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.
DC/Marvel: Superman/Spider-Man #1 (DC, $7.99): 50 years of DC/Marvel crossover history is celebrated in style with eight original stories from a staggering lineup of talent. The main event, featuring writer Mark Waid and artist Jorge Jimenez sending Clark Kent and Peter Parker chasing the same conspiracy, should be worth the price of admission alone. But the backup stories are equally enticing: Tom King and Jim Lee on Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson, Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber revisiting Jimmy Olsen, Gail Simone and Belen Ortega pairing Power Girl with the Punisher, and Jeff Lemire and Rafa Sandoval exploring a meeting between Pa Kent and Uncle Ben.
Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Another companion to the Fantastic Four film (I just watched it again while on vacation last week — it’s still as good as I remember), as writer Dan Slott and artist Mark Buckingham return to Earth-828. This one introduces the Mad Thinker, a villain who believes the city of tomorrow’s heroic protectors have stolen the recognition he deserves and intends to do something about it. Ryan North and Phil Noto handle a backup strip rounding out the issue.
Green Lantern #33 (DC, $5.99): The landmark 600th issue of Green Lantern arrives as Jeremy Adams leads a host of legendary creators, including Ron Marz and artists Xermanico and Darryl Banks, through an oversize special that reshapes the future of the Corps. Hal Jordan faces his greatest test yet while Kyle Rayner returns to Los Angeles and takes up the mantle of Green Lantern of Earth once more. New costumes designed by David Nakayama, answers to the question posed to Star Sapphire last issue and a whole lot of history highlight the milestone.
Butch #1 (Fantagraphics, $5.99): Writer/artist Peter Bagge returns to the world of Hate for a one-shot starring Buddy Bradley’s even more spectacularly self-destructive younger brother. Picking up from last year’s Hate Revisited!, Butch is facing possible prison time after a squatting incident gone wrong — and then somehow becomes a cause célèbre for far-right media and lands an invitation to Ameri-Con.
Megaghost Vol. 2 #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Writer Gabe Soria and artist Gideon Kendall bring back Martin Magus and his supernatural giant robot partner MegaGhost for a new four-issue arc, this time facing the sinister necromancer Ultraghoul, who has cut a deal with dark interdimensional powers to finally destroy his arcane enemy once and for all.
Flash #31 (DC, $3.99): Writer Ryan North and artist Gavin Guidry kick off a new era for Wally West, and North’s particular brand of science-forward, character-driven wit feels like a perfect match for the Scarlet Speedster. With DC K.O. behind him, Wally is ready to relax and enjoy his life as father and husband — except people are now deliberately putting themselves in danger to guarantee the Flash shows up.
Honor and Curse Eternal #1 (Mad Cave, $4.99): Writer Mark London and artist Jaime Infante launch a 12-issue saga following Genshi Sakagura, an immortal ninja who vanished from history six centuries ago, cursed with immortality and haunted by a war-hungry spirit called the Tengu. Now living quietly in modern New York, his centuries of silence end when a terrorist strike and a kidnapping tied to his ancient past force him back into the fight.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures — Pathfinders #1 (Dark Horse, $4.99): Writer George Mann and artists Partha Pratim and Jagdish Kumar return to the High Republic era, this time set 20 years after Phase II, with a brand-new team of Republic Pathfinders dispatched to investigate the mysterious death of a Jedi Master.
Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1 (Titan, $4.99): Writers Peter Murrieta and David Schrader and artist Ben Herrera ask the question nobody in the superhero genre thinks to ask: What is it actually like to work for a supervillain organization at the middle-management level? The answer, apparently, is a lot like working at Walmart Corporate.
Last Call to Leave Earth (Mad Cave, $10.99): Writer/artist Cassio Ribeiro tells the story of three friends whose lives were permanently altered when they photographed what their small Brazilian town believed to be an alien. Years later, one of them returns to find the truth — and discovers that the people she left behind have been shaped by that moment in very different, very unexpected ways. A quiet, character-driven science fiction story with a genuinely affecting emotional core.
Carbon Based: The Art of Lewis LaRosa HC (Oni Press, $49.99): This first-ever career retrospective for artist Lewis LaRosa spans over 250 pages of raw line art, character designs and behind-the-scenes material from his work on Bloodshot Reborn, Punisher MAX, Divinity, Transformers and more.