Andrea’s Wonder-ful Picks for 09.20.2023

Hello there, Comic Shop Friends! First, some reminders about upcoming shop stuff, then on to this week’s new books! None of which matter as much as Wonder Woman #1!

So first, this Thursday, the 21st, is Late Nite Comics from 8 pm to midnight! John Dudas and John Shearer have been going through the recent collections and have pulled out a bunch of new dollar stock for this month’s Late Nite! Back issues will be 50% off! Will the wall books be 50% off? John hasn’t said yet… Stop in and find out!

Then, on Saturday the 23rd, from 4 pm to 6 pm, Phillip Kennedy Johnson will be in the shop for a signing! He also has a new book out this week, Green Lantern: War Journal, and we have Incredible Hulk, Alien, and Action Comics issues and trades from him as well. Get five items signed for free!

John will be at the West Side Market on Sunday, the 24th, handing out free Superman books as part of the CPL’s Superman’s Cleveland event!

And the rundown for October:

  • October 13th: Mark Waid! Signing from 6 pm to 8 pm, followed by trivia with the staff!
  • October 20th: Sina Grace! Signing from 6 pm to 8 pm!
  • October 27th: Sarah Kuhn! Signing from 6 pm to 8 pm!

Check out all the other events for the Cleveland Public Library’s Superman’s Cleveland here.

MARVEL COMICS

J. Michael Straczynski and artist Jesus Saiz weave stories from Steve Rogers’s past with his present in a new journey for Captain America. Insidious forces are assembling to set the world on a darker path, and Steve may have a tie to where it began. His super-hero life pulls him away from his new role as a real estate owner and property manager, as he saves his childhood home and current residents from being evicted. What future awaits him as he tries to balance his civilian and hero lives, and the dark threat moving in?

Predator! Wolverine! Predator versus Wolverine! Witness the greatest untold battles from Logan’s long life. Who will win when you pit the best there is at what he does against the universe’s greatest hunter? Hey, we all win! Writer Benjamin Percy and artists Ken Lashley, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, and Andrea Di Vito, bring the bloodthirsty saga to life. Or death?

Speaking of Wolverine, we got in a couple of surprise promotional art covers for Wolverine #37 this week! It’s been quite a while since we’ve gotten some promotional covers in, so this is pretty cool.

Creepy Crawler? Hellcrawler? Devil Spider? Nightcrawling Wall-Crawler? It’s Kurt Wagner, the Uncanny Spider-Man! Si Spurrier and Lee Garbett put Nightcrawler in hiding, in a Spider-suit. Engaging in snarky banter, doing some street-level hero-ing, and chowing down on horrible pizza, Kurt is trying to do good, clear his name, and help fellow mutants. It won’t be easy with Sentinels scanning for mutant pheromones and Orchis bringing in a mercenary team to track him down. (And how does no one recognize him with all the Bamf-ing he’s doing?)

DC COMICS

Does it even matter what else came out this week when we have this? It’s Tom King and Daniel Sampere’s new Wonder Woman! This is a unanimous staff pick. Kyle and I read it as soon as we unpacked the DC order and then handed it to Ben as soon as he walked in. Then Ben handed it to John Shearer as soon as he walked in the next day. And now we’re going to hand it to you. (Except for the guy who has all Tom King books on his pull list and specifically asked to TAKE OFF WONDER WOMAN!)

The feminine urge to kill a man for touching you. After an Amazon murders all the men in a pool hall, leaving the only two women in the bar alive, a detrimental chain of events starts. Congress bans all Amazons from the U.S., deporting women and dividing families, killing any Amazon who resists. The government task force A.X.E., the Amazon Extradition Entity, led by Sgt. Steel, is tracking Diana Prince as she searches for the truth behind the incident. Wonder Woman is now an outlaw. And she is determined to uncover the truth of the incident and the truth of who is behind the ban on Amazons.

I cannot stop thinking about this issue. It’s giving me the same feelings as when I first watched Mad Max: Fury Road. And that’s kind of the highest compliment I can give.

Also, thanks to DC for putting all the ads in the back of this issue so we’re able to enjoy the story uninterrupted.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Montos’ new series! After the United Planets seized control of the Lantern Corps and quarantined Earth’s sector, John Stewart is no longer a Green Lantern. He’s trying to embrace a peaceful post-superhero life with his mother. In space, an astronaut comes across a ring that speaks to her. A doorway to the stars. Now, a young Lantern from another universe is tasked with stopping the Radiant Dead, and killing their Queen, but he needs the only warrior who can face this threat. And John Stewart is the only one on Earth who can take on this contagious force and win.

Pick up a copy for PKJ’s signing this coming Saturday!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Image has a new dream-like mini-series premiere from creator Richard Blake, Hexagon Bridge. In the year 4040 a doorway into a parallel dimension is discovered, and cartographers Jacob and Elena Armlen are sent in. But contact was lost, and the two were trapped. Eight years later, their daughter Adley has visions of them, separated, and possibly in danger. Now Adley’s grandparents are working on a plan to rescue Elena and Jacob, with the help of a sentient robot. This is a quiet book, that drops you into the visions, and lets you immerse yourself in this strange dimension.

Hell has descended on Earth, and even Madam Satan isn’t safe. Losing her powers and living on the run, she makes her way to Riverdale and takes refuge in a seemingly abandoned home. But it isn’t, and now Jinx is pulled into Madam Satan’s plan to summon the Eldritch Terrors to take down Satan! Written by Eliot Rahal with art by Vincenzo Federici.

We had the ashcan edition of Ram V and Filipe Andrade’s Rare Flavours a few weeks ago, the “tasting menu” if you will, and now the full feast is here! Rubin Baksh is a demon who has lived with humanity and now wants to create a documentary about the food and flavours of India. He enlists filmmaker Mo, who has no idea about Rubin’s demonic life, and what role mortals will play in the series. And unbeknownst to both, there are two shadowy figures, and a cat named Manimeow, on the hunt for Rubin. There is a masala chai recipe woven into the issue, and the story is leading into how food creates community, and how that makes us human.