Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.
I’ve pulled out some of the 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 (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. With Diamond going through bankruptcy proceedings, distribution has become even more tumultuous, with deliveries and arrival dates changing. So check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop.
Zatanna #1 (DC, $3.99): DC’s mystical maiden joins the All In rollout with this new series written and drawn by Jamal Campbell. Unlike the recent Black Label series, Zatanna: Bring Down the House, this one is set in DC’s current continuity and will feature several familiar faces like Blue Devil and Madame Xanadu, as well as a new villain, The Lady White.
Weapon X-Men #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Joe Casey and ChrisCross bring together a group of bad ass X-Men, including Wolverine, Deadpool and Cable, for this new series that Marvel is billing as part of the One World Under Doom event, but Joe Casey has said isn’t the case. So if you come in expecting Doom, you may be disappointed.
Godzilla: Heist #1 (IDW, $4.99): Van Jensen and Kelsey Ramsay helm this high-concept Godzilla series that features a thief who discovers that Godzilla reacts to a very specific energy signal, which he uses to create the perfect distraction for his heists — a kaiju attack.
Let This One Be A Devil #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): James Tynion IV has shown his affection for “True Weird” stories — stories of UFOs, cryptids and other stories about people’s real-world encounters with the unexplained — and now he’s teamed up with co-writer Steve Foxe, artist Piotr Kowalski, colorist Brad Simpson and letterer Tom Napolitano on the four-issue miniseries about the Jersey Devil. It’ll also feature a “True Weird” back-up story by Rachel Deering, with art by Jesse Lonergan and lettering by Aditya Bidikar.
Doom Academy #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Doctor Doom’s tenure as sorcerer supreme comes with some additional responsibilities — namely serving as headmaster of the former Strange Academy. (I’m sure he’ll do it better than Doctor Strange). The students of that institution — who helped Doom save the world from the vampire invasion in Blood Hunt — will find out what it’s like to have One World Under Doom as they relocate from New Orleans to Latveria to study at the Doom Academy. The five-issue miniseries is by MacKenzie Cadenhead, Pasqual Ferry and João Lemos.
The Loose End #1 (Titan, $3.99): This new crime series by Dave Dwonch and Travis Hymel is about a screenwriter who decides the best way to pay off his debt to the mob is to execute the biggest exec in Hollywood.
Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons: The Rise of Hellfire #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): This second miniseries featuring the popular role-playing game and the popular Netflix series explores the D&D origins of popular season 4 character Eddie Munson, including how he first met Lucas, Dustin and Mike as they played the game together. It’s by Jody Houser, Eric Campbell and more.
Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #1 (Marvel, $4.99): If you read the most recent Thunderbolts series you know that Bucky Barnes and company inadvertently did Doctor Doom a solid. That didn’t sit well with Bucky, so he’s putting the band back together — along with some new members — to face off with Doom and his new team of Thunderbolts. The five-issue series is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, with art by Tommaso Bianchi.
Halfway to Somewhere (Random House Graphic, $13.99): Jose Pimienta writes and draws this graphic novel about a middle school forced to move from Mexico to Kansas after their parents divorce.
Buzz! (Oni Press, $24.99): Oni collects Ananth Hirsh and Tess Stone’s story of one kid’s descent into the world of underground spelling bees, where the stakes are high and the words are long. This edition features newly colored artwork and bonus material.
Cassi and the House of Memories (Random House Graphic, $14.99): Dean Stuart writes and draws this magical realism story about a girl and her grandfather, whose memory is fading and ends up lost, and it’s up to Cassi to journey into a world filled with his past memories to find him.
Prez: The Deluxe Edition (DC, $34.99): If I’m not mistaken, this new collection seems to have all of the Mark Russell-written, Ben Caldwell-drawn stories about Prez, the teenage viral sensation who was elected president in 2048 — and whose stories and title are inspired by the 1970s “Prez” who was created by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti. DC re-released them as a YA graphic novel last year, and this deluxe edition has a new intro by Russell, an afterword by DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins and more.
Marvel Premier graphic novels (Marvel, $14.99 each): These 6” x 9” collections were announced last year at the New York Comic Con and seem to be following in the footsteps of DC’s successful Compact Comics line. First out of the gate is a new collection of the classic Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, which will feature a new intro by Miller and an afterward by Charlie Cox, star of the Daredevil: Born Again TV series on Disney+ that debuts in March. It’s accompanied by Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Stelfreeze and Chris Sprouse, which collects the first 12 issues of Coates’ run on Black Panther. They’ll be followed by collections later this year featuring Winter Soldier and the Fantastic Four.