Happy fall Comic Shop Friends! We’re about to officially kick off spooky season next week with a special event!

We are doing a candle light midnight release for the new Marvel Midnight titles starting at 11:59pm on Tuesday October 6th!

It will last about an hour, and we’ll have plenty of copies, so no need to worry about getting one! You can pick up the variants for all three Midnight titles as well, and this gives you the chance to read them before anyone else!

We got to read previews of all three first issues, and each one is worth picking up! These are horror books, through and through, and are not set in the main Marvel Universe, so they’re able to go darker and really settle into different horror genres.

Midnight Spider-Man is body horror from Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Scietronc. This is exploring the actual physical transformation of Peter Parker, and the dark side of science. For fans of The Fly and Cronenberg.

Midnight Fantastic Four is cosmic horror from Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker. This is diving into Reed Richards’ experiments, and what they awaken. For fans of From Beyond and Lovecraft.

Midnight X-Men is vampire horror from Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte. This is showing different factions of vampires, mutants, and humans as a delicate peace between them is about to break. For fans of Blade and anything vampire.

I’d say give them all a shot, because there’s something to like about each of them, and they’re excellent Halloween season reads!

A heads up that October’s Late Nite Comics will be pushed back a week to the FOURTH Thursday, the 22nd, because we’ll be setting up at the Best of Cleveland party on the 15th! More details to come for both of those events, and our Halloween event, next week!

We have the new double sided Absolute Superman/Superman reusable bags! $3! Make sure you grab a Wonder Woman bag when you pick up the Wonder Woman Annual this week too! It looks like we should have a restock on the Absolute Batman/Batman bags soon, since we sold out in one day!

MARVEL COMICS

This is the big one! The one you’ve been waiting for! Amazing Spider-Man hits issue #1000! Eight stories set across the past, present, and future of Spider-Man!

First, Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz force Spider-Man to face his greatest fear and his most frightening new villain in “Ravaged”, that continues from the regular Amazing Spider-Man run.

Peter Parker is “Still Standing” in Noah Hawley and Patrick Gleason’s story with an elderly Peter meeting someone from his past he thought was long gone.

Harry Osborn has died, and Peter is working through his feelings about Harry’s nature in J.M. DeMatteis, Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba’s “Requiem For a Goblin”.

Frank Miller and Peach Momoko present Spider-Man versus Hand ninjas in a creepy “Tears of the Spider-Queen”.

It’s “The Big Night” as young Peter and Uncle Ben head to a wrestling event in Triple H, Rob Fee, Ed McGuinness, and Mark Farmer’s short.

Spider-Man has been summoned to Avengers Mansion, but he has to get past White Rabbit, Basilisk, and Firebrand first, in Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen’s “The Gesture”.

Take a trip to the Old West in Larry Lieber and Giuseppe Camuncoli’s “Of Webs and Six-Guns” where Peter meets the Rawhide Kid!

Finally, “Now I Can Rest” from Dan Slott and Marcos Martin shows us a different perspective on what happened after Spider-Man let that first criminal go.

I think all of us agree that this issue is packed with great stories that delve into the core of the character of Peter Parker and his history as Spider-Man, and is well worth reading if you’re a long-time Spidey fan, or just a casual reader.

They were looking for a Phoenix egg. The eggs they found should have been left alone. Now it’s X-Men versus Xenomorphs! They’re heading back to the X-Mansion with a deadly cargo that seems to be evolving with new mutant abilities. Writer Kieron Gillen and artist Geraldo Borges present a killer first issue, plus an all-new backup story from Chris Claremont and Dave Messina featuring Kitty Pryde, the Brood, and the Xenomorphs! Things are going to get worse and worse for the X-Men in both of these stories, but it makes for a good read for us!

If you want a fun, lighter symbiote book, check out The Amazing Venom! Writer Jordan Morris and artist Luke Ross continue Comeback’s story after the Queen in Black event. Formerly Boomerang, Fred Myers now has a symbiote, Passenger, and together they are Comeback! Doing petty crimes, playing Spider-Man at children’s parties, and living a quiet life in the suburbs seems to be working out pretty well for the both of them. But the symbiotes are being called home, and someone close to Fred and Passenger is not what they seem, which leads the duo to change their mission! Looks like the Amazing Venom is heading to space!

DC COMICS

The conclusion of the Kingdom of Zod! The Kryptonite Kingdom has fallen, but the fight is not over yet. The Super-Family will never be the same after this issue! Joshua Williamson and Paolo Villanelli present the final Superman and Zod showdown in part nine of nine of the KoZ event, but you can read this to see where the Super Fam titles are heading next, even without having read the entire story. Following that conclusion, there are epilogues for Supergirl by Sophie Campbell and Tamra Bonvillain, Action Comics by Mark Waid and David Messina, Superman Unlimited by Dan Slott and Rachael Slott, and Superman by Joshua Williamson and Bruno Frenda.

The Wonder Woman Annual written by Stephanie Williams and Leah Williams, with art by Eduardo Pansica, Belen Ortega, and Julio Ferreira, is the Matriarch Special! Following the Matriarch after Wonder Woman #34, Lyssa must now make her way through Hell to return to the land of the living. As she is confronted by the souls of those she destroyed, hero and villain alike, she must also confront herself. There are many ways to interpret what the Fates have foretold, and make choices accordingly. Lyssa believes that her fate is destiny, and destiny will carry her, but will her fate be her doom? She has chosen to stand alone. Will that ever be enough? Is she truly free by following fate? Or has her fate trapped her? Commenting on the need for power, on what a life under patriarchy does to women, on being worthy, and on freedom, this is an excellent stand-alone issue, and makes me excited to read more Wonder Woman from Stephanie Williams!

SMALL PRESS COMICS

I rarely get to talk about a new Eric Powell book, so I’m very excited that he has a new three issue mini-series for Hillbilly this week! Never read a Hillbilly comic? Don’t worry, this one gives you Rondel the wandering hillbilly’s origin straight away! (Which is good because the trade paperbacks of Hillbilly are out of print right now. We have volumes 2 and 3, so get them quick!) Rondel is the wielder of the Devil’s Cleaver, a weapon that can kill witches, and this is but one of the tales of his exploits. When Twelve-Toe Maggie asks Rondel to steal Hedda Half-Ear’s horsehide hat, he finds himself in a predicament. Maggie has trapped his friend, so does he help her in order to free him? Can he trust her enough to get through the deal? One thing is for sure, he’s gonna kill some witches! Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hillbilly with this new story, written and drawn by Eric Powell!

The first new one-shot in the 3 Worlds/3 Moons Universe from Jonathan Hickman and Mike del Mundo! This universe is in a perpetual war between science and magic, moving between cycles of each being in control. As this story begins, magic is dominant and a young heretic is about to be tried for using science, but one of the judges of Kaoso decides to hide Markus. Now, as Syg the White Hart is about to become a judge, he and Markus flee to the center of the universe to understand what Syg believes is the cause of the inevitable collapse of their worlds as they know them. The Academy is after them. Other forces are set to reawaken the God Machine of Ordo, to bring about the downfall of magic and begin the next cycle of science. Will their time be cut short, or will Syg and Markus be able to complete their personal mission? Want to see the start of the 3W/3M Universe? We have the Foundations one-shot that presented the first printed material from the collective!