Some books that are scheduled for July 30, 2025.
"BRING ON THE BAD GUYS"
BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: LOKI #1 (OF 7, MARVEL, $4.99) is by Anthony Oliveira. Mephisto gives Loki a task. But you and I know Loki never does what he's told.
“SUMMER OF SUPERMAN”
ADVENTURE COMICS #210 FACSIMILE EDITION (Corrected Printing, $3.99): Wait, is the one I ordered from Golden Apple UN-corrected? I must remember to investigate.
DC'S KAL-EL-FORNIA LOVE #1 (ONE-SHOT, DC, $9.99) by writers Bryan Q. Miller, Brandon Thomas, Joshua Hale Fialkov, George Mann, Christof Bogacs, James Reid, Dave Wielgosz and Meghan Fitzmartin, and art by Gerardo Sandoval, Juni Ba, Travis Mercer, Bruno Abdias, Jacoby Salcedo, Jon Mikel, Joey Vazquez and Marcial Toledano. The Super-family in California, for some reason. Here are the stories, from the PR:
- Supergirl's day at the beach is interrupted by a demonic creature from the deep and John Constantine
- Jon and Conner Kent team up to wrangle an escaped beast in the Redwoods
- Bizarro (literally) crashes an audition for a major motion picture
- Superman and Lois as a kaiju from the California Ocean comes for their family vacation
SUPERMAN #1 FACSIMILE EDITION ($9.99): I've read this a few times. Another time won't hurt.
SUPERMAN BY KURT BUSIEK BOOK 2 HC Collects Action Comics #850, #852-854; Superman #659-675, #712: Superman Annual #13: and a Prankster story from New Year's Evil #1.
SUPERMAN BY PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON OMNIBUS VOL 1 HC includes the complete Warworld saga with Johnson's stories from Action Comics #1029-1046, Action Comics 2021 Annual #1, Action Comics 2022 Annual #1, Superman #30-32, Batman/Superman: Authority Special #1, Superman: Warworld Apocalypse #1, Future State: Superman: Worlds of War #1-2, Future State: House of El #1, Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1, and Infinite Frontier #0, with Superman and the Authority #1-4.
"ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM"
G.O.D.S.: ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #1 ($4.99) is by Ryan North and Francesco Mortarino. Wyn, described as "sole Avatar of The-Powers-That-Be (think: Magic God)" and his reluctant apprentice, Mia DiMaria, take an interest in Doom's Sorcerer Supreme-ness. Doom tempts Mia to join him, which apparently is a possibiity. As noted, I have not read G.O.D.S. yet, so I'm unfamiliar with these characteres (although that will necessarily change after this issue).
“I will say it is absolutely a fool's errand to follow after Jonathan Hickman in a corner of the Marvel Universe that he personally invented, but G.O.D.S. are a lot of fun, and the chance to see where Mia and Wyn were after their story — and how Doom would intersect with all of it — was too alluring to let up," North said. “If you've never read G.O.D.S., this is a great way to meet the characters and if you have — welcome back. Mia is not having a great time of it, but Emperor Doom sees something in her...”
ULTIMATE UNIVERSE
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #19 ($4.99) by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto. Kingpin, Mr. Negative and Mysterio go to war with one another. If I were Spidey, I'd just buy popcorn stocks.
ULTIMATES #14 ($4.99) by Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri. Introduces Ultimate Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. I notice that the cover's character selection is a nod to Cap's Kooky Quartet. I'm still disappointed there were no scenes with those four in Avengers: Age of Ultron. How'd they miss that opportunity?
INTERESTING
CREATURE COMMANDOS PRESENT: FRANKENSTEIN — AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. VOLUME 2 TP ($29.99). This was one of the better New 52 series. And now it's a cartoon! The Frankenstein here is a bit more heroic (and laconic) than the one in James Gunn's vision.
HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE #2 ($14.99): I ordered this one before I ever saw the first one. I'll go at least three issues, regardless, just for a taste of my youth.
I, TYRANT #1 is by writer ee zann and artist Godfarr. I'm not really sure what this is about, despite a press release. It says, "The no-holds-barred action of 300 meets Birdman's magical realism when Zahhak — a legend with a stark depiction of tyrants — proposes that Hafez toss out his unpromising myth’s conclusion. Hafez must retell it with a Kirby exodus for Zahhak, to give his tale a Miller reboot in the comics industry. Creation myth needs a Devil."
These are the names of some genuine Persian mythological characters, but I can't tell where or when this takes place. I'm guessing it has nothing to do with modern-day Iran, unless it's allegorical.
"1979 Iran banned comics — and never looked twice. This might be a nonsense song where I come from, but I, Tyrant is a no-nonsense self-portrait of an expat and his ode to Miller, Kirby and all comics Americana," said zann.
Godfarr added: "We tried to summon the spirit of Kirby. zann summoned a thousand notes instead. Fourteen years of Miller moods and midnight redraws of Zahhak. While we two make whoopee, you be careful when you open I, Tyrant."
I just realized these guys are probably using Farsi-based pseudonyms (which is why they look peculiar to my Western eyes) to avoid persecution against their families.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK TOMORROW SPECIAL #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99) is by Mark Waid, Marc Guggenheim and Cian Tormey. This is a fifth week, so DC's releases are largely one-shots and annuals. This one follows on the finale of "We Are Yesterday," which I haven't read yet (or received in my Westfield shipments), so the solicitation is mostly argle-bargle to me. But it sounds interesting:
"APOKOLIPS IS ON THE HORIZON ... AND NO ONE IS SAFE! In the wake of the 'We Are Yesterday' crossover epic, a mysterious Quantum Quorum has emerge ... stalked by a lethal enemy that takes no prisoners. The League deputizes a ragtag group of time-displaced heroes like Batman Beyond, Gold Beetle and Helena Wayne to fill the void left behind by the Time Masters and save the quorum from the mysterious threat that's picking off time-travelers one by one. These Legends of Tomorrow are the only ones standing in the way of this cascading chronal Armageddon with the past, present and future teetering on the brink in this oversized special leading to the next big DC All In event!"
SPIDER-MAN VS. THE SINISTER SIXTEEN #1 ($4.99) is the last of J. Michael Straczynski's team-up specials, and is not, as you can see, the issue as advertised, which was Spider-Man vs. Doctor Octopus. The story involves Thor, Doctor Strange, Magneto, Loki, Doctor Octopus and more.
On what inspired the tale, Straczynski said, “One of the most common tropes in the superhero world is that of the amount of destruction that comes when heroes and villains lock horns. We all accept that it just happens. This led to thinking: What if the owner of a popular restaurant has run it into the ground and needs the place to be destroyed for the insurance money, and invites a ton of heroes and villains to dine all at the same time in the hope that a fight breaks out? What if initially everyone tries to stay calm to enjoy the experience, but sooner or later, with that roster … the storm comes.”
“It became a great opportunity to shove a truckload of characters, good and evil, into one room at the same time, and watch the situation deteriorate into chaos,” he continued. “Given the mandate of this book, to show unlikely combinations, this was the ultimate and only possible conclusion: Put everyone into one 30-page story, roll in a grenade, and see what happens. This was probably the most fun book to write, and one of the funniest. So appreciative of Marvel giving me this chance to just write whatever the heck I wanted, and come up with fun stories with unlikely associations.”
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: BLOOD MOON RISE #1 ($4.99) is written by Michael Giacchino, director of the "Special Presentation" Werewolf by Night on Disney+ (which I enjoyed). "The Academy Award-winning composer made his directorial debut in the acclaimed Marvel Cinematic Universe special. Now, he teams up with artist David Messina (Ultimate Spider-Man) to deliver another tale of terror starring Jack Russell — this time set in the Marvel Comics universe!" Evidently, WBN battles Dracula in this issue. (Just like in the old Universal horror movies, I don't expect anyone to achieve permanent victory.)
"It could be a lost story from the original run, in a way," Giacchino told Entertainment Weekly. “There's a fun twist to it that I think is going to be really interesting for people who are into Jack Russell and that lore."
MORE STUFF
ALPI THE SOUL SENDER VOL. 7 (OF 7, TITAN, 176 PAGES, B&W, $12.99) is by Rona. The climactic seventh volume of the beloved series, perfect for fans of Magical Girl manga, sees the conclusion of Alpi THE soul sender! Alpi the Soul Sender Volume 7 closes the book on the story of a young girl and her quest to find the strength to help others.
KING OF SPIES LIBRARY EDITION HC ($49.99)
The premise of this, it seems to me, is that a 60-year-old James Bond (called Sir Roland King here) is told he has six months to live, and decides to assassinate everyone he thinks needs to die. But he's got an assassin on his tail as well, his estranged son. I passed on this when it came out, but this Deluxe Edition is giving me second thoughts. Anyone have a recommendation?
LENORE: THE TIME WAR GN (TITAN, 112 PAGES, $24.99) is by Roman Dirge.
MARVEL AND DISNEY: WHAT IF GOOFY BECAME SPIDER-MAN? #1 ($4.99): I think some of us are following these one-shots.
RENEGADE ROYALE GN ($19.99) looks like a coming-of-age story of high schoolers in a VR gaming competition. Not my thing, but maybe it's yours.
“We’re so thrilled to return to the world and friendships of Renegade Rule,” said Ben Kahn and Rachel Silverstein. “We had so much more story to tell with these characters, and we can’t wait to share more queer romance and VR action with readers.”
STAR WARS HYPERSPACE STORIES TIDES OF TERROR #1 (OF 4, $4.99) is by writer George Mann and artist Luis Morocho. Kit Fisto, Mace Windu and Shake Ti must rescue those who live in an underwater research facility, as it's attacked by sea monsters and collapses.
“Following the success of The Bad Batch: Ghost Agents, we’re thrilled to see Dark Horse continue with their next Hyperspace Stories miniseries,” said Lucasfilm creative director Michael Siglain. “Tides of Terror is part disaster story, part horror story, and all fun. It’s a race-against-time adventure in which the Jedi will face off against saboteurs and the sea creatures, and readers will learn to beware what lurks in the deep, dark ocean world of Tordus.”
Replies
Not on your list, but this is the only new comic I plan to buy this week:
There is no way I won't read this G.O.D.S. one-shot. I loved the original series.