Comics Previews for 7/1/2020

Welcome back to the Weekly Comics Previews Blog! Each week I preview 10 new single issue comics that are coming to comic shops. It's just a quick take on a small sampling of the comics coming out each week. This post covers 10 single-issue comics that are coming out on New Comic Book Day, Wednesday, July 1. Of course, New Comic Book Day is every Wednesday, except for DC books which are now coming out on Tuesdays most weeks.

I say “most weeks,” because there are no DC single issue comics coming out this week. There are also no Marvel single issue comics coming out this week. That’s right, another week without Marvel or DC. It might not be the last time this happens, either, if we keep seeing these virus spikes. Fortunately, there are still lots of great comics out this week! Without further ado, here are 10 books coming out Wednesday, July 1.

1.     Fire Power no. 1 by Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee; FREE!

Robert Kirkman's plan was to release the first volume in trade and then this single issue on Free Comic Book Day. Of course, that didn’t quite work out, but Kirkman and Skybound are sending these out now. The prelude trade paperback that came out last week is  the set up for the ongoing series, but it seems like this is also a good place to hop on board even if you didn’t read that trade. I’m hoping on picking them both up Wednesday!

2.     Negan Lives no. 1 by Robert Kirkman, Cliff Rathburn, & Charlie Adlard; $4.99

Speaking of Robert Kirkman and SkyBound, anyone who’s really missing Walking Dead has a chance to read a bit more of the story. Which just goes to show that in comics, nothing is ever really “over” and no one is ever really “dead.” I’m sure Negan is up to his old shenanigans here.

3.     Psychodrama Illustrated no. 2 by Gilbert Hernandez; $4.99

Every so often the Hernandez Bros. branch out of Love & Rockets and make some “spin-off” comics. Gilbert seems to do this more often. For example, his Luba character had her own series. Now he is doing this Psychodrama Illustrated series about the Fritz character. Love and Rockets is the perfect pandemic read, and it's great to see new issues still coming out as well!

4.     Breathers no. 3 by Justin Madson; $7.99

I’m fairly certain the first couple issues of this series came out before coronavirus, and it’s just a very creepy coincidence! This series follows a small cast in a world where a virus has made the air deadly to breath; everyone has to wear a mask. Sound familiar?! These are a bit expensive at $8 a pop. Not sure if they’re going to be collected. This one might have to go on my Christmas list…

5.     All-America Comix One-Shot by Joe Casey and Dustin Nguyen

So, Joe Casey created the character “America” for Marvel and, apparently, was not too happy with the direction that Marvel went, so decided to “go rogue.” This is really in the spirit of Image Comics and creators rights, so I would support this book regardless, but honestly, the Dustin Nguyen art just looks fabulous. I’m a big fan of his from his Jeff Lemire collaboration, so I'm really looking forward to this one, and hoping it turns into more than a one-shot!

6.     King of Nowhere no. 3 by Maxwell Prince and Tyler Jenkins

The weird fantasy tale continues! The protagonist, Denis, finds himself in the very strange land of “Nowhere” and he’s trying to figure things out. Tyler Jenkins art was great in Grass Kings and Black Badge, and now this one continues his solid run.

7.     Absolute Flipbook no. 1 by Larry Hama and others

Not sure we need another shared universe. Most of the Absolute Comics Group books out this week look pretty terrible but this one features a “Monster Isle” story, and I gotta say monster comics are more forgiving! If you can draw a cool monster, your comic deserves a look! This flipbook is apparently the more experimental side of the new “Absolute Universe,” so it shouldn’t be boring. Wayward Legends no. 1 is also out and is only $1.99. It looks like a bit of a primer for the Absolute Universe. My recommendation is to take a hard pass on the rest of these books.

8.     Ezequiel Himes Zombie Hunter no. 1 by Victor Santos and Alberto Hernandez

First of all, this book has the best cover of the week. Look it up! Secondly, I’m not sure what it is about all the Spanish and Italian folk creating comics for the North American Market, but perhaps it is perhaps a savvy move by Amigo Comics to cash in on the phenomenon. Someone smarter than me should look into this. As for the content of this book, I think the cover pretty much says it all. Expect some zombie butts to be kicked.

9.     Billionaire Island no. 2 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh

This is straight up sticking it to the man, which Mark Russell is wont to do. Expect some in-your-face politics, but tinged with humor. He did it with Second Coming, and with the Hanna-Barbera books, and it’s cool that Ahoy Comics is giving him some room to breath.

10. You Will Be Okay One-Shot by Meggie Ramm; $5.00

This is basically a mini zine. I’m honestly not sure it qualifies as a comic, but I thought it's uniqueness warranted a mention. It is put out by Silver Sprocket, West Coast publisher of Ben Passmore, among others. It seems like it’s designed for folks who suffer panic attacks – when an attack comes on, they can whip this out and know that they’ll be okay. In this time, maybe these things’ll sell like hot cakes! If I see it in the store, I’ll at least flip through it and let you know what I think.

I’m going to keep things quick this week and just call out a couple of collections:

Eve Stranger TP vol. 1; $17.99

(RIP Black Crown)

X-Men Milestones Messiah War; $24.99

            As someone with a lot of catching up to do in the X-Men universe, I appreciate these “Milestones” collections. Though the one I’m really waiting for is the next X-Men Epic Collection, Proteus, which puts some of the Chris Claremont run back into print for the first time in a while. I know, I could just subscribe to Marvel Unlimited, but what fun is that?!

LOTS of Manga is out this week as well.

There are some good books coming out next week, including some Boom books: Alienated, Red Mother, and Something Is Killing the Children. Eisner nominee Bitter Root no. 9 is out, and a new "Young Animal" Doom Patrol book as well.

Finally, Red Sonja & Vampirella meet Betty & Veronica no. 11 is coming out next week! Yes, I know, I said it was coming out THIS week, but apparently it was delayed.

For those of you in the United States, have a Happy Fourth of July! Enjoy the holiday and remember not to hold the fireworks while you’re lighting them. Trust me on this one!

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!