Read em or Weep - Comic Book Title Review - Spotlight on Image 1
An "Aint nobody got time fa that" quick review of some comic book titles. In this session we look over some old and new Image IP.
DD
3/28/202610 min read
Good Day Barragers,
I hope all is well given the shift between the cold and warmer weather can cause people issues... especially all the fricken pollen. I like finding series that I can get behind. I'm not one to think I'll ever own and or get my hands on 1000+ 'detective comic' issues for reading just to know all the ins and outs of Batman's life. At the same time one and done 3 issue series just leave you thinking you could have invested that time into something more in depth. For this reason I just wanted to talk to some series I've been drawn to look into and provide my take on them. Maybe my 2 cents will push you to read something that hasn't been on your radar. Keep in mind my 2 cents might be parallel or perpendicular to your line of thinking. Take it for what you will.
I wanted to focus on some Images titles. I mean for the price and wide variance of titles they put out, you get more than a good spread of possible reading choices. I'm constantly coming across a new series put out by Image or an awesome cover that's eluded me. So lets run with it.
*** CYBERFORCE ***
created by Marc Silvestri
4 main volumes
Cyberforce #1 / Image • 1992 • Vol. 1 / Key / Newsstand
Key Facts
1st team appearance of Cyberforce: Stryker, Cyblade, Ripclaw, Killjoy, Heatwave
1st appearance of Velocity (Page 1) AND Ballistic (Page 2 and then named a couple pages after the middle crease)
Ashcan version - Multiple cover including green, pink, white, yellow, purple
Mutants huh, well they got experimented on and became even cooler. I mean we all love wolverine right, don't knock off the heroes else we will complain. Knock off a similar origin story.. ok not that bad. Silvestri created some really cool characters given Cyblade never really took off given she was very Psylocke 2.0 but still she had that waifu appeal. The awesome thing about Cyberforce is it keeps coming back. Let's hope Silvestri finishes dusting off his new Darkness series then gives us another Cyberforce run.
The comic-book focused upon a team of mutants who had all at one point been captured by Cyberdata, an enormous corporation with ambitions of world-takeover. Cyberdata was run by brilliant scientists who had created advanced cybernetics technology and had employed this technology to create "Special Hazardous Operations Cyborg" or S.H.O.C.s. The captured mutants were all used in the experiments that had lead to the creation of the S.H.O.C.s, and had had their mutant abilities enhanced with cybernetic implants. The mutants escaped and banded together as Cyberforce to put an end to Cyberdata's plans.
Ref:
https://imagecomics.fandom.com/wiki/Cyberforce
Main Chars:
Killjoy - Actually a main Cyberforce antagonist, never becomes a member. (Not named in issue one, appearance on last page with 3 other new villains)
*** GEN13 ***
Gen 13 was created in 1994 by writers Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and artist J. Scott Campbell.
4 main volumes
Deathmate Black / Image • 1993 • Vol. 1 / Key
Key Facts
1st team appearance of Gen 13
Gold edition
Gen13 #1 / Image • 1994 • Vol. 1 / Key / Newsstand
Key Facts
First Gen 13 limited series
First published cover art by J. Scott Campbell
Variant purple Ashcan Edition with cover art by J. Scott Campbell
Gen13 was the series I always wanted when I was a kid collector and could never get. So now I'm doing my best to amass the full runs. Just crazy to me this title has been around for so long and hasn't had the first hint of a movie or series adaptation. These aren't mutants, they were normal humans that were tested on and became super. Continued Cyberforce vibe right but I think these types of origin stories make the heroes more relatable cause they could be us. I think this is why Captain America has always been so popular.
Miles Craven of International Operations, an American intelligence agency, wanted his own SPB program (super-powered beings), so he re-activated an old Cold War project, the Genesis Project, for its 13th generation with a focus on the progeny of Gen-12. These teenagers were invited on the auspices of a government internship, offering specialized experience and substantial college scholarship. They were trained like a ROTC program and secretly dosed with a chemical activator that would make them “gen-active.” Once they started developing superpowers and became suspicious of their role at the training facility, the teenagers escaped with the help of John Lynch, an IO agent and friend of their parents.
Together, they decided to stick together, with Lynch training them so they can put their powers to good use.
Ref:
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/gen-13/4060-40400/
Main Chars:
*** YOUNGBLOOD *** .... NOPE
But why...
1 'image' would be enough so this is going to be short and sweet, but I'll give you a bonus sample just to prove my point.
I've never been a fan of Liefelds art style. It just comes down to a lack of creativity, people are so scared to get branded as knockoff's of Marvel / DC main stream established characters. Well it's because Liefeld said F it and blended all the people... this is why we can't have nice things.
But look for yourself... FYI, I do have all the OG 1st appearance keys etc and new issues he's dropped so don't say I'm hat3n. I mean the Key not for one of Liefelds character creations, is that it's a PARODY ..... Oo
Main Chars:
Badrock = Hulk / Thing
Vogue = Killer Clowns from outer space / Black widow / Longshot
Chapel = Punisher / Blade
Diehard ... = Deadpool / Captn America
Shaft ... = Hawkeye / and well ... Hawkeye (maybe a splash or two of Nick Fury) ...
*** BUG WARS ***
Bug Wars #1 / Image • 2025 • Vol. 1
The 1:50 cover for this issue 1 is so fricken sick, GL finding one for a decent price.
A whole mid-evil world right outside of everyone's door! Why focus on having to believe in far fetched super heroes, magic and the likes still exist just at a scale we could never experience! Totally the dark version of 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' but it works.
Take the expansive story of just a back yard and move out into other areas regions via something like magic portals, what would a city be like... so much more can be done with this.
Slade Slaymaker is a kid from Alabama suddenly lost in a vicious world beyond his imagining, a world of marauding ant armies, spellcasting spider witches, and beetle-riding barbarians. A kingdom of tiny but deadly warriors hidden in his own backyard. The same world that saw his father eaten alive by insects now plunges young Slade into the middle of a brutal Bug War to decide the fate of his family.
Issue 4 lead in - LOST IN THE YARD
Imbued with the power of a mystical amulet, Slade Slaymaker has survived blood-crazed mosquitoes and barbaric Beetle Riders. But as he crosses the wilds of the Yard with the spider witch Wysta, an even greater danger awaits, for they must enter the world of death and utter ruin known as…the Mowed Lands.
Ref:
https://fanbasepress.com/press/reviews/comics-reviews/item/56323-bug-wars-1-comic-book-review/
*** DIE *** ... NOPE
Created by Stephanie Hans / Kieron Gillen
Die #1 / Image • 2018 • Vol. 1
Key Facts
Variant virgin cover art by Justine Frany (Very Nice)
So we kinda get another Liefeld effect comic but it's Jumanji dark adult themed. I mean anime is loaded with people being sucked into video games so it's not uncommon. Then add all the dope Hans covers she's created for this series and you get adaptation buzz. I'm a big fan of expansive worlds and the heart of this series being inspired by D&D, more so I'm a collector of Hans covers so I'm immediately interested like ... let me buy these volumes.
June 2019 - optioned for a TV series, unofficial/not yet announced]
Gillen has stated that the idea for Die came from a conversation with his longtime collaborator Jamie McKelvie about the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, in which a group of children are magically transported to the fantasy world of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The final episode of the show, in which the characters return to Earth, was never produced, and Gillen wondered what might have happened to the children.[13] Additionally, Gillen was inspired by Stephen King's horror novel It, and particularly the theme of adults returning to childhood experiences of horror.[14] Die's focus on role-playing games and game mechanics was born from Gillen's own interest in role-playing games.
In 1991, Dominic Ash spends his 16th birthday playing a tabletop role-playing game with his younger sister Angela and friends Solomon “Sol”, Isabelle, Matt, and Chuck. Sol created the game for Ash and plays as the gamemaster. When the group rolls their dice for the first time, they disappear. Two years later, Ash, Angela, Isabelle, Matt, and Chuck reappear, refusing to speak about where they went or what happened to Sol. Twenty-five years later, Ash receives Sol's original 20-sided die from the night of the game and reconvenes the party to discuss what to do with it. The die activates and all five are transported to the fantasy world of Die, where Ash takes the form of a woman. Before the party can enact the ritual to return to Earth, Sol appears, refusing to let them leave.... Bum bum bummmmm
ALL THAT SAID, here's the hard deal breaker for me...
Die by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans (Image Comics) is widely considered to be LGBTQ-friendly and is frequently recognized for its queer themes and exploration of gender identity.
Key LGBTQ-Friendly Aspects of Die:
Gender Exploration: The series is often praised for its deep dive into gender, particularly the experience of a closeted transfemme, according to discussions.
Characters and Identity: The character Ash is frequently interpreted as a trans woman, with the comic exploring "gender exploration" and the "inherent queerness" of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs).
Thematic Depth: The story uses its fantasy setting to explore themes of internalized queerphobia and finding one's identity.
Creator Reputation: Writer Kieron Gillen has a history of creating queer-inclusive stories (e.g., Young Avengers, The Wicked + The Divine).
Reception: The comic is described as a "must-read" for LGBTQ-friendly fantasy content, focusing on emotional, personal journeys alongside the fantastical, often cited for its queer-positive storytelling.
Die is a dark, adult fantasy that uses the premise of a Jumanji-style TTRPG to examine deep personal issues, including gender identity, making it a nuanced and relevant read for those looking for queer representation, particularly in fantasy.
I just wanted to make everyone aware, sometimes you get more than you bargain for if you don't dive a bit deeper. Worse when you let your kids buy this stuff and you have no idea the context.
*** GEIGER ***
2 main volumes, 1 current.
Geiger #1 / Image • 2021 • Vol. 1
Key Facts
1st appearance of Geiger, a man changed by a nuclear explosion
Introduction of Junkyard Joe, depicted as a fictional newspaper strip character similar to Beetle Bailey - later introduced as an actual in-story character in Geiger #5
1st appearance of Barney a two-headed dog and companion to Geiger
[October 2022 - TV adaptation in the works by Justin Simien and Geoff Johns for Paramount Studios]
There is still an interest around end of days, post apocalyptic scenarios, so why not use that trope to tell an origin story for a super hero. Well anti-hero... whatever the proper classification is. A man steps up to do whatever he must to save his family, doesn't work out as planned. I mean this is for those 'like some super heroes, like some darkness in their stories' kinda tale.
Tariq Geiger lived in Boulder City, Nevada with his wife and children. He was diagnosed with cancer, which had metastasized in his lungs, liver, and kidneys. To the doctor’s surprise, Tariq’s organs were not shutting down but changing, while he remained lucid with a 120 degree fever. It made him an ideal test subject for experimental radiation therapy.
On July 13, 2030, The Unknown War begins when a nuclear strike was successful on US soil. Tariq, who would do anything for his family, had already prepared a personal bomb shelter. As it happened, Geiger hurried his family inside. Unfortunately, Tariq was attacked, shot in the leg by his racist neighbors. They intended to strong arm Tariq into giving them access to the bomb shelter, however, Tariq demanded his family shut and lock the door without him. Thus, he was left exposed to the explosion, which seemed to enhance what the cancer and radiation was already doing to him.
Nuff Said right...
Ref:
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/geiger/4005-168477/
*** GHOST PEPPER ***
1 main volume, 12 issues with 2 arc's... looking good.
Ghost Pepper #1 / Image • 2025 • Vol. 1
So I already spoke about Battle Chasers and my love for it when I did my artist spotlight for Joe Mad. For that reason I didn't list it again... given it took much restraint. The foodie vibed anime etc is a thing, movies/shows involving action cooking can be good. Take for instance "Camp fire cooking in another world" I just watched it on the rando and loved it, was also something I could watch with my youngling. So me being a fan of Ludo this one has had my eye. Staying on the Geiger kick with a "Manga-inspired post-apocalyptic action comedy". Image is full of awesome short 6-12 issue series.
Humanity survived a monstrous threat, but the world isn't better for everyone. Every day Loloi hits the road to deliver her delicious cooking to the masses, outsmarting her treacherous competition and staying one step ahead of the massive robots "protecting" them all.
Loloi is working her food truck when they arrive: shortfin controllers. They’re massive robotic sentries. Anyone without the proper permits could get slapped with a serious fine or...maybe worse. Those controllers are towering things with a lot of power. They’re confronting an anomaly...demanding the he identify himself. He’s not going to do so. He’s just sitting there eating a bowl of noodles. The chatty bot on his shoulder recommends that he speak-up, but he’d rather act. Much to everyone’s surprise, the grey bearded man has little trouble dealing with the authorities. His name is Ash. Loloi seems to have made a friend.
Ref:
Main Chars:
Loloi
Ash
I mean there are a million of them out there, like D'orc. Only 3 issues in and it's so over hyped yet it has the ground works for a cool story. But longevity pays the price when the quick buck rules the market. Stop letting hype be your guide, look into the details as best you can. I look into what catches my attention, more so I why I watch FOC drops so closely because I want to buy based on my influence not a site or market making their prediction based on eBay and Auction fluctuations.
Whatever the case 'Be well" and "Be Smort" frens.
Respectfully,
DD
