The Weekly Pull: Fantastic Four, The Death of Superman, Two Graves, 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 Death of Superman celebrates its 30th anniversary, Marvel launches its new Fantastic Four series, and Two Graves takes a novel storytelling approach. Plus, One Star Squadron gets collected, Michael Cho comes to Gotham, the next chapter of Marvel’s Sabretooth saga begins, 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.

Batman: Urban Legends #21

• Written by Dennis Culver, Joey Esposito, Anthony Falcone, Julio Antle, Michael Cho
• Art by Michael Cho, Hayden Sherman, Miguel Montenegro, Vasco Georgiev
• Colors by Jordie Bellaire, Alex Guimarães, Roman Stevens
• Letters by Pat Brosseau, Carlos M. Mangual, Becca Carey, Lucas Gattoni
• Published by DC

No offense to the other creators working on this issue of Batman: Urban Legends — and there are other talented creators in the credits — but there’s mainly one reason I’m looking forward to this comic book. It’s right there on the cover: Michael Cho art. His style (which belongs in the same school as the late, great Darwyn Cooke) has most often appeared on the covers of comics and prose novels, but here he’s delivering a full-length Batman story, “The Wheelman of Gotham.” The story sees the dynamic duo hopping into the Batmobile to give chase to the title character in what should be an opportunity for Cho to show his incredible talent. — Jamie Lovett

The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1

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

Regardless of how you feel about the directions that mainstream comics took in the 1990s, the impact of “The Death of Superman” is absolutely undeniable. The 1992 issue completely changed the course of the DC universe, and of pop culture, in ways that countless other books and status quos have tried to emulate ever since. Enter The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special, a recontextualizing of old and new faces from that event brought to life by an all-star creative team. Like the initial issue it’s celebrating, The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special is sure to become an absolute collector’s item. — Jenna Anderson

Fantastic Four #1

• Written by Ryan North
• Art by Iban Coello
• Colors by Jesus Aburtov
• Letters by Joe Caramagna
• Published by Marvel Comics

It was a big deal when Marvel finally revived Fantastic Four in 2018 after years of absence from its comics line. Writer Dan Slott and his artist collaborators matched the hype with a big story full of epic sci-fi conceits. Now that the buzz has settled down and Marvel’s First Family is again a staple of the universe birthed within the pages of the original Fantastic Four #1, it’s time for a changing of the guard and a change in direction. The latest Fantastic Four #1 welcomes the new creative team of writer Ryan North, artist Iban Coello, and colorist Jesus Aburtov (not to mention the iconic cover art of Alex Ross, hot off his own Fantastic Four story). North has said that this run will be scaled down, focusing on the characters that make up the Fantastic Four individually, starting with a story about the Thing separated from the rest of the FF. Ryan North’s run on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl showed that he knows how to do characters-first stories set in wild, fun adventures well. Marvel fans should be eager to see how he and his artistic collaborators realize that winning sensibility with the Fantastic Four. — Jamie Lovett

Gospel #1

• Written by Will Morris
• Art by Will Morris
• Colors by Will Morris with Holley McKend
• Letters by Will Morris
• Published by Image Comics

I only needed to take one look at the cover for Gospel #1 to know I was interested in what lay inside, and I can promise you now that the pages do not disappoint. Gospel introduces readers to Matilde, a young woman living in England during the early 16th century seeking her destiny and demanding adventure. What comes next is infused with magic, wonder, and even some strains of terror in a brilliantly illustrated odyssey that pulls from a wide array of inspirations to deliver a story entirely its own. Cartoonist Will Morris has struck upon a potent array of influences, including religion, gender, and class that inform the adventure introduced in Gospel #1. Each page provides readers with a genuine sense of discovery with striking settings, memorable characters, and action and monsters bound to widen one’s eyes. Wherever Gospel aims to take its readers, it has already introduced them to an instantly-enjoyable new miniseries and a tremendous talent in Will Morris. — Chase Magnett

One-Star Squadron

• Written by Mark Russell
• Art by Steve Lieber
• Published by DC

Mark Russell and Steve Lieber are two creators whose work I will read without hesitation, which makes the concept of them working together already a guaranteed home run. But once you factor in the cast of One-Star Squadron, which includes a who’s who of lesser-known heroes like Red Tornado, Power Girl, and even G.I. Robot, the miniseries transcends into something better. As Russell and Lieber explore the concept of superheroes branching out into more off-kilter financial endeavors, the end result is truly, unabashedly hilarious — and, unsurprisingly, incredibly profound. I can not recommend One-Star Squadron enough. — Jenna Anderson

Sabretooth & The Exiles #1

• Written by Victor Lavalle
• Art by Leonard Kirk and JP Mayer
• Colors by Rain Beredo
• Letters by Cory Petit
• Published by Marvel Comics  

Sabretooth has remained one of the most fascinating figures in Krakoa’s history, even after disappearing deep beneath it in the wake of House of X. The unredeemed and unrepentant mass murderer posed a central problem to beliefs in amnesty and constructing a kinder society, and so he was incarcerated in the most cruel fashion imaginable. That story finally unfolded in the pages of Sabretooth earlier this year – one of the best series to emerge from the X-Men line during its Krakoa era. The miniseries confronted questions of incarceration and justice with an abundance of understanding for its characters and a solid grounding in real-world philosophy and practice. Its success meant there must be more, and so the outstanding creative team of writer Victor Lavalle and artist Leonard Kirk re-team to tell what happens after Sabretooth and some of his fellow prisoners escape their own hell beneath the island paradise of Krakoa. Wherever their journey may lead, readers can expect some of the best Marvel comics of 2023 to continue being published under the title of Sabretooth. — Chase Magnett

Two Graves #1

• Written by Genevieve Valentine
• Art by Annie Wu, Ming Doyle
• Colors by Lee Loughridge
• Letters by Aditya Bidikar
• Published by Image Comics

Novelist Genevieve Valentine dipped her toes into comics with a run on Xena: Warrior Princess and then made a splash with a noirish arc of Catwoman for DC. Now she’s heading to Image Comics for a creator-owned project with a novel storytelling approach that makes the most of the comic book medium. Two Graves is a modern retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone but told from two contrasting points of view, with each version of the story drawn by a different artist. That might seem like a gimmick until you see the incredible artist Valentine is teaming with, Annie Wu and Ming Doyle (each colored by the consistently stellar Lee Loughridge), turning it into a can’t-miss artistic showcase. — Jamie Lovett