The end of January marks a super-sized change-up for the Paste comics team. After a near year of curating the best new releases every week, I’ll be heading over to Paste Books full time and handing the torch to a familiar name (for most Paste Comics readers, at least): Mr. Steve Foxe! It’s been an absolute pleasure guiding you through the comics realm, but Foxe is practically a panel guru whose expertise shines through in everything he’s contributed. I can’t wait to see what he brings to the team—in this particular week, he brought a whole lot of blurbs on comics he’s stoked about. Check them out in the gallery above. As always, tweet us with your own suggestions. Tyler R. Kane
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Beverly
Writer/Artist: Nick Drnaso
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
After self-publishing the dry, immersive one-shot The Grassy Knoll through comiXology, cartoonist Nick Drnaso positioned himself as the slice-of-life heir to Adrian Tomine and Seth. Publisher Drawn & Quarterly is set to release Drnaso's first long-form effort, Beverly, this week. The graphic novel connects six tales, including Knoll, of cleanly-lined art colored in calming fills of blue, maroon and tan. Despite the fact that the dense panels lack shading, these characters and their winding, deceptively complex trajectories run through a spectrum of darkness and light. Not for the anxious, the mundane has never felt more paramount in Beverly. Sean Edgar
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Cry Havoc #1
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Ryan Kelly
Publisher: Image Comics
If you're on the fence about this wartime lesbian werewolf meditation on the power of myth and imagination, check out Paste's interview with creator Simon Spurrier: the former X-Men Legacy writer dug deep into the beastly concept behind the series, artist Ryan Kelly's underrated skill as a sequential storyteller, and the unprecedented decision to employ three colorists to differentiate the chronologies in the book. If the mechanics of this expertly-realized comic don't sway you, just know that one of the characters can turn into a floating intestine vampire. Who can say no to that? Steve Foxe
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East of West #24
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Publisher: Image Comics
Secret Wars served as writer Jonathan Hickman's final salvo for the Marvel Universe, closing a door on a decade of tales in Avengers, New Avengers,Fantastic Four and Secret Warriors. But if readers miss Hickman's Machiavellian epics of birth and destruction, East of West will satiate that thirst with blood and fury. The ongoing saga of the gender-fluid Horsepeople of the Apocalypse and their sibling who fled his role to start a family with one helluva woman, this series has flirted between nihilism and, on very rare occasions, hope. Take the opening of issue 24, in which a prophet sketches out an invitation to the end of reality on human parchment, its unwilling donor fully-conscious during the process. Though we won't spoil either the scribe or victim's ending, this scene serves as a microcosm for Hickman and illustrator Nick Dragotta's Biblical sci-fi experiment: it may not be the most comfortable of reads, but it sure as hell leaves a lasting impression. Sean Edgar
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Faith #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Artists: Francis Portela, Marguerite Sauvage
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Faith may well be one of the first plus-sized comic book heroes to carry her own title, but longtime Valiant readers know she's been a breakout character since her debut in the pages of Harbinger, where she frequently outshines just about every other character on the page. Valiant doesn't extend its line recklessly, so it speaks volumes that the company brought in rising star Jody Hauser and artist Francis Portela to give Faith the spotlight in this limited series that sees Faith breaking off on her own to become the hero she's always dreamed of being. Steve Foxe
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Hellboy Winter Special 2016 #1
Writers: Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Chris Roberson, Chelsea Cain
Artists: Tim Sale, Michael Avon Oeming, Michael Walsh
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Nerds on the east coast of the United States may have hit their snow quota this past weekend thanks to Winter Storm Jonas, but Mike Mignola and a host of talented guests have everyone else covered. Secret Avengers's Michael Walsh, frequent Dark Horse contributor Michael Avon Oeming, and renowned painter Tim Sale each illustrate a winter's tale, with iZombie's Chris Roberson and Mockingbird scribe Chelsea Cain joining frequent Mignolaverse contributor Scott Allie on the writing end. Everyone involved has an enviable bibliography, but seeing Sale do Hellboy will likely be the highlight for most readers. Steve Foxe
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NOS4A2, Wraith Deluxe Edition HC
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Charles Paul Wilson III
Publisher: IDW
When I received a preview copy of Joe Hill's deluxe NOS4A2 and its graphic-novel prequel, Wraith, I wasn't sure whether the package was filled with a book or a couple of bricks. And though you could probably weigh down a thing or two with this deluxe edition of two beloved Joe Hill creations, you're better off reading it: it's an absolutely gorgeous package, and a unique piece in that it neatly entails two of his talents. Within this edition, Joe Hill, The Novelist appears alongside Joe Hill, Master Scripter. With 999 of these beauties on the market, get yours while you can. Tyler R. Kane
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Old Man Logan #1
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Andrea Sorrentino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Was there ever any doubt that Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's post-apocalyptic silver fox take on Wolverine would eventually reappear on comic shelves? The only surprise is that it took six years for Secret Wars to come along and give Marvel a good enough excuse to resurrect this bleak possible future. Old Man Logan earned a second lease at the end of the Bendis-penned mini-series, and a chance to make sure that his mutant-slaughtering destiny never comes to pass. Artist Andrea Sorrentino sticks around to provide more haunting hellscapes (the man could make a kitten-filled beach party look like a Hieronymus Bosch painting by way of Jae Lee) while Extraordinary X-Men's Jeff Lemire steps into the writer's chair. Steve Foxe
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Prophet: Earth War #1
Writers: Brandon Graham, Simon Roy
Artists: Giannis Milonogiannis, Simon Roy
Publisher: Image Comics
Brandon Graham, Simon Roy and Giannis Milonogiannis' Prophet revival was an unexpected mindblast when it made its debut in 2012: an abandoned Rob Liefeld Captain America knockoff largely forgotten by modern readers, reimagined as an European-influenced science fiction adventure. In addition to scripting the series, Graham recruited a string of offbeat talent to portray the cast of clones, robots, lizards and tree people that populate this far-future universe. Now, after a nearly two-year hiatus, the Prophet crew brings the journey to an end in this five-issue mini-series that pits John Prophet against the Brain-Mother. Prophet remains the best testament to the idea that there are no bad characters, only bad stories. Comic shelves won't be as great once it concludes. Steve Foxe
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The Twilight Children #4
Writer: Gilbert Hernandez
Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Vertigo's best original property in years closes with a finale that may be short on answers, but offers a metric ton of heart. In The Twilight Children's past three chapters, Gilbert Hernandez and Darwyn Cooke's sci-fi soap opera explored how glowing orbs and mysterious disappearances afflicted the population of a small coastal village. In this conclusion, purposes are fulfilled, truths are accepted and the skies are set ablaze. If that description sounds ambiguous, that's okay; the grand epiphanies here revolve around characters like Tito, Felix, Ela and (especially) Bundo unearthing more personal truths than cosmic ones. This miniseries is remarkable for how gracefully its intricate plot flows through Cooke's expressive pencils, lending emotional weight to a story reliant on the supernatural. It's a shame it isn't continuing past four issues, but in that brief space, The Twilight Children glimpses into a world where mystery and realism intertwine and resolve beautifully. Sean Edgar