Jumping On — Series Premieres, One-Shots, And New Story Arcs Dropping February 7, 2024

One of the most frustrating things about finding new comics to read and enjoy is finding a good jumping on point. It can be confusing and disheartening to pick up a single issue from the middle of an arc without having the context of the previous chapters.

With that in mind, here are a few New Story Arcs, Series Premieres, and One-Shots that caught my eye for this upcoming New Comic Book Day, Wednesday, February 7, 2024. 

Featured Series Premieres, One-Shots, and New Story Arcs:

Godzilla: Valentines Day Special #1, IDW

Godzilla and Valentine’s Day? I’m in. 

An amateur kaiju researcher (Where do I sign up for this job?) and a global kaiju-response lieutenant (Again. I believe my skill set lines up with this position. You don’t even need to pay me.) play an international game of cat-and-mouse. They hop from country to country, taking in the sights, and then Godzilla smashes the skyline. World’s best date? 

ThunderCats #1, Dynamite

Look, I’m an 80’s kid. When ThunderCats debuted, I was seven years old, and I was OBSESSED. Give me a good plot for the anthropomorphized cat warriors, with the little lessons about honesty, courage, and responsibility peppered into the sword and sorcery action. 

In this series debut, the ThunderCats are attacked by the Mutants of Plun-Darr as they flee the dying Thundera. After diverting their damaged ship to a planet called Third Earth, the survivors now strive to rebuild their society in harmony with the locals. Except… the Mutants are determined to obtain the Eye of Thundera, and have tracked them down. They’ve also forged an alliance with Mumm-Ra, the devil priest of Third Earth. 

If you’re my age and that all sounds familiar, it should. The plot is very similar to the first couple episodes of the original show, Exodus and The Unholy Alliance. I don’t know if the creative team will continue down that path, retelling the classic story, or if this is setup to go another direction, but I appreciate the nod to my childhood nonetheless. 

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #1, BOOM! Studios

In an alternate universe, and at a terrible cost, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers finally defeated Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd… In the wake of tragedy, the team went their separate ways. After 22 years, the disbanded team comes back together to mourn the losses of beloved friends, but Billy and Zack have a bombshell to drop on the gang. Jason, the Red Ranger, has been operating as a lone wolf vigilante, and he has disappeared. 

Will the remaining Rangers be able to track him down, especially with a mysterious figure in pursuit? Of course they will. I mean, uh… probably? The ‘alternate universe’ thing gives the creative team license to off some characters and break some of the toys in the toybox, so I guess we’ll see. 

What’s interesting about this one is one of the co-writers, the original Pink Ranger herself, Amy Jo Johnson. Johnson teams with Matt Hotson on the script and Nico Leon pulling the lines. I am very interested to see what Johnson brings to the MMPR mythos as an original cast member. 

More Series Premieres, One-Shots, and New Story Arcs: