William Gibson's First Comic, and 4 Others to Read This May
If ever there was a month to lure you back to the comic book store—or to convince you to find one near you for the first time—it'd be May, home of Free Comic Book Day. On May 7, comic book stores across the world will be taking part in the annual celebration of the medium, with 50 different titles from multiple publishers showing off the best of what they have to offer. (You can find out more here, and find your local store here.) Once you've taken advantage of the freebies, however, there's more than enough to bring you back to the store week after week. Start with these five, which you should add to your reading list as soon as possible.
Panther (Drawn & Quarterly)
Brecht Evens' graphic novel is at once beautiful and unsettling, allowing the story of a young girl dealing with the loss of her pet to unfold in a slow and surprising. (Think less Calvin & Hobbes, and more metaphors for mental illness.) Filled with the kind of magical thinking that powers childhood—where the unknown is exciting and terrifying in equal measures—and told with a confidence that dares you to keep up, it's unlike anything else you'll read this month and all the better for it. A triumph.
Drawn & Quarterly4001 A.D. #1 (Valiant Entertainment)
A sign that we're heading towards the summer can be found in the fact that not one, but two superhero universes launch their crossover events in May. (A third, Marvel, is offering two May prologue issues of Civil War II, but its "official" first issue isn't out until June). Valiant's offering is an interesting twist on the genre, with this futuristic four-issue spin-off from Rai acting as a spine that supports four separate one-shots tying in other characters. The story from Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) story offers a fast-paced twist on the "individuals standing up against a corrupt future society" idea, while Clayton Crain's glossy artwork manages to make the issue feel like a superhero comic from tomorrow.
Valiant Entertainment
Space Battle Lunchtime #1 (Oni Press)
This new series from web cartoonist Natalie Riess (You may be familiar with her Snarlbear; if not, you should go read) has a simple, perfect premise: what if there was an intergalactic version of Iron Chef, and a human pastry chef ended up as a competitor? If that doesn't win you over entirely—and, really, it should—then perhaps Riess' absolutely charming work will help; funny, silly and self-aware with a lovely, inviting art style, it's like the best Cartoon Network series that never existed.
Oni PressArchangel #1 (IDW Comics)
William Gibson—yes, that William Gibson, in his first comic-book project—writes this new series, with art by Captain America veteran Butch Guice, that asks the important question: "What if our world wasn't actually the real world?" Of course, this being Gibson, it then adds, "and what if the real world was so much worse, and by the way, there's also a WWII element, and some time travel, and maybe a machine that changes reality and it's not necessarily the people in charge of that machine that we'd want to see in charge of it?" If you want the man's own high-concept pitch for it, it's very simple: "Band of Brothers vs. Blackwater."
IDW Comics
DC Rebirth #1 (DC Entertainment)
It's an all-new beginning for Superman, Batman, and DC's other big guns in this budget (80 pages for $2.99) special issue that sets in motion a relaunch for all of the publisher's superhero comics over the next few months. Written by Green Lantern/Justice League/Aquaman writer (and DC's Chief Creative Officer) Geoff Johns with art by Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver and more, the contents are under wraps until its May 25 release, but DC is promising something big on the last page, and teasing that "the future (and past) of the DC Universe starts here." Time to start speculating about exactly what that means.
DC Entertainment
