Strap in folks, there's a veritable tidal wave of comics waiting to wash over you this week, so lets dive right in to the Marvel end of the pool and see what the House of Ideas is putting out this week...
Sticking with the sea-theme we have Age of Conan: Belit #1 (Tini Howard, Kate Niemczyk), in which we see how the Queen of the Black Seas earned her title, going all the way back to when we was a mere teenage stowaway. A definite must read for fans of the Barbarian, and the first in the new Age of Conan series.
It wouldn't be a Wednesday at the moment without a new Age of X-Man title, and this week sees part 1 of Apocalypse and the X-tracts (Tim Seeley, Salva Espin), which sees everyone's favourite harbinger of the end of the world promoting... love and romance? You'll just have to pick it up to find out... If that isn't enough mutant magic for you this week, check out Uncanny X-Men: Winters End #1 (Sina Grace, Nathan Stockman), which sees a future (and strangely gloomy) Bobby Drake coming back to see his younger self. If you prefer your heroes less mutant and more inhuman, why not pick up Magnificent Ms Marvel #1 (Saladin Ahmed, Minkyu Jung) which sees Eisner-award winner Saladin Ahmed step into the embiggened shoes of G. Willow Wilson to take on everyones favourite Stretch Armstrong impersonator.
Marvel are also blessing us with a flood of new trade collections this week, including Gambit: Thieves World (John Layman, Jai Nitz, Georges Jeanty, Roger Robinson), the War of the Realms: Prelude TP (Walter Simonson, Jason Aaron, Walter Simonson, Ron Garney.) and Fantastic Four: Fourever (Dan Slott, Sara Pichelli, Simone Bianchi, Skottie Young).
As we take a splash into the DC waters, the weeks big release is Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight (Scott Snyder, James TynionIV, Eduardo Risso), a 28 page one shot giving us the origins of the world's second deadliest vigilante!
Moving over into the rapids, there's a raft of indie new released this week, with fan-favourite The Goon #1 (Eric Powell) returning for an all new adventure to celebrate 20 years of humour and violence. Sticking with comedy, check out Assassination Nation #1 (Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson) for a Hot Fuzz-esque approach to contact killers and bodyguards. Calamity Kate #1 (Magdalene Visaggio, Corin Howell) features a girl moving to the big city and living her dream of being a superhero... except that zombies, demons, goblins and vampires aren't keen on monster-killers...! After something a little more post-apocalyptic? Check out Little Bird (Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram), a new miniseries about finding yourself in a world that is falling apart. Oni Press bring back some cartoon favourites with Ricky & Morty Presents Jerry #1 (Ryan Ferrier, CJ Cannon), there's a new Transformers #1 (Brian Ruckley, Angel Hernandez, Ron Joseph) if you feel like changing things up a bit, or why not head to the world of the hit CW series Riverdale Season 3 #1 (Micol Ostow, Joe Eisma, Thomas Pitilli).
Sticking with those nice kids from the Archie universe, how about diving in to Vampironica (Megan Smallwood, Greg Smallwood) volume 1? The delectable Ms Lodge gets bitten by a vampire, but will she push back the bloodlust or give in to her new urges? Feeling less like vampires more like murder in space? Check out Infinite Dark (Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti) volume 1, with an inter-dimensional trip after the universe has ended. Less dark but still just as otherworldly is By Night (John Allison, Christine Larsen) volume 1, where an aspiring filmmaker could have all her dreams come true, if she can just summon the courage to step into a another world, that happens to be accessed via an abandoned warehouse... obviously. Lastly from the indies, why not splash about in a supernatural coffee with Moonstruck (Grace Ellis, Kat Fajardo, Shae Beagle) volume 2? New adventures await everyone favourite werewolf barista and friends, as they crash the wrong party...
In the kiddie pool this week there is the first volume of My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries (Christina Rice, Agnes Garbowska), in which The Cutie Mark Crusaders are trying to solving crimes nopony else can, whilst still getting their homework done! Plus everyone's fashion favourite is back in Barbie #1 (Sarah Kuhn, Alitha Martinez). Can the budding fashionista impress her new boss, or will her lack of fresh ideas trip her up?
I think I've stretched the water puns far enough for one week, so don't forget to let us know what you would like added to your pull lists from this weeks releases. See you all in the shop soon & have a great week!