Comics

The Weekly Pull: Catwoman: Lonely City, Savage She-Hulk, Kaijumax, and More

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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.

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This week, Catwoman: Lonely City continues, The Savage She-Hulk gets an omnibus, and Kaijumax reaches its finale. Plus, The Secret History of the War on Weed is revealed, the prologue for the next major Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles event, and more.

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.

Catwoman: Lonely City #3

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  • Created by Cliff Chiang
  • Published by DC Comics

Catwoman: Lonely City is hardly the first Batman or Batman-adjacent title to imagine DC Comics’ vigilantes in a dystopian future Gotham City, a tradition dating back to Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns in 1986. But where Miller and his imitators focused on Batman in a gritty Gotham succumbing to the 1980s notion of urban decay. With Catwoman: Lonely City, Cliff Chiang flips the script, depicting Catwoman in a Gotham City gentrified into a glossy, sterile police state led by a two-faced politician. It’s one of the most inventive “Elseworlds” stories DC has put out in years, with Chiang’s eye for slick visuals making it a delight to read. Catwoman: Lonely City #3 is the penultimate issue of the miniseries, and it’s well worth catching up. — Jamie Lovett

Infinite Frontier

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  • Written by Joshua Williamson
  • Art by Various
  • Published by DC Comics

With Death of the Justice League next week, DC’s Dark Crisis event will officially be set in motion, and it’s safe to assume that things will go into entertaining and unexpected territory. If you’re looking for some hints as to what the future holds, or you’re just looking for some darn good comic book storytelling, then this week’s hardcover collection of Infinite Frontier is here to help. The miniseries dives into a massive threat that has been stewing within the DC universe for decades and explores its ramifications through the eyes of characters like President Superman, Roy Harper, Thomas Wayne, and the Justice Society of America. I thoroughly savored every issue of Infinite Frontier when it initially came out, and I’ve been dangerously considering revisiting them to pick up more hints regarding Dark Crisis. Whether you’ve also already read the series or are diving in for the first time, it’s a key part of DC history that you’re going to want to own. โ€” Jenna Anderson

Kaijumax: Season 6 #6

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  • Written by Zander Cannon
  • Art by Zander Cannon
  • Colors by Zander Cannon with Jason Fischer
  • Letters by Zander Cannon
  • Published by Oni Press

Kaijumax is that rare pop culture miracle which can only be found in comic books. The ideas are so big and wild that it’s impossible to imagine them premiering in any other medium. That includes the looming, surreal characters with singular designs linking them to dozens of familiar inspirations. It also includes potent themes and parallels to modern society as the series delivers stirring critiques of the prison- and military-industrial complexes, and more. And all of this is hung on characters who were never allowed to persist as monsters or jokes despite the series’ readiness to deliver both. These idiosyncratic cartoons reflected humanity with all of its tragedy and triumph. Across six “seasons” of stories, Kaijumax has grown โ€“ never faltering in its ability to astonish with each issue. Kaijumax: Season Six #6 brings this sprawling epic of monstrous prisons and empowered prisoners to a close; I count myself lucky to have found this story in comics. — Chase Magnett ย 

Night of the Ghoul #6

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  • Written by Scott Snyder
  • Art by Francesco Francavilla
  • Letters by Andworld Design
  • Published by Comixology

To say that Night of the Ghoul has cemented its place among my very favorite comicsโ€”particularly horror comicsโ€”is no exaggeration. As an overall series, this is one that I will be returning to over and over just to read purely for the pleasure of it even though the twists and surprises will already be known. And it’s those twists and surprises contained in this week’s finale, #6, that really make this one a must-read and help propel the whole storyline to favorite category. It’s a last stand against the Ghoul but that stand comes with a wallop of a twist that is fitting to the old-school pulp horror genre this comic takes its cues from and still somehow surprises and leaves with a satisfying creepiness all around. This book is fantastic, and you can’t miss it. — Nicole Drum

The Savage She-Hulk Omnibus

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  • Written by David Anthony Kraft and Stan Lee
  • Art by Various
  • Published by Marvel Comics

Every day, we get one step closer to the release of Marvel’s She-Hulk TV show, but there’s still plenty of time to get properly acquainted with the history of the character. Luckily, Marvel is here to help with this week’s Savage She-Hulk omnibus, which puts her first solo adventures back into a single collection for the first time in decades. While readers might best recognize She-Hulk from her John Byrne or Dan Slott-penned runs or from her tenure as a member of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, the Savage era showcases the bedrock of the truly epic character she would become. I can not overstate David Anthony Kraft’s impact on who Jennifer Walters ultimately is, and it’s a joy reading the oddball narratives that he and a rotating array of artists put together. Even though I just finished rereading the Savage era a matter of weeks ago, I am seriously considering adding this new printing of it to my collection, and you should too. โ€” Jenna Anderson

The Secret History of the War on Weed #1

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  • Written by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn
  • Art by Scott Koblish
  • Colors by Hi-Fi
  • Letters by Clayton Cowles
  • Published by Image Comics

Deadpool readers are bound to recognize the names adorning the front cover of The Secret History of the War on Weed, and this satirical riff on the destructive efforts of the Reagan administration to wage a war on drugs with its ill effects still impacting society today delivers the same style of humor that made their work on Deadpool a fan-favorite. The one-shot doesn’t benefit from recognizable characters or a wide surrounding cast, so it focuses instead on Scotch McTiernan โ€“ an icon of absurdly violent leading men in 1980s action films. Given the inherent absurdity of the drug war and demonization of marijuana combined with a successful track record of guffaw-inducing, hyper-violent comics, it seems like this commentary aimed to land on 4/20 of all dates is well-positioned to capture an audience who will know exactly what to expect. Whether readers are looking for some fictional catharsis for decades of abusive and racist government policies or to witness an abundance of puns and dad humor combined with bloody, over-the-top action, they’ll get exactly what they need this holiday season. — Chase Magnett

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Gae — Pre-Game #1

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  • Written by Tom Walz
  • Art by Casey Maloney
  • Published by IDW Publishing

While Sophie Campbell continues to make the events in Mutant Town the focus of the main Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Tom Walz has been seeding the next epic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles event in annuals over the past couple of years. With “Armageddon Game” around the corner, IDW is now collecting those annuals into this single Amrgaddeon Game — Pre-Game one-shot, ensuring any fan who recently has jumped onto the series can prepare for whatever Rat King has in store for the Turtles next. It’s always a good time to get on board with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Why not start here? — Jamie Lovett

Trial of the Amazons: Wonder Girl #2

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  • Written by Joelle Jones
  • Art by Joelle Jones and Adriana Melo
  • Colors by Jordie Bellaire
  • Letters by Pat Brosseau
  • Published by DC Comics

The Trial of the Amazons event is an interesting one, especially as it is as much a murder mystery as it is a competition, but Trial of the Amazons: Wonder Girl is the book where the best of the overall story takes place, which makes this week’s second issue of that title one you have to read. Cassie Sandsmark does some sleuthing and discovers who the killer among them is, but justice finds itself at odds with the trial, which can’t be stopped once it has started โ€” for anything. This idea of doing the right thing versus red tape isn’t something one might expect from a Wonder Girl title necessarily, but it’s something you have to read. — Nicole Drum