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Preview: Lazarus Planet: Omega #1

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Lazarus Planet: Omega #1

(W) Mark Waid, Gene Luen Yang (A) Ricardo Federici, Billy Tan, Various (CA) David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez
In Shops: Feb 21, 2023
SRP: $5.99

FATE AND FURY. The Devil Nezha and his son are at war—with all of humanity caught in the middle! The Lazarus storms are intensifying worldwide, Earth’s superheroes are on the ropes, and Batman is living on borrowed time. It’s up to Zatanna, the Spectre, the Demon, Klarion, and the rest of the DCU’s magic users to join Damian Wayne and set things right—but to do that, they’ll have to uncover Nezha’s final, explosive secret! Plus: Dreamer has rescued Doctor Fate’s helmet from destruction…but why does it keep glowing like that? The Dawn of the DCU begins as the Lazarus Planet saga crashes to a close!

Lazarus Planet: Omega #1

Preview: Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

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Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

Written by: Gene Luen Yang, Mark Waid
Art by: Billy Tan of Tan Comics, Riccardo Federici
In Shops: Jan 10, 2023
SRP: $5.99

CHANGE THE WORLD. Following the explosive (literally) events of Batman vs. Robin #4, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted, spewing dangerous and transformative chemicals into Earth’s atmosphere! As these Lazarus clouds rain down upon the planet, people across the globe begin to develop strange new abilities, watch their already-extraordinary abilities change, and witness a whole host of chaos unlike anything the DCU has experienced before! It’s up to Damian Wayne to put out the distress call for whoever can still hear it: come to the ruins of the Hall of Justice and help save the world! Poison Ivy, Power Girl, Cyborg, Batman, and more answer the call…but why could the fate of all life as we know it rest in the hands of…Monkey Prince?

Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

Lazarus Planet Alpha doesn’t feel like a start but a continuation

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Lazarus Planet Alpha

Lazarus Planet Alpha kicks off the new year for DC with an event that has a planetary impact. A volcano on Lazarus Island has gone off raining down magical energy on the world. Its impact is transforming individuals, and when it comes to heroes impacting their powers. It’s a crisis that’ll call in the scattered heroes of the world to try and stop it, all lead by… Damian Wayne!?

Mark Waid continues his big picture story with Lazarus Planet Alpha, a debut that doesn’t feel so much as a start is it does the next chapter. Waid brings together his recent runs on World’s Finest and Robin vs. Batman to this event which sees the dots connected. Unfortunately, if you haven’t been reading those comics, the story feels like you’re coming into a movie well after it began. Lazarus Planet Alpha catches readers up and provides the info needed to understand what’s going on but it’s at a surface level. There’s something missing in the experience, mostly the motivation of the “big bad”. Batman’s hurt, we don’t really know why, and various demons are thrown around as having to be found or stopped and not much info is given on them. It’s surface level entertainment that can be enjoyed but you might be missing the lead ups to it that gives greater depth and a richer story.

What stands out is the art by Riccardo Federici. With color by Brad Anderson and lettering by Steve Wands, the comic is beautiful to look at and the art feels like it gets better as the comic progresses. Federici’s art delivers dynamic visuals that break panels and provides a mix of clear vision as to what’s going on but in a way that emphasizes the chaos the characters are experiencing. There’s also some interesting choices in what does and does not get a full panel to linger on the shot. One page you’d have expected it but Federici chooses not to which makes a full page image just a bit later hit even more. It stands out and not known if it’s intentional or not.

The comic also features a story focused on the Monkey Prince who will play a key role in the event. Written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Billy Tan, color by Sebastian Cheng, and lettering by Janice Chiang, the comic delivers a bit more information about some of the characters involved in the event. These backups if throughout the run of the series might flesh out what can’t be stuffed in to the main story but the tone and style is so different it almost clashes with the main story. It’s overall very good but just a whiplash from what leads into it.

Lazarus Planet Alpha isn’t bad at all, it’s quite entertaining and delivers some solid “summer box office action.” But, where it stumbles is its clear continuation of what has preceded it. The comic, despite being an “alpha” doesn’t feel so much as an easy entry for new readers as it does the next issue in an ongoing series. Still, it’s easy to catch up on the major things you need to now, it’s just hard to not feel like you’re missing out on… something. Still, the art is fantastic and worth checking out and depending on how much fun what’s to come is, it might be worth seeing what lead up to this point.

Story: Mark Waid, Gene Luen Yang Art: Riccardo Federici, Billy Tan
Color: Brad Anderson, Sebastian Cheng Letterer: Steve Wands, Janice Chiang
Story: 7.75 Art: 9.0 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Preview: Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

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Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

Written by: Gene Luen Yang, Mark Waid
Art by: Billy Tan of Tan Comics, Riccardo Federici
In Shops: Jan 10, 2023
SRP: $5.99

CHANGE THE WORLD. Following the explosive (literally) events of Batman vs. Robin #4, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted, spewing dangerous and transformative chemicals into Earth’s atmosphere! As these Lazarus clouds rain down upon the planet, people across the globe begin to develop strange new abilities, watch their already-extraordinary abilities change, and witness a whole host of chaos unlike anything the DCU has experienced before! It’s up to Damian Wayne to put out the distress call for whoever can still hear it: come to the ruins of the Hall of Justice and help save the world! Poison Ivy, Power Girl, Cyborg, Batman, and more answer the call…but why could the fate of all life as we know it rest in the hands of…Monkey Prince?

Lazarus Planet Alpha #1

NYCC 2022: Lazarus Planet explodes out of Batman vs. Robin in 2023

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At the New York Comic Con “Explore the DC Multiverse” panel, it was revealed that the DC universe will be rocked to its core in DC’s first 2023 event, Lazarus Planet! Event showrunner Mark Waid teams up with Riccardo Federici, Gene Luen Yang, Billy Tan, Nicole Maines, Skylar Patridge, Francis Manapul, Dan Watters, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Josie Campbell, and more, to transform DC’s Super Heroes and Supervillains beginning in January!

Following the events of Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar’s Batman vs. Robin #4 this December, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted—spewing dangerous and transformative chemicals into Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in chaos across the DC universe! As these Lazarus clouds rain down upon the planet, people across the globe begin to develop strange new abilities, watch their already-extraordinary abilities change, and witness a whole host of chaos unlike anything the DCU has experienced before!

We know you’ve got questions about this upcoming DC comic book event, but you’ll have to wait for the Lazarus Planet explosions to begin for your answers! In the meantime, we’re already asking about the effects of Lazarus raining from the skies:

  • Can Power Girl free herself from the out-of-control Omen? 
  • Who are the mysterious trio claiming to be resurrected siblings of Raven? 
  • Will Dreamer’s visions guide our heroes to the path of victory? 
  • Can Mercy Graves survive the transformation she’s undergone? 
  • Will Martian Manhunter survive a psychic link to a Doomsday nest?
  • Can new hero City Boy hope to commune with Gotham in time to save it? 
  • How far would the Question go to chase a lead across a transformed Gotham City? 
  • Will the flame of Firestorm burn out yet another horrific host?
  • And what does DC’s Monkey Prince have to do with all of this? 

Here’s a hint for the last one—Damian Wayne puts out a distress call for whoever can still hear it: come to the ruins of the Hall of Justice and help save the world! Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Cyborg, Batman, and more answer the call…but why could the fate of all life as we know it rest in the hands of…Monkey Prince? 

Look for DC’s January and February DC Connect magazines to drop in the coming months for more hints into 2023’s Lazarus Planet event and the full creative teams! The weekly Lazarus Planet schedule will include:

  • Lazarus Planet: Alpha (1/10)
  • Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton (1/17)
  • Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods (1/24)
  • Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn (1/31) 
  • Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution (2/7)
  • Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate (2/14) 
  • Lazarus Planet: Omega (2/21)

Preview: X-Men Legends #8

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X-Men Legends #8

(W) Larry Hama (A/CA) Billy Tan
RATED T+
In Shops: Nov 03, 2021
SRP: $3.99

ENTER: OMEGA RED!
• WOLVERINE’s hunt for the missing mutants goes from bad to worse!
• Following LADY DEATHSTRIKE and the mysterious JIE JIE to Shanghai, where HINO-CHAN and JUBILEE have been taken, Logan will have to keep YUREI safe while dealing with the Hand. But who invited OMEGA RED to the battle?
• It’s Omega Red vs. Wolverine in an all-new tale, making this one of their earliest bouts in continuity (betcha weren’t counting on that)!

X-Men Legends #8

DC’s The Monkey Prince Comic Series Debuts Lunar New Year 2022

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Inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, DC’s newest shape-shifting Super Hero, the Monkey Prince, a.k.a. Marcus Sun, is returning to headline his own series! The news broke during DC FanDome when a cover by artist Bernard Chang 張伯納 with colorist Sebastian Chen 鍾偉傑, and a variant cover by artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau 劉丕政, debuted. The first issue of Monkey Prince will also have a special team variant cover by artist Zao Dao 早稻.

Continuing from May’s DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 anthology comic where the character was introduced, DC’s Monkey Prince will return in February 2022 in a new twelve-issue comic book series from writer Gene Luen Yang 楊謹倫 and artist Bernard Chang 張伯納. The series will kick off on the Lunar New Year, February 1. For fans who can’t wait for February to read more about DC’s Monkey Prince, a new short story, “Apokolips in the Heavenly Realm,” just posted to dcuniverse.com and dccomics.com. In this new tale, available now, you’ll see the classic Journey to the West characters—Sun Wukong, King Bull Demon, Princess Iron Fan, Red Boy, and Erlang Shen—defending the heavenly realm against Darkseid and his parademons!

“Apokolips in the Heavenly Realm” is by writer Gene Luen Yang 楊謹倫, artist Bernard Chang 張伯納, artist (for flashback scenes) Billy Tan of Tan Comics 比利唐 of 唐漫文化, colorist Sebastian Cheng 鍾偉傑, and letterer Janice Chiang 蒋慧珍. DC’s Jessica Chen 陳穎珊 edits Monkey Prince.

Marvel, Harlequin, and AAM-Markosia all have new comiXology Releases Today

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There’s nine new comics from Marvel, AAM-Markosia, and Harlequin on comiXology today. You can get shopping now are check out the individual releases below.

An Instant from the Past #2

Written by Juan Pangrazi
Art by Juan Pangrazi
Purchase

A new victim is found. Mark, Oliver and the rest of the team continue the search for the ‘Killer of the lily’. But they may not be the only people interested in discovering the identity of this mysterious murderer.

An Instant from the Past #2

Un amour mensonger

Written by Alaina Hawthorne
Art by Tomoko Takakura
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Amber a craqué pour son patron, Bradley, fils d’une famille fortunée à la tête d’une compagnie pétrolière. Il lui paraît inaccessible et ils ne se sont encore jamais parlé, mais pour elle c’est un vrai coup de foudre. Un jour, Bradley est dans l’urgence et c’est finalement Amber qui va l’accompagner à l’hôpital. Sa grand-mère, présidente du conseil d’administration, est dans un état critique. Alors qu’Amber l’attend dans les couloirs, Bradley sort de l’unité de soins intensifs le visage pâle avec une requête un peu spéciale : Vous ne voudriez pas devenir ma fiancée ?

Un amour mensonger

Married For His One-Night Heir

Written by Jennifer Hayward
Art by Naoko Kubota
Purchase

After her husband passed away, Gia moved to the Bahamas to start her new life with her son, Leo. After being haunted by her notorious family name for so long, she is finally enjoying the freedom she earned in this resort island. That is until she reunites with Santo Di Fiore, the man she has loved forever and her baby father after a one-night stand four years ago. After finding out that he has been a father this entire time, Santo makes Gia choose between giving him child custody or getting married to live in New York. As much as she wants to be with her son, Gia is terrified of going back to America, where she would have to go back to being a Castiglione, the name of an empire that has deep-rooted connections to criminal organizations. After getting everything taken away, Gia ties the knot with Santo to be a family with Leo, but she doesn’t see the marriage possibly going well…

Married For His One-Night Heir

Plague Vol. 2 #10

Written by Dennis Fallon, Jason Palmatier
Art by Zachary Brunner
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All roads have led to this. Sacrifice. Betrayal. Revelation. Markosia’s critically acclaimed fantasy series comes to an end with an epic, double-length finale filled with vengeful gargoyles, warrior wraiths, raging ogres, and a twelve round, no-holds-barred fist fight with the Devil. Heroes will fall, villains will rise, and scars will be etched upon the souls that survive. Witness the fate of the doubting friar and his fey friends in the stunning conclusion of PLAGUE.

Plague Vol. 2 #10

Vanquished #7: Be a Woman

Written by Ben Smith
Art by Felicia Mars
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Chapter 7 – Things are heating up in the Grubscape. Finally having found the part they’re looking for, all Valorie needs to do is escape. Something Tat intends to make easier said than done. The Corpse Amalgam is back, this time it’ll take more than trickery to beat it and the Monitor seems poised to reveal his endgame.

Vanquished #7: Be a Woman

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Complete Collection Vol. 3

Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Daniel Acuna, Renato Guedes, Adam Kubert, Jefte Palo
Cover by Jae Lee
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Collects Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1-6, Wolverine (2010) #1-9 And #5.1, and material from Wolverine: Road To Hell #1.

He’s the best there is at what he does —and Wolverine’s not so bad, either. Writer Jason Aaron’s (PUNISHERMAX, Scalped) acclaimed and character-defining Wolverine run continues in this third volume! Joined by some of comics’ top artists, Aaron tests Wolverine to his limits as the feral hero takes a lengthy trip through time with the ever-annoying Spider-Man! Then, a mysterious organization conspires to send Wolverine to Hell, where he encounters the souls of unexpected family and friends — and battles the Devil! And the X-Men must help Wolverine regain control of his body from a horde of possessing demons! Plus: Wolverine’s girlfriend throws him a birthday party, but where is he? Guest-starring Mystique, Daimon Hellstrom, two Ghost Riders and a host of Marvel heroes!

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Complete Collection Vol. 3

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Complete Collection Vol. 4

Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Ron Garney, Renato Guedes, Adam Kubert, Steven Sanders, Goran Sudzuka, Billy Tan
Cover by Arthur Adams
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Collects Wolverine (2010) #10-20 and #300-304.

He’s the best there is at what he does – and Wolverine’s not so bad, either. Writer Jason Aaron’s (PUNISHERMAX, Scalped) acclaimed and character-defining Wolverine run concludes in this final volume! Joined by comics’ top artists, Aaron puts Wolverine through a physical and emotional wringer as the feral hero wreaks vengeance on the Red Right Hand, the group that sent him to Hell – but the final twist in their horrific plan might shatter Wolverine’s spirit completely! Then, Wolverine faces decades-old responsibilities when he defends Chinatown from drugs and dragons. And when Sabretooth and Mystique team up to wreak havoc in Japan, Wolverine must take on both the Yakuza and the Hand – and defend his loved ones from a legacy of pain! Guest-starring Gorilla-Man, Fat Cobra, and a literal who’s who of Wolverine’s friends and foes!

Wolverine by Jason Aaron Complete Collection Vol. 4

X-Factor by Peter David Complete Collection Vol. 1

Written by Peter David
Art by Renato Arlem, Dennis Calero, Ariel Olivetti, Pablo Raimondi, Ryan Sook
Cover by Ryan Sook
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Collects Madrox #1-5 and X-Factor (2006) #1-12.

Relive the gripping, noir-esque launch of Peter David’s most memorable concept: X-Factor Investigations! Jamie Madrox sets up shop in the heart of Mutant Town – but with so many duplicates out in the world, who is the real Madrox? Does he even know anymore? Then, when the fallout from the HOUSE OF M depowers most of the world’s mutants, X-Factor must find answers – fast! With Guido, Wolfsbane, Siryn, M and Rictor by his side – as well as the stuff-knowing Layla Miller – Madrox must take on the manipulative prescient Mr. Tryp’s rival group Singularity Investigations, navigate a superhuman Civil War, learn why the X-Men lied to his team, deal with the unbalanced Quicksilver’s new ability to reboot mutant powers for a price and discover the deadly traitor in X-Factor’s midst!

X-Factor by Peter David Complete Collection Vol. 1

X-Factor by Peter David Complete Collection Vol. 2

Written by Peter David
Art by Valentine De Landro, Khoi Pham, Pablo Raimondi
Cover by Pablo Raimondi
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Collects X-Factor (2006) #13-24 and #28-32, X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead #1, and X-Factor Special: Layla Miller #1.

As X-Factor unloads their hopes, fears and darkest secrets to Doc Samson, Jamie Madrox decides to gather up his stray dupes. The trouble is, two don’t want to go quietly: the married priest and the agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.! And when Hydra comes calling, will Jamie become their secret weapon? With Mutant Town under siege thanks to the terrorist X-Cell, X-Factor races the clock to keep every former mutant from being imprisoned. What an awful time for the Isolationist to strike! Then, after the events of MESSIAH COMPLEX, X-Factor is a shambles. Jamie is a basket case; Wolfsbane quits but won’t say why; and Layla is trapped in the future, in the middle of the Summers Rebellion! Plus: Quicksilver’s life takes a dramatic turn!

X-Factor by Peter David Complete Collection Vol. 2

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Preview: X-Men Legends #7

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X-Men Legends #7

(W) Larry Hama (A/CA) Billy Tan
Rated T+
In Shops: Sep 22, 2021
SRP: $3.99

WOLVERINE. JUBILEE. HAMA.
Any way you slice it, the ultimate team-up is back, bub! Comics legend Larry Hama returns to his run on WOLVERINE, with the start of an all-new adventure that will pit the man formerly known as WEAPON X, and fan-favorite JUBILEE, against a host of their deadliest foes!
When two young mutants disappear, our heroes set off for Japan to track them down. But LADY DEATHSTRIKE and THE HAND have their own designs on the duo, and it’ll take no small measure of blood, sweat and adamantium to change their minds! Illustrated by the incomparable Billy Tan, get set for the start of a deadly international mutant conflict!

X-Men Legends #7
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