Raf’s Valentine’s Day Comics 2.9.2022

Howdy there, CNJ Shoppers. Well, a little sunshine goes a long way, we’re feeling pretty good this week at the shop. This week isn’t a huge week for new comics, not a whole lot of #1’s like there has been for the past few weeks, but we’ve still got a lot of great stuff worth checking out. Let’s jump into it.

Marvel Comics

It’s the big winter event book for Marvel this year, and this week keeps up the action with Devil’s Reign #4. Kingpin’s war on the vigilantes of New York is heating up and beginning to boil over as we move past the halfway point of the miniseries. And Moon Knight is just as crazed as ever. If you’re behind on the series, we’ll be getting second prints of issues #1 and #2 later this month, and we’ve got first prints of #3 still in the shop for now. GET ON IT.

Last year, fans and X-heads had the chance to vote for the newest member of the main X-Men team, but what about the mutants who didn’t make the cut? Well, they’ve got their own adventure now! It’s The Secret X-Men #1, featuring co-team captains Sunspot and Cannonball leading Marrow, Tempo, Forge, Banshee, Strong Guy, Armor, and Boom-Boom (heh, maybe there’s a reason some of these people didn’t make the main roster) on a galactic mission to protect the Shi’ar Empire. All jokes aside, this is a cool one-shot for X-Men fans written by Tini Howard, fresh off Excalibur. 

One of the biggest Marvel villains getting a serious push right now is Kang, with rumors swirling about his involvement in the MCU. While there isn’t a whole lot for fans to check out with Kang at the moment, he recently starred in his own five-issue miniseries which is now finally collected in trade paperback in Kang the Conqueror: Only Myself Left to Conquer. “The time traveler called Kang the Conqueror has led many lives across many eras. He has been a pharaoh, a villain, and a warlord of the spaceways – even, on rare occasions, a hero. Across all timelines, one fact seemed absolute: Time means nothing to Kang. But the truth about the Conqueror is much more complex! Kang is caught in an endless cycle of creation and destruction, dictated by time and previously unseen by any but the Conqueror himself. A cycle that, once revealed, could finally explain the enigma that is Kang. It begins and ends with an old and broken Kang sending his younger self down a dark path. But is there any hope that he can change the tragic fate of his great love, Ravonna Renslayer, and find his way to a better future?” This was a great Marvel miniseries, and we’re excited to have it finally collected.

DC Comics

While DC’s original 5G plans never came to fruition, one of the ideas floating around was to have a new Black Batman and Jace Fox Batman DID happen during the Future State event last winter. He’s since had a miniseries origin and now the ongoing series I Am Batman continues the story of Jace and the Fox family turmoil. Written by John Ridley (The Other History of the DC Universe and the new Black Panther series with Marvel), this series continues to shape what makes Jace’s Batman different from the Caped Crusader we already know. And now after the events of Fear State, Jace is relocating and giving the Big Apple their very own Batman this week in issue #6. This series is pretty criminally underrated in my book. I love Bruce Wayne Batman, but as he’d tell you, Batman is more than just a man; he’s a symbol for justice. Jace isn’t a copy of Bruce, he’s just Jace and he’s Batman, and this week is a great jumping-on point for new readers.

Tom King’s Batman Catwoman series has been a little all over the place, but we’re reaching the endgame now as we hit issue #10 this week. This story has been telling itself across a few different timelines and has proven to be a little more Cat Bat than Bat Cat, but this issue sees Selina pummeling Joker for the whole book and it’s brutal. I’m very excited to see where this story ends, and we’re getting that much closer to it with only two issues left. 

Small Press

“Meet Jenny Zero, the hard partyin’ daughter of Japan’s most beloved superhero. After washing out as the military’s top Kaiju-killer, Jenny lives the celebutante life with her hotel heiress bestie. But freakish creatures, secret societies, and her father’s legacy now have her wondering if she can sober up just long enough to save the world!” It’s Jessica Jones ALIAS meets Pacific Rim. It’s a job she doesn’t want, but it’s a job only she can do. We’ve had the first issue on our small press recommended wall for a few months, and now we’ve got the trade paperback collection new this week. Check it out, John S. really liked this series as it was coming out.

Deadpool gets his own manga!?!? Yes, he does! This series has been running in Japan for a little while, but now is finally available in English and in print with Deadpool Samurai Volume 1 out this week. It’s exactly what you think it is; Deadpool stars in his own manga that’s very much in tune with the spirit and tone of the Merc with a Mouth. Fourth-wall breaks, raunchy humor, and plenty of dudes getting sliced up, along with a few other Marvel characters making appearances in manga form, this is perfect for Deadpool fans and Shonen Jump fans, with plenty of self-referential nods to both. There’s even a GREAT Demon Slayer spoof page that had me laughing out loud. This is easily the funniest superhero book this week.

And that’s some of the great new books we’ve got in this week. There are a few other speculator books out this week too, with a new Black Panther suit showing up in Avengers #53 also, but all in all, it’s another great week of comics. And with Valentine’s Day coming up this Monday, why not get that special someone in your life some comics? Or yourself, you’re special too and deserve it. I hope you all have a great week, and we’ll see you around.

-art by Scott Nickel–