Welcome to October’s spooky Comic Shop Friends! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

And we have tons of great things happening in the shop this month.

First, on Friday the 13th, cancel your plans with Jason Vorhees, because Mark Waid will be here for a free signing from 5pm to 8pm. You can get three items signed, and then stick around for a trivia showdown between Waid, a Cleveland team, and a Carol & John’s team! Ben is hosting, and we’ll have refreshments, so it will be a great time!

Second, on Thursday the 19th, it’s Late Nite Comics! 8pm to midnight! Tons of dollar books! 50% off back issues! You know the drill!

Third, Friday the 20th is the Sina Grace signing from 6pm to 8pm. We have some trades on our rec wall, and look further down in the email for more about Grace’s new graphic novel out this week!

Fourth, Friday the 27th is the Sarah Kuhn signing from 6pm to 8pm. We are stocked on her Shadow of the Batgirl and Girl Taking Over: a Lois Lane Story graphic novels!

And last, but not least, Saturday October 28th is Halloween at the shop! All day long, we’ll have free Halloween comics and candy! Trick or treat!

MARVEL COMICS

A 100% original Jonathan Hickman story, set in current continuity, where he re-invents the cosmology of the Marvel Universe! The enormous extra-sized first issue, with art by Valerio Schiti, introduces Wyn and Aiko, who have ties to The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-Of-Things. Doctor Strange calls a meeting of magic, and science, users due to a Babylon Event. Things are happening. Immerse yourself in this book. Valerio Schiti draws some great toothsome monsters too!

Alien Vs. Alien! Declan Shalvey and Danny Earls pit a hungry Xenomorph queen against the species on a new planet in this all-action, no dialogue (A not quite silent issue, since there are creature growls and screeches.) stand-alone issue. It has everything you would want in an alien showdown! Facehuggers! Chestbursters! Decapitations!

It’s Ghost Rider Vs. The Hood’s Infernal Halloween! Writer Ben Percy and artist Danny Kim lay the foundation for the future of Ghost Rider in this year’s annual issue. The spirit of Halloween is an entity that lives beneath our world, and The Hood wants to summon it to tap into its energy. Demons! Eyeball eating! Pumpkinheads! Elsa Bloodstone! Evil is in the air! “Every day is Halloween…if you’re living your best life.”

DC COMICS

DC has you covered for the spooky season with eight skin-crawling stories of the DC Ghoul-iverse! The Question faces horrific crimes of fashion in “A Look to Die For” from Ellen Tremiti and Tyler Crook. Green Lantern teams up with The Demon in “The Shadow Over Coast City” from Kenny Porter and Riley Rossmo. Animal Man, and Animal Girl, have Halloween night shenanigans in “This Day, Anything Goes” from Michael W. Conrad and Christopher Mitten. Nightwing and Red Hood spend a frightful night in Bludhaven in “The Dark Bite” from Christopher Sean and Laneya, and Dexter Soy. Superman visits a haunted house in “The Spoils” from Greg Burnham and Javier Rodriguez. Robotman wrestles with a ghostly glitch in “Not Fade Away” from Alex Galer and Fabio Veras. Crush and Lobo look for the perfect costume in “Happy Hal(Lobo)ween! from Adam F. Goldberg and Hans Rodinoff, and Danny Earls. Man-Bat and a school nurse take on a werewolf in “Out of the Shadows” from John Arcudi and Shawn McManus.

Reprinting the New Golden Age #1 written by Geoff Johns with art by Diego Olortegui, Jerry Ordway, Steve Lieber, Todd Nauck, Scott Kolins, Viktor Bogdanovic, Brandon Peterson, and Gary Frank, this special leads into the launch of a new group of titles! There are character data sheets for Aquaman, Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher, Cherry Bomb, The Harlequin’s Son, John Henry Jr., Ladybug, Legionnaire, Mister Miracle, Quiz Kid, Red Lantern, Salem the Witch Girl, and The Boom. With previews for the new upcoming books, Wesley Dodds: the Sandman written by Robert Venditti with art by Riley Rossmo; Jay Garrick: the Flash written by Jeremy Adams with art by Diego Olortegui; and Alan Scott: Green Lantern written by Tim Sheridan with art by Cian Tormey.

Released just in time for our Sina Grace signing, Superman: The Harvests of Youth is described as a deeply moving and quintessential story of teenage Clark Kent and Smallville, as the town must overcome grief and hate to restore hope. After the tragic death of a classmate, Clark’s idyllic life is changed. He and his friends must grapple with life’s biggest questions, including mortality, or Clark’s lack thereof. Can he confront these darker and more complex challenges, and become the hero his town needs?

SMALL PRESS COMICS

“KHEE KHA KLIOU KHEE!” Daniel Warren Johnson! Robots in disguise! Part of the new Energon Universe from Image/Skybound, the new ongoing Transformers series is fun! Most of us here aren’t Transformers fans, and really gave this book a shot because of Daniel Warren Johnson, and it won us over. Because he cares so much about these characters, we care. (Make sure to read his letter in the back about his history with Transformers.) Optimus Prime and the Autobots, and their enemies the Decepticons, have crashed far from home. The fate of Cybertron is unknown. Following the events of Void Rivals, Starscream reappears, the Autobots and Decepticons renew their war, and Earth will never be the same. And, dang! That last page!

A legendary director vanishes. An unfinished cursed film. All the classic monsters. Writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brian Hurtt give us the creeps in this new horror series. Over fifty years ago, Basil Saxon disappeared while filming his opus, God of Monsters. The film was never completed, and never seen. Until now. A small-town film festival is premiering the lost footage, and as the film unspools, Wolfman, Mummy, Creature, Frankenstein, and Dracula appear in reality, terrorizing the unsuspecting citizens of Cedar Bluffs. This is definitely for fans of Universal Monsters, Hammer horror, and Monster Squad, and is perfect for the Halloween season!

Speaking of perfect for the Halloween season, the trade of Where Monsters Lie is out this week! Where do all the horror killers go when they’re in between murder sprees? To Wilmhurst, the gated community exclusively for slashers! Kyle Starks and Piotr Kowalski gather the slasher monsters; a mindless unkillable monster, the home invasion family, the possessed serial killer doll, the puzzle man, the creepy clown, the shape, and more, and pit them against some teenagers and a cop who survived an attack as a child. Watch the mayhem and bloodshed ensue!

Monica is the new Daniel Clowes hardcover, five years in the making! A series of nine interconnected narratives that collectively tell the life story of the title character, alluding to many classic comic book genres: war, romance, horror, crime, and supernatural. I didn’t have time this week to read it yet, but as a Clowes fan, I’m looking forward to it, especially since I saw some great body horror and cult images while flipping through.