Black Betty #1
Written by Shawn Gabborin
Art by Michela Da Sacco
Colors by Rosa “Rosakaz” Rantila
Covers by Michela Da Sacco, Marco Maccagni, Dan Mendoza
Action Lab Comics: Danger Zone
Release Date: February 14, 2018
Cover Price: $4.99

I just stumbled onto this one, folks. Interesting thing about Black Betty #1 is that we start off seeing her use her power and she’s just as confused as we are. Black Betty is not just a paranormal bounty hunter, she’s also got a neat little retro vibe going on. She is a fixer of the highest order but she’s not free.

I am curious to see where this character goes based on the first issue. I liked it but it really kept me in the dark, even ending on a high note. Give it a whirl, you fight find it as enticing as I did.

Incognegro: Renaissance #1
Written by Mat Johnson
Art by Warren Pleece
Letters by Clem Robins
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 7, 2018
Cover Price: $3.99

Of all the things I have written for this site, none have ever made me hesitate so much or so often. In today’s racially charged climate, it takes little to pit people against one another. Regardless of your position or stance in the political arena, this fact cannot be ignored. And while this comic book series is set almost a hundred years ago, it seems even more relevant today than it did even ten years ago. Incognegro: Renaissance #1 is, first and foremost, a murder mystery. But it being set in 1920’s New York serves to show the reader far more than just a homicide.

John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex #4
Written by Mike Sizemore
Pencils and Inks by Dave Kennedy
Colors by Pete Kennedy
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Edited by Sandy King
Cover Art by Tim Bradstreet
Storm King Comics
Release date: January 31, 2018
Price: $3.99

“Yesterday upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there.” – Hughes Mearns

Another historic poetic verse puts in motion issue 4 of Vortex, the second story arc in John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction, a monthly anthology series from Storm King Comics. The verse opens Mearns’ 1899 poem “Antigonish” and has been referenced for everything from ghost stories to Lil Wayne rap songs. Here the “man who wasn’t there” could be the haunting presence on both the deep space mining colony and the Space Station Benson on the other side of the galaxy.

We’ve been hearing about a movie adaptation of the comic Cowboy Ninja Viking for quite a while now, but nothing has come of it yet. The movie is still in the works, currently set up at Universal, and now comes word that a director has been chosen for the project.

According to reports, Universal has hired Game of Thrones director Michelle MacLaren to helm the film, which has Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt attached.

Time & Vine TPB
Story and Art by Thomas F. Zahler
Colors by Luigi Anderson
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 24, 2018
Cover Price: $24.99

In a medium that is overrun with super powered entities and horrifying monsters, it is a breath of fresh air to get a small taste of the mundane. But, lest it seem common or stale to the reader, this particular tale weaves a bit of magic through the almost two hundred pages of which Time & Vine is comprises.