Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
This week sees Marvel’s first-ever Uncle Scrooge comic arrive in stores, while Destro enters the Energon Universe and Joy Operations by Brian Michael Bendis and Stephen Byrne returns for a second round.
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.
Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime (Marvel, $7.99): Uncle Scrooge returns to comics in this one-shot by Jason Aaron, Paolo Mottura, Francesco D’ippolito, Vitale Mangiatordi and more. This is the first time the character has appeared in a comic from Marvel, and they’re going all out with a story that involves several Uncle Scrooge characters from throughout the universe.
Destro #1 (Skybound, $4.99): Dan Watters and Andrei Bressan put the spotlight on one of the G.I. Joe team’s most notorious enemies, as “your favorite amoral arms trafficker” enters the Energon Universe, no doubt finding new ways to profit off of death and destruction.
Joy Operations 2 #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Joy Operations, the “fast-paced, fiercely ambitious sci-fi odyssey” by Brian Michael Bendis and Stephen Byrne, gets a sequel this week. Joy Corrigan and Hampton are back, they’re sharing the same body and they’re on the run after the event of the first miniseries.
Self Help #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Novelists Owen King and Jesse Kellerman, artist Marianna Ignazzi, colorist Fabiana Mascolo and designer/letterer Ian Chagren are the team behind this “California noir” title from Syzygy Publishing. It’s set in “a surreal and colorful world populated with two-faced talk-show hosts, cheerful Finnish mobsters, bloodthirsty white supremacists, snide English butlers and panther-wielding Euro-trash assassins.”
Galaxy of Madness #1 (Mad Cave, $4.99): Magdalene Visaggio, Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma team up for this retro-futuristic new series. It’s about a swashbuckling space archaeologist named Vigil Virgo who is about to discover a universe-shattering secret.
Venomverse Reborn #1 (Marvel, $4.99): The Venomverse returns in this anthology featuring stories of different Venoms from around the multiverse. Each issue features multiple stories by different creators, starting this issue with Ben Percy, Christos Gage, Brian Level and more. It also includes a framing sequence by Venom writer Al Ewing and artist Danilo S. Beyruth that will “lay the groundwork for the next symbiote epic” — which would be the upcoming Venom War.
The Writer #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Actor Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me, Frozen) teams with producers Ben and Max Berkowitz and artist Ariel Olivetti forn this miniseries that combines folklore with “the real-life challenges of the creative process.”
Misery #1 (Image Comics, $2.99): The expansion of the Spawn universe continues in this four-issue miniseries about Cyan Fitzgerald, the daughter of Spawn’s wife, Wanda, who passed away in 2016. Cyan, now 17, has a “healing” power that forces her to distance herself from those she loves. It’s written by Todd McFarlane and drawn by Szymon Kudrański, artist of Blood Commandment.
Cyn (Humanoids, $19.99): Ibrahim Moustafa writes and draws this graphic novel about a cyborg who is trying to leave her past lives, both as a human and cybernetic enforcer, behind.
Trick Pony (Dark Horse, $22.99): Dark Horse collects the Comixology Originals title by Greg Lockard, Anna David and Lucas Gattoni about a gay rodeo star well past his prime who heads home — on horseback — when he finds out his dad is dying.
Dandelion (Image Comics, $16.99): Ms. Marvel writer Sabir Pirzada teams with a host of artists on this graphic novel that features “climate crisis-infused tales.” The anthology includes contributions from Martín Morazzo, Vanesa R. Del Rey, Eric Koda, Roy Allan Martinez, Gegê Schall, Thomas Campi, Adrian Rivero, Juha Veltti, Marquis Rogers and more.
Total Suplex of the Heart (Humanoids, $22.99): Joanne Starer and Diego Greco square up with this new graphic novel about a journalist who enters the world of professional wrestling to investigate a story, and gets caught up in the drama of the sport.
Self Esteem and the End of the World (Drawn + Quarterly, $24.95): Luke Healy, creator of The Con Artists and Americana, returns with a new graphic novel about self-discovery and the global climate crisis.
The Mountains of Madness (Blue Fox Comics, $25.99): Adam Fyda writes and draws this graphic novel based on the H.P. Lovecraft story “At The Mountains of Madness.”
All My Bicycles (Fantagraphics, $19.99): Colombian-Ecuadorian cartoonist Power Paola takes a nonlinear approach to storytelling in this graphic novel about all the bicycles she’s owned — which she uses as a vehicle to explore the world, her relationships, her memories – and herself.
NOW #13 (Fantagraphics, $12.99): Fantagraphics’ anthology of alt.comix returns for the first time since February of last year with new stories by Caitlin Skaalrud, Kayla E., Nathan Gelgud and more.
Defenders of the Earth (Mad Cave Studios, $9.99): As a part of obtaining the license to make new comics featuring Flash Gordon, Mad Cave collects this four-issue series originally published as a part of Marvel’s Star imprint. The first issue of the comic was written by Stan Lee and Bob Harris, with Michael Higgins writing the next three issues and Alex Saviuk and Fred Fredericks drawing the whole thing. The story was based on the animated TV show of the same name, featuring Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and more fighting the forces of evil.
Rom: The Original Marvel Years, Volume 2 (Marvel, $125): A second “Romnibus” arrives this week, continuing to reprint the original Rom series published by Marvel and featuring the work of Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and more. This volume includes Rom #30-50, Rom Annual #1-2 and Marvel Two-In-One #99, which featured a team-up between Rom and The Thing.