Monster High: New Scaremester 1 | IDW Publishing | AshAveComics.com | Monster High New Scaremester 1 Pre Order | Monster High Comic | Monster High New Scaremester Comic

Class Is in Session: Your Guide to Monster High Characters!

The Monster High Pride 2024 comic is our hottest seller this year, and remains our most-viewed product listing even now, months after publication. Fortunately, you Monster High-loving boos and ghouls have another chance to catch up with their favorite dead student body with this week’s debut of IDW’s Monster High: New Scaremester #1! Monster High has become an influential pop culture touchstone over the last fifteen years (Netflix’s Wednesday clearly draws some inspiration from it), but the typical comic book reader may not know all the ins and outs. My wife, Beegee, is an avid Monster High collector, so these creepy kids have been haunting me whenever I walk into our studio for years now. They’re like family. Now let me be your ghastly guide through the horrific halls of Monster High!


“Monster High” was created by Garrett Sander, with illustrations by Kellee Riley and illustrator Glen Hanson. The line was lauched by Mattel in 2010, featuring a range of fashion dolls, books, and other assorted tie-in products that follow the children of famous monsters attending high school. With unique characters and inclusive themes, the series quickly gained popularity.

The series features a diverse group of teenagers who are the children of famous monsters such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Werewolf. Your typical Monster High story revolves around the characters navigating high school life and embracing their unique identities and differences. (Here’s a free play scenario for you kids out there: Re-cast your Rainbow High and LOL Surprise dolls as the children of famous monster-hunters who go to a rival school called Van Helsing High or Simon Belmont High and get them all dressed up for the most ill-advised mixer ever!)

Their world has become well-populated through the years, but this is the core cast of Monster High characters as I see it:

Monster High Characters | AshAveComics.com
  • Frankie Stein: The daughter of Frankenstein’s monster and his bride, known for their kind and friendly nature. Taking after their parents, they have a stitched-up appearance. To the extent that Monster High has a main character, I gather that it’s Frankie, although it seems to me that in the current generation of Monster High, they’ve been replaced by…
  • Draculaura: The fabulous fanged daughter of Count Dracula, recognizable by her trademark pink-and-black color scheme. She’s a vegetarian vampire with a sweet and bubbly personality. Beegee’s favorite.
  • Clawdeen Wolf: The daughter of the Werewolf, Clawdeen is known for her fashion sense and confidence. She has a fierce personality and a protective nature towards her friends.
  • Lagoona Blue: The daughter of the Sea Monster, Lagoona is laid-back and loves sports. She has a kind and easy-going personality.
  • Ghoulia Yelps: The daughter of Zombies, Ghoulia is highly intelligent but communicates primarily through moans and groans. She is the brainy and resourceful character of the group. I always think her name is Julia Ghoulia because of The Wedding Singer. I don’t know if that interests you or not. Her doll is cool because it glows in the dark.

Some of the satellite characters include:

Monster High Venus McFlytrap | AshAveComics.com
Venus McFlytrap
  • Venus McFlytrap: The daughter of a man-eating plant. Venus McFlytrap is awesome. My personal favorite.
  • Toralei: The rock ‘n roll daughter of werecats. She’s a female orange tabby, which means she’s good luck. Bit of a shedder. (That’s not canon.)
  • Abbey Bominable: Daughter of the Yeti, known for her straightforward personality and icy powers.
  • Spectra Vondergeist: Daughter of ghosts, she can phase through walls and loves to spread gossip.
  • Rochelle Goyle: Daughter of gargoyles, she’s strong and protective of the other students. She’s from Scaris, which I think is Paris in Monster High World.
  • Operetta: Daughter of the Phantom of the Opera, she has a passion for music and a rebellious streak.

Don’t miss out on Monster High: New Scaremester #1 this week! Issue 2 and issue 3 are now available for pre-order as well, and so is the Halloween Special. Get them all to find out all the gory details! For the latest updates on upcoming Monster High dolls (as well as other lines such as Barbie, LOL Surprise, and Rainbow High), YouLoveIt.com is a great site to bookmark.

Feral 1 | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com | Feral Image Comics

There’s Always Next Week: March 22, 2024

by Paul

Tough week for Bill Skarsgรฅrd, huh? Even our UPS guy is coming in and dunking on this new Crow trailer, and for what? I thought it was fine. He’s fine in it. And if he wasn’t, it’s not like he would even be the worst Crow ever. Edward Furlong played the Crow like he was being held hostage by a drug cartel. Marc Dacascos looked like he was dressed as Brandon Lee for an office Halloween party, but he gets to live his life. So what gives? Is it that, by having the gross effrontery to survive the filming of this Crow re-make, Skarsgรฅrd punctures people’s romantic notions surrounding the first movie and Brandon Lee’s death? Lee was so young and un-formed as a celebrity persona when he was accidentally killed on the set of The Crow that it’s only natural that our perceptions of him would harden around that character, a murdered man cut down in the prime of his life alongside his fianceรฉ. Because the news of his death was the first time most people became aware of him, and because storytelling is a way we’ve coped with life’s injustices since the dawn of time, I think a lot of people ascribe Brandon Lee’s death on the set of that specific movie to a kind of grim destiny. By surviving the filming of this re-make, Bill Skarsgรฅrd suggests that maybe Lee’s death wasn’t romantic, or fate. Maybe it was just a freak accident that ruined a lot of people’s lives for no good reason, and life is really just a complex web of overlapping coincidences that add up to one big mess. Maybe The Crow was just a regular movie this whole time. Maybe we like it for the wrong reasons. But chin up, Bill Skarsgรฅrd! Though today you may be tempest-toss’d by life’s YouTube commentors… There’s Always Next Week!

Feral 1 | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com

FERAL #1

Art: Trish Forstner | Story: Tony Fleecs (Image Comics, $3.99)

As we discussed last week with Man’s Best, I really am an abysmal chump when it comes to stories about plucky animals in danger. They don’t even have to be good. Replace any human in the most risible, hackneyed scenario with a sad-eyed dog or wisecracking cat and see how dewy my eyes become instantly.

No surprise, then, that Trish Forstner’s Stray Dogs is my favorite comic from the last few years. She draws the way I wish I could draw, wringing every drop of pathos and anxiety out of the adorable Don Bluth-esque dogs she’s placed in the home of a serial killer. It’s twisted, subversive stuff. Now she’s back again with Feral, about a trio of housecats adrift in a world beset by a rabies outbreak, and I cannot wait. I’ve looked forward to this for months. Buy it, read it, read it again.

PRE-ORDER IT: Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs Main Cover | Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs Variant | Blank Sketch Cover | 1:10 Trish Forstner & Tony Fleecs Variant | 1:25 Sweeney Boo Variant

Primer 1 | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com
Primer #1

PRIMER #1

Art: Gretel Lusky | Story: Jennifer Muro and Thomas Krajewski (DC Comics, $3.99)

It might be controversial to say it, but DC’s superhero comics for the last two decades or so have often been, in my opinion, in questionable taste. My opinion! Yes, I am a creampuff who gets gooey over cartoon animals, but DC heroes are always getting their arms torn off or raped or burned to death or their moms killed or their girlfriends killed and it happens more often than I would like. Where DC reigns supreme, though, is the YA superhero book. They have this on lock. Gabriel Picolo and Kami Garcia’s Teen Titans books are all winners, and Yoshi Yoshitani’s I Am Not Starfire is a classic.

I’ve never heard of Primer before, because I am, as longtime readers know and new readers must suspect, a clod. This is a four-issue re-print of a graphic novel from 2020 (maybe that’s why I don’t remember it). The premiseโ€”an artistic girl comes into possession of a set of body paints that give the wearer superpowersโ€”is brilliant, and Gretel Lusky’s art makes you want to crawl into her panels and live there. If you don’t buy it, I will, and I work here so I’ve got the edge. Make your move.

PRE-ORDER IT: Gretel Lusky Main Cover

Sam and Twitch: Case Files 1 | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com

SAM AND TWITCH: CASE FILES #1

Art: Szymon Kudranski | Story: Todd McFarlane (Image Comics, $2.99)

The last time I read an issue of Spawn, it was about a guy named Paul getting crushed to death by spiked walls for twenty pages while Spawn looked on. I said, “Well! I never!” and went to find a comic about a cuddly animal. Now here’s Sam and Twitch: Case Files #1. I can’t relate the two things. They’re just part of the pageant of life. I take my hat off to Sam and Twitch, though. They’ve stuck it out long enough to have their own Wikipedia entry. They’ve been drawn by great artists like Ashley Wood, Alex Maleev, and now Szymon Kudranski. In silhouette they kind of look like Drew and Varun as detectives. Varun’s leaving us in two weeks and we’ll miss them. Come by the shop and say good-bye while you have a chance.

PRE-ORDER IT: Kevin Keane Main Cover

ON FOC THIS WEEK

Click here to see all titles on FOC this week.

Moon Man 2 | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com

MOON MAN #2

Art: Marco Locati | Story: Kyle Higgins, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (Image Comics, $3.99) | FOC: 3/25

As Ramon tests the limits of his new abilities, the astronauts return to Janus for more assessmentโ€”and the world begins to react to the news of a real-life superhero.

Marco Locati Main Cover
Erica D’Urso Variant
Greg Tocchini Variant

Ninja Funk: B.A.D. Music #1 (Of 4) | Massive/Whatnot | AshAveComics.com

NINJA FUNK: B.A.D. MUSIC #1 (OF 4)

Art: Alessandro Micelli | Story: JPG (Massive/Whatnot, $4.99) | FOC: 3/25

Following the battle at the Ninja Funk Dojo and capture of BB, B.A.D. Music retreats to their headquarters at The Nexus. With the love of Lazerwolf’s life as irresistible bait, there’s no doubt in Queen B.A.D.’s mind that her nemeses will come knocking, and she’s ready for themโ€ฆ

Will Lazerwolf, JPG Mcfly and Wolfgang see the trap for what it is, or run headlong into disaster? Find out in Ninja Funk: B.A.D. Music #1!

David Mack Main Cover
Alessandro Micelli Variant
Tyler Kirkham Variant

Deathstalker 1 (Of 3) | Vault Comics | AshAveComics.com

SLASH PRESENTS: DEATHSTALKER #1

Art: Jim Terry | Story: Slash, Tim Seeley, Steven Kostanski (Vault Comics, $4.99) | FOC: 3/24

The cult-classic warrior-hero Deathstalker bursts into the comics scene from an all-star lineup of creators including Slash (Guns Nโ€™ Roses) and writer-director-creature-FX-wizard Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, The Void)! Deathstalker finds himself once again caught between forces larger than himselfโ€”a virgin worshiping cult, a sorcerer hell-bent on saving the world through mad science, and the pissed-off army of the Abraxeon kingdomโ€ฆ not to mention his ex-lover, Princess Evie. Monsters, magic, and mayhem aboundโ€ฆ canโ€™t a guy just swing his sword anymore?

Nathan Gooden Main Cover
Jim Terry Variant
Conor Boyle Variant
John Patrick Ganas Variant
Dan Panosian Variant
Boris Vallejo Variant
Angela Wu Variant
Boris Vallejo/Slash Signed Variant (Allocations May Occur)

Batman: Superman: World's Finest 25 | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com | Batman Superman William Shatner

There’s Always Next Week: March 15, 2024

by Paul

Welcome back to There’s Always Next Week, my weekly feature that hasn’t been posted in a few weeks! I did my best to keep it up, but between putting up all of the March 2024 pre-orders and shipping out an overwhelming amount of books (thank you all so much for trusting us with your orders!), I haven’t been able to get back to it the way I hoped. I’ve shuffled around my work week so that I have more time to write this, so going forward we should be weekly again. And if I do have to miss one for whatever reason, I’ll keep my head up, tweak the formula and try again. After all… There’s Always Next Week!

Before we delve too far into next week’s releases, I want to share the news that starting with all May-shipping titles, you can save 10% on all pre-orders (except for special order items) with our Early Bird Discount. The discount lasts through final order cut-off, after which titles can only be purchased at full price, so order early! The expiration date for each title’s discount can be found at the bottom of its product entry.

Batman: Superman: World's Finest 25 | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com | Batman Superman William Shatner

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #25 (DAN MORA WILLIAM SHATNER CAMEO VARIANT)

Art: Dan Mora, Steve Pugh | Story: Mark Waid (DC Comics, $5.99)

I’ve never spotlighted a specific variant of a title before, but Batman/Superman: World’s Finest found an interesting niche for itself a few years ago when someone realized that Dan Mora can draw flattering pictures of elderly Boomer celebrities that are still true to the way they look now in their dotage. He did it first with Jerry Seinfeld early in the run, and then later drew a fun Christmas cover featuring Paul McCartney singing karaoke with Superman, a character who I suspect has Spotify’s This Is Matchbox 20 playlist on repeat at all times. Now here’s William Shatner, drawn unmistakably as himself in old age, taking a momentary pause from posting wrongheaded observations on social media to look commanding next to Superman and Batman. I predict this cover will become the basis of future caption contests in which the text of Superman’s speech bubble is replaced with things like, “Green Lantern, remember when you said the only book you ever finished was Tekworld?” Send your best caption to admin@ashavecomics.com and I’ll send you a special discount code.

PRE-ORDER IT: Dan Mora William Shatner Cameo Variant

Nacelleverse #0 | Oni Press | AshAveComics.com

NACELLEVERSE #0

Art: Diogenese Neves, Francis Portela, Rahmat Handoka, Rhoald Marcellius | Story: Melissa Flores (Oni Press, $5.99)

With Skybound’s Transformers and associated Energon Universe proving to be big successes, Oni Press and the Nacelle Toy Company have dug deep into the toybox and come up with a bunch of old favorites sure to have many 80s kids saying, “I think my cousin had one of those.” I was kind of tickled when I saw they were doing this. Top-billed Robo Force is obviously the star property here, and most people upon seeing that name again will be thinking, “What the hell is Robo Force?” I remember having one or two of these guys and they were great. They were these kind of Robbie the Robot-looking characters and the gimmick was that you would stick them on something, push a button on top of their heads, and they would suction to the surface. They all looked like household appliances from The Jetsons and were predictably trounced by the likes of Transformers and Go-Bots. I liked the ones I had though. I always used them as things like space librarians when the Transformers and Go-Bots and Voltron needed information for some kind of quest, or space waiters when they needed to go somewhere to eat. Robo Force were kind of your average-Joe workaday robots. The Sectaurs I never liked, because they were gross bug guys out of some nightmare and I wanted no part of them. I knew a kid who had a Sectaurs creature that was a giant fly that haunts me to this day. The Biker Mice from Mars I remember a little bit as one of the cartoons that was marooned on Sunday morning during church, so it always seemed like a treat to get to watch it when I got to stay home sick even if I didn’t really like it. They were TMNT clones, I think. Power Lords and The Great Garloo are things I have never heard of in my life. If this Nacelleverse thing goes down the tubes, they’ll probably get blamed. But it’s the Sectaurs, I tell you. They’re horrible.

PRE-ORDER IT: Marco D’Alfonso Main Cover | Logan Lubera Variant | InHyuk Lee Variant | Livio Ramondelli Variant | Blank Sketch Variant

Man's Best 1 (Of 5) | Boom! Studios | AshAveComics.com

MAN’S BEST #1

Art: Jesse Lonergan | Story: Pornsak Pichetshote (Boom! Studios, $4.99)

I’m not a person who’s given to cry very much, and only one comic has ever gotten me to tear up: We3, by Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison, about a cat, a dog, and a bunny rabbit who escape a lab where they’re being turned into cybernetic war machines and try to find their way home. Even thinking about those little guys gets me choked up. Now here comes Man’s Best by Jesse Lonergan and Pornsak Pichetshote, and I already have the feeling I’ll need to read this series late at night after my wife falls asleep so that no human eyes witness the single manly tear roll down my cheek while I read about these four-legged friends fighting for their lives in heavily-armed mech suits. I have a good feeling about this series.

PRE-ORDER IT: Jesse Lonergan Main Cover | Trish Forstner Variant | Jae Lee FOC Reveal Variant

Dawnrunner 1 | Dark Horse Comics | AshAveComics.com

DAWNRUNNER #1

Art: Evan Cagle | Story: Ram V (Dark Horse Comics, $4.99)

Since losing the Star Wars license (mostly), Dark Horse has made a good go of things by pursuing video game adaptations. Dawnrunner sounds like an adaptation of a video game that hasn’t been made yet. The plot is kind of a re-hash of Pacific Rim (no bad thing, I love Pacific Rim) with an Incan twist. Humans piloting giant robots vs. giant monsters. The big draw here to me is Evan Cagle’s art, which looks like it has the right amount of mechanical detail without becoming overwhelming. Looking forward to this.

PRE-ORDER IT: Evan Cagle Main Cover | Matias Bergara Variant

ON FOC THIS WEEK

Click here to see all titles on FOC this week.

Hercules 1 | Dynamite Entertainment | AshAveComics.com

HERCULES #1

Art: George Kambadais | Story: Elliott Kalan (Dynamite Entertainment, $4.99) | FOC: 3/18

THE CHAMPION OF OLYMPUS RETURNS!

The Greek gods don’t really get why Hercules chose a mortal life over the opportunity to join them on Mt. Olympus, but since he proved his mettle as a hero many times over, they’re happy to enlist his help with missions that require interventions in the earthly realm. So when Aphrodite grants an artist’s wish that his sculpture be brought to life, Herc gets the call to clean things up when the newly conscious artwork proves to be more bone-crushingly lively than expected!

But after discovering that the rogue statue is just misunderstood, and a little rambunctious (much like himself as a youth), Hercules returns to explain the situation to Aphrodite – only to find her temple empty and abandoned. Is the goddess of love just pouting, or is something more sinister afoot? If you know anything about classic mythology, you know it’s going to be the latter!

GET READY FOR A WHOLE NEW HERO’S JOURNEY!

George Kambadais Main Cover
Matteo Lolli Variant
Francesco Tomaselli Variant
Alessandro Ranaldi Negative Space Variant
George Kambadais Foil Variant
George Kambadais Foil Virgin Variant
Blank Authentix Variant
Francesco Tomaselli Limited Edition Virgin Variant
Matteo Lolli Metal Premium Variant

Moon Man 2 | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com

MOON MAN #2

Art: Marco Locati | Story: Kyle Higgins, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (Image Comics, $3.99) | FOC: 3/18

As Ramon tests the limits of his new abilities, the astronauts return to Janus for more assessmentโ€”and the world begins to react to the news of a real-life superhero.

Marco Locati Main Cover
Erica D’Urso Variant
Greg Tocchini Variant

Uncanny Valley 1 | Boom! Studios | AshAveComics.com

UNCANNY VALLEY #1

Art: Dave Wachter | Story: Tony Fleecs (Boom! Studios, $4.99) | FOC: 3/18

Oliver is a seemingly typical 12 year old boyโ€ฆ except for a mysterious family history that seems to start and end with his mother, and unexplainable powers, that is.

He can do things other boys can’t, to the point of landing him in some trouble. Baffled by the surreal cartoonish nature of his abilities and followed by a murder of peculiar crows, the mystery behind Oliver’s family history finally unfolds!

Written by fan-favorite writer Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs, Local Man) and illustrated by acclaimed artist Dave Wachter (Punisher, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), discover what makes Oliver special and strange as he searches for his place in the world.

Dave Wachter Main Cover
Tony Fleecs Variant

Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham 3 (Of 4) Jamie Hewlett Variant | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com | Batman Jamie Hewlett pre order

There’s Always Three Months from Now: February 16, 2024

by Paul

There’s Always Next Week needs a breather this week, so we’re going to the bullpen and bringing in its sister feature to throw some heat. Say hello to… There’s Always Three Months from Now! This is a semi-regular feature you’ll get to enjoy whenever a distributor’s new catalog comes out, typically on a Friday, the same day I write this column. I try to get all of the new catalogs up on the site the day they come out, which means spending the day hunched over the computer pouring over endless spreadsheets, much like Batman does in the Batcave. Yes, that is what he’s doing down there. They don’t dwell on it too much in the comics, but his greatest crimefighting tool is Microsoft Office. He uses Robin’s student I.D. to get a discount on the license. Just because he’s a billionaire doesn’t mean he’s not cheap.

Since I, like Batman, am buried up to my codpiece in spreadsheets, let’s use this opportunity to take a whirlwind tour of some of the exciting books you’ll be able to read in three months from DC, DSTLRY, Image, Magma Comix (?), and others. You can pre-order them now, here, on this very website! In fact, here’s a little secretโ€”don’t tell Drew thisโ€”but you can save 10% on purchases of $25.00 or more on all pre-FOC titles by using the code PREFOC10 at checkout. If you order $50.00 or more of pre-FOC, you can save 15% by using the code PREFOC15 at checkout. If you order $75.00 or more of pre-FOC, save 20% with the code PREFOC20. And at $100, you get free shipping! You can’t afford not to!

COMING IN MAY 2024

Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham 3 (Of 4) Jamie Hewlett Variant | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com

BATMAN: GARGOYLE OF GOTHAM #3 (OF 4) JAMIE HEWLETT VARIANT

How many money trucks did DC back up into Tank Girl and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett’s driveway to get him to do this variant? I was stunned when I saw this. Has he done anything like this before? I don’t remember it if he did.

One for Sorrow 1 (Of 3) | DSTLRY | AshAveComics.com

ONE FOR SORROW #1 (OF 3)

This is Jamie McKelvie’s new project from DSTLRY and I am psyched. Everything DSTLRY has published so far has been an amazing package, and we haven’t seen McKelvie stretch his wings like this in a while.

Toxic Summer 1 (Of 3) | Oni Press | AshAveComics.com

TOXIC SUMMER #1 (OF 3)

Derek Charm, who did some fun Archie stuff, brings us this new horror series from Oni that reminds me of one of those late-80s campy USA Up All Night horror movies, like Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. This one will be on my pull list.

Grommets 1 (Of 7) | Image Comics | AshAveComics.com

GROMMETS #1 (OF 7)

Rick Remender’s team-up with Andy Samberg on The Holy Roller has worked out pretty well, so he’s decided to roll the dice with another chuckleheadโ€”Brian Posehn, this time, who is not a stranger to comicsโ€”for Grommets, a book about how kids were awesome 40 years ago compared to the sucky phonesters of today. That’s probably reductive. It’s an 80s coming-of-age tale. Love that cover.

The Boy Wonder 1 (Of 5) | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com

THE BOY WONDER #1 (OF 5)

I was surprised to see thisโ€”it’s a kind of fairy-tale take on the Robin story by Juni Ba, whose Monkey Meat series from a couple years ago I really enjoyed. People love Robin. Any Robin. I think this will be very popular, with reach beyond the normal comics crowd.

The Scale Trade 1 | Magma Comix | AshAveComix.com

THE SCALE TRADE #1

“In a modern-day world one step removed from our own,” reads the solicitation for The Scale Trade #1, “dragons are a highly respectedโ€”and highly endangeredโ€”species, but poaching is an existential threat.” That is a lot of steps removed from our world, Scale Trade makers! Dragons! I ask you. Megan Huang, who’s done some nice covers lately, teams up with Steve Orlando from Marvel’s Marauders here. Could be fun.

Sinister Sons 1 (Of 6) | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com

There’s Always Next Week: February 9, 2023

by Paul

We offer this statement on behalf of the Overwhelmingly White Comics Retailers of America (O.W.C.R.A. for short. How’s that for irony?) : We really blew it when it came to ordering Ultimate Black Panther #1. There was an appetite for this comic and local comic shops slept on it. Drew probably ordered twice as many copies as most retailers and it still was not nearly enough. Mea culpa. Final order cut-off for the second print of UBP #1 is Monday night, and we’ll order accordingly, but if you want to be absolutely sure to get your copy, or copies, please place your orders before then (links are at the bottom of the page as well). In the meantime, we can’t promise this situation will never happen again, but we can promise we’ll sure as hell try harder to anticipate demand from all corners. We had some Ultimate egg on our faces this week, but we’ll learn the lesson and try to do better, because… There’s Always Next Week!

Sinister Sons 1 (Of 6) | DC Comics | AshAveComics.com

SINISTER SONS #1 (OF 6)

Art: David Lafuente | Story: Peter J. Tomasi (DC Comics, $3.99)

I thought this was a nice one to highlight for Valentine’s Day because it’s about Sinestro’s son doing stuff. Sinestro’s son. He found a woman to have his baby. He has a grown-up daughter, too! So it happened twice, decades apart. Please please please let it be consensually, or I’ll get such mail. (I read his and his daughter’s Wikipedia pages and the word “wife” got thrown around a lot, so I think I’m on safe ground here. But I’ll take my medicine if I need to.) There are a lot of strikes against him. He has poorly-judged facial hair. He has a face like an old catcher’s mitt, at least on this cover. If he’s not neurodivergent, no one is. His name is Sinestro. “I can’t put my finger on it, Sinestro, but sometimes I feel like you don’t have my best interests at heart.” But there was still someone out there for him. You just have to keep putting yourself out there, like I assume Sinestro did. I really hope it’s not a gross story, how he had his kids. I just remembered Geoff Johns wrote a lot of Sinestro stuff and now I have beads of sweat breaking out on my forehead. But I’m at least confident that David Lafuente and Peter J. Tomasi won’t mention anything like that in this book. They’ve both carved out niches for themselves doing these kinds of kid-hero stories, so we should be in good hands here.

Night Thrasher 1 | Marvel Comics | AshAveComics.com

NIGHT THRASHER #1

Art: Nelson Daniel | Story: J Holtham (Marvel Comics, $4.99)

This week Marvel welcomes back Night Thrasher, a character best known for recklessly causing the fiery deaths of hundreds of innocent people, including a busload of schoolchildren, in pursuit of footage for a reality television series. If I so much as accidentally cut off a schoolbus in traffic, I would agonize over it for weeks because something bad might have happened. I guess that’s why I’m not a hero.

I mean, you would imagine the loved ones of all the people burnt to a crisp that day, upon hearing that Night Thrasher is back on the streets with no supervision or accountability, would say, “Excuse me. Can we re-visit this Registration idea again?” For that matter, it’s hard to imagine they would ever stop. That’s the problem with doing a story like Civil War. For it to work, after months or years of anonymous masked lunatics fighting amongst themselves, causing incalculable amounts of property damage and probably loss of life, the everyday citizens of the Marvel Universe, like a dog who’s been blinded in one eye, all have to look at each other and say, “Well, I guess this is just our lives now,” when the status quo is restored. As if they would have nothing to say about it.

It’s crazy that Night Thrasherโ€”who died in that explosion, let’s rememberโ€”was brought back to life at all. Other Marvel superheroes went to a lot of trouble to bring him back. Time travel, all sorts of things. What about everyone else who died in that explosion? I assume they’re all still dead. So Night Thrasher deserves to live and they don’t? Maybe this series will reveal that all the civilians who died were psychopaths who murdered their families at the breakfast table that morning, so actually, it’s a good thing they were all killed. I mean, what in the world.

It’s Black History Month, of course, and this book is likely timed for release with that in mind. But even though there aren’t nearly as many Black superheroes as there ought to be, there are still more than there used to beโ€”enough, anyway, that it might have been better to let one with Night Thrasher’s baggage rest.

If You Find This, I'm Already Dead 1 | Dark Horse Comics | AshAveComics.com

IF YOU FIND THIS, I’M ALREADY DEAD #1

Art: Dan McDaid | Story: Matt Kindt (Dark Horse Comics, $7.99)

I single out this one because it has my favorite title of this week’s releases (rivalled only by Sweetie: Candy Vigilante Vol. 2, disqualified on the grounds that we didn’t order any copies) and because it’s a non-standard trim size (about 8″ x 11″ from the look of it). I am a big mark for comics in weird sizes, which can appear anywhere at anytime in my house because I have no clue where to put them. If You Can Find This, I’m Already Dead has a cool premise about an embedded war reporter who has to fend for herself in some kind of sci-fi setting after the unit she covers is wiped out. It sounds like one of those cool oversized Epic Comics GNs I used to pick up for cheap in high school and read to death. Dan McDaid’s cartooning has a cool, inky Paul Pope kind of line that I really respond to. Looking forward to this one.

The Displaced 1 (Of 5) | Boom! Studios | AshAveComics.com

THE DISPLACED #1 (OF 5)

Art: Luca Casalanguida | Story: Ed Brisson (Boom! Studios, $7.99)

The Displaced explores what happens when all traces of evidence that survivors of a missing Canadian town exist vanish. Spoilers: It suuuuucks. Say good-bye to your budding influencer career, because you are never getting those followers back. Say good-bye to talking about your budding influencer career to anybody, because everyone who humors you because they love you doesn’t remember you anymore. Tik Tok doesn’t remember what you like so you keep getting fed clips of people with affectionate lizards. The HBO Max works about the same, though.

ON FOC THIS WEEK

Ultimate Black Panther 1 | Marvel Comics | AshAveComics.com | Ultimate Black Panther 1 2nd print

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #1 (SECOND PRINTING)

Art: Stefano Caselli | Story: Bryan Hill (Marvel Comics, $5.99) | FOC: 2/12

Night People 1 (Of 4) | Oni Press | AshAveComics.com

NIGHT PEOPLE #1 (OF 4)

Art: Brian Level | Story: Barry Gifford, Chris Condon (Oni Press, $4.99) | FOC: 2/11

Torpedo 1972 1 | Ablaze Publishing | AshAveComics.com

TORPEDO 1972 #1

Art: Eduardo Risso | Story: Enrique Sรกnchez Abulรญ (Ablaze Publishing, $3.99) | FOC: 2/12