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 + IDW + graphic novels + manga)
- Lunar Distribution (DC + Scout + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (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.
I Hate Fairyland #1 (Image, $3.99): Skottie Young’s fairy tale gone horribly wrong makes its return for a second series. This time around, Young is joined by artist Brett Bean, and the story is focused on a grown-up Gert who is searching for a way to return to Fairyland — the place she was so eager to leave.
Batman: One Bad Day — Mr. Freeze #1 (DC, $7.99): Continuing the series of one-shots focused on Batman’s villains, Gerry Duggan and Matteo Scalera tell a story about Mr. Freeze in the early days of Batman and Robin’s careers. It’s the coldest winter in Gotham’s history, and Freeze is right at home …
Kroma #1 (Image, $7.99): Lorenzo De Felici writes and draws this new story featuring “strange creatures and unparalleled beauty,” as a woman imprisoned in darkness for being a monster is rescued by an orphan who only sees a human, and the two of them try to escape a city filled with strange rituals and customs.
Blade: Vampire Nation #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Blade is back in the spotlight in this new one-shot by Mark Russell, Dave Wachter and Mico Suayan that offers a “deep dive into Dracula’s new kingdom” that we’ve seen in the pages of Avengers.
Demon Wars: Shield of Justice (Marvel, $4.99): Peach Momoko returns to the world she created that mashes up Marvel characters with Japanese folklore, as Mariko Yashida tries to prevent a civil war between some very familiar characters.
Gold Goblin #1 (Marvel, $3.99): This Dark Web tie-in features Norman Osborn once again flying through the skies of New York, this time as the heroic Gold Goblin. It’s by Christopher Cantwell and Lan Medina.
Dark Crisis: World Without a Justice League — Batman (DC, $4.99): Simon Spurrier, Meghan Fitzmartin, Ryan Sook, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund and more wrap up the series of one-shots featuring members of the Justice League trapped on different worlds while the rest of the world thought they were dead. This issue features not only Batman, but also Zatanna.
Stargirl: The Lost Children #1 (DC, $3.99): Geoff Johns and Todd Nauck team up once again for another tale featuring Stargirl. This one spins out of last week’s The New Golden Age one-shot as Stargirl and Red Arrow search for all those missing teenage sidekick heroes from the Golden Age of comics (some of whom never really existed until recently).
Captain America and the Winter Soldier Special #1 (Marvel, $4.99): With Cold War on the horizon, recent issues of Captain America have brought big changes for the Winter Soldier, and this one-shot will “see the debut of Winter Soldier’s new costume designed by series artist Carmen Carnero, as well as the persona Bucky will adopt for the war that lies ahead.” It’s by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Kev Walker.
Resident Alien: The Book of Love #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse are back for more stories of Harry and Patience, as love blooms between our resident alien and Asta.
Murderworld: Avengers (Marvel, $3.99): Murderworld — “a lovely place to die,” as the tagline says — gets the spotlight in a new series of one-shots written by Jim Zub and Ray Fawkes. Jethro Morales draws this first one, as the Avengers get a taste of Arcade’s brand of chaotic danger.
Voyagis #1 (Image, $3.99): Sumeyye Kesgin writes and draws this new Image series about aliens who find a Voyager probe on an uninhabitable planet laid to waste by a wandering black hole — bringing possible salvation for their people.
Rogue State #1 (Black Mask, $4.99): Matteo Pizzolo and Carlos Granda imagine a world where a contested U.S. election plunges the country into turmoil, leading to the entire country being turned into a paramilitary police state and a group in San Francisco’s The Mission starting their own “rogue state.”
Iron Man #25 (Marvel, $5.99): Christopher Cantwell and Angel Unzueta bring their run on Iron Man to a close, just in time for Invincible Iron Man to debut next month. This extra-sized issue also includes stories by Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande, as well as Kurt Busiek and Ben Dewey.
Door to Door, Night by Night #1 (Vault, $4.99): Cullen Bunn and Sally Cantirino present the story of a group of traveling salespeople who have their eyes opened to the presence of monsters in the world and end up going into battle against supernatural evil throughout the American South.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Crimson Dawn and Lady Qi’ra are back in this new miniseries by Charles Soule and Steven Cummings, as Han Solo’s ex-girlfriend goes to head-to-head with the Galactic Empire.
Upside Dawn (Fantagraphics, $29.99): Jason is back with another collection of comics that feature appearances by Death, Kafka, David Bowie, Elvis, Spock and more.
Copra Master Collection (Image, $39.99): Michel Fiffe’s epic superhero revenge tale celebrates its 10th anniversary with an oversized hardcover compendium collecting its first 12 issues.
Accidental Czar: The Life and Lies of Vladimir Putin (First Second, $28.99): This new graphic novel by Andrew S Weiss, a former White House Russia expert, and artist Box Brown shows “how Putin has successfully cast himself as a cunning, larger-than-life political mastermind-and how the rest of the world has played into the Kremlin’s hands by treating him as one.”
Einstein (First Second, $32.99): Jim Ottaviani and Jerel Dye explore the life of Albert Einstein, promising to go beyond his iconic hair and E=MC to tell the story of a “reluctant revolutionary who paid a high price for living with a single dream.”
Maze (Dark Horse, $24.99): From writer/artist Thiago Souto comes the story of Nico, a boy whose dreams come to life when he sleeps and enters into a fantastic world of adventure.
Die hardcover (Image, $59.99): All 20 issues of Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ award-winning, epic story of a role-playing game gone horribly wrong gets collected in its entirety.