Andrea’s Strange Picks for 03.22.2023

Hi Comic Shop Friends! Happy Spring! And Happy Winston World Weekend!

This Friday through Sunday is Winston World, a three-day long sale to coincide with Fan Expo Cleveland going on from March 24 – 26th! (It used to be Wizard World.) We’ll be offering 50% off ALL back issues, as well as 10% off EVERYTHING else in the shop. We like to give a reason for out of town visitors to stop by the shop while they’re here. (We also need another reason to feed Winston’s ego.)

Also, here’s the link to buy tickets for the Cleveland Fan Expo:

MARVEL COMICS

Reprinting Avengers #9, this Marvel facsimile presents the introduction of Wonder Man! Before he was an Avenger and Hollywood action star, Simon Williams was a brilliant inventor turned dangerous foe, with his ionic powers making him strong enough to go toe to toe with the Avengers!

Stephen Strange is back, and Jed MacKay and Pasqual Ferry begin a new chapter in Doctor Strange’s life. Demons have your soul? Dragons, elves, trolls, and whatnot in your city? Haunted garbage monster? Call Doctor Strange! His new consulting business is booming, with house calls and telehealth too! With a backup story featuring Wong and the Agents of W.A.N.D. against the Freaky Doktor Zee!

The women of Marvel take the spotlight in this new one-shot for Women’s History Month! Featuring stories with She-Hulk, Silk, Black Cat, America Chavez, Kate Bishop, Photon, Ms. Marvel, and a Janet Van Dyne paper doll! Written by Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria Ying, Melissa Flores, and Shawnee & Shawnelle Gibbs, with art by Carola Borelli, Jodi Nishijima, Stacey Lee, Giulia Gualazzi, and Erica D’Urso.

DC COMICS

This giant-sized special celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Milestone with stories from Evan Narcisse, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Stephanie Williams, and Geoffrey Thorne, with art by Atagun Ilhan, CRISSCROSS, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Yasmin Flores Montanez, and Sean Damien Hill. Static and Batman Beyond team up, grown-up Raquel Ervin inherits the mantle of Icon, Blood Syndicate faces the responsibility they’ve taken on, and present-day Milestone characters meet their 1993 counterparts in a reality-warping story. And there’s a preview of the new YA graphic novel Static: Up All Night from Lamar Giles and Paris Alleyne.

The last of the One Bad Day specials, this one from Tom Taylor and Ivan Reis focuses on Ra’s al Ghul. He literally wants to save the world, from animal extinction, from climate disaster, from the daily evils of the wealthy, from the worst of humankind, but Batman stands in Ra’s al Ghul’s way. The only way to bring the peace and prosperity he feels Earth deserves, is to remove the obstacle that is Batman. “You are a man of singular purpose, Detective. Do you doubt the conviction of mine?”

It’s Spring! And DC is celebrating the season with eight short stories in this one-shot written by Ashley Allen, Zac Thompson, Julio Anta, Cavan Scott, Kenny Porter, Calvin Kasulke, Travis Moore, and Dave Wielgosz, with art by Isaac Goodhart, Hayden Sherman, Jacoby Salcedo, Atagun Ilhan, Brian Level, Vitor Cafaggi, Travis Moore, and Riley Rossmo. Poison Ivy helps out at a flower shop, Batman finds a foot growing from a crack in a wall, Blue Beetle fights Florida Man, Titans West get into a sticky situation, Swamp Thing and the Flash team up, Captain Carrot is on Dad duty, Wonder Woman and Siggy face Jack Frost, and Superman just has to make it to Spring.

SMALL PRESS

It’s underneath us. After moving their family to a small town, Janet and Oliver’s two daughters, teenage Casey, and two-year-old Isobel, become part of a horrific chain of events, and it becomes clear it’s difficult to know who to trust. Writer Jude Ellison S. Doyle and artist Letizia Cadonici combine Irish and English folklore with familiar small-town horror to bring us a new, changeling story.

An Archie horror-verse anthology set in Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe! Featuring three stories, “Die and Dash” from Amy Chase and Federico Sabbatini, “Night Shift” from Ryan Cady and Chris Panda, and “Soylent Teen” from Jordan Morris and Liana Kangas. What sort of horrors happen at Riverdale’s malt shop after dark? Who are these late-night out-of-towners? What’s the mystery behind the meat? What is the price you pay for skipping out on your bill?

This miniseries is a brutal tale of love and war from the Roman Empire, written by Fred Kennedy with art by Nick Marinkovich. Arminius, a Germanic prince raised in Rome, has sworn vengeance against the Empire that butchers his people. He wants to make a queen of the woman he loves, Honoria, a fellow slave. Now, fifty thousand Romans will die to give her a throne she never asked for.