The Weekly Pull: Blue Beetle: Graduation Day, Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise, The Sacrificers and More
This week's best new comics include Prism Stalker, The Sandman Unvierse, and Secret Warriors
Blue Beetle: Graduation Day
- Written by Josh Trujillo
- Art by Adrián Gutiérrez
- Colors by Wil Quintana
- Letters by Lucas Gattoni
- Published by DC
In anticipation of the forthcoming Blue Beetle film, DC Comics returned Jaime Reyes to the pages of his own miniseries in 2023, and, no matter how the movie turns out, it confirmed Blue Beetle's place as one of DC Comics' most exciting young superheroes. Graduation Day takes place at a pivotal moment in Jaime's life when urgent messages about interstellar threats from The Reach arrive just in time for high school graduation. What follows is a premise that explores the tension, excitement, and even joy that comes from balancing many responsibilities at such a young age. It also develops an understanding of the multiple worlds Jaime stands in both English and Spanish iterations (which have been helpful in repairing my mediocre second language skills). The entire affair pops off the page with Adrián Gutiérrez's energetic cartooning and Wil Quintana's resplendent colors depicting strange alien threats and all sorts of excitement across El Paso. Blue Beetle is an underrated icon amidst DC Comics' cavalcade of characters and Graduation Day serves as the perfect (re-)introduction to this young hero's story. -- Chase Magnett
prevnextDoctor Strange: Fall Sunrise Treasury Edition
- Created by Tradd Moore
- Colors by Heather Moore
- Letters by Clayton Cowles
- Published by Marvel Comics
From the second I saw the first look at Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise, I knew it was going to be something distinctly special. Created by Silver Surfer: Black artist Tradd Moore, Fall Sunrise throws Stephen Strange into the center of an unfamiliar world and a deadly ritual. While that premise might sound typical, Moore's work makes it into something truly outstanding, with trippy illustrations that need to be seen to be believed. I am incredibly excited to add this collection of Fall Sunrise to my collection. — Jenna Anderson
prevnextPrism Stalker: The Weeping Star
- Created by Sloane Leong
- Letters by Lucas Gattoni
- Published by Dark Horse Comics
Sloane Leong's original Prism Stalker series, published by Image Comics, is one of the standout sci-fi comics of the 2000s thus far. Leong returns to the Prism Stalker story with the graphic novel Prism Stalker: The Weeping Star, the second part of a planned narrative trilogy. Prism Stalker follows Vep, a young girl from the fringes of space colonized by a galactic polity called the Chorus. She's volunteered to train to become a Scout, helping to colonize an unwelcoming planet for the Chorus in the hopes of earning aid for her plague-stricken home planet. The brutal physical and psychic training she undergoes while bonding with her fellow trainees becomes one of the most honest, unflinching coming-of-age stories to grace the comics pages, with Leong leveraging the story's sci-fi conceits to visualize the doubts, anxieties, ethical complexities, and questions of identity that haunt Vep and her friends. The Weeping Star pushes Vep and the other students even further as they leave the relative safety of their academy and make contact with the living being indigenous to the planet they are trying to tame. If a canon of 21st-century comic book genre fiction exists, Prism Stalker deserves inclusion within its ranks. -- Jamie Lovett
prevnextThe Sacrificers #1
- Written by Rick Remender
- Art by Max Fiumara
- Colors by Dave McCaig
- Letters by Rus Wooton
- Published by Image Comics
Any time writer Rick Remender brings a new series to Image Comics, readers are well advised to pay attention. Not only has Remender helmed some of the most popular creator-owned series of the past decade, like Deadly Class, Black Science, and A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance, but he consistently collaborates with some of the very best artists in the business on series that bring out their very best, as evidenced by all the aforementioned series. The Sacrificers draws in artist Max Fiumara whose dark and moody style made waves on recent work like Lucifer. He returns to a world of dark fantasy in The Sacrificers, which presents a near-utopian society predicated on an annual sacrifice of five children. The premise may be familiar—consider Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"—but this series promises to delve deep into both the premise and fantasy setting erected about it to provide a saga with much more depth than any short story. Longtime Remender readers will know to expect plenty of tragedy and violence, but also the continuation of a weary heartbeat. However Remender and Fiumara approach this fantastical tale of ritual child sacrifice, it's bound to be one of the most intriguing #1s from Image Comics in 2023. -- Chase Magnett
prevnextThe Sandman Universe: Thessaly #1
- Written by James Tynion IV
- Art by Mari Llovet
- Letters by Simon Bowland
- Published by DC
The witch Thessaly, the long-lived last survivor of her homeland, was a central character in the original Sandman saga. Previous spinoffs tried to fit into the mold of a monster hunter but haven't done justice to the complex characterization originally imbued into Morpheus's jilted lover turned murderer's accomplice. That should change with The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly #1. Writer James Tynion IV has already situated Thessaly on the fringes of his ongoing The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country series, and she played a role in the excellent, recently wrapped Dead Boy Detectives spinoff. What this amounts to in Thessaly's mind is that she's found herself playing her least favorite role: supporting character in someone else's story, and she'll go to great lengths to break free from that perceived prison. Tynion is teaming with rising star artist Maria Llovet on the issue, which promises it'll be as much a feast for the eyes as an insightful and compelling character study. As a self-contained story with a beginning, middle, and end, it should offer newcomers an entry point into the current Sandman Universe story begs to be explored. For those already invested in the saga, it's a must-read issue. -- Jamie Lovett
prevnextSecret Warriors Omnibus
- Written by Jonathan Hickman, Brian Michael Bendis
- Art by Stefano Caselli, Alessandro Vitti, et al.
- Colors by various
- Letters by Cory Petit, Dave Lanphear
- Published by Marvel Comics
The arrival of this Secret Warriors reprint comes at an interesting time, just a week after the finale of Marvel's Secret Invasion Disney+ series. An argument could be made that the show shared more similarities with Secret Warriors than with the miniseries it is named after — and now's your opportunity to check that out for yourself. Chronicling Nick Fury and his team's fight against Leviathan and Hydra, the Omnibus is filled with some top-notch storytelling from Jonathan Hickman, Stefano Casselli, Brian Michael Bendis, and more. — Jenna Anderson
prevnextYoung Alfred: Pain in the Butler
- Written by Michael Northrop
- Art by Sam Lotfi
- Colors by Kendall Goode
- Letters by Wes Abbott
- Published by DC
If Max's Pennyworth prequel series didn't offer enough of the early days of Alfred Pennyworth for you, DC's newest graphic novel for young readers is here to help. Young Alfred: Pain in the Butler imagines a young Alfred attending the Gotham Servants School, trying to balance his family legacy with taking down a secret conspiracy. The concept of this is nothing short of adorable, and with Michael Northrop and Sam Lotfi at the helm, I'm sure the end result will be as well. — Jenna Anderson
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