Raf’s Featured New Releases 11.17.21

Good morning and Happy New Comic Book Day everyone! Things are certainly getting busy this time of year, between planning for Thanksgiving and the holidays, gifts, food, and travel, and making sure I’ve got new tires and brakes for the winter; all that on top of keeping up-to-date with the newest comics! There are a couple of biggies this week so let’s just dive in.

DC Comics

“The five heroes to have donned the Robin cape and mask find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne come together to discuss the big thing that binds them together: Was being Robin, and Batman’s sidekick, the best choice they could’ve made? But before they can get to the heart of the matter, they’re ambushed by an unknown assailant with a bone to pick with them. She claims to have been the first Robin, and she’s out to prove Batman should’ve never trained any of them.” A cool new #1 written by Grayon co-writer Tim Seeley.

It’s the book that broke the Internet; Superman Son of Kal El #5 is out this week. Jonathan Kent has stepped into his own as the newest Superman for Earth after his father Clark has gone off-planet. But being the new Superman not only puts a target on his back but on everyone close to him, including his new boyfriend Jay Nakamura. The announcement of Jonathan’s bisexuality got a lot of people talking and we ordered up for this one, including both Pride variant covers. Come in and grab a piece of comic history this week.

Wonder Woman has always been one of the brightest beacons for hope, not just in DC Comics but comics in general, and this week she is put on trial for humankind in Wonder Woman Evolution #1. Diana is taken across the galaxy where she is forced into a series of mental and physical challenges in defense of the human race and their final fate, as aliens deem whether humankind should exist any longer in the universe. Sounds like another comic I know of, but we’ll see just what sort of challenges lay ahead for Diana in this eight-issue miniseries.

Marvel Comics

It’s been 60 years since the Fantastic Four debuted and jumpstarted the Marvel Universe as we know it, and this week Marvel is celebrating the anniversary with this oversized tribute special. Featuring the likes of Mike Allred, Daniel Warren Johnson, Adam Hughes, and Nic Klein to name a few, each page of the very first Fantastic Four #1 is redone by some of comics’ biggest talents to recreate one of, if not the most important issues of all time. Also included is the wedding between Reed and Sue Richards in Fantastic Four Annual #3. Marvel did this a little while ago with Giant-Size X-Men #1 and it was pretty cool to flip through, so I’m excited to see how this one turns out also.

Cleveland loves Moon Knight! He’s back this week with issue #5. I didn’t watch all of the Disney+ previews from this past weekend, but we got our first snippet of the Moon Knight TV series coming next year. Now’s the time to hop on board and see what the fuss is about. Great cover from Steve McNiven this issue also. 

Small Press

It’s been a little over a year now that Image has been re-releasing The Walking Dead in color, and it’s been a lot of fun to reread the series again. Between knowing the ending, if you do know at least, and the great coloring work that’s been done, it reads as a great remaster of an essential series. This week sees the start of one of the best story arcs from the series, with issue #27 and the debut of The Governor. This dude is a real b*****d that absolutely wrecks the world Rick Grimes and the survivors have built in the prison they’ve been staying at. There are a lot of big things coming up, and now in color, I’m very excited to experience the terror in a brand-new way, in LOTS of red.

My own pick of the week, I’ve been waiting patiently for this series; it’s Radio Apocalypse #1 from Vault Comics. Written by Ram V (Venom, Many Deaths of Laila Starr) and with stellar painted art from Anand Rk, it’s Good Morning Vietnam meets The Walking Dead. “Long after the rock out of space struck the world and turned it all to dust, in Bakerstown stands the last Radio Station on the planet. Radio Apocalypse broadcasting into the unknown, a beacon in the dark for those who wander the lost places. Now change is coming to Bakerstown. Among the refugees flocking into an already precarious settlement, an orphan boy Rion, caught in an indiscretion, will twine his fate with the Radio Station. And in doing so, begin this mixtape of love and heartbreak and interminable hope. This soundtrack to the end of the world.” Vault makes some of my favorite comics, and this series doesn’t disappoint. Awesome-sauce.

We’ve been working hard this year to stock manga, but it’s been difficult between supply chain issues and the fact the genre has exploded in popularity. But just in time for the holidays, we’ve got a COMPLETE restock on one of the biggest series out there; Demon Slayer. We’ve got copies of EVERY volume and also a neat box set that collects the whole series along with a couple of other exclusives like a series booklet and poster. Perfect for fans of the series! I’m somewhere around volume 16 now I think, I’m excited to finish it.

Black Friday and Charity Art Show

Whew, that’s it for new books this week. 

Don’t forget that we’ve got our big Black Friday sale coming up soon, with 50% off back issues (including all those awesome silver and bronze age issues John has been putting out for a couple of months) and 10% off everything else in the store. Oh, and a dollar room too for a ton of Marvel and DC issues!

And for all you artists out there, or maybe those who wouldn’t label themselves as such as me, we’ve begun taking comic cover submissions for our annual Charity Art Show. The theme this year is What If!?, so have fun with it because the possibilities are endless! Come into the shop and grab a blank cover, we’ve got tons and flex your pencils and ink strokes. The deadline to submit is December 12th, so time is limited. ALL money raised for the show will go to the Cleveland Food Bank like always, a great cause and an awesome way to help our community. Here’s my cover from last year, can I top it this year? We’ll find out. Have a great week and we’ll see you around!