What I Bought 10/19/2026

Normally I wait until the last week of the month to order whatever books I couldn't find locally. This month, I ordered them last week. Partly because I have nothing coming out next week, and I was confident the local store would have the two books from this week (it did.) Mostly because the place I order from suddenly had the final issues of two different series I've been trying to piece together in back issue hunts, and I didn't expect they'd be there long.

Chachu #3, by Iman Vellani (writer), Marianna Ignazzi (artist), Jordie Bellaire (color artist), Lucas Gattoni (letterer) - I hadn't realized Leila's hair was that long, but she has spent most of the first two issues sitting down.

The search brings Chachu and Leila to Mina's bar, where Cleo was when she got abducted, though it takes a long time to get even that much information. Most of this is Leila trying to get a better picture of her uncle, and also trying to act like a different kind of adult.

When hit on by a guy that kinda, sorta, if she's drunk would look like a member of the BeeGees, she orders a martini with 4 olives. Because she heard another woman being hit on order it. She gets sloshed after 3 martinis. She's wearing a dress to look sexy, but her uncle didn't give her time to get properly sized. It doesn't stop men from leering at her, and she can't decide how she feels about that, or what they're thinking. I did find her internal monologue that, 'Trying to decode their glances was precisely the kind of childish thinking that held me back,' a curious comment. Does she think adults are supposed to have it all figured out, or that, when you're on the prowl, the motives of those around you don't matter? Because that is a line of thought that could get you in trouble.

We get another version of how her uncle and Cleo met. He ran into her hiding out in this bar, and they decided to run away from their problems together. The bit about him rescuing her was made-up after the fact, and that's what the new movie she's supposed to star in is about. I wonder if this version is any truer than what he told Leila last issue, or if it's tainted by Mina being annoyed Cleo ran from her, to him.

Ignazzi really emphasizes Leila's eyes in a lot of the panels. Compared to everyone else in the bar, there's a lot more of the whites of her eyes visible. That she's being exposed to new things and new perspectives she wasn't prepared for - pity she's so sloshed by the time Mina flashes that photo of her and Cleo, because I'd have been curious about her reaction - but it also makes her look younger than everyone else, whose eyes are narrowed and hardened by time and experience.

I'm not sure what she's learning on this trip, though her uncle told her a bit about Pakistan at the end, assuming she remembers in the morning. Hopefully she's getting something out of it, because they have a lead on the hotel where Cleo's at. Assuming they get there before she makes her own escape. 

Lilith: Blood and Burlesque #1, by Corin Howell (writer/artist), Warnia Sahadewa (colorist), Haley Rose-Lyon (letterer) - Getting a little too elaborate with the umbrella drinks.

Lilith was a succubus or demon or something similar that was banished from their realm, somehow, and has been trying to get back. In the meantime, she makes a career as a model and kills and eats people who mess with her. She met, Penelope, a geeky girl who runs a paranormal bookstore with her brother, Ben, and they have a book Lilith thinks could get her home. Except Penelope already used it once, trying to destroy a horrible creature trying to kill them, and it left a weird scar on her chest. Probably nothing to worry about!

At this point, Lilith is grudgingly working with Michael, another being like her, who was initially out to kill her, but changed sides. Lilith is much less grudgingly working with Penelope on the book, and is maybe figuring out Penelope might want to jump her. (Michael seems to be flirting with Ben, but Ben doesn't seem interested.)

Howell's art shifts between highlighting the attractiveness of the cast, their flawless forms, and a looser, more exaggerated style for the comedic parts. Huge eyes, or a mouth full of shark teeth. You get gory violence where people are torn open and we see their ribcages, and the kind of violence where someone gets punched by another person with steam erupting from their ears, and everyone is fine five seconds later. It's quite a contrast, but Lilith is portrayed as fairly arrogant and self-centered (less so around Penelope), so she just lets her emotions fly, whatever they are.

Sahadewa keeps the feel of the book consistent. The characters' skin are alabaster, like they all fell in the same chemical bath as the Joker, while almost everything else is various shades of red mixed with black. And the red, whether a dress or blood, pops against their skin.

For the purposes of this mini-series, it looks like one thread will be Lilith trying to help save the bookstore (damaged by the monster attack) by posing for a calendar. Assuming she and Michael can survive the other thread. Anniese, who rules the land Lilith hails from, would apparently like to downgrade her status from "banished" to "dead." And she's here in the city. Running some sort of club where she disembowels women while sexy dancing, and the crowd thinks it's all just a show. I know New Yorkers are said to be jaded, but damn, come on people. That's not warm, blood-flavored corn syrup she's bathing in from the luxury of her oversized martini glass!