Welcome to The A.V. Club’s monthly comics preview, where we recommend new books to check out over the next few weeks. This month, we’ve got five noteworthy picks, including the launch of a new sci-fi comic universe, a New God character spotlight, a dance-centric middle grade drama, and a dog-centric riff on a much-recycledformula.
Orion by Ngozi Ukazu (July 7)
Major kudos to whoever at DC Comics decided to hire Ngozi Ukazu for multiple New Gods graphic novels. Jack Kirby’s mythical superheroes might seem like an odd fit for a cartoonist that broke through with a gay hockey rom-com, but Ukazu’s understanding of how to update Kirby’s ideas for a modern YA audience made 2024’s Barda a refreshing reinterpretation of Big Barda’s origin story. Orion (DC Comics) is a companion piece to Barda, homing in on the identity crisis experienced by the titular son of the universe’s greatest evil when he is traded off to be raised by a paragon of goodness. Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne has nothing on the emo intensity of Ukazu’s Orion, who must choose what path to take in life knowing that he has the fire of Apokolips in his veins. It’s exciting to see Kirby’s designs in Ukazu’s animated style, pushing her far from the everyday settings and characters she explores in her other graphic novels. Kirby’s Fourth World is one where environments are geographical representations of moral extremes and people wear colorful costumes inspired by clothing traditions from all across the globe and history, and Ukazu tackles these visual ideas with a palpable sense of glee and reverence for the work of a master.
Orion (DC Comics)
Heaven by Katie Skelly (July 7)
Every town has that one house that everyone says is haunted. In Katie Skelly’s new graphic novel, Heaven (Fantagraphics), that one house is a disappearing strip club that becomes the object of fascination for four teenage girls coming into womanhood. After her dream of being a gymnast is crushed, 18-year-old Dolly finds herself disillusioned with the world and lacking direction. Encouraged by her friends, Dolly gets a job at Heaven, where she meets an eccentric group of dancers harboring a dark secret. This is Skelly’s first book since 2020’s Maids, and it retains the signature sensual qualities of her work while incorporating more dialogue, giving Dolly’s character arc and relationships greater definition. Skelly’s stripped-down visuals are acutely modulated for the story’s blend of deadpan humor and cheeky sex positivity, and she draws inspiration from giallo horror films to create a heightened atmosphere with vibrant palettes and drastic shifts in color.
Orion (DC Comics)
Foundations by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer, Mike Del Mundo, and Mike Huddleston (July 8)
July is a huge month at Dark Horse Comics, with new installments of long-running series like Geof Darrow’s Shaolin Cowboy and Matt Wagner’s Grendel, launches from Hollywood names like Nathan Fillion and David Dastmalchian, and the retail debut of the Three Worlds/Three Moons (3W3M) universe, an ambitious sci-fi project from writers Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer and artists Mike Del Mundo and Mike Huddleston. Previously only available digitally with print editions in the webstore, the 3W3M comics are a playground where the core creators invite their friends to explore and expand a unified vision, with Foundations (Dark Horse Comics) planting the seeds that grow across different series and short stories. This 48-page, magazine-sized one-shot from Hickman, Spencer, Del Mundo, and Huddleston introduces readers to Tajo Vallar, an astronaut explorer whose journey to a dormant moon reignites a cosmic war. It might sound like standard sci-fi fare, but anything by Del Mundo and Huddleston is going to push visual boundaries and provide a unique point of view. These are two of the most imaginative and extensively skilled artists in the industry, and it’s hard to resist a project that gives them the opportunity to create a brand-new universe from the ground up.
Orion (DC Comics)
Super Mondo Mega Mutts #1 by Curt Pires and Juan Gedeon (July 15)
In the wave of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-offs like Street Sharks, Biker Mars From Mars and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys Of Moo Mesa, it’s shocking that no one tried to replicate the formula with cartoon dogs. (Before you say Road Rovers, that cartoon is far more indebted to Power Rangers and G.I. Joe than TMNT.) It’s taken over 40 years, but writer Curt Pires and artist Juan Gedeon finally give the world crime-fighting canines with attitude in Super Mondo Mega Mutts #1 (Oni Press), following four research dogs transformed into muscle-bound street vigilantes by a transdimensional anomaly in downtown Los Angeles. Gedeon’s experience on Jurassic League and Oni’s own revival of C.O.W.-Boys makes him one of the top comic artists for ass-kicking animals, and Pires gives him an over-the-top story to draw that leans into absurdity and uses it to fuel gruesomely violent action sequences. This team also recognizes that adorability is a major reason why people respond so strongly to dogs, so they make sure to include moments when the ruff-and-tumble heroes embrace their inner good boys.
Super Mondo Mega Mutts #1 (Oni Press)
Dare You To Dance by Rebecca Mock (July 28)
Rebecca Mock has been drawing beautiful graphic novels for nearly a decade, but they had a big artistic breakthrough with 2022’s Die Horny, shifting away from the formal precision of their previous works to implement a looser, more exaggerated line. After that more mature detour, Mock returns to kids comics with Dare You To Dance(Random House Graphic), a tale of dance school rivalry that shines with personality thanks to Mock’s exuberant drawing. When a small-town ballet dancer arrives at a summer dance workshop in New York City, she learns about the tough reality of this highly competitive industry and becomes determined to prove herself by outperforming the best dancer in her cohort. Mock’s talent for depicting expressive movement makes the characters’ inner lives shine through in their bodies, and the scenes of theatrical ballet performance have a graphic flair that channels the thrill of seeing these superhuman feats of athleticism and artistry live. Mock depicts the highs and lows of turning your body into a finely tuned machine that needs to be strong, flexible, and graceful all at once, using that physical pressure to escalate the adolescent personal drama.
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