Another hump day, another pull box dump. Over these next few weeks, Jeff Lemire takes over your shop.
Top of the Hump is a new weekly column where we select our favorite upcoming comics. This week, we wanted to spotlight two new Jeff Lemire titles worth your attention: Little Monsters #1 with frequent collaborator Dustin Nguyen and Primordial #6 with his other partner in crime Andrea Sorrentino.
Another week, another rad batch of comics. This #NCBD, however, we wanted to zero our focus a little bit, and jump ahead too. Jeff Lemire's name came up a lot during our Best Comics of 2021 episode, and with good reason. Mazebook, Fishflies, Snow Angels, The Unbelievable Unteens, and every other Black Hammer comic. The writer is constantly cooking with gasoline as every project is absolutely fire. In 2022, that's not going to change.
For this week's Top of the Hump, we have two Lemire titles. One is the start of something fresh. The other is the ending of something cosmically grand. Both belong to Image Comics, Jeff Lemire's new home as an exclusive creator. If these titles are any indication of this publishing partnership, we have a glorious future ahead of us, including The Bone Orchard: Mythos, which we named one of our 11 Most Anticipated Comics of 2022. Check out that list if you haven't already.
Lisa's Pick: Little Monsters #1
Little Monsters #1 is just a taste, but it tastes delicious. Here we meet a small group of children, the last children. We don't know too much about them or the world they inhabit. We do see that an atrocity has occurred, and one might be hovering on the horizon as well. Someone is coming, and these kids better band together if they want to hold onto their eternity.
Jeff Lemire has said Little Monsters is not a horror comic. It's a story devoted to these very specific children. And you totally understand what he means after this first issue. These are kids struggling with their station and the banality of their utterly non-banal lives. As Lemire does with all his tales, he drills into character and finds your curiosity in the tiniest of exchanges. You want to know more about this world by issue's end, but you desperately need to learn more about these children.
Little Monsters is also beautifully rendered by artist Dustin Nguyen. Their collaboration has already produced some of our favorite comics (the recent Robin and Batman, Ascender, Descender). With the briefest of snapshots, it's easy to imagine that Little Monsters will fall right alongside their other books in terms of quality and our passion for them. This ride is only getting started, but we're already hanging on to the bitter end.
In stores: 3/9/22
Brad's Pick: Primordial #6
Every month, Primordial has delivered a surprise. This is not the comic we thought it would be before we started reading. It's not the comic we thought it was going to be after the first issue or the second issue or, the fifth issue. Jeff Lemire and his longtime collaborator Andrea Sorrentino conclude their latest series on a note that is beautiful, hopeful, and tragic all at once. It's a slap. And we'll still feel it months, maybe years from now.
Sorrentino seemingly pushed himself like he's never pushed himself before with Primordial. Some pages and panels recall previous work, but there are several spreads featuring wildly unique designs. He's playing in Primordial, and it's a joy to witness and has me even more excited for their upcoming Bone Orchard comics.
Primordial feels like a shift in their relationship. I wouldn't be surprised if, years from now, we'll mark Primordial as a significant work and a turning point that eventually led to unrivaled genius in The Bone Orchard: Mythos. Ah, but let's calm down for a second; we saw that genius in their Green Arrow, and Old Man Logan runs, not to forget Gideon Falls. But they're building something, and they're not done. These two make comics we can't resist, and every one feels special in their own way.
In stores: 2/16/22
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