Weekly Comic Overview: Week of April 4th, 2018

Every Wednesday, new comics are released at everyone's local comic shop. To help highlight some of the comics that are released that may not be widely known, our weekly pick-ups will be highlighted on Thursdays. Some of the books picked up may be books that were released weeks prior to the current week. This week's comic pickup is the following books:

Eternal (One Shot) from Black Mask
Oblivion Song #1 from Skybound/ Image Comics
Shadowman #1 from Valiant Comics
Vampironica #1 from Archie Comics
The Highest House #1 from IDW
Isola #1 from Image Comics

To start off with the most recent release, which actually came out on 4/4/18, is Image Comic's Isola #1, story by Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl, art by Karl Kerschl and Msassyk:

In this issue, we follow Captain Rook, as she escorts the Queen Olwynto safety. Rook is hoping to get the Queen to Isola and see if she can help the Queen be restored to her former glory. One of the cool things about the art direction of Isola is that the framing and art design appeared to be cut from a high-end production anime. The way the story unfolded like the pilot episode of a show and even ended with a preview of next month's issue. The story is very sparse at first but that adds into the mystique of this world. Similar to the beginning of a new anime, more information will unfold as the new episodes continue to come. I'm excited to see what is coming up in the future issues.

The next book is Valiant Comics' Shadowman #1, written by Andy Diggle, art by Stephen Segovia.

The first thing that caught my attention to Shadowman was the awesome standee that Valiant book (which I hope to one day have for my office). The book takes place after the current Shadowman, Jack, had been absent for five years and him trying to make sense of the things in New Orleans. The story ends with him dealing with Baron Samedi and his warnings of things to come. This book is one of the best illustrated books from Variant but I will add this book to my sub list.

The next book is Archie Comics' Vampironica #1, written by siblings Greg and Megan Smallwood, illustrated by Greg Smallwood:

Vampironica is a unique book that features a new twist of one of Archie's major characters, Veronica. Greg Smallwood (Moon Knight) is an amazing artist and I was thrilled to see that him, along with his sister, decided to take the creative reins on this comic with the writing and art. I've enjoyed the other entries of the Archie Horror comics and this one is amazing. It's a brief read but it starts you on a ride that resemble some of the teen horror films of the 70's/ 80's. A definite add for the sub list at my local comic shop.

The next book is Image Comic's Oblivion Song #1, written by Robert Kirkman and art by Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leoni:

Oblivion Song is a new IP that takes place in a near future when a serious, life altering event happens. Our protagonist, Nathan, is traversing dimensions to help bring missing individuals back home. While he struggles to find more assistance with his work, some questions his motives and why he continues to go back to this alien dimension. Loving the art direction and story of this book. As mentioned about the previous three books, I plan to add this to my subscription list and continue to follow this series.

The next book that caught my eye and I had to look into was Black Mask Studios' Eternal, written by Ryan K Lindsay, illustrated by Eric Zawadzki, and colored by Dee Cunniffe.

I heard about Eternal on the 11' o Clock Comics Podcast. After hearing about the book, I searched several comics shops for it. I finally came across it at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find in Charlotte while traveling out of town.

Eternal is a solid single shot story that followed a group of shieldmaidens who continued to handle their own as opposing groups of vikings came to conquer them. There was one wizard that Vif, their leader, had to handle. Her actions lead her down a path that forces her to find a different way to conquer a opponent that could not be harmed with her physical weapons. This is a beautiful book that provided a look into the life of a person who decides to live by the sword. If you can find a copy of this story, I would recommend buying it and adding it into your collection. Similar to another book in this pickup, the format is larger and might be difficult to find the right bag and board for it.

The last book highlighted on today's weekly pickup is IDW's The Highest House #1, written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross, and colored by Fabien Alquier. The thing that first attracted me to the book is the beautiful cover by Yuko Shimizu.

The thing that first attracted me to the book is the beautiful cover by Yuko Shimizu. I love the bigger format of the book and the glossy details that adorn the cover. The story follows a young child named Moth who lives in a small village. One day, representatives from a foreign land come in search of slaves. Along with a few others, Moth is sold to the Magister from Lillirue, which is the Highest House. As Moth learns of his new job, something continues to worry him about what is going to come for him. The overall story did not grab me as much as the other stories. The art direction was fine but overall, the story seemed to be a very slow burn. I'm not going to add it to my pull list but will keep an eye on how the story progresses.

Final Thoughts

I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of everything that I picked up this week. These books are so different from most of the mainstream comics that are out today. While I do enjoy reading Batman, X-Men, and other mainstream books, it always nice to go beyond the broad path and venture down the narrow roads of new creative visions. If you want to venture out into something new, look at some of the offerings from other publishers outside of DC and Marvel. Also, continue to check back on Steam for Dreams every week and see our pickups and what we would recommend.