Recent and Upcoming Comic & Graphic Novel Releases
HARDCOVERS | PAPERBACKS | DIGITAL | AUDIO | COLLECTIONS & ANTHOLOGIES
NON-FICTION, REFERENCE & TRUE CRIME | COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS | TV & FILM
COMICS (COMING SOON, CURRENT & ON-GOING)
- Star Wars: The High Republic – Trail Of Shadows
In a galaxy far far away? Yep, forget the damn ewoks and Jar Jar Binks– the Star Wars galaxy finally gets a private eye of its own. Sian Holt is a high-priced space shamus, short of temper but quick with a blaster, looking into the murder of a Jedi, in this new mini-series written by Daniel José Older with art by Dave Wachter. (Series starts October 2021.)
- Gun Honey
Hard Case Crime head honcho Charles Ardai goes all graphic (and nastier than normal) with this four-parter from Titan. You know you’re going dark when your “hero” is an illegal weapon supplier Joanna Tan, the “best in the world at providing the perfect weapon at the perfect moment,” who is shocked–shocked, I tell you!–when a gun she smuggled into a prison is used for–get this!–illegal purposes! With art by Ang Hor Kheng, and variant covers by Robert McGinnis, Bill Sienkiewicz, Adam Hughes, Kendrick Lim, Jay Anacleto, Chris Wahl, Fay Dalton and Andrea Camerini.(Mini-series starts in September 2021). - Black’s Myth
Come out of the closets, you boys and you girls, and meet Janie “Strummer” Jones, yet another comic book werewolf P.I. This one’s by Eric Palicki (text) and Wendell Cavalcanti, and it looks promising. (series starts July 2021).
- The Detective Is Already Dead | Buy this book | Kindle it!
High school shit magnet Kimitsuka Kimihi finds himself the personal assistant of beautiful, enigmatic girl detective Siesta–and then she dies, in this English adaptation of the popular Japanese series of manga and YA novels. (Series starts June 2021). - The Good Asian
Edison Hark is a Honolulu homicide dick–possibly the only Asian cop in the entire United States in 1936–when he’s summoned back to the mainland by his white stepbrother because of a family emergency, just in time to enjoy all that good old racism, paranoia and police corruption of the era. Written by Pornsak Pichetshote with stunning art by Alexandre Tefenkgi, it’s a gripping, nasty, noir-tinged look back. (Mini-series starts May 2021). - The Batman/Scooby Doo Mysteries
The Dark Knight teams up with everyone’s favourite meddling kids, when the sleuths of Mystery, Inc.! venture into Gotham City, and together they work their way through a myriad of mysteries from missing gloves to ghosts in the Bat Cave. Hilarity will ensue. Definitely for kids of all ages. If you liked The Batman Adventures, you’ll love this! (12-part limited series starts April 2021) - Shadow Doctor
Not a P.I. story, but this family history by writer Peter Calloway kicks Black History Month up a notch, as he recounts the life and times of his grandfather, Nathaniel Calloway, a Black doctor unable to get work at any Chicago-area hospitals because of his race, who ends up a mob doctor for Al Capone. Like Peter says, “On the one hand, his story represents the promise of Ameri-ca. On the other hand, it shows the worst of it.” (Starts February 2021). - Sam Cairo
Los Angeles’ South Central district, 1958, and private eye SAM CAIRO is on the case, in a promising new digital comic available exclusively on Aces Weekly. And that’s about all I know, so far. Except… it’s written by Gary Phillips, a man who knows a thing or two about both private eyes (Ivan Monk) and comics (Peepland, Angeltown). (Starts September 2020) - Brutal Dark
It’s private eye action just like you like it! Ezra Cain, a tough shamus prowls the streets of 1941 New York, in November 1941, just days before a certain “Day of Infamy.” Only catch? This digital monthly is only available through co-creator Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips’ Patreon page. But the price is definitely right.
GRAPHIC NOVELS & COLLECTIONS
- Ms. Tree, Volume Three: The Cold Dish | Buy the book
Third collection, presumably of the DC/Vertigo run. (October 2021) - The Girl Who Electrified Tesla | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Collects the second story arc, featuring rabbit-loving private eye Minky Woodcock, in a shocking new historical caper involving some rich guy named J.P. Morgan who wants Mindy to investigate some inventor named Nikola Tesla. Plus… Nazis! And sex! And Josephine Baker! By acclaimed writer, artist, director and playwright Cynthia Von Buhler. (October 2021) - | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!He’s back in the third big graphic novel! Former radical activist turned freelance troubleshooter Ethan Reckless is back, digging deep into the secrets of a powerful real estate developer–how bad could the guy be, right? But maybe Trump wasn’t the only one. Courtesy of the award-winning team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. By far the best crime comic of the year. (October 2021)
- The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (non-P.I.; biography) | Buy this book
An astounding piece of work by master comic artist Dave Sim, this graphic novel charts the stories of comics’ greatest creators, including Alex Raymond, Stan Drake, and Hal Foster, using their own techniques, exploring their lives and work, and “highlighting the metatextual resonances that bind them together.” (September 2021) - Noir is the New Black| Buy the comic
An expanded reissue of the graphic novel from a few years ago features sixteen noir stories by forty Black creators, including David F. Walker, Brandon Thomas, MD Bright, Melody Cooper, N. Steven Harris, and Gary Phillips, plus a new story and a bonus section of previously unseen black and white art. (September 2021). - The Good Asian | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Collecting the first four issues of Pornsak Pichetote’s story of Edison Hark—a Chinese-American homicide dick from Honolulu (and possibly the only one in the entire United States in 1936)–on the trail of a killer on the mainland. Great art by Alexandre Tefengki. (September 2021) - Criminal Deluxe Edition Volume 1 | Buy the comic
This super deluxe hardcover edition collects the first three series of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Eisner and Harvey Award-Winning crime comic Criminal, featuring the adventures and misadventures of assorted crooks: seasoned pros and amateurs, both gifted and rank. Also includes some pretty tasty extras, like a Criminal short story, the never-before-printed five page “movie trailer in comics form” that Brubaker and Phillips used announce the series online, illustrations, selected articles, behind the scenes looks, painted covers… and much much more! (September 2021) - Crime Comics Confidential | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
A chunky monkey (over 200 pages) of pre-Code crime comics, This handsome collection spotlights real life baddies Al Capone, John Dillinger, Legs Diamond, Pretty Boy Floyd, Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano, alongside assorted fictional jaspers whose roscoes spit lead all over the place, while their dames look on in admiration (or contemplate where to insert the blade). Twenty classic tales from the likes of Charles Biro, Dick Briefer, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Jack Cole, Reed Crandall, Fred Guardineer, Everett Raymond Kinstler, Bernie Krigstein, Mort Meskin, Bob Powell, John Prentice, Mike Sekowsky, Leonard Starr, Marvin Stein, Alex Toth, and many others. Senate-investigated and Dr. Werhtham-damned for your reading pleasure, plus an in-depth essay by editor and designer Steven Brower. - First Degree: A Crime Anthology | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
A great new crime comic anthology, from France, to mark the 25th anniversary of the the POLAR Festival of Cognac, one of the most esteemed crime fiction conventions in the world. Featuring a dozen taut, noirish crime stories from an international calvacade of top-rank comic illustrators and artists, including David Walker, David Aja, Michael Lark, David Morancho, Eric Le Pape, Thierry Lamy, Olivier Jolivet and more, as well as a gallery of Polar Festival Posters. (September 2021) - Meadowlark: A Coming of Age Crime Story | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Actor Ethan Hawke and artist Greg Ruth team up to for this bleak, violent noir of a Texas father, his teenage son and a really bad day. (August 2021) - Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? (true crime; graphic novel) | Buy this book
A deep dive into one of the most notoriously deranged killers in American history; fact-based and heartbreaking. Written by true crime expert Schecter with art by Eric “The Goon” Powell. (July 2021) - | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it! Former radical turned freelance troubleshooter Ethan Reckless returns in the sequel to last year’s Reckless, courtesy of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, tackling Hollywood crazies this time, in a brand new graphic novel. (May 2021)
- Bad Mother | Buy his book | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Crime writer Christa (Money Shot, Peepland, Butch Fatale, etc.) Faust and artist Mike Deodato team up for this mini-series about the twisted dreams of the everyday housewife, as April Walters, a middle-aged soccer mom whose that life has pretty much pissed on for years, goes hunting for her missing teenaged daughter… and all hell breaks loose. Collects the mini-series. (March 2021) - Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew | Buy his book | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Collects the mini-series from Anthony Del Col, who brought us The Big Lie, the noirish Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys team-up from a few years ago. Nancy? Dead? Frank and Joe definitely have their work cut out for them in this one. (March 2021) - DC’s Greatest Detective Stories Ever Told (2021, DC Comics) | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
If you’re one of the lucky few who sorta remember when there were actual detectives in Detective Comics, this collection is for you. Includes key stories featuring Slam Bradley, Lois Lane, The Question, Detective Chimp, and some guy who dresses like a flying rodent, going as far back as 1937. Collects Adventure Comics #51, Batman #441, Detective Comics #2, #329, and #572, Lois Lane #1-2, Secret Origins #40, and The Question #8. (February 2021) - Scene of the Crime | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Long out of print, this stone cold P.I. classic by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark returns in a spiffy new edition, designed by inker Sean Phillips (it was the start of Ed and Sean’s beautiful friendship). Also included are behind-the-scenes art and stories, a new foreword by Brubaker, and plenty of other extras. (February 2021) - Luke Cage Epic Collection: Retribution (2021, Marvel Comics) | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Cage’s earth-quaking beginnings as the Marvel’s “Hero for Hire!”–the super-powered private eye with the bullet proof skin. Collects Hero for Hire #1-16 and Power Man #17-23. (February 2021) - That Texas Blood | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!
Anyone looking for a some hard-boiled Lone Star darkness, with a dollop of Coen Bros. sauce slathered all over could do a helluva lot worse worse than this little gem from writer Chris Condon and artist Jacob “Chip Off the Old Block” Phillips, collecting the first six issues of this great new monthly. Joe Bob is the sheriff in Ambrose County in West Texas just turned 70, and he ain’t getting any younger, but things sure as shootin’ gonna ge worse. (January 2021) - Pulp
Taking a page from Dave Darrigio’s classic Wordsmith series but adding their own special sauce, master comic chefs Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips go all meta once again, zooming in on not just a recurring character from the pulps (a ruthless desperado in the Old West), but on the man, Max Winters, a pulp writer in 1930s New York, who created him. One of my favourite books of 2020! NOW IN PAPERBACK! (January 2021) - | Buy the comic | Kindle/ComiXology it!That dastardly duo, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the modern masters of comic noir, are back with an ambitious, action-packed new series of original graphic novels, with three books scheduled over the next year, each a standalone full-length story. Former radical Ethan Reckless is a freelance troubleshooter in a 1980 Los Angeles full of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and… murder! (December 2020)
