Hello, Comic Shop Friends!

A reminder that this Thursday, the 15th, is Late Nite Comics! We’ll stay open until midnight, and starting at 8 pm the table will be full of $1 books. This time it will be a mix of Marvel, DC, and Small Press! And back issues will be 50% off! Including the wall books!

Another reminder, Saturday, July 22nd, David Michelinie will be here for a signing from 12 pm to 6 pm! He will sign five items for free, and then you can get back in line to have more signed, but a donation to his favorite cat charity PurringPals is greatly encouraged.

Winston will judge you if you abuse Michelinie’s kindness.

We also have a section of Dave Michelinie books, so you can pick up something before the event!

Also, that weekend, July 20th through July 23rd, will be our annual “Not-At-ComicCon” sale! More details on that are coming later!

It’s back to a pretty regular week for Marvel and DC books, but there are a bunch of Small Press recommendations, so if that’s your thing, you are in luck!

MARVEL HEADER

Exiled from Wakanda, T’Challa traveled the planet trying to find his purpose. He cannot leave his homeland without its protector, so the king, without a crown, returns to lurk the streets of Birnin T’Chaka and learn about how Wakanda’s citizens are faring under the new parliamentary democracy. And it’s not well for some, as small businesses and a pro bono lawyer are being extorted by an unknown gang. It’s a new direction for Black Panther, with new villains, from a new creative team of writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Chris Allen.

Nine stories with the Marvel Universe’s LGBTQIA+ characters, including the debut of a brand-new character! There’s Gwenpool! Dazzler! Nightshade! Web-Weaver! Wiccan and Hulkling! Black Cat! Gambit! Muzzle! America Chavez! Gimmick! And more! Featuring writers Marieke Nijkamp, Stephanie Williams, Katherine Locke, Shadi Petosky, Sarah Gailey, H.E. Edgmon, Stephen Byrne, and Steve Foxe, and artists Pablo Collar, Hector Barros, Joanna Estep, Roberta Ingranata, Bailie Rosenlund, Lorenzo Susi, Stephen Byrne, and Rosi Kampe.

Pavitr Prabhakar is back! Back in his own universe’s Mumbai after the End of the Spider-Verse events (in time for his appearance in the new Across the Spider-Verse movie), with still no time for snacks, he’s up against a mega-corporation that wants to tear down his neighborhood. And there’s a professor interested in activating people’s “lizard brain.” What could go wrong there? “Life goes on and on and on.” Written by Nikesh Shukla with art by Abhishek Malsuni.

DC HEADER

Another DC Pride book! This one takes a look back at the history of LGBTQIA+ DC characters and collects three landmark issues: The Flash #53 from 1991 with Pied Piper, Detective Comics #854 from 2009 with Batwoman, and Supergirl #19 from 2018 with Lee Serano. And there’s an all-new story starring Alan Scott leading into his next adventure as Green Lantern! Written by William Messner-Loebs, Greg Rucka, Steve Orlando and Vita Ayala, and Tim Sheridan, with art by Greg LaRocque, J. H. Williams III, Jamal Campbell, and Cian Tormey.

SMALL PRESS HEADER

Crime and cults combine in Ed Brisson and C.P. Smith’s new five-issue mini-series. Wyatt is recruited by his brother, Jasper, for one last job. The job that will set them up for life is robbing an armored car, but things go south, and the valuables that were promised aren’t there. The truck’s cargo: a woman and her son. Now Wyatt is pulled into a conflict with a doomsday cult. Can he save the boy? Can he outrun a cult?

Set in the not-too-distant future in a world ravaged by global warming and climate disasters, eccentric billionaire Callum Shah recruits disgraced journalist Matt Park for his next “exca-vacation” to the most haunted place on Earth, Isla Lodo. It’s Shah’s only chance to document the strange phenomena before the island is destroyed by tsunamis, and he, along with his team of military contractors and a radical doctor, hopes to prove once and for all the existence of life after death. But what they encounter may not be the hope Shah is hoping for from writer Ryan Cady and artist Andrea Mutti.

From writer Doug Wagner and artist Doug Dabbs comes the story of a mute assassin with ever-color-changing hair and cute outfits who communicates through Polaroid photos and the podcaster who ends up in her orbit. Raised in rural Idaho by her veteran grandpa and trained for combat, Sprout has never been around any other people, but after his murder, she heads to New York City to avenge him, leaving a trail of polaroids and bodies in her wake.

Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici debut the “biggest new comic book series of 2023 with the launch of an all-new shared universe and a surprise you won’t see coming!” (Unless you had it spoiled for you.) I won’t give anything away, but it starts with some Enemy Mine vibes. Agorrian pilot Darak and his “android” have crashed on an unknown planet, along with a Zertonian rival Solila. With both their ships inoperable, they decide to temporarily team up to repair one ship, but they come across something strange. Can they escape together? What other surprises will they come across? What dark forces threaten the entire universe?

Besides The Nasty #3, this is my favorite book of the week. Weird small-town sickness murder horror tale from creators Jenna Cha and Lonnie Nadler; this one was not on my radar until it came in this week. Ben read it and immediately handed it to me to read. Jumping between 1945, following teenager Daniel, who is experiencing strange symptoms and seeing someone who may not be there, and 1955, where Dr. George Brooks is driven to uncover what could cause such brutality from an ordinary woman after a housewife attacks her family and herself. Feeling sick? The Man may be following you…