Previews

I've been handed a preview for Harbinger #3 by Joshua Dysart, Khari Evans and Lewis LaRosa, due out on August 15th. In this chapter, our hero finally lands at the Harbinger Foundation. As I've said before, and probably will be saying for the foreseeable future, this is a comic that does not flinch at embracing the dark side of super powers. It looks like the slow build towards a particularly twisted conflict of moral agendas is picking up a little momentum.

Monkeybrain's newest digital-only title MASKS & MOBSTERS is a crime anthology set in the early days of the Golden Age of masked men, and tells the story of an enforcer bent on discovering the identify of who's been selling his boss out to a superhero. Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson create a new kind of superhero noir that, at 14-pages, is fast, bloody, and ends with a brutal twist.

By Todd Allen That teaser from Tuesday was indeed Shadowman.  Looks like Valiant is doing a launch, not a spin-off as November will see Shadowman...

London based Nobrow takes inspiration from Aldous Huxley's dystopic novel Brave New World and asks forty-five talented illustrators and cartoonist to tackle the themes of human individuality, science, and what lays in store for the future. This compendium merges both graphic storytelling and classic comic imagery, making it a visual feat that's indefinitely something to behold.

Enough Marvel news for today. Valiant has slipped us a 5-page preview for the second issue of their surprisingly dark teen psychic book, Harbinger. Looks like the alternate cover gives us a peek at the new Harbinger uniform. Regarding the first page (and the extent to which this is a really dark take on the original) -- the young lady is our hero's early childhood crush and he sort of... gave her an attitude adjustment.

There's an absurd number of great comics out today but here's one that hasn't had too much advance buzz—maybe because author Gilbert Hernandez is SO DARNED PROLIFIC. Anyway, FATIMA: THE BLOOD SPINNERS #1 is his take on zombies, with an eyeball-squeezing mix of a deadly femme zombie hunter and mindless violence. It's a four-issue miniseries and it also features alternate covers by Peter Bagge.

Archer & Armstrong will be the latest Valiant book getting the revival treatment. The original A&A was a Barry Windsor-Smith book. It was also a book with a sense of humor about itself. An immortal of slovenly bent and an uptight martial artist. Yes, this was the comics version of a buddy movie.

Perfectly blending elements of horror and childish innocence, Josh Simmons's collection of stories marks a comic storytelling that is just as frightfully unsettling as it is an eye-grabbing read. Don't be fooled by the bright coloring and imaginative settings; this one ain't for the kiddies.

Some holiday weekend tidbits, including Game of Thrones, Derek Kirk Kim's Mythomania looks to Kickstarter to fund it's 2nd season, a first look at The Walking Dead's Michonne, along with a whole lotta Kickass 2 news.

Hot off the heels of his successful run with Marve's X-CLUB, Simon Spurrier joins forces with BOOM! Studios to reveal a new dystopian super-hero series called EXTERMINATION.

Dynamite has just revealed these exclusive sneak peaks of their July releases. Take a look at the covers for GAME OF THRONES #10, WHEEL OF TIME #27, and FULL MOON #7. Expect these on your radar in July!

The late Harvey Pekar left behind several projects in various stages of composition, but none was as close to him as CLEVELAND, a love letter and social history of the city that was his muse—an everyman town of ordinary people and the mundane swirl of life that is nonetheless extraordinary. For Cleveland, Pekar's script found an artist among the greatest of his collaborators: Joseph Remnant, whose dense cross hatched naturalism recalls Crumb (who we meet in these pages) but finds its own voice with expansive staging and research.