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. So check with your retailer to see what’s arriving at their shop this week.
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #1 (Image/Skybound, $3.99): Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley have gotten the band back together for an Invincible spinoff series starring the popular and powerful bruiser known as Battle Beast. The series will follow the adventures of Thokk and show what he was up to when he wasn’t appearing on panel in the original Invincible series.
Also, back when Battle Beast was announced, Skybound revealed a “blind bag” program for the first issue that would allow purchasers to randomly get any of the numerous variant covers for issue #1. They revealed today that three other issues might be found in those bags — namely a new printing of Invincible #19, the first appearance of Battle Beast; a special advance edition of Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #2; and, most surprisingly, a reprint of Marvel Team-Up #14, the first meeting of Invincible and Spider-Man by Kirkman and Cory Walker:
Yes, that’s right … your copy of Battle Beast may come with a reprint of a Marvel title.
Supergirl #1 (DC, $3.99): Courtesy of Wet Moon creator and former Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles writer/artist Sophie Campbell, Supergirl is back headlining her own title as part of DC All In and the Summer of Superman initiative. Plus she’ll be the first character, I believe, to have box art on her cover in a long while. The new series will find Supergirl back in Midvale, the suburb of Metropolis where she used to live, dealing with a mysterious imposter Supergirl who is now protecting the town. And let’s not forget the debut of Princess Shark.
Exquisite Corpses #1 (Image/Tiny Onion, $4.99): This high-concept series — which plays off of the Exquisite Corpse concept — brings together a dozen creators for the story of a dozen killers facing off in a small town in Maine. James Tynion IV, Michael Walsh and Jordie Bellaire kick things off, with Adam Gorham, Becca Carey, Che Grayson, Claire Roe, Gavin Fullerton, Marianna Ignazzi, Pornsak Pichetshote, Tyler Boss, Valentine De Landro and more on tap for future issues.
Gwenpool #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Cavan Scott and Stefano Nesi introduce a darker, grittier version of Gwenpool in a first issue that guest stars Spider-Man, Fin Fang Foom and Jeff the Land Shark.
Huck: Big Bad World #1 (Dark Horse/Millarworld, $4.99): Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque return to the small-town heroics of Huck in this six-issue sequel miniseries, where a mysterious man tells Huck that he and his mom are not the only super-people out there.
Dark Regards #1 (Oni Press, $4.99): Dave Hill and Artyom Topilin team up for this new series about “how one stand-up comedian forged a secret online identity as America’s first true black metal icon . . . and accidentally started an international incident that almost wiped Gary, Indiana, off the map.”
Godzilla vs. X-Men (Marvel, $4.99): Fabian Nicieza returns to the X-Men with artist Emilio Laiso for a story set in the team’s past that features a battle with the giant kaiju AND a bunch of sentinels who have been sent after the monster.
Money Shot: Big Bang #1 (Vault Comics, $4.99): If you thought Vault’s Money Shot had shot its load, worry not — the alien porn/relationship comic by writer Tim Seeley returns for a new miniseries that adds comedian Patton Oswalt and artist Garth Graham to the mix.
“Money Shot has always been about finding the right partners,” said Seeley. “Lots of partners. Friends. Strangers. Aliens with a dozen or so sex organs. And even beloved comedians and acclaimed webcomics artists! So, with Big Bang, I’m positively throbbing to work with my friend and collaborator Patton Oswalt, and burning hot new (to print comics) talent, Garth Graham!”
Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Courtesy of Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom and Luciano Vecchio, the denizens of the Spider-Verse collide with their rambunctious neighbors over in the Venomverse.
The Toxic Avenger Pin-up Special (Ahoy Comics, $3.99): This one-shot features pin-ups of the Toxic Avenger by the likes of Mauricet, Ben Clarkson, Matt Bors, Fred Harper and more, along with a new story by Bors and Harper.
Godzilla: Here There Be Aliens #1 (IDW, $4.99): This miniseries wraps up the Godzilla: Here There be Dragons trilogy, as Frank Tieri and Angel Hernandez pit the Xiliens, who were introduced in the previous miniseries, against Earth and its kaiju.
Energon Universe 2025 Special (Image/Skybound, $3.99): If you missed Skybound’s Free Comic Book Day offering earlier this month, here’s another chance to get it — although it isn’t free this time. I didn’t pick it up myself, but I did hear from Skybound that it marks the second anniversary of the Energon Universe and includes appearances by two characters who are new to it — the Autobot Wheelie and M.A.S.K. character Matt Trakker. Which seems to indicate that another Hasbro property will be joining the Energon Universe.
“It’s a remarkable achievement to be celebrating the second anniversary of the Energon Universe, but with the introduction of Matt Trakker to the Energon Universe, it still feels like we’re just getting started,” said Skybound Executive Editor, Ben Abernathy. “The three killer stories in this issue are just a taste of some amazing stories to come…you’d better buckle up!”
Betty and Veronica Friends Forever: Spy Girls #1 (Archie Comics, $4.99): One of the fun things about Archie Comics is they have all these Golden and Silver Age characters they’ve been bringing back and revamping in recent years — including the mad scientist called Mad Doctor Doom. He actually debuted the same year as Marvel’s Doctor Doom, but obviously hasn’t had the same level of notoriety. In this special, Tania Del Rio and Holly G will introduce Medusa Doom, his daughter, as a foil for secret agents B and V (that’s Betty and Veronica, in case you didn’t realize …)
Small Town Spirits (Dark Horse, $19.99): This new graphic novel by Zack Keller, Gabriele Bagnoli, Valerio Alloro and Frank Cvetkovic is about a small town in Ireland that annually hosts the Spirit Games at Halloween, and how a rivalry between two of the town’s families leads to “a supernatural floodgate of mischief, magic and monsters that threatens to destroy his town.”
The Little Witcher (Random House, $16): The team at CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher video games, teamed up with artist Giada Carboni for this “found family” story about Geralt raising a young Ciri with the help of Yennifer and “uncle” Vesemir. This seems to be in the spirit of Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son series of books, and I’m here for it.