Hi Comic Shop Friends! Are you excited for Superman? We are! Check out what John has been working on:

“Here’s something I’ve been slowly working on for the Superman movie this month. It’s coming together way better than I expected, too. There’s a lot going on around town so we wanted to do something that was decisively comic book in nature, like building an 11-foot-tall interactive Action Comics #1 photo backdrop! Some assembly still required but it will be ready in the foyer next to the shop from July 9th to the 16th, so movie release weekend. It barely fits in there! (I also made a smaller car for kids to be able to hold.) We’ve been hoarding Superman comics from FCBD and Superman Day this year, as well as the new reprint of Krypto’s first appearance, so everyone stopping in those days will be able to grab some free comics as well! Honestly, all I ask for my efforts is that anyone posting their pictures on socials gives us a little shout out if they feel so inclined. Truth, Justice, and the American Way!”

Our friends at Comics at the Corner are hosting a Lit Lounge on July 12th from 1pm to 3pm, and we’ll be providing them with free comics! They’re a great nonprofit that supports literacy for every age in Cleveland, so show them some support!

We won’t be having Late Nite Comics in July, because it’s time for our annual Not At ComiCon Sale! From Thursday July 24th through Sunday the 27th we’ll have the foyer open and full of dollar stock, and they’ll be 50 cents each for 100 or more. Back issues will be 50% off, and it’s one of the rare times that everything else in the shop (that’s not already discounted) will be 10% off!

On August 3rd from 10am to 4pm we’ll be set up at NeoCon. John said this will likely be the only show the shop will be at this year, so stop out and see us there!

August’s Late Nite Comics will also be an event with Genghis Con! They’ll be doing a Drawing Club night from 7pm to 10pm. Here are more details from them:

Presenting the first-ever Genghis Con Drawing Club! Dig out your art supplies and brush off that sketchbook, we are meeting up this summer to draw and count down the days til Genghis Con!!

• Free and open to the public!
• -Participants must be 18 or older.
• -Bring supplies. We will have a few things you can borrow but it’s best if you bring your own.
• -Bring Snacks! No alcohol is permitted unless otherwise stated

Dates so far:

• July 2nd, 6pm – 9pm | Superscript Comics and Games
• July 30th 6pm – 9pm | Lakewood Art Supply
• August 21st 7pm – 10pm | Carol & John’s Comic Shop
• September TBA
• October TBA

From John Dudas, “It’s with an incredibly heavy heart that we report the passing of Jim Shooter, one of the all-time industry greats, especially for someone from my generation. We had Jim in the shop three years ago and I can report that he was a gentleman’s gentleman. Godspeed Jim, it’s a small detail in your epic life but I attribute Avengers #165 to be the book that got me hooked on comics.”

MARVEL COMICS

Chip Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti present an untold tale of Captain America’s first encounter with Doctor Doom, kicking off a new era for Steve Rogers! His origin is the same, but this time Rogers wakes into a post 9-11 world. His first week in New York City has been an adjustment, learning about the existence of the United Nations, but he’s still the same Cap, stopping a bombing attempt there. Deciding not to take Tony Stark up on his offer to join the Avengers, Captain America returns to the U.S. military. His first mission: Victor Von Doom. Doom has taken hostages from the U.S. embassy in Latveria, and contact has stopped. Meanwhile, a young man, David Coulton, inspired by the history of Captain America, and his own experience on September 11th decides he’s joining the Army. Even if it kills him. “There was no question in my mind. I was going to serve. Steve Rogers, the bullied kid from Brooklyn, was going to serve.” Can Steve’s morals hold up in a similar, but much changed world? Will Coulton’s story continue to mirror Rogers’s, or is he on a much different path?

“Let the Goblin out.” A piece of Norman Osborn’s villainous history is revealed in the second Bring On the Bad Guys one-shot, written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan, with artist Matteo Della Fonte. Making a deal with Mephisto will give Norman all he’s ever wanted. The cost: his only son, and the death of a stranger. Blood and flesh. The time has come for Mephisto to collect his debt, and the creature inside of Osborn is dying to be set free. The Green Goblin will be unleashed, and an Oscorp employee and family man is in Goblin’s sights. “You’re going to do great things.”

The Hand have searched for the one true Fist of the Beast. They thought they had found it in the Punisher, but Castle proved to be a disappointment. They have waited. Now the still-beating heart of a kaiju holds the key to their end goal. The Hand have bestowed Godzilla with the power of the Beast! The King of the Monsters is now the King of all Killers! Who would have thought that Godzilla Vs Thor would be a follow up to the excellent Punisher: King of Killers story? I sure didn’t, but I’m pleased with it! Unleashing Godzilla on the world also summons Thor, who will stop at nothing to end the Beast’s destruction. But the Hand will stop at nothing to ensure the Beast’s survival, including finding the last shard of the Necrosword. Witness Godzilla the God Butcher! Jason Aaron and Aaron Kuder wrap up the Godzilla Vs one-shots with the throwdown to end all throwdowns!

DC COMICS

The Gotham City Sirens are back! Catwoman is planning a heist at Gotham’s hottest new private nightclub, Lunaria, to snatch an invaluable artifact and she needs a distraction. Good thing that big, messy distractions are Harley’s specialty! Poison Ivy is recruited because she’s been doing research on the club’s carbon footprint, and is very interested in destroying it completely. With the first public rave being the perfect cover to infiltrate, the trio of trouble find their intel isn’t accurate, and the walls are NASA-grade solar paneling?! What? Something is not right, and these ladies are about to find out they’re Unfit For Orbit in Leah Williams and Haining’s new mini-series!

Jo and Hal have a plan to strike back at Abin Sur to save Evergreen. With only a few of them left, this may be their only chance to stop any more from being judged. “Continued chaotic action was unacceptable.” But what Jo learns from Abin Sur will change the outcome of their lives and the town forever. How do you stop something you do not fully understand?

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Of course the new Eric Powell book is my pick of the week! I took my copy home early so I could read it before writing the newsletter. Co-writer Harold Schechter and Powell have created another engaging look into true crime, as they did with “Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?”, focusing on the man who nearly killed the comics industry, Dr. Fredric Wertham. Comic book fans know him as the man who wrote Seduction of the Innocent, leading to the vilification of comics, book burning panic, and the creation of the Comics Code Authority.

But there’s much more to the man than this notoriety. Dr. Wertham was a renowned psychiatrist who believed that violence and murder could be abolished by studying and understanding the mental illnesses and social factors that led people to commit crimes. Treating and interviewing some of the most notorious killers of the time, including Albert Fish, Wertham took a more humane approach than his peers to mental health, but also wrote books on these subjects that exploited the brutal violence and sensationalized disturbing behavior. How pure are your motives when you’re profiting off the very thing you are trying to combat? Schechter and Powell take an unbiased look at a complex man whose obsession with learning the true cause of violence in order to eradicate it caused censorship in an industry that shared some of his values and progressive views on race and class, especially Gaines and EC.

If you only know the legend of Wertham, this is an excellent deep dive into what led him to that point. If you enjoyed the duo’s Ed Gein book, this is in the same vein. If you’re interested in comic book history, true crime, psychology, or any combination of those, give this book a read. I read it straight through in one sitting because it was so compelling, and learned a lot about a man, who until now, had seemed fairly one-note. But I still agree with something Rugg and Piskor said in a Cartoonist Kayfabe episode looking at pre-Comics Code horror and fantasy art, “Imagine what the comics industry would look like now without Wertham’s influence.” So many creators just left the business because of the controversy. So many were forced to self-censor and tone down their art. For a man who claimed to be against censorship, Wertham sure did force the comic industry into it.

The first spinoff mini-series from Hyde Street! Sophie and Violet are BFFs, and after the two girls are involved in a car crash that kills Sophie’s mother, they become like sisters to each other. Never separated, always supporting each other, Sophie and Violet have made it to their freshman year of college. But with Violet pledging a sorority, they haven’t been spending as much time together, and when a hazing goes fatal, Sophie will do anything to get her sister back. On Hyde Street there’s always a cost, and her visit to psychic Sister Hood to contact Violet beyond the grave will cost her more than just money. Sophie’s devastation may manifest as vengeance… Written by Maytal Zchut with art by Leila Leiz.