New Champions #1 Review

 

Writer: Steve Foxe

Artist: Ivan Fiorelli & Ig Guara

Colorist: Arthur Hesli

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Cover Artists: Gleb Melnikov & Edgar Delgado; Federico Vicentini & Matt Milla; Luciano Vecchio; Rose Besch; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau; Peach Momoko; Paco Medina & Jesus Aburtov; Nicoletta Baldari

Graphic Designer: Kat Walkington

Editors: MR Daniel, Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Alanna Smith & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 8, 2025

 

Hydra captured them. Kondrati Topolov, aka Gremlin, brainwashed them (and made their families forget them). The young heroes worked for Echidna and followed Titan's commands until screamy Angar unlocked memories of Hydra’s conditioning. Nick Fury helped them reunite with their families (well, most of them). But who are the newest superheroes protecting San Francisco? Let’s hitch a ride on Max Zorin’s blimp, leap into New Champions #1, and find out!

 

Story

The Brothers Grimm collected folktales about extraordinary children. But when the New Champions interrupt their hovering heist, the skull-faced villains who took their name feel embarrassed to be captured by children. Liberty is ecstatic at her friends’ teamwork. Cadet Marvel objects to such parental praise in public, and Moon Squire reminds her that his parents expect him home at dinnertime. But the young heroes are tired of taking the bus for their superhero patrols, so Hellrune teleports them home.

 

 

 

Echidna's marketing team crafted an origin story for their new corporate superhero team. Some of it was false. But while Nick Fury reunited Moon Squire, Liberty, and Cadet Marvel with their parents, Echidna’s story about Hellrune living in an orphanage seems based on fact. Hellrune should be traumatized by her Hydra experiences. Yet what bothers her more in New Champions #1 is the magic she wields.

 

 

 

Are we products of our biology or our environment? Superheroes are no different from the rest of us. In Steve Foxe's story, Cadet Marvel, Liberty, and Moon Squire benefit from their parents and sibling's influence. But Hellrune has nothing to call her own except her magic. Unlike Jaren, Miranda, and Emilio, "Runie" doesn't even know her given name. So, while living with her foster parents, Hellrune uses magic to find her biological parents. She needs to learn what makes her tick and why her family abandoned her.

 

 

 

Art

While Moon Squire enlivens in white cloth and a black mask, Cadet Marvel rocks with a yellow lightning bolt emblem and yellow goggles. Clad in Captain America attire, Liberty flies with her Wasp-like, hard-light wings. Hellrune displays Iron Age fantasy adventurer appeal with her greaves, rondels, and fur cape. But her unique lantern-like spear separates her from the rest of humanity.

 

 

 

Magic flows from Hellrune’s spear in bands of rainbow light. While Arthur Hesli lavishes a loaded palette of vivid colors on Ivan Fiorelli and Ig Guara’s art in New Champions #1, intense blue-white light unifies our heroes. Hellrune wields this from her spear and conjures glowing symbols and runes. The same intense energy surrounds her when she teleports. 

 

 

 

Liberty gathers her friends Moon Squire and Cadet Marvel with a blue light vehicle, while newcomer Fantasma crackles with blue-white energy as she roller-skates into their lives. Perhaps most intriguing are Hellrune’s blue-white ravens. Do her scouts foretell destruction, as they did for Spider-Gwen on Earth-65? 

 

 

 

Travis Lanham conjures uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons. The letters grow bold for inflection, swell for volume, and shrink for lowered voices. White letters in red narrative boxes introduce readers to our heroes, while black letters in colored boxes reveal texting. The cawing of ravens accompanies the cracking and booming of Hellrune’s magic, while a giant crashing toward the friends brings along another young hero in New Champions #1. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

After her friends hit the jackpot with loving families, Hellrune grows desperate. She risks using magic she doesn't understand in a quest for her biological family. But when her hoped-for reunion becomes mayhem in the marsh, the first people Hellrune calls are her found family. New Champions #1 is a quest for identity and a reminder that learning the truth about our past may not always be pleasant.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Welcome To Ghost Mansion Vol 1 Preview

This debut volume is enormous fun! Kaori is a hard worker, yet she doesn't overthink her life. She's a carefree soul who goes with the flow and doesn't let things gets her down. When problems arise, she finds innovative solutions to problems others would find insurmountable. It's also a tale of an unlikely friendship between open-minded Kaori and an indoctrinated exorcist. '

Here's all the info from Titan Manga:

WELCOME TO GHOST MANSION VOL. 01

Author/Illustrator: Nebukuro

Publisher: Titan Manga (Titan Comics imprint)

SC, 192 pages, B&W, $12.99

ISBN: 9781787743700

On sale January 28, 2025

 

For fans of horror comedy, this story of a freelancer slacker who buys a mansion full of ghosts is sure to terrify and amuse in equal measure! Join Kaori as she becomes landlord for a house full of specters!

 

Kaori Shinonome, who had been living as a freelancer, invests her inheritance in property and buys a vast old condominium. Her dream life as a wealthy landlord is about to begin - but there are no living tenants, only spirits, and her new property is a rollercoaster ride of psychic phenomena. Kaori embraces her new specter-filled life as the owner of Ghost Mansion and starts recruiting for new non-living residents!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome To Ghost Mansion Vol. 01 is on sale January 28, 2025 at bookstores, comic shops and digital.

 

Pre-order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million and Forbidden Planet for UK. 

 

Thanks to Titan Manga for sharing this preview with us!

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29 Review

 

Writer: Cody Ziglar

Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo

Colorist: Bryan Valenza

Letterer: Cory Petit

Cover Artists: Sara Pichelli & Federico Blee; Javier Garrón & Jesus Aburtov

Design: Jay Bowen

Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 15, 2025

 

T’Challa gave Miles a key. Shuri gave him a heart-shaped herb. The divine panther at the soul tree gave Miles an invitation. But Miles’ vampirism brings Varnae’s spirit into Bast's domain. Worse, his connection to his god allows Kwaku Anansi to crash the party. While Bast seethes at these unwelcome guests, Anansi promises to heal Miles.

 

Bast calls Anansi a Trickster and trusts him like Thor trusts Loki. Can Anansi heal Miles? Or will Miles get trounced in a divine fight club, leaving Shift to assume Miles’ identity and become Brooklyn’s Spider-Man? Let's inscribe seals in a stone circle, leap into Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29, and find out!

 

Story

Humans love stories about the gods. The gods delight in tales of legendary heroes. Anansi controls the Web Of Life And Destiny. He watches his spider-heroes wage villains across the multiverse. So, Anansi offers to heal Miles in return for a great story.

 

Anansi may claim he is the Storyteller God. But in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29, he severs Varnae’s spirit from Miles and puts it back into T’Challa. The Black Panther attacks Miles with knives and claws. In this realm of the Vodū, all Miles has is his fists. But Miles cannot damage T’Challa’s Vibranium suit.

 

Before they entered Bast’s realm, T’Challa urged Miles to be calm. Shuri warned Miles not to believe what he saw. Both prove easier said than done when Anansi ups the stakes. Forget a vampiric Black Panther. Miles has faced far worse. Those conflicts left Miles stressed and beset with panic attacks. Tiana Toomes convinced Miles to try journaling. Dr Kwan tried the talking cure. But those remedies tackled Miles’ fear of others attacking him or his family. When Varnae bit him, the first vampire inverted Miles' battle. Instead of fearing what others will do to him, Miles fears what he will do to them.

 

While Cody Ziglar pits Miles against villains from his past, Miles must face his most oppressive foe. It isn't vampires or supervillains. It is the one thing that can hold Miles back from becoming all he can be. In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29, Miles must decide if he will accept Franklin D Roosevelt’s challenge to Americans (including Brooklynites) or remain in his Great Depression.

 

 

 

Art

While Daniele Di Nicuolo shows his eyes bulge, Miles leaps and avoids Black Panther’s claws. But Anansi displays no fright in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29. Bast regards the fight with displeasure, but a smile dances across Anansi's face. The Storyteller is in his element, even hanging upside down like Spider-Man. But don't expect him to give Bast an affectionate kiss.

 

Amid the purple and pink air and the bluish-gray clouds, Bryan Valenza thwips green webs into Bast’s realm in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29. The thick webs rise like the chords supporting Riley’s Sense Of Self in Inside Out 2. But they also twist and attack Miles. They hurl him through a realm filled with yellow-green wheels, twisted turquoise and purple-striped buildings, and orange worlds. While Miles fights for his future, Shift arrives "home" in his red hoodie. He enters the kitchen with the red dining table and chairs. Like Bast, Rio shines with purple. Unlike Bast, she may dole out an affectionate kiss.

 

Humans speak black uppercase letters into white balloons. Gods speak colored words into similarly bordered divine dialogue balloons. Other characters talk into gray or black balloons. Miles' thoughts appear as white letters in red narrative boxes. The delicate font grows bold for intonation, enlarges for volume, and rarely shrinks or sways. Cory Petit employs sound effects to spice up a fight in the spiritual realm and make Shift more endearing (if that’s even possible). Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a copy for review. 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Bast warned T’Challa that he would pay for letting Varnae slip into her realm. In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29, the great spider-god Anansi offers Miles healing. The challenge the Trickster offers isn't what Miles thinks it is. And like the Black Panther, if Miles escapes Varnae’s influence, he must pay a price for such divine benevolence.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Lenore: The Time War #1 Preview

COVER A: ROMAN DIRGE

In case you missed it last October, here is a preview of Lenore: The Time War #1. I've been looking forward to this new timey-wimey series, and it's nearly here! It features an intriguing link with two other recent series from Titan Comics, but I'm not telling you which ones! The story's sensibilities evoke Dirge's book I Can Count To Ten, which was an absolutely blast to read. Plus, there's a room filled with monster-babies! Or maybe not? I'm still not sure!

Here's all the info from Titan Comics:

 

LENORE: THE TIME WAR #1 (OF 3)

(W/A) Roman Dirge

Publisher: Titan Comics

FC, 32pp, $3.99, On Sale February 12, 2025

 

The much-celebrated return of Roman Dirge’s unique, anarchic and cult classic character LENORE: THE CUTE LITTLE DEAD GIRL in her first new adventure in seven years.

 

Lenore, faces off against the legendary Time Goats in the G.O.A.T. fight of the century!

 

Reunited after being separated and lost across the entirety of all-history, after eating three Time Goats who’d come to save them from a demented demonic pickle hat, Lenore and co must make one last stand and do battle with a futuristic army of enraged Time Goats from the far-flung future who’ve come to Earth for revenge!

 

 

 Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B: ROMAN DIRGE

 

 

 

Lenore #1 Cover C by Kit Wallis

Lenore #1 Cover D: Blank Color Sketch

 

For more on this series (from the creator's lips!) see my earlier preview in October 2024.

 

 

ICYMI: My review for Roman Dirge's book I Can Count To Ten.

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us!

Power Rangers Prime #3 Review

 

Writer: Melissa Flores

Artist: Michael Yg

Colorist: Fabi Marques

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Designer: Madison Goyette

Editors: Caroline Butler, Allyson Gronowitz & Matt Gagnon

Cover Artists: Dan Mora; Danny Earls & Jão Canola; Bon Bernardo; Doaly; Sweeny Boo; Inhyuk Lee; Dustin Nguyen; Guillaume Martinez; Juni Ba

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 22, 2024

 

Lauren was a hunted Power Ranger. The Eltarian Guard shot her before she could activate her Morpher. Rita Repulsa was a prisoner for a thousand years. Rita found Lauren’s Morpher and used it to construct a new wand. But Rita’s magic is unstable. The Space Witch wants to restore her power. Lauren yearns to free her parents from imprisonment. But the Eltarian Guard hunts both women. How will Lauren and Rita evade the rulers of Earth and accomplish their objectives? Let's grab our Morphers, leap into Power Rangers Prime #3, and see what happens!

 

Story

After the Eltarians annexed Earth, they transported other refugees to their new colony world. Mark and Orion worked hard to escape the refugee center. They attend Angel Grove University and serve as interns in the Natural History Museum. While their status there affords them special privileges, classified research areas are off-limits to the non-Eltarian interns. Still, Mark wants to help Lauren find her parents. So, when Lauren mentions she needs another Morpher, Mark knows where to find one.

 

Jun saw the Eltarian Guard hunting Lauren. The Eltarian student studies the history of the Power Rangers. But Jun's obsession becomes dangerous when he brings Lauren, Mark, and Orion into his dorm room. Jun’s mother is an Eltarian admiral. Lauren comes from a privileged Human family. She wants her roommate to understand that he has crossed the line. Lauren contacted her boyfriend, Ryan, to quietly take Lauren into custody. But Ryan is a VR Trooper, and nothing he does will be on the quiet. And while Valentina joins Mark, Orion, Lauren, and Jun in their search for another Morpher, Ryan makes a battle plan.

 

In Power Rangers Prime #3, Melissa Flores peels away the Eltarian illusion. The interstellar empire frees planets from invaders, then scatters their inhabitants in a continuing diaspora. While Humans like Lauren’s parents, Ryan, and Bulk seek positions of power from their alien masters, the Eltarians rewrite Earth's history. They proclaim the Morphin Grid never existed and the Power Rangers are dangerous radicals. But Rita Repulsa sees through this fiction. With Bulk as her guide, she hunts for a power source to recharge her magical batteries and restore her abilities as a formidable Space Witch.

 

Art

As Mark follows Professor Barall past a Mammoth reconstruction and a T-Rex skeleton, soldiers in battle armor guard the displays and alien visitors. While following her down an empty hallway, Mark glimpses hovering objects through an open door. In Jun and Valentina's room, Valentina looks through the window while Mark stares at his new friends. Valentina's yellow clothes match the sky, while Jun's blue skin links him with Mark's blue jacket.

 

As Michael Yg conjures alien architecture, laser rifles, and battle armor that appears and disappears like a Power Ranger costume, Fabi Marques infuses Power Rangers Prime #3 with bright and appealing colors. Wisps of white cloud in an azure sky rise from the burnished gold refuge among the brown rocks outside Angel Grove. A purple-and-blue leader waltzes through the pink and green interior. One room in the museum gleams with all the colors of a rainbow. Yet the colored diamonds on Jun’s black and white jacket suggest a privileged court jester more than the potent son of an Eltarian Admiral.

 

Ed Dukeshire casts uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and rarely shrink. Giant red letters ripple through the air following a Boom, while a vibrating cellphone signals betrayal in Power Rangers Prime #3. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Some people in Angel Grove crave power. Others want a stable job and a quiet life. Rita Repulsa and Lauren are as different as black and white. But when the Eltarians paint them with the same brush, a Space Witch and a Power Ranger find common ground in Power Rangers Prime #3.

 

Rating 9.7/10

 

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

G I Joe #3 Review

 

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Tom Reilly

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Cover Artists: Tom Reilly; David Finch & Adriano Lucas; Pablo Villalobos; David Nakayama; Travis Moore & Adriano Lucas; Patricia Martín; Rose Besch; Frank Cho; Felix Leon

Editor: Ben Abernathy

Publication Design: Andres Juarez

Production: Ashby Florence

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 15, 2025

 

Duke led his new team to disgrace. Rock 'N Roll is dead. Striker and Cover Girl are in the hospital. His lifelong bud is missing. So, when Colonel Hawk drafts in a replacement, Duke hits the roof. After Risk tells Duke to man up and forget about "Heavy Metal," Duke welcomes his new teammate with a flurry of punches. Can Risk help the Joes foil the Cobra Commander's dream of world domination? Let's grab our rifles, leap into G I Joe #3, and find out!

 

Story

After losing a chunk of Cybertron to Cobra, Colonel Hawk has something to prove to his superiors. But that doesn’t mean he will let Duke break international regulations and go after Destro’s Head Of Security. Frustrated by Hawk’s decisions, Duke unleashes his frustrations on the swaggering Risk. Baroness wonders at this loss of time in planning their next op, but Hawk knows that people who work hard often need to play hard.

 

After leaving Hawk and Duke with something to prove, Joshua Williamson hurls Mercer and Destro in hot water. While capturing the alien shard, Mercer revealed his identity. Now the Joes know Cobra and MARS are in cahoots. Destro can keep his Energon concession for now, but there are others Cobra Commander can use. Unfortunately, the Joes are not the only ones targeting him. While the Cobra Commander keeps his “partners” in the dark about the extent of his operations, he remains alert, never knowing when his past will attack him in G I Joe #3.

 

Aside from losing Rock ‘N Roll, Duke is worried about Clutch. His childhood friend helped Duke when everyone else was out to get him. Clutch got thrown in the Pit with Duke when it was still a prison. Perhaps another of the Joes misses Clutch more than she realizes. She betrays far more interest in him than before when she discovers Clutch is alive. The former junkyard mechanic gives Duke a shot at redemption when he tells them what Cobra Commander is up to in G I Joe #3. But can Duke work with Risk to deliver a win?

 

Art

Operators cast shadows on upper story control room windows as Clutch stumbles into Cobra Commander's lair. The power surging through the vast room reflects off his helmet before Mercer appears on his visor. Destro frowns at Mercer while standing at attention. He glimpses a reflection of his metal mask when the Cobra Commander enters. Cobra Commander dispatches an attacker with his mechanical hand, evoking the royal guards he killed with robot insects in Cobra-La.

 

Jordie Bellaire wields limited coloring schemes to portray the emotional intensity and fierce action surging through Tom Reilly's art. While red and blue rule Cobra Commander's headquarters, orange, gray, and beige clash in the Pit. Green, purplish-gray, and orange color a fraught ride through Washington DC in a black SUV, while the color of a familiar symbol hints at a later revelation in G I Joe #3.

 

Rus Wooton catapults black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. His letters shrink for lowered voices, grow bold for intonation, and swell for raised voices. The red Cobra symbol replaces the organization's letters, while giant red letters burst from dialogue balloons. Explosive sound effects enliven brutal Pit fighting, black blood spraying as bones break, and a hatch hissing open that would make Indiana Jones tremble. Thanks to Image Comics, Skybound, and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Cobra Commander uses Destro and MARS but has others at his beck and call. Unless Duke and his team can frustrate his plans, Cobra Commander looks to have the entire Earth under his sway in G I Joe #3.

 

Rating 9/10

 

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

Conan The Barbarian #20 Solicit

COVER A: ROBERTO DE LA TORRE

 

Jim Zub does a terrific job of putting his unique spin on classic Robert E Howard tales and characters. I look forward to seeing how Bêlit's death affects Conan in this upcoming story. Here's all the order info from Titan Comics:

 

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #20

(W): Jim Zub

(A): Doug Braithwaite

Publisher: Titan Comics & Heroic Signatures

FC, 32pp, $3.99, On sale: April 16, 2025

 

The triumphant new era of Conan continues! From acclaimed creators Jim Zub (Avengers, Dungeons & Dragons) and Doug Braithwaite (Punisher, Justice)!

 

In the days following Bêlit’s tragic demise, Conan travels through jungles of the southern kingdoms but there’s no time for grief – a deadly hunter stalks the Cimmerian, bent on bloody vengeance. Who is this strange foe and what do they know about the ancient power rising in Stygia? 

 

 

Here are two more cover options:

 

COVER B: MIKE ROOTH

 

COVER C: BEN TEMPLESMITH

The Lucky Devils #1 Review

 

Writer: Charles Soule

Artist & Designer: Ryan Browne

Colorist: Ryan Browne & Kevin Knipstein

Letterer: Christopher Crank

Cover Artists: Frank Miller & Alex Sinclair; Ryan Browne

Logo: Thomas Quinn

Production Design: Erika Schnatz

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 8, 2025

 

Are good and evil only philosophical or religious concepts? Can anyone be completely good or evil? Or are they spectrums within which we all live? Enough with pondering the imponderable! Let's grab our iron crosses and bloodstones, leap into The Lucky Devils #1, and find out!

 

Story

Cam teaches a college philosophy class. He urges his students to ponder the societal ethics that drive historical movements. His students complain the classroom is hotter than hell. Cam yearns to inspire the next generation of Mahatma Gandhi's and Mother Teresa's in Charles Soule’s story. His students use ChatGPT to write their essays. And all the while, Cam’s low-paying job leaves him feeling like a failure in his professional and private life.

 

While Cam toils at Mies Van Der Rohe Community College, Starr changes soiled sheets in Mastrantonio Memorial Hospital. Her coworker gets a new Mercedes. Like Janis Joplin, Starr wishes she were more successful in The Lucky Devils #1. While listening to her husband preach from the pulpit about the joys of serving others, her mother insists that the nurse stop going the extra mile to give her patients joy and dignity. Instead, Starr must concentrate on securing a better-paying job.

 

In The Lucky Devils #1, there is a reason Cam and Starr struggle to get ahead. Okay, two reasons. Their names are Collar and Rake. Like Cam and Starr, the devils are trapped in a system that disrespects their contributions. Collar and Rake have a plan to change that, and it involves the Humans under their care. The devils vow to make Cam and Starr happy and successful even if they must make their lives a living hell to secure their agreement.

 

Art

Purple and orange burn hottest thanks to Ryan Browne and Kevin Knipstein. Starr's uniform looks purple when not greened by fluorescent light. Orange warms Cam when things inevitably go wrong. So, when their tempters appear, Collar burns with an Orange Crush while Rake sizzles with a Purple Haze. Rich coloring infuses this hyperreal fantasy where, like Buzz and Woody, the devils break the rules to teach Humans a lesson.

 

Collar and Rake climb into panel borders as the devils explain how they guide their charges. The devils never learned it is impolite to point, as they extend bony fingers and long nails at Cam and Starr. Ryan Browne sets each infernal invasion in the ultimate safe zone of the bedroom, with only one bedside lamp to banish the demonic darkness. Then, like Sulley and Mike Wazowski, the devils travel through portals. Collar and Rake enter locker rooms, pass a satanic Sucker in a 3 Piece, and squeeze onto upholstered seating like Beetlejuice.

 

Red banners announce locations in this update to the most demonic novel C S Lewis ever wrote. Screwtape uppercase letters inhabit white and colored dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for inflection, enlarge for volume, and never shrink. Lowercase red letters reveal Cam's classwork and responses in The Lucky Devils #1. Sound effects enhance hellish manifestations, a Biblical smash hit, and devils fighting over the remaining drops in broken beer bottles. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Ever have a day when nothing goes right? Don't blame God or cosmic chance. The Lucky Devils #1 reveals the infernal physics that balances our efforts to be good with temptations to be evil.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more about this series, quotes from the creators, and a look inside, see my preview of The Lucky Devils #1.