COMICS WARLOCKS

If you know me, you know I’m a big Donny Cates fan. His run on Venom, the King in Black event, and Absolute Carnage were incredible. I really appreciate his work, but today we’re not here to talk about symbiotes. We’re here to talk about Crossover. And honestly, this book feels like something only Cates would write.

Crossover
Publisher: Image Comics
Writers: Donny Cates (#1-6; #8-13); Chip Zdarsky (#7)
Artists: Geoff Shaw (#1-6; #8-13); Phil Hester, Ande Parks (#7)
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: John J. Hill
Release date: November 2020 – May 2022

The premise is already wild in the best way. Years ago, every fictional comic book character started appearing in the real world in an event known as “The Crossover.” Heroes. Villains. Monsters. Indie characters. All of them suddenly materialized. As you can imagine, chaos followed. The government responded by trapping them inside a massive energy dome in Denver and labeling everything inside as a threat. Comics were banned. Fans became suspect. Loving superheroes suddenly made you dangerous.

The story follows Ellipses “Ellie” Howell, a teenage comic fan who needs to get inside the dome to reunite with her parents, who were trapped there. There’s also a mysterious little girl who MAY have escaped the dome, and a whole cast of superheroes. Some we know, some we don’t. The tone swings between satire, emotional sincerity, brutal violence, and pure meta chaos.And I loved it.

On one hand, this is kind of the dream for comic fans. The idea that our favorite characters could break into reality? That the stories we obsess over actually matter in a literal way? That’s pure fan fantasy. But on the other hand, Crossover asks a darker question. If heroes were real, would the world even want them? Or would we lock them away the moment they became inconvenient?

Then there’s another wild element in the story. A serial killer is targeting comic book writers. The reasoning is twisted but fascinating. If characters were written into existence, they never had free will. They never chose their trauma, their pain, or their villain origins. Now that they exist in the real world, revenge suddenly becomes possible. It’s a very meta idea and a really interesting layer that shifts the focus not just onto the characters, but onto the creators themselves.

And then there’s the fun part! Because the book is published by Image Comics, Cates had the freedom to bring in characters from across creator-owned comics. We see Savage Dragon. We see Invincible. We see The Walking Dead. It honestly feels like someone blew up a convention floor and dropped it straight into the narrative. It’s chaotic. It’s messy. It’s awesome.

The story development is strong, too. There are real plot twists. Moments that make you pause and think, “Wait… what?” It constantly keeps you guessing about what’s coming next. Just when you think you understand where the story is going, it shifts. That unpredictability is part of the charm.

Geoff Shaw’s art deserves serious credit here. The contrast between grounded suburban America and the superhero chaos inside the dome is striking. The scale feels cinematic. Panels feel huge. When things go big, they go BIG. Crossover is messy, emotional, violent, and weirdly sincere about loving comics. It feels like Cates looking directly at fandom and asking, “What does all of this actually mean to you?”

For me, it was chaotic in the best way. A love letter to comics that also isn’t afraid to critique the culture around them.