New Comics Wednesday: October 14th Edition

Howdy, folks, welcome back to the Wednesday round-up. There’re some good comics this week, what with Rebels (Dark Horse) taking a very different direction, a one-shot from the Lumberjanes (Boom! Box) crew that really knocks it out of the park, and Boom!’s Day Men—finally—getting to its eighth and final issue.

In Project-Nerd related news, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. As you probably know—or if you don’t, you do now—we have undertaken the herculean task of starting our own publishing company. Like any other professional endeavor, that sort of thing takes money, so we’ve opened up a Kickstarter campaign for our first title, That Bulletproof Kid, by Australian based creator Matt Kyme.

Here’s something unique about our Kickstarter—the comic has five issues in the can and a sixth on the way. We’re already far ahead of schedule on this, and we’ve got some great rewards for your donation. Get the details here, or anywhere in this article where I wrote the word “Kickstarter.

Now, let’s talk comics.


Rebels

Rebels #7 (Dark Horse)
written by Brian Wood; art by Matthew Woodson; colors by Jordie Bellaire 

Departing from the prior storyline featuring Seth Abbot of the Green Mountain Boys, this issue focuses on a much lesser talked about part of the American Revolution—the “Camp Followers”. Camp Followers were women, often spouses or relatives of members of the army, who—although not on any official records and receiving absolutely no official recognition—joined the war efforts and provided invaluable support to Washington’s armies.

There is so much to love about this book.

First, the “historical fiction through the eyes of the individual” approach to storytelling is just an endless source of material. Where we spent the last 6 issues dealing with the cannons of Ticonderoga, this issue makes a seamless transition to a storyline that honors the women who also served in the war. Sarah Hull, wife of Captain Samuel Hull, gave everything she had and lost just as much to the war effort, and here we see how they repay her. It’s a love letter, a hero’s tale, and deep social commentary, wrapped up in 22 pages.

Then there’s the talent. Brian Woods and Matthew Woodson—a newcomer to the book, filling in for the very talented Andrea Mutti—work hand in hand to deliver a gut-punch of a story that speaks loudly to how behind this country still is when it comes to gender equality in terms of recognition, respect, and recompense. It is not subtle, but it’s Woodson’s subtle character acting that really sells the story. There’s an extreme iciness from Sarah when she’s dealing with the government bureaucrats at her doorstep that you just can’t half-ass or overdo. Woodson nails it.

This one? Buy it on site this week and add it to your pull list. It’s well worth the time and money.


Lumber Janes

Lumberjanes: Beyond Bay Leaf #1 (Boom!Box)
written by Faith Erin Hicks; illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell; colors by Maarta Laiho

This one-shot by Hicks, Valero-O’Connell, and Laiho, is a beautiful example of what this book can accomplish. The setup—a group of campers gets separated when one of them runs off into the enchanted woods when she thinks she sees a “ghost pony” and then hilarity ensues when the remaining group runs into a creepy old hunter woman who collects rare beasts—isn’t necessarily new ground, but the story just perfectly encapsulates the adventure, humor, and commitment to undying friendship that makes Lumberjanes such a special comic with so much potential. And when it’s this good, it’s among the best comics on the shelves.

Newcomer artist Rosemary Valero-O’Connell is the real star here. The book retains some of the classic Lumberjanes look, but the pages are so much more kinetically driven than what we’re used to seeing, and it really elevates the storytelling. I’d love to see more from her, specifically with the ‘Jane’s because she appears to have such a natural understanding of the characters—but man, I bet she’d also kill on a more super-hero type book like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well.

This issue is one of those comics that you could hand to literally anyone—comics or non-comics readers alike—and they’re likely to ask for more. It’s also a great introduction to the Lumberjanes because it’s a self-contained story that’s so well written you feel familiar with the characters without even a hint of expository dialogue. Great work, team Lumberjanes. 


Day Men

Daymen #8 (Boom! Studios)
written by Matt Gagnon and Michael Alan Nelson; illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze; colors by Darrin Moore

This is the final issue of an 8-issue series that frustratingly took over two years to complete, reportedly due to artist Brian Stelfreeze taking way too long on the artwork—a different conversation indeed, but he’ll undoubtedly be held to a higher standard of deadline when he moves over to Black Panther for Marvel. I’ve got a Jackson on him being on it for under a year before the highly anticipated book falls behind.

That said, Stelfreeze is indeed an incredibly gifted artist. I loved his 90’s Shadow of the Bat covers for DC, and it’s a treat to see his work in serial form. He’s got serious storytelling chops and is among the few who can seamlessly switch between the more humanized character work and bombastic action scenes. This book belongs to him just as much as it does the writing team.

Scheduling gripes aside, this was a great series that kind of mashed up The Sopranos with True Blood, examining the relationships between different families of vampires through the lens of David Reid—a “Day Man” who resolves beefs and run errands for his vampire employers while the sun is cramping their style. It’s a big world that we norms know nothing about, and I feel like these 8 issues only scratched the surface of the political complexity that it could’ve offered. As far as a final issue goes, it does its job in that it ties up all the loose ends and leaves the door open for future stories, but I can’t help feeling that it all ended prematurely.

Then again, It’ll probably read better in a collected edition where we don’t have to wait 6 months between issues.


Also available this week:

Boom! – Adventure Time #45, Americatown #3, Cursed Pirate Girl Annual #1, Lantern City #6, Sleep Hollow: Providence #3, Tyson Hesse’s Diesel #2, Welcome Back #2 

Dark Horse – Abe Sapien #27, EVE Valkyrie #1, The Goon in Theatre Bizarre, Harrow County #6, King Tiger #3, Mirror’s Edge: Exordium #2

IDW – G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero: Cobra World Order Prelude, Insufferable #6, Jem and the Holograms #8, The Maxx: Maxximized #24, Star Trek/Green Lantern#4, Uncle Scrooge #7

Dynamite – Alice Cooper vs Chaos #2, Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein Storm Surge #1, Red Sonja/Conan #3, The Shadow #3, Swords of Sorrow #6, Vampirella/Army of Darkness #4


Project-Nerd is a press partner of BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and IDW Publishing. If you would like to see your studios’ content included in our weekly release article, please contact our editors.

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