Good afternoon, Carol and John’s Shoppers! It’s a mild week of releases, but there are a lot of new series and storylines beginning, and one major ending this week. Let’s just jump in.

DC Comics

Tom King’s Batman run reaches its conclusion! Initially launched at the beginning of DC Rebirth, King’s run had plenty of epic moments, but the relationship of the Bat and the Cat was the most critical to the entire series. Issue #50 faked us out with their wedding, but when DC announced the 12-issue maxiseries Batman/Catwoman, fans were promised the true ending to their love story. Would they live happily ever after? There were plenty of twists and turns (and delays) for this series, and I’ll be excited to sit down and read this in one sitting now that it’s all complete, but the final issue of Batman/Catwoman delivers for those invested in these two classic characters. Just look at those awesome wrap covers too! Great stuff.

DC is putting out A LOT of Batman right now, so it can be hard to decide what to get. When Batman: Fortress launched last month with #1, it was a good setup for this eight-issue mini but wasn’t anything that blew me away. That’s not the case with #2 this week! “Batman and the Justice League are working desperately to save innocent lives after the arrival of a mysterious alien ship that has destabilized the entire planet. After all attempts to communicate with the unknown invaders fail, they’re left with no alternative but to fight! But can even the combined might of the Justice League and all the world’s militaries repel such an overwhelmingly superior force?” There are a few shocks already in this series, so I’m very excited to see how Batman and the rest (or remaining) members of the League respond after this issue.

Marvel Comics

“The Iron Cat armor made its first appearance in Black Cat #11, but both Black Cat and Iron Man thought that was the last they would see of it. If Felicia is surprised to see the armor again, you can imagine how furious Tony is. There’s someone new in the Iron Cat armor and they have a plan that will put them in the crosshairs of all the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Both Iron Man and Black Cat’s secrets and mistakes are going to come back to haunt them and it’s going to get rough!” Iron Cat is a brand-new miniseries this week written by Jed Mackay of Moon Knight and Strange and drawn by Pere Perez of Spider-Woman, and you won’t want to miss out!

Multiverses are all the rage today, and there are plenty of possibilities within. This week sees a new Marvel miniseries starring Jessica Jones in her own multiversal adventure. “What would it really be like to meet an alternate version of yourself, another you who had made different choices and lived a completely different life as a result? That’s the question facing Jessica Jones, as what seemed like a routine investigation instead has her encountering other incarnations of herself from across the Multiverse. Can Jessica get along with herself? Will she want to kill her other selves? And will seeing the lives she could have led drive her into a self-destructive spiral? This is what happens when you meet… the Variants!” Written by Gail Simone!

Small Press

“Syd Dallas is responsible for pop culture’s greatest hero: The Domain! But his sons Miles and David have a complicated relationship with both the creation and their creator. Can they convince their dad to fight for their family’s legacy? This fun and heartfelt series written and illustrated by Eisner winner Chip Zdarsky explores a wild alternate world where comic book creators aren’t properly acknowledged or compensated for their creations!! Crazy, I know!!” This new four-issue Image miniseries, Public Domain, was a good read, and as someone who’s a little worn out by all the superhero movies and our new “modern mythology,” I got a kick out of some of the little commentary about the cinematic universes in this series. It’s got a great ending too that’ll have me coming back for more.

“OCCULT NOIR. MIAMI SLEAZE.” Sins of the Black Flamingo follows Sebastian Harlow, a thief and a narcissist who steals all kinds of mystic artifacts from the rich and corrupt. But his latest job has him breaking all his rules and he’ll find something he never thought he’d find – something to believe in. This is a new miniseries from Image perfect for fans of The Wicked + The Divine and Sex Criminals.

“The hunt for a camera containing an undeveloped photo of the face of true evil threatens to wipe out New York City one chilly autumn evening. Doune Mahoney is the curator of a private collection of extremely dangerous cursed objects, and her night’s about to go to hell. Werewolves, secret societies, blessed animals, cursed objects, and more, in a fantasy horror-comedy from X-Men and Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan (and Savage Avengers!) and your new favorite artist Scott Buoncristiano.” This is Book One in what will hopefully become a full series of original graphic novels. I read the prologue and am excited to see what crazy sh*t follows after that. I dug it.

That’s just some of the highlights this week. We’re now at the halfway point of 2022 with this final week of releases for June. There’s been a lot going on this year and it’s been hard for a lot of people. There are a lot of real-world issues out there that are going to take a lot of effort to solve. Comics can’t cure all of that, but they can certainly offer an escape for people. And they can also inspire us to be better. Be kind, be safe, and be more like our heroes. We’re in this together.

Have a good week, everybody.