Comics Previews for 6/17/2020

Hello and welcome to the Weekly Comics Previews Blog! This blog is a WinMorr Games Experiment. The WinMorr Games network also includes the Bookshop.org Comics Shop, which you can visit at bookshop.org/shop/comics. The content of this blog will largely mirror the 10 in 20 Comics Previews Podcast, so if you'd rather listen in, you can find the Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or visit my Soundcloud here: WinMorr Games - Jon on Soundcloud.

Each week I'll be looking at 10 new single issue comics that are coming to comic shops. This blog is a quick take on a small sampling of the comics coming out each week.

Before I dive in, I want to talk a little bit about the Eisner nominees that were announced recently. Of course the Eisners are basically the comics equivalent of the Oscars. The list of nominees is a great place to start if you want to check out some great new comics. The complete nominees list is available over at Hollywood Reporter.

The nominees list for the Best Single Issue category is a disappointment for me. While I'm sure these books are great (assuming here, since I've only read one of them), I personally don’t feel like something qualifies as a "single issue comic book" if it costs $10+ and is the length of a graphic novel. These books are saddle stitched, but they still ought to be competing in the graphic novel categories, or, in Eisner-speak, the "Best Graphic Album" categories. If the Eisners want to focus more on expensive, graphic novel-length works, that's ok I guess. We will just need to find an alternative award to celebrate the single issue format.

 Now, there are three categories that focus on comics that are serialized in the "true" single issue format. These categories are Best Continuing Series, Best Limited Series, and Best New Series. There are a couple of things that stood out to me in the Best Continuing Series category (I may touch on the other two categories in future blogs). I called out Bitter Root and Daredevil on the podcast last week. Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips was also nominated again. Brubaker and Phillips are perennial Eisner favorites and it's no surprise at all that they are back. Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and various artists was also nominated. What I’ve read of this series I have loved. It’s gotten props as a throw-back to the monster/horror roots of the Hulk and it’s been fun to follow along. Crowded, which is an Image Sci Fi series, and The Dreaming, which is a continuation of the Sandman Universe, were also nominated. When I saw that The Dream was nominated, I decided to go back and finish reading Sandman. I’m on Volume 5 right now.

 Overall I'd say the nominees list for Best Continuing Series is pretty good. Love & Rockets should probably be on the list every year. I think Usagi Yojimbo may deserve a nod as well, although I’m only reading the "Color Classics" reprint series, so I’m not sure how the new stuff holds up. Another one that I think was deserving that could have been nominated under this category or under the limited series is Kaijumax.

Now on to the list of new books for this week, roughly in the order of how exciting each one is for me personally. For commentary on each of these, check out the 10 in 20 Comics Previews Podcast, or you can read about them, along with everything else that Diamond Comics Distributors is shipping to Comic Shops, over at Previews World. For DC books, check out their new distributor, UCS Comic Distributors. Each issue retails for $3.99 unless noted.

1    Canopus no. 3 by Dave Chisholm

2.     Kaijumax Season 5 no. 3 by Zander Cannon

3.     Savage Dragon no. 249 by Erik Larsen

4.     Strange Adventures no. 2 by Tom King, Evan Shaner, and Mitch Gerads; $4.99

5.     Dark Nights Death Metal no. 1 by Scott Snyder, Jonathan Glapion, and Greg Capullo; $4.99

6.     A Man Among Ye no. 1 by Stephanie Phillips and Craig Cermak

7.     Ludocrats no. 2 by Kieron Gillen, Jim Rossignol, & Tamra Bonvillain

8.     Wynd no. 1 by James Tynion IV & Michael Dialynas; $4.99

9.     Over the Ropes no. 5 by Jay Sandlin and Antonello Cosentino

10  Superman no. 22 by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Prado 

As always, there are a lot of graphic novels and trade paperbacks coming out as well. Here are a few of the highlights:

Wonder Woman Dead Earth no. 3 by Daniel Warren Johnson; $6.99

Panorama by Michel Fiffe; $19.99

Best of Alex Toth and John Buscema Roy Rogers Comics; $60.00

A few single issues to look forward to next week are the Green Lantern 80^th Anniversary Special,  Plunge no. 4, TMNT Jennika no. 3, and, of course, Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham #5!!

To support this effort and the WinMorr Games network, purchase a graphic novel or trade paperback at www.bookshop.org/shop/comics. You can also email me at WinMorrGames@gmail.com. Thanks for reading! Read more comics; stay safe and healthy; and I will see you next week!