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.
Sins of Sinister #1 (Marvel, $5.99): The latest X-Men event kicks off this week, as Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck and more imagine a world remade by villain-turned-Quiet Council member Mister Sinister — or, as the solicitation text put it, Sinister creates “a horror timeline that makes Age of Apocalypse look like the X-Men Swimsuit Special.”
Action Comics #1051 (DC, $4.99): Dawn of DC kicks off in earnest with this extra-sized issue of DC’s flagship title. It features three stories and the work of Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Dan Jurgens, Leah Williams, Rafa Sandoval, Lee Weeks, Marguerite Sauvage and more, with the three stories focused on by Clark Kent, Jon Kent and Power Girl.
Archie vs. The World #1 (Archie Comics, $3.99): The ever-adaptable denizens of Riverdale get re-imagined into a post-apocalyptic world by Aubrey Sitterson and Jed Dougherty.
Inferno Girl Red #1 (Image, $5.99): Matt Groom and Erica D’Urso team for this Massive-verse series that started life on Kickstarter. It’s about a girl who must take up the mantle of Inferno Girl Red after an ancient cult and their army of demons rip the city she just moved to out of our universe and cast it into darkness.
Night Walkers #1 (Source Point Press, $3.99): A rehabilitation center secluded in the mountains becomes the setting for terror when the patients find themselves abandoned by the staff and on the run from a creature of the night. It’s by Cullen Bunn and Colin Johnson.
Saga #61 (Image, $3.99): I noted the price increase on this over the weekend, which signals the end of an era of sorts. Details are scarce on this issue, which the solicit promises will offer “emotional adventures and shocking surprises for Hazel and her star-crossed family.”
Dragon Age: The Missing #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Dark Horse returns to the world of Bioware’s Dragon Age video game series in a new miniseries written by George Mann with art by Kieran McKeown and colors by Michael Atiyeh. The story features two mainstays of the previous Dragon Age game, Inquisition: the rogue dwarf named Varric and Scout Harding, as the head into the Deep Roads in pursuit of a former friend. This story will serve as a prequel to the fourth game in the series, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Batman: One Bad Day–Catwoman (DC, $7.99): These one-shots focusing on various Batman villains have been a mixed bag, but I will say the one featuring Bane that came out last week by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter was excellent. This one should be too, as it’s by G. Willow Wilson and Jamie McKelvie, as they send Catwoman on a mission to re-steal something from her past.
Bulls of Beacon Hill #1 (AfterShock, $4.99): Steve Orlando and Andy MacDonald for this series about the queer son of a mob boss who, despite his efforts to distance himself from his father’s criminal activities, ends up on a collision course with them when he decides to run for a Boston City Council seat.
Coins of Judas #1 (Band of Bards, $4.99): This new title by Travis Gibb and Tyler Carpenter is about the Westergaards, a family fighting a hidden war against demons that were spawned by the 30 pieces of silver that Judas dropped when he betrayed Christ.
Amazing Spider-Man #18 (Marvel, $3.99): Ed McGuinness joins Zeb Wells on this Dark Web tie-in, which features Peter Parker going head-to-head with a bunch of Limbo demons cosplaying as his rogues gallery.
Detective Comics #1068 (DC, $4.99): This sounds like one of those unique instances you can only get away with in comics as Ram V, Rafael Albuquerque and Ivan Reis tell a story about Two-Face that is “split in half artistically” to portray “the struggles Harvey Dent goes through trying to stay alive with the help of his more evil side… Genius writer Ram V not only devised each page of this story to be a dark reflection of the page facing it, but also of itself from front to back!”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin–Lost Years #1 (IDW, $4.99): IDW’s The Last Ronin, a sort-of “Old Man Logan” take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, proved to be a huge success for the publisher, so it’s getting a sequel. Or a prequel, actually, as the story explores Michelangelo’s march toward his final battle. Kevin Eastman will once again work with Tom Waltz on the story, with SL Gallant and Ben Bishop illustrating it.
Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods (DC, $4.99): Francis Manapul, Dan Watters, Philip Kennedy Johnson, Josie Campbell, Max Dunbar, Jack Herbert, Caitlin Yarsky and more present more tales from an Earth engulfed in chaos by the Lazarus volcano that erupted in Batman vs. Robin. This one-shot features stories about Themyscira, Martian Manhunter, the Shazam family and more.
Murderworld: Wolverine (Marvel, $3.99): It’s very hard not to make the title of this plural, given the number of Wolverines appearing on the cover. And if you’ve been reading this series of one-shots by Jim Zub, Ray Fawkes and more, then you know these aren’t really about the character in the title — the Murderworld one-shots are actually about people competing to be the last person standing through a series of tests in the twisted, deadly amusement park. This issue, featuring artwork by Carlos Nieto, has the contestants being hunted by robotic Wolverines.
Nervous Rex #1 (It’s Alive, $5.99): Before he passed away, Drew Ford’s passion at It’s Alive was to bring previously out-of-print comics back to shelves. This charming story by William Van Horn (Uncle Scrooge) is about a T-rex that doesn’t like being a carnivore; he’s rather eat oatmeal and hang out with his friends.
The Archies in India (Archie Comics, $14.99): With a new Archie show coming out of Netflix India this year, Bill Golliher and Dan Parent introduce a new character to the Archie cast — Prasad Arora, a Bollywood star who catches the attention of Betty and Veronica.
Vince Staples Presents Limbo Beach (Z2, $19.99): Bryan Edward Hill, Chris Robinson and Buster Moody adapt a story by rapper Vince Staples into this graphic novel. It’s about an island theme park ruled by adolescents with unique abilities — kind of like Lord of the Flies with super powers.
Esther’s Notebook (Pantheon Books, $30): Riad Sattouf has a chat with his friend’s 10-year old daughter, Esther, every week, which he then turns into one-page comic strips. This book is a collection of 156 of those strips, comprising the first three volumes as they appeared in Europe, spanning Esther’s life from age 10 to 12.
The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in the 21st Century (Fantagraphics, $22.95): Fantagraphics releases the second of several The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers collections, with this volume of Gilbert Shelton’s classic underground comic featuring a time travel story, two of Fat Freddy’s Cat solo escapades and more.
Fragmentation (Dark Horse, $24.99): Marc Guggenheim and Beni Lobel tell the story of a world in crisis due to “fragmentations” — pieces of history from some of the world’s most traumatic and horrible events, which travel through time to invade the present. This graphic novel focuses on a family that discovers their personal tragedy is at the center of it all.
Why Don’t You Love Me? (Drawn and Quarterly, $24.95): Paul B. Rainey’s latest graphic novel is described as “a pitch-black comedy about marriage, alcoholism, depression and mourning lost opportunities,” as a couple grapples with whether their terrible life is actually all a dream or not.