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.
Batman/Spawn (DC, $6.99): For the first time since 1994, Spawn and Batman are together again in a story by Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo (who knows both characters really well) and colorist Dave McCaig. I’m not really sure what the story is about, but I do have some preview pages from this one, courtesy of McFarlane:
Invincible Iron Man #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Hey, didn’t Iron Man just end? Why yes it did, but you can’t keep ol’ Shellhead down, as Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri unite to tell new stories about the cool exec with a heart of steel. This issue features every assassin around the Marvel Universe coming after Tony — and he has no idea who hired them.
Danger Street #1 (DC, $4.99): This new Black Label series by Tom King and Jorge Fornes has an interesting origin story — King wanted to create a crime drama that featured every character featured in the obscure 1970s title, DC First Issue Special — which, essentially, was a series of one-issue stories featuring The Creeper, Doctor Fate, the Green Team, the Dingbats of Danger Street and many other concepts. We’ll see how it all holds together.
Dark Web: X-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99): The X-Men wade into Dark Web and an army of demons in Manhattan as they get caught up in the machinations of Chasm and their old friend/former lover, the Goblin Queen. It’s by Gerry Duggan and Rod Reis, with a cover by Phil Noto.
Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Marvel, $3.99): Speaking of Dark Web, Zeb Wells teams with artist Ed McGuinness for another issue of the crossover that features Peter Parker taking on his old nemesis-turned antihero-turned villain again, Venom.
Happy Horror Days (Archie, $3.99): This Archie Horror anthology features stories by Frank Tieri, Joanne Starer, Joe Corallo, Joe Eisma, Butch K. Mapa, Patrick Piazzalunga and more, including a new Jughead: the Hunger story that pits werewolf Jughead against Krampus. I have a preview of this one as well:
Art Brut #1 (Image, $3.99): Before W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo created Ice Cream Man, they made this psychedelic tribute to art history, which has now been remastered and re-released by Image. “Alongside the Bureau of Artistic Integrity, Arthur Brut the Mad Dreampainter (and his trusty sidekick, Manny the Mannequin) must dive back into the very paintings that made him insane…or reality itself might just crumble to pieces.”
Dark Crisis: Big Bang #1 (DC, $3.99): Following the events of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, where Pariah resurrected the infinite Multiverse, Doctor Multiverse journeys through these new realities, courtesy of Mark Waid and a host of artists.
Night Club #1 (Image, $1.99): Mark Millar and Juanan Ramirez team for this new series with a low cost. It’s about teenage vampires who decide to become superheroes, and Millar has said they plan to keep the price at $1.99 for subsequent issues.
Leonide the Vampyr: A Christmas for Crows (Dark Horse, $3.99): Mike Mignola and Rachele Aragno reunite for a Christmas story featuring Leonide, the young vampire who washed up on the shores of a seaside town.
Monica Rambeau: Photon #1 (Marvel, $3.99): Former Avengers, Ultimates and Nextwave member Monica Rambeau gets her first solo miniseries courtesy of writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Michael Sta. Maria.
Vicious Circle #1 (BOOM!, $9.99): Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo team for this thriller about two rival assassins who engage in a battle across time, as each time they kill someone they travel to a new era.
Grim #6 (BOOM!, $3.99): If you’ve been enjoying this excellent miniseries by Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano, you aren’t alone — it’s popular enough that the publisher has announced the miniseries is now an ongoing title. This issue kicks off a new arc, “Devils & Dust,” as our heroes discover “a fabulous twist on mythical Greek figures.”
World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #21 (Archie, $8.99): In addition to reprinting classic stories from the archives, this digest also features new stories by Ian Flynn and Steven Butler that team the Archie gang with characters from The Mighty Crusaders — Captain Flag and Darkling. Check out our preview of both stories.
Too Dead To Die (Image, $19.99): Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin resurrect 1980s spy Simon Cross, whose adventures you might remember were published by Phoenix Comics Group back in the 1980s. Wait, you say you don’t remember Simon or Phoenix Comics Group? I don’t either — but that didn’t stop Chaykin from creating a bunch of covers from the faux series.
Captain America: The Ghost Army (Marvel/Graphix, $14.99): Alan Gratz and Brent Schoonover created the latest graphic novel in the ongoing publishing partnership between Marvel and Scholastic’s Graphix imprint. The story features a young Captain America and Bucky Barnes as they battle a “ghost army” conjured up by Baron Mordo during World War II.
Beware the Eye of Odin trade paperback (Image, $16.99): Image collects this fantasy miniseries based on Norse mythology by Doug Wagner, Tim Odland and Michelle Madsen. The story, which is about “Vikings, trolls, frost giants and Valkyries,” follows a Viking prince and his companions as they try to return the Eye of Odin to its rightful owner. This is a fun series.