Tradewaiting – November 1st, 2017 Releases

A lot of comics come out every week. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of #1s and dramatic new status quos as they crash. That’s why I’m here. Whether you said you’d revisit checking that series out when it was collected in trade, or you simply never noticed the announcement of that awesome OGN, whether you’re just waiting for that hardcover to come out in trade, or have been longing for a collection of your favorite stories since childhood, Tradewaiting is here for you, with the complete Diamond list of graphic novels and collections as well as some recommendations to scoop up.

So, without further ado, here’s what’s coming to the bookshelves of your LCS this fine week of November 1st, 2017.

HIGHLIGHTS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Once And Future Queen

There are more ways than ever to enjoy comics these days. The sheer variety of distribution methods and strategies are incredible even compared to a decade ago. These days a great first issue can find its way into a reader’s hands through bookstores and digital sales and comic shops and widely attended conventions and savvy creators, editors, and publishers can fine tune its marketing to play to the best strategy. Through it all, I’ve rarely seen such a great book come out under such strange circumstances.
Published by Dark Horse Comics, The Once and Future Queen follows Rani Arturus, a Biracial, Indian-American chess prodigy as destiny sweeps her off her feet and takes her from a second place tournament finisher to being the one true queen of England and the military leader in a war against a bunch of grumpy fae. Or at least it would have if it hadn’t been canceled after two issues.
Strangely enough, after two issues went to print, Dark Horse pushed pause and decided to start over, marketing the miniseries series as a trade paperback that finally hits stores this week. It’s been a long and bumpy road and one that probably did a disservice to a cute, clever, and beautiful new series. On the bright side though, if Dark Horse pulled the plug because the sales numbers weren’t high enough, that probably means that you don’t have the first two issues yet, so you’re getting full value for your purchase.
You may not know this about me, but mythic echoes and repeated histories are kind of my jam and The Once And Future Queen more than scratches that itch. And it’s more than just a repeat of the classic Arthurian myths, as our protagonists contend with the role of destiny in the very different lives that they lead compared to their legendary antecedents. Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride write a speedy but vibrant story and Nick Brokenshire gives the whole project a stunning look that’s essentially worth the price of admission on its own. Though the way in which we’re receiving The Once And Future Queen is perhaps not optimal, at $14.99 it’s definitely worth a look if you’re into new takes on classic stories, diverse casts, or Merlin in a space suit.

Two-Face: A Celebration Of 75 Years

He’s arguably Batman’s second greatest nemesis, but there’s no doubt that Harvey Dent — Two-Face — is one of the richest characters that Gotham City has graced us with. First appearing in 1942’s Detective Comics #66, Two-Face has proven one of Batman’s most complex and enduring adversaries and now DC is honoring the character with 75th anniversary hardcover, much like Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker.
From hard to find Golden Age stories, to Denny O’Neil’s Bronze Age reintroduction to his spotlights in Joker’s Asylum and “Forever Evil”, you’ll find an impressive sampling of Two-Face’s best/worst plots between these pages. Though you won’t find longer examinations of Harvey’s character like The Long Halloween or Arkham Asylum, classics like “Second Chances” (Jason Todd’s first adventure as Robin), Greg Rucka’s fantastic work with the character during “No Man’s Land” and Gotham Central, and the definitive Batman Annual #14 are all present. It’s also notable that those last two highlights are not present in the recently published Batman Arkham: Two-Face, making this an tempting replacement for that trade or a necessary supplement for any hardcore fans of the character.
At $39.99, this isn’t what I’d call a cheap collection, but with almost four-hundred pages and more than fifteen stories, I can honestly say that you’re getting your money’s worth.

The Witch Boy

I can’t say that I’ve read this one — it’s brand new — or even that I know all that much about it, but I can sincerely recommend this one based on its adorable premise and the incredible talent of its creator, Molly Ostertag. Ostertag is one of my favorite artists that I discovered before they really hit it big, but I’m thrilled to see that she’s starting to get the recognition she deserves, with physical printings of the ever-fascinating Strong Female Protagonist, The Castoffs from Lion Forge, and now The Witch Boy.
Raised among a supernatural family where girls grow up to be witches and boys grow up to be shapeshifters, Aster feels like he doesn’t fit in. Not only does he show no aptitude as a shifter, he desperately dreams of being a witch. When his family is put in danger, it falls to Aster and his muggle friend Charlie to save them, but Aster will only be able to do it if he accepts who he really is and becomes a witch.
As a boy who grew up with a lot of badass female friends, I know how valuable it is to let boys acknowledge the power of femininity and where it connects with them. And, as an adult who’s seen some of those friends realize, often after many long and difficult years, that they weren’t actually girls, I know how important it is to tell teenagers that, if their assigned gender doesn’t work for them, it doesn’t have to. This looks like a fantastic YA graphic novel for readers of all genders and, with Ostertag handling it solo, you can be sure that it will be touching, thoughtful, and gorgeous.
The Witch Boy is available in both hardcover and trade paperback, at $24.99 and $12.99 respectively.

Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles – Deluxe Edition

Epic fantasy is a tough genre in comics, especially when you’re limited to a seven issue miniseries. Nevertheless Peter David and Esteban Maroto did exactly that with this history of Atlantis.
I’m a huge Aquaman fan and Peter David’s run on the character in the early 90s is one of his high points. Particularly if you enjoy David’s take on the character or have been thinking about checking it out, I highly recommend picking up The Atlantis Chronicles. The in-story Atlantis Chronicles was one of the central devices of David’s tenure, starting here and leading through Time and Tide into Aquaman vol. 5.
Though DC has, probably wisely, labeled this as an Aquaman collection, Arthur Curry only appears briefly. Instead the series follows the history of Atlantis and its royal chroniclers through seven distinct ages, beginning with the sinking of the continent and ending with the birth of Aquaman. Though it’s only a prologue to Arthur’s life, fans of Aquaman specifically won’t walk away disappointed, as the series is threaded through with mythic echoes of the hero’s life and sets up the history that would come very much into play in David’s later Aquaman stories.
It’s a wonderful and engaging piece of storytelling that thoroughly enjoys acquainting you with all the varied things that Atlantis can be and playing with the idea of showing that story through a series of changing perspectives. The Atlantis Chronicles is a very different kind of series for DC and it remains an underappreciated gem for the company and for the prolific Mr. David, largely because it has never been collected before now. So while it might have been nice to see a slightly lower price point, $49.99 is a pretty sizable chunk of change for a seven issue collection, it’s wonderful to see that not only is DC finally releasing the series but they’re giving it the treatment that it deserves.
*****
This is a big week for collections, I didn’t even have the time or space to give things like the Super Genius release of High Moon or the first Black Panther by Hudlin Complete Collection full write ups, but trust me when I say this is a good week to check out the new trades at your LCS. If you’d like to map out your plan of attack, here’s Diamond’s complete listing of collections and graphic novels for this week.

Dark Horse Comics

GRANDVILLE FORCE MAJEURE HC

HATSUNE MIKU FUTURE DELIVERY TP 01

MASSIVE NINTH WAVE GN VOL 01

ONCE & FUTURE QUEEN TP

DC COMICS

ABS JUSTICE LEAGUE WORLDS GREATEST SUPERHEROES HC

AQUAMAN THE ATLANTIS CHRONICLES DLX ED HC

BATMAN DETECTIVE REBIRTH DLX COLL HC BOOK 01

BATMAN THE DARK PRINCE CHARMING HC BOOK 01

DC GREATEST HITS BOX SET

JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 04 ENDLESS (REBIRTH)

SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 04 THE NEW WORLD (REBIRTH)

TWO FACE A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS HC

VERY DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH HOLIDAY TP

IDW PUBLISHING

ANGRY BIRDS FLIGHT SCHOOL HC

BRUTAL NATURE TP VOL 02 CONCRETE FURY

KILL SHAKESPEARE TP VOL 05 PAST IS PROLOGUE JULIET

MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH HC

REVOLUTIONARIES TP VOL 02 POWER & GLORY

IMAGE COMICS

WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS HC VOL 07 (MR)

WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS S&N ED HC VOL 07 (MR)

MARVEL COMICS

AVENGERS BY BENDIS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 03

BLACK PANTHER BY HUDLIN TP VOL 01 COMPLETE COLLECTION

DEADPOOL AND X-FORCE OMNIBUS HC

DEADPOOL WORLDS GREATEST TP VOL 10 SECRET EMPIRE

GENERATION X TP VOL 01 NATURAL SELECTION

MARVELS THOR RAGNAROK ART OF MOVIE SLIPCASE HC

SPIDER-MAN CLONE SAGA OMNIBUS HC VOL 02

UNCANNY INHUMANS HC VOL 02

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

ADV OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN MANGA CLASSICS GN

ADV OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN MANGA CLASSICS HC

ALLEN SON OF HELLCOCK HC

ANIMAL LAND GN VOL 13

AOHARU X MACHINEGUN GN VOL 07

BLACK TP VOL 01 (MR)

BOOK OF BALLADS ORIGINAL ART ED HC

CHRIS WARE MONOGRAPH HC

CISCO KID JOSE LUIS SALINAS & REED TP VOL 03

CLIVE BARKER HELLRAISER OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 (OF 2) (MR)

DEVILMAN GRIMOIRE GN VOL 01

DOC SAVAGE RING OF FIRE TP

DOCTOR WHO 10TH COMPLETE ED YEAR ONE HC

DOCTOR WHO 11TH COMPLETE ED YEAR ONE HC

DOCTOR WHO 11TH SAPLING HC VOL 02 ROOTS

DOCTOR WHO 9TH HC VOL 04 SIN EATERS

DOCTOR WHO TP DOORWAY TO HELL

DOG MAN EPIC COLLECTION BOXED SET #1

DRACULA MARRIES FRANKENSTEIN GN

DREAM JUMPER GN VOL 02 CURSE OF HARVESTER

DREAM JUMPER HC GN VOL 02 CURSE OF HARVESTER

DREAMIN SUN GN VOL 04

ELVES GN VOL 03

ERASED HC VOL 03

EVIL DEAD 2 DARK ONES RISING 30TH ANN ED TP

EXPANSION GN

FAIRY TAIL MASTERS ED TP VOL 05

FLOWERS OF EVIL COMPLETE ED TP VOL 01 (MR)

HATSUNE MIKU BAD END NIGHT GN VOL 03

HIGH MOON HC VOL 01 BULLET HOLES AND BITE MARKS

HIGH MOON TP VOL 01 BULLET HOLES AND BITE MARKS

HIGH SHINING BRASS TP (MR)

HOWARD LOVECRAFT UNDERSEA KINGDOM GN

IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD GN

JACK LONDON COMIC COLLECTION GN

JASON SHIGA DEMON SC GN VOL 04

KIGURUMI GUARDIANS GN VOL 02 (MR)

LUCKY LUKE TP VOL 66 PROMISED LAND

MARIA HOLIC GN VOL 12

MAZE RUNNER DEATH CURE OFFICIAL PRELUDE

MERCENARY DEFINITIVE ED HC VOL 01

MONET ITINERANT OF LIGHT HC

MORTAL INSTRUMENTS GN VOL 01

MURCIELAGO GN VOL 04 (MR)

MUTTS TREASURY LOVE MUTTS

NAMWOLF TP VOL 01 HEART OF DARKNESS

OH JOY SEX TOY GN VOL 04 (MR)

PRISON SCHOOL GN VOL 08 (MR)

PUELLA MAGI ORIKO MAGICA SADNESS PRAYER GN VOL 03

QUEEN STREET MMPB

SCUM WISH GN VOL 05

SHIELD (DARK CIRCLE) TP VOL 01 DAUGHTER OF REVOLUTION (MR)

SISTERS GN VOL 04 SELFIE AWARENESS

SISTERS HC VOL 04 SELFIE AWARENESS

SPICE AND WOLF GN VOL 14 (MR)

SPOOKHOUSE TP VOL 01

STEVEN UNIVERSE ORIGINAL GN VOL 02 ANTI GRAVITY

STORIES OF EDGAR ALLEN POE MANGA CLASSICS GN

STORIES OF EDGAR ALLEN POE MANGA CLASSICS HC

TABOO TATTOO GN VOL 08

TESTAMENT OF SISTER NEW DEVIL GN VOL 07 (MR)

THAT TIME I REINCARNATED SLIME GN VOL 02 (MR)

THE FOREVER WAR TP

THE SCHIZ GN

TOMMY GUN DOLLS HC VOL 01

TRENT GN VOL 01 THE DEAD MAN

TROMA CHILLERS GN NEW ED (MR)

TWINKLE STARS GN VOL 04

UNPRESIDENTIAL GN

VAMPIRELLA DYNAMITE YEARS OMNIBUS TP VOL 01

WITCH BOY GN VOL 01

WITCH BOY HC GN