COMICS WARLOCKS

A mix of wild fantasy and brutal action, we read Bug Wars #1 and we were thrown right into the madness from page one!

Bug Wars #1
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Jason Aaron
Cover & Interior Artist: Mahmud Asrar
Letterer: Becca Carey
Colorist: Matt Wilson
Release date: February 12, 2025

Bug Wars comes from an incredible creative team. That’s why there was a hype even before the first issue was released. Writer Jason Aaron, whose work on Once Upon a Time at the End of the World was absolutely fantastic, brings his signature storytelling to this bizarre and gripping new world. More recently, he has also been writing Absolute Superman, that has been extremely good. Artist Mahmud Asrar, who has worked on a lot of series, including the main covers for the ongoing Psylocke series, delivers some stunning pages here, making this weird insect world feel larger than life.

The comic throws us straight into the chaos of the bug world, where armies of ants and beetles are locked in a brutal war. It opens with the Rootguard Massacre (ants clashing in a battlefield of pure destruction) until everything is suddenly disrupted by what seems like a natural disaster but is actually a lawnmower tearing through their world. At first, we don’t know exactly what’s going on, but the scale and intensity make it instantly gripping.

Then, we shift to something completely different. Slade, his mother, and his brother have just arrived at the house where his father grew up, a house that has been empty for 12 years. Slade has always loved insects, just like his father, who was an entomologist. But this isn’t just a childhood fascination. His father also died in this very house, gruesomely eaten by insects, which makes the family’s return all the more unsettling. Only now do we start to see how these two worlds might be connected. The contrast between the epic bug war and the grounded reality of moving into an old home makes for a fantastic and unexpected mix.

I had a blast reading this. The way the comic shifts between the bug war, completely over-the-top, fantasy-driven chaos, and the normal life of a kid dealing with his father’s past is just so well done. The art and colors are absolutely gorgeous, especially the one-page spread of Slade’s father’s gruesome death. I also love how the pacing keeps things fresh, making each scene feel distinct but still connected. This first issue does an amazing job setting up a world that feels both wild and personal, and I am all in for whatever comes next.

With issue #2 out on March 19, now is the perfect time to jump into Bug Wars and get ready for even more insect-fueled insanity. I can’t wait to see where this goes next!