Welcome back to New Comics Spotlight where we take a look at 6 new issues this week! We spotlight 2 issues from both Marvel Comics and DC Comics and the third slot changes from week to week depending on what looks interesting. This week, Image Comics take the slot with a new title and a limited series with some fantastic art!

MARVEL COMICS

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #63
Official Description: We all the know the romantic story of R&J! Star-crossed lovers, deep-seeded family enmity, tragic ending…Wait, who are Romeo and Juliet? We’re talking about Randy and Janice! Yep, Peter Parker’s roommate and The Beetle have been dating and that information finally gets out to their fathers… The Tombstone/Robbie Robertson beef has been brewing since 1988 and is back, big time!
Writer: Nick Spencer | Artist: Federico Vicentini | Cover: Mark Bagley

EXCALIBUR #20
Official Description: THE PHANTOM MENACE! An invisible threat is loose on the island of Krakoa — unseen, unheard, undetectable by any… except Excalibur.
Writer: Tini Howard | Artist: Marcus to | Cover: Mahmud Asrar

DC COMICS

SUICIDE SQUAD #2
Official Description: With the power of Superboy now under her control, Task Force X mastermind Amanda Waller sends the hero into Arkham Asylum to rescue Peacemaker and bring Talon — the famed Court of Owls assassin —back to join the new Suicide Squad. With lives hanging in the balance, the teen clone must decide if he’s going to assist Waller, even if it means getting his hands a little bloody along the way.
Writer: Robbie Thompson | Artist: Eduardo Pansica

MAN-BAT #3
Official Description: Kirk Langstrom’s mental state has been deteriorating for years, but in the wake of his violent altercation with the Suicide Squad, he’s found himself on the verge of a complete emotional collapse. Luckily (or unluckily) for Kirk, Dr. Harleen Quinzel is offering pro bono-and entirely unsolicited-psychological counseling. As Harley delves deep into his damaged mind, she uncovers tragic events that set the stage for his transformation into Man-Bat in the first place. Will her psychotic brand of psychology help Kirk make peace with his inner demons or leave his mind even more fractured than it was?
Writer: Dave Wielgosz | Artist: Sumit Kumar

IMAGE COMICS

THE SILVER COIN #1
Official Description: Eisner-winning artist MICHAEL WALSH (Star Wars, Black Hammer/Justice League) teams with an all-star lineup of collaborators—CHIP ZDARSKY (STILLWATER), KELLY THOMPSON (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), ED BRISSON (Old Man Logan), and JEFF LEMIRE (GIDEON FALLS)—on a new horror anthology miniseries for mature readers. Each issue will tell a tale of terror in a shared supernatural world. The story starts in 1978 with a failing rock band whose fortune suddenly changes when they find the mysterious Silver Coin. Little do they know that fame comes with a cost, and a curse is always hungry.
Writer: Chip Zdarsky | Artist: Michael Walsh

BLISS #6
Official Description: Whatever happened to Perry’s mother, Mabel? For issues, the question has floated, and now we discover the fate of our heroine. As Benton relives his path from monster to reconciliation and Perry desperately tries to return with the one thing he believes can save his father, the goddess Lethe probes deep into both men’s pasts to bring back the one pain neither of them can live with.
Writer: Sean Lewis | Artist: Caitlin Yarsky

What is in your pull list today? Do you prefer physical issues or digital?

Lets get ready for #NewComicWednesday with a few spotlight previews for tomorrow’s new releases!

MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING MARY JANE #1
Official Description: SPINNING RIGHT OUT OF THE PAGES OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN! “YOU JUST HIT THE JACKPOT!” ALL-NEW ONGOING SERIES! The web-head’s favorite redhead (and yours!) is taking a chance on her dreams. But if you’ve read ASM #25, you’ll know MYSTERIO is behind Mary Jane’s big shot, and someone worse is behind him! What’s real and what’s illusion, what’s illusion and what’s Hollywood phoniness?
Writer: Leah Williams | Artist: Carlos Gomez

STAR WARS #73
Official Description: MOMENTS OF TRUTH! Who is DAR CHAMPION and how far can LEIA trust him when HAN’S life is on the line on BOSS CARPO’S golden starship? What shocking lesson will LUKE learn when WARBA finally reveals her true self? And when faced with his lost past, can THREEPIO seize control of his destiny — and be the hero of his own story? The lives of thousands of rebels hang in the balance as our heroes grapple with their greatest doubts and challenges!
Writer: Greg Pak | Artist: Phil Noto

DC COMICS

BATMAN BEYOND #37
Official Description: In the wake of his fateful showdown with False Face and the Splitt, the Batman of tomorrow has gone missing! With the Caped Crusader AWOL and Neo-Gotham facing the threat of one of the deadliest villains it’s ever known, a new hero is needed! Bruce Wayne will turn to friends both old and new in order to keep his city safe, but that won’t be enough. Fortunately, a new and mysterious protector will arrive on the scene, taking flight to save the city!
Writer: Dan Jurgens | Artist: Sean Chen

BLACK ADAM: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1
Official Description: Spinning out of the events of BATMAN/SUPERMAN, Shazam! (infected by the Batman Who Laughs) invades Black Adam’s kingdom! His plan? To turn it into a playground for its new ruler: Billy Batson!
Writer: Paul Jenkins | Artist: Inaki Miranda

IMAGE COMICS

SAVAGE DRAGON #246
Official Description: “RETURN OF THE SCOURGE!” Malcolm Dragon’s deadliest foe returns, more powerful than ever! Another outstanding achievement from award-winning writer/artist ERIK LARSEN.
Writer/Artist: Erik Larsen

RAT QUEENS #19
Official Description: The Once and Future King continues, but the trial of the Rat Queens begins! Captured by Palisade’s vengeful new king, the Queens must face their sins. Court is in session and the chopping block awaits in the most shocking RAT QUEENS issue you’ve ever seen!
Writer: Ryan Ferrier | Artists: Marco B. Bucci, Priscilla Petraites

What is on your pull list for October 23, 2019? 

A lot of interesting news in comics lately, here are a few tidbits.

This surprised me, but is actually (maybe) a fantastic idea. Mary Jane Watson, Spiderman’s long time love and (sorta) ex-wife is joining the supporting cast of Invincible Iron Man with issue 4. Will this be a long time addition or is it more of a stunt? How will this affect Mary Jane’s role in Spiderman?

Although, with MJ being sidelined the last few years in Spiderman, this is actually a great idea for keeping her in a larger role in the Marvel universe (of course I’d totally be down for an MJ ongoing in the current Marvel Comics universe). Will she be working for Stark, friends, or a potential love interest (I could do without the latter)? The issue hits stands in December and we will discovery the direction they take with MJ. Ironically, if MJ and Tony become love interests, it was Tony’s actions that ultimately led to the end of Spiderman/MJ marriage and the rewriting of the Marvel Universe’s history (long story, see: Civil War)

December will not be nearly as friendly to DC Comic titles as five ongoing will be coming to an end by the end of the month. According to Comic Book Resources, these titles include Lobo (pictured left), Doomed, The Omega Men, Gotham By Midnight, and Justice League United.

Doomed is expected to conclude with issue #6 in November, with the rest meeting their end in December. Neither Doomed nor The Omega Men even reached 10 issues, such a short amount of time to find its footing and an audience. Years ago, these ongoings would have had a much better shot. Could these characters be retooled (or in Lobo’s case, maybe bringing him back to his pre-New 52 style and roots)? There is still a lot of potential for these characters and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of them.

I’m not sure how I missed this announcement, but Joss Whedon will be writing a new comic series for Dark Horse Comics, The Twist. Of course Dark Horse is the home of Buffy, Angel, and Serenity comics.

Whedon described the series to EW, stating “It’s a Victorian thriller about a meek chambermaid who is fed to a dark horror — but instead of dying, she returns, with knowledge, power, and rage she can neither deny nor control.” The character will launch in a 6 issue mini series, with unlimited potential for future material. Buffy meets steampunk? I’m totally down for that.

Spiderman is rebooting again. This would get a giant eye-roll- but (and a BIG but here) the web crawler is rebooting into the Marvel Cinematic Universe! That is so epic-ly amazing (spectacular, sensational, astonishing, superior, etc.) that we can ignore the constant reboots (we would do the same and be equally excited if the Fantastic Four were inserted into the Marvel mothership movie universe). With Spiderman entering a new universe, maybe, just maybe we can have him face off with some new villains. We have speculated about Spiderman movie villains in the past (and even had some success, hello Rhino).

Here we go, our picks for possible villains in the Spiderman Reboot!

Kingpin

Who is to say that the main villain of a Spiderman movie needs to be introduced in the new Spiderman movie? Lets skip that and use a villain already established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (even if it was on the Netflix/TV side of things). Kingpin is one of the most iconic Spiderman villains and was masterfully played by Vincent D’Onofrio. He opens the door to grounding Spiderman but at the same time introducing a lot of possible characters (including a cameo or team-up with Daredevil). This would be a great way to tie together different portions of the Marvel Universe while firmly placing Spiderman in the center of things.

Kraven the Hunter

Okay, I know, this is a repeat of a pick from a past list of villains I wanted to see in a Spiderman sequel, but he is just too good not to use. This is not a villain that wants to destroy the world or take over the city. This is a hunter that wants to take out Spiderman and the two are pretty equally matched in strength and speed. What better test for a new teenage Peter Parker/Spiderman? Just imagine them fighting across Manhattan or battling in the Bronx Zoo. I love the idea of Spiderman fighting someone that isn’t straight up evil per say, but is an animal like villain. Kraven also has ties to other villains that could be included, like his half brother the Chameleon or Vermin.

Morlun

I was on the fence with this one. Merlin as a villain is either loved or loathed by Spiderman fans. The Other storyline added so much complication to Spiderman’s backstory and would deb so unneeded for a new series of movies, but at the same time he is a formidable big bad and could open a ton of new doors for future movies and characters; Ezekiel, Silk, and of course the possibility of doing a live action version of “Spider-Verse” (which could put Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back into the suit!). I might be getting too ahead of myself, but I think there is a way to introduce Morlun without the over complications. I’d love to see some of the alternate world Spidermen (and women- Mayday Parker!).

Okay, so this is a joke entry (sort of- Spiderman really needs more female villains). White Rabbit is the addition to this list that is similar to Rhino in my last Spiderman Movie Villains List, she wouldn’t be the headlining villain, but someone that Spiderman faces over the course of the movie. She could be robbing a bank or museum, etc. Spiderman’s world needs to be rich with costumed villains and the montages in the movie should reflect this. Hey, maybe they could throw in some established small villains from Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil, or past Marvel movies for Spiderman to punch over the course of the new film. I want to feel his connection to the bigger world (but I don’t necessarily want him over shadowed by Ironman or Captain America).

Who would you like to see Spiderman face off against in the new movie?

Check out these Spiderman products…

Marvel Studios is setting the bar ridiculously high for superhero movi- scratch that, Marvel Studios is setting the bar ridiculously high for movies in general. Robert Downey Jr, aka Tony Stark, aka Ironman, tweeted this all new solo poster for Avengers: Age of Ultron (hot on the heels of a team shot). He has also stated that a “big announcement” will be coming in 8 days. Ironman 4? Has Downey Jr extended his contract with Marvel further into the future? Will they confirm that Spiderman will be featured in Captain America: Civil War? It can be so many things, which is very exciting.

In other Avengers 2 news, we just got confirmation that Anthony Mackie (the Falcon), Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) and Idris Elba (Asgardian Heimdall) will all be appearing in the gigantic sequel. They join an already stellar cast of heroes including Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Cobie Smulders (ex-SHIELD Agent Maria Hill), and Paul Bettany (Vision), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlett Witch), rumored villain Andy Serkis, and James Spader’s title character of Ultron. Hopefully they fit in some of our Agents of Shield, like Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson), Ming-Na Wen (Melinda May), and Chloe Bennet’s now “Inhuman” Daisy “Skye” Johnson.

Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters on May 1st, 2015 and I’ll be in the first screening with a huge bucket of popcorn!