Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop 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)
- 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.
Batman #1 (DC, $4.99): Hawkeye and Sex Criminals writer Matt Fraction joins Jorge Jiménez on DC’s flagship Batman title.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Batman. It was the first comic I ever read,” said Fraction. “Jorge and I have a very superhero-forward kind of take on Batman. We’ve got a new Batmobile, we’ve got a new costume, we’ve got new characters, and we’ve got a lot of old ones too—good and bad; all the stuff that makes Batman the coolest character in comics. We want to celebrate it all.”
I’m not sure how much we know about the title yet, beyond that each issue will feature a series of “connected but self-contained stories.” But I’m here for it.
Spider-Man ’94 #1 (Marvel, $4.99): This new miniseries continues the story from the early 1990s Spider-Man cartoon, which ran for five seasons and introduced a “Spider-Verse”-esque storyline, also known as the “Spider-Man Multiverse,” which of course inspired similar narratives in future Spider-Man comics, cartoons and films It’s by J.M. DeMatteis and Jim Towe, who will bring Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson back to the streets of New York to battle two villains new to their universe.
Everything Dead & Dying #1 (Image Comics, $4.99): Tate Brombal and Jacob Phillips put a twisted twist on the zombie apocalypse tale, as the sole survivor of a farming community that’s been turned into the undead decides not to kill them, but to continue living alongside his fellow citizens, friends and family.
Skin Police 2 #1 (Oni Press, $4.99): The Skin Police are back, as Jordan Thomas and Daniel Gete return for another round of fast-paced, science fiction action thrills in a future where black market clone babies are the norm, but one out of every four turns into a psychopathic killing machine. This next story explores whether these clones are as dangerous as people have been led to believe, asking, “What if they could be saved?”
Artificial #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Maria Llovet is back with another erotic miniseries about a fashion stylist who turns to a futuristic dating service that offers lifelike android partners. “But when her dream lover glitches into a possessive stalker, she finds herself trapped in a game of desire, control and survival.”
Blood Honey (IDW, $6.99): Sean Peacock writes and draws this one-shot that falls under the IDW Dark banner. It’s about two teenage lovers at Manderlay Preparatory High School who decide they have had enough of each other, so they engage in an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse that sees them trying to kill each other.
Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Star Wars‘ original rogue flies into a solo miniseries by Rodney Barnes and Roman Rosanas. Set prior to The Force Awakens, it tells the story of Han and Chewbacca going after the thief who stole the Millennium Falcon.
White House Robot Romance #1 (DSTLRY, $8.99): Chip Zdarsky and Rachael Stott team up for the story of two robots who fall in love while working at the White House — but that love may be short-lived, as one is destined to be decommissioned against the backdrop of Canada invading the United States.
Adventures of Superman: Book of El #1 (DC, $3.99): Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scott Godlewski — the Future State: House of El team — reunite for this maxi-series that was originally expected to begin earlier this year and concludes the story the duo have been telling since Future State debuted back in 2021.
Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming #1 (IDW, $4.99): Star Trek: Prodigy consultants Tilly and Susan Bridges team up with artist Angel Hernandez for a story that celebrates the 30th anniversary of Star Trek Voyager. Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew are back for one last adventure as their return to Earth is cut short for a new mission.
Imperial War: Exiles #1 (Marvel, $4.99): This Imperial tie-in one-shot (and new series preview) looks like it picks up after the recent X-Manhunt event that ran through the X-Men titles. That event ended with Professor X and a resurrected Lilandra heading into space to save their daughter, Xandra, and now Jonathan Hickman, Steve Foxe and Francesco Manna show us what happens next for the star-crossed lovers and their genetically engineered daughter.
The Adventures of Lumen N. #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): James Robinson and Phil Hester team up for a new miniseries that should appeal to fans of Robinson’s Leave It to Chance … and also brings him back to characters who appeared in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so maybe it’s a redemption arc for the writer?
The year is 1901 and our heroine Lumen is a precocious 13-year-old with many questions about her life. Why has her father been gone for years? Why must she learn so many languages and fighting techniques and what’s with all the lessons in seafaring? Then an attack on her home by a horde of steam-punk assassins delivers the first glimmer of an answer, when Lumen’s savior reveals himself as her grandfather, the legendary Captain Nemo, one of the greatest characters in Victorian science fiction literature. A brand-new world of steam-punk adventure and thrills is about to open up for Lumen as she connects with the grandfather she never knew while together they take on a cabal of evil masterminds, intent on world domination . . . a world full of heroes and villains from Victorian adventure and fantasy fiction.
Closer #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Kieron Gillen, Steve Lieber and Tamra Bonvillain’s one-off apocalypse romance story from the Image 30th Anniversary Anthology gets collected in this one-shot that features “cosmic horror you can dance to.”
Doctor Strange #450 (Marvel, $4.99): Before Earth’s former sorcerer supreme gets a new title this December, Marvel will celebrate 450 issues of Doctor Strange with this oversized issue featuring stories by several creators previously associated with the doctor, including Roger Stern, J. Michael Straczynski and Derek Landy — along with Christian Ward, Ron Lim and more.
Monster High: House Haunters #1 (IDW, $4.99): Just in time for Halloween, Ben Kahn and Sonia Liao team up for a bi-weekly series featuring Frankie Stein, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Cleo de Nile and the other students of Monster High unleashing an ancient horror while staying at a “ScareBNB” with a haunted basement.
Amazing Spider-Man #11 (Marvel, $7.99): Joe Kelly, Saladin Ahmed, Pepe Larraz and John Romita Jr. kick off a new storyline where Spider-Man gets split in two — and one of him stays in New York to protect the city while the other one heads into outer space to captain a spaceship or something. Here’s a preview.
Aquamanatee (DC, $12.99): Narwhal and Jelly creator Ben Clanton teams with This Is a Sea Cow illustrator Cassandra Federman for this all-ages graphic novel about a manatee who idolizes Aquaman.
The Weight (Drawn + Quarterly, $29.95): Melissa Mendes writes and draws this graphic novel about a rural family’s cycle of love, loss and renewal, set against the beauty and adversity of mid-century America.
Pizza Witch (Skybound, $16.99): Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins cook up a delicious, mystical adventure about a witch searching for a magical ingredient to use on her pizza. It collects the story that first appeared on Tapas and Webtoon.