June 17th Gotham Newsstand is On the Line!

"Creating COPRA" by Fiffe, "WITCHMAN" by Tom Scioli, and Suspense #3 all debut!

Among new releases on the wide published side, we want to call out three comic debuts we’re dropping this week!

"Creating COPRA" by Fiffe, "WITCHMAN" by Tom Scioli, and Suspense #3 all debut!All of them I talk about a lot more in their item page on our new web-site!

Browse our Shippable Inventory you can pick up at our Broadway Store!

The Space DJ of Gotham Newsstand is still out there searching the empty space for the perfect remix. Check out “What a Good Washing of the Face Does” over on their channel!

Bossman suffered several weeks from contracting Shingles and, then, after recovering enough to run Free Graphic Novel Day (Which was an incredible success and we are doing next year up even more!), I got sick and run down again enough that I really had to step back from my expectations of what I could accomplish.

Lately though I’ve really benefited from the computer time and the Broadway store has a handful of changes in store for the comic side after our complete over-haul of the side-room to include way more Graphic Novels than any square feet we’ve ever leased!!!!!

Those cool comics keep coming out. Transformers #9, Destro is new this wednesday and Scarlett #1 already dropped for the energon universe plus the Duke trade. Ultimate universe has kept up incredibly to my reader’s eys with The Ultimates #1 and a DOOM 2nd print is due for arrival july 10th in case you missed it, there’s a great wraparound cover for you to collect!

Just when Hickman’s X-Men run gets its own chunky fifteen issue trade solicited, the Krakoan era ends as a handful of Deadpool comics outsell the whole X-men line (a tease of our upcoming seasonal sales analysis post coming up! Im gonna crunch some numbers up!!).

And that’s not even getting into the truly incredible Fantagraphics books, the manga, and all the boxes of back issues we’re flinging onto the sales floor every week at both stores.

Come by to see what we’re like when the energy inspires us to perform well!
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New Comics of note include the incredible ending to the Krakoan era in X-Men #35, which Dylan reviews here:

The end of the Krakoan age. What began with Jonathan Hickman's House of X / Powers of X concludes with this issue from a large team of writers and artists.

This first story in this issue is a microcosm of what worked and didn't during the Krakoa era of X-Men. To fully appreciate it, you should have read Fall of the House of X, Rise of the Powers of X, X-Men issues 32-34, Resurrection of Magneto, X-Men Forever, and other select X-Men books. If you haven't, you won't be totally lost, but some moments may lack impact. This issue serves as a grand finale for not just the main writers' (Al Ewing, Gerry Duggan, and Kieron Gillen) stories, but the entire Krakoan era. It ties up many threads while leaving some open for future exploration. The art is full of cameos from both this and previous eras, delivering satisfying visual storytelling, great character acting and excellent action.

The second story, by Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca, follows last week's X-Men Wedding Special. It focuses on Mystique, Destiny, and their kids Rogue, and Nightcrawler's relationships to each other, reflecting on their stormy past, while looking forward to a more hopeful future. I personally like it when superhero stories get to slow down and have their characters talk, but your mileage may vary. There is a very fun sword fight that should keep you engaged!

The final story, by Gail Simone and Jed MacKay with art by Javier Garron, serves as a prelude to the "From the Ashes" era. It sets up character positions and gives Xavier time to reflect on his past actions, leaving intriguing possibilities for the future.

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Blood Hunters #1 Red Banded Variant:
from Peter Hensel

I truly am someone who wanted to follow a fun vampire versus the Marvel U comic. Essential Tomb of Dracula in black and white began a very happy reading phase of marvel’s bronze age horror I still don’t believe I’ve ended. Avengers subplots from Roy Thomas to Bendis surround my daily worktime activities. I’m actually someone who read that Oral History of the Avengers Bendis wrote while also having read every avengers comic it talks about.

That said, I just am not intrigued at all by Blood Hunt or McKay. I could say it’s the crossover nature that asks you to read and buy a ton more comics than a single one you’ve already read and bought, although that isn’t something I necessarily like in my comics. I can’t quite say I was lost picking it up, or even that it lacked a well acted narrative voice pulling me into the events from a handful of different character perspectives. Because it did that.

In my effort to introduce negative reviews, I just read this comic and couldn’t feel the soul in it. I wanted to. But “When I arrived at the Castle” spooked me out in a lot less pages and narrative confusion in a terrifying and artful read. Tynion and Simmond’s Dracula for Universal Monsters lets you really invite the silver tongued Dracula inside your head. The gore in the comic seemed like something common for a mainstream thing and didn’t really raise a taboo meter past “what Disney Focus Group Tested as Permissible” and I really have tried several times to get past this comic and just haven’t had the drive.

Six Fingers #3 (image comic)
another review by Peter

This series starts with a big bomb of aplomb: working on Detective Comics features and backups and connecting lead the two writers to want to write two intertwined series from the perspective of the serial killer and the detective. “The One Hand” is Ram V’s series, and “Six Fingers” is Dan Watters.

I wanted to absolutely fall in love with this series, and there are a genuine amount of things to recommend about this comic so far: its near future world of slight mutations collides with an individual’s search into why they do the habits they do, and it has some really poetic moments when you’re gliding along the captions.

I felt a little talked out of liking it over time, however. It seemed to build up to a moment where the killer and detective met, and at some point this climactic moment kind of becomes sideline to its own narrative of a perosn growing out of control.

I’m definitely still going to read The One hand to kind of follow up and see if there is a hidden significance, but it feels like too much code to decipher after a hot series pitch cooled when the entire first two issues of each didn’t directly connect, the short sequence in #3 that does connect the series felt like a bit of a letdown.

It’s the exact type of comic I’d ask the local store to pre-order, kind of sigh when it comes in, wonder why I bought it?, and probably really enjoy a re-read years down the line if I find the time to re-read it without the expectation of the high concept not delivering in #1 and #2 of each series.

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Ciao!
-ptr