Two Graves Vol. 1: Wish You Were Here
Genevieve Valentine, story; Ming Doyle & Annie Wu, art; Lee Loughridge, colors
Image Comics, 2023

The story opens in an open, desolate area. Our heroine (a young woman named Emilia) picks up a strange man in a bar. As they drive out into the desert it quickly becomes clear that she knows things she should not know: his name and the name of the woman he killed three years ago. Suddenly they encounter a man with a veil of smoke obscuring his face, who takes the killer’s life. The two of them continue in the man’s truck, and the story largely shifts to something else: a road trip to the Atlantic Ocean to spread Emilia’s mother’s ashes. But Death (the man) has lives to take on the way, and Emilia watches. In time she is revealed as a soul who was supposed to be carried over. For the first time, he took her as a companion instead, and soon they find themselves hunted by three other manifestations of Death, who insist that it is past Emilia’s time to be carried over. In the end, she makes a bargain and takes his place as a member of the Death Squad: so, there are two potential storylines for the series as it continues. The story is visually striking: the two artists each take different points of view, but their styles are so complimentary that the switches are barely noticeable. But despite literally involving life and death matters, the emotional tone is mostly cool and distant. Perhaps that makes sense when most of the characters are either supernatural beings or humans about to transition from life into death. The collection also includes short prose stories that complement each of the six chapters, and Appendices showing the development process (including script pages, layouts, inks, and character studies).

Saga Vol. 11
Brian K. Vaughan, writer; Fiona Staples, artist
Image Comics, 2023

In this installment Alana is still a single mother, trying her best to support her family after they lost their home. When she goes to Vitch for forged identity documents, Vitch claims that she can bring Marko back to life.  Gwendolyn and The Will are working on a way to get the Robot Kingdom over to the Wreath’s side in the never-ending war. But Petrichor is looking for The Will, seeking revenge for his killing of her lover Prince Robot. And Agent Gale of Landfall Secret Intelligence is still a hazard to everyone who ever met the journalist Upsher (because he is sure they would know where to find Hazel and Alana). Hazel and her robot brother break into a secure facility to steal the wormfood that Vitch claims to need to perform the resurrection, and they meet an officer of the law who claims that Vitch’s claims are all lies. Lots of moving parts leading into the next installment.

Ice Cream Man Vol. 9: Heavy Narration
W. Maxwell Prince, writer; Martín Morazzo, artist; Chris O’Halloran, colors
Image Comics, 2023

Four more generally bleak stand-alone stories: it has been a while since there was any hint of an overarching narrative, although I continue to hope for that kind of resolution eventually. I wonder if the creative team already has an ending in mind for the series, but are holding off on it to explore this world for a while longer. “The Kind of Story I Want to Write” finds Prince ruminating on the kind of bright, uplifiting stories he would like to write. But somehow he always winds up with the darkness of Ice Cream Man. The narrative switches between the two possibilities: happy (in color) and sad (in monochrome). “Two Tramps” follows two vagrants as they hop trains from town to town. They meet up with a third tramp, who turns out to be a vampire…and the cowboy Caleb (the good spirit who opposes the evil Ice Cream Man) reappears, so I guess there was a small callback to the big narrative. “The Book of Necessary Monsters” is a bestiary that presents things like earworms (song that get stuck in your head), shameful memories, the Ice Cream Man, and the Freight Train Dracula from the previous story as if they were literal, physical monsters. Maybe it should not be surprising, because the author is in the midst of a real-life nightmare. “Whale Song” tells the story of a modern Ahab, seeking the whale that swallowed his daughter Amelia whole. When he finds the whale he is swallowed himself, and discovers an entire world inside the beast. The collection concludes with covers and character sketches.