NYCC is almost here.
And with that, some big news from all companies is expected, especially at Marvel, since it will be Stephen Wacker’s first big panel after transitioning to the new editor-in-chief position.
While we wait for that, it feels like the old regime is going out by leaving a big, juicy present in their hands. Let’s dive in.
SECOND CHANCE AT MIDNIGHT.
If you thought it was a losing battle, time to recalculate your opinion pieces, because Marvel has officially struck back.
Midnight, the new publishing initiative introducing a new universe where the heroes are reinvented into horror nightmares, is a massive success. Don’t tell Walt I’m leaking the information, but our pre-orders have blown the roof off, putting the books close to the Absolute line (not Batman, tho. They are reclaiming a market, but not enough to invade France yet.)
You missed it? No problem, second printings are already here on FOC. Even if you secured yours, you might want to take a look at them.
The whole thing about the initiative carries this gimmick where the cover is cloaked, only revealing the full-blown art when you buy it and open it. (From the second issue on, since the ones for issue #1 are already revealed before release.)
Well, second printings will be altogether uncloaked. (Every time I say this, imagine me with a British accent thinking I’m on The Traitors.)
If you have been living in a turret plotting murders and did not catch up, the creative teams are insane. That includes Jonathan Hickman back on the X-Men, PKJ PKJ’ing Spider-Man, and Benjamin Percy on Fantastic Four. Matteo Della Fonte, ScieTronc, and Kev Walker are the artists, respectively, and if you saw the previews, the bar is on the moon.
I’m so excited about this line, you might as well call me Cinderella ’cause I can’t take my eyes off the clock.
DO WE COUNT EXILE YEARS IN THIS?
Superman: The Wedding Album 30th Anniversary Special #1 is coming from DC, celebrating Clark and Lois’ marriage. They have been married for the same amount of time I have been alive. Does that make my whole generation the ring-youth? (The amount of names I workshopped for this is insane, and if ring-youth was the best, imagine the rest.)
Let’s take a look at the line-up: Karl Kesel, Louise Jones Simonson, Rainbow Rowell, Dan Jurgens, Tom Grummett, Jon Bogdanove, and Cian Tormey.
A couple of legends here with history with the title, but I gotta say: Rainbow here is what excites me more. She had a chance. She wrote an adorable story on Lois and Clark during the Superstars transition era in Action Comics. Rainbow’s books are fresh, light, and funny in the most delightful way. Character work is her bread and butter, and if DC knew ball, this is just one of the opening chapters of a decade-running Lois & Clark by Rainbow Rowell. I’m already preordering the omnibus.
Should pre-orders for imaginary future omnibuses be our new thing at Walt’s? You pay us and we wait, and if the book is not printed, we use the money to run a revenge mafia. Win-win scenario.
Have I convinced you? No? Maybe I should have led with just showing the wraparound cover:
WHAT IS BETTER THAN DAN WATTERS AT DC?
Well, indie Dan Watters. Mad Science Division #1 is coming from Ignition Press (please notice us, kings, we love you).
With airs of Department of Truth and something that Tynion would go crazy for, this follows a nepo-hire at a genetic engineering and bioweapons development company who stumbles into horrific hidden experiments (a bioweapons company as evil? Who could have thought?).
This feels to me like Dan rethinking Dark Patterns and his Nightwing run from the perspective of the evil organization. As in, Watters is very good at writing conspiracy and quiet evils that take over society from the shadows, so here, we go inside one and can lean into the horror of a lack of ethics and humanity.
Everything on FOC...
can be found here. Our pre-orders run until Saturday at 4pm. You can email Heiko if you have any questions about Manage Comics or single issues in general. The Single Issues department at Walt’s also has a Mad Science Division going on because they have their own floor, and God knows what the hell they do when we are not looking (probably work, but you never know).
See you,
Math
