Check out what comics and graphic novels will arrive in stores this week by James Kochalka, Jen Wang, Mark Russell, Bob Quinn, Joe Casey, Sebastián Piriz, Matt Kindt, Margie Kindt, Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Fell Hound, Caroline Cash and more.
Welcome to Can’t Wait forWednesday, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital. I flipped the script on you this week, starting with this week’s graphic novels before getting into comics. When Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Jen Wang and James Kochalka have new books out, it just feels like the right thing to do.
I’ve pulled out some of the other 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 + more)
- Diamond’s PreviewsWorld(BOOM! + Dynamite + 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 always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.
Houses of the Unholy (Image Comics, $24.99): The award-winning team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is back with a new graphic novel that explores the “Satanic Panic” craze of the 1980s, which involved conspiracy theories that grew from unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse. The story features an FBI agent who’s on the cult crime beat and a woman with a past linked to the Satanic Panic, as they hunt for an insane killer hiding in the shadows of the underworld.
Jimmy’s Elbow (Top Shelf, $14.99): Comic superstar James Kochalka first started posting this comic about a boy who has an elbow online last year, and at the time he called it “my absolute worst idea.” I think it sounds pretty awesome, and that was before I knew the elbow could talk.
Let’s Go, Coco! (Harper Ally, $15.99): Coco Fox writes and draws this young-adult graphic novel about a girl who joins the basketball team as she looks for new friends, only to obtain an unflattering nickname by the star player.
Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze (Titan, $29.99): When I originally saw that Titan was doing a Jimi Hendrix graphic novel, I assumed it was going to be a biography, but no, it’s actually a space opera. Mellow Brown, DJ BenHa Meen and Tom Mandrake team up to send Hendrix to another galaxy: “In a galaxy where a tyrannical force has silenced music and enslaved all life, Hendrix must embark on a perilous quest to find a magical talisman powerful enough to unlock the incredible latent power of his trademark sound.”
Eat Your Heart Out (Oni Press, $14.99): Terry Blas, Matty Newton and Lydia Anslow present a “found family” tale about a woman who leaves home to get away from her oppressive mother and start a life as a fashion designer in New York.
Lion Dancers (Simon & Schuster, $13.99): Two former friends become bitter rivals in the world of lion dancing in this new graphic novel by Cai Tse. Wei once dreamed of being a lion dancer with his friend Hung, but after the death of his father he left it behind — until, years later, he rejoins the team where Hung has become the star and resents his return.
Ash’s Cabin (First Second, $17.99): Jen Wang of In Real Life and Stargazing fame is back with a new graphic novel this week. It’s about a kid who, inspired by their grandfather who always wanted to live in a cabin “off the grid,” heads into the California wilderness to start a new life.
Ultraman X Avengers #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Marvel has published multiple Ultraman comics over the last few years, but he has not yet crossed over into the Marvel Universe — until now. Massive-verse writers Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom and artist Francesco Manna bring together Ultraman, the Avengers and other Marvel characters the same week that Viz presents a manga starring Ultraman and Spider-Man.
DC vs. Vampires: World War V #1 (DC, $4.99): Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt return to the Elseworlds world they created where many of DC’s heroes have been turned into vampires, and they wage a war against the rest. It’s good timing, too, with Blood Hunt wrapping up, giving fans another dose of a superhero-vampire mash-up.
Defenders of the Earth #1 (Mad Cave, $4.99): As part of theirrevival plansforFlash Gordon, Mad Cave Studios brings back another related property:Defenders of the Earth. This eight-issue series is based on the animated TV show, and is written by former DC Publisher Dan DiDio with art by Jim Calafiore ofExiles,Secret SixandLeaving Megalopolisfame.
X-Factor #1 (Marvel, $4.99): As a part of the X-Men: From the Ashes publishing initiative, X-Factor returns in a new title by Mark Russell and Bob Quinn. This new take will feature the group of mutants serving as a special missions team and a propaganda machine for the U.S. government, and it will feature Havok, Angel, Frenzy, Pyro and more.
Jonny Quest #1 (Dynamite Entertainment, $4.99): The popular and influential 1960s cartoon returns to comics, courtesy of Joe Casey, writer ofAutomatic Kafka,Uncanny X-Men,Gødlandand so much more, and artist Sebastián Piriz, who previously worked onWe Ride TitansandDeadweights. Casey said they hope to keep the “bouncy spirit of the original TV show” while they “deepen the characters and give them the proper amount of gravitas.” It follows on the heels of Dynamite’s popular reboots of ThunderCats and Space Ghost, so we’ll see if lightning can strike a third time.
Gilt Frame #1 (Dark Horse, $9.99): Matt Kindt teams up with his mother, Margie Kindt, for this new miniseries coming from his Flux House imprint. Gilt Frame is described as “an eccentric and electrifying crime thriller starring the most unlikely detective duo in the history of murder mysteries.” This first oversized issue is 64 pages long.
Spider-Society #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Alex Segura and Scott Godlewski assemble every Spider-person they can find to battle the Sinister Squadron, a group of multiversal Spider-villains. Expect appearances by your Spider-Verse favorites and some new ones, including Spider-Man 2099, Madame Web and a Gwen Stacy who became the Green Goblin.
S.I.R. #1 (BOOM! Studios, $4.99): Cartoonist Fell Hound writes and draws this new BOOM! Box series about “motorcycle jousting,” as the creator equates the new series as “Fight Clubas a ’90s shojo anime on motorbikes.” It’s about two girlfriends who are separated by fate, but the world of underground motorcycle jousting brings them back together.
Babs #1 (Ahoy Comics, $3.99): Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, who worked together on 303, Crossed, Punisher: Soviet and the upcoming Get Fury, head in a more comedic direction this summer with this sword-and-sorcery satire. It’s about a barbarian thiefwho has “never found a bad situation she couldn’t make a hundred times worse.”
Werewolf by Night #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Spinning out of Blood Hunt and using the polybagged “Red Band” labeling that series introduced, Jason Loo and Sergio Davila present a “very metal, monster comic” starring Jack Russell, the original Werewolf by Night.
Kardak the Mystic #1 (Archie Comics, $3.99): Archie continues to mine their vast character library as they resurrect Kardak the Mystic, a magic-using character created by C. A. Winter and Harry Shorten back in 1939. Joe Corallo and Butch K. Mapa reimagine the crime-fighting magician as the owner of a mystic ruby that connects him to another dimension, where something evil lives and would like to make its way to Earth.
Iron Fist 50th Anniversary (Marvel, $4.99): Marvel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Iron Fist with this one-shot anthology featuring stories about both Danny Rand and Lin Lie. It features comics by early Iron Fist writer Chris Claremont and artist Lan Medina, as well as Alyssa Wong, Ron Randall, Jason Loo and more.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Land of the Giants #1 (Dark Horse, $3.99): Leaping out of the Borderlands and Tiny Tina games (and a movie that was not well received), Tiny Tina stars in this new miniseries by Paul Tobin and Luisa Russo. Tina’s latest game-within-a-game tabletop RPG adventure “featuring bounty hunters, Fatemakers, and a whole lot of explosives.”
Venom War: Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, $4.99): Venom would have never existed if Peter Parker hadn’t decided to get a new look during Secret Wars all those years ago, and in this four-issue Venom War tie-in by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Greg Land, Spider-Man and his black suit reunite.
Absolute Power: Task Force VII #4 (DC, $3.99): This issue of DC’s tie-in series to their big Absolute Power summer crossover event is by the powerhouse team of p*rnsak Pichetshote (Infidel) and Claire Roe (The Hollywood Special). This issue focuses on the Batman family (and friends), as Failsafe hunts Nightwing and his allies in Gotham.
PeePee PooPoo #1 (Silver Sprocket, $9.99): Fresh off a big Eisner win, Caroline Cash is back with another issue of her hit PeePee PooPoo, with this edition sporting a #1, so you know, buy accordingly, investors! Cash’s gay, modern take on the ’60s underground comic continues with four new stories AND a sticker sheet.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nightwatcher #1 (IDW, $3.99): Juni Ba, creator of DC’s wonderful Boy Wonder, teams with artist Fero Pe for this new ongoing featuring Nightwatcher, the crime-hunting alter ego commonly associated with the Ninja Turtles Raphael. But is Raphael behind the mask this time? That’s part of the mystery of the series, which Ba says will feature “heartfelt stories, Saturday morning action cartoon vibes and cool vigilante badassery!”
Midst #1 (Dark Horse, $7.99): Colin Lorimer and Alejandro Aragón adapt the podcast Midst, a “reality-bending, sci-fantasy space western,” into comics. Each oversized issue of the three-issue miniseries will explore the Midst cosmos and its characters. This first issue focuses on siblings Rowan and Ogden Shearwater, whose postal ship crash-lands on a “mysterious new landmass.”
