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 a collection of sci-fi shorts, a striking adult fairy tale, and a biography of George Orwell’s wife.
Metadoggoz by Bérénice Motais de Narbonne and Montana Kane (March 3)
Some comics just scream cool. Metadoggoz (Drawn & Quarterly)is one of those comics. An explosion of cyberpunk psychedelia written and drawn by Bérénice Motais de Narbonne with translation by Montana Kane, Metadoggoz is a mesmerizing journey through a dystopian techno-metropolis where a gang of disillusioned teenagers are discovering themselves while trying to survive. The creative energy on display is staggering, from the wildly varied character designs to the epic cityscapes to the bustling crowd scenes that evoke the sensory overload of a Where’s Waldo spread. The wavy lines, fluid layouts, and dynamic bending of perspective create a sense of motion that never stops, and even the quiet moments vibrate with intensity. It’s a bold vision of the future that speaks to current social issues and anxieties, announcing the arrival of a major new talent to watch.
Metadoggoz (Drawn & Quarterly)
A Star Called The Sun by Simon Roy, Sergei Nazarov, and Drew Shields (March 10)
Cartoonist Simon Roy has been pumping out intriguing sci-fi comics for over a decade now, using the genre’s combination of the practical and the fantastic to craft stories that maintain gritty realism as they take readers to alien lands full of strange people and creatures. A Star Called The Sun (Image Comics)collects stories originally published on Roy’s Patreon, social media, and in assorted anthologies, as well as concept designs for costumes, gear, machines, and animals, offering an expansive look at Roy’s limitless imagination and keen attention to detail. It’s exciting to see the histories, ecosystems, and technologies that Roy (along with colorists Sergei Nazarov and Drew Shields on assorted stories) can create with a limited page count, and he takes advantage of the short story form to experiment with narrative structure and tone, offering many different flavors of science fiction. These stories are anthropological, biological, and philosophical, but Roy always finds ways to make them feel personal and immediate rather than cold and distant.
A Star Called The Sun (Image Comics)
Batwoman #1 by Greg Rucka, DaNi, and Matt Hollingsworth (March 18)
A big crossover event always leads to a wave of new debuts, and DC’s Next Level initiative starts in March after the conclusion of DC K.O. Launches include Lobo by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona, Deathstroke: The Terminator byTony Fleecs and Carmine DiGiandomenco, and most excitingly, Batwoman by Greg Rucka, DaNi, and Matt Hollingsworth, marking Rucka’s return to the character he redefined back in the ’00s. Rucka abruptly stepped away from Batwoman after a brilliant Detective Comics run with artist J.H. Williams III, but he’s picking up the threads 15 years later with an art team that understands the fusion of crime and horror genres at the core of Rucka’s story. Batwoman #1 (DC Comics) takes Kate “Batwoman” Kane to a fictional Greek city on her mission to hunt down her supervillain sister, a change of scenery that distinguishes this title from the rest of the Bat-line and gives Athens-born DaNi the opportunity to stage superhero intrigue in her home country. DaNi gives the book a strong visual identity that contrasts the spectacle of Batwoman’s exploits with the starkness of Kate working through her emotional trauma when the mask comes off, and Hollingsworth’s subtly textured colors reinforce the graphic punch of DaNi’s inks.
Batwoman #1 (DC Comics)
The Court Charade by Flore Vesco and Kerascoët (March 31)
Kerascoët—the joint pen name of French artist spouses Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset—are masters of the adult fairy tale. Graphic novels like Beautiful Darkness and Beauty showcase Kerascoët’s ability to bring out the dark side of whimsical concepts, but they move in a lighter direction for The Court Charade (Abrams ComicArts), a love story set in a royal court full of wacky but dangerous characters. Written by Flore Vesco, The Court Charade follows a young lady-in-waiting to the queen as she navigates a treacherously toxic workplace, finding romance with a torturer’s apprentice while stumbling onto a plot to assassinate the king. The chaotic cover art is representative of the vibrant energy Kerascoët bring to the interiors: character designs explode with personality, the castle is full of opulent details, and the painted colors bring it all together in a splendidly lush package.
The Court Charade (Abrams ComicArts)
Mrs. Orwell by Andrea Chalupa and Brahm Revel (March 31)
George Orwell is responsible for two of the 20th century’s most significant works, Animal Farm and 1984, but he had a vital collaborator in their creation: his wife, Eileen Blair. Mrs. Orwell (23rd St.) explores Eileen’s life, romance, and creative relationship with her husband, which tragically ended when she died at 39 during a hysterectomy operation. Written by Andrea Chalupa, host of the Gaslit Nation podcast, with art by Brahm Revel, Mrs. Orwell is a tender story about finding love in perilous times, shining a light on how Orwell was able to develop great art because of the support, enthusiasm, and inspiration of his partner. Revel’s work on Now Let Me Fly, a graphic biography about the first African-American fighter pilot, highlighted how well he captures historical figures and events without sacrificing liveliness on the page, and his cartooning is even sharper on Mrs. Orwell. It’s also fully colored, and Revel’s expressive palettes accentuate the emotional beats of the story.
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