All-New Firefly #1
- Written by David. M. Booher
- Art by Jordi Pérez
- Colors by Fancesco Segala
- Letters by Jim Campbell
- Published by Boom Studios
A new creative team is taking over the main Firefly series for the first time since Boom Studios acquired the license. All-New Firefly #1 sees writer David M. Booher teaming up with artist Jordi Pérez and colorist Francesco Segala to pick up where Greg Pak and his collaborators ended their series. Kaylee is still the captain of Serenity, but now the entire crew is back together, including Mal and Zoe, the latter with her daughter Emma. Where Pak’s run leaned heard into sci-fi, the first issue of All-New Firefly seems to be taking a back-to-basics approach by putting the Serenity crew back on the run and at the end of their rope. It should be interesting to see where this new direction takes them. — Jamie Lovett
DC Horror Presents: Soul Plumber #5
- Written by Marcus Parks & Henry Zebrowski
- Arty by PJ Holden
- Inks by PJ Holden and John McCrea
- Colors by Mike Spicer
- Letters by Becca Carey
- Published by DC Comics
Don’t sleep on Soul Plumber this week. The penultimate issue of the weirdest series DC has come up with in a long time, the adventure sees our “heroes” heading off to stop the church from ending the world by bringing “god” to Earth — except god is, you know, a hoard of bloodthirsty aliens who want to use humanity for food. This whole series has been a wild, but very thoughtful, satire and examination of the nature of faith and the church, and that is something that’s present here along with some truly bonkers action. This book is wild and. you need it. — Nicole Drum
Deathstroke Inc. #6
- Written by Joshua Williamson
- Art by Paolo Pantalena
- Colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr.
- Lettering by Steve Wands
- Published by DC Comics
From the jump, the thing that has intrigued me the most about Deathstroke Inc has been Black Canary’s part in the proceedings, and this issue puts her into focus in an interesting way. With a target on her back, and Slade Wilson arguably more powerful than ever, Dinah has to resort to some specific means to get back to safety. With Joshua Williamson’s buzzy script and Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s delightful colorwork, Deathstroke Inc #6 has a lot of promising aspects behind it, especially as it spotlights one of DC’s best heroines. — Jenna Anderson
The Human Target #5
- Written by Tom King
- Art by Greg Smallwood
- Lettering by Clayton Cowles
- Published by DC Comics
Every new issue of Human Target manages to completely exceed my expectations, and this week’s fifth installment is absolutely no exception. In a structure and set of events that are too complicated and brilliant to spoil, the issue provides a small but meaningful detour in Christopher Chance’s murder mystery, which provides some groundbreaking emotional beats regarding both the case at hand and his personal story. Tom King’s narrative in this issue is undeniably heady, but once it all clicks into place, it’s downright brilliant. Greg Smallwood’s art is genuinely better than ever, with a dreamy and downright breathtaking flair to every single panel. Nothing in DC’s current arsenal of books is even coming close to doing the weird and compelling work that Human Target is right now, and you owe it to yourself to join the hype. — Jenna Anderson
Killadelphia #19
- Written by Rodney Barnes
- Art by Jason Shawn Alexander
- Colors by Luis NCT
- Letters by Marshall Dillon
- Published by Image Comics
Killadelphia #19 is a pretty pivotal issue for this incredible series with the undead James Sangster Sr. making his last stand along with his vampire allies, all of them fighting against vampire leader Abigail Adams and necromancer Thomas Jefferson. And if that didn’t sound crazy enough, George Washington enters the fray this issue as well. It’s the start of a new arc and the mix of history, race, and human experience that is Killadelphia generally but this issue specifically is astounding and it makes for an incredible read that should not be missed. — Nicole Drum
Orphan and the Five Beasts #4
- Created by James Stokoe
- Published by Dark Horse Comics
Anyone unfamiliar with the comics work of James Stokoe should know he is one of the most kinetic artists working in the medium today. His pages are designed to imbue an unrelenting sense of speed, force, and impact upon readers’ eyeballs. Action sequences, whether they present fists and blades or something far stranger, are impossibly powerful. Combine that ludicrous sense of style with a delightful embrace of the bizarre and black humor and you wind up with a very potent comics cocktail. That’s exactly what Orphan and the Five Beasts has delivered, making it a guaranteed hit for fans of earlier works like Sobek, The Half-Century War, and Dead Orbit. Issue #4 delivers the end of the story for now as Mo prepares to take on another one of the superpowered martial artists known as the Five Beasts. The battles thus far have been truly outrageous featuring antagonists with forms so twisted by power they’re barely recognizable as human at times. Whatever madness is drummed up for this culinary-connected finale, it’s bound to be one of the most memorable issues of the month. — Chase Magnett
Star Trek: Klingons #1
- Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
- Art by Timothy Green II
- Colors by DC Alonso
- Letters by Neil Uyetake
- Published by IDW Publishing
As of late, IDW Publishing’s Star Trek line has focused on the Mirror Universe, where Jean-Luc Picard and the ISS Enterprise crew seek to overturn the balance of power in Star Trek: The Mirror War. The publisher will revive a concept from earlier in its tenure with the Star Trek license, Alien Spotlight, to offer some classic Star Trek content. Each issue of Alien Spotlight does what you’d expect based on the name, focusing on one of the many alien species that populate the Star Trek universe. This first return issue focuses on arguably the most iconic Star Trek aliens, the Klingons. However, it isn’t just any Klingon taking the lead in this issue. Star Trek: Klingons #1 will tell the tale of Kahless the Unforgettable, the mythical figure that serves as the ultimate role model for every Klingon in the Empire. Truthfully, while the premise is stellar, we’re most excited to see Star Trek: Year Five writers/”showrunners” Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly back in the Star Trek universe, this time teaming with veteran artist Timothy Green II. Star Trek: Year Five reigns as one of the best Star Trek comics released by IDW Publishing, and perhaps ever. Given that, our hopes are high that this version of Khaless’ story will be — pardon the pun — unforgettable. — Jamie Lovett
Step By Blood Step #1
- Written by Si Spurrier
- Art by Matías Bergara
- Colors by Matheus Lopes
- Published by Image Comics
Anyone who missed Si Spurrier and Matías Bergara’s former collaboration on Coda can take this as a recommendation to seek out that series as well. Both Coda and Step By Bloody Step introduce readers to fantastical settings filled with monsters, magic, and multitudinous possibilities. Whereas Coda presented a much more familiar mode of story, Step By Bloody Step embraces the comics medium and offers a purely visual story. It features an odd couple—a small child accompanied by an armored giant—making their way across a wondrous, but equally dangerous landscape with no language to understand their surroundings or one another. The concept is simply brimming with ambition. While that is rarely a guarantee of quality, Spurrier and Bergara have both proven themselves to be comics creators capable of backing up a great deal of big talk whether it’s at the Big Two or working on original concepts. Step By Bloody Step promises to be a highlight in both of their careers and a truly unique comics work for 2022. Don’t miss it. — Chase Magnett
