Hey there!
I know this week can be really stressful and a lot of you are traveling today, or cooking, or stressed out about family stuff. And I know a lot of you are stuck at work all week and that can be brutal, especially if you work retail. And I know some of you who read this aren’t American and it’s just Wednesday. But I just wanted to send a quick note to say how thankful I am for all the people out there who pick up my books and are a part of the comics community I love so much. So whether you’re stuck in an airport, preparing to have some real awkward conversations with your uncle, bracing for the “this is cheaper online” comments, or you’re just enjoying your week, thanks so much. I hope you manage to take the time to relax and enjoy some comics.
If you can’t get to the comic shop this week, here’s a free one for you to read. It’s an oldie but it will still be new to some of you. It’s my first creator owned book WE CAN NEVER GO HOME #1.
I also have two comics in shops today that I’m really proud of. TASK FORCE Z #2 takes us deeper down the rabbit hole of Project Halperin and Jason Todd’s mission, and DC VS. VAMPIRES #2 reveals just how deep the vampire plot goes. Both issues have gorgeous art from Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, and Otto Schmidt respectively. And both have lots of violence, slaughter, villains, and either zombies or vampires (not both), making them a perfect holiday read. Pick up an extra copy of each for your grandma! She loves Bane.
Also, because today is LOCAL COMIC SHOP DAY, a day to celebrate the joy that is your local comic shop, the fine folks at DC COMICS made exclusive variant covers available for 3 of their titles… And guess what 2 of them are? If you guessed DETECTIVE COMICS #1045 and TASK FORCE Z #2 you are correct but also very bad at context clues. Because I was talking about DC VS VAMPIRES #2 and TASK FORCE Z #2. But you should probably buy that DETECTIVE issue also because it’s pretty great. Anyway, check out these cool covers.
Also, if you’re in the comic shop anyway you should do yourself a favor and pick up JOY OPERATIONS #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stephen Byrne, & co. It’s amazingly fun future spy stuff. And the mighty Tyler Boss did a variant cover for the book especially for Local Comic Shop Day, which is so cool.
Also grab yourself HULK #1 by the brilliant Donny Cates, Ryan Ottley, and co. I’ve been friends with Donny for a long time and this is a book he has been talking about that whole time. You’d think I’d be sick of it, but I’m not. It’s even better than I had hoped and you’ll love every smashing minute. So proud of that dude.
I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t point out that while we Americans enter a holiday with a heavy focus on “feasting” millions of people around the world are food insecure. The UN World Food Program raises money to feed those in need across the U.S. and around the world. If you’re fortunate enough to be in a position to donate now, they could use your support.
And because I’m feeling donate-y too (I’m sure it’s a word) if you buy either of the rare Jenny Frison variant covers for WHAT’S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? #1 from our online shop before Saturday Tyler and I will donate 100% of the money from that sale to help feed people in need. So buy yourself a pretty comic and feed some people in the process.
Make yourself a noodle kugel this week and thank me later.
And thank you. Sincerely.
-Matthew Rosenberg
NYC 11/24/21