It’s December Comic Shop Friends!

That means it’s time for our yearly reminder that we would love it if you could come in and clear out your files before the end of the year. We will gladly print out your pull list if you need to make any changes to your file.

We’ve had a lot of new files opened this year with the DC Absolute titles taking off, so file space is at a premium for us! We joke about having “SPO shoulder” from the five or six boxes on the side counter every week, and the cubby cubes are packed, so please make a good faith effort to pick up what is in your file this month!

We love to sell you comics, but we’d really love you to take them home and read them!

That said, anytime you need more time to pick up your comics, just let us know. We will happily hold them longer, as long as we know you’ll be back in to get them. Things happen, we understand, but we just need communication from you.

Now onto the fun stuff!

Thank you to Nate Powell! He was here this past Saturday for a signing, and it was great to meet him! He told us his story of meeting Harvey Pekar at a convention early in his (Nate’s) career, and making Harvey tear up a little while praising his work and influence. Nate has a new book coming out next fall, and hopefully we can have him back in the shop then!

Submissions have started coming in! You have until Sunday, the 14th at 5pm to get yours dropped off in the shop, and if you need a black cover, we have them!

We are asking that if you want to do multiple covers this year that you drop off your first one, then you can pick up another. Our stock of blanks is limited, so we want to make sure that everyone that wants to do a cover is able to pick one up.

This year’s theme is “Superheroes in Cleveland” and you can interpret that however you wish. We will have the art displayed starting Wednesday, the 17th, through our Holiday Party on Saturday, the 20th, where we will draw winners from the raffle.

Once the display is up, you can purchase raffle tickets for $1 each, and every single dollar donated will go directly to the Cleveland Food Bank! The Greater Cleveland Food Bank has the ability to turn $1 into three meals, so every dollar donated makes an impact!

They need our help more than ever to keep our community fed, so every cover you donate and every dollar you donate is so appreciated!

Now onto the even more fun stuff, new comics!

MARVEL COMICS

Two new Hulk books two weeks in a row! Is Hulk really the strongest there is? He’s stronger than most people, but is he really stronger than EVERYTHING? Hulk is taking on everyone and everything in this mini-series from Ryan North and Vincenzo Carratu. Hulk’s rage has risen to its breaking point, and the voice in his head is saying one thing, “Hulk smash everything!” Hulk’s rampage is set off by Doctor Strange, but there’s someone else behind it. But it doesn’t even matter who it is, because Hulk will smash anything! Dinosaurs! Planets! Gravity! Cosmic forces! What won’t he smash?! Action packed and super fun!

Two years in, the Ultimate Universe is heading toward the Endgame. This one-shot special leading into Ultimate Endgame and the end (?) of the Ultimate Universe stars the Ultimate Guardians. The Maker destroyed the future of the universe by creating his ideal Earth, but even though they were scattered across a warped timestream, the Guardians of the Galaxy from the 61st century survived. Now Captain Marvel, Star-Lord, Ultimate Nullifier, and Cosmo are searching for the rest of the Guardians, and any other heroes that can help in the coming battle against the Maker. It seems that the Maker’s actions have changed history as well, making it even more difficult for the Guardians. The Guardians may be running out of time, as their travels across space and universes and attempts to right the Ultimate Universe have caused deaths, loss, and brutality. Hope is fading. “Save everything” is their motto, but what if they can’t? Written by Deniz Camp and Alex Paknadel, with artists Patrick Boutin, Phil Noto, Francesco Manna, Lee Ferguson, and Javier Pulido. Featuring the first appearance of Ultimate Daredevil!

DC COMICS

All fight month starts here! The sweet sixteen remaining fighters after DC K.O. #2 face off in eight rounds of an epic month of fights! Round one: Superman vs. Captain Atom! Best two out of three wins, and advances closer to the Heart. Each has been shown what the world would be remade into if they win, each has their reasons for wanting to win. With being able to choose any form from their history, Superman and Captain Atom will have to anticipate what the other will choose, but the location changes each time as well. How do you prepare for a fight like this, when all of life on Earth is at stake? Captain Atom knows it’s a war, “and when we’re at war, we make sacrifices.” He’s playing to win, is Superman? Superman knows they cannot lose who they are in this twisted game, and as they get closer to the Heart and its power manipulates them. Who will win? At what cost? Written by Joshua Williamson, with art by Sean Izaakse.

There’s also a round listing on the title pages and after the story, so you know what to read next, leading into DC K.O. #3, as the tournament to be crowned King Omega continues!

Knightfight continues as Batman versus Batman for the soul of Gotham City! Losing the first round forced Batman into a new challenge designed just for him, and now he’s forced to fight against his former Robins. Gotham has been shaped by each of the Robins into their own vision of justice. As Bruce fights Dick Grayson he comes to learn that these are not the Robins he’s trained and raised, but the Heart of Apokolips tainted versions. Versions familiar, but twisted into believing that this Batman must die! Will Batman survive the most violent aspects of his own legacy? Will his greatest failure destroy him? It’s a battle for the cowl and for the fate of the DC Universe as Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora’s mini-series continues!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

As the holiday season approaches, it’s time to Dread the Halls! The oversized one-shot returns again this year with another batch of holiday horror! Five spooky seasonal shorts, starting with “Yule” from Jordan Hart and Luana Vecchio. The classic Hallmark Christmas movie tropes of a big city career woman visiting a small town and falling in love takes a turn as she learns the truth of the seemingly perfect town of Christmasdale.

In Chris Ryall and Lee Ferguson’s “Chains Forged in Life” the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future have a hard time getting through to a d-bag talk show host, who has absolutely no intentions of changing any of his ways.

Alfonso frees a wooden, conscious, preposterously living elf from a crate in a cave, but it’s not as innocent as it looks, in “The Alp” by Jordan Hart and Walter Pax.

“The Martians Conquer Santa Claus” when Santa tries to spread his Christmas cheer to Mars! They’ll have none of his gingerbread scented invasion! Death to Christmas! From Chris Ryall and Keithan Jones.

“Counting Days” gives an I.T. Supervisor an unexpected gift in the form of an advent calendar filled with treats. But some are not so sweet… What will the calendar bring as he moves closer to Christmas? By Jordan Hart and Fabio Veras.

Another Image seasonal one-shot! What a Christmas gift! Startling Tales of Santa Claus has six fantasy-adventure stories, all written by Benito Cereno, packed into 80 pages!

“Christmas in the Harz”, with art by Seakae, is full of folklore and creatures, as Santa and his apprentice help a young girl who only wants her father to wake for Christmas.

“The Klaubauf’s Wager” is a retelling of how the team-up of Saint Nick and Krampus came to be. Art by Evan “Doc” Shaner.

“Tio de Nadal”, illustrated by Anthony Clark, is a “true Christmas story” of how the poop log (The log that poops candy!) became a tradition as a man recounts his tale of relieving himself in baby Jesus’s manger.

Seakae contributes again with “Krampusnacht”. A young man who has always feared Krampus learns that he had no reason to fear as a child, but Krampus will always come for a man who is naughty.

“The Baker’s Dozen” is the tale of how thirteen came to be known as a baker’s dozen, as a baker finds his stinginess does not help his business. With delightful art by Seakae.

“An Old-Fashioned Holiday” shows us what Christmas is like in Lovecraft country when Mattie brings her college friend, Keeli, home, where the town takes the season very seriously. Their ways are the right ways, but Keeli has never celebrated Christmas and just wants to meet Santa Claus. She may get her wish… With art by Emmett Graham.

The first new single issue of Criminal in over five years! Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips present an oversized, annual-style issue before the tv series premiere! Featuring a novella-length story starring Ricky Lawless on a solo heist, where things start to go wrong when he realizes the coke he just snorted is actually heroin. Fun! There’s also a character refresher for longtime readers, that also serves as an introduction for those who are new to the Criminal series, like me, and two one-pagers about the creators visiting the set. Want more? You can now play your own version of Criminal thanks to the Kieron Gillen written RPG module included in the issue! This is a great entry point for new readers, and having read this, I want to check out the other Criminal tales.