Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
Labor Day has always marked the end of summer for me, as we shift from August to September and from hot sun to cooler weather (well, in theory, anyway). This week the harvest is bountiful, as it includes Minor Arcana, Jeff Lemire’s new title about the daughter of a fake psychic who may be a real psychic; the appropriately titled The Autumn Kingdom by Cullen Bunn and Christopher Mitten; a milestone Poison Ivy issue; and a new series spotlighting Groot.
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.
Minor Arcana #1 (BOOM! Studios, $4.99): Jeff Lemire kicks off a new ongoing series that he will write, illustrate and color. Minor Arcana is about the daughter of a small-town “psychic” who returns to town to take care of her ailing mother — only to discover that unlike mom, she may have actual psychic powers.
The Autumn Kingdom #1 (Oni Press, $4.99): Horror masters Cullen Bunn and Christopher Mitten team for a new miniseries about an author and his family who head to an isolated cabin in Sweden so he can finish his latest dark fantasy novel, only to land in one themselves.
Duck and Cover #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s 1950s Cold-War era insanity comic originally debuted as a digital title last year on Comixology, and now Dark Horse brings the madness to print as a three-issue miniseries.
Dark Empty Void #1 (Mad Cave Studios, $4.99): Zack Kaplan and Chris Shehan helm this five-issue miniseries about a group of scientist who create a black hole in a lab. But when they lose control over it, all sorts of weird things start emerging from it — including a teenage girl.
Lady Mechanika: The Devil in the Lake #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Joe Benitez, M. M. Chen and Siya Oum return to the world of Lady Mechanika in this new miniseries. Our hero tries to escape disturbing revelations from her past by running off to Siberia to hunt an alleged dragon living in an ancient lake.
Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1 (Titan Comics, $3.99): As revealed on Free Comic Book Day, Jim Zub and Jonas Scharf kick off an event that reaches across eras of Robert Howard characters, bringing together Conan, Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes and more to solve the mystery of a strange symbol they’ve all encountered.
Farscape 25th Anniversary Special (BOOM! Studios, $9.99): TV’s Farscape turns 25 this year, and longtime partner BOOM! Studios is here to celebrate. The first Farscape comic published since 2010 features stories by Keith R.A. DeCandido, who wrote many of BOOM!’s previous Farscape comics, along with Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Sarah Gailey, Sina Grace and more.
Firefly: Malcolm Reynolds Year One #1 (BOOM! Studios, $7.99): Sam Humphires, Giovanni Fabiano and Gloria Martinelli explore the early years of Firefly’s fearless leader in this “Year One” one-shot. Future one-shots will focus on other members of the crew.
Star Trek #500 (IDW, $6.99): This special anthology issue is the 500th Star Trek comic published by IDW, and it includes five short stories that span fan-favorite eras of the franchise from Lower Decks to Strange New Worlds and features legacy characters from The Next Generation and the original series, all written and illustrated by Star Trek comics veterans and new voices. It also includes a prelude to 2025’s big Star Trek and Defiant comic crossover event written by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Christopher Cantwell.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures: Echos of Fear #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): George Mann and Vincenzo Federici delve into ancient Jedi/Sith history in this new miniseries, which features Reath Silas and Jedi Padawan Amadeo Azzazzo learning more about Darth Ravi and the dreaded Echo Stones.
Star Wars The Acolyte: Kelnacca #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Well, ouch … this one-shot spinoff of the Acolyte Disney+ show could have had better timing, as unfortunately the show it is based on has now been cancelled. But that shouldn’t stop Cavan Scott and Marika Cresta from having fun while tleling us the history of Kelnacca, the Wookiee Jedi Knight who stole all of our hearts.
What If … Donald Duck Became Thor? (Marvel, $4.99): We’ve seen everyone from Captain America to Beta Ray Bill to even Wonder Woman deemed “worthy” to hold Thor’s enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, and now you can add another surprising name to the list — Donald Duck. Writers Steve Behling and Riccardo Secchi, along with artist Lorenzo Pastrovicchio, imagine what might have happened if Donald Duck had found the ancient magical cane that turned Donald Blake into the God of Thunder.
Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #1 (Marvel, $4.99): When Groot gets sick, things go very wrong for the Avengers, causing many of them to turn into zombies. Groot and the Hulk must find a cure without killing any of them in this miniseries by Thomas Krajewski and Jason Muhr.
Exceptional X-Men #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero send Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde back to school to train a new generation of mutants. Along with X-Men and Uncanny X-Men, this new title will serve as the third “flagship” title for the From the Ashes line. It focuses on two popular mutants who have had a love/hate thing going since they were introduced, who together will train three new mutants whose powers recently revealed themselves — the metallic and whip-wielding Bronze, the emotion-stirring Axo and the stealth-skilled fighter Melee.
Absolute Power #3 (DC, $4.99): Mark Waid and Dan Mora continue their excellent crossover miniseries featuring Amanda Waller’s war on DC’s heroes. After Waller and her allies, Failsafe and the Brainiac Queen, bring the heroes’ respite at the Fortress of Solitude to an end, those who aren’t captured flee to Theymscira, home of Wonder Woman and the Amazons.
Batman #152 (DC, $4.99): This Absolute Power tie-in issue features stories by Chip Zdarsky, Kelly Thompson, Mike Hawthorne, Adridano Di Benedetto, Mattia De Iulis and more, as Batman and Catwoman battle the Suicide Squad and the Birds of Prey face Waller’s minions in the back-up.
Plastic Man No More #1 (DC Black Label, $4.99): Plastic Man isn’t the first character that comes to mind when I think “Who should star in a Black Label series?” but when you throw in the words “body horror,” suddenly it all comes together. This four-issue miniseries features a Plastic Man who suffers “catastrophic cellular damage,” loses control of his body and powers, and faces the prospect that he could die. It’s by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Alex Lins.
Poison Ivy #25 (DC, $4.99): What started as a miniseries and graduated to an ongoing series has now been around long enough to reach its extra-sized 25th issue. The anthology issue will feature the regular creative team of G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara being joined by Dan Watters, Joanne Starer, Brian Level and more for stories about Ivy’s past, present and future.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch Annual Spectacular (Archie Comics, $3.99): Sabrina’s nemesis Amber Nightstone unleashes a new threat in the form of the mother of all witches, Mother Striga, in this Halloween special by writer Ian Flynn and artists Steven and Lily Butler.
Adventuregame Comics: Samurai vs. Ninja (Abrams Fanfare, $14.99): Jason Shiga is back with another choose-your-own-adventure graphic novel that allows you, the reader, to decide the outcome. This one is about a magical bracelet with immense power that you must steal back from the evil Lord Touma.
Knots (Harper Alley, $15.99): Colleen Frakes writes and draws this graphic novel about Nora, the good kid in her family, who decides to try a home dye job and ends up with a tangled mess of hair that’s going to require some help.
Hearing Things (Toon Books, $12.99): Ben Sears will help you get ready for spooky season in this graphic novel about a brother and sister who move to a new town; she likes making spooky music but has been “off” since the move, so her brother and his cat head to the local haunted house to record some sounds to inspire her.
Crusher Loves Bleeder (Fantagraphics, $29.99): Can a boy with tasty blood and the bug who needs it to survive become best friends? You’ll have to read Patrick Keck and Thomas Herpich’s new graphic novel to find out.
Born in the USA (First Second, $29.99): Lawrence Goldstone and James Otis Smith bring us the latest installment of First Second’s excellent World Citizen Comics line. This one tracks the history of immigration to the United States, highlighting the twists and turns in the nearly 300-year debate over who gets to be an American.
The Marvel Art of David Mack (Clover Press, $75): This prestige coffee table book was originally crowdfunded on Kickstarter as part of a deal between Clover Press and Marvel, as the boutique publisher creates high-end art books featuring the work of some of Marvel’s best. This volume includes iconic images, rare pieces and never-before-seen artwork from David Mack, co-creator of Echo and artist of Daredevil, Alias and countless Marvel covers.
X-Factor: The Original X-Men Omnibus (Marvel, $125): Today is Walt Simonson’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to the legendary artist of Thor, X-Factor and more. I mention Simonson because this new omnibus collects some of his early work on X-Factor with Louise Simonson, as well as a couple issues of Thor that were part of the bigger Mutant Massacre storyline. It also has the resurrection of Jean Grey storyline, which ran through Avengers and Fantastic Four, some Power Pack issues, The Mephisto Vs. issue featuring X-Factor, of course the first two years worth of issues of the main X-Factor title and more.
Compact Comics: Joker, Harley Quinn and the Gotham City Sirens (DC, $9.99 each): DC’s new, cheaper line of collections continues to role out new titles, with Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Black Label (and controversial) Joker series getting collected, along with Paul Dini and Guillem March’s 13-issue Gotham City Sirens series.
The Batfamily Year One Box Set (DC, $59.99): If you’re wondering what gift to get the Batfam fan on your list this year, here’s a fun one — DC collects three older “Year One” stories featuring two of Batman’s greatest sidekicks — Batgirl: Year One, Robin: Year One and a box set exclusive edition of Nightwing: Year One. The collections include material by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, Marcos Martin, Javier Pulido, Scott McDaniel and more.