The Weekly Pull: Ultimate Universe, Supergirl Special, Unnatural Order, and More
This week also brings a new Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel.
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Azula in the Spirit Temple
- Written by Faith Erin Hicks
- Art by Peter Wartman
- Colors by Adele Matera
- Letters by Jimmy Betancourt
- Published by Dark Horse Comics
These days, there's a lot for Avatar: The Last Airbender fans to look forward to. Netflix is taking another stab at getting the classic animated series right in live action and, arguably more exciting, Avatar's creators have formed Avatar Studios and are working on new animated stories set in Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra's world. It's easy to forget that, not long ago, Dark Horse Comics' line of Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels was the only continuation of Avatar's story and that they have been consistently excellent. The line started with Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru picking up where the Avatar: The Last Airbender series finale left off. Once their run ended, Dark Horse handed the reins to Faith Erin Hicks and Peter Wartman, who have kept that high standard of quality in their stories set both after and during the original Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Azula in the Spirit Temple is the latest of these graphic novels and one of the most exciting because it focuses on Azula, the Fire Nation princess who captivated viewers even as she played the villainous opposite of her brother Zuko. Azula in the Spirit Temple occurs after the Avatar: The Last Airbender series finale and sees Azula searching for a new way to make her brother's reign as Fire Lord difficult. However, it may be the start of the redemptive arc that Azula's fans have always hoped the character would receive. -- Jamie Lovett
prevnextBad Karma
- Written by Alex De Campi
- Art by Ryan Howe
- Colors by Dee Cunniffe
- Letters by Alex De Campi
- Published by Image Comics
For those of you who are unaware of Panel Syndicate—the pick-your-price publisher of curated digital comics from consistently outstanding creators—the hardcover collection of Bad Karma from Image Comics this week provides an excellent opportunity to discover one of their best stories. The seven-issue series, collected in its entirety with an array of extra features here, begins in the crime genre before quickly pulling in the stories of families and critiques of the modern economy into a riveting tale of love, loyalty, and survival. It features Sully and Ethan, two Army veterans scarred by their experiences in combat, as mercenaries trying to correct a past mistake that left the wrong man on death row. Their road trip serves to explore their unique bond, impacts upon their families, and what keeps both men going even when the world seems to simply want them gone. Ryan Howe and Dee Cunniffe's action sequences are striking in how they both embrace the realities of violence and make that mundane approach nothing short of thrilling. Those chases and shootouts are contrasted by excellent emotive character work that ensures no individual character can be dismissed as a criminal or coward. Bad Karma is a deeply human story utilizing familiar genre conventions to dig deeper into the people most often left behind in the United States today in a collection new readers will be lucky to discover this week. -- Chase Magnett
prevnextScarlet Witch #10
- Written by Steve Orlando
- Art by Sara Pichelli
- Colors by Frank William
- Letters by Cory Petit
- Published by Marvel Comics
Scarlet Witch has easily been one of my favorite new series this year, which makes it a shame that this tenth and final issue has already arrived. As Wanda finally faces off against the new villain Hexfinder, the repercussions are sure to be fascinating. Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli's work on this series has been nothing short of outstanding, blending Wanda's complicated past with a classic "case of the week" structure. Sure, we'll get the Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver series next year, but I'm sad about the end of this era. — Jenna Anderson
prevnextSupergirl Special #1
- Written by Mariko Tamaki
- Art by Skylar Patridge
- Colors by Marissa Louise
- Letters by Becca Carey
- Published by DC
I don't know what surprises me more: the fact that Supergirl is finally getting the spotlight in the new Dawn of DC initiative, or that Mariko Tamaki is the one who gets to tell that story. After Tamaki's work on the excellent Supergirl: Being Super miniseries, I have no doubt in my mind that she'll help showcase Kara in a different, but fun context. With Skylar Patridge on the art, this one-shot is sure to be a home run. — Jenna Anderson
prevnextUltimate Universe #1
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Art by Stefano Caselli
- Colors by David Curiel
- Letters by Joe Caramagna
- Pubished by Marvel Comics
Ultimate Invasion set the stage for a new line of Ultimate comics at Marvel and readers get their first peak at what these new stories will entail in Ultimate Universe #1 this week. While Invasion offered hints at a new world order established by The Maker, the exact characters, stories, and conflicts to come were left ambiguous at the miniseries' conclusion. A world divided between sets of powerful metahumans in conspiracy with one another offers a potent starting point as a much younger Tony Stark and others find themselves at the start of a new line. Writer Jonathan Hickman's return suggests that Ultimate Universe will finish what Invasion started in establishing ambitious new sagas for whatever is set to follow. Given the many fruits that emerged from the last time Hickman reset a Marvel Comics line in House of X and Powers of X, expectations for this issue and all that's set to follow ought to be exceedingly high. Even skeptics should be able to appreciate artist Stefano Caselli's wide-screen depictions of so many familiar heroes engaged in such a sweeping scope. The Ultimate universe was dead; long live Ultimate Universe #1. -- Chase Magnett
prevnextThe Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber
- Written by Juni Ba, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Art by Juni Ba
- Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Published by Dark Horse Comics
Cartoonist Juni Ba has achieved that rarified status where anytime I see their name on a project, I check it out. Ba announced his presence as one of comics' brightest shining stars with the incredible Djeliya: A West African Fantasy Epic at TKO Studios. Since then, he's put out the consumerist satire Monkey Meat at Image and done some delightful standalone stories for IDW Publishing's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber is a new graphic novel from Dark Horse that sees Ba teaming with Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, best known for his lettering work. However, anyone who follows his Strip Panel Naked YouTube channel or has read his essays and interviews in PanelxPanel knows that Otsmane-Elhaou knows a thing or two about comic book storytelling. The book's premise is bursting with imagination: protagonist Felix is a relatively small creature in a world where monster wrestling is all the rage. He wants nothing more than to prove himself and gets the opportunity when he's dared to visit Macabber Tails, one of the fiercest monsters alive. Macabber takes Felix under his wing in a story about how their bond develops while facing off against Macabber's fearsome rivals. It should be interesting to see what the fusion of Ba and Otsmane-Elhaou's well-honed sensibilities yields in this exciting fantasy story. -- Jamie Lovett
prevnextUnnatural Order #1
- Written by Christopher Yost
- Art by Val Rodrigues
- Colors by Dearbhla Kelly
- Letters by AndWorld Designs
- Published by Vault Comics
Vault Comics' Unnatural Order #1 marks Christopher Yost's return to comics after a years-long hiatus. If the reported order numbers for the issue are anything to go by, I'm not the only one excited that he's back. Yost was once a fixture of Marvel Comics and its animated adaptation. In that role, he (with frequent collaborator Craig Kyle) co-created X-23 -- Wolverine's clone/adoptive daughter who debuted in live-action in Logan -- in the X-Men: Evolution animated series and then expanded on her backstory in the comics series X-23: Innocence Lost and X-23: Target X. In recent years, he left animation and began writing for live-action productions like the Marvel Studios film Thor: Ragnarok, The Mandalorian, and Netflix's Cowboy Bebop adaptation. Now that he's back in comics, he's doing something original instead of returning to the Marvel Universe. Unnatural Order sees Yost teaming with artist Val Rodrigues for a series that mixes fantasy with science fiction. Set during the Roman invasion of Hibernia (Ireland), the story begins when the Druid, a man with great power, escapes imprisonment and starts wreaking havoc across the land. But the Druid fears one person, a soldier who may not be from this time. There's plenty of mystery waiting to be unpacked in Unnatural Order's premise, and readers should be eager to get in on the ground floor. -- Jamie Lovett
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