Oh, hi there, Comic Shop Friends. How are you? We’re good. We have lots of cool stuff coming up in the next few months and first up…

Late Nite Comics is back in August! Thursday, August 17th from 8 pm to midnight we’ll be bringing out the dollar books again. Maybe back issues will be on sale? We’ll see!

Then in September, the writer of the new Incredible Hulk book, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, will be here for a signing on Saturday the 23rd from 4 pm to 6 pm. The second print of issue #1 is out this week, and we still have the first print variant covers in the shop, so pick one up! We will have more copies of issue #2 soon too! This book has been a unanimous staff pick.

And October is packed! I don’t know how I’m going to fit in all my spooky season stuff with everything we’ve got going on here.

First, on Friday, October 13th from 6 pm to 8 pm, Mark Waid will have a signing, followed by a trivia showdown with our staff! John is already expecting to lose, but it should be a fun time. That’s 8 pm to 10 pm.

Next in October on Friday the 20th from 6 pm to 8 pm, Sina Grace will be signing, and on the following Friday, the 27th Sarah Kuhn will also be here for a signing!

Now onto this week’s stuff!

Any of you remember those Mr. Allan commercials from Michigan? “29! Or two for 50!” New Temple of Doom action figures of Indiana Jones and (Oscar winner!) Short Round are the same deal! Pick ‘em up and talk to John about how Temple of Doom is the best Indiana Jones movie.

*John’s views on Indiana Jones films do not reflect the views of the whole CNJ staff.

MARVEL COMICS

What if Ben Grimm became Venom? Set after the events of Secret Wars, what if when Ben Grimm returned from his solo adventures, he finds the symbiote still locked up in Reed Richards’ lab? What if Ben thinks they can help each other? Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Jethro Morales bring us the next What If…? Dark, and the birth of a new Venom!

“First, it comes for the metal. Then it comes for everything else…” Kyle and Ben said this may be the pick of the week, and I agree. The new Star Wars mini-series from Charles Soule and Luke Ross starts with a droid horror tale. Almost like Slither, or The Faculty, or Night of the Creeps, but with mechanical beings, and themes of self-awareness and what makes one alive. I am not a Star Wars comic person, but this is something that you all should check out.

DC COMICS

From the pages of Nightmare Country and Dead Boy Detectives, writer James Tynion IV and artist Maria Llovet tell a tale of the immortal witch Thessaly. She is more determined than ever to figure out the mystery surrounding the death of Madison Flynn, and to do that she has to get closer to those creating the screenplay. In turn, she tells her own story to a woman who learns something about Thessaly that the witch will not want to hear.

And also from DC: more Knight Terrors! We have issue #2 for Batman (“Bats are cool.” “Bats are cool.”), Black Adam (An orange cat leads Teth Adam through his nightmare.), The Joker (More off-color jokes! Even though HR said to stop!), Poison Ivy (Everything is perfect. Nothing is wrong.), and Ravager (Freaky skull spider!)! The Joker and Poison Ivy #1s were some of the best ones, along with Harley Quinn and Detective Comics, so pick those up along with the new ones.

SMALL PRESS

New Rick Remender series! Ben’s pick of the week! He upped the order on this one, to make sure everyone can check it out! Written by Remender with art by Max Fiumara, this dark science fiction story was one of this year’s Free Comic Book Day books. That was just a preview of the book, as this first issue packs in more story. Set in a harmonious paradise where everything is good thanks to five families. But the time has come to pay for that perfect world, and the price is one child from each of the families. Now a son who is expected to be the sacrifice for a family that never loved him, and the affluent daughter of the Sun and the Moon who is determined to destroy this utopia, must unite to end one generation’s protracted reign.

We got in some extra copies of Dark Spaces: Good Deeds issues #1, #2, and #3 (new this week!), due to a customer ordering error, so his loss is your gain! If you missed out, you can grab all three from the table this week! Set in St. Augustine Florida around the city’s 450th anniversary, a reporter in town to cover the event, and a new in town teen become involved in some creepy events. Ghosts, mysterious deaths, body horror, entities, shady locals, it’s all here in a story where anything that could go wrong, will go wrong.  “It remembers.” Written by Che Grayson with art by Kelsey Ramsay.

The second new Image #1, Quest is a new ongoing fantasy series from Jonathan Luna and Crystal Wood. In a land inspired by Southeast Asia, Princess Anya’s new husband Prince Devyan is violently abducted by three giant demons at their wedding. Anya sets out on an epic journey with a growing band of loyal warriors, crossing deadly landscapes and battling horrifying demons. What will she sacrifice to save the man she loves?