The comic industry is in a pretty chaotic place right now. Just let the rest of the world, really. Normally, I am able to rely on websites like Comiclist to keep me up to date with what’s coming out. I am usually pretty meticulous about this kind of thing.
Pretty soon after I first started buying comics, I would sit down with a ship list and write my pulls on the back of a brown paper bag each week to make sure I didn’t forget anything. To this day, I read Previews cover to cover each month to make sure I know exactly what to keep an eye out for. Hell, it’s the whole reason I suggested we start doing this column many moons ago.
These days, it’s pretty hard to figure out what’s what. There are comics that were listed for this week that didn’t come out (Justice League and Justice League Odyssey for example). Some comics popped up that I hadn’t seen announced anywhere else. Marvel had no physical books, but ended up posting a bunch of formerly physical series as digital only releases.
John Babos
Small week; one book: Justice League Odyssey #20. The industry will be slowly ramping up their weekly offerings during this pandemic as some jurisdictions start to ease open the economy and comic book retailers can offer curbside pick-up or in-store purchasing provided they can maintain social distancing of clients. My retailer took a pass on DC’s two new distribution partners and stuck with Diamond.
James Fulton
For me, it’s both a small week, and the biggest week I’ve seen in two months! Normally, if I only had three books in my pull file for a week, I’d probably skip it, but now, I’m excited to have this excuse to head downtown and maybe get some food from an area of the city I haven’t been to in ages.
When I preordered Year Zero, a new zombie comic by Ben Percy and Ramon Rosanas, I didn’t know that the cultural context for reading it would have shifted so much. I just thought it looked interesting, and I wanted to sample a the wares of a new publisher, AWA.
I’m also looking forward to new issues of Deadly Class and Outcast.
John, my retailer also took a pass on the new distributors…
Matt Graham
- Wonder Woman 755
- Red Sonja 15
- Deadly Class 44
I’ll get my Wonder Woman fix digitally, I suppose.
Looking forward to Red Sonja, where she’s chosen to give up her throne and become a warrior thrall to keep her people alive.
Mike Maillaro
We’re back!
- 2020 Ironheart #1 – While I know there are certainly those who hate the idea of her, I like Riri Williams a lot. I have always been a fan of young characters and trying to shake up the status quo. 2020 has been a bit hit and miss (uhm…the comic crossover series, though the year itself has been pretty ****ed too), but I will grab this just to get more Ironheart. This book is only getting a digital release as far as I know, though I am sure it will turn up in the 2020 trades.
- DCeased: Hope at World’s End #1 – A digital first spinoff set in Tom Taylor’s DCeased universe. I am not sure what this book is about specifically, but I love Tom Taylor and DCeased has been a great read. I am not even sure what the release schedule is. DC has some biweekly digital first books, and a bunch of weekly series (more on that later).
- DCeased: Unkillables #3 – More DCeased! This series focuses on what a bunch of bad guys were doing while the heroes were all being killed off and turned to zombies by the Anti-Life Equation. I love the take on Deathstroke and other baddies in this series. I doubt many of them will come out alive, but Tom Taylor always keeps the reader guessing.
- Hawkeye: Freefall #5 – Not quite as good as some of the past Hawkeye series, but there has been a lot of fun ideas in this one, including time travel. I feel bad for the collectors who started this series since it will be finished off digitally. Strange move from Marvel, but I am pretty much only a digital customer so no impact on me.
- Star #4 – Pretty good spin-off from Kelly Thompson’s Captain Marvel run. Love the take on Scarlet Witch in this book, which I was not expecting. In this issue, Carol Danvers finally gets a rematch with Star, a former villain who is in possession of the Reality Gem. This is one of the Marvel books that they are finishing off digitally.
- Wonder Woman #755 – I haven’t really been enjoying Steve Orlando’s Wonder Woman run. Honestly, if there was more coming out this week, I might not have even picked it up. It’s not a bad book, just nothing that really feels must read.
- DC Daily Digitals – About a month ago, DC started putting out one new digital first book every day. The series come out weekly and feature some big name talent like Gail Simone, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and Robert Venditti.
- Monday – Superman: Man of Tomorrow by Robert Venditti and Paul Pelletier
Tuesday – Batman: Gotham Knights by Various
Wednesday – Wonder Woman: Agents of Peace by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Inaki Miranda
Thursday – Aquaman: Deep Dives by Various
Friday – Flash: The Fastest Man Alive by Gail Simone and Clayton Henry
Saturday – DC Superhero Girls: Infinite Frenemies by Amanda Deibert and Erich Owen
Sunday – Swamp Thing: New Roots by Mark Russell and Marco Santucci
If I had to guess from the series covered, these were probably intended to be included as new stories in the Walmart 100-Page Giant comics. For 99 cents a book, they are a nice little new comic treat every day. Superman: Man of Tomorrow is probably the most consistent of the bunch, but they are pretty much all worth checking out. They aren’t set in any specific continuity, so you can enjoy they pretty stand alone. Swamp Thing, Flash and Superman do both have ongoing story threads; the others are a lot more episodic.
