What makes, or breaks, a family? That’s been a question on Jeff Lemire’s mind, in many ways, for a long, long time, whether he’s telling it through the lens of a galaxy-spanning fight by robots for freedom in Descender or in the post-apocalypse of Sweet Tooth. Royal City (Image Comics), however, finds him returning to his roots with comics about real people, with a touch of the supernatural.
At its center is a messed-up family, and they seem at first to be from the stock tropes of “messed up family” stories: Addict brother, sniping mom, sad father, successful brother who left, sister who stayed to save the dying town. As Lemire’s story progresses, though, we discover that even though they’re dysfunctional, there is a thread that binds them all, one the book reveals in a clever final twist.
Lemire’s cartooning is particularly stark, here; he’s always had a rough-hewn, vivid style but here in particular we see him play with color and styles in a way that pushes his boundaries. Surreal nightmarish landscapes collide with the gritty, ugly small city of the title, and often Lemire’s best moments are the small ones: Lemire has a particular skill capturing the petty arguments people use to veil their bigger problems. Just how this book will be an ongoing is an interesting question, but it’s also one we can’t wait to see Lemire answer.
Brave Chef Brianna #1, BOOM! Studios
Sam Sykes and Selina Espiritu team up to offer a book that’s far more substantial than you might think from the presentation. Brianna, the daughter of a renowned celebrity chef, has to open a successful restaurant in Monster City, where flour, sugar, and cooked meat are banned. While you can almost hear Anthony Bourdain leading a band of furious chefs to torch the city, it’s not presented as a political statement but rather as a challenge for a good chef to overcome, even as Brianna struggles with her own self doubt. It’s an “all ages” book, in the sense that anybody can read it, making it a welcome arrival to the stands.
Extremity #1, Image Comics
Daniel Warren Johnson’s SF action comic is seemingly about wars and floating islands and all that, but it’s really about fear: Johnson asked himself what he’d do if he lost his right hand. The answer appears to be fairly grim, as Thea, an artist who loses her hand, turns to revenge as a form of self-expression. But it doesn’t seem as fulfilling, making for an interesting dynamic in what could have been just another SF book.
Savage Things #1, DC Comics
Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, Justin Jordan and Ibrahim Moustafa offer a twist on the usual story of CIA killer trained from birth; unsurprisingly, this terrible idea backfires and the CIA finds itself recruiting the lone remaining sociopath with a sense of duty to take out his “siblings.” Jordan knows espionage thrillers inside and out, and cheekily tweaks the tropes while Moustafa gives the book a cinematic air with timeshifts and carefully framed layouts. While it’s not switching up anything on the genre yet, this action book has a lot of promise.
America #1, Marvel
If there’s a fault to Gabby Rivera and Joe Quinones’ newly minted solo book starring America Chavez, it’s that it perhaps tries just a little too hard, making it feel a bit overstuffed and attempting to please everyone. But really, complaining about too much effort is a bit churlish, in the end, and it’s hard to fault a book this brisk and often funny for its riffing on Marvel tropes. Still, hopefully future issues calm down just a hair and let us see America as more than the sum of her parts.
The Fall And Rise Of Captain Atom #3, DC Comics: Cary Bates, Greg Weisman, and Will Conrad reboot a classic DC hero while simultaneously using time travel to needle the concept of reboots and relaunches.
James Bond: Black Box #1, Dynamite: Bond vs. Wikileaks is really the story we all want to see, and Benjamin Percy and Rapha Lobosco don’t disappoint.
Bullseye #2, Marvel: Bullseye has been hired to kill a Colombian psychopath, and to do so discreetly. So of course he’s publicly trolling the guy, in a hilariously over-the-top, gore-soaked book that’s unapologetic about how unhinged its protagonist really is.
Unstoppable Wasp #3, Marvel: Marvel’s irrepressible new superscientist isn’t quite Moon Girl, so, good thing she gets a guest shot here to give this book a needed balance.
Faith #9, Valiant: Jody Houser and Kate Niemcyzk once again deliver a witty, delightful superhero story, this time about Faith’s coworkers, and how they all cover for her secret identity.
This Week’s Best Collections
Karnak: The Flaw In All Things, Marvel (Softcover, $18): Warren Ellis’ clever, unnerving take on the Inhuman who sees the flaw in all things finally gets a trade paperback for those who missed it.
Zatanna By Paul Dini, DC Comics (Softcover, $40): Paul Dini, best known for Batman: The Animated Series, has a long history of joyful funny stories about Zatanna, DC’s reverse-talking magician, and they’re all finally in one place with this volume.
Glitterbomb Vol. 1: Red Carpet, Image Comics (Softcover, $10): Jim Zub’s pointed criticism of celebrity culture and those it leaves on the margins, in the form of a horror story about a struggling actress who becomes a vengeance demon of sorts, is well worth getting caught up on, and this first volume is perfect for horror fans.