FIRST, A note from the webmaster here at CnJ Comic Shop. We want to let you all know you are in our thoughts and our hopes are the storm that tore so tragically through some parts of Northern Ohio last night has left you safe even if without power. I share this moment with you as I work the site and mail this morning from a McDonald’s near my home where there is no power, nor any of my loved ones. Grabbing power and wifi where available seems a common thread this morning. We’re doing this together and hope you are as safe as possible! Now, to the message from the amazing and incomparable Andrea!

Hello, hello Comic Shop Friends!

A few bits about upcoming events, and then it’s onto this week’s comics!

First, if you’re reading this before Wednesday night, stop out for the Midnight Rental Secret Screening at the Grog Shop! It’s Ben’s half-birthday, and he’s planning on celebrating! Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 pm, only $10!

Our next Late Nite Comics is Thursday the 15th from 8 pm to midnight! We’ll have a bunch of dollar stock out, and 50% off back issues!

This one is a little different because we will be donating all dollar book sales to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. We’ll be adding up all dollar stock sales from August 5th through the 23rd , including Late Nite, to donate at the Eddie P Comic Con in West Mifflin PA on the 24th.

Ed Piskor’s family is putting on a comic con and part of that is a raffle to benefit the 988 Lifeline in Ed’s memory. John reached out to see if we could help them with the con, and we will be taking a check to them on the 24th to add to what they raise with the raffle.

Help us support the Lifeline by buying some $1 books, even just one will add up! Visit 988lifeline.org for more about them. John also has a Facebook post about our donation efforts.

MARVEL COMICS

Oh, you thought Blood Hunt was over? The team from the Blood Hunters mini, Dagger, Elsa Bloodstone, White Widow, and Hallow’s Eve, take to the streets in the aftermath of Blood Hunt to defend the innocent against the forces of darkness. (Like Buffy!) But it’s not just street-level vamps they’ll have to contend with, because the Bloodcoven is still in Brooklyn! And it seems like they’re recruiting. And what will happen when Miles Morales gets caught in Elsa Bloodstone’s crosshairs? Find out as the Blood Hunt continues with the Blood Hunters from Erica Schultz and Robert Gill!

Gail Simone and David Marquez put together the new Uncanny X-Men team, with Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler! With Xavier gone and the X-Men scattered, will Rogue be the one to step up and lead a new team? Will she be able to bring them back together? The school is being turned into a mutant prison by Dr. Ellis, tearing down Cerebro, burning what was left behind by students, ripping out wood, and replacing it with cells. Where can young mutants go for safety? Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine are given a warning that the Endling is coming. Who, or what, is it? Can the trio strengthen the bonds of the mutant community, before whatever malignant power is hunting mutants destroys what remains of the X-Men?

What if Symbiotes crashed SummerSlam?! It’s the Battle for the ‘Biote, as Eddie Brock and his team of Bedlam, Tyro, and Wilde go head-to-head against Dylan Brock, Toxin, Red Goblin, Flexo, and Sleeper! Each Brock has seen what would happen if the other was Venom’s permanent host. Venom has shown Dylan everything Eddie has done, and now the symbiote is in hiding, away from both the Brocks. To prevent the terrifying future, Venom is looking for an ally, and Eddie and Dylan each want to keep Venom from the other. Who will win the Venom War? Written by Al Ewing, with art by Iban Coello, and with a one-page backup story with a philosophizing Venom Horse, from Al Ewing and Carlos Nieto.

DC COMICS

Things are happening in Absolute Power! Nightwing steps up to lead the uncaptured heroes, and set up plans to stop Waller. But what are Waller’s plans? What is she doing with Jon Kent? Do the remaining members of the Justice League and the Titans have enough power to stop a surprise attack at the Fortress of Solitude? Find out in the second installment of Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s DC event!

Chip Zdarsky and Mike Hawthorne have an Absolute Power tie-in with Batman #151 this week! The heist is on, as Batman and Catwoman go undercover to find the Mother Box! Hidden on a remote island, highly protected by the U.S. government, the Suicide Squad, and Bizarro! Bizarro am happy to see Batman! And in Tini Howard and Marianna Ignazzi’s backup story, it’s up to Harley Quinn to stop The Riddler’s newest riddle before he destroys Gotham’s nuclear power plant! And if she can’t stop this massive ecological disaster, Ivy will be pissed!

What is going on in Gotham?! Riots are breaking out over energy drinks. Hunky, shirtless cowboys are hunting in the streets. Robo-bison are running loose. Harley meets a stampede of bison being chased by two DBs on ATVs while walking her hyenas, and this leads her, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman to team up to figure out what the heck has gotten into Gotham! Leah Williams and Matteo Lolli bring back the Gotham City Sirens in a four-issue weekly mini-series, full of gaming, guts, goo, hot tubs, headshots, and hunky hotties! And the ladies look pretty good too.

SMALL PRESS COMICS

Archie Comics is getting into the facsimile game with this infamous cover of Betty and Me! Somehow this cover snuck past the Comics Code Authority, but now’s your chance to own this highly sought-after issue! And you don’t have to beat off three other guys to do it!

It’s a new scaremester at Monster High, and all your faves are back! Writer Jacque Aye and artist Caroline Shuda bring all the ghouls back to school, full of all the spooky puns you’ve come to expect in Monster High! Trouble is brewing in the haunted halls, with new school rules, a new headmaster, and friends who are growing apart. All-ages fun for fans of Draculaura, Frankie Stein, Clawdeen Wolf, and Cleo de Nile!

Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard’s new Image series The Power Fantasy does for superhero comics, what Saga did for sci-fi! The word superpowered comes with certain preconceptions, but here that word has a specific technical definition, “any individual with the destructive capacity of the nuclear arsenal of the USA.” A dive into the ethics of being super-powered, the responsibility of power, and the cult that forms around those that have it. The planet’s survival relies on the tentative peace between six metahumans. Let’s hope they can maintain it.

The return of EC Comics continues with Cruel Universe! The sci-fi companion anthology series to last month’s Epitaphs from the Abyss! (Now extended to twelve issues! No second prints! Grab one if you missed it!) Enter a Cruel Universe full of bizarre tales of time, space, and space-time! This is the quantum comics event you don’t want to miss! See “The Champion” fight for his life in Matt Kindt and Kano’s story! Witness a “Solo Shift” in time from Corinna Bechko and Caitlin Yarsky! Do you dare “Drink Up” what Chris Condon and Jonathan Case have created? Prepare to experience the “Priceless” short by Ben H. Winters and Artyom Topilin! Will your very will to exist be broken by this Cruel Universe? Remember, it’s all in the name of science!

Keep an eye out for more EC Comics, as they’ve announced a Christmas special and a dark fantasy one-shot!