Hello Comic Shop Friends! It’s a little bit of a weird week for us, because ComicsPro is this week, so John, Ben, Kyle, and I will be in Pittsburgh for that for a few days. Stop out and see Raf on Thursday because he’s covering for us! And John Shearer will be covering Friday as well, so come hang out with him too!

Don’t worry, Winston and CJ-90 will be keeping an eye on things.

We’re excited to see some of our cohorts from other comic shops, and get the scoop on new stuff from comic publishers. And bring back some exclusives for yinz!

Come out to the Grog Shop on Wednesday the 21st at 8pm for the monthly Midnight Rental Secret Screening! It’s a big one! It is: the one-year anniversary show, the post-Valentine’s Day show, Rachel from the Grog Shop’s birthday show, and the return of Lenora’s original co-host, Joe. Ben will be co-hosting like usual, and there will be a tape swap! I picked out three legitimately great movies to trade. Bring a wrapped VHS to swap!

Besides that, it’s just new comics for the rest of the month, and you may have seen John’s Facebook video last Friday with a new wall rerack! A bunch of that already sold, but there’s (as I write this) a long box of new back issues from the same collection, and John is working on more, so make sure to check those out. And once we’re back from ComicsPro we’ll be processing more recent small collections as well!

MARVEL COMICS

Writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, with artist Michael Dowling start off the Black, White, and Blood (and Green!) trio of tales with “Utopia” part one. A generations-spanning story that will continue through all four issues, it follows the ship Forward, a Socialist community, that votes to rescue a Weyland-Yutani vessel drifting in space. And you know the sign of life inside is going to be a Xenomorph! The second is, “The Hunt” written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Marcelo Ferreira. A group of people pay a small fortune to hunt the most dangerous game, and this time it’s not humans.  Finishing off the issue is “Maternal Instinct” by writer Ryan Cady and artist Devmalya Pramanik, where the only survivor of an Alien attack is a young child who is guided by “Mother”, the research vessel’s computer system.

We find ourselves once again at the Edge of the Spider-Verse with three new short stories! We know who Weapon X is, but who is Weapon VIII? Find out in “New Toys” written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, with art by Travel Foreman. We weren’t into this cover, because all the variant covers sell the book better, but the story is excellent. Next, it’s your friendly internet crimefighter, Spider-Byte, making her return to comics! She’s taking down an online casino with predatory money lending, and multitasking to ace a calculus quiz in Nilah Magruder and Eric Gapstur’s “The Glitch.” Then in “Prologue”, from writer Alex Segura and artist Salvador Larroca, Spider-Man 2099 could use a break after fighting all those monsters, but Madame Web needs his help with the Spider Society. This one leads into the Web of Spider-Man one-shot next month.

Ed Brisson and Francesco Manna start a new chapter in the Marvel Predator books, with The Last Hunt. The last mini-series ended with Theta and Paolo continuing their hunt, and Awja taking key intelligence about the Predators back to Earth, but the hunt is becoming more difficult. The Predators have adapted, and all of Theta’s data is becoming useless. Until the duo happens upon a distress signal, that leads them to something that will change the direction of their quest.

DC COMICS

DC’s facsimile this week is the first appearance of John Stewart, as he subs in for Guy Gardner when Guy is injured in an earthquake, and it shakes up Hal Jordan’s life! This full reprint also features Green Arrow in “What Can One Man Do?”, and a “Green Lantern Classic.”

It’s Wonder Woman time again! You should be saying, “Yes, thank you” to this book. It’s a knockdown, literally, fight between Wonder Woman and the team the Sovereign has put together. Also, the Trinity backup story is super cute; she can’t sleep and she’s concerned that there is math in her closet.

SMALL PRESS COMICS

The companion mini-series to One Hand, The Six Fingers from writer Dan Watters and artist Sumit Kumar, is the killer’s perspective. So if you don’t want to know who-done-it, you may not want to read this one, but it is more of a why-done-it. (Like Columbo!) Johannes Vale is very in control of his life, but his proposal notes for an archaeology department dig are missing, his unauthorized repairs at the power factory have been found out, and his girlfriend is breaking up with him. Things spiral more out of control when he commits a murder using the M.O. of the One Hand Killer. And he does not remember doing it. Now he’s trying to make sense of what he did, and why he did it. “We fling ourselves…gleefully into the eternal ‘why.’”

The next new DSTLRY book is here! Mirka Andolfo’s Blasfamous is a mix of the sacred and the profane, in candy colors. In this world, religion has become even more commercialized, with pop stars ascending to divinity, and followers experiencing miracles because they’re top-tier subscribers. Clelia is the hottest star, but she is having a hard time creating her new album, and maintaining her public persona, because flashes of her past are creeping in, of a woman she knew, but cannot fully remember. Concerned with her behavior, her agent, Father Lev, hires super-fan psychologist Dorothy Blaze to help Clelia improve her mental health. And maintain The Order of the New Church of the Triple Crucifix’s system of Saints. But things will not go as planned, as Dorthy and Clelia make secret plans of their own, another superstar is rising and threatening Clelia’s top spot, and a faction of organized religion that still believes in the old ways has its own secret to reveal.  There are angels and demons, and no one is truly what they seem, in this story-packed first issue.

You know I love animals, so I enjoyed this ashcan preview of the new Man’s Best series from writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Jesse Lonergan. Described as Homeward Bound on an alien planet, it follows three emotional support animals, dogs Porthos and Lovey, and cat leader Athos, and their scientist human on a ship headed to a new planet to give humanity a fresh start. These animals may be the only hope for the humans after the ship crashes and the crew is captured. This is what they’ve been training for on the holodeck, outfitted in mech suits, and the start of an adventure that threatens to tear the trio’s friendship apart.

Did you miss the start of the Energon Universe? Now’s your chance to catch up! Kirkman and De Felici’s Void Rivals is out in trade paperback this week, collecting issues #1 – #6. We’re all fans here, and I’m sure you’ve heard us talk about all the new Energon series, so this is definitely our recommended trade this week!