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 trip to a deadly music festival, a poignant time-traveling manga, and the debut of a new supernatural hero.
Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, and Matheus Lopes (January 6)
It took a while, but superhero publishers have finally realized that affordable collections with smaller dimensions can help them reach a wider audience. DC’s Compact Comics are leading the charge, reprinting a wide array of classic stories for only $10 and releasing them at a steady clip. Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (DC Comics) is an especially notable release because it’s one of the few Compact Comics collecting a series published in the 2020s, a savvy move to get eyes on the source material for next summer’s Supergirl movie. Writer Tom King’s take on Kara Zor-El as a hard-drinking hero weighed down by her painful past is a divisive one, but there’s no denying the appeal of the stunning artwork by Bilquis Evely and colorist Matheus Lopes, transporting readers to sprawling sci-fi environments populated by impeccably designed alien characters. The visuals elevate King’s “True Grit in space” story with immersive detail and raw emotion, and we’ll be lucky if the movie can capture even a fraction of the comic’s splendor. Future 2026 Compact Comics include The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham Central, and the video game tie-in, Injustice: Gods Among Us, indicating DC’s commitment to providing accessible entry points into its vast back catalog.
Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (DC Comics)
Wonder Boy Vol. 1 by Kazumi Yamashita and Giuseppe di Martino (January 13)
After publishing the first volume of Kazumi Yamashita’s award-winning manga, Land, last year, Yen Press continues to bring her work to English readers with Wonder Boy Vol. 1 (Yen Press), exploring human trauma through the eyes of a boy who can traverse space and time. Translated by Giuseppe di Martino, this first volume follows the titular character from post-World War II Japan to Victorian-era England, ancient Greece, and more, showcasing Yamashita’s ability to explore personal strife in different historical contexts as well as her attention to period-specific detail in settings and costumes. The self-contained stories allow her to make big tonal and genre shifts from chapter to chapter, using the narrative devices and aesthetics of fantasy, horror, crime, and action comics to give each character study its own distinct flavor. At nearly 800 pages, this massive tome collects years of Yamashita’s work, and it’s a hearty read that rewards readers that are willing to dive into the depths of human misery.
Wonder Boy Vol. 1 (Yen Press)
Sai: Dimensional Rivals #1 by Peach Momoko, Stan Sakai, and Iban Coello (January 14)
Marvel Comics is no stranger to synergy, and after years of aligning its comics with the MCU, the publisher has started taking cues from the massively popular Marvel Rivals video game. The current Fantastic Four run is introducing an alternate universe version of the Invisible Woman inspired by the character’s Malice skin from Rivals, and the game’s version of Psylocke, the wandering ronin Sai, is getting her own star-studded miniseries headlined by Peach Momoko. Marvel’s investment in Momoko has been one of its smartest decisions of the past few years, giving her the freedom to drastically reimagine characters through both Japanese folklore (Demon Days, which introduced Sai) and contemporary culture (Ultimate X-Men). Sai: Dimensional Rivals (Marvel Comics) brings together an incredible line-up of creators to offer their take on Momoko’s creation, with the first issue featuring stories written and drawn by Momoko, Iban Coello, and most surprisingly, Usagi Yojimbo’s Stan Sakai, embracing a wide variety of styles as Sai travels across different dimensions. Future issues will include contributions from Mike Del Mundo, Jim Mahfood, Natacha Bustos, Sara Pichelli, and Esad Ribić, making this miniseries an exciting opportunity to see how some of the industry’s biggest artists illuminate different facets of a reinterpreted character.
Sai: Dimensional Rivals (Marvel Comics)
Altamont by Herrik Hanna and Charlie Adlard (January 21)
The tragedy of 1969’s Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a defining moment in the deterioration of the counterculture movement that had preached free love and social equality throughout the decade. The West Coast’s answer to Woodstock resulted in the deaths of four people — watch the 1970 documentary, Gimme Shelter, for a chilling look at the events — and the new graphic novel, Altamont (Image Comics), offers a fictionalized account of a group of friends caught in the middle of the violence. Artist Charlie Adlard has mastered the horror genre with his work on books like The Walking Dead and Damn Them All, and his skills with building suspense and depicting chaos amp up the intensity of Herrik Hanna’s story. Adlard switches up his style by incorporating visual elements pulled from ’60s pop art, contrasting the psychedelic wonder the friends experience at the start of the festival with the stark reality that overtakes them when the dream becomes a nightmare.
Sai: Dimensional Rivals (Marvel Comics)
Spirit Of The Shadows #1 by Nick Cagnetti and Daniel Ziegler (January 28)
Nick Cagnetti’s Pink Lemonade made a big impression with its bold visuals and surreal take on the superhero genre, establishing him as a major new talent to watch in indie comics. He was recently announced as one of two artists attached to this year’s big Archie relaunch at Oni Press (along with the great Fábio Moon), but before that book’s launch in September, Cagnetti debuts a new superhero in Spirit Of The Shadows (Oni Press). Co-written by Daniel Ziegler, SOTS gives a deceased musician magical powers in the afterlife, reviving him so that he can solve the mystery of his death and reconnect with his lost love. It’s a concept that evokes supernatural heroes like Deadman and The Spectre but is made distinct by Cagnetti’s visual prowess, employing different artistic techniques on the character’s dreamlike journey to find vengeance. These pages crackle with vibrant colors and in-your-face layouts, drawing inspiration from comic-book legends like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to create a mystical world that explodes off the page.
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