Greetings heroes and heroines, and welcome to Comic Book Quick Hits! Every week I’ll be writing a “Quick Hits” review piece to give some brief highlights to a handful of great comic books that have come out in the last week or two, so you can swing by your local shop and snag an issue or two while they are still hot on the shelf. I’ll also be writing “Comic Cluster” reviews, which will be focused on 3-6 consecutive issues of one specific title, so that you can get a more in-depth feel for an over-arching storyline, art, etc., to see if you’d like to commit to a specific series for a longer haul. Here are your Quick Hits for the week of July 6!
Doctor Who: Supremacy of the Cybermen #1 (of 5)
Publisher: Titan Comics
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: Just when you thought time couldn’t get any wimey-er, along comes this Summer’s blockbuster crossover event from Titan! You get four Doctors for the price of one in this book, as Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are all gallivanting around different points of space-time but all battling the same problem – the dastardly Cybermen seem to be conquering everyone and everything at an alarming rate, including prehistoric Earth, the far future, the present-day, and even Gallifrey itself! In this issue, the Doctors all operate in separate times, but odds are extremely good that we’ll be seeing our favorite Time Lord interacting with himself (sounds dirtier than it really is) before you know it. Guest-starring Captain Jack Harkness and Rose & Jackie Tyler, this is one mini-series that is not to be missed by Whovians!
The Woods #24
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: It’s hard to write about this series without giving too much away about the over-arching storyline, but I can tell you that ‘The Woods’ is likely the best comic that you’re not reading right now. It’s a tale about a typical day at high school – until that high school is somehow instantaneously picked up, students and faculty and all, and plunked down in an extraterrestrial forest – the titular Woods. What has followed this scene from the first issue to now has been a time-bending, universe-spanning story woven in an extremely gratifying way, with a story that somehow manages to balance fun and terrifying in equal amounts. Be forewarned, though: if you start reading ‘The Woods’ (which you easily can catch up on, via trade paperbacks or digital collections), you may never want to stop.
4001 AD: Shadowman #1
Publisher: Valiant
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: As I’ve spoken about in other Quick Hit columns, the 4001AD mega-crossover event from Valiant has been highly entertaining so far, and a great departure from the already-fantastic storytelling that happens in the company’s main titles (which are all still going on monthly in addition to the 4001AD event) – can you tell I’m a big fan? Even though this character is not Dr. Facilier from Disney’s ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ the Shadowman of Valiant does share similar voodoo and New Orleans roots, and the legacy character returns in the far future to help the other heroes of the time battle the villainy of New Japan and their rise to power. If you’ve been keeping up with the 4001AD event, if you are a long-time Valiant reader, or if you’re new to this universe, this mega-crossover is going on all summer long and is a great opportunity to hop on board and enjoy the ride!
Han Solo #2 (of 5)
Publisher: Marvel
Release Date: July 6, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: Star Wars fans don’t need much excuse to jump on new stories from the Universe these days, and the recent Marvel spate of comics certainly hasn’t disappointed. With the Lucasfilm Story Group guiding the content of these comic series to ensure they all fall within the realm of “actual factual” Star Wars canon, you can rest easy knowing that what you’re reading won’t be ret-conned into oblivion (rest in peace, Star Wars Extended Universe!). This mini-series gives everyone’s favorite charming intergalactic smuggler a bit more back-story, following him as he competes in a space-race while working a secret undercover mission for the Rebellion to try and suss out a traitor in the ranks. It’s up to Han and fuzzy friend Chewbacca to complete their mission – and try and win the race too, of course, as it’s something that Han has wanted to do all his life. Priorities!
Broken World Trade Paperback
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Release Date: July 6, 2016 (collected TPB)
Physical Cover Price: $19.99
Digital Price: $19.99
Quick Hit: While collecting comics in their issue-by-issue run is a highly enjoyable and infinitely collectible pastime, there are some instances where it’s just a better fit for a consumer to buy a trade paperback – the collected works of a miniseries or a stretch of a run of an ongoing series. Perhaps you’ve missed an issue or two at the comic shop… maybe a first issue sold out and another printing isn’t available… could be that it’s a series you just found and want to read more back-story of… or possibly you didn’t even know the darned thing existed until its run was over. Whatever you reason, ‘Broken World’ is a great TPB to snag if you haven’t read this mini-series yet, as it delivers an entertaining take on a fairly classic sci-fi trope. When Earth is besieged by a giant meteor, enough advance notice was given to construct giant spaceships and get the population off-world to safety – most of the population, that is. Certain people have been denied access to escape flights, and this story follows some of their struggles to not only leave the planet but to try and discover why their governments have condemned them to die.
If Tony Schaab had unlimited funds and Hollywood connections, the first film he’d make would absolutely be ‘Plan 10 from Outer Space.’ A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.