Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. There’s a LOT coming out this week, so let’s get to it.
I’ve pulled out some of the other highlights for this week 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.
The Power Fantasy #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard and Clayton Cowles present “the eternal fight against fighting” in this concept, high-stakes series that replaces the world’s nuclear arsenal with six ultra-powered beings who could destroy the world if they ever fought. So they do whatever it takes not to.
Uncanny X-Men #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Gail Simone and David Marquez present the second flagship X-Men title in the From the Ashes era, as they bring together Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Jubilee to battle a “fearless, malignant power” that’s threatening the world’s mutants.
Gotham City Sirens #1 (DC, $3.99): Leah Williams, Matteo Lolli, Daniel Hillyard, Brandt & Stein, and more bring Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn back together again in a weekly miniseries that replaces their ongoing titles for this month. The trip team up to stop “a violent and highly illegal energy drink-sponsored hunting operation” that’s threatening wildlife and Gotham citizens alike.
Cruel Universe #1 (Oni Press, $4.99): The second title from Oni’s EC Comics revival arrives, this one focused on science fiction stories. Contributors to the first issue of this anthology include Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, Matt Kindt, Ben H. Winters, Kano, Caitlin Yarsky, Jonathan Case, Artyom Topilin and more.
Venom War #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Eddie and Dylan Brock both can lay claim to the name Venom, but in Marvel’s latest crossover series there can be only one — so let’s you and him fight. Al Ewing and Iban Coello put father against son, as symbiotes and superheroes take sides in Marvel’s latest event series.
Absolute Power #2 (DC, $4.99): It’s a shame that in the world of comics, the need for solicitations three months out means you already know where DC is going with this. But I hope that doesn’t take away from what should be an enjoyable event series by two modern masters, Mark Waid and Dan Mora. This issue finds Amanda Waller and her evil minions doing a victory lap as DC’s remaining heroes retreat to the Fortress of Solitude.
Red Before Black #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Stephanie Phillips and Goran Sudzuka are headed down south to Florida — where you can beat the heat if you beat the charges too — for this “violent, hyper kinetic, women-led Florida crime thriller.”
The Pedestrian #1 (Magma Comix, $3.99): Joey Esposito and Sean Von Gorman speedwalk toward justice in this new series about a mysterious guy out on a walk that changes people’s lives in the small town where he lives. “But not all is quiet in this sleepy, small town—an ancient conflict linked to the secret history of street signs is brewing!”
C.O.W.L. 1964 #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel and Rod Reis return to C.O.W.L., their 2014 series about the world’s first super-hero labor union, the Chicago Organized Workers League. The new series finds C.O.W.L. going national, facing new threats of union-busting from the shadows. This series is also part of the bigger Massive-verse, and Higgins says this series will help set up the future for both C.O.W.L. and the bigger world they inhabit.
Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #1 (Marvel, $5.99): In honor of the 40th anniversary of Spider-Man’s black suit, the webslinger gets his own “Black, White & Blood” miniseries, with a subtle twist. This first issue features stories by Dustin Nguyen, J. Michael Straczynski and Sumit Kumar, and J.M. DeMatteis and Elena Casagrande, who will revisit the classic “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline.
Garfield #1 (BOOM! Studios, $4.99): Fresh off his latest film, Garfield returns to comics with a new miniseries featuring stories by Ryan Estrada, Sarah Graley, Axur Eneas and more.
Cyber Force: Shootout (Image Comics/Top Cow, $3.99): The winner of Top Cow’s 2022 Talent Hunt, Billy Muggelberg, teams with artists John Starr and Bruno Abdias for a story about Ballistic hunting down a rogue Aphrodite IV android.
Blood Hunters #1 (Marvel, $4.99): The Blood Hunters assembled in this summer’s Blood Hunt, and Marvel is wasting no time giving them a series of their own. The five-issue miniseries by Erica Schultz and Robert Gill will feature Dagger, Elsa Bloodstone, White Widow and Hallow’s Eve removing newly turned vampires from the streets after the events of the crossover. Also, Miles the newly turned Vampire Spider-Man is there, but is he a fellow hunter or the hunted?
Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Dark Horse and Asmodee Entertainment, one of their sister companies within the Embracer Group, have teamed up for this four-issue miniseries based on Asmodee’s Arkham Horror line of games. This comic is about a private investigator and a socialite who team up to rescue the socialite’s sister from a cult, and it’s by writer Cullen Bunn, artist Andrea Mutti, colorist Valerio Alloro and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
Monster High: New Scaremester #1 (IDW, $4.99): Jacque Aye and Caroline Shuda kick off a new Monster High series featuring Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Cleo de Nile and Frankie Stein who must deal with the trials and drama that come from a new “scaremester” at school.
Avengers #17 (Marvel, $3.99): The Avengers get a new member and a new artist in this issue, following in the wake of both Blood Hunt and Fall of the House of X. Valerio Schiti joins Jed MacKay on the title, as the Avengers welcome Storm to the team.
Loving, Ohio (Dark Horse, $19.99): Matthew Erman and Sam Beck introduce The Chorus, a cult that “has infiltrated every structure” of the town known as Loving, Ohio. The story focuses on four friends trying to survive high school in a town built around the cult.
Ore: A Starhenge Graphic Novella (Image Comics, $7.99): Following a successful first volume, Liam Sharp returns to the Arthurian-inspired world of StarHenge to write and draw another story about the battle between the resurrected Ur-Queen and the horrifying AI of the CAST.
Fate: The Winx Saga (Maverick, $14.99): Honestly I’m not 100% sure this actually comes out this week, as it’s listed on Lunar’s site but the release date on Mad Cave’s site says Aug. 13. So we’ll see what happens. Anyway, this graphic novel continues the storyline from the cancelled Netflix show, as Olivia Cuartero-Briggs and Christianne Gillenardo-Goudreau pick up at the magical school of Alfea with Bloom still missing and the rest of the girls facing a new threat.
Youth Group (First Second, $17.99): This one already arrived in bookstores, but it’s showing up on Diamond’s list so that means you’ll hopefully find it at your local comic shop this week. It’s by Jordan Morris and Bowen “Bones” McCurdy, who create a story about a church youth group that sings about Jesus by day and slays demons at night. And it’s really funny. Check out my interview with Morris for more info.
Flash Gordon Classic Collection, Volume 1 (Mad Cave Studios, $49.99): As part of their plans to publish new Flash Gordon comics, Mad Cave also has the rights to reprint the classic comic strip. This volume reprints all of Alex Raymond’s Sunday strips from Jan. 1, 1934 to April 18, 1937, and includes an intro by Alex Ross.
The Last Starry Night: Vincent Van Gogh (Black Panel Press, $29.99): Jamison Odone writes and draws this graphic novel about Vincent Van Gogh circa 1890, when he was released from an asylum and wandered the French countryside until he discovered Auberge Ravoux, an inn where he painted 75 works of art over a three month period.
Scram: Society of Creatures Real and Magical (First Second, $14.99): Rory Lucey writes and draws this middle-grade graphic novel about three friends who form a secret club to search for cryptids living in their town — starting with a troll.
Phineas and Ferb: Classic Comics Collection (Papercutz, $9.99): As part of a larger publishing program with Disney, Mad Cave collects — some for the first time — stories featuring the popular duo from the old Disney Presents magazine. It includes stories by Dan Povenmire, Jeff Swampy Marsh, Scott Peterson, Eric Jones, John Green, Mike DeCarlo and more.
Never Again Will I Visit Auschwitz (Fantagraphics, $34.99): This debut graphic memoir by Ari Richter intertwines two powerful narratives: the experiences of his grandfather’s family in Dachau and Auschwitz during the Holocaust, and his own awakening to the contemporary rise of authoritarianism and the ongoing crisis of anti-Semitism in the modern United States. With a blend of delicacy, immediacy and surreal detail, Richter brings these haunting stories to life through the perspectives of four generations of his family.
How It All Ends (Greenwillow Books, $15.99): Emma Hunsinger tells the story of Tara, a seventh grader who gets bumped up to high school and has to learn to live in her new environment.
HoverGirls (Bloomsbury, $17.99): Geneva Bowers writes and draws this young adult webcomic-turned-graphic novel about two cousins who gain supernatural powers and have to defend their city from attacking monsters.
Ground Zero Comics (Fantagraphics, $8): This collaboration between Fantagraphics, Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action and EduComics is meant to continue the tradition of the “activist comix” that were popular in the 1970s-80s. The story “addresses nuclear weapons issues as they affect those living in Washington state, and draws attention to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, 20 miles from Seattle, which is home of the world’s largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons.” Contributors include Leonard Rifas, Pat Moriarity, David Lasky, Max Clotfelter and Kelly Froh.
A Phone Call Away (Mad Cave Studios, $19.99): Rich Douek and Russell Mark Olson team up for the story of a couple whose daughter was kidnapped and murdered 14 years prior, leading indirectly to them both becoming famous and successful reality TV stars. Now their second child has been kidnapped, and they have just one week to find her.