The Gosh! Authority 05.06.24

Hello!

We're very excited to have the wonderful Mollie Ray here this Saturday, 1-2pm, to sign copies of her new Faber & Faber graphic novel, Giant! Get all the details here.

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• PRECIOUS METAL #1 (OF 6) - "Surely Ultimates #1 should be the most noteworthy book this week, Andrew," I hear you say. Well, yes, it probably should be. But there has to be some perks for doing this list, and this week that perk is promoting the book that excites me the most. Darcy Van Poelgeest and Ian Bertram return at last to the world of Little Bird for a prequel set 35 years before the events of that book. It's all gone a bit Lone Wolf noir, with an amnesiac (for all intents and purposes) detective escorting a modified child who's the target of sinister interests. Expect the usual eye-popping Bertram art! Look at that cover! Did I mention I'm really hanging out for this book?

• ULTIMATES #1 - Okay, okay, so this is also a big deal! The return of the Ultimates, the premiere super-team of the new Ultimate Universe. Well, kinda. Tony Stark is on a mission to bring the heroes back, a job he started with Spider-Man and now continues to do with the help of Captain America, Doom, Thor and Sif. Juan Frigeri draws, with Deniz Camp, the buzzy co-creator of Image series 20th Century Men, writing.

• TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ALPHA #1 - This issue acts as both a capstone for the previous era of the Turtles, and a launch point for the new. Tom Waltz & Gavin Smith tell a story of a world without the TMNT, as the boys walk away from the hero life. And then Jason Aaron and Chris Burnham come in with a Donatello-centric prequel to Aaron's upcoming run on the title.

• FALLING IN LOVE ON THE PATH TO HELL #1 - With the X-Men behind him as of this week, Gerry Duggan gets back to some creator-owned work. This new series with artist Garry Brown features two literally star-crossed lovers: a samurai and a cowboy, who find themselves thrown together in purgatory after their deaths. But it's not plain sailing on the road to damnation, and they must fight together against tyrannical undead forcesto find some kind of salvation. 

• PROFANE #1 (OF 5) - Peter Milligan teams with artist Raül Fernandez for a detective tale with a psychological twist. A murder investigation leads to a famous novelist, and blurred lines between truth and fiction. Playing around with meta elements of fiction is Milligan's bread and butter, so this should be worth a look.

• SCARLETT #1 (OF 5) - The Energon Universe series of GI Joe minis continues with a Scarlett-focused outing. Fans of Kelly Thompson's Black Widow run should take a look here, as Thompson is on this along with artist Marco Ferrari, throwing Scarlett into espionage adventures as she attempts to learn the secrets of a mysterious Japanese organisation. Turns out red-headed women of espionage action are her kind of thing!

• MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN #1 - Fans of the well-regarded Adult Swim cartoon should be happy, as head writer of the animated series Josie Campbell masterminds this, joined by artist Pablo M. Collar. Even better, it's a bridge between seasons as the comic picks up from where the first season ended.

• CULT OF THE LAMB #1 - The hit game gets a comic spin-off! Alex Paknadel and Troy Little take us into the world of Lamb, sacrificed for their cuteness and returned after striking a deal with dark powers to exact a terrible revenge on the world above. The game is brilliant, but not necessary to enjoy this comic by a great little creative team.

• DC PRIDE A CELEBRATION OF RACHEL POLLACK #1 - The legendary Rachel Pollack gets her due in this Pride one-shot. The book features reprints of her Vertigo Visions The Geek one shot with Mike Allred and Doom Patrol #70, the first appearance of Coagula, DCs first transgender superhero, with art by Scott Eaton. Then Pollack's close friend Joe Corallo writes a brand new Coagula tale drawn by Rye Hickman. 

• WOLVERINE BLOOD HUNT #1 - Wolverine! Vampires! Blooood! Logan is at the centre of a vampire cabal plot, and Tom Waltz (second appearance by him today) and Juan José Ryp (who always knows how to have a bloody good time) are here to tell the tale!

• MONSTER HIGH PRIDE 2024 #1 - Yep, after not being available for FCBD due to licensing, the legal heavens seem to have cleared because the Monster High comics are available, beginning with this Pride special! My daughter will be very excited at what Hannah Templer & Siobhan Keenan are doing with the characters.

• BEYOND THE PALE #1 - A new horror story by Christofer Emgard and Tomas Aira. A correspondent in the Vietnam War investigates Firebase Tartarus, a base where the losses of black soldiers, already disproportionate in the war, are particularly high. Something sinister is afoot.

And that's it! Solid week, pals! 

Andrew.