DC’s new Suicide Squad origins comic turns King Shark into Jesus Shark

For such an inexplicable concept of character as “almost indestructible human-shaped shark”, King Shark is a character who works absurdly well without any explanation. But like all comic book superheroes and villains, he is does have a history of origin, even if it is not mentioned often.

Suicide Squad: King Shark, a three-issue digital first mini-series for release by James Gunns The suicide squad, brings it up. King Shark’s real name is Nanaue and is the son of the god of all sharks. And that, the book emphasizes, makes him the Jesus of the sharks.

What else happens on the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books our comics editor liked over the past week. It’s partly society pages about the lives of superheroes, partly reading recommendations, partly “Check out this cool art”. There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the last issue, read this.)

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Tim Seeley got his “absurd comedy with a heart” on titles like Grayson and Shard StarSo I have all expectations that he and artist Scott Kolins will bring home this story of a very bored royal shark on his annual trip to the sea to prove to his discerning relatives that his teeth are still sharp enough to be the Jesus to be the sharks.

Image: Al Ewing, Flaviano / Marvel Comics

Guardian of the Galaxy introduced a new Prince of Power, formerly called Hercules (yes, the Marvel superhero Hercules). The new one is … a man whose power is so fantastically increased by his intelligence that he has to remain stupid in order not to break the universe in half. If it’s not clear I think that’s great.

Image: James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas / Boom Studios

This is just to say that James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’ Wynd is just quietly a really great queer YA dark fantasy series out there. All the world you’d expect from a tabletop setting, with the kind of subjects that would have made me feel like I was reading something very adult in middle school – but without complaining about anything that was really only raised by one.

OK, so I was definitely wrong about the Justice Lords. But we have Superman recognizing the rise of neo-Nazis in his modern America and it’s in the comic that’s based on it the cartoon network show for children? Really an unexpected surprise.

Immortal Hulk is almost over, but Al Ewing and Joe Bennett are not resting on their laurels. The penultimate edition of the series absolutely killed her, hanging the entire edition on the reverse parallels between the origin story of the Hulk and that of the Fantastic Four, Marvel’s first family who inspired the Heroic Age.