New Comic Wednesday: April 8th Edition

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It’s Wednesday, which means there’s a whole new haul of comics hitting the stands at your local shops and online. With so many great titles out there, it can be hard to know what’s worth your hard-earned cash. Luckily, I’ve done the heavy lifting for you and found the good stuff.

My top picks for this week:

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard Vol 3 #2 (Archaia)
Written by Nicole Gustafsson, Dustin Nguyen, Kyla Vanderklugt, and David Petersen
Art by C.M. Galdre, Dustin Nguyen, Kyla Vanderklugt, and David Petersen

Every so often, the freeloaders and dine-and-ditchers at the June Alley Inn are invited by its proprietor, June, to pay off their debt in full by engaging in a storytelling contest in which the winner goes free and the losers have to cough up the dough. To help them out, Mouse Guard creator David Petersen has hand-picked a group of talented creators who each bring their own sense of style to the book.

Here’s the thing about David Petersen—aside from being an extraordinary artist and storyteller, he’s also got great taste. He’s been telling Mouse Guard stories on his own for almost ten years now. Because of this, Petersen has a very unique perspective on the world he’s created; a perspective made evident with every creator he’s invited to take part in this anthology.

Whether it’s Nicole Gustafsson and C.M. Galdre’s story proving bravery can protect a community better than a brick and mortar wall, Dustin Nguyen’s heart-wrenching, 2-page watercolored display of compassion and mercy when encountering a fallen enemy, or Kyla Vanderklugt’s graceful line work dancing off the page in a story about the power of unexpected kindness, these creators go to the wall when making the case for their respective cheapskate storytellers.

This volume of Legends of the Guard is barely halfway done, and June already has her work cut out for her when it comes time to choose the mouse who lives free to squat in her inn another day. There’s something special here for everyone.

CRA 4-8 Legend of the Guard

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #6 (IDW)
Written by Tom Scioli and John Barber
Art, Colors, and Lettering by Tom Scioli

Wow. From the very beginning, this out-of-cannon series has been a uniquely weird, throwback ride to the ’80s, and this issue turns the crazy up further—and breaks the knob off.

To put the level of absurdity into perspective, the historically stoic and cold Megatron rocks a Jesus-piece style chain with Bumblebee’s face on it while the deceptively sycophantic Starscream—who lost half his face to an attack by Snake Eyes back in the first couple issues—wears a Cobra eyepatch to rep his new squad, and eventually the Joes’ pets enter the fray armed to the teeth with stolen Cybertronian technology. Reading more like they should be called “G.I. Bro’s,” the Joes run around like a bunch of self congratulatory jocks with a “let’s blow it all to hell” attitude while the Transformers are simply flat-out confused by these “little blue and green men” who keep attacking them. Amidst all the explosions and outer space nonsense are some really great character moments that succeed in grounding the story, and it all almost makes sense on the last page.

Never feeling derivative, Scioli’s artwork is beautifully Kirby-esque in both its design and color aesthetic while he and co-writer John Barber find and exploit the most obscure references from both franchises as Cybertron continues to careen towards Earth. It’s brilliantly self aware yet jarringly hard to read chaos that really reaches for something different and grabs onto it for dear life. Certainly not for everyone and certainly not the most accessible of comics—ironic, considering the ubiquitous nature of both franchises in the ’80s—it’s an absolutely fresh achievement in the medium.

CRA 4-8 TF Joe

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #39 (IDW)
Written by James Roberts
Art by Hayoto Sakamoto
Colors by Joana LaFuente

The exact antithesis to IDW’s Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, More Than Meets the Eye—alongside its companion series Robots in Disguise—has continuously and methodically added to the Transformers mythology since Rodimus and his crew of Autobots decided to depart Cybertron over three years ago. Roberts manages to inject and cultivate interest in every single corner of the Transformers universe he touches upon, giving even the most detestable of bots a convincing sense of self and motivation, making them relatable to both the reader and story.

In this issue, Tarn, the leader of the ruthless Decepticon Justice Division, faces an identity crisis after discovering that Megatron has renounced the Decepticon ideology—which he himself founded—and defected to the Autobots. A calculating, murderous killing machine becomes suddenly unrecognizable in the wake of this news, and it’s this type of riveting and complex characterization that keeps readers coming back month after month. Inevitably, a brutal confrontation is going to arise between disciple and idol for which the lead up will be just as—if not more—intriguing to watch unfold. If you haven’t been following along, now would be a good time to start.

CRA 4-8 TF MTME


Meanwhile, in some of this week’s other notable releases:

Things escalate quickly in Robocop #10 (Boom! Studios) when terrorist Killian incites citywide pandemonium on Detroit, and Murphy—aka Robocop—verbally gets the taste slapped out of his mouth by his partner when he tries to martyr himself to save the city. Not terribly groundbreaking, but still a good read that gives the character more depth than the movies ever did. I’d never picked up an issue of the book before, but I’m going to be paying attention to this one to see where it goes.

The real strength of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters (IDW) lies in its character work, as two worlds collide when one of Donatello’s science experiments goes awry. Capturing the brotherhood that makes up the core of both franchises and expanding on it with a fun, natural sense of humor between the two casts—everyone here has an analog—this well scripted story reads like the crossover that was never really necessary but was always meant to be. Released this week in collected form, this one reads far better in a single sitting than it did in individual issues and is a fun read for all ages.

In Translucent’s (Boom!) 146 pages, Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert manage to tell a complete story about the return and fall of New York’s favorite superhero, the Navigator, when his nemesis, the Horse, walks on a Federal case that should’ve put him behind bars forever. A complex superhero who interweaves reality and surrealism, this journey through the mind of an emotionally damaged hero keeps the reader on their toes right up until the end, with its tragically satisfying pay off. Also impossible to forego mentioning, the artistic efforts by illustrator Daniel Bayliss and colorist Adam Metcalfe are top shelf.

CRA 4-8 Translucent

Also out on this week:

Boom! – Bee and Puppy Cat #8, Bill & Ted’s Most Triumphant Return #2, Bravest Warriors #31, Deep State #5, Escape From New York #5, Evil Empire #12, Help Us! Great Warrior #3, Adventure Time: Marcelene Gone Adrift #4, Peanuts Vol. 5 TPB, Teen Dog #8

IDW – Deadlands Vol. 1, Dead Squad #5, Edward Scissorhands #6,  My Little Pony: Fiendship is Magic #2, Rogue Trooper Classics, Star-Trek/Planet of the Apes

Dynamite – Battlestar Galactica: Six #2, Dresden Files: Downtown #3, Evil Ernie #6, Jungle Girl: Season 3 #1,  Legenderry: Green Hornet #2, Path of Exile #4,  Lady Demon #4, Reanimator #1, Red Sonja: Vulture’s Circle #4, Vampirella #11

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