Hot Lunch Special and Black Badge are two of my top 5 comics to buy this week (August 8, 2018)! Check out all five picks and info right here:
HOT LUNCH SPECIAL #1 – $3.99
Aftershock Comics – Eliot Rahal, Jorge Fornes
Synopsis: From Eliot Rahal, the writer of Cult Classic, The Paybacks and Quantum & Woody comes HOT LUNCH SPECIAL, with art by Jorge Fornes (Amazing X-Men, Wolverine, Magnus)! A midwestern noir series set in the harsh landscape of the northern Minnesota Iron Range-Hot Lunch Special is all about family, food and the fight for survival. The Khourys are a classic immigrant success story: A fractious and quarrelsome Lebanese family who carved their slice of the American Dream by becoming the largest distributors of vending machine sandwiches in the upper northern Midwest. Unfortunately, the Khourys gains have been ill-gotten and a branch of the Chicago Irish Mob has come back to collect a past debt. Fealty is demanded, shots are fired, and long-hidden family secrets are fully revealed. Now, Dorothy Khoury, the daughter of the family patriarch is forced to unite her splintered bloodline and fight back. Only one question is worth asking…is blood thicker than sandwiches?
My Thoughts: Eliot Rahal is one of the most underrated writers today (check out that latest Paybacks) and I’m a sucker for a well written crime drama. I love the concept because it reminds me of the zaniness surrounding a smalltown criminal underworld not unlike TV’s Fargo.
BLACK BADGE #1 – $3.99
BOOM! Studios – Matt Kindt, Tyler Jenkins
Synopsis: Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins, the Eisner Award-nominated team behind Grass Kings, reunite for a new ongoing series about a top-secret, elite branch of boy scouts tasked by the government to take on covert missions. Among their organization, the Black Badges are the elite; the best of the best. They are feared even by the other badges. The missions they take are dangerous, and they will only get worse as their leader’s attention is split between their mission and tracking down a lost team member. A member who disappeared years ago, presumed dead. A haunting look at foreign policy, culture wars and isolationism through the lens of kids who know they must fix the world that adults have broken.
My Thoughts: Who knew the boy scouts were scary AF? I love the concept of this series almost as much as I love the creative duo of Kindt and Jenkins, who both have done some incredible work together on Grass Kings.
FARMHAND #2 – $3.99
Image Comics – Rob Guillory
Synopsis: Ezekiel Jenkins just wants to forget his past. Unfortunately, now that he’s returned to his family’s farm, that’s going to be damn near impossible. And if dealing with his own demons isn’t enough, today he’ll be dealing with a few of his father’s as well.
My Thoughts: Rob Guillory’s work on CHEW was masterful and his signature style is even creepier and more of a perfect fit for his very first solo creation Farmhand — which was all kinds of awesome in issue 1. I hope Guillory continues to push the boundaries with Farmhand because the concept of growing plant/human hybrid limbs is ripe for some glorious absurdity down the road.
Amazing Spider-Man #3 – $3.99
Marvel Comics – Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley
Synopsis: PETER PARKER VS. SPIDER-MAN?! PETER PARKER & SPIDER-MAN IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME?!
Things are crazy for Spider-Man. His personal life in turmoil, the giant TRI-SENTINEL returning to attack NYC…
…and someone is out there impersonating Peter Parker! Is it the Chameleon? An LMD? Ultimate Peter Parker making his Marvel U debut? Think again, True Believer
My Thoughts: Ryan Ottley is one of the best comic artists on the planet. If you haven’t read or witnessed his insane battles from the pages of Invincible, I would go back and do that — then you are allowed to appreciate his glorious work on Marvel today.
Clankillers #2 – $3.99
Aftershock Comics – Sean Lewis, Antonio Fuso
Synopsis: Like the demented step child of Game of Throwns, Braveheart and Mark Millar’s Kick Ass, CLANKILLERS brings readers into an ancient Ireland filled with clans, mystics, warriors and monsters of mythic proportion! Finola and Cillian track down the famed Dullahan-the headless horseman of the Irish countryside! At home, their father Padraig is unleashing his wrath on anyone who comes near, even as his daughters’ own powers and villainy are beginning to rise against him. The body count also rises and the mythology expands in this next chapter of this hit new series! From writer Sean Lewis (BETROTHED, The Few) and artist Antonio Fuso (James Bond, G.I. Joe) comes a revenge thriller that’s sure to become a fan-favorite.
My Thoughts: Sean Lewis has had some damn fine books the past couple years including, The Few, Coyotes and Saints – so when he decided to create this Irish action epic called Clankillers, I stopped to pay attention and you all should be doing the same. Fuso’s art is gorgeous and nasty which is a perfect fit for Lewis’ ferocious tale of vengeance in Ireland.