Bee and Puppycat #4
Hello, all, and welcome to the very first installment of “The Week in Boom!” where we’ll be looking at the new releases (out today!) from BOOM! Studios. And, of course, I’ll offer a few thoughts where I have them (or where they’re relevant, at least).
These books are scheduled to arrive at finer comic shops and digital devices on 9/24/24:
Adventure Time Mathematical Edition Volume 4 HC, $34.99
I am the only person I know who doesn’t read the Adventure Time comics. I enjoy the show when I have time to watch it (but I have a six month old, so I rarely have said time) and everything I’ve heard has indicated that the comics are a great extension of the show. I look forward to reading these with my son someday.
Bee And Puppycat #4 (Cover A Natasha Allegri), $3.99
Bee And Puppycat #4 (Cover B Zac Gorman), $3.99
Bee And Puppycat #4 (Cover C Megan Brennan), AR
I’m just going to admit it: I don’t get it. I read the first two issues of “Bee and Puppycat” and I just didn’t get it. I doubt there’s anything else on the shelves like it, so that’s something, particularly if you do, in fact, get it. More power to you.
Bravest Warriors #24 (Cover A Angelica Russell), $3.99
Bravest Warriors #24 (Cover B Jordyn Bochon), $3.99
Bravest Warriors #24 (Cover C Bridget Underwood), AR
See above re: Adventure Time.
Butterfly #1 (Of 4)(Cover A Phil Noto), $3.99
It’s interesting to see that, while the Big Two slowly but surely make head way into female fronted comics, it’s substantially less of an issue for smaller, non-superhero companies. Butterfly would be a big deal at the Big Two for reasons that have little to do with the content. All that said, there are some great comics being published these days about a) spies and/or b) women, and Butterfly looks to keep the trend alive. Hopefully, the cover by Black Widow’s Phil Noto will bring in some additional readers.
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #5 (Cover A Riley Rossmo), $3.99
Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #5 (Cover B Christopher Mitten), AR
I still remember when Marvel launched a line of comics from Clive Barker in the 90’s. Confession: I didn’t read them and I’ve never seen a Hellraiser movie. Barker’s corner of the fictional world is completely foreign to me, but he has a lot of very loyal fans. This looks like a good title to jump in with, as the stories seem self-contained and the creative team of Barker, Marc Andreyko, and Piotr Kowalski is pretty great.
Empty Man #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Vanesa R. Del Rey), $3.99
I have a six month old son. I say this as a way of excusing myself for falling behind on comics, both the reading of them and the staying current on news. This is me hanging my head in shame due to the fact that I had no idea that this book even existed, which is astounding considering I’m a fan of Cullen Bunn’s work. Vanessa Del Rey
Empty Man #4
did nice work on Hit, so it looks like I need to go digging through the back issue bin (which is totally a line, as I buy my comics digitally now, so finding the first 3 issues of this series will be easy).
Evil Empire #5 (Cover A Jay Shaw), $3.99
Thanks to the phenomenal BOOM! Studios Humble Bundle, I’m now hooked on this series. It’s just menacing enough to pull you in and the art so far as been great. It’s what I imagine something like Crossed is but without the necessary plague. The synopsis for this issue indicates that it’s a stand alone story, which is a bit disappointing consider the giant bomb that was dropped last issue, but I’m willing to put my faith into this creative team — they’ve earned it.
Lumberjanes #6 (Cover A Noelle Stevenson), $3.99
Lumberjanes #6 (Cover B Kel McDonald), AR
If there’s any justice in the world, “What the junk?” will be commonplace in the next few months. I’m enjoying Lumberjanes, but I’d love it if there were some kind of an old school roll call at the beginning of each issue. Aside from Ripley, it takes me a few minutes to remember the names of each of the characters, and that’s not really a good thing. Still, the pure creative enthusiasm on display in each issue is more than enough to bring me back.
Steed And Mrs. Peel We’re Needed #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Kim Herbst), $3.99
I don’t get Steed and Mrs. Peel aka the original Avengers. I’ve never seen a single episode of the television show, but it clearly has its fans. I’m probably missing something great, but that’s often the case.
Tag Deluxe Edition TP, $14.99
Well played, Boom! The latest volume of “Punks” comes out from Image Comics next month. It’s by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain, the latter of whom just happens to be the artist of this very title. Cross marketing! Personally, I’m thrilled that this is coming out no matter what the reason, as I missed it the first time around and it sounds fantastic. It’s less a zombie story and more a Gypsy curse story, written by Keith Giffen, who often does his best work when not constrained by a corporately owned shared universe.
As is generally the case with BOOM!, there’s something for everything in this week’s batch of books. My picks are Empty Man (based solely on my faith in the creative team), Evil Empire, Lumberjanes, and Tag.