AfterShock Staff Picks; Garth Ennis Interview

MARCH 1, 2022 Unusual week here at AfterShock, as the world’s ongoing supply chain shenanigans have delayed our on-sale titles once again. While we do take this situation as another opportunity to promote NEXT WEEK’s debut of WE LIVE: AGE OF THE PALLADIONS #1 (both #1 BLACK and #1 WHITE), we also feel it’s a good time take a look in our rear view mirror to draw your attention to some of our favorite collected editions that you may have missed, yet are waiting for you at your Local Comic Shop right now. So, without further ado, here are our Staff Picks! Click on each cover for an AIPT preview!

WE LIVE VOL. 1: EXTINCTION DAY There’s no better way to prepare yourself for all the excitement, adventure and terror coming your way next week! Here the year is 2084 and this is the journey of Hototo, one of the lucky five thousand selected to survive a worldwide calamity – but only if his teenage sister, Tala, can safely deliver him to the nearest Beacon before time runs out. WE LIVE is a world of violence and beauty, a unique tale of the apocalypse as told by The Miranda Brothers that invites both dread and hope – and every chapter made me cry. – Steven

SHADOW DOCTOR I love books based on people's lives, and SHADOW DOCTOR provides that in every panel and page turn. Peter Calloway brings his grandfather's story of being a black man in 1930s America to life through words and Georges Jeanty through illustration. Sprinkle in the mafia and prohibition-era Chicago, and you have yourself a page-turner from start to finish. – Teddy

UNDONE BY BLOOD, VOL. 2: THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN UNDONE BY BLOOD is many things: A wild west adventure, a thrilling dust bowl-era crime tale and a story of creators firing on all cylinders. What else can I say about it? Except that Lonnie, Zac, Sami, Jason and Hassan are incredible collaborators and their work together brings a moody, unique comic book to life. – Christina

MANIAC OF NEW YORK, VOL. 1: THE DEATH TRAIN What is more terrifying than a killer that can't be explained, understood, reasoned with, or stopped? An unexpected additive quality is seeing how the bureaucracy deals with the threat behind the scenes, and how topical that becomes when you look at many of the problems the world is facing now. This series captures all of the terror of a classic slasher flick, pairing it with subtle hints to a larger backstory to come. I look forward to sequels, in true horror story fashion. – Marc

LONELY RECEIVER I love the art and the way it perfectly captures the feeling of everything being made alien after a relationship ends. The book gives voice to that question we all have to face when something we thought was permanent turns out to be transitory, "What happens when forever ends?" Sometimes, we have to break ourselves to become whole. That vulnerability is beautiful and horrifying. And that horror is made literal by LONELY RECEIVER. – Katherine

SCOUT’S HONOR The compelling stories of heroism and survival from the likes of classics such asMulan, The Handmaid’s Tale and Hunger Games converge in this wholly original tale of Kit, a Ranger Scout who fights for and against the truth of her world in this gorgeously illustrated comic that dynamically aims directly into your heart. – Rachel

I BREATHED A BODY This fantastical body horror combines Mycophobia (fear of fungi) with the fear of insidious big tech companies and social media. Using incredible visuals and almost lyrical, poetical writing, you will be drawn into this all too relatable world where a “home grown” social media influencer superstar livestreams something so horrific that it infects the world and roots itself in the internet’s darkest obsessions. Inspired and mirroring real life events, this title will have you look at social media in a whole new way. – RuthAnn

JOIN US LIVE NEXT THURSDAY! Thursday, March 10 – 5pm Eastern/2pm Pacific RuthAnn Thompson chats with THE LION & THE EAGLE, OUT OF THE BLUE and A WALK THROUGH HELL creator Garth Ennis!