New Comics For Wednesday 29th January

This is it! If everything goes to plan, this week we'll be operating from our "new" first floor space. Entry is still via the doors on ground floor, you'll just have to excuse the mess as you head straight upstairs, then it's welcome to the new All Star Comics Melbourne.

But before all of that, here is the list of this week's new releases!

Trapped on a tropical island, with no-one around to interrupt them, will Venom finally have his vengeance on Spider-Man? Find out in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #347 FACSIMILE EDITION, a classic reprint from David Michelinie and Erik Larsen. Set against the backdrop of jungles and nature, this is a showdown unlike other before or since.

A long established source of information in the pages of the Amazing Spider-Man, the Daily Bugle is home to many unsung heroes of the Marvel Universe, who bring the people of New York City the latest news, and in a town with the Kingpin as mayor, that's no easy feat. See the recent exploits of Spider-Man and Daredevil from the ground level in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN DAILY BUGLE #1 (OF 5), from Mat Johnson and Mack Chater, and how the journalists, led by editor in chief, Robbie Robertson, strive report the real news.

Ed Brisson and Jonas Scharf take you back into the dreaded world of Old Man Logan in AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #1 (OF 5), where a new generation of heroes step up to combat the evil dictatorship of Doctor Doom. With a new Thor in the form of Dani Cage, the Hulk and the keeper of the Ant-Man technology, Dwight, will they be mighty enough to depose Doom and usher in a new era of heroes?

Everything that begins must eventually reach its end, and this week, you are treated to the final story of three of Marvel's beloved superheroes, with CAPTAIN MARVEL THE END #1, from Kelly Thompson and Carmen Carnero; DEADPOOL THE END #1, from Joe Kelly and Mike Hawthorne, and DOCTOR STRANGE THE END #1, from Leah Williams and Filipe Andrade. Find out how these characters meet their ends, with Captain Marvel finally returning home after decades away, the seemingly unkillable Deadpool being killed and Doctor Strange traversing a cyberpunk world that turned its back on arcane sorcery.

Relive the glory days of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's momentous partnership in the 1960s with FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #6 FACSIMILE EDITION, which features the Fantastic Four's first clash with Annihilus in the Negative Zone and the birth of Franklin Richards. When Sue Storm's pregnancy is in peril from cosmic radiation in her blood, Mr. Fantastic, the Thing and the Human Torch must venture into the Negative Zone to claim Annihilus' Cosmic Rod to cure her and save Sue and Reed's unborn child. Re-experience this classic piece of Fantastic Four history in a facsimile reprint, complete with original 60s era ads.

Following its destruction in Absolute Carnage, the Ravencroft Institute has reopened and ready to take in the mentally unstable supervillains that threaten the people of New York. With a new staff, with John Jameson amongst them, seeking redemption, will this reborn Ravencroft restore the mentally unstable to upstanding citizens in RAVENCROFT #1 (OF 5), from Frank Tieri and Angel Unzeuta, or is there something more sinister in store for these poor souls?

Weapon I created Captain America and Weapon X produced Wolverine, but in between them came the experiments of Ted Sallis, which was used by the government as Weapon IV. What is Weapon IV, you ask? Well, to find out, you'll need to grab a copy of WEAPON PLUS WORLD WAR IV, from Benjamin Percy and Georges Jeanty, and learn the secret history of the patriotic American plant known as Man-Slaughter.

From the Marvel archives comes a reprint of Chris Claremont and John Buscema's classic Wolverine #10, with the art reproduced in 3D, which brings the brutal action within to life, and it's all yours for the taking in a copy of WOLVERINE VS SABRETOOTH 3D #1, polybagged with a pair of red-and-blue 3D glasses. As Wolverine drowns his sorrows in Madripoor, continuing his usual birthday tradition, he recounts a tense, bloody encounter with Sabretooth, from before Wolverine had regained his memories and remained a wandering savage. Relive this spectacular issue with the addition of 3D action!

With his creator dead and buried in the icy wastelands of the Arctic, Frankenstein's Monster seeks to find new purpose in FRANKENSTEIN UNDONE #1 (OF 5), from Mike Mignola, Scott Allie and Ben Stenbeck. Serving to bridge the gap between the conclusion of Mary Shelly's classic novel and Mike Mignola's Hellboy Universe, see the Monster's journey to where we find him in Frankenstein Underground.

Stan Sakai's career-defining creation, the ronin rabbit, Usagi Miyamoto, has found a home at IDW Publishing. To celebrate, IDW is reprinting the original Usagi Yojimbo comics in full colour from the very beginning, kicking it off with USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR CLASSICS #1. Even if you've already read these early Usagi's, these new reprints are still worth checking out for the behind-the-scenes extras and art collected in the back.

Embark upon a new sci-fi adventure that mixes together the best elements of comics like Conan the Barbarian, Mad Max and the Expanse with PROTECTOR #1, from a team of creators including Simon Roy, Artyom Trakhanov and more. In the ruins of a future North America, the people of the Hudsoni tribe are the supreme power, but even they fear the godlike Devas. When the Hudsoni are warned of the return of an old demon from the days gone by, Hudsoni chief First Knife, will set out to destroy it and protect his people from harm.

The book may be called Avengers, but within, Jason Aaron and Dale Keown present a Ghost Rider extravaganza unlike the world has ever seen before, and you can check it out with AVENGERS BY JASON AARON TP VOL 05 CHALLENGE OF GHOST RIDERS. Terrified of the darkness that lives within him and his vehicle, Robbie Reyes decides to perform an exorcism on his car. But expelling that inner darkness is against the grand plans of the original Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, who currently rules Hell. Now, a war between the Ghost Riders begins, and it will only get more complicated when the Cosmic Ghost Rider shows his hand.

There isn't much longer until Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey hits cinemas, but if you still need something extra to keep you going, then definitely check out a copy of BIRDS OF PREY MURDER AND MYSTERY TP, from an all star array of creators, including Gail Simone, Michael Golden, Ed Benes and more.

Grab your deerstalkers and get ready to do some sleuthing with a copy of CLUE TP CANDLESTICK, from Dash Shaw, and based on the popular board game, Cluedo. Can you figure out who committed the murder, as well as where and how before the book reveals all? Bonus points to those of you who do.

Tom Scioli picks up the torch from Ed Piskor's X-Men: Grand Design to bring you a comprehensive history of Marvel's First Family with FANTASTIC FOUR GRAND DESIGN TP. Presented in the same treasury format as the X-Men: Grand Design trilogy, watch as Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm transform from ordinary citizens into a family of superheroes, and take on a variety of foes who would threaten the Earth, including Doctor Doom, Annihilus, Molecule Man, Galactus and many, many more. If you want to know more about the FF or about those early Marvel days and don't want to read hundreds and hundreds of issues and trades, be sure to add this one to your collection.

Acclaimed creator Nicholas Gurewitch's cult classic comic strip finally gets a long-awaited reprint with PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP HC 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. Collecting all the strips that ran from 2004 to 2007 in alternative newspapers, before finding an even bigger audience online, you'll also get exclusive, never before seen material, included undiscovered Perry Bible Fellowship strips and sketches for comics that were never made.

Before she became Batgirl, Cassandra Cain was an assassin, and now experience the identity crisis she must go through to change from killer to hero in SHADOW OF THE BATGIRL TP, from Sarah Kuhn and Nicole Goux. Growing up, Cassandra looked to the Batgirl of Gotham as inspiration, and now she'll need to utilise everything she knows to step up and fill the void the original Batgirl left in her disappearance to stop her father from destroying the world she has come to love.

Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky are back at last for one final arc of their beloved crime/humour/romance series with SEX CRIMINALS #26. The titular sex criminals, Jon and Suze, return, with a bank just begging to be robbed and the dollar signs already in their eyes. Can the pair pull off one last big heist, using their unusual ability to stop time with sex?

The world's worst superhero duo get a new miniseries beginning with QUANTUM & WOODY (2020) #1 (OF 5), from Christopher Hastings and Ryan Browne. A consortium of mad scientists have joined forces to conquer the Earth, and only Quantum and Woody are able to stop them.

If you think waiting 20 years for a TV show to come back on air, try waiting 30 years for a comic book to resume! That's right, everybody, Chuck Dixon is back with a brand new issue of Airboy, his debut comic book series, after a 30 year hiatus, and it picks right up where issue 50 left off with AIRBOY #51, featuring art from Jok. It's 1989, and Davy, aka Airboy, has managed to escape from his arch nemesis, Misery, and their dark realm. Finding himself in Africa at the height of the Apartheid, where does Airboy go from here?

Eisner-nominated creator, Tom Kaczynski brings his unique vision and cartooning style to the neuroses that plague us all in our day to day lives with CARTOON DIALECTICS #1. Learn all about the strange things people let themselves be caught up in and what solutions and information they try to find online.

America may have gotten the first man on the Moon, but it was the USSR that put the first woman on the Moon, none other than Valentina Tereshkova. To learn more about her and other fantastic female astronauts, grab a copy of ASTRONAUTS WOMEN ON FINAL FRONTIER SC GN, from Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks, which follows the journeys and tells the stories of various female astronauts from both NASA and abroad.

If our 2020 Comic Book Forecast piqued your interest with Yoshiharu Tsuge's new releases, you can finally check one of them out, as MAN WITHOUT TALENT GN arrives in the store. An autobiographical graphic novel, Tsuge takes you through his frustrations and irritations as he works all sorts of odd jobs, from a camera salesman to a ferryman, until he can finally make it as an artist. His only problem is that his art style is very... unusual, to say the least. But as this book proves, Tsuge succeeded, and now you can see the series of events that led to a unique artist achieving his dreams.

In the future Earth of NILS TREE OF LIFE HC, from Jerome Harmon and Antoine Carrion, nature has reclaimed a lot of man's artificial constructs. But nature may once again be under threat after young Nils and his father discover that the ground where they live has become infertile. What does this sudden change have to do with a conspiracy involving a nearby hi-tech kingdom and supernatural beings offering the citizens eternal life? Even then, what is the cost of this supposed immortality?

Three stories, two previous releases and one brand new, featuring the Plain Janes are collected together for the first time in PLAIN JANES GN, from Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg. Following an attack on Metro City, artistic student Jane Beckles moves out to the safer suburb of Kent Waters. At first feeling out of place, Jane soon finds where she belongs when she meets three other Janes: Brain Jayne, Theater Jane and Polly Jane. Together, all four become the Plain Janes, creating guerrilla art to wake their town up to the possibilities that abound in artistic achievements.

The formidable creative team of Jason Aaron, Dennis Hallum and Stephen Green present a touching story of a father/son relationship set in deep space with SEA OF STARS TP VOL 01. Driving a big rig through the depths of space sounds like the adventure of a lifetime for us, but for the recently widowed Gil, it's just another day on the job. When he takes his son Kaydn along on his latest delivery, to spend some quality father son time with his boy, things take a turn for the worst when a Space Leviathan eats half the space truck and separates Gil and Kaydn. Now, with a space suit that's rapidly losing oxygen, Gil must traverse space to find his lost son.

In a new book from Kat Leyh, Snap is a young girl who befriend a trendy older woman, who may just very well be a witch. See how Snap's initial search for her missing dog begins a new friendship in SNAPDRAGON SC GN VOL 01, and how Jacks, the woman who may be a witch, has an affinity for nature that she may be able to pass on to Snap.

When Adrian Camus, a world-famous tech designer, decides to use his latest products to recruit children who are good at video games into his war against the Power, you get the violent sci-fi series collected in THUMBS TP , from Sean Lewis and Hayden Sherman. A soldier for Camus, the recruit known as Thumbs soon suffers a grievous injury that makes him look at both sides of the conflict and decide which ideology he really follows.

A new wave of DC Essential action figures washes in this week, featuring DC ESSENTIALS HAL JORDAN AF, DC ESSENTIALS KNIGHTFALL BATMAN AF, DC ESSENTIALS KNIGHTFALL CATWOMAN AF & DC ESSENTIALS SINESTRO AF. Have Hal Jordan defend the Green Lantern Corps from Sinestro's evil Yellow Corps, and then get your 90s-styled Knightfall Batman and Catwoman ready for a showdown against Bane.

If you've been hearing awesome things about NK Jemisin and Jamal Campbell's Young Animal Green Lantern book, Far Sector, and are dying to give it a go, then you're just in time for FAR SECTOR #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG. Now you can get acquainted with Sojourner Mullein, the latest Green Lantern recruit, and how she handles her new beat: a city that is home to billions and has been at peace for 500 years... until someone commits a heinous crime: murder- refined, cold-blooded, deliberate murder.

The first month of the year may be over, but that means the next lot of Previews is on our doorstep with PREVIEWS #377 FEBRUARY 2020. Filled with listings of new comics, trades, hardcovers, toys and more, be sure to check out a copy to ensure you're not missing out on a single thing. With our reduction of shelf stock for single issues, pre-ordering your most wanted comics is more important than ever, and Previews is your perfect guide to everything coming out. If you're unable to claim a copy or check out the store copy, keep your eyes out for our latest Previews album on social media.

So it's a big one to start us off in our new space, hope we'll see you in store to check it all out.
Until then, have a great week, live life and read comics.

MARVEL

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #347 FACSIMILE EDITION

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN DAILY BUGLE #1 (OF 5)

AVENGERS #30

AVENGERS OF THE WASTELANDS #1 (OF 5)

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18

CAPTAIN MARVEL THE END #1

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #12

DEADPOOL THE END #1

DOCTOR STRANGE THE END #1

DR STRANGE #2

FALLEN ANGELS #6 DX

FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #6 FACSIMILE EDITION

HAWKEYE FREE FALL #2

IMMORTAL HULK #30

NEW MUTANTS #6 DX

RAVENCROFT #1 (OF 5)

SCREAM CURSE OF CARNAGE #3

SPIDER-HAM #2 (OF 5)

SPIDER-VERSE #4 (OF 6)

STAR WARS #2

TAROT #2 (OF 4)

THOR #2

TRUE BELIEVERS CRIMINALLY INSANE ABSORBING MAN #1 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

TRUE BELIEVERS CRIMINALLY INSANE KLAW #1 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

WEAPON PLUS WORLD WAR IV

WOLVERINE VS SABRETOOTH 3D #1

X-FORCE #6 DX

X-MEN #5 DX

DC COMICS

ACTION COMICS #1019

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS GIANT #2 (RES)

DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #3

DIAL H FOR HERO #11 (OF 12)

DOLLAR COMICS DETECTIVE COMICS #554

FLASH #87

GREEN LANTERN BLACKSTARS #3 (OF 3)

JUSTICE LEAGUE #39

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19

LAST GOD #4 (MR)

SUICIDE SQUAD #2

TERRIFICS #24

TITANS BURNING RAGE #6 (OF 7)

BOOM

GO GO POWER RANGERS #28 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

SOMETHING IS KILLING CHILDREN #5

STEVEN UNIVERSE ONGOING #36

DARK HORSE

FRANKENSTEIN UNDONE #1 (OF 5)

INVISIBLE KINGDOM #9

WITCHFINDER REIGN OF DARKNESS #3 (OF 5)

DYNAMITE

BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #10

GEORGE RR MARTIN A CLASH OF KINGS #1

RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #8 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

IDW

NARCOS #2 (OF 4)

READ ONLY MEMORIES #2 (OF 4)

STAR TREK PICARD #3 (OF 3)

TMNT ONGOING #102

TRANSFORMERS #16

USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR CLASSICS #1

IMAGE

CRIMINAL #12

FARMHAND #13

ICE CREAM MAN #17

KILLADELPHIA #3

MONSTRESS #25

OLYMPIA #3 (OF 5)

OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #44

PROTECTOR #1

REDNECK #25

SEX CRIMINALS #26

WEATHERMAN VOL 2 #6

ONI

RICK & MORTY #58

VALIANT

QUANTUM & WOODY (2020) #1 (OF 5)

MISC

AIRBOY #51

ANGELA DELLA MORTE #3 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

ANIMOSITY #26 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

CARTOON DIALECTICS #1

HOUSE OF CEREBUS ONE SHOT (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #270 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

ROCKY & BULLWINKLE SEEN ON TV #2

SHOPLIFTERS WILL BE LIQUIDATED #4 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

VAGRANT QUEEN PLANET CALLED DOOM #1 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

MAGAZINES

CINEFEX #168 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

DC PREVIEWS #22 FEBRUARY 2020
FANGORIA VOL 2 #6

HEAVY METAL #297

MARVEL PREVIEWS VOL 04 #31 FEBRUARY 2020

PREVIEWS #377 FEBRUARY 2020

STAR TREK MAGAZINE #74 (PRE-ORDER ONLY. ASK ABOUT REORDER)

TRADES

ACTS OF VENGEANCE TP AVENGERS

ALIENS RESCUE TP 

ALMOST AMERICAN GIRL GN 

APOSIMZ GN VOL 04 

AQUAMAN DEATH OF A PRINCE DLX ED HC

ASTRONAUTS WOMEN ON FINAL FRONTIER SC GN 

AVENGERS BY JASON AARON TP VOL 05 CHALLENGE OF GHO

BAT AND THE CAT 80 YEARS OF ROMANCE HC

BATMAN BEYOND TP VOL 06 DIVIDE CONQUER AND KILL

BIRDS OF PREY MURDER AND MYSTERY TP

BLACK WIDOW TP WIDOWMAKER

BRINA THE CAT HC GN VOL 01 GANG OF FELINE SUN

CATHERINES WAR HC GN 

CLUE TP CANDLESTICK

COLLECTED TOPPI HC VOL 03 SOUTH AMERICA

DARKSTALKERS RISE OF THE NIGHT WARRIORS HC

EARTH X TP NEW PTG

FANTASTIC FOUR EPIC COLLECTION COMING GALACTUS TP

FANTASTIC FOUR GRAND DESIGN TP

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 02 HOSTILE

GIRL GENIUS SECOND JOURNEY GN VOL 05 QUEENS AND PI

I AM ANNA LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK 

I AM ELSA LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK 

IRON MAN TP THE END NEW PTG

KI-6 KILLERS TP VOL 01

LOVE & OTHER WEIRD THINGS TP 

MAN WITHOUT TALENT GN 

MARVEL ACTION BLACK PANTHER TP BOOK 01 STORMY WEAT

MARVELS SPIDER-MAN SCRIPT BOOK HC

MARVEL-VERSE GN TP BLACK PANTHER

MEETING COMICS GN 

METABARONS BOX SET HC

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS TP VOL 10 

MOONCAKES GN

NANCY DREW HC PALACE OF WISDOM

NIB ANIMALS 

NILS TREE OF LIFE HC 

ORPHAN AGE TP VOL 01

OWLY COLOR ED GN VOL 01 WAY HOME

PARHAM ITAN TALES FROM BEYOND GN VOL 01 

PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP HC 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

PLAIN JANES GN 

PRINCELESS RAVEN PIRATE PRINCESS TP VOL 08 AFTERGL

RUNAWAY PRINCESS HC GN 

SEA OF STARS TP VOL 01

SHADOW OF THE BATGIRL TP

SISTERS HC GN VOL 05 MYOB

SNAPDRAGON SC GN VOL 01 

STRANGE PLANET HC

STREET FIGHTER VS DARKSTALKERS UNDERWORLD WARRIORS

THOR BY JASON AARON COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 02

THUMBS TP 

TOILET BOUND HANAKO KUN GN VOL 01 

UNDERGROUND SKETCHBOOK SC 

WHAT IF CLASSIC COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 03

WOLVERINE TP THE END NEW PTG

ZINC ALLOY COMPLETE COLLECTION GN 

MERCH

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE BATMAN BY GENE COLAN STATUE

DC ESSENTIALS HAL JORDAN AF

DC ESSENTIALS KNIGHTFALL BATMAN AF

DC ESSENTIALS KNIGHTFALL CATWOMAN AF

DC ESSENTIALS SINESTRO AF

LIVING DEAD DOLLS CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

BACK IN STOCK

FAR SECTOR #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG

LAST GOD #1 2ND PTG 

New Comics For Wednesday 22nd January

So the comic is out of the bag! We are moving on up and soon will be completely located only on Level 1. It's a big change and challenge but we are up for it and hope you are too. In the meantime here is one of the last shipments you'll get in the ground floor location!

Following a cold war with the surface, it looks like things are heating up in the oceans of Atlantis as King Namor prepares for war against the Agents of ATLAS in ATLANTIS ATTACKS #1 (OF 5), from Greg Pak and Ario Anindito. Ever since the War of the Realms, the Agents have all become closely bonded comrades, but will the ties that bind them be enough ensure their survival in the coming conflict?

A brand new era for Marvel's galactic guardians begins in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1, from Al Ewing and Juann Cabal. Once a group of misfits, the Guardians of the Galaxy are now a tightly knit family, deserving of peace at long last. But that peace will have to wait, for anarchy has claimed the galaxy, and it will need its guardians to save it once more.

With the events of Absolute Carnage done, and the clean-up underway in the aftermath, it seems like things are settling down again in New York City. But they won't stay settled for long, as you will see in WEB OF VENOM GOOD SON #1, from Zac Thompson and Diogenes Neves. Dylan Brock and Normie Osborn have survived in the wake of Carnage, and now we'll find out what's next for the Son of Venom and the Goblin Childe.

One of the first, most enduring and most inspiring super-heroines around in all media, celebrate all things Diana Prince and Wonder Woman with the mega-sized, prestige-format WONDER WOMAN #750! Featuring the talents of legendary creators such as Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Marguerite Bennett, Elena Casagrande, Kami Garcia, Gail Simone and many more, enjoy this collection of tales that celebrate Wonder Woman's past, present and future.

With a brand new Ghostbusters movie coming out this year, Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening take you back to unseen adventures of the original ghost-busting team, starting with GHOSTBUSTERS YEAR ONE #1 (OF 4). In this issue, Winston Zeddemore recalls his very first bust, in all of its hilarious, zany glory.

All ages fun awaits everybody in the new series of Spider-tastic adventures, beginning anew with MARVEL ACTION SPIDER-MAN (2020) #1, from Brandon Easton and Fico Ossio. Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy have all completed their Daily Bugle internships, but they won't have long to celebrate, because there's already another new villain for them to take down. School holidays are nearly over, but this is the perfect cure to remedy those back-to-school blues.

If you're desperate for some Harley Quinn comics to tide you over before she steals the spotlight in her new movie, then be sure to grab a copy of BIRDS OF PREY HARLEY QUINN TP, from Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and more. After inheriting a building in Coney Island, Harley Quinn is trading up Gotham City for the Big Apple, but that means there's a whole new playground to adjust to, full of different heroes and even more dangerous villains out to get her.

Before she makes her big screen debut in Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, learn all about the original Huntress, the daughter of Earth-2's Batman and Catwoman, Helena Wayne. In the stories collected in HUNTRESS ORIGINS TP, from Paul Levitz, Bob Layton, Jerry Ordway and more, watch the evolution of the Huntress, as she begins by avenging the murder of her mother and then eventually grows into an inspiring hero.

Experience the weirder, wackier days of the Justice League in the issue collected in JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL TP BOOK 01 BORN AGAIN, from Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire, JM DeMatteis, Dick Giordano and more. Featuring the oddest combination of heroes a Justice League has known, find out how the brooding Batman manages to work alongside the hot-headed Guy Gardner, the mightiest mortal, Shazam, the mystical Dr. Fate, among others. Just the characters themselves justify this collection, before you reach the exciting story lines.

From Greg Pak and Valeria Favoccia comes the all ages extravaganza, STRANGER THINGS ZOMBIE BOYS VOL 01, which is set just after the conclusion of the first season of the smash hit Netflix series. Following the terrors of the Upside Down and the Demogorgon, tensions are running high in the friendship group of Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Will. But those tensions may be exacerbated after a new kid arrives in town, Joey Kim, along with his Betamax camcorder and aspirations to become the next Spielberg. But as Joey draws the four friends to re-enact their horrific experiences for the camera, they may wind up becoming the very monsters they fought against.

Experience the brand new, relaunched universe of IDW's Transformers with TRANSFORMERS VOL 01 WORLD IN YOUR EYES HC, a deluxe hardcover collecting the first twelve issues of the series, from Brian Ruckley, Angel Hernandez, Bethany McGuire-Smith and more. Set on the home planet of the Transformers, Cybertron, everything is at piece, and every mechanical being is one with their technological environment. But this delicate balance is about to irrevocably disturbed when Bumblebee and Windblade take a newly forged Transformer exploring, and stumble across the very first murder site in all of Cybertron history.

Once the steadfast ally of Thor, then the worthy Goddess of Thunder herself, Dr. Jane Foster returns to comics once again as Asgard's Valkyrie in VALKYRIE JANE FOSTER TP VOL 01, from Jason Aaron, Al Ewing and CAFU. Amongst her new duties, including ferrying the dead warriors of Asgard to Valhalla, Jane also keeps her eye on her home, the Earth, and now she's in pursuit of Bullseye, who's stolen the ancient Asgardian weapon, the Dragonfang.

By turning the X-Force into the X-Statix, Peter Milligan and Michael Allred delivered a biting and scathing satire of reality television and the so-called celebrities it produces. After being out of print for far, far too long, you can finally check out the whole series with X-STATIX COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01, and find out if these fame-hungry, money-grubbing mutants will rate in at the top of the charts, or if they'll be cancelled and replaced with the next big zeitgeist.

Return to the remnants of Ravencroft as more shocking secrets are revealed in RUINS OF RAVENCROFT DRACULA #1, from Frank Tieri, Stefano Landini and Angel Unzueta. For a very long time, everybody believed the front that Ravencroft built, one of healing and trust. But now Captain America is about to see the true face of Ravencroft, and the true terrors it's home to.

In Erik Burnham and Jonathan Lau's RED SONJA AGE OF CHAOS #1, Red Sonja's forward thinking may spell doom for all the land. The evil wizard, Kulan Gath, has been killed, but he has a talent for resurrection. To prevent this, Sonja puts a plan in place to prevent Gath from ever returning. But when the plan backfires, Sonja may have just unleashed an even greater evil upon her world.

When you mix a zombie apocalypse, an 80s movie aesthetic and a group of punk kids together, you get yourself KIDZ #1, from Aurelien Ducoudray and Jocelyn Joret. After the world was devastated by a zombie apocalypse, the last vestiges of humanity may finally be able to reclaim the Earth after the zombies wither away from a famine of fresh flesh. Follow the group of boys led by Ben as they face the greatest challenge to their status quo yet: the arrival of two girls!

For you lazy daters in the world, you can't miss out on the hilarious GUDETAMA LOVE FOR THE LAZY HC, from Wook Jin Clark. The world of dating is an exhausting one, as the grumpy egg, Gudetama, knows. With stories about first impressions, first-date small talk and being dumped, this is the perfect guide to navigate the weird process of dating.

As Juzo continues to delve deeper into the investigation of the Gondry murders, creator Tasuku Karasuma further deconstructs the cyberpunk sci-fi genre with NO GUNS LIFE GN VOL 03. Within, Juzo reflects on the consequences of cybernetically enhancing and altering your body, pondering at what point a cyborg ceases to be a human and become a living weapon of mass destruction. Now, as his medication wears off, Juzo may find out the answers to those questions, as his control over his body slips away.

In the Cold War, hell froze over and rose to the surface in the Siberian gulags. In such awful conditions, it's no wonder that inmate, Roman Morozov, and band of other escapees want out and take their chances in the deadly tundra for a chance of freedom. But in ROAD OF BONES TP, from Rich Douek and Alex Cormack, Roman and the escapees may find that the wasteland to freedom may be far worse than any gulag could ever be.

Kousuke Oono's slice of life, Yakuza crime comedy continues with WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND GN VOL 02. The legendary Yakuza, the Immortal Dragon, has washed his hands clean of the blood of the criminal life, and has now undertaken a more dangerous role: a househusband! Amongst cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping, experience that tasks the Dragon must complete to be a successful househusband, providing the pressure doesn't kill him first.

Some of your favourite characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series arrive as collectible action figures with the AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER FIGURE ASST. Featuring Aang, Katara and Zuko, each of these figures sport their season three design from the show, and will make for a perfect display no Avatar fan can refuse.

But don't feel left out, Marvel fans, for you're also in luck on the action figure front as the latest wave of Marvel Legends hit the store with the SPIDER-MAN LEGENDS 6IN AF ASST 202001. Featuring two video game designed Spider-Man figures, as well as figures featuring the comic book designs of Vulture, Shang-Chi, White Rabbit and the Superior Octopus, be sure to collect them all so you have all the pieces you need to build the fearsome Demogoblin.

And there it is. One of the last for All Star in it's old form. Get on down this week and enjoy the ground floor location for one of the last times. Spot something extra you want, let us know soon as possible and before close Tuesday so we can do our best to secure it for you.
Until we see you next, have a great week, live life and read comics.

MARVEL

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #38

ATLANTIS ATTACKS #1 (OF 5)

BLACK PANTHER #20

CAPTAIN MARVEL #14

CONAN SERPENT WAR #4 (OF 4)

EXCALIBUR #6 DX

FANTASTIC FOUR #18

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1

MARAUDERS #6 DX

RUINS OF RAVENCROFT DRACULA #1

THOR #1

WEB OF VENOM GOOD SON #1

DC COMICS

BASKETFUL OF HEADS #4 (OF 7) (MR)

BATGIRL #43

BATMAN #87

BATMAN BEYOND #40

BATMAN CURSE OF THE WHITE KNIGHT #6 (OF 8)

BATMAN SUPERMAN #6

BIRDS OF PREY GIANT #1

DETECTIVE COMICS #1019

DOLLAR COMICS BATMAN HUNTRESS CRY FOR BLOOD #1

FAR SECTOR #3 (OF 12) (MR)

JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER #3 (MR)

METAL MEN #4 (OF 12)

RED HOOD OUTLAW #42

SHAZAM #10 (RES)

SUPERMAN #19

WONDER TWINS #11 (OF 12)

WONDER WOMAN #750

YEAR OF THE VILLAIN HELL ARISEN #2 (OF 4)

VERTIGO

BOOKS OF MAGIC #16 (MR)

BOOM

FIREFLY #13

FOLKLORDS #3 (OF 5)

HEARTBEAT #3 (OF 5)

LUMBERJANES #70

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #47

ONCE & FUTURE #6 (OF 6)

DARK HORSE

COUNT CROWLEY RELUCTANT MONSTER HUNTER #4 (OF 4)

ETHER DISAPPEARANCE OF VIOLET BELL #5 (OF 5)

MASK I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE MASK #4 (OF 4)

NEIL GAIMAN AMERICAN GODS MOMENT OF STORM #9

TRIAGE #5 (OF 5)

DYNAMITE

RED SONJA AGE OF CHAOS #1

VAMPIRELLA #7

VENGEANCE OF VAMPIRELLA #4

IDW

GHOSTBUSTERS YEAR ONE #1 (OF 4)

I CAN SELL YOU A BODY #2 (OF 4)

KILL LOCK #2 (OF 6)

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #86

TMNT URBAN LEGENDS #21

UNCLE SCROOGE #53

WELLINGTON #2 (OF 5)

IMAGE

AMERICAN JESUS NEW MESSIAH #2

FAMILY TREE #3

HARDCORE RELOADED #2 (OF 5)

HEART ATTACK #3

MIDDLEWEST #14

OLD GUARD FORCE MULTIPLIED #2 (OF 5)

VALIANT

ROKU #4 (OF 4)

VISITOR #2 (OF 6)

MISC

ARCHIE VS PREDATOR 2 #5 (OF 5)

BETTY & VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER WHAT IF #1

EDGAR ALLAN POES SNIFTER OF TERROR SEASON 2 #4

GUNG HO #2

HEIST HOW TO STEAL A PLANET #3

KIDZ #1 CVR A CRISTOBAL

MIRKA ANDOLFOS UNSACRED #3

VAMPIRE STATE BUILDING #4

VAMPIRONICA NEW BLOOD #2

TRADES

A LETTER TO JO TP

AGENTS OF ATLAS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 02

ARCHIE 1941 TP

ARCHIE MODERN CLASSICS TP VOL 02

ASCENDANCE OF A BOOKWORM LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 03

BABY SITTERS LITTLE SISTER HC GN VOL 01 KARENS WIT

BALLAD OF YAYA GN VOL 04 ISLAND

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS TP VOL 01 LESSER GODS

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE OMNIBUS HC

BEASTARS GN VOL 04

BIRDS OF PREY HARLEY QUINN TP

BLAKE & MORTIMER GN VOL 26 VALLEY OF IMMORTALS PT

BOB MARLEY IN COMICS HC

BRINA THE CAT GN VOL 01 GANG OF FELINE SUN

BTVS SEASON 11 LIBRARY HC VOL 01

BY NIGHT TP VOL 03

CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON COMPLETE COLLECTION TP

CATHERINES WAR GN

CHILDREN OF WHALES GN VOL 14

COMICS AD MEN GN

DRIFTING DRAGONS GN VOL 02

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDYS GN VOL 01 SILVER EYES

GUDETAMA LOVE FOR THE LAZY HC

HUNTRESS ORIGINS TP

IN PIECES SOMEPLACE WHICH I CALL HOME GN (MR)

INVISIBLE WOMAN TP

IRONHEART TP VOL 02 TEN RINGS

JUGHEADS TIME POLICE TP

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL TP BOOK 01 BORN AGAIN

LEVIUS EST GN VOL 02

LUCIFER TP VOL 02 THE DIVINE TRAGEDY

MIRACULOUS TALES LADYBUG CAT NOIR TP S2 VOL 10 BUG

MIRACULOUS TALES LADYBUG CAT NOIR TP S2 VOL 11 SKA

NECROMANCERS MAP TP COMPLETE

NO GUNS LIFE GN VOL 03

NYANKEES GN VOL 05

PUNISHER KILL KREW TP

RESONANT TP VOL 01 (MR)

ROAD OF BONES TP

ROSE OF VERSAILLES GN VOL 01

RUNAWAY PRINCESS HC GN

RUNAWAY PRINCESS SC GN

SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP ITS SCOOBY TIME TP

SERA & ROYAL STARS TP VOL 01

STAR WARS LEGENDS TP FOREVER CRIMSON

STRANGELANDS TP VOL 01

STRANGER THINGS ZOMBIE BOYS VOL 01

STREET FIGHTER V TP VOL 02 RISE UP

THETH TOMORROW FOREVER GN

TRANSFORMERS VOL 01 WORLD IN YOUR EYES HC

VALKYRIE JANE FOSTER TP VOL 01

WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND GN VOL 02

X-MEN MILESTONES TP ONSLAUGHT

X-STATIX COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01

MERCH

AVATAR LAST AIRBENDER FIGURE ASST

SPIDER-MAN LEGENDS 6IN AF ASST 202001

BACK IN STOCK

BOWIE STARDUST RAYGUNS & MOONAGE DAYDREAMS HC GN

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS: 2020 COMIC BOOK FORECAST EDITION

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS: 2020 COMIC BOOK FORECAST EDITION!

by Cameron Ashley

There is no intro I could write to kick off the year that would not come off as possibly glib or just plain stupid considering everything that's happening. What I can do is present to you a list of upcoming 2020 releases comics that will function as a reminder that there is a lot to look forward to. Even if it's just silly old comic books, that's a start. Okay, let's get to it and please stay safe and well in the year ahead.

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF KATSUHIRO OTOMO

Kodansha

Due ??

Coming maybe, possibly, this year is this ongoing collection of every single page of Otomo comics going all the way back to his 1971 debut. Wowzah. Honestly, Kodansha's upcoming Complete Works of Katsuhiro Otomo project is probably about as important as comics reprints get considering not only just how out of print some of Otomo's translated work is (you will finally be able to read Domu!) but also the shadow that Otomo casts over manga as a totality. A master amongst an industry of masters, this publishing effort is up there with recent Moebius, Kirby and Barks efforts in its relevance. Now if only someone could do the same with Tezuka....

CANKOR

Matthew Allison

AdHouse Books

Due January

If slightly demented takes on the ol' superhero are your bag, Matthew Allison is the creator for you. The solicits for AdHouse's collected edition of Allison's Cankor (originally CCCANKORRR) read, "Michael DeForge meets Frank Quitely," and from what I've seen of Allison's work (he really is worth an Instagram follow) this seems fairly apt but doesn't quite capture just how skewed Allison’s vision of capes comics is. I don't know quite what it is - Allison’s an artist who could easily slip into a mainstream title. His art is hyper-detailed, energetic, just generally appealing in that Art Adams and, yes, Quitely way. Yet Cankor, with its "sad sack Cyborg" protagonist and "bubbling flesh and the towering corpses of superheroes" is just flat out so bizarre and singular a comic, it's kind of like a Frank Quitely Flex Mentallo comic had a nightmare. I mean, look at this preview - faceless punk rockers, mountainous thorny Bat-things. It's Silver Age weirdness spiked and gone bad trip. Dose me up, I say.

DOWNFALL

Inio Asano

Viz

Due February

Asano is the creator of some of the all time great comics. I'd put Goodnight Punpun up there with anything you care to name and other beautiful, painful creations like Nijigahara Holograph and Girl On The Shore not too far behind. Never content to sit in the same place twice, Asano constantly pushes forward into new creative spaces. Even though his Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction hasn't quite wrapped up yet, Viz gives us an Asano double whammy as early 2020 also brings us his latest work, Downfall. Concerning a manga artist trying to cook up a new hit as his life crumbles around him, you should bring your tissues for Downfall; this one is bound to engross you then give you a heart-punch.

ED LEFFINGWELL'S LITTLE JOE

Harold Gray

Sunday Press

Due April

Little Joe was a Western comics strip originally created by Ed Leffingwell in 1933. In 1936, Leffingwell died of a burst appendix and his cousin, Harold Gray, stepped in to fill his late relative's shoes. Gray, for those who do not know, was the creator of Little Orphan Annie, one of the all time great comic strips. This forthcoming collection showcases the best of Gray's efforts from 1937-1942, some beautiful cartooning that sort of recalls Herge by way of Gilbert Hernandez. This is sumptuous stuff, sure to be given the deluxe Sunday Press treatment (I was given Sunday Press' White Boy in Skull Valley for Christmas - it is a gorgeous book). Capping it all off, this collection of the "seminal Western comic strip," which features way more thrills and spills than its title hints at, is co-edited by one of the great modern day cartoonists and editor of Kramer's Ergot, Sammy Harkham. Harkham has the touch of gold as far as I'm concerned, and his involvement raises this from being a "this looks great," to a "this needs to be on my shelf."

FANTASTIC FOUR: GRAND DESIGN TREASURY EDITION (Marvel, Due February)
& KIRBY: KING OF COMICS (Ten Speed Press, Due July)

Tom Scioli

Galactus bless the triumphant return of the Treasury Edition (go get that Silver Surfer: Black and Piskor's X-Men: Grand Design in that format) and Galactus also bless Tom Scioli for not only his remix/retelling of and homage to the unsurpassable Jack Kirby/Stan Lee Fantastic Four run but also for labouring largely in secret over a comics biography of Kirby himself. Many of you may have read FF: Grand Design in its serialised form but Scioli's Fantastic Four story could well lay claim to the most densely constructed shortform mainstream comic ever and the oversized Treasury Edition will surely serve his intricate pages far more greatly. It's heartening also to see Scioli tackle The King's real life alongside those of his fictional creations - Kirby's influence cannot be overstated but particularly when it comes to Scioli's own body of work and artistic style and The King's actual existence was full of as much adventure, triumph, battle and heartbreak as any of those that live on the page. This is a fascinating pairing of comics by a real Pop Art auteur. They would make an excellent back-to-back read, I'm sure. That's how I'm planning to do it.

GO TO SLEEP (I MISS YOU): CARTOONS FROM THE FOG OF PARENTHOOD

Lucy Knisley

FirstSecond

Due February

Almost 200 pages of Lucy Knisley's "spontaneous" post-pregnancy cartoons are collected here for either you or your exhausted new parent friend to totally relate to. New parents need a laugh. Trust me. Knisley's strips (originally posted on her Instagram account) range from the humorous to the observational. These are stripped-back, intimate little comics, perfect for capturing the often solitary, quiet developmental leaps and ever-increasing bonding that occurs between parent and child. Comics. What can't they do?

GOBLIN GIRL

Moa Romanova

Fantagraphics

Due February

Debut time! Swiss artist Moa Romanova's Goblin Girl (formerly titled "Father Boy," not sure what happened there) arrives next month and she's clearly a talent to watch. This is a semi-autobiographical affair about a young artist named Moa who, amidst crisis and panic attacks, finds emotional and financial support from an "older man online," a fairly well known celebrity. Clearly, this is not going to end well, although Fantagraphics promises this autobiography, "upends expectations at every turn." It feels like 2020's most 2020 book, if that makes any sense and the arrival of a new strong, unique and talented creator is always reason to celebrate.

GRIP: THE COLLECTED EDITION

Lale Westvind

Perfectly Acceptable Press

Due March

Batten down the hatches, there's raw comics power coming our way in March! If you're not familiar with Lale Westvind's comics, I daresay it won't take too much longer. Having self-published much of her work and been included in Kramer's Ergot and Best American Comics, 2020 is her year. Possessed of the kind of energy most artists wish they could pack into any given square inch of comics page, Westvind is poised to be the breakout Art comics creator of the next few years, if not the decade. Grip is a "heavy handed homage to women in the trades..."and centres on a young woman whose hands can never be still after a "strange incident." Originally published in two sold-out risographed editions by Perfectly Acceptable, hopefully, the print count is raised significantly for the collection, as this has breakout hit of the year written all over it. Westvind is so loud, her comics go up to eleven and she's most original, striking and vibrant talent to emerge in quite some time. Hunt this down.

J+K 

John Pham 

Fantagraphics 

Due April

It wouldn't be one of these forecast columns without a holdover or two from the previous year. J+K is the first of these this year. Here's what I said a year ago:

Concerning two pop culture-obsessed morons trying to make their way in the world, John Pham’s J+K may in fact end up being regarded as 2019s ultimate comics art object. As the titular duo throw away reference after reference to all manner of pop culture ephemera existing in their world, Pham dutifully and creatively actualises it all by including, among other things, posters, stickers, an issue of “Cool Magazine” and, yes, even playable vinyl. It’s playful world-building to an extent not really seen in comics before that I can recall. Making the feat even more impressive, Pham has the cartooning chops to back it all up. Ostensibly a series of short gag strips (“Peanuts meets Seinfeld,” Fantagraphics informs us), the totality does in fact cohere into a whole. “Like it’s not a collection but one long story that makes sense even if it reads like individual puzzle pieces in places,” Frank Santoro wrote in his review of the original Spanish edition, later adding, “It’s a feat to put it all together and serve it up in a smooth package like this. I’ve never seen anything like it…” 

LUPUS

Frederik Peeters

Top Shelf

Due February

These columns of mine might be thinning faster than my hair at this point, but the name Frederik Peeters is scattered throughout many past instalments. February is shaping up to be a massive month of releases and Peeters' latest work, the near 400-page Lupus, may well get lost in the crowd, a tragedy for a comic that won the Essential award at Angouleme. Lupus is Peeters' return to straight-ahead SF, well as straight ahead as the Swiss writer-artist gets. Like with many books on this year's forecast, character comes well ahead of genre trapping and Peeters is a creator of remarkable skill at building real emotion no matter how mind-bending the plot machination. Lupus is on the run, looking for ways to disappear. The entrance of Sanaa, "a beautiful runaway" complicates things and as each new world offers a multitude of escape methods, Lupus might just have to face up to the fact that there are some things you just can't run from.

American publishers Top Shelf have a preview here. It shows Peeters returning to an inky, stripped back black and white that recalls the work of Moon and Ba. Don't sleep on this.

THE MAN WITHOUT TALENT (NYRC, DUE FEBRUARY)
& THE SWAMP (D+Q, DUE APRIL)

Yoshiharu Tsuge

Lumping two books by legendary gekiga master, Yoshiharu Tsuge, together here as they both are of great importance. Both are translated (with essays) by Ryan Holmberg and they both are essential to your manga library. NYRC beats D+Q to the punch by bringing us The Man Without Talent, "the first full-length work ...available in the English language." It's also one of 2020's most essential pieces of comics autobiography as The Man Without Talent is about Tsuge's own attempts to quit trying to make comics and find a more economically stable profession with which to support his family.

The Swamp follows from Drawn and Quarterly in April and is the first volume in a library of Tsuge works. A collection of three stand-alone comics that, in true gekiga style, eschew genre trappings for quiet but impactful stories that focus on the lives of everyday folk, it's a volume that will likely prove once and for all the extent of the beauty and artfulness that can be found in comics. Compare Tsuge's comics to those produced at the same time in the USA and your head will spin at just how complex and cinematic and beautiful they are.

MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS VOLUME 2 

Emil Ferris 

Fantagraphics 

Due October 

Our other 2019 holdover is actually also a holdover from 2018, giving the second and concluding volume of My Favorite Thing is Monsters the dubious honour of being the only comic to ever appear three times in this column. However, as I wrote last year (and maybe the year before that), we should all be content to just sit tight and wait until creator Emil Ferris is good and ready to put down her coloured biros. This is not a project to be rushed: the second volume of Ferris’ saga could well cement My Favorite Thing Is Monsters legacy as an all-time great comic book. In my opinion, the first volume alone was not only the comic of 2016, but also the decade. 

A spoiler-free synopsis for the newbie: 

It's Chicago, 1968. A young misfit of a girl named Karen Reyes loves art, but her absolute favourite thing is monsters. Karen identifies with monsters on a deep level, she's able to distinguish between the good monsters and the bad, and the freak-loser-misfit tag she's saddled with socially gives her a degree of empathy for beings such as the Frankenstein Monster that others her age likely do not possess. She desperately wants to be turned into a literal monster, making her outsider status complete and giving her the power and strength she struggles to find day-to-day. She scribbles away in her notebooks, copying the covers to monster magazines of the period, and is taught to draw by her elder brother, Diego "Deeze" Reyes. Deeze is himself something of an outcast with his heavily tattooed skin and constant drinking, yet he easily maintains his status as the local heartthrob. He's an incessant womaniser, stringing along a parade of local women with his handsome features and "bad guy" rebel attitude. The Reyes siblings are raised by a single parent, a mother who is superstitious to the point of obsession, heavily religious, but also deeply loving. They are a weird but obviously tight-knit little family but there is secret, hidden family tragedy waiting to fracture their closeness. 

Karen is not shown much kindness in her life outside of her little family. Her best friend (who she deeply loves) has turned her back on her in a quest for popularity and peer acceptance and her bullying is near constant. What little kindness there is comes in the form of her upstairs neighbour, the eccentric Anka Silverberg, a Jewish WWII survivor who nurtures Karen's artistic streak and gives her odd gifts such as balled up pieces of bread. When Anka is brutally murdered, Karen is determined to solve the mystery. She begins keeping the company of Anka's stern, elderly husband, Sam. Drunk and grief-stricken, Sam Silverberg pulls out a cassette tape on which Anka reveals her incredible life story, in which clues to her gruesome death abound. 

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is told in the form of Karen's scribbled notebooks. The vast majority of it is drawn in biro, and pretty much the rest of it in fineliner, with the odd excursion into brush, wash and (possibly) colour pencil. Every page looks as though it's come from an A4 lined notepad, complete with red margin line running vertically down the page, evenly spaced blue lines horizontally and even faux hole punch marks and a spiral binding. There's urgency on the pages, but Ferris maintains deep control of her images throughout. Ferris is fond of cross-hatching a fine lattice of multi-coloured biro lines on her characters, creating soft yet striking contours and textures and depths. Karen herself is drawn almost totally throughout as a little werewolf girl, almost like something from Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are gone mystery-solver, her diminished, devolved image of herself near total even as she wears her "monstrous" outsider status as something of a badge of pride. Anka's story is engrossing, cutting across decades, and it's a testament to Ferris' writing skills just how easily her story flips between coming of age drama to mystery to horror and back again so seamlessly, never losing sight of her characters' humanity and keeping her story firmly on the tracks. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is an absolute, top-of-the-list must-read. I can't really say any more about this masterpiece than that. 

ORIGINAL ART: THE DANIEL CLOWES STUDIO EDITION

Daniel Clowes

Fantagraphics

Due February

Your high roller item of 2020 to be sure, but what an item this is. Elevating the Artist/Studio format to new heights is the forthcoming Daniel Clowes edition. Meticulously detailed and beautifully designed, Original Art showcases a wide selection of original Clowes art from right through his long career. It's the inclusion of acetate colour overlay sheets that puts this book over the top, however, an inclusion so obvious yet somehow never done in one of these books before. Originally due around last Christmas, one look at the finished product explains its lateness - this is a carefully, lovingly-constructed, enormously proportioned book. Ed Piskor (who has an Studio Edition of his due shortly that's sure to be well worth a look) and Jim Rugg went through Clowes' Original Art page by page on their Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel recently and both the curious and the impatient can find that here.

SPORTS IS HELL

Ben Passmore

Koyama

Due February

Passmore, artist of 2019 highlight BTTM FDRS returns and very soon at that with a new solo project, Sports Is Hell. "Some wars are for religion and some are for political belief but this one is for football," reads the tagline. A young girl named Tea is witness to her city winning its first superbowl but has to fight her way through groups of "armed football fanatics to meet a star receiver that might just end the civil war or become the city's new leader."

Passmore's a savvy creator, his debut solo work Your Black Friend marked the arrival of a terrific new talent. BTTM FDRS was haunted house turned hipster gentrification horror. With projects like those behind him and a belter of a high concept, Sports Is Hell promises to be politically savvy, cheekily funny and energetically drawn. Canada's Koyama Press is sadly closing its doors in 2021 for reasons that are a little mysterious, certainly not from a lack of successful titles of which Sports Is Hell is likely to be one.

STREETS OF PARIS, STREETS OF MURDER: THE COMPLETE NOIR STORIES OF MANCHETTE & TARDI

Jacques Tardi & Jean-Patrick Manchette

Fantagraphics

Volume 1 (of 2) due April

This right here, this is the business. Finally, *all* of Jacques Tardi's adaptations of Jean-Patrick Manchette's crime novels are to be collected in two massively oversized editions. For my money, Manchette is one of the few absolutely, truly essential crime writers and paired with Tardi's dense yet beautifully detailed pages with his rubbery characters and period authenticity, they were the French Brubaker and Phillips. Hell, they might have been even better. Here's Brubaker himself on Tardi: "Tardi brings a rough and gritty reality and an existential strangeness that makes his crime stories different than anyone else's."

In this first volume, the never before translated Griffu debuts, paired with the superlative West Coast Blues (from Manchette's novel 3 to Kill) and a 21 page uncompleted story which surely has to be Tardi's sadly never finished adaptation of Fatale and yet another incomplete story. If you read Criminal, or Stray Bullets or, hell, if you read genre comics of any sort at all - this is about as important a release as you'll find this calendar year. Vital.

STARSEEDS VOLUME 3

Charles Glaubitz

Fantagraphics

Due "hopefully" this year (according to its author)

The second volume of Tijuana-based creator Charles Glaubitz's Starseeds was pipped at the post in my own 2019 Best Of by none other than Chris Ware's Rusty Brown, a book nineteen years in the making. Kind of unfair, really, as Glaubitz is working hard and fast on his Starseeds series, the kind of Kirby meets Campbell meets shamanism meets conspiracy meets alchemy meets archetype meets psychedelia mash-up fans of mind-melting comics dream of. Volume Two showed Glaubitz stretching both artistic and narrative potential and honestly I cannot wait to see how much further this can be pushed. An incredible marriage between beauty and bombast, philosophy and fisticuffs, delirium and design, it's high time the series received more love, acclaim and, probably most importantly, publicity. Honestly it's the heir to all the great '70s Marvel cosmic comics; Englehart, Starlin, it outdoes all those dudes. With Glaubitz telling me he's hopeful volume 3 appears this year, let's hope 2020 is the breakthrough year for this astonishingly talented artist and his menagerie of cosmic creations.

EDIT: Charles Glaubitz just got in touch: "No wait! I made a mistake. It's coming out in 2021!" Oh well, let's just call this an extended forecast...

STRANGE ADVENTURES

Tom King, Mitch Gerads & Evan "Doc" Shaner

DC Comics

Due March

Easily the title I need to alert readers to the least, Tom King and Mitch Gerads' follow up to Mister Miracle will likely outsell everything else on this list combined and multiple times at that. Here's the thing, even I, All Star's resident snob, have to admit that King and Gerads' multiple-award winning Mister Miracle was actually pretty great. The team's much-anticipated follow-up is an examination of colonialism through the character of Adam Strange, the man who periodically travels between Earth and the planet Rann via the Zeta Beam. The great Evan "Doc" Shaner is along for the ride as co-artist, and I'm betting he's drawing some Silver Age style cleanliness, all utopia and sunshine, while Gerads brings the gritty realism to a pessimistic, downbeat current world. It's a story that's been cooking for quite some time and I appreciate these 12 issue, easily contained, novelistic runs. Eh, you're buying it anyway, let's end the hype and move on.

THIRD WORLD WAR

Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra & Others

Rebellion (Out NOW!!)

Finally, oh finally, Rebellion has gotten around to reprinting Pat Mills' political epic. Originally serialised in late '80s anthology magazine Crisis (kind of 2000AD for grown ups), Third World War's anti-capitalist theme only rings more loudly in 2020. Conscripted as a soldier for a corporation, Eve uncovers the corruption inherent in South American food production designed, of course, to maximise profit for those at the top. Way ahead of its time, Third World War also features rare painted colours by the late Carlos Ezquerra. This is another long-lost gem of British comics returned to life by publishers Rebellion and it's out as of January 7.

VISION

Julia Gfrorer

Fantagraphics

Due August

Black is The Color and Laid Waste signalled that Julia Gfrorer was a storyteller of uncommon delicacy whose fine lines heightened moments of warm, necessary contact between humans amidst backdrops of horror. She's the Gothic Inio Asano in a weird way, with genre playing a very quiet second fiddle as the emotional pain of her protagonists screams way up front. Vision is Gfrorer's latest work and seemingly her most intentionally Gothic, with a blind Victorian spinster as its protagonist who engages in "a sexual relationship with a haunted mirror" whilst caring for her "invalid sister-in-law and investigating her brother's mysterious night-time activities." It might sound pretty bonkers, and it will be. It's also likely to be as deeply human as comics get in 2020.

WES ANDERSON'S ISLE OF DOGS

Minetaro Mochizuki

Dark Horse

Due February

Wait, what??!!! For years I've been banging on to any poor soul who would listen that we needed Minetaro Mochizuki comics in English and we needed them now. The last volume of Dragon Head, Mochizuki's disaster-horror epic was published by TokyoPop in 2001 - it has remained the only Mochizuki printed in English. Since then, Mochizuki has flown under the radar as equally talented and singular creators such as Inio Asano and Taiyo Matsumoto have found regular publication in the West. It befuddled me. Well, strap in kids because this book is an under the radar landmark event and hopefully is the gateway book to break Mochizuki into English for good. Oh, it's also his take on Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs, which was really great and all, but come for Minetaro, stay for the dogs. This is excellent news. Hugs all round. C'mere, you.