Tag Archives: blue book

Collect the first two arcs of James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming’s Blue Book in a new Library Edition

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Dark Horse Comics and Tiny Onion present Blue Book Library Edition Volume 1, a new hardcover compiling Blue Book: 1961, Blue Book: 1947, all of the series’ cover art, and behind-the-scenes sketches by Michael Avon Oeming. Written by James Tynion IV, illustrated by Oeming, and lettered by Aditya Bidikar, these “True Weird” stories—tales of ordinary people encountering the strange and impossible—will be collected in a hardcover oversized edition for the first time July 2025. It will also include a cover gallery and sketchbook section.

In Blue Book: 1961, Tynion and Oeming retell the story of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction—the widely publicized and very first abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories.

In Blue Book: 1947, we follow pilot Kenneth Arnold, who flew his Call-Air A-2 over the skies of the Pacific Northwest and encountered otherworldly blinding flashes of silver light that would change the course of his life forever.

Blue Book Library Edition Volume 1 crash lands in bookstores on July 8, 2025 and in comic shops on July 9, 2025. It is now available to preorder at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, TFAW, and your local comic shop and bookstore for $49.99.

Blue Book Library Edition Volume 1

Dark Horse and Tiny Onion present True Weird, collecting the Blue Book short comics

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Dark Horse Books and Tiny Onion present True Weird Volume 1, a collection of black-and-white short comics originally featured as bonus stories throughout Blue Book series 1 and 2. Based on true accounts, these stories describe encounters with cryptids, ghosts, paranormal phenomena, medical oddities, and all manner of the strange.

This new volume features twelve of the strangest “true” stories from the world around us, featuring an all-star lineup of creators including James Tynion IV, Klaus Janson, Chris Condon, Michael Avon Oeming, Ming Doyle, John McCrea, Genevieve Valentine, Aditya Bidikar, Anand RK, Gavin Fullerton, and many more.

True Weird Volume 1 (paperback, 120 pages, 6.625×10.188”) will be available in bookstores on January 28, 2025 and in comic shops on January 29, 2025. It is now available to pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, tfaw.com, and your local comic shop and indie bookstore for $24.99.

True Weird Volume 1

Preview: Blue Book 1947 #3

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Blue Book 1947 #3

(W) James Tynion IV (A/CA) Michael Avon Oeming
In Shops: Apr 17, 2024
SRP: $4.99

Now a changed man after his bizarre aerial encounter with the mysterious fleet of light in the sky, Kenneth Arnold hunts for evidence of his confrontation to show the world, while at the same time federal agencies begin to get in the way of his quest for truth. Also including a True Weird backup story by Chris Condon, Jacob Philips, and Aditya Bidikar!

Blue Book 1947 #3

James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming’s Blue Book returns with Blue Book: 1947

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Long before Betty and Barney Hill excited the public with their alien encounter story, there were years and years of suspected sightings and abductions. James Tynion IV, Michael Avon Oeming, Tom Napolitano, and Dark Horse Comics return with another deeply weird non-fiction tale exploring alien sightings in the upcoming comic, Blue Book: 1947.

In 1947, Kenneth Arnold flew his Call-Air A-2 over the skies of the Pacific Northwest when all of a sudden, he saw a blinding flash of silver light. What followed was a bizarre and difficult to explain encounter with several flying objects that would change the course of his life forever.

Blue Book: 1947 #1 is written by Tynion, illustrated by Oeming, and lettered by Napolitano. The first issue will also include six variant covers by artists Michael Avon Oeming, Fábio Moon, Michael Allred, Cully Hammer, Joe Quinones (1:10 virgin retailer incentive variant), and Christian Ward (1:10 virgin retailer incentive variant). One additional variant cover will be revealed at a later date.

Blue Book: 1947 #1 also includes a True Weird backup story by Zac Thompson, Gavin Fullerton, and Aditya Bidikar.

Blue Book: 1947 #1 (of 5) flies into comic shops on February 7, 2024. It is now available to pre-order for $4.99 at your local comic shop.

Around the Tubes

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Blue Book #1

It was new comic book day yesterday! What’d you all get? What’d you like? Dislike? Sound off in the comments below. While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.

CNET – AI-Generated Comic Book Reportedly Loses Copyright Protections – Good.

Book Riot – 11 of the Best Shōnen Manga to Read in 2023 – What would you include?

Reviews

CBR – The Amazing Spider-Man #20
Comicbook – Blue Book #1
CBR – Blue Book #1
Collected Editions – The Flash Vol. 17 Eclipsed
CBR – Gargoyles #3
Comicbook – Immoral X-Men #1
CBR – Immoral X-Men #1

Blue Book #1 is a bumpy start

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Blue Book #1

I’m a bit of a sucker for “true stories” of alien contact and abductions. There’s a campiness about them that’s fun mixed with a “is it real or not” aspect. Blue Book #1 promises a “nonfiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.” And it’s start is intriguing but a bit of a letdown at the same time.

Written by James Tynion IV, Blue Book #1 follows the infamous Betty and Barney Hill abduction. In an “Unsolved Mysteries” sort of way, the comic first sets out to make it clear that Betty and Barney are two upstanding and outstanding individuals. These aren’t cranks or conspiracy theorists, they’re two very ordinary individuals with fantastic jobs. It lays out its case as to why we should believe their story. From there, it follows their journey home and an encounter with a strange object. It’s the setup… unfortunately it’s a bit slow and lacks tension to really make it stand out.

Part of that issue is the art from Michael Avon Oeming. While it’s good. There’s something that doesn’t quite click building up the eventual encounter. You don’t get a sense of worry from Betty or Barney. There’s lack of fear that it really might be something else that might really harm them. Overall, it’s two people driving that see something weird in the sky. And by the end of this particular chapter, the build up visually feels like it doesn’t surprise or hook you. Part of that is Oeming shows the object and shows it often. The reader knows what it is before they do so the “reveal” has already happened taking away the vital aspect for the story.

The backup story features Tynion with art by Klaus Janson. Aditya Bidikar provides lettering for both. It takes us to Coney Island and some of the oddities featured there and its history. It has a Ripley’s Believe it or Not aspect to it that slightly undermines the nonfiction aspect of the main story. It also has nothing to do with aliens but is just “True Weird”. While it’s entertaining in its weird history, it feels like it clashes a bit with the featured story. As part of “weird tales” anthology, it’d be great, but here, it feels a little out of place.

Blue Book #1 is an interesting start but doesn’t quite abduct me and take me away in the mothership. The main story’s rather abrupt ending is a bit jarring and the build up, while good, is a bit too slow to leave things where they’re at. This might be one that’s a bit more enjoyable when the you can read it all at once.

Story: James Tynion IV Art: Michael Avon Oeming, Klaus Janson Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7.25 Recommendation: Read

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Superman #1 cover

Wednesdays (and Tuesdays) are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in

Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.

Banshees #1 (Scout Comics) – A college student discovers the truth about a serial killer that stalked her college campus for a decade.

Barbaric: Hell to Pay #2 (Vault Comics) – It’s a new group of screw up adventurers who are tring to break Owen out of hell. Off the rails fantasy adventuring!

Batman: One Bad Day – Clayface #1 (DC Comics) – Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing telling a Clayface story? Yes please!

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #1 (Marvel) – We’ve already reviewed it and have high praise!

Blue Book #1 (Dark Horse Comics) – A nonfiction comic book experience depicting true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.

Bulls of Beacon Hill #2 (AfterShock) – Boston Surgeon Christopher Boldt is getting more famous by the day – but that’s the problem. Chris’ secret doesn’t just threaten himself, it threatens the person he’s ashamed to say he’s related to: his mobster father. Great first issue which mixed politics, family drama, and a good ole mobster story.

Darkwing Duck #2 (Dynamite Entertainment) – The first issue was fantastic and a return to the animated series we love. Beyond excited for more Darkwing Duck!

First Time for Everything (First Second) – A First Time for Everything is a feel-good coming-of-age memoir based on New York Times-bestselling author and Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat’s awkward middle school years.

Gargoyles #3 (Dynamite Entertainment) – The second issue was a bit of a mess but we’re hoping the third issue is more like the first which was beyond fantastic.

GCPD: The Blue Wall #5 (DC Comics) – The last issue was a shocker and the series has taken a hell of a turn. We want to see where it goes.

Godfell #1 (Vault Comics) – One sunny day in the land of Kerethim, God falls dead from the sky. The impact sends out shockwaves that draw in royal families at war, shadowy creatures of the dark, and armies of the dispossessed, all coming to lay claim to parts of God’s body. That just sounds awesome!

Immoral X-Men #1 (Marvel) – A new “Sins of Sinister” tie-in series.

Irmina (SelfMadeHero) – Based on a true story, in the mid-1930s, Irmina, an ambitious young German, moves to London. At a cocktail party, she meets Howard Green, one of the first black students at Oxford, who, like Irmina, is working towards an independent existence. However, their relationship comes to an abrupt end when Irmina, constrained by the political situation in Hitler’s Germany, is forced to return home.

Lazarus Planet: Omega #1 (DC Comics) – The finale leads into “Dawn of DC” which has already kicked off so we’re more intrigued to see where this goes and how it wraps up mixed in with what we’ve already seen.

Local Man #1 (Image Comics) – Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs alone has this sold for us. But the concept of a former superhero forced to return home to their parent’s basement sounds original and interesting.

Plush #4 (Image Comics) – Every issue has been jaw dropping funny and so over the top.

Rooster Fighter Vol. 3 (VIZ Media) – The concept of a wandering Rooster fighting kaiju might sound silly but it really works and is a hell of a lot of fun.

Savage Avengers #10 (Marvel) – The series has been a lot of fun as writer David Pepose shows off his talent for delivering a remix of sorts of what’s come before. Fans of Marvel 2099 will won’t want to miss the latest arc.

Superman #1 (DC Comics) – It’s “Dawn of DC” and Joshua Williamson writing and Jamal Campbell’s art has us wanting to check out this new Superman series.

Tower #1 (A Wave Blue World) – Real-life contestants battle it out in a video game-style competition to reach the top of the Tower! It’s a familiar plot but we want to see where this one might differ.

Dark Horse presents a “Blue Book: evening with James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming at the Hollywood Theatre

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Dark Horse presents a special event at the historic Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon celebrating James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming’s upcoming “true weird” series, Blue Book! On March 15, 2023, explore the strange and supernatural with a screening of Spielberg’s classic film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, followed by a discussion of the new comic series Blue Book with creators Tynion and Oeming, hosted by David F. Walker. 

A special event-exclusive variant of Blue Book #2 will be available, featuring a unique cover by Oeming. Fans can pre-order up to five copies of this exclusive comic with ticket purchase or buy them at the event (limit 5 per person overall). This special variant is limited to just 500 copies total, available for purchase from Dark Horse and Things From Another World only as part of this event.

Event details: On March 15, doors at the Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland, OR 97212) will open at 6 pm, followed by the film beginning at 7 pm. Seating is first-come, first-served. Following the showing of Close Encounters, comic creators James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming will be joined by David F. Walker on stage for a live Q&A session about their comic series, Blue Book.

Tickets can be purchased at thehollywoodtheatre.org.

Blue Book #2 variant cover

James Tynion IV is launching a new comic line at Dark Horse

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James Tynion IV has always been fascinated by horror and what he calls “true weird,” or the cousin to true crime—strange and unusual events like supernatural and alien encounters—especially after publishing stories like Something is Killing the Children, The Nice House on the Lake, and The Department of Truth. Now, Tynion, Tiny Onion Studios, and Dark Horse Comics are teaming up to bring deeply weird non-fiction and high concept coming-of-age monster stories to print in a new line! Featuring new and previously published creator-owned work from the mind of James Tynion IV, the new line begins with Blue Book in February 2023 and The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos in June 2023. Both were originally published on Substack, but will soon be available in print for the first time.

In Blue Book, Tynion explores strange but true stories of aliens and the supernatural. The first series details Betty and Barney Hill’s abduction encounter, also known as the first widely-publicized abduction that went on to shape and influence all future encounter stories. Teaming up with Tynion on this tale are artist Michael Avon Oeming and letterer Aditya Bidikar. Included at the end of every issue will be a short comic called “True Weird,” the first of which is called True Weird: Coney Island by Tynion, Klaus Janson, and Bidikar.

The next series to be published will be The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, an LGBTQ+ horror-hero coming-of-age series that’s Invincible meets Doom Patrol. The concept was created by James Tynion IV and written by Tate Brombal with art by Isaac Goodhart, colors by Kurt Michael Russell, and letters by Aditya Bidikar.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos focuses on the lonely teenage mad scientist, Christopher Chaos. When the cute boy at high school turns out to be a deadly creature, Christopher finds himself pitted in a world of monsters, heroes, and a cult of hunters out to kill them all.

The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #1

Blue Book #1 (of 5) will be available in print starting February 22, 2023 and will include three variant covers: a foil variant by Michael Avon Oeming and variants by Dave Johnson and Jill Thompson. The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos #1 (of 5) will be available June 7, 2023.