Ash Avenue Comics

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:

Class Is in Session: Your Guide to Monster High Characters! - Ash Avenue Comics
  • 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character, I gather that it’s Frankie, although it seems to me that in the current generation of Monster High, they’ve been replaced by…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:

Class Is in Session: Your Guide to Monster High Characters! - Ash Avenue Comics
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.

Ash Avenue 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!

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics
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

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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.

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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

There's Always Next Week: March 22, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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)

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

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!

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

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.

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

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.

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

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.

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

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

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #1 (SECOND PRINTING)

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

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

NIGHT PEOPLE #1 (OF 4)

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

There's Always Next Week: February 9, 2023 - Ash Avenue Comics

TORPEDO 1972 #1

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

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

There’s Always Next Week: January 12, 2024

by Paul

With the overwhelming, three-roll blockbuster1 success of last week’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1, what lessons will Marvel take away? Was it the beard (not Mary Jane, the beard of hair on his face)? Will bearded superheroes become the next hot trend in comics? Sure, you’ve seen Batman fight the Joker a million times… but you’ve never seen him do it with a beard! Be on the lookout for the first bearded cover appearance of your favorite characters and get ready to sit on them until Key Collector sounds the Slab Alert. In the meantime… there’s always next week!

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

AVENGERS: TWILIGHT #1

Art: Daniel Acuรฑa | Story: Chip Zdarsky (Marvel Comics, $5.99)

In the weird world of tomorrow’s Marvel Universe, an aging but still clean-shaven Steve Rogers (who would definitely have been drawn with a beard if this had been commissioned a few months later) struggles to find his place in a world that hates and fears him. (TBD if anyone calls him out for this mutant appropriation.) The preview I read looks like an Old Man Logan-style story crossed with the mall scene from Minority Report, so who knows where it will lead? There’s a lot of buzz around this book because readers are hip to Chip and Alex Ross is providing covers, so get in on the ground floor here at Ash Ave Comics.

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZERโ€”DEAD IN AMERICA #1

Art: Aaron Campbell | Story: Si Spurrier (DC Comics, $4.99)

I didn’t realize until I went to fetch the updated cover art with the trade dress that this was a Sandman Universe thing. No doubt DC is hewing to the comics industry superstition, dating back to the 20s (when Krazy Kat Presents: World of Krazy Katโ€”Mrs. Kwakk Wakk’s Revenge [The Death of Officer Pupp] bombed and tanked the circulation of dozens of Hearst papers), that a book with three titles is box office but a book with four titles is commercial suicide. Campbell and Spurrier bring John Constantine here to America to tell us what’s what (or, more accurately, wot’s wot) and rub elbows with some of his Vertigo buddies from the old days like Sandman and Swamp Thing. They had the magic (or should I say magick) touch with Hellblazer a few years ago so it seems a cinch they’ll do it again.

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: FANG THE HUNTER #1

Art: Mauro Fonseca | Story: Ian Flynn (IDW Publishing, $3.99)

I was a Nintendo kid so I only ever played Sonic the Hedgehog when I went to visit my cousin, who was brand-loyal to Sega for one reason or another and had both the Sega Master System and the Genesis. It was always like visiting a parallel universe where the guy who invented Super Mario went into greeting cards or something instead, setting in motion a chain of events leading to Sega dominating the earth. I relate this to you because the only two things I know about Sonic the Hedgehog are that my cousin had his game (and I was terrible at it), and we sell the 1:10 Sonic incentive cover every month like clockwork. There is a dedicated audience for this series, and if you’re part of it, we at Ash Avenue Comics salute you. This Fang the Hunter spin-off bills itself as “the first Classic-era Sonic the Hedgehog miniseries from IDW” (which I take to mean it’s related to his Archie Comics days and stars a fedora-wearing jerboa, a thing I never heard of before that looks like a cute little pocket-sized kangaroo and is probably an absolute terror. Jerboas, your ship has come in.

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

COLONIZED (ONE-SHOT)

Art: Drew Moss | Story: Chris Ryall (Image Comics, $9.99)

This caught my eye because it’s a spin-off of Zombies Vs. Robots, the Ashley Wood book that was written by Chris Ryall that I was really into about 15-20 years ago. This time it’s zombies vs. aliens, a struggle in which I don’t have any particular rooting interest (aliens, I guess), but it may be wise to read this in the event that a real-life zombie/alien conflict ever breaks out. I mean, knock on wood. I pray to god it never happens.

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

COBRA COMMANDER #1 (OF 5)

Art: Andrea Milana | Story: Joshua Williamson (Image Comics, $4.99)

For my money, Cobra Commander was the best comic book villain when I was a kid. Sure, maybe your Magnetos or your Doctor Dooms had more sympathetic back stories or convincing reasons for their evildoing, but they didn’t make me laugh. In supervillainy, as in so many other things, that goes a long way. He also features in one of my favorite comic panels of all time:

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

Now that is one evil chap. I have doubts that CC will be funny this time around. In fact, I suspect we’ll probably see him wreak some kind of sensational ultra-violence in the name of Seriousness and Sophistication. But all the other Energon Universe books have been winners so far to one degree or another, so this one deserves a look too.

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

JACKPOT #1

Art: Joey Vasquez | Story: Celeste Bronfman (Marvel Comics, $4.99)

Can we all be happy that Ultimate Spider-Man is here to band-aid that Spider-Man marriage wound for people? This way we get to see mainstream Mary Jane do stuff like this or Betty and Veronica around with Black Cat, while Ultimate Mary Jane can sit at home with the rolling pin when Spider-Man stays out too late or have Mary Worth-style subplots that interrupt the main action, which are the two things I remember her doing when I was a kid. Also, point of interest: Is writer Celeste Bronfman related to the Bronfman heiresses who were in the thick of the NXIVM cult we all read about in the news a few years ago? Is that a tasteless question to ask? I’m just saying, if she is, we might be seeing Mary Jane say and do some things we’ve never seen her say and do before. If you want my advice, my friends, you should buy this comic and find out.

ON FOC THIS WEEK

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

THUNDERCATS #1

Art: Drew Moss | Story: Declan Shalvey (Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99) | FOC: 1/15

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

SPIDER-PUNK: ARMS RACE #1

Art: Justin Mason | Story: Cody Ziglar (Marvel Comics, $4.99) | FOC: 1/15

There's Always Next Week: January 12, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE RETURN #1

Art: Nico Leon | Story: Amy Jo Johnson & Matt Hotson (Boom! Studios, $4.99) | FOC: 1/15

  1. A three-roll blockbuster is what we boys of the comics-by-mail game call a book for which we needed three rolls of packing tape to wrap up all the orders we shipped out. โ†ฉ๏ธŽ
There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

There’s Always Next Week: January 5, 2024

by Paul

Careful observers of this site will have noted our halting efforts to create a weekly feature for the blog, but I think I’ve cracked the code this time! Welcome to There’s Always Next Week, the new feature where we look ahead to next week’s comics and also see which upcoming books are approaching Final Order Cut-Off on Sunday and Monday. What better place to start than with a look at the hot new Spider-Man title that’s got everyone all a-twitter (or all a-X, if you prefer)?

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN #1

Art: Iban Coello | Story: Cody Ziglar (Marvel Comics, $6.99)

But first, let’s talk about Giant-Size Spider-Man #1! Ha ha! That’s the kind of twist and turn you’ll be able to look forward to every week here at TANW. While Ultimate Spider-Man #1 may be the Marcia Brady to Giant-Size‘s Jan, this comic shouldn’t be overlooked. In the main feature, Son of Venom fails to see eye-to-eye with the People’s Favorite, Miles Morales, while the back-up is a re-print of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #22 by Brian Bendis and Sara Pichelli. Good value! You can hear writer Cody Ziglar cracking his knuckles here as a warm-up to February’s Spider-Punk: Arms Race #1, so if you’re excited for that, this makes a good appetizer.

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1

Art: Marco Checcetto | Story: Jonathan Hickman (Marvel Comics, $5.99)

Two things we know about the new 2024 model Ultimate Spider-Man: 1) He has a beard (not Mary Jane, an actual beard on his face) which is going to cause all kinds of static cling and chafing under the mask. 2) If I know Jonathan Hickmanโ€”and I think I doโ€”there are going to be graphs. Glorious, glorious graphs. Rumor has it that we may be getting the Daily Bugle floor plan during this first story arc, but I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude so my heart doesn’t get broken. Again. This thing is already selling out here and it’s not even on the rack yet. Just because you have FOMO, it doesn’t mean you’re not missing out.

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

STAR WARS #42

Art: Steven Cummings | Story: Charles Soule (Marvel Comics, $4.99)

This is one of those things where it’s the first appearance of a character who may or may not become a mover and shaker in the wider Disney+ Star Wars universe, here in the form of a Sith woman sought out by Luke Skywalker so he can get the lowdown on some moves to take Darth Vader down a peg or two. I put it to you: Would a virginal young man with a lingering, thwarted sexual urge for his own sister somehow have trouble getting in touch with his dark side? That’s why he became a gross old hermit who tried to murder his nephew, people. Search your feelings; you know it to be true.

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

DISNEY VILLAINS: CRUELLA DE VIL #1

Art: Miriana Puglia | Story: Sweeney Boo (Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99)

Alone amongst all Disney characters, I’ve always felt a great kinship with Cruella De Vil. Come to think of it, maybe that’s the reason I don’t get invited to parties at the homes of dog owners. Anyway, if you’re anything like me, you should give Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil #1 a look. It’s written by Sweeney Boo, and even if you’re not a fan of hers yet, you have to admit that it’s fun to say her name.

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

DEER EDITOR #1

Art: Sami Kivelรค | Story: Ryan K. Lindsay (Mad Cave Studios, $4.99)

Sami Kivelรค of Abbott fame draws this first issue of a murder mystery that entangles a hard-bitten newspaper editor. He’s also a giant talking deer. Get it? He’s a deer editor. It strikes me as a strange line of work for such a skittish creature to take up, but no doubt that’s my own prejudice talking. If this sounds like it’s up your alley, lock this book down now because we only ordered one copy.

ON FOC THIS WEEK

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

MIRKA ANDOLFO’S BLASFAMOUS #1 (Of 3)

Art and story: Mirka Andolfo (DSTLRY, $8.99) | FOC: 1/7

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

POWER GIRL: UNCOVERED #1

Art: Various | Story: Brittany Holzherr (DC Comics, $5.99) | FOC: 1/7
Joshua Swaby Foil Variant

There's Always Next Week: January 5, 2024 - Ash Avenue Comics

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