We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week.
If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. Comic List seems to be down right now, so I’ll have to direct you to Diamond’s new release list to see (most of) what’s arriving in comic shops, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.
Shane Bailey
There’s a lot to be excited for this week — the first of which is the continuation of Marvels Snapshots, which I would be perfectly happy with them just continuing on forever. The creative teams have been top notch, and they delve into the rich timeline of the Marvel Universe to tell more modern stories, something I’ve been wishing for since I was a kid.
Then there’s the X of Swords event that continues this week. I have no idea what to expect there, but I’ve been super impressed with Hickman and his team so I trust it to be good regardless.
As a colorist I’m really impressed with the importance that Kirkman has given to the new colored Deluxe Edition of The Walking Dead. I’m looking forward to checking that out.
DC’s holiday anthologies have been their best work for years now, with some impressive takes on characters that I would love to see expanded upon by the creative teams, but that never seems to come to fruition. But I’ll buy them every single time they are released now. This time it’s a Legend of the Swamp Thing Halloween Spectacular.
And finally Far Sector continues to impress every time a new issue hits. We’re on issue 8 of 12 and I get sadder and sadder the closer it comes to the end. I hope the creative team either starts a new series or jumps to another book and refreshes or creates another character in the DC universe.
JK Parkin
It’s been a little more than 10 years since the very first issue of American Vampire debuted at Vertigo from Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque. (And I’m pretty sure I talked about it in the predecessor to this column). This new series puts the spotlight once again on Skinner Sweet, who has lost his immortality and plans to go out with a bang — until his old friend Pearl Jones shows up with one last mission. This is the first of the last nine issues of AV.
Amazing Spider-Man #49 would have been Amazing Spider-Man #850 if the book hadn’t been rebooted and rebooted several times over, so Marvel’s celebrating with a $10 special issue featuring Kurt Busiek, Tradd Moore, Chris Bachalo, Saladin Ahmed, Mark Bagley and Humberto Ramos, who join the regular creative team of Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley.
AWA debuts a new miniseries from Peter Milligan, ACO and Dean White this week; American Ronin is about a world where “huge corporations engaged in a silent war for global domination.” Which is … kind of like our world, only with highly-skilled, technologically-enhanced operatives doing the bidding of these companies. This series shows what happens when one of them goes rogue.
James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Guillem March and Carlo Pagulayan wrap up the “Joker War” in an extra-sized 100th issue of Batman. This issue promises to not only “change Gotham City for years to come,” but also features several short stories that tease the future of the Dark Knight.
Marvel’s “Outlawed” event should have started earlier this year, but was thrown off track by COVID-19 and the industry shutdown in the spring. Although a few issues of Miles Morales’ title have referenced it, it looks like things are getting back on track this week as the Champions return in a series by Eve Ewing and Simone Di Meo. Ms. Marvel, Nova, Spider-Man and more are back in action, just as their right to be superheroes is “outlawed.”
Jerry Craft, creator of the best-selling, award-winning New Kid, is back with his next graphic novel, Class Act. It’s actually a spinoff of New Kid, as it features Jordan’s friend, Drew, dealing with his own issues at Riverdale Academy Day School.
As announced back in July, Kodansha USA and comiXology Originals are releasing the entirety of Shaman King by Hiroyuki Takei digitally. All 35 volumes are available now, and they plan to release several spinoffs from the series in the coming months.
Children of the 1980s might appreciate this crossover, as Marty and Doc from Back to the Future team up with the new Transformer Gigawatt (who has his own toy now) to take on a time-traveling plot by the Decepticons.