Hello and welcome to Multiversity’s look at the “Best of the Rest” of what’s coming to your LCS for the months of June 2024 (and probably beyond). Having already taken a look at what Marvel, DC, Image, and the Manga Previews sections have lined up for us, it’s now time to check out the other 75% of the catalog.
Let’s dive in!
10. Here’s To You, Johnny!
A tip of the cap to the guy who made everyone he worked with better, and certainly cooler. The worst thing you can say about Romita’s work is that he was incapable of making anyone really look ugly. It just wasn’t in his line. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Jazzy One. As Marvel’s Art Director for years, he helped bring that clear style and composition to the entire company. Find out more about why John Romita Sr. was probably behind more of your favorite comics and characters than you ever thought!
ALTER EGO #189 (JOHN ROMITA SR TRIBUTE ISSUE)
Written and Drawn by Various and John Romita Sr.
Cover by John Romita Sr.
Published by Twomorrows Publishing
In Shops: Aug 21, 2024
SRP: $10.95Alter Ego is a titanic and well-deserved tribute to the late, great John Romita! Featuring a transcript of a podcast recorded shortly after the Jazzy One’s passing featuring John Romita Jr., Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart, Brian Pulido, Roy Thomas, Jaime Jameson, John Cimino, Steve Houston, and Nile Scala! Plus David Armstrong’s con mini-interview with John Romita-and John Cimino on John’s ten greatest hits! With FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!
9. Gaiman. Bernardin. Martinbrough.
Need I say more? I don’t think so.
ANANSI BOYS I #2
Written by Neil Gaiman and Marc Bernardin
Drawn by Shawn Martinbrough
Published by Dark Horse Comics
In Shops: Jul 31, 2024
SRP: $3.99Number one New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman joins forces with Eisner nominated Adora writer Marc Bernardin and Thief of Thieves co-creator Shawn Martinbrough to adapt Gaiman’s Locus and British Fantasy award-winning novel as a comic book series for the first time-and soon to be a television show on Amazon Prime!
Reeling from the knowledge bomb that his father was a trickster god, Fat Charlie returns to his life: the impending wedding to Rosie, his fiancée, and his job working for the completely unfulfilling Grahame Coats Agency. But not before he learns how to contact the mysterious brother he never knew he had.
8. Tracy! Tracy! Tracy! (As Yelled By Al Pacino)
Segura and Moreci’s Dick Tracy was something I never thought I’d see. As mentioned here, their original take was going to come out in 2017 from Archie Comics, but that got put in the comics slammer on charges of not actually having the publishing rights. But after doing seven years for good behavior, they’re out and ready to give the yellow-coated cop a real mystery to solve!
DICK TRACY #2
Written by Alex Segura and Michael Moreci
Drawn by Geraldo Borges
Published by Mad Cave Studios
In Shops: Jun 12, 2024
SRP: $4.99THE SAGA OF DICK TRACY CONTINUES IN A NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM MAD CAVE!
Dick Tracy, the iconic, yellow-clad detective, returns in a must-read noir reimagining from writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci and artist Geraldo Borges. As the City reels from the events at the Green Eye Diner, Dick Tracy must try and piece together the clues to not only discover the gunman behind the slaughter – but the man who gave the order. Who could the new player be? And how does intrepid reporter Tess Truehart fit in? A gritty, hardboiled tale that honors everything fans love about Dick Tracy-with an unforgettable twist. This isn’t your grandpa’s Dick Tracy! Don’t miss the series everyone is buzzing about.
7. New Grendel!
Having just revamped the beginning of his Grendel story with last year’s remastered & expanded Devil By The Deed, Matt Wagner just keeps adding to it with this trilogy of mini-series about the cyborg Grendel Prime in the far future!
Continued belowGRENDEL: DEVIL’S CRUCIBLE – DEFIANCE #1 (of 4)
Written and Drawn by Matt Wagner
Colored and Cover by Brennan Wagner
In Shops: Jul 03, 2024
SRP: $4.99A new Grendel story from visionary creator Matt Wagner!
Grendel Prime has returned to Earth, but things are not as he left them. The pockets of humanity that remain and the “Necro Lords” that rule them have turned against Grendel. Grendel Prime will need to hide his identity as he explores his suddenly hostile home planet.
Featuring a standard cover by Matt Wagner and a variant cover by Brennan Wagner.
6. If He Ever Gets Out, It Won’t Be For Good Behavior!
Nury and Brüno have another book out (or re-released, as I’m just discovering as I type this) and it’s another gritty crime comic from the folks running the Hard Case Crime imprint over at Titan. I put Nury and Brüno in the same category as Brubaker and Phillips or Azzarello and Risso — always worth a look!
TYLER CROSS: ANGOLA HC
Written by Fabien Nury
Drawn by Brüno
Published by Titan Comics
In Shops: Jun 05, 2024
SRP: $24.99A GRITTY 1950s GANGSTER THRILLER!
Angola: a high-security prison, surrounded by deadly swamps, run by a brutal crime family.
Tyler Cross is the toughest trafficker in the US, but when a risk-free gig sends him to hell, his life sentence could be a death sentence!
5. More Real Than Real!
A new Drew Friedman book? Yes, please! Friedman is one of the best caricaturists we’ve ever seen, as evidenced by his almost 30 years of collections bringing a unique spin to capturing someone’s likeness on paper.
SCHTICK FIGURES: THE COOL, THE COMICAL, THE CRAZY
Written and Drawn by Drew Friedman
Published by Fantagraphics Books
In Shops: July 23, 2024
SRP: $29.99For years, acclaimed artist Drew Friedman has chronicled an oddball, alternate history of American pop culture, where forgotten character actors, old Jewish comedians, comic book artists, and liver-spotted elevator operators are afforded the spotlight over Hollywood starlets and heartthrobs. This latest collection showcases a wide range of recent color and black-and-white portraits of comedians (Gilbert Gottfried, Groucho Marx, Selma Diamond, Moms Mabley, Brother Theodore), writers (Kurt Vonnegut, Alan Zwiebel, Arnie Kogan), musicians (B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Al Kooper, Sammy Davis, Jr., Weird Al), directors (Elaine May, Terry Zwigoff), comic book legends (Max Gaines, Bill Gaines, Kelly Freas, Ron Turner), actors (Buster Keaton, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr, Rondo Hatton, Peter Falk) and other famous, infamous, and not-so-famous human beings that Friedman has drawn inspiration from over his lifetime.
In addition to over 100 full-page images, this collection features a foreword by historian of comedy Kliph Nesteroff, a glossary of brief biographical information on each subject by the author. Shtick Figures is a must have for fans of Friedman’s inimitable talent and sharp curatorial eye for preserving lesser known but worthy tributaries of all aspects of American culture, high and low.
4. That’s Comics With An X!
The names you see below are all the ones most comics (or comix) fans can rattle off when asked about underground comix. But do they know about ALL of them? And for the ones they recognize, how much do they REALLY know about them and their work? We turn again to Drew Friedman to help us put faces and facts to the names we’ve seen and heard in decades of discussion about comix that helped shape the funny book landscape.
Continued belowMAVERIX & LUNATIX: ICONS OF UNDERGROUND COMIX HC
Written and Drawn by Drew Friedman
Published by Fantagraphics Books
In Shops: May 29, 2024
SRP: $34.99Perverted, Insane, Degenerate, Brilliant. Artist Drew Friedman pays tribute to the great underground comix creators from Z (Zap) to A (Arcade). With the publication of R. Crumb’s debut issue of Zap in 1968, the Underground Comix revolution exploded, creating a major paradigm shift and blowing the lid off the traditional comic book. Maverix & Lunatix features 101 full page portraits (and more) by a cartooning icon in his own right, Drew Friedman, spotlighting the essential artists, writers, and editors who defined one of the great art and countercultural movements of the 20th century. Featuring R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, S. Clay Wilson, Melinda Gebbie, Art Spiegelman, Vaughn Bode, Trina Robbins, Bill Griffith, Jay Lynch, Sharon Rudahl, Larry Gonick, Rick Veitch, Joyce Farmer, Justin Green, “Grass” Green, George DiCaprio, Diane Noomin, Harvey Pekar, Robert Williams, Howard Cruse, Dan O’Neill, Spain Rodriguez, Shary Flenniken, Richard Corben, and so many others . . . all of whom helped to reinvent an entire artistic medium and became icons of underground comix.
Featuring a foreword by Marc Maron (WTF with Marc Maron) and an afterword by historian Patrick Rosenkranz (Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution 1963-1975), each portrait in Maverix & Lunatix is also accompanied by a short biography of its subject by Friedman, making the book both a gorgeous art book and a valuable historical resource.
Drew Friedman lives with his wife and collaborator, K. Bidus, in eastern PA. He is an award-winning illustrator/cartoonist whose clients have included The New York Times, MAD, The New Yorker, Howard Stern, and countless others. Marc Maron is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster (WTF with Marc Maron), writer, actor, and musician. Patrick Rosenkranz is widely acknowledged as one of the premiere scholars of the underground comix movement.
3. Discount Jazz In A Marvel Vein!
As much as my wallet hates Artist Editions, it absolutely loses its mind over Artisan Editions! Same original art thrill at a fraction of the cost! Sure it’s not QUITE as big as the Artist Editions, but it’s still bigger than the original comics. And any chance you get to see Jazzy Johnny’s work reproduced like this — brother, you take it!
JOHN ROMITA AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ARTISAN ED VOL 02
Drawn by John Romita Sr.
Published by IDW Publishing
In Shops: Jul 03, 2024
SRP: $39.99Jazzy John Romita was for many the definitive artist on The Amazing Spider-Man. His sleek line work brought the web-slinger to life for a generation of fans. This volume collects issues 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112,113, 114, and 115 in their entirety. Additionally there is a beautiful gallery section of Romita extras.
Like all of IDW’s award-winning Artist Edition style books, each page has been painstakingly scanned from the original art to ensure the finest possible reproduction, mimicking the experience of seeing Romita’s hand-drawn pages. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art instance, corrections, blue pencils, paste-overs, all the little nuances that make original art unique.
2. And South Of The Border . . .
Here’s another anthology of original stories co-curated by one of the best Brazilian artists working today: Rafael Grampá. You could put all the information I know about the Brazilian comix scene on the head of a pin, so getting this chauffeured tour through their midst is absolutely thrilling!
BRABA TP
Published by Fantagraphics Books
Written and Drawn by Various
In Shops: Jul 10, 2024
SRP: $29.99A showcase of innovative Brazilian comics, curated by acclaimed artist Rafael Grampá and comics editor Janaina de Luna.
American audiences have grown familiar with international comix through an influx of European bande dessinee and Japanese manga that has been translated into English over the past two decades. But there are vivacious creative scenes happening worldwide, notably in Brazil, the largest country in South America and fifth-largest country in the world. Braba aims to rectify this cultural blind spot with a single-volume showcase of innovative Brazilian comics, expertly curated by acclaimed cartoonist Rafael Grampá (Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham) and respected Brazilian comics editor Janaina de Luna.
Produced by Fantagraphics in collaboration with Brazilian publisher MINO, this extraordinary collection of 13 short stories created by 16 pioneering Brazilian cartoonists encapsulates a thriving and thrilling comics scene. Braba unites a diverse array of voices and styles under a unifying theme: deeply personal stories from experimental cartoonists. Each artist’s unique vision with their stylized short stories contribute to the rich cultural tapestry of Brazilian comics.
The contributors to Braba include Amanda Miranda, Bruno Seelig, Diego Sanchez, Gabriel Goes, Jefferson Costa, Jéssica Groke, Sirlene Barbosa, Joao Pinheiro, Cris Eiko, Paulo Crumbim, Pedro Cobiaco, Pedro Franz, Rafael Coutinho, Shiko, and Wagner Willian. The term “braba,” a Brazilian slang derived from “brava” meaning angry, has been embraced as a symbol of something impressive and groundbreaking. Originating from Brazil’s edgy youth culture, the term is a compliment for individuals who exhibit unique and daring attitudes – an attitude exemplified by the bold and vibrant comics in this anthology.
1. Raising A Pint To Steve Dillon!
You know him from Preacher and Punisher, but the late great Steve Dillon also left behind a sizeable legacy of work for Tharg and the 2000AD droids. You get to see a good chunk of it here in its original glory, working on stories by Garth Ennis (of course), John Wagner, and Alan Moore!
2000 AD ART OF STEVE DILLON APEX EDITION HC
Written by Garth Ennis, Alan Moore, John Wagner
Drawn by Steve Dillon
Published by Rebellion 2000/AD
In Shops: Jul 24, 2024
SRP: $135.99The 2000 AD Art of Steve Dillon: Apex Edition contains pages from throughout his 30-plus year career working at 2000 AD, including his art on Rogue Trooper and Harlem Heroes. His prolific and defining work on Judge Dredd is showcased with a range of stories including his incredible artwork for the classic Block Mania alongside the Emerald Isle storyline, one of his first collaborations with Garth Ennis. Also included in this book is the complete art for Alan Moore’s sole A.B.C. Warriors story, Red Planet Blues, with painted color by Watchmen artist John Higgins. The Apex Edition series is a deluxe, over-sized facsimile edition reproducing his original art pages at their actual size.
