Can’t Wait for Comics | Going ‘MAD’ on a ‘Rogue Planet’

Marvel returns to comic shops this week, as some DC books are delayed.

Another week brings more comics back to comic shops, as this week Marvel will have new print comics in comic shops for the first time in weeks. A couple DC books, however, look like they’re delayed this week, including Flash and Aquaman. Stores getting their books from DC’s other distributors have been asked to not put them on sale yet, according to the report from Newsarama.

If you’re looking for some recommendations on what you should get, here are some thoughts from the Smash Pages crew. You can check the Comic List page to see what’s arriving in your local shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Oni Press launches a pop-up shop in lieu of ECCC

Get deals on convention-exclusive items.

Due to growing concerns about COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus, the Emerald City Comic Con made the decision last week to postpone their convention, which was originally scheduled for next weekend. Many publishers and creators who were planning to attend have been left with extra inventory — comics, graphic novels and other items they were planning to sell at the con.

One of those publishers is Oni Press, who had made the decision not to attend even before ECCC was officially cancelled. They have launched a pop-up store on their website, offering the comics, trades and merch they would have had at ECCC at a discount, with free shipping.

“While the decision not to attend was difficult for many reasons, one of our first considerations was supporting the creators and books we had planned to promote there,” said Oni Press publisher James Lucas Jones in a press release. “We realize many of our creators depend on convention income, and want to do our part to help where we can through sales of their books and merchandise. Additionally, we want to bring as much of the convention experience to fans as possible, despite our lack of a presence on the show floor.”

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Comics Lowdown: Chinese government upset by Danish coronavirus cartoon

Plus: Changes at Kodansha, Cullen Bunn goes ‘Rogue’ and whatever happened to Lion Man?

Editorial Cartoons: A cartoon in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, depicting the Chinese flag with the stars replaced by coronaviruses, has, predictably, angered the Chinese government. (Jyllands-Posten is the same paper whose cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad caused an uproar in 2005.) The Chinese Embassy in Copenhagen has demanded an apology, but Jyllands-Posten editor Jacob Nybroe has refused, and the Danish prime minister is backing him up.

The Biz: Restructuring at Kodansha USA means a promotion for Alvin Lu, previously the general manager of Kodansha Advance Media. Publishers Weekly reports that Kodansha’s subsidiaries, including its digital arm Kodansha Advanced Media and the manga and novel publisher Vertical Inc., will be folded into Kodansha USA. Lu will be the CEO, and Ivan Salazar, former public relations and events specialist at ComiXology, has been hired as senior marketing director.

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