Welcome to Can’t Wait for Wednesday, your guide to what’s coming to your local comic shop this week. This week brings DC’s half of their first crossover with Marvel in decades, as Grant Morrison and Dan Mora (and a whole lot more) give us their take on Batman meeting Deadpool.
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.
DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool #1 (DC/Marvel, $7.99): The Dark Knight and the Merc with a Mouth are back together again, this time in a lead story for an anthology published by DC. Grant Morrison and Dan Mora deliver a mind-bending lead story, while Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson team with Hayden Sherman for a magical Constantine/Doctor Strange tale. Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo bring together Nightwing and Laura Kinney/Wolverine, Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner smash Harley Quinn and the Hulk together, and G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan tell an electrifying Static and Ms. Marvel story.
Nova: Centurion #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Richard Rider is back, as Jed MacKay and Álvaro López launch a new series featuring the man called Nova. With the Xandarian Worldmind — that’s the sentient repository of an entire extinct people’s culture and history — relying on expensive energy infusions, the man called Nova is a man for hire. He’s also one of the few people who knows the truth about the terrible lie that the new Galactic Union was built upon, as seen in Imperial. Nova must take on mercenary work to keep the Worldmind feed — but can he keep his hands clean while dealing with dirty money?
Invincible Universe: Capes #1 (Skybound, $3.99): Robert Kirkman and Mark Englert’s Capes, which debuted around the same time as The Walking Dead and Invincible, returns in a remastered edition featuring new art and dialogue. Bolt, Kid Thor, Knock Out, Captain Cosmic, Claire Voyant, Big Brain and Commander Capitalism are all employed by Capes Inc, and while they’re on the clock they protect New York City from threats like Machine Head and Titan.
Final Boss #1 (Image Comics, $4.99): Tyler Kirkham writes and draws the story of action hero inTommy Brazen. Trying to forge a new path, Tommy uses newfound superpowers for various paid enforcer gigs and street fights, only to uncover a past far more complex than he ever imagined.
John Le Carré’s: The Circus—Losing Control #1 (Dark Horse, $5.99): Writer Matt Kindt and artist Ibrahim Moustafa adapt the world of legendary spy novelist John le Carré into comics in this three-issue series. Le Carré is the author of many best-selling espionage novels, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which have been adapted to film. Several of his books are connected and feature a British intelligence agency nicknamed the Circus, which is overseen by a man known only as “Control.” His right hand is a man named Smiley, and his left hand, as seen in the comic, is his executive assistant, Maggie. When Control goes missing, it’s up to Maggie to find him, while keeping the world safe and on track at the same time.
Spawn: The Dark Ages #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Liam Sharp writes and draws this brutal entry in the Spawn Universe, kicking off a six-issue miniseries that draws from British history. As Saxon barbarians harry Britain from the east, the Pictish threat looms in the North and Hibernians send raiders from the West, King Aurelianus must defend Britain against all these threats while dealing with growing rebellion among his own people. Because they crave a more worthy king, one anointed by the old Celtic gods, whom the Christians refer to as the Devil Spawn.
Mickey Mouse: The Phantom Blot’s Double Revenge #1 (Fantagraphics, $5.99): In this tale by fan favorite Andrea “Casty” Castellan, Mickey’s inky arch-enemy the Phantom Blot invades Mouseton with a clone army of its own citizens. It also includes a Super Goof back-up tale.
X-Men of Apocalypse #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Jeph Loeb has returned to Marvel and DC this year to revisit some of his greatest hits — starting with Batman: Hush and The Long Halloween, and now teaming with artist Simone Di Meo for a new Age of Apocalypse story. The X-Men of Apocalypse arrive in the Marvel Universe, and that’s a very bad thing for the Uncanny X-Men.
Ferocious #1 (Mad Cave Studios, $4.99): Luke Piotrowski and Emanuele Ercolani deliver epic fantasy in this five-issue revenge thriller. A tavern boy’s sheltered life is overturned by the arrival of a towering, draconic woman—a wayward soldier from a distant war who single-handedly lays waste to his entire village. He swears an oath of righteous vengeance, but in order to fulfill it he’ll have to seek training from the warrior woman herself.
Titans #29 (DC, $3.99): John Layman and Pete Woods deliver another DC K.O. tie-in. With Earth’s evacuation complete, the Titans take to the stars to save humanity from the oncoming apocalypse. Scattered across the galaxy and dimensions, each Titan will discover that new worlds mean new dangers, starting this issue with Starfire battling a blockade from Apokolips.
EroTech #1 (SHP, $5.99): Darin S. Cape and Geoffrey Krawczyk deliver a workplace comedy about bad bosses, crazy co-workers and sex robots in this five-issue series. Samantha Jenkins is the new Silicon Valley CEO trying to rally her team of misfit engineers and out-of-touch managers to release the new Model 6000 on time. Testing is going well, but there’s still a few bugs to work out in this satire of tech startup culture.
The Lion King #1 (Dynamite Entertainment, $4.99): Edwin Galmon writes and illustrates a brand-new series of adventures starring Mufasa and Simba. Set in the time before the rise of Scar, the series follows the ruler of the Pride Lands and his young heir as they navigate the complex network of relationships that make up their kingdom and learn firsthand how to defend it against forces that threaten it both from outside and within.
“Having the honor and opportunity to work with the regal The Lion King franchise is a humbling experience. This is where my childhood imagination meets my adulthood craftsmanship and with excitement, I hope people really enjoy the story we have cooked up,” Galmon said. “As a kid my favorite parts of The Lion King movie were all the scenes featuring Mufasa and Simba together because I related to how much I love and respect my dad. With that in mind, I wanted to have more father-son bonding, loving guidance, goofy playtimes and mentorship themes for Simba to enjoy with his dad.”
Spider-Man: Holiday Spectacular #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Rainbow Rowell and several artists deliver a holiday romp for the season. Peter Parker is all alone for the holidays, but luckily the Spectacular Spider-Man has some amazing friends he can celebrate with. Guest starring the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men, Daredevil and more. Oh, and probably Santa Claus, I’d bet.
New Gods #12 (DC, $3.99): I focused a lot on first issues in this column, so let me take a moment to highlight three last issues arriving this week. First, Ram V and Evan Cagle bring their cosmic epic starring Jack Kirby’s creations to its reality-bending finale.
News from the Fallout #6 (Image Comics, $3.99): Chris Condon and Jeffrey Alan Love bring this creatively told zombie series to its conclusion this week. After the military experiment that went wrong unleashes horror, our group of survivors attempt an escape through the pitch-black tunnel networks beneath the abandoned silver mining town of Dead Water, Nevada. If you haven’t checked this one out, I highly recommend it.
One World Under Doom #9 (Marvel, $4.99): This is it, the big finale to Marvel’s big 2025 crossover. Ryan North and R.B. Silva bring everything to a head, as Doom is left with an intolerable defeat that cannot be changed, So he makes a choice he can never undo, and the rest of the world will pay his price. Also, get ready for the rise of a new sorcerer supreme.
Anzuelo TP (Image Comics, $19.99): Pretty Deadly co-creator Emma Ríos delivers a brutal story about The Sea. Secretly more complex than anyone imagined, The Sea rises one day. The horizon folds as the Sea absorbs the world and transforms everything that’s been pulled inside it. Originally published last year in hardcover, Image releases a trade paperback version this week. Recommended.
Cloven Vol 03 (Fantagraphics, $29.99): Garth Stein and Matthew Southworth continue their moody, mysterious and atmospheric science fiction series with this third volume. Tuck, the most successful Cloven ever created, is discovered frozen solid in a mountain river. Reanimated by medicinal mushrooms, Tuck easily integrates with his half-brothers and sisters in the Feral Herd. He finds himself on the verge of taking over the Herd and leading them out of the shadows until he sees a People magazine cover with a very pregnant Stella Goff and a headline: “But Who’s the Daddy?” Tuck knows who the daddy is, and he must now leave his Feral friends to track down the daughter of the richest man in the world.
Chase Speedington and the Last Dragon’s Breath (Papercutz, $14.99): Franco Aureliani and Mike Hartigan deliver a this middle-grade graphic novel that’s kind of like Spy Kids meets modern fantasy. An intrepid young man of action, Chase Speedington, is working with his adopted mother, the Queen, to search for the truth about his parents when he is confronted once again by the Evil Eisenfaust. This latest encounter sets in motion a series of events that leads Chase to the legend of the Dragon’s Last Breath. Working with friends, Chase finds clues that might lead to his parents but instead leads to information that Dragons actually once existed on Earth—and that they can be brought back to life.
Danny Phantom: Fair Game (Abrams Fanfare, $24.99): Gabriela Epstein returns with another original graphic novel spinning right out of Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time. Danny Phantom is public enemy No. 1, and Casper High School has revamped its curriculum as they believe ghosts are once again a danger to the town. While Danny struggles to find a way to help ghosts, Valerie Gray is thriving as the best ghost hunter at school. But when Wulf, Danny’s old ghost friend, arrives looking for another ghost wolf cub, Danny and the gang must help track down this cub before their ghost hunting classmates get to it first.
Smurfs Holiday Special (Papercutz, $12.99): Before the Smurfs can stuff their stockings and open their presents, they have to deal with dragons, talking snowmen, grumpy bears, a kidnapped Santa Claus and a reindeer chase through the starry night sky. Oh, and Gargamel, of course. It’s a race to save Christmas in this Smurfy holiday treasure, featuring the work of Peyo.
Spy Seal (Floating World, $19.99): Rich Tommaso’s thrilling espionage comic is back in print, in a deluxe European album format. Follow Spy Seal on high-speed car chases, hopping bullet trains, climbing down underground tunnels and flying high above the clouds in jet-fueled seaplanes. All to hunt down a very dangerous British-turned-Soviet double-agent posing as an art dealer.