Before the pandemic BF’s Staff Picks feature had run for many years, with members of the team giving a weekly overview of recommended new releases. Now, retooled and reimagined to fit the site’s current ethos, it has returned as a monthly series designed to spotlight just a few key releases that appeal to us. This is not, then, intended as a comprehensive, exhaustive or extensive round-up but rather to point you in the direction of some top projects that caught the eyes of BF contributors. Please also remember these aren’t intended as reviews and full coverage of the comics/books below may follow in due course!
Comic of the Month
Assorted Crisis Events #1 (Image Comics)
Often our Staff Picks feature is a case of prediction based on our knowledge of the creators or publishers involved. With Assorted Crisis Events #1 though our review of the first issue is already sitting on the back end of the site just waiting to be published in the next few days. And trust us, this comic is a corker!
Presenting done-in-one stories that echo comics’ big crisis-style storylines this tale of a world fractured when time runs amok comes from the dream team of Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, Jordie Bellaire, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou and Tom Muller. It’s both fantastic and horribly topical in its own strange way. This is going to be one of 2025’s breakout comics so make sure to get in at the very beginning.
– Andy Oliver
Tedward (Fantagraphics Books)
A welcome burst of comics releases from Josh Pettinger right now with his self-published Pleasure Beach #1 getting a review earlier today here at BF. Tedward is his new longer-form book from Fantagraphics, filled with absurdist comedic tales featuring the titular protagonist.
Tedward is described as “the quintessential lovable loser” continually finding himself in precarious cicumstances due to his naivety and easily manipulated nature. But, despite all that, ultimately he has a heart of gold. Pettinger is one of those indie cartoonists who, though acclaimed, really deserve far greater recognition. Jump into the world of Tedward this month and see just why.
– Andy Oliver
The Confessional (Silver Sprocket)
The eerie church-like, stained glass effect first caught my eye with this one. The Confessional is a debut horror graphic novel from Paige Hender; told exclusively in red and pink, the Art-Nouveau inspired illustrations tell the story of Cora – a newly turned vampire with questions about salvation.
This gothic tale focuses on the charged dance between Cora and priest Father Orville, who swears he can save her soul. Set in New Orleans in 1922, this compelling tale is bursting with stunning detail of the roaring ’20s, with a backdrop focus on music and fashion. This looks set to be sexy, gothic, gory, and all together brimming with life (despite its dead protagonist).
– Lydia Turner
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 (DC Comics)
“Beyond Mars… beyond physical form… beyond Human Understanding… all that’s left is the ultimate alien: the Absolute Martian Manhunter!”
We rarely feature Big Two super-hero comics here at BF simply because our remit is to give time to work less likely to get a spotlight from comics commentary sites. In the case of Absolute Martian Manhunter, however, we are making an exception. It’s part of DC’s Absolute line of iconic character re-imaginings which have been very solid books so far. It’s also a comic by red hot writer Deniz Camp collaborating with Javier Rodriguez, one of the most stunning visual storytellers of the moment. But from a Broken Frontier perspective we’re intrigued by the rumours that this series will be doing some pure “language of comics” things. Three good reasons to pick it up this month.
– Andy Oliver
Bitter Root: The Next Movement #1 (Image Comics)
It’s been a few years since we last met the monster-hunting Sangerye family but they’re back again in a new five-issue series Bitter Root: The Next Movement this month. And this time the action has moved forward in time to the 1960s where a new generation must face a supernatural threat born out of hatred and racism.
When we reviewed #6 of the original series here at BF I said of it: “Bitter Root is such a compelling read because, for all the grand guignol and ostentatious adventuring, it’s an intensely human drama rooted in very real horrors.” In Chuck Brown, David F. Walker, Sanford Green and co it also has a stellar creative team. Use this new run as a jumping-on point into one of the most acclaimed genre fiction serial comics of recent years.
– Andy Oliver
You’ll Do Bad Things #1 (Image Comics)
From author Tyler Boss (of What’s the Furthest Place from Here? fame), and breakout talent Adriano Turtulici, comes a new, giallo-inspired thriller mini-series.
Within this fictional universe, author Seth Holmes is experiencing writer’s block. It’s been ten years since the roaring success of ‘He Came In With a Smile’, his true-crime hit chronicling the murders of the mysterious nursery rhyme killer. Seth is desperate to venture into a different genre, something a bit less gory, but every attempt ends in a character’s bloody demise. Even worse, Seth’s fictional death drafts are starting to leak over into the real world…
– Lydia Turner
Beat It, Rufus (Fantagraphics Books)
Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how diverse Noah Van Sciver’s body of work has been in terms of theme, genre and subject coverage. He’s back this month with a new graphic novel Beat It, Rufus which sounds like a mix between slice-of-life character study and slacker comedy-drama.
Rufus Baxter is an ageing musician who won’t let go of his dreams of one day making it big but finds himself on an “existential road trip through his past” which “forces him to confront every bad decision he’s made along the way.” This sounds like prime Noah Van Sciver territory from a cartoonist who never disappoints.
– Andy Oliver
Holy Lacrimony (Drawn & Quarterly)
New comics work from Michael DeForge is obviously always going to find a space on this round-up list and this month sees a new Drawn & Quarterly book from the artist in the shape of Holy Lacrimony. One that is described as “The post-alien abduction trauma memoir we’ve all been waiting for.”
It’s the story of Jackie, a musician who is abducted by aliens who are obsessed with him for being “the saddest living being in the whole world” and his subsequent attempts to some to terms with his abduction among a support group of oddball characters. Expect a welcome alt comics take on UFO conspiracy narratives.
– Andy Oliver
