Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what comics and graphic novels are arriving this week.
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 + Mad Cave + more)
Diamond’s PreviewsWorld (Dynamite + more)RIP- ComicList (Pretty much all of the above)
- Amazon/Kindle new releases (digital comics)
[This week we say goodbye to the Diamond PreviewsWorld link in our list, as the site is, unfortunately, a shell of its former self in the wake of the bankruptcy and sale. Diamond’s website was very well maintained over the years and a good resource for what was coming from comic publishers big and small, serving not just retailers but also press and fans. ]
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.
Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Just in time for their big-budget movie reboot later this month, the Fantastic Four also get a reboot of sorts in comics this week. Actually, it’s not a huge change, as Ryan North will continue writing the title, now joined by artist Humberto Ramos.
After a battle with Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four are split up and sent to four different eras in Earth’s history. Bad news: The Thing won’t be sporting a fake pirate beard this time (like he did in Fantastic Four #5, back in the 1960s) but good news: he does get to fight dinosaurs.
Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 (Marvel, $4.99): What’s better than one Fantastic Four comic this week? How about two of them? This special is by Matt Fraction and Mark Buckingham, and it is “the first-ever authorized retelling of the Fantastic Four’s early adventures.” So I guess Stan and Jack were making bootlegs …
Fraction even pretends he lives in the same universe as the FF in his quote from the PR:
“What an honor to be asked to help celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Fantastic Four!” Fraction said. “It was a thrill to bring their first legendary adventure to the world of comic books for the first time! It’s a story we all know by heart, but I think Magic Mark Buckingham and I have found a way to tell it as you’ve never heard or seen before — and who knows, this could be the start of something big!”
Superman Treasury 2025: Hero For All (DC, $14.99): As a part of the “Summer of Superman,” DC brings back their classic “treasury-sized edition” format for a “larger than life” story by Dan Jurgens, Bruno Redondo and Adriano Lucas.
When a vicious armada of extraterrestrial extremists launches an all-out invasion of Planet Earth, only Superman can stand in the way of total annihilation. But there’s something different about this attack–it’s deadly from both without…and within?
Jurgens actually worked on the last treasury edition DC published, Superman vs. the Fantastic Four — which seems appropriate to mention, given the previous two entries in our list this week, and this month we’ll have Superman vs. the Fantastic Four at the box office.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rites of Spring #1 (IDW, $4.99): Patrick Horvath’s “cozy horror” series about a Richard Scarey-esque bear who likes murder returns with a sequel series. It finds Samantha facing some new obstacles, as “there are no secrets in the age of the internet… and those who lost loved ones to her dark temptations are still searching for justice.”
The Unchosen #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): David Marquez writes and draws this miniseries about 13-year-old Aida, who has the power to blow up cities. Pursued by rival forces wielding incredible powers, she must discover who truly wants to help her, who wants to control her, and the truth behind her own mysterious past.
Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob #1 (Archie Comics, $7.99): This one-shot finds Archie wandering into Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse, as he gets a job at the Quick Stop and starts hanging out with Jay and Silent Bob. This one is for mature readers, appropriately.
Wild Animals #1 (Mad Cave, $4.99): Ed Brisson and Andy Kuhn tell the gritty story of Neil, who gets tired to taking life’s punches and decides to start hitting back.
Marvel Swimsuit Special (Marvel, $5.99): Yes, the 1990s classic is back, with a new story by Tim Seeley, Tony Fleecs and Nick Bradshaw; a code for a ‘Marvel Rivals’ in-game skin; and lots of swimsuit pin-ups, of course.
Return to Skull Island #1 (Titan, $4.99): The Skull Island animated series featuring King Kong, which ran on Netflix, gets a comic book sequel in this four-issue miniseries by Simon Furman and Chris Jones.
Batman Gotham by Gaslight: A League for Justice #1 (DC, $4.99): DC revisited the world from Gotham by Gaslight last year with Gotham by Gaslight: The Kryptonian Age. Andy Diggle and Leandro Fernandez return to that world again wit this new miniseries that brings more of DC’s heroes into the Gilded Age.
The Toxic Avenger Comics #1 (Ahoy Comics, $4.99): Matt Bors and Fred Harper reunite for more adventures featuring the Toxic Avenger, following last year’s miniseries. This first issue is a self-contained story about Toxie, as they call him, trying to find some missing kids in his hometown.
Planet Death #1 (Bad Idea, $5.99): John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad teams with co-writer Robert Venditti and artist Tomás Giorello on this four-issue miniseries. It’s about the last survivor of an invading army whose troops were all killed by alien adversaries — so he decides to go solo and complete the mission by himself. If you’ve had trouble hunting down Bad Idea titles in the past due to their wonky distribution process, this title should be easier to get, as they’re now signed with Lunar for distribution and should be available in more stores.
Predator: Black, White & Blood #1 (Marvel, $5.99): The latest three-color miniseries from Marvel — which features short stories told in black, white and red — features one of their licensed properties, 20th Century’s Predator franchise. Joe Kelly and Álvaro López team in this issue for the story of a young predator hunting in the Australian frontier who runs across a penal colony.
Meat Eaters (Oni Press, $24.99): Meredith McClaren writes and draws this new graphic novel about a woman whose life changes when she dies and wakes up as something else. Ashley, a young woman looking to escape her stagnant small town life, has her carefully laid-out plans shattered when she wakes up one night covered in blood—and discovers she’s dead. As Ashley grapples with this shocking transformation and the changes happening within her, McClaren weaves a powerful story that resonates with her own experiences of unexpected life upheavals. She shared how her own health issues influenced the story in this essay that we were proud to debut last week.
Transformers: Worst Bot Ever (Skybound, $12.99): Writer Brian “Smitty” Smith and artist Marz Jr. tell the story of a Decepticon who is bad at being bad in this new young adult graphic novel. Ballpoint, a new character to the franchise, gets kicked out of the Decepticons for his non-evil ways. In order to rejoin, he must prove the pen is mightier than the sword by defeating the Autobots all by himself.