Så var det dags att ta en titt på vad som dyker upp på de amerikanska seriehyllorna i april 2020.
Som vanligt följer jag Pärs femgradiga skala och Månadens tips hittar ni längst ner i inlägget.
1 – Helt ointressant
2 – En intressant skapare
3 – Två intressanta skapare eller enbart en fast med lockande premiss
4 – Två favoritskapare eller enbart en med lockande premiss Prenumerationsvärdig
5 – Två favoritskapare med lockande premiss Given Prenumeration
Mot titlarna!
DC COMICS
THE JOKER 80TH ANNIVERSARY 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #1
written by BRIAN AZZARELLO, PAUL DINI, DENNIS O’NEIL, SCOTT SNYDER, TOM TAYLOR, JAMES TYNION IV, and more
art by RAPHAEL ALBUQUERQUE, LEE BERMEJO, SIMONE BIANCHI, TONY S. DANIEL, MIKEL JANÍN, JOCK, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, EDUARDO RISSO, RILEY ROSSMO, and more
cover by GREG CAPULLO
The Clown Prince of Crime celebrates 80 years of chaos! The Joker has been the greatest villain in comics since his debut and to celebrate we have a who’s who of comics’ finest talent giving the Harlequin of Hate the birthday roast he deserves. The stories feature a range of terror and anarchy, showing how the Joker has impacted Gotham City from the police to Arkham Asylum, from the local underworld to the Dark Knight and his allies! Make sure to RSVP to this birthday bash—you wouldn’t want to wake up with a Joker Fish on your doorstep, would you?
PRESTIGE FORMAT | ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 04.29.20
$9.99 US | 96 PAGES
FC | DC
Intresse: 2
Kommentar: Det var länge sedan jag var intresserad av någon av titlarna i DC:s superhjälteuniversum, förutom Batman, Mister Miracle och Space Adventures av Tom King. Med några få undantag känns det mesta bara som en återupprepning och jag söker istället med ljus och lykta efter något som känns nytt och fräscht, såsom den nya underetiketten Hill House Comics men det är ändå kul att förlaget uppmärksammar sina jubilarer, såsom 80-åringen The Joker.
CATWOMAN 80TH ANNIVERSARY 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR #1
written by ED BRUBAKER, PAUL DINI, TOM KING, ANN NOCENTI, MINDY NEWELL, WILL PFEIFER, and more
art by CAMERON STEWART, MIKEL JANÍN, ADAM HUGHES, EMANUELA LUPACCHINO, STEVE RUDE, JIM BALENT, TULA LOTAY, and more
cover by JÖELLE JONES
Our gal Catwoman is turning 80 next year (and looking very good, if we meow say), and DC is celebrating with nothing less than with a huge soiree, invite only, packed with creators who mean the most to her and to whom she means the most! Stories featured in this 100-page spectacular include a tail—sorry, tale—that takes place at the end of the Brubaker/Stewart Catwoman run, in honor of artist Darwyn Cooke. Plus, Catwoman is caught by an exotic cat collector, runs into a wannabe thief trying to prove himself as her apprentice, encounters a mystery involving memorabilia from alternate continuities, and of course some Bat/Cat fun.
PRESTIGE FORMAT | ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 04.15.20
$9.99 US | 96 PAGES
FC | DC
Intresse: 3
Kommentar: En annan ständigt ung 80-åring är Catwoman och det som är extra tilltalande med detta specialnummer är att den bygger vidare på Ed Brubaker och Cameron Stewarts härliga run.
MARVEL COMICS
BLACK WIDOW #1
KELLY THOMPSON (W) • ELENA CASAGRANDE (A) • Cover by ADAM HUGHES
Variant cover by TRAVIS CHAREST
Variant cover by GERALD PAREL
Variant cover by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
MARVEL SUPER WAR VARIANT COVER BY NetEase GAMES
KELLY THOMPSON. BLACK WIDOW. ‘NUFF SAID!
Best-selling, Eisner–nominated writer Kelly Thompson (CAPTAIN MARVEL, STAR) and rising star artist Elena Casagrande (Catwoman) launch a new BLACK WIDOW series that changes everything! Natasha Romanoff has been a spy almost as long as she’s been alive. And she’s never stopped running, whether she was working for the good guys…or the bad. But Natasha’s world is about to be upended. Beyond San Francisco’s Golden Gate lies a mystery that only the Marvel Universe’s greatest spy can solve. Don’t miss the heartbreaking thrill ride of 2020!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Intresse: 3
Kommentar: Det mesta av Marvels utbud för april månad handlar om det nya eventet Empyre (som jag är helt ointresserad av), Iron Man 2020, Marvel Zombies, med mera, men där finns även en del guldkorn, som en helt ny Black Widow-titel (lagom till filmens premiär) författad av Kelly Thompson (A-Force, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
THE PUNISHER VS BARRACUDA #1 (of 5)
ED BRISSON (W) • DECLAN SHALVEY (A) • Cover by RYAN STEGMAN
VARIANT COVER BY GABRIELE DELL’OTTO
VARIANT COVER BY DECLAN SHALVEY
VARIANT COVER BY Daniel ACUÑA
THE BADDEST OF THE BAD ENTERS THE MARVEL U!
Barracuda, terror of the legendary PUNISHER MAX run, makes his Marvel Universe debut in this prestige miniseries from creators Ed Brisson and Declan Shalvey! While Frank Castle closes the case on a mob hitman hiding out in the Deep South, a brutal jailbreak in Miami catches his eye. But one of the escaped prisoners is the man known only as Barracuda, the most sadistic and dangerous of killers in a gangland filled with extremely dangerous and sadistic killers. Lock the doors and prep the morgues; war is coming to Miami!
32 PGS./Rated Parental Advisory …$3.99
Intresse: 3
Kommentar: Efter Garth Ennis och Jacen Burrows Punisher: Soviet är det dags för Ed Brisson och Declan Shalvey att spänna musklerna med en ny miniserie med Frank Castle i huvudrollen.
GIANT–SIZE X–MEN: NIGHTCRAWLER #1
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • ALAN DAVIS (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY Ben Caldwell
HICKMAN AND DAVIS HAUNT THE XAVIER SCHOOL!
Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman teams with legendary artist Alan Davis (X–MEN, EXCALIBUR, AVENGERS) for an eerie tale of adventure! When the X–Men lose contact with the Greymalkin Habitat, it falls to Nightcrawler to lead a mission into the unknown!
40 PGS./One–Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99
Intresse: 3
Kommentar: Jag är sjukt sugen på Hickmans nya giv med X-Men och framförallt de fristående Giant-Size-numren som dykt upp som grädde på moset. Hittills har vi fått sett nummer med Emma Frost/Jean Grey och Magneto och nu är det dags för Nightcrawler, tecknad av en av mina största favoriter: Alan Davis.
IMMORTAL HULK: THE THRESHING PLACE #1
JEFF LEMIRE (W) • MIKE DEL MUNDO (A/C)
Variant Cover by JOE BENNETT
TWO OF COMICS’ MOST IMAGINATIVE TALENTS UNITE FOR A HULK TALE LIKE NONE OTHER!
There’s a monster raging in America’s heartland – and it’s not the Hulk. When a young girl goes missing on a Kansas farm, Bruce Banner gets the itch – the one that tells him gamma is on the loose. But this town doesn’t take kindly to strangers – especially the big, green, violent kind. Can the Hulk save a child before it’s too late, or is he about to take the blame for another massacre?
40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99
Intresse: 5
Kommentar: Ett fristående nummer med Hulk, författad av Jeff Lemire OCH tecknat av mästaren Mike Del Mundo!!! Låter för bra för att vara sant så den ska jag definitivt utforska.
IMAGE COMICS
ADVENTUREMAN #1
WRITER: MATT FRACTION
ARTIST / COVER: TERRY DODSON & RACHEL DODSON
APRIL 29 / 64 PAGES / FC / E / $3.99
SERIES PREMIERE
A CATACLYSMIC ADVENTURE DECADES IN THE MAKING!
In this WILDLY AFFORDABLE TRIPLE-LENGTH FIRST ISSUE, revisit how the legend of the greatest pulp hero of them all, ADVENTUREMAN, ended in a heartbreaking CLIFFHANGER with our hero facing execution at the vile hand of his ultra-nemesis BARON BIZARRE on the eve of the MACABRAPOCALYPSE…or did it?!? Eighty years after his apparent demise, single mother Claire and her Adventurefan son Tommy seem to be the only two people alive that remember the thrilling ADVENTUREMAN sagas…but from that memory burns THE SPARK OF RESURRECTION! WHERE HIS STORY ENDED…HER STORY BEGINS! This sense-obliterating, earth-shaking, imagination-quaking adventure that spans generations comes to you from MATT FRACTION (SEX CRIMINALS, Hawkeye) and TERRY & RACHEL DODSON (RED ONE, X-Men/Fantastic Four)!!!
Intresse: 5
Kommentar: Under april månad dyker inte mindre en två sedan länge annonserade Image-serier äntligen upp på seriehyllorna. Först ut har vi pulpäventyret Adventureman, tecknat och färglagt av paret Terry och Rachel Dodson, som Matt Fraction presenterade planerna på redan 2016 men som av olika anledningar aldrig sjösattes. Nu är den äntligen här och mina förväntningar är skyhöga.
FIRE POWER by KIRKMAN & SAMNEE, VOL. 1: PRELUDE OGN
WRITER: ROBERT KIRKMAN
ARTIST / COVER: CHRIS SAMNEE & MATTHEW WILSON
APRIL 29 / 160 PAGES / FC / T / $9.99
SERIES PREMIERE
ALL-NEW series created by ROBERT KIRKMAN (THE WALKING DEAD, INVINCIBLE, OBLIVION SONG) and Chris Samnee (Daredevil)!
Owen Johnson’s journey to China to learn about his birth parents eventually leads him to a mysterious Shaolin Temple. The students there study to rediscover the Fire Power, the lost art of throwing fireballs. A power they claim will be needed soon to save the world. Will Owen Johnson be the first person in a thousand years to wield the FIRE POWER?
Whet your appetite for adventure with the PRELUDE OGN, just in time for the debut of the new ongoing series with FIRE POWER #1 on Free Comic Book Day the following week!
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: Efter att ha avslutat långkörarna The Walking Dead och Invincible är det dags för ett nytt storstilat projekt av Robert Kirkman, nämligen kung fu-serien Fire Power tecknad av ingen mindre än Chris Samnee. Första numret dyker upp i juni (om man hänger på låset kan man också skaffa den på Free Comic Book Day, lördagen 2 maj) men redan i april dyker det upp en introduktion i form av en alldeles egen graphic novel.
THE LUDOCRATS #1 (OF 5)
WRITER: KIERON GILLEN & JIM ROSSIGNOL
ARTIST: JEFF STOKELY & TAMRA BONVILLAIN
COVER: JEFF STOKELY
APRIL 1 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
SERIES PREMIERE
The Ludocrats! The aristocrats of ludicrous! A collision of the ornate fantasy of Dune and an M-rated Asterix & Obelix! Baron Otto Von Hades and Professor Hades Zero-K are here, and they’re going to save us all have a nice time.
KIERON GILLEN (DIE, THE WICKED + THE DIVINE) and JIM ROSSIGNOL (Sir, You Are Being Hunted) write! JEFF STOKELY (The Spire) draws! TAMRA BONVILLAIN (Once & Future) colors! Clayton Cowles (BITTER ROOT, DIE) letters! The universe screams in pleasure, writhing, finally satisfied, complete, joyous!
Intresse: 5
Kommentar: Den andra titeln jag väntat länge på (2015) är (pukor och trumpeter!) The Ludocrats av Kieron Gillen och Jim Rossignol. Under de fem år det tog innan projektet äntligen blev av så hoppade tyvärr seriens tecknare (David Lafuente) av men ersattes istället av den fenomenale Jeff Stokely som bland annat tecknat Six-Gun Gorilla och The Spire vilket är en merit i min bok. Ett stort plus är också att färgläggaren Tamra Bonvillain är med på tåget så nu är det bara att spänna på sig säkerhetsbältet och njuta av ”A collision of the ornate fantasy of Dune and an M-rated Asterix & Obelix”.
NAILBITER RETURNS #1
WRITER: JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
ARTIST / COVER: MIKE HENDERSON
APRIL 1 / 40 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99
SERIES PREMIERE
JOSHUA WILLIAMSON & MIKE HENDERSON’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED HIT HORROR SERIES RETURNS!
Sixteen of the world’s worst serial killers were all born in the same small town—but Agent Finch and Sheriff Crane solved and buried that mystery.
Didn’t they?
Violent copycat murders imitating the infamous Buckaroo Butchers have begun in Portland, Oregon, and if Finch wants the killings to stop, he’ll have to team up with the daughter of the Nailbiter himself.
A brand-new mystery begins in this EXTRA-LENGTH FIRST ISSUE!
Intresse: 1
Kommentar: Jag läste bara första volymen av Nailbiter när den kom ut men blev inte speciellt imponerad av Joshua Williamsons nagelbitande seriemördare så pass på den här.
BOG BODIES OGN
WRITER & COVER: DECLAN SHALVEY
ARTIST: GAVIN FULLERTON & REBECCA NALTY
APRIL 22 / 96 PAGES / FC / M / $12.99
An Irish gangster on the run after a job gone wrong stumbles upon a young woman lost in the Dublin mountains. Injured and unarmed, the unlikely pair must try to evade their pursuers and survive the desolate bog that has served as a burial ground for unspeakable murder throughout history.
DECLAN SHALVEY (INJECTION, SAVAGE TOWN) and GAVIN FULLERTON (Bags) deliver a cold and poignant story of crime, survival, and regret.
Intresse: 3
Kommentar: Declan Shalvey visade att han även var en stabil författare med Savage Town och nu är det dags för ytterligare en berättelse om irländska gangsters.
PAUL IS DEAD OGN
WRITER: PAOLO BARON
ARTIST / COVER: ERNESTO CARBONETTI
APRIL 22 / 128 PAGES / FC / T+ / $16.99
TRIM SIZE 6.5 x 9.5
November 1966. London.
John Lennon can’t speak. He can’t take his eyes off the photo of a car in flames with Paul McCartney’s body inside. His friend is no longer here, and that means the Beatles are no longer here either. But John wants to know the truth, and with George and Ringo, he will begin to re-examine the final hours of Paul’s life.
Set in the magical atmosphere of Abbey Road Studios during the writing sessions for Sgt. Pepper, PAUL IS DEAD is the definitive version of the legend of Paul McCartney’s death.
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: En spännande ”What if”-historia som måste utforskas, speciellt om man är en Beatles-fan som jag.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Against Hope TP
Victor Santos (W/A/Cover)
On sale June 17
FC, 176 pages
$19.99
TP, 9” x 6”
It has been years since an insane family of neo-Nazi’s murdered her boyfriend and almost killed Hope, now she is tracking them down and exacting her bloody revenge.
Trained by her father in martial combat, Hope grew from an angry and grieving teenage girl into a cold-hearted bounty hunter. When she discovers the family who brutalized her is now running for public office and controlling a cabal of violent white nationalists from the shadows, Hope gears up and hits the road with the intent to slaughter every single Nazi that stands against Hope.
Victor Santos (Polar—now a hit Netflix movie) writes and draws a new story with brutal fight scenes and impactful revelations that echo across decades of the main characters life.
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: Victor Santos imponerade stort på mig med sina karaktäristiska illustrationer i Alex de Campis läsvärda seriebok Bad Girls och även om jag inte är ett lika stort fan av hans egna blodiga actionserier, såsom Polar, så är det aldrig fel att se nazister få på nöten, vilket utlovas i Against Hope.
Colonel Weird: Cosmagog #1 (of 4)
Jeff Lemire (W/Variant cover), Tyler Crook (A/Cover), and Dave Stewart (C)
On sale Apr 22
FC, 32 pages
$3.99
Miniseries
From the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series comes a bizarre sci-fi adventure origin story!
Wacky space adventurer Colonel Randall Weird leaves Black Hammer farm and embarks on a strange journey through space and time for something that he’s long forgotten with his sanity and life at stake!
Intresse: 5
Kommentar: Jag kan aldrig få för mycket Black Hammer-serier och när Jeff Lemire nu slår ihop sina påsar med den fenomenale Tyler Crook (Harrow County) och bjuder på en miniserie med den psykedeliske rymdfararen Colonel Weird så jublar jag inombords.
Dead Dog’s Bite #1 (of 4)
Tyler Boss (W/A/Cover) and Ian Bertram (Variant cover)
On sale Apr 8
FC, 32 pages
$4.99
Miniseries
Cormac Guffin has gone missing. It’s been three days and no one has seen hide nor hair of her. The police have nothing, and the townsfolk are acting more like a funeral procession than a search party. If Cormac has any hope of being found, it rests on the slouching shoulders of her best friend Joe. Joe will need her wits about her though, because, like any story worth hearing, nothing is what it seems.
From award-winning cartoonist Tyler Boss (4 Kids Walk into a Bank) comes the story of a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a candy wrapper.
– From award-winning cartoonist Tyler Boss (4 Kids Walk into a Bank)
– Twin Peaks meets Lady Bird.
– Featuring a variant cover from Ian Bertram (House of Penance).
Intresse: 5
Kommentar: För mig räckte det med att se namnet på huvudpersonen i Dead Dog’s Bite, nämligen Cormac Guffin som uppenbarligen är en rolig blandning av Cormac McCarthy och begreppet ”MacGuffin”, men när jag sedan såg att den var författad av Tyler Boss, som tecknat den fantastiska 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, och att Ian Bertram (Little Bird) stod för illustrationerna så blev jag eld och lågor.
Where Every Day is Black Friday.
Everything II #1 (of 5)
Christopher Cantwell (W) and I.N.J. Culbard (A/Cover/C)
On sale Apr 15
FC, 32 pages
$3.99
Miniseries
The unsettling small-town saga continues in volume 2 of Everything! Lori is the megastore’s newest disciple, but how much power does she really have? After all, Marshall Gooder’s personally overseeing her every move. And as a resistance begins to rise, Everything’s true dark nature will emerge . . .
– Written by Christopher Cantwell, cocreator/showrunner of AMC’s critically acclaimed Halt and Catch Fire.
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: Första volymen av varuhusthrillern Everything ligger i läshögen och verkar mycket lovande så jag tänker definitivt plocka upp fortsättningen.
Spy Island #1 (of 4)
Chelsea Cain (W), Elise McCall (A), Rachelle Rosenberg (C), and Lia Miternique (Cover and Variant Cover)
On sale Apr 1
FC, 32 pages
$3.99
Miniseries
Super spy Nora Freud (no relation) has a plum assignment. She’s stationed on a tropical island. Her mission? Keep an eye on things. Her problem? The island is on the lip of the Bermuda Triangle, where anything can happen. Her other problem? This particular island is a den of intrigue, populated by spies, tourists, and evil villains set on global domination.
Spy Island is a four-issue special limited series by the creative team that brought you Man-Eaters.
– New comics series from New York Times best-selling author Chelsea Cain!
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: En spionhistoria signerad Chelsea Cain som redan gett oss en fabulös run med Mockingbird och den feministiska science fiction-serien Man-Eaters.
Unfinished Business HC
Paul Levitz (W), Simon Fraser (A/Cover), and Cary Caldwell (C)
On sale June 10
FC, 88 pages
$19.99
HC, 7” x 10”
A priest, a minister and a rabbi walk into a bar . . . except they’re all dead. Not a zombie apocalypse (sorry, Walking Dead fans), but a bit of Unfinished Business that heaven needs the departed clerics to address, if they can. But what awaits them if they succeed—life, afterlife, or oblivion?
A tantalizing original graphic-novel mystery from Eisner Award-winner and Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductee Paul Levitz (Legion of Super-Heroes) and Simon Fraser (Kingsman: The Red Diamond, Doctor Who).
– Paul Levitz is a comics industry legend as both an acclaimed writer and as a longtime editor, executive, and publisher at DC Comics.
– Simon Fraser’s work is known for his long-running stints on Nikolai Dante and Judge Dredd in 2000 AD magazine.
Intresse: 2
BOOM! STUDIOS
SPACE BEAR OGN HC
Written & Illustrated by Ethan Young
Cover by Ethan Young
Pilgrim Finch is an adventurous astronaut bear who explores the cosmos with a mission to bring samples of life back to his home planet. But when he crash lands on a new planet full of surprises and danger around every corner, Pilgrim will be forced to question his orders and learn that there’s only one mission that matters—compassion for all living creatures, no matter the stakes!
Award-winning cartoonist Ethan Young presents a timely, silent story about discovering the unknown and empathy for everyone we encounter, because every friendship begins with an act of kindness perfect for readers of all ages.
On sale June 17
112 pages
$14.99
HC, 9″ x 6″
Intresse: 4
Kommentar: Ethan Young, känd bland annat för den självbiografiska serien Tails, The Battles of Bridget Lee och den mycket läsvärda Nanjing: The Burning City, är tillbaka med en mycket lovande bok om upptäckarglädje och empati i en ordlös berättelse för alla åldrar som dessutom har en rymdbjörn i huvudrollen.
MÅNADENS TIPS:
Av alla spännande titlar som kommer ut i april 2020 ser jag mest fram emot Adventureman och The Ludocrats och om jag måste välja en av dem (vilket jag egentligen inte vill) så blir det pulpäventyret Adventureman av Matt Fraction och Terry/Rachel Dodson.
