There are several great releases for Wednesday Warriors to look forward to. While DC’s Death Metal marches on for those that are inexplicably still interested in it, others can dive into a double-dose of vampires. And if you want death metal, there’s another book that takes that literally.
Bill & Ted Are Doomed #2 (Dark Horse)
(w) Evan Dorkin (a) Roger Langridge
Bill and Ted are the gifts that keep on giving in this totally bogus year. Evan Dorkin and Roger Langridge have carried on the film’s message of “be excellent to each other” while making this Face the Music prequel completely stand on its own. This is the place to go for pure fun.
Bill and Ted are making ridiculous plans for a world tour that will somehow solve all their problems. They also hope to write the one song while on tour, energized and influenced by the people of the excellent planet Earth. Their confidence returning, they help the overburdened princesses with arranging the bookings. Things take a turn though when Wyld Stallyns is accidentally booked for a deadly-serious Scandinavian death metal festival (because of Death being in their band).
The Vain #1 (Oni Press)
(w) Eliot Rahal (a) Emily Pearson (c) Fred C. Stressing
October is the perfect time to launch a vampire book, though everyone seems to have that idea. That means a new book needs to have a great hook to stand out from the crowd. Giving it a crime-thriller spin does that. Oni Press quietly publishes some of the best books out there, and it’s safe to assume The Vain will live up to that standard.
Chicago, 1941. A blood bank is held up in a robbery, but no cash is taken-only blood. It’s the latest in a string of similar crimes and FBI Agent Felix Franklin is certain it’s part of a wider plot. But the truth is much more sinister than he could imagine. The four robbers-who call themselves The Vain-are vampires: immortal, physically powerful, and after decades of honing their skills, practically untraceable. But in a world that is rapidly changing, stealing blood is harder every day and with each decade that passes, Agent Franklin inches closer to the truth. Eliot Rahal, Emily Pearson, and Fred C. Stressing kick off a series that spans nearly a century of wild eternal youth and reckless abandon across history.
The Red #1 (Heavy Metal)
(w) Morgan Rosenblum, Matt Medney (a) Jon Lam
Dystopian thrillers are always interesting, even if they recycle a familiar premise. This time, the core idea of 2002’s Equilibrium gets a redux, with emotions being suppressed by a totalitarian government. However, The Red seems to take the cult film’s idea into a new direction. However, as this title seems to be music based, I’m curious as to how that will translate into the comics medium.
In the distant future, a nuclear world war has changed the course of history forever. A single government entity now presides over what’s left of the world, and prohibits certain content that is deemed emotionally dangerous, or ‘red,’ in attempt to maintain order and keep society working. A collection of gifted musicians, who possess the rare ability to create red content, discover they are the key to overthrowing the totalitarian government that has taken their emotional freedoms.
Dracula, Motherfucker (Image Comics)
(w) Alex de Campi (a) Erica Henderson
A Dracula story by way of 1970s exploitation film? This genre mashup by Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson sounds fantastic. de Campi excels at these types of stories, especially when she leans more into the tendencies of pulp fiction. But it’s the art by Henderson that is a real draw, as her work here looks a far cry from her Squirrel Girl days.
Vienna, 1889: Dracula’s brides nail him to the bottom of his coffin. Los Angeles, 1974: an ageing starlet decides to raise the stakes. Crime scene photographer Quincy Harker is the only man who knows it happened, but will anyone believe him before he gets his own chalk outline? And are Dracula’s three brides there to help him… or use him as bait? A pulpy, pulse-pounding graphic novel of California psych-horror from acclaimed creators ALEX DE CAMPI and ERICA HENDERSON.