Every week, hundreds of new comics hit the stands. Each with potential. We pick the ones we think will have the best shot at heating up. Here are our picks of the week for delivery 7/22/20.
Lots of new #1’s. Small and medium size press keeping comics alive!
New #1’s
Backfired #1 – Source Point Press. Hollywood has come calling, and they’ve given Wally McDermott five days to perfect the pitch for his comic, Backfire! If he can conquer writer’s block, a relationship in disarray, and a villainous scoundrel of his own creation, he might just stand a chance… might… maybe… The odds in Vegas don’t look good in this zany, very meta and very adult superhero comedy!
Power Rangers Ranger Slayer #1 – fan favorite character takes center stage in this one shot. Stores may not go heavy on a one shot with a high cover price.
Vlad Dracul #1 – Scout Comics. Again, a higher priced book, but from a small press company, could be under ordered. Vlad Dracul II, the Impaler, the Son of the Dragon, was a Warlord, a Voivod, a Guardian Warrior, an iconic historical figure who was able to successfully strike fear into the hearts of the fearsome Ottoman Empire. Vlad is an epic story of love and war, a historical ride with rivers of blood, tears, swords and love and a discovery of a man that was, perhaps, the most famous warrior of his era that inspired the Dracula legends. This is the story of the man behind the myth.
Xira #1 – Red 5 Comics. Awesome looking new series. Xira has been experimented on her entire life to help mankind create the perfect astronaut, making her smarter, faster, stronger. When Xira is allowed to have a baby who will also be experimented on Xira has had enough and will do whatever it takes to get herself and her child to freedom.
Bliss #1 – New Image series from the creative team that did the optioned Coyotes. Described as Breaking Bad meets Neil Gaiman’s Sandman in an urban fantasy.
Chu #1 – I do not know why we didn’t do a variant for this book. Lol. Chew returns to stands in a new series.
Returning Favorites
Canto And The Clockwork Fairies One Shot – Fan favorite clockwork knight returns for a one shot before the release of the second series.
Reprint Worth Grabbing
GI Joe A Real American Hero Complete Silence – awesome classic reprint of GI Joe RAH 21 (Silent Interlude) and GIJOE RAH 21.5
Cover of the Week
Amazing Spider-Man Sins Rising Prelude #1 Boss Logic Cover – Just a great looking cover. I am not hot on Nick Spencer’s work, but this looks cool.
Notable First Appearance
Empyre #2 – Captain Marvel becomes an/the Accuser. At least for a short time.
Image Must Grab
Middlewest #18 Skottie Young Virgin Cover – One of the no brainers. Last issue of the series with an awesome virgin cover. You can try Mycomicshop first.
Small Press Pick o the Week
No Heroine #1 – New Source Point press title. Drugs. Vampires. Punk rock. Clawing her way to her 90th day sober, Kayla sets out to find her missing friend, Sid – the one person she knows can keep her on the straight-andnarrow. The only problem? The gang of heroine-dealing vampires that have him. From the writer of 2019’s breakout indie hit Dead End Kids comes a story of a young woman’s recovery journey and one hard truth: not everyone is cut out to be a hero. Check Mycomicshop first.
Pick of the Week
Strange Academy #1 2nd Printing – again, a no brainer. Selling for multiple times cover. Multiple first appearances in the book. Again, try Mycomicshop first.
Strange academy sold out before you posted this. I had a copy snatched from my cart as I hit submit order…(was there whenI hit the button, but not on the invoice).
Already had ordered 4 copies, so I’ll be ok.
I pre-ordered from my lcs and suddenly they are allocated……. um hmmm
“Pre-ordered” prior to FOC? Because if it ain’t FOC, it ain’t guaranteed!
I didn’t pull the trigger immediately on MCS tonight as I was waiting for Thor 2 3rd print to go live…never did.
Yes sir. Before FOC.
Strange Academy #1 has a weird release situation. It was in one of the last rounds of distribution before diamond shut down, right? I think people just missed the first print because of local shut downs, shelter in place orders, and guidance, then now are finally getting around to being interest once issue 2 was released months and months later.
MCS screws me every somehow Tuesday evening
I stalk their site Tuesday night. Multiple open windows refreshing to grab the books I want. Normally works. Tonight I wasn’t home.
Thor #2 3rd printing never showed up. I blew a Strange Academy #1 2nd waiting for it. I hate the fact that I need to pay for two separate shipments to guarantee that I get what I know will sell out because they don’t update their inventory quick enough, or at all…
That’s where I failed too….waiting for Thor….never happened. And when decided to give up i went to review order…was still there…then hit submit…went through….but when checking my invoice the book was not on it.
I would think if the book was pulled from my cart between reviewing and submitting my order it should have provided a warning my order was modified.
Haha. Glad I’m not the only one. Did the exact same thing and eventually just gave up. Hell im still waiting on last weeks order to arrive.
MCS never has anything in when I go. I gave up and shop only online now. Instead of relying on 1 MCS, and use many online. I usually find what I need somewhere.
1st time to this page and it seems to me that all involved ( from what I’m seeing here ) aren’t even interested in reading comics, just grabbing up everything that might be hot and flipping it for ridiculously inflated prices. It’s the 90’s stupidity all over again. If any of this speculation actually created comic readers we’d be in a better place as an industry, but instead we can keep courting the fate of Beanie Babies, Pogs, and other over-inflated trends. I’m thankful that Comics are tenacious and overcome a lot of setbacks, but I have to say that if the investment minded put more effort into promoting the industry as a whole and less concern on what Donny C might be throwing at us this week that might possibly be the next ( ugh ) Cosmic Ghost Rider we’d have a lot better chance of any of this stuff having worth past a few weeks to a year. Speculators just pull new issues out of the hands of potential readers thus diminishing the marketplace as a whole. It seems to be a secret to some, but the real value is in the entertainment value. Yes I sell comics for a living. For over 30 years now. I’ve seen it all and sadly the speculation game is just another form of day-trading that’s burns people and creates unrest. You might see it as selling extra comics, but honestly I have watched it do exactly the opposite. If potential readers can’t get ( let’s say ) for ex: Strange Academy #1 ( any printing ) they simply won’t buy #2,3,4,5 etc. leading to the eventual cancelation of that title due to poor sales. A certain level of outside interest is good, but not to a point where it impacts the continuance of a new series. Buy the old stuff by all means, readers already read theirs and enjoyed them, but don’t get in the way of the new stuff. And before you ask, yes I have profited off an occasional hot pick, but only after my customers have gotten their reserve copies ( even the ones that signed on late ). I will however upsell the leftovers instead of giving them to a speculator who’s only interest in coming to my store is to score and flip said hot pick. Speculator’s aren’t potential future customers ( remember I was doing this throughout the 80’s Black and white craze and the 90’s run and have seen tons of them ruin things ) and I’m more than happy to take that chance by turning them away and servicing readers instead. I honestly hope some of you actually read the books and don’t just greedily deny interested readers a chance to enjoy the hard work of the creators. If you think about it if enough readers become dismayed they’ll either quit of make the move to digital which will spell the death knell for the comics in print industry ( which Marvel & DC would love to happen actually ). Then you’ll all have to move on to the next investment craze. Sure it won’t happen so easily, but comics are already at one of their lowest points and I truly hope as a life long fan and long time provider of comics to the public that we never have to see the day when the printed comic goes away. Bottom line of my rant ( thank you if you read this far ) is take the time to read the issue ( if you don’t already ) and consider purchasing the other non-hot issues and keeping both the industry and your local comic book store that much stronger.
Hi Randy.
Thanks for the comment. See, you are wrong about one thing, we do read comics. I personally have over 40,000 comics which I have read 99% of. We are collectors, readers, and flippers, there are also retailers here as well. Yes, we are concerned about hot comics, but also talk about trade paperbacks and other books simply for the pleasure of reading. We have promoted so many kickstarters to help independent creators create new books. So sorry if one aspect of the site, the flipping part, is something you do not like, but try reading all the stuff we put out and you will see it is not all about flipping. We do not promote shelf clearing, and remind people to buy respectfully. One thing I have said constantly is selling what others are buying to buy what you like. Personally I love horror comics and buy and read pre-code horror to modern. But I buy, read, and sell superhero books and other non-horror books. And as for moving on to the next craze, I have been buying and selling comics for 35 years. Not about to just move on to the next craze any time soon.
And one last thought Randy. You should see the number of emails we get from creators thanking us for supporting and promoting their work on this site. Not just Indy and Kickstarter guys but from guys working for Marvel and DC as well.
We do tons of advanced sneak peek previews of books to help engage visitors on upcoming books. Previews gives readers a chance to know if it’s going to be a book and story they want to invest their time and money into….
Randy, I get most of what you said but a huge majority of the rest is just flat out wrong, particularly claiming this site promotes just the “hot book” of the moment..
I can’t speak for most of our visitors but I do know a majority of the regulars here all read the comics as well. Most collect full runs of series. We have just as many readers and collectors as we do people wanting to buy a hot book to flip that usually results in them using the profits to buy more books, the books they want to keep for the personal collection.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve said myself in my own articles.. “Wanna see where this is going… ” Implying, I’m buying a series title and not just the hot books to flip for quick profit.
As for people not being able to get Issue #1 so they don’t read or bother reading #2 and beyond, that’s just a load of crud. People who really are only interested in reading will find a way to read if they missed an issue. There’s trades, collected editions and digital now.
Digital tpb and second or later prints are all great ways to get people to try new series if the first print is sold out.
And Marvel loves additional printings.. 🙂
One last thought Randy because your comment has bugged the crap out of me all day. Yes, this site focuses on the secondary market and what books sell for what. Yes. There are a ton of people who sell comics on here and make great money doing it. Some of us do not want to be bogged down with shops, but guess what, there are retailers on here as well. Quite a few actually. So if you go to a forum or web page designed for retailers and talk about what comics to order more of because your can sell more copies in your store, does that mean you don’t read them or care about comics? See there is a lot of fallacy in your statements. Try reading the site. You may learn a thing or two. And no. Speculators do not “just pull new issues out of the hands of potential readers” we pre-order from shops (online and brick and mortar) to the tune of thousands of dollars a year. I spend so much in my lcs ($10’s of thousands of dollars a year) for not only comics, but supplies and other things, that they treat me like gold. And yes they know not only am I a speculator but someone who buys comics for their PC as well. So before you trash speculators maybe you can look and learn from them.