This round of fantasy spotlights features mermaids, Dave McKean's newest project, the newest release of the The Obscure Cities series, a whole graphic novel based on a Dio album cover, reincarnation fiction, some He-Man action, and a fantasy quest inspired by Yoruba culture.
AQUARIUS BOOK OF MER #1
(W) Afua Richardson (A/CA) Afua Richardson
Eisner Award-winning creator AFUA RICHARDSON, the artist of HBO's Lovecraft County, comes to Image Comics with a visionary new series: a modern retelling of mermaid myths and legends from all over the world. In 1983 Harlem, something surfaces from the haunted lake of Astara's dreams. She's plagued by visions of Ancestors, monsters, and Merfolk. What will she sacrifice to finally have peace? This quarterly comic will be accompanied by music for a unique storytelling experience. MAR210044
Why this caught my eye:
The Kickstarter for this project caught my eye last year, plus I like Richardson's art. The concept sounds like it can be a lot of fun as well, so there's plenty of reasons to keep an eye out for this series.
RAPTOR TP
(W) Dave McKean (A/CA) Dave McKean
A visual tour-de-force graphic novel from artist and writer Dave McKean (Black Dog, The Sandman).
The Raptor, Sokol, flickers between two worlds: a feudal fantastical landscape where he must hunt prey to survive, and Wales in the late 1800s where a writer of supernatural tales mourns the passing of his young wife. He exists between two states, the human and the hawk. He lives in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.
World Fantasy, Harvey, British Science Fiction Association, and V+A Book Award winner Dave McKean's first creator-owned character is a wandering spirit for our times.
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Why this caught my eye:
It feels like it's been forever and a day since the last McKean project. It's always worth checking out what he's working on as he's always experimenting in unique storytelling.
THE TOWER TP
(W) Benoit Peeters (A/CA) Francois Schuiten
Masterful fantasy comes alive as the fifth release in Alaxis Press' The Obscure Cities series brings the award winning graphic novels to readers in English with an all-new translation!
Giovanni Batista is a third-class maintainer of the Tower. His section is deteriorating more and more by the day and he has not heard from any of his inspectors or fellow maintainers in months. He makes the decision to go to the base office to file a complaint. While using his chute, he ends up somewhere even higher than his level. He meets Ellias Aureolus Palingenius and the lovely Milena. Together with Milena, he tries to figure out the purpose of the Tower and finally decides to climb to the top.
The Tower, presented in this new edition, is a fabulous story for the exploration of a deliquescent world, an epic fable to the dimensions of world-building, a fantastic escape full of paradoxes, simulacra, and pretense. Magnificent mastery, invention, and poetry, this is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful jewels of the exciting saga of the OBSCURE CITIES.
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Why this caught my eye:
Do yourself a favor and check out the previous installments, Schuiten's artwork is just so incredibly beautiful that it's worth doing a deep dive on the series.
DIO HOLY DIVER TP
(W) Steve Niles (A) Scott Hampton (CA) Bill Sienkiewicz
Behold: the Holy Diver graphic novel, an original storyline inspired by one of heavy metal's most iconic album covers. Penned by acclaimed horror comics writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), the book will tell the tale behind the events leading to the powerful moment captured on the cover of Dio's debut album, definitively addressing 30 years of fan speculation. Why is the priest being thrown into the ocean? Who is truly the villain in this scenario?
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Why this caught my eye:
I'm not the biggest Steve Niles fan, but an entire graphic novel that's based off of a Dio cover, drawn by Scott Hampton, and features a cover by Bill Sienkiewicz just feels like some sort of celestial event that only happens once a lifetime.
ORDINARY GODS #1
(W) Kyle Higgins (CA) Dave Johnson, Nicola Scott, Declan Shalvey, Rod Reis, Tula Lotay, Dan Panosian, Matt Wilson (A/CA) Felipe Watanabe
For fans of THE OLD GUARD and GOD COUNTRY comes the extra-length first issue of a centuries-spanning action epic from writer KYLE HIGGINS (RADIANT BLACK) and artist FELIPE WATANABE (The Flash)!
The Luminary. The Prodigy. The Brute. The Trickster. The Innovator. Five gods from a realm beyond our own, leaders in the "War of Immortals." Aleast, they were - before they were trapped, sent to a planet made into a prison, forced into an endless cycle of human death and reincarnation. Christopher is 22. He's got two loving parents and a 12-year-old sister. He works at a paint store. He's in therapy. He's one of the Five. Which means, in order to save everyone he cares about, Christopher will have to reconnect with his past lives and do the unthinkable: become a god again.
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Why this caught my eye:
I generally like stories that play with reincarnation so I'm always down with seeing what creators bring to the table on the subject.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE REVELATION #1
(W) Kevin Smith, Rob David, Tim Sheridan (A) Mindy Lee (CA) Stjepan Sejic
This is the official comic book prequel to the upcoming Netflix television show written by Executive Producers Kevin Smith and Rob David and episode writer Tim Sheridan and featuring art by Mindy Lee (Crimson Lotus).
Following a vicious Orlax attack on his father King Randor, He-Man learns the creature is linked to the origin of the sword of power. To save Randor and put an end to the chaos He-Man embarks on an epic journey that pits him against his longtime foes Skeletor and Evil-Lyn, and sees Teela take the reins of a powerful legacy.
The official prequel to the upcoming Netflix show!
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Why this caught my eye:
If you're invested in He-Man and looking forward to checking out the new Netflix series this looks like a good book to check out, but I'm a little more here for Mindy Lee's art as it's looking pretty friggin' great.
IYANU CHILD OF WONDER TP VOL 01
(W) Roye Okupe (A/CA) Godwin Akpan
Iyanu, a teenage orphan with no recollection of her past, suddenly discovers that she has abilities that rival the ancient deities told in the folklore of her people. It is these abilities that are the key to bringing back an "age of wonders," as Iyanu begins her journey to save a world on the brink of destruction! The Corrupt-cursed wildlife and strange, divine beasts-are determined to destroy humanity, unless Iyanu can stop them.
Dark Horse and YouNeek Studios launch a shared universe of African fantasy and superhero stories-the YouNeek YouNiverse!
Extraordinary stories about extraordinary characters inspired by African history, culture, and mythology. MAY210233
Why this caught my eye:
I'm interested for a few reasons. I didn't realize Dark Horse was partnering with YouNeek, and I think that's a very smart move for both companies. I'm also interested in the aspect of modern adaptations of mythology that we don't see in our market often, so a children’s fantasy quest inspired by Yoruba culture just sounds great.
That's it for this batch, we'll hit non-fiction next!