Reyn, a brand new sword-and-sorcery series by Kel Symons (w) Nate Stockman (a), and with colors by Paul Little, starts off with a full-page panel of a lone horseman in the distance, marching through a scorched, wind-swept landscape, accompanied by some concise narration.  The speaker tells us about an order of great warriors, servants of light and protectors of the land, Fate.  The Wardens, as they are known, have faded into the stuff of legend since an event called The Great Cataclysm, which ushered Fate into a millennium of darkness.  But now, in the form of this solitary warrior, Reyn, the forces of light are back.

Red City #4 written by Daniel Corey and with art by Anthony Diecidue is coming out tomorrow and wraps up the first arc of this exciting, new comic with a big, bright bow on top.  It’s the last act of the story, and there’s a lot of ground to cover, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a firefight and some fisticuffs.  This issue feels a little rushed compared to the three previous, but it gives us a satisfying conclusion and will leave you hankering for the next arc.

I found a recipe for Hot Buttered Rum a while back. Basically, you simmer apple cider with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fresh grated nutmeg for about 20 minutes, then you melt in some butter for richness, a splash of fresh lemon juice for a hint of tartness, and a healthy measure of rum for a kick.  It  warmed my insides, like being under a comfy blanket in front of a fire, with a significant other knowing there’s going to be some hanky panky later.  Well, David Quantic and Tamra Bonvillain’s new comic, Bakersfield, Earth, is like that but in a comic.  They’ve crafted a story with such warmth, heart, and raw sensuality that after you read it you’ll just want to go and find someone and give them the biggest, warmest hug you can, before you both retreat to a quiet corner to see where the night takes you.

Okay, here’s the set up:  It’s present-day America, but not the America that you know (though there are some very potent parallels).  See, it’s an alternate reality, it’s the present, IF back in the 1980s children started being born brilliant, idiot savants but without the idiot part.  1% of the population has been born with these gifts, gifts that let them read vectors so well they can avoid sight lines of those around them and become nearly invisible or see patterns enabling them to gobble up wealth through investments so efficiently that the stock market is forced to close.  There are many different kinds of gifts, and many different levels, or tiers, of ability, and while only one in every hundred people is actually born “Brilliant,” it has changed everything.  Despite relentless research, no one yet knows exactly why Brilliants are being born, but the tension that exists between the exceptional minority and the insecure majority is threatening to tear the country apart.  There are radicals on both sides, extremist Brilliants who are convinced that they represent a new and superior form of humanity, as well as a new, covert government agency with a limitless budget called the Department of Analysis and Response (DAR) tasked with investigating and eliminating hostile Brilliants on American soil.  The story follows a conflicted DAR agent and Brilliant, Nick Cooper, as he tries to prevent another American Civil War.