The Guild: Fawkes #1
Written by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton
Art by Jamie McKelvie
Color by Matthew Wilson
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Paul Duffield
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

The Guild: Fawkes is a one-shot, backstory comic for one of the best characters in Felicia Day‘s insanely popular web series. If you don’t already know what The Guild is, then firstly, shame on you. Secondly, this comic will probably not make much sense to you; it’ll just be a story about some kilted sociopath who oddly resembles Wil Wheaton. You should probably watch all five seasons of The Guild to truly appreciate this comic. Hey, the web series is short, free, and hilarious. You have no excuses.

Back in February, Dark Horse Comics released a preview image of the cover, the first ever glimpse of Fawkes’ in-game avatar. The character looked amazing. Not how I would have pictured Fawkes — just infinitely cooler. I was floored and instantly said, “I’m so gonna cosplay Fawkes at DragonCon.” Yeah, I’m a complete mark for this whole Guild metaverse thing.

Masters of the Universe: The Powers of Grayskull
Part One: The Legends Begins
Story by Scott Neitlich
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Wellinton Alves
Colors by Michael Atiyeh
Letters by Nate Piekos of BLAMBOT
Cover by Eric Powell
Designer: Justine Couch
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 16, 2012
Cover Price: $22.00 (Only available with Thunder Punch He-Man from Matty Collector)

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Masters of the Universe franchise, Mattel and Dark Horse Comics are releasing brand new mini-comics, just like the ones that were included in the original toy line. Last year at the San Diego Comic-Con when these plans were announced, He-Fans, myself included, literally stood up and cheered. So, does The Powers of Grayskull: Part One live up to the hype? Let’s take a look…

Criminal Macabre: Die, Die My Darling
Story by Steve Niles
Art by Christopher Mitten
Colors by Michelle Madsen
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Fiona Staples
Designed by David Nestelle
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 04, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Criminal Macabre: Die, Die, My Darling finds its anti-hero, Cal McDonald, adjusting to life after life. To being undead in other words. How is he taking the transition? He’s disgruntled, sure, but whatever, he seems to be disgruntled about a lot of other things, too.

Since 1990 writer Steve Niles, who you should know from the 30 Days of Night books/film (and if you don’t that’s your loss) has been doing his own take on the Paranormal Sleuth sub-genre in both comics and prose. Specifically, by Sleuth I mean the hard living, solving-crime-in-a-drunken-have type, and by Paranormal I’m talking about a casual slathering of vampires and werewolves. You like John Constantine? Give this a try.

House Of Night #5
Story by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Script by Kent Dalian
Art by Joelle Jones and Eric Canete
Colors by Ryan Hill and Eric Canete
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Jenny Frison
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 14, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

This month we get to see Zoey Redbird complete her initiation into the five elements in House Of Night #5. Her lesson for the last element, spirit, is one that holds a lot of meaning for her. Not everyone is able to survive the change from human to vampyre, and it takes four years of training to do so. We learn that the stress on their bodies and minds can take a toll.

Zoey spends this issue coming to terms with a choice she made prior to her training at the House of Night. Having imprinted on someone from her past, it seems only fitting that the story of Hippolyte and Herakles contained the same problem. Learning from the mistakes of vampyres past has aided Zoey several times and this is no exception.

House Of Night #4
Story by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Script by Kent Dalian
Art by Joelle Jones and Jonathan Case
Colors by Ryan Hill and Jonathan Case
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Jenny Frison
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 8, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

We return to the story of Zoey Redbird, a fledgling vampyre attending the Tulsa House of Night and learning to control her newfound powers. House Of Night #4 addresses the issues of overconfidence and vanity. When Zoey accidentally destroys something sacred to her goddess, she decides to concentrate on repairing the damage done and learning from the experience.