The 5 Comics You Have to Read This Month
Summer may be gone, but if September is anything to go by, fall might bring an even better comic book bounty than the sunshine season. Not only does the month bring two very different takes on familiar science fiction tropes, it also ushers in the return of some childhood favorites and a new Image Comics series that brings back one of the most important editors in comics history. Looking for something to read as the nights draw in? Take a look at these books.
The Omega Men: The End Is Here (DC Entertainment)
Technically, this should've made it onto last month's list, but we screwed up the dates. Nonetheless, this would make it onto almost any list this year. A wonderfully bleak recasting of a number of sci-fi tropes, The End Is Here answers the question you didn't even know you wanted to ask: "What if Star Wars had a Rebellion lead by people who actually acted like real-life freedom fighters?" The answer is an astonishing commentary on heroism, space opera clichés, and American foreign policy, of all things.
DC ComicsRevolution #1 (IDW Publishing)
Welcome to the Saturday morning cartoon mash-up you always dreamt of, but never saw. IDW's Revolution event—which also includes multiple spin-off issues in addition to the main series—brings together the Transformers, G.I. Joe, MASK, Micronauts, and ROM to form a new shared universe filled with… well, if not all the toys, then certainly a lot of them. There's also talk that Hasbro is planning to bring some of these franchises together on the big screen, so consider this a chance to get in on the ground floor.
IDW Publishing
Doom Patrol #1 (DC Entertainment)
The self-styled "World's Strangest Heroes!" return in a new comic book series by Gerard Way and Nick Derington, launching Way's new DC imprint Young Animal. Those looking for a nostalgia trip will be disappointed, however: The first issue focuses almost entirely on an all-new cast coming to terms with a newly weird reality that includes creepy corporations, explosive snacks and the most satisfying end to a roommate argument in history. Prepare for Casey Brinke to become your new favorite fictional character, too.
DC ComicsMooncop (Drawn & Quarterly)
The idea of a low-key story about a police officer protecting a lunar colony against runaway robots and the threat of missing children might sound counter-intuitive, but cartoonist Tom Gauld's new graphic novel is pitch perfect: At once hilarious and achingly melancholy, it reads like a requiem for the future we were promised decades ago that never arrived. A quietly essential read for anyone who grew up reading sci-fi.
Drawn & Quarterly
Surgeon X #1 (Image Comics)
A lot of buzz surrounds this new medical dystopia book—the eponymous hero is a rogue doctor opening her own illegal practice in the wake of what's described as an "antibiotic apocalypse"—not because of the off-beat creative team of filmmaker Sara Kenney and John Watkiss, but because of the comic's editor, Karen Berger, better known as Alan Moore's editor on Swamp Thing and Neil Gaiman's on Sandman. This title marks her return to comics after leaving DC's Vertigo imprint in 2012. Given her pedigree, expect great things.
Image Comics
