He's A Monster Who Thinks He's A God: Kang the Conqueror Unleashed!

Gordon (2023)

Protecting Gotham requires hard choices to be made, and those choices fall on the shoulders of those willing to take on those burdens.

Gordon written and directed by Patrick Logan - from The Rising Tide Productions

• Gordon played by Jonathan D. Williams
• Joker played by Mark Meer
• Batman played by Micah Thompson
• Original music by Antoni M. March
• Makeup FX by Alex Burns
• Director of Photography Justin H. Reich
• BTS produced by The Arcane Arts
• Special thanks to our producer Chris Burns for involving the CFF team in this project.
• Filmed at 24 ATL Studios in Atlanta, Georgia

Top of The Pile: Archie vs The World #1

Main cover by Jed Dougherty

I always consider publishers putting "issue one" in the title of a one-shot a cruel tease, and that unstated promise of a continuation stings particularly with the post-apocalyptic carnage of Archie vs The World #1.

The latest reimagining of Archie Comics' titular character sees the red-headed hero cast as a tight-lipped, muscular, warrior of the wastes - gifted with Fist of The North Star-like supercharged martial arts powers.

Following an unexplained collapse of society, Archie wanders North America like Kwai Chang Caine (but in his souped-up jalopy), accompanied by his best friend, Jughead, and canine companion, Hot Dog.

Grizzled 'Old Man' Jughead provides a gritty Mad Max-style narration, that truly reads just like a cinematic voice-over, putting the protagonists' youthful picaresque adventures into context.

Archie, the reluctant hero, finds himself pursued by his nemesis, Reggie, who wants the secret of Archie's powers, while being torn between the affections of three women, who all seek to make him their own.

Written by Aubrey Sitterson, with art by Jed Dougherty and colours by Matt Helms and Doug Garbank, Archie vs The World #1 is fast-paced, evoking a fully-realised world in a few brush strokes without going into its backstory too deeply.

The problem is it's over too quickly and we're left wanting more... much more.

Even from these mere 20 pages, there's clearly enough of this post-apocalyptic world for many further adventures, peppered as it is with Easter Eggs and its own versions of classic Archie characters (Cheryl Blossom, for instance, is the Tina Turner-inspired Queen of The Wastes, complete with her own version of the Thunderdome).

Sitterson employs the smart comic book technique of allowing much of the story to take place between the panels while giving the reader enough information so they can fill in the gaps for themselves.

The art and lay-out is second to none, often eschewing the classic restraints of a panel layout for a more free flowing approach, with plenty of spreads and splash pages.

Tightly scripted, and unfolding across dynamically manga-like pages, exploding with constant noise and action, there's too much potential in these pages to limit the story to a single issue.

Easily functioning as the set-up for a universe of tales of its own, Archie vs The World brings high-octane drama, emotional conflict, martial arts action, mutants, jackalopes, and car chases to a dystopian future iteration of Riverdale that I'd love to revisit.

I really hope Archie Comics picks up on the positive vibes this story is generating and gives us more, preferably an on-going series.

• Brandon and Josh of the Archie and Me podcast interviewed writer Aubrey Sitterson on their show, which you can listen to here.
  
  

Variant cover by Aaron Lopresti

The Brigadier's Back Saving The World In More Thrilling 1970's U.N.I.T. Adventures...

A new volume of short stories about the Whoniverse's favourite paramilitary organisation, U.N.I.T., is on the way from Candy Jar Books, as a sequel to last year's Operation Wildcat and Other Stories.

Operation: Fall-Out will contain eight new short stories, all set during August 1973.

Each of the stories is connected, to some extent, as well as feeding into an ongoing narrative.

These tales feature the U.N.I.T. team of the Brigadier, Benton, Captain Turner, Sergeant Walters and Corporal Tracy from The Invasion, as well as introducing a wider cast of regular U.N.I.T. characters.

This year will see Candy Jar diving headfirst into the world of U.N.I.T., with a new collection of four novels due to start arriving in the summer.

According to the publisher:

"First up will be The Return, by Tim Gambrell, which will be picking up U.N.I.T.'s story in the immediate aftermath of The Invasion.

"Books two and three will be from Candy Jar and Doctor Who stalwarts Iain McLaughlin and Nick Walters and currently have the working titles The Catacombs of Seville and The Secret of Foxfell Forest. Both of these stories will take place simultaneously.

"The first U.N.I.T. series will end with a sequel to The Return, again written by Tim Gambrell."

Check out the full range of Candy Jar works here.

Cover Art Revealed For Marvel's New Planet of The Apes Title...

As you may have gathered I'm very excited for the release of Marvel's new Planet of The Apes title on April 5.

The House of Ideas has just released images of the cover of this first issue (pictured above), featuring art by Joshua Cassara, and two variant covers:

Variant cover by Mike McKone

Variant cover by Logan Lubera

Also, as now seems to be de rigueur when Marvel obtains a new licensed IP, there's a series of superhero mash-up variants for other titles, featuring some of the publisher's main characters: