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.
Superman #1 (DC, $4.99): Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Jamal Campbell launch a new series starring the Man of Steel, as a part of the bigger Dawn of DC/Super-family line. Williamson promises a “fun, pulp style adventure in Metropolis,” as Clark is back on Earth and dealing with old favorites like Lex Luthor.
Local Man #1 (Image, $3.99): Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs have teamed up for this new series that’s “part Extreme Studios, part Vertigo Comics,” as the duo share their love for those early Image superheroes and crime/murder mysteries. Local Man is basically “What if Shaft [or insert the name of your favorite early Image character here] failed at his superhero job and moved back into his parents’ basement?” Each issue will come in a “flip book” format, with a lead story drawn by Fleecs and a superhero flashback drawn by Seeley.
Immoral X-Men #1 (Marvel, $4.99): The third “Sins of Sinister” miniseries launches this week, as Kieron Gillen and Paco Medina drop the “t” from Immortal X-Men and turn them into something more … well, sinister, for three issues, at least.
Godfell #1 (Vault, $4.99): Christopher Sebela, Ben Hennessy, Triona Farrell and Vittorio Astone team for this new series that’s basically about God dying, falling to the surface of a fantasy world and his giant body becoming something to fight over. And probably a tourist destination, I’d expect.
Blue Book #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): James Tynion IV and Michael Avon Oeming’s Substack comic comes to print. The nonfiction comic depicts “true stories of UFO abductions with an eye to capturing the strange essence of those encounters.” This first arc puts the spotlight on Betty and Barney Hill, who said they were abducted by aliens in New Hampshire back in the 1960s.
Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Betsy Braddock, the current Captain Britain, breaks out into a solo series by Tini Howard and Giorgiev Vasco. In it, Betsy tries to return to the UK, who don’t want her there or for her to wear the mantle of Captain Britain.
Batman: One Bad Day — Clayface (DC, $7.99): The One Bad Day one-shots continue with a focus on Clayface by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Xermanico. Basil Karlo, the actor turned grotesque monster, decides to leave Gotham for L.A. and pursue his original dream — an acting career.
Star Wars The High Republic Adventures: The Nameless Terror #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): George Mann, Eduardo Mello and Ornella Savarese tell the story of a Republic team accompanied by three Jedi who crash land on a deadly planet and are pursed by an unseen foe.
Lazarus Planet Omega (DC, $5.99): Mark Waid, Gene Luen Yang, Riccardo Federici, Billy Tan and more team up for the final Lazarus Planet one-shot, which features DCU’s magic users joining with Damian Wayne to try and set things right after the whole “Lazarus volcano explosion/huge global disaster creating new super beings” thing that’s been running through these one-shots.
Punisher War Journal: Base (Marvel, $4.99): Marvel releases another tie-in one-shot to the big Punisher miniseries that Jason Aaron is writing, exploring Frank Castle’s past. This one by Torunn Gronbekk and Djibril Morissette-Phan is set after Castle returns from his tour of duty and gives the origin of the Punisher’s war journal.
Banshees #1 (Scout Comics, $4.99): Co-writers Dave Dwonch and Jessica Balboni team with artist Riccardo Faccini for this new series about two college freshman who find out their dorm is haunted by the ghosts of three women who were killed by the same serial killer — and who must then convince the ghosts to help them bring the killer to justice.
Tower #1 (A Wave Blue World, $4.99): Kelsey Barnhart, Camrus Johnson (aka Batwing from the Batwoman TV show) and ChrisCross present a “dystopian competition” story where real-life contestants try to make it to the top of the Tower — without dying, of course. The story focuses on three of them, who will “have to smarten up and join forces if they intend to survive, using their individualized weapons and animal assistants to outsmart deadly traps and ambushes.”
Graphic Novels
Bear (Seven Stories Press, $19.95): Staffan Gnosspelius writes and draws his debut, wordless graphic novel, which is about a bear who “is maddeningly afflicted with a cone that covers his head and that he is unable to take off.” Then a hare shows up who offers him comfort. Gnosspelius is currently crowdfunding an exhibition of his artwork from Bear, with one of the rewards being a copy of the book.
A First Time for Everything (First Second, $14.99): Caldecott Medal winner Dan Santat tells the story of his awkward middle school years in this new graphic novel about a class trip to Europe where he experiences many “firsts,” including his first love.
Project Nought (Clarion Books, $17.99): Another debut graphic novel, this one is by webcomics creator Chelsey Furedi and originally appeared on Tapas. It’s about Ren Mittal, who is transported from 1996 to 2122 as part of a history lesson by tech conglomerate Chronotech.
Skull Cat and the Curious Castle (Top Shelf, $14.99): This is the first in a planned series of graphic novels from Norman Shurtliff, who tells the story of a cat who gets a job as a gardener at the possibly haunted Le Dark Chateau. You can check out a preview of it here.
The Last Days of Black Hammer (Dark Horse, $19.99): Dark Horse collects this prequel to the Black Hammer saga, which was originally released via Jeff Lemire’s Substack. Lemire teams with Stefano Simeone to show us how Joe Weber, the original Black Hammer, and his allies battled the cosmic villain Anti-God and ended up imprisoned on the limbo farm.
Trade Waiting
Big Ethel Energy Volume 2 (Archie, $17.99): Archie collects a second volume of their collaboration with Webtoon, as Keryl Brown-Ahmed and Siobhan Keenan continue the story of an older Ethel, now a reporter, who returns to Riverdale to share its history and secrets.
Hulk: Grand Design (Marvel, $34.99): The Hulk gets the “Grand Design” treatment as writer/artist Jim Rugg retells the complete story of the jade behemoth, from his origin to the present day, in one condensed volume.
Justice Warriors TPB (Ahoy, $19.99): Ahoy collects the dystopian satire miniseries by The Nib‘s Matt Bors and artist Ben Clarkson, about two cops, one with the shit emoji for a head, who … well, I’m not sure what else to say about it at this point.
The Lonesome Hunters TPB (Dark Horse, $19.99): If you missed out on Tyler Crook’s solo outing — he wrote and drew this miniseries about a retired monster hunter who gets pulled back into the game when a young girl is threatened — then you’re in for a treat. Don’t sleep on this one.
Mind Mgmt Bootleg (Dark Horse, $24.99): Matt Kindt teamed up with Dark Horse to launch Flux House, with this four-issue series set in his Mind MGMT universe being the first release from the imprint. Kindt brought in four different artists — Farel Dalrymple, David Rubin, Matt Lesniewski, Jill Thompson — for this story about a former Mind MGMT leader who recruits a team of the most powerful forgotten agents of all time to rebuild the organization.
Sins of the Black Flamingo TPB (Image, $16.99): This “occult noir” miniseries by Andrew Wheeler, Travis Moore and Tamra Bonvillain stars a flamboyant thief who gets off on stealing artifacts from the wealthy in Miami’s occult underground, but has a change of heart when he tries to make his biggest score yet.