Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital this week. And this week things get spookier than normal — so spooky, in fact, with so many horror-themed comics, that I’m doing two editions of Can’t Wait for Wednesday — this super scary one and a regular, not-so-scary one coming tomorrow.
Check out the spin-tingling highlights below, or visit Diamond’s website for this week’s almost complete list of new comics arriving in stores. You can visit Lunar Distribution’s home page to see DC’s releases and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.
I should also add that the list of what is actually arriving at your local shop can vary from what’s on anyone’s official website for a myriad of reasons — so always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.
House of Slaughter #1 (BOOM! Studios, $3.99): The world introduced in James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera’s Something is Killing the Children grows this month with House of Slaughter, a new series that reveals more of the back story behind the order that trained monster hunter Erica Slaughter. The original creators are joined by artist Chris Shehan and co-writer Tate Brombal for this spinoff series.
Batman: The Long Halloween Special (DC, $7.99): Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale return to familiar stomping grounds in this one-shot, as they “return to Gotham City to reveal that no secret remains buried forever” in a story that features Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Two-Face and more.
Darkhold: Blade (Marvel, $3.99): Marvel’s horror-themed event series continues this week with a one-shot focused on Blade and what happens after he takes a read of the Darkhold. This one is by Daniel Kibblesmith and Federico Sabbatini, and it features the famed vampire hunter reading from the notorious text, which changes history to make him king of the vampires.
DC vs. Vampires #1 (DC, $3.99): James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt team for a new miniseries featuring the Justice League taking on an army of vampires. I’m not sure what else there is to say about this one.
Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck and Michelle Madsen continue to expand the Hellboy universe and its history with this new series about The Silver Lantern Club, who fought monsters and evil long before Hellboy came to Earth. Each issue will feature a different member, along with a present-day framing sequence featuring Hellboy.
Hellcop 3D (Image Comics, $7.99): This series by Brian Haberlin and Geirrod Van Dyke is about a security force that keeps the denizens of a Hell dimension from finding their way to Earth. But here’s the real selling point — it’s in 3D! I believe there’s a regular edition of it as well, but why would you want it, when you could have the 3D version (which comes with a pair of glasses, of course)? I haven’t seen a 3D comic in forever, but they were quite the rage back in the day and every so often you see a wave of them come out. So hopefully this is the first of many.
The Winchester Mystery House #1 (Source Point Press, $3.99): San Jose’s infamous tourist attraction The Winchester Mystery House gets the comic treatment once again in a new series from Source Point Press. The new comic is written by Joshua Werner and illustrated by Dustin Irvin, and it’ll focus on “the non-stop construction of ‘The house that spirits built’ and its brilliant and mysterious owner, Sarah Winchester.”
Task Force Z #1 (DC, $3.99): Matthew Rosenberg has a second horror-themed DC title debuting this week, as Task Force Z joins DC vs. Vampires on shelves. This title, featuring art by Eddy Barrows, features Red Hood leading a team of undead villains on secret missions.
The Dark Horse Book of Horror (Dark Horse, $24.99): Over the years Dark Horse has released several anthologies in their “Book of …” series — Dark Horse Book of Monsters, Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, Dark Horse Book of Hauntings and Dark Horse Book of the Dead. If you missed any of them, fear not! Dark Horse has collected them all into a single paperback, allowing you to read spin-tingling stories by Mike Mignola, Evan Dorkin, Jill Thompson, Gary Gainni, Guy Davis and more.
Dracula, Son of the Dragon (Dark Horse, $19.99): This graphic novel by Mark Sable and Salgood Sam has been long in the making — it began life as a Kickstarter project back in 2013 — but good for both creators for not giving up on it. It’s a historical horror fantasy graphic novel that shows the transformation of the real-life Vlad the Impaler into Dracula.
Fear Case TPB (Dark Horse, $19.99): Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins re-team for a new supernatural detective series that gets collected this week. It’s about a Secret Service agent and his new-age partner, who investigate a mysterious box known as the ”Fear Case,” which has appeared throughout history at sites of disaster and tragedy. Whoever comes into possession of this case must pass it on within three days or face deadly consequences.
Grimm Tales from the Cave (Mad Cave Studios, $19.99): This anthology of horror stories inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales features the work of Cullen Bunn, Andrea Mutti, Christopher Sebela, Nadia Shammas and Stephanie Phillips — as well as several winners from the 2020 Mad Cave talent search.
Maniac of New York TPB (AfterShock Comics, $16.99): Elliott Kalan and Andrea Mutti’s original miniseries featuring Maniac Harry gets collected this week, as the Jason-esque serial killer tears his way through the New York subway system.
Nocturnals Omnibus (Dark Horse, $29.99): Doc Horror, Gunwitch, Halloween Girl and the rest of the Nocturnals get the omnibus treatment, as Dark Horse collects the supernatural super team’s adventures by Dan Brereton. The omnibus features material previously released under the titles Black Planet, Witching Hour, Carnival of Beasts and Troll Bridge.
TKO Tales of Terror (TKO Studios, $7.99): TKO has this one listed as coming out on Nov. 16 in print, but comiXology is listing it as coming out tomorrow on digital, so I’m including it here — I mean, it fits my theme, right? TKO Tales of Terror collects the TKO Shorts that the company has released over the last few years, including Roofstompers and The Walk, both of which I recommended not too long ago. If you’re looking to get all of them under one cover, this is the collection for you, or you could always buy all of them as separate minicomics at the same price. Your choice — either way you’ll get some great comics by Liana Kangas, Joe Corallo, Sebastian Girner, Steve Foxe, Paul Azaceta, Baldemar Rivas, Jen Hickman, Jelena Đorđević, Jesús Hervás, Ian MacEwan and many more.
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