Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. This week sees the release of a new Brubaker/Phillips joint, the launch of a new Black Panther series, the long overdue return of Battle Chasers and two Pride Month projects from Marvel and DC.
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 + Dark Horse + more)
- Lunar Distribution (DC + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (Image + BOOM! + 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.
Night Fever (Image, $24.99): Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips of Criminal and Reckless fame present a “Jekyll-and-Hyde story of a man facing the darkness inside himself.” When a man goes to Europe on a business trip, he’s lured into “the hidden world of the night” and has to figure out how to survive and get back home.
Spider-Man: Animals Assemble (Amulet Books, $12.99 ): Cartoonist Mike Maihack writes and draws this graphic novel featuring Spider-Man watching after the Avengers’ pets as they go off to save the world. Look for appearances by Redwing, Lucky the Pizza Dog, Captain Marvel’s cat Chewie, Throg and more.
Family Style (First Second, $17.99): Thien Pham writes and draws this memoir about his family immigrating from Vietnam to Thailand and eventually California — and the food they ate along the way.
The Faint of Heart (Greenwillow Books, $18.99): In a world where people have had their hearts removed to save themselves from anxiety and sadness, writer and artist Kerilynn Wilson presents the story of June, a girl who still has her heart and doesn’t want to become like everyone else.
Catboy (Silver Sprocket, $19.99): Benji Nate’s webcomic, which originally ran on Vice.com, is about a girl who wishes she could talk to her cat like it was human and gets more than she bargained for when that wish comes true.
Nuking Alaska (Graphic Mundi, $19.95): Alaskan resident Peter Dunlap-Shohl recounts what life was like for the state during the Cold War and the constant threat of nuclear war.
Cosmoknights, Vol. 2 (Top Shelf, $24.99): The wonderful space epic by Hannah Templer returns this week for its second volume. Read my interview with Templer for more details.
DC Pride: Through the Years (DC, $9.99): This collection of Pride-themed content features four stories — three out-of-print stories, plus a new Alan Scott story by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey that will lead into his upcoming miniseries.
Battle Chasers #10 (Image, $3.99): After two decades, Joe Madureira returns to comics and his flagship creation, with artist Ludo Lullabi joining him to continue the series.
Black Panther #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Chris Allen disrupt the Black Panther’s status quo as the fugitive king continues to fight for the people of Wakanda in this new series.
Klik Klik Boom #1 (Image, $3.99): Writer Doug Wagner and artist Doug Dabbs, who worked together on a story for the 2019 miniseries The Ride: Burning Desire, re-team for the story of Sprout, a mute woman seeking revenge for the murder of her grandfather.
Static Team-Up: Anansi #1 (DC, $3.99): Static reunites with Anansi, the Akan folktale character and the god of stories, wisdom, knowledge and trickery, who appeared on the Static Shock animated series.
Xino #1 (Oni Press, $5.99): This new anthology will feature “subversive, surrealist science-fiction” by a host of creators, with the first 40-page issue featuring stories by Chris Condon, Melissa Flores, Phil Hester, Jordan Thomas, Nick Cagnetti, Phil Hester, Daniel Irizarri, Shaky Kane and more.
Void Rivals #1 (Image, $3.99): Robert Kirkman teams with his Oblivion Song collaborator Lorenzo De Felici for this new series that also kicks off a new shared universe. The story for this one is that two rival pilots on different sides of a cosmic war both end up crashed on the same planet, a la Enemy Mine.
Spider-Man India #1 (Marvel, $3.99): Fresh off his appearance in Across the Spider-Verse, Pavitr Prabhakar returns in this new miniseries set on his home world by Nikesh Shukla and Abhishek Malsuni.
Queen of Swords #1 (Vault, $4.99): The hit comic Barbaric gets a spinoff as Michael Moreci and K.J. Diaz present the story of three women and their talking sword.
Marvel’s Voices: Pride (Marvel, $9.99): Marvel’s latest Pride special not only features new work by Steve Foxe, Stephanie Williams, Rosi Kampe and more, but it also features the introduction of a new X-Men team, a new Nightshade and more.
Dead by Daylight #1 (Titan, $4.99): Nadia Shammas and Dilon Snook team up for this prequel to the hit video game.
Death Drop Drag Assassin #1 (Scout, $4.99): David Hazan and Alex Moore present a “supernatural queer noir” about a former hitman-turned-drag queen who gets pulled back into the life to protect the drag queen community.
Captain Marvel #50 (Marvel, $4.99): Kelly Thompson’s time on Captain Marvel wraps up in this double-sized issue that features artwork by Javier Pina and David Lopez. You can look for her next work over at DC, where she’s writing Birds of Prey.
Haunt You to the End #1 (Image, $3.99): This science fiction/horror series from Top Cow is set at the end of the world, as Ryan Cady and Andrea Mutti introduce an eccentric billionaire who assembles a crew to prove there is life after death.
Gold Digger #300 (Antarctic Press, $3): Fred Perry’s long-running series will end with issue #301, but this issue is quite the milestone for an independent series in the U.S., as Perry has not only served as writer but also did pencils, inks, colors and lettering for all 300 issues.
Captain America Cold War Omega (Marvel, $4.99): Collin Kelly, Tochi Onyebuchi, Jackson Lanzing and Carlos Magno wrap up the crossover that pit two Captains America and their allies against Bucky Barnes, the White Wolf and a horde of Dimension Z monsters. Kelly and Lanzing still have one more issue of Captain America to go before the series ends to make way for a new Captain America series in September.