Welcome to another wild week in new releases of graphic novels and comic collected editions!
You’d think seeing a list of what comics are out this week along with what they collect and what’s come before would be an easy thing to do since comic book publishers want you to buy comics, right?
Well, they don’t. At least, they don’t without you going through the arcane process of pre-ordering books three months ahead of time from a physical comic shop with no guarantee that the books will come out on time or at all.
When it comes to promoting books to the mass book market (which is exponentially larger than the comic market) on the week of release, most companies do nothing.
Oh, and all of their books come out in the mass market at different delayed intervals from the direct market!
If you’re anything like me, you think that’s a short-sighted bunch of malarky. Well, until we convince comics publishers of the same, I’ll do the heavy lifting for you.
Here’s what’s out this week from all the major publishers and many of the indies, frequently with context on the book and preceding or related collections.
Publishers:
- DC
- Dark Horse
- IDW
- Image Comics
- Marvel Comics
- Valiant Entertainment – No books this week!
- Other Publishers
What are the must-read books this week?
Green Arrow was one of my favorite Rebirth one-shots, but my review came with some caveats – I wasn’t sure if the excellent dynamic with Black Canary would continue with her also in Batgirl & The Birds of Prey, and I only wanted to keep reading if I could consume more of the delectable art from Otto Schmidt. His panels look like single cells of animation from a Green Arrow cartoon in the style of the classic Batman: The Animated Series.
Well, last week I caught up with the first trade of Green Arrow, Volume 1: The Death and Life Of Oliver Queen, and it easily took care of both of my caveats. It’s a nice blend of DC’s classic, more mature Arrow with a hint of the romance and adventure of his TV show. This week, the second edition is out – Green Arrow Vol. 2: Island Of Scars – still with art by Schmidt.
This guy is a must-see, must-buy artist and Arrow is so far one of DC’s stronger books. Don’t sleep on this.
Also out this week: Lumberjanes, Vol 06: Sink or Swim! Our house is finally caught up through the end of Vol. 5. More on this treasure of a series, along with everything else out this week, below.
Dark Horse Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
Dark Horse collected editions generally hit the mass market two weeks after the direct market, but some of their media tie-in properties get a same-day release in both direct and mass markets.
Astro Boy Omnibus, Vol. 7 paperback – The final volume collecting the Manga adventures of Osamu Tezuka’s tiny robot boy hero. These massive paperbacks have come out in pretty rapid succession since 2015, and Volume 1 is still available.
Blade Of Immortal Omnibus, Vol 2 paperback – A second volume of Hiroaki Samura’s Eisner Award-winning Manga about a young girl out for revenge and the immortal warrior who aids her. Start with Volume 1.
Hatsune Miku Rin-Chan Now, Vol 1 – I’m a little fuzzy on this, but I think it is a Manga spin-off from the Hatsune Miku Anime-style video game, which is about training your own karaoke-singing reality star AKA “Vocaloid.” Honestly, I’m half-tempted to buy it because that sounds randomly awesome, but I’ve proven to be not the most dedicate reader of Manga in the past.
I Am A Hero Omnibus, Vol. 3 paperback – The third volume of this offbeat Manga take on a zombie apocalypse. These collections each include a pair of the original, slimmer volumes. Pick up Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Secret Sneyd: The Unpublished Cartoons of Doug Sneyd hardcover – Collects works by the Playboy cartoonist.
DC Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
DC Collected Editions hit the mass market one week after the direct market, so these books are available from Amazon on April 11. See Crushing Comics – Guide to Collecting DC Comics for more on DC’s collected editions.
Batgirl & The Birds Of Prey, Vol 01: Who Is Oracle? – Collects Batgirl & The Birds of Prey (2016) Rebirth #1-6 from authors Shawna and Julie Benson with art from Claire Roe and Roge Atonio. This remixed Birds of Prey puts Batgirl and Black Canary on a level platform as co-leads and adds a new version of Huntress fresh from the electrifying Grayson. See DC Rebirth Era for more.
Batman/Superman, Vol 6: Universes Finest hardcover – One of the final New 52 collections, this book collects Batman/Superman #28-32 and Annual 3, plus the previously unpublished #33-34 to round out the series. See DC’s New 52 Era for more.
Batman Superman, Vol. 5: Truth Hurts – Collects Batman/Superman #21-27, which finds the newly depowered Superman teaming up with the mech-suited Jim Gordon Batman. See DC’s New 52 Era for more.
Earth 2 Society, Vol 3: A Whole New World – Collects Earth 2: Society #13-16 and Annual 1 from writer Dan Abnett. See DC’s New 52 Era for more.
Green Arrow Vol. 2: Island Of Scars – Collects Green Arrow (2016) #6-11. I’ve been slowly catching up on this series from Benjamin Percy, and so far every issue has been as marvelous as the original Rebirth special. A lot of that is down to artist Otto Schmidt, who is one of the most exciting out of DC’s entire Rebirth line-up. His panels look like single cells of animation from a Green Arrow cartoon in the style of the classic Batman: The Animated Series. I definitely recommend Volume 1: The Death and Life Of Oliver Queen if you haven’t read this series yet. See the Green Arrow Guide for the complete history of Green Arrow’s collected editions.
Superman, Vol 2: Trials Of The Super Son – Collects Superman (2016) #7-13, part of which is the run up to the ultra-charming new series, Super-Sons. See DC Rebirth Era for more.
IDW Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
IDW collected editions generally hit the mass market two weeks after the direct market. A significant amount of IDW books are direct market-only, especially their high-end hardcovers.
Dungeons & Dragons Legend Of Drizzt, Vol 6: Halfing’s Gem – An ongoing comic series for the famous D&D character. Start with Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Volume 1 – Homeland.
Electric Sublime – Collects the intriguing W. Maxwell Prince and Martín Morazzo limited series about an art detective, blending mystery with art history.
Image Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
Image Comics collected editions generally hit the mass market one week after the direct market.
Chew Omnivore Edition, Vol. 6 hardcover – The final deluxe hardcover of this beloved offbeat series from John Layman about an FDA detective (originally based in Philly!) who (in a riff off of iZombie) gets a psychic impression from each bite of food. Collecting Chew (2009) #51-60 plus the Demon Chicken Poyo one-shot and the pair of crossover one-shots Chew/Revival and Revival/Chew. Volume 1 is still available!
We Stand on Guard – Collects the six-issue We Stand on Guard mini-series by Brian K Vaughan and Steve Skroce about a group of Canadian rebels defending themselves against the United States. Oh, and it’s 100 years in the future. In case you thought this might be about the present day.
Marvel Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
Marvel Comics collected editions hit the mass market two weeks after the direct market, so these books are available from Amazon on April 18th. See Crushing Comics – Guide to Collecting Marvel Comics for more on the complete universe of Marvel’s collected editions.
Captain America Epic Collection: Justice is Served (Epic Vol. 13) – Collects Captain America (1968) #318-332, Annual 8; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #278; material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) #29, 31-32; and Scourge subplot pages from other titles.
Confused about why this is Epic Volume 13 and why there’s a Volume 12 but no 10 and 11? Head to the Captain America Guide!
Color Your Own Guardians of the Galaxy
Daredevil by Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark Omnibus, Vol. 1 hardcover – Reprints the hotly sought-after Omnibus collecting Daredevil (1998) #82-105.
This is the run that directly follows Brian Bendis’s streak on Daredevil. You don’t necessarily have to have read all of that to appreciate this, which finds Matt Murdock behind bars with his identity revealed and his life in ruins.
I enjoyed this read a great deal, but I’m almost always into Brubaker’s take on Marvel’s heroes and I love Lark’s art. Volume 2 is out next month.
See Daredevil for more information.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Collect Them All Hardcover – Prose novel
Guardians of the Galaxy: Road to Annihilation Vol. 2 – Collects Sensational She-hulk #44-46; Thanos #7-12; Marvel Monsters: Monsters On The Prowl; and (for the first time!) Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos #1-6 and #1 Director’s Cut.
All of these comics have been collected previously on their own other than Howling Commandos, but they all collectively contain the threads of individual Guardians of the Galaxy prior to their assembly as the team we all now know. If you really want to follow all of those plot threads you probably also want to pick up Volume 1, from January.
Visit the Guide to Guardians of the Galaxy to see who appears in these issues and how they fit in with the run-up to the modern Guardians team.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Guidebook: The Avengers Initiative – Collects Guidebook To The Marvel Cinematic Universe – Marvel’s Iron Man, Marvel’s Incredible Hulk, Marvel’s Iron Man 2, Marvel’s Thor, Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel’s The Avengers, Marvel’s Iron Man 3, Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Prelude – Collects a mix of Cinematic Universe comics and Marvel Universe stories from Guardians Of The Galaxy Adaptation #1-2, Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Prelude Infinite Comic #1, Giant-Size Avengers #4, Guardians Of The Galaxy (1990) #1, and Guardians Team-Up #1-2
Mighty Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis – The Complete Collection – Collects Mighty Avengers #1-20. Note that it is not a complete collection of the entire series – only the issues written by Bendis.
This series marked the revival of a second Avengers ongoing title for the first time since the early 90s. While the core title, New Avengers, represented a more offbeat team in personal scraps, Mighty Avengers featured a more traditional team in an equally traditional government-sanctioned role. Bendis also used this book to experiment with storytelling devices like the return of thought bubbles an caption boxes.
For all those reasons, this might be a very satisfying read for 80s comics fans exploring Bendis’s mid-00s steering of the Avengers franchise. However, I’ve seen fans who are more on the modern side of comics find this to be a bit dull.
See Mighty Avengers to understand how to keep reading this series past the end of Bendis’s run.
Star Wars Box Set Slipcase – Contains the comic adaptations of all of the Star Wars films, plus “a prelude to Episode VII – The Force Awakens.”
Star Wars Special Edition: A New Hope Hardcover – Unclear on if this is oversize or not; collects Star Wars: A New Hope – Special Edition #1-4
War of Kings Prelude: Road to War of Kings Omnibus – Collects the various plot tendrils leading to War of Kings from Son Of M #1-6, X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6, Silent War #1-6, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4, Guardians Of The Galaxy (2008) #1-12, Nova #13-22, Nova: The Origin Of Richard Rider, and War Of Kings Saga.
While most of Marvels’ “Prelude” releases tend to be dull mish-mashes of related material, this one is essential and a fantastic read. In fact, it stands on its own just fine, although you’ll be missing all of the awesome payoff of War of Kings itself.
The threads of War of Kings began separately in the X-Men and Inhumans franchises. On the X-Men side, Deadly Genesis finally answered the mystery of the third Summers brother. For Inhumans, they had their own parallel stories to the big Civil War and Secret Invasion events that not only revived their narrative but drew them off of Earth and back into space as they forged an uneasy connection with their Kree creators.
Rounding out the book are Nova #13-22, which bridge Nova’s series between Annihilation: Conquest and War of Kings – now the entire series is covered in oversize hardcover!
Visit Inhumans to learn more and get the full reading order for War of Kings!
X-Men Legacy: Legion Omnibus – Collects the complete X-Men: Legacy (2013) #1-24 (and probably a story from X-Men Legacy #300, even though it’s not solicited).
This is the title that inspired the brilliant Legion series on FX, although you shouldn’t expect to find anything recognizable from the show in this book. Instead, it charts the gradual process of Legion trying to maintain control of the infinite personalities in his brain in the wake of his father’s death.
See X-Men Legacy for this series as well as the volume that came before, where Legion briefly co-starred with Rogue.
Valiant Collected Editions for April 5, 2017
Nothing from Valiant this week! Valiant Entertainment collected editions generally hit the mass market two weeks after the direct market. See Guide to Valiant Comics for more information about Valiant Entertainment collected editions.
Selected Collected Editions from other publishers for April 5, 2017
Books from First Second, Caliber, Drawn & Quarterly, and more!
Cici: A Fairy’s Tale – Perfect View OGN (Lerner Publishing Group)
Damsels, Vol 01 (Dynamite Entertainment) – I love the clever concept of this book from writers Leah Moore and John Reppion and artist Aneke. It recasts the damsels in distress from various fairytales as their own adventurous saviors.
Far Side Of The Moon: Story Of Apollo 11’s 3rd Man hardcover (Tilbury House Publishers) – This book from by Alex Irvine and Ben Bishop follows the story of Michael Collins, the astronaut waiting alone on Apollo 11 while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are out of contact on the moon.
Flesh & Steel (Caliber Entertainment)
Helsing: Legacy Born (Caliber Entertainment) – Follows the modern adventures of a descendant of the legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing.
Hotel Strange – Ghosts In The Clouds OGN (Lerner Publishing Group) – Seems to be the fourth edition of this charming French young readers graphic novel series. It begins with Wake Up, Spring, On the Sapphire’s Trail, and His Royal Majesty of the Mushrooms – or, read it in the original French starting with L’hiver au printemps (ISBN 978-2848653594)
Icarus OGN (Comicmix)
Kerascoet HC Set (NBM Publishing) – Weirdly, Amazon has this set out in November of 2017!
Kingdom Aux Drift (Rebellion / 2000ad) – A tale of a genetically-engineered future mercenary from writer Dan Abnett.
Look hardcover (NBM Publishing) – A tale fro Jon Nielsen about a solo robot on an abandoned world that seems startlingly similar to Pixar’s Wall-E.
Lumberjanes, Vol 06: Sink or Swim (Boom! Studios) – Collects Lumberjanes #21-24. Despite my dislike of their earliest issues, we’ve become major Lumberjanes addicts in our household, as each collection seems to grow even more clever and amusing. This adventure has them in the water again after the mermaid-filled Vol. 5, but I’d suggest starting with Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (available in one hardcover), which establishes a baseline for the character and their spooky camp adventures.
Lunarbaboon: Daily Life Of Parenthood (Andrews McMeel) – An OGN by author Christopher Grady
Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug Cat Noir – Claws Out (Action Lab Entertainment / ZAG Entertainment)
The Stone Heart: The Nameless City (Vol. 2) OGN – (:01 First Second) – What’s that you say? An OGN from Faith Erin Hicks and Jordie Bellaire? Sold. Or, more accurately, sold on picking up the first volume about a city that is endlessly reconquered by conquering forces and a friendship that forms between a native and one of her city’s invaders. (Personally, I hope it turns out they’re trapped on a RISK board ;) )
let me tell you about how much I disliked the nameless city graphic novel as a Chinese person
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
1) the gibberish. street signs are written in blocky letters that resemble Chinese characters but are totally meaningless
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
2) the fact the oppressed are literally called “the nameless” & are just… racially ambiguous brown ppl
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
3) the oppression of the Dao over said nameless brown ppl. There’s a lot of shit there in the context of where Chinese Americans fit+
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
into the racial dichotomy of America, in Asian America+
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
I’m not even touching issues of Han Chinese in China & the treatment of ethnic minorities there bc I wasn’t raised there but there is A Lot
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
basically? Once again, an Asian culture is used as aesthetic dressing, completely devoid of cultural context.
— Wendy 🌙 ⭐️ (@AngrygirLcomics) April 5, 2016
Poptropica Book 03 Secret Society (Amulet Books)
The Searchers – Volume One: The Shape of Things to Come (Caliber Entertainment) – This is one of those Previews listings that just doesn’t make sense to me, because this book professes to haves been out since November 2016 with a second volume out in January! Anyhow, this book is similar The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen from before Moore launched that book, supposing that the world’s most famous early-20th century speculative fiction authors unleashed their creations on the world – and now it’s down to their descendants to stop it from happening again!
The Sixsmiths: Volume Two (Caliber Entertainment) – Another puzzling Caliber solicit, this book about a suburban family of Satanists was out in 2015. Is this a reprint?
Smash!: Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider (Lerner Publishing Group) – This book teaches science with story, layering a young-readers mystery over the actual science of the Large Hadon Collider! So cool!
SMOSH (Dynamite Entertainment) – A comic from the YouTube sketch comedy stars
The Order: Die Mensch Machine (Rebellion / 2000AD) – From writer Kek-W and artist John Burns, this series sounds like an insane mash-up. It’s got 13th Century knights, Lovecraftian horrors, and medieval robots. The interior art reminds me a bit of old Prince Valiant newspaper strips. I’m super-interested in this one.
The Three Stooges, Vol. 01 (American Mythology Productions) – Yes, it’s really all-new Three Stooges stories with the officially-licensed likenesses of the original Stooges. Collects The Boys Are Back, StoogeAPalooza, Red White & Stooge, and Curse of Frankenstooge stories.
Wayne Shelton, Vol 04: The Survivor (Cinebook) – Continuing the story of this mercenary specializing in impossible missions. Start from Vol 1: The Mission