Raf’s Savage Week of New Comics for 5.18.2022

Happy Wednesday, Carol and John’s Shoppers! With the weather heating up, so are the comics this spring. There are a few big entries from the Big Two, but there are a lot of diverse options for everyone, including some gems from small press companies this week also. Let’s see what’s up.

Marvel Comics

It’s part 2 to the current Banner of War crossover this week with Thor #25! “Banner’s newfound control of his rage is prolonging this fight more than Thor expected, and with Banner holding his own, Thor must get creative. Odin’s breakthrough look into Banner’s psyche seems to slow the violence, but will it be enough?” Plus, there’s more, with two separate backups in this jam-packed issue.

Gerry Duggan’s Savage Avengers was a shop favorite amongst the staff here, and we were all bummed to hear it was ending this past January with issue #28. We were excited to hear it was relaunching with a new #1 though, and that time is now with new writer David Depose and artist Carlos Magno. During the previous Savage Avengers run, Conan the Barbarian was brought into the modern-day, and he’s been stranded here ever since. But now he’s being hunted by a Deathlok for crimes against the timestream, and Conan along with Weapon H, Elektra’s Daredevil, Black Knight, Anti-Venom, and Cloak and Dagger are all dragged back to the Hyperborean Age for a new adventure. As a Conan fan, I’m excited to see what mess these characters can cause back in Conan’s time and the universe. You may have heard also that Marvel has now let the Conan license lapse, so we’re in the final days of Conan’s time with Marvel (again). We don’t know what that means for this new series, but by Crom, I’ll still be picking it up. It was a fun first issue!

Original creator David Michelinie returns for issue #2 of the new miniseries Venom: Lethal Protector. This week, it’s “Venom vs. Hydro-Man… for the first time! ‘Nuff said!” I’ll just leave it at that. This is a great series for fans who want a more back-to-basics approach for the symbiote.

DC Comics

“Just in time for the 20th anniversary of its launch, the acclaimed blockbuster that defined an era of Vertigo returns with an all-new 12-issue story, The Black Forest—a tale that picks up right where Fables #150 left off, providing a new entry point into the world of Fabletown! The dust has barely settled from the climactic battle between Totenkinder and Cinderella—and everything is far from happily ever after. A legendary new adversary has arrived, and he plans to get even with Geppetto for the mess that has been made of Manhattan. But it’s a new day… and with it, a new Jack in the Green has arrived in the Black Forest. And within the emergency room of a New York hospital… a Fable long thought dead returns!” I’ve never read Fables (outside of Preacher, I seem to be very lacking in my Vertigo reading), but there’s certainly a following for Fables and I may just have to give it a try sooner rather than later.

Chip Zdarsky’s Batman: The Knight series has been a great Batman origin retelling, that isn’t just dead parents and trees getting kicked in half Year One style. In this series, Bruce Wayne is traversing the globe and learning from the best of the best how to become something more than just a man, but even Bruce doesn’t know what he’s trying to become just yet. This issue finds Bruce and his friend Anton captured in a Russian prison after their escape from the cold mountains of Master Kirigi’s elite fighting school, where Bruce learned how to be a ninja. In this issue, he’ll learn how to be a superspy. I’m really enjoying this fresh take on Bruce’s origin that explains all the ways he learned how to kick ass. If you’re behind and looking to get caught up, last week DC released a reprint of issues #1-3 that you should check out if you’ve missed out so far.

Small Press

This week has a new Image #1 and it is for fans of Gideon Falls and Home Sick Pilots, it’s I Hate This Place (or F*** This Place is you pick up the B cover). “After inheriting a farmhouse, Trudy and Gabby are ready to start the next chapter of their lives together… except it’s already home to a mysterious force that’s attracted ghosts, aliens, and all kinds of supernatural beings for decades. Now, Gabby and Trudy must play by the ‘house rules’ in order to survive living among the most frightening creatures on Earth in this new series” from Kyle Starks and artist Artyom Topilin. The recent Image #1’s have all been great, and this series has been getting a lot of buzz before it’s release this week. Check it out.

Just when I needed a new manga, there’s a new one in print this week that I’ve been looking forward to for a minute, it’s Crazy Food Truck from Viz. “The owner of a food truck in a postapocalyptic world nearly runs over a naked girl sleeping in the middle of the desert. When he gives her a lift, he inadvertently takes on her baggage too – an armed militia hot on her trail… and her even more problematic appetite. If one doesn’t take him out, the other surely will!” I’m wrapping up Alita: Battle Angel, Gantz, and Chainsaw Man now, so I’m excited to get something new. I’m getting some cool Mad Max/foodie vibes from this one.

“The year is 1977. The King is dead, and the world mourns. But… When a mysterious briefcase turns up in his dressing room, Bruce, a coke-addled Elvis impersonator finds himself wedged between a Mob boss out to avenge the death of his only son, and a government conspiracy with far-reaching, world-ending ramifications, all in an attempt to discover the true identity of his father’s killer.” We don’t feature a lot from Behemoth Comics (although plenty of you are enjoying Heavy Metal Drummer at the moment), but this new trade paperback collection of Pop Star Assassin seemed too cool to pass up on. If you ask me, it looks like a blend between Scumbag and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I’m excited to read it and find out.

That’s just some of what we’ve got in store for you all this week. We’ve got plenty of cool new figures also, including plenty of Toddy Mac DC Multiverse figures (Clayface, Joker Titan, Dark Knight Returns, and Endless Winter characters to name a few), some Masters of the Universe figures, and a badass King Spawn figure that comes with his throne. If I had room for any of it, I’d probably pick up a few of these figures. Please buy them so I don’t have to fight the temptation to make room. We’ll see you all around.