PICKS OF THE WEEK – Nov. 11, 2020:

• PUNCHLINE #1: DC’s biggest and baddest break out character of the year gets her own comic one shot in the Punchline Special from creator James Tynion IV and Sam Johns. With the dust settling with the fallout of the Joker War storyline, Punchline gets her day in court, and is using every avenue she can to twist and contort public perception and opinion to her favor to escape the consequences of being the Joker’s new beaux. Tynion and Johns bring in some key Batman side characters who have been over looked and under played and finally given some pretty meaty roles in this issue. They are the perfect lens to bring into focus the danger Punchline possesses even when she’s in the custody of the police. The writers have a commentary of how the world these days can make victims out of villains and use a cool device of podcasts and storytelling to move their point across. Mirka Andolfo handles the artistic duties with Romulo Fajardo Jr on colors. They make a very pretty book using manga inspired styles to pace their story. If you’ve been loving Batman and can’t get enough Punchline pick this book up to see just how dastardly and deadly this new Bat Baddie is and how after a killer entrance and here to stay.

CLICK on the Cover for BACK ISSUES And VARIANTS!

• TASKMASTER #1: Marvel delivers on a book in waiting for months now and it has been worth the wait. Taskmaster takes center stage in this great debut issue from writer Jed MacKay and Artist Alessandro Vitti. Mackay lays into the absurdity and humor of both the character and the situations Taskmaster finds himself in with planting him in a foursome golf match between some Mafiosos and Bullseye and the story just takes off screaming from there. If you’re a fan of the MCU and love the sort of fish out of water, meta understanding of how crazy all this stuff is then this is going to be at the top of your pull. For every joke there is also a lot action and momentum with chases and twists to keep you pulling the page. Vitti keeps up stride with his pencils throwing you action, reactions and panache right from the get go. This team looks to be having a hell of a time on this book and with the premise laid out for the issues to come this title is shaping up to be something comically brilliant in every sense of the word.

CLICK on the Cover for BACK ISSUES And VARIANTS!

• MISKATONIC #1: A. local and friend of the store Mark Sable is back with a new series from Aftershock that will make Cthulhu blush. Set in the days of the FBI’s inception, special agent Miranda Keller is almost fired until she gets assigned one more job to look into some mysterious happenings related to an anarchist bomb attack in New England. What she finds defies logic and sanity as she meets with a partner to hunt down who or what is the cause of the chaos and uncover any other weird dealings the town of Miskatonic is hiding just underneath the surface. If you loved HBO’s Lovecraft Country and can’t get enough strong female protagonists hunting down calamitous cults and mystical misgivings then this is the series for you. Giorgio Pontrelli’s art moves briskly along and gives the money shots when the order calls for it. For as much mystery as there is in this issue Sable and Pontrelli really give you a lot of bang for your buck by diving right to the heart of the matter and they don’t let up once the wheels start turning. Lovecraft enthusiasts and fans of old school horror should nab this off the shelves the first chance you get.

CLICK on the Cover for BACK ISSUES And VARIANTS!