Can’t Wait for Comics | The X-Statix return, a Reckoning War begins and the Monkey Prince debuts

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week by Dan Slott, Carlos Magno, Peter Milligan, Michael + Laura Allred, Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang, Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, Tyler Crook, Amy Chu, Sarah Stern, Kendra Wells and more.

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

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

The X-Cellent #1 (Marvel, $3.99): Peter Milligan, Michael Allred and Laura Allred bring back the X-Statix gang, as they go up against a new team of celebrity-fueled mutants called The X-Cellent.

Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha (Marvel, $4.99): This week Marvel also kicks off the Reckoning War, an event series by Dan Slott and Carlos Magno that finds the Fantastic Four teaming up with She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts, the Unseen, the Silver Surfer and more to battle a threat from before the dawn of time.

The Monkey Prince #1 (DC, $3.99): Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang reunite for a story featuring the character they introduced in last year’s DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration — the Monkey Prince, aka teenager Marcus Sun, aka the new kid who just enrolled at Gotham City High School and meets a mysterious pig-man who wants to show him who he really is.

Savage Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, $3.99): Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo’s adrenaline-fueled Non-Stop Spider-Man ended up being, um, not so non-stop, as it ended on a cliffhanger. But now Kelly and artist Gerardo Sandoval pick up that thread and run with it, as Spider-Man transforms into something monstrous.

Sabretooth #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Author Victor LaValle teams with artists Leonard Kirk and Rain Beredo to show readers what everyone’s favorite mutant psychopath has been doing since being exiled to the “pit” underneath the island of Krakoa.

Manor Black: Fire in the Blood #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt and Tyler Crook return to the world of Manor Black for a second miniseries, subtitled ‘Fire in the Blood.” The new series continues the story of Roman Black, a master sorcerer who takes a young fire mage under his wing.

New Masters #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Nigerian brothers Shobo Coker and Shof Coker present a six-issue miniseries about a “motley crew of outcasts [who] find themselves caught up in a power struggle for control of an ancient artifact with immense power.”

Speed Republic #1 (Mad Cave, $3.99): Ryan K Lindsay and Emanuele Parascandolo take the wheel of this new series about a dystopian society where the rich offer the poor a chance at a better life — if they can win a marathon European auto race.

X-Men Legends #11 (Marvel, $3.99): Two names synonymous with 1980s X-Men comics — the husband and wife team of Louise Simonson and Walt Simonson — return for a new story featuring the New Mutants and the Horsemen of Apocalypse.

Nocterra #7 (Image Comics, $3.99): Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel kick off a new story arc about a world plagued by darkness and monsters, and the ongoing quest to bring back the light.

Geiger 80-Page Giant #1 (Image, $7.99): Geoff Johns and Gary Frank invite a variety of creators to play with the characters and world they’ve created in their creator-owned series Geiger, including Bryan Hitch, Jay Faerber, Sterling Gates, Janet Harvey, Leon Hendrix III, Peter J. Tomasi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Staz Johnson, Joe Prado, Paul Pelletier, Sean Galloway, Peter Snejbjerg, Kelley Jones and Megan Levens. It also include a preview of Johns and Frank’s next project, Junkyard Joe.

Primos #1 (AWA, $3.99): This new miniseries by Al Madrigal, Carlo Barberi and Brian Reber is about an ancient Mayan who returns from space to get revenge for the destruction of the Mayan civilization. The only thing standing between him and his goal are his brother’s descendants.

Startup #1 (Binge Books, $4.99): Former Seinfeld and Futurama writer Darin Henry teams with artist Craig Rousseau for the story of Startup, the super speedster introduced in Binge BooksThe Hero Union last year.

Until My Knuckles Bleed #1 (Behemoth, $1.99): Victor Santos (Polar) writes and draws a story set after the “extreme” era of 1990s comics, as a former superhero named Damager works as a bouncer and deals with the repercussions of having cyber-implants.

Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser: Halcyon Legacy (Marvel, $4.99): So Galactic Starcruiser is that new hotel coming to Disney World that lets you play out all your innermost Star Wars fantasies. This comic by Ethan Sacks and Will Sliney helps flesh out the back story of the Halcyon, the name of the ship where you can stay for about $5,000 per “voyage.”

Rick and Morty Presents: Hericktics of Rick #1 (Oni Press, $4.99): Amy Chu and Sarah Stern return to the world of the popular Adult Swim cartoon Rick and Morty for what looks like a Dune-inspired miniseries. In it, the duo stake their claim on a planet that’s the source of a new, incredibly powerful substance.

Serial #10 (Abstract Studios, $3.99): Terry Moore wraps up his latest series featuring Rachel Rising‘s breakout star Zoe, as she confronts the deadly psychopath who killed her childhood friend.

The Official Image Timeline (Image, $7.99): Image co-founder and archivist Jim Valentino put together what’s being billed as “the single most comprehensive chronology of the company ever published.” It includes rarely seen covers, photos, milestones and behind-the-scenes events from the company’s “Marvel-ous” beginnings to the present.

Dark Red: Where Roads Lead (AfterShock, $6.99): Tim Seeley and Corin Howell return to the world they created in 2019 for a (one-)shot of political satire and vampiric horror. “Following the events surrounding the defeat of the Order of the Eventide, blue-collar vampire Chip tries to return to his life of quiet, rural isolation. But soon he has to ditch his late-night convenience store shift to travel across the country to New Orleans to visit a dying veteran. What starts as a trip of noble intent becomes a quest through a hell of wars to retrieve a stolen soul and escape an old enemy.”

Bermuda TPB (IDW, $17.99): I greatly enjoyed this fun adventure tale from John Layman and Nick Bradshaw, which IDW collects this week. It’s about a girl named Bermuda who becomes stuck on a mysterious island in the Bermuda Triangle inhabited by dinosaurs, pirates, crazed magicians and strange monsters. Things get interesting when the doorway between the island and our world opens.

Castaways OGN (Dark Horse, $24.99): Pablo Monforte and Laura Perez tell the story of Alejandra and Julio, whose lives intertwine over the course of a decade in Madrid and Barcelona. Dark Horse brings this Spanish graphic novel to the United States, translated by Silvia Perea Labayen.

Halcyon (Fantagraphics, $24.99): Ron Rege, Jr.’s “graceful and psychedelic” comics, which he sells directly to subscribers, are collected in this new volume from Fantagraphics. Check out his Tumblr for some samples.

LaGuardia hardcover (Dark Horse, $29.99): Dark Horse collects the award-winning Berger Books title into a deluxe hardcover. Set in an alternative world where aliens have come to Earth and integrated with society, LaGuardia features a pregnant Nigerian-American doctor who has just returned to New York with an illegal alien plant named ”Letme Live” through LaGuardia International and Interstellar Airport’s customs and security. There, she and Letme become part of a growing population of African and shape-shifting alien immigrants, battling against interrogation, discrimination and travel bans. It’s by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford, and it won both a Hugo Award and an Eisner.

Milestone Compendium One (DC, $59,99): This massive, 1,300-page softcover collects stories from the original Milestone years, including Blood Syndicate #1-12, Hardware #1 -12, Icon #1-10, Static #1-8, Xombi #1-8 and Shadow Cabinet #0. If you’ve never experienced them, you’re in for a treat.

Pixels of You OGN (Amulet, $22.99): This YA science fiction tale by Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota and J. R. Doyle is about two girls with photography internships — one has been cybernetically augmented after a tragic accident, and the other is the first human-presenting AI. They don’t really like each other, but they’re forced to work together by their mentor.

Real Hero Shit OGN (Iron Circus, $9.99): I simply love the title of this graphic novel by Kendra Wells, which is a fantasy story about a bastard prince and the crew of adventurers he joins up with.

The Greatest Thing OGN (First Second, $25.99): This new graphic novel from Sarah Winifred Searle is about a girl who loses her two best friends to private school just as she enters her sophomore year, but finds two new friends in art class — the offbeat and rebellious Oscar and April. Also available as a softcover.

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