Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
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.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Drawn + Quarterly, $39.95): Beloved cartoonist Kate Beaton is back with a brand-new, original graphic novel about her time working in Fort McMurray during Alberta’s oil rush. “With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush-part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can’t find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.”
Ride On (First Second, $14.99): Faith Erin Hicks and writes and draws this new graphic novel about horses, horse girls and identity. For more info, check out Alex Dueben’s interview with Hicks from last month.
Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan (Amulet Books, $14.99): Jason Shiga is the talented, brilliant creator who made Meanwhile… a few years back, the choose-your-own-adventure comic that proved to be very popular. (He also made Bookhunter, which is my personal favorite Shiga graphic novel). Now he’s making a whole line of “interactive graphic novels.” This first one is part comic, part game and part maze, and it’s about a sea village terrorized by a giant sea creature.
Supper Club (Image, $14.99): Jackie Morrow writes and draws this graphic novel about two high school seniors who form a “supper club” for support when their lives begin to crumble.
Lower Your Sights (Mad Cave, $17.99): This charity anthology includes contributions by Matt Kindt, Jim Zub, Richard Pace, Justin Greenwood, Liana Kangas and several Ukraine creators, among many others. Proceeds from the book will go to the Voices of Children Foundation, a nonprofit seeking to help children affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
No Kidding (Fairsquare Comics, $19.99): Vero Cazot and Madeleine Martin’s story of two women deciding whether they want to have kids was solicited at an interesting time — right around when the U.S. Supreme Court made their monumentally terrible decision about Roe v. Wade. The publisher promises this book will make you “laugh, think, and maybe cry.”
Living & Dying in America (Fantagraphics, $29.99): Fantagraphics collects the daily illustrations of Steve Brodner who, from March of 2020 until January of 2022, would end his day by reviewing the news of the day and then drawing “a singular person or event that played a role, willingly or unwillingly, in shaping that day.”
Up to No Ghoul (Harper Alley, $12.99): This is the sequel to The Ghoul Next Door by Cullen Bunn and Cat Farris, the story of a boy who lives next door to a ghoul. You didn’t need me to tell you that, though, did you? In this volume, after being forbidden from speaking with his ghoul neighbor, the boy named Grey has to seek the help of the ghoul named Lavinia.
Plaza (Living the Line, $32): Yuichi Yokoyama and Kazunari Hattori’s “neo-manga” inspired by Carnaval in Brazil comes to the English language market. It offers “a maniacal extravaganza of marching, dancing, leaping, firing, cheering, smashing and exploding over the course of 225 eye-and-eardrum-confounding pages.”
let’s get burgers (Silver Sprocket, $19.99): This volume collects the entire webcomic by ash s about a cat named Knife and a dog named Cheddar, as they navigate through their friendship, capitalism and eating burgers.
Everything is OK (Andrews McMeel, $16.99): Cartoonist Debbie Tung explores her own mental health journey, as she details her struggle with anxiety and her experience with depression — with an overall message about being kind to yourself.
Cryptid Club (Andrews McMeel, $16.99): Sarah Andersen, who you might know from Sarah’s Scribbles — or heck, even if you didn’t know about Sarah’s Scribbles, you’ve probably seen them share don Twitter or Facebook or whatever by people who don’t read comics and may not even give the creator credit when they share them. I mean, come on people — give credit where it is due. What was I saying? Oh yeah, Andersen has a new book out that offers a humorous look at cryptids like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.
What If? Miles Morales (Marvel, $15.99): This collects the recent miniseries featuring Miles Morales becoming other superheroes besides Spider-Man, introducing multiverse versions of Miles Captain America, Miles Hulk, etc. And, oh yeah, Miles Thor, star of a controversial issue by Yehudi Mercado and Luigi Zagaria. It was released back in June and was met with a lot of backlash for being filled with racial stereotypes. I’m mostly curious to see if Marvel has done anything to modify the issue as it was originally presented — if they even decided to include it at all.
Midnight Suns #1 (Marvel, $3.99): Writer Ethan Sacks and artist Luigi Zagaria are the creators behind this new series that almost shares a name with the classic Ghost Rider-led team Midnight Sons. It does share its name with the upcoming Midnight Suns video game that Marvel and 2K will release later this year, but doesn’t seem to be a direct tie-in or adaptation — although both feature Wolverine and a bunch of mystical Marvel characters, so there’s that.
Batman vs. Robin #1 (DC, $5.99): Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar present the next chapter in the tenuous relationship between the Dark Knight and his son Damian, which spins out of not only into the recent Shadow War crossover, but also the Waid-written World’s Finest title.
Ten Thousand Black Feathers #1 (Image, $3.99): Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart return with the second project in the Bone Orchard Mythos line, this time with a miniseries about two gamers whose fantasy world and real world are blurred by an evil darkness.
Castle Full of Blackbirds #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): All the Murmuring Bones novelist Angela Slatter enlists with the B.P.R.D., as she joins creator Mike Mignola and artist Valeria Burzo for this new miniseries about Sara May Blackburn, the precognitive girl introduced in Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb.
The 06 Protocol #1 (AfterShock Comics, $4.99): Lee Turner and Cliff Richards present the story of the Mirino family who, after the dad is murdered, finds out he was part of a secret government experiment — and must run from his past.
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 (DC, $5.99): Oh my — this is a really odd comic to be releasing right now. “Race through the streets of Central City in this lead-up to the hotly anticipated blockbuster The Flash.” If you hadn’t heard, The Flash film has been delayed until next year — if it even comes out at all, given all the drama with its star and with Warner’s new owners in general. It’s by Kenny Porter and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz.
Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League – Wonder Woman (DC, $4.99): If you’re curious to see what the Justice League is up to following their “death” right before Dark Crisis began, DC this week continues the series of one-shots with a look at Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter, by Tini Howard and Leila Del Duca, and Dan Watters and Bandon Peterson, respectively.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #1 (IDW, $6.99): So I’m not a huge Star Trek guy and only have Paramount+ because my son wanted to watch the new Sonic movie and I keep forgetting to cancel it (although I think I can combine it with a Showtime+ subscription, which would allow me to watch Yellowjackets). But Lower Decks, the animated series based on the popular sci-fi show, looks pretty funny and is probably worth me checking out at some point, and this comic is probably even more of an attraction because it’s written by Ryan North and drawn by Chris Fenoglio.
The Least We Can Do #1 (Image, $3.99): Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli, the creative duo behind last year’s A Thing Called Truth, re-team for this new ongoing series where they introduce a post-apocalyptic world filled with “fighting, magic, thirst for justice, blood, revenge and many buff women.”
Revealer #1 (Vault, $4.99): This one-shot anthology ties into the Shudder film of the same name, which was about a stripper and a religious protestor who end up trapped ina peep show booth together during the apocalypse. It includes four stories by Tim Seeley, Keri Boyce, Luke Boyce, Aaron B Koontz, Michael Moreci, Ken Landgraf, Chris Anderson, Caroline Leigh Layne and more.