Griffin’s Picks for the week of 4/15/2026
1: Fury of Firestorm #1 - DC
Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Rafael De Latorre, Fury of Firestorm is the first issue in a six issue mini series and it was a fantastic start. If you’re unfamiliar with the character, imagine if Flash Thompson got super-powers instead of Peter Parker and then absorbed the consciousness of Curt Connors. Fun idea right?
Well the start of this series isn’t as fun as the basic premise of the character… Firestorm’s gone AWOL and has taken control of a small town in Colorado, essentially playing God. He kills people indiscriminately and has transcended human emotion in a very Doctor Manhattan-esque fashion. In an effort to figure out what’s going on, the US Government recruits his ex-girlfriend who happens to be the super-hero, Firehawk to try to talk to him before they escalate the situation. But she doesn’t believe it’s possible that Ronnie is behind these atrocious actions.
I went into this issue without knowing anything about Jeff Lemire’s plans for the series and boy am I glad that I did so. It’s self-aware about the tonal switch-up from other runs on the character but recognizes the character’s potential to cause mass-destruction. I also appreciated that I could see some of the inspiration behind the story (Watchmen and The Phoenix Saga specifically) without it feeling derivative. Astute Griffin’s Picks readers might notice that this issue came out last week, but I had my dates wrong and didn’t want to pick two issues of Nectar in a row!
2: Ice Cream Man #45 - Image
It’s been 9 months since the last issue of Ice Cream Man, so if you were pregnant in that time, your child has yet to be exposed to W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo’s mind-altering horror anthology. If you want to change that, pick up this week’s edition!
This issue's protagonist, Jimmy, has broken his leg and is forced to pass the time by watching his neighbors out his window with his camera. Now if that sounds familiar, that’s probably because the first half of this issue is a direct homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. As it goes on though, it descends into more traditional Ice Cream Man madness that we’ve all come to know and love. While things escalate, the references to Hitchcock ramp up as well.
You don’t need to be a film buff or Hitchcock fan to appreciate this issue, but it certainly helps. If you don’t feel like watching a movie from 1954 to be in on the joke, you could always watch the episode of The Simpsons that parodies it (Season 6 Episode 1). It’s crazy to me that I’ve been doing these picks since September and this is the first time that we’ve gotten an issue of this series, because I don’t think there’s a better anthology out there for horror fans.
3: Nectar #1 Second Printing - Vault Comics
Nectar sold out almost immediately when it came out last month, so I never got the chance to check it out. It’s written by Jeremy Robinson with art by Annapaola Martello and Franceso Francini.
When a new species of butterfly has appeared on Misery Island (a bit on the nose, I know), Amos Hall, the town doctor takes an interest but what he doesn’t initially realize is that they seem to have an affinity for human flesh. A young girl named Emily is bitten by one which causes her to sing and dance uncontrollably while a swarm of the newly discovered insect flaps aimlessly towards the island.
As with many first issues of late, this really just lays the groundwork for the rest of the series (which will be four issues in total). Nectar #2 also releases this week but you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder and familiarity grows contempt so I decided to just go with the #1 but I can confidently say that they’re both worth the read.