Comics I’m Picking Up the Week of February 12, 2020

Here are the books I’m looking forward to seeing at my local comic store the week of February 12, 2020.

Big Black: Stand at Attica

Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Words/Story: Frank Smith, Jared Reinmuth
Art/Colors: Améziane

“The uprising at Attica Prison remains one of the bloodiest civil rights confrontations in American history . . . but without Frank “Big Black ” Smith it could have been even worse. Now for the first time, the late Frank ‘Big Black’ Smith shares his experience at the center of this uprising, struggling to protect hostages, prisoners, and negotiators alike. Before his death, Frank ‘Big Black’ Smith worked with Jared Reinmuth, the son of his lawyer, to share the true story of his time in Attica State Prison.”

Category: Support Emerging Creators

Why I’m Excited: Firsthand documentation is the foundation of history. When the people of the future look to understand the world they have inherited, they look to what the people of the past were saying about their experiences. Most acknowledge that the picture of the past is limited by the stories that people documented in their times. I for one didn’t know about the central events of this book apart from seeing the scene from Dog Day Afternoon mentioning the impact it had on Pacino’s character. Little has changed in the almost 50 years since the New York prison system was “put on trial” by the people that were caught up in it. This boom will bring the picture of those events more fully into focus for future generations. Maybe we can look at their list of grievances and compare them to how much prisoner experiences have changed.

Superman: Heroes

Publisher: DC
Words/Story: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jody Houser, Greg Rucka
Art/Colors: Kevin Maguire, Steve Lieber, Mike Perkin

“Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, the staff of the Daily Planet, even the Justice League—their lives all changed when Superman revealed his secret identity to the world! This unique Superman experience explores what the identity of Clark Kent meant to those close to him—and what their relationship to Superman will be in the future. All the rules are about to change—and it all starts here.”

Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P.

Publisher: DC
Words/Story: James Tynion IV, Peter J. Tomasi
Art/Colors: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira

“Alfred Pennyworth served the Wayne family for decades—even through the tragic loss of Bruce Wayne’s parents. His death at the hands of Bane is the only event that could possibly compare to that fateful night in Crime Alley, and it leaves Bruce at a similar crossroads. If Alfred was the glue that held the Bat-Family together, how will Batman deal with that all falling apart? And if the Caped Crusader is to be truly alone, he might either hang that cape up once and for all . . . or double down and carry on with this vengeful quest forever. Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P. #1 celebrates the life of one of the most important people in the history of Gotham City, while also addressing questions about what’s next.”

Category: Tried and True Creators

Why I’m Excited: Sorry to bring the spoilers to those who are not caught up on the recent developments of the DC canon. Who knows how long these developments will last, and who knows what narrative devices writers will use to bring these character traits and relationships back to the center of these ongoing stories? While an aspect of both books will be how to move beyond the dichotomy of  a secret identity (Superman) and the grounding force of friendship (Batman), I suspect that the majority of these books will be taken up by writers who will use the (temporary?) absence of the characters to explore what each have been doing narratively for the last many years. I’v always liked the idea that Superman S is the mask, rather than the glasses, and I assume Brian Michael Bendis and company will explore the idea that people should be allowed to bring their whole selves to the world and not have to give up their Pulitzers, even if there may have been some violation of journalistic ethics. James Tynion and company will have the opportunity to show how much of a steadying influence that this character (originally a radio serial mechanism) became in the intervening 77 years. For those of you who can’t get enough of DC heroes, check out a collection of Joshua Middleton’s variant covers.

DC Comics

Undone by Blood or the Shadow of a Wanted Man

Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Words/Story: Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson
Art/Colors: Sami Kivela

“In the early 1970s, Ethel Grady Lane returns to her hometown of Sweetheart, Arizona, with one thing on her mind: killing the man who murdered her family. But first, she’ll have to find him. As Ethel navigates the eccentric town and its inhabitants, she learns that the quaint veneer hides a brewing darkness. She has no choice but to descend into a ring of depravity and violence, with her only ally an Old West novel that follows famed gunslinger Solomon Eaton. As both stories unfold simultaneously, a love of fiction informs choices in reality, for better or worse.”

Category: Tried and True Creators

Why I’m Excited: One of my favorite series in recent years has been Bunn’s Sixth Gun. I’m excited to see a new Western mash up back on the racks. The story-within-a-story construction has great appeal to an English major (myself) that never understood why more people didn’t have their favorite character’s voices speaking to them in everyday life.

AfterShock Comics

Also out this week: a hardcover collection to the game-changing Life of Captain Marvel (Stohl, Pacheco, Sauvage, and D’Urso); and one of the reasons that early Vertigo was such a revolution in comics, Animal Man by Grant Morrison (with art by Truog, Grummett, Hazlewood, McKenna, and Bolland).

See you at the racks!