The Weekly Pull: The Flash, She-Hulk, Barnstormers, 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, The Flash runs into Dark Crisis, She-Hulk’s latest adventures continue, and a new ComiXology Original from Scott Snyder’s Best Jackett Press. Plus, IDW Originals launches, a new Defenders team assembles a new volume of Blacksad 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.

Barnstormers #1

• Written by Scott Snyder
• Art by Tula Lotay
• Colors by Dee Cuniffe
• Letters by Richard Starkings
• Published by Comixology

The latest of Scott Snyder’s Comixology Originals, Barnstormers #1 out this week brings another, unique story to the comic space, promising to blend genres with a Roaring Twenties, Bonnie and Clyde style adventure that’s billed as “a ballad of love and murder”. Between Lotay’s really lovely art and a high-flying story that involves a bit of crime, a runaway bride, and the promise of a lot of adventure, this book feels like a must-read this week. Wheels up! — Nicole Drum

Batman: Secret Files

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

The tapestry of Gotham City is always growing and evolving, bringing new colorful costumed characters into its fold. That has especially been the case in recent years, with the first appearances of new allies, adversaries, and everything in between. This week’s Batman: Secret Files collects a series of one-shots celebrating those additions, from underrated Batfam members like Huntress and The Signal to newer characters like Clownhunter and The Gardener. The Miracle Molly and Gardener one-shots were some of my favorite self-contained Batman stories in recent memory, and there are some intriguing nuggets in the stories for Clownhunter and Peacekeeper as well. If you’re a fan of Gotham, Batman: Secret Files undoubtedly gives you a lot of bang for your buck — and will probably surprise you in the process. — Jenna Anderson

Blacksad: They All Fall Down Part One

• Written by Juan Diaz Canales
• Art by Juanjo Guardnio
• Published by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics has done comics fans a boon by bringing the Blacksad series from Europe — created by Spanish writer Juan Díaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido and published in France by Dargaud — to readers in the United States. Blacksad sees its titular hero, a private investigator, looking into cases in a version of the United States of the 1950s populated by anthropomorphic animals that borrows the visual language and tropes of film noir. Guarnido’s artwork is lush and gorgeous always a feast for the eyes. Blacksad: They All Fal Down Part One is the start of a brand new story and there’s no prior reading required. If you haven’t read Blacksad before, now is the time. — Jamie Lovett

Dark Spaces: Wildfire #1

• Written by Scott Snyder
• Art by Hayden Sherman
• Colors by Ronda Pattison
• Letters by AndWorld Design
• Published by IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing has done an incredible job of taking its many licenses and turning them into quality comics (the company’s current Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Trek offerings are all worthy of readers’ time). However, there’s always room for more original stories in comics. That’s why it’s exciting to see IDW Originals launch this week with Dark Spaces: Wildfire #1. The series has an incredible creative team behind it, with Scott Snyder of Batman and American Vampire fame penning the script. Teaming with Snyder is artist Hayden Sherman, who seems poised to have a breakout year between this series, Image Comics’ Above Snakes, and Oni Press’ Blink launching at about the same time and looking gorgeous, and colorist Ronda Pattison, similarly poised to attract some new attention. It’s the story of prisoners working to fight fires in California who decide to abandon their post and pull off a heist that will allow them all to escape. It doesn’t go as planned, and this first issue does not disappoint. — Jamie Lovett

Defenders Beyond

• Written by Al Ewing
• Art by Javier Rodríguez
• Colors by Javier Rodríguez
• Letters by Joe Caramagna
  
• Published by Marvel Comics
  

Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez delivered a Defenders miniseries in 2021, ostensibly to unpack the mystery of the Masked Raider introduced in Marvel Comics #1000, that exceeded even the wildest of expectations. It unpacked layers of reality in a metaphysical history of Marvel Comics’ shared universe filled with familiar, reimagined, and brand-new characters. Each issue delved deeper into the strangeness that often defines the best Defenders tales in a narrative Rodríguez seemed destined to draw. On the surface level, his visions of Marvel Comics characters are vibrant imaginings that capture the thrill of action and wonder of such diverse designs. Yet as the series continued, it became apparent that he could reshape the boundaries of reality with far more inventive figures and constantly creative paneling. Simply put, Defenders was a reminder as to why readers call Marvel Comics the “House of Ideas,” and one that showed that legacy’s persistence. Having that miniseries alone would have felt like a gift, but now both Ewing and Rodríguez return with another idiosyncratic collection of Marvel Comics characters to explore time, space, and the multiverse once more. Who would want to miss that? — Chase Magnett

Entropy #1

• Written by Christopher Priest
• Art by Montos
• Colors by Bryan Valenza
• Letters by Willie Schubert
• Published by Heavy Metal

There’s no comic book written by Christopher Priest that I won’t check out. Whether we’re discussing his iconic work in reshaping Black Panther or recent endeavors like Deathstroke or Black Adam, Priest is a comics writer who seems incapable of phoning any work in. Each new series is an opportunity to deploy his unique storytelling style and experiment with the form, and the work always carries significant themes given their proper consideration. That often makes the work challenging, but it also promises it to be far more rewarding. Entropy offers the writer significantly more leeway in designing and crafting his narrative than the continuity bound up in publishers like Marvel and DC, making the promise of Heavy Metal’s supervillain event a very promising one. There are seemingly few limitations on where this story of god-like powers paired with very human emotions of desperation and despair may go, but that combination is so potent that it’s bound to result in one of Heavy Metal’s best publications to date. — Chase Magnett

The Flash #784

• Written by Jeremy Adams
• Art by Amancay Nahuelpan
• Colors by Jeromy Cox
• Letters by Rob Leigh
• Cover by Taurin Clarke

The Flash #784 may be a Dark Crisis tie-in, but as the search for Barry Allen continues, this is very much a “Flash” story and there’s a lot to take in as the entire Flash Fam is all. hands on deck, searching other realities for Barry. An action-packed issue with some very unexpected twists and turns, this is a must-read for any Flash fan and if you’re not already a Flash fan, jump on in if for nothing else than the wild Max Max style world that gets visited in the issue. — Nicole Drum

She-Hulk #5

• Written by Rainbow Rowell
• Art by Luca Maresca
• Colors by Rico Renzi
• Letters by Joe Caramagna
• Published by Marvel Comics

The solicitation for She-Hulk  #5  claims that the issue will present a “first” for Jennifer Walters — something that is surprising in and of itself, given the character’s decades-long tenure in the comics. While we’ll have to wait and see exactly what that entails, I’m very hopeful when it’s involving this particular creative team. This run of She-Hulk has been delightful in so many ways, and it’s safe to assume that that will continue in this new issue. — Jenna Anderson