The Weekly Pull: Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis, The Closet, Marvel: June 1962, and More

By Jamie Lovett

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 Justice League sets out on the road to Dark Crisis, James Tynion IV's Substack comic comes to print, and all of Marvel's June 1962 releases get collected in a single omnibus. Plus, Clear and Step by Bloody Step come to their ends, a new volume of We Only Find Them When They're Dead, 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.

Clear #6

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(Photo: Francis Manapul, Comixology)
  • Written by Scott Snyder
  • Art by Francis Manapul
  • Letters by Andworld Design
  • Published by Comixology

In an era where cyberpunk has been reduced primarily to a superficial aesthetic or cheap nostalgia trigger, Scott Snyder and Francis Manapul's Comixology original series Clear has been a godsend to fans of the genre who miss its depth. Rather than dealing with cyborg ninjas and vague gestures at transhumanism, Clear reexamines and updates some of the central cyberpunk themes. It takes the anxiety that our increasing corporate control and technological reliance risks devaluing human lives and updates it for today's algorithmically predetermined conversations and volatile mix of awareness and lack of agency. Clear #6 brings the story to a close and has a few more twists up its sleeve before the final page in keeping with cyberpunk's noirish roots. It's a story bound to read even better in completed form and now's your chance. -- Jamie Lovett

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The Closet #1

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(Photo: Gavin Fullerton, Image Comics)
  • Written by James Tynion IV
  • Art by Gavin Fullerton
  • Colors by Chris O'Halloran
  • Letters by Tom Napolitano
  • Published by Image Comics

To say that James Tynion IV is on a hot streak would be an understatement. After winning the Eisner for Best Writer in 2021, he is still producing some of the most acclaimed comics and setting up a potential repeat with works like Something Is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth, and The Nice House on the Lake. One potent thread that runs through all of the work is an appreciation for horror, which makes another terrifying tale from Image Comics titled The Closet a must-read pick for the start of summer. The Closet is a 3-issue limited series described as "a tale of existential family horror" focused on one family's cross country move and their son's fascination with the monsters he sees in the closet. It's a potent solicit on its own, but given Tynion's track record for developing incisive and dark metaphors, it's already sending chills down my spine. Combine that concept with the work of Gavin Fullerton whose depiction of an Irish crime-ghost story in Bog Bodies offered all sorts of unsettling imagery and nuanced storytelling, and there's no excuse to miss The Closet #1 at comic book stores tomorrow. -- Chase Magnett

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Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1

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(Photo: Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sánchez, DC Comics)
  • Written by Joshua Williamson, Jeremy Adams, Chuck Brown, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Stephanie Phillips
  • Art by Dan Jurgens, Rosi Kampe, Leila Del Duca, and Clayton Henry
  • Colors by Marcelo Maiolo, Jordie Bellaire, Sebastian Cheng, Matt Herms, Hi-Fi
  • Lettering by Josh Reed
  • Published by DC Comics

With the Justice League now "dead", it's up to the remaining heroes and villains of the DC universe to form a new status quo — and that is set to be explored in this week's Road to Dark Crisis #1. With an all-star creative team at the helm, we begin to see some of the sidekicks and legacy heroes picking up the pieces in the League's absence, as well as a deeper look at major players like Pariah. Dark Crisis is sure to be a significant part of DC's immediate future, and you owe it to yourself to dip into this chapter of it. — Jenna Anderson

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Marvel: June 1962 Omnibus

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(Photo: Javier Rodriguez)
  • Written by Various
  • Art by Various
  • Published by Marvel Comics

Marvel's August 1961 Omnibus is easily one of my favorite comic reprints in recent memory, offering a comprehensive and wonderful look at the comics that were published alongside Fantastic Four #1. This week's June 1962 takes that creative approach even further, republishing the titles that were introduced alongside Spider-Man's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. To an extent, June 1962 served as a major turning point for Marvel's superheroes, with the month also containing Thor's first use of Mjolnir, Hank Pym beginning to become a superhero, and so much more. Getting to see all of those moments reprinted in their entirety, alongside criminally-underrated titles like Millie the Model and Patsy and Hedy, is absolutely wonderful, and this collection deserves to be on the shelf of any diehard Marvel fan. — Jenna Anderson

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Step by Bloody Step #4

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(Photo: Matias Bergara, Image Comics)
  • Written by Si Spurrier
  • Art by Matias Bergara
  • Colors by Matheus Lopes
  • Published by Image Comics

It's hard to think of a bolder move than releasing a "silent" comic book series into the direct market, often inundated with overwrought storytelling, but Si Spurrier and Matias Bergara took that chance. Their bold experiment comes to an end in Step by Bloody Step #4. The series has had to rely on Bergara's gorgeous, expressive artwork, and Bergara has proven more than up to the task, even if the lack of text admittedly means taking a few extra minutes to parse what's happening in the plot at times. Regardless, we're excited to see how Spurrier and Bergara end this epic yet intimate tale. -- Jamie Lovett

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We Only Find Them When They're Dead Vol. 2: The Stealer

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(Photo: Simone Di Meo, Boom Studios)
  • Written by Al Ewing
  • Art by Simone Di Meo
  • Colors by Simone Di Meo with Mariasara Miotti
  • Letters by AndWorld Design
  • Published by Boom Studios

We Only Find Them When They're Dead is gearing up for its final story arc making now the perfect moment to get caught up on this ambitious series from Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo. The story of humanity harvesting the corpses of enormous celestial corpses found in space already spans decades with religious sects and social conditions evolving around the lifetimes of its characters. This scope can sometimes prove difficult to track on a brief, monthly basis, but becomes utterly immersive when read all together. The first two volumes of the series tell a tale that confronts modern sensibilities of despair but also constructs a potent metaphor for the nature of creative industries. In the midst of such heady concepts, there's also a brilliantly designed sci-fi odyssey that's bound to excite any fan of the genre. For those who are familiar and already appreciate the work of either Ewing or Di Meo, this second collection should not be missed before the pair bring their impressive saga to a close. -- Chase Magnett

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