It’s time for another look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week, from the latest issue of DC’s big crossover event to the return of Andi Watson to the end of the Lumberjanes ongoing series.
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.
Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok and Brad Anderson’s Black Label miniseries Batman: Three Jokers feels like it just wrapped up (and it did, at the end of October), and DC already has a hardcover ready to go — just in time for the holidays. Although based on Shane Bailey’s review from a few weeks ago, you may want to save this one for those on your naughty list.
DC’s other big marque event book of late, Dark Nights: Death Metal by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, returns this week with another chapter of the regular series (as well as a Justice League crossover issue). This issue of Death Metal features the combined heroic forces facing down The Darkest Knight for a last-stand battle, but somehow with two more issues still scheduled to follow this one, I’m a little reluctant to believe we’ve reached the “last stand” just yet.
The current run of Aquaman comes to an end, wrapping up Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run on the title as well. Issue #65 promises to end things in grand fashion, and I have no doubt that another Aquaman comic will be coming our way at some point.
Another Marvels Snapshots arrives this week, this one looking back at the Michelinie/Byrne/Pérez Avengers era, courtesy of Barbara Randall Kesel and Staz Johnson. Almost all of these, which are curated by Kurt Busiek, have been excellent; if you enjoyed Marvels or Astro City and their approach to more “on the ground” stories about the denizens of the Marvel Universe, then you definitely don’t want to miss these.
Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices is a collection of stories from several Native American creators, including Jeffrey Veregge, Rebecca Roanhorse, Weshoyot Alvitre, Darcie Little Badger and more, telling stories about Echo, Dani Moonstar and other Marvel heroes. Although it’s a one-shot, here’s hoping it leads to more work for these creators at Marvel — many of whom are doing their first work for them. Don’t let it be the last time, Marvel.
This is, technically, the final issue of the ongoing Lumberjanes comic, which started as a miniseries back in 2014 and graduated into a full-on phenomenon for BOOM! Studios and their fledgling BOOM! Box line. There’s still a special that will arrive in December to wrap up the story, and you have other projects to look forward to, like spinoff novels and TV shows and who knows what else in the future. Still, this comic has shown remarkable life and helped usher in a different approach to comics at BOOM!, led by co-creator and editor Shannon Watters.
So I am a sucker for anything that features Jaxxon, the green rabbit introduced way back in Marvel’s original, post Star Wars movie-adaptation issues of the Star Wars comic. I mean, if you ask me, he should have been showing up at the end of the latest trilogy to help take down the Emperor, but that’s probably why nobody asked me. Still, can I hold out hope for his small-screen debut on the Mandalorian? Maybe not, but I will settle for Star Wars Adventures Annual 2020 from IDW, which features not only Jaxxon, but also Dengar and IG-88.
So first off, big kudos to whoever came up with the title for this one. I’m sure they couldn’t have predicted the craziness going on in America right now (or maybe they could — when have American politics not been crazy over the last four years?), but the timing is perfect. The only thing that could make it better is if it was set at Four Seasons Landscaping. Anyway, about the book itself — it’s about a female Secret Service agent who as to protect the vice president and American democracy from a mass conspiracy after the president is killed. This politically charged thriller is from Scout Comics and is by Jonathan Hedrick, Gabriel Elias Ibarra Nunez and Cristian Docolomansky.
And finally, on the graphic novel front, Andi Watson (Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day) is back with a new one from Top Shelf. The Book Tour is described as “page-turning, Kafkaesque dark comedy in brilliant retro style,” and is about a novelist whose book tour turns into a nightmare.