Andrea’s Spine-Tingling Picks for 09.13.2023

Hi Comic Shop Friends! Here’s the scoop on what’s happening in the shop!

Late Nite Comics is next Thursday, the 21st, from 8 pm to midnight. We’ve been going through some collections, so we’ve added to our dollar stock, and a bunch of new back issues are out. Come in and check out what’s new!

Then, next Saturday, the 23rd, from 4 pm to 6 pm, Phillip Kennedy Johnson will be here signing. (Incredible Hulk #4 is out this week. Holy crap, this book is gooooood.) You can get three items signed for free! Thanks to the Cleveland Public Library!

Here’s another plug for the CPL’s Superman’s Cleveland event: visit Superman’s Cleveland for more information and more events!

And lastly, in September, on Sunday the 24th from 11 am to 2 pm, we’ll be at the West Side Market handing out free Superman comics!

And here’s the October events again:

  • Friday the 13th: Mark Waid signing from 6 pm to 8 pm. Followed by trivia with the CNJ staff!
  • Friday the 20th: Sina Grace signing from 6 pm to 8 pm.
  • Friday the 27th: Sarah Kuhn signing from 6 pm to 8 pm.

We are pulling back issues by these creators to make it easy for you to find something to have signed! We’re stocking up on trades as well!

MARVEL COMICS

All-ages Alligator Loki! If you like It’s Jeff, you’ll like this one! Collecting the Marvel Unlimited stories written by Alyssa Wong with art by Bob Quinn, with one brand new adventure! Thor takes Alligator Loki to a theme park, Alligator Loki has a spa day, there’s a zoo breakout, Loki vs Alligator Loki, Alligator Loki’s birthday party, Alligator Loki chomping Mjolnir, chomping snacks, and more!

Tasked with a “no costume” investigation of six murders in the maximum-security prison, The Raft, Janet Van Dyne finds one victim is a former nemesis, Whirlwind. But besides figuring out who was able to murder these prisoners undetected, she now has to figure out why they’re waking up, what Victor Shade’s involvement is, and why he’s in someone else’s body. Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk bring us a new style of Avenging, from a new style of Avengers, full of action, mystery, and adventure!

A creepy crawly web-crawler collection of the Spine-Tingling Spider-Man Marvel Unlimited series from writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Juan Ferreyra, the duo who will continue the terror in Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #1, out in October. There is a song that, once heard, will haunt you. You won’t be able to sleep. You won’t be able to hear anything else. You won’t be able to escape it. This song is infesting Peter Parker’s neighborhood, causing people, including Spider-Man, to slip into unconsciousness, into a dream world. Can Peter escape the clutches of this nightmare song? “Close, close your eyes. Go, go to sleep. The man with the knife cuts down the sheep. He slaughters the lamb. He slaughters the ewe. Close, close your eyes. He’ll cut you down too. Close, close your eyes. Go, go to sleep.”

And here’s a Werewolf By Night one-shot to bring us into the Halloween season! A fun supernatural story, switching between black, white, and red, and warm color, artist Fran Galan and writer Derek Landy team-up Jack Russell, the King of All Wolves, with Elsa Bloodstone on a mission to rescue a girl from the clutches of Doktor Nekromantik. “The night is cold, and I’m wearing heels. Do I really want to do this?”

DC COMICS

A lot has happened to Bruce and Damian Wayne lately, but now they’re back together as Batman and Robin! And just in time for a new villain to show up! After moving into Bruce’s brownstone, and being told he has to start high school, Damian may not be sure about his daytime life, but with monstrous rogues teaming up, he knows he has to help Batman stop the plot to take them down. From writer Joshua Williamson and artist Simone Di Meo.

And we go from Bruce Wayne trying to be a good single dad to… This.

“God doesn’t go to the same places I do.” Rafael Grampa’s new four-part mini-series is a look into the deepest and darkest corners of Gotham City, and human nature. A cartoon inspired serial killer is targeting seemingly unrelated, rich victims. Unhoused people are going missing, and the high-profile cases are drowning out the cries for help from the lower classes. Batman has decided to kill off the Bruce Wayne persona once and for all, but does he really know himself well enough to face the darkness of the Batman? How will he fare without this tool in his arsenal? Can he fight the darkness of this new killer without his tie to humanity? The creepiest book of the week, in a week full of creepy books. I am intrigued, and can’t wait to see where this goes.

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Described as “Django Unchained meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” writer David Crownson and artist Courtland Ellis take some supernatural liberties with the true story of Harriet Tubman. Ninja warrior Tubman leads a family to freedom, while battling vampires, werewolves, witches, and demons. Optioned to be a Disney series!

Creepshow is back! Just in time for the spookiest season, and before the new season starts on Shudder! Still a creep-filled-anthology, with two stand-alone stories in each issue, issue #1 of volume two features the most disturbing baby story I’ve ever seen, and it’s not just because of the tiny terrors, from Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan. And the second is a Phil Hester story about a grieving son and what lives underground. These comics are the best version of Creepshow! (Yes, even the original movie, and I say that as a George Romero fan. We can all pretend Creepshow 3 doesn’t even exist though.)

Meet Ethel, The Giraffe, Lady Facesmasher, and The Sufferer. These are only some of the killers that have taken up residence in the decaying city of Colonia. Suffering from almost total economic collapse, Colonia’s remaining residents are left with a dwindling police force that cannot handle the immense amount of crime. Detective Aaron Aira’s partner is moving out of the city, leaving him to handle the growing list of unsolved murders, and when a murderer confesses to a chunk of those, Aira teams up with missing persons detective Mwanawa Parker to work their cases together. Now the two will find that the most depraved killers in the country are moving to Colonia to literally get away with murder. From writer Scott Bryan Wilson and artist Max Alan Fuchs.