Black Star #1 Preview

 

Cover A: Martin Simmonds

As a woman flees the police, another follows her. Her pursuer wonders why history keeps repeating itself. She wishes Humanity could change for the better. But as tragic events play out in modern Winnipeg, a confrontation and a transformation occur in the past. How are these two events linked? And why can't the Canadian city shrug off the cycle of violence that haunts it?

Here's all the info from Titan Comics:

 

Black Star #1 (OF 5) Preview

Writers: Kristin Kreuk, Peter Mooney & Eric Putzer

Artist: Joe Bacardo

Cover Artists: Martin Simmonds, Joe Bacardo, Robert Hack & Alison Sampson  

Publisher: Titan Comics

Issue Length: 32 Pages, Full Color

Price: $4.99 US

Release Date: July 29, 2026

 

 

A Northern Gothic Noir 

tinged with Horror and Dark Humor 

 

From acclaimed actress Kristin Kreuk (Smallville, Reacher, Murder in a Small Town)

 

Co-written with Peter Mooney (Rookie Blue, Mistletoe Murders) and screenwriter Eric Putzer, and illustrated by artist Joe Bocardo (Nightwalkers, The Hexiles)

 

Amid skirmishes between two warring factions in the early nineteenth-century fur trade, Dashiell Carlyle discovers he has magical abilities… and that he’s not alone.

 

Thrust into a secret order with designs to use their magic to build a new and better world, Dashiell discovers that their utopia may come at a horrific cost.

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

Cover B: Joe Bacardo

 

 

Cover C: Robert Hack

 

 

Cover D: Alison Sampson

 

 

Also Available: 

 

Cover E: Martin Simmonds Foil

Cover F: Joe Bacardo Virgin Cardstock

Cover G: Martin Simmonds Virgin

 

 

Pre-Order Now From Your Local Comic Shop Or Forbidden Planet For UK & Europe.

 

 

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us. 

 

For more from the creators, see my earlier preview of Black Star #1. 

 

Conan The Barbarian #29 Preview

 

COVER A: ROB DE LA TORRE

At the Battle of Venarium, Conan fought alongside his fellow Cimmerians to repel the Aquilonian invaders. Battling their foes inspired Conan to leave his homeland, and explore the world. Years later, when his footsteps turned homeward, Conan met the Pict scout Brissa at Hauler's Roam in Aquilonia. After the Army of the Lost attacked, Conan followed them into Cimmeria to protect his people. Now, Aquilonia has altered the course of Conan's life once again. What fate will befall the Cimmerian next? And how will Conan prove that he is worthy of Crom's favor?

Here's all the info from Titan Comics: 

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #29

Format: Comic book

W: Jim Zub

A: Doug Braithwaite

Publisher: Heroic Signatures & Titan Comics

FC, 32pp, $4.99, On sale: 25th February 2026

 

New pulp-tastic tales In the tradition of Robert E. Howard. A deadly new foe hunts Conan the Barbarian, tracking his spirit wherever he travels - a killer with keen blade in hand and teeth from old prey strung ‘round his neck. The cult of the Black Stone wants revenge against the Cimmerian and the Son of the Tooth is their weapon of choice.

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

 

COVER B: DOUG BRAITHWAITE

 

 

COVER C: MARTIN SIMMONDS

 

 

COVER D: JESUS MARINO

 

 

COVER E: TOBY WILSMER

COVER F: ROB DE LA TORRE FOIL TRADE

COVER G: MARTIN SIMMONDS CARDSTOCK VIRGIN VARIANT

COVER H: ROB DE LA TORRE VIRGIN VARIANT

Thanks to Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures for sharing this preview with us.

Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1 Review

 

Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Martin Simmonds

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Cover Artists: Martin Simmonds & Mark Chiarello

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $6.99

Page Count: 56

Release Date: October 29, 2025

 

When a ship arrives in port, the authorities find RM Renfield among the dead. He seems disturbed, and they don't know what happened on board. So, they place him under Dr Seward's care. Renfield causes a stir in London. But while he becomes the topic of conversation in Dr Seward’s house, another man further excites London society. How will these newcomers transform Dr Seward's life? And is Renfield a murderer, insane, or just unbalanced? Let's grab our crucifixes and garlic, leap into Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1, and see!

 

Story

As Dr Seward speaks with Mr Renfield, the twitchy solicitor tells him he has been reborn. He sees the world differently now. Like any convert, his master has shown him the way. Or, as an evangelist would proclaim from the pulpit, there is power in the blood. Confined in his cell, Renfield captures any insects he finds and devours them. But when the doctor asks about animals or humans, Renfield insists he doesn't drink their blood. Those belong to his master.

 

While Renfield's conversation and circumstances are extraordinary, Dr Seward treats him like any other patient. Others cannot restrain their fascination. In Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1, Londoners hunger for any scrap of news about the strange man. When another man capitalizes on local interest, John Harker, Dr Seward’s prospective son-in-law, invites him to entertain the members of his club. Mina, the doctor’s daughter, pilfers her father’s notes on Renfield. She shares what she learns with her companion. Like Mina’s fiancé, Lucy thrills to the mystery and romance associated with the strange solicitor.

 

James Tynion’s retelling of the 1931 film divides the point of view between each of the characters. Yet Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1 is a contest between two combatants. Renfield brags that he has become something more than Human. Yet when Dr Seward leaves, Renfield bemoans his lowly status and pleads for his master to uplift him. While the doctor employs psychiatry in Renfield's case, the doctor retreats from the society he yearns to enlighten.

 

Art

After a close-up of a fly, Renfield's insects resemble dark spots akin to freckles, moles, or melanomas. While a halo of light adorns Dr Seward's head, Renfield's face shines like a beacon. Darkness surrounds his eyes. The radiant energy inside Renfield obscures his nose and emphasizes his teeth.

 

Dr Seward discusses Renfield's case while John Harker stands before a window in his three-piece suit, holding a teacup. As Lucy and Mina sit on a couch, shadows on the wall conjure Renfield aboard the doomed ship. In John's club, all eyes turn toward Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Pressing his fingertips together to form a church roof, his round glasses glow. Below his handlebar mustache, Van Helsing's lips form a wide smile.

 

Martin Simmonds’ brushstrokes suggest the spirits Van Helsing believes in are changing the air's density. The stippling surrounding the characters enhances the Black-And-White filmic quality of Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1. People's thoughts merge with reality to conjure dreamy collages. These reveal how Dracula can assume any shape, including bats and wolves.

 

Rus Wooton fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase letters that grow bold for intonation. The words swell for raised voices, and threaten to burst balloons when Renfield calls for his master. Words from a scientific text fill the background as Dr Seward takes notes of Renfield's raving. And after a rough night, a sound effect overtakes a panel when the occult power Dr Seward doesn't believe in invades his home. Thanks to Image Comics and Skybound for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Dr Seward believes that science can explain any mystery. But as the British doctor treats an unknown condition with scientific methods, an agent of the Catholic Church warns of the power of the occult. Like the ruined abbey next to his home, Professor Abraham Van Helsing's beliefs belong to the unenlightened past. Instead, the professor’s rising popularity threatens to usher back the dark ages of superstition in Universal Monsters: Dracula Black & White Special #1.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

 

For another cover see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Skin Police 2 #3 Cover Preview

COVER A BY DANIEL GETE

 

What would it be like to you learn that you weren't born? That your parents were so desperate for a child that they purchased you from black market suppliers? Duplicates live with the anxiety that they are a ticking timebomb. One day, perhaps tomorrow, they will succumb to violent dimentia. 

DIC Agent Brisson Eckis wants to protect people from violent duplicates. Yet he feels under assault from all sides. The leader of the underground duplicate league knows where Brisson lives. And someone above him is pulling his suspects before he can question them while arresting fellow officers with seemingly spurious links to duplicates. What will happen to Brisson next? And can he protect his family as everything he knows seems to crumble around him? 

Here's all the info from Oni Press:  

 

SKIN POLICE 2 #3 (OF 4)

WRITTEN BY JORDAN THOMAS ART BY DANIEL GETE COVER A BY DANIEL GETE COVER B BY MARTIN SIMMONDS FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY MARTIN SIMMONDS ON SALE NOVEMBER 5th, 2025 | $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FC  There are bombshells . . . and then there is THIS issue! The entire SKIN POLICE saga has led to this world-shaking turning point! Secrets explode and loyalties shatter as Agent Eckis of the Duplicate Identification and Capture Division—aka the Skin Police—finally comes face-to-face with the one man he’s been hunting since day one: Noxxon, the enigmatic leader of the Dupe Resistance. After months of brutal clashes between Skin Police and Dupe resistance forces—and with nothing but clone corpses and contradictions to show for it—Eckis has had enough. Disillusioned by dead-end intel and the shifting agenda of his superiors, he agrees to an off-the-grid meeting with Noxxon. The truth they uncover will rewrite everything Eckis believes about the Dupe program, the Skin Police, and his own existence. Jordan Thomas (Mugshots) and Daniel Gete (Biker Mice from Mars) rip the curtain back on the darkest corners of identity, rebellion, and control in the issue that changes everything. And trust us—that last page is one hell of a doozy!

 

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B BY MARTIN SIMMONDS

 

Cover C

 

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY MARTIN SIMMONDS

 

Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this story with us.

The Department of Truth #0 Review

 

Writers: James Tynion IV

Artists: Martin Simmonds & Joshua Hixson

Colorists: Martin Simmonds & Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Aditya Bidikar

Cover Artists: Martin Simmonds, Joshua Hixson, Tom Muller & Tyler Boss

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 24, 2025

 

Like Janie, Hunter’s got a gun. It's an impressive rifle. Still, Stevie prefers customers to order a large pepperoni rather than discharge a firearm inside Pizza Gogo. Hunter insinuates Stevie is doing something sinister. When the rifle-toting customer points to a door, Stevie wonders why he hasn't noticed it before. And when Steve opens it and hears children crying, why does it hurt to peer into the darkness? Let's grab a flashlight, leap into The Department of Truth #0, and see!

 

Story

While Hunter's story begins in 2016, time passes quickly in prison. Still, it's a surprise when the guard leaves Hunter with government spooks. A kid eating a candy bar waxes lyrical about his vision of America. Chuckie claims that Hunter is a hero and fits in with what he's trying to do for their country. But Chuckie is a teenager. Years ago, he could have been one of the kids Hunter intended to rescue from Pizza Gogo.

 

In The Department of Truth #0, Charity Sinclair realizes her colleague isn't connecting with Hunter. She explains how her government department faltered under poor leadership. Now, the administration shares Charity's vision. Like the door that Stevie had never seen before, Charity believes that Hunter can help make her vision of America a reality. Her department is on a recruiting drive, and she wants Hunter to be a part of it.

 

All this strange talk mystifies Hunter. And when he gets confused, he gets angry. Hunter cares about others. But he tries to see the world objectively. The government has given him time to reconsider his actions. How did his threatening and menacing crimes become heroism? James Tynion IV’s story is all about the truth we perceive, and the passion and work necessary to help others embrace your worldview.

 

Art

As Hunter points his rifle at Stevie, the restaurant mascot on the wall behind the bald, muscular man evokes Eddie Valiant's investigation for Roger Rabbit. Customers watch the standoff as the room skews around them. The stairs descending into darkness recall Bilbo sneaking into Smaug's domain. Martin Simmonds intersperses the action with frequent close-ups of Hunter and Stevie. Then the two men resemble figures at a crime scene, as a pistol-wielding woman in a black suit studies them.

 

Colors swirl, spin, and surround the characters in The Department of Truth #0. Martin Simmonds often adorns people and places with contrasting colors, such as red and green, to suggest texture, patterns, and energy. Red drifts from Hunter’s rifle to bathe Stevie. The same white speckles that hover around Hunter also surround the magical door. Outside Pizza Gogo, the restaurant lights and the roof lights on the patrol car and ambulance blur amid a white ground fog. Later, a greenish haze surrounds Chuckie, Charity, and Hunter, while a yellow-and-red children’s drawing portrays how Charity views her department liaison.

 

Suspicious Minds Pt 1: Story

Hank remembers how seeing Elvis Presley in a parade affected him. Now, he must assess the King's impact on national security. In Scott Snyder’s story, Hank has failed the bureau once. He feels out of his depth. But Hank has something to prove to his director and himself.

 

This short serial installment concerns how stories influence us. These may be the stories we tell. Or they may be stories that others create about us. Stories sustained Hank during his childhood. His time as an agent has taught him that some stories can hurt others. What Hank discovers when he enters Graceland confounds everything he knows about how “truth” and “fiction” change us.

 

Suspicious Minds Pt 1: Art

Joshua Hixson shows Hank walking through the throng lining the street. Beside him, his mother uses a handkerchief amid her distress. But she waves at people she admires. Unlike the celebrities perched atop the back seats of convertibles, the King reclines on the trunk of a car with a hard top. Elvis smiles and winks at Hank's stoicism.

 

Jordie Bellaire applies beige, red, and gray to Joshua Hixson’s precision drawings in The Department of Truth #0. Inking portrays darkness and shadows as Hank slows before the wrought iron gates in his big-bodied, OAPEC-defying sedan. People merge with symbols and mythological creatures as Hank ponders his discoveries and enters the colonial revival mansion.

 

Lettering

Aditya Bidikar adorns characters with white balloons featuring straight lines and sharp edges. Large black uppercase words reveal dialogue, while small lowercase letters in narrative boxes adorn art illustrating the characters' worldviews. Small uppercase letters fill rounded white balloons in Suspicious Minds Pt 1, while small lowercase typed letters in beige boxes convey Hank's thoughts. Thanks to Image Comics and Tiny Onion for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Countries have gone to war to promote their version of the truth. Empires have crumbled because they lacked a unifying story. In The Department of Truth #0, people who believe in objective truth falter, while those who live the lie until it becomes truth gain momentum in their bid for power.

 

Rating 9/10

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Batman: Dark Patterns #11 Review

 

Writer: Dan Watters

Artist: Hayden Sherman

Colorist: Tríona Farrell

Letterer: Frank Cvetkovic

Editors: Arianna Turturo & Rob Levin

Cover Artists: Hayden Sherman & Martin Simmonds

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock

Release Date: October 8, 2025

 

A baby-faced killer clad in protective clothing pulled the Cabreras into a housefire. An effigy of Batman lured Commissioner Gordon into a burning coroner’s lab. After journalist Nicky Harris told Batman about Dr Sereika's incendiary past, Gotham’s volunteer forensic pathologist disappeared. Is Garfield Lynns, aka Firefly, subjecting Gotham to a trial by fire through his agent outside Blackgate Penitentiary? Or is the Child of Fire following their own twisted plan? Let's grab a fire extinguisher, leap into Batman: Dark Patterns #11, and see!

 

Story

Commissioner Gordon doesn’t like his decision any more than the police who serve under him. But the Child of Fire shares Firefly’s views on Gotham. So, Gordon takes Firefly to the scene of the latest arson attack. The aroma of burned flesh tantalizes Firefly’s nostrils. Based on what he knows of his pen pal and what he's seen, Firefly senses a pattern involving Gotham's development as a city.

 

Firefly isn’t alone in this assessment. Although Alfred urges him to rest, Bruce Wayne compares the recent arson incidents with historic fires. Batman is so focused on his task that Alfred loses his characteristic reserve. While Alfred shouts to get Bruce to pay more attention to his young charge in Batman And Robin: Year One #3, the butler forces Bruce to see that he and the city are one in Batman: Dark Patterns #11. If Bruce dies because he doesn't tend to his wounds and the infection raging inside him, who will protect Gotham?

 

As Batman investigates Gotham's history in Dan Watters' story, the arsonist sees fire as a means to cleanse Gotham from disease and corruption. When the Child of Fire compares the unfolding events to his grand plan, Dr Sereika becomes his enemy. Like Alfred, the arsonist sees Batman as focusing too much on his immediate tasks. But instead of caring for his physical health, the Child of Fire wants Batman to guide Gotham’s cleansing and renewal.

 

Art

While police survey the rubble, armored guards help Firefly from the Blackgate Prison van. Chains link the metal bands circling Firefly’s neck, waist, and limbs. When the inmate with a burned face kneels to study the burned remnants, Commissioner Gordon lights his pipe and inhales smoke from the burning tobacco in Batman: Dark Patterns #11.

 

Along with energizing layouts, Hayden Sherman builds symbology into this story about myth and legend. Alfred stands in the library doorway, seemingly at the feet of a bat-like shadow. Bruce sits cross-legged, with his shirt off and his head bowed. Open books surround him like a circle of power. Shadows obscure the arsonist's features as he sits with Dr Sereika. Only briefly does his face emerge with clarity. Then the Child of Fire dons his mask once more.

 

While Tríona Farrell paints Batman: Dark Patterns #11 with vibrant colors, gray forms a link between Firefly and Bruce. Yet pink shines most brightly, illuminating Firefly's scarred face, the arsonist's intense stare, Bruce taking his temperature, and the smoke rising from the fires. When Batman visits Gotham, illustrations from his books superimpose over the pink background.

 

Frank Cvetkovic fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase dialogue that grows bold for intonation. Extracts from Bruce's books appear as bold lowercase black letters in gray paper scraps. A surprised off-camera voice speaks into a spiky balloon, while a frightened man shouts into a star as the Child of Fire enacts the final portion of his grand plan. Thanks to DC Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Gotham's growth has outpaced its ability to serve its citizens. Business leaders prey on the city’s inhabitants. Officials evict people from the buildings where their families lived for generations. Villains make the streets unsafe for residents, and the unhoused eat rats to survive. While weaving myth into Gotham’s rich history, Batman: Dark Patterns #11 tackles the economic inequality that empowers the crime families and prevents Gotham from addressing the needs of its populace.

 

Rating 9.8/10

Batman: Dark Patterns #11 Preview

 

 

Batman lay in a bed of pain. But when Commissioner Gordon feared for his life, Batman arrived to save him. As Gordon noticed, Batman hasn't recovered from his recent injuries. But Batman won't rest until he finds the pyromaniac who set a trap for Commissioner Gordon, and tried to burn his friend alive.

Here's all the info from DC Connect: 

Batman: Dark Patterns #11

Writer: Dan Watters

Artist: Hayden Sherman

Cover Artists: Hayden Sherman & Martin Simmonds

Publisher: DC Comics

Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock

Issue Length: 32 Pages

Release Date: October 8, 2025

 

Gotham City, up in flames!

 

Case 04: The Child of Fire

 

With the mystery of the terrifying new arsonist’s identity hanging over his head, Batman finds himself at a crossroads with one of his allies. Is it possible they’re the mastermind behind the flames devouring Gotham City?

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this preview with us.