Below you’ll find the solicitations information and cover artwork for all of Action Lab comic book titles that were released yesterday, June 8, 2016. Check out the new one here: Ghoul Scouts. The first issue sums up how I felt every camping trip would end up. I always expected the undead to be a larger issue than it is. Perhaps I watched too many horror films as a kid?

The Black Bat #2
Written by Brian Buccellato
Art by Ronan Cliquet
Colored by Mat Lopes
Lettered by Rob Steen
Covers by Marcos Martin, Billy Tan, Jae Lee, Ardian Syaf and Joe Benitez
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Reading The Black Bat #2 will further cement what we now know as FACT. Dynamite Entertainment loves its pulp heroes and takes extra good care of them. I’m not sure just who it is, I’m guessing senior editor Joe Rybandt, but someone at DE goes the extra mile to see that all these books are treated with the utmost care and that they all have a genuinely sincere creative team working together to ensure that the best versions of these characters are hitting the stands.

Writer Brian Buccellato, best known for his work on DC Comics The Flash, takes what could’ve easily been a Batman rip-off and does something that’s not even remotely related to one of “those types of stories.” In fact, he goes out of his way to make the character unique and independent and stand out on his own. And we’re rewarded for all his hard work by having a great comic!!!

The Shadow Special #1
Written by Scott Beatty
Art by Ronan Cliquet
Colors by Mat Lopes
Letters by Rob Steen
Cover by Alex Ross
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 26, 2012
Cover Price: $4.99

The Shadow Special #1 is a really fun read. It’s not life-changing or Earth-shattering; it’s just a fun book to read. And what more can you ask for?

Scott Beatty turns in a very entertaining story, that delves into the past of LaMont Cranston and his life before becoming The Shadow. It’s part mystery, all action-adventure, and reminds me of a comic that I would’ve read about 10 years ago, but in a GOOD way. It’s fun from start to finish, and there’s some GREAT period stuff in this issue. It’s also very adult in nature. Now, I don’t mean it’s full of nudity and cursing, but the subject matter is very dark and might not be suitable for younger readers. That being said, this is a great book to check out if you want to start reading The Shadow. It’s a taste of what you get every month in Shadow comics, so rather than pick up an issue of the monthly title, give this a try and see if it’s something that you’d like to read.

To Hell You Ride #1
Written by Lance Henriksen and Joseph Maddrey
Art by Tom Mandrake
Colors by Cris Peter with Mat Lopes
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 12, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

To Hell You Ride (the title is a play on words inspired by the comic’s Telluride Colorado locale) combines the debut comic writing talent of actor Lance Henriksen (best known for his role as Bishop from Aliens and for acting in nearly every genre film in the last 40 years) and Joseph Maddrey (Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film), with art by Tom Mandrake (The Spectre, oodles of Batman). Those names are certainly enough to sell comics on their own merits. However, it is their deft synthesis of Native American folk tales with horror and western genres that allows Dark Horse’s new series to read less like standard comic fare, and more like a well-paced film that stays with you long after the credits stop rolling.

With a byline like “White Man’s Guilt” and a plot that involves white settlers in the 1880s interrupting a tribal sacrifice ritual that unleashes a supernatural curse that affects the denizens of the Colorado mountain town up to the present day, one might assume this is a book about race. However, that’s hardly a fraction of the point. Without any specific agenda, this comic is already asking more questions than providing answers and thus providing space for an epic journey to unfold. With statements like “The world falls further out of balance with each new generation. The only thing that changes are out intensity of our indifference.” This could be a rather heavy handed comic without the advanced cinematic timing and character development skill of its authors. Existential questions about the environment and ignoring the messages of the land and the importance of ritual are expressed within the frame of a grand adventure, with lots of supernatural elements thrown in.