Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
If you’ve been following Marvel’s Blood Hunt, then this is the week for you, as it brings not only the third issue but also four crossover issues. DC meanwhile presents a new miniseries set in the world of the classic Gotham by Gaslight, while Peter Bagge returns to one of the most beloved alternative comix of all time in Hate Revisited. There’s also new graphic novels from Molly Knox Ostertag and Sara Varon, a creator-owned title by Zac Thompson and Hayden Sherman, and a skateboarding Godzilla comic. Or maybe I should say a “Godzilla-meets-skateboarding” comic, because I’m not sure if the king of all monsters actually shreds in it or not. But we’ll see.
I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:
- Penguin Random House (Marvel + IDW + Dark Horse + more)
- Lunar Distribution (DC + Image + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (BOOM! + Dynamite + more)
- ComicList (Pretty much all of the above)
- Amazon/Kindle new releases (digital comics)
As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.
Lawful #1 (BOOM! Studios, $4.99): Imagine if the rules Pinocchio lived by applied to a whole city, but instead of their noses growing when they lied, they slowly transformed into monsters. Greg Pak of Incredible Hercules and Mech Cadet Yu fame and Diego Galindo, artist of Stranger Things: The Voyage, team up for this new series about a place where breaking the law comes with a really interesting and very visual price.
Into the Unbeing #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Zac Thompson, writer of the freshly minted Cemetery Kids Don’t Die and the recently released Blow Away, and Hayden Sherman, artist of Dark Spaces: Dungeon, descend into the depths of a giant’s mouth in this new miniseries. The “eco-horror” story starts with a discovery in Australia that leads to a tale of terror for a group of climate scientists.
Blood Hunt #3 + various tie-ins (Marvel, $3.99-5.99 each): Marvel’s big summer crossover continues with a third issue by Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz, available as both a regular edition and a bloodier “red band” edition. This week also brings several crossover issues featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man and Jubilee, as they jump into the fray against a vampire horde powered by a sunless sky. Check out our Bloodhunting feature to see what the Smash Pages team thought of the first two issues and some of the tie-ins that have been released thus far.
Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age #1 (DC, $4.99): Writer Andy Diggle and artist Leandro Fernandez expand the gothic world created by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola back in 1989 beyond the confines of Gotham City. Get ready to meet the 19th-century Justice League and discover how Krypton influenced the world’s development.
Hate Revisited #1 (Fantagraphics, $4.99): Buddy and the gang return to comics in this four-issue miniseries by Peter Bagge. While Hate detailed the trials and tribulations of life in grunge-era Seattle, this new miniseries will add “a layer of emotional gravitas as Buddy and Lisa and co. are confronted with the consequences of some of their youthful indiscretions.” It’ll contain flashbacks to the 1980s and 1990s, showing the cast in both the past and present.
Rifters #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Comic writer and comedian Brian Posehn and Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman co-write this “time-traveling comedy romp” that’s described as a cross between Time Cop and Law & Order, and features artwork by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles artist Chris Johnson.
Scarlet Witch #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Following the five-issue team-up with her brother in Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff is back in her own solo series by Steve Orlando and Jacopo Camagni. The new series begins in upstate New York, where Wanda’s “newfound peace has drawn the wrath of a primal force unlike anything she’s ever faced before.”
Godzilla: Skate or Die #1 (IDW, $4.99): Australian artist and avid roller blader Louie Joyce writes and draws this five-issue miniseries, which features Australian skaters creating their own skate park, only to have it targeted in a battle between Varan and Godzilla.
The Wicked Trinity #1 (Archie Comics, $3.99): Sam Maggs and Lisa Sterle bring a new class of witches to Sabrina Spellman’s old high school in this one-shot about Amber Nightstone, Jade Kazane and Sapphire Gill, and the coven they’ve formed that’s about to implode.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo: Saturday Morning Adventures #1 (IDW, $5.99): Erik Burnham and Jack Lawrence continue the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ 40th anniversary celebration with this new title, told in the style of the 1987 cartoon. It features a time-lost Usagi Yojimbo finally making his way home, but with four special guests.
Giant-Size Daredevil (Marvel, $6.99): Daredevil’s past and present collide in this Giant-Size special, as regular Daredevil scribe Saladin Ahmed and artist Paul Davidson show what happens when the demonic forces making Matt Murdock’s life a living hell in his monthly title decide to take control of the Kingpin.
Remote Space #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Written and drawn by Cliff Rathburn, this new miniseries is about an Earth whose humans split along two different evolutionary paths — a cybernetic-enhanced path to adapt to space travel, and a genetically-modified path to adapt to the climate crisis. See how the two paths collide.
High on Life #1 (Titan, $3.99): Alec Robbins and Kit Wallis bring the humorous first-person shooter video game High on Life to comics, presenting “an explosive, twisting adventure across the cosmos.”
Plastic: Death & Dolls #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard return to a world of serial killers, plastic dolls and depravity with this prequel miniseries to the original Plastic.
X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Apocalypse, one of the pillars of the early Krakoa issues and a definitive presence in its conclusion, gathers 12 mutants together for a tournament to determine who gets to take his spot as he moves on to his new duties on Arakko. I’m a big fan of “Let’s you and him fight” type stories, so Steve Foxe and Netho Diaz, don’t let me down!
DC Pride Uncovered (DC, $5.99): Pride Month typically brings Pride-themed variant covers from DC, and this one-shot collects many of those covers from years past. This gallery comic will include artwork from Jen Bartel, Phil Jimenez, Jim Lee, Joshua “Sway” Swaby, David Talaski, Babs Tarr, Kris Anka and more.
The Deep Dark (Graphix, $16.99): Over the course of about two years, Molly Knox Ostertag serialized this comic on her Substack. It’s about Magdalena Hererra, a high school senior with a deadly secret locked in the basement — a secret that pulls her down there at night, drains her energy and leaves her bleeding, and could hurt more people if it ever got out again.
Wolfpitch (Top Shelf, $19.99): Balazs Lorinczi, creator of Doughnuts and Doom, returns with a second graphic novel form Top Shelf. It’s about a supernatural all-girl rock band — one’s a werewolf, while another is a ghost — competing in a battle of the bands tournament against the drummer’s former (and evil) band.
Safer Places (Avery Hill, $19.99): This collection of short stories is the debut graphic novel of Kit Anderson, a Colorado cartoonist now living in Zürich. Originally funded via Kickstarter, it features stories of ordinary moments transformed by “the secrets and magic typically unseen in everyday life.”
An Outbreak of Witchcraft (Little Brown Ink, $17.99): This graphic novel by Deborah Noyes and M Duffy tells the story of the Salem Witch Trials circa 1692-1693, as fear, panic and unjust power gripped the small village of Salem, Massachusetts.
Detective Sweet Pea: The Case of the Golden Bone (First Second, $14.99): Robot Dreams creator Sara Varon is back with a new graphic novel series aimed at young readers. It’s about Sweet Pea, a dog living in Parkville whose life takes a turn when the fabled Golden Chew Bone disappears, and the town needs someone to step up and become a detective.