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:
- Penguin Random House (Marvel + graphic novels + manga)
- Lunar Distribution (DC + Scout + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (IDW + Image + Dark Horse + many more)
- ComicList (Pretty much all of the above)
- comiXology/Kindle new releases (digital comics)
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.
Captain America #0 (Marvel, $4.99): Hey, remember back in the day when companies thought it would be too confusing to have multiple characters with the same name running around in comics, so we ended up with characters like Thunderstrike and War Machine and other not-quite-as-equal doppelgangers? Now we live in a world with multiple movies featuring multiple versions of Spider-Man from across the multiverse, and TV show crossovers that feature Smallville‘s Superman meeting the Superman & Lois Superman and … well, you get the idea. Miles Morales and Peter Parker can both be Spider-Man, and the world somehow doesn’t end. Anyway, in this comic, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson both put their Captain America costumes on to go fight Arnim Zola and decide there’s room for two Captain Americas — thus leading to new solo titles for both.
Doctor Strange: Nexus of Nightmares (Marvel, $3.99): When I first saw the press about this new one-shot featuring Stephen Strange (who is currently dead in the comics) I figured a) Marvel wanted something new on the shelves featuring the star of their next big film, even if it is a “set in the past” untold adventure, and b) they had some really nice pages drawn by Ibrahim Moustafa that needed to be unleashed in the world. It’s written by Ralph Macchio with a cover by Todd Nauck.
Wolverine #20 (Marvel, $3.99): Benjamin Percy and Adam Kubert return to your regularly scheduled Wolverine title following X Lives of Wolverine/X Deaths of Wolverine. And they’re bringing Deadpool with them.
The Vampire Slayer #1 (BOOM! Studios, $4.99): Sarah Gailey and Irene Flores team up for an alternate universe story about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as a spell gone wrong robs Buffy of her memory and her purpose, so a new Slayer is chosen to replace her.
The Secret History of the War on Weed (Image, $4.99): Timed for release on 4/20, this one-shot by Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan and Scott Koblish takes us back to the 1980s and the fabled war on drugs, as the First Lady just says no and unleashes the unhinged Scotch McTiernan, seen above, on weed farmers in California.
Kaijumax Season Six #6 (Oni Press, $3.99): Zander Cannon’s excellent and fun comic about a prison for kaiju comes to its conclusion after six seasons and numerous giant monster incarcerations.
The Woman in the Woods (Iron Circus Comics, $15): The latest volume of Iron Circus anthology series Cautionary Fables and Fairytales features “some of storytelling’s finest talents” re-imagining folklore from North American tribes “with a modern twist.”
The Crows (Dark Horse, $19.99): Anders Fager and Peter Bergting team up on this new graphic novel about a woman who inherits her grandparents’ house in rural Sweden, only to find it filled with notes — both reminders from the past and drawings of the monsters that haunt the house.
Flung Out of Space (Abrams, $24.99): Grace Ellis, Hannah Templer and Joan Schenkar explore the life of Patricia Highsmith, the author of Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Price of Salt. She also wrote comics for a brief time, which is what she’s doing when the graphic novel starts, as she longs to become a novelist.
Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Playtest Rulebook (Marvel, $9.99): This isn’t a comic, obviously, but is the first book in a new role-playing game being put out by Marvel. It’s by author/game designer Matt Forbeck, and this first volume will define the rules and let you get started playing as your favorite Marvel characters, with the idea that Marvel will somehow gather feedback and then launch the game fully next year.