Can’t Wait for Comics | Un-Locke-ing the Sandman Universe

New comics arrive in stores this week from Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez, Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Chip Zdarsky, Tom Taylor, Pasqual Ferry, Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide each week to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

Check out a few highlights below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

Locke & Key/Sandman: Hell & Gone #1 (IDW + DC, $6.99): The long-awaited crossover between Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Universe and Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s Locke & Key finally kicks off this week, after COVID related delays pushed it back from last fall. Set in the past, the comic by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, with some oversight from Neil Gaiman, takes Mary Locke to Hell to save the soul of her brother John — but her path first will take her through the House of Mystery and bring her into contact with The Corinthian.

Batman: The Detective #1 (DC, $3.99): The first of two new Batman miniseries this week finds Batman heading to Europe courtesy of Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert, as he hunts the villain Equilibrium on a very personal mission.

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 (DC, $2.99): The second new Batman title debuting in print this week is aimed at younger readers — and the young at heart. Batman and Scooby-Doo have teamed up numerous times in the past, but now they’re getting a 12-issue miniseries by Ivan Cohen and Dario Brizuela, which started life as a DC Digital First series.

Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Chip Zdarsky, Pasqual Ferry and Matt Hollingsworth explore a “What If?” style universe where Peter Parker not only kept the symbiote suit he found on an alien world in the original Secret Wars, but he also embraced its darkness. It is suitably subtitled “What if Peter Parker became Venom?”

DarkHawk: Heart of the Hawk #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Darkhawk turns 30 years old this year, and Marvel’s celebrating with a new giant-sized anthology. The anthology will feature three stories, including one by the character’s creators, writer Danny Fingeroth and artist Mike Manley, plus work by Kyle Higgins, Dan Abnett and more.

Guardians of the Galaxy #13 (Marvel, $4.99): The Guardians of the Galaxy get a new mission and an expanded roster this week, as Al Ewing and Juan Frigeri debut a new team that features Hulkling, Wiccan, Quasar and Doctor Doom in addition to the regular team.

Thor #14 (Marvel, $3.99): Thor and his former alter ego, Donald Blake, have a showdown in the finale to the “Prey” storyline by Donny Cates and Nic Klein.

Home #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): In Home, Julio Anta, Anna Wieszczyk and Bryan Valenza tell the story of a boy taken from his family as they seek asylum in the U.S. — and then he develops superpowers.

Jenny Zero #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Dave Dwonch, Brockton McKinney, Magenta King and Megan Huang team up on Jenny Zero, a new series about the “celebutante” daughter of a superhero who tries to give up the party lifestyle to become a superhero herself. It also features giant monsters.

Jules Verne’s Lighthouse #1 (Image Comics, $4.99): David Hine and Brian Haberlin, who have worked together previously on The Marked and Sonata, team up with artist Geirrod Van Dyke on a new miniseries from Image’s Shadowline imprint inspired by the work of author Jules Verne.

Canto and the City of Giants #1 (IDW, $3.99): David M. Booher and Drew Zucker’s Canto returns in with a new series where Booher is joined by artist Sebastián Piriz. Together they take little Canto to the kingdom of Giants to find allies to defeat the Shrouded Man.

Phantom of the Scan #1 (AfterShock Comics, $4.99): Cullen Bunn and Mark Torres, the team behind Cold Spots, reunite for a new series from AfterShock about a psychic who loses part of his life force whenever he uses his powers.

Locust #1 (Scout Comics, $3.99): Massimo Rosi and Alex Nieto take you on a tour of a world where a plague has turned most of humanity into giant locusts that are consuming the Earth. Meanwhile, a fisherman and his elderly mother try to escape New York City.

MPLS Sound (Humanoids, $13,99): This new graphic novel from Joe Illidge, Hannibal Tabu and Meredith Laxton is described as “the ultimate love letter to the funky pop-rock sound that made the artist formerly known as Prince a legend.” Set in the 1980s, this is about a Minneapolis band called Starchild that was influenced by Prince and almost made it to stardom.

Why She Wrote (Chronicle Books, $19.95): Brigid Alverson did an advanced review of this new graphic novel about some of history’s greatest authors, so I’ll share what she said about it: This book grew out of the writers’ podcast, Bonnets at Dawn, which was sort of a “who would win this fight” but with Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen in opposite corners; it later expanded to include other women writers. They group the writers in threes, each triad focusing on an issue such as pseudonyms or intellectual property rights, then gives a brief bio of each writer followed by a comic that depicts one moment or motif in her life. So basically it’s “You’ve heard of this writer, right? Did you know she’s really badass? Here, let me show you!” Read more of her review here.

Riverdale: The Ties That Bind: (Archie, $7.99): A new graphic novel set in The CW’s Riverdale arrives this week, featuring four interconnected stories that star Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead in unique high-stakes conflicts over the course of a few pressure-cooker hours.

Who’s Who Omnibus (DC, $150): Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths event back in the 1980s, DC released two series that sought to define their newly condensed universe — History of the DC Universe and Who’s Who in the DC Universe. This “official handbook” shared stats and facts about each of their characters. Now they’re collecting it into a single volume, along with other “back matter” pages from other comics that shared similar information. The contents include: Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #1-26 (1985), Who’s Who Update ’87 #1-5 (1987), Who’s Who Update ’88 #1-4 (1988), plus material from these 1989 annuals: Action Comics Annual #2, Batman Annual #13, Blackhawk Annual #1, Detective Comics Annual #2, Doctor Fate Annual #1, Green Arrow Annual #2, Justice League Annual #3, Secret Origins Annual #3, Swamp Thing Annual #5, The Flash Annual #3, The New Titans Annual #5, The Question Annual #2 and Wonder Woman Annual #2.

One thought on “Can’t Wait for Comics | Un-Locke-ing the Sandman Universe”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.