So first off, yes, it can be difficult to think about things like comics and graphic novels and fictional superheroes and other things right now when we’re smack dab in the middle of the very real U.S. elections. All my life I’ve heard the phrase, “This year’s election is the most important one in our lifetime,” and I think in this case it’s actually true. So vote, stay safe and treat yourself to some comics time this week.
If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. ComicList has this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.
From Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe and John J. Hill — the creative team behind God Country — comes a new mega-meta series called Crossover, which shows what happens when a big summer event book crosses over into the real world. It’s an ambitious project from a stellar team, and is probably worth checking out just to see if they can pull it off. You can find a preview here.
It’s been seven years since we last saw Gus and friends, and I’m pretty excited to see the return of Sweet Tooth this week, as the candy-loving boy with antlers is back for another run from Jeff Lemire and Jose Villarrubia. Honestly this is a nice bit of comfort food this week, shipped in from a friend in Canada just when you needed it most. Thanks Jeff!
If you missed out on the single issues, this week, appropriately, brings a collection of On The Stump, the Image Comics series by Chuck Brown and Francesco Prenzy Chiappara. It’s an alternate history take on the U.S., where elections are determined by fist fights. Alternate. History. At least for now. Check out our recent interview with Brown here.
So Origins from BOOM! Studios is a hard one to recommend; it’s “based on a concept” by a bunch of Hollywood folks, which doesn’t always translate to great comics. But its artist is Jakub Rebelka, so at the very least, it’s going to look good, right? You can find a preview and judge for yourself here.
Kyle Baker’s incredible work on DC’s Plastic Man won multiple awards and received critical accolades for days — so of course it didn’t last long. But this week it gets collected in a deluxe edition — Plastic Man: Rubber Banded. This one runs $50, but if you missed this run, know that it’s worth the price.
BOOM! has had great success with its Power Rangers comics, and now they’re splitting it off into two titles — this one Mighty Morphin, which debuts this week, and then Power Rangers, which comes later. Both titles are written by Ryan Parrott, while this one features art by Marco Renna.
Christopher Priest of Black Panther and Deathstroke fame turns his attention to U.S.Agent, the former Captain America who started out as a super villain and was always a bit overzealous. Now the former government employee has gone independent, and his latest job pulls him into a conflict between a small town and a big corporation, as he suits up in a new costume, recruits a new sidekick and takes on a new enemy. Georges Jeanty is the artist.
Everyone’s favorite mutant gets a second series — a high concept, three-color anthology series showing various stories across his life from a variety of creative teams. And as the title might suggest — Wolverine: Black, White and Blood — that third color is red. It even carries a ‘Parental Advisory: label, so be prepared for a lot of red. This issue features stories by Gerry Duggan and Adam Kubert, Matthew Rosenberg and Joshua Cassara, and Declan Shalvey, who flies solo as writer and artist.
I have a lot of love for the first round of Year Zero, the zombie apocalypse anthology by Benjamin Percy and Ramon Rosanas. This time around Percy is joined by artist Juan Jose Ryp for four new stories from around the world, featuring a new set of characters dealing with the zombie outbreak.
Young Justice, which has served as the flagship for Brian Michael Bendis’ Wonder Comics pop-up imprint at DC, comes to a close this week, in a final issue that also features Naomi, Dial H for Hero and the Wonder Twins — all of whom once had their own Wonder Comics titles. This has been a fun title, and it’s been good to see these characters again. Hopefully this won’t be the last time.