September comics preview: a new Charles Burns book and Image’s ambitious The Horizon Experiment
Plus, a new Lobo special and a collection of graphic short stories from the artist behind Only Murders In The Building's stylish title cards
Images from left: Final Cut (Pantheon), Lobo Cancelation Special #1 (DC Comics), Tokyo These Days Vol. 3 (Viz Media)
Welcome to The A.V. Club’s monthly comics preview, where we recommend new books to check out over the next few weeks. This month, we’ve got five exciting picks, including a new Charles Burns translation, a Lobo Cancelation Special, and a collection of graphic short stories from Laura Pérez.
Final Cut – Charles Burns (September 24)
Final Cut (Pantheon)
There hasn’t been a new Charles Burns graphic novel released in the U.S. since he concluded his Last Look trilogy in 2014, so it’s shocking that two new Burns projects are coming out within a few months of each other this year. In July, Fantagraphics released Burns’ Kommix, an engrossing creative experiment wherein he created 80 original covers for comics that never existed to highlight the narrative power of an individual illustration. This month, U.S. readers are finally getting the English translation of Burns’ French graphic novel series, Dédales, collected in a single edition. Final Cut (Pantheon, on sale September 24) is Burns’ ode to classic sci-fi and horror movies as he tells the tale of an aspiring filmmaker, Brian, and his group of friends traveling to a remote cabin in the woods to film an homage to Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. As Brian’s romantic feelings toward his reluctant muse go unreciprocated, the line between his dreams and reality becomes blurred in classic Burns style, summoning a wave of surreal imagery blending the strangeness of the natural world with the cinematic imagery of his beloved genre films. After the extreme psychedelic fantasy of Last Look, it’s nice to have Burns telling a more grounded story with relatable human characters, even if they are probably going to suffer significantly by the end of it.
The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 – Pornsak Pichetshote, Terry and Rachel Dodson (September 25)
The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 (Image Comics)
Back in the late ’00s and early ’10s, Top Cow Productions would hold an annual “Pilot Season” competition. The publisher released an assortment of first issues that readers would vote on with their dollars, and the top-selling book would continue as a series. The spirit of “Pilot Season” lives on in Image Comics’ new Horizon Experiment, an initiative spearheaded by Eisner Award-winning writer and former Vertigo Comics editor Pornsak Pichetshote. Five new first issues will debut over the next few months featuring a mix of industry veterans and up-and-coming talent, starting with The Horizon Experiment: The Manchurian #1 (Image Comics, on sale September 25) by Pichetshote and artists Terry and Rachel Dodson. Each Horizon Experiment title offers a fresh spin on a familiar genre by following characters whose marginalized backgrounds take the stories in new directions, and The Manchurian spotlights a sexy Chinese superspy in the James Bond mold. Future one-shots will delve into horror, fantasy, and pulp adventure, and The Horizon Experiment is especially exciting because Pichetshote is tapping into his editorial skills to curate a line-up of creators dedicated to bringing new perspectives to the page.
Lobo Cancelation Special #1 – Kyle Starks, Kyle Hotz, Dan Brown (September 25)
Lobo Cancelation Special #1 (DC Comics)
Kyle Starks has been on a real hot streak the last few years with both licensed and original comics, and he’s bringing his over-the-top comedic sensibility to one of the most ridiculous superheroes with Lobo Cancelation Special #1 (DC Comics, on sale September 25). The one-shot is being touted as “the scummiest comic book this side of Uranus” and “the most skull-crunching, crotch-punting, and excrement asteroid-filled comic of the year,” which is exactly what a Lobo comic should be. Where Starks succeeds is creating compelling characters in the midst of all that muck, and he has the perfect collaborators in artist Kyle Hotz and colorist Dan Brown, masters of moody horror, bloody violence, and character acting that explodes off the page. Lobo is all about exaggeration, giving Hotz free rein to go berserk with character expressions and physicality while also showcasing his design skills as “The Main Man” makes his way across alien terrain. Fans of Starks will also want to keep an eye out for Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 next month, the sequel to his Dark Horse slasher horror comic featuring gruesomely detailed artwork by Piotr Kowalski and Vladimir Popov.
Ocultos – Laura Pérez (September 17)
Ocultos (Fantagraphics)
As spooky season approaches, readers looking for an unconventional journey into the supernatural should check out Laura Pérez’s Ocultos (Fantagraphics, on sale September 17), a collection of graphic short stories about how the occult influences our lives. You may not know Pérez’s name, but you’ve seen the Spanish artist’s work if you’ve watched Only Murders In The Building, which earned her an Emmy nomination for Best Title Design in 2022. (She was also responsible for the mural painted by Selena Gomez’s character in the first season.) Her art pairs wispy lines with strong graphic design in her use of color, shadow, and geometric shapes, and last year’s English translation of her graphic novel, Totem, showed how this visual dynamic informs her dreamlike narrative sensibility. Ocultos continues to tap into the macabre spirituality of Totem but in short form, with the individual stories giving Pérez greater opportunity to experiment with both imagery and plot.
Tokyo These Days Vol. 3 – Taiyō Matsumoto (September 17)
Tokyo These Days Vol. 3 (Viz Media)
A manga artist renowned for his astonishing versatility and craft, Taiyō Matsumoto has had a storied career spanning decades, and he’s channeled his vast knowledge of the industry into his latest work. Tokyo These Days Vol. 3 (Viz Media, on sale September 17) concludes Matsumoto’s series about a newly retired manga editor, Shiozawa, and his assorted colleagues, exploring the challenges of being an artist as well as managing them. Even if it’s not purely autobiographical, the story is clearly shaped by the people and experiences Matsumoto has encountered over the years, giving readers an insider’s look into the ambitions and stresses of those who have committed their lives to their art. The last volume expanded the scope of the narrative to spend more time with the artists and editors around Shiozawa, capturing the richness of this community and its unique personalities. Matsumoto’s expressive linework brings the emotional cores of his characters to the surface, and there’s a lot of love in the way he draws the titular city, emphasizing its vibrancy and beauty as the seasons change.