The Weekly Pull: BRZRKR, Superman: Lost, The X-Cellent, and More

It’s almost another new comic book day, which means new releases hitting stores and digital platforms. Each week in The Weekly Pull, the ComicBook.com team highlights the new releases that have us the most excited about another week of comics. Whether those releases are from the most prominent publisher or a small press, brand new issues of ongoing series, original graphic novels, or collected editions of older material, whether it involves capes and cowls or comes from any other genre, if it has us excited about comic books this week, then we’re going to tell you about it in The Weekly Pull.

This week, Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR concludes, Superman gets lost, and The X-Cellent return. Plus, a new Star Trek series from IDW Publishing, The Forged launches at Image Comics, Harley Quinn screws up the DC Universe, and the gods have their revenge on Lazarus Planet.

What comics are you most excited about this week? Let us know which new releases you’re looking forward to reading in the comments, and feel free to leave some of your suggestions as well. Check back tomorrow for our weekly reviews and again next week for a new installment of The Weekly Pull.

BRZRKR #12

• Written by Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt
• Illustrated by Ron Garney
• Colors by Bill Crabtree
• Letters by Clem Robins
• Published by Boom Studios

The final issue of BRZRKR brings the eagerly awaited conclusion to the epic, action, and mythology-packed story of Unute and if you’ve been following along this long, that is reason alone to pick this up this week. However, if you’re new to this story, in broad strokes, this series is overall about humanity and while this issue does sort of spoil things so you’ll want to go back to the start, there are some interesting approaches to the nature of life and what it means to live as well as the idea of purpose and power as well. It’s worth checking out. — Nicole Drum

Forged #1

• Written by Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann
• Art by Mike Henderson
• Colors by Nolan Woodard
• Letters by Ariana Maher
• Published by Image Comics

A group of highly-trained soldiers armed with an endless array of weapons. A dystopian future filled with strange technology and reflections of modern society. A comic written by Greg Rucka. The creator certainly knows his comfort zone and it’s something that has delivered plenty of outstanding stories under the Image Comics banner this past decade, from Lazarus to The Old Guard. So it’s not the least bit bothersome to hear this newest pitch in which Rucka teams with co-writer Eric Trautmann and artist Mike Henderson to detail the adventures of imperial “planet-smashers” thousands of years in the future. However, it already appears to be taking notable steps away from the self-serious tone of similar projects and opts instead to embrace Henderson’s deft approach to pulp style. With solicits calling up comparisons to Heavy Metal with abundant displays of violence, sci-fi technology, and sex, there’s bound to be a lot of fun to be found amidst the chaos and carnage. Whatever form Forged takes upon its debut tomorrow, readers can pick it up knowing that it’s following a nearly guaranteed path to greatness with plenty of fun ideas executed by some of the best talent at Image today. — Chase Magnett

Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #1

• Written by G. Willow Wilson, Becky Cloonan, and Michael Conrad
• Art by Alitha Martinez, Cian Tormey, Mark Morales, and John Livesay
• Published by DC

The larger Lazarus Planet event might be in the books, but its ramifications are still impacting two major heroes: Shazam! and Wonder Woman. This week’s Revenge of the Gods puts the two pantheon-related superheroes in a massive battle, playing off of many months of teasing a larger story involving the Gods. Honestly, it’s a shocker that it has taken this long to put Diana, Billy, and their extended superhero families into a single crossover story, but I’m definitely happy to see it come to fruition. — Jenna Anderson

Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU #1

• Written by Frank Tieri
• Art by Logan Faerber
• Letters by Ferran Delgado
• Cover by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
• Published by DC

I’m going to be honest, the primary reason this issue is on my list this week is because I’m a sucker for any time Frank Tieri writes Harley Quinn. There’s something about his approach to her often inappropriate humor and hijinks that warms my black heart and that is very present in this issue. With the recent Harley Quinn run being pretty serious in a lot of ways, there’s just something delightful about a truly bonkers adventure with old friends and a time machine, and some wisecracking that is just long overdue. — Nicole Drum

Star Trek: Defiant #1

• Written by Christopher Cantwell
• Art by Angel Unzueta
• Colors by Mariss Louise
• Letters by Clayton Cowles
• Published by IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing launched its Star Trek line into a new era with the debut of a new Star Trek series titled, simply and boldly, . The series seeks to bring the Star Trek comics up to the standards of Marvel Comics’ Star Wars comics, with top creators telling stories based on the presumption of their being canon. This week, that series gets its first spinoff in from writer Christopher Cantwell (hot off of his run on Marvel’s Iron Man), artist Angel Unzueta, colorist Marissa Louise, and letterer Clayton Cowles. The series follows Worf after he breaks with Capt. Benjamin Sisko, assembling a rogue crew aboard the titular vessel (first seen in ) that includes an eclectic mix of characters: Spock, Lore, Ro Laren, and B’Elanna Torres. As a Star Trek fan, the attention to detail in this book’s presentation speaks to me, including the faux-embossed metallic font harkening back to the golden era of Star Trek tie-in novels. With the first-ever Star Trek comics crossover, “Day of Blood,” on the horizon, Star Trek: Defiant #1 looks like essential reading for Star Trek fans for many reasons.

Superman: Lost

• Written by Christopher Priest
• Art by Carlo Pagulayan
• Published by DC

I read the PDF of Superman: Lost #1 as soon as it first hit my inbox, and I’ve been enthralled by it ever since. The new book puts the Man of Steel through a challenge unlike any other after a routine Justice League mission accidentally strands him in space for two decades — but only a few hours have passed on Earth. The yarn that Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, and company are weaving simultaneously feels massively consequential and beautifully intimate, with some of my favorite Lois Lane moments as of late. I truly can’t wait to see how this book unfolds. — Jenna Anderson

The Variants

• Written by Gail Simone
• Art by Phil Noto
• Published by Marvel Comics

Few comics have unabashedly knocked my socks off like Variants, Marvel’s recent five-issue masterpiece starring Jessica Jones — and a number of her doppelgangers from across the multiverse. The story is infinitely profound and genuinely funny, crafting a story of Jessica, her allies, and her adversaries that needs to be seen to be believed. I will always sing the praises of Gail Simone and Phil Noto’s work, especially on this series — and now that the collected version is out into the world, I’m about to sing a lot louder about it. — Jenna Anderson

The X-Cellent #1

• Written by Peter Milligan
• Art by Michael Allred
• Colors by Laura Allred
• Letters by Nate Piekos
• Published by Marvel Comics

Across more than two decades and three series—X-Force to X-Statix to The X-Cellent—writer Peter Milligan and artist Michael Allred have developed one of the truly essential X-sagas. That’s not because their oddball characters and rotating cast are essential to Marvel Comics lore, quite the opposite is true, but because they’ve been to be prescient and a perfectly preserved time capsule of their respective eras. This critique of pop culture and fame has been infused with humor and action generated by two of the sharpest wits working in superhero comics, and the promised conclusion of their most recent installation begins this week. The X-Cellent #1 (the second issue to bear that title) revisits the original team’s long-thought-dead leader Zeitgeist as his machinations for fame and fortune continue at the cost of everyone around him. It has long been clear that no member of the team is safe and there’s no doubt that the ambitions of an American narcissist can do great harm in one of the most ludicrous comics ever published by Marvel – one that somehow manages to reflect our reality more clearly than most. — Chase Magnett