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 + Neon Ichiban (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.
Bug Wars: The Coming of the Wardoom #1 (Image Comics, $4.99): Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar return to their backyard battlefield for a bigger, bloodier sequel to the wonderful Bug Wars. Six months after the Yard ran red with insect blood, the uneasy peace is shattered by ancient enemies from the Woods, corporate exterminators and armies of roach knights and squirrels. It’s Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Let Them Hang Out with Killer, Sexy Bugs by way of Conan, and apparently the backyard is about to become an even worse place to be.
Thor #800 (Marvel, $6.99): Marvel celebrates a major milestone for the God of Thunder with a 48-page issue. Sigurd Jarlson, The Mortal Thor, finds himself trapped by the Serpent, a.k.a. Donald Blake, where he is forced to prove himself “worthy” without a weapon. Meanwhile, someone else without a hammer begins the quest to find Thor. Al Ewing, Chris Condon, Pasqual Ferry and Jesse Lonergan headline the issue, which comes with bonus stories.
New Titans #38 (DC, $3.99): Static joins the New Titans, bringing some serious voltage to the team, and his arrival is quickly followed by a trip to the Amazon for the group’s first major mission. Tate Brombal and Sami Basri bring the Milestone hero into the Titans fold before he jumps back into his own series.
EC Shellshock #1 (Oni Press, $8.99): EC Comics heads back to the battlefield with a giant-sized, 56-page special featuring new war stories from writers like Julio Anta, John Arcudi, Benito Cereno and Michael W. Conrad, with art from Tom Fowler, David Lapham, Albert Monteys and Shawn Martinbrough. The issue also includes a remastered and restored EC comics classic.
The Last Driver #1 (Image Comics, $3.99): Sean Gordon Murphy puts the pedal to the metal with this series about a future where cars have been outlawed and transportation is controlled by a robotic GRID. When an outlaw known as Clutch gets behind the wheel to save his granddaughter, his road trip quickly becomes a rebellion against technology, fascism and a deeply divided America.
Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire and Brimstone #1 (Marvel, $5.99): Kevin Smith and Andy McElfresh team up with artist R.B. Silva for a new Spider-Man/Hulk adventure that’s heavy on action and jokes, as Bruce Banner decides to take a more metaphysical approach to his Hulk problem and try to exorcise him.
TaleSpin #1 (Dynamite, $4.99): Higher for Hire is back in business and immediately finds itself tangled up with air pirates. Baloo and Kit must transport Cape Suzette’s mysterious new resident while trying to stay one step ahead of Don Karnage and his crew. Darkwing Duck team Amanda Deibert and Carlo Lauro reunite for this new series based on the Disney Afternoon series.
The Phantom vs. the Singh Brotherhood one-shot (Mad Cave Studios, $6.99): The Phantom takes on one of his world’s most notorious criminal organizations in this showdown with Arif Singh and his Brotherhood. Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson bring the jungle vigilante’s latest battle to a head.
What If…? Runaways #1 (Marvel, $4.99): What if the Runaways never actually ran away? Rainbow Rowell and Zulema Scotto Lavina revisit the origins of Alex, Chase, Gert, Karolina, Molly and Nico in an alternate reality where discovering that their parents are supervillains doesn’t necessarily send the teens running for the hills. Instead, the kids find themselves intrigued by the Pride and potentially headed toward an entirely different destiny.
G.I. Joe #25 (Skybound, $4.99): It’s G.I. Joe vs. Night Force in this extra-sized milestone issue, as Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly kick off what Skybound is calling the biggest G.I. Joe story in the Energon Universe yet. Friends become enemies and Joe battles Joe, setting the stage for a major new story arc.
Lazarus Order #1 (Mad Cave Studios, $4.99): Sloane M Siegel and Juan Doe introduce a medieval world ravaged by a disease that turns people into monsters. Plague doctors have become humanity’s last line of defense, but the supernatural powers granted to the Lazarus Order come with a terrible price: every use brings its members closer to oblivion. When two very different doctors discover evidence that the original sickness is returning, their routine assignment turns into something much more dangerous.
Undercover Monster (Papercutz, $14.99): Mia has been kicked out of every monster school she’s attended, so now she’s undercover at a human school. Her assignment is to find the monster hunting her classmates, but with a building full of potential supernatural suspects, figuring out who’s responsible may be harder than getting expelled. A fun middle-grade monster mystery from Mina Elwell, Alan C. Medina and Kit Wallis.
Nikola Tesla (Mad Cave Studios, $19.99): Two filmmakers set out to tell the story of Nikola Tesla and wind up debating whether the legendary inventor really deserves his “mad genius” reputation. Sergio Rossi and Giovanni Scarduelli offer a fictionalized look at Tesla’s life, his rivalry with Thomas Edison, the War of Currents and his eventual fall from public prominence.
Outline (Oni Press, $29.99): Michèle Fischels makes her graphic novel debut with a coming-of-age story about the final year before high school graduation. As Ben watches his girlfriend, Clara, and best friend, Andreas, pull away from him, he and his classmates face the increasingly urgent questions of what comes next.
Lovers of the Empire Vol. 1 (Fantagraphics, $24.99): The new Takumigraphics imprint from Fantagraphics releases its first book this week. Writer and artist Yudori transports readers to South Korea in 1929, where Arisa Jo is a wealthy, Western-dressed modern girl who finds herself paired with Jun Seomoon, a young man from the countryside whose traditional outlook couldn’t be more different from hers. As the unlikely pair navigates rapidly changing social expectations in Gyeongsung, sparks fly, along with very different ideas about the future.
Home Time: Twelve Days (Top Shelf Productions, $39.99): Campbell Whyte’s award-winning Australian fantasy epic gets a one-volume collection, bringing together Home Time: Under the River and Home Time II: Beyond the Weaving. Twins Lily and David and their friends are looking forward to a relaxing final summer before high school, but a trip to the river instead deposits them in a strange village populated by fantastic creatures, talking peaches and mysterious tea-brewing traditions.
Emily Kado: The Spider’s Secret Vol. 1 (Papercutz, $17.99): In Antoine Dode’s all-ages adventure, Emily sets out to find her missing friend Suzie and instead finds herself facing spiders, darkness and crazy clowns. Fortunately, she has a new insect friend to help her along the way.