Sometimes you start a column thinking you’re going to talk about one thing, but then you get a giant package dropped off at your front door and you realize it has to go in a different direction. So, let’s get into the giant package of it all, as I once again look at ten things I liked or didn’t like from the past week of comics, led by one huge as heck book.

1. Batman: Year One, Going Beast Mode

I have big news: The David Mazzucchelli’s Artist’s Edition for Batman: Year One finally arrived to my home yesterday. Because of that, and because this article is fundamentally about things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics, it has to lead the way for me. I was one of the hordes that was desperately anticipating this release, as I’m a steadfast believer in the idea that Mazz is the GOAT. The concern there is that with great expectations comes great downside. That might have been true with other, similar things. Not with this puppy, though.

My initial takeaways are as follows:

• Oh my god, it’s so big
• Oh my god, it’s so amazing
• Mazzucchelli’s foreword — where he mostly talks about how coloring used to work when this comic first came out, and the story of how his wife, painter Richmond Lewis, colored both this and Daredevil: Born Again, changing it in a dramatic way in the process — is spectacular, and honestly underlines that he and I have pretty similar senses of humor
• Oh my god, it’s so amazing
• Oh my god, it’s so big (I shared a size comparison on Twitter, but its dimensions relative to the Born Again Artist’s Edition are comparable to the regular Year One hardcover compared to a DC Compact Comics release, which is insane)

Artist’s Editions are funny things. They’re certainly not an ideal way to read a comic, if that’s a thing you want to do (the lettering is there). They’re far too big for that to be a reasonable thing to do. Someone asked me if it was worth the cover price, but it’s such a subjective thing. It’s worth it to me as a massive Mazzucchelli and Year One fan, but would it be worth it for everyone else? I’m not sure. But it’s a remarkable work by the program’s (former?) head in Scott Dunbier, designer Chip Kidd, and everyone else involved. More than that, it’s a spectacular showcase of the greatness of Mazzucchelli. It’s a “comic” in the most generous sense of the word, but it will be hard to not consider this my favorite comic release of the year in the end. It’s just the coolest thing in the world.

2. The Publisher With No Name

Well, everyone, there’s a new comic publisher in town, and its name is I’m not sure and they’re publishing I don’t really know what. But they exist!

That’s the gist of the announcement of (publisher with a name that will presumably be revealed later), a new comics and graphic novel house co-founded by movie producer Eric Gitter (who apparently worked on Extraction, Atomic Blonde, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, all of which were originally Oni Press releases) with a team of comics veterans alongside him. Those vets are former BOOM! man Filip Sablik, the well-traveled and experienced Jamie S. Rich, and artist Jeremy Haun, who will be serving as the publisher, editor-in-chief, and creative director respectively of this new outfit. That’s a lot of talented folks behind it!

Talented folks, yes, but very, very little was said about what they’re going to be doing. Evidently their focus will be on horror, science fiction, crime and fantasy, a collection of genres that are extremely served these days amongst comic publishers. No titles were announced, and it was said that this publisher “hopes to lock up creators by the end of the year or early next” with a goal of starting to release comics at some point in 2025. That’s about it. It’s not a lot!

It’s so little that I’ve seen/heard some extreme skepticism about whatever this new entity is. I get it. It’s an understandable reaction. It feels more than a little cart before the horse. If it didn’t have Sablik, Rich, and Haun attached to it, I’d be giving it more than a little side-eye. But it does, so instead, I’m going to file this one under “wait and see.” I’ll check back later with (publisher without a name) when there’s a bit more to chew on here. But hey, at least now we know what Sablik and Rich were up to!