Comics I’m Picking Up the Week of October 16, 2019

Here are the books I’m looking forward to seeing at my local comic store the week of October 16, 2019.

Shoplifters Will Be Liquidated

Publisher: AfterShock
Words/Story: Patrick Kindlon
Art/Colors: Stefano Simeone

“The largest retailer in the world requires the best-trained loss prevention staff, and Security Officer Nussbaum defends the company interests at any cost. Life, human rights, rational thought are all secondary concerns. But his world is upended when he finds a society living under the retail outlet—a culture that challenges his notions about consumerism and sense of self. Is he ready for the message? Imagine Judge Dredd working for Amazon, and you’ve got a hint of what you’re in for.”

Category: Support Emerging Creators

Why I’m Excited: Pairing this with the recent Everything, you get the impression that all Americans do is shop and work at mindless mob to support our consumer habits. This is untrue; in actual life, many more of us work to pay off our student loans (while occasionally indulging in craft beer). But we all have aspirations. I have had the opportunity to watch the Target loss-prevention team in action, and it can be both farcical and frightening, so I’m looking forward to learning how a person in that job goes about their day.

AfterShock Comics

Superman Smashes the Klan

Publisher: DC
Words/Story: Gene Luen Yang
Art/Colors: Gurihiru

“Inspired by the 1940s Superman radio serial ‘Clan of the Fiery Cross,’ Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints, The Terrifics, New Super-Man) presents his personal retelling of the adventures of the Lee family as they team up with Superman to smash the Klan.

The year is 1946, and the Lee family has moved from Metropolis’ Chinatown to the center of the bustling city. While Dr. Lee is greeted warmly in his new position at the Metropolis Health Department, his two kids, Roberta and Tommy, are more excited about being closer to a famous hero, Superman! . . . When Tommy is kidnapped by the KKK, Superman leaps into action-with help from Roberta! But Superman is still new to his powers—he hasn’t even worked out how to fly yet, so he has to run across town. Will Superman and Roberta reach Tommy in time?”

Category:  Tried and True Creators

Why I’m Excited:  Superman has frequently been the yardstick by which Americans have measured their moral growth (and constant failings). As his branding has come to encompass more than just “the American Way,” so have the metaphors we use to understand the role he plays in culture at large.

I’m interested to see how a creator skilled at illustrating the difficulties associated with integrating and belonging in the United States tackles the impact of a truly destructive force in history. Asian Americans are often stereotyped as a “model minority,” and thus some forget that they, too, have been the target of hate.

DC Comics

The Stereotypical Freaks

Publisher: Animal Media Group
Words/Story: Howard Shapiro
Art/Colors: Joe Pekar

“High school seniors Tom and Dan consider themselves a ‘basement band,’ but when their school puts on a battle of the bands, they decide to rise to the challenge and invite two more students to join them. As they tentatively welcome Mark and Jacoby into the group, they get to know one another and start to see past their differences. They decide to call the band The Stereotypical Freaks because they feel that when people look at them, they see a ‘smart kid, geek, star athlete, and quiet weirdo.’ This sweet, brief graphic novel features humor, authentic dialogue, and a great, heartwarming story that touches on bullying, identity, loyalty, and friendship.”

Category: Support Emerging Creators

Why I’m Excited: Battle of the Bands! I’m not sure they are still a thing, but I long for a world where they are (Jem and the Holograms versus Misfits, anyone?). As an aspiring music nerd, I once spent a summer following the band Semisonic to every concert they played in the region, and if they weren’t a bunch of “stereotypical freaks,” I’m not sure who else could be. I’m hoping that the kids in this book are having their very own year.

Animal Media Group

Gramercy Park

Publisher: IDW
Words/Story: Timothée de Fombelle
Art/Colors: Christian Cailleaux

“What could possibly connect two solitary beings—a former Opéra de Paris dancer and an elusive man whom everyone fears?

New York, 1954. On the roof of an apartment building, a young woman patiently tends to her beehives and seems to be longing for someone or something. In the building across the street lives a kingpin of crime, isolated from the world, except for one mysterious weekly outing. They don’t know each other, but they can see one another. Between them, the void, a police car, and a private fenced-in park under lock and key.”

Category: Like They Meed My Help

Why I’m Excited: Every storytelling medium has its benefits. Novels have the ability to get into the interior lives of their characters, movies of course use changing perspective to illustrate the complexity of the world, and comics can show relationships in their diversity of proximities. The idea of mise en place to impact audience reaction has been imported to comics from advertising, and Christian Cailleaux is adept at exploring the distances between people and how we can navigate across them.

IDW Publishing

See you at the racks!