Featured New Releases for 3-7-2018

Here’s the featured new releases coming out this Wednesday, March 7th, 2018

FEATURED RELEASES

First up is the much anticipated Oblivion Song #1, the new comic from Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman!

“A decade ago, 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them, but after many years, they gave up. Nathan Cole…won’t. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those still living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe…Nathan is looking for something else? Why can’t he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?”

Kirkman made a pretty classy move by sending out advanced copies of issues #1-4 to all retailers so they could order with confidence. 

Since new material from Kirkman is pretty rare we’ve decided to put a copy of issue #1 into every file that gets Walking Dead. Please let us know if you enjoy it and would like it added to your file! You will not automatically get issue #2.

Next up is another great indie from Image, Gideon Falls #1 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, who have worked together in mainstream comics on Old Man Logan and Green Arrow.

“The lives of a reclusive young man obsessed with a conspiracy in the city’s trash, and a washed-up Catholic priest arriving in a small town full of dark secrets, become intertwined around the mysterious legend of The Black Barn, an otherworldly building that is alleged to have appeared in both the city and the small town, throughout history, bringing death and madness in its wake.”

We’re excited they finally have a project together without the boundaries of working for the big two. 

Speaking of the big two, over at Marvel we’ve got a pretty fun week. Marvel spun out a bit after the launch of Legacy but I’m honestly reading more Marvel Comics than I have in years. 

Amazing Spider-Man #797 is the official start of “Go Down Swinging”, Dan Slott’s final story arc on the book that will culminate with issue #800.

In case you haven’t heard, the original Green Goblin Norman Osborn has merged with the Carnage Symbiote to create the new threat of RED GOBLIN!.

Captain America by Waid and Samnee is also really good, coming from a biased point of view obviously. This issue leads up to #700 which will have a great new Waid story where he repurposes old Jack Kirby artwork into a new story!

I love this run but I’m also excited that Ta-Nehisi Coates is taking over soon and that he understands the responsibility that comes with it. Here’s an article on that!  

I have to admit I’m just reading through his Black Panther run for the first time and it is engaging. Seeing the movie made me want to read comics! It worked!

With the reappearance of the Infinity Stones, the race to collect them is on! Check out Infinity Countdown #1 this week. 

Here’s an article worth reading about who’s got the stones (pun) at this point. 

Also, we’re going to sell out so I’m hard-pressed to mention it, but Doctor Strange Damnation is the coolest, and issue #2 is out this week. Vegas went to hell, now it got puked back up, and very little has changed. Wong’s assembled a rag-tag team of heroes to save Stephen. This is the stuff I love. Look for the trade or add the book to your file. It’s only four issues. 

This week also starts the $1.00 Venom True Believer books, with reprints of classic issues in Venom history starting with Amazing Spider-Man #300 by Todd McFarlane. Look for them all month.

Here’s the teaser trailer:

It’s gotten mixed reviews in the shop but I believe in Tom Hardy. (Dunkirk!)

OTHER STUFF

This weekend is also Cleveland ConCoction which is a home-grown convention that branches out of comics and into a little of everything else. The convention has moved out to Aurora this year.

Founder Stan Paulson has this to say:

“Heading into its 5th successful year, Cleveland ConCoction is a multi-genre sci-fi/fantasy/pop-culture/gaming little-bit-of-everything mashup convention unlike anything else in the immediate Cleveland area. This all fan-run, member and volunteer-supported, totally 501(c)3 non-profit Con is being held March 9-11, 2018 and features a wide variety of panels, cosplay, music, gaming, authors, artists, and vendors. This year the Con theme is “Heroes Vs. House” mashing up Superhero fun with a classic SchoolHouse Rock vibe. While in previous years ConCoction had been held at the Airport Sheraton, parking issues mandated a change of scenery, so this year it has moved to the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio.

A lot of our customers put a great deal of work into this event, and we’ve had fun in years past. It feels like to never closes over three days, and that’s a compliment.

Another cool event this weekend will be the Cleveland Public Libraries Coffee and Comics lecture at Rising Star Coffee this Saturday morning at 10am.

Sequoia Bostick and Amalia DeGirolamo will be there discussing the process of creating their local independent Comics Anthology Vagabond Comics. If you’re a local creator, I’d have to think this one is a must. The class is in the Roastery at 3617 Walton Road. (Don’t make the same mistake I did and go to the shop in Hingetown.) These classes are in a really cool factory space, free coffee too. I’m going.

On a personal note:

We haven’t had a decent email in two weeks because we’ve been quite busy. I was elected to the ComicsPro Board of Directors in Portland Oregon, and I’ll serve a three-year term.

ComicsPro in a nonprofit trade association representing over 250 comic shops across the country with a handful overseas. Their mission is:

 

  • to help to develop better marketing and daily business practices for comic book retailers
  • to improve the condition of their industry by educating the public about comic books in general
  • to provide a voice for independent comic book retailers

 

Jim and I also spent a lot of time in Portland networking with publishers to help us create events for you year round. 

My wife and I were also invited out to Menlo Park in California for this year’s Facebook Small Business Council meeting. We met business’ from across the US who were awesome at whatever they did and learned a lot about what’s to come from Instagram and Facebook. We also met Mark Zuckerberg for the first time. Very focused and personable guy. 

But now we’re back, and it’s time to start planning FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2018! (Spoiler Alert: we’re gonna nail it this year.)