Another New Comic Book Day is upon us and this year is the biggest one of the year! Hit the jump to check out some of the new comics hitting the shelves at your local comic book shop this week.
Disclaimer: I received advance copies of all comics featured this week courtesy of their individual publishers.
Opinions are my own.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #27 (BOOM! Studios)
Shattered Grid continues as Lord Drakkon continues his conquest through the multiverse. In this issue, we see Zordon sending out a warning message across the Morphin Grid, giving us a brief glimpse of other Ranger teams - i.e. ones that won’t play a bigger role in the story - before we settle on our main story: the Battle of Corinth is coming. The Rangers - including Jen from Time Force and Lauren from Samurai - split up across the dimensions. Jason and Lauren march on Corinth while the others return to Drakkon’s world and meet an unlikely ally who has been serving as a double agent in Drakkon’s army. While we won’t get the Battle of Corinth itself until next issue, Shattered Grid continues to show that writer Kyle Higgens really knows what the fans want. He takes a morphinominal approach to the lore of the series and has created what I truly think is quite possibly the best Power Rangers story ever told.
Flavor #1 (Image Comics)
This new ongoing series Joseph Keatinge (Glory, Shutter) and Wook Jin Clark (Adventure Time: The Flip Side) takes readers to a world where culinary arts are more respected any other skill and food is more valuable than gold. In a bizarre walled city where chefs are renowned as celebrities, an unlicensed chef is just trying to get by. However, outside of the walls is a mysterious force that awaits any chef who breaks the sacred laws of the kitchen. With a high-stakes competition compared to the Hunger Games and imaginative worldbuilding inspired by Miyazaki, Flavor is a story that is both sweet and savory. The world is beautifully decorated and sets the table for a mystery that is cooked to perfection.
Death of Love #4 (Image Comics)
This weird as hell story is flying to a close as Philo and his friends make their last stand against an army of cupidae that are out for blood. This series has been known for captivatingly vicious murders of what are effectively babies and this issue doesn’t hold back. Quentin Tarantino may as well have guest-directed this one because Philo has only been fighting cupidae for like two days but he cuts through them like butter. Blood and guts fly everywhere and in a sick and twisted way, I kinda find it beautiful. It’s colorfully disgusting, weirdly delightful, and crazy good!
Steven Universe #16 (BOOM! Studios)
Kiki and Jenny sneak out with Steven and Amethyst for a road trip to a house show just out of town. Clunky GPS technology gets them lost in the woods and a flat tire keeps them there. While figuring out their next move, a mysterious presence lurks among the trees and their only hope is calling for a ride and trusting in the help of a certain Giant Woman. This series has been way better than the last one, telling stories that feel and look just like actual episodes of the show. Amethyst is in the spotlight here, teaching the Pizza Twins a lesson about when it’s okay to goof off and when it’s time to get serious.
Dry County #3 (Image Comics)
We’ve reached the part of this mystery story where there are so many clues and characters that things are starting to get confusing and make even less sense than they did before. Lou is on the brink of giving up his search for his missing love when he comes up with a plan to send her a message through his newspaper comic strip. That’s clever! This series has done some pretty cool stuff with the journal-style writing, but here we get this neat mechanic of using the visual art in an unconventional way, drawing only the heads of characters and speech bubbles, to show conversations and telephone calls. I’ve never really seen anything like it before. As Lou’s search continues, Dry County keeps on delivering a Big Lebowski style mystery comedy that I love so much.
Rugrats Volume 1 (BOOM! Studios)
Everyone’s favorite toddlers are back! Tommy Pickles and his band of adventuring babies have made the leap into the 21st century. The writing does a great job at replicating what the original series showed us - a world from their eyes, this time with drones and smartphones and the like! Get it in stores this week and pre-order from Amazon now!
Want some of those awesome Power Rangers covers hanging on your wall? The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rangers & Zords Poster Book from BOOM! Studios features 20 detachable poster versions of the best covers by Goñi Montes perfect for framing. In stores this week and available next week from Amazon!
Check out last week’s comics here.
What comics are you picking up this week? Let me know in the comments below!
