The Gosh! Authority 01.10.25

Hello!

October is upon us! And to kick it off, I've got 4 events for you...

First up, if you're on it enough you might still be able to nab a ticket to the Comica talk with Craig Thompson at the Century club this Tuesday evening! Details here.

Can't make it? Swing by the store on Wednesday from 5-6.30pm as Craig pops by for a signing! Details here.

And then stick around after meeting Craig for the 7-9pm launch party of Zoe Arena and Amy Evans' new book Mandy is Still a Banana! Details here.

And finally, swing back by on Saturday, 1-2pm, to meet Spider-Man Noir co-creator and all-around UK comics legend David Hine as he signs copies of the new collection, Spider-Man Noir: Hard-Boiled Origins. Details here!

And after all of that, maybe you can find the time to read some comics. And quite a list it is, this week!

HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• ABSOLUTE EVIL #1 - The various threads of the Absolute Universe come together at last in this one-shot, setting up more crossover shenanigans for the year to come. It's the Absolute Acts of Vengeance (who remembers!), as key baddies from the AU (can I call it that now?) come together to decide what they can do with these pesky superheroes. Al Ewing and Giuseppe Camuncoli spin us a sinister meet-cute.

• X-MEN AGE OF REVELATION OVERTURE #1 - All the X-books take a 10 year leap into the future thanks to Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman. All is not well in the mutant utopia of the Revelation Territories:  the former United States of America, now ruled by the heir of Apocalypse. There's a bunch of X-Men fighting a guerilla war, and now it looks like there might be traitors from within. What's a poor, beleagured dictator to do?

• JUSTICE LEAGUE OMEGA ACT SPECIAL #1 - It's the prologue to DC K.O., as Joshua Williamson, Cian Tormey and Yasmine Putri send the Time Trapper on a mission to recruit the Justice League. His goal: stop a future he's seen where Darkseid rules supreme. No biggie.

• ADVENTURE TIME BUBBLINE COLLEGE SPECIAL #1 - Caroline Cash, acclaimed indie cartoonist and recently announced creative heir to the Nancy comic strip, comes to the land of Ooo, or at least an alternative universe verion of it. In this timeline, Princess Bubblegum and rocking vampire Marceline are students at Ooo University, and it seems like maybe love is in the air...

• GOOD DEVILS DON'T PLAY FAIR WITH EVIL #1 - David Brothers and Nick Dragotta present a collection of three short stories covering surviving a post-apocalypse, boxing, and getting the hell out of the USA. And in case it needs to be said, all three are pretty golden.

• BLACK FORESTS #1 - A new horror anthology spearheaded by legendary UK comics writer Peter Hogan. He's assembled a bevy of artists to create a terrific little bundle of shorts. We're talking Steve Parkhouse, Jimmy Broxton, Glenn Fabry, Mark Stafford, David Hitchcock and Rapha Lobosco, so a rather impressive group of ink-slingers! And we've got a signing on the 18th October!

• THEY'RE ALL TERRIBLE DELUXE EDITION #1 - Bad Idea continue to release their titles that were formerly unavalable to us mere mortals! Matt Kindt and Ramon Villalobos present a wild, OTT sword and sorcery title following a group of screw-ups who have to stop a barbarian horde from wrecking revenge on the kingdom.

• SPIDER-MAN NOIR #1 - Erik Larsen returns to Marvel with his writing hat on, teaming with artist Andrea Broccardo to relaunch hard-boiled Spidey ahead of the Nicholas Cage-starring TV series. Everything's going fine for PI Peter Parker, until a dame named Gwen Stacy walks into his office!

• GOTHAM ACADEMY FIRST YEAR #1 - Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Brenden Fletcher and Marco Ferrari take us back to the first year of Gotham Academy for Olive Silverlock. Stuck at boarding school with a bunch of rich, spoiled brats. Who seem to be inordinately interested in maps for some reason. What the heck is going on? Happy to see this back, it's one of the best teen-oriented books DC has produced.
  

• DCS ZATANNIC PANIC #1 - It's the DC Halloween Special, with another pun-tastic title. It's a big ol' collection of horror stories starring Batman, Ambush Bug, Raven, The Demon, Plastic Man, Swamp Thing and of course, Big Z!

• LAST DAY OF HP LOVECRAFT #1 - Polish artist Jakub Rebelka's art never fails to make my jaw drop, so I'll pick up anything he puts pen to. He's teamed with Romuald Giulivo for this psychologically dark interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft's final day, a smash hit graphic novel in France which Boom have reformatted into a 4 issue mini-series.

• STARSHIP GODZILLA #1 - Meet the crew of Starship Godzilla (AKA Mechagodzilla), a loveable bunch of dysfunctional scamps who flit about the galaxy fixing people's kaiju problems. Yes, you can do anything with Godzilla, and Chris Gooch and Oliver Ono will prove it to you!

• SPIRITS OF VIOLENCE #1 - Sabir Pirzada and Paul Davidson present a heaping helping of Ghost Riders, as the spirits of vengeance gang up on some poor, unfortunate ancient evil entity who's just going about it's day doing evil stuff. Bullies!

• PHANTOM #1 - "Have you got any Phantom?" So goes the refrain of many Australian tourists who cross our threshold every year, visitors from a land down under where the Phantom still holds a curious cultural grip. Whether hardcore collectors or someone looking for something to buy their dad, too often they have to leave empty-handed due to the dearth of Phantom material produced for the Northern Hempisphere English-language market. Well your time has come, my antipodean friends, as new Phantom comics are upon us! Rejoice at the works of Ray Fawkes and Russell Mark Olson! In colour, no less!

• WHITE TIGER REBORN #1 - A Marvel Voices special by Daniel José Older and Bruno Abdias. Aya Ayala is the current White Tiger, a role she inherited from her brother Hector (RIP). But now Hector seems to be back, and she's about to learn a whole lot more about the history of the White Tiger, and its connection to the Tiger God.

• AUTHOR IMMORTAL #1 - An author is hired to write new volumes of a series that shaped his childhood. But it all gets a little too intense when he's sucked into the world of the books, where forces battle for control, including the original series author. A new fantasy series by Frank J. Barbiere and Morgan Beem.

• GUNPOWDER PROPHETS #1 - Justin Jordan and Patrick Piazzalunga head back to the 70s, where two PIs who just want to make a little money and have a little fun seem to constantly wind up battling the supernatural and breaking things (and people).

• ROOTS OF MADNESS #1 - Stephanie Williams and Letizia Cadonici combine the true story of Madame CJ Walker with a liberal dash of the supernatural, as a young woman named Etta heads for the big city armed with the traditional secrets of haircare for Black women, as passed down through the women of her family. But as well as the restorative tonics they brewed, there are also these strange writings which Etta may regret coming to understand.

Phew!

Andrew.

October Catalogues

Catalogues for DC, Image, Titan and a number of others (in the "Next Phase" catalogue) can be found here each month. 

Catalogues for Marvel, Dark Horse, Boom, IDW and others (in the "PRH Panels" catalogue) can be found here each month.

The Previews UK catalogue for October has not yet been released.