Hello Comic Shop Friends! A couple bits of news, and then onto new books!

We’ve been nominated for Scene’s Best of Cleveland in the Comic and Collectibles Shop category! You can vote for all the categories here: https://vote.clevescene.com/

Or just for us here: https://vote.clevescene.com/shops-and-services/best-comic-collectibles-shop

Thursday the 18th is Late Nite Comics! 8pm to 11pm! Tons of dollar stock! 50% off back issues! I’m not sure what dollar books John is planning on bringing out, but he’s added some new dollar boxes recently. We’ve added some new back issues from new collections, so come check out the wall before the sale, because they may not be there next Thursday!

MARVEL COMICS

Armageddon has arrived! General Ross has taken over Latveria, with the goal of ensuring global democracy. He wants a world of freedom, but his campaign relies on invasions and takeovers. The U.S. government has ordered the Fantastic Four and the Avengers to do nothing. But something has to be done, and when Tony Stark discovers that Ross is using some sort of predictive technology to ensure his success, he starts recruiting heroes. Wolverine knows a guy who just got an upgrade, and he may be the secret weapon they need to stop the Red Hulk! (Read Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon!) Earth’s Mightiest Heroes intend to take down the man who put Steve Rodgers in a coma, and they’re not letting anyone stand in their way. Avengers assemble! We’re heading into a post-Armageddon Marvel Universe transformation, and it starts with Chip Zdarsky and artists Delio Diaz & Frank Alpizar’s five-issue mini-series! Plus, every issue of the first printing, variants included, are bagged with an exclusive “Warstorm Surge” Magic: the Gathering card with art by Ryan Stegman!

A warning of things to come from Kang the Conqueror leads Doctor Doom to demand the deaths of Jay and Silent Bob! What have they done to demand such a fate?! The View Askewniverse meets the Marvel Universe, as Doombots invade Leonardo, New Jersey! Now the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Avengers have to figure out how to keep Jay and his hetero life mate, Silent Bob safe from Magneto, Deadpool, and a legion of Doombots! Doctor Strange learns that something Silent Bob created will lead to an event that will change humanity, but there’s a cost to making sure it never happens. It’s a pun-packed one-shot adventure from Kevin Smith and Giuseppe Camuncoli as Marvel and Secret Stash Press team-up to tell the tale of Jays of Future Past! What a fun read, and even if you’re not a Clerks or Jay and Silent Bob superfan, it’s still an excellent Marvel story!

DC COMICS

Absolute Catwoman gets her own six-issue mini-series from writers Che Grayson and Scott Snyder, and artist Bengal, showing her life outside of Gotham! She has the wealth, she has the gear, she has the skills, and Selina Kyle has become the greatest thief in the world. So who would dare to steal from her? Someone from her past in Gotham has shown up at Selina’s home in London, asking for help with a job. But when Selina discovers that her former friend has hidden something in her apartment, it sets off a mystery that will take her all around the world. Now she’s out of retirement, she’s back in the suit, and she’s breaking out those wonderful toys once again. We’re getting more about Selina’s life before becoming Catwoman, and hints at what she was up to after leaving Gotham, like training a litter of cat burglars! And a new Absolute first appearance!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Jack Coates can look inside your mind. He can hear your thoughts. He knows every terrible thing you’ve done. This is a skill that has served him well in a career at a private security firm, but it comes at a cost. Jack has learned to live with the pain of knowing others’ bad thoughts, and uses special earplugs to hide the noise. When his team is sent to deal with a militia’s attack on an IRS facility, what seems to be a standard infiltration to extract hostages becomes something far worse. Jack thought he had a team he could trust, but after they walk into a situation they didn’t anticipate, he’s going to find out what happens when you put your trust in the wrong people. There’s someone who may have found a way to hide their thoughts from him, but what is their motive? Writer Ande Parks and artist Dave Wachter present a story about a new kind of hero. This is another great first issue from Ignition Press, and we were just talking about how everyone is sleeping on these Ignition books. Check out the first issues we have on our rec wall and give this publisher a shot!

Created by Sam Humphries, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Natacha Bustos, Skate Ali is a five-issue mini-series about a lone skater in a future Los Angeles where skateboarding has been outlawed! Ali is a loner, staying away from the skate crews that roam the city, and her only goal is to successfully skate Big Red, a dilapidated roller coaster that has been landed by seven legendary skaters. But everything changes when one night she meets a couple of kids from the Los Angeles Skull Clan, who have mastered the use of the mythical and magical Rush, an energy force that pushes their skate skills. Invited along to meet the rest of the clan, Ali is challenged to a game of halfpipe tag to prove her worth. Can she compete against Maria and her Rush powers? Will she play it safe and go back to her lonely life, or will she take a chance on friendship? She may not get a choice at all as the Department of Civic Integrity’s raids get too close to home. It’s a sci-fi skatepunk saga about rebellion and surviving in a world that wants to knock you down. I recommend it, and if you like this, I’d also like to recommend Jim Rugg’s Street Angel as another excellent comic series about a girl who loves to skateboard, and she fights ninjas!

Happy Pride! Do you love love? Do you love monsters? Then this is the Pride anthology for you! Turning romance comics on their head, there are ten short stories, and a wraparound, from LGBTQIA+ creators! The framing story features the characters from The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, by Tate Brombal, Isaac Goodhart & Miquel Muerto, as Jordi introduces their friends to the joys of reading comics! There are some cute fake titles hidden in the background, such as Everything Alive & Thriving, and I think we can all relate to sharing our love of comics with those around us.

First, James Tynion IV and Noah Dao have a vampire trying to control his urges with his date, in “Bite Me.”

Second, a man summons a wish-granting entity who takes the form of a woman. But his wishes are different than what they are used to, leading to an unexpected last wish in “The Bargain” by Lee Knox Ostertag.

Third, a newly single woman is looking for some strong self-help, and when a bookstore owner gives her a spell, she comes to learn something about herself, and “Attachment.” From K. Wroten.

Fourth, two best friends learn some truths about each other and themselves as they start practicing witchcraft in Jadzia Axelrod and Bailie Rosenlund’s “Every Witch Way.”

Fifth, find out what it’s like to date a Bigfoot as a meet cute leads to a human and sasquatch relationship in Vita Ayala and Claudia Aguirre’s “Love in Starshine!”

Sixth, a couple is “Growing Apart” in Josh Trujillo and Ed Luce’s story of resentment and a big hidden secret. With a Wuvable Oaf cameo!

Seventh, a vampire is plagued by texts after a hookup with a sorority sister, but she’s not going to let him get away with what he did to her in “Blood Sister” by Lilah Sturges and Vash Taylor.

Eighth, what if the man of your dreams was a monster that haunts people in their sleep? It is for one man, but he has a real-life girlfriend. What’s going to happen when he finally tells her? It’s a “Dreamy Situationship” from Jacoby Salcedo.

Ninth, Milly is super nervous before her date with a super hot dragon, and her decision to hide her true personality does not go well in Zoe Tunnell and Tench’s “How to Date Your Dragon.”

Tenth, an alchemist begins a lifelong friendship with a phoenix in “Of a Feather” from Sina Grace, which extends into new lives as they age.

And to wrap it up, Jordi’s love of comics spreads to his friends, and they decide to make their own! Every story is a delight, and well worth picking up if you enjoy horror, fantasy, and cryptids! And well worth it even if you don’t! My pick of the week!