelling keeps the reader involved with every step of the chaotic battle. Even in the book’s quieter moments, MacLean’s page structure and use of clear icons show a strong sense of visual timing that brings the page to life.
And that world that MacLean and colorist Mike Spicer bring to life is harsh and brooding, ripe with desolate architecture and complicated characters. Spicer’s colors add a haze of dread that grounds the comic’s over-the-top adventure. While the action-adventure storytelling is thrilling and efficient, the carefully curated details of the world surrounding Norgal’s adventure highlight its unique flavor, revealing a place where greedy men are the true monsters, sinister magic lurks behind every pebble, and a man finds his own way to stand for justice.
If the pulp adventure of gailsimone and Walter Geovani’s Red Sonja makes you let out a barbarian roar, or if you’re haunted by the gloomy fantasy in Becky Cloonan’s The Mire, swing for the neck with Head Lopper!
[Pick up Head Lopper #1 here!]
For fans of: comedy, fantasy, mythology
Eric Alexander Arroyo is a Brooklyn-based cartoonist and a Digital Editor at comiXology. He’s probably drawing giant robots or listening to ABBA.
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Jonah Chuang recommends Thor: God of Thunder #23
Thor: God of Thunder is one of the most worthwhile series of the Marvel.NOW line. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic are absolutely killing it with their brutal but relatable portrayals of Thor and the cultures of the Nine Realms.
If you haven’t been following along, this series follows two different Thors– King Thor, the All-Father, from the far future and present-day Thor. Both are fighting for the fate of the planet, but in very different ways. All-Father Thor battles against Galactus for the shriveled up husk of Earth, while Thor-of-today struggles against the Roxxon Energy Corp for the future of Broxxton, Oklahoma, the town where the Asgardians have settled after the destruction of Asgard.
The present-day Thor’s story is full of intrigue. There’s a good amount of environmental and corporate commentary. It’s interesting to see Thor, the Avenger, with all his power, stand helpless against corporate lawyers. In this issue, Thor’s adversaries are given physical form in the form of Ulik the Troll and the Minotaur so that Thor can finally bash corporate greed in the face with his hammer.
King Thor’s story is my favorite of the two, mostly because of the involvement of his granddaughters. Atli, Ellisiv, and Frigg first appeared in the Godbomb arc and embody everything you love about the young, brash, brutal Thor from days past. This storyline also shows has the most epic fight scenes, with All-Father Thor just wailing on the massive Galactus. Thor fans might remember being disappointed by the theoretical nature of the Odin vs. Galactus fight back in Mighty Thor as it mostly took place on higher planes. This is not that. It’s the knock-down, drag-out fight you’ve always wanted to see the God of Thunder take part in.
[Read Thor: God of Thunder #23 on comiXology]
For fans of: Superheroes, Mythology
Jonah Chuang is a production coordinator assistant at comiXology. He owns four Mjolnir replicas and was Loki for Halloween in 2011.
A comiXologist Recommends:
Kara Szamborski recommends The Wicked + The Divine #1
Once a century, gods walk among us. It’s 2014 and the heavenly characters in The Wicked + The Divine are giving the term “rock god” its intended meaning. Their performances are mesmerizing, their skeptics everywhere—but they’d better use their time wisely, for they only have two years until they die.
We barely have time to breathe as we race through the first addictive issue and catch a glimpse of this arresting world. The magic of kierongillen & mckelvie is that you almost believe it all while you’re reading. You believe that today, if divine beings were on Earth, they would be on stages instead of mountains, that they would try to educate and mock and sometimes care for the mortals they encounter.
Luckily, we have a mortal like us, Laura, as a guide just as intrigued and unknowing about these gods as we are. With her, we are enraptured with Amaterasu, we are more curious than afraid of Luci(fer), we are stunned by what should be impossible but is suddenly believable.
Internet-famous for their work on fan-favorite Young Avengers and the musically inclined Phonogram, Gillen & McKelvie pull together a fantastic concept that is sure to delight the casual reader as well as fans of mythology. Reminiscent of the Greek gods’ grand schemes in the latest Wonder Woman series and the Norse twists of Loki: Agent of Asgard, The Wicked + The Divine promises to mix the stories of all known deities into something new and unforgettable.
[Read The Wicked + The Divine #1]
For fans of: female leads, fantasy, mythology
Kara Szamborski supervises the International Production team at comiXology. After reading The Wicked + The Divine #1, she got stacks of mythology books out from the library to tide her over until the second issue.
A comiXologist Recommends:
Kate Kasenow recommends Shutter #2
In just two issues of Shutter, Joe Keatinge (joekeatinge) and Leila del Duca (assortedfoliage) have captured the imagination that epitomizes fantasy, sci-fi, and futuristic comics. Alongside other fresh Image titles like Pretty Deadly and Rocket Girl, the pages of Shutter #2 give readers a thrilling female-driven tale.
Keatinge’s writing is fast-paced and quirky—a perfect fit for the colorful world he’s created to support his cast. When the story began, our star Kate Kristopher was already a seasoned professional when it came to danger; in fact, she seemed pretty bored of it all. In the second issue, escaping a kidnapping attempt and the mysterious mention of possible siblings intrigues her, making it look like Kate might be back in action. With every issue, the breadth of this comic expands and delights. Not only do we have a fascinating female protagonist, but we have an ever expanding cast of interesting friends, enemies, and yet to be revealed characters that may just be a little of both. Keep an eye on Kate’s sentient clock-cat—he’s my personal fave!
A perfect compliment to this incredible world is del Duca’s fantastic illustrations paired with Owen Gieni’s vibrant colors. What has been set up in this story is any artist’s dream—a vast canvas filled with anything and everything from Irish gangster lions to ghost ninjas—and both del Duca and Gieni illustrate it all with grace and strength reverberating through every panel.
Keatinge and del Duca have not only introduced a new version of reality, they’ve also hooked this reader into a massive and mysterious adventure. Jump into the story now to follow this amazing series!
For fans of: action, female leads, fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, mystery
Kate Kasenow is a comics artist from Indiana currently living in Manhattan. She works at ComiXology as a Lead Digital Editor and spends most of her spare time re-reading J. R. R. Tolkien.
A comiXologist Recommends:
Molly Brooks recommends Pretty Deadly vol. 1 (prettydeadlycomic)
Probably the first thing you’ll notice about Pretty Deadly is that it’s super gorgeous. The art— both Emma Rios’s brushwork and Jordie Bellaire’s (jordiecolorsthings) fantastic coloring— reminds me a lot of the covers Yuko Shimizu’s done for Vertigo’s series The Unwritten. The colors are wild and dreamlike, the imagery lovely and surreal. Pretty Deadly is just a joy to look at, and it works together with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s (kellysue) writing really well.
The story is a magical-realist fable set in the old west, about Death and his kingdom encroaching on the world of men, as told to a butterfly by the skeleton of a murdered rabbit. It follows the journey of a little beggar girl with mismatched eyes and a vulture crown, a blind man who once did something terrible, and the various people and forces hunting them down. The narrative unfolds gradually, with characters kept deliberately mysterious and their motivations and relationships revealed out of order. It’s a well-crafted and satisfying story, but we’re given answers before we know the questions, and it definitely rewards patience and a re-read. the fact that it’s so crazy pretty kept me engaged long enough for the threads to start coming together, and the story is definitely worth the journey.
It’s eery and dreamlike, but also full of swordfights and shootouts and revenge and broken hearts; there’s a really nice balance struck between mythology and good old-fashioned spaghetti-western gunslinging.
Volume 1 includes the self-contained first arc told in issues #1-5. I highly recommend picking it up!
(tip: if you’re into violent western-themed fantasy stories featuring anthropomorphic personifications of death, you may also like East of West.)
[Read Pretty Deadly vol. 1 on comiXology]
For fans of: westerns, mythology, art, female leads
molly brooks is an artist from nashville currently living in brooklyn. she works at comixology as a digital editor.
The first volume of Vertigo's Hinterkind by ianedginton and Francesco Trifogli is out today! It’s amazing to me that this book has stayed below the radar for so long. With its constantly intriguing mix of fantasy, dystopia, and adventure it’s only a matter of time until every comic blog out there is frothing over it.
For fans of: fantasy, dystopia, mythology, epics, female leads