It’s Wednesday again! And while we may not be as happy as an insurance-selling camel, we’re always happy for new comics! That’s why we’ve scanned the week’s new releases to find titles worthy of any Nerd of Color’s pull list. If you live in New York City, swing by any one of the three Midtown Comics locations where you can reserve your favorite title for free in-store pickup. If you aren’t in the Big Apple, fear not! The trusty Comic Shop Locator can direct you to your closest comic book emporium. So without further adieu, the new releases that should be on all of your pull lists are revealed after the jump:
DC COMICS
Justice League #23.1: Darkseid DC loves their massive crossover events. There was a time when the massive, multi-title crossover was a rare occurrence. Now, it seems there’s a big multi-issue event THAT WILL FOREVER CHANGE EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THE DCU every other month. The month of September is no exception. DC’s “Villains Month” ushers in the latest DC event, “Forever Evil.” If you couldn’t tell, the bad guys are going to take center stage. While each of the major DC titles will spotlight a different villain, be sure to check out Greg Pak and Paulo Siqueira’s Darkseid. It’s no secret that I have not been a big fan of the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, aside from Scott Snyder’s initial “Court of Owls” storyline in Batman. Bringing Greg into the fold on Batman/Superman — and his upcoming run on Action Comics — has done the near impossible: it’s gotten me (kinda sorta) interested in the New 52’s take on Superman.
Django Unchained #7 Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin, along with artists R.M. Guera and Jason Latour, complete their seven-issue Vertigo mini-series adapting Quentin Tarantino’s Academy Award-winning screenplay for Django Unchained. Full disclosure: I am not a fan of the movie (or of the fact that the Academy seemed to only recognize the white folk in it) and a lot of other people weren’t either, but it is one of the few comics from the Big Two to feature a lead character of color and/or be written by a person of color, which is in and of itself a sad commentary on the industry. Hudlin, who was a producer on Tarantino’s film, is no stranger to comics either, having spent three years on Marvel Comics’ Black Panther. Since this is the last issue, and if you don’t feel like searching for the first six, DC/Vertigo will release a hardcover collecting the entire series on November 12. If you don’t feel like waiting that long, pick up this final issue (or, you know, rent the DVD) and decide for yourself how to feel about Django.
MARVEL COMICS
X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 I dinged DC Comics earlier for its plethora of crossover events in the last few years, but Marvel has been just as guilty. While most of the titles in the Marvel stable are currently engaged in the “Infinity” storyline, Marvel is also unleashing a 10-part crossover event for its X-Men books called “Battle of the Atom,” written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Frank Cho. It’s kind of like Marvel’s Cinematic Universe(s), if you think about it. “Infinity” is to Disney’s Marvel movies (with Thanos at the center) as “Atom” is to Fox’s Marvel movie franchise (the seven-chapters deep X-Men saga), except in the comics, all of the heroes exist in the same continuity. Basically, a lot of stuff is going down in the 616 at the moment. But I’ll forgive Marvel for cashing in on an X-Men-only event since September marks the mutants’ 50th anniversary.
Takio #4 Takio is the latest creator-owned title from Bendis and Micheal Avon Oeming, the team behind the award-winning series Powers. What sets Takio apart from other superhero books in the marketplace are manifold. For one, it’s a title that’s legitimately aimed at audiences of all ages. Secondly, it stars a pair of bickering adolescent sisters, one of whom is an Asian adoptee, who gain superpowers. That’s right! A superhero book starring girls(!) of color(!) for readers of all ages(!)! Initially begun as a standalone original graphic novel, Takio recently became an ongoing series at Marvel’s creator-owned imprint, Icon. It’s still early in the book’s run, but you might want to track down the first OGN before the series is collected in hardcover in December.
OTHER PUBLISHERS
Chew #36 John Layman and Rob Guillory’s series about a cibopathic detective who takes on the memories of the things he eats continues to go strong. While initial reports proved that the planned live action television series based on the popular Image comic had been scrapped, it seems that another production company has swooped in to shop a potential live action television series, as well as an animated feature, around Hollywood (whether or not we can still get Ken Leung in the lead role, remains to be seen). In the meantime, the latest issue of the comic kicks off a new storyline by going back in time. The events of issue #36 actually take place between issues #29 and #30, with Tony’s sister Toni starring front and center.
Dim Sum Warriors Volume 1 Thanks to a super successful Kickstarter campaign, you can finally get your hands on a hard copy of the critically acclaimed iPad app from Yumcha Studios. Conceived by the husband-and-wife team of Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo as a fun way to teach and learn Mandarin, Dim Sum Warriors tells the story of what happens “when three young dumplings meet an evil pot of instant ramen!” With art by Soo Lee and Lauren Baker, the long awaited arrival of Dim Sum Warriors in print form is not only a fun read, but a great educational tool, too.
FYI: The “New Comics” header image was taken from the cover of the old New Adventure Comics series, a predecessor to what is now known as DC Comics.
What misguided affirmative action policy promoted Reg Hudlin’s Django Unchained as the only mainstream offering out this week that prominently features a minority creator and/or character that isn’t Asian? Django Unchained?! The most violently anti-Black film to achieve mainstream prominence in decades gets adapted into a comic by that dedicated race man, Reg Hudlin, and a post devoted to Asian American comic creators and characters finds column space to include this tripe?
Seriously? What’s next – Nerds of Color reviews the Birth of a Nation graphic novel hardcover? A NOC examination of Captain America’s Civil War Luke Cage admonishment titled “Quiet Cage! I’m Writing!”
Django Unchained isn’t some racial Rorschach test. Sure Keith, everyone gets to decide for themselves how to feel about Django, but not everyone promotes their opinions in public as emergent from a place where ‘of color’ matters. Tarentino turned in an anti-Black film, beloved by millions of people. Hudlin adapted this screenplay to cash in on that love – a love of tortured, powerless Black bodies, beaten bloody, commodified and dehumanized on screen and in comic panels for dollar signs and sick pleasure.
Hudlin deserves no support for this. Just because we notice his melanin does not mean we should promote his work. I’m James Lamb, a nerd of color, and I don’t approve of this post.