The Weekly Pull: Barda, The Ultimates, Friday, 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 team highlights the new releases that excite us most 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, we have the beginning of a major Marvel Comics era with The Ultimates #1, as well as new debuts in the world of Little Bird. Plus, DC’s Big Barda gets the spotlight in two separate titles, and a new printing of DC’s always-timely Prez series.

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.

Barda

• Created by Ngozi Ukazu
• Published by DC

As soon as DC announced Barda, the latest graphic novel in its ever-growing young adult line, I was so certain it would be something special. Ngozi Ukazu, best known for the absurdly-popular hockey webcomic Check Please!, chronicles Big Barda’s action-packed and profound origin story in the realm of Apokolips. The end result is not only wonderful for all ages, it’s simply one of the best adaptations of Jack Kirby’s lore to be released in recent memory. Don’t miss it. — Jenna Anderson

Birds of Prey #10

• Written by Mark Russell
• Art by Ben Caldwell with Domo Stanton
• Published by DC

I will take any and all opportunities to evangelize about Prez to comic readers, and essentially have ever since the new miniseries first launched in 2015. Set in the funky future of 2036, the story follows Beth Ross, a teenaage girl who gets elected president after becoming a social media meme. What happens from there is wacky and all too prescient, and perfectly accessible for comic readers of any variety. If you don’t already have a copy of Prez, this new printing might be the perfect opportunity to remedy that. — Jenna Anderson

Friday

• Written by Ed Brubaker
• Art by Marcos Martín
• Colors by Muntsa Vicente
• Letters by Marcos Martín
• Published by Panel Syndicate

If you still weren’t aware after four years of (digital) publication that writer Ed Brubaker and artist Marcos Martín’s Eisner-winning supernatural mystery is available for any price you choose on Panel Syndicate. And, as of this past week, the story is now complete with its ninth and final issue ready for download. The unannounced release of new issues is one of the most exciting elements of Panel Syndicate’s distribution model, but it also means that if you’re not on the email list you might miss out on some of the best comic books published this year. Friday has been a wonder since its debut with beautiful depictions of the northeast, an enthralling conspiracy, and spine-chilling inflections of horror. Although readers have received many answers, including some unexpected but perfectly told twists, the newest issue is set to wrap up Friday Fitzhugh’s investigation of her best friend’s death and the specters haunting her hometown. It’s a finale built upon some of the career-best work of two legendary creators in modern comics, and it’s available to purchase and read at whatever price you deem to be fair right now. What more could a comics reader ask for? — Chase Magnett

Precious Metal #1

• Written by Darcy Van Poelgeest
• Art by Ian Bertram
• Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
• Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Published by Image Comics

Little Bird gave readers one of the most memorable comics set in a post-apocalypse in an era filled with the potentially similar visions. Artist Ian Bertram’s heavily detailed linework brought a world of grimy conditions and desperate hope to life and filled every inch of space to realize it as a still breathing and potentially vibrant space. So the return of both Bertram and writer Darcy Van Poelgeest for a prelude miniseries is cause for excitement amongst any reader who opened the pages of Little Bird. The new miniseries is set nearly 40 years before the events of Little Bird and track a lone individual who discovers a strangely modified child that could change history. The premise is wrapped in the themes and tone that made Little Bird great with morality and sacrifice bound up in every decision. Even those who are unfamiliar with the circumstances and characters of the original story are bound to enjoy the incredible artwork and rich story laying out the foundations for more. Regardless of readers existing knowledge, Precious Metal #1 promises to deliver readers a gritty but irresistible depiction of a fallen future and the people who might shape it into something better. — Chase Magnett

Prez: Setting a Dangerous President

• Written by Mark Russell
• Art by Ben Caldwell with Domo Stanton
• Published by DC

I will take any and all opportunities to evangelize about Prez to comic readers, and essentially have ever since the new miniseries first launched in 2015. Set in the funky future of 2036, the story follows Beth Ross, a teenaage girl who gets elected president after becoming a viral social media meme. What happens from there is wacky and all too prescient, and perfectly accessible for comic readers of any variety. If you don’t already have a copy of Prez, this new printing might be the perfect opportunity to remedy that. — Jenna Anderson

The Ultimates #1

• Written by Deniz Camp
• Art by Juan Frigeri
• Colors by Federico Blee
• Letters by Travis Lanham
• Published by Marvel Comics

If you’re looking for an advance review of The Ultimates #1, look no further. But if you’re only looking for a quick recommendation without any unnecessary details, here you go: The Ultimates #1 succeeds because it doesn’t attempt to clone the past successes it is based upon. It’s a wholly original sci-fi conceit combined with new conceptions of Marvel’s most famous characters and told by two rising stars of modern comics. The first issue does a remarkable job of introducing readers to the complex conflict facing these superheroes and characterizing those heroes beyond the familiar color schemes and broad traits. It lands like the debut of a cable drama with a top-notch pedigree firing on all cylinders even as it lays out the blueprint for a great saga ahead. As someone who often feels cynical about the nature of corporate-owned superhero comics repeating the same stories ad infinitum, The Ultimates gives me the thrill of the undiscovered and offers readers something genuinely new in its approach. I wouldn’t miss it for any other Marvel comic on the stands this month. — Chase Magnett