LeSean Thomas has been quietly building one of the coolest résumés in animation. He worked on The Boondocks and Black Dynamite, then created Cannon Busters and Yasuke, and now he's back with Bass X Machina on Netflix, Nov 3. It's about Bass Reeves, a real man who was born enslaved, escaped, and became the first Black deputy U.S. Marshal. A lot of people say he's the real inspiration for the Lone Ranger. LeSean takes that legend and goes full sci-fi with it: a cyborg lawman with a gun arm in a steampunk Wild West full of outlaws, machines and monsters. Studio Mir (Devil May Cry, Korra) is on animation, and it looks bombastic. What I respect is where he's coming from. The guy clearly loves sci-fi, fantasy and anime, and he's said that we just haven't seen many Black animated heroes "created by us." He's not complaining about it, he's out here making them. Brian Tyree Henry, who voices Bass, called it "the first Black western anime ever made." Is it going to be for everyone? Probably not. But a real-life legend turned into a steampunk cyborg gunslinger is a pitch I'm willing to give a shot. Anyone else checking this out? awn.com/news/judge-jury-and-…

When I first heard about Midnight X-Men my interest peaked, and then when I heard it was about vampires, that interest hit a wall. Vampires are so overdone. They were cool for a while, but they've gotten stale. I got it anyway because I'm a FOMO guy. After reading it, I'm not bored. The new mutant vamps are done well, and the story is shaping up to be complicated: the church, warring factions of vamps, and mutants who haven't turned trying to cure their friends. Hickman says it's "not doing Krakoa stuff," and he's planning complete six-issue stories with a big shake-up every twelve. Plus Cyclops is a badass again. I'm eager for the next issue. Now on to Spider-Man. It's not my favorite, for the simple reason that I hate spiders, and you get some pretty graphic spider horror imagery. But the story is promising so far, so I'll push through this one, gross spider stuff and all. And now Fantastic Four. This was my most anticipated one because of the interdimensional and space angle, which I thought was perfect for a Lovecraftian horror story. That's exactly what we're getting, since Percy's Galactus is a Lovecraft-style monster and the team won't get their powers right away. I'm looking forward to that one a lot. Of the three new books in this horror launch, Marvel's shot at competing with DC's Absolute line, X-Men caught me off guard the most, and it's my top book.

OK, can we talk about Apple TV for a sec? Somewhere along the way it became my go-to for sci-fi, and honestly, they're killing it right now. Nobody else is even close. Just look at this lineup: Severance, Silo, For All Mankind, Foundation, Pluribus, Murderbot, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Dark Matter. Like, come on. Mind-bending office horror, an underground post-apocalyptic mystery, an alternate-history space race, Asimov's Foundation finally on screen, a grumpy robot who just wants to binge its shows in peace, and freaking Godzilla. Every one of these feels like it was made by people who actually give a shit about sci-fi. If you love this stuff and you're not watching Apple TV, what are you doing? Seriously, go fix that.

Growing up as a kid in the 80s, one of the most memorable things was getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Among that wonderful batch of colorful animated cels was ThunderCats. The fluid animation was eye-catching, the music, the voice acting, the SNARFS. What a wonderful cartoon, and what a time. Which brings me to what's happening in comics right now. ThunderCats has had a resurgence over the last few years, and it's led up to this interesting comic coming out this New Comic Book Day Oct 21: ThunderCats #1 from @DynamiteComics, with Greg Pak writing and @DavidCousens on art. It's a new take on a classic. Lion-O turns into a "Feral King," which is a bold move for a guy already shaped like a lion. I'll be picking this one up and giving it a try. And check out that A cover by Mark Spears. Isn't it a beauty?

Lauren Cohan joins Prime Video's Stillwater, from Chip Zdarsky and Ramón K. Pérez's Skybound comic about a town where nobody ages, nobody dies, and nobody gets out. Years of fighting walkers, now she lives where nobody dies. Feels like a promotion. (via Deadline)

One for the fantasy crowd. Si Spurrier (@sispurrier) and Christopher Mitten do King Arthur the Conan way in Rampant Swine. Arthur's a warlord, his knights are savages, and there's a giant boar. Mignola drew a variant. Nov 25. (via ComicBook.com)

No way! Daniel Warren Johnson's (@danielwarrenart) Chainkata #1 now has 116 retailer exclusive covers and 6.9K pulls on League of Comic Geeks. 40 pages, no ads, $3.99. Shops order by Monday. 116 covers and Dan's own still wins. Which one are you hunting? (via Bleeding Cool)

Got a real interesting one for you here. Field Guide to Legendary Creatures of the United States #1 Not a story, a survival manual. @InvaderComics' Field Guide to Legendary Creatures goes one cryptid per state, each drawn by an artist from that state. First issue is covering the Northeast United states, Dropping Nov 18, for $3.99. Don't sleep on this one. What's your state's monster? (via Invader Comics)

Dark Horse's new Dungeons & Dragons #1 lands Nov 4: Mordenkainen loses his magic and has to assemble a party like the rest of us. @JacksonLanzing and @cpkelly writing, and Antonio José Manzanedo's foil dragon cover is the real boss fight. (via Dark Horse)

Marvel's Hulk War: Infernal Rage hits in February, five issues of Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein's demon Hulk eating the Marvel Universe. Meanwhile @SkottieYoung covers are as good as ever, I'm grabbing them, which Hulk are you buying? (via Marvel.com) The lead-up is four "Infernal Hulk vs." one-shots: Wolverine #1, out Sep 23, with a Skottie variant Fantastic Four #1, out Oct 14. A Skottie variant was listed at one point but doesn't show up now, so don't count on it. Spider-Man #1, Nov 4, with a Skottie variant Avengers #1, Dec 2, with Skottie on Cover B