Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
This week a new publisher, Roxxon, joins the comics fray and introduces their own version of Thor, which I’m sure will have us all saying “This is fine.” Meanwhile, Nightwing hits a big milestone, Dudley Datson comes to print, Marvel’s Micronauts gets collected and BOOM! promises to Blow (us) Away.
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! + Dynamite + more)
- ComicList (Pretty much all of the above)
- Amazon/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.
Roxxon Presents: Thor #1 (Roxxon Comics, $3.99): Say what you want about Roxxon, the in-continuity bad guys who plan to control Thor’s story by buying his IP … at least they’re holding the line at $3.99 with their first issue, unlike, *ahem* Thor’s other publisher. This one-shot by current Immortal Thor writer Al Ewing and artist Greg Land features a different take on the Thunder God, as he defends “big business and the sanctity of shareholder value” by smashing woke environmentalists at the bequest of Roxxon CEO Dario Agger, a.k.a. the Minotaur.
Nightwing #113/300 (DC, $4.99): The latest issue of Nightwing also happens to be issue #300 by legacy numbering standards, and it features a story written by Tom Taylor with art by a plethora of artists, along with a back-up tale by Michael Conrad and Howard Porter. DC is playing coy about what the issue is actually about: Since the 1940’s, you’ve seen him go from acrobat to orphan; from Dick Grayson to Robin; from Robin to Nightwing. You’ve seen him work alongside the universe’s most powerful heroes, against existence’s most sinister villains. You have seen Dick Grayson do so many things, but now, in his 300th issue, you will see him…well, you’ll just have to pick up the issue and find out. Join us for this legacy 300 milestone!
Blow Away (BOOM!, $4.99): Writer Zac Thompson and artist Nicola Izzo channel their inner Hitchcock on this new crime thriller, which is about a wildlife videographer who, while on a remote video shoot, may have filmed a murder.
Star Wars The High Republic Adventures: Saber for Hire #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): High Republic master scribe Cavan Scott teams with artist Rachael Stott for this miniseries featuring Ty Yorrick, a former Jedi turned monster hunter.
Giant-Size Incredible Hulk (Marvel, $6.99): Marvel’s giant-sized celebration of the anniversary of their Giant-Size line from the 1970s goes Hulk-sized this month, as Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Andrea Broccardo introduce a new threat for the Jade Giant named Patchwork Jack.
Superman #13 (DC, $4.99): The House of Brainiac crossover event continues from last week with this second chapter by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval, which features Superman and Lobo teaming up to take on Brainiac and his army of Czarnians.
Dudley Datson and the Forever Machine #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Scott Snyder and Jamal Igle’s Comixology Originals series about a time-traveling teenager and his canine companion comes to print courtesy of Dark Horse.
Love Me: A Romance Story #1 (Mad Cave, $4.99): This new romance/science fiction hybrid comic is about a robot cabbie named JoJo who falls in love with Gilda, who is “entangled with the mafia.” It’s by writer Francesca Perillo and artist Stefano Cardoselli; Cardoselli wrote and drew Don’t Spit in the Wind, which was excellent, so I have high hopes for this one.
Hard Style Juice! #1 (Comixology Originals, $2.99): The worlds of family crime and pro wrestling collide in this new digital series by writer Clay McCormack and artist Ricardo López-Ortiz. It introduces King Castro, a local wrestling promoter who has to manage a shocking in-ring death and the consequences that may come from it being ruled a murder.
Catwoman #64 (DC, $3.99): Tini Howard and Carmine Di Giandomenico send the greatest thief on Earth on the heist of the century — one that isn’t on Earth. Oh yes, it’s Catwoman in space!
Covenant (Oni Press, $24.99): The popular Webtoon comic by LySandra Vuong about a Catholic exorcist who has lost his faith and must protect a “seemingly normal” human from rising demonic forces comes to print this week.
Gleem (Drawn and Quarterly, $22.95): Originally published by Peow Studios, Freddy Carrasco’s three-story collection returns from a different publisher this week. Caarasco has won both a Doug Wright Award and an Ignatz Award in the past for his low-fi sci-fi work.
Shell Collection (Fantagraphics, $34.99): Ron Rege, Jr.’s minicomics series, The Shell of the Self of the Senses (which you can sample on his Tumblr), gets collected in this massive volume, with newly added color.
Puzzled (Rocky Pond Books, $13.99): This memoir by Pan Cooke recounts his struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with endearing honesty and humor.
Double Booking (Papercutz, $12.99): Real-life siblings Chas! Pangburn and Kim Shearer co-wrote this new graphic novel featuring artwork by Nicolas Touris. It’s about two siblings who accidentally release a mummy cat from a pharaoh’s chamber and are tasked with tracking it down.
Harlem (NBM, $27.99): The third chapter of French-Canadian artist Mikaël’s trilogy set in New York focuses on Stéphanie St. Clair, also known as “Queenie,” an activist who also ran racketeering rings in Harlem in the early part of the 20th century. It also won a MoCCA Award of Excellence last month.
Legalization Nation (Floating World, $26): Just in time for 4/20, Box Brown’s weekly comic strip about “the ins and outs” of cannabis legalization comes to print, collecting about three years’ worth of strips.
In Perpetuity (Top Shelf, $19.99): Peter and Maria Hoey are back with a new graphic novel about a dead gas station attendant who is coerced into a smuggling scheme that operates across the boundaries of life and death.
Atlas Comics Library No. 2: Venus (Fantagraphics, $49.99): Fantagraphics continues to roll out their hardcover collections featuring old Timely/Atlas comics, the company that would later become Marvel. This second volume features issues of Venus by Bill Everett and Werner Roth, which started as a romance comic but later morphed into a science fiction and horror anthology — which are the issues Fantagraphics collects here.
Micronauts Original Marvel Years Omnibus (Marvel, $125): I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see this in my lifetime, but Marvel’s long-running licensed comic from the early 1980s finally gets collected this week. This omnibus includes the first 29 issues of the original series, along with the first two annuals, and features the work of Bill Mantlo, Michael Golden, Howard Chaykin and more. While Hasbro owned the Micronauts, the comic integrated them into the Marvel U. proper and featured guest appearances by the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and more — making it near impossible for any other publisher to ever reprint them.