Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. This is an extra-large week, with several compelling graphic novels and collections arriving just in time for your holiday shopping needs.
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 + Image + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (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.
Zawa + the Belly of the Beast #1 (BOOM!, $4.99): Wynd artist Michael Dialynas writes and draws this great-looking series about an ancient guardian spirit named Zawa whose steady diet of industrial runoff in the mountain where she’s trapped has left her paranoid and destructive. That is, until two kids rescue her and figure out the best way to save her is to feed her.
Punisher #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Spencer & Locke co-creator and former Savage Avengers writer David Pepose teams with Planet of the Apes artist Dave Wachter on a reboot of the Punisher, as a retired SHIELD agent named Joe Garrison takes up the mantle once held by Frank Castle.
Batman #139 (DC, $4.99): Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez kick off a new arc featuring an isolated and paranoid Batman going face-to-face and fist-to-fist with the Joker.
Count Crowley: Mediocre Midnight Monster Hunter #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Count Crowley returns in his third miniseries by David Dastmalchian, Lukas Ketner, Lauren Affe and Frank Cvetkovic. It features a dead werewolf, a child-snatching ghoul and a depressed monster hunter.
Thanos #1 (Marvel, $4.99): A new Illuminati made up of Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Emma Frost and the Blue Marvel face off with Thanos in this new miniseries by Christopher Cantwell and Luca Pizzari.
Petrol Head #1 (Image, $4.99):Rob Williams and Pye Parr of 2000AD fame are in the driver’s seat for this new post-apocalyptic series about a hot-rod racing robot and a 12-year-old girl who may be the only chance to save humanity.
Superman ’78: The Metal Curtain #1 (DC, $3.99): The story from the 1978 Superman: The Movie starring Christopher Reeve continues in this new miniseries by Robert Venditti and Gavin Guidry about the Soviet Union’s attempt to make their own Superman.
Nice Jewish Boys #1 (Comixology Originals, $2.99): Neil Kleid, John Broglia, Ellie Wright and Sarah Litt tell a story about “a modern day Jewish crime drama set in suburban New Jersey.”
What If? Dark: Tomb of Dracula (Marvel, $4.99): Tomb of Dracula writer and Blade co-creator Marv Wolfman returns to those characters with artist David Cutler for a retelling of a Blade and Dracula encounter that results in Dracula turning Blade into an actual vampire.
Josie and the Pussycats Anniversary Special (Archie, $3.99): Holly G writes and draws this celebration of the 60th anniversary of Josie and the Pussycats, as the band heads to space to put on a concert.
Captain Ginger: The Last Feeder #1 (Ahoy, $3.99): Writer Stuart Moore and artist June Brigman reunite for a two-issue series about their “Star Trek, but cats” series Captain Ginger. This new series “finds Captain Ginger and his crew scattered across a thousand light-years, facing the twin mysteries of the Captain’s long-missing father—and the final fate of the human race.”
Love and Rockets #14 (Fantagraphics, $4.99): Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez return with four new stories featuring Fritz, Maggie, Princess Animus and more.
Star Wars: The High Republic #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Cavan Scott and Ario Anindito kick off the third phase of the High Republic stories as the Republic and the Jedi Knights face off with an invading force.
Power Button: The First Invasion (Lerner Publishing, $17.99): Zack Soto writes and draws this all-ages graphic novel about two cousins who must fend off an alien invasion with the help of a space knight they summon named Trinn Cyclo.
The Cliffs (Drawn and Quarterly, $22.95): This graphic novel by Manon Debaye and translated by Montana Kane won the 2023 Philippe Druillet Prize at Angoulême. It’s about two friends who make a pact to jump off a cliff in five days — if they can survive the bullies in their schoolyard.
Macanudo (Fantagraphics, $24.99): A second volume of Liniers’ internationally popular comic strip featuring elves, witches, forest monsters, unicorns, children, talking cats and penguins arrives from Fantagraphics.
Good Girls Go to Hell (Graphic Mundi, $29.95): Tohar Sherman-Friedman’s autobiographical graphic novel details the life of the youngest of seven children in a conservative Jewish family who struggles with school, body image, relationships with family and friends, and political protests.
The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (Humanoids, $19.99): Wander Antunes adapts Mark Twain’s short story into a graphic novel, telling the story of a mysterious stranger who decides to test whether Hadleyburg is truly the “most honest town in America.”
Felix the Cat (Rocketship Entertainment): Rocketship collects the miniseries by Mike Federali, Bob Frantz and Tracy Yardley featuring the return of Felix and his bag of tricks to comics.