Hi there, Comic Shop Friends! After last week’s little week of new comics, this week is back to a bunch of new titles! There’s a lot more to read than I can get to here, so come in on Wednesday to check it all out!

First, a reminder that August’s Late Nite Comics is Thursday the 20th! Tons of dollar stock, and 50% off back issues!

MARVEL COMICS

To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Fantastic Four, Marvel has two extra-large and extra fantastic books! First, we get yet another wonderful issue of Ryan North and Humberto Ramos’s Fantastic Four! The FF are sent back through the timestream by Nicholas Scratch, and are only able to briefly interact with the past’s “present”, which leads to Clarina Canady beginning a life of scientific exploration in order to help them! Revisit some of the biggest moments in Marvel’s First Family’s history, and you won’t believe what Johnny’s mustache gets up to! You’ve heard us tell you to read North’s Fantastic Four again and again, so what are you waiting for?! This is the perfect issue to start with!

The second celebratory book for the Fantastic Four features 65 years of the World’s Greatest Comic Covers from the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine! More than 700 comic book covers are packed into this one-shot, with commentary from creators associated with the Fantastic Four on certain covers. Such as! Alex Ross talking about #1, Marv Wolfman’s thoughts on #48, Humberto Ramos mentioning #348, and Annalise Bissa on one of our favorite covers from the first Ryan North FF run, #26 with the blood skull!

The two faces of Tigra are unmasked in issue #4 of Civil War Unmasked from Christos Gage and Edgar Salazar! The truth behind Tigra’s decision to spy for Iron Man is revealed, but her first mission ties into her history causing the clarity of her choice to become murky. The lines on both sides become grayer, and Tigra discovers that lying, even in the service of the greater good, can cause far more harm than she first believed. This is another excellent issue in the mini-series, and we’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the quality of each one.

Along with Queen in Black #2 this week, the Venom Unchained mini kicks off! After being arrested after the events of Eddie Brock: Carnage, (Check it out, it’s a great series!) Eddie is now in a super villain prison. He’s got a lawyer, but it’s not Matt Murdock, so it looks like there’s only one way of being released. “You want a big crisis out in the world, where you’re the only one who can save the day.” Hela’s invasion may be his shot! Except, there’s nothing special about a man without a symbiote, and no amount of pleading will help his case. But there’s someone who thinks Brock deserves better. Someone who thinks he shouldn’t be alone. But who is it? Will Eddie get his Venom back?! Written by Charles Soule, with art by Juanan Ramirez.

DC COMICS

A new story arc starts here, as Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra’s Absolute Superman heads towards a blockbuster issue #25! On the hunt for Brainiac, Superman vows to bring the vicious madman to justice, and the release of Lazarus Corp files leads him to a lead in Argentina. And straight to Metallo! It’s a brutal fight, weakening Kal, but even that cannot break what’s at the heart of Superman. The origin of Metallo is revealed, along with more of what makes Superman, Superman. A truly excellent issue, and if you aren’t reading Absolute Superman, pick it up here and give it a shot.

What a comic! In this issue, Deadman goes to Hell! “The Circles of Hell are concentric metaphysical traps. They’re designed to keep you confused, in a constant state of discomfort.” And W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo use that confusion and discomfort throughout this issue, using the comic book medium in service of weirdness, and the quest to expand vocabularies! Kushna has sent Deadman on a mission to Hell. Can he find the answers he seeks? Will we make it through the nine circles? Shall we survive the strangeness? You should be reading the most Next Level-y of Next Level titles, and you should be getting real weird with it.

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Tom King returns to Riverdale! This time he and Dan Parent present Piemageddon! In the far future, Old Man Archie and Old Man Jughead reminisce about the good ol days, and about what really happened during the legendary Piemageddon. In preparation for a pie eating contest Jughead hasn’t eaten anything, and you know that boy likes to eat. When it’s finally time to start the competition, things go awry, and the world’s largest food fight begins! Will anyone survive Piemageddon? Will Jughead finally get to eat that pie? Find out in this one-shot that also features some classic reprints, and not one, but two top ten Jughead lists!

“The world is collapsing into chaos and madness.” Writer Zack Kaplan and artist John Pearson have set this dark sci-fi detective series five minutes in the future. A veteran FBI agent has been given a “babysitting” assignment. He’s partnered with a Gen Z tech savant who is impulsive and unconventional, and this partnership is a last chance for both of them. Their first case is the murder of Mae Santos, a prominent cyber security expert, and the crime scene only has one clue: a symbol painted on the ground. It appears to be the perfect murder, and a new predictive A.I. program may be responsible for planning it. Welcome to the Smart Division, the FBI’s new A.I. crimes department.

My brain was in complete disbelief that it has been 35 years since 1990. But hey, the strange passage of time seems a bit in line with the oddity of Tank Girl! Presented as a complete story, this one-shot by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, was originally printed as four (and a half) episodes in Deadline Magazine. Now read the whole Summer Love Sensation story, full of goofs, gags, boobs, and Booga! Everything your Tank Girl Summer needs! Plus, unseen photos of Jamie Hewlett riding a bike!

Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani has penned her first solo comic! Along with artist Marianna Ignazzi, Vellani has created a reinterpretation of a noir private eye story in this five-issue mini-series. California, 1979. 19-year-old Leila has headed to L.A. to track down her estranged uncle. But solving that mystery leads to another. And another. Leila finds Chachu, just as his starlet wife, Cleo, is leaving for a trip. They’re not introduced, but she’ll soon meet Chachu’s father-in-law when he shows up with threats. Now Leila has invited herself along on a trip to Vegas as former P.I. Chachu searches for his missing wife. Cleo’s lied about visiting her grandmother, but what secret life is she hiding? What is Chachu hiding? Why is he estranged from Leila’s family? What does Leila hope to learn by finding him? Her love of Hollywood glamour and pulp stories won’t be enough to help her navigate young adulthood as she gets pulled further into the mystery!